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Full text of "Biographical history of Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States, with accompanying biographies ... history of Iowa, with ... biographies of the governors ... and engravings of prominent citizens of Pottawattamie County, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families .."

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Containing Portraits of all the Presidents of the United States, with accompanying 

Biographies of each-, a Condensed History of Iowa, with Portraits and 

Biographies of the Governors of the State; and Engravings 

of Prominent Citizens of Pottawattamie County, with 

Personal Histories of many of the Early 

Settlers and Leading Families. 



Biography is the only true history." — Emerson. 






THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1891. 

- • 



r 



THE NEW YORK 
PUBLIC LIBRARY 

453425 A 

AS TOR, LENOX AND 

TILDEN FOUNDATIONS 

H 1929 L 




PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED 
STATES. 

George Washington 

John Adams 14 

Thomas Jefferson 20 

James Madison 26 

James Monroe 32 

John Quincy Adams 38 

Andrew Jackson 47 

Martin Van Buren 52 

William Henry Harrison 56 

John Tyler 60 

James K. Polk 64 

Zachary Taylor 68 

Millard Fillmore 72 

Franklin Pierce 76 

James Buchanan 80 

Abraham Lincoln 84 

Andrew Johnson 93 

Ulysses S. Grant 96 

Rutherford B. Hayes 102 



James A. Garfield 109 

Chester A. Arthur 113 

Grover Cleveland 117 

Benjamin Harrison 120 

HISTORY OF IOWA. 

Aboriginal 183 

( 'aucasian 124 

Pioneer Life 133 

Louisiana Territory 137 

Iowa Territory 139 

State Organization and Subse- 
quent History 141 

Patriotism 146 

Iowa Since the War 151 

State Institutions 151 

Educational 154 

Statistical 157 

Physical Features 158 

Geology 158 

C'l imate 163 



Census of Iowa 164 

Territorial officers 104 

State Officers 165 

GOVERNORS OF IOWA. 

Robert Lucas 171 

John Chambers 173 

James Clarke ....175 

Ansel Briggs 179 

Stephen Hempstead 183 

James W. Grimes 187 

Ralph P. Lowe 191 

Samuel J. Kirkwood 195 

William M. Stone 199 

Samuel Merrill 203 

Cyrus C. Carpenter 207 

Joshua G. Newbold 211 

John H. Gear 215 

Buren R. 'Sherman 219 

William Larrabee 223 

Horace Boies 223 



OS- 



-*-• sSi 



HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY, 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Abbott, E.J 539 

Abel, Joseph 622 

Ackels, Paul 689 

Acker, W. C 694 

Agnew, S. G 599 

Afdridge, 11. L 267 

Alexander, C 376 

Allee, F. M 388 

Allen, A. L 540 

Alleusworlh, J. P 246 

Alston, Joshua 669 

Altmannsperger, C. A 632 

Anderson, Andrew 590 

Avery, A. E 535 

Axtell.J.M 364 

Axtell, L. S 317 

Aylesworth, E. E 688 



Bair, I. F 408 

Baldwin, Caleb 231 

Baldwin, J. N 279 

Baldwin, J. T 443 

Ball, W. I) 679 

Barnett, E. S 412 

Barstow, J. M 583 

Barstow, Samuel 245 

Barton, J.J 633 

Barton, Reuben 417 

Battin, Vincent 434 

Beck, C. H 258 

Beezley, Paul 562 

Beezley, William 666 

Bell & Berlinehof 485 

Bellinger, F. P. & M. J 486 

Bevan, S. E 275 



Beyer, Win 567 

Bisbee, A. C 286 

Bixby, B. F 530 

Blain, David 594 

Blakely, John 333 

Blanchard, W. A 451 

Bloom, J. C 155 

Bloomer, Amelia 242 

Bloomer, D. C 241 

Boiler, Cyrus 335 

Boiler, James 259 

Bolton, C. H 578 

Bolton, George 299 

Bolton, J. M. 439 

Book, John 466 

Boren, I. A 417 

Boren, J. B 508 



Iv 



CONTENTS. 



Boruff, I). W 302 

Borutl", J. C 508 

Bosen, C 408 

Hosted, August 442 

Boulden, J. P 306 

Boulden, J. R 382 

Bowman, Thomas. 385 

Braden, Peier 528 

Bradley, J. G 179 

Bray, Theodore 650 

Breneman, N E 010 

Briggs, I). M 509 

Brown, A. 1 004 

Brown, 0. II 898 

Brown, Wm 348 

Brown, Wm. K 437 

Bryant, T. G 554 

Bullis, Allen 51*0 

Bunker. W. W 820 

Bunnell, J. A 682 

Burckhalter, DA 574 

Burckhalter, J. W 852 

Bnrke, Finley 447 

Burke, F. A 446 

Burke, J. P 703 

Burnett, G. V 500 

By bee, Alfred 064 

Cady.T.J 371 

Campbell, Lyman 881 

Campbell, Iiasmus 882 

Carley, E. B 591 

I larson, George 475 

Carson, A. S 710 

Carter, I G 692 

Casady, .1 P 431 

Casady, T. E 439 

Cater, K. II 834 

Chambers, II. J 458 

Champ, G. II 477 

Chaney, C. II 595 

Chaney, Win L 481 

Charles, Wm 345 

Cheney, M.J 506 

Chicago Lumber Co 381 

Citizens' Bank of Oakland 200 

City Holler Mills 838 

Clark, I). B 311 

Clark, F. C 487 

Clark, John 568 

Clark, J. II. E :;i 'l 

Clayton, B. F 458 

l'i»' I) A 570 

Cole, W.T 651 

Coleman, Frank 504 

Coleman. W. .1 611 

Collaiil. Frank 818 

Collins, N. 8 576 

Coiner, S. U 628 

Confarr, W N ••■ -541 

Conklin, .1 F 658 

Consigny, E. A 623 

Converse, Win 500 

Cook. II. C 652 

Co.,1, John 344 

Coons, .1 M 815 

Cooper, A. 1' 183 

Cooper, W. A... 541 

Copeland, T N 816 

Council Bluffs Limber Co 031 



Craft, W. P 505 

Crippen C. M 379 

Croghan, J. M 236 

Cuppy, Win. B 035 

Currie, John, Jr 683 

Currie, Hubert 081 

Dailey, D. B 467 

Davis, Fred 051 

Davis, J. C 380 

Davis, J. H 691 

Dean,W..rren 250 

Dean, W. L 254 

Dellait, F. A 527 

Dentler, B. B 514 

Devol, P. C 327 

Devol, David 327 

DeWilt, W 309 

Dial, W. II 655 

Dingmau, J B 458 

Dohany, John 328 

Doner, II. A 616 

Duner, Jacob 377 

Doner, I. E 402 

Dool, Thomas 580 

Dorton, J. M 371 

Dowty, Joseph 612 

Dunkle, David 347 

Dunn, S. T 581 

Durham, W. E 670 

Dye Bros, it Co 668 

Dye, G. S 543 

Earnest, Solomon 2411 

Edie, Wm. S 270 

Ellis, F. M. & Co 052 

Ellis, MP 037 

Elswick, J. C 374 

Evans, John .653 

Evans, Joseph 0*2 

Evans, T. J 471 

Everett, Horace 519 

Everett, Leonard 615 

Everson, J. W 672 

Exchange Bank 702 

Fay, Wooster 

Ferguson, M. W 672 

Flint. John 518 

Flood. Thomas 676 

Ford, Fred 270 

Forsyth, Mrs. S 422 

Foster, C. P 161 

Foster, J. B 057 

Foster, S. II 465 

Foxlev, A. H 492 

Frank". J. A 861 

Frazter, Allied 662 

Freeman B. F 260 

Frisbie, Ml! 40 4 

Frizzell. A. L 200 

Fii/./.ell, J. O 502 

Fuller, A E 584 

Gardner, I.N 

Garner, F G 822 

Garner, Wm 288 

Gault, .ID I5H 

Caul!. T 280 



Gerlz, II. P 695 

Gittens, Henry 854 

Glynn, A 409 

Godfrey, C 645 

Gordon, <> W 429 

Gorrell, J. V 593 

Goudie, M. C 518 

Gould, J. II 644 

Graff, w 11 555 

Graham, (). W 414 

Grass, F 489 

Graybill.H 481 

Graybill, (J. II 602 

Green, Charles 511 

Green, John 686 

Green, Norman 882 

Gregg, J. II 280 

Gress, Beruhard 598 

Groneweg, Win 449 

Croat, Alonzo 547 

G Hi liar, Francis 505 

Guittar, TheoJore 564 

Gustiu, Wm 288 

Haines, David 399 

Hall, A. J 531 

Hamilton, G.W 508 

Hammer, Lewis 649 

Hanchett, A. P 379 

Hansen, Isaac 810 

Harbert, B. F 315 

Harcourt.B 307 

Hardenbergb, Otis 532 

Hardin, \W D 455 

Harding, B. G 659 

Hardin-, John 680 

Hail, C. M 305 

llaiie, M. E 568 

Harris, A r ' s '' 

Hartwell, T. J 656 

Hats well, L. A 657 

Ha/.leton, A.S 308 

Headlee, Joseph 865 

Heagney, C. F 391 

Heileman, Wm 885 

Hell man, Andrew 4ii0 

Hendricks, A. I ".07 

Hendricks, I. F MM 

Henry, J. H 7u2 

HetZel. F. G 616 

Hewitt, G. W 415 

Hicks, G. W 704 

Hitchcock, F.G 479 

Hoffmayer, J. C :::;s 

Holmes, G. A 375 

Hoogewoning, A 480 

Hooker, J. D 360 

Hoops, Isaac 602 

Horner, Albert 592 

Hose Co. No, 8 179 

llouhkiss, 0.0 628 

Bough, II. C 618 

Houyh, J. R 321 

Hough, Morris 653 

Hough, Warren 890 

Houghton, F. W 687 

Hul'Ih's. Martin 469 

Huff, A. M 690 

llulchinsi n. A A 668 



CONTENTS. 



Ingram, Robert 073 

Irwin, H. T 392 

Jack, H.B GOG 

Jameson Bros 387 

Jameson, W.J 007 

Jefferson, T. II 835 

Johns, T.J 661 

Johannsen, J. B 698 

Johnson, A. W 329 

Johnson, P. T. C 70S 

Jones, J. G 325 

Jones, L. G 330 

Jones, O. W 34!) 

Jones, K. P 309 

Jones, T.J 440 

Judd, C. B 324 

Kaven, August 611 

Keast, Thomas 704 

Keller, A. H 322 

Kenedy, Alex . r )4fl 

Kerney, Lawrence 295 

Kerney, Perry 491 

Kiel Stables 651 

Killion, I. C G40 

Killion, J. A 490 

Kill pack, James 304 

Kimball, Caleb 3G8 

Kimball, J. F 41(5 

Kincaid, A. E 566 

Kinnehan, L 474 

Kirby, Joseph 515 

Kirkwooil, Robert 478 

Kleppinger, W. C 490 

Knepher, W. II 630 

Knotls, Joseph 493 

Knotls, L. G 494 

Kulin, W. H 685 

Lacey, T. B 434 

Lacy, Patrick 412 

Lainson, A. T 530 

Lange, J. C 474 

Larson, C. A 389 

Lathan, Edmond 675 

Lebeck, A 099 

Leland, H. C 592 

Leland, L. S 594 

Leonard, Thomas 288 

Lerette N 511 

Leslie, P. N 558 

Levin, P. R 644 

Lewis, F. M 348 

Lewis, Jackson 510 

Lewis, Nelson 252 

Lewis, Win 512 

Lewis, Wm 681 

Livingston, James 579 

Lodge, O. P 535 

London Bros 370 

Long, Wm. C 239 

Loudenheck, J. A 482 

Lowe, H. G 350 

MacConnell, S. P 381 

MacKay, T. J 532 

Mackland, Elizabeth, 282 

Macrae, Donald 271 

Manhattan, The 492 



Martin, Andrew 330 

Martin, I. L 402 

Martin, Martha - 531 

Martin, W.J 041 

Maxfield, Wm. II 380 

Maxwell, W. E 595 

Mayue, W. S 285 

McDonald, J. II 561 

McDonald, Wm 590 

McFall, S. T 041 

McGee, II. G 480 

McGee, J. E. F 407 

McGinuis, Joseph 540 

McKenzie, K 577 

McKeown, Wm 350 

McMaster, D. B 336 

McMenomy, B. P 247 

McMillen, W. A 483 

McMullen, C. E 234 

McPherron, F. T 428 

McReynolds, L 357 

Merriam, F 237 

Meneray, F. W 454 

Metcall, George 453 

Mickelwait it Young 340 

Mikesill, J. W 630 

Miller, J. W 400 

Miller, Robert 499 

Minahan.M 373 

Mitchell, A. 1 340 

Montgomery, H 308 

Montgomery, P. J 372 

Morris, F 274 

Morrison, S. . . v 480 

Mulholland, J.'P 396 

Muller, Julius 428 

Murchison, J. K 552 

Murphy, J. A 503 

Murray, James 634 

Mynster, 0. O 319 

Mynster, W. A 087 

Nellis, L. D 393 

Nicholas, A. B 378 

Nixon, Wm 289 

Nordyke, Albert 324 

Nusum, J. W 444 

O'Brien, N 492 

Officer, Thomas 495 

Olds, James 413 

Olney, J. J 243 

Orr, William 675 

Osborn, G. H 084 

Osier, Alex 320 

Owens, F. M 684 

Packard, W. S 557 

Painter, Lewis 490 

Palmer, M 695 

Parish, E 292 

Parker, D. K 441 

Parker, Henry 404 

Parker, Joseph 488 

Passmore, S. B 251 

Pearce, A. W 283 

Peck, G. W G60 

Perkins, A. B 674 

Peters, Wm 290 

Peterson, E. W 457 



Peterson, II II 558 

Peterson, M. P 312 

Phillips, John M 346 

Pieper, Henry 546 

Pierce, O. W 254 

Pilling, T. A 450 

Pinney, C. II 272 

Plank, M. V 575 

Pleak, D. S 329 

Plumb, George 246 

Plumer, H. P 654 

Plummer, A 608 

Plunket, W. F 678 

Poland, G. W 600 

Potter, L. F 260 

Powell, Isaac 700 

Pratt, C. F 670 

Prentice, A. R 403 

Price, C. S 577 

Pusey, W. II. M 487 

Putnam, A. D 277 

Quick, Wm 646 

Quick, W. S 677 

Rainbow, James 596 

Randall, A. A 550 

Rankin, S. L 298 

Read, S. R 372 

Reed, J. 1 597 

Reed, J. R 609 

Reel, C. D 301 

Keichart, E 602 

Reimer, Max 515 

Reynolds, C 291 

Reynolds, Simon 341 

Reynolds, S. W 520 

Rishton, Henry 362 

Riss, F. X 275 

Ritter, Adam 451 

Robbins, T. M 313 

Robertson, .1.0 305 

Robinson, OS 572 

Robinson, James 323 

Rock, Wm V 517 

Rodenbough, J. j 278 

Rodwell, John 281 

Rohrer, M. F 255 

Rollins, J. Q 248 

Roop, M. S 343 

Roosa, Isaiah 679 

Boss, L. W 351 

Rush, J. W 452 

Rust, S. S 260 

Saint, James 643 

Sanderson, Charles 480 

Sapp, W. F 423 

Sarr, II. M 401 

Schlicht, John 480 

Schmoock, A. 362 

Schultz,J. II 363 

Scott, G. W 269 

Seward, L. D 350 

Seybert, P. T 711 

Sheldon, L 470 

Sherraden, C. H 706 

Shinn, Frank 603 

Sidener, Wm 653 

Sides, John 614 

Siedentopf, Wm 567 



\i 



- "AT AW 7 s 



Sims, Jacob 262 

Srvers,J.H 396 

Smart, G. F C 560 

Smith, E. C 268 

Smith, J. F 605 

Smith, Peter 121 

Smith, W. I 249 

Snyder, C. W 823 

Snyder, Wesley 688 

Spetmao, P. W 421 

Spetmari, II. II 528 

B ie, Win 521 

Stephens, S. 1 664 

Stephenson, A. J 1 15 

Stevenson, Henry 631 

Stevenson, Wm 525 

St. Francis Xavier Church 2 17 

Slidham, Wm 647 

Stillings, Origan 558 

Stoker, Margaret ; ! s "' 

Stone, Albert 854 

Stone, ('. E 100 

Strong, S. (' 571 

Straub, Christian 7(11 

Stuhr, .1. II. C 488 

Stnhr, .1. P 485 

Sullivan & Virtue 668 

Sylvester, J. A 420 

Taylor, .1. A 502 

Taylor, W. II 524 

Templeton, J. L 649 

Terry, II. A 472 

Thayer, John 483 

Thomas, P. s 389 

Thomas, Zeph 640 

Thompson, Joseph :ms 

Throp, W. 1 673 

Tilton, Preston 705 

Timberraan, Isaiah en; 

Tinley, Emmet 392 

Tipton,.!. 6 331 

Tittswortb, \V. (i 584 

Tompkin, Wm 667 

Tostevin, Thomas -1111) 

Treynor, I. M 303 

Underwood, s. <; 619 

UUerback, W. C 384 



Vallier, Alex 264 

Van, S. F 516 

Van, W. H 488 

Van Brunt, II. II 383 

Vandruff, C II 014 

Voorhis, Cornelius 711 

Wadsworlh, s. B 287 

Waldo, Mary A (09 

Walker, K. F 555 

Ware, Mrs. E 897 

Ware, W. II 867 

Waterman, E.T 108 

Way, W. .1 627 

Weak, A. I, 481 

Weaver, .1. P. F 843 

Weeks. F. G 887 

Wells, Lucius 551 

Wells, Win. S im 

West, II. S 116 

Westcolt, J. II 411 

Western Lumber & Supply Co. .649 

Wheeler. Wm. .1 358 

While, R. M 548 

Whitney, Wm 268 

Wickham, James .648 

Wickham, O. P 642 

Wicks, N. 11 479 

Wilding, David 639 

Williams, J. E 300 

Williams, N. W 538 

Williams, W.S 867 

Wilson, II. M 0.18 

Wilson, James 500 

Winans, J. II 6W 

Winchester, 11 542 

Wind, P. II ".v.i 

Winterstein, Wm 4117 

Wolf, J. A - r ,.-,2 

Wood, Alex. 539 

Wood, E. A 545 

Woodbury, E. 1 406 

Wright, Fred 817 

Wright, George 81 1 

Wright. G.F. 295 

Wyland, J. M 569 

Wyman, A. W 621 



Young, J. F., Jr 651 

Young, J. N (i!i7 

Young, T. J 340 

Young, W.0 529 

Zahner, Jacob 271 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Baldwin, Caleb 281 

Baldwin, J. N 270 

Barstow.J. H 

Bloomer, Amelia 241 

Bloomer, 1). C 241 

Bowman. Thomas 385 

Burke, Finley . . .» 1 17 

Casady, J. P Ml 

Casa.lv, T.E 189 

Clark, I). B :ill 

Clark, Eleanor :'. II 

Clark, J. H. E 391 

Devol, P. 3 7 

Evans, T.J 171 

Everett, Horace 519 

Everett, Leonard 615 

Grand Hotel 177 

Haines, David 399 

Hewitt, George W 415 

Holmes, (1. A :!75 

Lodge, O. F 585 

M acrae, Donald 271 

McGee.J. E. F 407 

McMenomy, B. P 217 

Murphy, J. A !>0:5 

Mynster, C. 0. and Mrs. M :'.l!i 

Officer, Thomas 4!C> 

Pusey, W. H. M 4S7 

Robrer, M. F ..255 

Ross, L. W 351 

Sapp, W. P ...428 

Smith, E. C 208 

Treynor, I. M 308 

Van Brunt, II. II 38-t 

Wadsworlh, S. 1! 887 

Ware, W. II 867 

Weaver, J. P. F :;4:t 

Wells, Lucius 651 

Wind, P. II 359 

Wright, G. F 295 




THE NEW YORK 
'PUBLIC LIBRARY 



- 
— 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



-l-^EEL.^-^t.- l-.,^ _>k © Bcl<ryt^)l bg(g) ■4,_^_^_^ _ ? |. „^_^» l-_c^>.«n'|g is-3§!l 





EORGE WASHING- 
TON, the "Father of 
his Country" and its 
first President, 1789— 
'97, was born Febru- 
ary 22, 1732, in Wash- 
ington Parish, West- 
moreland Count y, Virginia. 
His father, Augustine Wash- 
ington, first married Jane But- 
f^l^S^j ' er ' wno bore mm ' our chil- 
^'wj$i clren - and March 6, 1730, he 
married Mary Ball. Of six 
children by his second mar- 
riage, George was the eldest, 
the others being Betty, Samuel, John, Au- 
gustine, Charles and Mildred, of whom the 
youngest died in infancy. Little is known 
of the early years of Washington, beyond 
the fact that the house in which he was 
born was burned during his early child- 
hood, and that "his father thereupon moved 
to another farm, inherited from his paternal 
ancestors, situated in Stafford County, on 
the north bank of the Rappahannock, where 
he acted as agent of the Principio Iron 
Works in the immediate vicinity, and died 
there in 1743. 

From earliest childhood George devel- 
oped a noble character. He had a vigorous 
constitution, a fine form, and great bodily 
strength. His education was somewhat de- 



fective, being- confined to the elementary 
branches taught him by his mother and at 
a neighboring school. He developed, how- 
ever, a fondness for mathematics, and en- 
joyed in that branch the instructions of a 
private teacher. On leaving school he re- 
sided for some time at Mount Vernon with 
his half brother, Lawrence, who acted as 
his guardian, and who had married adaugh- 
ter of his neighbor at Belvoir on the Poto- 
mac, the wealthy William Fairfax, for some 
time president of the executive council of 
the colony. Both Fairfax and his son-in-law, 
Lawrence Washington, had served with dis- 
tinction in 1740 as officers of an American 
battalion at the siege of Carthagena, and 
were friends and correspondents of Admiral 
Vernon, for whom the latter's residence on 
the Potomac has been named. George's 
inclinations were for a similar career, and a 
midshipman's warrant was procured for 
him, probably through the influence of the 
Admiral ; but through the opposition of his 
mother the project was abandoned. The 
family connection with the Fairfaxes, how- 
ever, opened another career for the young 
man, who, at the age of sixteen, was ap- 
pointed surveyor to the immense estates of 
the eccentric Lord Fairfax, who was then 
on a visit at Belvoir, and who shortly after- 
ward established his baronial residence at 
Grcenway Court, in the Shenandoah Valley. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES 



Three years were passed by young Wash- 
ington in a rough frontier life, gaining ex- 
perience which afterward proved very es- 
sential tn him. 

In 1751, when the Virginia militia were 
put under training with a view to active 
service against France, Washington, though 
only nineteen years of age, was appointed 
Adjutant with the rank of Major. In Sep- 
tember of that year the failing health of 
Lawrence Washington rendered it neces- 
sary for him to seek a warmer climate, and 
Gorge accompanied him in a voyage to 
Ba? ladoes. They returned early in 1752, 
and Lawrence shortly afterward died, leav- 
ing \\.< large property to an infant daughter. 
In his will George was named one of the 
executors and as eventual heir to Mount 
Vernon, and by the death oi the infant niece 
s 1 succeeded to that estate-. 

On the arrival of Robert Dinwiddie as 
Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia in 1752 
the militia was reorganized, and tin- prov- 
ini e divided into four districts. Washing- 
ton was commissioned by Dinwiddie Adju- 
tant-General of the Northern District in 
17; ;, and in November of that year a most 
important as well as hazardous mission was 
assigned him. This was to proceed to the 
Canadian posts recently established on 
French Creek, near Lake Erie, to demand 
in the name of the King of England the 
withdrawal of the French from a territory 
claimed by Virginia. This enterprise had 
been declined by more than one officer, 
since it involved a journey through an ex- 
tensive and almost unexplored wilderness 
in the occupancy of savage Indian tribes, 
either hostile to the English, or of doubtful 
attachment. Major Washington, however, 
ted the commission with alacrity ; and. 
npanied by Captain Cist, lie reached 
Fort Le Bceul on French Creek, delivered 
iiis dispatches and received reply, which, of 
Course, was a polite refusal to surrender the 
posts. This reply was of such a character 



as to induce the Assembly of Virginia to 
authorize the executive to raise a regiment 
of 300 men for the purpose of maintaining 
the asserted rights of the British crown 
over the territory claimed. As Washing- 
ton declined to be a candidate for that post, 
the command of this regiment was given to 
Colonel Joshua Fry, and Major Washing- 
ton, at his own request, was commissioned 
Lieutenant-Colonel. On the march to Ohio, 
news was received that a party previously 
sent to build a fort at the confluence of the 
Monongahela with the Ohio had been 
driven back by a considerable French force, 
which had completed the work there be- 
gun, and named it Fort Duquesnc, in honor 
of the Marquis Duquesnc, then Governor 
of Canada. This was the beginning of the 
great " French and Indian war," which con- 
t inued seven years. On the death of Colonel 
Fry, Washington succeeded to the com- 
mand of the regiment, and so well did he 
fulfill his trust that the Virginia Assembly 
commissioned him as Commander-in-Chief 
of all the forces raised in the colony. 

A cessation of all Indian hostility on the 
frontier having followed the expulsion of 
the French from the Ohio, the object of 
Washington was accomplished and he re- 
signed his commission as Commander-in- 
Chief of the Virginia forces. He then pro- 
ceeded to Williamsburg to take his seat in 
the General Assembly, of which he had 
been elected a member. 

January 17, 1759. Washington married 
Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) Custis, a young 
and beautiful widow of great wealth, and de- 
voted himself for the ensuing fifteen years 
to the quiet pursuits of agriculture, inter- 
rupted only by his annual attendance in 
winter upon the Colonial Legislature at 
amsburg, until summoned by his 
country to inter upon that other arena in 
which his fame was to become world wide. 

It is unnecessary here to trace the details 
of the struggle upon the question of local 



CEottaE Washing ton. 



ii 



self-government, which, after ten years, cul- 
minated by act of Parliament of the port of 
Boston. It was at the instance of Virginia 
that a congress of all the colonies was called 
to meet at Philadelphia Septembers, 1 774. 
to secure their common liberties — if possible 
by peaceful means. To this Congress 
Colonei Washington was sent as a dele- 
gate. On dissolving in October, it recom- 
mended the colonies to send deputies to 
another Congress the following spring. In 
the meantime several of the colonies felt 
impelled to raise local forces to repel in- 
sults and aggressions on the part of British 
troops, so that on the assembling of the next 
Congress, May 10, 1775, the war prepara- 
tions of the mother country were unmis- 
takable. The battles of Concord and Lex- 
ington had been fought. Among the earliest 
• acts, therefore, of the Congress was the 
selection of a commander-in-chief of the 
colonial forces. This office was unani- 
mously conferred upon Washington, still a 
member of the Congress. He accepted it 
on June 19, but on the express condition he 
should receive no salary. 

He immediately repaired to the vicinity 
of Boston, against which point the British 
ministry had concentrated their forces. As 
early as April General Gage had 3,000 
troops in and around this proscribed city. 
During the fall and winter the British policy 
clearly indicated a purpose to divide pub- 
lic sentiment and to build up a British party 
in the colonies. Those who sided with the 
ministry were stigmatized by the patriots 
as " Tories," while the patriots took to them- 
selves the name of " Whigs." 

As early as 1776 the leading men had 
come to the conclusion that there was no 
hope except in separation and indepen- 
dence. In May of that year Washington 
wrote from the head of the army in New 
York: "A reconciliation with Great Brit- 
ain is impossible When I took 

command of the army, I abhorred the idea 



of independence ; but I am now fully satis- 
tied that nothing else will save us." 

It is not the object of this sketch to trace 
the military acts of the patriot hero, to 
whose hands the fortunes and liberties of 
the United States were confided during the 
seven years' bloody struggle that ensued 
until the treaty of 1783, in which England 
acknowledged the independence of each of 
the thirteen States, and negotiated with 
them, jointly, as separate sovereignties. The 
merits of Washington as a military chief- 
tain have been considerably discussed, espe- 
cially by writers in his own country. Dur- 
ing the war he was most bitterly assailed 
for incompetency, and great efforts were 
made to displace him ; but he never for a 
moment lost the confidence of either the 
Congress or the people. December 4, 1783, 
the great commander took leave of his offi- 
cers in most affectionate and patriotic terms, 
and went to Annapolis, Maryland, where 
the Congress of the States was in session, 
and to that body, when peace and order 
prevailed everywhere, resigned his com- 
mission and retired to Mount Vernon. 

It was in 1788 that Washington was called 
to the chief magistracy of the nation. He 
received every electoral vote cast in all the 
colleges of the States voting for the office 
of President. The 4th of March, 1789, was 
the time appointed for the Government of 
the United States to begin its operations, 
but several weeks elapsed before quorums 
of both the newly constituted houses of the 
Congress were assembled. The city of New 
York was the place where the Congress 
then met. April 16 Washington left his 
home to enter upon the discharge of his 
new duties. He set out with a purpose ot 
traveling privately, and without attracting 
any public attention ; but this was impossi- 
ble. Everywhere on his way he was met 
with thronging crowds, eager to see the 
man whom they regarded as the chief de- 
fender of their liberties, and everywhere 



PRESIDENTS OF THE r SITED STATES. 



he was hailed with those public manifesta- 
tions of joy, regard and love which spring 
spontaneously from the hearts of an affec- 
tionate and grateful people. His reception 
in New York was marked by a grandeur 
and an enthusiasm never before witnessed 
in that metropolis. The inauguration took 
place April 30,in the presence of an immense 
multitude which had assembled to witness 
the new and imposing ceremony. The oath 
of office was administered by Robert R. 
Livingston, Chancellor of the State. When 
this sacred pledge was given, he retired 
with the other officials into the Senate 
chamber, where he delivered his inaugural 
address to both houses of the newly con- 
stituted Congress in joint assembly. 

In the manifold details of Ins civil ad- 
ministration, Washington proved himself 
equal to the requirements of his position. 
The greater portion of the first session ol 
the first Congress was occupied in passing 
the necessary statutes for putting the new 
organization into complete operation. In 
the discussions brought up in the course of 
this legislation the nature and character of 
the new system came under general review. 
On no one of them did any decided antago- 
nism of opinion arise. All held it to be a 
limited government, clothed only with spe- 
cific powers conferred by delegation from 
the States. There was no change in the 
name of the legislative department ; it still 
remained "the Congress of the United 
States ol America." There was no change 
in the' original Hag of the country, and none 
in the seal, which still remains with the 
Grecian escutcheon borne by the eagle, 
with other emblems, under the great and 
expressive motto, "£ Pluribus Ununi." 

The first division ol parties arose upon 
the mannei it construing the powers dele- 
gated, and they were first styled -'strict 
constructionists" and " latitudinarian con- 
st mi t ionists." The former were for con- 
fining the- ac tion ol the Government strictly 



within its specific and limited sphere, while 
the others were for enlarging its powers by 
inference and implication. Hamilton and 
Jefferson, both members of the first cabinet- 
were regarded as the chief leaders, respeel 
ively, of these rising antagonistic parties 
which have existed, under different names 
from that day to this. Washington n-as re- 
garded as holclinga neutral position between 
them, though, by mature deliberation, he 
vetoed the first apportionment bill, in 1790, 
passed by the party headed by Hamilton, 
which was based upon a principle construct- 
ively leading to centralization or consoli- 
dation. This was the first exercise of the 
veto power under the present Constitution. 
It created considerable excitement at the 
time. Another bill was soon passed in pur- 
suance of Mr. Jefferson's views, which has 
been adhered to in principle in every ap 
portionment act passed since. 

At the second session of the new Con 
gress, Washington announced the gratify- 
ing fact of "the accession of North Cam 
lina" to the Constitution of 17S7, and June 
1 of the same year he announced by special 
message the like " accession of the State of 
Rhode Island," with his congratulations on 
the happy event which " united under the 
general Government" all the States which 
were originally confederated. 

In 1792, at the second Presidential elec- 
tion. Washington was desirous to retire; 
but he yielded to the general wish of the 
country, and was again chosen President 
l>\ the unanimous vote of every electoral 
college. At the third election, 1796, he was 
again most urgently entreated to consent to 
remain in the executive chair. This he 
positively refused. In September, before 
the election, he gave to his countrymen his 
memorable Farewell Address, which in lan- 
guage, sentiment and patriotism was a fit 
and crowning glory of his illustrious life. 
Alter March 4, 1797, he again retired to 
Mount Vernon lor peace, quiet and repose. 



GEO ROE WASHINGTON. 



'S 



His administration for the two terms had 
been successful beyond the expectation and 
hopes of even the most sanguine of his 
friends. The finances of the country were 
no longer in an embarrassed condition, the 
public credit was fully restored, life was 
given to every department of industry, the 
workings of the new system in allowing 
Congress to raise revenue from duties on 
imports proved to be not only harmonious 
in its federal action, but astonishing in its 
results upon the commerce and trade of all 
the States. The exports from the Union 
increased from $19,000,000 to over $56,000,- 
000 per annum, while the imports increased 
in about the same proportion. Three new 
members had been added to the Union. The 
progress of the States in their new career 
under their new organization thus far was 
exceedingly encouraging, not only to the 
friends of liberty within their own limits, 
but to their sympathizing allies in all climes 
and countries. 

Ol the call aofain made on this illustrious 



chief to quit his repose at Mount Vernon 
and take command of all the United States 
forces, with the rank of Lieutenant-General, 
when war was threatened with France in 
1798, nothing need here be stated, except to 
note the fact as an unmistakable testimo- 
nial of the high regard in which he was still 
held by his countrymen, of all shades of po- 
litical opinion. He patriotically accepted 
this trust, but a treaty of peace put a stop 
to all action under it. He again retired to 
Mount Vernon, where, after a short and 
severe illness, he died December 14, 1799, 
in the sixty-eighth year of his age. The 
whole country was filled with gloom by this 
sad intelligence. Men of all parties in poli- 
tics and creeds in religion, in ever)' State 
in the Union, united with Congress in " pay- 
ing honor to the man, first in war, first in 
peace, and first in the hearts of his country- 
men." 

His remains were deposited in a fami') 
vault on the banks of the Potomac at Mount 
Vernon, where they still lie entombed. 




>4 



P/ihS/DHXTS OF THE UNITED STATUS. 







; ■ ■ , : ■ n;:ii ;■;]' s — '-^fiux; m m 
riiTniitiiiiinTirrrtiriTVtnTin 






'°mr 





OHN ADAMS, the second , 
President of the United 
States. 1797 to 1801, was 
' born in the present town 

k, of Quincy, then a portion 
'J. : of Braintree, Massachu- 
setts, October 30, 1735. His 
father was a farmer of mod- 
erate means, a worthy and 
industrious man. He was 
a deacon in the church, and 
' was very desirous of giving 
his son a collegiate educa- 
tion, hoping that he would 
become a minister of the 
gospel. But, as up to this 
time, the age ol fourteen, he had been only 
a play-boy in the fields and forests, he had 
no taste for books, he chose farming. On 
being set to work, however, by his father 
out in the field, the very first day con- 
verted the boy into a lover of books. 

Accordingly, at the age of sixteen he 
entered 1 [arvard College, and graduated in 
1755, at the age of twenty, highly esteemed 
for integrity, energy and ability. Thus, 
having no capital but his education, he 
started out into the stormv world at a time 
ol gnat political excitement, as France and 
England were then engaged in their great 
seven-years struggle for the mastery over 
the New World. The lire of patriotism 



seized young Adams, and for a time be 
studied over the question whether he 
should take to the law, to politics or the 
army. He wrote a remarkable letter to a 
friend, making prophecies concerning the 
future greatness of this country which have 
since been more than fulfilled. For two 
years he taught school and studied law, 
wasting no odd moments, and at the early 
age of twenty-two years he opened a law 
office in his native town. His inherited 
powers of mind and untiring devotion to 
his profession caused him to rise rapidly 
in public esteem. 

In October, 1764, Mr. Adams married 
Miss Abigail Smith, daughter of a clergy- 
man at Weymouth and a lady of rare per- 
sonal and intellectual endowments, who 
afterward contributed much to her hus- 
band's celebrity. 

Soon the oppression of the British in 
America reached its climax. The Boston 
merchants employed an attorney by the 
name of James Otis to argue the legality of 
oppressive tax law before the Superior 
Court. Adams heard the argument, and 
afterward wrote to a friend concerning the 
ability displayed, as follows: "Otis was a 
flame of fire. With a promptitude of 
classical allusion, a depth of research, a 
rapid summary of historical events and 
dates, a prolusion of legal authorities and a 




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jorr.v .ioa.tis. 



'7 



prophetic glance into futurity, he hurried 
away all before him. American independence 
was then and there born. Every man of an 
immensely crowded audience appeared to 
me to go away, as I did, ready to take up 
arms." 

Soon Mr. Adams wrote an essay to be 
read before the literary club of his town, 
upon the state of affairs, which was so able 
as to attract public attention. It was pub- 
lished in American journals, republished 
in England, and was pronounced by the 
friends of the colonists there as " one of the 
very best productions ever seen from North 
America." 

The memorable Stamp Act was now 
issued, and Adams entered with all the 
ardor of his soul into political life in order 
to resist it. He drew up a series of reso- 
lutions remonstrating against the act, which 
were adopted at a public meeting of the 
citizens of Braintree, and which were sub- 
sequently adopted, word for word, by more 
than forty towns in the State. Popular 
commotion prevented the landing of the 
Stamp Act papers, and the English author- 
ities then closed the courts. The town of 
Boston therefore appointed Jeremy Grid- 
lex, James Otis and John Adams to argue a 
petition before the Governor and council 
for the re-opening of the courts; and while 
the two first mentioned attorneys based 
their argument upon the distress caused to 
the people by the measure, Adams boldlv 
claimed that the Stamp Act was a violation- 
both of the English Constitution and the 
charter of the Provinces. It is said that 
this was the first direct denial of the un- 
limited right of Parliament over the colo- 
nies. Soon after this the Stamp Act was 
repealed. 

Directly Mr. Adams was employed to 
defend Ansel 1 Nickerson, who had killed an 
Englishman in the act of impressing him 
(Nickerson) into the King's service, and his 
client was acquitted, the court thus estab- 



lishing the principle that the infamous 
royal prerogative of impressment could 
have no existence in the colonial code. 
But in 1770 Messrs. Adams and Josiah 
Quincy defended a party of British soldiers 
who had been arrested for murder when 
thev had been only obeying Governmental 
orders ; and when reproached for thus ap- 
parently deserting the cause of popular 
liberty, Mr. Adams replied that he would a 
thousandfold rather live under the domina- 
tion of the worst of England's kings than 
under that of a lawless mob. Next, after 
serving a term as a member of the Colonial 
Legislature from Boston, Mr. Adams, find- 
ing his health affected by too great labor, 
retired to his native home at Braintree. 

The year 1774 soon arrived, with its fa- 
mous Boston '• Tea Party," the first open 
act of rebellion. Adams was sent to the 
Congress at Philadelphia ; and when the 
Attorney-General announced that Great 
Britain had " determined on her system, 
and that her power to execute it was irre- 
sistible," Adams replied : " I know that 
Great Britain has determined on her sys- 
tem, and that very determination deter- 
mines me on mine. You know that I have 
been constant in my opposition to her 
measures. The die is now cast. I have 
passed the Rubicon. Sink or swim, live or 
die, with my country, is my unalterable 
determination." The rumor beginning to 
prevail at Philadelphia that the Congress 
had independence in view, Adams foresaw 
that it was too soon to declare it openly. 
He advised every one to remain quiet in 
that respect; and as soon as it became ap- 
parent that he himself was for independ- 
ence, he was advised to hide himself, which 
he did. 

The next year the great Revolutionary 
war opened in earnest, and Mrs. Adams, 
residing near Boston, kept her husband ad- 
vised by letter of all the events transpiring 
in her vicinity. The battle of Bunker Hill 



■ 3 



r/iES/DENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



came on. Congress had to do something 
immediately. The first thing was to 
choose a commander-in-chief for the — we 
can't say " army " — the fighting men of the 
colonics. The New England delegation 
was almost unanimous in favor of appoint- 
ing General Ward, then at the head of the 
Massachusetts forces, but Mr. Adams urged 
the appointment of George Washington, 
then almost unknown outside of his own 
State. He was appointed without oppo- 
sition. Mr. Adams offered the resolution, 
which was adopted, annulling all the royal 
authority in the colonies. Having thus 
prepared the way, a few weeks later, viz., 
June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, of Vir- 
ginia, who a few months before had declared 
that the British Government would aban- 
don its oppressive measures, now offered 
the memorable resolution, seconded by 
Adams, "that these United States arc, and 
of right ought to be, free and independent." 
Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Sherman and 
Livingston were then appointed a commit- 
tee to draught a declaration of independ- 
ence. Mr. Jefferson desired Mr. Adams 
to draw up the bold document, but the 
latter persuaded Mr. Jefferson to perform 
that responsible task. The Declaration 
drawn up, Mr. Adams became its foremost 
d( fender on the floor of Congress. It was 
signed by all the fifty-five members present, 
and the next day Mr. Adams wrote to his 
wife how great a deed was done, and how 
proud he wasof it. Mr. Adams continued 
to be the leading man of Congress, and 
the leading advocate of American inde- 
pendence. Above all other Americans, 
he was considered by every one the prin- 
cipal shining mark for British vengeance. 
Thus circumstanced, he was appointed to 
the most dangerous task ol crossing the 
ocean in winter, exposed to capture by tin- 
British, who knew of his mission, which 
w.is Id visit Paris and solicit the CO-opera- 
tion oi the biench. Besides, to take him- 



self away from the country of which he 
was the most prominent defender, at that 
critical time, was an act of the greatest self- 
sacrifice. Sure enough, while crossing the 
sea, he had two very narrow escapes from 
capture; and the transit was otherwise a 
storm v and eventful one. During thr 
summer of 1779 he returned home, but was 
immediately dispatched back to France, to 
be in readiness there to negotiate terms of 
peace and commerce with Great Britain as 
soon as the latter power was ready for such 
business. But as Dr. Franklin was more 
popular than heat the court of France, Mr. 
Adams repaired to Holland, where he was 
far more successful as a diplomatist. 

The treaty of peace between the United 
States and England was finally signed at 
Paris, January 21, 1783; and the re-action 
from so great excitement as Mr. Adams had 
so long been experiencing threw him into 
a dangerous fever. Before he fully re- 
covered he was in London, whence he was 
dispatched again to Amsterdam to negoti- 
ate another loan. Compliance with this 
order undermined his physical constitution 
for life. 

In 17S5 Mr. Adams was appointed envoy 
to the court of St. James, to meet face to 
face the very king who had regarded him 
as an arch traitor! Accordingly he re- 
paired thither, where he did actually meet 
and converse with George 111.! After a 
residence there for about three years, he 
obtained permission to return to America. 
While in London he wrote and published 
an able work, in three volumes, entitled: 
'• A Defense of the American Constitution." 

The Articles of Confederation proving 
inefficient, as Adams had prophesied, a 
carefully draughted Constitution was 
adopted in 17S0, when George Washington 
was elected President of the new nation, 
and Adams Vice-President. Congress met 
for a time in New York, but was removed 
to Philadelphia lor ten years, until suitable 



■JOHN ADAMS. 



<9 



buildings should be erected at the new 
capital in the District of Columbia. Mr. 
Adams then moved his family to Phila- 
delphia. Toward the close of his term of 
office the French Revolution culminated, 
when Adams and Washington rather 
sympathized with England, and Jefferson 
with France. The Presidential election of 
1796 resulted in giving Mr. Adams the first 
place by a small majority, and Mr. Jeffer- 
son the second place. . 

Mr. Adams's administration was consci- 
entious, patriotic and able. The period 
was a turbulent one, and even an archangel 
could not have reconciled the hostile par- 
ties. Partisanism with reference to Eng- 
land and France was bitter, and for four 
years M r. Adams struggled through almost 
a constant tempest of assaults. In fact, he 
was not truly a popular man, and his cha- 
grin at not receiving a re-election was so 
great that he did not even remain at Phila- 
delphia to witness the inauguration of Mr. 
Jefferson, his successor. The friendly 
intimacy between these two men was 
interrupted for about thirteen years of their 
life. Adams finally made the first advances 
toward a restoration of their mutual friend- 
ship, which were gratefully accepted by 
Jefferson. 

Mr. Adams was glad of his opportunity 
to retire to private lite, where he could rest 
his mind and enjoy the comforts of home. 
By a thousand bitter experiences he found 
the path of public duty a thorny one. For 
twenty-six years his service of the public 
was as arduous, self-sacrificing and devoted 
as ever fell to the lot of man. In one im- 
portant sense he was as much the " Father 
of his Country " as was Washington in 
another sense. During these long years of 
anxiety and toil, in which he was laying, 
broad and deep, the foundations of the 



greatest nation the sun ever shone upon, he 
received from his impoverished country a 
meager support. The only privilege he 
carried with him into his retirement was 
that of franking his letters. 

Although taking no active part in public 
affairs, both himself and his son, John 
Quincy, nobly supported the policy of Mr. 
Jefferson in resisting the encroachments of 
England, who persisted in searching 
American ships on the high seas and 
dragging from them any sailors that might 
be designated by any pert lieutenant as 
British subjects. Even for this noble sup- 
port Mr. Adams was maligned by thou- 
sands of bitter enemies ! On this occasion, 
for the first time since his retirement, he 
broke silence and drew up a very able 
paper, exposing the atrocity of the British 
pretensions. 

Mr. Adams outlived nearly all his family. 
Though his physical frame began to give 
way many years before his death, his mental 
powers retained their strength and vigor to 
the last. In his ninetieth year he was 
gladdened by the popular elevation of his 
son to the Presidential office, the highest in 
the gift of the people. A few months more 
passed away and the 4th of Julv, 1826. 
arrived. The people, unaware of the near 
approach of the end of two great lives — 
that of Adams and Jefferson — -were making 
unusual preparations for a national holiday. 
Mr. Adams lay upon his couch, listening to 
the ringing of bells, the waftures of martial 
music and the roar of cannon, with silent 
emotion. Only four days before, he had 
given for a public toast, " Independence 
forever." About two o'clock in the after- 
noon he said, "And Jefferson still survives." 
But he was mistaken by an hour or so; 
and in a few minutes he had breathed his 
last. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



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JH O M A S J E F F E R- 
son, the third Presi- 
dent of the United 
States, 1801-9, was 
born April 2, 1743, 
the eldest child of 
his parents, Peter 
Jane (Randolph) Jef- 
ferson, near Charlottes- 
ille, Albemarle County, 
Virginia, upon the slopes 
of the Blue Ridge. When 
he -was fourteen years of 
age, his father died, leav- 
ing a widow and eight 
children. She was a beau- 
tiful and accomplished 
a good letter-writer, with a fund of 
humor, and an admirable housekeeper. His 
parents belonged to the Church of England, 
and are said to be of Welch origin. But 
little is known of them, however. 

Thomas was naturally of a serious turn 
of mind, apt to learn, and a favorite at 
school, his choice studies being mathemat- 
ics and the classics. At the age of seven- 
teen he entered William and Mary College, 
in an advanced class, and lived in rather an 
expensive style, consequently being much 
caressed by gay society. That he was not 
ruined, is proof of his stamina of character. 
But during his second year he discarded 



lady, 



society, his horses and even his favorite 
violin, and devoted thenceforward fifteen 
hours a day to hard study, becoming ex- 
traordinarily proficient in Latin and Greek 
authors. 

On leaving college, before he was twenty- 
one, he commenced the study of law, and 
pursued it diligently until he was well 
qualified for practice, upon which he 
entered in 1767. By this time he was also 
versed in French, Spanish, Italian and An- 
glo-Saxon, and in the criticism of the fine 
arts. Being very polite and polished in his 
manners, he won the friendship of all whom 
he met. Though able with his pen, he was 
not fluent in public speech. 

In 1769 he was chosen a member of the 
Virginia Legislature, and was the largest 
slave-holding member of that body. He 
introduced a bill empowering slave-holders 
to manumit their slaves, but it was rejected 
by an overwhelming vote. 

In 1770 Mr. Jefferson met with a great 
loss; his house at Shadwell was burned, 
and his valuable library of 2,000 volumes 
was consumed. But he was wealthy 
enough to replace the most of it, as from 
his 5,000 acres tilled by slaves and his 
practice at the bar his income amounted to 
about $5,000 a year. 

In 1772 he married Mrs. Martha Skelton, 
a beautiful, wealthy and accomplished 





€^2t77^ 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



23 



young widow, who owned 40,000 acres of 
land and 130 slaves; yet he labored assidu- 
ously for the abolition of slavery. For his 
new home he selected a majestic rise of 
iand upon his large estate at Shad well, 
called Monticello, whereon he erected a 
mansion of modest yet elegant architecture. 
Here he lived in luxury, indulging his taste 
in magnificent, high-blooded horses. 

At this period the British Government 
gradually became more insolent and op- 
pressive toward the American colonies, 
and Mr. Jefferson was ever one of the most 
foremost to resist its encroachments. From 
time to time he drew up resolutions of re- 
monstrance, which were finally adopted, 
thus proving his ability as a statesman and 
as a leader. By the year 1774 he became 
quite busy, both with voice and pen, in de- 
fending the right of the colonies to defend 
themselves. His pamphlet entitled : " A 
Summary View of the Rights of British 
America," attracted much attention in Eng- 
land. The following year he, in company 
with George Washington, served as an ex- 
ecutive committee in measures to defend 
by arms the State of Virginia. As a Mem- 
ber of the Congress, he was not a speech- 
maker, yet in conversation and upon 
committees he was so frank and decisive 
that he always made a favorable impression. 
But as late as the autumn of 1775 he re- 
mained in hopes of reconciliation with the 
parent country. 

At length, however, the hour arrived for 
draughting the " Declaration of Indepen- 
dence," and this responsible task was de- 
volved upon Jefferson. Franklin, and 
Adams suggested a few verbal corrections 
before it was submitted to Congress, which 
was June 28, 1776, only six days before it 
was adopted. During the three days of 
the fiery ordeal of criticism through which 
it passed in Congress, Mr. Jefferson opened 
not his lips. John Adams was the main 
champion of the Declaration on the floor 



of Congress. The signing of this document 
was one of the most solemn and momentous 
occasions ever attended to by man. Prayer 
and silence reigned throughout the hall, 
and each signer realized that if American 
independence was not finally sustained by 
arms he was doomed to the scaffold. 

After the colonies became independent 
States, Jefferson resigned for a time his seat 
in Congress in order to aid in organizing 
the government of Virginia, of which State 
he was chosen Governor in 1779, when he 
was thirty-six years of age. At this time 
the British had possession of Georgia and 
were invading South Carolina, and at one 
time a British officer, Tarleton, sent a 
secret expedition to Monticello to capture 
the Governor. Five minutes after Mr. 
Jefferson escaped with his family, his man- 
sion was in possession of the enemy ! The 
British troops also destroyed his valuable 
plantation on the James River. " Had they 
carried off the slaves," said Jefferson, with 
characteristic magnanimity, " to give them 
freedom, they would have done right." 

The year 1781 was a gloomy one for the 
Virginia Governor. While confined to his 
secluded home in the forest by a sick and 
dying wife, a party arose against him 
throughout the State, severely criticising 
his course as Governor. Being very sensi- 
tive to reproach, this, touched him to the 
quick, and the heap of troubles then sur- 
rounding him nearly crushed him. He re- 
solved, in despair, to retire from public life 
for the rest of his days. For weeks Mr. 
Jefferson sat lovingly, but with a crushed 
heart, at the bedside of his sick wife, during 
which time unfeeling letters were sent to 
him, accusing him of weakness and unfaith- 
fulness to duty. All this, after he had lost 
so much property and at the same time 
done so much for his country ! After her 
death he actually fainted away, and re- 
mained so long insensible that it was feared 
he never would recover! Several weeks 



=4 



PKE.S/DE.VTS OF THE U. WIT ED STATES. 



passed before he could fully recover his 
equilibrium. He was never married a 
second time. 

In the spring of 17S2 the people of Eng- 
land compelled their king to make to the 
Americans overtures of peace, and in No- 
vember following, Mr. Jefferson was reap- 
pointed by Congress, unanimously and 
without a single adverse remark, minister 
plenipotentiary to negotiate a treaty. 

In March, 1784, Mr. Jefferson was ap- 
pointed on a committee to draught a plan 
for the government of the Northwestern 
Territory. His slavery-prohibition clause 
in that plan was stricken out by the pro- 
slavery majority of the committee; but amid 
all the controversies and wrangles of poli- 
ticians, he made it a rule never to contra- 
dict anybody or engage in any discussion 
as a debater. 

In company with Mr. Adams and Dr. 
Franklin, Mr. Jefferson was appointed in 
May, 1784, to act as minister plenipotentiary 
in the negotiation of treaties of commerce 
with foreign nations. Accordingly, he went 
to Paris and satisfactorily accomplished his 
mission. The suavity and high bearing of 
his manner made all the French his friends; 
and even Mrs. Adams at one time wrote 
to her sister that he was "the chosen 
of the earth." But all the honors that 
he received, both at home and abroad, 
seemed to make no change in the simplicity 
of his republican tastes. On his return to 
America, he found two parties respecting 
the foreign commercial policy, Mr. Adams 
sympathizing with that in favor of England 
and himself favoring France. 

On the inauguration of General Wash- 
ington as President, Mr. Jefferson was 
chosen by him for the office of Secretary of 
State. At this time the rising storm of the 
French Revolution became visible, and 
Washington watched it with great anxiety. 
His cabinet was divided in their views of 
constitutional government as well as re- 



garding the issues in France. General 
Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, was 
the leader of the so-called Federal party, 
while Mr. Jefferson was the leader of the 
Republican party. At the same time there 
was a strong monarchical party in this 
country, with which Mr. Adams sympa- 
thized. Some important financial measures, 
which were proposed by Hamilton and 
finally adopted by the cabinet and approved 
by Washington, were opposed by Mr. 
Jefferson; and his enemies then began to 
reproach him with holding office under an 
administration whose views he opposed. 
The President poured oil on the troubled 
waters. On his re-election to the Presi- 
dency he desired Mr. Jefferson to remain 
in the cabinet, but the latter sent in his 
resignation at two different times, probably 
because lie was dissatisfied with some of 
the measures of the Government. His 
final one was not received until January 1, 
1794, when General Washington parted 
from him with great regret. 

Jefferson then retired to his quiet home 
at Monticello, to enjoy a good rest, not even 
reading the newspapers lest the political 
gossip should disquiet him. On the Presi- 
dent's again calling him back to the office 
ol Secretary of State, he replied that no 
circumstances would ever again tempt him 
to engage in anything public! But, while 
all Europe was ablaze with war, and France 
in the throes of a bloody revolution and the 
principal theater of the conflict, a new 
Presidential election in this country came 
on. John Adams was the Federal candi- 
date and Mr. Jefferson became the Republi- 
can candidate. The result of the election 
was the promotion of the latter to the Vice- 
Presidency, while the former was chosen 
President. In this contest Mr. Jefferson 
really did not desire to have either office, 
he was " so weary " of party strife. He 
loved the retirement of home more than 
any other place on the earth. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



25 



But for four long years his Vice-Presi- 
dency passed joylessly away, while the 
partisan strife between Federalist and Re- 
publican was ever growing hotter. The 
former party split and the result of the 
fourth general election was the elevation of 
Mr. Jefferson to the Presidency! with 
Aaron Burr as Vice-President. These men 
being at the head of a growing party, their 
election was hailed everywhere with joy. 
On the other hand, many of the Federalists 
turned pale, as they believed what a portion 
of the pulpit and the press had been preach- 
ing — that Jefferson was a " scoffing atheist," 
a "Jacobin," the "incarnation of all evil," 
" breathing threatening and slaughter ! " 

Mr. Jefferson's inaugural address con- 
tained nothing but the noblest sentiments, 
expressed in fine language, and his personal 
behavior afterward exhibited the extreme 
of American, democratic simplicity. His 
disgust of European court etiquette grew 
upon him with age. He believed that 
General Washington was somewhat dis- 
trustful of the ultimate success of a popular 
Government, and that, imbued with a little 
admiration of the forms of a monarchical 
Government, he had instituted levees, birth- 
days, pompous meetings with Congress, 
etc. Jefferson was always polite, even to 
slaves everywhere he met them, and carried 
in his countenance the indications of an ac- 
commodating disposition. 

The political principles of the Jeffersoni- 
an party now swept the country, and Mr. 
Jefferson himself swayed an influence which 
was never exceeded even by Washington. 
Under his administration, in 1803, the Lou- 
isiana purchase was made, for $15,000,000, 
the " Louisiana Territory " purchased com- 
prising all the land west of the Mississippi 
to the Pacific Ocean. 

The year 1804 witnessed another severe 
loss in his family. His highly accomplished 
and most beloved daughter Maria sickened 
and died, causing as great grief in the 



stricken parent as it was possible for him to 
survive with any degree of sanity. 

The same year he was re-elected to the 
Presidency, with George Clinton as Vice- 
President. During his second term our 
relations with England became more com- 
plicated, and on June 22, 1807, near Hamp- 
ton Roads, the United States frigate 
Chesapeake was fired upon by the Brit- 
ish man-of-war Leopard, and was made 
to surrender. Three men were killed and 
ten wounded. Jefferson demanded repara- 
tion. England grew insolent. It became 
evident that war was determined upon by 
the latter power. More than 1,200 Ameri- 
cans were forced into the British service 
upon the high seas. Before any satisfactory 
solution was reached, Mr. Jefferson's 
Presidential term closed. Amid all these 
public excitements he thought constantly 
of the welfare of his family, and longed 
for the time when he could return home 
to remain. There, at Monticello, his sub- 
sequent life was very similar to that of 
Washington at Mt. Vernon. His hospi- 
tality toward his numerous friends, indul- 
gence of his slaves, and misfortunes to his 
property, etc., finally involved him in debt. 
For years his home resembled a fashion- 
able watering-place. During the summer, 
thirty-seven house servants were required! 
It was presided over by his daughter, Mrs. 
Randolph. 

Mr. Jefferson did much for the establish- 
ment of the University at Charlottesville, 
making it unsectarian, in keeping with the 
spirit of American institutions, but poverty 
and the feebleness of old age prevented 
him from doing what he would. He even 
went so far as to petition the Legislature 
for permission to dispose of some of his 
possessions by lottery, in order to raise the 
necessary funds for home expenses. It was 
granted ; but before the plan was carried 
out, Mr. Jefferson died, July 4, 1826, at 
12:50 I'. M. 



26 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 








'AMES MADISON, the 
four tli President of the 
United States, 1809-' 17, 
was born at Port Con- 
way, Prince George 
County, Virginia, March 
16, 1751. His father, 
Colonel James Madison, was 
a wealthy planter, residing 
upon a yery fine estate 
called " Montpelier," only 
twenty-five miles from the 
home of Thomas Jefferson 
at Monticello. The closest 
personal and political at- 
tachment existed between 
these illustrious men from their early youth 
until death. 

