Full text of "Portrait and biographical album of Vermilion county, Illinois, containing ... sketches of prominent ... citizens ... of all the governors of the state, and of the presidents of the United States"

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1 ermilion and Edgar louniies, Illinois,

CONTAINING

Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and
Representative Citizens of the Counties,

TOGETHER WITH

PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES OF ALL THE GOVERNORS OF THE STATF, AND OF THE

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

CHICAGO:

CHAPMAN BROTHERS,

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•■/x*'";>'.l I K greatest of English historians, M lcai lay, and one of the most brilliant writers of
the present century, has said : "The history of a country is best told in a record of the
tves of its people." In conformity with this idea the Portrait and Biographical
Album of this county has been prepared. Instead of going to must)' records, and
taking therefrom dry statistical matter that can be appreciated by but few, our
corps of writers have gone to the people, the men and women who have, by their
enterprise and industry, brought the county to a rank second to none among those
comprising this great and noble State, and from their lips have the story of their life
struggles. No more interesting or instructive matter could be presented to an intelli-
gent public. In this volume will be found a record of many whose lives are worthy the
imitation of coming generations. It tells how some, commencing life in poverty, by
industry and economy have accumulated wealth. It tells how others, with limited
advantages for securing an education, have become learned men and women, with an
y\_ influence extending throughout the length and breadth of the land. It tells of men who
have risen from the lower walks of life to eminence as statesmen, and whose names have
)fi'J%f\^, become famous. It tells of those in every walk in life who have striven to succeed, and
^ records how that success has usually crowned their efforts. It tells also of many, very

many, who, nol seeking the applause of the world, have pursued "the even tenor of their way,'' content
to have it said of them as Christ said of the woman performing a. deed of mercy — "they have done what
they could." It tells how that many in the pride and strength of young manhood left the plow and the
anvil, the lawyer's office and the counting-room, left every trade and profession, and at their country's
call went forth valiantly "to do or die," and how through their efforts the Union was restored and peace
once more reigned in the land. In the life of every man and of every woman is a lesson that should not
he lost upon those who follow after.

Coming generations will appreciate this volume and preserve it as a sacred treasure, from the fact
that it contains so much that would never find its way into public records, and which would otherwise be
inaccessible. Great care has been taken in the compilation of the work and every opportunity possible
given to those represented to insure correctness in what has been written, and the publishers flatter them-
selves that they give to their readers a work with few errors of consequence. In addition tothe biograph-
ical sketches, portraits of a number of representative citizens are given.

The faces of some, and biographical sketches of many, will be missed in this volume. For this the
publishers are not to blame. Not having a proper conception of the work, some refused to give the
information necessary to compile a sketch, while others were indifferent. Occasionally some member of
the family would oppose the enterprise, and on account of such opposition the support of the interested
one would be withheld. In a few instances men could never be found, though repeated calls were made
at their residence or place of business.

CHAPMAN PROS.
Chicago, September, 188'J.

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FIRST PRESIDENT.

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HE Fatlier of our Country was
Igbom in Westmorland Co., Va.,
Feb. 22, 1732. His parents
were Augustine and Mary
(Ball) Washington, The family
to which he belonged has not
f been satisfactorily traced in
England. His great-grand-
father, John Washington, em-
igrated to Virginia about 1657,
and became a prosperous
' planter. He had two sons,
Lawrence and John. The
former married Mildred Warner
and had three children, John.
Augustine and Mildred. Augus-
tine, the father of George, first
married Jane Butler, who bore
him four children, two of whom,
Lawrence and Augustine, reached
maturity. Of six children by his
second marriage, George was the
eldest, the others being Hetty,
Samuel, John Augustine, Charles
and Mildred.
Augustine Washington, the father of George, died
in 1743, leaving a large landed property. To his
eldest son, Lawrence, he bequeathed an estate on
the Patomac, afterwards known as Mount Vernon,
and to George he left the parental residence. George
received only such education as the neighborhood
schools afforded, save for a short time after lie left
school, when he received private instruction in
mathematics. His spelling was rather defective.

Remarkable stories are told of his great physical
strength and development at an early age. He was
an acknowledged leader among his companions, and
was early noted for that nobleness ui 1 haracter, fair-
ness and veracity which characterized his whole life.

When George was 14 years old he had a desire to go to
sea, and a midshipman's warrant was secured for him,
but through the opposition of his mother the idea was
abandoned. Two years later he was appointed
surveyor to the immense estate of Lord Fairfax. In
this business he spent three years in a rough frontier
life, gaining experience which afterwards proved very
essential to him. In 175 r, though only 19 years of
age, he was apiointed adjutant with the rank of
major in the Virginia militia, then being trained for
active service against the French and Indians. Soon
after this he sailed to the West Indies with his brother
Lawrence, who went there to restore his health. They
soon returned, and in the summer of 1752 Lawrence
died, leaving a large fortune to an infant daughter
who did not long survive him. On her demise the
estate of Mount Vernon was given to George.

Upon the arrival of Robert Dinwiddie, as Lieuten-
ant-Governor of Virginia, in 1752, the militia was
reorganized, and the province divided into four mili-
tary districts, of which the northern was assigned to
Washington as adjutant general. Shortly after this
a very perilous mission was assigned him and ai -
cepted, which others had refused. This was to pro-
ceed to the French post near Lake Erie in North-
western Pennsylvania. The distance to be traversed
was between 500 and 600 miles. Winter was at hand,
and the journey was to be made without military
escort, through a territory occupied by Indians. The

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

trip was a perilous one,-and several limes he came near
losing his life, yet he returned in safety and furnished
a full and useful report of his expedition. A regiment
of 300 men was raised in Virginia and put in com-
mand of Col. Joshua Fry, and Major Washington was
commissioned lieutenant-colonel. Active war was
then begun against the French and Indians, in which
Washington took a most important part. In the
memorable event of July 9, 1755, known as Brad-
dock's defeat, Washington was almost the only officer
of distinction who escaped from the calamities of the
day with life and honor. The other aids of Braddock
ivere disabled early in the action, and Washington
alone was left in that capacity on the field. In a letter
to his brother he says : "I had four bullets through
my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet I escaped
unhurt, though death was leveling my companions
on every side." An Indian sharpshooter said he was
not born to be killed by a bullet, for he had taken
direct aim at him seventeen times, and failed to hit
him.

After having been five years in the military service,
and vainly sought promotion in the royal army, he
took advantage of the fall of Fort Duquesne and the
expulsion of the French from the valley of the ( )hio,
10 resign his commission. Soon after he entered the
Legislature, where, although not a leader, he took an
active and important part. January 17, 1759, he
married Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) Custis, the wealthy
widow of John Parke Custis.

When the British Parliament had closed the port
if Boston, the cry went up throughout the provinces
that "The cause of Boston is the cause of us all."
It was then, at the suggestion of Virginia, that a Con-
gress of all the colonies was called to meet at Phila-
delphia, Sept. 5, 1774, to secure their common liberties,
peaceably if possible. To this Congress Col. Wash-
ington was sent as a delegate. On May 10, 1775, the
Congress re-assembled, when the hostile intentions of
England were plainly apparent. The battles of Con-
cord and Lexington had been fought. Among the
first acts of this Congress was the election of a com-
mander-in-chief of the colonial forces. This high and
responsible office was conferred upon Washington,
who was still a member of the Congress. He accepted
it on June 19, but upon the express condition that he
receive no salary. He would keep an exact account
of expenses and expect Congress lo pay them and
nothing more. It is not the object of this sketch to
trace the military acts of Washington, to whom the
fortunes and liberties of the people of this country
were so long confided. The war was conducted by
him under every possible disadvantage, and while his
forces often met with reverses, yet he overcame every
obstacle, and after seven years of heroic devotion
and matchless skill he gained liberty for the greatest
nation of earth. On Dec. 23, 1783, Washington, in
a parting address of surpassing beauty, lesigned his

commission as commander-in-chief of the army lo
to the Continental Congress sitting at Annapolis. He
retired immediately to Mount Vernon and resumed
his occupation as a farmer and planter, shunning all
connection with public life.

In February, 1 7 89, Washington was unanimously
elected President. In his presidential career he was
subject to the peculiar trials incidental to a new
government ; trials from lack of confidence on the part
of other governments; trials from want of harmony
between the different sections of our own country;
trials from the impoverished condition of the country,
owing to the war and want of credit; trials from the
beginnings of party strife. He was no partisan. His
clear judgment could discern the golden mean; and
while perhaps this alone kept our government from
sinking at the veiy outset, it left him exposed to
attacks from both sides, which were often bitter and
very annoying.

At the expiration of his first term he was unani-
mously re-elected. At the end of this term many
were anxious that he be re-elected, but he absolutely
refused a third nomination. On the fourth of March,
1797, at the expiraton of his second term as Presi-
dent, he returned to his home, hoping to pass there
his few remaining yeais free from the annoyances of
public life. Later in the year, however, his reiiose
seemed likely to be interrupted by war with France.
At the prospect of such a war he was again urged to
lake command of the armies. He chose his sub-
ordinate officers and left to them the charge of mat-
ters in the field, which he superintended from his
home. In accepting the command he made the
reservation that he was not to be in the field until
it was necessary. In the midst of these preparations
his life was suddenly cut off. December 12, he took
a severe cold from a ride in the rain, which, settling
in his throat, produced inflammation, and terminated
fatally on the night of the fourteenth. On the eigh-
teenth his body was borne with military honors to its
final resting place, and interred in the family vault at
Mount Vernon.

Of the character of Washington it is impossible to
speak but in terms of the highest respect and ad-
miration. The more we see of the operations of
our government, and the more deeply we feel the
difficulty of uniting all opinions in a common interest,
the more highly we must estimate the force of his tal-
ent and character, which have been able to challenge
the reverence of all parties, and principles, and na-
tions, and to win a fame as extended as the limits
of the globe, and which we cannot but believe will
be as lasting as the existence of man.

The person of Washington was unusally tan, erect
and well proportioned. His muscular strength was
great. His features were of a beautiful symmetry.
He commanded respect without any appearance of
haughtiness, and ever serious without being dull.

J<rfwiJdmy

SECOND PRESIDES T.

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jl OHN ADAMS, the second
sLPresident and the first Vice-
-President of the United States,

was born in Braintree (now
jj«jb Quincy),Mass., and about ten
"^ miles from Boston, Oct. 19,
1735. His great-grandfather, Henry
Adams, emigrated from England
about 1640, with a family of eight
sons, and settled at Braintree. The
parents of John were John and
Susannah (Boylston) Adams. His
father was a farmer of limited
means, to which he added the bus-
iness of shoemaking. He gave his
eldest son, John, a classical educa-
tion at Harvard College. John
graduated in 1755, and at once took charge oi the
school in Worcester, Mass. This he found but a
"school of affliction," from which lie endeavored to
gain relief by devoting himself, in addition, to the
study of law. For this purpose he placed himself
under the tuition of the only lawyer in the town. He-
had thought seriously of the clerical profession
but seems to have been turned from this by what lie
termed " the frightful engines of ecclesiastical coun-
cils, of diabolical malice, and Calvanistic good nature,''
of the operations of which he had been a witness in
his native town. He was well fitted for the legal
profession, lxissessing a clear, sonorous voice, being
ready and fluent of speech, and having quick percep-
tive powers. He gradually gained practice, and in
1764 married Abigail Smith, a daughter of a minister,
anil a lady of superior intelligence. Shortly after his
marriage, (t7<>5), the attempt of Parliamentary taxa-
tion turned him from law to politics. He took initial
steps toward holdir. B 1 town meeting, and the resolu-

tions he offered on the subject became very populai
throughout the Province, and were adopted word foi
word by over forty different towns. He moved to Bos-
ton in 1768, and became one of the most courageous
and prominent advocatesof the popular cause, and
was chosen a member of the General Com t (the Leg-
lislature) in 1770.

Mr. Adams was chosen one of the first delegates
from Massachusetts to the first Continental Congress,
which met in 1774. Here he distinguished himself
by his capacity foi business and for debate, and ad-
vocated the movement for independence against the
majority of the members. In May, 1776, he meed
and carried a resolution in Congress that the Colonies
should assume the duties of self-government. He
was a prominent member of the committee of ave
apiwiuted June n, to prepare a declaration of inde-
pendence. This article was drawn by Jefferson, but
on Adams devolved the task of battling it through
Congress in a three days debate.

On the day after the Declaration of Independence
was passed, while his soul was yet warm with th •
glow of excited feeling, he wrote a letter to his wife
which, as we read it now,seems to have been dictated
by the spirit of prophecy. "Yesterday," he says, "t'.ie
greatest question was decided that ever was debated
in America; and greater, perhaps, never was or wil.
be decided among men. A resolution was passed
without one dissenting colony, ' that these United
States are, and of right ought to be, free and inde
pendent states.' The day is passed. The fourth of
July, 1776, will be a memorable epoch in the history
of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated
by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary
festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of
deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to Almighty
God. It ought to be solemnized with pomp, shows,

JOHN ADAMS.

games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations
from one end of the continent to the other, from this
time forward for ever. You will think me transported
with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of
the toil, and blood and treasure, that it will cost to
maintain this declaration, and support and defend
these States; yet, through all the gloom, I can see the
rays of light and glory. I can see that the end is
wurth more than all the means; and that posterity
will triumph, although you and I may rue, which I
hope we shall not."

In November, 1777, Mr. Adams was appointed a
delegate to France and to co-operate with Bemjamin
Franklin and Arthur Lee, who were then in Paris, in
the endeavor to obtain assistance in arms and money
from the French Government. This was a severe trial
to his patriotism, as it separated him from his home,
compelled him to cross the ocean in winter, and ex-
posed him to great peril of capture by the British cruis-
ers, who were seeking him. He left France June 17,
1779. In September of the same year he was again
chosen to go to Paris, and there hold himself in readi-
ness to negotiate a treaty of peace and of commerce
with Great Britian, as soon as the British Cabinet
might be found willing to listen to such proposels. He
sailed for France in November, from there he went to
Holland, where he negotiated important loans and
formed important commercial treaties.

Finally a treaty of peace with England was signed
fan. 21, 17S3. The re-action from the excitement,
toil and anxiety through which Mr. Adams had passed
threw him into a fever. After suffering from a con-
tinued fever and becoming feeble and emaciated he
was advised to goto England to drink the waters of
Bath. While in England, still drooping anddespond-
ing, he received dispatches from his own government
urging the necessity of his going to Amsterdam to
negotiate another loan. It was winter; his health was
delicate, yet lie immediately set out, and through
storm, on sea, on horseback and foot, he made the trip.

February 24, 1785. Congress appointed Mr. Adams
envoy to the Court of St. James. Here he met face
to face the King of England, who had so long re-
garded him as a traitor. As England did not
condescend to appoint a minister to the United
States, and as Mr. Adams felt that he was accom-
plishing but little, he sought permission to return to
his own country, where he arrived in June, 17S8.

When Washington was first chosen President, John
Adams, rendered illustiious by his signal services at
home and abroad, was chosen Vice President. Again
at the second election of Washington as President,
Adams was chosen Vice President. In 1796, Wash-
ington retired from public life, and Mr. Adams was
ele< ted President.though not without much opposition.
Serving in this office four years, he was succeeded by
Mr. Jefferson, his opponent in politics.

While Mr. Adams was Vice President the great

French Revolution shook the continent of Europe,
and it was upon this point which he was at issue with
the majority of his countrymen led by Mr. Jefferson.
Mr. Adams felt no sympathy with the French people
in their struggle, for he had no confidence in their
power of self-government, and he utterly abhored the
classof atheist philosophers who he claimed caused it.
On the other hand Jefferson's sympathies were strongly
enlisted in behalf of the French people. Hence or-
iginated the alienation between these distinguished
men, and two powerful parties were thus soon organ-
ized, Adams at the head of the one whose sympathies
were with England and Jefferson led the other in
sympathy with France.

The world has seldom seen a spectacle of more
moral beauty and grandeur, than was presented by the
old age of Mr. Adams. The violence of party feeling
had died away, and he had begun to receive that just
appreciation which, to most men, is not accorded till
after death. No one could look upon his venerable
form, and think of what he had done and suffered,
and how he had given up all the prime and strength
of his life to the public good, without the deepest
emotion of gratitude and respect. It was his peculiar
good fortune to witness the complete success of the
institution which he had been so active in creating and
supporting. In 1824, his cup of happiness was filled
to the brim, by seeing his son elevated to the highest
station in the gift of the people.

The fourth of July, 1826, which completed the half
century since the signing of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, arrived, and there were but three of the
signers of that immortal instrument left u[ion the
earth to hail its morning light. And, as it is
well known, on that day two of these finished their
earthly pilgrimage, a coincidence so remarkable as
to seem miraculous. For a few days before Mr.
Adams had been rapidly failing, and on the morning
of the fourth he found himself too weak to rise from
his bed. On being requested to name a toast for the
customary celebration of the day, he exclaimed " In-
dependence forever." When the day was ushered
in, by the ringing of bells and the firing of cannons,
he was asked by one of his attendants if he knew
what day it was? He replied, "O yes; it is the glor-
ious fourth of July — God bless it — God bless you all."
In the course of the day he said, "It is a great and
glorious day." The last words he uttered were,
"Jefferson survives." But he had, at one o'clock, re-
signed his spiiit into the hands of his God.

The personal appearance and manners of Mr.
Adams were not particularly piejiossessing. His face,
as his portrait manifests,was intellectual ard expres-
sive, but his figure was low and ungraceful, and his
manners were frequently abrupt and uncourteous.
He had neither the lofty dignity of Washington, nor
the engaging elegance and gracefulness which marked
the manners and address of Tefferson.

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THIRD PRESIDENT.

HOMAS JEFFERSON was

born April 2, 1743, at Shad-

xPwell, Albermarle county, Va.

His parents were Peter and
Jane (Randolph) Jefferson,
the former a native of Wales,
and the latter born in Lon-
don. To them were born six
daughters and two sons, of
whom Thomas was the elder.
When 14 years of age his
father died. He received a
most liberal education, hav-
ing been kept diligently at school
from t he time he was five years of
age. In 1760 he entered William
and Mary College. Williamsburg was then the seat
of the Colonial Court, and it was the obodeof fashion
a. id splendor. Young Jefferson, who was then 77
years old, lived somewhat expensively, keeping fine
horses, and much caressed by gay society, yet he
was earnestly devoted to his studies, and irreproai ha-
able in his morals. It is strange, however, under
such influences, that he was not ruined. In the sec-
ond year of his college course, moved by some un-
explained inward impulse, he discarded his horses,
society, and even his favorite violin, to which he had
previously given much time. He often devoted fifteen
hours a day to hard study, allowing himself for ex-
ercise only a run in the evening twilight of a mile out
of the city and back again. He thus attained very
high intellectual culture, alike excellence in philoso-
phy and the languages. The most difficult Latin and
Creek authors he read with facility. A more finished
scholar has seldom gone forth from college halls ; and

there was not to !>e found, perhaps, in all Virginia, a
more pureminded, upright, gentlemanly young man.

"Immediately upon leaving college he began the
study of law. For the short time he continued in the
practice of his profession he rose rapidly and distin-
guished himself by his energy and accuteness as a
lawyer. But the times called for greater action.
The policy of England had awakened the spirit of
resistance of the American Colonies, and the enlarged
views which Jefferson had ever entertained, soon led
him into active political life. In 1769 he was chosen
a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. !n
1772 he married .Mrs. Martha Skelton, a very beauti-
ful, wealthy and highly accomplished young widow.

Upon Mr. Jefferson's large estate at Shadwell, there
was a majestic swell of land, called Monlicello, which
commanded a prospect of wonderful extent and
beauty. This spot Mr. Jefferson selected for his new
home; and here he reared a mansion of modest yet
elegant architecture, which, next to Mount Vernon,
became the most distinguished resort in our land.

In 1775 ,ie was sent to die Colonial Congress,
where, though a silent member, his abilities as a
writer and a reasoner soon become known, and he
was placed upon a number of important committees,
and was chairman of the one appointed for the draw-
ing up of a declaration of independence. This com-
mittee consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams,
Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R.
Livingston. Jefferson, as chairman, was appointed
to draw up the paper. Franklin and Adams suggested
a few verbal changes before it was submitted to Con-
gress. On June 28, a few slight changes were made
in it by Congress, and it was passed and signed July
4, 1776. What must have been the feelings of that

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

man — what the emotions that swelled his breast —
who was charged with the preparation of that Dec-
laration, which, while it made known the wrongs of
America, was also to publish her to the world, free,
soverign and independent. It is one of the most re-
markable papers ever written ; and did noolhcr effort
of the mind of its author exist, that alone would be
sufficient to stamp his name with immortality.

In 1779 Mr. Jefferson was elected successor to
Patrick Henry, ;.s Governor of Virginia. At one time
the British officer, Tarleton, sent a secret expedition to
Monticello, to capture the Governor. Scarcely five
minutes elapsed after the hurried escape of Mr. Jef-
ferson and his family, ere his mansion was in posses-
sion of the British troops. His wife's health, never
very good, was much injured by this excitement, and
in the summer of 1782 she died.

Mr. Jefferson was elected to Congress in 1783.
Two years later lie was appointed Minister Plenipo-
tentiary to France. Returning to the United States
in September, 1789, he became Secretary of State
in Washington's cabinet. This position he resigned
Jan. 1, 1794. In 1797,11c was chosen Vice Presi-
dent, and four years later was elected President over
Mr. Adams, with Aaron Burr as Vice President. In
1804 he was re-elected with wonderful unanimity,
and George Clinton, Vice President.

The early part of Mr. Jefferson's second adminstra-
tion was disturbed by an event which threatened the
tranquility and peace of the Union; this was the con-
spiracy of Aaron Burr. Defeated in the late election
to the Vice Presidency, and led on by an unprincipled
ambition, this extraordinary man formed the plan of a
military expedition into the Spanish territories on our
southwestern frontier, for the purpose of forming there
a new republic. This has been generally supposed
was a mere pretext ; and although it has not been
generally known what his real plans were, there is no
doubt that they were of a far more dangerous
character.

In 1S00, at the expiration of the second term for
which Mr. [efferson had been elected, he determined
to retire from political life. For a period of nearly
forty years, he had been continually before the pub-
lic, and all that time had been employed in offices of
the gieatest trust and responsibility. Having thus de-
voted the best part of his life to the service of his
country, he now felt desirous of that rest which his
declining years required, and upon the organization of
the new administration, in March, 1809, he bid fare-
well forever to public life, and retired to Monticello.

Mr. Jefferson was profuse in his hospitality. Whole
families came in their coaches with their horses, —
fathers and mothers, boys and girls, babies and
nurses, — and remained three and even six months.
Life at Monticello, for years, resembled that at a
fashionable watering-place.

The fourth of July, 1S26, being the fiftieth anniver-

sary of the Declaration of American Independence,
great preparations were made in every part of the
Union for its celebration, as the nation's jubilee, and
the citizens of Washington, to add to the solemnity
of the occasion, invited Mr. Jefferson, as the framer.
and one of the few surviving signers of the Declara-
tion, to participate in their festivities. But an ill-
ness, which had been of several weeks duration, and
had been continually increasing, compelled him to
decline the invitation.

< )n the second of July, the disease under which
he was laboring left him, but in such a reduced
state that his medical attendants, enteitained no
hope of his recovery. From this time he was perfectly
sensible that his last hour was at hand. On the next
day, which was Monday, he asked of those around
him, the day of the month, and on being told it was
the third of July, he expressed the earnest wish that
he might be permitted to breathe the air of the fiftieth
anniversary. His prayer was heard — that day, whose
dawn was hailed with such rapture through our land,
burst upon his eyes, and then they were closed for-
ever. And what a noble consummation of a noble
life! To die on that day, — the birthday of a nation,- -
the day which his own name and his own act had
rendered glorious; to die amidst the rejoicings and
festivities of a whole nation, who looked up to him,
as the author, under God, of their greatest blessings,
was all that was wanting to fill up the record his life.

Almost at the same hour of his death, the kin-
dred spirit of the venerable Adams, as if to bear
him ( ompany, left the scene of his earthly honors.
Hand in hand they had stood forth, the champions ol
freedom; hand in hand, during the dark and desper-
ate struggle of the Revolution, they had cheered and
animated their desponding countrymen; for half a
century they had labored together for the good of
the country; and now hand in hand they depart.
In their lives they had been united in the same great
cause of liberty, and in their deaths they were not
divided.

In person Mr. Jefferson was tall and thin, rather
above six feet in height, but well formed; his eyes
were light, his hair originally red, in after life became
white and silvery; his complexion was fair, his fore
head broad, and his whole countenance intelligent and
thoughtful. He possessed great fortitude of mind as
well as personal courage; and his command of tem-
per was such that his oldest and most intimate friends
never recollected to have seen him in a passion.
His manners, though dignified, were simple and un-
affected, and his hospitality was so unbounded that
all found at his house a ready welcome. In conver-
sation he was fluent, eloquent and enthusiastic; and
his language was remarkably pure and correct. He
was a finished classical scholar, and in his writings is
discemable the care with which he formed his style
upon the best models of antiquity.

* j

J- <2/Ocs~<-^ 4sCC

it<^>H o^K

FOUR TH J >£ t- SI DEN T.

PEQES n^DISOl}.

AMES MADISON, "Father
of the Constitution," and fourth
^President of the United States,
was born March 16, 1757, and
died at his home in Virginia,
''^ |une 28, 1S36. The name of

r. "'"•' Vm James Madison is inseparably con-
nected with most of the im|»rtant
events in that heroic period of our
country during which the founda-
tions of this great republic were
laid. He was the last of the founders
of the Constitution of the United
States to be called to his eternal
reward.

The Madison family were among
the early emigrants to the New World,
landing upon the shores of the Chesa-
peake but 15 years after the settle-
ment of Jamestown. The father of
James Madison was an opulent
planter, residing upon a very fine es-
tate called "Montpelier," Orange Co.,
Va. The mansion was situated in
the midst of scenery highly pictur-
esque and romantic, on the west side
of South-west Mountain, at the foot of
It was but 25 miles from the home of
Jefferson at Monticello. The closest personal and
political attachment existed between these illustrious
men, from their early youth until death.

The early education of Mr. Madison was conducted
mostly at home under a private tutor. At the age of
iS he was sent to Princeton College, in New Jersey.
Here lie applied himself to study with the most im-

Blue Ridge.

prudent zeal; allowing himself, for months, but three
hours' sleep out of the 24. His health thus became so
seriously impaired that he never recovered any vigor
of constitution. He graduated in 177 1, with a feeble
body, with a character of utmost purity, and with a
mind highly disciplined and richly stored with learning
which embellished and gave proficiency to his subst'
quent career.

Returning to Virginia, he commenced the study of
law and a course of extensive and systematic reading.
This educational course, the spirit of the times in
which he lived, and the society with which he asso-
ciated, all combined to inspire him with a strong
love of liberty, and to train him for his life-work of
a statesman. Being naturally of a religious turn of
mind, and his frail health leading him to think that
his life was not to be long, he directed especial atten-
tion to theological studies. Endowed with a mind
singularly free from passion and prejudice, and with
almost unequalled powers of reasoning, he weighed
all the arguments for and against revealed religion,
until his faith became so established as never to
be shaken.

In the spring of 1776, when 26 years of age, he
was elected a member of the Virginia Convention, to
frame the constitution of the State. The next year
(1777), he was a candidate for the General Assembly.
He refused to treat the whisky-lovir.g voters, and
consequently lost his election ; but those who had
witnessed the talent, energy and public spirit of the
modest young man, enlisted themselves in his behalf,
and he was appointed to the Executive Council.

Both Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson were
Governors of Virginia while Mr. Madison remained
member of the Council ; and their appreciation of his

JAMES MADISON.

intellectual, social and moral worth, contributed not
a little to his subsequent eminence. In the year
1780, he was elected a member of the Continental
Congress. Here he met the most illustrious men in
our land, and he was immediately assigned to one of
the most conspicuous positions among them.

For three years Mr. Madison continued in Con-
gress, one of its most active and influential members.
In the year 1784, his term having expired, he was
elected a member of the Virginia Legislature.

No man felt more deeply than Mr. Madison the
utter inefficiency of the old confederacy, with no na-
tional government, with no power to form treaties
which would be binding, or to enforce law. There
was not any State more prominent than Virginia in
the declaration, that an efficient national government
must be formed. In January, 1786, Mr. Madison
carried a resolution through the General Assembly of
Virginia, inviting the other States to appoint commis-
sioners to meet in convention at Annapolis to discuss
this subject. Five States only were represented. The
convention, however, issued an6ther call, drawn up
by Mr. Madison, urging all the States to send their
delegates to Philadelphia, in May, 17S7, to draft
a Constitution for the United States, to take the place
of that Confederate League. The delegates met at
t he time appointed. Every State but Rhode Island
was represented. George Washington was chosen
president of the convention; and the present Consti-
tution of the United States was then and there formed.
There was, perhaps, no mind and no pen more ac-
tive in framing this immortal document than the mind
and the pen of James Madison.

The Constitution, adopted by a vote 8r to 79, was
to be presented to the several States for acceptance.
But grave solicitude was felt. Should it be rejected
we should be left but a conglomeration of independent
States, with but little |»wer at home and little respect
abroad. Mr. Madison was selected by the conven-
tion to draw up an address to the people of the United
States, expounding tl.e principles of the Constitution,
and urging its adoption. There was great opposition
to it at fust, but it at length triumphed over all, and
went into effect in 1789.

Mr. Madison was elected to the House of Repre-
sentatives in the first Congress, and soon became the
avowed leader of the Republican party. While in
New York attending Congress, he met Mrs Todd, a
young widow of remarkable power of fascination,
whom he married. She was in person and character
queenly, and probably no lady has thus far occupied
so prominent a position in the very peculiar society
which has constituted our republican court as Mrs.
Madison.

Mr. Madison served as Secretary of State under
Jefferson, and at the close of his administration
was chosen President. At this time the encroach-
ments of England had brought us to the verge of war.

British orders in council destioyed our commerce, and
our flag was exposed to constant insult. Mr. Madison
was a man of peace. Scholarly in his taste, retiiing
in his disposition, war had no charms for him. But the
meekest spirit can be roused. It makes one's blood
boil, even now, to think of an American ship brought
to, upon the ocean, by the guns of an English cruiser.
A young lieutenant steps on board and orders the
crew to be paraded before him. With great nonchal-
ance he selects any number whom he may please to
designate as British subjects ; orders them down the
ship's side into his boat; and places them on the gun-
deck of his man-of-war, to fight, by compulsion, the
battles of England. This right of search and im-
pressment, no efforts of our Government could induce
the British cabinet to relinquish.

On the 1 8th of June, 181 2, President Madison gave
his approval to an act of Congress declaring war
against Great Britain. Notwithstanding the bitter
hostility of the Federal party to the war, the country
in general approved; and Mr. Madison, on the 4th
of March, 1813, was re-elected by a large majority,
and entered upon his second term of office. This is
not the place to describe the various adventures of
this war on the land and on the water. Our infant
navy then laid the foundations of its renown in grap-
pling wilh the most formidable power which ever
swept the seas. The contest commenced in earnest
by the appearance of a British fleet, early in Febrnaiy,
18 13, in Chesapeake Bay, declaring nearly the whole
coast of the United States under blockade.

The Emperor of Russia offered his services as me
ditator. America accepted ; England refused. A Brit-
ish force of five thousand men landed on the banks
of the Patuxet River, near its entrance into Chesa-
peake Bay, and marched rapidly, by way of Bladens-
burg, upon Washington.

The straggling little city of Washington was thrown
into consternation. The cannon of the brief conflict
at Bladensbiirg echoed through the streets of the
metropolis. The whole population fled from the city.
The President, leaving Mrs. Madison in the White
House, with her carriage drawn up at the door to
await his speedy return, hurried to meet the officers
in a council of war. He met our troops utterly routed,
and he could not go back without danger of being
captured. But few hours elapsed ere the Presidential
Mansion, the Capitol, and all the public buildings in
Washington were in flames.

The war closed after two years of fighting, and on
Feb. 13, 1815, the treaty of peace was signed at Ghent.

On the 4th of March, 1817, his second term of
office expired, and he resigned the Presidential chair
to his friend, James Monroe. He retired to his beau-
tiful home at Montpelier, and there passed the re-
mainder of his days. On June 28, r836, then ;it the
age of 85 years, he fell asleep in death. Mrs. Madi-
son died July 12, 1849.

^^7L^

FIFTH PRESIDENT.

AMES MONROE, the fifth
President of The United States,
was born in Westmoreland Co.,
Va., April 2.8, 175S. His early
life was passed at the |>lace of
nativity. His ancestors had for
e .: --yVyg) many years resided in the prov-
ince ill which he was horn. When,
at 17 years of age, in the process
'\ of completing his education at
William and Mary College, the Co-
lonial Congress assembled at Phila-
delphia to deliberate upon the un-
just and manifold oppressions of
Great Britian, declared the separa-
tion of the Colonies, and promul-
gated the Declaration of Indepen-
dence. Had he been born ten years before it is highly
probable that he would have been one ot the signers
of that celebrated instrument. At this time he left
s< liool and enlisted among the patriots.

He joined the army when everything looked hope-
less and gloomy. The number of deserters increased
from day to day. The invading armies came pouring
in; and the tories not only favored the cause of the
mother country, but disheartened the new recruits,
who were sufficiently terrified at the prospect of con-
tending with an enemy whom they had been taught
to deem invincible. To such brave spirits as James
Monroe, who went right onward, undismayed through
difficulty and danger, the United States owe their
political emancipation. The young cadet joined the
ranks, and espoused the cause of his injured country,
with a firm determination to live or die with her strife

for liberty. Firmly yet sadly he shared in the mel-
ancholy retreat from Harleam Heights and White-
Plains, and accompanied the dispirited army as it fled
before its foes through New Jersey. In four months
alter the Declaration of Independence, the patriots
had been beaten in seven battles. At the battle of
Trenton he led the vanguard, and, in the act of (barg-
ing upon the enemy he received a wound in the left
shoulder.

As a reward for his bravery, Mr. Monroe was pro-
moted a captain of infantry; and, having recovered
from his wound, he rejoined the army. He, however,
receded from the line of promotion, by becoming an
officer in the staff of Lord Sterling. During the cam-
paigns of 1777 and 1778, in the actions of Brandy
wine, Germantown and Monmouth, he continued
aid-decamp; but becoming desirous to regain his
position in the army, he exerted himself to collec 1 .1
regiment for the Virginia line. This scheme failed
owing to the exhausted condition of the State. Upon
this failure he entered the office of Mr. Jefferson, at
that petiod Governor, and pursued, with considerable
ardor, the study of common law. He did not, however,
entirely lay aside the knapsack for the green bag;
but on the invasions of the enemy, served as a volun-
teer, during the two years of his legal pursuits.

In 1 7 S 2 , he was elected from King George county,
a member ol the Leglislature of Virginia, and by that
body he was elevated to a seat in the Executive
Council. He was thus honored with the confidence
ol his fellow citizens at 2; years of age; and having
at this early period displayed some of that ability
and aptitude for legislation, which were afterwards
employed with unremittirg energy for the public good,

JAMES MONROE.

he was in the succeeding year chosen a member of
the Congress of the United States.
Deeply as Mr. Monroe felt the imperfections of the old
Confederacy, he was opposed to the new Constitution,
thinking, with many others of 'he Republican parly,
that it gave too much power to the Central Government,
and not enough to the individual States. Still he re-
tained the esteem of his friends who were its warm
supporters, and who, notwithstanding his opposition
secured its adoption. In 1789, he became a member
of the United States Senate; which office he held for
four years. Every month the line of distinction be-
tween the two great parties which divided the nation,
the Federal and the Republican, was growing more
distinct. The two prominent iaeas which now sep-
arated them were, that the Republican party was in
sympathy with Fiance, and also in favor of such a
strict construction of the Constitution as to give the
Central Government as little power, and the State
Governments as much power, as the Constitution would
warrant. The Federalists sympathized with England,
and were in favor of a liberal construction of the Con-
stitution, which would give as much power to the
Central Government as that document could possibly
authorize.

The leading Federalists and Republicans were
alike noble men, consecrating all their energies to the
good of the nation. Two more honest men or more
pure patriots than John Adams the Federalist, and
James Monroe the Republican, never breathed. In
building up this majestic nation, which is destined
to eclipse all Grecian and Assyrian greatness, the com-
bination of their antagonism was needed to create the
tight equilibrium. And yet each in his day was de-
nounced as almost a demon.

Washington was then President. England had es-
poused the cause of the Bourbons against the princi-
ples of the French Revolution. All Europe was drawn
into the conflict. We were feeble and far away.
Washington issued a proclamation of neutrality be-
tween these contending powers. France had helped
us in the struggle for our liberties. All the despotisms
of Europe were now combined to prevent the French
from escaping from a tyranny a thousand-fold worse
than that which we had endured Col. Monroe, more
magnanimous than prudent, was anxious that, at
whatever hazard, we should help our old allies in
their extremity. It was the impulse of a generous
and noble nature. He violently opposed the Pres-
ident's proclamation 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 de-
nouncing the policy of the Government, as the minister
of that Government to the Republic of France. Mr.
Monroe was welcomed by the National Convention
in France witn the most enthusiastic demonstrations.