James was the eldest ol a family of seven 
children, four sons and three daughters, all 
of whom attained maturity. His early edu- 
cation was conducted mostly at home, 
under a private tutor. Being naturally in- 
tellectual in his tastes, he consecrated him- 
self with unusual vigor to study. At a very 
early age he made considerable proficiency 
in the Greek, Latin, French and Spanish 
languages. In 1769 he entered Princeton 
College, New Jersey, of which the illus- 
trious Dr. Weatherspoon was then Presi- 
dent. He graduated in 1771, with a char- 



acter of the utmost purity, and a mind 
highly disciplined and stored with all the 
learning which embellished and gave effi- 
ciency to his subsequent career. After 
graduating he pursued a course of reading 
for several months, under the guidance of 
President Weatherspoon, and in 1772 re- 
turned to Virginia, where he continued in 
incessant study for two years, nominally 
directed to the law, but really including 
extended researches in theology, philoso- 
phy and general literature. 

The Church of England was the estab- 
lished church in Virginia, invested with all 
the prerogatives and immunities which it 
enjoyed in the fatherland, and other de- 
nominations labored under serious disabili- 
ties, the enforcement of which was rightly 
or wrongly characterized by them as per- 
secution. Madison took a prominent stand 
in behalf of the removal of all disabilities, 
repeatedly appeared in the court of his own 
county to defend the Baptist nonconform- 
ists, and was elected from Orange County to 
the Virginia Convention in the spring of 
1766, when he signalized the beginning of 
his public career by procuring tin' passage 
of an amendment to the Declaration of 
Rights as prepared by George Mason, sub- 
stituting for "toleration" a more emphatic 
assertion of religious liberty. 




/ O^^-^- ■c/t ao^^r *^ 



• •. 




JAMES MAD/SON. 



ig 



In 1776 he was elected a member of the 
Virginia Convention to frame the Constitu- 
tion of the State. Like Jefferson, he took 
but little part in the public debates. His 
main strength lay in his conversational in- 
fluence and in his pen. In November, 1777, 
he was chosen a member of the Council of 
State, and in March, 1780, took his seat in 
the Continental Congress, where he first 
gained prominence through his energetic 
opposition to the issue of paper money by 
the States. He continued in Congress three 
years, one of its most active and influential 
members. 

In 1784 Mr. Madison was elected a mem- 
ber of the Virginia Legislature. He ren- 
dered important service by promoting and 
participating in that revision of the statutes 
which effectually abolished the remnants of 
the feudal system subsistent up to that 
time in the form of entails, primogeniture, 
and State support given the Anglican 
Church ; and his " Memorial and Remon- 
strance" against a general assessment for 
the support of religion is one of the ablest 
papers which emanated from his pen. It 
settled the question of the entire separation 
of church and State in Virginia. 

Mr. Jefferson says of him, in allusion to 
the study and experience through which he 
had already passed : 

" Trained in these successive schools, he 
acquired a habit of self-possession which 
placed at ready command the rich resources 
of his luminous and discriminating mind and 
of his extensive information, and rendered 
him the first of every assembly of which he 
afterward became a member. Never wan- 
dering from his subject into vain declama- 
tion, but pursuing it closely in language 
pure, classical and copious, soothing al- 
ways the feelings of his adversaries by civili- 
ties and softness of expression, he rose to the 
eminent station which he held in the great 
National Convention of 1787; and in that of 
/lrginia, which followed, he sustained the 



new Constitution in all its parts, bearing off 
the palm against the logic of George Mason 
and the fervid declamation of Patrick 
Henry. With these consummate powers 
were united a pure and spotless virtue 
which no calumny has ever attempted to 
sullv. Of the power and polish of his pen, 
and of the wisdom of his administration in 
the highest office of the nation, I need say 
nothing. They have spoken, and will for- 
ever speak, for themselves." 

In January, 1786, Mr. Madison took the 
initiative in proposing a meeting of State 
Commissioners to devise measures for more 
satisfactory commercial relations between 
the States. A meeting was held at An- 
napolis to discuss this subject, and but five 
States were represented. The convention 
issued another call, drawn up by Mr. Madi- 
son, urging all the States to send their dele- 
gates to Philadelphia, in May, 1787, to 
draught a Constitution for the United 
States. The delegates met at the time ap- 
pointed, every State except Rhode Island 
being represented. George Washington 
was chosen president of the convention, 
and the present Constitution of the United 
States was then and there formed. There 
was no mind and no pen more active in 
framing this immortal document than the 
mind and pen of James Madison. He was, 
perhaps, its ablest advocate in the pages of 
the Federalist. 

Mr. Madison was a member of the first 
four Congresses, 17S9-97, in which he main- 
tained a moderate opposition to Hamilton's 
financial policy. He declined the mission 
to France and the Secretaryship of State, 
and, gradually identifying himself with the 
Republican party, became from 1792 its 
avowed leader. In 1796 he was its choice 
for the Presidency as successor to Wash- 
ington. Mr. Jefferson wrote : " There is 
not another person in the United States 
with whom, being placed at the helm of our 
affairs, my mind would be so completely at 



3° 



PRES/DEXTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



rest for the fortune of our political bark." 
But Mr. Madison declined to be a candi- 
date. His term in Congress had expired, 
and he returned from New York to his 
beautiful retreat at Montpelier. 

In 1794 Mr. Madison married a young 
widow of remarkable powers of fascination 
— Mrs. Todd. Her maiden name was Doro- 
thy Paine. She was born in 1767, in Vir- 
ginia, of Quaker parents, and had been 
educated in the strictest rules of that sect. 
When but eighteen years of age she married 
a young lawyer and moved to Philadelphia, 
where she was introduced to brilliant scenes 
of fashionable life. She speedily laid aside 
the dress and address of the Quakeress, and 
became one of the most fascinating ladies 
of the republican court. In New York, 
alter the death of her husband, she was the 
belle of the season and was surrounded with 
admirers. Mr. Madison won the prize. 
She proved an invaluable helpmate. In 
Washington she was the life of society. 
If there was any diffident, timid young 
girl just making her appearance, she 
found in Mrs. Madison an encouraging 
friend. 

During the stormy administration of John 
Adams Madison remained in private life, 
but was the author of the celebrated " Reso- 
lutions of 1798," adopted by the Virginia 
Legislature, in condemnation of the Alien 
ami Sedition laws, as well as of the "report" 
in which he defended those resolutions, 
which is, by many, considered his ablest 
State paper. 

The storm passed away ; the Alien and 
Sedition laws were repealed, John Adams 
lost his re-election, and in 1801 Thomas Jef- 
ferson was chosen President. The great re- 
action in public sentiment which seated 
Jefferson in the presidential chair was large- 
ly owing to the writings of Madison, who 
was consequently well entitled to the post 
oi Secretary of State. With great ability 
be discharged the duties of this responsible 



office during the eight years of Mr. Jeffer 
son's administration. 

As Mr. Jefferson was a widower, and 
neither of his daughters could be often with 
him, Mrs. Madison usually presided over 
the festivities of the White House; and as 
her husband succeeded Mr. Jefferson, hold- 
ing his office for two terms, this remarkable 
woman was the mistress of the presidential 
mansion for sixteen years. 

Mi. Madison being entirely engrossed by 
the cares of his office, all the duties of so- 
cial life devolved upon his accomplished 
wife. Never were such responsibilities 
more ably discharged. The most bitter 
foes of her husband and of the administra- 
tion were received with the frankly prof- 
fered hand and the cordial smile of wel- 
come; and the influence of this gentle 
woman in allaying the bitterness of party 
rancor became a great and salutary power 
in the nation. 

As the term of Mr. Jefferson's Presidency 
drew near its close, party strife was roused 
to the utmost to elect his successor. It was 
a death-grapple between the two great 
parties, the Federal and Republican. Mr. 
Madison was chosen President by an elec 
toral vote of 122 to 53, and was inaugurated 
March 4, 1809, at a critical period, when 
the relations of the United States with Great 
Britain were becoming embittered, and his 
first term was passed in diplomatic quarrels, 
aggravated by the act of non-intercourse of 
May, 1 8 10, and finally resulting in a decla- 
ration of war. 

On the 1 8th of June, 1812, President 
Madison gave his approval to an act of 
Congress declaring war against Great Brit- 
ain. Notwithstanding the bitter hostility 
of the Federal party to the war, the country 
in general approved; and in the autumn 
Madison was re-elected to the Presidency 
by 128 electoral votes to So in favor (l | 
George Clinton. 

March 4, 1817, Madison yielded the Presi- 



yAMES MADISON. 



3> 



dency to his Secretary of State and inti- 
mate friend, James Monroe, and retired to 
his ancestral estate at Montpelier, where he 
passed the evening of his days surrounded 
by attached friends and enjoying the 
merited respect of the whole nation. He 
took pleasure in promoting agriculture, as 
president of the county society, and in 
watching the development of the University 
of Virginia, of which he was long rector and 
visitor. In extreme old age he sat in 1829 
as a member of the convention called to re- 
form the Virginia Constitution, where his 
appearance was hailed with the most gen- 
uine interest and! satisfaction, though he 
was too infirm io participate in the active 
work of revision. Small in stature, slender 
and delicate in form, with a countenance 
full of intelligence, and expressive alike of 
mildness and dignity, he attracted the atten- 
tion of all who attended the convention, 
and was treated with the utmost deference. 
He seldom addressed the assembly, though 
he always appeared self-possessed, and 
watched with unflagging interest the prog- 
ress of every measure. Though the con- 
vention sat sixteen weeks, he spoke only 
twice; but when he did speak, the whole 
house paused to listen. His voice was 
feeble though his enunciation was very dis- 
tinct. One of the reporters, Mr. Stansbury, 
relates the following anecdote of Mr. Madi- 
son's last speech: 

" The next day, as there was a great call 
for it, and the report had not been returned 
for publication, I sent my son with a re- 
spectful note, requesting the manuscript. 
My son was a lad of sixteen, whom I had 
taken with me to act as amanuensis. On 
delivering my note, he was received with 
the utmost politeness, and requested to 
come up into Mr. Madison's room and wait 
while his eye ran over the paper, as com- 
pany had prevented his attending to it. He 
did so, and Mr. Madison sat down to correct 
the report. The lad stood near him so that 



his eye fell on the paper. Coming to a 
certain sentence in the speech, Mr. Madison 
erased a word and substituted another ; but 
hesitated, and not feeling satisfied with the 
second word, drew his pen through it also. 
My son was young, ignorant of the world, 
and unconscious of the solecism of which he 
was about to be guilty, when, in all simplic- 
ity, he suggested a word. Probably no 
other person then living would have taken 
such a liberty. But the sage, instead of 
regarding such an intrusion with a frown, 
raised his eyes to the boy's face with a 
pleased surprise, and said, ' Thank you, sir ; 
it is the very word,' and immediately in- 
serted it. I saw him the next day, and he 
mentioned the circumstance, with a compli- 
ment on the young critic." 

Mr. Madison died at Montpelier, June 28, 
1836, at the advanced age of eighty-five. 
While not possessing the highest order of 
talent, and deficient in oratorical powers, 
he was pre-eminently a statesman, of a well, 
balanced mind. His attainments were solid, 
his knowledge copious, his judgment gener- 
ally sound, his powers of analysis and logi- 
cal statement rarely surpassed, his language 
and literary style correct and polished, his 
conversation witty, his temperament san- 
guine and trusfful, his integrity unques- 
tioned, his manners simple, courteous and 
winning. By these rare qualities he con- 
ciliated the esteem not only of friends, but 
of political opponents, in a greater degree 
than any American statesman in the present 
century. 

Mrs. Madison survived her husband thir- 
teen years, and died July 12, 1849, m the 
eighty-second year of her age. She was one 
of the most remarkable women our coun- 
try has produced. Even now she is ad- 
miringly remembered in Washington as 
" Dolly Madison," and it is fitting that her 
memory should descend to posterity in 
company with thatof the companion of 
her life. 



PIfES/DEXTS OF T//E UN/TED STATES. 




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'AMES MONROE, the fifth 
President of the United 
States, 1817-25, was born 
in Westmoreland County 
Virginia, April 28, 1758, 
He was a son of Spence 
Monroe, and a descendant 
of a Scottish cavalier fam- 
ily. Like all his predeces- 
sors thus far in the Presi- 
dential chair, he enjoyed all 
the advantages of educa- 
tion which the country 
could then afford. He was 
early sent to a fine classical 
school, and at the age of six- 
teen entered William and Mary College.. 
In 1776, when he had been in college but 
two years, the Declaration of Independence 
was adopted, and our feeble militia, with- 
out arms, amunition or clothing, were strug- 
gling against the trained armies of England. 
James Monroe left college, hastened to 
General Washington's headquarters at New 
York and enrolled himself as a cadet in the 
army. 

At Trenton Lieutenant Monroe so dis- 
tinguished himself, receiving a wound in his 
shoulder, that he was promoted to a Cap- 
taincy. Upon recovering from his wound, 
lie was invited to act as aide to Lord Ster- 
ling, and in that capacity he took an active 
part in the battles of Brandy wine, Ger- 
mantownand Monmouth. At Germantown 



he stood by the side of Lafayette when the 
French Marquis received his wound. Gen- 
eral Washington, who had formed a high 
idea of young Monroe's ability, sent him to 
Virginia to raise a new regiment, of which 
he was to be Colonel; but so exhausted was 
Virginia at that time that the effort proved 
unsuccessful. He, however, received his 
commission. 

Finding no opportunity to enter the army 
as a commissioned officer, he returned to his 
original plan of studying law, and entered 
the office of Thomas Jefferson, who was 
then Governor of Virginia. He developed 
a very noble character, frank, manly and 
sincere. Mr. Jefferson said of him: 

"James Monroe is so perfectly honest 
that if his soul were turned inside out there 
would not be found a spot on it." 

In 1782 he was elected to the Assembly 
of Virginia, and was also appointed a mem- 
ber of the Executive Council. The next 
year he was chosen delegate to the Conti- 
nental Congress for a term of three years. 
He was present at Annapolis when Wash- 
ington surrendered his commission of Com- 
mander-in-chief. 

With Washington, Jefferson and Madison 
he felt deeply the inefficiency of the old 
Articles of Confederation, and urged the 
formation of a new Constitution, which 
should invest the Central Government with 
something like national power. Influenced 
by these views, he introduced a resolution 




^?£>^7^*^7 A^^Z^ 



<^ 



WBUC UBr. 




JAMES MONROE. 



35 



that Congress should be empowered to 
regulate trade, and to lay an impost duty 
of five per cent. The resolution was refer- 
red to a committee of which he was chair- 
man. The report and the discussion which 
rose upon it led to the convention of five 
States at Annapolis, and the consequent 
general convention at Philadelphia, which, 
in 1787, drafted the Constitution of the 
United States. 

At this time there was a controversy be- 
tween New York and Massachusetts in 
reference to their boundaries. The high 
esteem in which Colonel Monroe was held 
is indicated by the fact that he was ap- 
pointed one of the judges to decide the 
controversy. While in New York attend- 
ing Congress, he married Miss Kortright, 
a young lady distinguished alike for her 
beauty and accomplishments. For nearly 
fifty years this happy union remained un- 
broken. In London and in Paris, as in her 
own country, Mrs. Monroe won admiration 
and affection by the loveliness of her per- 
son, the brilliancy of her intellect, and the 
amiability of her character. 

Returning to Virginia, Colonel Monroe 
commenced the practice of law at Freder- 
icksburg. He was very soon elected to a 
seat in the State Legislature, and the next 
year he was chosen a member of the Vir- 
ginia convention which was assembled to 
decide upon the acceptance or rejection of 
the Constitution which had been drawn up 
at Philadelphia, and was now submitted 
to the several States. Deeply as he felt 
the imperfections of the old Confederacy, 
he was opposed to the new Constitution, 
thinking, with many others of the Republi- 
can party, that it gave too much power to 
the Central Government, and not enough 
to the individual States. 

In 1789 he became a member of the 
United States Senate, which office he held 
acceptably to his constituents, and with 
honor to himself for four years. 



Having opposed the Constitution as not 
leaving enough power with the States, he, 
of course, became more and more identi- 
fied with the Republican party. Thus he 
found himself in cordial co-operation with 
Jefferson and Madison. The great Repub- 
lican party became the dominant power 
which ruled the land. 

George Washington was then President. 
England had espoused the cause of the 
Bourbons against the principles of the 
French Revolution. President Washing- 
ton issued a proclamation of neutrality be- 
tween these contending powers. France 
had helped us in the struggle for our lib- 
erties. All the despotisms of Europe were 
now combined to prevent the French 
from escaping from tyranny a thousandfold 
worse than that which we had endured. 
Colonel Monroe, more magnanimous than 
prudent, was anxious that we should help 
our old allies in their extremity. He vio- 
lently opposed the President's procla- 
mation as ungrateful and wanting in 
magnanimity. 

Washington, who could appreciate such 
a character, developed his calm, serene, 
almost divine greatness by appointing that 
very James Monroe, who was denouncing 
the policy of the Government, as the Minis- 
ter of that Government to the republic of 
France. He was directed by Washington 
to express to the French people our warm- 
est sympathy, communicating to them cor- 
responding resolves approved by the Pres- 
ident, and adopted by both houses of 
Congress. 

Mr. Monroe was welcomed by the Na- 
tional Convention in France with the most 
enthusiastic demonstrations of respect and 
affection. He was publicly introduced to 
that body, and received the embrace of the 
President, Merlin de Douay, after having 
been addressed in a speech glowing with 
congratulations, and with expressions of 
desire that harmony might ever exist be 



36 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



fevveen the two nations. The Hags of the 
two republics were intertwined in the hall 
of the convention. Mr. Monroe presented 
the American colors, and received those of 
France in return. The course which he 
pursued in Paris was so annoying to Eng- 
land and to the friends of England in 
this country that, near the close of Wash- 
ington's administration, Mr. Monroe, was 
recalled. 

After his return Colonel Monroe wrote a 
book of 400 pages, entitled " A View of the 
Conduct of the Executive in Foreign Af- 
fairs." In this work he very ably advo- 
cated his side of the question; but, with 
the magnanimity of the man, he recorded a 
warm tribute to the patriotism, ability and 
spotless integrity of John Jay, between 
whom and himself there was intense antag 
onism ; and in subsequent years he ex- 
pressed in warmest terms his perfect 
veneration for the character of George 
Washington. 

Shortly after his return to this country 
Colonel Monroe was elected Governor of 
Virginia, and held that office for three 
years, the period limited by the Constitu- 
tion. In 1802 he was an Envoy to France, 
and to Spain in 1805, and was Minister to 
England in 1803. In 1806 he returned to 
his quiet home in Virginia, and with his 
wife and children and an ample competence 
from his paternal estate, enjoyed a few years 
of domestic repose. 

In 1809 Mr. Jefferson's second term of 
office expired, and many of the Republican 
party were anxious to nominate James 
Monroe as his successor. The majority 
were in favor of Mr. Madison. Mr. Mon- 
roe withdrew his name and was soon after 
chosen a second time Governor of Virginia. 
He soon resigned that office to accept the 
position ol Secretary of State, offered him 
by President Madison. The correspond- 
ence which he then carried on with the 
British Government demonstrated that 



there was no hope of any peaceful adjust- 
ment of our difficulties with the cabinet of 
St. James. War was consequently declared 
in June, 1812. Immediately after the sack 
of Washington the Secretary of War re- 
signed, and Mr. Monroe, at the earnest 
request of Mr. Madison, assumed the ad- 
ditional duties of the War Department, 
without resigning his position as Secretary 
of State. It has been confidently stated, 
that, had Mr. Monroe's energies been in the 
War Department a few months earlier, the 
disaster at Washington would not have 
occurred. 

The duties now devolving upon Mr. Mon- 
roe were extremely arduous. Ten thou- 
sand men, picked from the veteran armies 
of England, were sent with a powerful fleet 
to New Orleans to acquire possession of 
the mouths of the Mississippi. Our finan- 
ces were in the most deplorable condition. 
The treasury was exhausted and our credit 
gone. And yet it was necessary to make 
the most rigorous preparations to meet the 
foe. In this crisis James Monroe, the Sec- 
retary of War, with virtue unsurpassed in 
Greek or Roman story, stepped forward 
and pledged his own individual credit as 
subsidiary to that of the nation, and thus 
succeeded in placing the city of New Or- 
leans in such a posture of defense, that it 
was enabled successfully to repel the in- 
v. der. 

Mr. Monroe was truly the armor-bearer 
ol President Madison, and the most efficient 
business man in his cabinet. His energy 
in the double capacity of Secretary, both 
of State and War, pervaded all the depart- 
ments of the country. He proposed to 
increase the army to 100,000 men, a meas- 
ure which he deemed absolutely necessary 
to save us from ignominious defeat, but 
which, at the same time, he knew would 
render his name so unpopular as to preclude 
the possibility of his being a successful can- 
didate for the Presidency. 



JAMES MONROE. 



37 



The happy result of the conference at 
Ghent in securing peace rendered the in- 
crease of the army unnecessary; but it is not 
too much to say that James Monroe placed 
in the hands of Andrew Jackson the 
weapon with which to beat off the foe at 
New Orleans. Upon the return of peace 
Mr. Monroe resigned the department of 
war, devoting himself entirely to the duties 
of Secretary of State. These he continued 
to discharge until the close of President 
Madison's administration, with zeal which 
was never abated, and with an ardor of 
self-devotion which made him almost for- 
getful of the claims of fortune, health or 
life. 

Mr. Madison's second term expired in 
March, 1817, and Mr. Monroe succeeded 
to the Presidency. He was a candidate of 
the Republican party, now taking the name 
of the Democratic Republican. In 1821 he 
was re-elected, with scarcely any opposition. 
Out cf 232 electoral votes, he received 231. 
The slavery question, which subsequently 
assumed such formidable dimensions, now 
began to make its appearance. The State 
of Missouri, which had been carved out of 
that immense territory which we had pur- 
chased of France, applied for admission to 
the Union, with a slavery Constitution. 
There were not a few who foresaw the 
evils impending. After the debate of a 
week it was decided that Missouri could 
not be admitted into the Union with slav- 
ery. This important question was at length 
settled by a compromise proposed by 
Henry Clay. 

The famous "Monroe Doctrine," of which 
so much has been said, originated in this 
way: In 1823 it was rumored that the 
Holy Alliance was about to interfere to 
prevent the establishment of Republican 
liberty in the European colonies of South 
America. President Monroe wrote to his 
old friend Thomas Jefferson for advice in 
the emergency. In his reply under date of 



October 24, Mr. Jefferson writes upon the 
supposition that our attempt to resist this 
European movement might lead to war: 

" Its object is to introduce and establish 
the American system of keeping out of our 
land all foreign powers; of never permitting 
those of Europe to intermeddle with the 
affairs of our nation. It is to maintain our 
own principle, not to depart from it." 

December 2, 1823, President Monroe 
sent a message to Congress, declaring it to 
be the policy of this Government not to 
entangle ourselves with the broils of Eu- 
rope, and not to allow Europe to interfere 
with the affairs of nations on the American 
continent; and the doctrine was announced, 
that any attempt on the part of the Euro- 
pean powers " to extend their system to 
any portion of this hemisphere would be 
regarded by the United States as danger- 
ous to our peace and safety." 

March 4, 1825, Mr. Monroe surrendered 
the presidential chair to his Secretary of 
State, John Quincy Adams, and retired, 
with the universal respect of the nation, 
to his private residence at Oak Hill, Lou- 
doun Count)', Virginia. His time had been 
so entirely consecrated to his country, that 
he had neglected his pecuniary interests, 
and was deeply involved in debt. The 
welfare of his country had ever been up- 
permost in his mind. 

For many years Mrs. Monroe was in such 
feeble health that she rarely appeared in 
public. In 1830 Mr. Monroe took up his 
residence with his son-in-law in New York, 
where he died on the 4th of July, 1831. 
The citizens of New York conducted his 
obsequies with pageants more imposing 
than had ever been witnessed there before. 
Our country will ever cherish his mem- 
ory with pride, gratefully enrolling his 
name in the list of its benefactors, pronounc- 
ing him the worth)' successor of the illus- 
trious men who had preceded him in the 
presidential chair. 



3S 



PHES/DENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 




■*T*r$&4r***- 



i ?3?? p ? ? rlrJrJrJ r j r j ?????p?? r ' ^^ ^^^?i f ??? Hg ^r' a!£ EHggggHgg?7 



♦itf^.^-* 



n Quiacy Adams, % 

^ ... ^ 





OHN QUINCY ADAMS, 
the sixth President of the 
United States, i825-'a, 
was born in the rural 
home of his honored 
father, John Adams, in 
Q u i n c y , Massachusetts, 
July ii, 1767. His mother, 
a woman of exalted worth, 
watched over his childhood 
during the almost constant 
absence of his father. He 
commenced his education 
at the village school, giving; 
at an early period indica- 
tions of superior mental en- 
dowments. 

When eleven years of age he sailed with 
his father for Europe, where the latter was 
associated with Franklin and Lee as Minister 
Plenipotentiary. The intelligence of John 
Quincy attracted the attention of these men 
and received from them flattering marks of 
attention. Mr. Adams had scarcely returned 
to this country in 1779 ere he was again 
sent abroad, and John Quincy again accom- 
panied him. On this voyage he commenced 
a diary, which practice he continued, with 
hut few interruptions, until liis death He 
journeyed with his father from Ferrol, in 
Spain, to Paris. Here he applied himself 
tor m\ months to study; then accompanied 



his father to Holland, where he entered, 
first a school in Amsterdam, and then the 
University of Leyden. In 1781, when only 
fourteen years of age, he was selected by 
Mr. Dana, our Minister to the Russian 
court, as his private secretary. In this 
school of incessant labor he spent fourteen 
months, and then returned alone to Holland 
through Sweden, Denmark, Hamburg and 
Bremen. Again he resumed his studies 
under a private tutor, at The Hague. 

In the spring of 1782 he accompanied his 
father to Paris, forming acquaintance with 
the most distinguished men on the Conti- 
nent. After a short visit to England, he re- 
turned to Paris and studied until May, 
1785, when he returned to America, leav- 
ing his father an embassador at the court 
of St. James. In 1786 he entered the jun- 
ior class in Harvard University, and grad- 
uated with the second honor of his class. 
The oration he delivered on this occasion, 
the " Importance of Public Faith to t he 
Well-being of a Community," was pub- 
lished — an event very rare in this or any 
other land. 

Upon leaving college at the age 01 twenty 
he studied law three years with the Hon. 
Theophilus Parsons in Newburyport. In 
1790 heopened alaw office in Boston. The 
profession was crowded with able men, and 
the fees were small. The first year he had 




3, 2. M 



A/HvJ 



JOJJN QU/NCr ADAMS. 



no clients, but not a moment was lost. The 
second year passed away, still no clients, 
and still he was dependent upon his parents 
for support. Anxiously he awaited the 
third year. The reward now came. Cli- 
ents began to enter his office, and before 
the end of the year he was so crowded 
with business that all solicitude respecting 
a support was at an end. 

When Great Britain commenced war 
against France, in 1793, Mr. Adams wrote 
some articles, urging entire neutrality on 
the part of the United States. The view 
was not a popular one. Many felt that as 
France had helped us, we were bound to 
help France. But President Washington 
coincided with Mr. Adams, and issued his 
proclamation of neutrality. His writings 
at this time in the Boston journals gave 
him so high a reputation, that in June, 
1794, he was appointed by Washington 
resident Minister at the Netherlands. In 
July, 1797, he left The Hague to go to Port- 
ugal as Minister Plenipotentiary. Wash- 
ington at this time wrote to his father, John 
Adams: 

" Without intending to compliment the 
father or the mother, or to censure any 
others, I give it as my decided opinion, 
that Mr. Adams is the most valuable char- 
acter we have abroad; and there remains 
no doubt in my mind that he will prove the 
ablest of our diplomatic corps." 

On his way to Portugal, upon his arrival 
in London, he met with dispatches direct- 
ing him to the court of Berlin, but request- 
ing him to remain in London until he should 
receive instructions. While waiting he 
was married to Miss Louisa Catherine John- 
son, to whom he had been previously en- 
gaged. Miss Johnson was a daughter of 
Mr. Joshua Johnson, American Consul 
in London, and was a lady endowed with 
that beauty and those accomplishments 
which fitted her to move in the elevated 
sphere for which she was destined. 



In July, 1799, having fulfilled all the pur- 
poses of his mission, Mr. Adams returned. 
In 1802 he was chosen to the Senate of 
Massachusetts from Boston, and then was 
elected Senator of the United States for six 
years from March 4, 1804. His reputation, 
his ability and his experience, placed him 
immediately among the most prominent 
and influential members of that body. He 
sustained the Government in its measures 
of resistance to the encroachments of Eng- 
land, destroying our commerce and insult- 
ing our flag. There was no man in America 
more familiar with the arrogance of the 
British court upon these points, and no 
one more resolved to present a firm resist- 
ance. This course, so truly patriotic, and 
which scarcely a voice will now be found 
to condemn, alienated him from the Fed- 
eral party dominant in Boston, and sub- 
jected him to censure. 

In 1 80S Mr. Adams was chosen professor 
of rhetoric in Harvard College. His lect- 
ures at this place were subsequently pub- 
lished. In 1809 he was sent as Minister to 
Russia. He was one of the commissioners 
that negotiated the treaty of peace with 
Great Britain, signed December 24, 1814, 
and he was appointed Minister to the court 
of St. James in 1815. In 1817 he became 
Secretary of State in Mr. Monroe's cabinet 
in which position he remained eight years. 
Few will now contradict the assertion that 
the duties of that office were never more 
ably discharged. Probably the most im- 
portant measure which Mr. Adams con- 
ducted was the purchase of Florida from 
Spain for $5,000,000. 

The campaign of 1824 was an exciting 
one. Four candidates were in the field. 
Of the 260 electoral votes that were cast, 
Andrew Jackson received ninety-nine; John 
Quincy Adams, eighty-four; William II. 
Crawford, fortv-one, and Henry Clay, 
thirty-seven. As there was no choice by 
the people, the question went to the House 



41 



PRES/DENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



of Representatives. Mr. Clay gave the 
vote of Kentucky to Mr. Adams, and he 
was elected. 

The friends of all disappointed candidates 
now combined in a venomous assault upon 
Mr. Adams. There is nothing more dis- 
graceful in the past history of our country 
than the abuse which was [toured in one 
uninterrupted stream upon this high- 
minded, upright, patriotic man. There was 
never an administration more pure in prin- 
ciples, more conscientiously devoted to t he- 
best interests of the country, than that of 
John Ouincy Adams; and never, perhaps, 
was there an administration more unscru- 
pulously assailed. Mr. Adams took his seat 
in the presidential chair resolved not to 
know any partisanship, but only to con- 
sult for the interests of the whole Republic, 

He refused to dismiss any man from of- 
fice for his political views. If he was a faith- 
ful officer that was enough. Bitter must 
have been his disappointment to find that t he 
Nation could not appreciate such conduct. 

Mr. Adams, in his public manners, was 
cold and repulsive; though with his per- 
sonal friends he was at times very genial. 
This chilling address very seriously de- 
tracted from his popularity. No one can 
read an impartial record of his administra- 
tion without admitting that a more noble 
example of uncompromising dignity can 
scarcely be found. It was stated publicly 
that Mr. Adams' administration was to be 
put clown, " though it be as pure as the an- 
gels which stand at the right hand of the 
throne of God." Many of the active par- 
ticipants in these scenes lived to regret the 
course they pursued. Some years after, 
Warren R. Davis, ol South Carolina, turn- 
ing to Mr. Adams, then a member oi the 
I louse of Representatives, said: 

" Well do 1 remember the enthusiastic 
zeal with which we reproached the admin- 
istration of that gentleman, and the ardor 
and vehemence with which we labored to 



bring in another. For the share I had in 
these transactions, and it was not a small 
one, I hope God will forgive me, for I shall 
//i-.rr forgive myself." 

March 4, 1829, Mr. Adams retired from 
the Presidency and was succeeded by An- 
drew Jackson, the latter receiving 168 out 
of 261 electoral votes. John C. Calhoun 
was elected Vice-President. The slavery 
question now began to assume pretentious 
magnitude. Mr. Adams returned to 
Quincy, and pursued his studies with una- 
bated zeal. But he was not long permitted 
to remain in retirement. In November, 
1830, he was elected to Congress. In this 
he recognized the principle that it is honor- 
able for the General of yesterday to act as 
Corporal to-day, if by so doing he can ren- 
der service to his country. Deep as are 
our obligations to John Ouincv Adams for 
his services as embassador, as Secretary ol 
State and as President; in his capacity as 
legislator in the House of Representa- 
tives, he conferred benefits upon our land 
which eclipsed all the rest, and which can 
never be over-estimated. 

For seventeen years, until his death, he 
occupied the post of Representative, tow- 
ering above all his peers, ever ready to do 
brave battle for freedom, and winning the 
title of " the old man eloquent." Upon 
taking his seat in the House he announced 
that he should hold himself bound to no 
party. lie was usually the first in his 
place in the morning, and the last to leave 
his seat in the evening. Not a measure 
could escape his scrutiny. The battle 
which he fought, almost singly, against the 
pro-slavcrv party in the Government, was 
sublime in its moral daring and heroism. 
For persisting in presenting petitions for 
the abolition of slavery, he was threatened 
with indictment by the Grand Jury, with 
expulsion from the House, with assassina- 
tion; but no threats could intimidate him, 
and his final triumph was complete. 



JOHN ^UINCr ADAMS. 



43 



On one occasion Mr. Adams presented a 
petition, signed by several women, against 
the annexation of Texas for the purpose of 
cutting it up into slave States. Mr. How- 
ard, of Maryland, said that these women 
discredited not only themselves, but their 
section of the country, by turning from 
their domestic duties to the conflicts of po- 
litical life. 

"Are women," exclaimed Mr. Adams, 
" to have no opinions or actions on subjects 
relating to the general welfare ? Where 
did the gentleman get his principle? Did 
he find it in sacred history, — in the language 
of Miriam, the prophetess, in one of the 
noblest and sublime songs of triumph thai 
ever met the human eye or ear? Did the 
gentleman never hear of Deborah, to whom 
the children of Israel came up for judg- 
ment ? Has he forgotten the deed of Jael, 
who slew the dreaded enemy of her coun- 
try ? Has he forgotten Esther, who, by her 
petition saved her people and her coun- 
t r v ? 

" To go from sacred history to profane, 
does the gentleman there find it ' discredita- 
ble ' for women to take an interest in politi- 
cal affairs? Has he forgotten the Spartan 
mother, who said to her son when going 
out to battle, ' My son, come back to me 
with thy shield, or upon thy shield ? ' Does 
he remember Cloelia and her hundred com- 
panions, who swam across the river une'er 
a shower of darts, escaping from Porsena ? 
Has he forgotten Cornelia, the mother of 
the Gracchi? Does he not remember Por- 
tia, the wife of Brutus and the daughter of 
Cato? 

" To come to later periods, what says the 
history of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors? 
To say nothing of Boadicea, the British 
heroine in the time of the Cresars, what 
name is more illustrious than that of Eliza- 
beth ? Or, if he will go to the continent, 
will he not find the names of Maria Theresa 
of Hungary, of the two Catherines of 



Prussia, and of Isabella of Castile, the pa- 
troness of Columbus ? Did she bring ' dis- 
credit ' on her sex by mingling in politics ? " 

In this glowing strain Mr. Adams si- 
lenced and overwhelmed his antagonists. 

In January, 1842, Mr. Adams presented 
a petition from forty-five citizens of Haver- 
hill, Massachusetts, praying for a peaceable 
dissolution of the Union. The pro-slavery 
party in Congress, who were then plotting 
the destruction of the Government, were 
aroused to a pretense of commotion such as 
even our stormy hall of legislation has 
rarely witnessed. They met in caucus, and, 
finding that the)' probably would not be 
able to expel Mr. Adams from the House 
drew up a series of resolutions, which, ii 
adopted, would inflict upon him disgrace, 
equivalent to expulsion. Mr. Adams had 
presented the petition, which was most re- 
spectfully worded, and had moved that it be 
referred to a committee instructed to re- 
port an answer, showing the reason why 
the prayer ought not to be granted. 

It was the 25th of January. The whole 
body of the pro-slavery party came crowd- 
ing together in the House, prepared to 
crush Mr. Adams forever. One of the num- 
ber, Thomas F. Marshall, of Kentucky, was 
appointed to read the resolutions, which 
accused Mr. Adams of high treason, of 
having insulted the Government, and 01 
meriting expulsion; but for which deserved 
punishment, the House, in its great mercy, 
would substitute its severest censure. With 
the assumption of a very solemn and mag- 
isterial air, there being breathless silence in 
the audience, Mr. Marshall hurled the care- 
fully prepared anathemas at his victim. 
Mr. Adams stood alone, the whole pro-slav- 
ery party against him. 

As soon as the resolutions were read, 
every eye being fixed upon him, that bold 
old man, whose scattered locks were whit- 
ened by seventy-five years, casting a wither- 
ing glance in the direction of his assailants. 



44 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



in a clear, shrill tone, tremulous with sup- 
pressed emotion, said: 

" In reply to this audacious, atrocious 
charge of high treason, I call for the read- 
ing of the first paragraph of the Declaration 
of Independence. Read it ! Read it! and 
see what that says of the rights of a people 
to reform, to change, and to dissolve their 
Government.' 

The attitude, the manner, the tone, the 
words; the venerable old man, with flash- 
ing eye and flushed cheek, and whose very 
form seemed to expand under the inspiration 
of the occasion — all presented a scene over- 
flowing in its sublimit v. There was breath- 
less silence as that paragraph was read, in 
defense of whose principles our fathers had 
pledged their lives, their fortunes and their 
sacred honor. It was a proud hour to Mr. 
Adams as they were all compelled to listen 
to the words: 

" That, to secure these rights, govern- 
ments are instituted anions: men, deriving 
their just powers from the consent of the 
governed; and that whenever any form of 
government becomes destructive of those 
ends, it is the right of the people to alter or 
abolish it, and to institute new government, 
laying ils foundations on such principles 
and organizing its powers in such form 
as shall seem most likelv to effect their 
safety and happiness." 

That one sentence routed and baffled the 



foe. The heroic old man looked around 
upon the audience, and thundered out, 
" Read that again!" It was again read. 
Then in a few fiery, logical words he stated 
his defense in terms which even prejudiced 
minds could not resist. His discomfited 
assailants made several attempts to rally. 
After a conflict of eleven days they gave 
up vanquished and their resolution was ig- 
nominiously laid upon the table. 

In January, 1846, when seventy-eight 
years of age, he took part in the great de- 
bate on the Oregon question, displaying 
intellectual vigor, and an extent and accu- 
racy of acquaintance with the subject that 
excited great admiration. 

On the 2 1 st of February, 1848, he rose on 
the floor of Congress with a paper in his 
hand to address the Speaker. Suddenly 
he fell, stricken by paralysis, and was caught 
in the arms of those around him. For a 
time he was senseless and was conveyed 
to a sofa in the rotunda. With reviving 
consciousness he opened his eyes, looked 
calmly around and said, " This is t lie end of 
earth." Then alter a moment's pause, he 
added, " I am content." These were his last 
words, and he soon breathed his last, in the 
apartment beneath the dome of the capitol 
— thetheaterol his labors and his triumphs. 
In the language of hymnology, he "died a1 
his post;" he " ceased al once to work and 
live." 






. 



§H 



.-.iitf-'W* *-'•*. 




/ / , >r/ r s , , \ _^7v r s£j~&7 v 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



47 









P^NDREW JACKSON, 

the seventh President 
of the United States, 
i82o-'37, was born at 
the Waxhaw Settle. 
■g^&« ment, Union Coun- 
7^ ty, North Carolina, 
March 16, 1767. His parents 
were Scotch-Irish, natives of 
Carrickfergus, who came to 
America in 1765, and settled 
on Twelve-Mile Creek, a trib- 
utary of the Catawba. His 
father, who was a poor farm 
laborer, died shortly before An- 
drew's birth, when his mother removed to 
Waxhaw, where some relatives resided. 

Few particulars of the childhood of Jack- 
son have been preserved. His education 
was of the most limited kind, and he showed 
no fondness for books. He grew up to be a 
tall, lank boy, with coarse hair and freck- 
led cheeks, with bare feet dangling from 
trousers too short for him, very fond of ath- 
letic sports, running, boxing and wrestling. 
He was generous to the younger and 
weaker boys, but very irascible and over- 
bearing with his equals and superiors. He 
was profane — a vice in which he surpassed 
all other men. The character of his mother 



he revered; and it was not until after her 
death that his predominant vices gained 
full strength. 

In 1780, at the age of thirteen, Andrew, 
or Andy, as he was called, with his brother 
Robert, volunteered to serve in the Revo- 
lutionary forces under General Sumter, and 
was a witness of the latter's defeat at Hang- 
ing Rock. In the following year the 
brothers were made prisoners, and confined 
in Camden, experiencing brutal treatment 
from their captors, and being spectators of 
General Green's defeat at Hobkirk Hill. 
Through their mother's exertions the boys 
were exchanged while suffering from small- 
pox. In two days Robert was dead, and 
And)' apparently dying. The strength of 
his constitution triumphed, and he regained 
health and vigor. 

As he was getting better, his mother 
heard the cry of anguish from the prison- 
ers whom the British held in Charleston, 
among whom were the sons of her sisters. 
She hastened to their relief, was attacked 
by fever, died and was buried where her 
grave could never be found. Thus Andrew 
Jackson, when fourteen years of age, was 
left alone in the world, without father, 
mother, sister or brother, and without one 
dollar which he could call his own. He 



4 8 



rifliS /DENTS OF Tr/H UNITED STATES. 



soon entered a saddler's shop, and hibored 
diligently for six months. But gradually, 
as health returned, he became more and 
more a wild, reckless, lawless boy. He 
gambled, drank and was regarded as about 
the worst character that could be found. 

lie now turned schoolmaster. He could 
teach the alphabet, perhaps the multiplica- 
tion table; and as he was a very bold boy, 
it is possible he might have ventured to 
teach a little writing. But he soon began to 
think of a profession and decided to study 
law. With a very slender purse, and on 
the back of a very tine horse, he set out 
for Salisbury, North Carolina, where he 
entered the law office of Mr. McCay. 
Here he remained two years, professedly 
studying law. He is still remembered in 
traditions of Salisbury, which say: 

" Andrew Jackson was the most roaring, 
rollicking, horse-racing, card-playing, mis- 
chievous fellow that ever lived in Salisbury. 
He did not trouble the law-books much." 

Andrew was now, at the age of twenty, 
a tall young man, being over six feet in 
height. He was slender, remarkably grace- 
ful and dignified in his manners, an exquis- 
ite horseman, and developed, amidst his 
loathesome profanity and multiform vices, a 
vein of rare magnanimity. His temper was 
fiery in the extreme; but it was said of him 
that no man knew better than Andrew 
Jackson when to get angry and when not. 

In 1786 he was admitted to the bar, anil 
two years later removed to Nashville, 
in what was then the western district of 
North Carolina, with the appointment of so- 
licitor, or public prosecutor. It was an of- 
fice of little honor, small emolument and 
great peril. Few men could be found to 
accept it. 

And now Andrew Jackson commenced 
vigorously to practice law. It was an im- 
portant part of his business to collect debts. 
[t required nerve. During the first seven 
of his residence in those wilds he 



traversed the almost pathless forest between 
Nashville and Jonesborough, a distance of 
200 miles, twenty-two times. Hostile In- 
dians were constantly on the watch, and a 
man was liable at any moment to be shot 
down in his own field. Andrew Jackson 
was just the man for this service— a wild, 
daring, rough backwoodsman. Daily he 
made hair-breadth escapes. He seemed to 
bear a charmed life. Boldly, alone or with 
few companions, he traversed the forests, 
encountering all perils and triumphing 
over all. 

In 1790 Tennessee became a Territory, 
and Jackson was appointed, by President 
Washington, United States Attorney for 
the new district. In 1791 he married Mrs. 
Rachel Robards (daughter of Colonel John 
Donelson), whom he supposed to have been 
divorced in that year by an act of the Leg- 
islature of Virginia. Two years after this 
Mr. and Mrs. Jackson learned, to their 
great surprise, that Mr. Robards had just 
obtained a divorce in one of the courts of 
Kentucky, and that the act of the Virginia 
Legislature was not final, but conditional. 
To remedy the irregularity as much as pos- 
sible, a new license was obtained and the 
marriage ceremony was again performed. 

It proved to be a marriage of rare felic- 
ity. Probablv there never was a more 
affectionate union. However rough Mr. 
Jackson might have been abroad, he was 
always gentle and tender at home; and 
through all the vicissitudes of their lives, he 
treated Mrs. Jackson with the most chival- 
ric attention. 

Under the circumstances it was not un- 
natural that the facts in the case of this 
marriage were so misrepresented by oppo- 
nents in the political campaigns a quarter 
or a century later as to become the basis 
of serious charges against Jackson's moral- 
ity which, however, have been satisfactorily 
attested by abundant evidence. 

Jackson was untiring in Ins duties as 



AX DREW JACKSON. 



49 



United States Attorney, which demanded 
frequent journeys through the wilderness 
and exposed him to Indian hostilities. He 
acquired considerable property in land, and 
obtained such influence as to be chosen 
a member of the convention which framed 
the Constitution for the new State of Ten- 
nessee, in 1796, and in that year was elected 
its first Representative in Congress. Albert 
Gallatin thus describes the first appearance 
of the Hon. Andrew Jackson in the House: 

" A tall, lank, uncouth-looking personage, 
with locks of hair hanging over his face and 
a cue down his back, tied with an eel skin; 
his dress singular, his manners and deport- 
ment those of a rough backwoodsman." 

Jackson was an earnest advocate of the 
Democratic part}'. Jefferson was his idol. 
He admired Bonaparte, loved France and 
hated England. As Mr. Jackson took his 
seat, General Washington, whose second 
term of office was just expiring, delivered 
his last speech to Congress. A committee 
drew up a complimentary address in reply. 
Andrew Jackson did not approve the ad- 
dress and was one of twelve who voted 
against it. 

Tennessee had fitted out an expedition 
against the Indians, contrary to the policy 
of the Government. A resolution was intro- 
duced that the National Government 
should pay the expenses. Jackson advo- 
cated it and it was carried. This rendered 
him very popular in Tennessee. A va- 
cancy chanced soon after to occur in the 
Senate, and Andrew Jackson was chosen 
United States Senator by the State of Ten- 
nessee. John Adams was then President 
and Thomas Jefferson, Vice-President. 

In 1798 Mr. Jackson returned to Tennes- 
see, and resigned his seat in the Senate. 
Soon after he was chosen Judge of the Su- 
preme Court of that State, with a salary of 
$600. This office he held six years. It is 
said that his decisions, though sometimes 
ungrammatical, were generally right. He 



did not enjoy his seat upon the bench, and 
renounced the dignity in 1804. About 
this time he was chosen Major-General of 
militia, and lost the title of judge in that of 
General. 

When he retired from the Senate Cham- 
ber, he decided to try his fortune through 
trade. He purchased a stock of goods in 
Philadelphia and sent them to Nashville, 
where he opened a store. He lived about 
thirteen miles from Nashville, on a tract of 
land of several thousand acres, mostly un- 
cultivated. He used a small block-house 
for a store, from a narrow window of 
which he sold goods to the Indians. As he 
had an assistant his office as judge did not 
materially interfere with his business. 

As to slavery, born in the midst of it, the 
idea never seemed to enter his mind that it 
could be wrong. He eventually became 
an extensive slave owner, but he was one of 
the most humane and gentle of masters. 

In 1804 Mr. Jackson withdrew from pol- 
itics and settled on a plantation which he 
called the Hermitage, near Nashville. He 
set up a cotton-gin, formed a partnership 
and traded in New Orleans, making the 
voyage on flatboats. Through his hot tem- 
per he became involved in several quarrels 
and "affairs of honor," during this period, 
in one of which he was severely wounded, 
but had the misfortune to kill his opponent, 
Charles Dickinson. For a time this affair 
greatly injured General Jackson's popular- 
ity. The verdict then was, and continues 
to be, that General Jackson was outra- 
geously wrong. If he subsequently felt any 
remorse he never revealed it to anyone. 

In 1805 Aaron Burr had visited Nash- 
ville and been a guest of Jackson, with 
whom he corresponded on the subject of a 
war with Spain, which was anticipated and 
desired by them, as well as by the people 
of the Southwest generally. 

Burr repeated his visit in September, 
1806, when he engaged in the celei^ated 



5° 



PRE.t/DEXTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



combinations which led to his trial for trea- 
son. He was warmly received by Jackson, 
at whose instance a public ball was given 
in his honor at Nashville, and contracted 
with the latter for boats and provisions. 
Early in 1807, when Burr had been pro- 
claimed a traitor by President Jefferson, 
volunteer forces for the Federal service 
were organized at Nashville under Jack- 
son's command; but his energy and activ- 
ity did not shield him from suspicions of 
connivance in the supposed treason. He 
was summoned to Richmond as a witness 
in Burr's trial, but was not called to the 
stand, probably because he was out-spoken 
in his partisanship. 

On the outbreak of the war with Great 
Britain in 1812, Jackson tendered his serv- 
ices, and in January, 18 13, embarked for 
New Orleans at the head of the Tennessee 
contingent. In March he received an or- 
der to disband his forces; but in Septem- 
ber he again took the field, in the Creek 
war, and in conjunction with his former 
partner, Colonel Coffee, inflicted upon the 
Indians the memorable defeat at Talladega, 
Emuckfaw and Tallapoosa. 

In May, 1814, Jackson, who had now ac- 
quired a national reputation, was appointed 
a Major-General of the United States army, 



against the Seminoles of Florida, during 
which he seized upon Pensacola and exe- 
cuted by courtmartial two British subjects, 
Arbuthnot and Ambrister — acts which 
might easily have involved the United 
States in war both with Spain and Great 
Britain. Fortunately the peril was averted 
by the cession of Florida to the United 
States; and Jackson, who had escaped a 
trial for the irregularity of his conduct 
only through a division of opinion in Mon- 
roe's cabinet, was appointed in 1821 Gov- 
ernor of the new Territory. Soon after he 
declined the appointment of minister to 
Mexico. 

In 1823 Jackson was elected to the United 
States Senate, and nominated by the Ten- 
nessee Legislature for the 1 'resiliency. This 
candidacy, though a matter of surprise, and 
even merryment, speedily became popular, 
and in 1824, when the stormy electoral can- 
vas resulted in the choice of John Quincy 
Adams bv the House of Representatives, 
General Jackson received the largest popu- 
lar vote among the four candidates. 

In 1828 Jackson was triumphantly elected 
President over Adams after a campaign of 
unparalleled bitterness. He was inaugu- 
rated March 4, 1829, and at once removed 
from office all the incumbents belonsrinir to 



and commenced a campaign against the the opposite party — a procedure new to 



British in Florida. He conducted the de- 
fense at Mobile, September 1 5, seized upon 
Pensacola, November 6, and immediately 
transported the bulk of his troops to New 
Orleans, then threatened by a powerful 
naval force. Martial law was declared in 
Louisiana, the State militia was called to 
arms, engagements with the British were 
ton- lit December 23 and 28, and after re-en- 
forcements had been received on both sides 
the famous victory of January 8, 1815, 
rowned Jackson's fame as a soldier, and 
made him the typical American hero ol 
the first hall of the nineteenth century. 
In 1 8 1 7—' 1 8 Jackson conducted the war 



American politics, but which naturally be- 
came a precedent. 

His first term was characterized by quar- 
rels between the Vice-President, Calhoun, 
and the Secretary of State, Van Buren, at- 
tended bv a cabinet crisis originating in 
scandals connected with the name of Mrs. 
General Eaton, wife of the Secretary of 
\\';ii; bv the beginning ol his war upon the 
United States Bank, and bv his vigorous 
action against the partisans ol Calhoun, 
who, in South Carolina, threatened to 
nullify the acts ol Congress, establishing a 
protective tariff. 

In the Presidential campaign <>i 1832 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



51 



Jackson received 219 out of 288 electoral 
votes, his competitor being Mr. Clay, while 
Mr. Wirt, on an Anti-Masonic platform, 
received the vote of Vermont alone. In 
1833 President Jackson removed the Gov- 
ernment deposits from the United States 
bank, thereby incurring a vote of censure 
from the Senate, which was, however, ex- 
punged four years later. During this second 
term of office the Cherokees, Choctaws and 
Creeks were removed, not without diffi- 
culty, from Georgia, Alabama and Missis- 
sippi, to the Indian Territory; the National 
debt was extinguished; Arkansas and 
Michigan were admitted as States to the 
Union; the Seminole war was renewed; the 
anti-slavery agitation first acquired impor- 
tance; the Mormon delusion, which had 
organized in 1829, attained considerable 
proportions in Ohio and Missouri, and the 
country experienced its greatest pecuniary 
panic. 

Railroads with locomotive propulsion 
were irtroduced into America during Jack- 
son's first term, and had become an impor- 
tant element of national life before the 
close of his second term. For many rea- 
sons, therefore, the administration of Presi- 
dent Jackson formed an era in American 
history, political, social and industrial. 
He succeeded in effecting the election of 



his friend Van Buren as his successor, re- 
tired from the Presidency March 4, 1837; 
and led a tranquil life at the Hermitage 
until his death, which occurred June 8, 
1845. 

During his closing years he was a pro- 
fessed Christian and a member of the Pres- 
byterian church. No American of this 
century has been the subject of such oppo- 
site judgments. He was loved and hated 
with equal vehemence during his life, but 
at the present distance of time from his 
career, while opinions still vary as to the 
merits of his public acts, few of his country- 
men will question that he was a warm- 
hearted, brave, patriotic, honest and sincere 
man. If his distinguishing qualities were 
not such as constitute statesmanship, in the 
highest sense, he at least never pretended 
to other merits than such as were written 
to his credit on the page of American his- 
tory — not attempting to disguise the de- 
merits which were equally legible. The 
majority of his countrymen accepted and 
honored him, in spite of all that calumny 
as well as truth could allege against him. 
His faults may therefore be truly said to 
have been those of his time; his magnifi- 
cent virtues may also, with the same jus- 
tice, be considered as typical of a state of 
society which has nearly passed away. 



5* 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UXITED STATES. 




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ARTIN VAN BU- 
REN, the eighth 
^t President of the 
United States, 1837- 
'41, was born at Kin- 
derhook, New York, 
December 5, 1782. 
1 1 is ancestors were of Dutch 
IK origin, and were among the 
\f-\ earliest emigrants from Hol- 
K land to the banks of the 
K Hudson. His father was a 
|« tavern-keeper, as well as a 
Crtfe. farmer, and a very decided 
Democrat. 
Martin commenced the Study 
of law at the age of fourteen, and took an 
active part in politics before he had reached 
the age of t went v. tn 1803 he commenced 
the practice of law in his native village. 
In 1809 he removed to Hudson, the shire 
town of his county, where he spent seven 
years, gaining strength by contending in 
the courts with some of the ablest men 
who have adorned the bar ol his State. 
The heroic example ol JohnQuincy Adams 
in retaining in office every faithful man, 
without regard to his political preferences, 
had been thoroughly repudiated by Gen- 
eral Jackson. The unfortunate principle 
was now fully established, that "to the 
victor belong the spoils." Still, this prin- 
ciple, to which Mr. Van Buren gave his ad- 



herence, was not devoid of inconveniences. 
When, subsequently, he attained power 
which placed vast patronage in his hands. 
he was heard to say : " I prefer an office 
that has no patronage. When 1 give a man 
an office I offend his disappointed competi- 
tors and their friends. Nor am I certain oi 
gaining a friend in the man I appoint, for. 
in all probability, he expected something 
better." 

In 181 j Mr. Van Buren was elected to 
the State Senate. In [815 he was appointed 
Attorney-General, and in 18 16 to the Senate 
a second time. In 1818 there was a great 
split in the Democratic party in New York, 
and Mr. Van Buren took the lead in or- 
ganizing that portion of the party called 
the Albany Regency, which is said to have 
swayed the destinies of the State for a 
quarter of a century. 

In 1821 he was chosen a member ol the 
convention for revising the State Constitu- 
tion, in which he advocated an extension of 
the franchise, but opposed universal suf- 
frage, and also favored the proposal that 
colored persons, in order to vote, should 
have freehold property to the amount of 
$250. In this year he was also elected to 
the United Slates Senate, and at the con- 
clusion ol his term, in 1S27. was re-elected, 
hut resigned the following year, having 
been chosen Governor of the State. In 
March, 1820. he was appointed Secretary of 




O 7 2^^ 




MARTIN VAN BUREN. 



State by President Jackson, but resigned 
in April, 1831, and during the recess of 
Congress was appointed minister to Eng- 
land, whither he proceeded in September, 
but the Senate, when convened in Decem- 
ber, refused to ratify the appointment. 

In May, 1832, Mr. Van Buren was nomi- 
nated as the Democratic candidate for Vice- 
President, and elected in the following 
November. May 26, 1836, he received the 
nomination to succeed General Jackson as 
President, and received 170 electoral votes, 
out of 283. 

Scarcely had he taken his seat in the 
Presidential chair when a financial panic 
swept over the land. Many attributed 
this to the war which General Jackson had 
waged on the banks, and to his endeavor to 
secure an almost exclusive specie currency. 
Nearly every bank in the country was com- 
pelled to suspend specie payment, and ruin 
pervaded all our great cities. Not less than 
254 houses failed in New York in one week. 
All public works were brought to a stand, 
and there was a general state of dismay. 
President Van Buren urged the adoption of 
the independent treasury system, which 
was twice passed in the Senate and defeated 
in the House, but fir.ally became a law near 
the close of hie rxlministration. 

Another important measure was the pass- 
age of a pre-emption law, giving actual set- 
tlers the preference in the purchase of 
public lands. The question of slavery, also, 
now began to assume great prominence in 
national politics, and after an elaborate 
anti-slavery speech by Mr. Slade, of Ver- 
mont, in the House of Representatives, the 
Southern members withdrew for a separate 
consultation, at which Mr. Rhett, of South 
Carolina, proposed to declare it expedient 
that the Union should be dissolved; but 
the matter was tided over by the passage 
of a resolution that no petitions or papers 
relating to slavery should be in any way 
considered or acted upon. 



In the Presidential election of 1840 Mr. 
Van Buren was nominated, without opposi- 
tion, as the Democratic candidate, William 
H. Harrison being the candidate of the 
Whig party. The Democrats carried only 
seven States, and out of 294 electoral votes 
only sixty were for Mr. Van Buren, the re- 
maining 234 being for his opponent. The 
Whig popular majority, however, was not 
large, the elections in many of the States 
being very close. 