Shortly after his return to this country, Mr. Mon-
roe was elected Governor of Virginia, and held the
office for three yeais. He was again sent to France to
co-operate with Chancellor Livingston in obtaining
the vast territory then known as the Province of
Louisiana, which France had but shortly before ob-
tained from Spain. Tneir united efforts were sue
cessful. For the comparatively small sum of fifteen
millions of dollars, the entire territory of Orleans and
district of Louisiana were added to the United States.
This was probably the largest transfer of real estate
which was ever made in all the history of the world

From France Mr. Monroe went to England to ob-
tain from that country some recognition of oui
rights as neutrals, and to remonstrate against those
odious impressments of our seamen. but Eng-
land was unrelenting. He again returned to Eng-
land on the same mission, but could receive no
redress. He returned to his home and was again
chosen Governor of Virginia. This he soon resigned
to accept the position of Secretary of State under
Madison. While in this office war with England was
declared, the Secretary ot War resigned, and during
these trying times, the duties of the War Department
were also put upon him. He was truly the armor-
bearer of President Madison, and the most efficient
business man in his cabinet. Upon the return ol
peace he resigned the Department of War, but con-
tinued in the office of Secretary of State until the ex-
piration of Mr. Madison's adminstration. At the elec
lion held the previous autumn Mr. Monroe himself had
been chosen President with but little opposition, and
upon March 4, 1 S f 7, was inaugurated. Four years
later he was elected for a second term.

Among the important measures of his Presidency
were the cession of Florida to the L'nited States; the
Missouri Compromise, and the " Monroe doctrine.''

This famous doctrine, since known as the " Monroe
doctrine," was enunciated by him in 1823. At that
time the United States had recognized the independ-
ence of the South American states, and did not wish
to have European powers longer attempting to sub-
due portions of the American Continent. The doctrine
is as follows: "That we should consider any attempt
on the part of European powers to extend their sys-
tem to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous
to our peace and safety," and "that we could not
view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing
or controlling American governments or provinces in
any other light than as a manifestation by European
powers of an unfriendly disposition toward the United
States." This doctrine immediately affected the course
of foreign governments, and has become the approved
sentiment of the United States.

At the end of his second term Mr Monroe retired
to his home in Virginia, where he lived until 1830,
when he went to New Vork to live with his son-in
law. In that city he died, on the 4th of July, 1831

J, 2, At

ojy^j,

SIXTH PRESIDENT.

J2A 301)1] Qmi)6Y WW$- 1

OHN QUINCY ADAMS, the
sixth President of the United
ip States, was horn in the rural
home of his honored lather.
John Adams, in Quincy, Mass ,
on the i i tli cf July, 1767. His
mother, a woman of exalted
worth, watched over his childhood
during the almost constant ab-
sence of his father. When hut
eight years of age, he stood with
his mother on an eminence, listen-
ing to the booming of the great hat-
tie on Bunker's Hill, and gazing on
upon the smoke and flames billow-
ing up from the conflagration of
Charlestown.

When but eleven years old he
took a tearful adieu of his mother,
to sail with his fatner for Europe,
through a fleet of hostile British cruisers. The bright,
animated boy spent a year and a half in I 1 . n is, where
his lather was associated with Franklin and Lee as
minister plenipotentiary. His intelligence attracted
the notice of these distinguished men, and he received
from them flattering marks of attention.

Mr. John Adams had scarcely teturned to this
cour.try, in 1779, ere he was again sent abroad Again
John Quincy accompanied his father. At Paris he
applied himself with great diligence, for six months,
to .-.'udy; then accompanied his father to Holland,
where he entered, first a school in Amsterdam, then
the University at Leyden. About a year from this
time, in 1781, when the manly 1 oy was but fourteen
yea"; of age, he was selected by Mr. Dana, our min-
istei to the Russian court, as his private secretary.

In this school of incessant labor and of enobling
culture he spent fourteen months, and then returned
to Holland through Sweden, Denmark, Hamburg and
Bremen. This long journey he took alone, in the
winter, when in his sixteenth year. Again he resumed
his studies, under a private tutor, at Hague. Thence,

in the spring of 1782, he accompanied his father to
Paris, traveling leisurely, and forming acquaintance
with the most distinguished men on the Continent;
examining architectural remains, galleries of paintings,
and all renowned works of art. At Paris he again
became associated with the most illustrious men of
all lands in the contemplations of the loftiest temporal
themes which can engross the human mind. Alter
a short visit to England he returned to Patis, and
consecrated all his energies to study until May, 1785,
when he returned to America. To a brilliant young
man of eighteen, who had seen much of the world,
and who was familiar with the etiquette of courts, a
residence with his father in London, under such cir-
cumstances, must have been extremely attractive;
but with judgment very rare in one of his age, he pre-
ferred to return to America to complete his education
in an American college. He wished then to study
law, that with an honorable profession, he might be
able to obtain an independent support.

Upon leaving Harvard College, at the age of twenty,
he studied law for three years. In June, 1794, be-
ing then but twenty-seven years of age, he was ap-
pointed by Washington, resident minister at the
Netherlands. Sailing from Boston in July, he reached
London in < Ictober, where he was immediately admit-
ted to the deliberations of Messrs. Jay and Pinckney,
assisting them in negotiating a commercial treaty with
Cicat P.ritian. After thus spending a fortnight in
London, he proceeded to the Hague.

In July, 1797, he left the Hague to go to Portugal as
minister plenipotentiary. On his way to Portugal,
upon arriving in London, he met with despatches
directing him to the court of Berlin, but requesting
him to remain in London until he should receive his
instructions. While waiting he was married to an
American lady to whom he had been previously en-
gaged, — Miss Louisa Catherine Johnson, daughter
of Mr. Joshua Johnson, American consul in London;
a lady endownd with that beauty and those accom-
plishment which eminently fitted hertomove in the
elevated sphere for which she was destined.

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

He reached Berlin with his wife in November, 1797 ;
where he remained until July, 1799, when, having ful-
filled all the purposes of his mission, he solicited his
recall.

Soon after his return, in 1S02, he was chosen to
the Senate of Massachusetts, from Boston, and then
was elected Senator of the United States for six years,
from the 4th of March, 1804. His reputation, his
ability and his experience, placed him immediately
among the most prominent and influential members
of that body. Especially did he sustain the Govern-
ment in its measures of resistance to the encroach-
ments of England, destroying our commerce and in-
sulting 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 resistance.

In 1S09, Madison succeeded Jefferson in the Pres-
idential chair, and he immediately nominated John
Quincy Adams minister to St. Petersburg. Resign-
ing his professorship in Harvard College, he embarked
at Boston, in August, 1809.

While in Russia, Mr. Adams was an intense stu-
dent. He devoted his attention to the language and
history of Russia; to the Chinese trade; to the
European system of weights, measures, and coins; to
the climate and astronomical observations; while he
Kept up a familiar acquaintance with the Creek and
Latin classics. In all the universities of Europe, a
more accomplished scholar could scarcely be found.
All through life the Bible constituted an important
part ot his studies. It was his rule to read five
chapters every day.

On the 4th of March, 1 8 17, Mr. Monroe took the
Presidential chair, and immediately appointed Mr.
Adams Secretary of State. Taking leave of his num-
erous friends in public and private life in Europe, he
sailed in Jane, 1819, for the United States. On the
18th of August, he again crossed the threshold of his
home in Quincy. During the eight yearsof Mr. Mon-
roe's administration, Mr Adams continued Secretary
of State.

Some time before the close of Mr. Monroe's second
term of office, new candidates began to be presented
for the Presidency. The friends of Mr. Adams brought
forward his name. It was an exciting campaign.
Party spirit was never more bitter. Two hundred and
sixty electoral votes were cast. Andrew Jackson re-
ceived ninety-nine; John Quincy Adams, eighty-four;
William H. Crawford, forty-one ; Henry Clay, thirty-
seven. As there was no choii e by the people, the
question went to the House of Representatives. Mr.
Clay gave the vote of Kentucky to Mr. Adams, and
he was elected.

The friends of all the disappointed candidates now
combined in a venomous and persistent assault upon
Mr. Adams. There is nothing more disgraceful in
■>.l-.e past history of our country than the abuse whit h

was poured in one uninterrupted stream, upon this
high-minded, upright, patriotic man. There never was
an administration more pure in principles, more con-
scientiously devoted to the best interests of the coun-
try, than that of John Quincy Adams; and never, per-
haps, was there an administration more unscrupu-
lously and outrageously assailed.

Mr. Adams was, to a very remarkable degree, ab-
stemious and temperate in his habits; always rising
early, and taking much exercise. When at his home in
Quincy, he has been known to walk, before breakfast,
seven miles to Boston. In Washington, it was said
that he was the first man up in the city, lighting his
own fire and applying himself to work in his library
often long before dawn.

On the 4th of March, 1829, Mr. Adams retired
from the Presidency, and was succeeded by Andrew-
Jackson. John C. Calhoun was elected Vice ''resi-
dent. The slavery question now began to assume
jxjrtentous magnitude. Mr. Adams returned to
Quincy and to his studies, which he pursued with un-
abated zeal. But he was not long permitted lo re-
main in retirement. In November, 1S30, he was
elected representative to Congress. For seventeen
years, until his death, he occupied the post as repre-
sentative, towering above all his peers, ever readv lo
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 him-
self bound to no party. Probably there never was a
member more devoted to his duties. He was usually
the first in his place in the morning, and the last lo
leave his seat in the evening. Not a measure could
be brought forward and escape his scrutiny. '1 he
battle which Mr. Adams fought, almost singly, against
the proslavery party in the Government, was sublime
in its moral daiing 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 assassination ;
but no threats could intimidate him, and his final
triumph was complete.

It has been said of President Adams, that when his
body was bent and his hair silvered by the lapse of
fourscore years, yielding to the simple faith of a little
child, he was accustomed to repeat every night, before
he slept, the prayer which his mother taught him in
his infant years.

On the 21st of February, 1848, he rose on the floor
of Congress, with a paper in his hand, lo address the
speaker. Suddenly he fell, again stricken by paraly-
sis, ami was caught in the arms of those around him.
For a time he was senseless, as he was conveyed to
the sofa in the rotunda. With reviving conscious-
ness, he opened his eyes, looked calmly around and
said " This is the endof earth .•"then after a moment's
pause he added, "/am content." These were Ihe
last words of the grand "Old Man Eloquent."

<2^yy^i^^^-tJ)^=^Gu£^^^crZy-

SE I 'EN I H 1>RESIL> EN 1 .

■ I

- •;♦ -»>

- ■ '■;-'••

NDREW JACKSON, the

m seventh President of the

^United States, was born in

Waxhaw settlement, N. (";.,

March 15, 1767, a few days
after his father's death. Mis
parents were poor emigrants
from Ireland, and took up
their abode in Waxhaw set-
tlement, where they lived in
deepest poverty.
Andrew, or Andy, as he was
universally called, grew up a very
rough, rude, turbulent boy. His
features were coarse, his form un-
gainly; and there was but very
little in his character, made visible, which was at-
trai live.

When only thirteen years old he joined the volun-
teers of Carolina against the British invasion. In
1781, he and his brother Robert were captured and
imprisoned for a time at Camden. A British officer
ordered him to brush his mud-spattered boots. " I am
a prisoner of war, not your servant," was the reply ol
the dauntless boy.

The brute drew his sword, and aimed a desperate
I'low at the head of the helpless young prisoner.
Andrew raised his hand, and thus received two fear-
ful gashes, — one on the hand and the other upon the
head. The officer then turned to his brother Robert
with the same demand. He also refused, and re-
ceived a blow from the keen-edged sabre, which quite
disabled him, and which probably soon after caused
his death. They suffered much other ill-treatment, and
were finally stricken with the small-pox. Their
mother was successful in obtaining their exchange,

and took her sick boys home. After a long illness.
Andrew recovered, and the death of his mother -non
left him entirely friendless.

Andrew supported himself in various ways, s 12h as
working at the saddler's trade, teaching school and
clerking in a general store, until 1784, when he
entered a law office at Salisbury, N. C. He, however,
gave more attention to the wild amusements of the
times than to his studies. In 1788, he was appointed
solicitor for the western district of North Carolina, of
which Tennessee was then a part. This involved
many long and tedious journeys amid dangers of
every kind, but Andrew Jackson never knew fear,
and the Indians had no desire to repeat a skirmish
witn the Sharp Knife.

In 1791, Mr. Jackson was married to a woman who
supposed herself divorced from her former husband.
( Ireat was the surprise of both parties, two years later,
to find that the conditions of the divorce had just been
definitely settled by the first husband. The marriage
ceremony was performed a second time, but the occur-
rence was often used by his enemies to bring Mr.
Jackson into disfavor.

During these years he worked hard at his profes-
sion, and frequently had one or more duels on hand,
one of which, when he killed Dickenson, was espec-
ially disgraceful.

In January, 1796, the Territory of Tennessee then
containing nearly eighty thousand inhabitants, the
people met in convention at fvnoxville to frame a con-
stitution. Five were sent from each of the elev :n
counties. Andrew Jackson was one of the delegates.
The new State was entitled to but one meml er in
the National House of Representatives. Andrew link-
son was chosen that member. Mounting his horse he
rode to Philedelphia, where Congress then held its

ANDRE \V JA CKSON.

sessions,— a distance of about eight hundred miles.

Jackson was an earnest advocate of the Demo-
cratic party. Jefferson was his idol. He admired
Bonaparte, loved France and hated England. As Mi.
Jackson took his seat, Gen. Washington, whose
second term of office was then expiring, delivered his
last speech to Congress. A committee drew up a
complimentary address in reply. Andrew Jackson
did not approve of the address, and was one ot the
twelve who voted against it. He was not willing to
say that Gen. Washington's adminstration had been
" wise, firm and patriotic."

Mr. Jackson was elected to the United States
Senate in 1797, but soon resigned and returned home.
Soon alter he was chosen Judge of the Supreme Court
of his State, which position he held for six years.

When the war of 1812 with Great Britian com-
menced, Madison occupied (lie Presidential chair.
Aaron Burr sent word to the President that there was
an unknown man in the West, Andrew Jackson, who
would do credit to a commission if one were con-
ferred iqion him. Just at that time Gen. Jackson
offered his services and those of twenty-five hurdred
volunteers. His offer was accepted, and the troops
were assembled at Nashville.

As the British were hourly expected to make an at-
tack upon New Orleans, where Gen. Wilkinson was
in command, he was ordered to descend the river
with fifteen hundred troops to aid Wilkinson. The
expedition reached Natchez; and alter a delay of sev-
eral weeks there, without accomplishing anything,
the men were ordered back to their homes. But the
energy Gen. Jackson had displayed, and his entire
devotion to the comrtort ot his soldiers, won him
golden opinions; and he became the most popular
man in the State. It was in this expedition that his
toughness gave him the nickname of "( >ld Hickory/'

Soon after this, while attempting to horsewhip Col.
Thomas H. Benton, for a remark that gentleman
made about his taking a part as second in a duel, in
which a younger brother of Benton's was engaged,
he received two severe pistol wounds. While he was
lingering upon a bed of suffering news came that the
Indians, who had combined under Tecumseh from
Florida to the Lakes, to exterminate the white set-
lers, were committing the most awful ravages. De-
i isive action became necessary. Gen. Jackson, with
his fractured bone just beginning to heal, his arm in
a sling, and unable to mount his horse without assis-
tant e, gave his amazing energies to the raising of an
army to rendezvous at Fayettesville, Alabama.

The Creek Indians had established a strong for( on
nne dI the bends of the Tallapoosa River, near the cen-
ter of Alabama, about fifty miles below Fort Strother.
With an army of two thousand men, Gen. Jackson
traversed the pathless wilderness in a march of eleven
days. He reached their fort, called Tohopeka or
Horse-shoe, on the 27th of March. 1814. The bend

ol the river enclosed nearly one hundred acres of
tangled forest and wild ravine. Across the nanovv
neck the Indians had constructed a formidable bri art-
work of logs and brush. Here nine hundred warriors,
with an ample suplyof arms were assembled.

The fort was stormed. The light was utterly des-
perate. Not an Indian would accept of quarter. When
bleeding and dying, they would fight those who en-
deavored to spare their lives. From ten in the morn-
ing until dark, the battle raged. The carnage was
awful and revolting. Some threw themselves into the
river; but the unerring bullet struck their heads as
they swam. Nearly everyone of the nine hundred war-
rios were killed A few probably, in the night, swam
the river and escaped. This ended the war. The
power of the Creeks was broken forever. This 1 old
plunge into the wilderness, with its terriffic slaughter,
so appalled the savages, that the haggard remnants
of the bands came to the camp, begging for peace.

This closing of the Creek war enabled us to 1 on-
centrate all our militia upon the British, who were the
allies of the Indians No man of less resolute will
than Gen. Jackson could have conducted this Indian
campaign to so successful an issue Immediately he-
was appointed major-general.

I. ate in August, with an army of two thousand
men, on a rushing march, den. Jackson came to
Mobile. A British fleet came from Pensacola, landed
a force upon the beach, anchored near the little fort,
and from both ship and shore commenced a furious
assault The battle was long and doubtful. At length
one of the ships was blown up and the rest retired.

Garrisoning Mobile, where he had taken his little
army, he moved his troops to New Orleans,
And the battle of New Orleans which soon ensued,
was in reality a very arduous campaign. This won
for Gen. Jackson an imperishable name. Here his
troops, which numbered about four thousand men,
won a signal victory over the British army of about
nine thousand. His loss was but thirteen, while the
loss of the British was two thousand six hundred.

The name of Gen. Jackson soon began to be men-
tioned in connection with the Presidency, but, in 1824,
he was defeated by Mr. Adams. He was, however,
successful in the election of 1S28, and was re-elected
for a second term in 1832. In 1829, just before he
assumed the reins of the government, he met with
the most terrible affliction of his life in the death of
his wife, whom he had loved with a devotion which has
perhaps never been surpassed. From the shock of
her death he never recovered.

His administration was one of the most memorable
in the annals of our country; applauded by one party,
condemned by the other. No man had more bitter
enemies or warmer friends. At the expiration of his
two terms of office he retired to the Hermitage, where
he died June 8, 1845. The last years of Mr. Jaik-
son's life were that of a devoted Christian man.

^? 7 -yzs&, t^/y&ot^z^

EIGHTH PRESIDENT.

X a-V- >: •

n^ifrii] Y^i? Bapi}.

A.RTIN VAN BUREN, the
eighth President of the
United States, was born at
Kinderhook, N. Y., Dec. 5,
1782. He died at the same
place, July 24, 1862. His
body rests in the cemetery
at Kinderhook. Above it is
a plain granite shaft fifteen feet
high, bearing a simple inscription
about halt way up on one face.
The lot is unfenced, unbordered
or unbounded by shrub or flower.

There is but little in the life of Martin Van Buren
of romantic interest. He fought no battles, engaged
in no wild adventures. Though his life was stormy in
political and intellectual conflicts, and he gained many
signal victories, his days passed uneventful in those
incidents which give zest to biography. His an-
cestors, as his name indicates, were of Dutch origin,
and were among the earliest emigrants from Holland
to the banks of the Hudson. His father was a farmer,
residing in the old town of Kinderhook. I lis mother,
also of 1 ditch lineage, was a woman of superior intel-
ligence and exemplary piety.

He was decidedly a precocious boy, developing un-
usual activity, vigor and strength of mind. At the
age of fourteen, he had finished his academic studies
in his native village, and commenced the study of
law. As he had not a collegiate education, seven
years of study in a law-office were required of him
before he could be admitted to the bar. Inspired with
a lofty ambition, and conscious of his powers, he pur-
sued his studies with indefatigable industry. After
spending six years in an office in his native village,

he went to the city of New York, and prosecuted his
studies for the seventh year.

In 1803, Mr. Van Buren, then twenty-one years of
age, commenced the practice of law in his native vil-
lage. The great conflict between the Federal and
Republican party was then at its height. Mr. Van
Buren was from the beginning a politician. He had,
perhaps, imbibed that spirit while listening to the
many discussions which had been carried on in Ins
father's hotel. He was in cordial sympathy with
Jefferson, and earnestly and eloquently espoused the
cause of State Rights; though at that time the Fed-
eral party held the supremacy both in his town
and State.

His success and increasing ruputation led him
after six years of practice, to remove to Hudson, tlw
county seat of his county. Here he spent seven years ,
constantly gaining strength by contending in the
courts with some of the ablest men who have adorned
the bar of his State.

Just before leaving Kinderhook for Hudson, Mi.
Van Buren married a lady alike distinguished for
beauty and accomplishments. After twelve short
years she sank into the grave, the victim of consump-
tion, leaving her husband and four sons to weep over
her loss. For twenty-five years, Mr. Van Buren was
an earnest, successful, assiduous lawyer. The record
of those years is barren in items of public interest.
In 1S1 2, when thirty years of age, he was chosen to
the State Senate, and gave his strenuous support to
Mr. Madison's adminstration. In 1815, he was ap-
pointed Attorney-General, and the next year moved
to Albany, the capital of the State.

While he was acknowledged as one of the most
prominent leaders of the Democratic party, he had

4 s

MARTIN VAN BUR EN.

the moral courage to avow that true democracy did
not require that " universal suffrage " which admits
the vile, the degraded, the ignorant, to the right of
governing the State. In true consistency witli his
democratic principles, he contended that, while the
path leading to the privilege of voting should be open
to every man without distinction, no one should be
invested with that sacred prerogative, unless he were
in some degree (nullified for it by intelligence, virtue
and some property interests in the welfare of the
Stale.

In 1821 he was elected a member of the United
States Senate; and in the same year, he took a seat
in the convention to revise the constitution of his
native State. His course in this convention secured
the approval of men of all parties. No one could
doubt the singleness of 1 ii^ endeavors to promote the
interests of all classes in the community. In the
Senate of the United States, he rose at once to a
conspicuous position .is .111 active and useful legislator.

In 1827, John Quincy Adams being then in the
Presidential chair, Mr. Van Buren was re-elected to
the Senate. He had been from the beginning a de-
termined opposer of the Administration, adopting the
"State Rights" view in opposition to what was
deemed the federal proclivities of Mr. Adams.

S.hiii after this, in [828, he was chosen Governorof
the State of New York, and accordingly resigned his
seat in the Senate. Probably no one in the United
States contributed so much towards ejecting John Q.
Adams from the Presidential chair, and placing in it
Andrew Jackson, as did Martin Van Buren. Whether
entitled to the reputation or not, he certainly was re-
garded throughout the United States as one of the
most skillful, sagacious and cunning of politicians.
It was supposed that no one knew so well as he how
to touch the secret sptings of action; how to pull all
the wires to put his machinery in motion; and how to
organize a political army which would, secretly and
stealthily accomplish the most gigantic results. P.y
these [lowers it is said that he outwitted Mr. Adams,
Mr. Clay, Mr. Webster, and secured results which
lew thought then could lie accomplished.

When Andrew Jackson was elected President he
appointed Mr. Van Buren Secretary of State. 'Phis
position he resigned in 1 83 t , and was immediately
appointed Minister to England, where he went the
s;i me autumn. The Senate, however, when it met,
refused to ratify the nomination, and he returned

home, apparently untroubled; was nominated Vice
President in the place of Calhoun, at the re-election
of President Jackson; and with smiles for all and
ftowns for none, he took his place at the head of that
Senate which had refused to confirm his nomination
as ambassador.

His rejection by the Senate roused all the zeal of
President Jackson in behalf of his repudiated favor-
ite; and this, probably more than any other cause,
secured his elevation to the chair of the Chiel Execu-
tive. On the 20th of May, 1836, Mr. Van Buren re-
ceived the Democratic nomination to succeed (leu.
Jackson as President of the United States lie was
elected by a handsome majority, to the delight of the
retiring President. " Leaving New York out of the
canvass," says Mr. Parton, "the election of Mr. Van
Buren to the Presidency was as much the act of Gen.
Jackson as though the Constitution had conferred
upon him the power to appoint a successor."

His administration was filled with ex< iting events.
The insurrection in Canada, which threatened to in
volve this country in war with England, the agitation
of the slavery question, and finally the gie.u commer-
cial panic which spread over the country, all were
trials to his wisdom. The financial distress was at-
tributed to the management of the Democratic party,
.mil brought the President into such disfavor that he-
failed of re election.

With the exception of being nominated for the
Presidency by the " free Soil" Democrats, in 1.S4.S,
Mr. Van Buren lived quietly upon his estate until
his death.

He had ever been a prudent man, of frugal habits,
and living within his income, had now fortunately a
competence for his declining years. His unblemished
character, his commanding abilities, his unquestioned
patriotism, ami the distinguished positions which lie
had occupied in the government of our country, se-
cured to him not only the homage of his party, but
the respect ot the whole community. It was on the
4th of March, 1S41, that 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. From this time until his death, on
the 24th of July, 1862, at the age of eighty years, he
resided at Lindenwald, a gentleman of leisure, of
culture and of wealth; enjoying in a healthy old
age, probably far more happiness than he had before
experienced amid the stormy scenes of his active life.

fa. fc¥fa^L^ c '^

NINTH PRESIDENT.

WILLIAM, HENRY HARRISON.

ILLIAM HENRY HARRI-
SON, the ninth President of

the United States, was born
at Berkeley, Ya., Feb. 9, 1773.
Mis father, Benjamin Harri-
son, was in comparatively op-
ulent circumstances, and was
one of the most distinguished
men of his day. He was an
intimate friend of George
Washington, was early elected
a member of the Continental
Congress, and was conspicuous
among the patriots of Virginia in
resisting the encroachments oi the
British crown. In the celebrated
Congress of 1775, Benjamin Har-
rison and John Hancock were
both candidates for the office of
speaker.

Mr Harrison was subsequently
chosen Governor of Virginia, and
was twice re-elected. His son,
William H en ry, of course enjoyed
in childhood all the advantages which wealth and
intellectual and cultivated society could give. Hav-
ing received a thorough common-school education, he
entered Hampden Sidney College, where he graduated
with honor soon after the death of his father. He
-■hen repaired to Philadelphia tostudy medicine under
the instructions of Dr. Rush and the guardianship of
Robert Morris, botli of whom were, with his father,
signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Ul>on the outbreak of the Indian troubles, and not-
withstanding the remonstrances of his friends, he
abandoned his medical studies and entered the army,
having obtained a commission of Ensign from Presi-

dent Washington. He was then but iy years old.
From that time he passed gradually upward in rank
until he became aid to General Wayne, alter whose
death he resigned his commission. He was then ap-
pointed Secretary of the North-western Territory. This
Territory was then entitled to but one member in
Congress and Capt. Harrison was chosen to fill that
position.

In the spring of 1800 the North-western Territory
was divided by Congress into two portions. The
eastern portion, comprising the region now embra< ed
in the State of Ohio, was called " The Territory
north-west of the Ohio." The western portion, w hie h
included what is now called Indiana, Illinois and
Wisconsin, was called the "Indiana Territory." Wil-
liam Henry Harrison, then 27 years of age, was ap-
pointed by John Adams, Governor of the Indiana
Territory, and immediately after, also Governor of
Upper Louisiana. He was thus ruler over almost as
extensive a realm as any sovereign upon the globe. He
was Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and was in-
vested with [lowers nearly dictatorial over the now
rapidly increasing white population. The ability and
fidelity with which he discharged these responsible
duties may be inferred from the fact that he was four
times appointed to this office — first by John Adams,
twice by Thomas Jefferson and afterwards by Presi-
dent Madison.

When he began his adminstration there were but
three white settlements in that almost boundless region,
now crowded with cities and resounding with all the
tumult of wealth and traffic. One of these settlements
was on the Ohio, neatly opposite Louisville; one at
Vincennes, on the Wabash, and the third a French
settlement.

The vast wilderness over which Gov. Harrison
reicned was filled with many tribes of Indians. About

u. of ill ua

S 2

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.

the year 1806, two extraordinary men, twin brothers,
of the Shawnese tribe, rose among them. One of
these was called Tecumseh, or " The Crouching
Panther;" the other, Olliwacheca, or "The Prophet;"
Tecumseh was not only an Indian warrior, but a man
of great sagacity, far-reaching foresight and indomit-
able perseverance in any enterprise in which he might
engage. He was inspired with the highest enthusiasm,
and had long regarded with dread and with hatred
the encroachment of the whites upon the hunting-
grounds of his fathers. His brother, the Prophet, was
anorator, who could sway the feelings of the untutored
Indian as the gale tossed the tree-tops beneath which
they dwelt.

But the Prophet was not merely an orator: he was,
in the superstitious minds of the Indians, invested
with the superhuman dignity of a medicine-man or a
magician. With an enthusiasm unsurpassed by Peter
the Hermit rousing Europe to the crusades, he went
from tribe to tribe, assuming that he was specially sent
by the Great Spirit.

Gov. Harrison made many attempts to conciliate
the Indians, but at last the war came, and at Tippe-
canoe the Indians were routed with great slaughter.
October 28, 18 1 2, his army began its march. When
near the Prophet's town three Indians of rank made
their appearance and inquired why Gov. Harrison was
approaching them in so hostile an attitude. After a
short conference, arrangements were made for a meet-
ing the next day, to agree upon terms of peace.

But Gov. Harrison was too well acquainted with
the Indian character to be deceived by such protes-
tations. Selecting a favorable spot for his night's en-
campment, lie took every precaution against surprise
His troops were posted in a hollow square, and slept
upon their arms.

The troops threw themselves upon the ground for
rest; but every man had his accoutrements on, his
loaded musket by his side, and his bayonet fixed. The
wakeful Governor, between three and four o'clock in
the morning, had risen, and was sitting in conversa-
tion with his aids by the embers of a waning fire. It
was a chill, cloudy morning with a drizzling rain. In
the darkness, the Indians had crept as near as possi-
ble, and just then, with a savage yell, rushed, with all
the desperation which superstition and passion most
highly inflamed could give, upon the left flank of the
little army. The savages had been amply provided
with guns and ammunition by the English. Their
war-whoop was accompanied by a shower of bullets.

The camp-fires were instantly extinguished, as the
light aided the Indians in their aim. With hide-
ous yells, the Indian bands rushed on, not doubting a
speedy and an entire victory. But Gen. Harrison's
troops stood as immovable as the rocks around them
until day dawned : they then made a simultaneous
charge with the bayonet, and swept every thing lie
fore them, and completely routing thf foe.

Gov. Harrison now had all his energies tasked
to the utmost. The British descending from the Can -
adas, were of themselves a very formidable force ; but
with their savage allies, rushing like wolves from the
forest, searching out every remote farm-house, burn-
ing, plundering, scalping, torturing, the wide frontier
was plunged into a state of consternation which even
the most vivid imagination can but faintly conceive.
The war-whoop was resounding everywhere in the
forest. The horizon was illuminated with the conflagra-
tion of the cabins of the settlers., Gen Hull had made
the ignominious surrender of his forces at Detroit.
Under these despairing circumstances, Gov. Harrison
was appointed by President Madison commander-in-
chief of the North-western army, with orders to retake
Detroit, and to protect the frontiers.

It would lie difficult to place a man in a situation
demanding more energy, sagacity and courage; but
General Harrison was found equal to the position,
and nobly and triumphantly did he meet all the re
sponsiliilities.

He won the love of his soldiers by always sharing
witli them their fatigue. His whole baggage, while
pursuing the foe up the Thames, was carried in a
valise; and his bedding consisted of a single blanket
lashed over his saddle Thirty-five British officers,
his prisoners of war, supped with him after the battle.
The only fare he could give them was beef roasted
before the lire, without bread or salt.

In 18 16, Gen. Harrison was chosen a member ol
the National House of Representatives, to represent
the District of Ohio. In Congress he proved an
active member; and whenever he spoke, it was with
force of reason and powerof eloquence, which arrested
the attention of all the members.

In [819, Harrison was elected to the Senate of
Ohio; and in 1824, as one of the presidential electors
of that State, he gave his vote for Henry Clay. The
same year he was chosen to the United States Senate.

In 1836, the friends of Gen. Harrison brought him
forward as a candidate for the Presidency against
Van Buren, but he was defeated. At the close of
Mr. Van Buren's term, he was re-nominated by his
party, and Mr. Harrison was unanimously nominated
by the Whigs, with John Tyler forthe Vice Presidency.
The contest was very animated. Gen Jackson gave
all his influence to prevent Harrison's election; but
his triumph was signal.

The cabinet which he formed, with Daniel Webster
at its head as Secretary of State, was one of the most
brilliant with which any President had ever been
surrounded. Never were the prospects of an admin-
istration more flattering, or the hopes of the country
more sanguine. In the midst of these bright and
joyous prospects, Gen. Harrison was seized by a
pleurisy-fever and after a few days of violent sick-
ness, died on the 4th of April ; just one month after
his inauguration as President of the United Stales.

if:

TENTH PRESIDENT.

OHN TYLER, the tenth
residentof the United Stales.
He was horn in Charles-city
Co., Va., March 29, 1790. He
was the favored child of af-
fluence and high social po-
sition. At the early age of
twelve, John entered William
and Mary College and grad-
uated with much honor when
hut seventeen years old. After
graduating, he devoted him-
self with great assiduity to the
study of law, partly with his
father and partly with Edmund
Randolph, one of the most distin-
guished lawyers of Virginia.

At nineteen years of age, lie
commenced the practice of law.
His success was rapid and aston-
ishing. It is said that three
months had not elapsed ere there
was scarcely a case on the dock-
et of the court in which he was
not retained. When hut twenty-one vears of age, he
was almost unanimously elected to a seat in the State
Legislature. He connected himself with the Demo-
cratic party, and warmly advocated the measures of
Jefferson and Madison. For five successive years he
was elected to the Legislature, receiving nearly the
unanimous vote or his county.

When but twenty-six years of age, he was elected
a member of Congress. Here he acted earnestly and
ably with the Democratic party, opposing a national
hank, internal improvements by the General Govern-

ment, a protective tariff, and advocating a strict con-
struction of the Constitution, and the most careful
vigilance over State rights. His labors in Congn
were so arduous that before the close of his second
term he found it necessary to resign and retire to his
estate in Charles-city Co., to recruit his health. He,
however, soon after consented to take his seat in the
State Legislature, where his influence was powerful
in promoting public works of great utility. With a
reputation thus constantly increasing, he was chosen
by a very large majority of votes, Governor of his
native State. His administration was signally a suc-
cessful one. His popularity secured his re-election.

John Randolph, a brilliant, erratic, half-crazed
man, then represented Virginia in the Senate of the
United States. A portion of the Democratic party
was displeased with Mr. Randolph's wayward course,
and brought forward John Tyler as his opponent,
considering him the only man in Virginia of sufficient
popularity to succeed against the renowned orator of
Roanoke. Mr. Tyler was the victor.

In accordance with his professions, upon taking his
seat in the Senate, he joined the ranks of the opposi-
tion. He opposed the tariff; he spoke against and
voted against the bank as unconstitutional; he stren-
uously opposed all restrictions upon slavery, resist-
ing all projects of internal improvements by the Gen-
eral Government, and avowed his sympathy with Mr.
Calhoun's view of nullification ; he declared that Gen.
Jackson, by his opposition to the nullifiers, had
abandoned the principles of the Democratic party.
Such was Mr. Tyler's record in Congress, — a record
in perfect accordance with the principles which he
had always avowed.

Returning to Virginia, he resumed the practice of
lus profession. There was a . plit in the Democratic

JOHN TYLER.

party. His friends still regarded him as a true Jef-
fersonian, gave him a dinner, and showered compli-
ments upon him. He had now attained the age of
forty-six. His career had been very brilliant. In con-
sequence of his devotion to public business, his pri-
vate affairs had fallen into some disorder; and it was
not without satisfaction that he resumed the practice
of law, and devoted himself to the culture of his plan-
tation. Soon after this he removed to Williamsburg,
for the better education of his children ; and he again
took his seat in the Legislature of Virginia.

By the Southern Whigs, he was sent to the national
convention at Harrisburg to nominate a President in
1839. The majority of votes were given to Gen. Har-
rison, a genuine Whig, much to the disappointment of
the South, who wished for Henry Clay. To concili-
ate the Southern Whigs and to secure their vote, the
convention then nominated John Tyler for Vice Pres-
ident. It was well known that he was not in sympa-
thy with the Whig party in the Noith: but the Vice
President lias but very little power in the Govern-
ment, his main and almost only duty being to [ire-
side over the meetings of the Senate. Thus it hap-
pened that a Whig President, and, in reality, a
Democratic Vice President were chosen.

In 1 841, Mr. Tyler was inaugurated Vice Presi-
dent of the United States. In one short month from
that time, President Harrison died, and Mr. Tyler
thus found himself, to his own surprise and that of
the whole Nation, an occupant of the Presidential
chair. This was a new test of the stability of our
institutions, as it was the first time in the history of our
country that such an event had occured. Mr. Tyler
was at home in Williamsburg when he received the
unexpected tidings of the death of President Harri-
son. He hastened to Washington, and on the 6th of
April was inaugurated to the high and responsible
office. He was placed in a position of exceeding
delicacy and difficulty. All his longlife he had been
opposed to the main principles of the party which had
brought him into power. He had ever been a con-
sistent, honest man, with an unblemished record.
Gen. Harrison had selected a Whig cabinet. Should
he retain them, and thus surround himself with coun-
sellors whose views were antagonistic to his own? or,
on the other hand, should he turn against the party
which had elected him and select a cabinet in har-
mony with himself, and which would oppose all those
news which the Whigs deemed essential to the pub-
lic welfare? This was his fearful dilemma. He in-
vited the cabinet which President Harrison had
selected to retain their seats. He reccommended a
day of fasting and prayer, that God would guide and
bless us.

The Whigs carried through Congress a bill for the
incorporation of a fiscal bank of the United States.
The President, after ten days' delay, returned it with
his veto. He suggested, however, that he vvould

approve of a bill drawn up upon such a plan as he
proposed. Such a bill was accordingly prepared, and
privately submitted to him. He gave it his approval.
It was passed without alteration, and he sent it back
with his veto. Here commenced the open rupture.
h is said that Mr. Tyler was provoked to this meas-
ure by a published letter from the Hon. John M.
Botts, a distinguished Virginia Whig, who severely
touched the pride of the President.

The opposition now exultingly received the Presi-
dent into their arms. The party which elected him
denounced him bitterly. All the members of his
cabinet, excepting Mr. Webster, resigned. The Whigs
of Congress, both the Senate and the House, held a
meeting and issued an addiess to the people ot the
United States, proclaiming that all political alliance
between the Whigs and President Tyler were at
an end.

Still the President attempted to conciliate. He
appointed a new cabinet of distinguished Whigs and
Conservatives, carefully leaving out all strong party
men. Mr. Webster soon found it necessary to resign,
forced out by the pressure of his Whig friends. Thus
the four years of Mr. Tyler's unfortunate administra-
tion passed sadly away. No one was satisfied. The
land was filled with murmurs and vituperation. Whigs
and Democrats alike assailed him. More and more,
however, he brought himself into sympathy with his
old friends, the I )emocrats, until atthe close ot his term,
he gave his whole influence to the support of Mr.
Polk, the I lemocratie candidate for his successor.

On the 4th of March, 1845, he retired from the
harassment s of office, to the regret of neither party, and
probably to his own unspeakable lelief. His first wile.
Miss Letitia Christian, died in Washington, in 1842;
and in June, 1844, President Tylei was again married,
at New York, to Miss Julia Gardiner, a young lady of
many personal and intellectual accomplishments.

The remainder of his days Mr. Tyler passed mainly
in retirement at his beautiful home, — Sherwood For-
est, Charles-city Co., Va. A polished gentleman in
his manners, richly furnished with information from
books and experience in the world, and possessing
brilliant powers of conversation, his family circle was
the scene of unusual attractions. With sufficient
moans for the exercise of a generous hospitality, he
might have enjoyed a serene old age with the few
friends who gathered around him, were it not for the
storms of civil war which his own principles and
policy had helped to introduce.

When the great Rebellion rose, which the State-
rights and nullifying doctrines of Mr. John C. Cal-
houn had inaugurated, President Tyler renounced his
allegiance to the United States, and joined the Confed-
erates. He was chosen a member of their Congress;
and while engaged in active measures to destroy, by
force of arms, the Government over which he had
once presided, he was taken sick and soon died.

ELEVEh I II PRESIDENT.

ES IK. POLK.

||amesk.

POLK, the eleventh
^President of the United States,
: K% was born in Mecklenburg Co.,
N. C, Nov. 2, 1795. Mis par-
ents were Samuel ami Jane
(Knox) Polk, the former a son
of Col. Thomas l'olk, who located
at the above place, as one of the
first pioneers, in 1735.

In the year 1006, with his wile

and children, and soon after fol-

owed by most of the members of

the Polk farnly, Samuel Polk emi-
grated some two or three hundred
miles farther west, to the rich valley
the Duck River. Here in the
midst of the wilderness, in a region
which was subsequently called Mau-
ry Co., they reared their log huts,
and established their homes. In llie
hard toil of a new farm in the wil-
derness, James K. l'olk spent the
early years of his childhood and
youth. His father, adding the pur-
suit of a surveyor to that of a farmer,
gradually increased in wealth until
he became one of the leading men of the region. I lis
mother was a superior woman, of strong < omnion
sense and earnest piety.

Very early in life, James developed a taste for
leading and expressed the strongest desire to obtain
1 liberal education. His mother's training had made
ilim methodical in his habits, had taught him punct-
uality and industry, and had inspired him with lofty
principles of morality. His health was frail ; and his
father, fearing that he might not be able to endure a

sedentary life, got a situation for him behind t he-
counter, hoping to fit him for commercial pursuits.

This was to James a bitter disappointment. He
had no taste for these duties, and his daily ta--ks
were irksome in the extreme. He remained in this
uncongenial occupation but a leu weeks, when at his
earnest solicitation his father removed him, and made
arrangements for him to prosecute his studies. Soon
after he sent him to Murfreesboro Academy. With
ardor which could scarcely be surpassed, he pressed
forward in his studies, and in less than two and a half
years, in the autumn of 1815, entered the sophomore
class in the University of North Carolina, at Chapel
Hill. Here he was one of the most exemplary of
scholars, punctual in every exercise, never allowing
himself to be absent from a recitation or a religious
service.

He graduated in 181S, with the highest honors, be-
ing deemed the best scholar of his class, both in
mathematics and the classic s. lie was then twenty-
three years of age. Mr. Polk's health was at this
time much impaired by the assiduity with which lie
had prosecuted his studies. Alter a short season of
relaxation he went to Nashville, and entered the
office of Felix Grundy, to study law. Here Mr. Polk
renewed his acquaintance with Andrew Jackson, who
resided on his plantation, the Hermitage, but a few
miles from Nashville. They had probably been
slightly acquainted before.

Mr. Polk's father was a Jeffersonian Republican,
and James K. Polk ever adhered to the same politi-
cal faith. He was a popular public speaker, and was
constantly called upon to address the meetings of his
party friends. His skill as a speaker was such that

he was popularly called the Napoleon of the stump.
He was a man of unblemished morals, ger.ir.l ard

JAMES K. POLK.

courteous in his bearing, and with that sympathetic
nature in the joy s and griefs of others which ever gave
him troops of friends. In 1823, Mr. Polk was elected
to the Legislature of Tennessee. Here he gave his
strong influence towards the election of his friend,
Mr. Jackson, to the Presidency of the United States.

In January, 1824, Mr. Polk married Miss Sarah
Childress, of Rutherford Co., Tenn. His bride was
altogether worthy of him, — a lady of beauty and cul-
ture. In the fall of 1825, Mr. Polk was chosen a
member of Congress. The satisfaction which he gave
to his constituents may be inferred from the fact, that
for fourteen successive years, until 1839, he was con-
tinued in that office. He then voluntarily withdrew,
only that he might accept the Gubernatorial chair
of Tennessee. In Congress he was a laborious
member, a frequent and a popular speaker. He was
always in his seat, always courteous; and whenever
he spoke it was always to the point, and without any
ambitious rhetorical display.

During five sessions of Congress, Mr. Polk was
Speaker of the House. Strong passions were roused,
and stormy scenes were witnessed ; but Mr. Polk per-
formed his arduous duties to a very general satisfac-
tion, and a unanimous vote of thanks to him was
passed by the House as he withdrew on the 4th of
March, 1839.

In accordance with Southern usage, Mr. Polk, as a
candidate for Governor, canvassed the State. He was
elected by a large majority, and on the 14th of Octo-
ber, 1839, took the oath of office at Nashville. In 1841,
his term of office expired, and he was again the can-
didate of the Democratic party, but was defeated.

On the 4th of March, iS45,Mr. Polk was inaugur-
ated President of the United States. The verdict of
the country in favor of the annexation of Texas, exerted
its influence upon Congress ; and the last act of the
administration of President Tyler was to affix his sig-
nature to a joint resolution of Congress, passed on the
3d of March, approving of the annexation of Texas to
the American Union. As Mexico still claimed Texas
as one of her provinces, the Mexican minister,
Almonte, immediately demanded his passports and
left the country, declaring the act of the annexation
to be an act hostile to Mexico.

In his first message, President Polk urged that
Texas should immediately, by act of Congress, be re-
ceived into the Union on the same footing with the
other States. In the meantime, Gen. Taylor was sent

with an army into Texas to hold the country. He was
sent first to Nueces, which the Mexicans said was the
western boundary of Texas. Then he was sent nearly
two hundred miles further west, to the Rio Grande,
where he erected batteries which commanded the
Mexican city of Matamoras, which was situated on
the western banks.

The anticipated collision soon took place, and war
was declared against Mexico by President Polk. The
war was pushed forward by Mr. Polk's administration
with great vigor. Gen. Taylor, whose army was first
called one of "observation," then of "occupation,"
then of " invasion, "was sent forward to Monterey. The
feeble Mexicans, in every encounter, were hopelessly
and awfully slaughtered. The day of judgement
alone can reveal the misery which this war caused.
It was by the ingenuity of Mr. Polk's administration
that the war was brought on.

'Tii the victors belong the spoils." Mexico was
prostrate before us. Her capital was in our hands.
We now consented to peace upon the condition that
Mexico should surrender to us, in addition to Texas,
all of New Mexico, and all of Upper and Lower Cal-
ifornia. This new demand embraced, exclusive of
Texas, eight hundred thousand square miles. This
was an extent of territory equal to nine States of the
size of New York. Thus slavery was securing eighteen
majestic States to be added to the Union. There were
some Americans who thought it all right : there were
others who thought it all wrong. In the prosecution
of this war, we expended twenty thousand lives and
more than a hundred million of dollars. Of this
money fifteen millions were paid to Mexico.

On the 3d of March, 1849, Mr. Polk retired from
office, having served one term. The next day was
Sunday. On the 5th, Gen. Taylor was inaugurated
as his successor. Mr. Polk rode to the Capitol in the
same carriage with Gen. Taylor; and the same even-
ing, with Mrs. Polk, he commenced his return to
Tennessee. He was then but fifty-four years of age.
He had ever been strictly temperate in all his habits,
and his health was good With an ample fortune,
a choice library, a cultivated mind, and domestic ties
of the dearest nature, it seemed as though long years
of tranquility and happiness were before him. But the
cholera — that fearful scourge— was then sweeping up
the Valley of the Mississippi. This he contracted,
and died on the 15th of June, 1849, in the fifty-fourth
year of his age, greatly mourned by his countrymen.

hS^SSpSiE''-

Til 'ELFTH PRESIDENT.

('3

>S-

ACHARY TAYLOR, twelfth

$) President of the United States,

-Jo was born on the 24th of Nov.,
17S4, in ( >range Co., Va. 1 lis
<o father, Colonel Taylor, was
a Virginian of note, and a dis-
f tinguished patriot and soldier of
the Revolution. When Zachary
was an infant, his father with his
wife and two children, emigrated
to Kentucky, where he settled in
the pathless wilderness, a tew
miles from Louisville. In this front-
ier home, away from civilization and
all its refinements, young Zachary
could enjoy but few social and educational advan-
tages. When six years of age he attended a common
school, and was then regarded as a bright, active boy,
■•ather remarkable for bluntness and decision of char-
acter He was strong, featless and self-reliant, and
manifested .1 strong desire to enter the army to fight
the Indians who were ravaging the frontiers. There-
is little to be recorded of the uneventful years of his
childhood 011 his father's large but lonely plantation.
In 1808, his father succeeded in obtaining for him
the commission of lieutenant in the United States
army ; and lie joined the troops which were stationed
at New Orleans under Gen. Wilkinson. Soon after
this he married Miss Margaret Smith, a young lady
from one of the first families of Maryland.

Immediately after the declaration of war with Eng-
land, in 1S12, Capt. Taylor (for he had then been
promoted to that rank) was put in command of Fort
Harrison, on the Wabash, about fifty miles above
Yincennes. This fort had been built in the wilder-
ness by Gen. Harrison, on his march to Tippecanoe.
It was one of the first points of attack by the Indians,
Jed by Tecumseh. Its garrison consisted of a broken

company of infantry numbering fifty men, many of
whom were sic k.

Early in the autumn of 18 12, the Indians, stealthily,
and in large numbers, moved upon the fort. Their
approach was first indicated by the murder of two
soldiers just outside of the stockade. (.'apt. Taylor
made every possible preparation to meet the antici-
pated assault. On the 4th of September, a band of
forty painted and plumed savages came to the fort,
waving a white (lag, and informed Capt. Taylor that
in the morning their chief would con e to have a talk
with him. It was evident that their object was merely
to ascertain the state of things at the fort, and Capt.
Taylor, well versed in the wiles of the savages, kept
them at a distance.

The sun went down; the savages disappeared, the
garrison slept upon their arms. One hour before
midnight the war-whoop burst from a thousand lips
in the forest around, followed by the discharge of
musketry, and the rush of the foe. Every man, sick
and well, sprang to his post. Every man knew that
defeat was not merely death, but in the case of cap-
ture, death by the most agonizing and prolonged tor-
ture. No pen can describe, no imniagination can
conceive the scenes which ensued. The savages suc-
ceeded in setting lire to one of the block-houses-
Until six o'clock in the morning, this awful conflict
continued. The savages then, baffled at every point,
and gnashing their teeth with rage, retired. Capt.
Taylor, for this gallant defence, was promoted to I he-
rank of major by brevet.

Until the close of the war, Major Taylor was placed
in such situations that he saw but little more of active
service. He was sent far away into the depths of the
wilderness, to Fort Crawford, on box River, which
empties into Green Bay. Here there was but little
to be done but to wear away the tedious hours as one
I best could. There were no books, no society, no in-

6 4

ZACHARY TAYLOR.

tellectiuil stimulus. Thus with him the uneventful
years rolled on Gradually he rose to the rank of
colonel. In the Black Hawk war, which resulted in
the capture of that renowned chieftain, Col Taylor
took a subordinate but a brave and efficient part.

For twenty -four years Col. Taylor was engaged in
the defence of the frontiers, in scenes so remote, and in
employments so obscure, that his name was unknown
beyond the limits of his own immediate acquaintance.
In the year 1836, he was sent to Florida to compel
the Seminole Indians to vacate that region and re-
tire beyond the Mississippi, as their chiefs by treaty,
hac" promised they should do. The services rendered
he;c secured for Col. Taylor the high appreciation of
the Government; and as a reward, he was elevated
tc he rank of brigadier-general by brevet ; and soon
after, in May, 1838, was appointed to the chief com-
mand of the United States troops in Florida.

After two years of such wearisome employment
amidst the everglades of the peninsula, Gen. Taylor
obtained, at his own request, a change of command,
and was stationed over the Department of the South-
west. This field embraced Louisiana, Mississippi,
Alabama and Georgia. Establishing his headquarters
at Fort Jessup, in Louisiana, he removed his family
to a plantation which he purchased, near Baton Rogue.
Here he remained for five years, buried, as it were,
from the world, but faithfully discharging every duty
imposed upon him.

In 1846, Gen. Taylor was sent to guard the land
between the Nueces and Rio Grande, the latter river
being the boundary of 'Texas, which was then claimed
by the United States. Soon the war with Mexico
was brought on, and at Palo Alto and Resaca de la
Palma, Gen. Taylor won brilliant victories over the
Mexicans. The rank of major-general by brevet
was then conferred upon Gen. Taylor, and his name
was received with enthusiasm almost everywhere in
the Nation. Then came the battles of Monterey and
Buena Vista in which he won signal victories over
forces much larger than he commanded.

His careless habits of dress and his unaffected
simplicity, secured for Gen. Taylor among his troops,
the sobriquet of "Old Rough and Ready.'

The tidings of the brilliant victory of Buena Vista
spread the wildest enthusiasm over the country. The
name of Gen. Taylor was on every one's lips. The
Whig party decided to take advantage of this wonder-
ful popularity in bringing forward the unpolished, un-
lettered, honest soldier as their candidate for the
Presidency. Gen. Taylor was astonished at the an-
nouncement, and for a time would not listen to it; de-
claring that he was not at all qualified for such an
office. So little interest had he taken in politics that,
for forty years, he had not cast a vote. It was not
without chagrin that several distinguished statesmen
who had been long years in the public service found
tl..ir claims set aside in behalf of one whose name

had never been heard of, save in connection with Palo
Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey and Buena
Vista. It is said that Daniel Webster, in his haste re-
marked, "It is a nomination not fit to be made."

Gen. 'Taylor was not an eloquent speaker nor a fine
writer His friends took possession of him, and pre-
pared such few communications as it was needful
should lie presented to the public. The popularity of
the successful warrior swept the land. He was tri-
umphantly elected over two opposing candidates, —
Gen. Cass and Ex-President Martin Van Buren.
Though he selected an excellent cabinet, the good
old man found himself in a very uncongenial position,
and was, at times, sorely perplexed and harassed.
His mental sufferings were very severe, and probably
tended to hasten his death. The pro-slavery party
was pushing its claims with tireless energy, expedi-
tions were fitting out to capture Cuba ; California was
pleading for admission to the Union, while slavery
stood at the door to bar her out. Gen. Taylor found
the political conflicts in Washington to be far more
trying to the nerves than battles with Mexicans or
Indians

In the midst of all these troubles, Gen. Taylor,
after he had occupied the Presidential chair but little
over a year, took cold, and after a brief sickness of
but little over five days, died on the 9th of July, 1850.
His last woids were, " I am not afraid to die. I am
ready. I have endeavored to do my duty." He died
universally respected and beloved. An honest, un-
pretending man, he had been steadily growing in the
affections of the people ; and the Nation bitterly la-
mented his death.

Gen. Scott, who was thoroughly acquainted with
Gen. Taylor, gave the following graphic and truthful
description of his character: — " With a good store of
common sense, Gen. Taylor's mind had not been en-
larged and refreshed by reading, or much converse
with the world. Rigidity of ideas was the conse-
quence. The frontiers and small military posts had
been his home. Hence he was quite ignorant for his
rank, and quite bigoted in his ignorance. His sim-
plicity was child-like, and with innumerable preju-
dices, amusing and incorrigible, well suited to the
tender age. Thus, if a man, however respectable,
chanced to wear a coat of an unusual color, or his hat
a little on one side of his head; or an officer to leave
a corner of his handkerchief dangling from an out-
side pocket, — in any such case, this critic held the
offender to be a coxcomb (perhaps something worse),
whom he would not, to use his oft repeated phrase,
' touch with a pair of tongs.'

"Any allusion to literature beyond good old nil-
worth's spelling-book, on the part of one wearing a
sword, was evidence, with the same judge, of utter
unfitness for heavy marchings and combats. In short,
few men have ever had a more comfortable, labor-
saving contempt for learnirg of every kind."

<c6

•jtz^j^i^t

XTtx)

THIRTEENTH PRESIDENT.

SIC :":

sTj

I ^MILLAHH FILLMIIRE^

i#a

@^--

4-*

ILLARD FILLMORE, thir-
teenth President of the United

States, was born at Summer
Hill, Cayuga Co., N. Y ., on
the 7th of January, 1800. His
"^ father was a farmer, and ow-
ing to misfortune, in humble cir-

cumstances. Of his mother, the
daughter of Dr. Abiathar Millard,
% of Pittsfield, Mass., it has been
said that she possessed an intellect
of very high order, united with much
personal loveliness, sweetness of dis-
position, graceful manners and ex-
quisite sensibilities. She died in
1 83 1 ; having lived to see her son .1
young man of distinguished prom-
ise, though she was not permitted to witness the high
dignity which he finally attained.

In consequence of the secluded home and limited
means of bis father, Millard enjoyed but slender ad-
vantages for education in his early years. The com-
mon schools, u liic h he occasionally attended were
very imperfect institutions; and books were scarce
..nil expensive. There was nothing then in his char-
acter to indicate the brilliant career upon which he
was about to enter. He was a plain farmer's boy;
intelligent, good-looking, kind-hearted. The sacred
influences of home had taught him to revere the Bible,
and had laid the foundations of an upright character.
When fourteen years of age, his father sent him
some hundred miles from home, to the then wilds of
Livingston County, to learn the trade of a clothier.
Near the mill there was a small villiage, where some

enterprising man had commenced the collection of a
village library. This proved an inestimable blessing
to young Fillmore. His evenings were spent in read-
ing. Soon every leisure moment was occupied with
books. His thirst for knowledge became insatiate;
and the selections which he made were continually
more elevating and instructive. He read history,
biography, oratory; and thus gradually there was en-
kindled in his heart a desire to be something more
than a mere worker with his hands; and lie was be-
coming, almost unknown to himself, a well-informed,
educated man.

The young clothier had now attained the age of
nineteen years, and was of line personal appearance
and of gentlemanly demeanor. It so happened that
there was a gentleman in the neighborhood of ample
pecuniary means and of benevolence, — Judge Walter
Wood, — who was struck with the prepossessing ap-
pearance of young Fillmore. He made his acquaint-
ance, and was so much impressed with his ability and
attainments that he advised him to abandon his
trade and devote himself to the study of the law. The
young man replied, that he had no means of his own,
no friends to help him and that his previous educa-
tion had been very imperfect. But Judge Wood had
so much confidence in him that he kindly offered to
take him into his own office, and to loan him such
money as he needed. Most gratefully the generous
offer was accepted.

There is in many minds a strange delusion about
a collegiate education. A young man is supposed t'>
be liberally educated if he has graduated at some col-
lege. But many a boy loiters through university hal" •.
ind then enters a law office, who is by no means at'

MILLARD FILLMORE.

well prepared to prosecute his legal studies as was
Millard Fillmore when he graduated at the clothing-
mill at the end of four years of manual labor, during
which every leisure moment had been devoted to in-
tense mental culture.

In 1S23, when twenty-three years of age, he was
admitted to the Court of Common Pleas. He then
went to the village of Aurora, and commenced the
practice of law. In this secluded, peaceful region,
his practice of course was limited, and there was no
opportunity for a sudden rise in fortune or in fame.
Here, in the year 1826, he married a lady of great
moral worth, and one capable of adorning any station
she might be called to fill, — Miss Abigail Powers.

His elevation of character, his untiring industry,
his legal acquirements, and his skill as an advocate,
gradually attracted attention ; and he was invited to
enter into partnership under highly advantageous
circumstances, with an elder member of the bar in
Buffalo. Just before removing to Buffalo, in 1829,
he took his seat in the House of Assembly, of the
State of New York, as a representative from Erie
County. Though he had never taken a very active
part in politics, his vote and his sympathies were with
the Whig party. The State was then Democratic,
and he found himself in a helpless minority in the
Legislature , still the testimony comes from all parties,
that his courtesy, ability and integrity, won, to a very
unusual degree the respect of his associates.

In the autumn of 1832, he was elected to a seat in
the United States Congress He entered that troubled
arena in some of the most tumultuous hours of our
national history. The great conflict respecting the
national bank and the removal of the deposits, was
then raging.

His term of two years closed ; and he returned to
his profession, which he pursued with increasing rep-
utation and success. After a lapse of two years
he again became a candidate for Congress ; was re-
elected, and took his seat in 1837. His past expe-
rience as a representative gave him stuength and
confidence. The first term of service in Congress to
any man can be but little more than an introduction.
He was now prepared for active duty. All his ener-
gies were brought to bear upon the public good. Every
measure received his impress.

Mr. Fillmore was now a man of wide repute, and
his popularity filled the State, and in the year 1847,
he was elected Comptroller of the State.

Mr. Fillmore had attained the age of forty-seven
years. His labors at the bar, in the Legislature, in
Congress and as Comptroller, had given him very con-
siderable fame. The Whigs were casting about to
find suitable candidates for President and Vice-Presi-
dent at the approaching election. Far away, on the
waters of the Rio Grande, there was a rough old
soldier, who had fought one or two successful battles
with the Mexicans, which had caused his name to be
proi laimed in tiumpet-tones all over the land. But
it was necessary to associate with him on the hiiii'e
ticket some man of reputation as a statesman.

Under the influence of these considerations, the
n ames of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore became
the rallying-cry of the Whigs, as their candidates for
President and Vice-Peesident. The Whig ticket was
signally triumphant. On the 4th of March, 1849,
Gen. Taylor was inaugurated President, and Millard
Fillmore Vice-President, of the United States.

On the 9th of July, r85o. President Taylor, but
about one year and four months after his inaugura-
tion, was suddenly taken sick and died. By the Con-
stitution. Vice-President Fillmore thus became Presi-
dent. He appointed a very able cabinet, of which
the illustrious Daniel Webster was Secretary of State.

Mr. Fillmore had very serious difficulties to contend
with, since the opposition had a majority in both
Houses. He did everything in his power to com iliate
the South; but the pro-slavery party in the South felt
the inadequacy of all measuresof transient conciliation.
The population of the free States was so rapidly in-
creasing over that of the slave States that it was in-
evitable 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 adminstration, and the Japan Expedition
was sent out. On the 4th of March, 1853, Mr. Fill-
more, having served one term, retired.

In 1856, Mr. Fillmore was nominated for the Pres-
idency by the " Know Nothing " party, but was beaten
by Mr. Buchanan. After that Mr. Fillmore lived in
retirement. During the terrible conflict of civil war,
he was mostly silent. It was generally supposed that
his sympathies were rather with those who were en-
deavoring to overthrow our institutions. President
Fillmore kept aloof from the conflict, without any
cordial words of cheer to the one party or the other.
He was thus forgotten by both. He lived to a ripe
old age, and died in Buffalo. N. Y., March 8, ^74.

•'

FOURTEENTH PRESIDENT

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^FRANKLIN PIERCE.

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RANKLIN PIERCE, the
fourteenth President of the
jp United States, was born in
Hillsborough, N. H., Nov.
23, 1804. His father was a
Revolutionary soldier, who,
with his own strong arm,
hewed out a home in the
wilderness. He was a man
of inflexible integrity; of
strong, though uncultivated
mind, and an uncompromis-
Democrat. The mother of
Franklin Pierce was all that a son
could desire, — an intelligent, pru-
dent, affectionate, Christian wom-
an. Franklin was the sixth of eight children.

Franklin was a very bright and handsome boy, gen-
erous, warm-hearted and brave. He won alike the
love of old and young. The boys on the play ground
loved him. His teachers loved him. The neighbors
looked upon him with pride and affection. He was
by instinct a gentleman; always speaking kind words,
doing kind deeds, with a peculiar unstudied tact
which taught him what was agreeable. Without de-
veloping any precocity of genius, or any unnatural
devotion to books, he was a good scholar ; in body,
in mind, in affections, a fmely-developed boy.

When sixteen years of age, in the year 1S20, he
entered Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Me He was
one of the most popular young men in the college.
The purity cf his moral character, the unvarying
courtesy of his demeanor, his rank as a scholar, and

genial nature, rendered him a universal favorite.
There was something very peculiarly winning in his
address, and it was evidently not in the slightest de-
gree studied: it was the simple outgushing of his
own magnanimous and loving nature.

Upon graduating, in the year 1824, Franklin Pierce
commenced the study of law in the office of Judge
Woodbury, one of the most distinguished lawyers of
the State, and a man of great private worth. The
eminent social qualities of the young lawyer, his
father's prominence as a public man, and the brilliant
political career into which Judge Woodbury was en-
tering, all tended to entice Mr. Pierce into the faci-
nating yet perilous path of political life. With all
the ardor of his nature he espoused the cause of Gen.
Jackson for the Presidency. He commenced the
practice of law in Hillsborough, and was soon elected
to represent the town in the State Legislature. Here
he served for four years. The last two years he was
chosen speaker of the house by a very large vote.

In 1833, at the age of twenty-nine, he was elected
a member of Congress. Without taking an active
part in debates, he was faithful and laborious in duty,
and ever rising in the estimation of those with whom
he was associatad.

In 1 S37, being then but thirty-three years of age,
he was elected to the Senate of the United States;
taking his seat just as Mr. Van Buren commenced
his administration. He was the youngest memberin
the Senate. In the year 1834, he married Miss Jane
Means Appleton, a lady of rare beauty and accom-
plishments, and one admirably fitted to adorn every
station with which her husband was honoied. Of the

7 2

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

three sons who were born to thein, all now sleep with
their parents in the grave.

In the year 1S38, Mr. Pierce, with growing fame
and increasing business as a lawyer, took up his
residence in Concord, the capital of New Hampshire.
President Polk, upon his accession to office, appointed
Mr. Pierce attorney-general of the United States; but
the offer was declined, in consequence of numerous
professional engagements at home, and the precariuos
state of Mrs. Pierce's health. He also, about the
same time declined the nomination for governor by the
Democratic party. The war with Mexico called Mr.
Pierce in the army. Receiving the appointment of
brigadier-general, he embarked, with a portion of his
troops, at Newport, R. I., on the 27th of May, 1S47.
He took an hrqiortant part in this war, proving him-
self a brave and true soldier.

When Gen. Pierce reached his home in his native
State, he was received enthusiastically by the advo-
cates of the Mexican war, and coldly by his oppo-
nents. He resumed the practice of his profession,
very frequently taking an active part in political ques-
tions, giving his cordial support to the pro-slavery
wing of the Democratic party. The compromise
measures met cordially with his approval; and he
strenuously advocated the enforcement of the infa-
mous fugitive-slave law, which so shocked the religious
sensibilities of the North. He thus became distin-
guished as a " Northern man with Southern principles.''
The strong partisans of slavery in the South conse-
quently regarded him as a man whom they could
safely trust in office to carry out their plans.

On the 12th of June, 1852, the Democratic conven-
tion met in Baltimore to nominate a candidate for the
Presidency. For four days they continued in session,
and in thirty-five ballotings no one had obtained a
two-thirds vote. Not a vote thus far had been thrown
for Gen. Pierce. Then the Virginia delegation
brought forward his name. There were fourteen
more ballotings, during which Gen. Pierce constantly
gained strength, until, at the forty-ninth ballot, he
received two hundred and eighty-two votes, and all
other candidates eleven. Gen. Winfield Scott was
the Whig candidate. Gen. Pierce was chosen with
great unanimity. Only four States — Vermont, Mas-
sachusetts, Kentucky and Tennessee — cast their
electoral votes against him Gen. Franklin Pierce
was therefore inaugurated President of the United
States on the 4th of March, 1853.

His administration proved one of the most stormy our
country had ever experienced. The controversy be-
tween slavery and freedom was then approaching its
culminating point. It became evident that there was
an " irrepressible conflict" between them, and that
this Nation could not long exist " half slave and half
free." President Pierce, during the whole of his ad-
ministration, did every thing he could to conciliate
the South ; but it was all in vain. The conflict every
year grew more violent, and threats of the dissolution
of the Union were borne to the North on every South-
ern breeze.

Such was the condition of affairs when President
Pierce approached the close of his four-years' term
of office. The North had become thoroughly alien-
ated from him. The anti-slavery sentiment, goaded
by great outrages, had been rapidly increasing; all
the intellectual ability and social worth of President
Pierce were forgotten in deep reprehension of his ad-
ministrate acts. The slaveholders of the South, also,
unmindful of the fidelity with which he had advo-
cated those measures of Government which ihey ap-
proved, and perhaps, also, feeling that he had
rendered himself so unpopular as no longer lo be
able acceptably to serve them, ungratefully dropped
him, and nominated James Buchanan to succeed him.

On the 4th of March, 1857, President Pierce le-
tired to his home in Concord. Of three children, two
had died, and his only surviving child had been
killed before his eyes by a railroad accident , and his
wife, one of the most estimable and accomplished of
ladies, was rapidly sinking in consumption. The
hour of dreadful gloom soon came, and he was left
alone in the world, without wife or child.

When the terrible Rebellion burst forth, which di-
vided our country into two parties, and two only, Mr.
Pierce remained steadfast in the principles which he
had always cherished, and gave his sympathies to
that pro-slavery party with which he had ever been
allied. He declined to do anything, either by voice
or pen, to strengthen the hand of the National Gov-
ernment. He continued to reside in Concord until
the time of his death, which occurred in October,
1S69. He was one of the most genial and social of
men, an honored communicant of the Episcopal
Church, and one of the kindest of neighbors. Gen-
erous to a fault, he contributed liberally for the al-
leviation of suffering and want, and many of his towns-
people were often gladened by his material bounty.

■

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FIFTEENTH PRESIDENT.

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AMES BUCHANAN, the fif-
.teenth President of the United
States, was born in a small
frontier town, at the foot of the
eastern ridge of the Allegha-
nies, in Franklin Co., Penn., on
the 23d of April, 1 7 91. The place
where the humble cabin of his
father stood was called Stony
Hatter. It was a wild and ro-
mantic spot in a gorge of the moun-
tains, with towering summits rising
grandly all around. His father
was a native of the north of Ireland;
a poor man, who had emigrated in
1 7 S3, with little property save his
own strong arms. Five years afterwards he married
Elizabeth Spear, the daughter of a respectable farmer,
and, with his young bride, plunged into the wilder-
ness, staked his claim, reared his log-hut, opened a
clearing with his axe, and settled down there to per-
form his obscure part in the drama of life. In this se-
cluded home, where James was born, he remained
for eight years, enjoying but few social or intellectual
advantages. When James was eight yeaisof age, his
father removed to the village of Mercersburg, where
his son was placed at school, and commenced a
course of study in English, Latin and Greek. His
progress was rapid, and at the age of fourteen, lie
entered Dickinson College, at Carlisle. Here he de-
veloped remarkable talent, and took his stand among
the first scholars in the institution. His application
«o study was intense, and yet his native powers en-

abled him to master the most abstruse subjects with
facility.

In the year 1 S09, he graduated with the highest
honors of his class. He was then eighteen years of
age; tall and graceful, vigorous in health, fond of
athletic sport, an unerring shot, and enlivened with
an exuberant flow of animal spirits. He immediately
commenced the study of law in the city of Lancaster,
and was admitted to the bar in 1812, when he was
but twenty-one years of age. Very rapidly he rose
in his profession, and at once took undisputed stand
with the ablest lawyers of the State. When but
twenty-six years of age, unaided by counsel, he suc-
cessfully defended before the State Senate one of the
judges of the State, who was tried ti|>on articles of
impeachment. At the age of thirty it was generally
admitted that he stood at the head of the bar; and
there was no lawyer in the State who had a more lu-
crative practice.

In 1820, he reluctantly consented to run as a
candidate for Congress. He was elected, and for
ten years he remained a member of the Lower House.
During the vacations of Congress, he occasionally
tried some important case. In 1831, he retired
altogether from the toils of his profession, having ac-
quired an ample fortune.

Gen. Jackson, upon his elevation to the Presidency,
appointed Mr. Buchanan minister to Russia. The
duties of his mission he performed with ability, which
gave satisfaction to all parties. 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 advoi atcd the meas-
ures proposed by President Jackson, of making repri-

7 6

JAMES BUCHANAN.

sals against France, to enforce the payment of our
claims against that country; and defended the course
of the President in his unprecedented and wholesale
removal from office of those who were not the sup-
porters of his administration. Upon this question he
was brought into direct collision with Henry Clay.
He also, with voice and vote, advocated expunging
from the journal of the Senate the vote of censure
against Gen. Jackson for removing the deposits.
Earnestly he opposed the abolition of slavery in the
District of Columbia, and urged the prohibition of the
circulation of anti-slavery documents by the United
States mails.

As to petitions on the subject of slavery, he advo-
cated that they should be respectfully received; and
that the reply should be returned, that Congress had
no power to legislate upon the subject. " Congress,"
said he, " might as well undertake to interfere with
slavery under a foreign government as in any of the
States where it now exists."

Upon Mr. I'olk's accession to the Presidency, Mr.
Buchanan became Secretary of State, and as such,
took his share of the responsibility in the conduct of
the Mexican War. Mr. Polk assumed that crossing
the Nueces by the American troops into the disputed
territory was not wrong, but for the Mexicans to cross
the Rio Grande into that territory was a declaration
of war. No candid man can read with pleasure the
account of the course our Government pursued in that
movement

Mr. Buchanan identified himself thoroughly with
the party devoted to the perpetuation and extension
of slavery, and brought all the energies of his mind
to bear against the Wilmot Proviso. He gave his
cordial approval to the compromise measures of 1S50,
which included the fugitive-slave law. Mr. Pierce,
upon his election to the Presidency, honored Mr.
Buchanan with the mission to England.

In the year [856, a national Democratic conven-
tion nominated Mr. Buchanan forthe Presidency. 'Hie
political conflict was one of the most severe in which
O'.ir country has ever engaged. All the friends of
slavery were on one side; all the advocates of its re-
striction and final abolition, on the other. Mr. Fre-
mont, the candidate of the enemies of slavery, re-
ceived 1 14 electoral votes. Mr. Buchanan received
T74, and was elected. The popular vote stood
1,340,618, for Fremont, 1,224,750 for Buchanan. On
March 4th, 1857, Mr. Buchanan was inaugurated.