March 4, 1841, Mr. Van Buren retired 
from the Presidency. From his fine estate 
at Lindenwald he still, exerted a powerful 
influence upon the politics of the country. 
In 1844 he was again proposed as the 
Democratic candidate for the Presidency, 
and a majority of the delegates of the 
nominating convention were in his favor ; 
but, owing to his opposition to the pro- 
posed annexation of Texas, he could not 
secure the requisite two-thirds vote. His 
name was at length withdrawn by his 
friends, and Mr. Polk received the nomina- 
tion, and was elected. 

In 1848 Mr. Cass was the regular Demo- 
cratic candidate. A schism, however, 
sprang up in the party, upon the question 
of the permission of slavery in the newly- 
acquired territory, and a portion of the 
party, taking the name of " Free-Soilers," 
nominated Mr. Van Buren. They drew 
away sufficient votes to secure the election 
of General Taylor, the Whig candidate. 
After this Mr. Van Buren retired to his es- 
tate at Kinderhook, where the remainder 
of his life was passed, with the exception of 
a European tour in 1853. He died at 
Kinderhook, July 24, 1862, at the age of 
eighty years. 

Martin Van Buren was a great and good 
man, and no one will question his right to 
a high position among those who have 
been the successors of Washington in the 
faithful occupancy of the Presidential 
chair. 



c6 



P/1ES/DENTS OF THE U.V/TED STATES. 





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WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. f 







LLIAM HENRY 
HARRISON, the 
ninth President (if 
the United States, 
i 84 i, was born 
February 9, 1773, 
in Charles County, 
Virginia, at Berkeley, the resi- 
dence of his father, Governor 
Benjamin Harrison. He studied 
at Hampden, Sidney College, 
with a view of entering the med- 
ical profession. After gradual ion 
he went to Philadelphia to study 
medicine under the instruction of 
Dr. Rush. 
George Washington was then President 
){ the United States. The Indians were 
committing fearful ravages on our North- 
western frontier. Young Harrison, cither 
lured by the love of adventure, or moved 
by the sufferings of families exposed to the 
most horrible outrages, abandoned his med- 
ical studies and entered the army, having 
obtained a commission of ensign from Pres- 
ident Washington. The first duty assigned 
him was to take a train of pack-horses 
hound to Fort Hamilton, on the Miami 
River, about forty miles from Fort Wash- 
ington. He was soon promoted to the 



rank of Lieutenant, and joined the army 
which Washington had placed under the 
command of General Wayne to prosecute 
more vigorously the war with the In- 
dians. Lieutenant Harrison received great 
commendation from his commanding offi- 
cer, and was promoted to the rank of 
Captain, and placed in command at Fort 
Washington, now Cincinnati, Ohio. 

About this time he married a daughter 
of John Cleves Sy mines, one of the fron- 
tiersmen who had established a thriving 
settlement on the bank of the Maumee. 

In 1797 Captain Harrison resigned his 
commission in the army and was appointed 
Secretarv of the Northwest Territory, and 
ex-officio Lieutenant-Governor, General St. 
Clair being then Governor of the Territory. 
At that time the law in reference to the 
disposal of the public lands was such that 
no one could purchase in tracts less than 
4,000 acres. Captain Harrison, in the 
face of violent opposition, succeeded in 
obtaining so much of a modification of 
this unjust law that the land was sold in 
alternate tracts of 640 and 320 acres. The 
Northwest Territory was then entitled 
to one delegate in Congress, and Cap- 
tain Harrison was chosen to fill that of- 
fice. In 1800 he was appointed Governor 




& Jt/9t 



<z- 



WILLIAM IIENRT HARRISON. 



59 



of Indiana Territory and soon after of 
Upper Louisiana. He was also Superin- 
tendent of Indian Affairs, and so well did lie 
fulfill these duties that he was four times 
appointed to this office. During his admin- 
istration he effected thirteen treaties with 
the Indians, by which the United States 
acquired 60,000,000 acres of land. In 1804 
he obtained a cession from the Indians of 
all the land between the Illinois River and 
the Mississippi. 

In [812 he was made Major-General of 
Kentucky militia and Brigadier-General 
111 the army, with the command of the 
Northwest frontier. In 1813 he was made 
Major-General, and as such won much re- 
nown by the defense of Fort Meigs, and the 
battle of the Thames, Octobers, 1813. In 
1S14 he left the army and was employed in 
Indian affairs by the Government. 

In 18 16 General Harrison was chosen a 
member of the National House of Repre- 
sentatives to represent the district of Ohio. 
In the contest which preceded his election 
he was accused of corruption in respect to 
the commissariat of the army. Immedi- 
ately upon taking his seat, he called for an 
investigation of the charge. A committee 
was appointed, and his vindication was 
triumphant. A high compliment was paid 
to his patriotism, disinterestedness and 
devotion to the public service. For these 
services a gold medal was presented to him 
with the thanks of Congress. 

In 1819 he was elected to the Senate of 
Ohio, and in 1824, as one of the Presiden- 
tial electors of that State, he gave his vote 
to Henry Clay. In the same year he was 
elected to the Senate of the United States. 
In 182S he was appointed by President 
Adams minister plenipotentiary to Colom- 
bia, but was recalled by General Jackson 
immediately after the inauguration of the 
latter. 

Upon his return to the United States, 
General Harrison retired to his farm at 



North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio, six- 
teen miles below Cincinnati, where for 
twelve years he was clerk of the County 
Court. He once owned a distillery, but 
perceiving the sad effects of whisky upon 
the surrounding population, he promptly 
abandoned his business at great pecuniary 
sacrifice. 

In 1836 General Harrison was brought 
forward as a candidate for the Presidency. 
Van Buren was the administration candi- 
date; the opposite party could not unite, 
and four candidates were brought forward. 
General Harrison received seventy-three 
electoral votes without an}' general concert 
among his friends. The Democratic party 
triumphed and Mr. Van Buren was chosen 
President. In 1839 General Harrison was 
again nominated for the Presidency by the 
Whigs, at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Mr. 
Van Buren being the Democratic candi- 
date. General Harrison received 234 elec- 
toral votes against sixty for his opponent. 
This election is memorable chiefly for the 
then extraordinary means employed during 
the canvass for popular votes. Mass meet- 
ings and processions were introduced, and 
the watchwords " log cabin " and " hard 
cider" were effectually used by the Whigs, 
and aroused a popular enthusiasm. 

A vast concourse of people attended his 
inauguration. His address on that occasion 
was in accordance with his antecedents, and 
gave great satisfaction. A short time after he 
took his seat, he was seized by a pleurisy- 
fever, and after a few days of violent sick- 
ness, died April 4, just one short month after 
his inauguration. His death was universally 
regarded as one of the greatest of National 
calamities. Never, since the death of 
Washington, were there, throughout one 
land, such demonstrations of sorrow. Not 
one single spot can be found to sully his 
fame; and through all ages Americans will 
pronounce with love and reverence the 
name of William Henry Harrison. 



r« 



PIIES/DEXTS OF THE UN/TED STATES. 




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OIIN TYLER, the tenth 
President of the United 
States, was born in 
Charles City County, 
Virginia, March 29, 1790. 
His father, Judge John 
Tyler, possessed large 
landed estates in Virginia, 
and was one of the most 
distinguished men of his 
day, filling the offices of 
Speaker of the House of 
Delegates, Judge of the Su- 
preme Court and Governor 
of the State. 
At the early age of twelve 
young John entered William and Mary 
College, and graduated with honor when 
but seventeen years old. He then closely 
applied himself to the study of law, and at 
nineteen years of age commenced the prac- 
tice of his profession. When only twenty- 
One he was elected to a scat in the State 
Legislature. He acted with the Demo- 
cratic party and advocated the measures of 
Jefferson and Madison. For five years he 
was elected to the Legislature, receiving 
nearly the unanimous vote of his county. 

When but twenty-six years of age he was 
elected a member of Congress. He advo- 
cated a strict construction 11I the Constitu- 
tion and the most careful vigilance over 



State rights. He was soon compelled to 
resign his seat in Congress, owing to ill 
health, but afterward took his seat in the 
State Legislature, where he exerted a 
powerful influence in promoting public 
works of great utility. 

In 1825 Mr. Tyler was chosen Governor 
of his State — a high honor, for Virginia 
had many able men as competitors for 
the prize. His administration was signally 
a successful one. He urged forward inter- 
nal improvements and strove to remove 
sectional jealousies. His popularity secured 
his re-election. In 1827 he was elected 
United States Senator, and upon taking his 
seat joined the ranks of the opposition. He 
opposed the tariff, voted against the bank 
as unconstitutional, opposed ail restrictions 
upon slavery, resisted all projects of inter- 
nal improvements by the General Govern- 
ment, avowed his sympathy with Mr. Cal- 
houn's views of nullification, and declared 
that General Jackson, by his opposition to 
the milliners, had abandoned the principles 
of the Democratic party. Such was Mr. 
Tyler's record in Congress. 

This hostility to Jackson caused Mr. 
Tyler's retirement from the Senate, after 
his election to a second term. He soon 
after removed to Williamsburg for the 
better education of his children, and again 
took his scat in the Legislature. 





(rfi/rt 




JOHN TYLER. 



63 



lii 1839 he was sent to the National Con- 
vention at Harrisburg to nominate a Presi- 
dent. General Harrison received a majority 
of votes, much to the disappointment of the 
South, who had wished for Henry Cla}'. 
In order to conciliate the Southern Whigs, 
John Tyler was nominated for Vice-Presi- 
dent. Harrison and Tyler were inaugu- 
rated March 4, 1841. In one short month 
from that time President Harrison died, 
and Mr. Tyler, to his own surprise as well 
as that of the nation, found himself an 
occupant of the Presidential chair. His 
position was an exceedingly difficult one, 
as he was opposed to the main principles of 
the party which had brought him into 
power. General Harrison had selected a 
Whig cabinet Should he retain them, and 
thus surround himself with councilors 
whose views were antagonistic to his own? 
or should he turn against the party that 
had elected him, and select a cabinet in 
hai ony with himself? This was his fear- 
ful dilemma. 

President Tyler deserves more charity 
than he has received. He issued an address 
to the people, which gave general satisfac- 
tion. He retained the cabinet General 
Harrison had selected. His veto of a bill 
chartering a new national bank led to an 
open quarrel with the party which elected 
him, and to a resignation of the entire 
cabinet, except Daniel Webster, Secretary 
of State. 

President Tyler attempted to conciliate. 
He appointed a new cabinet, leaving out all 
strong party men, but the Whig members 
of Congress were not satisfied, and they 
published a manifesto September 13, break- 
ing off all political relations. The Demo- 
crats had a majority in the House ; the 
Whigs in the Senate. Mr. Webster soon 
found it necessary to resign, being forced 
out by the pressure of his Whig friends. 

April 12, 1844, President Tyler concluded, 
through Mr. Calhoun, a treaty for the an- 



nexation of Texas, which was rejected by 
the Senate ; but he effected his object in the 
closing days of his administration by the 
passage of the joint resolution of March 1 
1845. 

He was nominated for the Presidency by 
an informal Democratic Convention, held 
at Baltimore in May, 1844, but soon with- 
drew from the canvass, perceiving that he 
had not gained the confidence of the Demo- 
crats at large. 

Mr. Tyler's administration was particu- 
larly unfortunate. No one was satisfied. 
Whigs and Democrats alike assailed him. 
Situated as he was, it is more than can 
be expected of human nature that he 
should, in all cases, have acted in the wisest 
manner ; but it will probably be the verdict 
of all candid men, in a careful review of his 
career, that John Tyler was placed in a 
position of such difficulty that he could not 
pursue any course which would not expose 
him to severe censure and denunciation. 

In 18 1 3 Mr. Tyler married Letitia Chris- 
tian, who bore him three sons and three 
daughters, and died in Washington in 1842. 
June 26, 1844, he contracted a second mar- 
riage with Miss Julia Gardner, of New 
York. He lived in almost complete retire- 
ment from politics until February, 1S61, 
when he was a member of the abortive 
"peace convention," held at Washington, 
and was chosen its President. Soon after 
he renounced his allegiance to the United 
States and was elected to the Confederate 
Congress. He died at Richmond, January 
17, 1862, after a short illness. 

Unfortunately for his memory the name 
of John Tyler must forever be associated 
with all the misery of that terrible Re- 
bellion, whose cause he openly espoused. 
It is with sorrow that history records that 
a President of the United States died while 
defending the flag of rebellion, which was 
arrayed against the national banner in 
deadly warfare. 



<M 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 








gffefegZjr y^'A M E S K N O X I'O LK, 
the eleventh President of 
the United States, 1845- 
'49, was born in Meck- 
lenburg County, Ninth 
Carolina, November 2, 
1795. He was the eldest 
son of a family of six sons 
and four daughters, and was 
a grand-nephew of Colonel 
Thomas Polk, celebrated in 
connection with the Meck- 
lenburg Declaration of In- 
dependence. 

In 1806 his fat her, Samuel 
Polk, emigrated with his fam- 
ily two or three hundred miles west to the 
valley of the Duck River. He was a sur- 
veyor as well as farmer, and gradually in- 
creased in wealth until he became one of 
the leading men of the region. 

In the common schools James rapidly be- 
came proficient in all the common branches 
of an English education. In 1813 he was 
sent to Murfreesboro Academy, and in the 
autumn of 181 5 entered the sophomore class 
in the University ol North Carolina, at 
Chapel Hill, graduating in 1818. After a 
short season of recreation he went to Nash- 
ville and entered the law office of Felix 
Grundv. As sodh as be had his finished 



legal studies and been admitted to the bar, 
he returned to Columbia, the shire town of 
Maury County, and opened an office. 

James K. Polk ever adhered to the polit- 
ical faith of his father, which was that of 
a Jeffersonian Republican. In 1823 he was 
elected to the Legislature of Tennessee. As 
a "strict constructionist," he did not think 
that the Constitution empowered the Gen- 
eral Government to carry on a system of 
internal improvements in the States, but 
deemed it important that it should have 
that power, and wished the Constitution 
amended that it might be conferred. Sub- 
scqucntlv, however, he became alarmed lest 
the General Government become so strong 
as to undertake to interfere with slavery. 
He therefore gave all his influence to 
strengthen the State governments, and to 
check the growth of the central power. 

In January, 1824, Mr. Polk married Miss 
Mary Childress, of Rutherford County, Ten- 
nessee. Had some one then whispered to 
him that he was destined to become Presi- 
dent of the United States, and that he must 
select for his companion one who would 
adorn that distinguished station, he could 
not have made a more lifting choice. She 
was truly a lady of rare beauty and culture. 

In the fall of 1S25 Mr. Polk was chosen 
a member of Congress, and was continu 



JA UES K. POLK. 



67 



ouslv re-elected until 1839. He then with- 
drew, only that he might accept the 
eubernatorial chair of his native State. 
He was a warm friend of General Jackson, 
who had been defeated in the electoral 
contest bv John Ouincy Adams. This 
latter gentleman had just taken his seat in 
the Presidential chair when Mr. Polk took 
his seat in the House of Representatives. 
He immediately united himself with the 
opponents of Mr. Adams, and was soon 
regarded as the leader of the Jackson party 
in the House. 

The four years of Mr. Adams' adminis- 
tration passed a way, and General Jackson 
took trie Presidential chair. Mr. Polk had 
now become a man of great influence in 
Congress, ana was chairman of its most 
important committee — that of Ways and 
Means. Eloquently he sustained General 
Jackson in all his measures — in his hostility' 
to internal improvements, to the banks, and 
to the tariff. Eight years of General Jack- 
son's administration passed away, and the 
powers he had wielded passed into the 
hands of Martin Van Buren ; and still Mr. 
Polk remained in the House, the advocate 
of that type of Democracy which those 
distinguished men upheld. 

During five sessions of Congress Mr. 
Polk was speaker of the House. He per- 
formed his arduous duties to general satis- 
faction, and a unanimous vote of thanks to 
him was passed by the House as he with- 
drew, March 4, 1839. He was elected 
Governor by a large majority, and took 
the oath of office at Nashville, October 14, 
1S39. He was a candidate for re-election 
in 1841, but was defeated. In the mean- 
time a wonderful revolution had swept 
over the country. W. H. Harrison, the Whig- 
candidate, had been called to the Presiden- 
tial chair, and in Tennessee the Whig ticket 
had been carried by over 12,000 majority. 
Under these circumstances Mr. Polk's suc- 
cess was hopeless. Still he canvassed the 



State with his Whig competitor, Mr. Jones, 
traveling in the most friendly manner to- 
gether, often in the same carriage, and at 
one time sleeping in the same bed. Mr. 
Jones was elected by 3,000 majority. 

And now the question of the annexation 
of Texas to our country agitated the whole 
land. When this question became national 
Mr. Polk, as the avowed champion of an- 
nexation, became the Presidential candidate 
of the pro-slavery wing of the Democratic 
party, and George M. Dallas their candi- 
date for the Vice-Presidency. They were 
elected by a large majority, and were in- 
augurated March 4, 1845. 

President Polk formed an able cabinet, 
consisting of James Buchanan, Robert J. 
Walker, William L. Marcy, George Ban 
croft, Cave Johnson and John V. Mason. 
The Oregon boundary question was settled, 
the Department of the Interior was created, 
the low tariff of 1846 was carried, the 
financial system of the Government was 
reorganized, the Mexican war was con- 
ducted, which resulted in the acquisition of 
California and New Mexico, and had far- 
reaching consequences upon the later fort- 
unes of the republic. Peace was made. 
We had wrested from Mexico territory 
equal to four times the empire of France, 
and five times that of Spain. In the prose- 
cution of this war we expended 20,000 
lives and more than $100,000,000. Of this 
money $15,000,000 were paid to Mexico. 

Declining to seek a renomination, Mr. 
Polk retired from the Presidency March 4, 
1849, when he was succeeded try General 
Zachary Taylor. He retired to Nashville, 
and died there June 19, 1849, in the fifty- 
fourth year of his age. His funeral was at- 
tended the following day, in Nashville, with 
every demonstration of respect. He left 
no children. Without being possessed of 
extraordinary talent, Mr. Polk was a capable 
administrator of public affairs, and irre- 
proachable in private life. 



ss 



FKES/DENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 






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ACHARY TAY- 
LOR, the twelfth 
President of the 
United States, 
i849-'50, was born 
in ( )range County, 
Virginia, Septem- 
17S4. His father, 
Richard Taylor, was Colo- 
nel of a Virginia regiment 
in the Revolutionary war, 
and removed to Kentucky 
in 1785 ; purchased a large 
plantation near Louisville 
and became an influential cit- 
izen; was a member of the convention that 
framed the Constitution of Kentucky; served 
in both branches of the Legislature; was 
Collector of the port of Louisville under 
President Washington; as a Presidential 
elector, voted for Jefferson, Madison, Mon- 
roe and Clay; died January 19,1829. 

Zachary remained on his father's planta- 
tion until 180S. in which year (May 3) he 
was appointed First Lieutenant in the 
Seventh Infantry, to fill a vacancy 0C- 
. ied by the death oi his elder brother, 
1 [ancock. Up to this point he had received 
but a limited education. 

Joining his regimen! at New ( >rleans, he 




was attacked with yellow fever, with nearly 
fatal termination. In November, 1810, he 
was promoted to Captain, and in the sum- 
mer of 1 Si 2 he was in command of Fort 
Harrison, on the left bank of the Wabash 
River, near the present site of Tcrre Haute, 
his successful defense of which with but a 
handful of men against a large force of 
Indians which had attacked him was one of 
the first marked military achievements of 
the war. He was then brcvetted Major, 
and in 1814 promoted to the full rank. 

During the remainder of the war Taylor 
was actively' employed on the Western 
frontier. In the peace organization of 1815 
he was retained as Captain, but soon after 
resigned and settled near Louisville. In 
May, 1S16, however, he re-entered the armv 
as Major of the Third Infantry ; became 
Lieutenant-Colonel of the Eighth Infantry 
in 1819, and in 1832 attained the Colonelcy 
of the First Infantry, of which he had been 
Lieutenant-Colonel since 1821. On different 
occasions he had been called to Washington 
as member of a military board for organiz- 
ing the militia ol the Union, and to aid the 
Government with his knowledge in the 
organization of the Indian Bureau, having 
for many years discharged the duties oi 
Indian agenl over large tracts ol Western 




7 ^^o/^i^?-^ t y^ U y 



ZA CHA RT TATL OR. 



7l 



country. He served through the Black 
Hawk war in 1832, and in 1837 was ordered 
to take command in Florida, then the scene 
of war with the Indians. 

In 1S46 he was transferred to the com- 
mand oi the Army of the Southwest, from 
which he was relieved the same year at his 
own request. Subsequently he was sta- 
tioned on the Arkansas frontier at Forts 
Gibbon, Smith and Jesup, which latter work 
had been built under his direction in 1822. 

May 28, 1 845, he received a dispatch from 
the Secretary of War informing him of the 
receipt of information by the President 
"that Texas would shortly accede to the 
terms of annexation," in which event he 
was instructed to defend and protect her 
from "foreign invasion and Indian incur- 
sions." He proceeded, upon the annexation 
of Texas, with about 1,500 men to Corpus 
Christi, where his force was increased to 
some 4,000. 

Taylor was brevetted Major-General May 
28, and a month later, June 29, 1846, his full 
commission to that grade was issued. After 
needed rest and reinforcement, he advanced 
in September on Monterey, which city ca- 
pitulated after three-days stubborn resist- 
ance. Here he took up his winter quarters. 
The plan for the invasion of Mexico, by 
way of Vera Cruz, with General Scott in 
command, was now determined upon by 
the Govenrment, and at the moment Taylor 
was about to resume active operations, he 
received orders to send the larger part of 
his force to reinforce the army of General 
Scott at Vera Cruz. Though subsequently 
reinforced by raw recruits, yet after pro- 
viding a garrison for Monterey and Saltillo 
he had but about 5,300 effective troops, of 
which but 500 or 600 were regulars. In 
this weakened condition, however, he was 
destined to achieve his greatest victor}-. 
Confidently relying upon his strength at 
Vera Cruz to resist the enemy for a long 
time, Santa Anna directed his entire army 



against Taylor to overwhelm him, and then 
to return to oppose the advance of Scott's 
more formidable invasion. The battle of 
Buena Vista was fought February 22 and 
23, 1S47. Taylor received the thanks of 
Congress and a gold medal, and " Old 
Rough and Ready," the sobriquet given 
him in the army, became a household word. 
He remained in quiet possession of the 
Rio Grande Valley until November, when 
he returned to the United States. 

In the Whig convention which met at 
Philadelphiajune 7, 1848, Taylor was nomi- 
nated on the fourth ballot as candidate of 
the Whig party for President, over Henry 
Clay, General Scott and Daniel Webster. 
In November Taylor received a majority 
of electoral votes, and a popular vote of 
1,360,752, against 1,219,962 for Cass and 
Butler, and 291,342 for Van Buren and 
Adams. General Taylor was inaugurated 
March 4, 1849. 

The free and slave States being then equal 
in number, the struggle for supremacy on 
the part of the leaders in Congress was 
violent and bitter. In the summer of 1849 
California adopted in convention a Consti- 
tution prohibiting slavery within its borders. 
Taylor advocated the immediate admission 
of California with her Constitution, and the 
postponement of the question as to the other 
Territories until they could hold conven- 
tions and decide for themselves whether 
slavery should exist within their borders. 
This policy ultimately prevailed through 
the celebrated " Compromise Measures" of 
Henry Clay ; but not during the life of the 
brave soldier aud patriot statesman. July 
5 he was taken suddenly ill with a bilious 
fever, which proved fatal, his death occur- 
ring July 9, 1850. One of his daughters 
married Colonel W. W. S. Bliss, his Adju- 
tant-General and Chief of Staff in Florida 
and Mexico, and Private Secretary during 
his Presidency. Another daughter was 
married to Jefferson Davis. 



PItES/DENTS OF THE UN /TED STATES. 






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K 



ILLARD FILL- 
MORE, the thir- 
■§|3/ teenth President 
of the United 
States, i85o'3, was 
g-<x' born in Summer 
Hill, Cayuga 
County, New York, Janu- 
ary 7, 1800. He was of 
New England ancestry, and 
his educational advantages 
were limited. He early 
learned the clothiers' trade, 
but spent all his leisure time 
in study. At nineteen years 
of age he was induced by 
Judge Walter Wood to abandon his trade 
and commence the study of law. Upon 
learning that the young man was entirely 
destitute of means, he took him into his 
own office and loaned him such money as 
he needed. That he might not be heavily 
burdened with debt, young Fillmore taught 
school during the winter months, and in 
various other ways helped himself along. 
At the age of twenty-three lie was ad- 
mitted to the Court of Common Pleas, and 
commenced the practice of his profession 
in the village of Aurora, situated on the 



eastern bank of the Cayuga Lake. In 1825 
he married Miss Abisjail Powers, daughter 
of Rev. Lemuel Powers, a lady of great 
moral worth. In 1825 he took his seat in 
the House of Assembly of his native State, 
as Representative from Erie County, 
whither he had recently moved. 

Though he had never taken a very 
active part in politics his vote and his sym- 
pathies were with the Whig party. The 
State was then Democratic, but his cour- 
tesy, ability and integrity won the respect 
of li is associates. In 1832 he was elected 
to a seat in the United States Congress. 
At the close of his term he returned to Ins 
law practice, and in two years more he was 
again elected to Congress. 

He now began to have a national reputa- 
tion. His labors were very arduous. To 
draft resolutions in the committee room, 
and then to defend them against the most 
skillful opponents on the floor of the House 
requires readiness of mind, mental resources 
and skill in debate such as few possess. 
Weary with these exhausting labors, and 
pressed by the claims of his private affairs, 
Mr. Fillmore wrote a Idler to his constitu- 
ent and declined to be a candidate for re- 
election. Notwithstanding this cemmuni- 



.«&!>*»*■-: 





V 



ZW(,6 c/6< 




MILLARD FILLMORE. 



75 



cation his friends met in convention and 
renominated him by acclamation. Though 
gratified by this proof of their appreciation 
of his labors he adhered to his resolve and 
returned to his home. 

In 1S47 Mr. Fillmore was elected to the 
important office of comptroller of the State. 
In entering upon the very responsible duties 
which this situation demanded, it was nec- 
essary for him to abandon his profession, 
and he removed to the city of Albany. In 
this year, also, the Whigs were looking 
around to find suitable candidates for the 
President and Vice-President at the ap- 
proaching election, and the names of Zach- 
ary Taylor and Millard Fillmore became 
the rallying cry of the Whigs. On the 4th 
of March, 1849, General Taylor was inaug- 
urated President and Millard Fillmore 
Vice-President of the United States. 

The great question of slavery had as- 
sumed enormous proportions, and perme- 
ated every subject that was brought before 
Congress. It was evident that the strength 
of our institutions was to be severely tried. 
July 9, 1850, President Taylor died, and, by 
the Constitution, Vice-President Fillmore 
became President of the United States. 
The agitated condition of the country 
brought questions of great delicacy before 
him. He was bound by his oath of office 
to execute the laws of the United States. 
One of these laws was understood to be, 
that if a slave, escaping from bondage, 
should reach a free State, the United States 
was bound to do its utmost to capture him 
and return him to his master. Most Chris- 
tian men loathed this law. President Fill- 
more felt bound by his oath rigidly to see 
it enforced. Slavery was organizing armies 
to invade Cuba as it had invaded Texas, 
and annex it to the United States. Presi- 
dent Fillmore gave all the influence of his 
exalted station against the atrocious enter- 
prise. 

Mr. Fillmore had serious difficulties to 



contend with, since the opposition had a 
majority in both Houses. He did every- 
thing in his power to conciliate the South, 
but the pro-slavery party in that section 
felt the inadequency of all measures of tran. 
sient conciliation. The population of the 
free States was so rapidly increasing over 
that of the slave States, that it was inevita- 
ble that the power of the Government 
should soon pass into the hands of the free 
States. The famous compromise measures 
were adopted under Mr. Fillmore's admin- 
istration, and the Japan expedition was 
sent out. 

March 4, 1853, having served one term, 
President Fillmore retired from office. He 
then took a long tour through the South, 
where he met with quite an enthusiastic 
reception. In a speech at Vicksburg, al- 
luding to the rapid growth of the country, 
he said: 

" Canada is knocking for admission, and 
Mexico would be glad to come in, and 
without saying whether it would be right 
or wrong, we stand with open arms to re- 
ceive them; for it is the manifest destiny of 
this Government to embrace the whole 
North American Continent." 

In 1855 Mr. Fillmore went to Europe 
where he was received with those marked 
attentions which his position and character 
merited. Returning to this country in 
1856 he was nominated for the Presidency 
by the " Know-Nothing " party. Mr. Bu- 
chanan, the Democratic candidate was 
the successful competitor. Mr. Fillmore 
ever afterward lived in retirement. Dur- 
ing the conflict of civil war he was mostly 
silent. It was generally supposed, how- 
ever, that his sympathy was with the South- 
ern Confederacy. He kept aloof from the 
conflict without any words of cheer to the 
one party or the other. For this reason 
he was forgotten by both. He died of 
paralysis, in Buffalo, New York, March 8, 
1874. 



7 6 



PRESIDENTS OE THE UNITED STATES. 



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J . ,$ 

iANKLIN PIERCE, 
the fourteenth Presi- 
dent of the United 
%a'BL^ States, was born in 

Hillsborough, New- 
Hampshire, Novem- 
ber 23, 1804. His 
father, Governor 
Benjamin Pierce, was a Rev- 
olutionary soldier, a man of 
rigid integrity; was for sev- 
eral years in the State Legis- 
lature, a member of the Gov- 
ernor's council and a General 
of the militia. 
Franklin was the sixth of eight children. 
As a boy he listened eagerly to the argu- 
ments of his father, enforced by strong and 
ready utterance and earnest gesture. It 
was in the days of intense political excite- 
ment, when, all over the New England 
States, Federalists and Democrats wen- ar- 
rayed so fiercely against each other. 

In 1820 he entered Bowdoin College, at 
Brunswick, Maine, and graduated in 1824. 
and commenced the study of law in the 
office of Judge Woodbury, a very distin- 
guished lawyer, and in 1827 was admitted 
to the bar. He practiced with greal success 
in Hillsborough and Concord. He served 



in the State Legislature four years, the last 
two of which he was chosen Speaker of the 
House by a very large vote. 

In 1833 he was elected a member of Con- 
gress. In 1837 he was elected to the United 
States Senate, just as Mr. Van Buren com- 
menced his administration. 

In 1834 he married Miss Jane Means 
Appleton, a lady admirably fitted to adorn 
every station with which her husband was 
honored. Three sons born to them all 
found an early grave. 

Upon his accession to office, President 
Polk appointed Mr. Pierce Attorney-Gen- 
eral of the United States, but the offer was 
declined in consequence of numerous pro- 
lessional engagements at home and the 
precarious state of Mrs. Pierce's health. 
About the same time he also declined t he 
nomination for Governor by the Demo- 
cratic party. 

The war with Mexico called Mr. Pit ice 
into the army. Receiving the appointment 
of Brigadier-General, he embarked with a 
portion of his troops at Newport, Rhode 
Island, May 27, 1S47. lie served during 
this war, and distinguished himself by his 
bravery, skill and excellent judgment. 
When he reached his home in his native 
State he was enthusiastically received by 






£%£^ 



FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



79 



the advocates of the war, and coldly by its 
opponents. He resumed the practice of his 
profession, frequently taking an active part 
in political questions, and giving his sup- 
port to the pro-slavery wing of the Demo- 
cratic party. 

June 12, 1852, the Democratic convention 
met in Baltimore to nominate a candidate 
for the Presidency. For four days they 
continued in session, and in thirty-five bal- 
loting^ no one had received the requisite 
two-think vote. Not a vote had been 
thrown thus far for General Pierce. Then 
the Virginia delegation brought forward 
his name. There were fourteen more bal- 
lotings, during which General Pierce 
gained strength, until, at the forty-ninth 
ballot, he received 282 votes, and all other 
candidates eleven. General Winfield Scott 
was the Whisr candidate.* General Pierce 
was elected with great unanimity. Only 
lour States — Vermont, Massachusetts, Ken- 
tuckv and Tennessee — cast their electoral 
votes against him. March 4, 1853, he was 
inaugurated President of the United States, 
and William R. King, Vice-President. 

President Pierce's cabinet consisted of 
William S. Marcv, James Guthrie, Jefferson 
Davis, James C. Dobbin, Robert McClel- 
land, James Campbell and Caleb dishing. 

At the demand of slavery the Missouri 
Compromise was repealed, and all the Ter- 
ritories of the Union were thrown open to 
slaver)-. The Territory of Kansas, west of 
Missouri, was settled by emigrants mainly 
from the North. According to law, they 
were about to meet and decide whether 
slavery or freedom should be the law of 
that realm. Slavery in Missouri and 
other Southern States rallied her armed 
legions, marched them into Kansas, took 
possession of the polls, drove away the 
citizens, deposited their own votes by 
handluls, went through the farce of count- 
ing them, and then declared that, by an 
overwhelming majority, slaverv was estab- 



lished in Kansas. These facts nobody 
denied, and yet President Pierce's adminis- 
tration felt bound to respect the decision 
obtained by such votes. The citizens of 
Kansas, the majority of whom were free- 
State men, met in convention and adopted 
the following resolve : 

"Resolved, That the body of men who, 
for the past two months, have been passing 
laws for the people of our Territory, 
moved, counseled and dictated to by the 
demagogues of other States, are to us a 
foreign bod)', representing only the lawless 
invaders who elected them, and not the 
people of this Territory ; that we repudiate 
their action as the monstrous consummation 
of an act of violence, usurpation and fraud 
unparalleled in the history of the Union." 

The free-State people of Kansas also sent 
a petition to the General Government, im- 
ploring its protection. h» reply the Presi- 
dent issued a proclamation, declaring that 
Legislature thus created must be recog- 
nized as the legitimate Legislature of Kan- 
sas, and that its laws were binding upon 
the people, and that, if necessary, the whole 
force of the Governmental arm would be 
put forth to inforce those laws. 

James Buchanan succeeded him in the 
Presidency, and, March 4, 1857, President 
Pierce retired to his home in Concord, 
New Hampshire. When the Rebellion 
burst forth Mr. Pierce remained steadfast 
to the principles he had always cherished, 
and gave his sympathies to the pro-slavery 
party, with which he had ever been allied. 
He declined to do anything, either by 
voice or pen, to strengthen the hands of 
the National Government. He resided in 
Concord until his death, which occurred in 
October, 1869. He was one of the most 
genial and social of men, generous to 
a fault, and contributed liberally of his 
moderate means for the alleviation of suf- 
fering and want. He was an honored 
communicant of the Episcopal church. 



so 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UXITED STATES. 






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'AMES BUCHANAN, the 

fifteenth President of the 
United States. I S57— *6i , 
was horn in Franklin 
C o u n t v, Pennsylvania, 
A p r i 1 23, 1791. The 
place where his father's 
cabin stood was called 
Stony Batter, and it was 
situated in a wild, romantic 
spot, in a gorge of mount- 
ains, with towering sum- 
mits rising all around. He 
was of Irish ancestry, his 
father having emigrated in- 
1783, with very little prop- 
erty, save his own strong arms. 

James remained in his secluded home for 
eight years enjoying very few social or 
intellectual advantages. His parents were 
industrious, frugal, prosperous and intelli- 
gent. In 1799 his father removed to Mer- 

cersburg, where James was placed in 
school and commenced a course in English, 
Greek and Latin. His progress was rapid 
and in 1S01 he entered Dickinson College 
at Carlisle. 1 [ere he took his stand among 
the first Scholars in the institution, and was 
able to master the most abstruse subjects 
with facility. In 1809 he graduated with 
the highest honors in his class. 

1 [e was then eighteen years oi age, tall, 



graceful and in vigorous health, fond oi 
athletic sports, an unerring shot and en- 
livened with an exuberant flow of animal 
spirits. He immediately commenced the 
study of law in the city of Lancaster, and 
was admitted to tne bar in 1S12. He rose 
very rapidly in his profession and at once 
took undisputed stand with the ablest law- 
yers of the State. When but twenty-six 
years of age, unaided by counsel, he suc- 
cessfullv defended before the State Senate 
one of the Judges of the State, who was 
tried upon articles of impeachment At 
the age of thirty it was generally admitted 
that hestoodat the head of the bar, and 
there was no lawyer in the State who had 
a more extensive or lucrative practice. 

In 1812, just after Mr. Buchanan had 
entered upon the practice of the law, our 
second war with England occurred. With 
all his powers he sustained the Govern- 
ment, eloquently urging the rigorous pros- 
ecution ol the war; and even enlisting as a 
private soldier to assist in repelling the 
British, who had sacked Washington and 
wen- threatening Baltimore, lie was at 
that time a Federalist, but when the Con- 
stitution was adopted by both parties, 
Jefferson truly said, "We are all Federal- 
ists; we ai e all Republicans." 

The opposition ol the Federalists to the 
war with England, and the alien and sedi- 






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6.1 



tion laws of John Adams, brought the party 
into dispute, and the name of Federalist 
became a reproach. Mr. Buchanan almost 
immediately upon entering Congress began 
to incline more and more to the Repub- 
licans. In the stormy Presidential election 
of 1824, in which Jackson, Clay, Crawford 
and John Quincy Adams were candidates, 
Mr. Buchanan espoused the cause of Gen- 
eral Jackson and unrelentingly opposed the 
administration of Mr. Adams. 

Upon his elevation to the Presidency, 
General Jackson appointed Mr. Buchanan, 
minister to Russia. Upon his return in 1833 
he was elected to a seat in the United States 
Senate. He there met as his associates, 
Webster, Clay, Wright and Calhoun. He 
advocated the measures proposed by Presi- 
dent Jackson of making reprisals against 
France, and defended the course of the Pres- 
ident in his unprecedented and wholesale 
removals from office of those who were not 
the supporters of his administration. Upon 
this question he was brought into direct col- 
lision with Henry Clay. In the discussion 
of the question respecting the admission of 
Michigan and Arkansas into the Union, Mr. 
Buchanan defined his position by saying: 

" The older I grow, the more I am in- 
clined to be what is called a State-rights 
man." 

M. de Tocqueville, in his renowned work 
upon " Democracy in America," foresaw 
the trouble which was inevitable from the 
doctrine of State sovereignty as held by 
Calhoun and Buchanan. He was con- 
vinced that the National Government was 
losing that strength which was essential 
to its own existence, and that the States 
were assuming powers which threatened 
the perpetuity of the Union. Mr. Buchanan 
received the book in the Senate and de- 
clared the fears of De Tocqueville to be 
groundless, and yet he lived to sit in the 
Presidential chair and see State after State, 
in accordance with his own views of State 



rights, breaking from the Union, thus 
crumbling our Republic into ruins; while 
the unhappy old man folded his arms in 
despair, declaring that the National Consti- 
tution invested him with no power to arrest 
the destruction. 

Upon Mr. Polk's accession to the Presi- 
dency, Mr. Buchanan became Secretary of 
State, and as such took his share of the 
responsibility in the conduct of the Mexi- 
can war. At the close of Mr. Polk's ad- 
ministration, Mr. Buchanan retired to pri- 
vate life; but his intelligence, and his great 
ability as a statesman, enabled him to exert 
a powerful influence in National affairs. 

Mr. Pierce, upon his election to the 
Presidency, honored Mr. Buchanan with 
the mission to England. In the year 1856 
the National Democratic convention nomi- 
nated Mr. Buchanan for the Presidency. 
The political conflict was one of the most 
severe in which our country has ever en- 
gaged. On the 4th of March, 1857, Mr. 
Buchanan was inaugurated President. His 
cabinet were Lewis Cass, Howell Cobb, 
J. B. Floyd, Isaac Toucey, Jacob Thomp- 
son, A. V. Brown and J. S. Black. 

The disruption of the Democratic party, 
in consequence of the manner in which the 
issue of the nationality of slavery was 
pressed by the Southern wing, occurred at 
the National convention, held at Charleston 
in April, i860, for the nomination of Mr. 
Buchanan's successor, when the majority 
of Southern delegates withdrew upon the 
passage of a resolution declaring that the 
constitutional status of slavery should be 
determined by the Supreme Court. 

In the next Presidential canvass Abra- 
ham Lincoln was nominated by the oppo- 
nents of Mr. Buchanan's administration. 
Mr. Buchanan remained in Washing-ton 
long enough to see his successor installed 
and then retired to his home in Wheatland. 
He died June 1, 1868, aged seventy-seven 
years. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UN/TED STATES. 



(Sti KSM * <fe -|- t>? ^ ^ -1- i<» »1- ©giovi-foia® ~l- gfr «^. ^» ^L- <i *l- t fr «<iiS^5 








BRAHAM LIN- 
COLN, the sixteenth 
President of the 
United States, i86l-*5, 
was born February 
DKJy i-. 1809, in Larue 
^■'^ (then Hardin) County, 
Kentucky, in a cabin on Nolan 
Creek, three miles west of 
Hudgcnsville. His parents 
w e 1 e Thomas a n d Nancy 
(Hanks) Lincoln. Of his an- 
cestry and early years the little 
that is known may best be 
given in his own language: " My 
parents were both born in Virginia, of un- 
distinguished families — second families, per- 
haps I should say. My mother, who died 
in my tenth year, was of a family ol the 
name of I lanks, some of whom now remain 
in Adams, and others in Macon Counts-, 
Illinois. My paternal grandfather, Abra- 
ham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockbridge 
County, Virginia, to Kentucky in 1781 or 
1782, where, a year or two later, he was 
killed by Indians — not in battle, but by 
stealth, when he was laboring to open a 
farm in the forest. His ancestors, who were 
Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks 
County, Pennsylvania. An effort to iden- 



tify them with the New England family of 
the same name ended in nothing mote defi- 
nite than a similarity of Christian names in 
both families, such as Enoch, Levi. Mor- 
deeai, Solomon, Abraham and the like. 
My father, at the death of his father, was 
but six years of age, and he grew up, liter- 
ally, without education. I le removed from 
Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, 
Indiana, in my eighth year. We reached 
our new home about the time the State came 
into the Union. It was a wild region, with 
bears and other wild animals stil! in the 
woods. There I grew to manhood. 

"There were some schools, SO called, but 
no qualification was ever required of a 
teacher beyond ' readin', writin', and cipher- 
in' to the rule of three.' II a straggler, sup- 
posed to understand Latin, happened to 
sojourn in the neighborhood, he was looked 
upon as a wizard. There was absolutely 
nothing to excite ambition for education. 
01 course, when I came ol age I did not 
know much. Still, somehow, I could read, 
write and cipher to the rule ol three, and 

that was all. 1 have nol been to school 

since. The little advance 1 now have upon 
this store ol education I have picked up 
from time to time under the pressure of 
necessity. I was raised to farm-work, which 




& 







1 



AliliAHAM LINCOLN. 



87 



I continued till 1 was twenty-two. At 
twenty -one I came to Illinois and passed 
the first year in Macon County. Then I got 
to New Salem, at that time in Sangamon, 
now in Menard County, where I remained 
a year as a sort of clerk in a store. 

" Then came the Black Hawk war, and I 
was elected a Captain of volunteers — a suc- 
cess which gave me more pleasure than any 
1 have had since. I went the campaign, 
was elated ; ran for the Legislature the 
year (1832) and was beaten, the only 
time I have ever been beaten by the people. 
The next and three succeeding biennial 
elections I was elected to the Legislature, 
and was never a candidate afterward. 

" During this legislative period I had 
studied law, and removed to Springfield to 
practice it. In 1846 I was elected to the 
Lower House of Congress; was not a can- 
didate for re-election. From 1849 to I 854, 
inclusive, I practiced the law more assid- 
uously than ever before. Always a Whig 
in politics, and generally on the Whig elec- 
toral tickets, making active canvasses, I was 
losing interest in politics, when the repeal 
of the Missouri Compromise roused me 
again. What 1 have done since is pretty 
well known." 

The early residence of Lincoln in Indi- 
ana was sixteen miles north of the Ohio 
River, on Little Pigeon Creek, one and a 
half miles east of Gentryville, within the 
present township of Carter. Here his 
mother died October 5, 1818, and the next 
year his father married Mrs. Sally (Bush) 
Johnston, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky. She 
was an affectionate foster-parent, to whom 
Abraham was indebted for his first encour- 
agement to study. He became an eager 
reader, and the few books owned in the 
vicinity were many times perused. He 
worked frequently for the neighbors as a 
farm laborer; was for some time clerk in a 
Store at Gentryville; and became famous 
throughout that region for his athletic 



powers, his fondness for argument, his in- 
exhaustible fund of numerous anecdote, as 
well as for mock oratory and the cornposi 
tion of rude satirical verses. In 1828 he 
made a trading voyage to New Orleans as 
"bow-hand" on a flatboat; removed to 
Illinois in 1830; helped his father build a 
log: house and clear a farm on the north 
fork of Sangamon River, ten miles west of 
Decatur, and was for some time employed 
in splitting rails for the fences — a fact which 
was prominently brought forward for a 
political purpose thirty years later. 

In the spring of 185 1 he, with two of his 
relatives, was hired to build a flatboat on 
the Sangamon River and navigate it to 
New Orleans. The boat "stuck" on a 
mill-dam, and was got off with great labor 
through an ingenious mechanical device 
which some years later- led to Lincoln's 
taking out a patent for "an improved 
method for lifting vessels over shoals." 
This voyage was memorable for another 
reason — the sight of slaves chained, mal- 
treated and flogged at New Orleans was 
the origin of his deep convictions upon the 
slavery question. 

Returning from this voyage he became a 
resident for several years at New Salem, a 
recently settled village on the Sangamon, 
where he was successively a clerk, grocer, 
surveyor and postmaster, and acted as pilot 
to the first steamboat that ascended the 
Sangamon. Here he studied law, inter- 
ested himself in local politics after his 
return from the Black Hawk war, and 
became known as an effective "stump 
speaker." The subject of his first politicai 
speech was the improvement of the channel 
of the Sangamon, and the chief ground on 
which he announced himself (1832) a candi- 
date for the Legislature was his advocacy 
of this popular measure, on which subject 
his practical experience made him the high- 
est authority. 

Elected to the Legislature in 1834 as a 



P /I liS/D i:\T.S OP THE r SITED STATES. 



" Henry Clay Whig," he rapidly acquired 
that command of language and that homely 
but forcible rhetoric which, added to his 
intimate knowledge of the people from 
which he sprang, made him more than a 
match in debate for his few well-educated 
opponents. 

Admitted to the bar in 1S37 he soon 
established himself at Springfield, where 
the State capital was located in 1839, 
.argely through his influence; became a 
successful pleader in the State, Circuit and 
District Courts ; married in 1842 a lady be- 
longing to a prominent family in Lexington, 
Kentucky; took an active part in the Pres- 
idential campaigns of 1840 and 1844 as 
candidate for elector on the Harrison and 
Clay tickets, and in 1846 was elected to the 
United States House of Representatives 
over the celebrated Peter Cartwright. 
During his single term in Congress he did 
not attain any prominence. 

He voted for the reception of anti-slavery 
petitions for the abolition of the slave trade 
in the District of Columbia and for the 
Wilraot proviso; but was chiefly remem- 
bered for the stand he took against the 
Mexican war. For several years there- 
after he took comparatively little interest 
in politics, but gained a leading position at 
the Springfield bar. Two or three non- 
political lectures and an eulogy on Henry 
Clay (1852) added nothing to his reputation. 

In 1854 the repeal of the Missouri 
Compromise by the Kansas-Nebraska act 
aroused Lincoln from his indifference, and 
in attacking that measure he had the im- 
mense advantage of knowing perfectly well 
the motives and the record of its author, 
Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, then popu- 
larly designated as the " Little Giant." The 
latter came to Springfield in October, 1854, 
on the occasion of the State Fair, to vindi- 
cate his policy in the Senate, and the " Anti- 
Nebraska" Whigs, remembering that Lin- 
coln had often measured his strength with 



Douglas in the Illinois Legislature and be- 
fore the Springfield Courts, engaged him 
to improvise a reply. This speech, in the 
opinion of those who heard it, was one of 
the greatest efforts of Lincoln's life ; cer- 
tainly the most effective in his whole career. 
It took the audience by storm, and from 
that moment it was felt that Douglas had 
met his match. Lincoln was accordingly 
selected as the Anti-Nebraska candidate for 
the United States Senate in place of General 
Shields, whose term expired March 4, 1855, 
and led to several ballots; but Trumbull 
was ultimately chosen. 

The second conflict on the soil of Kan- 
sas, which Lincoln had predicted, soon be- 
gan. The result was the disruption of the 
Whig and the formation of the Republican 
party. At the Bloomington State Conven- 
tion in 1856, where the new party first 
assumed form in Illinois, Lincoln made an 
impressive address, in which for the first 
time he took distinctive ground against 
slavery in itself. 

At the National Republican Convention 
at Philadelphia, June 17, after the nomi- 
nation of Fremont, Lincoln was put for- 
ward by the Illinois delegation for the 
Vice-Presidency, and received on the first 
ballot no votes against 259 for William L 
Dayton. He took a prominent part in the 
canvass, being on the electoral ticket. 

In 1858 Lincoln was unanimously nomi- 
nated by the Republican State Convention 
as its candidate for the United States Senate 
in place of Douglas, and in his speech of 
acceptance used the celebrated illustration 
of a "house divided against itself' on the 
slavery question, which was, perhaps, the 
cause of his defeat. The great debate car- 
ried on at all the principal towns of Illinois 
between Lincoln and Douglas as rival Sena- 
torial candidates resulted at the time in the 
election of the latter; but being widely cir- 
culated as a campaign document, it fixed 
the attention of the country upon the 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



89 



former, as the clearest and most convinc- 
ing exponent of Republican doctrine. 

Early in 1859 ne began to be named in 
Illinois as a suitable Republican candidate 
for the Presidential campaign of the ensu- 
ing year, and a political address delivered 
at the Cooper Institute, New York, Febru- 
ary 27, i860, followed by similar speeches 
at New Haven, Hartford and elsewhere in 
New England, first made him known to the 
Eastern States in the light by which he had 
long been regarded at home. By the Re- 
publican State Convention, which met at 
Decatur, Illinois, May 9 and 10, Lincoln 
was unanimously endorsed for the Presi- 
dency. It was on this occasion that two 
rails, said to have been split by his hands 
thirty years before, were brought into the 
convention, and the incident contributed 
much to his popularity. The National 
Republican Convention at Chicago, after 
spirited efforts made in favor of Seward, 
Chase and Bates, nominated Lincoln for 
the Presidency, with Hannibal Hamlin 
for Vice-President, at the same time adopt- 
ing a vigorous anti-slavery platform. 

The Democratic party having been dis- 
organized and presenting two candidates, 
Douglas and Breckenridge, and the rem- 
nant of the "American" party having put 
forward John Bell, of Tennessee, the Re- 
publican victory was an easy one, Lincoln 
being elected November 6 by a large plu- 
rality, comprehending nearly all the North- 
ern States, but none of the Southern. The 
secession of South Carolina and the Gulf 
States was the immediate result, followed 
a few months later by that of the border 
slave States and the outbreak of the great 
civil war. 

The life of Abraham Lincoln became 
thenceforth merged in the history of his 
country. None of the details of the vast 
conflict which filled the remainder of Lin- 
coln's life can here be given. Narrowly 
escaping assassination by avoiding Balti- 



more on his way to the capital, he reached 
Washington February 23, and was inaugu- 
rated President of the United States March 
4, 1 86 1. 

In his inaugural address he said: " I hold, 
that in contemplation of universal law and 
the Constitution the Union of these States is 
perpetual. Perpetuity is implied if not ex- 
pressed in the fundamental laws of all na- 
tional governments. It is safe to assert 
that no government proper ever had a pro- 
vision in its organic law for its own termi- 
nation. I therefore consider that in view 
of the Constitution and the laws, the Union 
is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability 
I shall take care, as the Constitution en- 
joins upon me, that the laws of the United 
States be extended in all the States. In 
doing this there need be no bloodshed or vio- 
lence, and there shall be none unless it be 
forced upon the national authority. The 
power conferred to me will be used to hold, 
occupy and possess the property and places 
belonging to the Government, and to col- 
lect the duties and imports, but beyond 
what may be necessary for these objects 
there will be no invasion, no using of force 
against or among the people anywhere. In 
your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-country- 
men, is the momentous issue of civil war. 
The Government will not assail you. You 
can have no conflict without being your- 
selves the aggressors. You have no oath 
registered in heaven to destroy the Gov- 
ernment, while I shall have the most sol- 
emn one to preserve, protect and defend 
it." 

He called to his cabinet his principal 
rivals for the Presidential nomination — 
Seward, Chase, Cameron and Bates ; se- 
cured the co-operation of the Union Demo- 
crats, headed by Douglas ; called out 75.000 
militia from the several States upon the first 
tidings of the bombardment of Fort Sumter, 
April 15; proclaimed a blockade of the 
Southern posts April 19; called an extra 



oo 



PRESIDENTS (>r THE UNITED STATES. 



>n of Congress lor July 4, from which 
he asked and obtained 400,000 men and 
§400,000,000 for the war; placed McClellan 
at the head of the Federal army on General 
Scott's resignation, October 31; appointed 
Edwin M. Stanton Secretary of War, Jan- 
uary 14. 1862, and September 22, 1862, 
issued a proclamation declaring the free- 
dom of all slaves in the States and parts of 
States then in rebellion from and after 
January 1, 1863. This was the crowning 
act of Lincoln's career — the act by which 
he will be chiefly known through all future 
time -and it decided the war. 

October 16, 1863, President Lincoln called 
for 300,000 volunteers to replace those 
whose term of enlistment had expired ; 
made a celebrated and touching, though 
brief, address at the dedication of the 
Gettysburg military cemetery, November 
19, 1863; commissioned Ulysses S. Grant 
Lieutenant-General and Commander-in. 
Chief of the armies of the United States, 
March 9, 1S64; was re-elected President in 
November of the same year, by a large 
majority over General McClellan, with 
Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, as Vice- 
President; delivered a very remarkable ad- 
dress at his second inauguration, March 4, 
1865; visited tin- army before Richmond the 
same month; entered the capital of the Con- 
federacy the day alter its fall, and upon the 
surrender of General Robert E. Lee'oarmy, 
April 9, was actively engaged in devising 
generous plans for the reconstruction of the 
Union, when, on the evening ol Good Pi i- 
day, April 14, he was shot in his box at 
Ford's Theatre, Washington, byjohn Wilkes 
Booth, a fanatical actor, and expired early 
on the following morning, April 15. Al- 
most simultaneously a murderous attack 
was made upon William H. Seward, Secre- 
tin \ "I Si. ilr. 

At noon on the 15th ol April Andrew 



Johnson assumed the Presidency, and active 
measures were taken which resulted in the 
death ol Booth and the execution of his 
principal accomplices. 

The funeral of President Lincoln was 
conducted with unexampled solemnity and 
magnificence. Impressive services were 
held in Washington, after which the sad 
procession proceeded over the same route 
he had traveled four years before, from 
Springfield to Washington. In Philadel- 
phia his body lay in state in Independence 
Hall, in which he had declared before his 
hist inauguration "that I would sooner be 
assassinated than to give up the principles 
of the Declaration of Independence." He 
was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery, near 
Springfield, Illinois, on May 4, where a 
monument emblematic of the emancipation 
of the slaves and the restoration of the 
Union mark his resting place. 

The leaders and citizens of the expiring 
Confederacy expressed genuine indignation 
at the murder of a generous political adver- 
sary. Foreign nations took part in mourn- 
ing the death of a statesman who had proved 
himself a true representative of American 
nationality. The frecdmen of the South 
almost worshiped the memory of their de- 
liverer; and the general sentiment of the 
great Nation he had saved awarded him a 
I 'Ik 1 in its affections, second only to that 
held by Washington. 

The characteristics of Abraham Lincoln 
have been familiarly known throughout the 
civilized world. His tall, gaunt, ungainly 
figure, homely countenance, and his shrewd 
mother-wit, shown in his celebrated con- 
versations overflowing in humorous and 
pointed anecdote, combined with an accu- 
rate, intuitive appreciation of the questions 
of the time, are recognized as forming the 
best type of a period of American history 
now rapidly passing away. 



UBRAM 








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'Jtfsi 



ANDREW JOHNSON. 



95 



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NDREW JOHNSON, 
the seventeenth Presi- 
dent of the United 
States, 1865— 'g, was 
b o r n at Raleigh, 
North Carolina, De- 
ceraber 29, 1808. 
His father died when 
he was four years old, and in 
his eleventh year he was ap- 
prenticed to a tailor. He nev- 
er attended school, and did 
not learn to read until late in 
his apprenticeship, when he 
suddenly acquired a passion for 
obtaining knowledge, and devoted 
all his spare time to reading. 

After working two years as a journev- 
man tailor at Lauren's Court-House, South 
Carolina, he removed, in 1826, to Green- 
ville, Tennessee, where he worked at his 
trade and married. Under his wife's in- 
structions he made rapid progress in his 
education, and manifested such an intelli- 
gent interest in local politics as to be 
elected as " workingmen's candidate " al- 
derman, in 1828, and mayor in 1830, being 
twice re-elected to each office. 

During this period he cultivated his tal- 
ents as a public speaker by taking part in a 



debating society, consisting largely of stu- 
dents of Greenville College. In 1835, and 
again in 1839, ne was chosen to the lower 
house of the Legislature, as a Democrat. 
In 1 841 he was elected State Senator, and 
in 1843, Representative in Congress, being 
re-elected four successive periods, until 
1853, when he was chosen Governor of 
Tennessee. In Congress he supported the 
administrations of Tyler and Polk in their 
chief measures, especially the annexation 
of Texas, the adjustment of the Oregon 
boundary, the Mexican war, and the tariff 
of 1846. 

In 1855 Mr. Johnson was re elected Gov- 
ernor, and in 1857 entered the United 
States Senate, where he was conspicuous 
as an advocate of retrenchment and of the 
Homestead bill, and as an opponent of the 
Pacific Railroad. He was supported by the 
Tennessee delegation to the Democratic 
convention in i860 for the Presidential 
nomination, and lent his influence to the 
Breckenridge wing of that party. 

When the election of Lincoln had 
brought about the first attempt at secession 
in December, i860, Johnson took in the 
Senate a firm attitude for the Union, and 
in May, 1861, on returning to Tennessee, 
he was in imminent peril of suffering from 



94 



/'/CES /DENTS OF THE UN/TED STATES. 



popular violence for his loyalty to the " old 
flag." He was the leader of the Loyalists' 
convention of East Tennessee, and during 
the following winter was very active in or- 
ganizing relief for the destitute loyal refu- 
gees from that region, his own family being 
among those compelled to leave. 