Mr. Buchanan was far advanced in life. Only four
years were wanting to fill up his threescore years and
ten. His own friends, those with whom he had been
allied in political principles and action for years, were
seeking the destruction of the Government, that they
might rear upon the ruins of our free institutions a
nation whose comer-stone should be human slavery.
[n this emergency, Mr. Buchanan was hopelessly be-
wildered He could not, with his long-avowed prin-

ciples, consistently oppose the State-rights party in
their assumptions. As President of the United States,
bound by his oath faithfully to administer the laws
he could not, without perjury of the grossest kind,
unite with those endeavoring to overthrow the repub-
lic. He therefore did nothing.

The opponents of Mr. Buchanan's administration
nominated Abraham Lincoln as their standard bearer
in the next Presidential canvass. The pro-slavery
party declared, that if he were elected, and the con-
trol of the Government were thus taken from their
hands, they would secede from the Union, taking
with them, as they retired, the National Capitol at
Washington, and the lion's share of the territory of
the United States.

Mr. Buchanan's sympathy with the pro-slavery
party was such, that he had been willing to offer them
far more than they had ventured to claim. All the
South had professed to ask of the North was non-
intervention upon the subject of slavery. Mr. Bu-
chanan had been ready to offer them the active co-
operation of the Government to defend and extend
the institution.

As the storm increased in violence, the slaveholders
claiming the right to secede, and Mr. Buchanan avow-
ing that Congress had no power to prevent it, one of
the most pitiable exhibitions of governmental im-
becility was exhibited the world has ever seen, lie
declared that Congress had no power to enforce its
laws in any State which had withdrawn, or which
was attempting to withdraw from the Union. This
was not the doctrine of Andrew Jackson, when, with
his hand upon his sword-hilt, he exclaimed. "The
Union must and shall be preserved!"

South Carolina seceded in December, 1S60; nearly
three months before the inauguration of President
Lincoln. Mr. Buchanan looked on in listless despair.
The rebel flag was raised in Charleston : Fort Sumpter
was besieged ; our forts, navy-yards and arsenals
were seized; our depots of military stores were plun-
dered ; and our custom-houses and post-offices were
appropriated by the rebels.

The energy of the rebels, and the imbecility of our
Executive, were alike marvelous. The Nation looked
on in agony, waiting for the slow weeks to glide away,
and (lose the administration, so terrible in its weak-
ness At length the long-looked-for hour of deliver-
ance came, when Abraham Lincoln was to receive the
scepter.

The administration of President Buchanan was
certainly the most calamitous our country has ex-
perienced. His best friends cannot recall it with
pleasure. And still more deplorable it is for his fame,
that in that dreadful conflict which rolled its billows
of flame and blood over our whole land, no word came
from his lips to indicate his wish that our country's
banner should triumph over the flag of the rebellion.
He died at his Wheatland retreat, June 1, 1868.

^-T

G^^CvC^t^

SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT.

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„„ , ABRAHAM > iflftftdp < f LINCOLN. > |

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I5RAHAM LINCOLN,
g sixteenth President of

the

the
in

12,

i-© United States, was born
I Hardin Co., Ky., Feb.
1809. About the year 1780, a
man by the name of Abraham
Lincoln left Virginia with his
family and moved into the then
wildsof Kentucky. Only two years
after this emigration, still a young
man, while working one day in a
field, was stealthily approached by
an Indian and shot dead. His widow
was left in extreme poverty with five
little children, three boys and two
girls. Thomas, the youngest of the
boys, was four years of age at his
father's death. This Thomas was
the father of Abraham Lincoln, the
President of the United States
whose name must henceforth forever be enrolled
widi the must prominent in the annals of our world.
Of course no record has been kept of the life
of one so lowly as Thomas Lincoln. He was among
the i*>orest of the poor. His home was a wretched
log -cabin; his food the coarsest and the meanest.
Education he had none; he could never either read
or write. As soon as he was able to do anything for
himself, he was compelled to leave the cabin of his
starving mother, and push out into the world, a friend-
less, wandering boy, seeking work. He hired him-
self out, and thus spent the whole of his youth as a
laborer in the fields of others.

When twenty-eight years of age he built a log-
cabin of his own, and married Nancy Hanks, the
daughter of another family of poor Kentucky emi-
grants, who had also come from Virginia. Their
second child was Abraham Lincoln, the subject of
this sketch. The mother of Abraham was a noble
woman, gentle, loving, pensive, created to adorn
a palace, doomed to toil and pine, and die in a hovel.
" All that I am, or hope to be," exclaims the grate-
ful son "I owe to my angel-mother.

When he was eight years of age, his father sold his

cabin and small farm, and moved to Indiana. Where
two years later his mother died.

Abraham soon became the scribe of the uneducated
community around him. He could not have had 1
better school than this to teach him to put thoughts
into words. He also became an eager reader. The
books he could obtain were few ; but these he read
and re-read until they were almost committed to
memory.

As the years rolled on, the lot of this lowly family
was the usual lot of humanity. There were joys and
griefs, weddings and funerals. Abraham's sister
Sarah, to whom he was tenderly attached, was mar-
ried when a child of but fourteen years of age, and
soon died. The family was gradually scattered. Mr.
Thomas Lincoln sold out his squatter's claim in 1830,
and emigrated to Macon Co., 111.

Abraham Lincoln was then twenty-one years of age.
With vigorous hands he aided his father in reaving
another log-cabin. Abraham worked diligently at this
until he saw the family comfortably settled, and their
small lot of enclosed prairie planted with corn, when
he announced to his father his intention to leave
home, and to go out into the world and seek his for-
tune. Little did he or his friends imagine how bril-
liant that fortune was to be. He saw the value of
education, and was intensely earnest to improve his
mind to the utmost of his power. He saw the ruin
which ardent spirits were causing, and became
strictly temperate; refusing to allow a drop of intoxi-
cating liquor to pass his lips. And he had read in
God's word, "Thou shalt not take the name of the
Lord thy God in vain;" and a profane expression he
was never heard to utter. Religion he revered. His
morals were pure, and he was uncontaminated by a
single vice.

Young Abraham worked for a time as a hired laborer
among the farmers. Then he went to Springfield,
where he was employed in building a large flat-boat.
In this he took a herd of swine, floated them down
the Sangamon to the Illinois, and thence by the Mis-
sissippi to New Orleans. Whatever Abraham Lin-
coln undertook, he performed so faithfully as to give
great satisfaction to his employers. In this advon-

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

ture his employers were so well pleased, that upon
his return they placed a store and mill under his care.

In 1832, at the outbreak of the Black Hawk war, he
enlisted and was chosen captain of a company. He
returned to Sangamon County, and although only 23
years of age, was a candidate for the Legislature, but
was defeated. He soon after received from Andrew
Jackson the appointment of Postmaster of New Salem,
His only post-office was his hat. All the letters he
received he carried there ready to deliver to those
he chanced to meet. He studied surveying, and soon
made this his business. In 1834 he again became a
candidate for the Legislature, and was elected Mr.
Stuart, of Springfield, advised him to study law. He
walked from New Salem to Springfield, borrowed of
Mr. Stuart a load of books, carried them back and
began his legal studies. When the Legislature as-
sembled he trudged on foot with his pack on his back
one hundred miles to Vandalia, then the capital. In
1S36 he was re-elected to the Legislature. Here it
was he first met Stephen A. Douglas. In 1839 he re-
moved to Springfield and began the practice of law.
His success with the jury was so great that he was
soon engaged in almost every noted case in the circuit.

In 1S54 I he great discussion began between Mr.
Lincoln and Mr. Douglas, on the slavery question.
In the organization of the Republican party in Illinois,
in 1S56, he took an active part, and at once became
one of the leaders in that party. Mr. Lincoln's
speeches in opposition to Senator Douglas in the con-
test in 1 85 S for a seat in the Senate, form a most
notable part of his history 1 The issue was on the
slavery question, and he took the broad ground of
lie Declaration of Independence, that all men are
created equal. Mr. Lincoln was defeated in this con-
test, but won a far higher prize:

The great Republican Convention met at Chicago
on the 1 6th of June, i860. The delegates and
strangers who crowded the city amounted to twenty-
five thousand. An immense building called "The
Wigwam," was reared to accommodate the Conven-
tion. There were eleven candidates for whom votes
were thrown. William H Seward, a man whose fame
as a statesman had long filled the land, was the most
orominent. It was generally supposed he would be
the nominee. Abraham Lincoln, however, received
the nomination on the third ballot. Little did he then
dream of the weary years of toil and care, and the
bloody death, to which that nomination doomed him:
and as little did he dream that he was to render services
to his country, which would fix upon him the eyes of
the whole civilized world, and which would give him
a place in the affections of his countrymen, second
only, if second, to that of Washington.

Election day came and Mr. Lincoln received 180
electoral votes out of 203 cast, and was, therefore,
constitutionally elected President of the United States.
The tirade of abuse that was poured upon this good

and merciful man, especially by the slaveholders, was
greater than upon any other man ever elected to this
high position. In February, 1861, Mr. Lincoln started
for Washington, stopping in all the large cities on his
way making speeches. The whole journey was trough I
with much danger. Many of the Southern States had
already seceded, and several attempts at assassination
were afterwards brought to light. A gang in Balti-
more had arranged, upon his arrival to" get up a row,"
and in the confusion to make sure of his death with
revolvers and hand-grenades. A detective unravelled
the plot. A secret and special train was provided to
take him from Harrisburg, through Baltimore, at an
unexpected hour of the night. The train started at
half-past ten ; and to prevent airy possible communi-
cation on the part ot the Secessionists with their Cun-
federate gang in Baltimore, as soon as the train had
started the telegraph-wires were cut. Mr. Lincoln
reached Washington in safety and was inaugurated,
although great anxiety was felt by all loyal people,

In the selection of his cabinet Mr. Lincoln gave
to Mr Seward the Department of State, and to other
prominent opponents before the convention he gave
important positions.

During no other administration have the duties
devolving upon the President been so manifold, ami
the responsibilities so great, as those which tell to
the lot of President Lincoln. Knowing this, and
feeling his own weakness and inability to meet, and in
his own strength to cope with, the difficulties, lie
learned early to seek Divine wisdom and guidance in
determining his plans, and Divine comfort in all his
trials, both personal and national. "Contrary to his
own estimate of himself, Mr. Lincoln was one of the
most courageous of men. He went directly into the
rebel capital just as the retreating foe was leaving,
with no guard but a few sailors. From the time he
had left Springfield, in 1S61, however, plans had been
made for his assassination, and he at last fell a victim
to one of them. April 14, 1865, he, with Gen. Grant,
was urgently invited to attend Fords' Theater. It
was announced that they would t.e present. Gen.
Grant, however, left the city. President Lincoln, feel-
ing, witli his characteristic kindliness of heart, that
it would be a disappointment if he should fail them,
very reluctantly consented to go. While listening to
the play an actor by the name of John Wilkes Booth
entered the box where the President and family were
seated, and fired a bullet into his brains. He died the
next morning at seven o'clock.

Never before, in the history of the world was a nation
plunged into such deep grief by the death of its ruler
Strong men met in the streets and wept in speechless
anguish. It is not too much to say that a nation was
in tears. His was a life which will fitly become a
model. His name as the savior of his country will
live with that of Washington's, its father; his country-
men being unable to decide which is tl^e neater.

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EN'l J: I: A ' 7 11 J'KESJDEy T.

m o n mm ipanipi

^ NDREW JOHNSON, seven-
th teenth President of ihe Unitet

^ .States.

The early life of

Andrew Johnson contains but

the record of poverty, destitu-

% -VT tionand friendlessness. He

/. \ . ■■- ... -- . j ^

■ was born December 29, 1S0S,

in Raleigh, N. C. His parents,
belonging to the class or the
"poor whites " of the South, were
in such circumstances, that they
could not confer even the slight-
est advantages of education upon
their child. When Andrew was five
years of age, his father accidentally
lost his life while herorically endeavoring to save a
friend from drowning. Until ten years of age, Andrew
was a ragged boy about the streets, supported by the
labor of his mother, who obtained her living with
her own hands.

He then, having never attended a school one day,
and being unable either to read or write, was ap-
prenticed to a tailor in his native town. A gentleman
was in the habit of going to the tailor's shop occasion-
ally, and reading to the boys at work there. He often
read from the speeches of distinguished British states-
men. Andrew, who was endowed with a mind of more
than ordinary native ability, became much interested
in these speeches; his ambition was roused, and he
was inspired with a strong desire to learn to read.

He accordingly applied himself to the alphabet, and
with the assistance of some of his fellow- workmen,
learned his letters. He then called upon the gentle-
man to borrow the book of speeches. The owner,

pleased with his zeal, not only gave him the book,
but assisted him in learning to combine the letters
into words. Under such difficulties he pressed oi.
ward laboriously, spending usually ten or twelve hours
at work in the shop, and then robbing himself of rest
and recreation to devote such time as he could to
reading.

He went to Tennessee in 1826, and located at
Greenville, where he married a young lady who pos
sessed some education. Under her instructions he
learned to write and cipher. He became prominent
in the village debating society, and a favorite with
the students of Greenville College. In 1828, he or-
ganized a working man's party, which elected him
alderman, and in 1830 elected him mayor, which
position he held three years.

He now began to take a lively interest in poliiical
affairs; identifying himself with the working-class^
to which he belonged. In 1835, he was elected a
member of the House of Representatives of Tennes-
see. He was then just twenty-seven years of age.
He became a very active member of the legislature,
gave his adhesion to the Democratic party, and in
1840 " stumped the State," advocating Martin Van
Buren's claims to the Presidency, in opposition to those
of Gen. Harrison. In this campaign he acquired much
readiness as a speaker, and extended and increased
his reputation.

In 1841, he was elected State Senator; in 1843, he
was elected a member of Congress, and by successive
elections, held that important post for ten years. In
1853, he was elected Governor of Tennessee, and
was re-elected in 1855. In all these res])onsible posi-
tions, he discharged his duties with distinguished abi.

ANDREW JOHNSON.

ity, and proved himself the warm friend of the work-
ing classes. In 1S57, Mr. Johnson was elected
United States Senator.

Years before, in 1845, he had warmly advocated
the annexation of Texas, stating however, as his
reason, that he thought this annexation would prob-
ably prove " to be the gateway out of which the sable
sons of Africa are to pass from bondage to freedom,
and become merged in a population congenial to
themselves." In 1850, he also supported the com-
promise measures, the two essential features of which
were, that the white people of the Territories should
be permitted to decide for themselves whether they
would enslave the colored people or not, and that
the r ree States of the North should return to the
South persons who attempted to escape from slavery.

Mr. Johnson was never ashamed of Wis lowly origin:
on the contrary, he often took piide in avowing that
he owed his distinction to his own exertions. "Sir,"
said he on the floor of the Senate, " I do not forget
that I am a mechanic ; neither do I forget that Adam
was a tailor and sewed fig-leaves, and that our Sav-
ior was the son of a carpenter."

In the Charleston- Baltimore convention of i&uj, ne
was the choice of the Tennessee Democrats for the
Presidency. In 1861, when the purpose of the South-
ern Democracy became apparent, he took a decided
stand in favor of the Union, and held that " slavery
must be held subordinate to the Union at whatever
cost." He returned to Tennessee, and repeatedly
imperiled his own life to protect the Unionists of
Tennesee. Tennessee having seceded from the
Union, President Lincoln, on March 4th, 1862, ap-
pointed him Military Governor of the State, and lie
established the most stringent military rule. His
numerous proclamations attracted wide attention. In
i S64, he was elected Vice-President of the United
States, and upon the death of Mr. Lincoln, April 15,
1S65, became President. In a speech two days later
he said, "The American people must be taught, if
fhey do not already feel, that treason is a crime and
must be punished; that the Government will not
always bear with its enemies; that it is strong not
only to protect, but to punish. * * The people
must understand that it (treason) is the blackest of
crimes, and will surely be punished." Yet his whole
administration, the history of which is so well known,
was in utter inconsistency with, and the most violent

opposition to. the principles laid down in that speech.

In bis loose policy of reconstruction and general
amnesty, he was opposed by Congress; and he char-
acterized Congress as a new rebellion, and lawlessly
defied it, in everything possible, to the utmost. In
the beginning of 1868, on account of "high crimes
and misdemeanors," the principal of which was the
removal of Secretary Stanton, in violation of the Ten-
ure of Office Act, articles of impeachment were pre-
ferred against him, and the trial began March 23.

It was very tedious, continuing for nearly three
months. A test article of the impeachment was at
length submitted to the court for its action. It was
certain that as the court voted upon that article so
would it vote upon all. Thirty-four voices pronounced
the President guilty. As a two-thirds vote was neces-
sary to his condemnation, he was pronounced ac-
quitted, notwithstanding the great majority against
him. The change of one vote from the not guilty
side would have sustained the impeachment.

The President, for the remainder of his term, was
but little regarded. He continued, though impotent!-")
his conflict with Congress. His own party did not
think it expedient to renominate him for the Presi-
dency. The Nation rallied, with enthusiasm unpar-
alleled since the days of Washington, around the name
of Gen. Grant. Andrew Johnson was forgotten.
The bullet of the assassin introduced him to the
President's chair. Notwithstanding this, never was
there presented to a man a better opportunity to im-
mortalize his name, and to win the gratitude of a
nation. He failed utterly. He retired to his home
in Greenville, Tenn., taking no very active part in
politics until 1875. On Jan. 26, after an exciting
struggle, he was chosen by the Legislature of Ten-
nessee, United States Senator in the forty-fourth Con-
gress, and took his seat in that body, at the special
session convened by President Grant, on the 5th of
March. On the 27th of July, 1875, the ex-President
made a visit to his daughter's home, near Carter
Station, Tenn. When he started on his journey, he was
apparently in his usual vigorous health, but on reach-
ing the residence of his child the following day, was
stricken with paralysis, rendering him unconscious.
He rallied occasionally, but finally passed away at
2 a.m., July 31, aged sixty-seven years. His fun-
eral was attended at Geenville, on the 3d of August,
with every demonstration of respect.

/Z^7~ a^ZZI

EIG11 TEENTH ['RESIDENT.

■■•'■■■

ta LYSSES S. GRANT, the
&i eighteenth President of the
^United States, was born on
V the 29th of April, 1822, of
{, Christian parents, in a humble
home, at Point Pleasant, on the
banks of the Ohio. Shortly after
his father moved to George-
town, Brown Co., O. In this re-
mote frontier hamlet, Ulysses
received a common-school edu-
cation. At the age of seven-
teen, in the year 1839, he entered
the Military Academy at West
Point. Here he was regarded as a
solid, sensible young man of fair abilities, and of
sturdy, honest character. He took respectable rank
as a scholar. In June, 1843, he graduated, about the
middle in his class, and was sent as lieutenant of in-
fantry to one of the distant military posts in the Mis-
souri Territory. Two years he past in these dreary
solitudes, watching the vagabond and exasperating
Indians.

The war with Mexico came. Lieut. Grant was
sent with his regiment to Corpus Christi. His first
battle was at Palo Alto. There was no chance here
for the exhibition of either skill or heroism, nor at
Resacade la Palma, his second battle. At the battle
of Monterey, his third engagement, it is said that
he performed a signal service of daring and skillful
horsemanship. His brigade had exhausted its am-
munition. A messenger must be sent for more, along
a route exposed to the bullets of the foe. Lieut.
Grant, adopting an expedient learned of the Indians,
gTasped the mane of his horse, and hanging upon one
side of the aniroal, ran the gauntlet in entire safety.

»£^V@$&<§V<§Xs>€£>fe)

From Monterey he was sent, with the fourth infantry,
10 aid Gen. Scott, at the siege of Vera Cruz. In
preparation for the march to the city of Mexico, he
was appointed quartermaster of his regiment. At the
battle of Molino del Rev, he was promoted to a
first lieutenancy, and was brevetted captain at Cha-
pultepec.

At the close of the Mexican War, Capt. Grant re-
turned with his regiment to New York, and was again
sent to one of the military posts on the frontier. The
discovery of gold in California causing an immense
tide of emigration to flow to the Pacific shores, Capt.
Grant was sent with a battalion to Fort Dallas, in
Oregon, for the protection of the interests of the im-
migrants. Life was wearisome in those wilds. Capt.
Grant resigned his commission and returned to the
States; and having married, entered upon the cultiva-
tion of a small farm near St. Louis, Mo. He had but
little skill as a farmer. Finding his toil not re-
munerative, he turned to mercantile life, entering into
the leather business, with a younger brother, at Ga-
lena, 111. This was in the year i860. As the tidings
of the rebels firing on Fort Sumpter reached the ears
of Capt. Grant in his counting-room, he said, —
"Uncle Sam has educated me for the army; though
I have served him through one war, I do not feel that
I have yet repaid the debt. I am still ready to discharge
my obligations. I shall therefore buckle on my sword
and see Uncle Sam through this war too."

He went into the streets, raised a company of vol-
unteers, and led them as their captain to Springfield,
the capital of the State, where their services were
offered to Gov. Yates. The Governor, impressed by
the zeal and straightforward executive ability of Capt.
Grant, gave him a desk in his office, to assist in the
volunteer organization that was being formed in the
State in behalf of the Government. On the 15th of

l/LVSS&S S. GRANT.

June, 1861, Capt. Grant received a commission as
Colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment of Illinois Vol-
unteers. His merits as a West Point graduate, who
had served for 15 years in the regular army, were such
that he was soon promoted to the rank of Brigadier-
General and was placed in command at Cairo. The
rebels raised their banner at Paducah, near the mouth
of the Tennessee River. Scarcely had its folds ap-
peared in the breeze ere Gen. Grant was there. The
rebels fled. Their banner fell, and the star and
stripes were unfurled in its stead.

He entered the service with great determination
and immediately began active duty. This was the be-
ginning, and until the surrender of Lee at Richmond
he was ever pushing the enemy with great vigor and
effectiveness. At Belmont, a few days later, he sur-
prised and routed the rebels, then at Fort Henry
won another victory. Then came the brilliant fight
at Fort Donelson. The nation was electrified by the
victory, and the brave leader of the boys in blue was
immediately made a Major-General, and the military
district of Tennessee was assigned to him.

Like all great captains, Gen. Grant knew well how
to secure the results of victory. He immediately
pushed on to the enemies' lines. Then came the
terrible battles of Pittsburg Landing, Corinth, and the
siege of Vicksburg, where Gen. Pemberton made an
unconditional surrender of the city with over thirty
thousand men and one-hundred and seventy-two can-
non. The fall of Vicksburg was by far the most
severe blow which the rebels had thus far encountered,
and opened up the Mississippi from Cairo to the Gulf.
Gen. Grant was next ordered to co-operate with
Gen. Banks in a movement upon Texas, and pro-
ceeded to New Orleans, where he was thrown from
i:is horse, and received severe injuries, from which he
was laid up for months. He then rushed to the aid
of Gens. Rosecrans and Thomas at Chattanooga, and
by a wonderful series of strategic and technical meas-
ures put the Union Army in fighting condition. Then
followed the bloody battles at Chattanooga, Lookout
Mountain and Missionary Ridge, in which the rebels
were routed with great loss. This won for him un-
bounded praise in the North. On the 4th of Febru-
ary, 1864, Congress revived the grade of lieutenant-
general, and the rank was conferred on Gen. Grant.
He repaired to Washington to receive his credentials
and enter iipor. !!?p duties of his new office.

Gen. Grant decided as soon as he took charge of
the army to concentrate the widely-dispersed National
troops for an attack upon Richmond, the nominal
capital of the Rebellion, and endeavor there to de-
stroy the rebel armies which would be promptly as-
sembled from all quarters for its defence. The whole
continent seemed to tremble under the tramp of these
majestic armies, rushing to the decisive battle field.
Steamers were crowded with troops. Railway trains
were burdened with closely packed thousands. His
plans were comprehensive and involved a series of
campaigns, which were executed with remarkable en-
ergy and ability, and were consummated at the sur-
render of Lee, April 9, 1865.

The war was ended. The Union was saved. The
almost unanimous voice of the Nation declared Gen.
Grant to be the most prominent instrument in its sal-
vation. The eminent services he had thus rendered
the country brought him conspicuously forward as the
Republican candidate for the Presidential chair.

At the Republican Convention held at Chicago,
May 21, 1S68, he was unanimously nominated for the
Presidency, and at the autumn election received a
majority of the popular vote, and 214 out of 294
electoral votes.

The National Convention of the Republican party
which met at Philadelphia on the 5th of June, 1872,
placed Gen. Grant in nomination for a second term
by a unanimous vote. The selection was emphati-
cally indorsed by the people five months later, 292
electoral votes being cast for him.

Soon after the close of his second term, Gen. Grant
started upon his famous trip around the world. He
visited almost every country of the civilized world,
and was everywhere received with such ovations
and demonstrations of respect and honor, private
as well as public and official, as were never before
bestowed upon any citizen of the United States.

He was the most prominent candidate before the
Republican National Convention in 18S0 for a re-
nomination for President. He went to New York and
embarked in the brokerage business under the firm
name of Grant & Ward. The latter proved a villain,
wrecked Grant's fortune, and for larceny was sent to
the penitentiary. The General was attacked with
cancer in the throat, but suffered in his stoic-like
manner, never complaining. He was re-instated as
General of the Army and retired by Congress. The
cancer soon finished its deadly work, and July 23,
1SS5, the nation went in mourning over the death of
the illustrious General.

^L^l-

NJX E TEE XTJl 1'R ESI1 > ENT.

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UTHERFORD B. HAYES,

the nineteenth President of
K the United States, was horn m
Delaware, O., Oct. 4, 1822, al-
most three months after the
^ death of his father, Rutherford
Hayes. His ancestry on both
the paternal and maternal sides,
was of the most honorable char-
acter. It can be traced, it is said,
as far back as 1280, when Hayes and
Rutherford were two Scottish chief-
tains, fighting side by side with
Baliol, William Wallace and Robert
Bruce. Both families belonged to the
nobility, owned extensive estates,
and had a large following. Misfor-
tune overtaking the family, George Hayes left Scot-
land in 1680, and settled in Windsor, Conn. His son
George was born in Windsor, and remained there
during his life. Daniel Hayes, son of the latter, mar-
ried Sarah Lee, arid lived from the time of his mar-
riage until his death in Simsbury, Conn. E/.ekiel,
son of Daniel, was born in 1724, and was a manufac-
turer of scythes at Bradford, Conn. Rutherford Hayes,
son of K/.ekiel and grandfather of President Hayes, was
born in New Haven, in August, 1756. He was a farmer,
blacksmith and tavern-keeper. He emigrated to
Vermont at an unknown date, settling in Brattleboro,
where he established a hotel. Here his son Ruth-
erford Hayes the father of President Hayes, was

born. He was married, in September, 1813, to Sophia
Birchard, of Wilmington, Vt., whose ancestors emi-
grated thither from Connecticut, they having been
among the wealthiest and best famlies of Norwich.
Her ancestry on the male side are traced back to
1635, to John Birchard, one of the principal founders
of Norwich. Both of her grandfathers were soldieis
in the Revolutionary War.

The father of President Hayes was an industrious
frugal and opened-hearted man. He was of a me-
chanical turn', and could mend a plow, knit a stock,
ing, or do almost anything else that he choose to
undertake. He was a member of the Church, active
in all the benevolent enterprises of the town, and con-
ducted his business on Christian principles. After
the close of the war of 1812, for reasons inexplicable
to his neighbors, he resolved to emigrate to Ohio.

The journey from Vermont to Ohio in that day.
when there were no canals, steamers, nor railways,
was a very serious affair. A tour of inspection was
first made, occupying four months. Mr. Hayes deter-
mined to move to Delaware, where the family arrived
in 1817. He died July 22, 1822, a victim of malarial
fever, less than three months before the birth of the
son, of whom we now write. Mrs. Hayes, in her sore be-
reavement, found the support she so much needed in
her brother Sardis, who had been a member of the
household from the day of its departure from Ver-
mont, and in an orphan girl whom she had adopted
some time before as an act of charity.

Mrs. Hayes at this period was very weak, and the

9 2

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.

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 in-
quiring from time to time " if Mrs. Hayes' baby died
last night." On one occasion a neighbor, who was on
familiar terms with the family, after alluding to the
boy's big head, and the mother's assiduous care of
him, said in a bantering way, " That's right ! Stick to
him. You have got him along so far, and I shouldn't
wonder if he would really come to something yet."

" You need not laugh," said Mrs. Hayes. " You
wait and see. You can't tell but I shall make him
President of the United States yet." The boy lived,
in spite of the universal predictions of his speedy
death; and when, in 1825, his older brother was
drowned, he became, if possible, still dearer to his
mother.

The boy was seven years old before he went to
E 'lool. His education, however, was not neglected.
He robably learned as much from his mother and
sister a; he would have done at school. His sports
were almost wholly within doors, his playmates being
his sister and her associates. These circumstances
tended, no doubt, to foster that gentleness of dispo-
sition, and that delicate consideration for the feelings
of others, which are marked traits of his character.

His uncle Sardis Birchard took the deepest interest
in his education ; and as the boy's health had im-
proved, and he was making good progress in his
studies, he proposed to send him to college. His pre-
paration commenced with a tutor at home; but he
was afterwards sent for one year to a professor in the
Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Conn. He en-
tered Kenyon College in 1838, at the age of sixteen,
and was graduated at the head of his class in 1842.

Immediately after his graduation he began the
study of law in the office of Thomas Sparrow, Esq.,
in Columbus. Finding his opportunities for study in
Columbus somewhat limited, he determined to enter
the Law School at Cambridge, Mass., where he re-
mained two years.

In 1845, after graduating at the Law School, 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 re-
mained three years, acquiring but a limited practice,
and apparently unambitious of distinction in his pro-
fession.

In 1849 he moved to Cincinnati, where his ambi-
tion found a new stimulus. For several years, how-
ever, his progress was slow. Two events, occurring at
this period, had a powerful influence upon his subse-
quent life. One of these was his marrage with Miss
Lucy Ware Webb, daughter of Dr. James Webb, of
Chilicothe; the other was his introduction to the Cin-
cinnati Literary Club, a body embracing among its
members such men as^hief Justice Salmon P.Chase,

Gen. John Pope, Gov. Edward F. Noyes, and many
others hardly less distinguished in after life. The
marriage was a fortunate one in every respect, as
everybody knows. Not one of all the wives of our
Presidents was more universally admired, reverenced
and beloved than was Mrs. Hayes, and no one did
more than she to reflect honor upon American woman-
hood. The Literary Quo brought Mr. Hayes into
constant association with young men of high char-
acter and noble aims, and lured him to display the
qualities so long hidden by his bashfulness and
modesty.

In 1856 he was nominated to the office of Judge of
the Court of Common Pleas; but he declined to ac-
cept the nomination. Two years later, the office of
city solicitor becoming vacant, the City Council
elected him for the unexpired term.

In 1 86 1, when the Rebellion broke out, he was at
the zenith of his professional life. Flis rank at the
bar was among the the first. But the news of the
attack on Fort Sumpter found him eager to take up
arms for the defense of his country.

His military record was bright ar.d illustrious. In
October, 1861, he was made Lieutenant-Colonel, and
in August, 1862, promoted Colonel of the 79th Ohio
regiment, but he refused to leave his old comrades
and go among strangers. Subsequently, however, he
was made Colonel of his old regiment. At the battle
of South Mountain he received a wound, and while
faint and bleeding displayed courage and fortitude
that won admiration from all.

Col. Hayes was detached from his regiment, after
his recovery, to act as Brigadier-General, and placed
in command of the celebrated Kanawha division,
and for gallant and meritorious services in the battles
of Winchester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, he was
promoted Brigadier-General. He was also brevetted
Major-General, "forgallant and distinguished services
during the campaigns of 1864, in West Virginia." In
the course of his arduous services, four horses were
shot from under him, and he was wounded four times.

In 1864, Gen. Hayes was elected to Congress, from
the Second Ohio District, which Jiad long been Dem-
ocratic. He was not present during the campaign,
and after his election was importuned to resign his
commission in the army; but he finally declared, " 1
shall never come to Washington until I can come by
the way of Richmond." He was re-elected in 1866.

In 1867, Gen Hayes was elected Governor of Ohio,
over Hon. Allen G. Thurman, a popular Democrat.
In 1869 was re-elected over George H. Pendleton.
He was elected Governor for the third term in 1875.

In 1876 he was the standard bearer of the Repub-
lican Party in the Presidential contest, and after a
hard long contest was chosen President, and was in
augurated Monday, March 5, 1875. He served his
full term, not, hewever, with satisfaction to his party,
but his administration was an average op = .

".■;::._

Til 'ENTIETH PRESIDENT.

I JAMES A a gAREimU. y

^ 'II

/^X

AMES A GARFIELD, twen-
tieth President of tlie United
States, was horn Nov. ig,
1831, in the woods of Orange,
Cuyahoga Co., O His par-
ents were Abram and Eliza
(Ballou) Garfield, both of New
England ancestry and from fami-
lies well known in the early his-
tory of that section of our coun-
try, but had moved to the Western
Reserve, in Ohio, early in its settle-
ment.

The house in which James A. was
born was not unlike the houses of
poor Ohio farmers of that day. It
.. as about 20x30 feet, built of logs, with the spaces be-
.ween the logs filled with clay. His father was a
lard working farmer, and he soon had his fields
cleared, an orchard planted, and a log barn built.
i'lie household comprised the father and mother and
heir four children — Mehetabel, Thomas, Mary and
antes. In May, 1823, the father, from a cold con-
rai ted in helping to put out a forest fire, died. At
this time James was about eighteen months old, and
Phomas about ten years old. No one, perhaps, can
(ell how much James was indeLted to his btother's
ceil and self-sacrifice during the twenty years suc-
ceeding his father's death, but undoubtedly very
much. He now lives in Michigan, and the two sis-
itrs live in Solon, O., near their birthplace.

The early educational advantages young Garfield
enjoyed were very limited, yet he made the most of
them. He labored at farm work for others, did car-
penter work, chopped wood, or did anything that
would bring in a few dollars to aid his widowed
mother in lie' struggles to keep the little family to-

gether. Nor was Gen. Garfield ever ashamed of hi?
origin, and he never forgot the friends of his strug-
gling childhood, youth and manhood, neither did the)
ever forget him. When in the highest seatsof honor,
the humblest fiiend of his boyhood was as kindly
greeted as ever. The poorest laborer was sureof the
sympathy of one who had known all the bitterness
of want and the sweetness of bread earned by the
sweat of the brow. He was ever the simple, plain,
modest gentleman.

The highest ambition of young Garfield until he
was about sixteen years old was to be a captain of
a vessel on Lake Erie. He was anxious to go aboard
a vessel, which his mother strongly opposed. She
finally consented to his going to Cleveland, with the
understanding, however, that he should try to obtain
some other kind of employment. He walked all the
way to Cleveland. This was his first visit to the city.
After making many applications for work, and trying
to get aboard a lake vessel, and not meeting with
success, he engaged as a driver for his cousin, Amos
Letcher, on the Ohio & Pennsylvania Canal. He re-
mained at this work but a short time when he went
home, and attended the seminary at Chester for
about three years, when he entered Hiram and the
Eclectic Institute, teaching a few terms of school in
the meantime, and doing other work. This school
was started by the Disciples of Christ in 1850, of
which church he was then a member. He became
janitor and bell-ringer in order to help pay his w.n
He then became both teacher and pupil. He soon
" exhausted Hiram " and needed more ; hence, in the
fall of 1854, he entered Williams College, from which
he graduated in 1856, taking one of the highest hon-
ors of his class. He afterwards returned to Hiram
College as its President. As above slated, he early
united with the Christian or Diciples Church at
Hiram, and was ever after a devoted, zealous mem-
ber, often preaching in its pulpit and places where
he happened to be. Dr. Noah Porter, President of
Yale College, says of him in reference to his religion ;

9 6

JAMES A. GARFIELD.

" President Garfield was more than a man of
strong moral and religious convictions. His whole
history, from boyhood to the last, shows that duty to
man and to God, and devotion to Christ and life and
faith and spiritual commission were controlling springs
of his being, and to a more than usual degree. In
my judgment there is no more interesting feature of
his character than his loyal allegiance to the body of
liristians in which he was trained, and the fervent
sympathy which he ever showed in their Christian
commu.iion. Not many of the few 'wise and mighty
and noble who are called' show a similar loyalty to
the less stately and cultured Christian communions
in which they have been reared. Too often it is true
that as they step upward in social and political sig-
nificance they step upward from one degree to
another in some of the many types of fashionable
Christianity. President Garfield adhered to the
church of his mother, the church in which he was
trained, and in which he served as a pillar and an
evangelist, and yet with the largest and most unsec-
tarian charity for all 'who loveour Lord in sincerity.'"

Mr. Garfield was united in marriage with Miss
Lucretia Rudolph, Nov. 1 1, 185S, who proved herself
worthy as the wife of one whom all the world loved and
mourned. To them were burn seven children, five of
whom are still living, four boys and one girl.

Mr. Garfield made his first political speeches in 1856,
in Hiram and the. neighboring villages, and three
years later he began to speak at county mass-meet-
ings, and became the favorite speaker wherever he
was. During this year he was elected to the Ohio
Senate. He also began to study law at Cleveland,
and in 1S61 was admitted to the bar. The great
Rebellion broke out in the early part of this year,
and Mr. Garfield at once resolved to fight as he had
talked, and enlisted to defend the old flag. He re-
ceived his commission as Lieut.-Colonel of the Forty-
second Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Aug.
14,1861. He was immediately put into active ser-
vice, and before he had ever seen a gun fired in ac^on,
was placed in command of four regiments of infantry
and eight companies of cavalry, charged with the
work of driving out of his native State the officer
(Humphrey Marshall) reputed to be the ablest of
those, not educated to war whom Kentucky had given
to the Rebellion. This work was bravely and speed-
ily accomplished, although against great odds. Pres-
ident Lincoln, on his success commissioned him
Brigadier-General, Jan. 10, 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
army." He was with Gen. Buell's army at Shiloli,
in its operations around Corinth and its march through
Alabama. He was then detailed as a member of the
General Court-Martial for the trial of Gen. Fitz-John
Porter. He was then ordered to report to Gen. Rose-
crans, and was assigned to the "Chief of Staff."

The military b'story of Gen. Garfield closed with

his brilliant services at Chickamauga, where he won
the stars 01 the Major-General.

Without an effort on his part Gei? Garfield was
elected to Congress in the fall of 1862 from the
Nineteenth District of Ohio. This section of Ohio
had been represented in Congress for sixty years
mainly by two men — Elisha Whittlesey and Joshua
K. Giddings. It was not without a struggle that he
resigned his place in the army. At the time heen-
tered Congress he was the youngest member in that
body. There he remained by successive re-
elections until he was elected President in 1SS0.
Of his labors in Congress Senator Hoar says : " Since
the year 1864 you cannot think of a question which
has been debated in Congress, or discussed before a
tribunel of the American people, in regard to which
you will not find, if you wish instruction, the argu-
ment on one side stated, in almost every instance
better than by anybody else, in some speech made in
the House of Representatives or on the hustings by
Mr. Garfield."

Upon Jan. 14, 18S0, Gen. Garfield was elected to
the LJ. S. Senate, and on the eighth of June, of the
same year, was nominated as the candidate ol his
parly for President at the great Chicago Convention-
He was elected in the following November, and on
March 4, 1881, was inaugurated. Probably no ad-
ministration ever opened its existence under brighter
auspices than that of President Garfield, and every
day it grew in favor with the people, and by the first
of July lie had completed all the initiatory and pre-
liminary work of his administration and was prepar-
ing to leave the city to meet his friends at Williams
College. While on his way and at the depot, in com-
pany with Secretary Blaine, a man stepped behind
him, drew a revolver, and fired directly at his back.
The President tottered and fell, and as lie did so the
assassin fired a second shot, the bullet cutting the
left coat sleeve of his victim, but inflicting nofarlhei
injury. It has been very truthfully said that this was
" the shot that was heard round the world " Never
before in the history of the Nation had anything oc-
curred which so nearly froze the blood of the people
for the moment, as this awful deed. He was smit-
ten on the brightest, gladdest day of all his life, and
was at the summit of his power and hope. Foreighty
days, all during the hot months of July and August,
he lingered and suffered. He, however, remained
master of himself till the last, and by his magnificent
bearing was teaching the country and the world the
noblest of human lessons — how to live grandly in the
very clutch of death. Great in life, he was surpass-
ingly great in death. He passed serenely away Sept.
19, 1883, at Elberon, N. J., on the very bank of the
ocean, where he had been taken shortly previous. The
world wept at his death, as it never had done on the
death of any other man who had ever lived upon it.
The murderer was duly tried, found guilty and exe-
cuted, in one year after he committed the foul deed.

T IVEN T Y-FIAS T PRESIDENT.

HESTER A. ARTHUR,

m twenty-first Presi'i-in ul 'lie

^United States was bom in

Franklin Cour.ty, Vermont, on

the fifthofOdobcr, 1830, and is

the oldest of a family of two

sons and five daughters. His

father was the Rev. Dr. William

Arthur, aBaptistc''.rgyman,'wht,

emigrated to tb'.s country fro-,i

L the county Antrim, Ireland, in

his 18th year, and died in 1875, in

Newtonville, neat Albany, after a

long and successful ministry.

Young Arthur was educated at
Union College, S< henectady, where
he excelled in all his studies. Af-
ter his graduation he taught schoo!
|h in Vermont for two years, and at
the expiration of that time came to
New York, with .§500 in his pocket,
and entered the office of ex- Judge
E. D. Culver as student. After
being admitted to the bar he formed
a partnership with his intimate friend and room-mate,
Henry D. Gardiner, with the intention of practicing
in the West, and for three months they roamed about
in the Western States in search of an eligible site,
but in the end returned to New York, where they
hung out their shingle, and entered upon a success-
ful career almost from the start. General Arthur
soon afterward marred the daughter of Lieutenant

Herndon, of the United States Navy, who was lost at.
sea. Congress voted a gold medal to his widow in
recognition of the bravery he displayed on that occa-
sion. Mrs. Arthur died shortly before Mr. Arthurs
nomination to the Vice Presidency, leaving two

children.

Gen. Arthur obtained considerable legal celebrity
in his first great case, the famous Lemmon suit,
brought to recover possession of eight slaves who had
been declared free by Judge Paine, of the Superior
Court of New York City. It was in 1852 that Jon-
athan Lemmon, of Virginia, went to New York with
his slaves, intending to ship them to Texas, when
they were discovered and freed. The Judge decided
that they could not be held by the owner under the
Fugitive Slave Law. A howl of rage went up from
the South, and the Virginia Legislature authorized the
Attorney General of that State to assist in an appeal.
Wm. M. Evarts and Chester A. Arthur were employed
to represent the People, and they won their case,
which then wen; to the Supreme Court of the United
States. Ckarles O'Conor here espoused the cause
of the slave-holders, but he too was beaten by Messrs
Evarts and Arthur, and a long step was taken toward
the emancipation of the black race.

Another great service was rendered by General
Arthur in the same cause in 1S56. Lizzie Jennings,
a respectable colored woman, was put off a Fourth
Avenue car with violence after she had paid her fare.
General Arthur sued on her behalf, and secured a
verdict of $500 damages. The next day the compa-
ny issued an order to admit colored persons to ride
on their cars, and the other car companies quickly

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

followed their example. Before that the Sixth Ave-
nue Company ran a few special cars for colored per-
sons and the other lines refused to let them ride at all.

General Arthur was a delegate to the Convention
at Saratoga that founded the Republican party.
Previous to the war he was Judge-Advocate of the
Second Brigade of the State of New York, and Gov-
ernor Morgan, of that State, appointed him Engineer-
in-Chief of his staff. In 1 86 1, he was made Inspec-
tor General, and soon afterward became Quartermas-
ter-General. In each of these offices he rendered
great service to the Government during the war. At
the end of Governor Morgan's term he resumed the
practice of the law, forming a partnership with Mr.
Ransom, and then Mr. Phelps, the District Attorney
of New Yoik, was added to the firm. The legal prac-
tice of this well-known firm was very large and lucra-
tive, each of the gentlemen composing it were able
lawyers, and possessed a splendid local reputation, if
not indeed one of national extent.

He always took a leading part in State and city
politics. He was appointed Collector of the Port of
New York by President Grant, Nov. zr 1872, to suc-
ceed Thomas Murphy, and held the office until July,
20, 1878, when he was succeeded by Collector Merritt.

Mr. Arthur was nominated on the Presidential
ticket, with Gen. James A. Garfield, at the famous
National Republican Convention held at Chicago in
June, 1S80. This was perhaps the greatest political
convention that ever assembled on the continent. It
was composed of the fading politicians of the Re-
publican party, all able men, and each stood firm and
fought vigorously and with signal tenacity for their
respective candidates that were before the conven-
tion for the nomination. Finally Gen. Garfield re-
ceived the nomination for President and Gen. Arthur
lor Vice-President. The campaign which followed
wasoneof the most animated known in the history of
our country. Gen. Hancock, the standard-bearer of
the Democratic party, was a popular man, and his
party made a valiant fight for his election.

Finally the election came and the country's choice
.vas Garfield and Arthur. They were inaugurated
March 4, 1881, as President and Vice-President.
A few months only had passed ere the newly chosen
President was the victim of the assassin's bullet. Then
came terrible weeks of suffering, — those moments of
anxious suspense, when the hearts of all civilized na-

tions were throbbing in unison, longing for. the re-
covery of the noble, the good President. The remark-
able patience that he manifested during those hours
and weeks, and even months, of the most terrible suf-
fering man has often been called upon to endure, was
seemingly more than human. It was certainly God-
like. During all this period of deepest anxiety Mr.
Arthur's every move was watched, and be it said to his
credit that his every action displayed only an earnest
desire that the suffering Garfield might recover, to
serve the remainder of the term he had so auspi-
ciously begun. Not a selfish feeling was manifested
in deed or look of this man, even though the most
honored position in the world was at any moment
likely to fall to him.

At last God in his mercy relieved President Gar-
field from further suffering, and the world, as never
before in its history over the death of any other
man, wept at his bier. Then it became the duty of
the Vice President to assume the responsibilities of
the high office, and he took the oath in New York.
Sept. 20, 1SS1. The position was an embarrassing
one to him, made doubly so from the facts that all
eyes were on him, anxious to know what he would do,
what policy he would pursue, and who he would se-
lect as advisers. The duties of the office had been
greatly neglected during the President's long illness,
and many important measures were to be immediately
decided by him; and still farther to embarrass him he
did not fail to realize under what circumstances he
became President, and knew the feelings of many on
this point. Under these trying circumstances President
Arthur took the reins of the Government in his own
hands; and, as embarrassing as were the condition of
affairs, he happily surprised the nation, acting so
wisely that but few criticised his administration.
He served the nation well and faithfully, until the
close of his administration, March 4, 1S85, and was
a popular candidate before his party for a second
term. His name was ably presented before the con-
vention at Chicago, and was received with great
favor, and doubtless but for the personal popularity
of one of the opposing candidates, he would have
been selected as the standard-bearer of his party
for another campaign. He retired to private life car-
rying with him the best wishes of the American peo-
ple, whom he had served in a manner satisfactory
to them and with credit to himself.

W:.

/ZVt/^

TWENTY-SECOND PRESIDENT.

^7^LM*8>7$a,

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^S;g<*^-s*^:s>s«-s;s*'S;s«^::s-'&^:S*-s;

mmx ClewlanC

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oco

TEPHEN GROVER CLEVE-
LAND, the twenty- second Pres-
ident of the United States, was
born in 1837, in the obscure
town of Caldwell, Essex Co.,
N. J., and in a little two-and-a-
half-story white house which is still
standing, characteristically to mark
the humble birth-place of one of
America's great men in striking con -
trast with the Old World, where all
men high in office must be high in
origin and born in the cradle of
wealth. When the subject of this
sketch was three years of age, his
father, who was a Presbyterian min-
ister, with a large family and a small salary, moved,
by way of the Hudson River and Erie Canal, to
Fayetteville, in search of an increased income and a
larger field of work. Fayetteville was then the most
straggling of country villages, about five miles from
Pompey Hill, where Governor Seymour was born.

At the last mentioned place young Grover com-
menced going to school in the "good, old-fashioned
way," and presumably distinguished himself after the
manner of all village boys, in doing the things he
ought not to do. Such is the distinguishing trait of
all geniuses and independent thinkers. When he
arrived at the age of 14 years, he had outgrown the
capacity of the village school and expressed a most

emphatic desire to be sent to an academy. To this
his father decidedly objected. Academies in those
days cost money; besides, his father wanted him to
become self-supporting by the quickest possible
means, and this at that time in Fayette/ille seemed
to be a position in a country store, where his father
and the large family on his hands had considerable
influence. Grover was to be paid $50 for his services
the first year, and if he proved trustworthy he was to
receive |ioo the second year. Here the lad com-
menced his career as salesman, and in two years he
had earned so good a reputation for trustworthiness
that his employers desired to retain him for an in-
definite length of time. Otherwise he did not ex-
hibit as yet any particular " flashes of genius " or
eccentricities of talent. He was simply a good boy.
But instead of remaining with this firm in Fayette-
ville, he went with the family in their removal to
Clinton, where he had an opportunity of attending a
high school. Here he industriously pursued his
studies until the family removed with him to a point
on Black River known as the " Holland Patent," a
village of 500 or 600 people, 15 miles north of Utica,
N. Y. At this place his father died, after preaching
but three Sundays. This event broke up the family,
and Grover set out for New York City to accept, at a
small salary, the position of " under-teacher " in an
asylum for the blind. He taught faithfully for two
years, and although he obtained a good reputation in
this capacity, he concluded that teaching was not Ilia

104

S. GROVE R CLEVELAND.

calling for life, and, reversing the traditional order,
ne left the city to seek his fortune, instead of going
to a city. He first thought of Cleveland, Ohio, as
there was some charm in thai name for him; but
before proceeding to that place he went to Buffalo to
isk the advice of his uncle, Lewis F. Allan, a noted
stock- breeder of that place. The latter did not
rpeak enthusiastically. " What is it you want to do,
my boy?" he asked. "Well, sii, I want to study
'aw," was the reply. "Good gracious!" remarked
die old gentleman ; " do you, indeed ? What ever put
that into your head? How much money have you
got?"' ' Well, sir, to tell the truth, I haven't got
any."

After a long consultation, his uncle offered him a
place temporarily as assistant herd-keeper, at $50 a
year, while he could " look around." One day soon
afterward he boldly walked into the office of Rogers,
Bowen & Rogers, of Buffalo, and told them what he
wanted. A number of young men were already en-
gaged in the office, but Grover's persistency won, and
ne was finally permitted to come as an office boy and
have the use of the law library, for the nominal sum
of $3 or $4 a week. Out of this he had to pay for
his board and washing. The walk to and from his
uncle's was a long and rugged one; and, although
the first winter was a memorably severe one, his
shoes were out of repair and his overcoat — he had
none — yet he was nevertheless prompt and regular.
On the first day of his service here, his senior em-
ployer threw down a copy of Blackstone before him
with a bang that made the dust fly, saying "That's
where they all begin." A tiller ran around the little
rircle of cleiks and students, as they thought that
was enough to scare young Groverout of his plans ;
but in due time he mastered that cumbersome volume.
Then, as ever afterward, however, Mr. Cleveland
exhibited a talent for executiveness rather than for
chasing principles through all their metaphysical
possibilities. " Let us quit talking and go and do
t," was practically his motto.

The first public office to which Mr. Cleveland was
eiected was that of Sheriff of Erie Co., N. Y., in
which Buffalo is situated; and in such capacity it fell
lo his duty to inflict capital punishment upon two
criminals. In 18S1 he was elected Mayor of the
City of Buffalo, on the Democratic ticket, with es-
pecial reference to the bringing about certain reforms

in the administration of the municipal affairs of that
city. In this office, as well as that of Sheriff, his
performance of duty has generally been considered
fair, with possibly a few exceptions which were fer-
reted out and magnified during the last Presidential
campaign. As a specimen of his plain language in
a veto message, we quote from one vetoing an iniq ii-
tous street-cleaning contract: "This is a time fur
plain speech, and my objection to your action shall
be plainly stated. I regard it as the culmination of
a mos bare-faced, impudent and shameless scheme
to betray the interests of the people and to worse
than squander the people's money." The New York
Sun afterward very highly commended Mr. Cleve-
land's administration as Mayor of Buffalo, and there-
upon recommended him for Governor of the Empire
State. To the latter office he was elected in 1SS2,
and his administration of the affairs of State was
generally satisfactory. The mistakes he made, if
any, were made very public throughout the nation
after he was nominated for President of the United
States. For this high office he was nominated July
11, 1884, by the National Democratic Convention at
Chicago, when other competitors were Thomas F.
Bayard, Roswell P. Flower, Thomas A. Hendricks,
Benjamin F. Butler, Allen G. Thunr.an, etc.: and he
was elected by the people, by a majority of about a
thousand, over the brilliant and long-tried Repub-
lican statesman, James G. Blaine. President Cleve-
land resigned his office as Governor of New York in
January, 18S5, in order to prepare for his duties as
the Chief Executive of the United States, in which
capacity his term commenced at noon on the 4th of
March, 18S5. For his Cabinet officers he selected
the following gentlemen: For Secretary of State,
Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware ; Secretary of the
Treasury, Daniel Manning, of New York; Secretary
of War, William C. Endicott, of Massachusetts ;
Secretary of the Navy, William C. Whitney, of New
York; Secretary of the Interior, L. Q. C. Lamar, of
Mississippi; Postmaster-General, William F. Vilas,
of Wisconsin; Attorney-General, A. H. Garland, of
Arkansas.

The silver question precipitated a controversy be-
tween those who were in favor of the continuance of
silver coinage and those who were opposed, Mr.
Cleveland answering for the latter, even before his
inauguration.

C&z

<Zs^?^7isis&1?~-i^

TWENTY-THIRD l'RKSlDENT.

"Ojo-tg^/®-^"

JENJAM1N HARRISON, the
twenty-third President, is

the descendant of one of the
?; 8\l ^""t-^lB' 1 - 1 lii-l"i i ' ■ ■■ 1 1 f.-nn ilii-s of this

^ jiBa^V 1 e W\W\$ country. The head of the
family was a Major General
Harrison, one of Oliver
Cromwell's trusted follow-
ers and fighters. In the zenith of Crom-
well's power it became the duty of this
Harrison to participate in the trial of
Charles I, and afterward to sign the
death warrant of the king. He subse-
quently paid for this with his life, being
hung Oct. 13, 1CC0.' His descendants
came to America, and the next of the
family that appears in history is Benja-
min 'Tarrison, of Virginia, great-grand-
father of the subject of this sketch, and
after wliom he was named. Benjamin Harrison
was a member of the Continental Congress during
the years 1774-5-G, and was one of the original
signers of the Declaration of Independence. He
was tlircfi times elected Governor of Virginia,
Gen William lb my Harrison, the son of the

distinguished patriot of the Revolution, after a suc-
cessful career as a soldier during the War of 1812,
and with -a clean record as Governor of the North-
western Territory, was elected President of the
United States in 1840. His career was cut short
by death within one month .fter Ins inauguration.
President Harrison war born at North, Bend,
Hamilton Co., Ohio, Aug. ".0, 1833 His life upto
the time of his graduation by the Miami University,
at Oxford, Ohio, was the uneventful one of a coun-
try lad of a family of small means. His father was
able to give him a good education, and nothing
more. He became engaged while at college to tiu
daughter of Dr. Scott, Principal of a female school
at Oxford. After graduating he determined to en-
ter upon the stud}' of the law. He went to Cin
ainnati and then read law for two years. At tht
expiration of that time young Harrison received tfa
only inheritance of his life; his aunt dying left him
a lot valued at §800. He regarded this legacy as i
fortune, and decided to get married at once, '.ak?
this money and goto some Eastern town ar oe
gin the practice of law. He sold his lot, and with
the money in his pocket, he started out witii his
young wife to fight for a place in the world, "e

108

BENJAMIN HARRISON.

decided to go to Indianapolis, which was even at
that time a town of promise. He met with slight
encouragement at first, making scarcely anything
the first year. He worked diligently, applying him-
self closely to his calling, built up an extensive
practice and took a leading rank in the legal pro-
fession. He is the father of two children.

In 18G0 Mr. Harrison was nominated for the
position of Supreme Court Reporter, and then be-
gan his experience as a stump speaker. He can-
vassed the State thoroughly, and was elected by a
handsome majority. In 18G2 he raised the 17th
Indiana Infantry, and was chosen its Colonel. His
regiment was composed of the rawest of material,
hut Col. Harrison employed all his time at first
mastering military tactics and drilling his men,
when he therefore came to move toward the East
with Sherman his regiment was one of the best
drilled and organized in the army. At Resaca he
especially distinguished himself, and for his bravery
at Peachtree Creek he was made a Brigadier Gen-
eral, Gen. Hooker speaking of him in the most
complimentary terms.

During the absence of Gen. Harrison in the field
the Supreme Court declared the ollice of the Su-
preme Court Reporter vacant, and another person
was elected to the position. From the time of leav-
ing Indiana with his regiment until the fall of 1 864
he had Xaken no leave of ahsence, but having been
nominated that year for the same office, he got a
thirty-day leave of absence, and during that time
made a brilliant canvass of the State, and was elected
for another terra. He then started to rejoin Sher-
man, but on the way was stricken down with scarlet
."ever, and after a most trying siege made his way
to the front in time to participate in the closing
ncidents of the war.

In 18G8 Gen. Harrison declined a re-election as
reporter, and resumed the practice of law. In 1870
he was a candidate for Governor. Although de-
feated, the brilliant campaign he made won for him
i National reputation, and he was much sought, es-,
peciai.y in the East, to make speeches. In 1880,
as usun', he took an active part in the campaign,
and wv elected to the United States Senate. Here
ue served six years, and was known as one of the
ablest men, best lawyers and strongest debaters in

that body. With the expiration of his Senatorial
term he returned to the practice of his profession,
becoming the head of one of the strongest firms in
the State.

The political campaign of 1888 was one of the
most memorable in the history of our country. The
convention which assembled in Chicago in June and
named Mr. Harrison as the chief standard bearer
of the Republican party, was great in even* partic-
ular, and on this account, and the attitude it as-
sumed upon the vital questions of the day, chief
among which was the tariff, awoke a deep interest
in the campaign throughout the Nation. Shortly
after the nomination delegations began to visit Mr.
Harrison at Indianapolis, his home. This move-
ment became popular, and from all sections of the
country societies, clubs and delegations journeyed
thither to pay their respects to the distinguished
statesman. The popularity of these was greatly
increased on account of the remarkable speeches
made by Mr. Harrison. He spoke daily all through
the summer and autumn to these visiting delega-
tions, and so varied, masterly and eloquent were
his speeches that they at once placed him in the
foremost rank of American orators and statesmen.

On account of his eloquence as a speaker and his
power as a debater, he was called upon at an un-
commonly early age to take part in the discussion
of the great questions that then began to agitate
the country. He was an uncompromising ant:
slavery man, and was matched against some of lie
most eminent Democratic speakers of his State.
No man who felt the touch of his blade desired to
be pitted with him again. With all his eloquence
as an orator he never spoke for oratorical effect,
but his words always went like bullets to the mark
He is purely American in his ideas and is a spier
did type of the American statesman. Gifted wit',.
quick perception, a logical mind and a ready tongue,
he is one of the most distinguished impromptu
speakers in the Nation. Many of these speeches
sparkled with the rarest of eloquence and contained
arguments of greatest weight. Many of his terse
statements have already become aphorisms. Origi-
nal in thought, precise in logic, terse in statement,
3'et withal faultless in eloquence, he is recognized as
the sound statesman and brilliant orator o f the day

"^0

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O^L,

GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.

1|S3&1I9SB l|OTSt

HADRACH BOND, the first
Governor of Illinois after its
organization as a State, serving
from 1818 to 1822, was bom in
Frederick County, Maryland,
in the year r 7 7 3, and was
raised a farmer on his father's
plantation, receiving only a plain
English education. He emigrated
to this State in 1794, when it was a
part of the "Northwest Territory,"
continuing in the vocation in which
he had been brought up in his native
State, in the " New Design," near
Eagle Creek, in what is now Monroe
County. He served several terms as
a member of the General Assembly
of Indiana Territory, after it was organized as such,
and in 1S12-14 he was a Delegate to the Twelfth
and Thirteenth Congresses, taking his seat Dec. 3.
181 2, and serving until Get. 3, iSr4. These were
the times, the reader will recollect, when this Gov-
ernment had its last struggle with Great Britain.
The year 1812 is also noted in the history of this
State as that in which the first Territorial Legislature
was held. It convened at Kaskaskia, Nov. 25, and
adjourned Dec. 26, following.

While serving as Delegate to Congress, Mr. Bond
was instrumental in procuring the right of pre-emp-
tion on the public domain. On the expiration of his
term .it Washington he was appointed Receiver of
Pubiic Moneys at Kaskaskia, then the capital of the
Territory. In company with John G. Comyges,

Thomas H. Ham's, Charles Slaile, Michael Jones,
Warren Brown, Edward Humphries and Charles W
Hunter, he became a proprietor of the site of the
initial city of Cairo, which they hoped, from its favor-
able location at the junction of the two great
rivers near the center of the Great West, would
rapidly develop into a metropolis. To aid the enter-
prise, they obtained a special charter from the Legis-
lature, incorporating both the City and the Bank of
Cairo.

In i8t8 Mr. Bond was elected the first Governor
of the State of Illinois, being inaugurated Oct. 6
that year, which was several weeks before Illinois
was actually admitted. The facts are these: In
January, 1818, the Territorial Legislature sent a peti-
tion to Congress for the admission of Illinois as a
State, Nathaniel Pope being then Delegate. The
petition was granted, fixing the northern line of the
State on the latitude of the southern extremity of
Lake Michigan; but the bill was afterward so amend-
ed as to extend this line to its present latitude. In
July a convention was called at Kaskaskia to draft a
constitution, which, however, was not submitted to
the people. By its provisions, supreme judges, pros
ecuting attorneys, county and circuit judges, record-
ers and justices of the peace were all to be appointed
by the Governor or elected by the Legislature. This
constitution was accepted by Congress Dec. 30. Ai
that time Illinois comprised but eleven counties,
namely, Randolph, Madison, Gallatin, Johnson,
Pope, Jackson, Crawford, Bond, Union, Washington
and Franklin, the northern portion of the State be-
ing mainly in Madison County. Thus it appears
that Mr. bond was honored by the naming of a

SHADRACH BOND.

county before he was elected Governor. The present
county of Bond is of small limitations, about 60 to 80
miles south of Springfield. For Lieutenant Governor
the people chose Pierre Menard, a prominent and
worthy Frenchman, after whom a county in this State
is named. In this election there were no opposition
candidates, as the popularity of these men had made
their promotion to the chief offices of the S^ate, even
before the constitution was drafted, a foregone con-
clusion.

The principal points that excited the people in
reference to political issues at this period were local
or "internal improvements," as they were called,
State banks, location of the capital, slavery and the
personal characteristics of the proposed candidates.
Mr. Bond represented the "Convention party," for
introducing slavery into the State, supported by Elias
Ke it Kane, his Secretary of State, and John Mc-
Lean, while Nathaniel Pope and John P. Cook led
the anti-slavery element. The people, however, did
not become very much excited over this issue until
1S20, when the famous Missouri Compromise was
adopted by Congress, limiting slavery to the south
of the parallel of 36 30' except in Missouri. While
this measure settled the great slavery controversy,
so far as the average public sentiment was tempor-
arily concerned, until 1854, when it was repealed
under the leadership of Stephen A. Douglas, the issue
as considered locally in this State was not decided
until 1824, after a most furious campaign. (See
sketch of Gov. Coles.) The ticket of 18 18 was a
compromise one, Bond representing (moderately) the
pro-slavery sentiment and Menard the anti-slavery.

An awkward element in the State government
under Gov. Bond's administration, was the imperfec-
tion of the State constitution. The Convention
wished to have Elijah C. Berry for the first Auditor
of Public Accounts, but, as it was believed that the
new Governor would not appoint him to the office,
the Convention declared in a schedule that "an
auditor of public accounts, an attorney general and
such other officers of the State as may be necessary,
may be appointed by the General Assembly." The
Constitution, as it stood, vested a very large appoint-
ing power in the Governor; but for tiie purpose of
getting one man into office, a total change was made,
and the power vested in the Legislature. Of this
provision the Legislature took advantage, and de-

clared that State's attorneys, canal commissioners,
bank directors, etc., were all " officers of the State"
and must therefore be appointed by itself independ-
ently of the Governor.

During Gov. Bond's administration a general law
was passed for the incorporation of academies and
towns, and one authorizing lotteries. The session of
1822 authorized the Governor to appoint commis-
sioners, to act in conjunction with like commissioners
appointed by the State of Indiana, to report on the
practicability and expediency of improving the navi-
gation of the Wabash River; also inland navigation
generally. Many improvements were recommended,
some of which have been feebly worked at even till
the present day, those along the Wabash being of no
value. Also, during Gov. Bond's term of office, the
capital of the State was removed from Kaskaskia to
Vandalia. In 1820 a law was passed by Congress
authorizing this State to open a canal through the
public lands. The State appointed commissioners
lo explore the route and prepare the necessary sur-
veys and estimates, preparatory to its execution ;
but, being unable out of its own resources to defray
the expenses of the undertaking, it was abandoned
until some time after Congress made the grant of
land for the purpose of its construction.

On the whole, Gov. Bond's administration was
fairly good, not being open to severe criticism from
any party. In 1824, two years after the expiration
of his term of office, he was brought out as a candi-
date for Congress against the formidable John P.
Cook, but received only 4,374 votes to 7,460 for the
latter. Gov. Bond was no orator, but had made
many fast friends by a judicious bestowment of his
gubernatorial patronage, and these worked zealously
for him in the campaign.

In 1827 ex-Gov. Bond was appointed by the Leg-
islature, with Win. P. McKee and Dr. Gershom
Jayne, as Commissioners to locate a site for a peni-
tentiary on the Mississippi at or near Alton.

Mr. Bond was of a benevolent and convivial dis-
position, a man of shrewd observation and clear ap-
preciation of events. His person was erect, stand-
ing six feet in height, and after middle life became
portly, weighing 200 pounds. His features were
strongly masculine, complexion dark, hair jet and
eyes hazel ; was a favorite with the ladies. He died
April 1 r, 1830, in peace and contentment.

id^r-Uyu) C<TU2<?

GOVERNORS OF JLUAOIS.

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DWARD COLES, second
Governor of Illinois, 1823-
, 6, was born Dec. 15, 1786,
in Albemarle Co., Va., on
the old family estate called
"Enniscorthy," on the
Green Mountain. His fath-
er, John Coles, was a Colonel in the
Revolutionary War. Having been fit-
ted for college by private tutors, he
was sent to Hampden Sidney, where
he remained until the autumn of 1805,
when he was removed to William and
Mary College, at Williamsburg, Va.
This college he left in the summer of
iSo7,ashort time before the final and graduating
examination. Among his classmates were Lieut.
Gen. Scott, President John Tyler, Win. S. Archer,
United States Senator from Virginia, and Justice
Baldwin, of the United States Supreme Court. The
President of the latter college, Bishop Madison, was
a cousin of President James Madison, and that cir-
cumstance was the occasion of Mr. Coles becoming
personally acquainted with the President and re-
ceiving a position as his private secretary, 1809-15.
The family of Coles was a prominent one in Vir-
ginia, anil their mansion was the seat of the old-
fashioned Virginian hospitality. It was visited by
such notables as Patrick Henry, Jefferson, Madison,
Monroe, the Randolphs, Tazewell, Wirt, etc. At the
age of 23, young Coles found himself heir to a plant-
ation and a considerable number of slaves. Ever
since his earlier college days his attention had been
drawn to the question of slavery. He read every-

thing on the subject that came in his way, and
listened to lectures on the rights of man. The more
he reflected upon the subject, the more impossible
was it for him to reconcile the immortal declaration
"that all men are born free and equal" with the
practice of slave-holding. He resolved, therefore, to
free his slaves the first opportunity, and even remove
his residence to a free State. One reason which de-
termined him to accept the appointment as private
secretary to Mr. Madison was because he believed
that through the acquaintances he could make at
Washington he could better determine in what part
of the non-slaveholding portion of the Union he would
prefer to settle.

The relations between Mr. Coles and President
Madison, as well as Jefferson and other distinguished
men, were of a very friendly character, arising from
the similarity of their views on the question of slavery
and their sympathy for each other in holding doc-
trines so much at variance with the prevailing senti-
ment in their own State.

In 1857, he resigned his secretaryship and spent a
portion of the following autumn in exploring the
Northwest Territory, for the purpose of finding a lo-
cation and purchasing lands on which to settle his
negroes. He traveled with a horse and buggy, with
an extra man and horse for emergencies, through
many parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri,
determining finally to settle in Illinois. At this time,
however, a misunderstanding arose between our
Government and Russia, and Mr. Coles was selected
to repair to St. Petersburg on a special mission, bear-
ing important papers concerning the matter at issue
The result was a conviction of the Emperor (Alex-

EDWARD COLES.

ander) of the error committed by his minister at
Washington, and the consequent withdrawal of the
the latter from the post. On his return, Mr. Coles
visited other parts of Europe, especially Paris, where
he was introduced to Gen. Lafayette.

In the spring. of 1819, he removed with all his
negroes from Virginia to Edwardsville, 111., with the
intention of giving them their liberty. He did not
make known to them his intention until one beautiful
morning in April, as they were descending the Ohio
River. He lashed all the boats together and called
nil the negroes on deck and made them a short ad-
dress, concluding his remarks by so expressing him-
self that by a turn of a sentence he proclaimed in
the shortest and fullest manner that they were no
longer slaves, but free as he was and were at liberty
to proceed with him or go ashore at their pleas-
ure. A description of the effect upon the negroes is
best desciibed in his own language :

"The effect upon them was electrical. They stared
at me and then at each other, as if doubting the ac-
curacy or reality of what they heard. In breathless
silence they stood before me, unable to utter a word,
but with countenances beaming with expression which
no words could convey, and which no language
can describe. As they began to see the truth of
what they had heard, and realize their situation, there
came on a kind of hysterical, giggling laugh. After
a pause of intense and unutterable emotion, bathed
in tears, and with tremulous voices, they gave vent to
their gratitude and implored the blessing of God
on me."

Before landing he gave them a general certificate
of freedom, and afterward conformed more particu-
larly with the law of this State requiring that each
individual should have a certificate. This act of
Mr. Coles, all the more noble and heroic considering
the overwhelming pro-slavery influences surrounding
him, has challenged the admiration of every philan-
thropist of modern times.

March 5, 1810, President Monroe appointed Mr.
Coles Registrar of the Land Office at EdwardsvtLe,
at that time one of the principal land offices in the
State. While acting in this capacity and gaining
many friends by his politeness and general intelli-
gence, the greatest struggle that ever occurred in
Illinois on the slavery question culminated in the
furious contest characterizing the campaigns and
elections of 1822-4. In the summer of 1823, when a
new Governor was to be elected to succeed Mr.
ISond, (he pro-slavery element divided into factions,
putting forward for the executive office Joseph
I'hillips, Chief Justice of the State, Thomas C.
I'.rowne and Gen. James B. Moore, of the State Mil-
i ia. The anti-slavery element united upon Mr.
Coles, and, after one of the most bitter campaigns,
succeeded in electing him as Governor. His plural-
ity over Judge Phillips was only 59 in a total vote of

over 8,000. The Lieutenant Governor was elected
by the slavery men. Mr. Coles' inauguration speech
was marked by calmness, deliberation and such a
wise expression of appropriate suggestions as to
elicit the sanction of all judicious politicians. But
he compromised not with evil. In his message to
the Legislature, the seat of Government being then
at Vandalia, he strongly urged the abrogation of the
modified form of slavery which then existed in this
State, contrary to the Ordinance of 1787. His posi-
tion on this subject seems the more remarkable, when
it is considered that he was a minority Governor, the
population of Illinois being at that time almost ex-
clusively from slave-holding States and by a large
majority in favor of the perpetuation of that old relic
of barbarism. The Legislature itself was, of course,
a reflex of the popular sentiment, and a majority of
them were led on by fiery men in denunciations of
the conscientious Governor, and in curses loud and
deep upon him and all his friends. Some of the
public men, indeed, went so far as to head a sort of
mob, or " shiveree " party, who visited the residence
of the Governor and others at Vandalia and yeiled
and groaned and spat fire.

The Constitution, not establishing or permitting
slavery in this State, was thought therefore to be
defective by the slavery politicians, and they desired
a State Convention to be elected, to devise and sub-
mit a new Constitution; and the dominant politics
of the day was "Convention" and "anti-Conven-
tion." Both parties issued addresses to the people,
Gov. Coles himself being the author of the address
published by the latter party. This address revealed
the schemes of the conspirators in a masterly man-
ner. It is difficult for us at this distant day to esti-
mate the critical and extremely delicate situation in
which the Governor was placed at that time.

Our hero maintained himself honorably and with
supreme dignity throughout his administration, and
in his honor a county in this State is named. He
was truly a great man, and those who lived in
this State during his sojourn here, like those who
live at the base of the mountain, were too near to see
and recognize the greatness that overshadowed them.

Mr. Coles was married Nov. 28, 1833, by Bishop
De Lancey, to Miss Sally Logan Roberts, a daughter
of Hugh Roberts, a descendant of Welsh ancestry,
who cam i. to this country with Win. Penn in 1682.

After the expiration of his term of service, Gov.
Coles continued his residence in Edwardsville, sup-
erintending his farm in the vicinity. He was fond
of agriculture, and was the founder of the first agri-
cultural society in the State. On account of ill
health, however, and having no family to tie him
down, he spent much of his time in Eastern cities.
About 1832 he changed his residence to Philadel-
phia, where he died July 7, 1868, and is buried at
Woodland, near that city.

c y^ / oon^c-^>^y oc?-(*y&^JL,

GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.