By his course in this crisis Johnson came 
prominently before the Northern public, 
and when in March, 1862, ho was appointed 
by President Lincoln military Governor of 
Tennessee, with the rank of Brigadier-Gen- 
eral, he increased in popularity by the vig- 
orous and successful manner in which he 
labored to restore order, protect Union 
men and punish marauders. On the ap- 
proach of the Presidential campaign of 1864, 
the termination of the war being plainly 
foreseen, and several Southern States being 
partially reconstructed, it was felt that the 
Vice-Presidency should be given to a South- 
ern man of conspicuous loyalty, and Gov- 
ernor Johnson was elected on the same 
platform and ticket as President Lincoln; 
and on the assassination of the latter suc- 
ceeded to the Presidency, April 15, 1865. 
In a public speech two days later he said: 
"The American people must be taught, if 
they do not already feel, that treason is a 
crime and must be punished; that the Gov- 
ernment will not always bear with its ene- 
mies; that it is strong, not only to protect, 
but to punish. In our peaceful history 
treason has been almost unknown. The 
people must understand that it is the black- 
est of crimes, and will be punished." He 
then added the ominous sentence: " In re- 
gard to my future course, I make no prom- 
ises, no pledges." President Johnson re- 
tained the cabinet of Lincoln, and exhibited 
considerable severity toward traitors in his 
earlier acts and speeches, but he soon inaug- 
urated a policy of reconstruction, proclaim- 
ing a general amnesty to the late Confeder- 
ates, and successively establishing provis- 
ional Governments in the Southern States. 



These States accordingly claimed represen- 
tation in Congress in the following Decem- 
ber, and the momentous question of what 
should be the policy of the victorious Union 
toward its late armed opponents was forced 
upon that body. 

Two considerations impelled the Repub- 
lican majority to reject the policy of Presi. 
dent Johnson: First, an apprehension that 
the chief magistrate intended to undo the re- 
sults of the war in regard to slavery; and, sec- 
ond, the sullen attitude of the South, which 
seemed to be plotting to regain the policy 
which arms had lost. The credentials of the 
Southern members elect were laid on the 
table, a civil rights bill and a bill extending 
the sphere of the Freedmen's Bureau were 
passed over the executive veto, and the two 
highest branches of the Government were 
soon in open antagonism. The action of 
Congress was characterized by the Presi- 
dent as a " new rebellion." In July the 
cabinet was reconstructed, Messrs. Randall, 
Stanbury and Browning taking the places 
of Messrs. Denison, Speed and Harlan, and 
an unsuccessful attempt was made by 
means of a general convention in Philadel- 
phia to form a new party on the basis of the 
administration policy. 

In an excursion to Chicago for the pur- 
pose of laying a corner-stone of the monu- 
ment to Stephen A. Douglas, President 
Johnson, accompanied by several membcis 
of the cabinet, passed through Philadelphia, 
New York and Albany, in each of which 
cities, and in other places along the route 
he made speeches justifying and explaining 
his own policy, and violently denouncing 
the action of Congress. 

August 12, 1867, President Johnson re- 
moved the Secretary of War, replacing 
him by General Grant. Secretary Stanton 
retired under protest, based upon the ten 
ure-of-ofnee act which had been passed the 
preceding March. The President then is- 
sued a proclamation declaring the insurrec- 



A NDRB W JOHNSON. 



95 



tion at an end, and that " peace, order, tran- 
quility and civil authority existed in and 
throughout the United States." Another 
proclamation enjoined obedience to the 
Constitution and the laws, and an amnesty 
was published September 7, relieving nearly 
all the participants in the late Rebellion 
from the disabilities thereby incurred, on 
condition of taking the oath to support the 
Constitution and the laws. 

In December Congress refused to confirm 
the removal of Secretary Stanton, who 
thereupon resumed the exercise of his of- 
fice; but February 21, 1868, President 
Johnson again attempted to remove him, 
appointing General Lorenzo Thomas in his 
place. Stanton refused to vacate his post, 
and was sustained by the Senate. 

February 24 the House of Representa- 
tives voted to impeach the President for 
" high crime and misdemeanors," and March 
5 presented eleven articles of impeachment 
on the ground of his resistance to the exe- 
cution of the acts of Congress, alleging, in 
addition to the offense lately committed, 
his public expressions of contempt for Con- 
gress, in " certain intemperate, inflamma- 
tory and scandalous harangues" pronounced 
in August and September, 1866, and there- 
after declaring that the Thirty-ninth Con- 
gress of the United States was not a 
competent legislative body, and denying 
its power to propose Constitutional amend- 
ments. March 23 the impeachment trial 
began, the President appearing by counsel, 
and resulted in acquittal, the vote lacking 



one of the two-thirds vote required for 
conviction. 

The remainder of President Johnson's 
term of office was passed without any such 
conflicts as might have been anticipated. 
He failed to obtain a nomination for re- 
election by the Democratic party, though 
receiving sixty-five votes on the first ballot. 
July 4 and December 25 new proclamations 
of pardon to the participants in the late 
Rebellion were issuer 1 , but were of little 
effect. On the accession of General Grant 
to the Presidency, March 4, 1869, Johnson 
returned to Greenville, Tennessee. Unsuc- 
cessful in 1870 and 1872 as a candidate re- 
spectively for United States Senator and 
Representative, he was finally elected to the 
Senate in 1875, and took his seat in the extra 
session of March, in which his speeches 
were comparatively temperate. He died 
July 31, 1875, and was buried at Green- 
ville. 

President Johnson's administration was a 
peculiarly unfortunate one. That he should 
so soon become involved in bitter feud with 
the Republican majority in Congress was 
certainly a surprising and deplorable inci- 
dent; yet, in reviewing the circumstances 
after a lapse of so many years, it is easy to 
find ample room for a charitable judgment 
of both the parties in the heated contro- 
versy, since it cannot be doubted that any 
President, even Lincoln himself, had he 
lived, must have sacrificed a large portion 
of his popularity in carrying out any pos- 
sible scheme of reconstruction. 



96 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



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LYSSES SIMPSON 
CRANT, the eight- 
eenth President of the 

United States, 1869-'/", 
was born April 27, [822, 
at Point Pleasant, 
^ Clermont County, 
Ohio. His father was of Scotch 
descent, and a dealer in leather. 
At the age of seventeen he en- 
tered the Military Academy at 
West Point, and four years later 
graduated twenty-first in a class 
of thirty-nine, receiving the 
commission of Brevet Second 
Lieutenant. He was assigned 
to the Fourth Infantry and re- 
mained in the army eleven years. I [e was 
engaged in every battle of the Mexican war 
except that of Buena Vista, and received 
two brevets for gallantry. 

In 1848 Mr. Grant married Julia, daughter 
of Frederick Dent, a prominent merchant of 
St. Louis, and in 1854, having ed the 

grade of Captain, he resigned his commis- 
sion in the army. For several years he fol 
lowed farming near St. Louis, but unsuc- 
cessfully ; and in i860 he entered the leather 
trade with his father at Galena, Illinois. 

When the civil war broke oul in 1861, 
Giant was thirty-nine years ol age, but 
tin l\ unknown to publii mi n and without 



any personal acquaintance with great affairs. 
President Lincoln's first call for troops was 
made on the 15th of April, and on the 19th 
Grant was drilling a company of volunteers 
at Galena. He also offered his services to 
the Adjutant-General of the army, but re- 
ceived no reply. The Governor of Illinois, 
however, employed him in the organization 
of volunteer troops, and at the end of five 
weeks he was appointed Colonel of the 
Twenty-first Infantry. I Ie took command 
of his regiment in June, and reported first 
to General Pope in Missouri. I lis superior 
knowledge of military life rather surprised 
his superior officers, who had never before 
even heard of him, and they were thus led 
to place him on the road to rapid advance- 
ment. August 7 he was commissioned a 
Brigadier-General of volunteers, the ap» 
pointment having been made without his 
knowledge. He had been unanimously 
recommended by the Congressmen from 
Illinois, not one of whom had been his 
personal acquaintance. For a few weeks 
he was occupied in watching the move- 
ments of partisan forces in Missouri. 

September 1 he was placed in command 
of the District of Southeast Missouri, with 
headquarters at Cairo, and on the 6th, with- 
out orders, he seized Paducah, at the mouth 
of the Tennessee River, and commanding 
the navigation both oi thai stream and of 







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C/I.rSSES S. GRANT. 



99 



the Ohio. This stroke secured Kentucky 
to the Union ; for the State Legislature, 
which had until then affected to be neutral, 
at once declared in favor of the Govern- 
ment. In November following, according 
to orders, he made a demonstration about 
eighteen miles below Cairo, preventing the 
crossing of hostile troops into Missouri ; 
but in order to accomplish this purpose he 
had to do some fighting, and that, too, with 
only 3,000 raw recruits, against 7,000 Con- 
federates. Grant carried off two pieces of 
artillery and 200 prisoners. 

After repeated applications to General 
Halleck, his immediate superior, he was 
allowed, in February, 1862, to move up the 
Tennessee River against Fort Henry, in 
conjunction with a naval force. The gun- 
boats silenced the fort, and Grant immedi- 
ately made preparations to attack Fort 
Donelson, about twelve miles distant, on 
the Cumberland River. Without waiting 
for orders he moved his troops there, and 
with 15,000 men began the siege. The 
fort, garrisoned with 21,000 men, was a 
strong one, but after hard fighting on three 
successive days Grant forced an " Uncon- 
ditional Surrender " (an alliteration upon 
the initials of his name). The prize he capt- 
ured consisted of sixty-five cannon, 17,600 
small arms and 14,623 soldiers. About 4,- 
000 of the garrison had escaped in the night, 
and 2,500 were killed or wounded. Grant's 
entire loss was less than 2,000. This was the 
first important success won by the national 
troops during the war, and its strategic re- 
sults were marked, as the entire States of 
Kentucky and Tennessee at once fell into the 
National hands. Our hero was made a 
Major-General of Volunteers and placed in 
command of the District of West Ten- 
nessee. 

In March, 1862, he was ordered to move 
up the Tennessee River toward Corinth, 
where the Confederates were concentrat- 
ing a large army ; but he was directed not 



to attack. His forces, now numbering 38.- 
000, were accordingly encamped near Shi- 
loh, or Pittsburg Landing, to await the 
arrival of General Buell with 40,000 more; 
but April 6 the Confederates came out from 
Corinth 50,000 strong and attacked Grant 
violently, hoping to overwhelm him before 
Buell could arrive ; 5,000 of his troops were 
beyond supporting distance, so that he was 
largely outnumbered and forced back to the 
river, where, however, he held out until 
dark, when the head of Buell's column 
came upon the field. The next day the 
Confederates were driven back to Corinth, 
nineteen miles. The loss was heavy on 
both sides ; Grant, being senior in rank to 
Buell, commanded on both days. Two 
days afterward Halleck arrived at the front 
and assumed command of the army, Grant 
remaining at the head of the right wing and 
the reserve. On May 30 Corinth was 
evacuated by the Confederates. In July 
Halleck was made General-in-Chief, and 
Grant succeeded him in command of the 
Department of the Tennessee. September 
19 the battle of Iuka was fought, where, 
owing to Rosecrans's fault, only an incom- 
plete victory was obtained. 

Next, Grant, with 30,000 men, moved 
down into Mississippi and threatened Vicks- 
burg, while Sherman, with 40,000 men, was 
sent by way of the river to attack that place 
in front ; but, owing to Colonel Murphy's 
surrendering Holly Springs to the Con- 
federates, Grant was so weakened that he 
had to retire to Corinth, and then Sherman 
failed to sustain his intended attack. 

In January, 1863, General Grant took 
command in person of all the troops in the 
Mississippi Valley, and spent several months 
in fruitless attempts to compel the surrender 
or evacuation of Vicksburg; but July 4, 
following, the place surrendered, with 31,- 
600 men and 172 cannon, and the Mississippi 
River thus fell permanently into the hands 
of the Government. Grant was made a 



PliES/DENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Major-General in the regular army, and in 
October following he was placed in com- 
mand of the Division of the Mississippi. 
The same month he went to Chattanooga 
and saved the Army of the Cumberland 
from starvation, and drove Brasrs: from that 
part of the country. This victory over- 
threw the last important hostile force west 
of the Alleghanies and opened the way for 
the National armies into Georgiaand Sher- 
man's march to the sea. 

The remarkable series of successes which 
Grant hail now achieved pointed him out 
as the appropriate leader of the National 
armies, and accordingly, in February, 1864, 
the rank of Lieutenant-General was created 
for him by Congress, and on March 17 he 
assumed command of the armies of the 
United States. Planning the grand final 
campaign, he sent Sherman into Georgia, 
Sigel into the valley of Virginia, and Butler 
to capture Richmond, while he fought his 
own way from the Rapidan to the James. 
The costly but victorious battles of the 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna and 
Cold Harbor were fought, more for the 
purpose' of annihilating Lee than to capture 
any particular point. In June, 1864, the 
siege of Richmond was begun. Sherman, 
meanwhile, was marching and fighting daily 
in Georgia and steadilv advancing toward 
Atlanta; but Sigel had been defeated in the 
valley of Virginia, and was superseded by 
Hunter. Lee sent Early to threaten the Na- 
tional capital ; whereupon Grant gathered 
up a force which he placed under Sheridan, 
and that commander rapidly drove Early, 
in a succession of battles, through the valley 
of Virginia and destroyed his army as an 
organized force. The siege of Richmond 
went on, and Grant made numerous attacks, 
but was only partially successful. The 
people of the North grew impatient, and 
even the Government advised him to 
abandon the attempt to take Richmond or 
crush the Confederacy in that way ; but he 



never wavered. He resolved to " fight it 
out on that line, if it took all summer." 

By September Sherman had made his 
way to Atlanta, and Grant then sent him 
on his famous " march to the sea," a route 
which the chief had designed six months 
before. He made Sherman's success possi- 
ble, not only by holding Lee in front of 
Richmond, but also by sending reinforce- 
ments to Thomas, who then drew off and 
defeated the only army which could have 
confronted Sherman. Thus the latter was 
left unopposed, and, with Thomas and Sheri- 
dan, was used in the furtherance of Grant's 
plans. Each executed his part in the great 
design and contributed his share to the re- 
sult at which Grant was aiming. Sherman 
finally reached Savannah, Schofieid beat 
the enemy at Franklin, Thomas at Nash- 
ville, and Sheridan wherever he met him; 
and all this while General Grant was hold- 
ing Lee, with the principal Confederate 
army, near Richmond, as it were chained 
and helpless. Then Schofieid was brought 
from the West, and Fort Fisher and Wil- 
mington were captured on the sea-coast, so 
as to afford him a foothold; From here he 
was sent into the interior of North Caro- 
lina, and Sherman was ordered to move 
northward to join him. When all this was 
effected, and Sheridan could find no one else 
to fight in the Shenandoah Valley, Grant 
brought the cavalry leader to the front of 
Richmond, and, making a last effort, drove 
Lee from his entrenchments and captured 
Richmond. 

At the beginning of the final campaign 
Lee had collected 73,000 lighting men in 
the lines at Richmond, besides the local 
militia and the gunboat crews, amounting 
to 5,000 more. Including Sheridan's force 
Grant had 1 10,000 men in the works before 
Petersburg and Richmond. Petersburg fell 
on the 2d of April, and Richmond on the 
3d, and Lee lied in the direction of Lynch- 
burg. Grant pursued with remorseless 



c/LrssES s. an a nt. 



energy, only stopping to strike fresh blows, 
and Lee at last found himself not only out- 
fought but also out-marched and out-gen- 
eraled. Being completely surrounded, he 
surrendered on the 9th of April, 1865, at 
Appomattox Court-House, in the open field, 
with 27,000 men, all that remained of his 
army. This act virtually ended the war. 
Thus, in ten days Grant had captured 
Petersburg and Richmond, fought, by his 
subordinates, the battles of Five Forks and 
Sailor's Creek, besides numerous smaller 
ones, captured 20,000 men in actual battle, 
and received the surrender of 27,000 more 
at Appomattox, absolutely annihilating an 
army of 70,000 soldiers. 

General Grant returned at once to Wash- 
ington to superintend the disbandment of 
the armies, but this pleasurable work was 
scarcely begun when President Lincoln was 
assassinated. It had doubtless been in- 
tended to inflict the same fate upon Grant ; 
but he, fortunately, on account of leaving 
Washington early in the evening, declined 
an invitation to accompany the President 
to the theater where the murder was com- 
mitted. This event made Andrew Johnson 
President, but left Grant by far the most 
conspicuous figure in the public life of the 
country. He became the object of an en- 
thusiasm greater than had ever been known 
in America. Every possible honor was 
heaped upon him ; the grade of General 
was created for him by Congress; houses 
were presented to him by citizens; towns 
were illuminated on his entrance into them ; 
and, to cap the climax, when he made his 
tour around the world, "all nations did him 
honor" as they had never before honored 
a foreigner. 

The General, as Commander-in-Chief, 
was placed in an embarrassing position by 
the opposition of President Johnson to the 
measures of Congress ; but he directly man- 
ifested his characteristic loyalty by obeying 
Congress rather than the disaffected Presi- 



dent, although for a short time he had 
served in his cabinet as Secretary of War. 

Of course, everybody thought of General 
Grant as the next President of the United 
States, and he was accordingly elected as 
such in 1868 "by a large majority," and 
four years later re-elected by a much larger 
majority — the most overwhelming ever 
given by the people of this country. His first 
administration was distinguished by a ces- 
sation of the strifes which sprang from the 
war, by a large reduction of the National 
debt, and by a settlement of the difficulties 
with England which had grown out of the 
depredations committed by privateers fit- 
ted out in England during the war. This 
last settlement was made by the famous 
" Geneva arbitration," which saved to this 
Government $1 5,000,000, but, more than all, 
prevented a war with England. " Let us 
have peace," was Grant's motto. And this 
is the most appropriate place to remark 
that above all Presidents whom this Gov- 
ernment has ever had, General Grant was 
the most non-partisan. He regarded the 
Executive office as purely and exclusively 
executive of the laws of Congress, irrespect- 
ive of " politics." But every great man 
has jealous, bitter enemies, a fact Grant 
was well aware of. 

After the close of his Presidency, our 
General made his famous tour around the 
world, already referred to, and soon after- 
ward, in company with Ferdinand Ward, 
of New York City, he engaged in banking 
and stock brokerage, which business was 
made disastrous to Grant, as well as to him- 
self, by his rascality. By this time an in- 
curable cancer of the tongue developed 
itself in the person of the afflicted ex- 
President, which ended his unrequited life 
July 23, 1885. Thus passed away from 
earth's turmoils the man, the General, who 
was as truly the " father of this regenerated 
country" as was Washington the father of 
the infant nation. 



J'h'ES/DENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

















>^ 




RUTHERFORD BIRCH- 
ARD HAYES, the nine- 
teenth President of 
the United States, 
1S77— *Si, was born in 
Delaware, Ohio, Oc- 
tober 4, 1822. His 
ancestry can be traced as far 
back as 1280, when Hayes and 
Rutherford were two Scottish 
chieftains fighting side by side 
with Baliol, William Wallace 
and Robert Bruce. Both fami- 
lies belonged to the nobility, 
owned extensive estates and had 
a large following. The Hayes 
family had, for a coat of-arms, a 
shield, barred and surmounted by a flying 
eagle. There was a circle of stars about 
the eagle and above the shield, while on a 
scroll underneath the shield was inscribed 
the motto, " Recte." Misfortune overtaking 
the family, George Hayes left Scotland in 
16S0, and settled in Windsor, Connecticut. 
1 le was an industrious worker in wood and 
iron, having a mechanical genius and a cul- 
tivated mind. 1 1 is son George was born 
in Windsor and remained there during his 
life. 

Daniel Hayes, son of the latter, married 
Sarah Lee, and lived in Simsbury, Con- 




necticut. Ezekiel, son of Daniel, was born 
in 1724, and was a manufacturer of scythes 
at Bradford, Connecticut. Rutherford 
Hayes, son of Ezekiel and grandfather of 
President Hayes, was born in New Haven, 
in August, 1756. He was a famous black- 
smith and tavern-keeper. He immigrated to 
Vermont at an unknown date, settling in 
Brattleboro where he established a hotel. 
Here his son Rutherford, father of Presi- 
dent Hayes, was born. In September, 1813, 
he married Sophia Birchard, of Wilming- 
ton, Vermont, whose ancestry on the male 
side is traced back to 1635, to John Birch- 
ard, one of the principal founders of Nor- 
wich. Both of her grandfathers were 
soldiers in the Revolutionary war. 

The father of President Hayes was of a 
mechanical turn, and could mend a plow, 
knit a stocking, or do almost anything that 
he might undertake. He was prosperous 
in business, a member of the church and 
active in all the benevolent enterprises of 
the town. After the close of the war of 1812 
he immigrated to Ohio, and purchased a 
farm near the present town of Delaware. 
His family then consisted of his wife and 
two children, and an orphan girl whom he 
had adopted. 

It was in 1817 that the family arrived at 
Delaware. Instead of settling upon his 




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RUTHERFOtW B. It AYES. 



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farm, Mr. Hayes concluded to enter into 
business in the village. He purchased an 
interest in a distillery, a business then as re- 
spectable as it was profitable. His capital 
and recognized ability assured him the 
highest social position in the community. 
He died July 22, 1822, less than three 
months before the birth of the son that was 
destined to fill the office of President of the 
United States. 

Mrs. Hayes at this period was very weak, 
and the subject of this sketch was so feeble 
at birth that he was not expected to live 
beyond a month or two at most. As the 
months went by he grew weaker and weaker 
so that the neighbors were in the habit of 
inquiring from time to time " if Mrs. 
Hayes's baby died last night." On one oc- 
casion a neighbor, who was on friendly 
terms with the family, after alluding to the 
boy's big head and the mother's assiduous 
care of him, said to her, in a bantering way, 
"That's right! Stick to him. You have 
got him along so far, and I shouldn't won- 
der if he would really come to something 
yet." " You need not laugh," said Mrs. 
Haves, " you wait and see. You can't tell 
but I shall make him President of the 
United Statesyet." 

The boy lived, in «pite of the universal 
predictions of his speedy death; and when, 
in 1825, his elder brother was drowned, he 
became, if possible, still dearer to his mother. 
He was seven years old before he was 
placed in school. His education, however, 
was not neglected. His sports were almost 
wholly within doors, his playmates being 
his sister and her associates. These circum- 
stances tended, no doubt, to foster that 
gentleness of disposition and that delicate 
consideration for the feelings of others 
which are marked traits of his character. 
At school he was ardently devoted to his 
studies, obedient to the teacher, and care- 
ful to avoid the quarrels in which many of 
his schoolmates were involved. He was 



always waiting at the school-house door 
when it opened in the morning, and never 
late in returning to his seat at recess. His 
sister Fannie was his constant companion, 
and their affection for each other excited 
the admiration of their friends. 

In 1838 young Hayes entered Kenyon 
College and graduated in 1842. He then 
began the study of law in the office of 
Thomas Sparrow at Columbus. His health 
was now well established, his figure robust, 
his mind vigorous and alert. In a short 
time he determined to enter the law school 
at Cambridge, Massachusetts, where for 
two years he pursued his studies with great 
diligence. 

In 1845 he was admitted to the bar at 
Marietta, Ohio, and shortly afterward went 
into practice as an attorney-at-law with 
Ralph P. Buckland, of Fremont. Here he 
remained three years, acquiring but limited 
practice, and apparently unambitious of 
distinction in his profession. His bachelor 
uncle, Sardis Birchard, who had always 
manifested great interest in his nephew and 
rendered him assistance in boyhood, was 
now a wealth} 7 banker, and it was under- 
stood that the young man would be his 
heir. It is possible that this expectation 
may have made Mr. Hayes more indifferent 
to the attainment of wealth than he would 
otherwise have been, but he was led into no 
extravagance or vices on this account. 

In 1849 ne removed to Cincinnati where 
his ambition found new stimulus. Two 
events occurring at this period had a pow- 
erful influence upon his subsequent life. 
One of them was his marriage to Miss 
Lucy Ware Webb, daughter of Dr. James 
Webb, of Cincinnati; the other was his 
introduction to the Cincinnati Literary 
Club, a body embracing such men as Chief 
Justice Salmon P. Chase, General John 
Pope and Governor Edward F. Noyes. 
The marriage was a fortunate one as every- 
body knows. Not one of all the wives ol 



io6 



PRESIDENTS OF THE U SITED STATES. 



our Presidents was more universally ad- 
mired, reverenced and beloved than is Mrs. 
Hayes, and no one has done more than she 
to reflect honor upon American woman- 
hood. 

In 1856 Mr. Hayes was nominated to the 
office of Judge of the Court cf Common 
Pleas, but declined to accept the nomina- 
tion. Two years later he was chosen to the 
office of City Solicitor. 

In 1 861, when the Rebellion broke out, 
he was eager to take up arms in the defense 
of his country. His military life was 
bright and illustrious. June 7, 1861, he 
was appointed Major of the Twenty-third 
Ohio Infantry. In July the regiment was 
sent to Virginia. October 15, 1861, he was 
made Lieutenant-Colonel of his regiment, 
and in August, 1862, was promoted Colonel 
of the Seventy-ninth Ohio Regiment, but 
refused to leave his old comrades. He was 
wounded at the battle of South Mountain, 
and suffered severely, being unable to enter 
upon active duty for several weeks. No- 
vember 30, 1862, he rejoined his regiment as 
its Colonel, having been promoted Octo- 
ber 15. 

December 25, 1862, he was placed in com- 
mand of the Kanawha division, and for 
meritorious service in several battles was 
promoted Brigadier-General. He was also 
brevetted Major-General for distinguished 



services in 1864. He was wounded lour 
times, and five horses were shot from 
under him. 

Mr. Hayes was first a Whig in politics, 
and was among the first to unite with the 
Free-Soil and Republican parties. In 1864 
he was elected to Congress from die Sec- 
ond Ohio District, which had always been 
Democratic, receiving a majority of 3,098. 
In 1866 he was renominated for Congress 
and was a second time elected. In 1867 he 
was elected Governor over Allen G. Thur- 
man, the Democratic candidate, and re- 
elected in 1869. In 1874 Sardis Birchard 
died, leaving his large estate to General 
I layes. 

In 1876 he was nominated for the Presi- 
dency. His letter of acceptance excited 
the admiration of the whole country. He 
resigned the office of Governor and retired 
to his home in Fremont to await the result 
of the canvass. After a hard, long contest 
he was inaugurated March 5, 1877. H' s 
Presidency was characterized by compro- 
mises with all parties, in order to please as 
many as possible. The close of his Presi- 
dential term in 1881 was the close of his 
public lite, and since then lie has remained 
at his home in Fremont, Ohio, in Jefferso- 
nian retirement from public notice, in strik- 
ing contrast with most others of the world's 
notables. 






james A. Garfield. 



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AMES A. GARFIELD, 

twentieth President of 
the United States, 1881, 
was born November 19, 
1 83 1, in the wild woods 
o f Cuyahoga County, 
Ohio. His parents were 
Abram and Eliza (Ballou) 
Garfield, who were of New 
• England ancestry. The 
senior Garfield was an in- 
dustrious farmer, as the 
rapid improvements which 
appeared on his place at- 
tested. The residence was 
the familiar pioneer log cabin, 
and the household comprised the parents 
and their children — Mehetable, Thomas, 
Mary and James A. In May, 1833, the 
father died, and the care of the house- 
hold consequently devolved upon young 
Thomas, to whom James was greatly in- 
debted for the educational and other ad- 
vantages he enjoyed. He now lives in 
Michigan, and the two sisters live in Solon, 
Ohio, near their birthplace. 

As the subject of our sketch grew up, he, 
too, was industrious, both in mental and 
physical labor. He worked upon the farm, 
or at carpentering, or chopped wood, or at 
any other odd job that would aid in support 
of the family, and in the meantime made the 



most of his books. Ever afterward he was 
never ashamed of his humble origin, nor for- 
got the friends of his youth. The poorest 
laborer was sure of his sympathy, and he 
always exhibited the character of a modest 
gentleman. 

Until he was about sixteen years of age, 
James's highest ambition was to be a lake 
captain. To this his mother was strongly 
opposed, but she finalty consented to his 
going to Cleveland to carry out his long- 
cherished design, with the understanding, 
however, that he should try to obtain some 
other kind of employment. He walked all 
the way to Cleveland, and this was his first 
visit to the city. After making many ap- 
plications for work, including labor on 
board a lake vessel, but all in vain, he 
finally engaged as a driver for his cousin, 
Amos Letcher, on the Ohio & Pennsyl- 
vania Canal. In a short time, however, he 
quit this and returned home. He then at- 
tended the seminary at Chester for about 
three years, and next he entered Hiram In- 
stitute, a school started in 1850 by the 
Disciples of Christ, of which church he was 
a member. In order to pa}' his way he 
assumed the duties of janitor, and at times 
taught school. He soon completed the cur- 
riculum there, and then entered Williams 
College, at which he graduated in 1856, 
taking one of the highest honors of his class. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Afterward he returned to Hiram as Presi- 
dent. In his youthful and therefore zealous 
piety, he exercised his talents occasionally 
as a preacher of the Gospel. He was a 
man of strong moral and religious convic- 
tions, and as soon as he began to look into 
politics, he saw innumerable points that 
could be improved. He also studied law, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1859. 
November 11, 1858, Mr. Garfield married 
Miss Lucretia Rudolph, who ever after- 
ward proved a worthy consort in all the 
stages of her husband's career. They had 
seven children, five of whom are still living. 

It was in 1859 that Garfield made his 
first political speeches, in Hiram and the 
neighboring villages, and three years later 
he began to speak at county mass-meetings, 
being received everywhere with popular 
favor. He was elected to the State Senate 
this year, taking his scat in January, i860. 

On the breaking out of the war of the 
Rebellion in 1861, Mr. Garfield resolved to 
fight as he had talked, and accordingly he 
enlisted to defend the old flag, receiving 
his commission as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 
Forty-second Regiment of the Ohio Volun- 
teer Infantry, August 14, that year. He 
was immediately thrown into active service, 
and before he had ever seen a gun fired in 
action he was placed in command of four 
regiments of infantry and eight companies 
of cavalry, charged with the work of driv- 
ing the Confederates, headed by Humphrey 
Marshall, from his native State, Kentucky. 
This task was speedily accomplished, al- 
though against great odds. On account of 
his success, President Lincoln commissioned 
him Brigadier-General, January 11, 1862; 
and, as he had been the youngest man in 
the Ohio Senate two years before, so now 
he was the youngest General in the arm v. 
He was with General Buell's army at Shi- 
loh, also in its operations around Corinth 
and its march through Alabama. Next, he 
was detailed as a member of the general 



court-martial for the trial of General Fitz- 
John Porter, and then ordered to report to 
General Rosecrans, when he was assigned 
to the position of Chief of Staff. His mili- 
tary history closed with his brilliant ser- 
vices at Chickamauga, where he won the 
stars of Major-General. 

In the fall of 1862, without any effort on 
his part, he was elected as a Representative 
to Congress, from that section of Ohio 
which had been represented for sixty years 
mainly by two men — Elisha Whittlesey and 
Joshua R. Giddings. Again, he was the 
youngest member of that body, and con- 
tinued there by successive re-elections, as 
Representative or Senator, until he was 
elected President in 1880. During his life 
in Congress he compiled and published by 
his speeches, there and elsewhere, more 
information on the issues of the day, espe- 
cially on one side, than any other member. 

June 8, 1880, at the National Republican 
Convention held in Chicago, General Gar- 
field was nominated for the Presidency, in 
preference to the old war-horses, Blaine 
and Grant ; and although many of the Re- 
publican party felt sore over the failure ot 
their respective heroes to obtain the nomi- 
nation, General Garfield was elected by a 
fair popular majority. He was duly in- 
augurated, but on July 2 following, before 
he had fairly got started in his administra- 
tion, he was fatally shot by a half-dement< '1 
assassin. After very painful and protracted 
suffering, he died September 19, [881, la- 
mented by all the American people. Never 
before in the history of this country had 
anything occurred which so nearly froze 
the blood of the Nation, lor the moment, as 
the awful ac( oi Guiteau, the murderer. 
He was duly tried, convicted and put to 
death on the gallows. 

The lamented Garfield was succeeded by 
the Vice-President, General Arthur, who 
seemed to endeavor to carry out the policy 
inaugurated by his predecessor. 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



»'3 





HESTER ALLEN 
ARTHUR, the twen- 
ty-first Chief Execu- 
tive of this growing 
republic, i88i-'S, was 
born in Franklin 
County, Vermont, 
October 5, 1830, the eldest of a 
family of two sons and five 
daughters. His father, Rev. 
Dr. William Arthur, a Baptist 
clergyman, immigrated to this 
country from Count}' Antrim, 
Ireland, in his eighteenth year, 
and died in 1875, in Newton- 
ville, near Albany, New York, 
after serving many years as a successful 
minister. Chester A. was educated at that 
old, conservative institution, Union Col- 
lege, at Schenectady, New York, where he 
excelled in all his studies. He graduated 
there, with honor, and then struck out in 
life for himself by teaching school for about 
two years in his native State. 

At the expiration- of that time young 
Arthur, with $500 in his purse, went to the 
city of New York and entered the law office 
of ex-Judge E. D. Culver as a student. In 
due time he was admitted to the bar, when 
he formed a partnership with his intimate 



friend and old room-mate, Henry D. Gar- 
diner, with the intention of practicing law 
at some point in the West; but after spend- 
ing about three months in the Wester. 
States, in search of an eligible place, they 
returned to New York City, leased a room, 
exhibited a sign of their business and al- 
most immediately enjoyed a paying patron- 
age. 

At this stage of his career Mr. Arthur's 
business prospects were so encouraging 
that he concluded to take a wife, and ac- 
cordingly he married the daughter of Lieu- 
tenant Herndon, of the United States Navy, 
who had been lost at sea. To the widow 
of the latter Congress voted a gold medal, 
in recognition of the Lieutenant's bravery 
during the occasion in which he lost his 
life. Mrs. Artnur died shortly before her 
husband's nomination to the Vice-Presi- 
dency, leaving two children. 

Mr. Arthur obtained considerable celeb- 
rity as an attorney in the famous Lemmon 
suit, which was brought to recover posses- 
sion of eight slaves, who had been declared 
free by the Superior Court of New York 
City. The noted Charles O'Conor, who 
was nominated by the "Straight Demo- 
crats" in 1872 for the United States Presi- 
dency, was retained by Jonathan G. Lem- 



11+ 



presidents of the united states. 



mon, of Virginia, to recover the negroes, 
but he lost the suit. In this case, however, 
Mr. Arthur was assisted by William M. 
Evarts, now United States Senator. Soon 
afterward, in 1S56, a respectable colored 
woman was ejected from a street car in 
New York City. Mr. Arthur sued thecar 
company in her behalf and recovered $500 
damages. Immediately afterward all the 
car companies in the city issued orders to 
their employes to admit colored persons 
upon their cars. 

Mr. Arthur's political doctrines, as well 
as his practice as a lawyer, raised him to 
prominence in the part)- of freedom ; and 
accordingly he was sent as a delegate to 
the first National Republican Convention. 
Soon afterward he was appointed Judge 
Advocate for the Second Brigade of the 
State of New York, and then Engineer-in- 
Chief on Governor Morgan's staff. In 1861, 
the first year of the war, he was made In- 
spector-General, and next, Quartermaster- 
General, in both which offices he rendered 
great service to the Government. After 
the close of Governor Morgan's term lie 
resumed the practice of law, forming first a 
partnership with Mr. Ransom, and subse- 
quently adding Mr. Phelps to the firm. 
Each of these gentlemen were able lawyers. 

November 21, 1872, General Arthur was 
appointed Collector of the Port of New 
York by President Grant, and he held the 
office until July 20. 1878. 

The next event of prominence in General 
Arthur's career was his nomination to the 
Vice-Presidency of the United States, under 
the influence of Roscoe Conkling, at the 
National Republican Convention held at 
Chicago in June, 1S80, when James A. Gar- 
lield was placed at the head of the ticket. 
Both the convention and the campaign that 
followed were noisy and exciting. The 
friends of Grant, constituting nearly half 



the convention, were exceedingly persist- 
ent, and were sorely disappointed over 
their defeat. At the head of the Demo- 
cratic ticket was placed a very strong and 
popular man ; vet Garfield and Arthur were 
elected by a respectable plurality of the 
popular vote. The 4th of March following, 
these gentlemen were accordinglv inaugu- 
rated ; but within four months the assassin's 
bullet made a fatal wound in the person of 
General Garfield, whose life terminated 
September 19, 1881, when General Arthur, 
ex officio, was obliged to take the chief 
reins of government. Some misgivings 
were entertained by many in this event, as 
Mr. Arthur was thought to represent espe 
ciallv the Grant and Conkling wing of the 
Republican party ; but President Arthur 
had both the ability and the good sense to 
allay all fears, and he gave the restless, 
critical American people as good an ad- 
ministration as they had ever been blessed 
with. Neither selfishness nor low parti- 
sanism ever characterized any feature of 
his public service. He ever maintained a 
high sense of everv individual right as well 
as of the Nation's honor. Indeed, he stood 
so high that his successor, President Cleve- 
land, though of opposing politics, expressed 
a wish in his inaugural address that he 
could only satisfv the people with as good 
an administration. 

But the day of civil service reform had 
come in so far, and the corresponding re- 
action against "third-termism" had en- 
croached so far even upon "second-term" 
service, that the Republican party saw fit 
in 1884 to nominate another man for Presi- 
dent. Only by this means was General 
Arthur's tenure of office closed at Wash- 
ington, (hi his retirement from the Presi- 
dency, March, 1885, ho engaged in the 
practice of law at New York City, where he 
died November IS 1886. 




^^_- 



r 



G ROVER CLEVELAND. 



117 







^ 












— ^tJ»-2»l>— ^^t^-^t^^ 



w 



' 







ROVER CLEVE- 
LAND, the twenty- 
second President of the 
United States, 1885—, 
was born in Caldwell, 
Wm!^^^^^-- Essex County, New 
" A Jersey, March 18, 
The house in which he 
was born, a small two-story 
wooden building, is still stand- 
4f®}-J»W 1 ,l. ing. It was the parsonage of 
t^^jjS the Presbyterian church, of 
which his father, Richard 
Cleveland, at the time was 
pastor. The family is of New 
England origin, and for two centuries has 
contributed to the professions and to busi- 
ness, men who have reflected honor on the 
name. Aaron Cleveland, Grover Cleve- 
land's great-great-grandfather, was born in 
Massachusetts, but subsequently moved to 
Philadelphia, where he became an intimate 
friend of Benjamin Franklin, at whose 
house he died. He left a large family of 
children, who in time married and settled 
in different parts of New England. A 
grandson was one of the small American 
force that fought the British at Bunker 
Hill. He served with gallantry through- 
out the Revolution and was honorably 
discharged at its close as a Lieutenant in 
the Continental army. Another grandson, 
William Cleveland (a son of a second Aaron 



Cleveland, who was distinguished as a 
writer and member of the Connecticut 
Legislature) was Grover Cleveland's grand- 
father. William Cleveland became a silver- 
smith in Norwich, Connecticut. He ac- 
quired by industry some property and sent 
his son, Richard Cleveland, the father of 
Grover Cleveland, to Yale College, where 
he graduated in 1824. During a year spent 
in teaching at Baltimore, Maryland, after 
graduation, he met and fell in love with a 
Miss Annie Neale, daughter of a wealthy 
Baltimore book publisher, of Irish birth. 
He was earning his own way in the world 
at the time and was unable to marry; but 
in three years he completed a course of 
preparation for the ministry, secured a 
church in Windham, Connecticut, and 
married Annie Neale. Subsequently he 
moved to Portsmouth, Virginia, where he 
preached for nearly two years, when he 
was summoned to Caldwell, New Jersey, 
where was born Grover Cleveland. 

When he was three years old the family 
moved to Fayetteville, Onondaga County, 
New York. Here Grover Cleveland lived 
until he was fourteen years old, the rugged, 
healthful life of a country boy. His frank, 
generous manner made him a favorite 
among his companions, and their respect 
was won by the good qualities in the germ 
which his manhood developed. He at- 
tended the district school of the village and 



nS 



PKESIDEXTS OF THE UN/TED STATES. 



was for a short time at the academy. Mis 
lather, however, believed that boys should 
be taught to labor at an early age, and be- 
fore he had completed the course of study 
at the academy he began to work in the 
village store at $50 for the first year, and the 
promise of $100 for the. second year. His 
work was well done and the promised in- 
crease of pay was granted the second year. 
Meanwhile his father and family had 
moved to Clinton, the seat of Hamilton 
College, where his father acted as agent to 
the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, 
preaching in the churches of the vicinity. 
Hither Grover came at his father's request 
shortly after the beginning of his second 
year at the Fayette ville store, and resumed 
his studies at the Clinton Academy. After 
three years spent in this town, the Rev. 
Richard Cleveland was called to the vil- 
lage church of Holland Patent. He had 
preached here only a month when he was 
suddenly stricken down and died without 
an hour's warning. The death of the father 
left the family in straitened circumstances, 
as Richard Cleveland had spent all his 
salary of $1,000 per year, which was not 
required for the necessary expenses of liv- 
ing, upon the education of his children, of 
whom there were nine, Grover being the 
fifth. Grover was hoping to enter Hamil- 
ton College, but the death of his father 
made it necessary for him to earn his own 
livelihood. For the first year (i853-'4) he 
acted as assistant teacher and bookkeeper in 
the Institution for the Blind in New York 
City, of which the late Augustus Schell was 
for many years the patron. In the winter 
of 1854 he returned to Holland Patent 
where the generous people of that place, 
Fayetteville and Clinton, had purchased a 
home for his mother, and in the following 
spring, borrowing $25, he set out for the 
West to earn his liviiiLr. 

D 

Reaching Buffalo he paid a hasty visit to 
ail uncle, Lewis F. Allen, a well-known 



stock farmer, living at Black Rock, a tew 
! miles distant. He communicated his plans 
to Mr. Allen, who discouraged the idea of 
the West, and finally induced the enthusi- 
astic boy of seventeen to remain with him 
and help him prepare a catalogue of blooded 
short-horn cattle, knownas " Allen's Amer- 
ican Herd Book," a publication familiar to 
all breeders of cattle. In August, 1855, he 
entered the law office of Rogers, Bowen 
& Rogers, at Buffalo, and after serving a 
few months without pay, was paid $4 a 
week — an amount barely sufficient to meet 
the necessary expenses of his board in the 
family of a fellow-student in Buffalo, with 
whom he took lodgings. Life at this time 
with Grover Cleveland was a stern battle 
with the world. He took his breakfast by 
candle-light with the drovers, and went at 
once to the office where the whole day was 
spent in work and study. Usually he re- 
turned again at night to resume reading 
which had been interrupted by the duties 
of the da)-. Gradually his employers came 
to recognize the ability, trustworthiness 
and capacity for hard work in their young 
employe, and by the time he was admitted 
to the bar (1859) nc stood high in their con- 
fidence. A year later he was made confi- 
dential and managing clerk, and in the 
course of three years more his salary had 
been raised to $1,000. In 1863 he was ap- 
pointed assistant district attorney of Eric 
County by the district attorney, the Hon. 
C. C. Torrance. 

Since his first vote had been cast in 1858 
he had been a staunch Democrat, and until 
he was chosen Governor he always made 
it his duty, rain or shine, to stand at the 
polls and give out ballots to Democratic 
voters. During the first year of his term 
as assistant district attorney, the Democrats 
desired especially to carry the Board of Su- 
pervisors. The old Second Ward in which 
he lived was Republican- ordinarily by 250 
majority, but at the urgent request of the 



GliOVER CLEVELAND 



119 



party Grover Cleveland consented to be 
the Democratic candidate for Supervisor, 
and came within thirteen votes of an elec- 
tion. The three years spent in the district 
attorney's office were devoted to assiduous 
;abor and the extension of his professional 
attainments. He then formed a law part- 
nership with the late Isaac V. Vanderpoel, 
ex-State Treasurer, under the firm name 
of Vanderpoel tS: Cleveland. Here the bulk 
of the work devolved on Cleveland's shoul- 
ders, and he soon won a good standing at 
the bar of Erie County. In 1869 Mr. 
Cleveland formed a partnership with ex- 
Senator A. P. Laning and ex-Assistant 
United States District Attorney Oscar Fol- 
som, under the firm name of Laning, Cleve- 
land & Folsom. During these years he 
began to earn a moderate professional in- 
come; but the larger portion of it was sent 
to his mother and sisters at Holland Patent 
to whose support he had contributed ever 
since i860. He served as sheriff of Erie 
County, i87o-'4, and then resumed the 
practice of law, associating himself with the 
Hon. Lyman K. Bass and Wilson S. Bissell. 



The firm was strong and popular, and soon 
commanded a large and lucrative practice. 
Ill health forced the retirement of Mr. Bass 
in 1879, an d the firm became Cleveland & 
Bissell. In 1881 Mr. George J. Sicard was 
added to the firm. 

In the autumn election of 1881 he was 
elected mayor of Buffalo by a majority of 
over 3,500 — the largest majority ever given 
a candidate for mayor — and the Democratic 
city ticket was successful, although the 
Republicans carried Buffalo by over 1,000 
majority for their State ticket. Grover 
Cleveland's administration as mayor fully 
justified the confidence reposed in him by 
the people of Buffalo, evidenced by the 
great vote he received. 

The Democratic State Convention met 
at Syracuse, September 22, 1882, and nomi- 
nated Grover Cleveland for Governor 
on the third ballot and Cleveland was 
elected by 192,000 majority. In the fall of 
1 884 he was elected President of the United 
States by about 1,000 popular majority, 
in New York State, and he was accordingly 
inaugurated the 4th of March following. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



» BENJAMIN HAI^ISON. 



■:■-■ 




ENJAMIN HARRISON, 

the twenty-third Presi- 
dent of the United States, 
1889, was born at North 
Bend, Hamilton County, 
Ohio, in the house of his 
grandfather, William Hen- 
ry Harrison (who was the 
ninth President of this 
country), August 20th, 
1833. He is a descendant 
of one of the historical 
families of this country, as 
also of England. The 
head of the family was a 
Major-General Harrison 
who was devoted to the cause of Oliver 
Cromwell. It became the duty of this Har- 
rison to participate in the trial of Charles 1. 
and afterward to sitrn the death warrant of 
the king, which subsequently cost him his 
life. His enemies succeeding to power, he 
was condemned and executed October 13th, 
1 f")fi(). II is descendants came to America, 
and the first mention made in history of the 
Harrison family as representative in public 
affairs, is that of Benjamin Harrison, great- j 
grandfather of our present President, who 
whs a member of the Continental Congress, 
1774-5-G, and one of the original signers of 



the Declaration of Independence, and three 
times Governor of Virginia. His son, Will- 
iam Henry Harrison, made a brilliant mili- 
tary record, was Governor of the Northwest 
Territory, and the ninth President of the 
United States. 

The subject of this sketch at an early age 
became a student at Farmers College, where 
he remained two years, at the end of which 
time he entered Miami University, at Ox- 
ford, Ohio. Upon graduation from said seat 
of learning he entered, as a student, the of- 
fice of Stover A; Gwyne, a notable law firm at 
Cincinnati, Ohio, where he applied himself 
closely to the study of his chosen profession, 
and here laid the foundation for the honora- 
ble and famous career before him. lie spent 
two years with the firm in Cincinnati, at the 
expiration of which time he received the 
only inheritance of his life, which was a lot 
left him by an aunt, which he sold for $800. 
This sum he deemed sufficient to justify him 
in marrying the lady of his choice, and to 
whom he was then engaged, a daughter of 
Dr. Scott, then Principal of a female school 
at Oxford, Ohio. 

After marriage he located at Indianapolis, 
Indiana, where he began the practice of law. 
Meeting with slight encouragement he made 
but little the first year, but applied himself 





. ^^2 



tZ^^^sL^&^L^ 



BENJAMIN HARRISON. 



■23 



closely to his business, and by perseverance, 
honorable dealing and an upright life, suc- 
ceeded in building npan extensive practice and 
took a leading position in the legal profession. 

In I860 he was nominated for the position 
of Supreme Court Reporter for the State of 
Indiana, and then began his experience as a 
stump speaker. He canvassed the State 
thoroughly and was elected. 

In 1862 his patriotism caused him to 
abandon a civil office and to offer his country 
his services in a military capacity. He or- 
ganized the Seventieth Indiana Infantry and 
was chosen its Colonel. Although his regi- 
ment was composed of raw material, and he 
practically void of military schooling, he at 
once mastered military tactics and drilled bis 
men, so that when be with his regiment was 
assigned to Gen. Sherman's command it was 
known as one of the best drilled organ- 
izations of the army. He was especially 
distinguished for bravery at the battles of 
Resacca and Peach Tree Creek. For bis 
bravery and efficiency at the last named bat- 
tle he was made a Brigadier-General, Gen- 
eral Hooker speaking of him in the most 
complimentary terms. 

While General Harrison was actively en- 
gaged in the field the Supreme Court declared 
the office of Supreme Court Reporter vacant, 
and another person was elected to fill the 
position. From the time of leaving Indiana 
with his regiment for the front, until the fall 
of 1864, General Harrison bad taken no leave 
of absence. But having been nominated 
that year for the same office that he vacated 
in order to serve his country where he could 
do the greatest good, he got a thirty-day leave 
of absence, and during that time canvassed 
the State and was elected for another term as 
Supreme Court Reporter. lie then started 
to rejoin bis command, then with General 
Sherman in the South, but was stricken down 



with fever and after a very trying siege, made 
his way to the front, and participated in the 
closing scenes and incidents of the war. 

In 1868 General Harrison declined a re- 
election as Reporter, and applied himself to 
the practice of his profession. He was a 
candidate for Governor of Indiana on the 
Republican ticket in 1876. Although de- 
feated, the brilliant campaign brought him 
to public notice and gave him a National 
reputation as an able and formidable debater 
and he was much sought in the Eastern 
States as a public speaker. He took an act- 
ive part in the Presidential campaign of 
1880, and was elected to the United States 
Senate, where he served six years, and was 
known as one of the strongest debaters, as 
well as one of the ablest men and best law- 
yers. When his term expired in the Senate 
he resumed his law practice at Indianapolis, 
becoming the head of one of the strongest 
law firms in the State of Indiana. 

Sometime prior to the opening of the 
Presidential campaign of 1888, the two great 
political parties (Republican and Democratic) 
drew the line of political battle on the ques- 
tion of tariff, which became the leading issue 
and the rallying watchword during the mem- 
orable camrv.ign. The Republicans appealed 
to the people for their voice as to a tariff to 
protect home industries, while the Democrats 
wanted a tariff for revenue only. The Re- 
publican convention assembled in Chicago in 
June and selected Mr. Harrison as their 
standard bearer on a platform of principles, 
among other important clauses being that of 
protection, which he cordially indorsed in 
accepting the nomination. November 6, 
1888, after a heated canvass, General Harri- 
son was elected, defeating Grover Cleveland, 
who was again the nominee of the Demo- 
cratic party. He was inaugurated and as- 
sumed the duties of his office March 4, 1889. 










IOWA STATE HOUSE AT DES MOINES. 



^ 



5 

^^^^*^&#^ 



HISTORY OF IOWA. 



^*^^||^^^^^^^ 




'^■^>% ' 







>0 T?HZ 2 ?7 J '.-'r'^r'r'Ha HH2 r J ? r . : 'a , ? ZaHt 



HISTORY OF IOWA. 



U3 




J *•> . RJ li _ll 11 »»- » * " 11 - 1 .' -'I \K ly *J, 



ABORIGINAL. 




gjJvVjHE race or races who 
occupied this beau- 
tiful prairie country 
before the advent of 
the whites from Eu- 
rope had no litera- 
ture, and therefore 
have left us no history of 
themselves. Not even tra- 
ditions, to any extent, have 
been handed down to us. 
Hence, about all we know 
of the Indians, previous to 
explorations by the whites, 
is derived from mounds 
and a few simple relics. 
The mounds were erected 
by a people generally denominated Mound 
Builders, but whether they were a distinct 
race from the Indians is an unsettled ques- 
tion. Prof. Alex. Winchell, of the Michigan 
State University, as well as a number of 
other investigators, is of the opinion that 
those who built mounds, mined copper and 
iron, made elaborate implements of war, 
agriculture and domestic economy, and 
built houses and substantial villages, etc., 
were no other than the ancestors of the 
present Indians, who, like the ancient 

Greeks and Romans, were more skilled in 
10 



the arts of life than their successors during 
the middle ages. Most people have their 
periods of decline, as well as those of prog- 
ress. The Persians, Hindoos and Chinese, 
although so long in existence as distinct 
nations, have been forages in a state of de- 
cay. Spain and Italy do not improve, 
while Germany, Russia and the United 
States have now their turn in enjoying a 
rapid rise. Similarly, the Indians have long 
been on the decline in the practical arts of 
life. Even since the recent days of Feni- 
more Cooper, the " noble " red men have 
degenerated into savages, despite the close 
contact of the highest order of civilization. 

Nearly all modern authorities unite in 
the opinion that the American continent 
was first peopled from Eastern Asia, either 
by immigration across Behring's Strait or 
by shipwrecks of sailors from the Kamt- 
schatkan and Japanese coast. If mankind 
originated at the north pole, and subse- 
quently occupied an Atlantic continent, 
now submerged, it is possible that the 
American Indians are relics of polar or 
Atlantic races. 

The ancient race which built the towns 
and cities of Mexico and the Western 
United States is called the Aztec, and even 
of them is scarcely anything known save 



124 



HISTORY OF IOWA. 



whit can be learned (rum their buried 
structures. The few inscriptions that are 
found seem to be meaningless. 

Indian mounds are found throughout 
the United States east of the Rocky 
Mountains, but are far more abundant in 
some places than others. In this State 
they abound near the principal rivers. 
They vary in size from a few to hundreds 
of feet in diameter, and from three to fifteen 
or more feet in height. They are generally 
round, or nearly so, but in a few notable 
exceptions they bear a rude resemblance in 
their outline to the figure of some animal. 
Their contents are limited, both in quantity 
and variety, and consist mainly of human 
bones, stone implements, tobacco pipes, 
beads, etc. The stone implements are axes, 
skinning knives, pestles and mortars, arrow 
points, etc. The human bones are often 
found in a mass as if a number of corpses had 
been buried together, and indicate that their 
possessors were interred in a sitting posture. 
Judge Samuel Murdock, of Elkader, this 
State, who has made this subject a special 
study for many years, is of the opinion that 
■ these remains are not of subjects who were 
inhumed as corpses, but of persons who, 
under the influence of a savage religion, 
voluntarily sacrificed themselves by under- 
going a burial when alive. 

CAUCASIAN. 

The first member of this race to discover 
the Mississippi River was Ferdinand De 
Soto, a Spaniard, who explored the region 
of the Lower Mississippi in 1541, but came 
no farther north than the 35th parallel, 
lie founded no settlements, nor was he ever 
followed by others of his country to make 
settlements, and hence Spain lost her title 
to the country which she had earned by 
discovery through her subject, De Soto. 
At a subsequent period a Frenchman re- 
discovered the realm, took possession of it 
in tne name of France, and his fellow 



countrymen soon followed and effected 
actual settlements. Accordingly, in 1682, 
France claimed the country, and, accord- 
ing to the usage of European nations, 
earned a proper title to the same. The re- 
sult was a collision between those two na- 
tions, success finally crowning the efforts of 
France. 

In a grand council of Indians, on the 
shore of Lake Superior, they told the 
Frenchmen glowing stories of the " Father 
of Waters " and of the adjacent country, 
and in 1669 Jacques Marquette, a zealous 
and shrewd Jesuit missionary, became in- 
spired with the iilea of visiting this re- 
gion, in the interests of civilization. After 
studying the language and customs of 
the Illinois Indians until 1673, he made prep- 
arations for the journey, in which he was 
to be accompanied by Louis Joliet, an agent 
of the French Government. The Indians, 
who had gathered in large numbers to wit- 
ness his departure, endeavored to dissuade 
him from the undertaking, representing that 
the Indians of the Mississippi Valley were 
cruel and bloodthirsty. The great river 
itself, they said, was the abode of terrible 
monsters which could swallow men, canoes 
and all. But the shrewd missionary, already 
aware of Indian extravagance in descrip- 
tion, set out upon the contemplated jour- 
ney May 13. With the aid of two Miami 
guides he proceeded to the Wisconsin 
River, and down thai stream to the Mis- 
sissippi. Floating down the latter he dis- 
covered, on the 25th of June, traces of 
Indians on the west bank, and Landed. 
This was at a point a little above the mouth 
of the Des Moines River, and thus a Euro- 
pean first trod the soil of Iowa. After re- 
maining a short time and becoming ac- 
quainted with the red man as he then and 
there exhibited himself, he proceeded down 
to the mouth of the Illinois, thence up 
that river and by Lake Michigan to the 
French settlements. 



HISTORY OF IOWA. 



125 



Nine years later, in 1682, Rene Robert 
Cavelier La Salle descended the Missis- 
sippi to the Gulf of Mexico, and in the name 
of the King of France took formal posses- 
sion of all the Mississippi Valley, naming it 
Louisiana, in honor of his king, Louis XIV. 
The river itself he named Colbert, in honor 
of the French minister. Soon afterward 
the Government of France began to en- 
courage the establishment of a line of trad- 
ing posts and missionary stations through- 
out the West from Canada to Louisiana, 
and this policy was maintained with par- 
tial success for about seventy-five years. 
Christian zeal animated both France and 
England in missionary enterprise, the 
former in the interests of Catholicism and 
the latter in favor of Protestantism. Hence 
their haste to pre-occupy the land and prose- 
lyte the aborigines; but this ugly rivalry dis- 
gusted the Indians and they refused to be 
converted to either branch of Christianity. 
The traders also persisted in importing 
whisky, which canceled nearly every civ- 
ilizing influence that could be brought to 
bear upon the savages. Another character- 
istic of Indian nature was to listen atten- 
tive!)' to all that the missionary said, pre- 
tending to believe all he preached, and then 
offer in turn his theory of the world, of re- 
ligion, etc.; and, not being listened to with 
the same degree of attention and pretense 
of belief, would depart from the white 
man's presence in disgust. This was his 
idea of the golden rule. 

Comparatively few Indians were perma- 
nently located within the present bounds 
of the State of Iowa. Favorite hunting 
grounds were resorted to by certain bands 
for a time, and afterward by others, subject 
to the varying fortunes of their little wars. 
The tribes were principally the Illinois, 
lowas, Dakotas, Sioux, Pottawatomies and 
finally the Sacs and Foxes. 

In 1765 the Miami confederacy was com- 
posed of four tribes, whose total number 



of warriors was estimated at only 1,050 
men. Of these about 250 were Twightwees, 
or Miamis proper; 300 Weas, or Ouiate- 
nons; 300 Piankeshaws and 200 Shockeys; 
but their headquarters were along the 
Maumee River, in Indiana and Ohio. 

From 1688 to 1697 the wars in which 
France and England were engaged re- 
tarded the growth of their American colo- 
nies. The efforts made by France to 
connect Canada and the Gulf of Mexico by 
a chain of trading posts and colonies nat- 
urally excited the jealousy of England and 
gradually laid the foundation for a struggle 
at arms. The crisis came and the contest 
obtained the name of the French and Indian 
war, the French and Indians combining 
against the English. The war was termi- 
nated in 1763 by a treaty at Paris, by which 
France ceded to Great Britain all of North 
America east of the Mississippi, except the 
island on which New Orleans is situated. 
The preceding autumn France ceded to 
Spain all the country west of that river. 