Pin Tail Kclwuidi

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|: INI AN EDWARDS, Governor
Sy from 1S27 to 1830, was a son
,p of Benjamin Edwards, and
was born in Montgomery
#&'* County, Maryland, in March,
s^rt 177c;. His domestic train-
c*' u ing was well fitted to give
his mind strength, firmness and
honorable principles, and a good
foundation was laid for the elevated
character to which he afterwards
attained. His parents were Bap-
tists, and very strict in their moral
principles. His education in early
youth was in company with and
partly under the tuition of Hon. Wm.
Wirt, whom his father patronized
and who was more than two years
older. An intimacy was thus
formed between them which was lasting for life. He
was further educated at Dickinson College, at Car-
lisle, Pa. He next commenced the study of law, but
before completing his course he moved to Nelson
County, Kv., to open a farm for his father and to
purchase homes and locate lands for his brothers and
sisters. Here he fell in the company of dissolute
companions, and for several years led the life of a
spendthrift. He was, however, elected to the Legis-
lature of Kentucky as the Representative of Nelson
County before he was 21 years of age, and was re-
elected by an almost unanimous vote.

In 1798 he was licensed to practice law, and the
following year was admitted to the Courts of Tennes-
see. About this time he left Nelson County for
Russellville, in Logan County, broke away from his
dissolute companions, commenced a reformation and
devoted himself to severe and laborious study. He
then began to rise rapidly in his profession, and soon
became an eminent lawyer, and inside of four years
he filled in succession the offices of Presiding Judge
of the General Court, Circuit Judge, fourth Judge of
the Court of Appeals and Chief Justice of the State,
— all before he was 32 years of age ! In addition, in
1S02, he received a commission as Major of a battal-
ion of Kentucky militia, and in 1S04 was chosen a
Presidential Elector, on the Jefferson and Clinton
ticket. In 1806 he was a candidate for Congress,
but withdrew on being promoted to the Court of
Appeals.

Illinois was organized as a separate Territory in
the spring of 1809, when Mr. Edwards, then Chief
Justice of the Court of Appeals in Kentucky, received
from President Madison the appointment as Gover-
nor of the new Territory, his commission bearing date
April 24, 1S09. Edwards arrived at Kaskaskia in
June, and on the 1 ith of that month took the oath of
office. At the same time he was appointed Superin-
tendent of the United States Saline, this Governmeni
interest then developing into considerable proportions
in Southern Illinois. Although during the first three
years of his administration he had the power to make
new counties and appoint all the officers, yet he always
allowed the people of each county, by an informal

NINIAN EDWARDS.

vote, to select their own officers, both civil and mili-
tary. The noted John J. Crittenden, afterward
United States Senator from Kentucky, was appointed
by Gev. Edwards to the office of Attorney General of
the Territory, which office was accepted for a short
time only.

The Indians in 1810 committing sundry depreda-
tions in the Territory, crossing the Mississippi from
the Territory of Louisiana, a long correspondence fol-
lowed between the respective Governors concerning
the remedies, which ended in a council with the sav-
ages at Peoria in 1812, and a fresh interpretation of
the treaties. Peoria was depopulated by these de-
predations, and was not re-settled for many ve irs
afterward.

As Gov. Edwards' term of office expired by law in
1S12, he was re-appointed for another term of three
years, and again in 18 15 for a third term, serving
until the organization of the State in the fall of 18 18
and the inauguration of Gov. Bond. At this time
ex-Gov. Edwards was sent to the United States
Senate, his colleague being Jesse B. Thomas. As
Senator, Mr. Edwards took a conspicuous part, and
acquitted himself honorably in all the measures that
came up in that body, being well posted, an able de-
bater and a conscientious statesman. He thought
.eriously of resigning this situation in 1821, but was
ijcrsuaded by his old friend, Wm. Wirt, and others to
continue in office, which he did to the end of the
term.

He was then appointed Minister to Mexico by
President Monroe. About this time, it appears that
Mr. Edwards saw suspicious signs in the conduct of
Wm. H. Crawford, Secretary of the United States
Treasury, and an ambitious candidate for the Presi-
dency, and being implicated by the latter in some of
his statements, he resigned his Mexican mission in
order fully to investigate the charges. The result
was the exculpation of Mr. Edwards.

Pro-slavery regulations, often termed "Black Laws,"
disgraced the statute books of both the Territory and
.he State of Illinois during t lie whole of his career in
Jiis commonwealth, and Mr. Edwards always main-
tained the doctrines of freedom, and was an important
xtor in the great struggle which ended in a victory
for his party in 1824.

In 1826-7 the Winnebago and other Indians com-
mitted soire depredations in the northern part of the

State, and the white settlers, who desired the kinds
and wished to exasperate the savages into an evacu-
ation of the country, magnified the misdemeanors of
the aborigines and thereby produced a hostility be-
tween the races so great as to precipitate a little war,
known in history as the "Winnebago War." A few
chases and skirmishes were had, when Gen. Atkinson
succeeded in capturing Red Bird, the Indian chief,
and putting him to death, thus ending the contest, at
least until the troubles commenced which ended in
the " Black Hawk War " of 1832. In the interpre-
tation of treaties and execution of their provisions
Gov. Edwards had much vexatious work to do. The
Indians kept themselves generally within the juris-
diction of Michigan Territory, and its Governor,
Lewis Cass, was at a point so remote that ready cor-
respondence with him was difficult or impossible.
Gov. Edwards' administration, however, in regard to
the protection of the Illinois frontier, seems to have
been very efficient and satisfactory.

For a conbiderable portion of his time after his re-
moval to Illinois, Gov. Edwards resided upon his
farm near Kaskaskia, which he had well stocked with
horses, cattle and sheep from Kentucky, also with
fruit-trees, grape-vines and shrubbery. He estab-
lished saw and grist-mills, and engaged extensively
in mercantile business, having no less than eight or ten
stores in this State and Missouri. Notwithstanding
the arduous duties of his office, he nearly always pur-
chased the goods himself with which to supply the
stores. Although not a regular practitioner of medi-
cine, he studied the healing art to a considerable ex-
tent, and took great pleasure in prescribing for, and
taking care of, the sick, generally without charge.
He was also liberal to the poor, several widows and
ministers of the gospel becoming indebted to him
even for their homes.

He married Miss Elvira Lane, of Maryland, in
1803, and they became the affectionate parents of
several children, one of whom, especially, is web'
known to the people of the " Prairie State," namely.,
Ninian Wirt Edwards, once the Superintendent c<
Public Instruction and still a resident of Springfield
Gov. Edwards resided at and in the vicinity of Kas-
kaskia from 1809 to 1S1S; in Edwardsville (named
after him) from that time to 1824; and from the lat-
ter date at Belleville, St. Clair County, until his
death, July 20, 1833, of Asiatic cholera. Edwards
County is also named in his honor.

GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.

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)HN REYNOLDS, Governor 1S31-
4, was born in Montgomery Coun-
ty, Pennsylvania, Feb. 26, 1788.
His father, Robert Reynolds and
his mother, nee Margaret Moore,
were both natives of Ireland, from
which country they emigrated to
the United States in 1785, land-
ing at Philadelphia. The senior
Reynolds entertained an undying
hostility to the British Govern-
ment. When the subject of this
sketch was about six months old,
his parents emigrated with him to
Tennessee, where many of their
relatives had already located, at the base of the
Copper Ridge Mountain, about 14 miles northeast of
the present city of Knoxville. There they were ex-
nosed to Indian depredations, and were much molest-
ed by them. In 1794 they moved into the interior
of the State. They were poor, and brought up their
children to habits of manual industry.

In 1800 the family removed to Kaskaskia, 111., with
eight horses and two wagons, encountering many
Hardships on the way. Here young Reynolds passed
the most of his childhood, while his character began
to develop, the most prominent traits of which were
ambition and energy. He also adopted the principle
and practice of total abstinence from intoxicating
liquors. In 1807 the family made another removal,

this time to the " Goshen Settlement," at the foot of
the Mississippi bluffs three or four miles southwest
of Edvvardsville.

On arriving at his 20th year, Mr. Reynolds, seeing
that he must look about for his own livelihood and
not yet having determined what calling to pursue,
concluded first to attend college, and he accordingly
went to such an institution of learning, near Knox-
ville, Tenn., where he had relatives. Imagine his
diffidence, when, after passing the first 20 years of
his life without ever having seen a carpet, a papered
wall or a Windsor chair, and never having lived in a
shingle-roofed house, he suddenly ushered himself
into the society of the wealthy in the vicinity of
Knoxville! He attended college nearly two years,
going through the principal Latin authors; but it
seems that he, like the rest of the world in modern
times, had but very little use for his Latin in after
life. He always failed, indeed, to exhibit any good
degree of literary discipline. He commenced the
study of law in Knoxville, but a pulmonary trouble
came on and compelled him to change his mode
of life. Accordingly he returned home and re-
cuperated, and in 1812 resumed his college and
law studies at Knoxville. In the fall of 1812 he was
admitted to the Bar at Kaskaskia. About this time
he also learned the French language, which he
practiced with pleasure in conversation with his
family for many years. He regarded this language
as being superior to all others for social intercourse.

124

JOHN BEYNOLDS.

From his services in the West, in the war of 1812,
he obtained the sobriquet of the " Old Ranger." He
was Orderly Sergeant, then Judge Advocate.

Mr. Reynolds opened his first law office in the
winter and spring of 1814, in the French village of
Cahokia, then the capital of St. Clair County.

In the fall of 1S1S he was elected an Associate
Justice upon the Supreme Bench by the General
Assembly. In 1825 he entered more earnestly than
ever into the practice of law, and the very next year
was elected a member of the Legislature, where he
acted independently of all cliques and private inter-
ests. In 182S the Whigs and Democrats were for
the first time distinctively organized as such in Illi-
nois, and the usual party bitterness grew up and
raged on all sides, while Mr. Reynolds preserved a
iudicial calmness and moderation. The real animus
if the campaign was " Jackson " and " anti- Jackson,"
"he former party carrying the State.

In August, 1S30, Mr. Reynolds was elected Gov-
ernor, amid great excitement. Installed in office, he
did all within his power to advance the cause of edu-
cation, internal improvements, the Illinois & Mich-
igan Canal, the harbor at Chicago, settling the coun-
try, etc.; also recommended the winding up of the
State Bank, as its affairs had become dangerously
complicated. In his national politics, he was a
moderate supporter of General Jackson. But the
most celebrated event of his gubernatorial admin-
istration was the Black Hawk War, which occurred
in 1S32. He called out the militia and prosecuted
the contest with commendable diligence, appearing
in person on the battle-grounds during the most
critical periods. He was recognized by the President
as Major-General, and authorized by him to make
treaties with the Indians. By the assistance of the
general Government the war was terminated without
much bloodshed, but after many serious fights. This
war, as well as everything else, was materially re-
tarded by the occurrence of Asiatic cholera in the
West. This was its first appearance here, and was
ihe next event in prominence during Gov. Reynolds'
term.

South Carolina nullification coming up at this time,
t was heartily condemned by both President Jackson
,.nd Gov. Reynolds, who took precisely the -same
grounds as the Unionists in the last war.

On the termination of his gubernatorial term in
.834, Gov. Reynolds was elected a Member of Con-
gress, still considering himself a backwoodsman, as
■ e had scarcely been outside of the State since he
became of age, and had spent nearly all his youthful
lays in the wildest region of the frontier. His first
•nove in Congress was to adopt a resolution that in
all elections made by the House for officers the votes
should be given viva voce, each member in his place
naming aloud the person for whom he votes. This
created considerable heated discussion, but was es-

sentially adopted, and remained the controlling prin-
ciple for many years. The ex-Governor was scarcely
absent from his seat a single day, during eight ses-
sions of Congress, covering a period of seven years,
and he never vacillated in a party vote; but he failed
to get the Democratic party to foster his " National
Road" scheme. He says, in " My Own Times " (a
large autobiography he published), that it was only
by rigid economy that he avoided insolvency while in
Washington. During his sojourn in that city he was
married, to a lady of the place.

In 1837, while out of Congress, and in company
with a few others, he built the first railroad in the
Mississippi Valley, namely, one about six miles long,
leading from his coal mine in the Mississippi bluff to
the bank of the river opposite St. Louis. Having not
the means to purchase a locomotive, they operated it
by horse-power. The next spring, however, the com-
pany sold out, at great sacrifice.

In 1839 the ex-Governor was appointed one of the
Canal Commissioners, and authorized to borrow
money to prosecute the enterprise. Accord' ngly, he
repaired to Philadelphia and succeeding in obtaining
a million dollars, which, however, was only a fourth
of what was wanted. The same year he and his
wife made at our of Europe. This year, also, Mr.
Reynolds had the rather awkward little responsibility
of introducing to President Van Buren the noted
Mormon Prophet, Joseph Smith, as a " Latter- Day
Saint! "

In 1846 Gov. Reynolds was elected a member of
the Legislature from St. Clair County, more particu-
larly for the purpose of obtaining a feasible charter
for a macadamized road from Belleville to St. Louis,
a distance of nearly 14 miles. This was immediately
built, and was the first road of the kind in the State.
He was again elected to the Legislature in 1852, when
he was chosen Speaker of the House. In i860, aged
and infirm, he attended the National Democratic
Convention at Charleston, S. C , as an anti-Douglas
Delegate, where he received more attention from the
Southern Delegates than any other member. He
supported Breckenridge for the Presidency. After
the October elections foreshadowed the success of
Lincoln, he published an address urging the Demo-
crats to rally to the support of Douglas. Immedi-
ately preceding and during the late war, his corre-
spondence evinced a clear sympathy for the Southern
secession, and about the first of March, 1861, he
urged upon the Buchanan officials the seizure of the
treasure and arms in the custom-house and arsenal
at St. Louis. Mr. Reynolds was a rather talkative
man, and apt in all the Western pli rases and catch-
words that ever gained currency, besides many cun-
ning and odd ones of his own manufacture.

He was married twice, but had no children. He
died in Belleville, in May, 1865, just after the close
of the war.

GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.

,z 7

ILLIAM LEE D. EWING,
Governor of Illinois Nov. 3
;,D to 17, 1834, was a native
of Kentucky, and probably
of Scotch ancestry. He bad
a fine education, was a gentle-
man of polished manners and
refined sentiment. In rS3o John Rey-
nolds was elected Governor of the State,
and Zadok Casey Lieutenant Governor,
and for the principal events that followed,
and the* characteristics of the times, see-
sketch of Gov. Reynolds. The first we
see in history concerning Mr. Ewing, in-
forms us that he was a Receiver of Public
M01 eys at Vandalia soon after the organization of
Uii.. State, and that the public moneys in his hands
\xte deposited in various banks, as they are usually
s-tth- /resent day. In 1823 the State Bank was
ubbed, by which disaster Mr. Ewing lost a thousand-
doll;! r deposit.

The subject of this sketch had a commission as
( olonel in the Black Hawk War, and in emergencies
ne acted also as Major. In the summer of 1832,
>\hen 1 >'as rumored among the whites that Black
Hawk and nis men had encamped somewhere on
Rock Rive.-, Gen. Henry was sent on a tour of
reconnoisance, and with orders to drive the Indians
from the State. After some opposition from his
rubordinate officers, Henry resolved to proceed up
Rock River in search of the enemy. On the 19th of
July, early in the morning, five baggage wagons,

camp equipage and all heavy and cumbersome arti-
cles were piled up and left, so that the army might
make speedy and forced marches. For some miles
the travel was exceedingly bad, crossing swamps
and the worst thickets ; but the large, fresh trail
gave life and animation to the Americans. Gen.
Dodge and Col. Ewing were both acting as Majors,
and composed the " spy corps " or vanguard of the
army. It is supposed the army marched nearly 50
miles this day, and the Indian trail they followed
became fresher, and was strewed with much property
and trinkets of the red-skins that they had lost or
thrown away to hasten their march. During the
following night there was a terrific thunder-storm, and
the soldiery, with all their appurtenances, were thor-
oughly drenched.

On approaching nearer the Indians the next day.
Hen. Dodge and Major Ewing, each commanding a
battalion of men, were placed in front to bring on the
battle, but the savages were not overtaken this day
Forced marches were continued until they reached.
Wisconsin River, where a veritable battle ensued,
resulting in the death of about 68 of Black Hawk's
men. The next day they continued the chase, and
as soon as he discovered the trail of the Indians
leading toward the Mississippi, Maj. Ewing formed
his battalion in order of battle and awaited the order
of Gen. Henry. The latter soon appeared on the
ground and ordered a charge, which directly resulted
in chasing the red warriors across the great river.
Maj. Ewing and his command proved particularly-
efficient in war, as it seems they were the chief actors
in driving the main body of the Sacs and Foxes, in-

WILLIAM L. D. EWING.

eluding Black Hawk himself, across the Mississippi,
while Gen. Atkinson, commander-in-chief of the ex-
pedition, with a body of the army, was hunting for
them in another direction.

In the above affair Maj. Ewing is often referred to
as a " General," which title he had derived from his
connection with the militia.

It was in the latter part of the same year (1832)
that Lieutenant Governor Casey was elected to Con-
gress and Gen. Ewing, who had been elected to the
Senate, was chosen to preside over that body. At
the August election of 1834, Gov. Reynolds was also
elected to Congress, more than a year ahead of the
time at which he could actually take his seat, as was
then the law. His predecessor, Charles Slade, had
just died of Asiatic cholera, soon after the elec-
tion, and Gov. Reynolds was chosen to serve out his
unexpired term. Accordingly he set out for Wash-
ington in November of that year to take his seat in
Congress, and Gen. Ewing, by virtue of his office as
President of the Senate, became Governor of the
State of Illinois, his term covering only a period of
15 days, namely, from the 3d to the 17th days, in-
clusive, of November. On the 17th the Legislature
met, and Gov. Ewing transmitted to that body his
message, giving a statement of the condition of the
affairs of the State at that time, and urging a contin-
u.ince of the policy adopted by his predecessor; and
on the same day Governor elect Joseph Duncan
?-as sworn into office, thus relieving Mr. Ewing from

the responsible situation. This is the only time that
such a juncture has happened in the history of Illi-
nois.

On the 29th of December, 1835, Gen. Ewing was
elected a United States Senator to serve out the
unexpired term of Elias Kent Kane, deceased. The
latter gentleman was a very prominent figure in the
early politics of Illinois, and a county in this State is
named in his honor. The election of Gen. Ewing to
the Senate was a protracted struggle. His competi-
tors were James Semple, who afterwards held several
important offices in this State, and Richard M.
Young, afterward a United States Senator and a
Supreme Judge and a man of vast influence. On
the first ballot Mr. Semple had 25 votes, Young 19
and Ewing 18. On the eighth ballot Young was
dropped ; the ninth and tenth stood a tie ; but on
the 1 2th Ewing received 40, to Semple 37, and was
accordingly declared elected. In 1837 Mr. Ewing
received some votes for a continuance of his term in
Congress, when Mr. Young, just referred to, was
elected. In 1842 Mr. Ewing was elected State
Auditor on the ticket with Gov. Ford.

Gen. Ewing was a gentleman of culture, a lawyer
by profession, and was much in public life. In person
he was above medium height and of heavy build,
with auburn hair, blue eyes, large-sized head and
short face. He was genial, social, friendly and
affable, with fair talent, though of no high degree of
originality. He died March 25, 1846.

JcJ^&fi^l &*

GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.

1 1\

OSEPH DUNCAN, Governor
|L rS34-8, was born at Paris,

Ky., Feb. 23, 1794. At the
tender age of 19 years he en-
listed in the war against Great
Britain, and as a soldier lie
acquitted himself with credit. He
was an Ensign under the daunt-
less Croghan at Lower Sandusky,
\ or Fort Stephenson. In Illinois
;e first appeared in a public capa-
city as Major-General of the Militia,
a position which his military fame
had procured him. Subsequently
he became a State Senator from
Jackson County, and is honorably
mentioned for introducing the first bill providing for
a free-school system. In 1S26, when the redoubt-
able John P. Cook, who had previously beaten such
men as John McLean, Elias Kent Kane and ex-
Gov. Bond, came up for the fourth time for Congress,
Mr. Duncan was brought forward against him by his
friends, greatly to the surprise of all the politicians.
As yet he was but little known in the State. He was
an original Jackson man at that time, being attached
to his political fortune in admiration of the glory of
his militaiy achievements. His chances of success
against Cook were generally regarded as hopeless,
but he entered upon the campaign undaunted. His
speeches, though short and devoid of ornament, were
full of good sense. He made a diligent canvass of
the State, Mr. Cook being hindered by the condition of
his health. The most that was expected of Mr.
Duncan, under the circumstances, was that he would

obtain a respectable vote, but without defeating Mr.
Cook. The result of the campaign, however, was a
source of surprise and amazement to both friends
and foes, as Mr. Duncan came out 641 votes ahead!
He received 6,321 votes, and Mr. Cook 5,680. Un-
til this denouement, the violence of party feeling
smoldering in the breasts of the people on account
of the defeat of Jackson, was not duly appreciated.
Aside from the great convention struggle of 1824, no
other than mere local and personal considerations
had ever before controlled an election in Illinois.

From the above date Mr. Duncan retained his
seat in Congress until his election as Governor in
August, 1834. The first and bloodless year of the
Black Hawk War he was appointed by Gov. Rey-
nolds to the position of Brigadier-General of the
volunteers, and he conducted his brigade to Rock
Island. But he was absent from the State, in Wash-
ington, during the gubernatorial campaign, and did
not personally participate in it, but addressed circu-
lars to his constituents. His election was, indeed,
attributed to the circumstance of his absence, be-
cause his estrangement from Jackson, formerly his
political idol, and also from the Democracy, largely
in ascendency in the State, was complete; but while
his defection was well known to his Whig friends,
and even to the leading Jackson men of this State,
the latter were unable to carry conviction of that fact
to the masses, as mail and newspaper facilities at
that day were far inferior to those of the present
time. Of course the Governor was much abused
afterward by the fossilized Jackson men who re-
garded party ties and affiliations as above all
other issues that could arise fbut he was doubtless

132

JOSEPH DUNCAN.

sincere in his opposition to the old hero, as the latter
j. ad vetoed several important western measures
which were dear to Mr. Duncan. In his inaugural
message he threw off the mask and took a bold stand
rgainst the course of the President. The measures
r .e recommended in his message, however, were so
desirable that the Legislature, although by a large
majority consisting of Jackson men, could not refrain
from endorsing them. These measures related
mainly to barks and internal improvements.

It was while Mr. Duncan was Governor that the
people of Illinois went whirling on with bank and in-
ternal improvement schemes that well nigh bank-
v upted the State. The hard times of 1837 came on,
and the disasters that attended the inauguration of
:hese plans and the operation of the banks were mu-
tually charged upon the two political parties. Had
any one man autocratic power to introduce and
carry on any one of these measures, he would proba-
bly have succeeded to the satisfaction of the public;
; ut as many jealous men had hold of the same plow
Handle, no success followed and each blamed the other
for the failure. In this great vortex Gov. Duncan
was carried along, suffering the like derogation of
character with his fellow citizens.

At the height of the excitement the Legislature
"provided for" railroads from Galena to Gairo, Alton
to Shawneetown, Alton to Mount Garmel, Alton to the
eastern boundary of the State in the direction of
Torre Haute, Quincy via Springfield to the Wabash,
Blooinington to Pekin, and Peoria to Warsaw, — in all
about 1,300 miles of road. It also provided for the
improvement of the navigation of the Kaskaskia,
Illinois, Great and Little Wabash and Rock Rivers ;
also as a placebo, $200,000 in money were to be dis-
tributed to the various counties wherein no improve-
ments were ordered to be made as above. The
estimate for the expenses for all these projects was
;laced at a little over $10,000,000, which was not
more man half enough! That would now be equal to
saddling upon the State a debt of $225,000,000! It
was sufficient to bankrupt the State several times
over, even counting all the possible benefits.

One of the most exciting events that ever occurred
in this fair State was the murder of Elijah P. Love-
ioy in the fall of 1837, at Alton, during Mr. Duncan's
Lerm as Governor. Lovejoy was an " Abolitionist,"
editing the Observer at that place, and the pro-
slavery slums there formed themselves into a mob,

and after destroying successively three presses be-
longing to Mr. Lovejoy, surrounded the warehouse
where the fourth press was stored away, endeavoring
to destroy it, and where Lovejoy and his friends
were entrenching themselves, and shot and killed the
brave reformer!

About this time, also, the question of removing the
State capital again came up, as the 20 years' limit for
its existence at Vandalia was drawing to a close.
There was, of course, considerable excitement over
the matter, the two main points competing for it be-
ing Springfield and Peoria. The jealousy of the lat-
ter place is not even yet, 45 years afterward, fully
allayed.

Gov. Duncan's term expired in 1838. In 1S42
he was again proposed as a candidate for the Execu-
tive chair, this time by the Whig party, against Adam
W. Snyder, of St. Clair County, the nominee of the
Democrats. Charles W. Hunter was a third candi-
date for the same position. Mr. Snyder, however, died
before the campaign had advanced very far, and his
party substituted Thomas Ford, who was elected,
receiving 46,<)ot votes, to 38,584 for Duncan, and
909 for Hunter. The cause of Democratic success
at this time is mainly attributed to the temporary
support of the Mormons which they enjoyed, and the
want of any knowledge, on the part of the masses,
1 hat Mr. Ford was opposed to any given policy en-
tertained in the respective localities.

Gov. Duncan was a man of rather limited educa-
tion, but with naturally fine abilities he profited
greatly by his various public services, and gathered
a store of knowledge regarding public affairs which
served him a ready purpose. He possessed a clear
judgment, decision, confidence in himself and moral
courage to carry out his convictions of light. In his
deportment he was well adapted to gain the admira-
tion of the people. His intercourse with them was
both affable and dignified. His portrait at the Gov-
ernor's mansion, from which the accompanying was
made, represents him as having a swarthy complex-
ion, high cheek bones, broad forehead, piercing black
eyes and straight black hair.

He was a liberal patron of the Illinois College at
Jacksonville, a member of its Board of Trustees, and
died, after a short illness, Jan. 15, 1844, a devoted
member of the Presbyterian Church, leaving a wife
but no children. Two children, born to them, had
died in infancy.

GO VERNORS OF ILLINOIS.

■35

"n^v?

IS , *

M&Ssaasja^mW^^^am^

<b*

Thomas carlin, the sixth

Governor of the State of
Illinois, serving from 1838
to 1842, was also a Ken-
tuckian, being horn near
Frankfort, that State, July
18, 1789, of Irish paternity.
The opportunities for an education
being very meager in. his native
place, he, on approaching years of
judgment and maturity, applied
himself to those branches of learn-
ing that seemed most important,
(M ,w^ anci tnus became a self-made man ;
• v ^/y<fc ' and his taste for reading and
Jt. '^X^l, study remained with him through
^4^fy^ life. In 1803 his father removed
10 Missouri, then a part of " New Spain," where he
died in 1S10.

In 18 [2 young Carlin came to Illinois and partici-
pated in all the "ranging" service incident to the
war of that period, proving himself a soldier of un-
daunted bravery. In 1814 he married Rebecca
Huilt, and lived for four years on the bank of the
Mississippi River, opposite the mouth of the Mis-
sc..ri, where he followed farming, and then removed
to Greene County. He located the town site of Car-
n,i : *on, in that county, and in 1825 made a liberal
donation of land for county building purposes. He
was the first Sheriff of that county after its separate
organization, and afterward was twice elected, as a
1 11 kson Democrat, to the Illinois Senate. In the
liiack Hawk War he commanded a spy battalion, a
pOil of considerable danger. In 1S34 he was ap-
pointed by President Jackson to the position of
Receiver of Public Moneys, and to fulfill the office

more conveniently he removed to the city of Quincy.
While, in 1838, the unwieldy internal improvement
system of the State was in full operation, with all its
expensive machinery, amidst bank suspensions
throughout the U«ited States, a great stringency in
the money market everywhere, and Illinois bonds
forced to sale at a heavy discount, and the " hardest
times "existing that the people of the Prairie State
ever saw, the general election of State officers was
approaching. Discreet men who had cherished the
hope of a speedy subsidence of the public infatua-
tion, met with disappointment. A Governor and
Legislature were to be elected, and these were now
looked forward to for a repeal of the ruinous State
policy. But the grand scheme had not yet lost its
dazzling influence upon the minds of the people.
Time and experience had not yet fully demonstrated
its utter absurdity. Hence the question of arresting
its career of profligate expenditures did not become
a leading one with the dominant party during the
campaign, and most of the old members of the Leg-
islature were returned at this election.

Under these circumstances the Democrats, in State
Convention assembled, nominated Mr. Carlin for the
office of Governor, and S. H. Anderson for Lieuten-
ant Governor, while the Whigs nominated Cyrus Ed-
wards, brother of Ninian Edwards, formerly Governor,
and W. H. Davidson. Edwards came out strongly
for a continuance of the State policy, while Carlin
remained non-committal. This was the first time
that the two main political parties in this State were
unembarrassed by any third party in the field. The
result of the election was: Carlin, 35,573 ; Ander-
son, 30,335 ; Edwards, 29,629 ; and Davidson, 28,-

7LS-

Ui*>n the meeting of the subsequent Legislature
(1839), the retiring Governor CDuncan) in his mes-

136

THOMAS CARLIN.

sage spoke in emphatic terms of the impolicy of the
internal improvement system, presaging the evils
threatened, and uiged that body to do their utmost
to correct the great error ; yet, on the contrary, the
Legislature not only decided to continue the policy
hut also added to its burden by voting more appro-
priations and ordering more improvements. Although
the money market was still stringent, a further loan
of $4,000,000 was ordered for the Illinois & Mich-
igan Canal alone. Cli'cago at that time began to
loom up and promise to be an important city, even
the great emporium of the West, as it has since in-
deed came to be. Ex-Gov. Reynolds, an incompe-
tent financier, was commissioned to effect the loan,
and accordingly hastened to the East on this respons-
ible errand, and negotiated the loans, at considera-
ble sacrifice to the State. Besides this embarrassment
to Carlin's administration, the Legislature also de-
clared that he had no authority to appoint a Secretary
of State until a vacancy existed, and A. P. Field, a
Whig, who had already held the post by appointment
through three administrations, was determined to
keep the place a while longer, in spite of Gov. Car-
lin's preferences. The course of the Legislature in
this regard, however, was finally sustained by the
Supreme Court, in a quo warranto case brought up
before it by John A. McClernand, whom the Gov-
ernor had nominated for the office. Thereupon that
dignified body was denounced as a "Whig Court!"
endeavoring to establish the principle of life-tenure
of office.

A new law was adopted re-organizing the Judici-
ary, and under it five additional Supreme Judges
were elected by the Legislature, namely, Thomas
Ford (afterward Governor), Sidney Breese, Walter B.
Scates, Samuel H. Treat and Stephen A. Douglas —
all Democrats.

It was during Cov. Carlin's administration that the
noisy campaign of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too " oc-
curred, resulting in a Whig victory. This, however,
did not affect Illinois politics very seriously.

Another prominent event in the West during Gov.
Carlin's term of office was the excitement caused by
the Mormons and their removal from Independence,
Mo., to Nauvoo, 111., in 1840. At the same time
they began to figure somewhat in State politics. On
account of their believing — as they thought, accord-
ing to the New Testament — that they should have

" all things common," and that consequently " all
the earth " and all that is upon it were the" Lord's "
and therefore the property of his " saints," they
were suspected, and correctly, too, of committing
many of the deeds of larceny, robbery, etc., that
were so rife throughout this country in those day<.
Hence a feeling of violence grew up between the
Mormons and "anti-Mormons." In the State of
Missouri the Mormons always supported the Dem-
ocracy until they were driven out by the Democratic
government, when they turned their support to the
Whigs. They were becoming numerous, and in the
Legislature of 1 840- 1, therefore, it became a matter
of great interest with both parties to conciliate these
people. Through the agency of one John C. Ben-
nett, a scamp, the Mormons succeeded in rushing
through the Legislature (both parties not daring io
oppose) a charter for the city of Nauvoo which vir-
tually erected a hierarchy co-ordinate with the Fed-
eral Government itself. In the fall of 1841 the
Governor of Missouri made a demand upon Gov.
Carlin for the body of Joe Smith, the Mormon leader,
as a fugitive from justice. Gov. Carlin issued the
writ, but for some reason it was returned unserved.
It was again issued in 1842, and Smith was arrested,
but was either rescued by bis followers or discharged
by the municipal court on a writ of habeas corpus.

In December, 1841, the Democratic Convention
nominated Adam W. Snyder, of Belleville, for Gov-
ernor. As he had been, as a member of the Legisla-
ture, rather friendly to the Mormons, the latter
naturally turned their support to the Democratic
party. The next spring the Whigs nominated Ex-
Gov. Duncan for the same office. In the meantime
the Mormons began to grow more odious to the
masses of the people, and the comparative prospects
of the respective parties for success became very
problematical. Mr. Snyder died in May, and
Thomas Ford, a Supreme Judge, was substituted as
a candidate, and was elected.

At the close of his gubernatorial term, Mr. Carlin
removed back to his old home at Carrollton, where
he spent the remainder of his life, as before his ele-
vation to office, in agricultural pursuits. In 1849
he served out the unexpired term of J. D. Fry in the
Illinois House of Representatives, and died Feb. 4,
1S52, at his residence at Carrollton, leaving a wife
and seven children.

■

Oma^uOLd era^-d?

GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.

139

ZM&hx.

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"7 T-c^^

JHOMAS FORD, Governor
from 1842 to 1846, and au-
thor of a very interesting
history of Illinois, was born
at Uniontown, Pa., in the
year 1 800. His mother, after
the death of her first hus-
band (Mr. Forquer), married Rob-
ert Ford, who was killed in 1802,
by the Indians in the mountains
of Pennsylvania. She was conse-
quently left in indigent circum-
stances, with a large family, mostly
girls. With a view to better her
condition, she, in 1804, removed to
Missouri, where it had been cus-
tomary by the Spanish Govern-
ment to give land to actual settlers ; but upon her
arrival at St. Louis she found the country ceded to
the United States, and the liberal policy toward set-
tlers changed by the new ownership. After some
sickness to herself and family, she finally removed to
Illinois, and settled some three miles south of Water-
loo, but the following year moved nearer the Missis-
sippi bluffs. Here young Ford received his first i

schooling, under the instructions of a Mr. Humphrey,
for which he had to walk three miles. His mother,
though lacking a thorough education, was a woman
of superior mental endowments, joined to energy
and determination of character. She inculcated in
her children those high-toned principles which dis-
tinguished her sons in public life. She exercised a
rigid economy to provide her children an education;
but George Forquer, her oldest son (six years older
than Thomas Ford), at an early age had to quit
school to aid by his labor in the support of the family.
He afterward became an eminent man in Illinois
affairs, and but for his early death would probably
have been elected to the United States Senate.

Young Ford, with somewhat better opportunities,
received a better education, though limited to the
curriculum of the common school of those pioneer
times. His mind gave early promise of superior en-
dowments, with an inclination for mathematics. His
proficiency attracted the attention of Hon. Daniel P.
Cook, who became his efficient patron and friend.
The latter gentleman was an eminent Illinois states-
man who, as a Member of Congress, obtained a grant
of 300,000 acres of land to aid in completing the
Illinois & Michigan Canal, and after whom the
county of Cook was named. Through the advice of

140

THOMAS FORD.

this gentleman, Mr. Ford turned his attention to the
study of law; but Forquer, then merchandising, re-
garding his education defective, sent him to Transyl-
vania University, where, however, he remained but
jne term, owing to Forquer's failure in business. On
his return he alternated his law reading with teach-
ing school for support.

In 1829 Gov. Edwards appointed him Prosecuting
Attorney, and in 183 r he was re-appointed by Gov.
Reynolds, and after that he was four times x elected a
Judge by the Legislature, without opposition, twice a
Circuit Judge, once a Judge of Chicago, and as As-
sociate Judge of the Supreme Court, when, in 1841,
the latter tribunal was re-organized by the addition
of live Judges, all Democrats. Ford was assigned to
the Ninth Judicial Circuit, and while in this capacity
he was holding Court in Ogle County he received a
noiiee of his nomination by the Democratic Conven-
tion for the office of Governor. He immediately re-
signed his place and entered upon the canvass. In
August, 1S42, he was elected, and on the 8th of De-
cember following he was inaugurated.

All the offices which he had held were unsolicited
by him. He received them upon the true Jefferson-
ian principle, — Never to ask and never to refuse
• office. Both as a lawyer and as a Judge he stood
deservedly high, but Wis cast of intellect fitted him
rather for a writer upon law than a practicing advo-
cate in the courts. In the latter capacity he was void
of the moving power of eloquence, so necessary to
success with juries. As a Judge his opinions were
Tound, lucid and able expositions of the law. In
practice, he was a stranger to the tact, skill and in-
sinuating address of the politician, but he saw through
the arts of demagogues as well as any man. He was
plain in his demeanor, so much so, indeed, that at
one time after the expiration of his term of office,
during a session of the Legislature, lie was taken by
a stranger to be a seeker for the position of door-
keeper, and was waited upon at his hotel near mid-
night by a knot of small office-seekers with the view
of effecting a " combination ! "

Mr. Ford had not the " brass " of the ordinary
politician, nor that impetuosity which characterizes a
political leader. He cared little for money, and
hardly enough for a decent support. In person he
was of small stature, slender, of dark complexion,
with black hair, sharp features, deep-set eyes, a
pointed, aquiline nose having a decided twist to one
side, and a small mouth.

The three most important events in Gov. Ford's
administration were the establishment of the high
financial credit of the State, the " Mormon War "and
the Mexican War.

In the first of these the Governor proved himself
1: be eminently wise. On coming into office he found
the State badly paralyzed by the ruinous effects of
the notorious "internal improvement" schemes of

the preceding decade, with scarcely anything to
show by way of "improvement." The enterprise
that seemed to be getting ahead more than all the
rest was the Illinois & Michigan Canal. As this
promised to be the most important thoroughfare,
feasible to the people, it was well under headway in
its construction. Therefore the State policy was
almost concentrated upon it, in order to rush it on te
completion. The bonded indebtedness of the State-
was growing so large as to frighten the people, and
they were about ready to entertain a proposition for
repudiation. But the Governor had the foresight to
recommend such measures as would maintain the
public credit, for which every citizen to-day feels
thankful.

But perhaps the Governor is remembered more for
his connection with the Mormon troubles than for
anything else; for it was during his term of office
that the " Latter-Day Saints " became so strong at
Nauvoo, built their temple there, increased their num-
bers throughout the country, committed misdemean-
ors, taught dangerous doctrines, suffered the loss of
theirleader, Jo Smith, by a violent death, were driven
out of Nauvoo to the far West, etc. Having been a
Judge for so many years previously, Mr. Ford of
course was no l-committal concerning Mormon affairs,
and was therefore claimed by both parties and also
accused by each of sympathizing too greatly with the
other side. Mormonism claiming to be a system of
religion, the Governor no doubt was " between two
fires," and felt compelled to touch the matter rather
" gingerly," and doubtless felt greatly relieved when
that pestilential people left the State. Such compli-
cated matters, especially when religion is mixed up
with them, expose every person participating in
them to criticism from all parties.

The Mexican War was begun in the spring of
1S45, and was continued into the gubernatorial term
of Mr. Ford's successor. The Governor's connection
with this war, however, was not conspicuous, as it
was only administrative, commissioning officers, etc.

Ford's " History of Illinois " is a very readable and
entertaining work, of 450 small octavo pages, and is
destined to increase in value with the lapse of time.
It exhibits a, natural flow of compact and forcible
thought, never failing to convey the nicest sense. In
tracing with his trenchant pen the devious operations
of the professional politician, in which he is inimit-
able, his account is open, perhaps, to the objection
that all his contemporaries are treated as mere place-
seekers, while many of them have since been judged
by the people to be worthy statesmen. His writings
seem slightly open to the criticism that they exhibit
a little splenetic partiality against those of his con-
temporaries who were prominent during his term of
office as Governor.

The death of Gov. Ford took place at Peoria, 111.,
Nov. 2, 1850.

6&>*<*vc^/

GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.

143

17\

jJ7$kY/\\yz&

| Augustus 0. French.

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p'^UGUSTUS C. FRENCH,
Governor of Illinois from
1846 to 1852, was born in
r Si the town of Hill, in the
VY State of New Hampshire,

»SM> Aug. 2, 1808. He was a
descendant in the fourth
generation ot Nathaniel
French, who emigrated from England
in 1687 and settled in Saybury, Mass.
In early life young French lost his
father, but continued to receive in-
struction from an exemplary and
Christian mother until he was 19 years
old, when she also died, confiding to
his care and trust four younger broth-
ers and one sister. He discharged his trust with
parental devotion. His education in early life was
such mainly as a common school afforded. For a
brief period he attended Dartmouth College, but
from pecuniary causes and the care of his brothers
and sister, he did not graduate. He subsequently
read law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1831, and
shortly afterward removed to Illinois, settling first at
Albion, Edwards County, where he established him-
self in the practice of law. The following year he
removed to Paris, Edgar County. Here he attained
eminence in his profession, and entered public life
by representing that county in the Legislature. A
strong attachment sprang up between him and Ste-
phen A. Douglas.

In 1839, Mr. French was appointed Receiver of
the United States Land Office at Palestine, Craw-
ford County, at which place he was a resident when

elevated to the gubernatorial chair. In 1844 he was
a Presidential Elector, and as such he voted for
James K. Polk.

The Democratic State Convention of 1846, meet-
ing at Springfield Feb. 10, nominated Mr. French
for Governor. Other Democratic candidates were
Lyman Trumbull, Tohn Calhoun (subsequently of
Lecompton Constitution notoriety), Walter B. Scates,
Richard M. Young and A. W. Cavarly, — an array of
very able and prominent names. Trumbull was per-
haps defeated in the Convention by the rumor that
he was opposed to the Illinois and Michigan Canal,
as he had been a year previously. For Lieutenant
Governor J. B. Wells was chosen, while other candi-
dates were Lewis Ross, Win. McMurlry, Newton
Cloud, J. B. Hamilton and W. W. Thompson. The
resolutions declared strongly against the resuscita-
tion of the old State Banks.

The Whigs, who were in a hopeless minority, held
their convention June 8, at Peoria, and selected
Thomas M. Kilpatrick, of Scott County, for Governor,
and Gen. Nathaniel G. Wilcox, of Schuyler, for
Lieutenant Governor.

In the campaign the latter exposed Mr. French's
record and connection with the passage of the in-
ternal improvement system, urging it against his
election ; but in the meantime the war with Mexico
broke out, regarding which the Whig record was un-
popular in this State. The war was the absorbing
and dominating question of the period, sweeping
every other political issue in its course. The elec-
tion in August gave Mr. French 58,700 votes, and
Kilpatrick only 36,775. Richard Eells, Abolitionist
candidate for the same office, received 5,152 vot^s.

144

AUGUSTUS C. FRENCH.

By the new Constitution of 1S48, a new election for
State officers was ordered in November of that year,
before Gov. French's terra was half out, and he was
re-elected for the term of four years. He was there-
fore the incumbent for six consecutive years, the
only Governor of this State who has ever served in
that capacity so long at one time. As there was no
organized opposition to his election, he received 67,-
453 votes, to 5,639 for Pierre Menard (son of the
first Lieutenant Governor), 4,748 for Charles V.
Dyer, 3,834 for W. L. D. Morrison, and 1,361 for
James L. D. Morrison. But Wm. McMurtry, of
Knox County, was elected Lieutenant Governor, in
place of Joseph B. Wells, who was before elected
and did not run again.

Governor French was inaugurated into office dur-
ing the progress of the Mexican War, which closed
during the summer of 1847, although the treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo was not made until Feb. 2,
1848. The policy of Gov. French's party was com-
mitted to that war, but in connection with that affair
he was, of course, only an administrative officer.
During his term of office, Feb. 19, 1847, the Legisla-
ture, by special permission of Congress, declared that
all Government lands sold to settlers should be im-
mediately subject to State taxation; before this they
were exempt for five years after sale. By this ar-
rangement the revenue was materially increased.
About the same time, the distribution of Government
land warrants among the Mexican soldiers as bounty
threw upon the market a great quantity of good
lands, and this enhanced the settlement of the State.
The same Legislature authorized, with the recom-
mendation of the Governor, the sale of the Northern
Cross Railroad (from Springfield to Meredosia, the
first in the State and now a section of the Wabash,
St. Louis & Pacific) It sold for $100,000 in bonds,
although it had cost the State not less than a million.
The salt wells and canal lands in the Saline reserve
in Gallatin County, granted by the general Govern-
ment to the State, were also authorized by the
Governor to be sold, to apply on the State debt. In
1850, for the first time since 1839, the accruing State
revenue, exclusive of specific appropriations, was
sufficient to meet the current demands upon the
treasury. The aggregate taxable property of the
State at this time was over $100,000,000, and the
population 85 1,470.

In 1849 the Legislature adopted the township or-
ganization law, which, however, proved defective,
and was properly amended in 185 1. At its session
in the latter year, the General Assembly also passed
a law to exempt homesteads from sale on executions
This beneficent measure had been repeatedly urged
upon that body by Gov. French.

In 1850 some business men in St. Louis com-
menced to build a dike opposite the lower part of
their city on the Illinois side, to keep the Mississippi
in its channel near St. Louis, instead of breaking
away from them as it sometimes threatened to do.
This they undertook without permission from the
Legislature or Executive authority of this State ; and
as many of the inhabitants there complained that
the scheme would inundate and ruin much valuable
land, there was a slight conflict of jurisdictions, re-
sulting in favor of the St. Louis project; and since
then a good site has existed there for a city (East St.
Louis), and now a score of railroads center there.

It was in September, 1850, that Congress granted
to this State nearly 3,000,000 acres of land in aid of
the completion of the Illinois Central Railroad,
which constituted the most important epoch in the
railroad — we might say internal improvement — his-
tory of the State. The road was rushed on to com-
pletion, which accelerated the settlement of the in-
terior of the State by a good class of industrious citi-
zens, and by the charter a good income to the State
Treasury is paid in from the earnings of the road.

In 1851 the Legislature passed a law authorizing
free stock banks, which was the source of much leg-
islative discussion for a number of years.

But we have not space further to particularize
concerning legislation. Gov. French's administra-
tion was not marked by any feature to be criticised,
while the country was settling up as never before.

In stature, Gov. French was of medium height,
squarely built, light complexioned, with ruddy face
and pleasant countenance. In manners he was
plain and agreeable. By nature he was somewhat
diffident, but he was often very outspoken in his con-
victions of duty. In public speech he was not an
orator, but was chaste, earnest and persuasive. In
business he was accurate and methodical, and in his
administration he kept up the credit of the State.

He died in 1S65, at his home in Lebanon, St.
Clair Co., 111.

GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.

147

3«®v-<(i»Ks><£

fc-^JSft.^nEL A. MATTESON, Governor
'^'(jfes* 1853-6, was born Aug. 8, 1808,
in Jefferson County, New York,
to which place his father had re-
moved from Vermont three years
before. His father was a farmer
in fair circumstances, but a com-
mon English education was all
that his only son received. Young
Joel first tempted fortune as a
small tradesman in Prescott,
Canada, before he was of age.
He returned from that place to
his home, entered an academy,
taught school, visited the prin-
cipal Eastern cities, improved a farm his father had
given him, made a tour in the South, worked there
in building railroads, experienced a storm on the
Gulf of Mexico, visited t lie gold diggings of Northern
Georgia, and returned via Nashville to St. Louis and
through Illinois to his father's home, when he mar-
ried. In 1S33, having sold his farm, he removed,
with his wife and one child, to Illinois, and entered
a claim on Government land near the head of An
Sable River, in what is now Kendall County. At
that time there were not more than two neighbors
within a range of ten miles of his place, and only
three or four houses between him and Chicago. He
opened a large farm. His family was boarded 1 2

miles away while he erected a house on his claim,
sleeping, during this time, under a rude pole shed.
Here his life was once placed in imminent peril by
a huge prairie rattlesnake sharing his bed.

In 1835 he bought largely at the Government land
sales. During the speculative real-estate mania which
broke out in Chicago in 1836 and spread over the State,
he sold his lands under the inflation of that period
and removed to Joliet. In 1838 he became a heavy
contractor on the Illinois & Michigan Canal. Upon
the completion of his job in 184 1, when hard limes
prevailed, business at a stand, contracts paid in State
scrip; when all the public works except the canal
were abandoned, the State offered for sale 700 tons
of railroad iron, which was purchased by Mr. Mat-
teson at a bargain. This he accepted, shipped and
sold at Detroit, realizing a very handsome profit,
enough to pay off all his canal debts and leave hirn a
surplus of several thousand dollars. His enterprise
next prompted him to start a woolen mill at Joliet,
in which he prospered, and which, after successive
enlargements, became an enormous establishment.

In 1S42 he was first elected a State Senator, but,
by a bungling apportionment, John Pearson, a Senator
holding over, was found to be in the same district,
and decided to be entitled to represent it. Mat-
teson's seat was declared vacant. Pearson, however,
with a nobleness difficult to appreciate in this day of

r48

JOEL A. MATTE SON.

greed for office, unwilling to represent his district
under the circumstances, immediately resigned his
unexpired term of two years. A bill was passed in a
few hours ordering a new election, and in ten days'
time Mr. Matteson was returned re-elected and took
his seat as Senator. From his well-known capacity
as a business man, he was made Chairman of the
Committee on Finance, a position he held during
this half and two full succeeding Senatorial terms,
discharging its important duties with ability and faith-
fulness. Besides his extensive woolen-mill interest,
when work was resumed on the canal under the new
loan of $r, 600,000 he again became a heavy con-
tractor, and also subsequently operated largely in
building railroads. Thus he showed himself a most
energetic and thorough business man.

He was nominated for Governor by the Demo-
cratic State Convention which met at Springfield
April 20, 1852. Other candidates before the Con-
vention were D. L. Gregg and F. C. Sherman, of
Cook; John Dement, of Lee ; Thomas L. Harris, of
Menard; Lewis W. Ross, of Fulton; and D. P. Bush,
of Pike. Gustavus Koerner, of St. Clair, was nom-
inated for Lieutenant Governor. For the same offices
the Whigs nominated Edwin B. Webb and Dexter A.
Knowlton. Mr. Matteson received 80,645 votes at
the election, while Mr. Webb received 64,40s. Mat-
teson's forte was not on the stump; he had not cul-
tivated the art of oily flattery, or the faculty of being
all things to all men. His intellectual qualities took
rather the direction of efficient executive ability. His
turn consisted not so much in the adroit manage-
ment of party, or the powerful advocacy of great gov-
ernmental principles, as in those more solid and
enduring operations which cause the physical devel-
opment and advancement of a State, — of commerce
and business enterprise, into which he labored with
success to lead the people. As a politician he was
just and liberal in his views, and both in official and
private life he then stood untainted and free from
blemish. As a man, in active benevolence, social
rirtues and all the amiable qualities of neighbor or
citizen, he had few superiors. His messages present
a perspicuous array of facts as to the condition of the
State, and are often couched in forcible and elegant
diction.

The greatest excitement during his term of office
was the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, by Con-

gress, under the leadership of Stephen A. Douglas in
1854, when the bill was passed organizing the Terri-
tory of Kansas and Nebraska. A large portion of
the Whig party of the North, through their bitter op-
position to tlie Democratic party, naturally drifted
into the doctrine of anti-slavery, and thus led to what
was temporarily called the "Anti-Nebraska" party,
while the followers of Douglas were known as " Ne-
braska or Douglas Democrats." It was during this
embryo stage of the Republican party that Abraham
Lincoln was brought forward as the "Anti-Nebraska "
candidate for the United States Senatorship, while
Gen. James Shields, the incumbent, was re-nom-
inated by the Democrats. But after a fewballotings
in the Legislature (1855), these men were dropped,
and Lyman Trumbull, an Anti-Nebraska Democrat,
was brought up by the former, and Mr. Matteson,
then Governor, by the latter. On the 11th ballot
Mr. Trumbull obtained one majority, and was ac-
cordingly declared elected. Before Gov. Matteson 's
term expired, the Republicans were fully organized
as a national party, and in 1856 put into the field a
full national and State ticket, carrying the State, but
not the nation.

The Legislature of 1 S55 passed two very import-
ant measures, — the present free-school system and a
submission of the Maine liquor law to a vote of the
people. The latter was defeated by a small majority
of the popular vote.

During the four years of Gov. Matteson 's admin-
istration the taxable wealth of the State was about
trebled, from $137,818,079 to $349,951,272; the pub-
lic debt was reduced from $17,398,985 to $12,843,-
r44; taxation was at the same time reduced, and the
State resumed paying interest on its debt in New
York as fast as it fell due; railroads were increased
in their mileage from something less than 400 to
about 3,000 ; and the population of Chicago was
nearly doubled, and its commerce more than quad-
rupled.

Before closing this account, we regret that we have
to say that Mr. Matteson, in all other respects an
upright man and a good Governor, was implicated
in a false re-issue of redeemed canal scrip, amount-
ing to $224,182.66. By a suit in the Sangamon Cir-
cuit Court the State recovered the principal and all
the interest excepting $27,500.

He died in the winter of 187 2-3, at Chicago.

^^U*Uj2e_

GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.

IS'

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I l K- 'i'.. , 'i',. , 'i | ..-v..-'i'..-'i'..'' l | , J , .'i'.v i i | .;')'..''i'..' a i'-. , 'i'.. ,| i>:i''.-'i '..v'.* 1 ' ■ '■ •.■'■■'■ '■"• '■'•■■'■ '. tv. •.'■'•.'■ ■•..'■ '•■■'

[LLIAM H. BISSELL, Gov-
ernor 1857-60, was born
pa April 25, 181 1, in the
State of New York, near
Painted Post, Yates County.
His parents were obscure,
honest, God-fearing people,
who reared their children under the daily
&7v t S u example of industry and frugality, accord-
fi. ing to the custom of that class of Eastern
society. Mr. Bissell received a respecta-
ble but not thorough academical education.
By assiduous application he acquired a
knowledge of medicine, and in his early
manhood came West and located in Mon-
roe County, this State, where he engaged in the
practice of that profession. But he was not enam-
ored of his calling: he was swayed by a broader
ambition, to such an extent that the mysteries of the
healing art and its arduous duties failed to yield him
further any charms. In a few years he discovered
his choice of a profession to be a mistake, and when
he approached the age of 30 he sought to begin
anew. Dr. Bissell, no doubt unexpectedly to him-
self, discovered a singular facility and charm of
speech, the exercise of which acquired for him a
ready local notoriety. It soon came lo be under-

stood that he desired to abandon his profession and
take up that of the law. During terms of Court he
would spend his time at the county seat among the
members of the Bar, who extended to him a ready
welcome.

It was not strange, therefore, that he should drift
into public life. In 1840 he was elected as a Dem-
ocrat to the Legislature from Monroe County, and
was an efficient member of that body. On his re-
turn home he qualified himself for admission to the
Bar and speedily rose to the front rank as an advo-
cate. His powers of oratory were captivating. With a
pure diction, charming and inimitable gestures,
clearness of statement, and a remarkable vein of sly
humor, his efforts before a jury told with irresistible
effect. He was chosen by the Legislature Prosecut-
ing Attorney for the Circuit in which he lived, and
in that position he fully discharged his duty to the
State, gained the esteem of the Bar, and seldom
failed to convict the offender of the law.

In stature he was somewhat tall and slender, and
with a straight, military bearing, lie presented a dis-
tinguished appearance. His complexion was dark,
his head well poised, though not large, his address
pleasant and manner winning. He was exemplary
in his habits, a devoted husband and kind parent.
He was twice married, the first time to Miss James,

IS 2

WILLfAM H. BISSELL.

of Monroe County,, by whom he had two children,
both daughters. She died soon after the year 1840,
and Mr. B. married for his second wife a daughter
of Elias K. Kane, previously a United States Senator
from this State. She survived him but a short time,
and died without issue.

When the war with Mexico was declared in 1846,
Mr. Bissell enlisted and was elected Colonel of his
regiment, over Hon. Don Morrison, by an almost
unanimous vote, — 807 to 6. Considering the limited
opportunities he had had, he evinced a high order of
military talent. On the bloody field of Buena Vista
he acquitted himself with intrepid and distinguished
ability, contributing with his regiment, the Second
Illinois, in no small degree toward saving the waver-
ing fortunes of our arms during that long and fiercely
contested battle.

After his return home, at the close of the war, he
was elected to Congress, his opponents being the
Hons. P. B. Fouke and Joseph Gillespie. He served
two terms in Congress. He was an ardent politician.
During the great contest of 1850 he voted in favor
of the adjustment measures; but in 1854 he opposed
the repeal of the Missouri Compromise act and
therefore the Kansas-Nebraska bill of Douglas, and
thus became identified with the nascent Republican
party.

During his first Congressional term, while the
Southern members were following their old practice
of intimidating the North by bullying language,
and claiming most of the credit for victories in the
Mexican War, and Jefferson Davis claiming for the
Mississippi troops all the credit for success at Buena
Vista, Mr. Bissell bravely defended the Northern
troops ; whereupon Davis challenged Bissell to a duel,
which was accepted. This matter was brought up
against Bissell when he was candidate for Governor
and during his term of office, as the Constitution of
this State forbade any duelist from holding a State
office.

In 1856, when the Republican party first put forth
a candidate, John C. Fremont, for President of the
United States, the same party nominated Mr. Bissell
for Governor of Illinois, and John Wood, of Quincy,
for Lieutenant Governor, while the Democrats nomi-
nated Hon. W. A. Richardson, of Adams County,
for Governor, and Col. R. J. Hamilton, of Cook
County, for Lieutenant Governor. The result of the

election was a plurality of 4,729 votes over Richard-
son. The American, or Know-Nothing, party had a
ticket in the field. The Legislature was nearly bal-
anced, but was politically opposed to the Governor.
His message to the Legislature was short and rather
ordinary, and was criticised for expressing the sup-
posed obligations of the people to the incorporators
of the Illinois Central Railroad Company and for re-
opening the slavery question by allusions to the
Kansas troubles. Late in the session an apportion-
ment bill, based upon the State census of 1855, was
passed, amid much partisan strife. The Governor
at first signed the bill and then vetoed it. A furious
debate followed, and the question whether the Gov-
ernor had the authority to recall a signature was
referred to the Courts, that of last resort deciding in
favor of the Governor. Two years afterward another
outrageous attempt was made for a re-apportionment
and to gerrymander the State, but the Legislature
failed to pass the bill over the veto of the Governor.

It was during Gov. Bissell's administration that
the notorious canal scrip fraud was brought to light,
Implicating ex-Gov. Matteson and other prominent
State officials. The principal and interest, aggregat-
ing $255,500, was all recovered by the State except-
ing $27,500. (See sketch of Gov. Matteson.)

In 1S59 an attempt was discovered to fraudu-
lently refund the Macalister and Stebbins bonds and
thus rob the State Treasury of nearly a quarter of a
million dollars. The State Government was impli-
cated in this affair, and to this day remains unex-
plained or unatoned for. For the above, and other
matters previously mentioned, Gov. Bissell has been
severely criticised, and he has also been most shame-
fully libelled and slandered.

On account of exposure in the army, the remote
cause of a nervous form of disease gained entrance
into his system and eventually developed paraplegia,
affecting his lower extremities, which, while it left
his body in comparative health, deprived him of loco-
motion except by the aid of crutches. While he was
generally hopeful of ultimate recovery, this myste-
rious disease pursued him, without once relaxing its
stealthy hold, to the close of his life, March r8,
1 S60, over nine months before the expiration of his
gubernatorial term, at the early age of 48 years. He
died in the faith of the Roman Catholic Church, of
which he hart been a member since 1854.

GC VERNORS OF ILLINOIS.

'55

|^:OHN WOOD, Governo.- i86o-i,and
f^w the first settler of Quincy, 111.,
was born in the town of Sempro-
nius (now Moravia), Cayuga Co. (
N. Y., Dec. 20, 1798. He was
the second child and only son of
Dr. Daniel Wood. His mother,
nee Catherine Crause, was of
German parentage, and ■ died
while he was an infant. Dr.
Wood was a learned and skillful
physician, of classical attain-
ments and proficient in several
modern languages, who, after
serving throughout the Revolu-
tionary War as a Surgeon, settled on the land granted
him by the Government, and resided there a re-
spected and leading influence in his section until his
death, at the ripe age of 92 years.

The subject of this sketch, impelled by the spirit
of Western adventure then pervading everywhere,
left his home, Nov. 2, 1818, and passed the succeed-
ing winter in Cincinnati, Ohio. The following sum-
mer he pushed on to Illinois, landing at Shawneetown,
and spent the fall and following winter in Calhoun
County. In 1820, in company with Willard Keyes,
he settled in Pike County, about 30 miles southeast
of Quincy, where for the next two years he pursued
farming. In 1S21 he visited " the Bluffs " (as the
present site of Quincy was called, then uninhabited)
and, pleased with its prospects, soon after purchased
a quarter-section of land near by, and in the follow-
ing fall (1822) erected near the river a small cabin,

4**

18 x 20 feet, the first building in Quincy, of whirl
he then became the first and for some months the
only occupant.

About this time he visited his old friends in Pike
County, chief of whom was William Ross, the lead-
ing man in building up the village of Atlas, of that
county, which was thought then to be the possible
commencement of city. One day they and others
were traveling together over the country between the
two points named, making observations on the com-
parative merits of the respective localities. On ap-
proaching the Mississippi near Mr. Wood's place,
the latter told his companions to follow him and he
would show them where he was going to build a city.
They went about a mile off the main trail, to a high
point, from which the view in every direction was
most magnificent, as it had been for ages and as yei
untouched by the hand of man. Before them swept
by the majestic Father of Waters, yet unburdened by
navigation. After Mr. Wood had expatiated at
length on the advantages of the situation, Mr. Ross
replied, " But it's too near Atlas ever to amount to
anything!"

Atlas is still a cultivated farm, and Quincy is ,t
city of over 30,000 population.

In 1824 Mr. Wood gave a newspaper notice,
as the law then prescribed, of his intention to apply
to the General Assembly for the formation of a new
county. This was done the following winter, result-
ing in the establishment of the present Adams
County. During the next summer Quincy was se-
lected as the county seat, it and the vicinity then
containing but four adult male residents and half

'5°

TOHN WOOD.

that number of females. Sinoe that period Mr.
Wood resided at the place of his early adoption un-
til his death, and far more than any other man was
he identified with every measure of its progress and
history, and almost continuously kept in public posi-
tions.

He was one of the early town Trustees, and after
the place became a city he was often a member of
the City Council, many times elected Mayor, in the
face of a constant large opposition political majority.
In 1850 he was elected to the State Senate. In 1856,
on the organization of the Republican party, he was
chosen Lieutenant Governor of the State, on the
ticket with Win. H. Bissell for Governor, and on the
death of the latter, March 18, 1860, he succeeded to
the Chief Executive chair, which he occupied until
Gov. Yates was inaugurated nearly ten months after-
ward.

Nothing very marked characterized the adminis-
tration of Gov. Wood. The great anti-slavery cam-
paign of i860, resulting in the election of the honest
Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the Presidency of the
United States, occurred during the short period
while Mr. Wood was Governor, and tiie excitement
and issues of that struggle dominated over every
other consideration, — indeed, supplanted them in a
great measure. The people of Illinois, during all
that time, were passing the comparatively petty strifes
under Bissell's administration to the overwhelming
issue of preserving the whole nation from destruction.

In 1861 ex-Gov. Wood was one of the five Dele-
gates from Illinois to the " Peace Convention " at
Washington, and in April of the same year, on the
breaking out of the Rebellion, he was appointed

Quartermaster-General of the State, which position
he held throughout the war. In 1864 he took com-
mand as Colonel of the 137th 111. Vol. Inf., with
whom he served until the period of enlistment ex-
pired.

Politically, Gov. Wood was always actively identi-
fied with the Whig and Republican parties. Few
men have in personal experience comprehended so
many surprising and advancing local changes as
vested in the more than half century recollections of
Gov. Wood. Sixty-four years ago a solitary settler
on the "Bluffs," with no family, and no neighbor
within a score of miles, the world of civilization away
behind him, and the strolling red-man almost his
only visitant, he lived to see growing around him,
and under his auspices and aid, overspreading the
wild hills and scraggy forest a teaming city, second
only in size in the State, and surpassed nowhere in
beauty, prosperity and promise ; whose people recog-
nize as with a single voice the proverbial honor and
liberality that attach to the name and lengthened
life of their pioneer settler, "the old Governor."

Gov. Wood was twice married, — first in January,
1826, to Ann M. Streeter, daughter of Joshua Streeter,
formerly of Salem, Washington Co., N. Y. They had
eight children. Mrs. W. died Oct. S, 1S63, and in
June, 1865, Gov. Wood married Mrs. Mary A., widow
of Rev. Joseph T. Holmes. Gov. Wood died June 4,
18S0, at his residence in Quincy. Four of his eitjlit
children are now living, namely: Ann E., wife of
Gen. John Tillson; Daniel C, who married Mary ].
Abernethy; John, Jr., who married Josephine Skinner,
and Joshua S., who married Annie Bradley. The
last mentioned now resides at Atchison, Kansas, and
all the rest are still at Quincy.

GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.

'59

jFJ i v \\ a r d Y a f e ,s.

ilCHARD YATES, the "War
Governor,'' r 86 1-4, was born
Jan. 18, 1818, on the banks of
the Ohio River, at Warsaw,
Gallatin Co., Ky. His father
moved in 1S31 to Illinois, and
after stopping for a time in
Springfield, settled at Island
Grove, Sangamon County. Here,
after attending school, Richard joined
the family. Subsequently he entered
Illinois College at Jacksonville,
where, in r837, he graduated with
first honors. He chose for his pro-
fession the law, the Hon. J. J. Har-
din being his instructor. After ad-
mission to the Bar he soon rose to distinction as an
advocate.

Gifted with a fluent and ready oratory, he soon
appeared in the political hustings, and, being a
passionate admirer of the great Whig leader of the
West. Henry Clay, he joined his political fortunes to
he party of his idol. In 1840 he engaged with great
-rdor in the exciting "hard cider" campaign for
riarrison. Two years later he was elected to the
Legislature from Morgan County, a Democratic
stronghold. He served three or four terms in the
Legislature, and such was the fascination of his ora-
T>ry that by 1850 his large Congressional District,
f.vtending from Morgan and Sangamon Counties
. orth to include LaSalle, unanimously tendered him
i:i~ Whig nomination for Congress. His Democratic-
opponent was Maj. Thomas L. Harris, a very pop-
lar man who had won distinction at the battle of
Cerro Gordo, in the Mexican War, and who had
oeaten Hon. Stephen T. Logan for the same position,

two years before, by a large majority. Yates was
elected. Two years later he was re-elected, over
John Calhoun.

It was during Yates second term in Congress that
the great question of the repeal of the Missouri Com-
promise was agitated, and the bars laid down for re-
opening the dreaded anti-slavery question. He took
strong grounds against the repeal, and thus became
identified with the rising Republican party. Conse-
quently he fell into the minority in his district, which
was pro-slavery. Even then, in a third contest, he
fell behind Major Harris only 200 votes, after the
district had two years before given Pierce 2,000
majority for President.

The Republican State Convention of i860 met at
Decatur May 9, and nominated for the office of Gov-
ernor Mr. Yates, in preference to Hon. Norman B.
Judd, of Chicago, and Leonard Swett, of Blooming-
ton, two of the ablest men of the State, who were
also candidates before the Convention. Francis A.
Hoffman, of DuPage County, was nominated for
Lieutenant Governor. This was the year when Mr.
Lincoln was a candidate for President, a period re-
membered as characterized by the great whirlpool
which precipitated the bloody War of the Rebellion.
The Douglas Democrats nominated J. C. Allen of
Crawford County, for Governor, and Lewis W. Ross,
of Fulton County, for Lieutenant Governor. The
Breckenridge Democrats and the Bell-Everett party
had also full tickets in the field. After a most fear-
ful campaign, the result of the election gave Mr.
Yates 172,196 votes, and Mr. Allen ^9,253. Mr.
Yates received over a thousand more votes than did
Mr. Lincoln himself.

Gov. Yates occupied the chair of State during the

i6o

RICHARD YATES.

most critical period of our country's history. In the
fate of the nation was involved that of each State.
The life struggle of the former derived its sustenance
from the loyalty of the latter; and Gov. Yates
seemed to realize the situation, and proved himself
both loyal and wise in upholding the Government.
He had a deep hold upon the affections of the
people, won by his moving eloquence and genial
manners. Erect and symmetrical in person, of pre-
possessing appearance, with a winning address and a
magnetic power, few men possessed more of the ele-
ments of popularity. His oratory was scholarly and
captivating, his hearers hardly knowing why they
were transported. He was social and convivial. In
the latter respect he was ultimately carried too far.

The very creditable military efforts of this State
during the War of the Rebellion, in putting into the
field the enormous number of about 200,000 soldiers,
were ever promptly and ably seconded by his excel-
lency ; and the was ambitious to deserve the title of
"the soldier's friend." Immediately after the battle of
Shiloh he repaired to the field of carnage to look
after the wounded, and his appeals for aid were
Diomptly responded to by the people. His procla-
mations calling for volunteers were impassionate
appeals, urging upon the people the duties and re-
quirements of patriotism ; and his special message
in 1863 to the Democratic Legislature of this State
pleading for material aid for the sick and wounded
soldiers of Illinois regiments, breathes a deep fervor
of noble sentiment and feeling rarely equaled in
beauty or felicity of expression. Generally his mes-
sages on political and civil affairs were able and com-
prehensive. During his administration, however,
there were no civil events of an engrossing character,
although two years of his time were replete with
partisan quarrels of great bitterness. Military ar-
rests, Knights of the Golden Circle, riot in Fulton
County, attempted suppression of the Chicago Times
and the usurping State Constitutional Convention of
1862, were the chief local topics that were exciting
during the Governor's term. This Convention assem-
bled Jan. 7, and at once took the high position that
"ie law calling it was no longer binding, and that it
ad supreme power; that it represented a virtual
assemblage of the whole people of the State, and was
sovereign in the exercise of all power necessary to
effect a peaceable revolution of the State Government

and to the re-establishment of one for the "happiness,
prosperity and freedom of the citizens," limited only
by the Federal Constitution. Notwithstanding the
law calling the Convention required its members to
take an oath to support the Constitution of the State
as well as that of the general Government, they
utterly refused to take such oath. They also as-
sumed legislative powers and passed several import-
ant " laws ! " Interfering with the (then) present
executive duties, Gov. Yates was provoked to tell
them plainly that " he did not acknowledge the right
of the Convention to instruct him in the performance
of his duty."

In 1863 the Governor astonished the Democrats
by " proroguing " their Legislature. This body, after
a recess, met June 2, that year, and soon began to
waste time upon various partisan resolutions; and,
while the two houses were disagreeing upon the
question of adjourning sine die, the Governor, having
the authority in such cases, surprised them all by
adjourning them " to the Saturday next preceding the
first Monday in January, 1865 ! " This led to great
excitement and confusion, and to a reference of the
Governor's act to the Supreme Court, who decided in
his favor. Then it was the Court's turn to receive
abuse for weeks and months afterward.

During the autumn of 1864 a conspiracy was de-
tected at Chicago which had for its object the liber-
ation of the prisoners of war at Camp Douglas, the
burning of the city and the inauguration of rebellion
in the North. Gen. Sweet, who had charge of the
camp at the time, first had his suspicions of danger
aroused by a number of enigmatically worded letters
which passed through the Camp postoffice. A de-
tective afterward discovered that the rebel Gen.
Marmaduke was in the city, under an assumed
name, and he, with other rebel officers— Grenfell,
Morgan, Cantrell, Buckner Morris, and Charles
Walsh — was arrested, most of whom were convicted
by a court-martial at Cincinnati and sentenced to
imprisonment, — Grenfell to be hung. The sentence
of the latter was afterward commuted to imprison-
ment for life, and all the others, after nine months'
imprisonment, were pardoned.

In March, 1873, Gov. Yates was appointed a Gov-
ernment Director of the Union Pacific Railroad, in
which, office he continued until his decease, at St.
Louis, Mo., on the 27th of November following.

GGVhR.VORS OF ILLINOIS.

163

Richard J. Oglesby
<Hsgsasi

Jt"

4-«-:

*-#►

'sf/^ICHARD J. OGLESBY, Gov-
!f*» ernor 1865-8, and re-elected
|L in 1872 and 1884, was born
? July 25, 1824, in Oldham Co.,
-v ' Ky., — the State which might
be considered the " mother of
Illinois Governors." Bereft of
his parents at the tender age
of eight years, his early education
was neglected. When 12 years of
age, and after he had worked a year
and a half at the carpenter's trade,
he removed with an uncle, Willis
Oglesby, into whose care he had
been committed, to Decatur, this
State, where he continued his ap-
prenticeship as a mechanic, working six months for
Hon. E. O. Smith.

In 1844 he commenced studying law at Spring-
field, with Judge Silas Robbins, and read with him
one year. He was admitted to the Bar in 1845, and
commenced the practice of his chosen profession at
Sullivan, the county seat of Moultrie County.

The next year the war with Mexico was com-
menced, and in June, 1846, Mr. Oglesby volunteered,
was elected First Lieutenant of Co. C, Fourth Illinois
Regiment of Volunteers, and participated in the bat-
tles of Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo.

On his return he sought to perfect his law studies
by attending a course of lectures at Louisville, but
on the breaking out of the California "gold fever " in
1849, he crossed the plains and mountains to the
new Eldorado, driving a six-mule team, with a com-

pany of eight men, Henry Prather being the leader.

In 1852 he returned home to Macon County, and
was placed that year by the Whig party on the ticket
of Presidential Electors. In 1856 he visited Europe,
Asia and Africa, being absent 20 months. On his
return home he resumed the practice of law, as a
member of the firm of Gallagher, Wait & Oglesby.
In 1858 he was the Republican nominee for the
Lower House of Congress, but was defeated by the
Hon. James C. Robinson, Democrat. In i860 he
was elected to the Illinois State Senate ; and on the
evening the returns of this election were coming in,
Mr. Oglesby had a fisticuff encounter with " Cerro
Gordo Williams," in which he came out victorious
and which was regarded as " the first fight of the
Rebellion." The following spring, when the war
had commenced in earnest, his ardent nature
quickly responded to the demands of patriotism and
he enlisted. The extra session of the Legislature
elected him Colonel of the Eighth Illinois Infantry,
the second one in the State raised to suppress the
great Rebellion.