In 1765 the total number of French fami- 
lies within the limits of the Northwest Ter- 
ritory did not probably exceed 600. These 
were in settlements about Detroit, alone 
the river Wabash and the neighborhood of 
Fort Chartres on the Mississippi. The 
colonial policy of the British Government 
opposed any measures which might 
strengthen settlements in the interior of 
this country, lest they should become self- 
supporting and consequently independent 
of the mother country, Hence the settle- 
ment of the Northwest was still further 
retarded. That short-sighted policy con- 
sisted mainly in holding the lands in the 
possession of the Government, and not 
allowing it to be subdivided and sold to 
those who would become settlers. After 
the establishment of American indepen- 
dence, and especially under the administra- 
tion of Thomas Jefferson, both as Governor 
of Virginia and President of the United 



ta6 



HISTORY OF IOWA. 



States, subdivision of land and giving it to 
actual settlers rapidly peopled this portion 
of the Union, so that the Northwest Terri- 
tory was formed and even subdivided into 
other Territories and States before the 
year 1820. 

I'm more than 100 years after Marquette 
and Joliel trod the virgin soil of Iowa and 
admired its fertile plains, not a single settle- 
ment was made or attempted ; not even a 
trading-post was established. During this 
time the Illinois Indians, once a powerful 
tribe, gave up the entire possession of this 
" Beautiful Land," as Iowa was then called, 
to the Sacs and Foxes. In 1803, when 
Louisiana was purchased by the United 
States, the Sacs, Foxes and lowas pos- 
sessed this entire State, and the two for- 
mer tribes occupied also most of the State 
of Illinois. The four most important towns 
of the Sacs were along the Mississippi, two 
on the cast side, one near the mouth of the 
Upper Iowa and one at the head of the 
Des Moines Rapids, near the present site 
of Montrose. Those of the Foxes were — 
One 'in the west side of the Mississippi just 
above Davenport, one about twelve miles 
from the river back of the Dubuque lead 
mines and one on Turkey River. The 
principal village ol the lowas was on the 
Des Moines River, in Van Buren County, 
where lowaville now stands. Here the last 
great battle between the Sacs and Foxes 
and the lowas was fought, in which Black 
Hawk, then a young man, commanded the 
attacking forces. 

The Sioux had the northern portion of 
this State and Southern Minnesota. They 
.1 fierce and war-like nation, who often 
disputed possessions with their rivals in 
savage and bloody warfare; but finally a 
boundary line was established between 
them l>\ the Government of the United 
statis. in .1 treaty held at Prairie du Chien 
in [825. This, however, became the occa- 
sion ot an increased number ol quarrels be- 



tween tin tribes, as each trespassed, or was 
thought to trespass, upon the other's side of 
the line. In 1830, therefore, the Govern- 
ment created a forty-mile neutral strip of 
land between them, which policy proved to 
be more successful in the interests of peace. 

Soon after the acquisition of Louisiana bv 
our Government, the latter adopted meas- 
ures for the exploration of the new terri- 
tory, having in view the conciliation of the 
numerous tribes of Indians by whom it was 
possessed, and also the selection of proper 
sites for military posts and trading stations. 

The Army of the West, General Wilkin- 
son commanding, had its headquarters at 
St. Louis. From this post Captains Lewis 
and Clarke, in 1805. were detailed with a 
sufficient force to explore the Missouri 
River to its source, and Lieutenant Zebulon 
M. Pike to ascend to the head of the Missis- 
sippi. August 20 the latter arrived within 
the present limits of Iowa, at the foot of the 
Des Moines Rapids, where he met William 
Ewing, who had just been appointed Indian 
Agent at this point, a French interpreter, 
four chiefs and fifteen Sac and Fox war- 
riors. At the head of the rapids, where 
Montrose now is. Pike held a council with 
the Indians, merely for the purpose of stat- 
ing to them that the 1 'resident ot the United 

States wished to inquire into the needs ol 
the red man, with a view of suggesting 
remedies. 

On the 23d he reached what is supposed 
from his description to be the site of Bur- 
lington, which place he designated for a 
post ; lint tlu- station, probably by some 
mistake, was afterward placed al Fori Madi- 
son. After accidentally separating (rom his 
men and losing his way, suffering at one 
time for six days for want of food, and after 
main' other mishaps Lieutenant Pike over- 
took the remainder of the parts' at tlu- point 
now occupied bv Dubuque, who had gone 
mi up the river hoping to overtake him. At 
that point Pike was cordially received by 



HI STOUT OF WW A. 



127 



Julien Dubuque, a Frenchman who held a 
mining claim under a grant from Spain, but 
was not disposed to publish the wealth of 
his possessions. Having an old field-piece 
with him, however, he fired a salute in 
honor of the first visit of an agent from the 
United States to that part of the country, 
and Pike pursued his way up the river. 

At what was afterward Fort Snelling, 
Minnesota, Lieutenant Pike held a council 
with the Sioux September 23, and obtained 
from them a grant of 100,000 acres of land. 
January 8 following (1806) he arrived at a 
trading post on Lake De Sable, belonging 
to the Northwestern Fur Company, whose 
field of operations at that time included this 
State. Pike returned to St. Louis the fol- 
lowing spring, after making a successful 
expedition. 

Before this country could be opened for 
settlement by the whites, it was necessary 
that Indian title should be extinguished and 
the aboriginal owners removed. When the 
Government assumed control of the country 
by virtue of the Louisiana purchase, nearly 
the whole State was in possession of the 
Sacs and Foxes, at whose head stood the 
rising Black Hawk. November 3, 1804, a 
treaty was concluded with these tribes by 
which they ceded to the United States the 
Illinois side of the great river, in consider- 
ation of $2,234 worth of goods then de- 
livered, and an annuity of $1,000 to be paid 
in goods at cost; but Black Hawk always 
maintained that the chiefs who entered into 
that compact acted without authority, and 
that therefore the treaty was not binding. 

The first fort erected on Iowa soil was at 
Fort Madison. A short time previously a 
military post was fixed at what is now 
Warsaw, Illinois, and named Fort Edwards. 
These enterprises caused mistrust among 
the Indians. Indeed, Fort Madison was 
located in violation of the treaty of 1804. 
The Indians sent delegations to the whites 
at these forts to learn what they were do- 



ing, and what they intended. On being 
"informed" that those structures were 
merely trading-posts, they were incredu- 
lous and became more and more suspicious. 
Black Hawk therefore led a party to the 
vicinity of Fort Madison and attempted its 
destruction, but a premature attack by him 
caused his failure. 

In 1812, when war was declared between 
this country and Great Britain, Black Hawk 
and his band allied themselves to the British, 
partly because thev were dazzled by their 
specious promises, but mostly, perhaps, be- 
cause they had been deceived by the Amer- 
icans. Black Hawk said plainly that the 
latter fact was the cause. A portion of the 
Sacs and Foxes, however, headed by Keo- 
kuk ("watchful fox"), could not be per- 
suaded into hostilities against the United 
States, being disposed to abide by the 
treaty of 1804. The Indians were there- 
fore divided into the "war" and the 
"peace" parties. Black Hawk says he 
was informed, after he had gone to the war, 
that his people, left on the west side of the 
river, would be defenseless against the 
United States forces in case they were at- 
tacked ; and, having all the old men, the 
women and the children on their hands to 
provide for, a council was held, and it was 
determined to have the latter go to St. 
Louis and place themselves under the 
" American" chief stationed there. Ac- 
cordingly they went down, and were re- 
ceived as the " friendly band " of Sacs and 
Foxes, and were provided for and sent up 
the Missouri River. 

On Black Hawk's return from the British 
army, he says that Keokuk was introduced 
to him as the war chief of the braves then 
in the village. On inquiry as to how he 
became chief, there were given him the 
particulars of his having killed a Sioux in 
battle, which fact placed him among the 
warriors, and of his having headed an ex- 
pedition in defense of their village at Peoria. 






HtSTOtir OF IOWA. 



In person Keokuk was tall and of portly 
bearing, and in speech he was an orator. 
He did not master the English language, 
however, and his interpreters were never 
able to do him justice. He was a friend of 
our Government, and always endeavored 
to persuade the Indians that it was useless 
to attack a nation so powerful as that of 
the United States. 

The treaty of 1804 was renewed in 1816, 
which Black Hawk himself signed; but he 
afterward held that he was deceived, and 
that that treaty was not even vet binding. 
But there was no further serious trouble 
with the Indians until the noted " Black 
Hawk war" of 1832, all of which took place 
in Illinois and Wisconsin, with the expected 
result — the defeat and capture of the great 
chief, and the final, effectual and permanent 
repulsion of all hostile Indians to the west 
of the great Mississippi. Black Hawk died 
October 3, 1838, at his home in this State, 
and was buried there ; but his remains were 
afterward placed in the museum of the I lis 
torical Society, where they were accident- 
ally destroyed by fire. 

More or less affecting the territory now 
included within the State of Iowa, fifteen 
treaties with the Indians have been made, 
an outline of which is here given. In [S04, 
when the whites agreed not to settle west 
of the Mississippi on Indian lands. In 1815, 
with the Sioux, ratifying peace with Greal 
Britain and the United States; with tin- 
Sacs, a treaty of a similar nature, and also 
ratifying that of 1804, the Indians agreeing 
not to join their brethren who, under Black 
Hawk, had aided the British; with the 
Foxes, ratifying the treaty of 1804, the In- 
dians agreeing to deliver up all their 
prisoners; and with the lowas, a treaty oi 
friendship. In r 8 16, with the Sacs of Rock 
River, ratifying the treaty ol 1804. In 1824, 
with the Sacs and Foxes, the latter relin- 
quishing all their lands in Missouri ; and 
that portion ol the southeast corner ol 



Iowa known as the "half-breed tract" was 
set off to the half-breeds. In 1825, placing 
a boundary line between the Sacs and Foxes 
on the south and the Sioux on the north. 
In 1830, when that line was widened to 
forty miles. Also, in the same year, with 
several tribes, who ceded a large portion of 
their possessions in the western part of the 
State. In 1S32, with the Winnebagoes, ex- 
changing lands with them and providing a 
school, farm, etc., for them. Also, in the 
same year, the "Black Hawk purchase" 
was made, of about 6,000,000 acres, along 
the west side of the Mississippi from the 
southern line of the State to the mouth of 
the Iowa River. In 1836, with the Sacs and 
Foxes, ceding Keokuk's reserve to the 
United States. In 1837, with the same, 
when another slice of territory, comprising 
1,250000 acres, joining west ol the forego- 
ing tract, was obtained. Also, in the same 
year, when these Indians gave up all their 
lands allowed them under former treaties; 
and finally, in 1842, when they relinquished 
their title to all their lands west of the 
Mississippi. 

Before the whole of Iowa fell into the 
hands of the United States Government 
sundry white settlers had, under the Spanish 
and French Governments, obtained and oc- 
cupied several important claims within our 
boundaries, which it may be well to notice 
in brief. September 22, 1788, Julien Du- 
buque, before mentioned, obtained a lease 
ol lands from the Fox Indians, at tin- point 
now occupied by the city named alter him. 
This tract contained valuable lead ore, and 
Dubuque followed mining. His claims, 
however, as will as those to whom he after- 
ward conveyed title, were litigated for 
many years, with the final result of dis- 
appointing thi' purchasers. In 1799 Louis 
I lonori obtained a trad of land about three 
miles square where Montrose is now sit- 
uated, and his title, standing through all 
the treaties and being finally continued bv 



klSTORT OF iowA. 



I2Q 



the Supreme Court of the United States, is 
the oldest legal title held by a white man 
in the State of Iowa. A tract of 5,860 acres 
in Clayton County was granted by the 
Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Louisiana 
in 1795 to Basil Girard, whose title was 
made valid some time after the preceding 
case was settled. 

Other early settlers were : Mr. Johnson, 
an agent of the American Fur Company, 
who had a trading-post below Burlington. 
Le Moliere, a French trader, had, in 1820, 
a station at what is now Sandusky, in Lee 
County, six miles above Keokuk. During 
the same year Dr. Samuel C. Muir, a sur- 
geon of the United States army, built a 
cabin where the city of Keokuk now stands. 
His marriage and subsequent life were so 
romantic that we give the following briet 
sketch : 

While stationed at a military post on the 
Upper Mississippi, the post was visited by 
a beautiful Indian maiden — whose native 
name unfortunately has not been preserved 
— who, in her dreams, had seen a white 
brave unmoor his canoe, paddle it across 
the river and come directly to her lodge. 
She felt assured, according to the super- 
stitious belief of her race, that in her dreams 
she had seen her future husband, and had 
come to the fort to find him. Meeting Dr. 
Muir she instantly recognized him as the 
hero of her dream, which, with childlike 
innocence and simplicity, she related to 
him. Her dream was, indeed, prophetic. 
Charmed with Sophia's beauty, innocence 
and devotion, the Doctor honorably mar- 
ried her, but after a while the sneers and 
gibes of his brother officers — less honorable 
than he, perhaps — made him feel ashamed 
of his dark-skinned wife, and when his regi- 
ment was ordered down the river to Belle- 
fontaine, it is said that he embraced the 
opportunity to rid himself of her, and left 
her, never expecting to see her again, and 
little dreaming that she would have the 



courage to follow him. But, with her in- 
fant child, this intrepid wife and mother 
started alone in her canoe, and after many 
days of weary labor and a lonely journey of 
900 miles, she at last reached him. She 
afterward remarked, when speaking of this 
toilsome journey down the river in search 
of her husband, " When I got there I was 
all perished away — so thin!" The Doctor, 
touched by such unexampled devotion, 
took her to his heart, and ever after until 
his death treated her with marked respect. 
She always presided at his table with grace 
and dignity, but never abandoned her na- 
tive style of dress. In i8i9-'2o he was 
stationed at Fort Edward, now Warsaw, 
but the senseless ridicule of some of his 
brother officers on account of his Indian 
wife induced him to resign his commission. 
He then built a cabin as above stated, 
where Keokuk is now situated, and made 
a claim to some land. This claim he leased 
to Otis Reynolds and John Culver, of St. 
Louis, and went to La Pointe (afterward 
Galena), where he practiced his profession 
for ten years, when he returned to Keokuk. 
His Indian wife bore to him four children — 
Louise, James, Mary and Sophia. Dr. 
Muir died suddenly of cholera in 1832, but 
left his property in such a condition that it 
was soon wasted in vexatious litigation, and 
his brave and faithful wife, left friendless 
and penniless, became discouraged, and, 
with her two younger children, disap- 
peared. It is said she returned to her peo- 
ple on the Upper Missouri. 

The gentleman who had leased Dr. 
Muir's claim at Keokuk subsequently em- 
ployed as their agent Moses Stillwell, who 
arrived with his family in 182S, and took 
possession. His brothers-in-law, Amos and 
Valencourt Van Ansdal, came with him 
and settled near. Mr. Stillwell's daughter 
Margaret (afterward Mrs. Ford) was born 
in 1 83 1, at the foot of the rapids, called by 
the Indians Puckashetuck. She was prob- 



i30 



HISTORY OF IOWA. 



ably the first white American child born in 
Eowa. 

In 1829 Dr. Isaac Gallaud made a settle- 
ment on the Lower Rapids, at what is now 
Nashville. The same year James S. Lang- 
worthy, who had been engaged in lead- 
mining at Galena since 1824. commenced 
lead-mining in the vicinity of Dubuque. A 
few others afterward came to that point as 
miners, and they soon found it necessary to 
hold a council and adopt some regulations 
for their government and protection. They 
met in 1830 on the bank of the river, by the 
side of an old Cottonwood drift log, at what 
is now the Jones Street Levee in Dubuque, 
and elected a committee, consisting of J. L. 
Langworthy, H. F. Lander, James Mc- 
Phetres, Samuel Scales and E. M. Wren, 
who drafted a set of rules, which were 
adopted by this, the first " Legislature" of 
Iowa. They elected Dr. Jarote as their 
officer to choose arbitrators for the settle- 
ment of difficulties that might arise. These 
settlers, however, were intruders upon In- 
dian territory, and were driven off in 1832 
by our Government, Colonel Zachary Tay- 
lor commanding the troops. The Indians 
returned and were encouraged to operate 
the rich mines opened by the late white 
occupants. 

But in June of the same year the troops 
were ordered to the east side of the Missis- 
sippi to assist in the annihilation of the 
very Indians whose rights they had been 
protecting on the west side ! 

Immediately after the close of the Black 
Hawk war and the negotiations of the treaty 
in September, 1S32, by which the Sacs and 
Foxes ceded the tract known as the " Black 
Hawk Purchase," the settlers, supposing 
that now they had a right to re-enter the 
territory, returned and took possession of 
their claims, built cabins, erected furnaces 
and prepared large quantities of lead foi 
market. But the prospects of the hardy 
and enterprising settlers and miners were 



again ruthlessly interfered with by the 
Government, on the ground that the treaty 
with the Indians would not go into force 
until June 1, 1833, although they had with- 
drawn from the vicinity of the settlement. 
Colonel Taylor was again ordered by the 
War Department to remove the miners, 
and in January, 1833, troops were again 
sent from Prairie du Chien to Dubuque for 
that purpose. This was a serious and per- 
haps unnecessary hardship imposed upon 
the miners. They were compelled to aban- 
don their cabins and homes in mid-winter. 
This, too, was only out of respect for forms; 
for the purchase had been made, and the 
Indians had retired. After the lapse of 
fifty years, no very satisfactory reason for 
this rigorous action of the Government can 
be given. But the orders had been given, 
and there was no alternative but to obey. 
Many of the settlers re-crossed the river, 
and did not return ; a few, however, re- 
moved to an island near the east bank of 
the river, built rude cabins of poles, in 
which to store their lead until spring, when 
they could float the fruits of their labor to 
St. Louis for sale, and where they could re- 
main until the treaty went into force, when 
they could return. Among these were the 
Langworthy brothers, who had on hand 
about 300,000 pounds of lead. 

No sooner had the miners left than Lieu- 
tenant Covington, who had been placed in 
command at Dubuque by Colonel Taylor, 
ordered some of the cabins of the settlers to 
be torn down, and wagons and other prop- 
erty to be destroyed. This wanton and 
inexcusable action on the pari of a subordi- 
nate, clothed with a little brief authority, 
was sternly rebuked by Colonel Taylor, and 
Covington was superseded by Lieutenant 
George Wilson, who pursued a just and 
friendly course with the pioneers, that were 
only waiting for the time when they could 
repossess their claims. 

The treaty went formally into effect June, 



HISTORY OP tOWA. 



i 3 t 



1833, the troops were withdrawn, and the 
Langworthy brothers and a few others at 
once returned and resumed possession of 
their homes and claims. From this time 
must date the first permanent settlement of 
this portion of Iowa. John P. Sheldon was 
appointed superintendent of the mines by 
the Government, and a system of permits 
to miners and licenses to smelters was 
adopted, similar to that which had been 
in operation at Galena since 1825, under 
Lieutenant Martin Thomas and Captain 
Thomas C. Legate. Substantially the primi- 
tive law enacted by the miners assembled 
around that old Cottonwood drift log in 
1830, was adopted and enforced by the 
United States Government, except that 
miners were required to sell their mineral 
to licensed smelters, and the smelter was 
required to give bonds for the payment of 
6 per cent, of all lead manufactured to the 
Government 

About 500 people arrived in the mining 
district in 1833, after the Indian title was 
fully extinguished, of whom 150 were from 
Galena. In the same year Mr. Langworthy 
assisted in building the first school- house in 
Iowa, and thus was formed the nucleus of 
the populous and thriving city of Dubuque. 
Mr. Langworthy lived to see the naked 
prairie on which he first settled become the 
site of a city of 15,000 inhabitants, the small 
school-house which he aided in construct- 
ing replaced by three substantial edifices, 
wherein 2,000 children were being trained, 
churches erected in every part of the city, 
and railroads connecting the wilderness 
which he first explored with all the eastern 
world. He died suddenly on the 13th of 
March, 1865/ while on a trip over the Du- 
buque & Southern Railroad, at Monticello, 
and the evening train brought the news of 
his death and his remains. 

Lucius H. Langworthy, his brother, was 
one of the most worthy, gifted and influ- 
ential of the old settlers of this section of 
11 



Iowa. He died greatly lamented by many 
friends, in June, 1865. 

The name Dubuque was given to the 
settlement by the miners, at a meeting held 
in 1S34. 

Soon after the close of the Black Hawk- 
war in 1832, Zachariah Hawkins, Benjamin 
Jennings, Aaron White, Augustine Horton, 
Samuel Gooch, Daniel Thompson and Peter 
Williams made claims at Fort. Madison. In 
1833 General John H. Knapp and Colonel 
Nathaniel Knapp purchased these claims, 
and in the summer of 1835 they laid out the 
town of " Fort Madison." Lots were ex- 
posed for sale early in 1836. The town was 
subsequently re-surveyed and platted by 
the United States Government. The popu- 
lation rapidly increased, and in less than 
two years the beautiful location was cov- 
ered by a flourishing town, containing 
nearly 600 inhabitants, with a large pro- 
portion of enterprising merchants, mechan- 
ics and manufacturers. 

In the fall of 1832 Simpson S. White 
erected a cabin on the site of Burlington, 
seventy-nine miles below Rock Island. 
During the war parties had looked long- 
ingly upon the "Flint Hills" from the op- 
posite side of the river, and White was 
soon followed by others. David Tothers 
made a claim on the prairie about three 
miles back from the river, at a place since 
known as the farm of Judge Morgan. The 
following winter the settlers were driven 
off by the military from Rock Island, as 
intruders upon the rights of {he Indians. 
White's cabin was burned by the soldiers. 
He returned to Illinois, where he remained 
during the winter, and in the following 
summer, as soon as the Indian title was ex- 
tinguished, returned and rebuilt his cabin. 
White was joined by his brother-in-law, 
Doolittle, and they laid out the town ol 
Burlington in 1834, on a beautiful area oi 
sloping eminences and gentle declivities, 
enclosed within a natural amphitheater 



132 



HISTORY OF /OU.i. 



formed l>v the surrounding Hi lis, which 
were crowned with luxuriant forests and 
presented the most picturesque scenery. 
The same autumn witnessed the opening ol 
the first dry-goods stores by Dr. W. R. Ross 
and Major Jeremiah Smith, each well sup- 
plied with Western merchandise. Such 
was the beginning of Burlington, which in 
less than four years became the seat of 
government for the Territory of Wisconsin, 
and in three years more contained a popu- 
lation of 1.400 persons. 

Immediately after the treaty with the 
Sacs and Foxes, in September, 1832, Colonel 
George Davenport made the first claim on 
the site of the present thriving city of 
Davenport. As early as 1827, Colonel 
Davenport had established a flat-boat ferry, 
which ran between the island and the main 
shore of Iowa, by which he carried on a 
trade with the Indians west o4 the Missis- 
sippi. In 1833 Captain Benjamin W. Clark 
moved from Illinois, and laid the founda- 
tion of the town of Buffalo, in Scott County, 
which was the first actual settlement within 
the limits of that county. 

The first settlers of Davenport were An- 
toine Le Claire, Colonel George Davenport, 
Major Thomas Smith, Major William Gor- 
don, Philip Hambough, Alexander W. Mc- 
Gregor, Levi S. Colton, Captain James May 
and others. 

A settlement was made in Clayton County 
in the spring of 1832, on Turkey River, by 
Robert Hatfield and William W. Wavman. 
No further settlement was made in this part 
of the State until 1S36. 

The first settlers of Muscatine County 
were Benjamin Nye, John Vanater and G. 
W. Kasey, all of whom came in 1834. E. 
E. Fay, William St John. \. Fullington, 
H. Recce, Jonas Pettibone, R. P. Lowe, 
Stephen Whicher, Abijah Whitney, J. E. 
Fletcher, \V. I). Abernethy and Alexis 
Smith were also earl\ settlers < if Musca- 
tine. 



As early as 1S24 a French trader named 
Hart had established a trading-post, and 
built a cabin on the bluffs above the large 
spring now known as " Mynster Spring," 
within the limits of the present pity of 
Council Bluffs, and had probably been there 
some time, as the post was known to the 
employes of the American Fur Company 
as " La Cote de Hart," or " Hart's Bluff." 
In 1827 an agent of the American Fur 
Company, Francis Guittar, with others, 
encamped in the timber at the foot of the 
bluffs, about on the present location of 
Broadway, and afterward settled there. In 
1839 a block house was built on the bluff in 
the east part of the city. The Pottawat- 
omie Indians occupied this part of the 
State until 1846 '7, when they relinquished 
the territory and removed to Kansas. Billy 
Caldwell was then principal chief. There 
were no white settlers in that part of the 
State except Indian traders, until the arri- 
val of the Mormons under the lead of Brig- 
ham Young. These people on their way 
westward halted for the winter of i846-'7, 
on the west bank of the Missouri River, 
about five miles above Omaha, at a place 
now called Florence. Some of them had 
reached the eastern bank of the river the 
spring before in season to plant a crop. In 
the spring of 1847 Brigham Young and a 
portion of the colony pursued their journey 
to Salt Lake, but a large portion of them 
returned to the Iowa side and settled mainly 
within the present limits of Pottawatomie 
County. The principal settlement of this 
strange community was at a place first 
called " Miller's Hollow," on Indian Creek, 
and afterward named Kanesville, in honor 
of Colonel Thomas L. Kane, of Pennsyl- 
vania, who visited them soon afterward. 
The Mormon settlement extended over 
the county and into neighboring counties, 
wherever timber and water furnished de- 
sirable locations. Orson 1 lyde, priest, law- 
yer and editor, was installed as president 



HISTOHr OF /Oil I 



133 



of the Quorum of Twelve, and all that part 
of the State remained under Mormon con- 
trol for several years. In 1847 they raised 
a battalion numbering 500 men for the 
Mexican war. In 1848 Hyde started a 
paper called the Frontier Guardian, at 
Kanesvillc. In 1849, after many of the 
faithful had left to join Brigham Young at 
Salt Lake, the Mormons in this section of 
Iowa numbered 6,552, and in 1850,7,828; 
but they were not all within the limits of 
Pottawatomie County. This county was 
organized in 1848, all the first officials be- 
ing Mormons. In 1852 the order was pro- 
mulgated that all the true believers should 
gather together at Salt Lake. Gentiles 
flocked in, and in a few years nearly all 
the first settlers were gone. 

May 9, 1843, Captain James Allen, with 
a small detachment of troops on board the 
steamer lone, arrived at the site of the 
present capital of the State, Des Moines. 
This was the first steamer to ascend the Des 
Moines River to this point. The troops 
and stores were landed at what is now the 
foot of Court avenue, and the Captain re- 
turned in the steamer to Fort Sanford to 
arrange for bringing up more soldiers and 
supplies. In due time they too arrived, 
and a fort was built near the mouth of Rac- 
coon Fork, at its confluence with the Des 
Moines, and named "Fort Des Moines." 
Soon after the arrival of the troops, a trad- 
ing-post was established on the east side of 
the river by two noted Indian traders 
named Ewing, from Ohio. Among the 
first settlers in this part of Iowa were Ben- 
jamin Bryant, J. B. Scott, James Drake 
(gunsmith), John Sturtevant, Robert Kin- 
zie, Alexander Turner, Peter Newcomer 
and others. 

PIONEER LIFE. 

Most of the early settlers of Iowa came 
from older States, as Pennsylvania, New 
York and Ohio, where their prospects for 



even a competency were very poor. They 
found those States good — to emigrate from. 
Their entire stock of furniture, implements 
and family necessities were easily stored 
in one wagon, and sometimes a cart was 
their only vehicle. 

After arriving and selecting a suitable 
location, the next thing to do was to build 
a log cabin, a description of which may be 
interesting to many of our younger readers, 
as in some sections these old-time struct- 
ures are no more to be seen. Trees of 
uniform size were chosen and cut into logs 
of the desired length, generally twelve to 
fifteen feet, and hauled to the spot selected 
for the future dwelling. On an appointed 
day the few neighbors who were available 
would assemble and have a " house-raisintr." 
Each end of every log was saddled and 
notched so that the}' would lie as close down 
as possible; the next day the proprietor, 
would proceed to "chink" and "daub" 
the cabin, to keep out the rain, wind and 
cold. The house had to be re-daubed ev- 
ery fall, as the rains of the intervening time 
would wash out a great part of the mortar. 
The usual height of the house was seven or 
eight feet. The gables were formed by 
shortening the logs gradually at each end 
of the building near the top. The roof was 
made by laying very straight small logs or 
stout poles suitable distances apart, and on 
these were laid the clapboards, somewhat 
like shingling, generally about two and a 
half feet to the weather. These clapboards 
were fastened to their place by " weight- 
poles " corresponding in place with the 
joists just described, and these again were 
held in their place by " runs" or " knees " 
which were chunks of wood about eighteen 
or twenty inches long fitted between them 
near the ends. Clapboards were made 
from the nicest oaks in the vicinity, by 
chopping or sawing them into four-foot 
blocks and riving these with a frow, which 
was a simple blade fixed at right angles to 



HISTOIir OF IOWA. 



its handles. This was driven into the 
blocks of wood by a mallet. As the frow 
was wrenched down through the wood, 
the latter was turned alternately over from 
side to side, one end being held by a forked 
piece of timber. 

The chimney to the Western pioneer's 
cabin was made by leaving in the original 
building a large open place in one wall, or 
by cutting one after the structure was up, 
and by building on the outside, from the 
ground up, a stone column, or a column of 
sticks and mud, the sticks being laid up 
cob house fashion. The fire-place thus made 
was i iften large enough to receive fire-wood 
six to eight feet long. Sometimes this 
wood, especially the " back-log," would be 
nearly as large as a saw-log. The more 
rapidly the pioneer could burn up the wood 
in his vicinity the sooner he had his little 
farm cleared and ready for cultivation. 
For a window, a piece about two feet long 
was cut out of one of the wall logs, and the 
hole closed, sometimes by glass but gener- 
ally with greased paper. Even greased deer- 
hide was sometimes used. A doorway was 
cut through one of the walls if a saw was to 
be had; otherwise the door would be left 
by shortened logs in the original building. 
The door was made by pinning clapboards 
to two or three wood bars, and was hung 
upon wooden hinges. A wooden latch, 
with catch, then finished the door, and the 
latch was raised by any one on the outside 
by pulling a leather string. For security 
at night this latch-string was drawn in, but 
for friends and neighbors, and even stran- 
gers, the " latch-string was always hanging 
out," as a welcome. In the interior over 
the fire-place would be a shelf called "the 
mantel," on which stood a candlestick or 
lamp, some cooking and table ware, possi- 
bly an old clock, and other articles; in the 
tire-place would be the crane, sometimes of 
iron, sometimes of wood; on it the pots were 
nung for cooking; over the door, in forked 



cleats, hung the ever-trustful rifle and pow- 
der-horn; in one corner stood the larger bed 
for the " old folks," and under it the 
trundle-bed for the children; in another 
stood the old-fashioned spinning-wheel, 
with a smaller one by its side; in another the 
heavy table, the only table, of course, there 
was in the house; in the remaining was a 
rude cupboard holding the tableware, 
which consisted of a few cups and saucers, 
and blue-edged plates, standing singly on 
their edges against the back, to make the 
display of table-furniture more conspicu- 
ous; while around the room were scattered 
a few splint-bottom or Windsor chairs, and 
two or three stools. 

These simple cabins were inhabited by a 
kind and true-hearted people. They were 
strangers to mock modesty, and the traveler 
seeking lodging for the night, or desirous 
of spending a few days in the community, 
if willing to accept the rude offering, was 
always welcome, although how they were 
disposed of at night the reader might not 
easily imagine; for, as described, a single 
room was made to answer for kitchen, 
dining-room, sitting-room, bed-room and 
parlor, and many families consisted of six 
or eight members. 

The bed was very often made by fixing a 
post in the floor about six feet from one 
wall and four feet from the adjoining wall, 
and fastening a stick to this post about 
two feet above the floor, on each of two 
sides, so that the other end of each of the 
two sticks could be fastened in the oppo- 
site wall; clapboards were laid across these, 
and thus the bed was made complete. 
(iiu'sis were given this bed, while the fam- 
ily disposed of themselves in another cor- 
ner of the room or in the loft. When 
several guests were on hand at once they 
were sometimes kept over night in the fol- 
lowing manner: When bedtime came the 
men were requested to step out of doors 
while the women spread out a broad bed 



HISIORT OF IOWA. 



135 



upon the mid floor, and put themselves 
to bed in the center; the signal was given, 
and the men came in and each husband took 
his place in bed next his own wife, and 
single men outside beyond them again. 
They were generally so crowded that they 
had to lie "spoon" fashion, and whenever 
anyone wished to turn over he would say 
" spoon," and the whole company of sleep- 
ers would turn over at once. This was the 
only way they could all keep in bed. 

To witness the various processes of cook- 
ing in those days would alike surprise and 
amuse those who have grown up since 
cooking stoves and ranges came into use. 
Kettles were hung over the large fire, sus- 
pended with pot-hooks, iron or wooden, 
on the crane, or on poles, one end of which 
would rest upon a chain. The long-hand- 
led frying pan was used for cooking meat. 
It was either held over the blaze by hand 
or set down upon coals drawn out upon 
the hearth. This pan was also used for 
baking pancakes, also call flapjacks, batter- 
cakes, etc. A better article for this, how- 
ever, was the cast-iron spider, or Dutch 
skillet. The best thing for baking bread 
in those days, and possibly even in these 
latter days, was the flat-bottomed bake 
kettle, of greater depth, with closely fitting 
cast-iron cover, and commonly known as the 
Dutch oven. With coals over and under it, 
bread and biscuits would be quickly and 
nicely baked. Turkey and spare-ribs were 
sometimes roasted before the fire, sus- 
pended by a string, a dish being placed 
underneath to catch the drippings. 

Hominy and samp were very much used. 
The hominy, however, was generally hulled 
corn — boiled corn from which the hull or 
bran had been taken by hot lye, hence 
sometimes called lye hominy. True hom- 
iny and samp were made of pounded corn. 
A popular method of making this, as well 
as real meal for bread, was to cut out or 
burn a large hole in the top of a huge 



stump, in the shape of a mortar, and pound- 
ing the corn in this by a maul or beetle 
suspended by a swing pole like a well- 
sweep. This and the wellsweep consisted 
of a pole twenty to thirty feet long fixed in 
an upright fork so that it could be worked 
" teeter" fashion. It was a rapid and sim- 
ple way of drawing water. When the samp 
was sufficiently pounded it was taken 
out, the bran floated off, and the delicious 
grain boiled like rice. 

The chief articles of diet in an early day 
were corn bread, hominy or samp, venison, 
pork, honey, pumpkin (dried pumpkin for 
more than half the year), turkey, prairie 
chicken, squirrel and some other game, 
with a few additional vegetables a portion 
of the year. Wheat bread, tea, coffee and 
fruit were luxuries not to be indulged in 
except on special occasions, as when visit- 
ors were present. 

Besides cooking in the manner described, 
the women had many other arduous duties 
to perform, one of the chief of which was 
spinning. The big wheel was used for 
spinning yarn and the little wheel for spin- 
ning flax. These stringed instruments fur- 
nished the principal music for the family, 
and were operated by our mothers and 
grandmothers with great skill, attained 
without pecuniary expense, and with far 
less practice than is necessary for the girls 
of our period to acquire a skillful use of 
their costly and elegant instruments. But 
those wheels, indispensable a few years ago, 
are all now superseded by the mighty fac- 
tories which overspread the country, fur- 
nishing cloth of all kinds at an expense ten 
times less than would be incurred now by 
the old system. 

The traveler always found a welcome at 
the pioneer's cabin. It was never full. 
Although there might be already a guest 
for every puncheon, there was still " room 
for one more," and a wider circle would be 
made for the new-comer at the big fire. If 



I 



HISTORY OF It'll l 



the stranger was in search of land, he was 
doubly welcome, and his host would vol- 
unteer to show him all the " first rate claims 
in this neck of the woods," going with him 
for davs, showing the corners and advan- 
tages of every " Congress tract " within a 
dozen miles of his own cabin. 

To his neighbors the pioneer was equally 
liberal. If a deer was killed, the choicest 
bits were sent to his nearest neighbor, a 
half-dozen miles away perhaps. When a 
pig was butchered, the same custom pre- 
vailed. If a new-comer came in too late 
for " cropping," the neighbors would sup- 
ply his table with just the same luxuries 
they themselves enjoyed, and in as liberal 
quantity, until a crop could be raised. 
When a new-comer had located his claim, 
the neighbors for miles around would 
assemble at the site of the proposed cabin 
and aid himin " gittm " it up. One party 
with axes would cut down the trees and 
hew the logs; another with teams would 
haul the Logs to the ground; another party 
would "raise" the cabin; while several 
of the old men would rive the clap-boards 
for the roof. By night the little forest 
domicile would be up and ready for a 
"house-warming,*' which was the dedica- 
tory occupation of the house, when music 
and dancing and festivity would be enjoyed 
at full height. The next day the new-comer 
would be as well situated as his neighbors. 

An instance of primitive hospitable man- 
ners will be in place here. A traveling 
Methodist preacher arrived in a distant 
neighborhood to fill an appointment. The 
house where services were to be held did not 
belong to a church member, but no matter 
for that. Boards were collected from all 
quarters with which to make temporary 
seats, one of the neighbors volunteering to 
lead ofi in the work, while the man of the 
house, w ith the faithful rifle on his shoulder, 
sallied forth inquest of meat, for this truly 
was a "ground hog" case, the preacher 



coming and no meat in the house. The 
host ceased not to chase until he found the 
meat, in the shape of a deer; returning he 
sent a boy out after it, with directions on 
what "pint" to find it. After services, 
which had been listened to with rapt atten- 
tion by all the audience, mine host said to 
his wife, "Old woman, I reckon this 'ere 
preacher is pretty hungry and you must 
git him a bite to eat." " What shall I get 
him?" asked the wife, who had not seen 
the deer, " that's nuthen in the house to 
eat." " Why, look thar," returned he, 
" thai -'s a deer, and thar's plenty of corn in 
the field; you git some corn and grate it 
while I skin the deer, and we'll have a 
good supper for him." It is needless to add 
that venison and corn bread made a sup- 
per fit for any pioneer preacher, and was 
thankfully eaten. 

Fires set out by Indians or settlers some- 
times purposely and sometimes permitted 
through carelessness, would visit the prai- 
rie every autumn, and sometimes the for- 
ests, either in autumn or spring, and settlers 
could not always succeed in defending 
themselves against the destroying element. 
Many interesting incidents are related. 
Often a fire was started to bewilder game, 
or to bare a piece of ground for the early 
grazing of stock the ensuing spring, and it 
would get away under a wind and soon 
be beyond control. Violent winds would 
often arise and drive the flames with such 
rapidity that riders on the fleetest steeds 
could scarcely escape. On the approach 
of a prairie fire the farmer would immedi- 
ately set about "cutting ofi supplies'' for 
the devouring enemy by a " back fire." 
Thus by starting a small fire near the bare 
ground about his premises, and keeping it 
under control next his property, he would 
bum ofi a strip around him and prevent the 
attack of the on-coming flames. A few 
furrowsora ditch around the farm were 
in some degrees a protection. 



HISTORY OF IOWA 



I3 7 



An original prairie of tall and exuberant 
grass on fire, especially at night, was a mag- 
nificent spectacle, enjoyed only by the 
pioneer. Here is an instance where the 
frontiersman, proverbially deprived of the 
sights and pleasures of an old community, 
is privileged far beyond the people of the 
present day in this country. One could 
scarcely tire of beholding the scene, as its 
awe-inspiring features seemed constantly to 
increase, and the whole panorama unceas- 
ingly changed like the dissolving views of 
a magic lantern, or like the aurora borealis. 
Language cannot convey, words cannot 
express,, the faintest idea of the splendor 
and grandeur of such a conflagration at 
night, ft was as if the pale queen of night, 
disdaining to take her accustomed place in 
the heavens, had dispatched myriads upon 
myriads of messengers to light their torches 
at the altar of the setting sun until all had 
flashed into one long and continuous blaze. 
One instance has been described as follows: 

" Soon the fires began to kindle wider 
and rise higher from the long grass; the 
gentle breeze increased to stronger currents, 
and soon formed the small, flickering blaze 
into fierce torrent flames, which curled up 
and leaped along in resistless splendor; and 
like quickly raising the dark curtain from 
the luminous stage, the scenes before me 
were suddenly changed, as if by a magi- 
cian's wand, into one boundless amphithea- 
ter, blazing from earth to heaven and 
sweeping the horizon round, — columns of 
lurid flames sportively mounting up to the 
zenith, and dark clouds of crimson smoke 
curling away and aloft till they nearly ob- 
scured stars and moon, while the rushing, 
crashing sounds, like roaring cataracts, 
mingled with distant thunders, were almost 
deafening; danger, death, glared all around; 
it screamed for victims; yet, notwithstand- 
ing the imminent peril of prairie fires, one 
is loth, irresolute, almost unable to with- 
draw or seek refuge. 



LOUISIANA TERRITORY. 
As before mentioned, although De Soto, 
a Spaniard, first took possession of the Mis- 
sissippi Valley for his Government, Spain 
did not establish her title to it by following 
up the proclamation with immediate settle- 
ments, and the country fell into the hands 
of France, by whose agent it was named 
" Louisiana." 

By the treaty of Utrecht, France ceded 
to England her possessions in Hudson's 
Bay, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, but 
retained Canada and Louisiana. In 171 1 
this province was placed in the hands of a 
governor-general, with headquarters at 
Mobile, for the purpose of applying a new 
policy for the settlement and development 
of the country. The very next year ano- 
ther change was made, placing all this ter- 
ritory in the hands of Anthony Crozat, a 
wealthy merchant of Paris, but this scheme 
also failed, as Spain continued to obstruct 
the efforts of any Frenchman to establish 
trade, by closing the ports against him. In 
1717 John Law appeared on the scene with 
his famous " Mississippi Company," as the 
Louisiana branch of the Bank of France -. 
and as his roseate scheme promised to do 
much in raising crippled France upon a 
surer footing, extended powers and privi- 
leges were granted him. He was to be 
practically a viceroy, and the life of his 
charter was fixed at twenty-five years. But 
in 1720, when the " Mississippi bubble" was 
at the height ot its splendor, it suddenly 
collapsed, leaving the mother country in a 
far worse condition than before. 

Heretofore Louisiana had been a sub- 
ordinate dependence, under the jurisdiction 
of the Governor-General of Canada. Early 
in 1723 the province of Louisiana was 
erected into an independent Government, 
and it was divided into nine districts, for 
civil and military purposes. 

Characteristic of human nature, the peo- 
ple were more excited with prospects 0/ 



I 3 i 



UISTORr OF IOWA. 



finding enormous wealth ready ai hand, if 
they should continue to scour the country, 
which they did in places as far west as the 
Rocky Mountains, to the neglect of their 
agricultural and domestic interests. A habit 
of roaming became fixed. At the same time 
their exposed condition was a constant 
temptation to Indian rapine, and the Nat- 
chez tribe in 1723 made a general assault 
upon the whites. At first they were re- 
pulsed, but about fiye years afterward, 
aided by the Chickasaws and others, they 
fell upon the French village of St. Catha- 
rine and massacred the whole male popu- 
lation. Two soldiers, who happened to be 
in the woods, alone escaped to New Or- 
leans, to bear the news. The colonies on 
the Yazoo and the Washita suffered the 
same fate. Maddened by these outrages, 
the whites turned upon the Natchez anil in 
the course of three years exterminated 
them. They were probably the most in- 
telligent tribe of Indians north of Mexico. 

During the fifteen years from 1717 to 
1732 the province increased in population 
from 700 to 5,000, and in prosperity to a 
wonderful degree. It remained under royal 
governors until 1764. the end of the French 
dominion. Most of this time the Indians 
were troublesome, and in 1754 began the 
long "French and Indian war" with Eng- 
land, which resulted in favor of the latter, 
thai Government obtaining all of New 
France, Canada, and the eastern half of 
Louisiana. This province did not suffer 
by being the scene of battle, but did suffer 
a great deal from a Hood ol irredeemable 
paper money. In the meantime the western 
portion, or residue, of this province was 
secretly promised to Spain ; but before 
either of the foreign powers had opportu- 
nity to rejoice long in their western posses- 
sions, a new power on earth, the United 
States, took independent possession of all 
the country except Louisiana and Florida, 
which it lias maintained ever since. During 



the seventy years of French control the 
province of Louisiana increased in popula- 
tion from a few destitute fishermen to a 
flourishing colony of 13,540. 

St. Louis, Missouri, was started in 1764. 

Don O'Reilly, the new Governor of Loui- 
siana in 1764, ruled with a despotic hand, 
yet for the general advantage of the peo- 
ple. His successor, Don Antonio Maria 
Bucarelly, was mild, and he was succeeded 
January i, 1777, by Don Bernard de Gal- 
vez, who was the last Governor. lie sym- 
pathized with American independence. The 
British, with 140 troops and 1,400 Indians, 
invaded Upper Louisiana from the north 
by way of the Straits of Mackinaw, and in- 
vested St. Louis, Missouri, in 1780, but 
were driven off. When the Indians saw 
that they were led to fight " Americans" as 
well as Spaniards, they found that they had 
been deceived, and withdrew from the 
British army, and thus General George R. 
Clark, in behalf of the Americans, easily 
defended St. Louis, and also all the new 
settlements in this western country. 

After the Revolutionary war the country 
began again to prosper. Governor Galvez, 
by a census, ascertained that Louisiana had 
in 1785 a population of about 33,000, exclu- 
sive of Indians. 

In the summer of the latter year Don 
Fstavan Miro became Governor pro tern, of 
the Spanish possessions in this country, and 
was afterward confirmed as such by the 
king. During his administration a vain 
attempt was made by the Catholics to 
establish the inquisition at New Orleans. 
He was succeeded in 1792 by Baron de 
Carondelet, and during his term the Spanish 
colonics grew so rapidly that their Govern- 
ment became jealous of the United States 
and sought to exclude all interference from 
them in domestic affairs ; but all efforts in 
this direction were ended in 1795 by the 
treats- of Madrid, which, after some delay 
and trouble, was fully carried out in 1798. 



HISTORT OF IOWA. 



13') 



Under the leadership of Livingston and 
Monroe, the United States Government, 
after various propositions had been dis- 
cussed by the respective powers, succeeded 
in effecting, in 1803, a purchase of the whole 
of Louisiana from France for $11,250,000, 
and all this country west of the great river 
consisted of the "Territory of Orleans" 
(now the State of Louisiana) and the " Dis- 
trict of Louisiana " (now the States of Ar- 
kansas, Missouri and Iowa, and westward 
indefinitely). The latter was annexed to the 
Territory of Indiana for one year, and in 
1805 it was erected into a separate Terri- 
tory, of the second class, the legislative 
power being vested in the Governor and 
judges. Before the close of the year it was 
made a Territory of the first class, under 
the name of the " Territory of Louisiana," 
the Government being administered by the 
Governor and judges. The first Governor 
wasjames Wilkinson, and he was succeeded 
near the close of 1806 by Colonel Meri- 
weather Lewis, the seat of Government be- 
ing at St. Louis; and during his adminis- 
tration the Territory was divided into six 
judicial districts or large counties — St. 
Charles, St. Louis, St. Genevieve, Cape 
Girardeau, New Madrid and Arkansas. In 
18 10 the population of Louisiana Territory 
was 21,000, five-sevenths of whom were in 
Arkansas. 

In 18 1 2 the State of Louisiana was ad- 
mitted into the Union, and then it was 
deemed expedient to change the name of 
the Territory. It was accordingly given 
the name of " Missouri Territory," which it 
retained until the admission of the State of 
Missouri in 1821. 

IOWA TERRITORY. 

Although the " Northwestern Territory" 

— carved out of Virginia and now divided 

into the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 

Michigan and Wisconsin — never included 

iowa, this State was in 1834 incorporated 
la 



into the "Territory of Michigan," and thus 
became subject to the ordinance of 1787; 
and two years later it was made a part of 
" Wisconsin Territory," and two years still 
later, in 1838, the "Territory of Iowa" 
was formed independently, with sixteen 
counties and a population of 23,000. 

In 1S33, at Dubuque, a postoffice was 
established, and some time prior to 1834 
one or two justices of the peace had been 
appointed. In 1834 the Territorial Legis- 
lature of Michigan created two counties 
west of the Mississippi — Dubuque and Des 
Moines — separated by a line drawn west- 
ward from the foot of Rock Island. These 
counties were partially organized. John 
King was appointed " Chief Justice" of Du- 
buque County, and Isaac Leffler, of Bur- 
lington, of Des Moines County. Two 
associate justices in each county were ap- 
pointed by the Governor. In October, 
1835, General George W. Jones, of Du- 
buque, was elected a delegate to Congress. 
April 20, 1836, through the efforts of Gen- 
eral Jones, Congress passed a bill creating 
the Territory of Wisconsin, which went 
into operation July 4, that year. Iowa was 
then included in that Territory, of which 
General Henry Dodge was appointed Gov- 
ernor. The census of 1836 showed a popu- 
lation in Iowa of 10,531, of which 6,257 
were in Des Moines County and 4,274 in 
Dubuque County. 

Ths first Legislature assembled at Bel- 
mont, Wisconsin, October 25, 1836; the 
second at Burlington, Iowa, November 9, 
1837 ; and the third, also at the latter place, 
June 1, 1838. 

As early as 1837 the people of Iowa be- 
gan to petition Congress for a separate 
Territorial organization, which was granted 
June 12 following. Ex-Governor Lucas, of 
Ohio, was appointed by President Van Bu- 
ren to be the first Governor of the new 
Territory. Immediately upon his arrival 
he issued a proclamation for the election of 



'4° 



HISTOlir OF IOWA. 



members of the first Territorial Legislature, 
to take place September 10. The following 
were elected : 

Council. — Jesse B. Brown, J. Keith, E. 
A. M. Swazey, Arthur Ingram, Robert 
Ralston, George Hepner, Jesse J. Payne, 
D. B. Hughes, James M. Clark, Charles 
Whittlesey, Jonathan W. Parker, Warner 
Lewis, Stephen Hempstead. 

House. — Wm. Patterson, Hawkins Tay- 
lor, Calvin J. Price, James Brierly, James 
Hall, Gideon S. Bailey, Samuel Parker, 
James \V. Grimes, George Temple, Van B. 
Delashmutt, Thomas Blair, George H. 
Beeler, Wm. G. Coop, Wm. H. Wallace, 
Asbury B. Porter, John Frierson, Wm. L. 
Toole, Levi Thornton, S. C. Hastings, 
Robert G. Roberts, Laurel Summers, 
Jabez A. Burchard, Jr., Chauncey Swan, 
Andrew Bankson, Thomas Cox and Har- 
din Nowlin. 

At the session of the above Legislature 
Wm. W. Chapman was elected delegate 
to Congress. As the latter body had given 
the Governor unlimited veto power, and 
as Governor Lucas was disposed to exer- 
cise it arbitrarily, the independent " Hawk- 
eyes " grew impatient under his administra- 
tion, and, after having a storm) - session for 
a time, they had Congress to limit the veto 
[lower. Great excitement also prevailed, 
both in the Legislature and among the 
people, concerning the question of the loca- 
tion of the seat of Government for the 
State. As they knew nothing concerning 
the great future development and extent of 
the State, they had no correct idea where 
the geographical center would or should 
be. The Black I lawk purchase, which was 
that strip of kind next the Mississippi, in 
the southeastern part of the State, was the 
full extent and horizon of their idea of the 
new commonwealth. Hence they thought 
first only of Burlington or Mount Pleasant 
as the capital. Indeed, at that time, the 
Indian- had possession of the rest of Iowa. 



But a few of the more shrewd foresaw 
that a more central location would soon be 
further to the north at least, if not west, 
and a point in Johnson County was ulti- 
mately decided upon. 

Commissioners, appointed by the Gov- 
ernor, selected the exact site, laid out a sec- 
tion of land into a town, sold lots and 
proceeded to erect the public buildings. 
The capitol was commenced in 1840 and 
Iowa City became thenceforward the capi- 
tal of the State. The fourth Legislative 
Assembly met at this place December 6, 
1S41, but not in the new capitol building, 
as it was not yet ready. Being somewhat 
difficult to raise the necessary funds, the 
building was not completed for several 
years. The early Territorial Legislatures 
of Iowa laid the foundation for a very just 
and liberal Government, far in advance of 
what had ever been done before by any 
State. 

About this time a conflict arose between 
this Territory and Missouri concerning the 
boundary line between them. There was 
a difference of a strip eight or ten miles 
wide, extending from the Mississippi to the 
Missouri rivers, which each claimed. Mis- 
souri officers, attempting to collect taxes 
within the disputed territory, were arrested 
and confined in jail by Iowa sheriffs, and 
the respective Governors called out the 
militia, preparing for bloodshed. About 

1,200 Iowa men enlisted, and 500 were act- 
ually armed and encamped in Van Buren 
County, ready to defend their Territory, 
when three prominent and able men were 
sent to Missouri as envoys plenipotentiary, 
to effect, if possible, a peaceable adjustment 
of the difficulty. Upon their arrival, they 
found that the county commissioners of 
Clark County. Missouri, had rescinded their 
order for the collection of the taxes, and that 
Governor Boggs had dispatched messen- 
gers to the Governor of Iowa proposing to 
submit an agreed case to the Supreme 



MsToitf op Iowa. 



14* 



Court of the United States for the settle- 
ment of the boundary question. This prop- 
osition was declined; but afterward, upon 
petition of Iowa and Missouri, Congress 
authorized a suit to settle the controversy. 
The suit was duly instituted, and resulted 
in the decision that Iowa had only asserted 
" the truth of history," and she knew where 
the rapids of the Des Moines River were 
located. Thus ended the Missouri war. 
'• There was much good sense," says Hon. 
C. C. Nourse, "in the basis upon which 
peace was secured, to-wit: ' If Missourians 
did not know where the rapids of the river 
Des Moines were located, that was no suffi- 
cient reason for killing them off with powder 
and lead; and if we did know a little more of 
history and geography than they did we 
ought not to be shot for our learning. We 
commend our mutual forbearance to older 
and greater people.' " Under an order 
from the Supreme Court of the United 
States commissioners surveyed and estab- 
lished the boundary. The expenses of the 
war, on the part of Iowa, were never paid, 
either by the United States or the Territo- 
rial Government. 

STATE ORGANIZATION AND SUBSEQUENT 
HISTORY. 

The population having become, by the 
year 1844, sufficient to justify the formation 
of a State Government, the Territorial Leg- 
islature of Iowa passed an act, approved 
February 12, that year, submitting to the 
people the question of the formation of a 
State Constitution and providing for the 
election of delegates to a convention to be 
called together for that purpose. The 
people voted upon this at their township 
elections in the following April, giving the 
measure a large majority. The elected 
delegates assembled in convention at Iowa 
City, October 7, 1844, and completed then- 
work by November 1. Hon. Shepherd 
Leffler, the President of this convention, 



was instructed to transact a certified copy 
of the proposed Constitution to the Dele- 
gate in Congress, to be submitted bv him 
to that body at the earliest practicable day. 
It also provided that it should be submitted, 
together with any conditions or changes 
that might be made by Congress, to the 
people of the Territory, for their approval 
or rejection, at the township election in 
April, 1845. 

The Constitution, as thus prepared, fixed 
the boundaries of the State very differently 
from what were finally agreed upon. 

May 4, 1846, a second convention met at 
Iowa City, and on the 18th of the same 
month another Constitution, prescribing the 
boundaries as they now are, was adopted. 
This was accepted by the people, August 
3, by a vote of 9,492 to 9,036. The new 
Constitution was approved by Congress, 
and Iowa was admitted as a sovereign 
State in the American Union, December 
28, 1846. The people of the State, antici- 
pating favorable action by Congress, held 
an election for State officers October 26 
which resulted in Ansel Briggs being de- 
clared Governor; Elisha Cutler, Jr., Secre- 
tary of State; Joseph T. Fales, Auditor; 
Morgan Reno, Treasurer; and members of 
the Senate and House of Representatives. 

The act of Congress which admitted 
Iowa gave her the 16th section of every 
township of land in the State, or its equiv- 
alent, for the support of schools; also 
seventy-two sections of land for the pur- 
pose of a university; also five sections of 
land for the completion of her public build- 
ings; also the salt springs within her limits, 
not exceeding twelve in number, with sec- 
tions of land adjoining each; also, in con- 
sideration that her public lands should be 
exempt from taxation by the State, she 
gave to the State five per cent, of the net 
proceeds of the sale of public lands within 
the State. Thus provided for as a bride 
with her marriage portion, Iowa com- 



M2 



HISTORY OF IOWA. 



menced " housekeeping " upon her own 
account. 

A majority of the Constitutional Conven- 
tion of [846 were of the Democratic party; 
and the instrument contains some of the 
pecidiar tenets of the party at that day. 
All banks of issue, were prohibited within 
the State. The State was prohibited from 
becoming a stockholder in any corporation 
for pecuniary profit, and the General As- 
sembly could only provide for private cor- 
porations by general statutes. The Consti 
tution also limited the State's indebtedness 
to $100,000. It required the General As- 
sembly to provide public schools through- 
out the State for at least three months in 
the year. Six months' previous residence 
of any white male citizen of the United 
States constituted him an elector. 

At the time of organization as a State, 
Iowa had a population of 1 16,651, as appears 
by the census of 1X47. There were twenty- 
seven organized counties in the State, and 
the settlements were rapidly pushing to- 
ward the Missouri River. 

The first General Assembly was com- 
posed of nineteen Senators and forty Rep- 
resentatives. It assembled at Iowa City, 
November 30, 1S46, about a month before 
the State was admitted into the Union 

The most important business transacted 
was the passage of a bill authorizing a loan 
ol $50,000 for means to run the State Gov- 
ernment and pay the expenses of the Con- 
stitutional conventions. The great excite- 
ment of the session, however, was the 
attempt to choose United States Senators. 
The Whigs had a majority of two in the 
I louse, and the Democrats a majority of 
one in the Senate. After repeated attempts 
to 1 ontrol these majorities for caucus nom- 
inees and frequent sessions of a joint con- 
vention for purposes of an election, the 
attempt was abandoned. A school law was 
passedatthis session lor the organization 
1 >l public schools ill I lie Stale. 



At the first session also arose the ques- 
tion of the re-location of the capital. The 
western boundary of the State, as now 
determined, left Iowa City too far toward 
the eastern and southern boundary of the 
State; this was conceded. Congress had 
appropriated five sections of land for the 
erection of public buildings, and toward the 
close of the session a bill was introduced 
providing for the rc-location of the seat of 
Government, involving to some extent the 
location of the State University, which had 
already been discussed. This bill gave rise 
to much discussion and parliamentary ma- 
neuvering, almost purely sectional in its 
character. It provided for the appointment 
of three commissioners, who were author- 
ized to make a location as near the geo- 
graphical center of the State as a healthy 
and eligible site cot. Id be obtained; to select 
the five sections of land donated by Con- 
gress; to survey and plat into town lots not 
exceeding one section of the land so se- 
lected, etc. Soon after, by " An act to 
locate and establish a State University," 
app/oved February 25, 1847, the unfinished 
public buildings at Iowa City, together 
with ten acres of land on which they were 
situated, were granted for the use of the 
University, reserving their use, however, 
by the General Assembly and the State 
officers, until other provisions were made 
by law. 

When the report of the commissioners, 
showing their financial operations, .had 
been read in the House of Representa- 
tives, at the next session, and while it was 
under consideration, an indignant member, 
afterward known as the eccentric Judge 
McFarland, moved to refer the report to a 
select committee of five, with instructions 
to report " how much of said city of Mon- 
roe was under water, and how much was 
burned." The report was referred with- 
out the instructions, but Monroe City never 
became the seat of Government, By an 



ins tour of iowa. 



143 



act approved January 15, 1849, the law by 
which the location had been made was re- 
pealed and the new town was vacated, the 
money paid by purchasers of lots being re- 
funded to them. This, of course, retained 
the seat of Government at Iowa City, and 
precluded for the time the occupation of 
the building and grounds by the University. 

After the adjournment of the first Gen- 
eral Assembly, the Governor appointed 
Joseph Williams, Chief Justice, and George 
Green and John F. Kinney, Judges of the 
Supreme Court. They were afterward 
elected bv the second General Assembly, 
and constituted the Supreme Court until 
1855, with the exception that Kinney re- 
signed in January, 1854, and J. C. Hall, of 
Burlington, was appointed in his place. 

At this session Charles Mason, William 
G. Woodward and Stephen Hempstead 
were appointed commissioners to prepare a 
code of laws for the State. Their work 
was finished in 1850 and was adopted by 
the General Assembly. This " code" con- 
tained among other provisions a code of 
civil practice, superseding the old common- 
law forms of actions and writs, and it was 
admirable for its simplicity and method. It 
remained in force until 1863, when it was 
superseded by the more complicated and 
metaphysical system of the revision of that 
year. 

The first Representatives in Congress 
were S. Clinton Hastings, of Muscatine, 
and Shepherd Leffler, of Des Moines 
County. The second General Assembly 
elected to the United States Senate Au- 
gustus Caesar Dodge and George W.Jones. 
The State government, after the first ses- 
sion, was under the control of Democratic 
administrations till 1855. The electoral vote 
of the State was cast for Lewis Cass in 1848, 
and for Franklin Pierce in 1852. The popu- 
lar vote shows that the Free-Soil element 
of the State during this period very nearly 
held the balance of power, and that up to 



1854 it acted in the State elections to some 
extent with the Democratic party. In 1858 
Lewis Cass received 12,093 votes, Zachary 
Taylor 11,034, an d Martin Van Buren, the 
Free-Soil candidate, 1,226 votes, being 167 
less than a majority for Cass. In 1852 
Pierce received 17,762 votes, Scott 15,855, 
and Hale, Free-Soil, 1,606, being for Pierce 
301 votes more than a majority. 

The question of the permanent location 
of the seat of government was not settled, 
and in 185 1 bills were introduced for the 
removal of the capital to Pella and to Fort 
Des Moines. The latter appeared to have 
the support of the majority, but. was finally 
lost in the House on the question of order- 
ing it to its third reading. 

At the next session, in 1853, a bill was 
introduced in the Senate for the removal of 
the seat of government to Fort Des Moines, 
and on first vote was just barely defeated. 
At the next session, however, the effort was 
more successful, and January 15, 1855, r. 
bill re-locating the capital within two miles 
of the Raccoon Fork of the Des Moines, 
and for the appointment of commissioners, 
was approved by Governor Grimes. The 
site was selected in 1856, in accordance 
with the provisions of this act, the land 
being donated to the State by citizens and 
property-holders of Des Moines. An asso- 
ciation of citizens erected a building for a 
temporary capitol, and leased it to the State 
at a nominal rent. 

The passage by Congress of the act or- 
ganizing the Territories of Kansas and Ne- 
braska, and the provision it contained abro- 
gating that portion of the Missouri bill that 
prohibited slavery and involuntary servi- 
tude north of 36° 30' was the beginning of 
a political revolution in the Northern States, 
and in none was it more marked than in the 
State of Iowa. Iowa was the " first free 
child born of the Missouri Compromise," 
and has always resented the destruction oi 
her foster parent. 



M4 



HISIORT OF IOWA. 



The year [856 marked a new era in the his- 
tory o( Iowa. In 1854 theChicagoA Rock 
Island Railroad had been completed to the 
cast bank of the Mississippi River, opposite 
Davenport. In the same year the corner- 
stone of a railroad bridge that was to be the 
first to span the " Father of Waters," was 
laid with appropriate ceremonies at this 
point. St. Louis had resolved that the 
enterprise was unconstitutional, and by 
writs of injunction made an unsuccessful 
effort to prevent its completion. Twenty 
years later in her history, St. Louis re- 
pented her folly, and made atonement for 
her sin by imitating Iowa's example. Jan- 
uary 1, 1856, this railroad was completed to 
Iowa City. In the meantime, two other 
railroads had reached the east bank of the 
Mississippi — one opposite Burlington, and 
one opposite Dubuque — and these were be- 
ing extended into the interior of the State. 
Indeed, four other lines of railroads had 
been projected across the State from the 
Mississippi to the Missouri, having eastern 
connections. 

May 15, 1856, Congress passed an act 
granting to the State, to aid in the con- 
struction of railroads, the public lands in 
alternate sections, six miles on either side 
of the proposed lines. An extra session of 
the General Assembly was called in July of 
this year, that disposed of the grant to the 
several companies that proposed to com- 
plete these enterprises. The population ol 
Iowa was now 500,000. Public attention 
had been called to the necessity of a rail- 
road across the continent. The position of 
Iowa, in the very heart and center of the 
republic, on the route- of this great high- 
way ol tin- continent, began to attract atten- 
tion. Cities and towns sprang up through 
1 Ik State as if by magic. Capital began to 
pour into the State, and had it been em- 
ployed in developing the vast coal measures 
and establishing manufactories, or if it had 
been expended in improving the lands, and 



in building houses and barns, it would have 
been well. But all were in haste to get 
rich, and the spirit of speculation ruled the 
hour. 

In the meantime, every effort was made 
to help the speedy completion of the rail- 
roads. Nearly every county and city on 
the Mississippi, and many in the interior, 
voted large corporate subscriptions to the 
stock of the railroad companies, and issued 
their negotiable bonds for the amount. 
Thus enormous county and city debts were 
incurred, the payment of which these mu- 
nicipalities tried to avoid, upon the plea 
that they had exceeded the constitutional 
limitation of their powers. The Supreme 
Court of the United States held these bonds 
to be valid, and the courts by mandamus 
compelled the city and county authorities 
to levy taxes to pay the judgments re- 
covered upon them. These debts are not 
all paid, even to this day ; but the worst is 
over, and the incubus is in the course ol 
ultimate extinction. The most valuable 
lessons are those learned in the school of 
experience, and accordingly the corpora- 
tions of Iowa have ever since been noted 
for economy. 

In 1856 the popular vote was as follows: 
Fremont, 43,954; Buchanan, 36,170, and 
Fillmore, 9,180. This was 1,296 less than a 
majority for Fremont. The following year 
an election was held, after an exciting cam- 
paign, for State officers, resulting in a ma- 
jority of 1,406 for Ralph P. Lowe, the Re- 
publican nominee. The Legislature wis 
largely Republican in both branches. 

One of the most injurious results to the 
State, arising from the spirit ol speculation 
prevalent in 1856, was the purchase and 
entry of great bodies ol Government land 
within the State by non-residents. This 
land was held for speculation and placed 
beyond the reach of actual settlers for many 
years. From no other one cause has Iowa 
suffered so much as from the short-sighted 



HISTOttr OF IOWA. 



Ui 



policy of the Federal Government in selling 
lands within her borders. The money 
thus obtained by the Federal Government 
has been comparatively inconsiderable. 
The value of this magnificent public do- 
main to the United States was not in the 
few thousands of dollars she might exact 
from the hardy settlers, or that she might 
obtain from the speculator who hoped to 
profit by the settlers' labors in improving 
the country. Statesmen should have taken 
a broader and more comprehensive view of 
national economy, and a view more in har- 
mony with the divine economy that had 
prepared these vast fertile plains of the 
West for the " homes of men and the seats 
of empire." It was here that new States 
were to be builded up, that should be the 
future strength of the nation against foreign 
invasion or home revolt. A single regi- 
ment of Iowa soldiers during the dark days 
of the Rebellion was worth more to the 
nation than all the money she ever exacted 
from the toil and sweat of Iowa's early 
settlers. Could the statesmen of forty 
years ago have looked forward to this day, 
when Iowa pays her $1,000,000 annually 
into the treasury of the nation for the ex- 
tinction of the national debt, they would 
have realized that the founding of new 
States was a greater enterprise than the re- 
tailing of public lands. 

In January, 1857, another Constitutional 
Convention assembled at Iowa City, which 
framed the present State Constitution. One 
of the most pressing demands for this con- 
vention grew out of the prohibition of 
banks under the old Constitution. The 
practical result of this prohibition was to 
flood the State with every species of " wild- 
cat" currency. 

The new Constitution made ample pro- 
visions for home banks under the super- 
vision of our own laws. The limitation of 
the State debt was enlarged to $250,000, 
and the corporate indebtedness of the cities 



and counties was also limited to 5 percent, 
upon the valuation of their taxable property. 
The judges of the Supreme Court were to 
be elected by the popular vote. The per- 
manent seat of government was fixed at 
Des Moines, and the State University lo- 
cated at Iowa City. The qualifications of 
electors remained the same as under the old 
Constitution, but the schedule provided for 
a vote of the people upon a separate propo- 
sition to strike the word " white" out of the 
suffrage clause, which, had it prevailed, 
would have resulted in conferring the right 
of suffrage without distinction of color. 
Since the early organization of Iowa there 
had been upon the statute book a law pro- 
viding that no negro, mulatto nor Indian 
should be a competent witness in any suit 
or proceeding to which a white man was a 
party. The General Assembly of i856-'7 
repealed this law, and the new Constitution 
contained a clause forbidding such disquali- 
fication in the future. It also provided for 
the education of "all youth of the State" 
through a system of common schools. This 
Constitution was adopted at the ensuing 
election by a vote of 40,311 to 38,681. 

October 19, 1857, Governor Grimes issued 
a proclamation declaring the city of Des 
Moines to be the capital of the State of Iowa. 
The removal of the archives and offices was 
commenced at once and continued through 
the fall. It was an undertaking of no 
small magnitude; there was not a mile of 
railroad to facilitate the work, and the 
season was unusually disagreeable. Rain, 
snow and o^her accompaniments increased 
the difficulties; and it was not until Decem- 
ber that the last of the effects, — the safe of 
the State Treasurer, loaded on two large 
" bob sleds " drawn by ten yokes of oxen, 
— was deposited in the new capitol. It is 
not imprudent now to remark that during 
this passage over hills and prairies, across 
rivers, through bottom lands and timber, 
the safes belonging to the several depart- 



1 4C1 



HISTORY OF IOWA. 



mints contained large sums of money, 
mostlv individual funds, however. Thus 
Iowa City ceased to be the capital of the 
State, alter four Territorial • Legislatures, 
six Sine Legislatures and three Constitu- 
tional Conventions had held their sessions 
there. By the exchange, the old capitol at 
Iowa City became the seat of the university, 
and, except the rooms occupied by the 
United States District Court, passed under 
the immediate and direct control of the 
trustees of that institution. Des Moines 
was now the permanent seat of govern- 
ment, made so by the fundamental law of 
the State, and January 11, 1858, the Sev- 
enth General Assembly convened at the 
new capitol. The citizens' association, 
which built this temporary building, bor- 
rowed the money of James D. Eads, Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction, and leased 
it to the State. In 1864 the State pur- 
chased the building. At the session of the 
General Assembly in 1858, James W. 
Grimes was elected United States Senator 
as successor to George W. Jones. 

During the years i858-'6o, the Sioux 
Indians became troublesome in the north- 
western part of the State. They made fre- 
quent raids for the purpose of plunder, and 
on several occasions murdered whole fami- 
lies of settlers. In 1861 several companies 
of militia were ordered to that portion of 
the State, to hunt down and expel the 
thieves. No battles were fought. The 
Indians fled as soon as they ascertained 
that systematic measures had been adopted 
tor their punishment. 

PATRIOTISM. 

The Presidential campaign of i860 was 
the most remarkable and exciting of all in 
the history of Iowa. The fact that civil 
war might be inaugurated and was threat- 
ened, in case Mr. Lincoln was elected, was 
well understood and duly considered. The 
people ol Iowa indulged in no feeling of 



hatred or ill-will toward the people of any 
Slate or section of the Union. There was, 
however, on the part of the majority, a 
cool determination to consider and decide 
upon our national relations to this institu- 
tion of slavery, uninfluenced by any threat 
of violence or civil war. The popular vote 
of Iowa gave Mr. Lincoln 70,409; Stephen 
A. Douglas, 55,011; Breckenridge, 1,048. 

The General Assembly of the State 01 
Iowa, as early as 1851, had by joint resolu- 
tion declared that the State of Iowa was 
•• bound to maintain the union of these 
States by all the means in her power." The 
same year the State furnished a block of 
marble for the Washington monument at the 
national capital, and by order of the Gen- 
eral Assembly there was inscribed upon its 
enduring surface the following: " Iowa: 
Her affections, like the rivers of her borders, 
flow to an inseparable Union." The time 
was now approaching in her history when 
these declarations of attachment and fidelity 
to the nation were to be put to a practical 
test. 

The declaration of Mr. Buchanan's last 
annual message, that the nation possessed 
no constitutional power to coerce a seced- 
ing State, was received by a great majority 
of our citizens with humiliation and .dis- 
trust. Anxiously they awaited the expiring 
hours of his administration, and looked tr, 
the incoming President as to an expected 
deliverer that should rescue the nation 
from the hands of traitors, and the control 
of those whose non-resistance invited her 
destruction. The firing upon the national 
Hag at Sumter aroused a burning indigna- 
tion throughout the loyal States of the re- 
public, and nowhere was it more intense 
than in Iowa; and when the proclamation 
of the President was published, April 15, 
1861, calling for 75,000 citizen soldiers to 
"maintain the honor, the integrity, and 
the existence of our national Union, and 
the perpetuity of popular government," 



HISTORY OF IOWA. 



M7 



the good people of Iowa were more 
than willing to respond to the call. Party 
lines gave way, and for a while, at least, 
party spirit was hushed, and the cause of 
our common country was supreme in the 
affections of the people. Peculiarly fort- 
unate were the citizens of Iowa at this 
crisis, in having a truly representative 
man, Samuel J. Kirkwood, as executive 
of the State. 

Within thirty days after the date of the 
President's call for troops, the first Iowa 
regiment was mustered into the service of 
the United States, a second regiment was 
in camp ready for the service, and the 
General Assembly of the State was con- 
vened in special session, and had by joint 
resolution solemnly pledged every resource 
of men and money to the national cause. 

The Constitution of Iowa limited the 
State debt to $250,000, except debts con- 
tracted to " repel invasion, suppress insur- 
rection, or defend the State in war." The 
General Assembly authorized a loan of 
$800,000 for a war and defense fund, to be 
expended in organizing, arming, equipping 
and subsisting the militia of the State to 
meet the present and future requisitions of 
the President. Those in power looked to 
the spirit rather than to the letter of the 
Constitution, and acted upon the theory 
that to preserve the nation was to pre- 
serve the State, and that to prevent in- 
vasion was the most effectual means of 
repelling it. A few, however, in both 
branches of the General Assembly were 
more careful of the letter of the Constitu- 
tion. Three votes in the Senate and sev- 
enteen in the House were cast against 
the loan bill. These bonds were at 7 per 
cent, interest. Only $300,000 were ever 
issued, and they were purchased and held 
chiefly by our own citizens. At this crisis 
James W. Grimes and James Harlan were 
in the United States Senate, and General 
Samuel R. Curtis and General Vandeverin 

13 



the House of Representatives. During the 
first year of the war, Iowa furnished sixteen 
regiments of infantry, six of cavalry and 
three batteries, — in all, 22,000 soldiers. 
Iowa had no refuse population to enlist as 
" food for powder." Her cities contained 
none of that element found about the pur- 
lieus of vice in the great centers of popu- 
lation. Her contribution to the armies of 
the republic was a genuine offering of 
manhood and patriotism. From her fields, 
her workshops, her counting-houses, her 
offices, and the halls of her schools and 
colleges, she contributed the best muscle, 
sinew and brain of an industrious, enter- 
prising and educated people. The first 
regiment of Iowa soldiers fought the bat- 
tle of Wilson's Creek after their term ot 
enlistment had expired, and after the} 7 were 
entitled to a discharge. They were citi- 
zen soldiers, each of whom had a persona' 
interest in the struggle. It was to them no 
question of enlistment, of bounty or of pay. 
When the gallant General Lyon placed 
himself at their head, and told them that 
the honor of Iowa and of the nation was in 
their hands, he addressed men who knew 
what the appeal meant, and to whom such 
an appeal was never made in vain. 

At the fall election of 1861, party spirit 
had revived; and the contest for the control 
of the State administration was warm and 
earnest. Dissensions arose in both parties 
but the election resulted in a majority of 
16,600 votes for Kirkwood, who was thus 
retained as Governor of Iowa. In 1863 
the Republicans elected their candidate 
for Governor, William M. Stone, by a ma- 
jority of 29,000. 

Meanwhile the General Assembly had 
passed a law authorizing the " soldiers' 
vote," that is, citizens of the State in the 
volunteer military service of the United 
States, whether within or without the limits 
of the State, were authorized to open a poll 
on the day of the election, and to make re- 



*4o 



HISTORY OF IOWA. 



turn of their votes to the proper civil au- 
thorities. In the Presidental contest of 
1864 the popular vote at home was as 
follows: Lincoln, 72,122; McClcllan, 47,- 
703. The soldier vote returned was: Lin- 
coln, 16,844; McClellan, 1,883. 

The General Assembly did all in its 
power to encourage enlistment and to pro- 
tect the soldiers in the field and their fami- 
lies at home. Statutes were enacted sus- 
pending all suits against soldiers in the 
service, and all writs of execution or attach- 
ment against their property; and county 
boards of supervisors were authorized to 
vote bounties for enlistments, and pecuni- 
ary aid to the families of those in the serv- 
ice. The spirits of our people rose and 
fell, according to the success of the Union 
armies. One day the bells rung out with 
joy for the surrender of Vicksburg, and 
again the air seemed full of heaviness be- 
cause of our defeats on the Peninsula; but 
through all these dark and trying days, the 
faith of the great majority never wavered. 

The Emancipation Proclamation of the 
President was to them an inspiration of a 
new hope. 

In the Adjutant's department at Des 
Moines are preserved the shot-riddled col- 
ors and standards of Iowa's regiments. 
Upon them, by special authority, were 
inscribed from time to time during the war 
the names of the battle-fields upon which 
these regiments gained distinction. These 
names constitute the geographical nomen- 
clature of two-thirds of the territory lately 
in rebellion. From the Des Moines River 
to the Gulf, from the Mississippi to the 
Atlantic, in the Mountains of West Virginia 
and in the valley of the Shenandoah, the 
Iowa soldier made his presence known and 
frit, and maintained the honor of the State, 
and the cause ol the nation. They were 
with Lyon at Wilson's Creek; with Tuttle 
at Donelson. Thev fought with Sigel and 
with Curtis at Tea Ridge; with Crocker 



at Champion Hills; with Reid at Shiloh. 
They were with Grant at the surrender of 
Vicksburg. They fought above the clouds 
with Hooker at Lookout Mountain. They 
were with Sherman in his march to the sea, 
and were readv for battle when Johnston 
surrendered. They were with Sheridan in 
the valley of the Shenandoah, and were in 
the veteran ranks of the nation's deliverers 
that stacked their arms in the national cap- 
itol at the close of the war. 

The State furnished to the armies of the 
republic, during the war, over 70,000 men, 
and 20,000 of these perished in battle or 
from diseases contracted in the service. 

We append here a brief notice of each 
regiment : 

The First Regiment was organized under 
the President's first call for three-months 
volunteers, with John Francis Bates, of Du- 
buque, as Colonel. It comprised various 
independent military companies that had 
been organized before the war, who ten- 
dered their services even before the break- 
ing out of hostilities. The)- were mustered 
in May 14, and first saw service under 
General Lyon in Missouri. 

Second Infantry; Samuel R. Curtis, of 
Keokuk, Colonel. This was the first three- 
years regiment, and made a most distin- 
guished record throughout the South, go- 
ing with Sherman to the sea, returning 
through the Carolinas, etc. After the 
battle at Fort Donelson, the unenthusiastic 
General Halleck pronounced this regiment 
" the bravest of the brave." 

Third Infantry; Nelson G. Williams, of 
Dubuque County, Colonel. Veteranized 
in 1864, but before the new officers received 
their commissions the regiment fought itself 
out of existence at the battle of Atlanta ! 

Fourth Infantry; G. M. Dodge, of Coun- 
cil Bluffs, Colonel. Engaged in the prin- 
cipal battles of the South. 

Fifth Infantry; William II. Worthington, 
of Keokuk, Colonel; 180 veteranized in 



HlSTO/tr OF IOWA. 



149 



1864 and were transferred to the Fifth 
Cavalry. 

Sixth Infantry; John A. McDowell, of 
Keokuk, Colonel. Engaged faithfully in 
many of the prominent battles. 

Seventh Infantry; J. G. Lauman, of Bur- 
lington, Colonel. It lost 227 at the single 
battle of Belmont. 

Eighth Infantry ; Frederick Steele, of the 
regular army, Colonel. Most of this com- 
mand suffered in rebel prisons for eight 
months. Was on duty in Alabama nearly 
a year after the collapse of the Rebellion. 

Ninth Infantry; William Vandever, of 
Dubuque, Colonel. Was in almost every 
Southern State, traveling altogether 10,000 
miles; marched more than 4,000 miles! 

Tenth Infantry ; Nicholas Persczel, of 
Davenport, Colonel. Fought mainly in 
Mississippi ; losing half its number at the 
battle of Champion Hills alone ! 

Eleventh Infantry ; A. M. Hare, of Mus- 
catine, Colonel. Served mainly in the in- 
terior of the South, doing as valiant service 
as any other regiment. 

Twelfth Infantry ; I. J. Wood, of Maquo- 
keta, Colonel. In rebel prisons eight 
months. Veteranized January 4, 1864, a 
larger proportion of the men re-enlisting 
than from any other Iowa regiment. Served 
for several months after the close of the 
war. 

Thirteenth Infantry; M. M. Crocker, of 
Des Moines, Colonel. Fought in the South- 
ern interior and made the famous round 
with Sherman to the sea, being the first to 
enter Columbia, South Carolina, where se- 
cession had its rise. 

Fourteenth Infantry; William T. Shaw, 
of Anamosa, Colonel. Nearly all captured 
at Shiloh, but were released after a few 
months. Engaged in some of the severest 
contests. 

Fifteenth Infantry; Hugh T. Reid, of 
Keokuk, Colonel. Served three and a half 
years in the heart of the Rebellion. 



Sixteenth Infantry ; Alex. Chambers, of 
the regular army, Colonel. Bravely served 
throughout the South. 

Seventeenth Infantry; John W. Rankin, 
of Keokuk, Colonel. Served in the in- 
terior of the South. 

Eighteenth Infantry; John Edwards, of 
Chariton, Colonel. Much of its time was 
spent in garrison duty. 

Nineteenth Infantry ; Benjamin Crabb, 
of Washington, Colonel. Served mainly in 
Mississippi. Were prisoners of war about 
ten months. 

Twentieth Infantry, comprising five com- 
panies each from Scott and Linn counties, 
who vied with each other in patriotism; 
William M. Dve, of Marion, Colonel. En- 
gaged mainly on the Gulf coast. 

Twenty-first Infantry ; ex-Governor Sam- 
uel Merrill, Colonel. Distinguished in val- 
iant service throughout the South. See 
Twenty-third Regiment. 

Twenty-second Infantry ; William M. 
Stone, of Knoxville, since Governor of the 
State, was Colonel. Did excellent service, 
all the way from Mississippi to old Virginia. 

Twenty-third Infantry ; William Dewey, 
of Fremont County, Colonel. Its services 
were mainly in Mississippi. At Black River 
but a few minutes were required in carry- 
ing the rebel works, but those few minutes 
were fought with fearful loss to the troops. 
The Twenty-first also participated in this 
daring assault, and immediately after the 
victory was gained General Lawler passed 
down the line and joyfully seized every man 
by the hand, so great was his emotion. 

Twenty-fourth Infantry ; the " Iowa 
Temperance Regiment," was raised by 
Eber C. Byam, of Linn County. Engaged 
mainly in the Lower Mississippi Valley. 

Twenty-fifth Infantry ; George A. Stone, 
of Mt. Pleasant, Colonel. " To the sea." 

Twenty-sixth Infantry; Milo Smith, of 
Clinton, Colonel. Took part in many great 
battles. 






HISTORY OF IOWA. 



Twenty-seventh Infantry; James I. Gil- 
bert, of Lansing, Colonel. On duty all the 
way from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. 

Twenty-eighth Infantry ; William E. 
Miller, of Iowa City, Colonel. Service, in 
the region of the Lower Mississippi. 

Twenty-ninth Infantry ; Thomas H. Ben- 
ton, Jr., of Council Bluffs, Colonel. Sta- 
tioned in Arkansas. 

Thirtieth Infantry; Charles B. Abbott, 
of Louisa County, Colonel. In the thickest 
of the war, coming home loaded with 
honors. 

Thirty-first Infantry ; William Smyth, of 
Marion, Colonel. Returned from its many 
hard-fought battles in the interior of the 
South with only 370 men out of 1,000 en- 
listed. 

Thirty-second Infantry; John Scott, of 
Nevada, Colonel. Engaged in a number of 
battles. 

Thirty-third Infantry ; Samuel A. Rice, 
a popular politician of Central Iowa, Colo- 
nel. Served from Arkansas to Alabama. 

Thirty-fourth Infantry; George W.Clark, 
ol [ndianola, Colonel. Traveled 15,000 
miles in its service ! 

Thirty-fifth Infantry ; S. G. Hill, of Mus- 
catine, Colonel. Served bravely in a dozen 
battles, and traveled 10,000 miles. 

Thirty-sixth Infantry ; Charles W. Kitt- 
redge, of Ottumwa, Colonel. Suffered a 
great deal from sickness— small-pox, measles, 
malaria, etc. 

Thirty-seventh Infantry, the "Gray- 
Beard Regiment," being composed of men 
over forty-five years of age, and was the 
only one of its kind in the war. Garrison 
ami post duty. 

Thirty-eighth Infantry; D. H. Hughes, 
of Decorah, Colonel. Most unfortunate of 
all in respect of sickness, 300 dying during 
the first two years. 

Thirty-ninth Infantry; H. J. B. Cum- 
mings, ol Winterset, Colonel. One of the 
mosl distinguished regiments in the field. 



Fortieth Infantry; John A. Garrett, ol 
Newton, Colonel. 

Forty-first Infantry was not completed, 
and the three companies raised for it were 
attached to the Seventh Cavalry. 

There were no regiments numbered 
Forty-second or Forty-third. 

Forty-fourth Infantry for 100 days; 
Stephen II. Henderson, Colonel. Garrison 
duty in Tennessee. 

Forty-filth Infantry, lor 100 days; A. H. 
Bereman, of Mt. Pleasant, Colonel. Garri- 
son duty in Tennessee. 

Forty -sixth Infantry, for 100 days; D. B. 
Henderson, of Clermont, Colonel. Garri- 
son duty in Tennessee. 

Forty-seventh Infantry, for 100 days; 
James P. Sanford, of Oskaloosa, Colonel. 
Stationed at the sickly place of Helena, 
Arkansas. 

Forty-eighth Infantry (battalion), for 100 
days; O. H. P. Scott, of Farmington, Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel. Guarded prisoners on Rock 
Island. 

First Cavalry ; Fitz Henry Warren, of 
Burlington, Colonel. Served for three 
years, mainly along the Lower Mississippi. 

Second Cavalry; W. L. Elliott, a Cap- 
tain in the Third Cavalry of the regular 
army, Colonel. Fought faithfully in many 
important battles in Tennessee and Missis- 
sippi. 

Third Cavalry ; Cyrus Bussey, of Broom- 
field, Colonel. Distinguished in war. 

Fourth Cavalry; A. B. Porter, of Mt. 
Pleasant, Colonel. Participated with zeal 
and judgment in the hottest of battles in 
Tennessee and Mississippi. 

Fifth Cavalry, only in part an Iowa regi- 
ment; William W. Lowe, of the regular 
army, Colonel. Distinguished in the hotly 
contested battles of Tennessee and vicinity. 

Sixth Cavalry; D. S. Wilson, of Du- 
buque, Colonel. Served against the In- 
dians. 

Seventh Cavalry; S. W. Summers, of 



HISTORY OF IOWA 



Ottumwa, Colonel. Served against the 
Indians. 

Eighth Cavalry ; Joseph B. Dorr, of Du- 
buque, Colonel. Served faithfully in guard- 
ing Sherman's communications, etc. 

Ninth Cavalry; M. M. Trumbull, of 
Cedar Falls, Colonel. Scouting, guard and 
garrison duties in Arkansas. 

First Battery of Light Artillery ; C. H. 
Fletcher, of Burlington, Captain. Served 
in Arkansas and Tennessee. 

Second Battery ; Nelson I. Spoor, of 
Council Bluffs, Captain. Engaged at Farm- 
ington, Corinth and other places. 

Third Battery ; M. M. Hayden, of Du- 
buque, Captain. Engaged at Pea Ridge, 
and in other important battles. 

Fourth Battery ; on duty most of the 
time in Louisiana. 

Iowa Regiment of Colored Troops ; John 
G. Hudson, of Missouri, Colonel. Garrison 
duty at St. Louis and elsewhere. 

Northern Border Brigade ; James A. 
Sawyer, of Sioux City, Colonel. Protected 
the Northwestern frontier. 

Southern Border Brigade ; protected the 
southern border of the State. 

The following promotions were made by 
the United States Government from Iowa 
regiments: To the rank of Major-General 
— Samuel R.Curtis, Frederick Steele, Frank 
J. Herron and Grenville M. Dodge ; to that 
of Brigadier-General — Jacob G. Lauman, 
James M. Tuttle, W. L. Elliott, Fitz Henry 
Warren, Charles L. Matthies, William Van- 
dever, M. M. Crocker, Hugh T. Reid, 
Samuel A. Rice, John M. Corse, Cyrus 
Bus=ey, Edward Hatch, Elliott W. Rice, 
William W. Belknap, John Edwards, James 
A. Williamson, James I. Gilbert and Thomas 
J. McKean ; Corse, Hatch, Belknap, Elliott 
and Vandever were brevetted Major- 
Generals ; brevetted Brigadier-Generals — 
William T. Clark, Edward F. Winslow, S. 
G. Hill, Thomas II. Benton, S. S. Glasgow, 
Clark R. Weaver, Francis M. Drake, 



George A. Stone, Datus E. Coon, George 
W. Clark, Herman H. Heath, J. M. Hed- 
rick and W. W. Lowe. 

IOWA SINCE THE WAR. 

The two principal events of political in- 
terest in this State since the war have been 
the popular contests concerning woman 
suffrage and the liquor traffic. In the 
popular elections the people gave a ma- 
jority against the former measure, but in 
favor of prohibiting the sale or manufact- 
ure of intoxicating liquors. 

A list of State officers to date is given on 
a subsequent page. The last vote for 
Governor, October 9, 1883, stood as fol- 
lows: For Buren R. Sherman, Republican, 
164,141 ; L. G. Kinne, Democrat, 140,032, 
and James B. Weaver, National Green- 
back, 23,093. 

STATE INSTITUTIONS. 

The present capitol building is a beauti- 
ful specimen of modern architecture. Its 
dimensions are, in general, 246 x 364 feet, 
with a dome and spire extending up to a 
height of 275 feet. In 1870 the General 
Assembly made an appropriation, and pro- 
vided for the appointment of a board of com- 
missioners to commence the work of build- 
ing. They were duly appointed and pro- 
ceeded to work, laying the corner-stone with 
appropriate ceremonies, November 23, 1871. 
The structure is not yet completed. When 
finished it will have cost about $3,500,000. 

The State University, at Iowa City, was 
established therein 1858, immediately after 
the removal of the capital to Des Moines. 
As had already been planned, it occupied 
the old capitol building. As early as Janu- 
ary, 1849, two branches of tne university 
were established — one at Fairfield and one 
at Dubuque. At Fairfield, the board of 
directors organized and erected a building 
at a cost of $2,500. This was nearly de- 
stroyed by a hurricane the following year. 



is: 



HISTORY OF IOWA. 



but was rebuilt more substantially by the 
citizens of Fairfield. This branch never 
received any aid from the State, and Janu- 
ary 24, i s 5 3 , at the request of the board, 
the General Assembly terminated its rela- 
tion to the State. The branch at Dubuque 
had only a nominal existence 

By act of Congress, approved July 20, 
1840, two entire townships of land were 
set apart in this State for the support of a 
university. The Legislature of this State 
placed the management of this institution 
in the hands of a board of fifteen trustees, 
five to be chosen (by the Legislature) ever)' 
two years, the superintendent of public 
instruction to be president of the board. 
This board was also to appoint seven trus- 
tees for each of the three normal schools, to 
be simultaneously established — one each 
at Andrew, Oskaloosa and Mt. Pleasant. 
One was never started at the last-named 
place, and after a feeble existence for a 
short time the other two were discontin- 
ued. The university itself was closed dur- 
ing i859-'6o, for want of funds. 

The law department was established in 
June, 1868, and soon afterward the Iowa 
Law School at Des Moines, which had been 
in successful operation for three years, was 
transferred to Iowa City and merged in the 
department. The medical department was 
established in 1869; and in 1874 a chair of 
military instruction was added. 

Since April 11, 1870, the government of 
the university has been in the hands of a 
board of regents. The present faculty 
comprises forty-two professors, and the 
attendance 560 students. 

The State Normal School is located at 
Cedar Falls, and was opened in 1876. It 
has now a faculty of nine members, with an 
attendance of 301 pupils. 

The State Agricultural College is located 
at Ames, in Story County, being established 
bv the legislative act of March 23, 1858. 
In 1862 Congress granted to Iowa 240,000 



acres of land for the endowment of schools 
oi agriculture and the mechanic arts. The 
main building was completed in 1868, and 
the institution opened the following year. 
Tuition is free to pupils from the State 
over sixteen years of age. The college 
farm comprises 860 acres, of which a major 
portion is in cultivation. Professors, twen- 
ty-two; scholars, 319. 

The Deaf and Dumb Institute was estab- 
lished in 1855, at Iowa City, but was after- 
ward removed to Council Bluffs to a tract 
of ninety acres of land two miles south of 
that city. In October, 1870, the main build- 
ing and one wing were completed and 
occupied. In February, 1S77, fire destroyed 
the main building and east wing, and dur- 
ing the summer following a tornado par- 
tially demolished the wesl wing. It is at 
present (1SS5) manned with fifteen teachers, 
and attended by 292 pupils. 

The College for the Blind has been at Vin- 
ton since 1862. Prof. Samuel Bacon, himself 
blind, a fine scholar, who had founded the 
Institution for the Blind, at Jacksonville, 
Illinois, commenced as earl)- as 1852 a school 
of instruction at Keokuk. The next year 
the institution was adopted by the State 
and moved to Iowa City, with Prof. Bacon 
as principal. It was moved thence, in 1862, 
to Vinton. The building was erected and 
the college manned at vast expenditure of 
money. It is said that $282,000 were ex- 
pended upon the building alone, and that it 
required an outlay ol $5,000 a year to heat 
it, while it had accommodations for 130 in- 
mates. At present, however, they have 
accommodations for more pupils, with an 
attendance of 132. There are eleven teach- 
ers. The annual legislative appropriation 
is $8,OCO, besides $128 per year for each 
pupil. 

The first Iowa Hospital for the Insane 
was established by an act of the Legislature 
approved January 24, 1855. It is located at 
Mt. Pleasant, where the building was com- 



lJISTORT OF IOWA. 



153 



pleted in 1861, at a cost of $258,555. Within 
the first three months 100 patients were ad- 
mitted, and before the close of October, 
1877, an aggregate of 3,684 had been ad- 
mitted. In April, 1876, a portion of the 
building was destroyed by fire. At this in- 
stitution there are now ninety-four superin- 
tendents and assistants, in charge of 472 
patients. 

Another Hospital for the Insane, at Inde- 
pendence, was opened May i, 1873, in a 
building which cost $88,114. The present 
number of inmates is 580, in the care of 1 1 1 
superintendents and employes. 

The Soldiers' Orphans' Home is located at 
Davenport. It was originated by Mrs. Annie 
Wittenmeyer, during the late war, who 
called a convention for the purpose at Mus- 
catine, September 7, 1863, and uly 13 fol- 
lowing the institution was opened in a brick 
bui4dingat Lawrence, Van Buren County. 
It was sustained by voluntary contributions 
until 1 866, when the State took charge of 
it. The Legislature provided at first for 
three " homes." The one in Cedar Falls 
was organized in 1865, an old hotel build- 
ing being fitted up for it, and by the follow- 
ing January there were ninety-six inmates. 
In October, 1869, the Home was removed 
to a large brick building about two miles 
west of Cedar Falls, and was very prosper- 
ous for several years; but in 1876 the Leg- 
islature devoted this building to the State 
Normal School, and the buildings and 
grounds of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home 
at Glenwood, Mills County, to an institution 
for the support of feeble-minded children, 
and also provided for the removal of the 
soldiers' orphans at the Glenwood and 
Cedar Falls homes to the institution at 
Davenport. The latter has now in charge 
169 orphans. 

The Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children 
referred to above, is at Glenwood, estab- 
lished by the Legislature in March, 1876. 
The institution was opened September 1, 



following, with a few pupils; but now the 
attendance is 215, in the care of four teach- 
ers. This asylum is managed by three trus- 
tees, one of whom must be a resident of that 
county, Mills. 

The first penitentiary was established in 
1841, near Fort Madison, its present loca- 
tion. The cost of the original building was 
$55,934, and its capacity was sufficient for 
138 convicts. At present there are at this 
prison 364 convicts, in charge of forty-three 
employes. 

The penitentiary at Anamosa was estab- 
lished in i872-'3. It now has 239 convicts 
and thirty-four employes. 

The boys' reform school was permanent!- 
located at Eldora, Hardin County, in 1872. 
For the three years previous it was kept at 
the building of the Iowa Manual Labor In- 
stitute at Salem, Henry County. Only 
boys between seven and sixteen years of 
age are admitted. Credit of time for good 
conduct is given, so that occasionally one 
is discharged before he is of age. There 
are now (1885) 201 pupils here. 

The "girls' department" is at Mitchell- 
ville, similarly managed. Inmates, eighty- 
three. 

The State Historical Society is in part 
supported by the State, the Governor ap- 
pointing nine of the eighteen curators. 
This society was provided for in connection 
with the University, by legislative act of 
January 28, 1857, and it has published a 
series of valuable collections, and a large 
number of finely engraved portraits of 
prominent and early settlers. 

The State Agricultural Society is con- 
ducted under the auspices of the State, and 
is one of the greatest promoters of the 
welfare of the people among all the State 
organizations. It holds an annual fair at 
Des Moines, and its proceedings are also 
published annually, at the expense of the 
State. 

The Fish-Hatching House has been sue- 



>54 



HfSTORV OF IOWA. 



cessfully carrying on its good work since 
its establishment in 1874, near Anamosa. 
Three fish commissioners are appointed, 
one for each of the three districts into which 
•■he State is for the purpose divided. 

The State Board of Health, established 
in 1880, has an advisory supervision, and to 
a limited extent also a police supervision, 
over the health of the people, — especially 
with reference to the abatement of those 
nuisances that are most calculated to pro- 
mulgate dangerous and contagious diseases. 
Their publications, which are made at the 
expense of the State, should be studied by 
every citizen 

EDUCATIONAL. 

The germ of the free public school sys- 
tem of Iowa, which now ranks second to 
none in the United States, was planted by 
the first settlers, and in no other public 
measure have the people ever since taken 
so deep an interest. They have expanded 
and improved their original system until 
now it is justly considered one of the most 
complete, comprehensive and liberal in the 
country. 

Nor is this to be wondered at when it is 
remembered that humble log school-houses 
were built almost as soon as the log cabins 
of the earliest settlers were occupied, and 
school teachers were among the first im- 
migrants to Iowa. Schools, therefore, the 
people have had everywhere from the start, 
and the school-houses, in their character and 
accommodations, have kept fully abreast 
with the times. 

The first school-house within the limits 
of Iowa was a log cabin at Dubuque, built by 
J. L. Langworthy and a few other miners, 
in the autumn of 1833. When it was com- 
pleted George Cabbage was employed as 
teacher during the winter of i833-'4, thirty- 
five pupils attending his school. Barrett 
Whittemore taught the next school term, 
with twenty-five pupils in attendance. Mrs. 
Caroline Dexter commenced teaching in 



Dubuque in March, 1836. She was the first 
female teacher there, and probably the first 
in Iowa. In 1839 Thomas II. Benton, Jr., 
afterward for ten years Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, opened an English and 
classical school in Dubuque. The first tax 
for the support of schools at Dubuque was 
levied in 1840. 

At Burlington a commodious log school- 
house, built in 1834, was among the first 
buildings erected. A Mr. Johnson taught 
the first school in the winter of i834-'5. 

In Muscatine County, the first school was 
taught by George Bumgardner, in the 
spring of 1837. In 1839 a '°g school-house 
was erected in Muscatine, which served for 
a long time as school-house, church and 
public hall. 

The first school in Davenport was taught 
in 1838. In Fairfield, Miss Clarissa Sawyer, 
James F. Chambers and Mrs. Reed taught 
school in 1839. 

Johnson County was an entire wilderness 
when Iowa City was located as the capital 
of the Territory of Iowa, in May, 1839. 
The first sale of lots took place August 18, 
1839, ar >d before January 1, 1840, about 
twenty families had settled within the limits 
of the town. During the same year Jesse 
Berry opened a school in a small frame 
building he had erected on what is now 
College street. 

In Monroe County, the first settlement 
was made in 1843, by Mr. John R. Gray, 
about two miles from the present site of 
Eddyville; and in the summer of i844alog 
school-house was built by Gray, William 
V. Beedle, C. Renfro, Joseph McMullen 
and Willoughby Randolph, and the first 
school was opened by Miss Urania Adams. 
The building was occupied for school pur- 
poses for nearly ten years. 

About a year after the first cabin was 
built at Oskaloosa, a log school-house was 
built, in which school was opened by Sam- 
uel W. Caldwell, in 1S44. 



HISTORr OF IOWA. 



155 



At Fort Des Moines, now the capital of 
the State, the first school was taught by 
Lewis Whittcn, Clerk of the District Court, 
in the winter of 1846-'", in one of the rooms 
on " Coon Row," built for barracks. 

The first school in Pottawattamie County 
was opened by George Green, a Mormon, 
at Council Point, prior to 1849; a "d until 
about 1S54 nearly all the teachers in that 
vicinity were Mormons. 

The first school in Decorah was taught in 
1855, by Cyrus C. Carpenter, since Gov 
ernor of the State. In Crawford County the 
first school-house was built in Mason's 
Grove, in 1856, and Morris McHenry first 
occupied it as teacher. 

During the first twenty years of the his- 
tory of Iowa, the log school-house pre- 
vailed, and in 1861 there were 893 of these 
primitive structures in use for school pur- 
poses in the State. Since that time they 
have been gradually disappearing. In 1865 
there were 796; in 1870, 336; and in 1875, 
121. 

In 1846, the year of Iowa's admission as 
a State, there were 20,000 scholars out of 
100,000 inhabitants. About 400 school dis- 
tricts had been organized. In 1850 there 
were 1,200, and in 1857 the number had in- 
creased to 3,265. 

In March, 1858, upon the recommenda- 
tion of Hon. M. L. Fisher, then Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction, the seventh 
General Assembly enacted that" each civil 
township is declared a school district," and 
provided that these should be divided into 
sub-districts. This law went into force 
March 20, 1858, and reduced the number of 
school districts from about 3,500 to less than 
900. This change of school organization 
resulted in a very material reduction of the 
expenditures for the compensation of dis- 
trict secretaries and treasurers. An effort 
was made for several years, from 1867 to 
1872, to abolish the sub-district system. 
Mr. Kissell, Superintendent, recommended 
14 



this in his report of January 1, 1872, and 
Governor Merrill forcibly endorsed his 
views in his annual message. But the 
Legislature of that year provided for the 
formation of independent districts from the 
sub-districts of district townships. 

The system of graded schools was in- 
augurated in 1849, a "d new schools, in 
which more than one teacher is employed, 
are universally graded. 

Teachers' institutes were organized early 
in the history of the State. The first offi- 
cial mention of them occurs in the annual 
report of Hon. Thomas H. Benton, Jr., 
made December 2, 1850, who said : " An 
institution of this character was organized 
a few years ago, composed of the teachers 
of the mineral regions of Illinois, Wisconsin 
and Iowa. An association of teachers has 
also been formed in the county of Henry, 
and an effort was made in October last to 
organize a regular institute in the county 
of Jones." 

No legislation, however, was held until 
March, 1858, when an act was passed au- 
thorizing the holding of teachers' institutes 
for periods not less than six working days, 
whenever not less than thirty teachers 
should desire. The superintendent was 
authorized to expend not exceeding $ioo 
for any one institute, to be paid out by the 
county superintendent, as the institute may 
direct, for teachers and lecturers, and $1,- 
000 was appropriated to defray the expenses 
of these institutes. Mr. Fisher at once 
pushed the matter of holding institutes, and 
December 6, 1858, he reported to the Board 
of Education that institutes had been ap- 
pointed in twenty counties within the pre- 
ceding six months, and more would have 
been held but the appropriation had been 
exhausted. At the first session of the Board 
of Education, commencing December 6, 
1858, a code of school laws was enacted, 
which retained the existing provisions for 
teachers' institutes. In March, i860, the 



is6 



HISTORY OF IOWA. 



General Assembly amended the act of the 
board by appropriating " a sum not ex- 
ceeding $50 annually for one such institute, 
held as provided by law in each county." 
In 1865 the superintendent, Mr. Faville, re- 
ported that "the provision made by the 
State for the benefit of teachers' institutes 
has never been so fully appreciated, both 
by the people and the teachers, as during 
the last two years." Under this law an in- 
stitute is held annually in each count}', 
under the direction of the county superin- 
tendent. 

By an act approved March 19, 1874, nor- 
mal institutes were established in each 
county, to be held annually by the county 
superintendent. This was regarded as a 
very decided step in advance by Mr. Aber- 
nethy, and in 1876 the General Assembly 
established the first permanent State Nor- 
mal School at Cedar Falls, Black Hawk 
County, appropriating the building and 
property of the Soldiers' Orphans Home 
at that place for that purpose. This school 
is now " in the full tide of successful ex- 
periment." 

Funds for the support of the public 
schools are derived in several ways. The 
sixteenth section of every congressional 
township was set apart by the General 
Government lor school purposes, being 
one thirty-sixth part of all the lands of the 
State. The minimum price of these lands 
was fixed at $1.25 per acre. Congress also 
made an additional donation to the State of 
500,000 acres, and an appropriation of 5 
per cent, on all the sales of public lands to 
the school fund. The State gives to this 
fund the proceeds of the sales of all lands 
which escheat to it; the proceeds of all 
lines for the violation of the liquor and 
criminal laws. The money derived from 
these sources constitutes the permanent 
school fund of the State, which cannot be 
diverted to any other purpose. The pen- 
alties collected by the courts for fines and 



forfeitures go to the school fund in me. 
counties where collected. The proceeds 
of the sale of lands and the 5 per cent, fund 
go into the State Treasury, and the State 
distributes these proceeds to the several 
counties according to their request. 

In 1844 there were in the State 4,339 
school districts, containing 11,244 schools, 
and employing 21,776 teachers. The aver- 
age monthly pay of male teachers was 
$32.50, and of female teachers $27.25. There 
were 594,730 persons of school age, of whom 
431,513 were enrolled in the public schools. 
The average cost of tuition for each pupil 
per month was $1.62. The expenditures 
for all school purposes was $5,129,819.49. 
The permanent school fund is now $3,547,- 
123.82, on which the income for 1881 was 
$234,622.40. 

Besides the State University, Agricult- 
ural College and Normal School, described 
on preceding pages, ample provision for 
higher education has been made by the 
different religious denominations, assisted 
by local and individual beneficence. There 
are, exclusive of State institutions, twenty- 
three universities and colleges, and one 
hundred and eleven academies and other 
private schools for the higher branches. 
All these are in active operation, and most 
of them stand high. 

Amity College, located at College 
Springs, Page County, has eight instructors 
and two hundred and forty-live students. 

Burlington University, eight instructors 
and forty-three pupils. 

Callanan College, at Des Moines, has 
eighteen in the faculty and one hundred 
and twenty students enrolled. 

Central University, at Bella, Marion 
County, is under the auspices ol the Baptist 
church, and has eleven in the (acuity anil 
one hundred anil two students. 

Coe College, at Cedar Rapids, has a 
faculty of ten, and an attendance of one 
hundred and ninety-nine. 



Hisronr OP IOWA. 



157" 



Cornell College, Methodist Episcopal, at 
Mt. Vernon, Linn County, has eighteen 
members of the faculty and four hundred 
and seventy-nine scholars. This is a strong 
institution. 

Drake University, at Des Moines, has 
thirty instructors and three hundred and 
twenty -five pupils. 

Griswold College, at Davenport, is under 
the control of the Episcopal church, and 
has seven instructors and seventy-five stu- 
dents. 

Iowa College, at Grinnell, is permanently 
endowed. Has fourteen instructors and 
three hundred and eighty-four students. 

Iowa Wesleyan University (Methodist 
Episcopal), at Mt. Pleasant, has six mem- 
bers of the faculty and one hundred and 
seventy-five students. 

Luther College, at Decorah, Winneshiek 
County, has a faculty of ten, and one hun- 
dred and sixty-five pupils. 

Oskaloosa College has a faculty of five, 
and one hundred and thirty-five students. 

Penn College, at Oskaloosa, has a facultv 
of five members, and one hundred and forty 
pupils in attendance. 

Simpson Centenary College, at Indianola, 
Warren County (Methodist Episcopal), has 
a faculty of seven and an attendance of two 
hundred. 

Tabor College, at Tabor, Fremont 
County, modeled after the Oberlin (Ohio) 
College, has twelve members in the faculty 
and an attendance of two hundred and ten 
scholars. 

University of Des Moines has five in- 
structors and fifty pupils. 

Upper Iowa University (Methodist Epis- 
copal), located at Fayette, in Fayette 
County, has eleven instructors and three 
hundred and fifty students. 

Whittier College, at Salem, Henry 
Count)', is under the auspices of the 
Friends. There are two instructors and 
sixty pupils. 



STATISTICAL. 

When Wisconsin Territory was organ- 
ized in 1836, the entire population of that 
portion of the Territory now embraced in 
the State of Iowa was 10,531. The Terri- 
tory then embraced two counties, Dubuque 
and Des Moines, erected by the Territory 
of Michigan in 1834. Since then (he 
counties have increased to ninety-nine, and 
the population in 1880 was 1,624,463. The 
following table will show the population at 
different periods since the erection of Iowa 
Territory : 



Year. Population 

1S3S 22,589 

■84° 43.»5 

1S44 75.152 

1S46 97,588 

1S47 116,651 

1S49 15^988 

1850 191,9s.: 

l8 5' 204.774 

'852 230,713 

1854 326,013 

1S56 519.055 



Year Population 

'859 638,775 

i860 674,913 

'863 7oi.732 

1865 7150.699 

1S67 902 0)0 

IS69 I040SI9 

1870 1,191,727 

■S73 1.251.333 

1 S75 1 366,000 

1SS0 1,624 463 



The most populous county is Dubuque — ■ 
42,997. Polk County has 42,395, and Scott, 
41,270. Not only in population, but in 
everything contributing to the growth and 
greatness of a State, has Iowa made rapid 
progress. In a little more than thirty-five 
years its wild but beautiful prairies have 
advanced from the home of the savage to a 
highly civilized commonwealth. 

The first railroad across the State was 
completed to Council Bluffs in January, 
1 87 1. The completion of three others scon 
followed. In 1854 there was not a mile of 
railroad in Iowa. Within the succeeding 
twenty years, 3,765 miles were built and 
put in successful operation. 

The present value of buildings for our 
State institutions is as follows : 



Sta e Capitol $2,500,000 

State University. 400,000 
Agricultural Col 

and Farm .... 300,000 
Inst, for the ISlind 150,000 
Institution for the 

Deaf and Dumb 



225,000 



Institutions for the 

Insane $1,149,000 

Orphans' H me.. 62,000 
Penitentiaries.... 408,000 
Normal School. . 50,000 
Reform School. . 90,000 



J53 



IltSTORr OF loWA. 



The State has never levied more than 
two and one-half mills on the dollar for 
State tax, and this is at present the consti- 
tutional limit. 

Iowa has no State debt. Whatever obli- 
gations have been incurred in the past have 
been promptly met and fully paid. Many 
nl the counties are in debt, but only lour of 
them to an amount exceeding $100,000 each. 
The bonded debt of the counties amounts 
in the aggregate to $2,592,222. and the float- 
ing debt, $153,456; total, $2,745,678. 

In the language of Judge C. C. Noursc, 
we feel compelled to say : " The great ulti- 
mate fact that America would demonstrate 
is, the existence of a people capable of at- 
taining and preserving a superior civiliza- 
tion, with a government self-imposed, self- 
administered and self-perpetuated. In this 
age of wonderful progress, America can 
exhibit nothing to the world of mankind 
more wonderful or more glorious than her 
new States — young empires, born of her 
own enterprise and tutored at her own 
political hearth-stone. Well may she say 
to the monarchies of the Old World, who 
look for evidence of her regal grandeur 
and state, ' Behold, these are my jewels !' 
and may she never blush to add, ' This one 
in the center of the diadem is Iowa !' " 

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

Iowa, in the highly figurative and ex- 
pressive language ol the aborigines, is said 
to signify " The Beautiful Land," and was 
applied by them to this magnificent section 
of the country between the t wo great rivers. 

The general shape of the State is that of 
a rectangle, the northern and southern 
boundaries being due east and west lines, 
and its eastern and western boundaries de- 
termined by southerly flowing rivers — the 
Mississippi on the cast and the Missouri 
and the Big Sioux on the west. The width 
ol t he State from north to south is over 200 

miles, being from the parallel of 43 30' to 



that of 40° 36', or merely three degrees; 
but this does not include the small angle at 
the southeast corner. The length ot the 
State from east to west is about 265 miles. 
The area is 55,044 square miles, nearly all 
of which is readily tillable and highly fer- 
tile. 

The State lies wholly within, and com- 
prises a part of a vast plain, and there is no 
mountainous or even hilly country within 
its borders, excepting the bluffs of the large' 
rivers. The highest point is near Spirit 
Lake, and is but 1 ,200 feet above the lowest, 
which is in the southeast corner, and is 444 
feet above the level of the Gulf of Mexico. 
The average descent per mile between these 
two points is four feet, and that from Spirit 
Lake to the northeast corner of the State, 
at low-water mark of the Mississippi, is five 
feet five inches. 

It has been estimated that about seven- 
eighths of Iowa was prairie when the white 
race first settled here. It seems to be a set- 
tled point in science that the annual fires of 
the Indians, prevented this western country 
from becoming heavily timbered. 

GEOLOGY. 

Geologists divide the soil of Iowa into 
three general divisions, which not only 
possess different physical characters, hut 
also differ in the mode of their origin. 
These are drift, bluff and alluvial and be- 
long respectively to the deposits bearing 
the same names. The drift occupies a 
much larger part of the surface of the State 
than both the others. The bluff has the 
next greatest area ol surface. 

All soil is disintegrated rock. The drift 
deposit of Iowa was derived to a consider- 
able extent from the rocks of Minnesota; 
but the greater part was derived from its 
own rocks, much of which has been trans- 
ported but a short distance. In Northern 
and Northwestern Iowa the drift contains 
more sand and gravel than elsewhere. In 



H AS TORT OF low A. 



159 



Southern Iowa the soil is frequently stiff 
and clayey. The bluff soil is found only in 
the western part of the State, and adjacent 
to Missouri River. Although it contains 
less than 1 per cent, of clay in its com- 
position, it is in no respect inferior to the 
best drift soil. The alluvial soil is that of 
the flood plains of the river valleys, or bot- 
tom lands. That which is periodically 
flooded by the rivers is of little value for 
agricultural purposes; but a large part of 
it is entirely above the reach of the highest 
flood, and is very productive. 

The stratified rocks of Iowa range from 
the Azoic to the Mesozoic, inclusive ; but 
the greater portion of the surface of the 
State is occupied by those of the Palaeozoic 
age. The table below will show each of 
these formations in their order: 




~ <S* OOO^ <*>--n O ^1 \£> VO 

OOOOCOO'JiCMO 



O O O Ls> '*n O 
OOOOOO 



The Sioux quartzite, in the azoic system, 
is found exposed in natural ledges only 
upon a few acres in the extreme northwest 
corner of the State, upon the banks of the 
Big Sioux River, for which reason the 
specific name of Sioux quartzite has been 
given them. It is an intensely hard rock, 
breaks in splintery fracture, and of a color 
varying, in different localities, from a light 
to deep red. The process of metamorphism 
has been so complete throughout the whole 
formation that the rock is almost every- 
where of uniform texture. The dip is four 
or five degrees to the northward, and the 
trend of the outcrop is eastward and west- 
ward. 

The Potsdam sandstone formation is ex- 
posed only in a small portion of the north- 
eastern part of the State. It is only to be 
seen in the bases of the bluffs and steep 
valley sides which border the river there. 
It is nearly valueless for economic purposes. 
No fossils have been discovered in this for- 
mation in Iowa. 

The Lower Magnesian limestone has but 
little greater geographical extent in Iowa 
than the Potsdam sandstone. It lacks a 
uniformity of texture and stratification, ow- 
ing to which it is not generally valuable for 
building purposes. 

The St. Peter's sandstone formation is 
remarkably uniform in thickness through- 
out its known geographical extent, and it 
occupies a large portion of the northern 
half of Allamakee County; immediately be- 
neath the drift. 

With the exception of the Trenton lime- 
stone, all the limestones of both Upper and 
Lower Silurian age in Iowa are magnesian 
limestone. This formation occupies large 
portions of Winneshiek and Allamakee 
counties, and a small part of Clayton. The 
greater part of it is useless for economic 
purposes ; but there are some compact, 
even layers that furnish fine material for 
window caps and sills. 



l6o 



History of low a. 



The Galena limestone is the upper for- 
mation of the Trenton Group. It is 150 
miles long and seldom exceeds twelve miles 
in width. It exhibits its greatest develop- 
ment in Dubuque County. It is nearly a 
pure dolomite with a slight admixture of 
silicious matter; good blocks for dressing 
are sometimes found near the top of the 
bed, although it is usually unfit for such a 
purpose. This formation is the source of 
the lead ore of the Dubuque lead mines. 
The lead region proper is confined to an 
area of about fifteen miles square in the 
vicinity of Dubuque. The ore occurs in 
vertical fissures, which traverse the rock at 
regular intervals from east to west; some 
is found in those which have a north and 
south direction. This ore is mostly that 
known as galena, or sulphuret of lead, very 
small quantities only of the carbonate being 
found with it. 

The surface occupied by the Maquoketa 
shales is more than 100 miles in length, but 
is singularly long and narrow, seldom reach- 
ing more than a mile or two in width. The 
most northern exposure yet recognized is 
in the western part of Winneshiek County, 
while the most southerly is in Jackson 
Count}', in the bluffs of the Mississippi. 
The formation is largely composed of bluish 
and brownish shales, sometimes slightly 
arenaceous, sometimes calcareous, which 
weather into a tenacious clay upon the sur- 
face, and the soil derived from it is usually 
stiff and clayey. 

The area occupied by the Niagara lime- 
stone is forty and fifty miles in width and 
nearly 160 miles long from north to south. 
This formation is entirely a magnesian lime- 
stone, with a considerable portion ol sili 
cious matter, in some places, in the form of 
chert or coarse flint. A large part of it 
probably affords the best and greatest 
amount ol quarry rock in the State. The 
quarries at Anamosa, Le Claire and Farley 
are all opened in this formation 



The area of surface occupied by the 
Hamilton limestone and shales, is as great 
as those by all the formations of both Upper 
and Lower Silurian age in the State. Its 
length is nearly 200 miles, and width from 
forty to fifty. Portions of it are valuable 
for economic purposes ; and, having a large 
geographical extent in the State, is a very 
important formation. Its value for the pro- 
duction of hydraulic lime has been demon- 
strated at Waverly, Bremer County. The 
heavier and more uniform magnesian beds 
furnish material for bridge piers and other 
material requiring strength and durability. 
A coral occurs near Iowa City, known as 
" Iowa City marble" and " bird's-eye mar- 
ble." 

Of the three groups of formations that 
constitute the carboniferous, viz., the sub- 
carboniferous, coal measures and Permian, 
only the first two are found in Iowa. 

The Subcarboniferous group occupies a 
very large area of surface. Its eastern 
border passes from the northeastern part of 
Winnebago County, with considerable di- 
rectness in a southeasterly direction to the 
northern part of Washington County. It 
then makes a broad and direct bend nearly 
eastward, striking the Mississippi at Mus- 
catine. The southern and western bound- 
aries are to a considerable extent the saun- 
as that which separates it from the real 
field. From the southern part of Poca 
hontas County it passes southeast to Fori 
Dodge, thence to Webster City, thence to 
a point three or four miles northeast ol El- 
dora, in Hardin County, thence southward 
to tin' middle of the north line of Jasper 
County, thence southeastward to Sigour- 
ney, in Keokuk County, thence to the north- 
eastern corner of Jefferson County, thence 
s» eeping a few miles eastward to the south- 
east corner of Van Buren County. Its arc 
is about 250 miles long and from twenty to 
fifty miles wide. 

The most southerly exposure of the Kin- 



msrottr of tow A. 



if>i 



derhook beds is in Des Moines County, 
near the mouth of Skunk River. The most 
northerly now known is in the eastern part 
of Pocahontas County, more than 200 miles 
distant. The principal exposures of this 
formation are along the bluffs which border 
the Mississippi and Skunk rivers, where 
they form the eastern and northern bound- 
ary of Des Moines County; along English 
River, in Washington Count}' ; along the 
Iowa River, in Tama, Marshall, Hamlin 
and Franklin counties, and along the Des 
Moines River, in Humboldt County. This 
formation has a considerable economic 
value, particularly in the northern portion 
of the region it occupies. In Pocahontas 
and Humboldt counties it is invaluable, as 
no other stone except a few boulders are 
found here. At Iowa Falls the lower 
division is very good for building purposes. 
In Marshall County all the limestone to be 
obtained comes from this formation, and 
the quarries near Le Grand are very valu- 
able. At this point some of the layers are 
finely veined with peroxide of iron, and are 
wrought into both useful and ornamental 
objects. In Tama County the oolitic mem- 
ber is well exposed, where it is manufact- 
ured into lime. Upon exposure to atmos- 
phere and frost it crumbles to pieces; 
consequently it is not valuable for building 
purposes. 

The Burlington limestone is carried down 
by the southerly dip of the Iowa rocks, so 
that it is seen for the last time in this State 
in the valley of Skunk River, near the 
southern boundary of Des Moines County; 
it has been recognized in the northern part 
of Washington County, which is the most 
northerly point that it has been found ; but 
it probably exists as far north as Marshall 
County. Much valuable material is afforded 
by this formation for economic purposes. 
The upper division furnishes excellent com- 
mon quarry rock. Geologists are attracted 
by the great abundance and variety of its 



fossils — crinoids — now known to be more 
than 300. 

The Keokuk limestone formation is to be 
seen only in four counties : Lee, Van Buren, 
Henry and Des Moines. In some localities 
the upper silicious portion is known as the 
Geode bed ; it is not recognizable in the 
northern portion of the formation, nor in 
connection with it where it is exposed, 
about eighty miles below Keokuk. The 
geodes of the Geode bed are more or less 
masses of silex, usually hollow and lined 
with crystals of quartz; the outer crust is 
rough and unsightly, but the crystals which 
stud the interior are often very beautiful ; 
they vary in size from the size of a walnut 
to a foot in diameter. This formation is of 
great economic value. Large quantities 
of its stone have been used in the finest 
structures in the State, among which are 
the postoffices at Dubuque and Des Moines. 
The principal quarries are along the banks 
of the Mississippi, from Keokuk to Nauvoo. 

The St. Louis limestone is the uppermost 
of the subcarboniferous group in Iowa. It 
occupies a small superficial area, consisting 
of long, narrow strips, yet its extent is very 
great. It is first seen resting on the Geode 
division of the Keokuk limestone, near Keo- 
kuk ; proceeding northward, it forms a 
narrow border along the edge of the coal 
fields in Lee, Des Moines, Henry, Jeffer- 
son, Washington, Keokuk and Mahaska 
counties ; it is then lost sight of until it 
appears again in the banks of Boone River, 
where it again passes out of view under the 
Coal Measures, until it is next seen in the 
banks of the Des Moines, near Fort Dodge. 
As it exists in Iowa, it consists of three 
tolerably distinct sub-divisions : The mag- 
nesian, arenaceous and calcareous. The 
upper division furnishes excellent material 
for quicklime, and when quarries are well 
opened, as in the northwestern part of Van 
Buren County, large blocks are obtained. 
The sandstone, or middle division, is of 



1 62 



/t /STORY OF /OHM. 



little value. The lower, or magnesian di- 
vision, furnishes a valuable and durable 
stone, exposures of which arc found on Lick 
Creek, in Van Buren County, and on Long 
Creek, seven miles west of Burlington. 

The Coal Measure group is properly 
divided into three formations, viz.: The 
Lower, Middle and Upper Coal Measures, 
each having a vertical thickness of about 
200 feet. The Lower Coal Measures exist 
eastward and northward of the Des Moines 
River, and also occupy a large area west- 
ward and southward of that river, but their 
southerly dip passes them below the Middle 
Coal Measures at no great distance from 
the river. This formation possesses greater 
economic value than any other in the whole 
State. The clay that underlies almost every 
bed of coal furnishes a large amount of ma- 
terial for potter's use. The sandstone of 
these measures is usually soft and unfit, but 
in some places, as in Red Rock in Marion 
County, blocks of large dimensions are ob- 
tained, which make good building material, 
samples of which can be seen in the State 
Arsenal, at Des Moines. 

The Upper Coal Measures occupy a 
very large area, comprising thirteen whole 
counties, in the southwestern part of the 
State. By its northern and eastern bound- 
aries it adjoins the area occupied by the 
Middle Coal Measures. 

The next strata in the geological series 
are of the Cretaceous age. They are found 
in the western half of the State, and do not 
dip, as do all the other formations upon 
which they rest, to the southward and west- 
ward, but have a general dip of their own 
to the north of westward, which, however, 
is very slight. Although the actual ex- 
posures of cretaceous rocks are few in Iowa, 
there is reason to believe thct nearly all the 
western half of the Slate was originally 
occupied by them ; but they have been 
removed by denudation, which has taken 
place at two separate periods. 



The Nishnabotany sandstone has the most 
easterly and southerly extent of the cre- 
taceous deposits of Iowa, reaching the 
southeastern part of Guthrie County and 
the southern part of Montgomery County. 
To the northward, it passes beneath the 
Woodbury sandstones and shales, the latter 
passing beneath the chalky beds. This 
sandstone is, with few exceptions, valueless 
for economic purposes. 

The chalky beds rest upon the Wood- 
bury sandstone and shales. Thev have not 
been observed in Iowa except in the bluffs 
which border the Big Sioux River in Wood- 
bury and Plymouth counties. The}' are 
composed almost entirely of calcareous ma- 
terial, the upper portion of which is exten- 
sively used for lime. No building material 
can be obtained from these beds, and the 
only value they possess, except lime, are 
the marls, which at some time may be use- 
ful on the soil of the adjacent region. 

Extensive beds of peat exist in Northern 
Middle Iowa, which, it is estimated, contain 
the following areas: Cerro Gordo Count y, 
1,500 acres; Worth, 2,000; Winnebago, 2,- 
000; Hancock, 1,500; Wright, 500; Kos- 
suth, 700; Dickinson, So. Several other 
counties contain peat beds, but the peat is 
inferior to that in the northern part of the 
State. The beds are of an average depth 
of four feet. It is estimated that each acre 
of these beds will furnish 250 tons of drv 
fuel for each foot in depth. At present 
this peat is not utilized ; but owing to its 
great distance from the coal fields and the 
absence of timber, the time is coming when 
its value will be fully realized. 

The only sulphate of the alkaline earths 
of any economic value is gypsum, and it 
may be found in the vicinity of Fort Dodge 
in Webster County. The deposit occupies 
a nearly central position in the county, the 
Des Moines River running nearly centrally 
through it, along the valley sides of which 
the gypsum is seen in the form of ordinary 









HISTORY OF IOWA. 



»63 



rock cliff and ledges, and also occurring 
abundantly in similar positions along both 
sides of the valleys of the smaller streams 
and of the numerous ravines coming into 
the river valley. The most northerly known 
limit of the deposit is at a point near the 
mouth of Lizard Creek, a tributary of the 
Des Moines River and almost adjoining the 
town of Fort Dodge. The most southerly 
point at which it has been exposed is about 
six miles, by way of the river, from the 
northerly point mentioned. The width of 
the area is unknown, as the gypsum be- 
comes lost beneath the overlying drift, as 
one goes up the ravines and minor valleys. 

On either side of the creeks and ravines 
which come into the valley of the Des 
Moines River, the gypsum is seen jutting 
out from beneath the drift in the form of 
ledges and bold quarry fronts, having al- 
most the exact appearance of ordinary lime- 
stone exposures, so horizontal and regular 
its lines of stratification, and so similar in 
color is it to some varieties of that rock. 
The principal quarries now opened are on 
Two Mile Creek, a couple of miles below 
Fort Dodge. 

Epsomite, or native Epsom salts, having 
been discovered near Burlington, all the 
sulphates of alkaline earths of natural origin 
have been recognized in Iowa, all except 
the sulphate of lime being in very small 
quantity. 

Sulphate of lime in the various forms of 
fibrous gypsum, selenite and small, amor- 
phous masses, has also been discovered in 
various formations in different parts of the 
State, including the Coal Measure shales 
near Fort Dodge, where it exists in small 
quantities, quite independently of the great 
gypsum of deposit there. The quantity of 
gypsum in these minor deposits is always 
too small to be of any practical value, 
usually occurring in shales and shaly clays, 
associated with strata that contain more or 
less sulphuret of iron. Gypsum has thus 



been detected in the Coal Measures, the St. 
Louis limestone, the Cretaceous strata, and 
also in the dead caves of Dubuque. 

Sulphate of strontia is found at Fort 
Dodge. 

CLIMATE. 

The greatest objection to the climate of 
this State is the prevalence of wind, which 
is somewhat greater than in the States south 
and east, but not so great as farther west. 
The air is purer than either east or south, 
as indicated by the bluer sky and conse- 
quent deeper green vegetation, and is 
therefore more bracing. By way of con- 
trast, Northern Illinois has a whiter sky 
and a consequent more yellowish green 
vegetation. 

The prevailing direction of the wind is 
from the west. 

Thunder-storms are somewhat more vio- 
lent here than east or south, but not so 
furious as toward the Rocky Mountains. 
The greatest rainfall is in the southeastern 
part of the State, and the least in the north- 
western portion. The increase of timber 
growth is increasing the amount of rain, as 
well as distributing it more evenly through- 
out the year. As elsewhere in the North- 
western States, easterly winds bring rain 
and snow, while westerly ones clear the skv- 
While the highest temperature occurs here 
in August, the month of July averages the 
hottest, and January the coldest. The mean 
temperature of April and October nearly 
corresponds to the mean temperature of 
the year, as well as to the seasons of spring 
and fall, while that of summer and winter 
is best represented by August and Decem- 
ber. Indian summer is delightful and well 
prolonged. Untimely frosts sometimes oc- 
cur, but seldom severely enough to do 
great injury. The wheat crop being a 
staple product of this State, and not injured 
at all by frost, this great resource of the 
State continues intact. 



If>4 



tilSTORT OF rowA 



CENSUS OF IOWA. 



(.'DIN 1 IIS. 



Adair 

Adams 

Allamakee 

Appanoose . . . 

Audubon 

Benton 

Black Hawk.. 

Boone 

Bremer 

Buchanan 

Buena Vista.. . 

Butler 

Calhoun 

Carroll 

Cass 

Cedar 

Cerro Gordo. . 

Cherokee 

Chickasaw 

Clarke 

Clay 

Clayton 

Clinton 

Crawford 

Dallas 

Davis 

Decatur 

Delaware 

Des Moines.. . 

Dickinson 

Dubuque 

Emmett 

Favette , 

Floyd 

Franklin 

Fremont 

Greene 

Grundy , 

Guthiie 

Hamilton 

Hancock 

Hardin 

Harrison 

Henry 

Howard 

Humboldt 

Ida 

Iowa 

Jackson 

Jasper 

JcH'erson 

Johnson 

Jones 

Keokuk 

Kossuth 

Lee 

Linn 

Louisa 

Lucas 

Lyon 

Madison 

Mahaska 

Marion 

Marshall 

Mills... . 



1S50 



i860. 



777 
3,i3' 



6 7 2 

'35 
735 



517 



3.91' 



709 



3,«73 

2,82 2 



854 
7,264 

965 

',759 
12,98s 



10,841 



82s 



1,244 



8,707 



82 

7.210 
1,280 
9,9°4 
4.473 
3,007 
4,822 



i8,S6i 

5,444 

4,939 

47' 

','79 
5989 

5.482 
338 



1S70. 



984 
1,533 

12,237 

",93' 

, 454 
8,406 

8,244 
4,232 
4,9 '5 
7,906 

57 

3,724 

'47 

281 

1,612 

'2,949 
940 

58 
4-33 6 

5.42 7 

52 

20,728 

i8,93S 

383 

5,244 

'3,764 

8,h77 

11,024 

19,611 

1 jo 

31,164 

105 

12,073 

3,744 

i,3°9 

5,o74 

J, 374 

793 

3,058 

1,699 

179 

5,440 

3,621 

18,701 

3,168 

332 

43 
8,029 

'8.493 
9,88.3 
15,038 
'7-573 
13,306 

■3,27 
416 

29,232 

18,947 

'0,370 
5,766 

7,339 

14.816 

16813 

6,o'i5 

h48> 



3.9S2 

4,614 

I7.S68 

16,456 

1,212 

22,454 
21,706 

M.584 
12,52^ 

17.034 

1 ,585 

9,95 ' 
1,602 

2,45' 
5.464 
'9.73 ' 
4,72 2 
1,96 
10,180 
8,735 
1.5- 
27.77 
35.35 
2.530 
12,011 
1.5.56 
12,01! 

'7,43 
27,2 <;6 

',389 
38,969 

1,392 
16,973 
10,768 

4,7 > 
11,174 

4,627 
6,399 
7,o6i 

6,055 

999 

13,684 

8,931 
21,463 

6,282 

2,596 

22b 

16,664 

22,619 

22,116 

■7.S39 
24,898 

'9,731 
■9 434 

3,35i 
37,2io 
28,Sq 

2,87. 
10,388 

221 

13,884 
22,508 
24.436 
'7,576 

S,7'8 



1SS0. 



11,199 

11,188 

'9.791 
16,636 

744^ 
24.SS8 

23 9'3 
20,83s 
14,081 
'8,547 

7,537 
14,293 

5 595 
'2.35' 
16.943 
' s 937 
1 1,4b! 

8,240 

14.534 
1 1,512 
4.248 
28,829 
36,764 
12,41.3 
18,746 
16,468 
'5.336 
'7.952 

33.099 
1,901 

42,997 
i,55o 

22,2 sS 

14,677 

10.248 

17,653 
12,725 

12,639 

14,863 

11,252 

3,453 
17,808 

16,649 
20,826 
10,837 

6,34i 

4,382 
19,221 

23,771 
25.962 
17.478 
-'5.42 V 
21,052 
2 1, 2 =,9 
6,179 
34,S59 
37,235 
■3.146 

■4,.' 3" 
1,968 

17,225 
25,201 
25,1 1 1 
23,752 

'I.Ms 



I OIXTIF.S. 



Mitchell 

Monona 

Monroe 

Montgomery. . . 
Muscatine... . 

O'Brien 

Osceola 

Page 

Palo Alto 

Plymouth 

Pocahontas. . . . 

Polk .. 

Pottawattamie. . 

Poweshiek 

Ringgold 

Sac 

Scott 

Shelby 

Sioux 

Storv 

Tama 

Taylor 

Union 

Van Buren. . . 

Wapello 

Warren 

Washington. . . 

Wayne 

Webster 

Winnebago. . . . 

Winneshiek 

Woodburv 

Worth...". 

Wright 



Total. 



1S50. 



2S84 
5,73' 



55 



4,5'3 

7 ,S28 

6'5 



5,986 



8 
204 

12,270 

8,471 
961 

4.957 
340 



546 



192,214 



i860. 



3.409 

o 8 3- 
8,612 

1,256 

16,444 
8 



1870. 



9,582 

3.654 
12.724 

5.934 
21,688 

7'5 



4.419 

148 

i°3 

11,625 
4.968 
5,668 

2.923 
246 

2.5.959 
S18 
10 
4P5 

5.2S5 

3.590 

2,012 
1 7,08 1 
14.518 
10,281 

14,235 

6,409 

2,504 

16S 

13,942 

1,119 

756 

653 



674.91.3 



9,975 
'.336 
2,199 
1,446 

27-S57 
16,893 

«5.S81 

5,691 

1,411 

3S.509 

2,549 

57o 

11,651 

16,131 

6,989 

5.9S6 

17,672 

22,346 

i7, 9 So 

18.952 

n,2S7 

10,484 

1,562 

23,57° 
6,172 
2,892 
2,392 



1880. 



M,36i 
9,055 
i3,7'9 
■5,S95 
23,i6S 

4,155 

2,219 

19,667 

4,131 
8,s67 

3,7 '3 
42,395 
39.S46 
18,936 
12,085 

8,77-t 
41,270 
12,696 

5,426 
16,966 
21,585 
15,635 
14.980 
17,042 

25.2S2 

19.578 

20,375 
l6,I27 

15.950 

4,9 '7 

23.937 

14,997 

7.953 

5.062 



,191,792 1,624,463 



TERRITORIAL OFFICERS. 

Governors. — Robert Lucas, 1838-41; John 
Chamber, i84i-'4S ; James Clark, [845. 

Secretaries. — Wm. B. Conway, 1S3S, died 
1839; James Clark, i83o-'4i ; O. H. W. 
Stull, 1841-43; Samuel J. Burr, 1S43-45 ; 
Jesse Williams, 1845. 

Auditors. — Jesse Williams, 1840- '43; Will- 
iam L.Gilbert, 1843-45; Robert M. Secrest, 

1845. 

Treasurers. — Thornton Baylie, 1S39-40; 
Morgan Reno, 1840. 

Judges- — Charles Mason, Chief Justice. 
1838; Joseph Williams, 1838; Thomas S. 
Wilson, 1838. 

Presidents of Council. — Jesse B. Brown, 
1838-49; Stephen Hempstead, 1839 '40; M. 
Bainridge, 1840-41; J. W. Parker, 1841 '42: 
John I). Libert. 1842-43; Thomas Cox, 



HISTOItr OF IOWA. 



165 



1843-44; S. Clinton Hasting, 1845; Stephen 
Hempstead, i845~'46. 

Speakers of the House. — William H. Wal- 
lace, i838-'39; Edward Johnson, 1839-40; 
Thomas Cox, 1 840-71 ; Warner Lewis, 
i84i-'42; James M. Morgan, 1842-43; James 
P. Carleton, 1843-44; James M. Morgan, 
1845 : George W. McLeary, 1845-46. 

STATE OFFICERS. 

Governors. — Ansel Briggs, i846-'5o; 
Stephen Hempstead, 1850-54: James W. 
Grimes, 1854-58; Ralph P. Lowe, 1858- 
'60; Samuel J. Kirkwood, i86o-'64 ; Will- 
iam M. Stone, i864-'68; Samuel Morrill, 
i868-'/2; Cyrus C. Carpenter, i872-'76; 
Samuel J. Kirkwood, i876-'77;J. G. New- 
bold, 1877-78; John H. Gear, 1878-82; 
Buren R. Sherman, i882-'86; William Lar- 
rabee, 1886. 

Lieutenant-Governors. — Oran Faville,iS58- 
'60; Nicholas J. Rusch, iS6o-'62; John R. 
Needham, iS62-'64; Enoch W. Eastman, 
i864-'66; Benjamin F. Gue, i866-'68 ; John 
Scott, 1868-70; M. M. Walden, 1870-72; 
H. C. Bulis, 1872-74; Joseph Dysart, 
1874-76; Joshua G. Newbold, 1876-78 ; 
Frank T. Campbell, 1878-82; Orlando H. 
Manning, 1882-85 5 John A. T. Hull, 1886. 

This office was created by the new con- 
stitution Sept. 3, 1857. 

Secretaries of State. — Elisha Cutter, Jr., 
i846-'48; Joseph H. Bonney, i848-'5o; 
George W. McCleary, i85o-'56; Elijah 
Sells, 1856— '63 ; James Wright, 1863-67; 
Ed. Wright, 1867-73 ; Josiah T. Young, 
1873-79 : J- A. T. Hull, 1879-85 ; Franklin 
D. Jackson, 1885. 

Auditors of State. — Joseph T. Fales, 
i846-'50; William Pattee, i850-'54; Andrew 
J. Stevens, 1 854— '5 5 ; John Pattee, 1855— '59 ; 
Jonathan W. Cattell, i8sg-'65 ; John A. 
Elliott, 1865-71; John Russell, 1871-75 ; 
Buren R. Sherman, 1875-81; Wm. V. 
Lucas, 1881 ; John L. Brown, i882-'83 ; J. 
W. Cattell, acting, 1885-86. 



Treasurers of State. — Morgan Reno, 
i846-'5o; Israel Kister, i85o-'52 ; Martin L. 
Morris, 1852— '59 ; John W. Jones, 1859— '63 » 
William H. Holmes, i863-'67; Samuel E. 
Rankin, 1867-73 ; William Christy, 1873- 
77; George W. Bemis, 1 S77— '8 1 ; Edwin 
H. Conger, 1881— '85 ; Voltaire Twombly, 
1885. 

Attorney-Generals. — David C. Cloud, 
1853— '56 ; Samuel A. Rice, i856-'6o; Charles 
C. Nourse, i86o-'64; Isaac L. Allen, 1S65- 
'66; Frederick E. Bissell, i866-'67; Henry 
O'Connor, 1867-72; Marcena E. Cutts, 
1872-76; John F. Mcjunkin, 1877-81 ; 
Smith McPherson, 1881-85 ; A. J. Baker, 
1885. 

Adjutant-Generals. — Daniel S. Lee, 185 1 — 
'55; George W. McCleary, 1855-57; Eli- 
jah Sells, 1857; Jesse Bowen, 1857— '61 .Na- 
thaniel Baker, 1861-77; John H. Looby, 
1877-78; W. L, Alexander, 1878-84. 

Registers of the State Land-Office. — Anson 
Hart, 1S55— '57 ; Theodore S. Parvin, 1857- 
'59; Amos B. Miller, i859-'62 ; Edwin 
Mitchell, i862-'63; Josiah A. Harvey, 
i863-'67; Cyrus C. Carpenter, 1867-71; 
Aaron Brown, 1871-75 ; David Secor, 
1 875-79 ! J- K. Powers, i879-'82.* 

Superintendents of Public Instruction. — 
James Harlan, 1847- '48; Thos. H. Benton, 
Jr., i848-'54; James D. Eads, 1854— '57 , 
Joseph C. Stone, 1857; Maturin L. Fisher, 
1857-58; Oran Faville, 1S64-67; D.Frank- 
lin Wells, 1867-68 ; A. S. Kissell, 1868-72; 
Alonzo Abernethy, 1872-76; Carl W. 
Van Coelen, i876-'82; John W. Akers, 
1882-84. 

This office was created in 1S47 and abol- 
ished in 1858, and the duties then devolved 
upon the secretary of the Board of Educa- 
tion ; it was re-created March 23, 1864. 

State Printers. — Garrett D. Palmer and 
George Paul, iS49-'5i ; William H. Merritt, 
1851— '53 ; William A. Hornish, 1853 ; Den- 

*Office abolished January 1, looj, and i'.uti« devolved 
on the Secretary of State 



166 



I II. STORY OF IOWA. 



nis A. Mahoncy and Joseph B. Dorr, 1853 
'55 ; Peter Moriarty, 1S55— '57 ; John Tees- 
dale, iS57-'6i ; Francis W. Palmer, 1S61- 
C.j; Frank M. Mills, i86q-*7i ; G. W. Ed- 
wards, 1 87 1 -'73 I Rich. P. Clarkson, 1873— 
•79; Frank 11. Mills, i87o-'8i ; Geo. E. 
Roberts, 1881. 

State Binders. — William M. Coles, 1855— 
'58; Frank M. Mills, i858-'67 ; James S. 
Carter, 1867-71 ; J.J. Smart, 1871-75; H. 
A. Perkins, 1875-79; Matt. Parrott, 1879- 
'85; L. S. Merchant, 1885. 

Secretaries of Board of Education. — T. 
II. Benton, Jr., i85o-'63; Oran Faville, 
1863-64. 

This office was abolished March 23, 1864. 

Presidents of the Senate. — Thomas Baker, 
i846-'47; Thomas Hughes, 1847-48; John J. 
Selman, 1848-49; Enos Lowe, i849-'5i ; 
Win. E. Leffingwell, 185 1-*53 ; Maturn L. 
Fisher, i853-'5 5 ; Wm. W. Hamilton, 855- 

'57- 

Under the new Constitution the Lieuten- 
ant-Governor is President of the Senate. 

Speakers of the House. — Jesse B. Brown, 
1846-48; Smiley H. Bonham, i848-'5o; 
George Temple, i85o-'52; James Grant, 
i852-'54; Reuben Noble, 1854— '56 ; Samuel 
McFarland, iS56-'57; Stephen B. Sheledy, 
1 857— "59 ; John Edwards, i8S9-'6i ; Rush 
Clark, 1861-63; Jacob Butler, 1863-65; Ed. 
Wright, 1865-67; John Russell, i867-'69; 
Aylett R. Cotton, 1869— '71 ; James Wilson, 
1871-73; John H. Geer, 1873-77; John Y. 
Stone, i877-'79; Lore Alford, i88o-'8i ; G. 
R. Struble, 1882-83; Wm. P. Wolf, 1884; 
Albert Head, 1886. 

Chief Justices of the Supreme Court. — 
Charles Mason, 1847; Joseph Williams, 
1 847-48; S. Clinton Hastings, i848-'49; 
Joseph Williams, i849-'55 ; George G. 
Wright, 1855-60; Ralph P. Lowe, i86o-'62; 
Caleb Baldwin, iS62-'64; George G. 
Wright, 1864-66; Ralph P. Lowe, 1S66- 

r*, )ohr? F. r»ii-->n 1868 '70; Chester C. 



Cole, 1870-71 ; James G. Day, 1871-'/.!; 
Joseph M. Beck, 1872-74; W. E Miilcr, 
i874-'76; Chester C. Cole, 1876; Wm. H. 
Seevers, i876-'77; James G. Day, 1877— '78; 
James H. Rothrock, i878-'83 and '84; 
Joseph M. Beck, i87o-'8o and '85 ; Austin 
Adams, i88o-'8i and 'S6; Wm. H. Seevers, 
1882. 

Associate Justices. — Joseph Williams, held 
over from territorial government until a 
successor was appointed ; Thomas S. Wil- 
son, 1847; John F. Kinney, iS47-'54; George 
Greene, i847-'55 ; Jonathan C. Hall, 1854- 
'55; William G. Woodward, 1855 ; Norman 
W. [shell, 1 S55— '56 ; Lacon D.Stockton, 
i856-'6o; Caleb Baldwin, i86b-'64; Ralph 
P. Lowe, 1S60; George G Wright, i860; 
John F. Dillon, i864-'70; Chester C. Cole, 
1864-77; Joseph M. Beck, 1868; W. E. 
Miller, 1870; James G. Day, 1870. 

United States Senators. — Augustus C. 
Dodge, 1 848-' 5 5 ; George W. Jones, 1848- 
'59; James Harlan, 1S55— '65 ; James W. 
Grimes, i859-'69; Samuel J. Kirkwood, 
1866; James Harlan, 1 867-73 ; James B. 
Howell, 1870; George G. Wright, 1871- 
'7j; William B. Allison, 1873-79; Samuel 
J. Kirkwood, i877-'8i ; Wm. B. Allison, 
1879-85 ; James W. McDill, 1881 ; James 
F. Wilson, 1883. 

Present State Officers (1886). — Governor, 
William Larrabee ; Secretary of State, 
Frank D. Jackson ; Auditor of State, J. W. 
Cattell, acting ; Treasurer, Voltaire Twom- 
bly ; Superintendent Public Instruction. 
John W. Akers ; Printer, George E. Rob- 
erts; Binder, L. S. Merchant; Adjutant- 
General, W. L. Alexander- Librarian, Mrs. 
S. B. Maxwell. 

Supreme Court. — William H. Seevers, 
Chief Justice, Oskaloosa; James G. Day, 
Sidney, James H. Rothrock, Tipton, Josepr 
M. Beck, Fort Madison, Austin Adams, 
Dubuque, Judges; A. J. Baker, . v tturnc>- 
General. 




(joverpors of |ou/a. 




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ROBERT LUCAS. 




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OBERT LUCAS, the first 
Governor of Iowa Ter- 
ritory, was the fourth 
son and ninth child of 
William and Susan- 
nah Lucas, and was 
born April i, 1781, 
in Jefferson Valley, 
at Shepherdstown, Jefferson 
County, Virginia, a few miles 
from Harper's Ferry, where his 
ancestors settled before the Rev- 
olution. His father, who was 
descended from William Penn, 
was born January 18, 1743, and 
his mother, of Scotch extrac- 
tion, was born October S, 1745. 
They were married about the 
year 1760, and reared a family of six sons 
and six daughters. His father, who had 
served as a Captain in the Continental army 
during the Revolutionary war, and had 
distinguished himself at the battle of Bloody 
Run, emigrated with his family to Scioto 
County, Ohio, early in the present century. 
At the time of this removal Robert was 
a young man. He had obtained his educa- 
tion chieflv in Virginia, from an old Scotch 
schoolmaster named McMullen, who taught 
him mathematics and surveying. The latter 
afforded him remunerative employment im- 
mediately upon his entrance into Ohio. 

He was married at Portsmouth, Ohio, 
April 3, 1810, to Elizabeth Brown, who died 
October 18, 1812, leaving an infant daugh- 



ter, who afterward became Mrs. Minerva 
E. B. Sumner. March 7, 18 16, he formed 
a second matrimonial connection ; this time 
with Friendly A. Sumner, who bore to him 
four sons and three daughters. 

The first public office held by Robert 
Lucas was that of County Surveyor of Sci- 
oto County, the commission from Governor 
Edward Tiffin, of Ohio, appointing him such 
being dated December 26, 1803. Decem- 
ber 16, 1805, he was commissioned by 
Governor Tiffin justice of the peace for 
three years. His first military appointment 
was that of Lieutenant of militia, by virtue 
of which he was authorized to raise twenty 
men to assist in filling Ohio's quota of 500 
volunteers called for by the President in 
view of possible difficulties with the Spanish. 
He was subsequently promoted through 
all the military grades to Major Gen- 
eral of Ohio militia, which latter rank was 
conferred upon him in 1818. 

He was a Brigadier-General on the 
breaking out of the war of 1S12, and had 
much to do with raising troops. He was 
appointed a Captain in the regular army, 
but before his commission reached him he 
was already in active service, scouting, 
spying, carrying a musket in the ranks and 
in other useful capacities. After Hull s 
surrender he was paroled and returned to 
Ohio. He was in the course of time made 
a Lieutenant-Colonel, and then a Colonel, 
from which position he resigned. 

He served in numerous civil offices in 



GOVERNORS OF IOWA. 



Ohio, and at the time of his second marriage, 
in 1S16, he was and had been for some time 
a member of the Ohio Legislature, serving 
luccessively for nineteen years in one or the 
other branch, and in the course of his leg- 
islative career presiding over first one 
and then the other branch. In 1820 and 
again in 1828, he was chosen one of the 
Presidential electors of Ohio. In May. 
1832, at Baltimore, Maryland, he presided 
over the first Democratic National Con- 
vention — that which nominated Andrew 
Jackson for his second term as President, 
and Martin Van Buren for Vice Presi- 
dent. In 1832 he was elected Governor 
of Ohio, and re-elected in 1834. He declined 
a third nomination for the same office. 

Under the act of Congress to divide tne 
Territory of Wisconsin and to establish the 
territorial government of Iowa, approved 
June 12, 1838, the subject of this sketch was 
appointed Governor of the new Territory, 
and he immediately accepted the responsi- 
bilitv. A journey from the interior of Ohio 
to the banks of the Upper Mississippi was 
then a matter of weeks ; so that, although 
Governor Lucas set out from his home on 
the 25th of July, delaying on his route 
a few days at Cincinnati, to arrange for the 
selection of the books for a territorial 
library, it was not till nearly the middle of 
August that he reached Burlington, then 
the temporary scat of government. 

The first official act of Lucas as Gov- 
ernor of Iowa wasio issue a proclamation 
dated Augusl 13, 1838, dividing the Terri- 
tory into eight representative districts, ap- 
portioning the members of the Council and 
1 louse of Representatives among the nine. 
teen counties then composing the Tcrri- 
tory, and appointing the second Monday 
hi September ensuing for the election of 
members of the Legislative Assembly and 
a delegate to Congress. His first message 
to the Legislature, after its organization, 
was dated November 12, 1838, and related 



chiefly to a code of laws for the new com- 
monwealth. He opposed imprisonment for 
debt, favored the death penalty for murder 
(executions to be in the presence of only 
the Sheriff and a suitable number of wit- 
nesses), and strenuously urged the organi- 
zation of a liberal system of common 
schools. The organization of the militia 
was also one of his pet measures. There 
was a broad difference between the views 
of a majority of this Legislative Assembly 
and the Governor, on many questions of 
public policy, as well as points of authority. 
This resulted in the sending to the Presi- 
dent of a memorial, dated January 12, 1839, 
signed by eight of the council and seven 
of the Representatives, praying the re 
moval of Governor Lucas. In addition to 
this, a memorial for the Governor's re- 
moval was passed by both Houses, signed 
in due form by their presiding officers, and 
transmitted to the President. The charges 
made were met by a protest signed by 
eight Representatives, and as a result Gov- 
ernor Lucas was allowed to remain in office 
until the next change of administration. 

In 1839 and '40 occurred the well-known 
boundary dispute with Missouri, which 
was finally settled in favor of Iowa, by the 
Supreme Court of the United States. No- 
vember 5, 1839, Governor Lucas announced 
that the Territory had advanced in improve- 
ment, wealth and population (which latter 
was estimated at 50,000) without a parallel 
in history, and recommended the neccssarv 
legislation preparatory to the formation of 
a State government. This was overruled 
by the people, however. Among the latest 
of Governor Lucas's acts was a proclama- 
tion dated April 30, 1841, calling the Leg- 
islature to assemble, for the first time, at 
Iowa City, the new capitol. 

March 25, 1841, lie was succeeded by 
John Chambers. He lived a private life 
near Iowa City until his death, February 
7, 1853, at the age of seventy-one years. 



JOHN CHAMBERS. 





OHN CHAMBERS was 
the second Governor of 
Iowa Territory. He was 
born October 6, 1780, at 
Bromley Bridge, Somer- 
set County, New Jersey. 
His father, Rowland Cham- 
bers, was born in Pennsyl- 
vania, of Irish parentage. 
According to a tradition in 
the family, their remote 
ancestors were Scotch, and 
belonged to the clan Cam- 
eron. Having refused to 
join in the rebellion of 1645, 
they migrated to Ireland, 
ivhere, by an act of Parliament, on their 
own petition, they took the name o: C ira- 
bers. Rowland Chambers espoused with 
enthusiasm the cause of American inde- 
pendence, and was commissioned a Colonel 
of New Jersey militia. At the close of the 
war, reduced in circumstances, he immi- 
grated to Kentucky and settled in Wash- 
ington, then the seat of Mason County. 
John, the youngest of seven children, was 
then fourteen years old. A few days after 
the family settled in their new home he 
found employment in a dry-goods store, 
and the following spring was sent to 
Transylvania Seminary, at Lexington. He 
returned home in less than a year. In 1797 

Ifi 



he became deputy under Francis Taylor, 
Clerk of the District Court. His duties 
being light, he applied himself to the study 
of law. In the spring of 1800 he assumed 
all the duties of the office in which he had 
been employed, and in November following 
he was licensed to practice law. 

In 1803 Mr. Chambers, who had now 
entered upon a career of uninterrupted 
professional prosperity, was married to Miss 
Margaret Taylor, of Hagerstown, Mary- 
land. She lived but about three years, and 
in 1807 he married Miss Hannah Taylor, a 
sister of his first wife. Not long after he 
engaged in the manufacture of bale rope 
and bagging for the Southern market. In 
this he incurred heavy losses. 

In the campaign of 1812 he served as 
aid-de-camp to General Harrison, with the 
rank of Major. In 1815 Mr. Chambers was 
sent to the Legislature, and in 1828 he went 
to Congress to fill the unexpired term of 
General Thomas Metcalfe. In 1830 and 
1 83 1 he was again in the State Legislature. 
In 1832 he lost his wife. She was a lady of 
cultivated mind and elegant manners, and 
had made his home a happy and attractive 
one. The same year he was offered a seat 
on the bench of the Supreme Court of 
Kentucky, but this he declined. The same 
office was tendered him in 1835, but before 
the time for taking his seat, he was obliged 



GOVERNORS OF IOWA. 



to resign, out of consideration for his health. 
From 1835 to 1839 ne was m Congress, 
making for himself a high reputation. 

Between 1815 and 1828 Mr. Chambers 
was, for several years, the commonwealth's 
attorney for the judicial district in which 
he lived. He was during that period at the 
zenith of his reputation as a lawyer and ad- 
vocate. He met the giants of the Ken- 
tucky bar in important civil and criminal 
trials. His well-known high sense of honor, 
and his contempt for professional chicanery, 
commanded the respect of his legal com- 
peers. His appearance and manner were 
dignified, his tone calm and impressive, 
and his language singularly direct and 
vigorous. 

He closed his congressional career in 
1839 with the purpose of resuming the 
practice of law, but his old friend General 
Harrison was nominated for the Presi- 
dency and induced him to aid in the 
personal canvass General Harrison made 
through the country. He was urged by 
President Harrison to accept some office 
requiring his residence in Washington, but 
this he declined, though he afterward ac- 
cepted the appointment of Governor of 
low a. He entered upon the duties of this 
office May 13, 1841. His success in his 
administration of the affairs of the Territory 
was well attested by the approbation of the 
people, and by the hearty commendation 
of those in authority at Washington, espe- 
cially for his management of Indian affairs. 
During his term of office he found it neces- 
sary on several occasions to suppress the 
lends of the vvi\ men, which he did with 
such firmness and decision that quiet was 
promptly restored where war seemed im- 
minent. Governor Chambers was repeat- 
edly called on to treat with the Indian tribes 



for the purchase of their lands. In October, 
1841, he was commissioned jointly with 
Hon. T. H. Crawford, Commissioner of In- 
dian Affairs, and Governor Dot)', of Wis- 
consin, to hold a treaty with the Sacs and 
Foxes, which, however, did not result in a 
purchase. In September, 1842, being ap- 
pointed sole Commissioner for the same 
purpose, he succeeded fully in carrying out 
the wishes of the Government. In 1843 ne 
held a treaty with the Winnebagoes, but in 
this instance no result was :tac:::d 

In 1844, his term of office having expired, 
he was re-appointed by President Tyler, 
but was removed in 1845 by President 
Polk. Shortly afterward, with grc^-y :r.. 
paired health, he returned to Kentucky 
where, with skillful medical treatment and 
entire relief from official cares, he partially 
recovered. During the few remaining years 
of his life Governor Chambers's recollec- 
tions of Iowa were of the most agreeable 
character. He spoke gratefully of the re- 
ception extended to him by her people, and 
often referred with great kindness to his 
neighbors in Des Moines County. 

His infirm health forbade his engaging in 
any regular employment after his return to 
Kentucky, but in 1S49, at tne solicitation of 
the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, he ne- 
gotiated jointly with Governor kamsey : of 
Minnesota, a successful treaty with the 
Sioux Indians for the purchase or lands. 
The latter years of Governor Chambers's 
life were spent mostly with his children. 
whose affection and respect were the chief 
conditions of his happiness. During a \ isil 
to his daughter in Paris, Kentucky, iie was 
taken sick at the house of his son-in-iaw, C. 
S. Brent, and after a few weeks Dicathed 
his last, September 21, 1S5Z. in nis sev-nt\. 
second year. 



James clarke. 



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5-TE third and last Ter- 
ritorial Governor 
was James Clarke. 
Sometime in the 
autumn of the year 
1837, when the trees 
were in the " sear 
and yellow leaf," a printer 
boy of slender form and 
gentle appearance might 
have been seen crossing 
the laurel hills of his own 
State. Behind him rolled 
the waters of the " Blue 
Juniata," on the banks of 
which he had spent, in 
merry glee, his youthful 
days. He had heard and read of strange 
countries that lay far off toward the setting 
sun, through which broad rivers run, and 
spreading landscapes unfolded to human 
eyes the most rare and magnificent beauty. 
With his youthful gaze fixed upon that star 
which never sets, he set forth into the wilds 
of Wisconsin, a stranger in a strange land, 
an adventurer seeking his own fortune, de- 
pending upon his own exertions, with no 
recommendation save an honest face and 
genteel deportment. This young man was 
James Clarke, who afterward became the 
able, talented and popular Governor of 
Iowa. 

He remained in Wisconsin, working at 
his trade as a printer, until after the organi- 



zation of the Territory of Iowa, when he 
removed to Burlington, where the first 
Legislature of Iowa assembled. After the 
death of Mr. Conway he was appointed by 
President Van Buren, Secretary of the Ter- 
ritory, which office he filled with great 
credit to himself and satisfaction to the 
people. During the time he held this office 
he contributed by his kind, gentle and 
amiable manner to soften the feelings of 
hatred and distrust which at one time ex- 
isted between leading men of the Territory. 
Whoever had business at his office found 
him a kind, gentle, quiet, amiable man, al- 
ways ready and willing to do whatever was 
desired of him, regretting, at the same time, 
that he could do no more. During the 
time he was Secretary he performed a vast 
amount of labor, but notwithstanding the 
large amount of business he transacted, he 
still found time to write for the press, and 
contributed many valuable articles touch- 
ing the future greatness of Iowa. 

After he retired from the office of Secre- 
tary he again returned to the printing trade, 
and became the leading editor of the Bur- 
lington Gazette. To the columns of this 
paper he devoted his whole energies, and 
by so doing made it the leading Democratic 
paper of the Territory. In the early sum- 
mer of 1845 President Polk removed Mr. 
Chambers, and appointed Mr. Clarke to suc- 
ceed him as Governor of Iowa. Previous 
to his appointment he had been elected by 



>7 6 



GOVERNORS OF IOWA. 



the people of his county a delegate to the 
first convention which assembled to form a 
Constitution for the State of Iowa. In this 
convention he distinguished himself both 
for his talent and personal demeanor, and 
contributed to the pages of that Constitu- 
tion some of the great elementary principles 
which lie at the foundation of human rights. 
And although that Constitution was de- 
feated, he still had the satisfaction of seeing 
their spirit and meaning transferred to 
another, and still continued as the funda- 
mental law of our State. 

The first Legislature after he received 
his appointment assembled at Iowa City, 
on the first Monday of December, 1845. 
His message to the Legislature after its or- 
ganization is a model of style and clearness. 
He set forth the importance of an early ex- 
tinguishment of the Indian title to all the 
lands within the limits ol Iowa, and urged 
the Legislature to memorialize Congress to 
purchase a tract of land on the Upper Mis- 
sissippi for a future home for the Winne- 
bagoes, and thus induce them to part with 
their title to a large tract of country known 
as the " neutral ground," a recommendation 
which the General Government soon after 
acted upon and carried out. 

January 16, 1846, the Legislature passed 
once more an act for the purpose of elect- 
ing: delegates to frame a Constitution for 
the State of Iowa. This time the friends of 
a State government took it for granted 
that the people of the Territory wanted a 
Constitution, so the Legislature provided 
that at the April election following the 
passage of this act, the people of the Ter- 
ritory should elect delegates to a conven- 
tion. Accordingly, at the April election 
delegates were elected, and the convention, 
agreeable to said act, consisting of thirty- 
two members instead <>f seventy as in the 
previous convention, met at Iowa City, on 
the first Monday of May, 1846, and after a 



session of eighteen days produced a Con- 
stitution which was immediately submitted, 
adopted, and made the organic law of the 
State of Iowa. After the result was known 
the Governor issued his proclamation for a 
general election to be held in November 
following, atwhich Ansel Briggs, of Jack- 
son County, was elected Governor of the 
State. 

This proclamation was the last public act 
of James Clarke, for as soon as the new 
Governor was qualified, he turned over to 
him all the archives of his office, and re- 
turned once more to the printing office. 
Again he scattered through Iowa his beau- 
tiful editorials through the columns of the 
Burlington Gazette, until the name and 
fame of Iowa became known throughout 
the length and breadth of the land. He 
appeared at the capitol at the first session 
of the State Legislature under the new Con- 
stitution, delivered to that body an affecting 
and interesting farewell address, then stood 
back quietly during the whole of the ses- 
sion, and gazed with indignation upon his 
countenance at the dreadful strife, storms 
and bitterness which was manifested during 
the entire session. 

This was the last time that Mr. Clarke 
ever appeared at the Legislature. He died 
soon after, at Burlington, of the cholera. 
Thus closed the earthly career oi a just and 
noble man, cut off in the prime of life and 
in the midst of an useful career. He was 
married to a sister of General Dodge, and 
this fact being known at the time of his ap- 
pointment as Governor, drew upon the 
Dodges the title of the " royal family." But 
whatever might be said in this respect, the 
appointment could not have been bestowed 
upon a better man, or one more competent 
to till it. His history is without a stain or 
reproach, and throughout his whole life no 
man ever imputed aught against his char- 
acter as a man and a citizen. 






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|HE first Governor of 
Iowa under its State 
organization, was 
Ansel Briggs, who, 
like his two imme- 
diate successors, was 
a son of that won- 
derful nursery of progress, 
New England. He was 
the son of Benjamin Ingley 
Briggs and Electa his wife, 
and was born in Vermont, 
February 3, 1806. His 
boyhood was spent in his 
native State, where, in the 
common schools, he re- 
ceived a fair education, 
improved by a term spent at the academy 
of Norwich. In his youth, about the year 
1830, with his parents, he removed to 
Cambridge, Guernsey County, Ohio, where 
he engaged in the work of establishing 
stage lines, and where, as a Whig, he com- 
peted with John Ferguson, a Jackson 
Democrat, for the office of county audi- 
tor and was defeated. In his twenty- 
fourth year he married a wife, born the 
same day and year as himself, of whom he 
was soon bereft. Before leaving Ohio he 
married his second wife, Nancy M., daugh- 
ter of Major Dunlap, an officer of the war 
of 1812. 



In 1836, removing from Ohio, he joined' 
that hardy band, so honored here to-day, 
the pioneers of Iowa, and settled with his 
family at Andrew, in Jackson County. 
Here he resumed his former business of 
opening stage lines, sometimes driving the 
stage himself, and entering into contracts 
with the postoffice department for carrying 
the United States mails weekly between 
Dubuque and Davenport, Dubuque and 
Iowa City, and other routes. 

On coming to Iowa he affiliated with the 
Democrats, and on their ticket, in 1842, 
was elected a member of the Territorial 
House of Representatives from Jackson 
County, and subsequently sheriff of the 
same county. On the formation of the 
State government, he at once became a 
prominent candidate for Governor. His 
competitors for the Democratic nomination 
were Judge Jesse Williams and William 
Thompson. The question above all others 
dividing the parties in Iowa in that day was 
that of banks, favored by the Whigs, and op- 
posed by the Democrats. A short time be- 
fore the nominating convention met, Briggs, 
at a banquet, struck a responsive chord in 
the popular heart by offering the toast, " No 
banks but earth, and they well tilled," a 
sententious appeal to the pride of the pro- 
ducer and the prejudice of the partisan, 
which was at once caught up as a party 



«8o 



(.DVERXORS OF TOW A. 



cry, and did more to secure its author the 
nomination for Governor than all else. 

The convention was held at Iowa City 
on Thursday, September 24, 1846, and as- 
sembled to nominate State officers and two 
Congressmen. It was called to order by 
F. D. Mills, of Des Moines County. Will- 
iam Thompson, of Henry County, presided, 
and J. T. Fales, of Dubuque, was Secretary. 
The vote for Governor in the convention 
stood: Briggs, sixty-two; Jesse Williams, 
thirty-two; and William Thompson, thirty- 
one. The two latter withdrew, and Briggs 
was then chosen by acclamation. Elisha 
Cutler, Jr., of Van Buren County, was 
nominated for Secretary of State; Joseph 
T. Fales, of Linn, for Auditor, and Morgan 
Reno, of Johnson, for Treasurer. S. C. 
Hastings and Shepherd Leffler were nomi- 
nated for Congress. The election was held 
October 28, 1846, the entire Democratic 
ticket being successful. Briggs received 
7,626 votes, and his competitor, Thomas 
McKnight, the Whig candidate, 7,379, giv- 
ing Briggs a majority of 247. 

The administration of Governor Bribers 
was generally placid. Although avoiding 
excitement and desirous of being in har- 
monious accord with his party, when oc- 
casion required he exhibited an independent 
firmness not easilv shaken. One perplex- 
ing controversy bequeathed him by his 
predecessors was the Missouri boundary 
question, which had produced much dis- 
quiet, and even a resort to arms on tiie part 
of both Iowa and Missouri. 

After the expiration of his four-years 
term, Governor Briggs continued his resi- 
dence in Jackson County, where he engaged 
in commercial business, having sold out his 
mail contracts when he became Governor. 

By his second marriage he had eight 
children, all of whom died in infancy save 
two, and of these latter Ansel, Jr., died 
May 15, 1867, aged twenty-five years. 
John S. Briggs, the only survivor of the 



family, is the editor of the Idaho Herald, 
published at Blackfoot, Idaho Territory. 
Mrs. Briggs died December 30, 1847, dur- 
ing her husband's term as Governor. She 
was an ardent Christian woman, adhering 
to the Presbyterian faith, and very domestic 
in her tastes. She was well educated and 
endowed by nature with such womanly 
tact and grace as to enable her to adorn the 
high estate her husband had attained. She 
dispensed (albeit in a log house, a form of 
architecture in vogue in Iowa in that day, 
as the mansion of the rich or the cabin of 
the poor) a bounteous hospitality to the 
stranger and a generous charity to the poor, 
in which gracious ministrations she was al- 
ways seconded by her benevolent husband. 

In 1870 Governor Briggs removed from 
Andrew to Council Bluffs. He had visited 
the western part of the State before rail- 
roads had penetrated there, and made the 
trip by carriage. On that occasion he en- 
rolled himself as one of the founders of the 
town of Florence, on the Nebraska side of 
the Missouri River, six miles above Coun- 
cil Bluffs, and which, for a time, disputed 
with Omaha the honor of being the chief 
town of Nebraska. 

He made a trip to Colorado during the 
mining excitement in i860. After return- 
ing and spending some time at home, he 
went to Montana in 1863, with his son John, 
and a large party, remaining until 1S65, 
when he came back. 

His last illness, ulceration of the stomach, 
was only five winks in duration. He was 
able to be out three (lavs before his death, 
which occurred at the residence of his son, 
John S. Briggs, in Omaha, May 5, 1881, at 
half past three in the morning. Governor 
Gear issued a proclamation the next day, 
reciting his services to the State, ordering 
half-hour guns to be tired and the national 
flag on the State capitol to be half-masted, 
during the day of the funeral. He was 
buried on Sunday succeeding his death. 






v^ts^ZT; 



STEPHEN HEMPSTEAD. 



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until 

when 

came 



jH I S gentleman, the 
second Governor of 
the State, was born 
at New London, 
Connecticut, Octo- 
ber i, 1 812, and 
lived in that State 
the spring of 1828, 
his father's family 
West and settled on 
a farm a few miles from 
St. Louis, Missouri. Here 
he remained until 1830, 
when he entered as clerk 
in a commission house in 
Galena, Illinois, and dur- 
ing the Black Hawk war he 
was an officer in an artillery company or- 
ganized for the protection of that place. 

At the close of the war he entered as a 
student of the Illinois College at Jackson- 
ville, Illinois, remaining about two years, 
leaving to commence the study of law 
which he finished under Charles S. Hemp- 
stead, Esq., then a prominent lawyer at 
Galena. In 1836 he was admitted to prac- 
tice his profession in the courts of the Ter- 
ritory of Wisconsin, then embracing Iowa, 
and in the same year located in Dubuque, 
being the first lawyer who practiced in 
that place. At the organization of the 



Territorial Legislature in 1838 he was 
elected to represent the northern portion 
of the Territory in the Legislative Council, 
of which he was chairman of the committee 
on judiciary, one of the important com- 
mittees of the Council. At the second 
session of that body he was elected presi- 
dent thereof, was again elected a member 
of the Council in 1845, which was held in 
Iowa City, and was again president of the 
same. In 1844 he was elected one of the 
delegates to the first constitutional conven- 
tion of the State of Iowa, and was chair- 
man of the committee on incorporations. 
In 1848, in connection with Hon. Charles 
Mason and W. G. Woodward, he was ap- 
pointed commissioner by the Legislature to 
revise the laws of the State of Iowa, and 
which revision, with a few amendments, 
was adopted as the code of Iowa in 1851. 
In 1850 he was elected Governor of the 
State of Iowa, receiving 13,486 votes, 
against 11,403 for James L. Thompson, 575 
for William P. Clarke, and 1 1 scattering. 

The vote was canvassed on the 4th of 
December, and a committee was appointed 
to inform the Governor elect that the two 
Houses of the Legislature were ready to re- 
ceive him in joint convention, in order that 
he might receive the oath prescribed by 
the Constitution. After receiving: forma! 



is* 



GOVERNORS OF IOWA. 



notification. Governor Hempstead, accom- 
panied by Governor Briggs, the judges of 
the Supreme Court and the officers of 
State, entered the hall of the House, and 
having been duly announced, the Governor 
elect delivered his inaugural message, after 
which the oath was administered by the 
chief justice of the Supreme Court. 

This session of the Legislature passed a 
number of important acts which were 
approved by Governor Hempstead, and 
formed fifty-two new counties, most of 
them having the same names and bound- 
aries to-day. These new counties were : 
Adair, Union, Adams, Cass, Montgomery, 
Mills, Pottawattomie, Bremer, Butler, 
Grundy, Hardin, Franklin, Wright, Risley, 
Veil, Greene, Guthrie, Carroll, Fox, Sac, 
Crawford, Shelby, Harrison, Monona, Ida, 
Waukau, Humboldt, Pocahontas, Bucna 
Vista, Fayette, Cherokee, Plymouth, Alla- 
makee, Chickasaw, Floyd, Cerro Gordo, 
Hancock, Kossuth, Palo Alto, Clay, O'- 
Brien, Sioux, Howard, Mitchell, Worth, 
Winnebago, Winneshiek, Bancroft, Em- 
mett, Dickinson, Osceola and Buncombe. 
The last-named county was so called under 
peculiar circumstances. The Legislature 
was composed of a large majority favoring 
stringent corporation laws, and the liability 
of individual stockholders for corporate 
debts. This sentiment, on account of the 
agitation of railroad enterprises then begin- 
ning, brought a large number of prominent 
men to the capital. To have an effect upon 
the Legislature, they organized a "lobby 
legislature," in which these questions were 
ably discussed. They elected as Governor 
Verplank Van Antwerp, who delivered to 
tUis self-constituted body a lengthy mes- 
sage, in which he sharply criticised the 
regular general assembly. Some of the 
members of the latter were in the habit of 
making long and useless speeches, much to 
the hindrance of business. To these he 
especiallv referred, charging them with 



speaking " for buncombe." and recom- 
mended that as their lasting memorial, a 
county should be called by that name. 
This suggestion was readily seized upon 
by the Legislature, and the countv of " Bun- 
combe" was created with few dissenting 
voices. By act of the General Assembly 
approved September u, 1862, the name 
was changed to " Lyon," in honor of Gen- 
eral Nathaniel Lyon, who was killed in the 
civil war. 

Governor Hempstead's message to the 
fourth General Assembly, December, 1852, 
stated, among other things, that the popu- 
lation of the State was by the federal cen- 
sus 192,214, and that the State census 
showed an increase for one year 01 37,786. 
He also stated that the resources of the 
State for the coming two years would be 
sufficient to cancel all that part of the funded 
debt which was payable at its option. 

By 1854 the State had fully recovered 
from the depression produced by the bad 
season of 1851, and in 1854 and 1855 the 
immigration from the East was unprece- 
dented. For miles and miles, day after day, 
the prairies of Illinois were lined with cattle 
and wagons, pushing on toward Iowa. At 
Peoria, one gentleman said that during a 
single month 1,743 wagons passed through 
that place, all for Iowa. The Burlington 
Telegraph said : " Twenty thousand immi- 
grants have passed through the city within 
the last thirty days, and they are still cross- 
ing the Mississippi at the rate of 600 a day." 

Governor Hempstead's term expired in 
the latter part of 1854. and he returned to 
Dubuque, where the following year he was 
elected county judge. This position he 
held twelve years, and in 1867 he retired on 
account of impaired health. I le lived, how- 
ever, till February 16, 1883, when at his 
home in Dubuque he closed his record on 
earth. He was a useful and active man, 
and deserves a prominent place in the 
esteem of lowans. 




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HE third to fill the of- 
fice of Governor oi 
Iowa, and whose 
name deserves a 
foremost rank 
among the men 
whose personal his- 
tory is interwoven insepar- 
ably with that of the State, 
was James Wilson Grimes. 
He was born in the town 
of Deering, Hillsborough 
County, New Hampshire, 
October 20, 1816. His 
parents — John Grimes, 
born August u, 1772, and 
Elizabeth Wilson, born 
March 19, 1773 — were natives of the same 
town. Of a family of eight children born 
to them, James was the youngest. In 
early childhood he evinced a taste for 
learning, attending the district school and 
also studying Latin and Greek under the 
instruction of the village pastor. He 
completed his preparation for college 
at Hampton Academy, and entered Dart- 
mouth College in August, 1832, in the 
sixteenth year of his age. Upon leaving 
college in February, 1835, he commenced 
reading law with James Walker, Esq., in 
Petersburgh, New Hampshire. 

Being young and adventurous, and wish- 
ing to carve a fortune for himself, he left 

17 



his native home in 1836 for the far West, 
landing in Burlington, then a new town in 
what was known as the " Black Hawk 
Purchase." Here he opened an office and 
soon established a reputation as a rising 
lawyer. In April, 1837, he was appointed 
city solicitor ; and entering upon the duties 
of that office he assisted in drawing up the 
first police laws of that town. In 1838 he 
was appointed justice of the peace, and be- 
came a law partner of William W. Chap- 
man, United States District Attorney for 
Wisconsin Territory. In the early part of 
the year 1841 he formed a partnership with 
Henry W. Starr, Esq., which continued 
twelve years. This firm stood at the head 
of the legal profession in Iowa. Mr. Grimes 
was widely known as a counselor of supe- 
rior knowledge of the law, and with a clear 
sense of truth and justice. He was chosen 
one of the representatives of Des Moines 
County in the first Legislative Assembly 
of the Territory of Iowa, which convened 
at Burlington, November 12, 1838; in the 
sixth, at Iowa City, December 4, 1843; ar >d 
in the fourth General Assembly of the 
State, at Iowa City, December 6, 1852. 
He early took front rank among the pub- 
lic men of Iowa. He was chairman of the 
judiciary committee in the House of Rep- 
resentatives of the first Legislative As- 
sembly of the Territory, and all laws for the 
new Territory passed through his hands. 



:*S 



i.nvn UXORS OF IOWA. 



He was married at Burlington, Novem- 
ber 9, 1846, to Miss Elizabeth Sarah Ncally. 

In February, 1854, Mr. Grimes was nom- 
inated by a convention of the Whig party 
for Governor of the State. It was the 
largest convention of that party ever held 
in Iowa, and the last. He was elected, and 
assumed the duties of the office in Decem- 
ber, 1854. Soon after his election it was 
proposed that he should be sent to the 
United States Senate, but he made it under- 
stood that he should fill the term of office 
for which he had been chosen, and he 
served his full term to the entire satisfac- 
tion and acceptance of all parties. He was 
a faithful leader in the political regenera- 
tion of the State. He introduced liberal 
measures to develop the resources of 
the State, and to promote the interests 
of all educational and humane establish- 
ments. Up to the time of his election 
as Governor, Democracy reigned supreme 
in the Territory. The representatives in 
Congress were allies of the slave power. 
He, after being elected, gave his whole 
soul to the work, and it may truly be said 
that Governor Grimes made Iowa Repub- 
lican and allied it with the loyal States. 

January 14, 1858, he laid down his office, 
only to be placed in another and greater 
one; for on the 25th he was nominated 
by the Republican caucus for United 
States Senator. He took his seat in the 
Senate March 4, 1859, and was placed upon 
the committee on naval aflairs January 24, 
1861, on which he remained during the 
remainder of his senatorial career, serving 
as chairman from December, 1864. 

Mr. Grimes voted for the Pacific Rail- 
road bill on June 20, 1862, and for estab- 
lishing the gauge of the road from the Mis- 
souri River to the Pacific Ocean, at four 
feet eight and a half inches, February 18, 
1863. 

January \(\ 1864, Mr. Grimes was again 
chosen United States Senator from Iowa 



for six years from March 4, 1865, receiving 
the votes of all but six of the members of 
the General Assembly in joint convention ; 
128 out of 134. His council was often 
sought in matters of great moment, and in 
cases of peculiar difficultv. Always ready 
to promote the welfare of the State, he 
gave, unsolicited, land worth $6,000 to the 
Congregational college at Grinnell, It 
constitutes the "Grimes foundation," and 
" is to be applied to the establishment and 
maintenance in Iowa College, forever, of 
four scholarships, to be awarded by the 
trustees, on the recommendation of the fac- 
ulty, to the best scholars, and the most 
promising, in any department, who may 
need and seek such aid, and without any 
regard to the religious tenets or opinions 
entertained by any person seeking either 
of said scholarships." These terms were 
imposed by Mr. Grimes and assumed July 
20, 1865, by the trustees. He received 
the honorary degree of LL.D. in 1865 
from Dartmouth College, and also from 
Iowa College. He also aided in founding 
a public library in Burlington, donating 
§5,000, which was expended in the purchase 
of costly books, and subsequently sent from 
Europe 256 volumes in the German lan- 
guage, and also contributed 600 volumes of 
public documents. 

In Januarv, 1869, he made a donation of 
$5,000 to Dartmouth College, and $1,000 
to the " Social Friend," a literary society of 
which he was a member when in college. 

His health failing, Mr. Grimes sailed for 
Europe April 14, 1869, remaining abroad 
two years, reaching home September 22, 
1871, apparently in improved health and 
spirits. In November he celebrated his 
silver wedding, and spent the closing 
months of his life with his family. 1 le voted 
at the city election February 5, 1872, was 
suddenly attacked with severe pains in the 
region of the heart, and died alter a lew 
short hours ol intense suffering. 



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rlE fourth Governor 
of the State, and 
the seventh of Iowa 
without reference to 
the form of govern- 
ment, was Ralph P. 
Lowe. He was born 
in Ohio in 1808, and lived 
just three-fourths of a cent- 
ury. He came to the 
Territory of Iowa in 1839 
or 1840, when he was a 
little over thirty years old. 
He settled in Muscatine, 
where in a short time he 
became prominent in local 
affairs and of recognized 
ability in questions of public policy. While 
yet residing in that city, he represented 
the county of Muscatine in the constitu- 
tional convention of 1844 that framed the 
rejected Constitution. 

After this constitutional convention, Mr. 
Lowe took no further part in public mat- 
ters for a number of years. He removed 
*.o Lee County about 1849 or '50, where 
he became district judge as a successor to 
Seorge H. Williams, who was afterward 
famous as President Grant's Attorney Gen- 
eral. He was district judge five years, 
from 1852 to 1857, being succeeded by 
Judge Claggett. In the summer of 1857 



he was nominated by the Republicans for 
Governor of Iowa, with Oran Faville for 
Lieutenant-Governor. The Democracy 
put in the field Benjamin M. Samuels for 
Governor and George Gillaspy for Lieu- 
tenant Governor. There was a third ticket 
in the field, supported by the American or 
" Know Nothing " party, and bearing the 
names of T. F. Henry and Easton Morris. 
The election was held in October, 1857, and 
gave Mr. Lowe 38,498 votes, against 36,088 
for Mr. Samuels, and 1,006 for Mr. Henry. 

Hitherto the term of office had been four 
years, but by an amendment to the Consti- 
tution this was now reduced to two. Gov- 
ernor Lowe was inaugurated January 14, 
1858, and at once sent his first message to 
the Legislature. Among the measures 
passed by this Legislature were bills to in- 
corporate the State Bank of Iowa ; to pro- 
vide for an agricultural college ; to author- 
ize the business of banking ; disposing of 
the land grant made by Congress to the 
Des Moines Valley Railroad ; to provide 
for the erection of an institution for the 
education of the blind ; and to provide for 
taking a State census. 

No events of importance occurred dur- 
ing the administration of Governor Lowe, 
but it was not a period of uninterrupted 
prosperity. The Governor said in his 
biennial message of January 10, i860, re- 



1 9 2 



GOVERNORS OF IOWA. 



viewing the preceding two years: " The 
period that has elapsed since the last 
biennial session has been one of great dis- 
turbing causes, and of anxious solicitude to 
all classes of our fellow citizens. The first 
year of this period was visited with heavy 
and continuous rains, which reduced the 
measure of our field crops below one-half 
of the usual product, whilst the financial 
revulsion which commenced upon the At- 
lantic coast in the autumn of 1857 did not 
reach its climax for evil in our borders until 
the year just past." 

He referred at length to the claim of the 
State against the Federal Government, 
and said that he had appealed in vain to 
the Secretary of the Interior for the pay- 
ment of the 5 per cent, upon the military 
land warrants that the State is justly en- 
titled to, which then approximated to a 
million of dollars. The payment of this 
fund, he said, "is not a mere favor which 
is asked of the General Government, but a 
subsisting right which could be enforced in 
a court of justice, was there a tribunal of 
this kind clothed with the requisite juris- 
diction." 

The subject of the Des Moines River 
grant received from the Governor special 
attention, and he gave a history of the 
operations of the State authorities in ref- 
erence to obtaining the residue of the lands 
to which the State was entitled, and othei* 
information as to the progress of the work. 
He also remarked "that under the act 
authorizing the Governor to raise a com- 
pany of mounted men for defense and pro- 
tection of our frontier, approved February 
9, 1858, a company of thirty such men, 
known as the Frontier Guards, armed and 
equipped as required, were organized and 
mustered into service under the command 
of Captain Henry B. Martin, of Webster 
City, about the first of March then follow- 
ing, and were divided into two companies, 
one stationed on the Little Sioux River, 



the other at Spirit Lake. Their presence 
afforded security and gave quiet to the 
settlements in that region, and after a ser- 
vice of four months they were duly dis- 
banded. 

" Late in the fall of the year, however, 
great alarm and consternation was again 
felt in the region of Spirit Lake and Sioux 
River settlements, produced by the appear 
ance of large numbers of Indians on the 
border, whose bearing was insolent and 
menacing, and who were charged with 
clandestinely running off the stock of the 
settlers. The most urgent appeals came 
from these settlers, invoking again the 
protection of the State. From the repre- 
sentations made of the imminence of their 
danger and the losses already sustained, 
the Governor summoned into the field once 
more the frontier guards. After a service 
of four or five months they were again 
discharged, and paid in the manner 
prescribed in the act under which they 
were called out." 

Governor Lowe was beaten for the 
renomination by Honorable S. J. Kirkwood, 
who was considered much the stronger 
man. To compensate him for his defeat 
for the second term, Governor Lowe was 
appointed one of the three judges under 
the new Constitution. He drew the short 
term, which expired in 1861, but was 
returned and served, all told, eight years. 
He then returned to the practice of 
law, graduallv working into a claim busi- 
ness at Washington, to which city he re- 
moved about 1874. In that city he died, on 
Saturday, December 22, 1S83. He had a 
large family. Carleton, one of his sons, 
was an officer in the Third Iowa Cavalry 
during the war. 

Governor Lowe was a man of detail, 
accurate and industrious. In private and 
public life he was pure, upright and honest. 
In religious faith lie was inclined to be a 
Spiritualist. 



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SAMUEL J. K I UK WOOD. 



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.AMUEL JORDAN 
KIRK WOOD, the 
fifth Governor of the 
State of Iowa, was born 
December 20, 181 3, in 
Harford County, Mary- 
land, on his father's 
farm. His father was twice 
married, first to a lady named 
Coulson, by whom he had 
two sons, and, after her 
death, to Mary Alexander, by 
whom he had three children, 
all sons, the youngest of whom 
is the subject of these notes. The 
father of Governor Kirkwood was 
a native of Maryland, his ancestors 
having settled there previous to the Revo- 
lution ; his mother was born in Scotland, 
and both parents were strict members of 
the Presbyterian church. 

When ten years old young Kirkwood was 
sent to Washington City to attend a school 
taught by a relative named John McLeod. 
He remained at school four years, when he 
entered a drug store at Washington as 
clerk, in which occupation he continued till 
after attaining his majority, with the excep- 
tion of about eighteen months spent in 
teaching in York County, Pennsylvania. 
In 1835 Samuel left Washington and set- 
tied in Richland County, Ohio, where he 
assisted his father and brother (who had re- 



moved from Maryland there) in clearing a 
farm. In 1841 he entered, as a student, the 
taw office of Thomas W. Bartley, afterward 
Governor of Ohio, and in 1843 was admit- 
ted to the bar by the Supreme Court of 
Ohio. He then engaged in the practice 
of law with his former preceptor, Mr. 
Bartley, forming an association which con- 
tinued for eight years. 

From 1845 to 1849 he served as prose- 
cuting attorney of his county. In 1849 he 
was elected as a Democrat to represent his 
county and district in the constitutional 
convention. In 185 1 Mr. Bartley, his part- 
ner, having been elected to the supreme 
judiciary of the State, Kirkwood formed a 
partnership with Barnabas Barns, with 
whom he continued to practice until the 
spring of 1855, when he removed to the 
West. 

Up to 1854 Mr. Kirkwood had acted with 
the Democratic party. But the measures 
proposed and sustained that year by the 
Democracy in Congress, concentrated in 
what was known as the Kansas-Nebraska 
act, drove him with hosts of anti-slavery 
Democrats out of the party. He was be- 
sought by the opposition in the " Richland 
district" to become their candidate for 
Congress, but declined. In 1855 he came 
to Iowa and settled two miles northwest of 
Iowa City, entering into a partnership with 
his brother-in-law, Ezekiel Clark, in the 



> i)0 



GOVERNORS OF IOWA 



milling business, and kept aloof from pub- 
lic affairs. He could not long conceal his 
record and abilities from his neighbors, 
however, and in 1856 he was elected to the 
State Senate from the district composed of 
the counties of Iowa and Johnson, and 
served through the last session of the 
Legislature held at Iowa City and the first 
one held at Des Moines. 

In 1859 Mr. Kirkwood was made the 
standard-bearer of the Republicans of Iowa, 
and though he had as able and popular a 
competitor as General A. C. Dodge, he was 
elected Governor of Iowa by a majority of 
over 3,000. He was inaugurated January 
11, i860. Before the expiration of his first 
term came the great civil war. As Gov- 
ernor, during the darkest days of the Rebell- 
ion, he performed an exceedingly impor- 
tant duty. He secured a prompt response 
by volunteers to all requisitions by the 
federal Government on the State for troops, 
so that during his Governorship no " draft *' 
took place in Iowa, and no regiment, except 
the first, enlisted for less than three years. 
At the same time he maintained the State's 
financial credit. The Legislature, at its ex- 
tra session in 1861, authorized the sale of 
$800,000 in bonds, to assist in arming and 
equipping troops. So frugally was this 
work done, that but $300,000 of the bonds 
were sold, and the remaining $500,000 not 
having been required, the bonds represent- 
ing this amount were destroyed by order 
of the succeeding Legislature. 

In October, 1861, Governor Kirkwood 
was. with comparatively little opposition, 
rc-cii cted— an hoi. or accorded for the first 
time in the history of the State. His ma- 
jority wasabout 18,000. During his second 
term he was appointed by President Lin- 
coln to be Minister to Denmark; but he 
declined to enter upon his diplomatic duties 
until the expiration of his term as Governor. 
The position was kept open for him until 
that time, but, when it came, pressing pri- 



vate business compelled a declination of 
the office altogether. 

In January, 1866, he was a prominent 
candidate before the Legislature for United 
States Senator. Senator Harlan had re- 
signed the senatorship upon his appoint- 
ment to the office of Secretary of the 
Interior by President Lincoln, just before 
his death, but had withdrawn from the 
cabinet soon after the accession of Mr. 
Johnson to the Presidency. In this way 
it happened that the Legislature had two 
terms of United States Senator to fill, a 
short term of two years, to fill Harlan's 
unexpired term, and a long term of six 
years, to immediately succeed this; and 
Harlan had now become a candidate for 
his own successorship, to which Kirkwood 
also aspired. Ultimately, Kirkwood was 
elected for the first and Harlan for the 
second term. During his brief senatorial 
service, Kirkwood did not hesitate to meas- 
ure swords with Senator Sumner, whose 
natural egotism had begotten in him an 
arrogant and dictatorial manner, borne with 
humbly until then by his colleagues, in 
deference to his long experience and emi- 
nent ability, but unpalatable to an inde- 
pendent Western Senator like Kirkwood. 

At the close of his senatorial term, March 
4, 1867, he resumed the practice of law, 
which a few years later he relinquished to 
accept the presidency of the Iowa City 
Savings Bank. In 1875 he was again elected 
Governor, and was inaugurated January 13, 
1876. He served but little over a year, as 
early in 1877 he was chosen United States 
Senator. 1 le tilled this position four years, 
resigning to become Secretary of the In- 
terior in President Garfield's cabinet. In 
this office he was succeeded, April 17, 1882, 
by Henry M. Teller, of Colorado. 

Governor Kirkwood returned to Iowa 
City, his home, where he still resides, being 
now advanced in years. He was married 
in 1X4} to Miss Jane Clark, a native of Ohio. 



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WILLIAM M. STONE. 



19U 










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[HE subject of this brief 
sketch was the ninth 
to hold the position 
of Governor of Iowa, 
and the sixth to fill 
the office under the 
State organization, 
held the office four 
years, from 1864 to 1868. 
William Milo Stone was 
rn October 14, 1827, 
son of Truman and La- 
/ina (North) Stone. His 
great-grandfather on both 
les of the family was in 
the seven years' struggle 
for independence. His 
grandfather, Aaron Stone, was in the second 
war with England. Truman Stone moved 
to Lewis County, New York, when the son 
was a year old, and six 3^ears later to Co- 
shocton County, Ohio. 

Like many other self-made men, William 
M. had few advantages. He never attended 
a school of any kind more than twelve 
months. In boyhood he was for two season? 
a team-driver on the Ohio Canal. At seven- 
teen he was apprenticed to the chairmaker's 
trade, and he followed that business until 
twenty-three years of age, reading law 



meantime during his spare hours, wher- 
ever he happened to be. He commenced 
at Coshocton, with James Mathews, who 
afterward became his father-in-law ; con- 
tinued his readings with General Lucius V. 
Pierce, of Akron, and finished with Ezra B. 
Taylor, of Ravenna. He was admitted to 
the bar in August, 185 1, by Peter Hitch- 
cock and Rufus P. Ranney, supreme judges, 
holding a term of court at Ravenna. 

After practicing three years at Coshocton 
with his old preceptor, James Mathews, he, 
in November, 1854, settled in Knoxville, 
which has remained his home since. The 
year after locating here Mr. Stone pur- 
chased the Knoxville Journal, and was one 
of the prime movers in forming the Repub- 
lican party in Iowa, being the first editor to 
suggest a State convention, which met 
February 22, 1856, and completed the or- 
ganization. In the autumn of the same 
year he was a Presidential elector on the 
Republican ticket. 

In April, 1857, Mr. Stone was chosen 
Judge of the Eleventh Judicial District. 
He was elected judge of the Sixth Judicial 
District when the new Constitution went 
into operation in 1858, and was serving on 
the bench when the American flag was 
stricken down at Fort Sumter. At that 



GOVERNORS OF IOWA. 



time, April, i86l, he was holding court in 
Fairfield, Jefferson Count}', and when the 
news came of the insult to the old flag he 
immediately adjourned court and prepared 
for what he believed to be more important 
duties — duties to his country. 

In May he enlisted as a private; was 
made Captain of Company B, Third Iowa 
Infantry, and was subsequently promoted 
to Major. With that regiment he was at 
the battle of Blue Mills, Missouri, in Sep- 
tember, 1S61, where he was wounded. At 
Shiloh, the following spring, he commanded 
the regiment and was taken prisoner. By 
order of Jefferson Davis he was paroled for 
the time of forty days, with orders to re- 
pair to Washington, and if possible secure 
an agreement for a cartel for a general ex- 
change of prisoners, and to return as a 
prisoner if he did not succeed. Failing to 
secure that result within the period speci- 
fied he returned to Richmond and had 
his parol extended fifteen days; repairing 
again to Washington, he effected his pur- 
pose and was exchanged. 

In August, [862, he was appointed by 
Governor Kirk wood Colonel of the Twen- 
ty-Second Iowa Infantry, which rendez- 
voused and organized at Camp Pope, Iowa 
City, in August, 1862. The regiment was 
occupied for several months in guarding 
supply stores and the railroad, and escorting 
supply trains to the Army ot the Southeast 
Missouri until January 27, 1863, when it re- 
ceived orders to join the army under Gen- 
eral Davidson, at West Plains, Missouri. 
Alter a march of five days it reached its 
destination, and was brigaded with the 
Twenty-first and Twenty-third Iowa regi 
ments, Colonel Stone commanding, and was 
designated the First Brigade, First Divis- 
ion. Army of Southeast Missouri. April I 
found Colonel Stone at Milliken's Bend, 
Louisiana, to assist Grant in the capture of 
Vieksburg. lie was now in immediate 
command of his regiment, which formed a 



part of a brigade under Colonel C. L. 
Harris, of the Eleventh Wisconsin. In the 
advance upon Port Gibson Colonel Harris 
was taken sick, and Colonel Stone was 
again in charge of a brigade. In the battle 
of Port Gibson the Colonel and his com- 
mand distinguished themselves, and were 
successful. The brigade was in the reserve 
at Champion Hills, and in active skirmish 
at Black River. 

On the evening of May 21 Colonel Stone 
received General Grant's order for a gen- 
eral assault on the enemy's lines at 10 A. m. 
on the 22d. In this charge, which was 
unsuccessful, Colonel Stone was again 
wounded, receiving a gunshot in his left 
forearm. Colonel Stone commanded a 
brigade until the last of August, when, 
being ordered to the Gulf department, he 
resigned. He had become very popular 
with the people of Iowa, and they were 
determined to make him Governor. 

He was nominated in a Republican con 
vention held at Des Moines in June, 1S63, 
and was elected by a large majority. He 
was brevetted Brigadier-Gemral in 1864, 
during his first year as Governor. He was 
inaugurated January 14, 1864, and was re- 
elected in 1865, his four years in office 
closing January 16,1868. His majority in 
1863 was nearly 30,000, and in 1865 about 
16,500. His diminished vote in 1865 was 
due to the fact that he was very strongly 
committed in favor of negro suffrage. 

Governor Stone made a very energetic 
and efficient executive. Since the expira- 
tion of his gubernatorial term he has sought 
to escape the public notice, and has given 
his time largely to his private business in- 
terests. He is in partnership with Hon. O. 
B. Ayrcs, of Knoxville, in legal practice. 

He was elected to the General Assembly 
in 1877, and served one term. 

In May, 1857, he married Miss Carloaei 
Mathews, a native of Ohio, then residing in 
Knoxville. Thcv have one son — William A. 



SAMUEL MERRILL. 



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K OLONEL SAM- 
UEL MERRILL, the 

seventh Governor of 
the State of Iowa, the 
successor of Governor 
Stone, is among the 
men of the West who 
have been called from 
private life to places of trust on 
account of their peculiar fitness 
for office. He was born in the 
town of Turner, Oxford County, 
Maine, August 7, 1822. He is 
of English ancestry, being a 
descendant on his mother's side 
of Peter Hill, who came from 
the West of England and set- 
tled in Saco, Maine (now known as Bidde- 
ford), in 1653. From this ancestry have 
sprung the most of the Hills of America. 
On his father's side he is a descendant of 
Nathaniel Merrill, who, with his brother 
John, came from Salisbury, England, and 
settled in Newburg, Massachusetts, in 1636. 
Abel Merrill married Abigail Hill, June 
25, 1809, in Buxton, Maine. They soon 
moved to Turner, where they became the 
parents of eight children, Samuel, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, being next the youngest, 
the fourth and youngest son in the family, 
and in the eighth generation from his Pil- 
grim fathers. 

18 



Samuel was married first to Catherine 
Thorns, who died in 1847, but fourteen 
months after their marriage. In January, 
1 85 1, he was again married, his second wife 
being a Miss Hill, of Buxton, Maine. To 
this union there have been born four chil- 
dren, three of whom died young, the eldest 
living to be only two and a half years old. 

At the age of sixteen he moved with his 
parents to Buxton, where his time was 
mostly engaged by turns in teaching and 
in attending school until he attained his 
majority. Having determined to make 
teaching a profession, he set out for that 
purpose toward the sunny South, but, as 
he says, he was " born too far north " for 
his political comfort. Suspicion having 
been aroused as to his abolitionist pro- 
clivities, and finding the elements not al- 
together congenial, he soon abandoned the 
land of chivalry for the old Granite State, 
where he engaged for several years in 
farming. 

In 1847 ne removed to Tarn worth, New 
Hampshire, where he embarked in mer- 
cantile business in company with a brother. 
In this, as in all his business enterprises, he 
was quite successful. Not being satisfied 
with the limited resources of Northern 
New England, he determined to try his 
good fortune on the broad prairies of the 
new and more fertile West. Accordingly, 



: °4 



GOVERNORS OF IOWA. 



in 1856, he turned his face toward the set- 
ting sun. He made a final settlement at 
McGregor, Iowa, where lie established a 
branch house of the old firm. 

During all these years of business Mr. 
Merrill took an active but not a noisy part 
in politics. In 1854 he was ele.cted as an 
Abolitionist to the New Hampshire Legis- 
lature, at the same time General N. B. 
Baker, ex-Adjutant General of Iowa, was 
Governor of the same State. In 1855 he 
was returned for a second term to the Leg- 
islature. In Iowa he was equally fortunate 
in securing the good will of those who 
knew him. His neighbors and those who 
had dealings with him found a man who 
was honest in his business, fair in his deal- 
ings, social in his relations, and benevolent 
in his disposition. He took an active in- 
terest in the prosperity of the town and 
ever held an open hand to all needed chari- 
ties. These traits of character had drawn 
around him, though not realized or intended 
by himself, a host of personal admirers. 
This good will resulted in his being nomi- 
nated for a seat in the State Legislature, 
and he was the only one on his ticket that 
was elected. The Legislature met in extra 
session in 1861 to provide for the exigencies 
o! the Rebellion, and in its deliberations Mr. 
Merrill rendered effective and unselfish 
service. 

He continued in business at McGregor 
until the summer oi 1862, when he was 
commissioned as Colonel of the Twenty- 
firs! Iowa Infant ry, proceeding immediately 
to Missouri, where active service awaiteil 
him. Marmaduke was menacingthe Union 
forces in Central Missouri, which called for 
prompt action on the part of the Union 
Generals. Colonel Merrill was placed in 
command of a detachment of the Twenty- 
firsl Iowa, a detachment of the Ninety-ninth 
Illinois, a portion of the Third Iowa Cavalry 
and two pieces of artillery, with orders to 
make a forced march to Springfield, he be- 



ing at Houston, eighty miles distant. On 
the morning of the nth of January, 1863, 
they having come across a body of rebels, 
found them advancing in heavy force. 
Colonel Merrill immediately made dis- 
position for battle, and brisk firing was 
kept up for an hour, when the enemy fell 
back. Colonel Merrill now moved in the 
direction of Hartville, where he found the 
rebels in force under Marmaduke, and from 
six to eight thousand strong, with six pieces 
of artillery, while Colonel Merrill had but 
800 men and two pieces of artillery. 

In this engagement the rebels lost several 
officers and not less than 300 men in killed 
and wounded. The Union loss was seven 
killed and sixty-four wounded, five captured 
and two missing. The regiment performed 
severe marches and suffered much in sick- 
ness during the winter. It was assigned to 
the Thirteenth Corps, General John A. Mc- 
Clernand ; fought gallantly at the battle of 
Port Gibson; and while the impetuous 
charge of Black River bridge was being 
made Colonel Merrill was severely, ami re- 
ported fatally, wounded. The battle of Black 
River bridge, the last of the series of engage- 
ments during the campaign of Vicksburg in 
which the rebels fought without their fortifi- 
cations, was a short but bloody combat. 
While Colonel Merrill was leading his regi- 
ment in this deadly charge he was wounded 
through the hips. This brought his mili- 
tary career to a close. Suffering from his 
wounds, he resigned his commission and re- 
turned to McGregor, but was unable to at- 
tend to his private affairs for many months. 

In 1867 he was chosen Governor to suc- 
ceed William M. Stone. He was inaugu- 
rated January 16, 1868, and served till 
January 11, 1872, being re-elected in 1S69. 
After the expiration of his term of office 
he returned to McGregor, but as soon as 
he could adjust his business interests he lo- 
cated in Des Moines, where he is now 
President of the Citizens' National Bank. 



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ROM his numerous offi- 
cial positions, and 
the ability with 
which they have 
been filled, Cyrus 
C. Carpenter, the 
eighth Governor of 
the State of Iowa, 
deserves to be remembered 
as one of Iowa's foremost 
men. He is a native of Sus- 
quehanna County, Pennsyl- 
vania, and was born Novem- 
ber 24, 1829. His parents 
were Asahel and Amanda M. 
(Thayer) Carpenter, both of whom died be- 
fore he was twelve years old. His grand- 
father, John Carpenter, was one of nine 
young men who, in 1789, left Attleborough, 
Massachusetts, for the purpose of finding a 
home in the " new country." After various 
vicissitudes they located upon the spot 
which they called Harford, in Northeastern 
Pennsylvania, the township in which Cyrus 
was born. This location at that time was 
far from any other settlement, Wilkesbarre, 
in Wyoming Valley, near the scene of the 
celebrated Indian massacre, being among 
the nearest, though fifty miles away. 

Cyrus attended a common school three 
or four months in a year until 1846, then 



taught winters and worked on a farm sum- 
mers for three or four years, and with the 
money thus raised paid his expenses for 
several months at the academy which had 
been established in his native town. After 
leaving this institution, in 1852, he started 
westward ; halted at Johnstown, Licking 
County, Ohio; taught there a year and a 
half, and with his funds thus replenished he 
came to Iowa, loitering some on the way, 
and reaching Des Moines in June, 1854. A 
few days later he started on foot up the 
Des Moines Valley, and found his way to 
Fort Dodge, eighty miles northwest of Des 
Moines, from which place the soldiers had 
moved the previous spring to Fort Ridgely, 
Minnesota. 

He now had but a single half dollar in 
his pocket. He frankly told the landlord 
of his straightened circumstances, offering 
to do any kind of labor until something 
should " turn up." On the evening of his 
arrival he heard a Government contractor 
state that his chief surveyor had left him 
and that he was going out to find another. 
Young Carpenter at once offered his ser- 
vices. To the inquiry whether he was a 
surveyor, he answered that he understood 
the theory of surveying, but had had no 
experience in the field. His services were 
promptly accepted, with a promise of steady 



2o8 



GOVERNORS OF tOWA. 



employment if he were found competent. 
The next morning he met the party and 
took command. When the first week's 
work was done he went to Fort Dodge to 
replenish his wardrobe. As he left, some 
of the men remarked that that was the last 
that would be seen of him. He was then 
of a slight build, jaded and torn by hard 
work, and, when he left the camp, so utterly 
tired out it is not surprising that the men 
who were inured to out-door life thought 
him completely used up. But they did not 
know their man. With the few dollars 
which he had earned, he supplied himself 
with comfortable clothing, went back to 
his work on Monday morning and con- 
tinued it till the contract was completed. 

The next winter he taught the first school 
opened in Fort Dodge, and from that date 
his general success was assured. For the 
first two years he was employed much of 
the time by persons having contracts for 
surveying Government lands. He was thus 
naturally led into the land business, and 
from the autumn of 1855, when the Land 
Office was established at Fort Dodge, much 
of his time was devoted to surveying, select- 
ing lands for buyers, tax-paying for foreign 
owners, and in short a general land agency. 
During this period he devoted such time as 
he could spare to reading law, with the 
view of eventually entering the profession. 

Soon after the civil war commenced he 
entered the army, and before going into the 
field was commissioned as Captain in the 
staff department, and served over three 
years, attaining the rank of Lieutenant? 
Colonel and being mustered out as brevet 
Colonel. 

He has served his State in numerous 
civil capacities. He was elected Surveyor 
of Webster County in the spring of 1856, 
and the next year was elected a Represen- 
tative to the General Assembly, and served 
in the first session ol thai body held at Des 
Moines. He was elected Register ol the 



State Land Office in 1866, re-elected in 
1868, and held the office four years, declin- 
ing to be a candidate for renomination. 
He was elected Governor of Iowa in 

1871, and was inaugurated January 1 1, 1872. 
He was re-elected two years later, and 
served until January 13, 1874. He made 
an able and popular executive. In his first 
inaugural address, delivered January 11, 

1872, he made a strong plea for the State 
University, and especially its normal de- 
partment, for the agricultural college, and 
for whatever would advance the material 
progress and prosperity of the people, urg- 
ing in particular the introduction of more 
manufactories. 

At the expiration of his second term as 
Governor Mr. Carpenter was appointed, 
without his previous knowledge, Second 
Comptrollerof the United States Treasury, 
and resigned after holding that office about 
fifteen months. He was influenced to take 
this step at that time because another bureau 
officer was to be dismissed, as the head ol 
the department held that Iowa had more 
heads ol bureaus than she was entitled to, 
and his resigning an office of a higher grade 
saved a man who deserved to remain in 
Government employ. 

He was in the forty-seventh Congress 
from 1 88 1 to 1883, and represented Web- 
ster County in the twentieth General As- 
sembly. He is now leading the life of a 
private citizen at Fort Dodge, his chief 
employment being the carrying on of a 
farm. He is not rich, which is a striking 
commentary on his long official service. 
He has led a pure and upright life. 

lie has been a Republican since the or- 
ganization ol that party. In religious mat- 
ters he is orthodox. 

He was married in March, 1864, to Miss 
Susan C. Burkholder, of Fori Dodge. They 
have no children, but have reared horn 
childhood a niece of Mrs. Carpenter, Miss 
Fannie Burkholder. 



VYORK 



ASTO 



JOSHUA G. NEWBOLD. 




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ff OSHUA G. NEWBOLD 
was the tenth Governor 
of the State, and the 
thirteenth of Iowa, num- 
bering from the first 
Territorial G o v e r nor. 
He is yet living at Mount 
Pleasant. He is a native of 
Pennsylvania, and his an- 
cestors in this country were 
among the very early set- 
tlers in New Jersey. They 
were Friends, and conse- 
quent 1 y none of them 
figured in the struggle for 
the independence of the colo- 
nies. Governor Newbold is the son of 
Barzilla and Catherine (Houseman) New- 
bold. He was born in Fayette County, 
Pennsylvania, May 12, 1830, and reared as 
a farmer. When he was eight years of age 
the family moved to Westmoreland County*, 
same State, where he was educated in the 
common school, and also in a select school 
or academy, the latter taught by Dr. John 
Lewis, since of Grinnell, Iowa. At sixteen 
he returned with the family to Fayette 
Count)', where he remained eight years, 
assisting his father in running a flouring 
mill, when not teaching. When about nine- 
teen he began the study of medicine, read- 
ing a year or more while teaching, and then 
abandoning the notion of being a physician. 



In the month of March, 1854, Mr. New- 
bold removed to Iowa, locating on a farm, 
now partly in the corporation of Mount 
Pleasant, Henry County. At the end of 
one year he removed to Cedar Township, 
Van Buren County, there merchandising 
and farming till about i860, when he re- 
moved to Hillsboro, Henry Count)- and 
pursued the same callings. 

In 1862, when the call was made for 600,- 
000 men to finish the work of crushing the 
Rebellion, Mr. Newbold left his farm in the 
hands of his family and his store in charge 
of his partner, and went into the army as 
Captain of Company C, Twenty-fifth Regi- 
ment Iowa Infantry. He served nearly 
three years, resigning just betore the war 
closed, on account of disability. During 
the last two or three months he served at 
the South he filled the position of Judge 
Advocate, with headquarters at Woodville, 
Alabama. 

His regiment was one of those that made 
Iowa troops famous. It arrived at Helena, 
Arkansas, in November, 1862, and sailed in 
December following on the expedition 
against Vicksburg by way of Chickasaw 
Bayou. At the latter place was its first en- 
gagement. Its second was at Arkansas 
Post, and there it suffered severely, losing 
in killed and wounded more than sixty. 

Alter Lookout Mountain it joined in the 
pursuit of Bragg's flying forces to Ring- 



Hi 



GOVERNORS OF tO\VA. 



gold, where it engaged the enemy in their 
strong works, November 27 losing twenty- 
nine wounded. The following year it joined 
Sherman in his Atlanta campaign, then on 
the famous march to the sea and through 
the Carolinas. 

On returning to Iowa he continued in 
the mercantile trade at Hillsboro for three 
or four years, and then sold out, giving 
thereafter his whole attention to agricult- 
ure, stock-raising and stock-dealing, mak- 
ing the stock department an important 
factor in his business for several years. Mr. 
Newbold was a member of the thirteenth, 
fourteenth and fifteenth General Assem- 
blies, representing Henry County, and was 
chairman of the school committee in the 
fourteenth, and of the committee on appro- 
priations in the fifteenth General Assembly. 
In the fifteenth (1874) he was temporary 
Speaker during the deadlock in organizing 
the House. In 1875 he was elected Lieu- 
tenant Governor on the Republican ticket 
with Samuel J. Kirkwood. 

His Democratic competitor was E. B. 
Woodward, who received 93,060 votes. Mr. 
Newbold received 134,166, or a majority of 
31,106. Governor Kirkwood being elected 
United States Senator during that session, 
Mr. Newbold became Governor, taking the 
chair February 1, 1877, and vacating it for 
Governor Gear in January, 1878. 

Governor Newbold's message to the Leg- 
islature in 1878 shows painstaking care 
and a clear business-like view of the in- 
terests of the State. His recommendations 
were carefully considered and largely 
adopted. The State's finances were then 
in a less creditable condition than ever be- 
fore or since, as there was an increasing 
floating debt, then amounting to $340,- 
826.56, more than $90,000 in excess of the 
Constitutional limitation. Said Governor 
Newbold in his message: "The common- 
wealth ought not to set an example of dila- 



toriness in meeting its obligations. Of ah 
forms of indebtedness, that of a floating 
character is the most objectionable. The 
uncertainty as to its amount will invariably 
enter into any computation made by persons 
contracting with the State for supplies, ma- 
terial or labor. To remove the present 
difficulty, and to avert its recurrence, I 
look upon as the most important work that 
will demand your attention." 

One of the greatest problems before 
statesmen is that of equal and just taxation. 
The following recommendation shows that 
Governor Newbold was abreast with fore- 
most thinkers, for it proposes a step which 
yearly finds more favor with the people: 
" The inequalities of the personal-property 
valuations of the several counties suggest 
to my mind the propriety of so adjusting 
the State's levy as to require the counties 
to pay into the State treasury only the tax 
on realty, leaving the corresponding tax on 
personalty in the county treasury. This 
would rest with each county the adjust- 
ment of its personal property valuations, 
without fear that they might be so high as 
to work injustice to itself in comparison 
with other counties." 

Governor Newbold has always affiliated 
with the Republican party, and holds to its 
great cardinal doctrines, having once em- 
braced them, with the same sincerity and 
honesty that he cherishes his religious senti- 
ments. He has been a Christian for some- 
thing like twenty-five years, his connection 
being with the Free-Will Baptist church. 
He found his wife, Rachel Farquhar, in 
Fayette County, Pennsylvania, their union 
taking place on the 2d of May, 1850. They 
have had five children, and lost two. The 
names of the living are — Mary Allene, 
Emma Irene and George C. 

The Governor is not yet an old man, and 
may serve his State or county in other 
capacities in the coming years. 






yo//JV //. GEAR. 




i'S 




HE eleventh to hold the 
highest official posi- 
tion in the State of 
Iowa was John H. 
Gear, of Burlington. 
He is yet living in 
that city. He was 
born in Ithaca, New York, 
April 7, 1825. His father 
was Rev. E.G. Gear, a cler- 
gyman of the Protestant 
Episcopal c h u r c h , who 
was born in New London, 
Connecticut, in 1792. 
When he was quite young 
h i s family removed to 
Pittsfield, Berkshire County, 
Massachusetts; in 18 16, after being or- 
dained, he emigrated to New York and 
settled at Onondaga Hill, near which is now 
the thriving city of Syracuse. Soon after 
locating there he was married to Miranda E. 
Cook. He was engaged in the ministry in 
various places in Western New York until 
1836, when he removed to Galena, Illinois. 
There he remained until 1838, when he was 
appointed Chaplain in the United States 
Army at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. He 
died in 1874, aged eighty-two years. . 

John H., his only son, in 1843, came to 
Burlington, where he has since continued 
to reside. On his arrival he commenced 



his mercantile career by engaging as clerk 
with the firm of Bridgeman & Bros. After 
being with this firm for a little over a year 
he entered the employ of W. F. Coolbaugh 
(since president of the Union National 
Bank, of Chicago), who was even at that 
early date the leading merchant of Eastern 
Iowa. He was clerk for Mr. Coolbaugh 
for about five years, and was then taken 
into partnership. The firm of W. F. Cool- 
baugh & Co. continued in business for 
nearly five years, when Mr. Gear suc- 
ceeded to the business by purchase, and 
carried it on until he became known as the 
oldest wholesale grocer in the State. He 
is now president of a large rolling mill 
company at Burlington. 

Mr. Gear has been honored by his fellow- 
citizens with many positions of trust. In 
1852 he was elected alderman ; in 1863 was 
elected mayor over A. W. Carpenter, be- 
ing the first Republican up to that time 
who had been elected in Burlington on a 
party issue. In 1867 the Burlington, Cedar 
Rapids & Minnesota Railroad Company 
was organized, and he was chosen as its 
president. His efforts highly contributed 
to the success of the enterprise, which did 
much for Burlington. He was also active 
in promoting the Burlington & Southwest- 
ern Railway, as well as the Burlington & 
Northwestern narrow-gauge road. 



2i6 



GOVERNORS OF tOW'A. 



He has always acted with the Republican 
party, and in 1871 was nominated and 
elected a member of the House of Repre- 
sentatives of the Fourteenth General As- 
sembly. In 1873 he was elected to the 
Fifteenth General Assembly. The Repub- 
lican caucus of the House nominated him 
for Speaker by acclamation, and after a 
contest of two weeks he was chosen over 
his opponent, J. W. Dixon. He filled the 
position of Speaker very acceptably, and 
at the close of the session all the members 
of the House, independent of part}- affili- 
ations, joined in signing their names to a 
resolution of thanks, which was engraved 
and presented to him. In 1875 he was the 
third time nominated to the Assembly by 
the Republican party, and while his county 
gave a large Democratic vote he was again 
elected. He was also again nominated for 
Speaker, by the Republican caucus, and 
was elected by a handsome majority over 
his competitor, Hon. John Y. Stone. He 
is the only man in the State who ever had 
the honor of being chosen to this high posi- 
tion a second time. He enjoys the reputa- 
tion of being an able parliamentarian, his 
rulings never having been appealed from. 
At the close of the session he again received 
the unanimous thanks of the House for his 
courtesy and impartiality. 

In 1877 he was nominated for Governor 
by the Republican convention which met 
at Des Moines, June 28, and at the election 
held the following October he received 
121,546 votes, against 79,353 for John P. 
Irish, 10,639 for Eliasjcssup, and 38,228 for 
D. P. Stubbs. His plurality over Irish was 
42,193. He was inaugurated January 17, 
1 878, and served four years, being re-elected 
in 1879, by the following handsome vote: 
Gear, 157,571 ; Trimble, 85,056 ; Campbell, 
45,439; Dungan, 3,258; Gear's majority 
over all competitors, 23,828. His second 
inauguration was in January, 1880. 

Governor Gear's business habits enabled 



him to discharge the duties of his office 
with marked ability. He found the finan- 
cial condition of the State in a low ebb, but 
raised Iowa's credit to that of the best of 
our States. In his last biennial message he 
was able to report: "The warrants out- 
standing, but not bearing interest, Septem- 
ber 30, 1 88 1, amounted to $22,093.74, and 
there are now in the treasury ample funds 
to meet the current expenses of the State. 
The war and defense debt has been paid, 
except the warrants for §125,000 negotiated 
by the executive, auditor and treasurer, 
under the law of the Eighteenth General 
Assembly, and $2,500 of the original bonds 
not yet presented for payment. The only 
other debt owing by the State amounts to 
$245,435.19, due to the permanent school 
fund, a portion of which is made irredeem- 
able by the Constitution. These facts place 
Iowa practically among the States which 
have no debt, a consideration which must 
add much to her reputation. The expenses 
of the State for the last two years are less 
than those of any other period since 1869, 
and this notwithstanding the fact that the 
State is to-day sustaining several institu- 
tions not then in existence ; namely, the 
hospital at Independence, the additional 
penitentiary, the normal school, and the 
asylum for the feeble-minded children, be- 
sides the girl's department of the reform 
school. The State also, at present, makes 
provision for fish culture, for a useful 
weather service, for sanitary supervision 
by a board of health, for encouraging im- 
migration to the State, for the inspection of 
coal mines by a State inspector, and liberally 
for the military arm of the Government." 

Governor Gear is now in the sixty-first 
year of his age, and is in the full vigor of 
both his mental and physical faculties. He 
was married in 1852 to Harriet S. Foot, 
formerly of Middlebury, Vermont, by whom 
he has had four children, two of whom are 
living. 



PUBLIC LIB** 8 * \ 



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BUliEN R. SHEKMA.V. 



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LE twelfth Governor 

of the State was 

Buren R. Sherman, 

who held office two 

terms, from 1882 to 

1886. He was born 

in Phelps, Ontario 

ounty, New York, May 

28, 1836, and is the third 

son of Phineas L. and Eve- 

ine (Robinson) Sherman, 

both of whom were natives 

of the Empire State. 

The subject of this sketch 
received his early educa- 
tion in the public schools 
1 if his native place, and con- 
cluded his studies at Elmira, New York, 
acquiring a thorough knowledge of the 
English branches. At the close of his 
studies, acting on the advice of his father, 
who was a mechanic (an ax maker), he ap- 
prenticed himself to Mr. S. Ayres, of El- 
mira, to learn the watchmaker's trade. In 
1855, with his family, he removed to Iowa 
and settled upon an unbroken prairie, in 
what is now Geneseo Township, Tama 
County, where his father had purchased 
lands from the Government. There young 
Sherman labored on his father's farm, em- 
ploying his leisure hours in the stud}' of 
law, which he had begun at Elmira. He 
also engaged as bookkeeper in a neighbor- 
ly 



ing town, and with his wages assisted his 
parents in improving their farm. In the 
summer of 1859 ne was admitted to the bar, 
and the following spring removed to Yin 
ton, and began the practice of law with 
Hon. William Smyth, formerly District 
Judge, and J. C. Traer, conducting the 
business under the firm name of Smyth. 
Traer & Sherman. 

They built up a flourishing practice and 
were prospering when, upon the opening 
of the war, in 1S61, Mr. Sherman enlisted in 
Company G, Thirteenth Iowa Volunteer 
Infantry, and immediately went to the 
front. He entered the service as Second 
Sergeant, and in February, 1862, was made 
Second Lieutenant of Company E. On the 
6th of April following he was very severely 
wounded at the battle of Pittsburg Landing, 
and while in the hospital was promoted to 
the rank of Captain. He returned to his 
company while yet obliged to use crutches, 
and remained on duty till the summer of 
1863, when, by reason of his wound, he was 
compelled to resign and return home. Soon 
after returning from the army he was 
elected County Judge of Benton County, 
and re-elected without opposition in 1865. 
In the autumn of 1866 he resigned his judge- 
ship and accepted the office of clerk of the 
District Court, to which he was re-elected 
in 1868, 1870 and 1872, and in December, 
1874, resigned in order to accept the office 



220 



aoVE/ittoRS op loWA. 



of Auditor of State, to which he had been 
elected by a majority of 28,425 over J. M. 
King, the " anti-monopoly" candidate. In 
1876 he was re-nominated and received 50,- 
272 more votes than W. Growneweg(Demo- 
crat) and Leonard Brown (Greenback) to- 
gether. In 1878 he was again chosen to 
represent the Republican party in that office, 
and this time received a majority of 7,164 
over the combined votes of Colonel Eiboeck 
(Democrat) and G. V. Swearenger (Green- 
back). In the six years that he held this 
office, he was untiring in his faithful appli- 
cation to routine work and devotion to his 
especial share of the State's business. He 
retired with such an enviable record that it 
was with no surprise the people learned, 
June 27, 1 88 1, that he was the nominee of the 
Republican party for Governor 

The campaign was an exciting one. The 
General Assembly had submitted to the 
people the prohibitory amendment to the 
Constitution. This, while not a partisan 
question, became uppermost in the mind 
of the public. Mr. Sherman received 133,- 
330 votes, against 83,244 for Kinne and 28,- 
1 12 for D. M. Clark, or a plurality of 50,086 
and a majority of 21,974. In 1883 ne was 
re-nominated by the Republicans, as was L. 
G. Kinne by the Democrats. The National 
party offered J. B. Weaver. During the 
campaign these candidates held a number 
of joint discussions at different points In the 
State. At the election the vote was : Sher- 
man, 164,182; Kinne, 139,093 ; Weaver, 23,- 
089; Sherman's plurality, 25,089; majority, 
2,000. In his second inaugural Governor 
Sherman said : 

" In assuming, for the second time, the 
office of Chief Magistrate of the State, I 
fully realize my grateful obligations to the 
people of Iowa, through whose generous 
confidence I am here. 1 am aware of the 
duties and grave responsibilities of this ex- 
alted position, and as well what is expected 
of me therein. As in the past I have given 



my undivided time and serious attention 
thereto, so in the future I promise the most 
earnest devotion and untiring effort in the 
faithful performance of my official require- 
ments. I have seen the State grow from 
infancy to mature manhood, and each year 
one of substantial betterment of its previous 
position. 

" With more railroads than any other 
State, save two ; with a school interest the 
grandest and strongest, which commands 
the support and confidence of all the peo- 
ple, and a population, which in its entirety 
is superior to any other in the sisterhood, 
it is not strange the pride which attaches to 
our people. When we remember that the 
results of our efforts in the direction of good 
government have been crowned with such 
magnificent success, and to-day we have a 
State in most perfect physical and financial 
condition, no wonder our hearts swell in 
honest pride as we contemplate the past 
and so confidently hope for the future. 
What we may become depends on our own 
efforts, and to that future I look with earnest 
and abiding confidence." 

Governor Sherman's term of office con- 
tinued until January 14, 1886, when he was 
succeeded by William Larrabee, and he is 
now, temporarily, perhaps, enjoying a well- 
earned rest. He has been a Republican 
since the organization of that party, and his 
services as a campaign speaker have been 
for many years in great demand. As an 
officer he has been able to make an enviable 
record. Himself honorable and thorough, 
his management of public business has been 
of the same character, and such as has com- 
mended him to the hearty approval of the 
citizens of the State. 

He was married August 20, 1862, to Miss 
Lena Kendall, of Vinton, Iowa, a young 
lady of rare accomplishments and strength 
of character. The union has been happy 
in every respect. They have two children 
— Lena Kendall and Oscar Eugene. 



\ 




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WILLIAM LARRABEE. 




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LLIAM LARRABEE 

is the thirteenth 
Governor of this 
State, and the six- 
teenth Governor 
of Iowa, counting 
from I he Territo- 
ization. His ancestors 
me of d'Larrabee, and 
among the French Hugue- 
s who came to America early 
the seventeenth century, set- 
ng in Connecticut. Adam 
-rabee was born March 14, 
and was one of the early 
graduates of West Point Military Academy. 
He served with distinction in the war of 
1S12, having been made a Second Lieuten- 
ant March 1, 181 1. He was promoted to be 
Captain February 1, 18 14, and was soon 
after, March 30, of the same year, severely 
wounded at the battle of Lacole Mills, dur- 
ing General Wilkinson's campaign on the 
St. Lawrence. He recovered from this 
wound, which was in the lung, and was 
afterward married to Hannah Gallup Lester, 
who was born June 8, 1798, and died March 
15, 1837. Captain Larrabee died in 1869, 
aged eighty-two. 

The subject of this sketch was born at 



Ledyard, Connecticut, January 20, 183? 
and was the seventh of nine children. He 
passed his early life on a rugged New Eng- 
land farm, and received only moderate 
school advantages. He attended the dis- 
trict schools winters until nineteen years of 
age, and then taught school for two winters. 

He was now of an age when it became 
necessary to form some plans for the future 
In this, however, he was embarrassed by a 
misfortune which befel him at the age ol 
fourteen. In being trained to the use of 
fire-arms under his father's direction, an ac- 
cidental discharge resulted in the loss of 
sight in the right eye. This unfitted him 
for many employments usually sought by 
ambitious youths. The family lived two 
miles from the sea, and in that locality it 
was the custom for at least one son in each 
family to become a sailor. William's two 
eldest brothers chose this occupation, and 
the third remained in charge of the home 
farm. 

Thus made free to choose for himself 
William decided to emigrate West. In 
1853, accordingly, he came to Iowa. His 
elder sister, Hannah, wife of E. H. Williams, 
was then living at Garnavillo, Clayton 
County, and there he went first. In that 
way he selected Northeast Iowa as l lf s 



12A 



GOVERNORS OF IOWA. 



future home. After teaching one winter at 
I lardin, he was for three years employed as 
a sort of foreman on the Grand Meadow 
farm of his brother-in-law, Judge Williams. 

In 1857 he bought a one-third interest in 
the Clermont Mills, and located at Cler- 
mont, Fayette Count}-. He soon was able 
to buy the other two-thirds, and within a 
year found himself sole owner. He oper- 
ated this mill until 1874, when he sold to S. 
M. Leach. On the breaking out of the war 
he offered to enlist, but was rejected on ac- 
count of the loss of his right eye. Being 
informed he might possibly be admitted as 
a commissioned officer he raised a company 
and received a commission as First Lieu- 
tenant, but was again rejected for the same 
disability. 

After selling the mill Mr. Larrabee de- 
voted himself to farming, and started a 
private bank at Clermont. He also, ex- 
perimentally, started a large nursery, but 
this resulted only in confirming the belief 
that Northern Iowa has too rigorous a cli- 
mate for fruit-raising. 

Mr. Larrabee did not begin his political 
career until 1867. He was reared as a 
Whig, and became a Republican on the or- 
ganization of that party. While interested 
in politics he generally refused local offices, 
serving only as treasurer of the School 
Board prior to 1867. In the autumn of that 
year, on the Republican ticket, he was 
elected to represent his county in the State 
Senate. To this high position he was re- 
elected from time to time, so that he served 
as Senator continuously for eighteen years 
before being promoted to the highest office 
in the State. He was so popular at home 
that he was generally re-nominated by ac- 
clamation, and for some years the Demo- 
crats did not even make nominations. 
During the whole eighteen years Senator 
Larrabee was a member of the principal 
committee, that on Ways and Means, of 
which he was generally chairman, and was 



also a member of other committees. In the 
pursuit of the duties thus devolving upon 
him he was indefatigable. It is said that 
he never missed a committee meeting. Not 
alone in this, but in private and public 
business of all kinds his uniform habit is 
that of close application to work. Many 
of the important measures passed by the 
Legislature owe their existence or present 
form to him. 

He was a candidate for the gubernatorial 
nomination in 1881, but entered the contest 
too late, as Governor Sherman's following 
had been successfully organized. In 1885 
it was generally conceded before the meet- 
ing of the convention that he would be 
nominated, which he was, and his election 
followed as a matter of course. He was 
inaugurated January 14, 1886, and so far 
has made an excellent Governor. His 
position in regard to the liquor question, 
that on which political fortunes are made 
and lost in Iowa, is that the majority should 
rule. He was personally in favor of high 
license, but having been elected Governor, 
and sworn to uphold the Constitution and 
execute the laws, he proposes to do so. 

A Senator who sat beside him in the 
Senate declares him to be "a man of the 
broadest comprehension and informatiou. 
an extraordinarily clear reasoner, fair and 
conscientious in his conclusions, and of 
Spartan firmness in his matured judg- 
ment," and says that " he brings the prac- 
tical facts and philosophy of human nature, 
the science and history of law, to aid in his 
decisions, and adheres with the earnestness 
of Jefferson and Sumner to the fundamental 
principles of the people's rights in govern- 
ment and law." 

Governor Larrabee was married Sep- 
tember 12, 1 86 1, at Clermont, to Anna M. 
Appelman, daughter of Captain G. A. 
Appelman. Governor Larrabee has seven 
children — Charles, Augusta, Julia, Anna, 
William, Frederic and Helen. 




M 



/Sc^cx^S 



HORACE BOIES. 



225 




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II ( >EACE BOIES, Governor 
of Iowa, is a lawyer by 
profession, and a resident 
of the city of Waterloo, 
•g^, of which city he has 
i* been a resident, engaged 
in the active practice of his pro- 
fession, since 1867. Governor 
Boies is a son of Eber and Hettie 
(Ilenshaw) Boies, and was born 
in Aurora, Erie County, New 
York, on the 7th day of Decem- 
ber, 1827. His father was a 
farmer by occupation, and in 
moderate circumstances, and Horace was 
reared under the healthful influence of farm 
life. He attended the public schools as op- 
portunity afforded, until sixteen years of age, 
when, being inspired with an ambition to see 
more of the world than had been possible for 
him within the narrow limits of his native 
town, with the added variety of an occasional 
visit to Buffalo, he persuaded his father to 
consent to his departure for the West. Pass- 
age was secured on a steamer at Buffalo, 
which was bound up the lakes, and in due 
time he landed at the little hamlet of Racine, 
Wisconsin. This was in the spring of 1843, 
live years before Wisconsin was admitted 
into the Union. The to'al cash assets of the 
youthful emigrant amounted to but 75 cents, 



which required on his part strict economy 
and immediate employment. 

Not finding a favorable opening at Racine, 
he struck out on foot in search of work 
among the farmers, which he secured of a 
settler near Rochester, and about twenty 
miles from Racine. His employer proved a 
hard task-master, and put the boy at the 
laborious work of ditch-digging, while he 
gave him the poorest kind of food, and even 
that to a very limited amount. After a 
month spent in a half-starved condition, and 
having been greatly overworked, he received 
the sum of $10 for his servi