He was shortly entrusted with important com-
mands. For a time lie was stationed at Bird's Point
and Cairo; in April he was promoted Brigadier Gen~
eral; at Fort Donelson his brigade was in the van,
being stationed on the right of General Grant's army
and the first brigade to be attacked. He lost 500
men before re-inforcements arrived. Many of these
men were from Macon County. He was engaged in
the battle of Corinth, and, in a brave charge at this
place, was shot in the left lung with an ounce ball,
and was carried from the field in expectation of im-

164

RICHARD J. OGLESBY.

mediate death. That rebel ball he carries to this
day. On his partial recovery he was promoted as
Major General, for g tllantry, his commission to rank
from November, 1862. In the spring of 1863 he
was assigned to the command of the 16th Army
Corps, but, owing to inability from the effects of his
wound, he relinquished this command in July, that
year. Gen. Grant, however, refused to accept his
resignation, and he was detailed, in December follow-
ing, to court-martial and try the Surgeon General of
the Army at Washington, where he remained until
May, 1864, when he returned home.
The Republican, or Union, State Convention of

1864 was held at Springfield, May 25, when Mr.
Oglesby was nominated for the office of Governor,
while other candidates before the Convention were
Allen C. Fuller, of Boone, Jesse K. Dubois, of Sanga-
mon, and John M. Palmer, of Macoupin. Wm.
Bross, of Chicago, was nominated for Lieutenant
Governor. On the Democratic State ticket were
James C. Robinson, of Clark, for Governor, and S.
Corning Judd, of Fulton, for Lieutenant Governor.
The general election gave Gen. Oglesby a majority
of about 3r,ooo votes. The Republicans had also a
majority in both the Legislature and in the repre-
sentation in Congress.

Gov. Oglesby was duly inaugurated Jan. 17, 1865.
The day before the first time set for his installation
death visited his home at Decatur, and took from it
his only son, an intelligent and sprightly lad of six
years, a great favorite of the bereaved parents. This
caused the inauguration to be postponed a week.

The political events of the Legislative session of

1865 were the election of ex-Gov. Yates to the
United States Senate, and the ratification of the t3th
amendment to the Constitution of the United States,
abolishing slavery. This session also signalized
itself by repealing the notorious " black laws," part
of which, although a dead letter, had held their place
upon the statute books since 1819. Also, laws re-
quiring the registration of voters, and establishing a
State Board of Equalization, were passed by this Leg-
islature. But the same body evinced that it was cor-
ruptly influenced by a mercenary lobby, as it adopted
some bad legislation, over the Governor's veto, nota-
bly an amendment to a charter for a Chicago horse
railway, granted in 1859 for 25 years, and now
sought to be extended 99 years. As this measure
was promptly passed over his veto by both branches
of the Legislature, he deemed it useless further to
attempt to check their headlong career. At this
session no law of a general useful character or public
interest was perfected, unless we count such the
turning over of the canal to Chicago to be deepened.
The session of 1867 was still more productive of
private and special acts. Many omnibus bills were
proposed, and some passed. The contests over the
.ocation of the Industrial College, the Capital, the

Southern Penitentiary, and the canal enlargement
and Illinois River improvement, dominated every-
thing else.

During the year 1S72, it became evident that if
the Republicans could re-elect Mr. Oglesby to the
office of Governor, they could also elect him to the
United States Senate, which they desired to do.
Accordingly they re-nominated him for the Execu-
tive chair, and placed upon the ticket with him for
Lieutenant Governor, John L. Beveridge, of Cook
County. On the other side the Democrats put into
the field Gustavus Koerner for Governor and John
C. Black for Lieutenant Governor. The election
gave the Republican ticket majorities ranging from
35>334 to S6>!74. — 'he Democratic defection being
caused mainly by their having an old-time Whig and
Abolitionist, Horace Greeley, on the national ticket
for President. According to the general understand-
ing had beforehand, as soon as the Legislature met
it elected Gov. Oglesby to the United States Senate,
whereupon Mr. Beveridge became Governor. Sena-
tor Oglesby 's term expired March 4, 1S79, having
served his party faithfully and exhibited an order of
statesmanship beyond criticism.

During the campaign of 1884 Mr. Oglesby was
nominated for a "third term" as Executive of the
State of Illinois, against Carter H. Harrison, Mayor
of Chicago, nominated by the Democrats. Both
gentlemen "stumped " the State, and while the peo-
ple elected a Legislature which was a tie on a joint
ballot, as between the two parties, they gave the
jovial " Dick" Oglesby a majority of 15,018 for Gov-
ernor, and he was inaugurated Jan. 30, 1885. The
Legislature did not fully organize until this date, on
account of its equal division between the two main
parties and the consequent desperate tactics of each
party to checkmate the latter in the organization of
the House.

Gov. Oglesby is a fine-appearing, affable man, with
regular, well defined features and rotund face. In
stature he is a little above medium height, of a large
frame and somewhat fleshy. His physical appear-
ance is striking and prepossessing, while his straight-
out, not to say bluff, manner and speech are well
calculated favorably to impress the average masses.
Ardent in feeling and strongly committed to the pol-
icies of his party, he intensifies Republicanism
among Republicans, while at the same time his iovial
and liberal manner prevents those of the opposite
party from hating him.

He is quite an effective stump orator. With vehe-
ment, passionate and scornful tone and gestures,
tremendous physical power, which in speaking he
exercises to the utmost; with frequent descents to
the grotesque; and with abundant homely compari-
sons or frontier figures, expressed in the broadest
vernacular and enforced with stentorian emphasis,
he delights a promiscuous audience beyond measure.

(L-£^lcl~

GO VERXORS OF ILLINOIS.

i -7

John M. Palmer

OHN Mc AUI.EY PALMER, Gov-
ernor 1869-72, was born on
Eagle Creek, Scott Co., Ky.,
Sept. 13, 1817. During his in-
fancy, his father, who had been
a soldier in the war of 18 12, re-
moved to Christian Co., Ky.,
where lands were cheap. Here
the future Governor of the great
Prairie State spent his childhood
and received such meager school-
ing as the new and sparsely set-
tled country afforded. To this
he added materially by diligent
reading, for which he evinced an
early aptitude. His father, an ardent Jackson man,
was also noted for his anti-slavery sentiments, which
he thoroughly impressed upon his children. In 1831
he emigrated to Illinois, settling in Madison County.
Here the labor of improving a farm was pursued for
about two years, when the death of Mr. Palmer's
mother broke up the family. About this time Alton
College was opened, on the "manual labor " system,
and in the spring of 1834 young Palmer, with his
elder brother, Eliliu, entered this school and remained
18 months. Next, for over three years, he tried
variously coopering, peddling and school-teaching.

During the summer of 1838 he formed the ac-
quaintance of Stephen A. Douglas, then making his

first canvass for Congress. Young, eloquent and in
political accord with Mr. Palmer, he won his confi-
dence, fired his ambition and fixed his purpose. The
following winter, while teaching near Canton, he be-
gan to devote his spare time to a desultory reading
of law, and in the spring entered a law office at Car-
linville, making his home with his elder brother,
Elihu. (The latter was a learned clergyman, of con-
siderable orginality of thought and doctrine.) On
the next meeting of the Supreme Court he was ad-
mitted to the Bar, Douglas being one of his examiners.
He was not immediately successful in his profession,
and would have located elsewhere than Carlinville
had he the requisite means. Thus his early poverty
was a blessing in disguise, for to it he now attributes
the success of his life.

From 1839 on, while he diligently pursued his
profession, he participated more or less in local
politics. In 1843 he became Probate Judge. Ir
1847 he was elected to the State Constitutional Con-
vention, where he took a leading part. In 1852 In.
was elected to the State Senate, and at the special
session of February, 1854, true to the anti-slaver)
sentiments bred in him, he took a firm stand in op
position to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise,
and when the Nebraska question became a part;
issue he refused to receive a re-nomination for tin
Senatorship at the hands of the Democracy, issuing
a circular to that effect. A few weeks afterwara

1 68

JOHN MC AULEY PALMER.

however, hesitating to break with his party, he par-
ticipated in a Congressional Convention which nomi-
T. L. Harris against Richard Yates, and which
unqualifiedly approved the principles of the Kansas-
Nebraska act. But later in the campaign he made
the plunge, ran for the Senate as an Anti-Nebraska
Democrat, and was elected. The following winter
he put in nomination for the 'United States Senate
Mr. Trumbull, and was one of the five steadfast men
who voted for him until all the Whigs came to their
support and elected their man.

In 1856 he was Chairman of the Republican State
Convention at Bloomington. He ran for Congress in
1859, but was defeated. In 1S60 he was Republican
Presidential Elector for the State at large. In 1861
he was appointed one of the five Delegates (all Re-
publicans) sent by Illinois to the peace congress at
Washington.

When the civil conflict broke out, he offered his
services to his country, and was elected Colonel of the
14th 111. Vol. Inf., and participated in the engagements
at Island No. 10; at Farmington, where he skillfully
extricated his command from a dangerous position ;
at Stone River, where his division for several hours,
Dec. 3T, 1862, held the advance and stood like a
rock, and for his gallantry there he was made Major
General; at Chickamauga, where his and Van Cleve's
divisions for two hours maintained their position
when they were cut off by overpowering numbers.
Under Gen. Sherman, he was assigned to the 14th
Army Corps and participated in the Atlanta campaign.
At Peach-Tree Creek his prudence did much to avert
disaster. In February, 1865, Gen. Palmer was as-
signed to the military administration of Kentucky,
which was a delicate post. That State was about
half rebel and half Union, and those of the latter
element were daily fretted by the loss of their slaves.
He, who had been bred to the rules of common law,
trembled at the contemplation of his extraordinary
power over the persons and property of his fellow
men, with which he was vested in his capacity as
military Governor; and he exhibited great caution in
the execution of the duties of his post.

Gen. Palmer was nominated for Governor of Illi-
nois by the Republican State Convention which met
at Peoria May 6, 1868, and his nomination would
probably have been made by acclamation had he not
persistently declared that he could not accept a can-

didature for the office. The result of the ensuing
election gave Mr. Palmer a majority of 44,707 over
John R. Eden, the Democratic nominee.

On the meeting of the Legislature in January,
1869, the first thing to arrest public attention was
that portion of the Governor's message which took
broad Slate's rights ground. This and some minor
points, which were more in keeping with the Demo-
cratic sentiment, constituted the entering wedge fir
the criticisms and reproofs he afterward received
from the Republican party, and ultimately resulted
in his entire aleniation from the latter element. The
Legislature just referred to was noted for the intro-
duction of numerous bills in the interest of private
parties, which were embarrassing to the Governor.
Among tJie public acts passed was that which limited
railroad charges for passenger travel to a maximum
of three cents per mile ; and it was passed over the
Governor's veto. Also, they passed, over his veto,
the "tax-grabbing law"lc pay railroad subscriptions,
the Chicago Lake Front bill, etc. The new State
Constitution of r87o, far superior to the old, was a
peaceful " revolution " which took place during Gov.
Palmer's term of office. The suffering caused by the
great Chicago Fire of October, 1871, was greatly
alleviated by the prompt responses of his excellency.

Since the expiration of Gov. Palmers 's term, he has
been somewhat prominent in Illinois politics, and
has been talked of by many, especially in the Dem-
ocratic party, as the best man in the State for a
United States Senator. His business during life has
been that of the law. Few excel him in an accurate
appreciation of the depth and scope of its principles-
The great number of his able veto messages abun-
dantly testify not only this but also a rare capacity to
point them out. He is a logical and cogent reasoner
and an interesting, forcible and convincing speaker,
though not fluent or ornate. Without brilliancy, his
dealings are rather with facts and ideas than with
appeals to passions and prejudices. He is a patriot
and a statesman of very high order. Physically he is
above the medium height, of robust frame, ruddy
complexion and sanguine-nervous temperament. He
has a large cranial development, is vivacious, social
in disposition, easy of approach, unostentatious in his
habits of life, democratic in his habits and manners
and is a true American in his fundamental principles
of statesmanship.

- zSsr* "

GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.

'71

■v 1 1 .'■i | ..' , i | ..' , ) i ,"i | .: : i' : 1 1 ,:. i 1 -: v<; ■' : ■' .' <■ :>'.:>,., :■; •..■. . '■ -. '■ : ] > : '< : 't-'.-v.

-y — » =

-a .%

OHN LOWRJE BEVER-
IDGE, Governor 1873-6, was
born in the town of Green-
wich, Washington Co., N. Y.,
July 6, 1824. His parents
were George and Ann Bever-
ly idge. His father's parents, An-
drew and Isabel Beveridge, be-
fore their marriage emigrated
from Scotland just before the
Revolutionary War, settling in
Washington County. His father
' p was the eldest of eight brothers, the
youngest of whom was 60 years of
age when the first one of the num-
ber died. His mother's parents,
James and Agnes Hoy, emigrated
from Scotland at the close of the
Revolutionary War, settling also in
P Washington Co., N. Y., with their
first-born, whose " native land "was
the wild ocean. His parents and
grandparents lived beyond the time
allotted to man, their average age
being over 80 years. They belonged to the "Asso-
ciate Church," a seceding Presbyterian body of

•

America from the old Scotch school ; and so rigid
was the training of young Beveridge that he never
heard a sermon from any other minister except that
of his own denomination until he was in his 19th
year. Later in life he became a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, which relation he still
holds.

Mr. Beveridge received a good common-school ed-
ucation, but his parents, who could obtain a livelihood
only by rigid economy and industry, could not send
him away to college. He was raised upon a farm,
and was in his 18th year when the family removed
to De Kalb County, this State, when that section was
very sparsely settled. Chicago had less than 7,000
inhabitants. In this wild West he continued as a
farm laborer, teaching school during the winter
months to supply the means of an education. In the
fall of 1842 he attended one term at the academy at
Granville, Putnam Co., 111., and subsequently several
terms at the Rock River Seminary at Mount Morris,
Ogle Co., 111., completing the academic course. At
this time, the fall of 1845, his parents and brothers
were anxious to have him go to college, even though
he had not money sufficient; but, n it willing to bur-
den the family, he packed his trunk and with only
$40 in money started South to seek his fortune

I 7 2

JOHN L. BEVERIDGE.

Poor, alone, without friends and influence, he thus
entered upon the battle of life.

First, he taught school in Wilson, Overton and
Jackson Cos., Tenn., in which experience he under-
went considerable mental drill, both in book studies
and in the ways of the world. He read law and was
admitted to the Bar, in the South, but did not learn
to love the institution of slavery, although he ad-
mired many features of Southern character. In De-
cember, 1847, he returned North, and Jan. 20, 1848,
he married Miss Helen M. Judson, in the old Clark-
Street M. E. church in Chicago, her father at that
time being Pastor of the society there. In the spring
of 1848 he returned with his wife to Tennessee,
where his two children, Alia May and Philo Judson,
were born.

In the fall of TS49, through the mismanagement
of an associate, he lost what little he had accumu-
lated and was left in debt. He soon managed to
earn means to pay .his debts, returned to De Kalb
Co., 111., and entered upon the practice of his pro-
fession at Sycamore, the county seat. On arrival
from the South he had but one-quarter of a dollar in
money, and scanty clothing and bedding for himself
and family. He borrowed a little money, practiced
law, worked in public offices, kept books for some of
the business men of the town, and some railroad en-
gineering, till the spring of 1854, when he removed
to Evanston, 12 miles north of Chicago, a place then
but recently laid out, under the supervision of the
Northwestern University, a Methodist institution.
Of the latter his father-in-law was then financial
agent and business manager. Here Mr. Beveridge
prospered, and the next year (1855) opened a law
office in Chicago, where he found the battle some-
what hard; but he persevered with encouragement
and increasing success.

Aug. 12, 1 861, his law partner, Gen. John F.
Farnsworth, secured authority to raise a regiment of
cavalry, and authorized Mr. Beveridge to raise a
company for it. He succeeded in a few days in rais-
ing the company, of course enlisting himself along
with it. The regiment rendezvoused at St. Charles,
111., was mustered in Sept. 1 8, and on its organiza-
tion Mr. B. was elected Second Major. It was at-
tached, Oct. 11, to the Eighth Cavalry and to the
Army of the Potomac. He served with the regiment
until November, 1863, participating in some 40 bat-

tles and skirmishes : was at Fair Oaks, the seven days'
fight around Richmond, Fredericksburg, Chancellors-
ville and Gettysburg. He commanded the regiment
the greater part of the summer of 1 863, and it was while
lying in camp this year that he originated the policy
of encouraging recruits as well as the fighting capac-
ity of the soldiery, by the wholesale furlough system.
It worked so well that many other officers adopted
it. In the fall of this year he recruited another com-
pany, against heavy odds, in January, 1864, was
commissioned Colonel of the 17th 111. Cav., and
skirmished around in Missouri, concluding with the
reception of the surrender of Gen. Kirby Smith's
army in Arkansas. In 1865 he commanded various
sub-districts in the Southwest. He was mustered
out Feb. 6, 1866, safe from the casualties of war and
a stouter man than when he first enlisted. His men
idolized him.

He then returned to Chicago, to practice law, with
no library and no clientage, and no political experi-
ence except to help others into office. In the fall ot
1866 he was elected Sheriff of Cook County, serving
one term; next, until November, 1870, he practiced
law and closed up the unfinished business of hi--
office. He was then elected State Senator; in No-
vember, 187 1, he was elected Congressman at large;
in November, 1872, he was elected Lieutenant Gov-
ernor on the ticket with Gov. Oglesby; the latter be-
ing elected to the U. S. Senate, Mr. Beveridge became
Governor, Jan. 21, 1873. Thus, inside of a few
weeks, he was Congressman at large, Lieutenant
Governor and Governor. The principal events oc-
curring during Gov. Beveridge's administration were:
The completion of the revision of the statutes, begun
in 1869; the partial success of the "farmers' move-
ment;" "Haines' Legislature " and Illinois' exhibit at
the Centennial.

Since the close of his gubernatorial term ex-Gov
Beveridge has been a member of the firm of Bever-
idge & Dewey, bankers and dealers in commercial
paper at 7 1 Dearborn Street (McCormick Block),
Chicago, and since November, 1881, he has aLo been
Assistant United States Treasurer: office in the
Government Building. His residence is still at Ev-
anston.

He has a brother and two sisters yet residing in
De Kalb County — James H. Beveridge, Mrs. Jennst
Henry and Mrs. Isabel French.

GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.

•75

SBELB Y 31. CULLOM.

HLLBY M. CULLOM, Gover-
nor i S7 7 —S3, is the sixth child

of the late Richard N. Cullom,
and was born Nov. 22, 1829, in
Wayne Co., Ky., where his fa-
ther then resided, and whence
both the Illinois and Tennessee
branches of the family originated. In
the following year the family emi-
grated to the vicinity of Washington,
Tazewell Co., 111., when that section
was very sparsely settled. They lo-
cated on Deer Creek, in a grove at
the time occupied by a party of In-
dians, attracted there by the superior
hunting and fishing afforded in that
vicinity. The following winter was
known as the " hard winter," the snow being very
deep and lasting and the weather severely cold; and
the family had to subsist mainly on boiled corn or
hominy, and some wild game, for several weeks. In
the course of time Mr. R. N. Cullom became a prom-
inent citizen and was several times elected to the
Legislature, both before and after the removal of the
capital from Vandalia to Springfield. He died about
'873.

Until about 19 years of age young Cullom grew up
to agricultural pursuits, attending school as he had
opportunity during the winter. Within this time,
however, he spent several months teaching school,

and in the following summer he "broke prairie "with
an ox team for the neighbors. With the money ob-
tained by these various ventures, he undertook a
course of study at the Rock River Seminary, a
Methodist institution at Mt. Morris, Ogle County;
but the sudden change to the in-door life of a stu-
dent told severely upon his health, and he was taken
home, being considered in a hopeless condition. While
at Mt. Morris he heard Hon. E. B. Washburne make
his first speech.

On recovering health, Mr. Cullom concluded to
study law, under the instruction of Abraham Lincoln,
at Springfield, who had by this time attained some
notoriety as an able lawyer; but the latter, being ab-
sent from his office most of the time, advised Mr.
Cullom to enter the office of Stuart & Edwards.
After about a year of study there, however, his health
failed again, and he was obliged to return once more
to out-door life. Accordingly he bought hogs for
packing, for A. G. Tyng, in l'eoria, and while he re-
gained his health he gained in purse, netting $400 in
a few weeks. Having been admitted to the Bar, he
went to Springfield, where he was soon elected City
Attorney, on the Anti-Nebraska ticket.

In 1856 he ran on the Fillmore ticket as a Presi-
dential Elector, and, although failing to be elected as
such, he was at the same time elected a Representa-
tive in the Legislature from Sangamon County, by a
local coalition of the American and Republican par-
ties. On the organization of the House, he received
the vote of the Fillmore men for Speaker. Practicing

176

SHELBY M. CULLOM.

law until i860, he was again elected to the Legisla-
ture, as a Republican, while the county went Demo-
cratic on the Presidential ticket. In January follow-
ing he was elected Speaker, probably the youngest
man who had ever presided over an Illinois Legis-
lature. After the session of 1S61, he was a candidate
for the State Constitutional Convention called for
that year, but was defeated, and thus escaped the
disgrace of being connected with that abortive party
scheme to revolutionize the State Government. In
1S62 he was a candidate for the State Senate, but
was defeated. The same year, however, he was ap-
pointed by President Lincoln on a Government
Commission, in company with Gov. Boutwell of
Massachusetts and Cnarles A. Dana, since of the
New York Sun, to investigate the affairs of the
Quartermaster's and Commissary Departments at
Cairo. He devoted several months to this duty.

In 1864 he enteted upon a larger political field,
being nominated as the Republican candidate for
Congress from the Eighth (Springfield) District, in
opposition to the incumbent, JohnT. Stuart, who had
been elected in 1862 by about 1,500 majority over
Leonard Swett, then of Bloomington, now of Chicago.
The result was the election of Mr. Cullom in Novem-
ber following by a majority of 1,785. In 1866 he
was re-elected to Congress, over Dr. E. S. Fowler, by
the magnificent majority of 4103! In 1868 he was
again a candidate, defeating the Hon. B. S. Edwards,
another of his old preceptors, by 2,884 votes.

During his first term in Congress he served on the
Committee on Foreign Affairs and Expenditures in
the Treasury Department; in his second term, on
the Committees on Foreign Affairs and on Territories ■
and in his third term he succeeded Mr. Ashley, of
Ohio, to the Chairmanship of the latter. He intro-
duced a bill in the House, to aid in the execution of
law in Utah, which caused more consternation among
the Mormons than any measure had previously, but
which, though it passed the House, failed to pass the
Senate.

The Republican Convention which met May 25,
1876, nominated Mr. Cullom for Governor, while the
other contestant was Gov. Beveridge. For Lieuten-
ant-Governor they nominated Andrew Shuman, editor
of the Chicago Journal. For the same offices the
Democrats, combining with the Anti-Monopolists,
placed in nomination Lewis Steward, a wealthy

farmer and manufacturer, and A. A. Glenn. The
result of the election was rather close, Mr. Cullom
obtaining only 6,Soo majority. He was inaugurated
Jan. 8, 1S77.

Great depression prevailed in financial circles at
this time, as a consequence of the heavy failures of
1873 and afterward, the effect of which had seemed
to gather force from that time to the end of Gov.
Cullom's first administration. This unspeculative
period was not calculated to call forth any new
issues, but the Governor's energies were at one time
put to task to quell a spirit of insubordination that
had been begun in Pittsburg, Pa., among the laboring
classes, and transferred to Illinois at Chicago, East
St. Louis and Braidwood, at which places laboring
men for a short time refused to work or allow others
to work. These disturbances were soon quelled and
the wheels of industry again set in motion.

In May, 1880, Gov. Cullom was re-nominated by
the Republicans, against Lyman Trumbull, by the
Democrats; and although the former party was some-
what handicapped in the campaign by a zealous
faction opposed to Grant for President and to Grant
men for office generally, Mr. Cullom was re-elected
by about 314,565, to 277,532 for the Democratic State
ticket. The Greenback vote at the same time was
about 27.000. Both Houses of the Legislature again
became Republican, and no representative of the
Greenback or Socialist parties were elected. Gov.
Cullom was inaugurated Jan. 10, 1S81. In his mes-
sage he announced that the last dollar of the State
debt had been provided for.

March 4, 1883, the term of David Davis as United
States Senator from Illinois expired, and Gov. Cul-
lom was chosen to succeed him. This promoted
Lieutenant-Governor John M. Hamilton to the Gov-
ernorship. Senator Cullom's term in the United
States Senate will expire March 4, 1889.

As a practitioner oflaw Mr. C. has been a member
of the firm of Cullom, Scholes & Mather, at Spring-
field ; and he has also been President of the State
National Bank.

He has been married twice, — the first time Dec.
12, 1855, to Miss Hannah Fisher, by whom he had
two daughters; and the second time May 5, 1863,
to Julia Fisher. Mrs. C is a member of the Method-
ist Episcopal Church, with which religious body Mr.
C. is also in sympathy.

GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.

'79

^>*-^-*<^

OHN MARSHALL HAMIL-
, TON, Governor 1883-5, was
born May 28, 1S47, in a log
house upon a farm about two
miles from Richwood, Union
County, Ohio. His father was
•> Samuel Hamilton, the eldest son
of Rev. Wra. Hamilton, who, to-
gether with his brother, the Rev.
"^» Samuel Hamilton, was among the
early pioneer Methodist preachers in
Ohio. The mother of the subject of
this sketch was, before her marriage,
Mrs. Nancy McMoiris, who was
born and raised in Fauquier or Lou-
doun County, Va., and related to the
two large families of Youngs and Marshalls, well
known in that commonwealth; and from the latter
family name was derived the middle name of Gov.
Hamilton.

In March, 1854, Mr. Hamilton's father sold out
his little pioneer forest home in Union County, O.,
and, loading his few household effects and family
(of six children) into two emigrant covered wagons,
moved to Roberts Township, Marshall Co., 111., being
21 days on the route. Swamps, unbridged streams
and innumerable hardships and privations met them
on their way. Their new home had been previously
selected by the father. Here, after many long years
of toil, they succeeded in paying for the land and
making a comfortf"''^ home. John was, of course,

brought up to hard manual labor, with no schooling
except three or four months in the year at a common
country school. However, he evinced a capacity
and taste for a high order of self-education, by
studying or reading what books he could borrow, as
the family had but very few in the house. Much of
his study he prosecuted by the light of a log fire in
the old-fashioned chimney place. The financial
panic of 1857 caused the family to come near losing
their home, to pay debts ; but the father and two
sons, William and John, "buckled to'' and perse-
vered in hard labor and economy until they redeemed
their place from the mortgage.

When the tremendous excitement of the political
campaign of i860 reached the neighborhood of Rob-
erts Township, young Hamilton, who had been
brought up in the doctrine of anti-slavery, took a zeal-
ous part in favor of Lincoln's election. Making special
efforts to procure a little money to buy a uniform, he
joined a company of Lincoln Wide-Awakes at Mag-
nolia, a village not far away. Directly after the
ensuing election it became evident that trouble
would ensue with the South, and this Wide-Awake
company, like many others throughout the country,
kept up its organization and transformed itself into a
military company. During the ensuing summer they
met often for drill and became proficient; but when
they offered themselves for the war, young Hamilton
was rejected on account of his youth, he being then
but r4 years of age. During the winter of 1863-4 he
attended an academy at Henry, Marshall County.

r8o

JOHN MARSHALL ILA MILTON.

and in the following May he again enlisted, for the
fourth time, when he was placed in the 141st III.
Vol. Inf., a regiment then being raised at Elgin, 111.,
for the roo-day service. He took with him 13 other
lads from his neighborhood, for enlistment in the
service. This regiment operated in Southwestern
Kentucky, for about five months, under Gen. Paine.
The following winter, 1864-5, Mr. Hamilton taught
school, and during the two college years 1S65-7, he
went through three years of the curriculum of the
Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio. The
third year he graduated, the fourth in a class of 46,
in the classical department. In due time he received
the degree of M. A. For a few months he was the
Principal of Marshall " College " at Henry, an acad-
emy under the auspices of the M. E. Church. By
this lime he had commenced the study of law, and
after earning some money as a temporary Professor
of Latin at the Illinois Wesleyan University at
Bloomington, he entered the law office of Weldon,
Tipton & Benjamin, of that city. Each member of
this firm has since been distinguished as a Judge.
Admitted to the Bar in May, 1870, Mr. Hamilton
was given an interest in the same firm, Tipton hav-
ing been elected Judge. In October following he
formed a partnership with J. H. Rowell, at that time
Prosecuting Attorney. Their business was then
small, but they increased it to very large proportions,
practicing in all grades of courts, including even the
U. S. Supreme Court, and this partnership continued
unbroken until Feb. 6, 1 SS 3, when Mr. Hamilton
was sworn in as Executive of Illinois. On the 4th
of March following Mr. Rowell took his seat in Con-
gress.

In July, 187 1, Mr. Hamilton married Miss Helen
M. Williams, the daughter of Prof. War. G. Williams,
Professor of Greek in the Ohio We.deyan University.
Mr. and Mrs. H. have two daughters and one son.

In 1876 Mr. Hamilton was nominated by the Re-
publicans for the State Senate, over other and older
competitors. He took an active part 'on the stump"
in the campaign, for the success of his party, and was
elected by a majority of 1,640 over his Democratic-
C.reenback opponent. In the Senate he served on
the Committees on Judiciary, Revenue, State Insti-
tutions, Appropriations, Education, and on Miscel-
lany; and during the contest for the election of a
U. S. Senator, the Republicans endeavoring to re-

elect John A. Logan, he voted for the war chief on
every ballot, even alone when all the other Republi-
cans-had gone over to the Hon. E. B. Lawrence and
the Democrats and Independents elected Judge
Divid Davis. At this session, also, was passed the
first Board of Health and Medical Practice act, of
which Mr. Hamilton was a champion, again"' . :
much opposition that the bill was several times
" laid on the table." Also, this session authorized
the location and establishment of a southern peni-
tentiary, which was fixed at Chester. In the session
of 1 S79 Mr. Hamilton was elected President pro tern.
of the Senate, and was a zealous supixjrter of John
A. Logan for the U. S. Senate, who was this time
elected without any trouble.

In May, 1880, Mr. Hamilton was nominated on
the Republican ticket for Lieutenant Governor, his
principal competitors before the Convention being
Hon. Wm. A. James, ex-Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Judge Robert Bell, of Wabash
County, Hon. T. T. Fountain, of Perry County, and
Hon. M. M. Saddler, of Marion County. He engaged
actively in the campaign, and his ticket was elected
by a majority of 4r,2oo. As Lieutenant Governor,
he presided almost continuously over the Senate in
the 33d General Assembly and during the early days
of the 33d, until he succeeded to the Governorship
When the Legislature of 1883 elected Gov. Cullom
to the United Stales Senate, Lieut. Gov. Hamilton
succeeded him, under the Constitution, taking the
oath of office Feb. 6, rS83. He bravely met all the
annoyances and embarrassments incidental upon
taking up another's administration. The principal
events with which Gov. Hamilton was connected as
the Chief Executive of the State were, the mine dis-
aster at Braidwood, the riots in St. Clair and Madison
Counties in May, 18S3, the appropriations for the
State militia, the adoption of the Harper high-license
liquor law, the veto of a dangerous railroad bill, etc.

The Governor was a Delegate at large to the
National Republican Convention at Chicago in Tune,
1S84, where his first choice for President wis John
A. Logan, and second choice Chester A. Arthur; but
he afterward zealously worked for the election of Mr.
Blaine, true to his party.

Mr. Hamilton's term as Governor expired Jan. 30,
1885, when the great favorite "Dick" Oglesby was
inaugurated.

JOSEPH W. FIFER.

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ilOSKI'H WILSON FIFER.
distinguished gentleman

This
distinguished gentleman was
Jlfft*''' elected Governor of Illinois
November G, 1X88. He was
popularly known during the
campaign as "Private Joe." lie
had served with great devotion
to his country during the Re-
hellion, in the Thirty-third
Illinois Infantry. A native of
Virginia, he was horn in 1840.
His parents, John and Mary
(Daniels) Filer, were American
horn, though of German de-
scent. His father was a brick
and stone mason, and an old
Henry Clay Whig in politics. John and Mary
Fifer had nine children, of whom Joseph was the
Sixth, and naturally with so large a family it was
all the father could do to keep the wolf from the

door; to say nothing of giving his children any-
thing like good educational advantages.

Young Joseph attended school some in Vir-
ginia, but it was not a good school, and when
his father removed to the West, in 1857, Joseph had
not advanced much further than the "First Reader."

Our subject was sixteen then and suffered a great
misfortune in the loss of his mother. After the death
of Mrs. Fifer, which occurred in Missouri, the
family returned to Virginia, but remained only a
short time, as during the same year Mr. Fifer
came to Illinois. He settled in McLean County and
Started a brickyard. Here Joseph and his broth-
ers were [ml to work. The elder Fifer soon
bought a farm near Bloomington and began life as
an agriculturalist. Here Joe worked and attended
the neighboring school. He alternated farm-work,
brick-laying, and going to the district school for
the succeeding few years. II was all work and no
play for Joe, yet it by no means made a dull boy
of him. All the time he was thinking of the great
world outside, of which he had caught, a glimpse
when coming from Virginia, yet he did not know
just how he was going to get out into it,. lie
could not feel that the woods around the new
farm and the log cabin, in which the family lived,
were to hold him.

The opportunity to get out into the world was
soon offered to young Joe. lie traveled a dozen
miles barefoot, in company with his brother < leorge,
and enlisted in Company C, 33d Illinois Infantry;
he being then twenty years old. In a few days

184

JOSEPH W. FIFER.

the regiment was sent to Camp Butler, and then
over into Missouri, and saw some vigorous service
there. After a second time helping to chase Price
out of Missouri, the 33d Regiment went down
to Milliken's Bend, and for several weeks •• Private
Joe" worked on Grant's famous ditch. The regi-
ment then joined the forces operating against Fort
Gibson and Vicksburg. Joe was on guard duty in
the front ditches when the Hag of surrender was
run up on the tth of July, and stuck the bayonet
of his gun into the embankment and went into the
city with the vanguard of Union soldiers.

The next day, July 5, the 38d joined the force
after Johnston, who had been threatening Grant's
rear; and finally an assault was made on him at
Jackson, Miss. In this charge "Private Joe" fell , ter-
ribly wounded. He was loading his gun when a
minie-ball struck him and passed entirely through
his body. He was regarded as mortally wounded.
His brother, George, who had been made a Lieu-
tenant, proved to be the means of saving his life.
The Surgeon told him unless lie had ice his brother
Joe could nut live. It was fifty miles to the nearest
point where ice could be obtained, and the roads
were rough. A comrade, a McLean county man, who
had been wounded, offered to make the trip. An
ambulance was secured and the brother soldier
stalled on the journey. lie returned with the ice.
but the trip, owing to the roughness of the roads,
was very hard on him. After a few months' care-
ful nursing Mr. Fifer was able to come home. The
33d came home on a furlough, and when the
boys were ready to return to the tented Geld,
young Fifer was ready to go with them; for he was
determined to finish his term of three years. He
was mustered out in October, 1864, having been
in the service three years and two months.

"Private Joe" came out of the army a tall,
tanned, and awkward young man of twenty-four.
About all he possessed was ambition to be some-
body — and pluck. Though at an age when most
men have finished their college course, the young
soldier saw that if he was to be anybody he must
have an education. Yet he had no means to ena-
ble him to enter school as most young men do.
He was determined to have an education, however,
and that to him meant success. For the following

four years lie struggled with his books. lie entered
Wesleyan University Jan. 1. 18G5. He was not a
brilliant student, being neither at the head nor the
foot of his class. He was in great earnest, how-
ever, studied hard and came forth with a well-
stored and disciplined mind.

Immediately after being graduated he entered
an office at Bloomington as a law student, lie had
already read law some, and as he continued to work
hard, with the spur of poverty and promptings of
ambition ever with him, he was ready to hang out
his professional shingle in 18G9. Being trust-
worthy he soon gathered about him some influen-
tial friends. In 1871 he was elected Corporation
Counsel of Bloomington. In 1K72 he was elected
State's Attorney of McLean County. This otliee
he held for eight years, when he took his seat in
the State Senate. Here he served for four years.
His ability to perform abundance of hard work
made him a most valued member of the Legisla-
ture.

Mr. I"' iter was married in 1870 to Gertie, daugh-
ter of William J. Lewis, of Bloomington. Mr.
Filer is six feet in height and is spare, weighing
only 150 pounds. He has a swarthy complexion,
keen black eyes, quick movement, and possesses a
fiank and sympathetic nature, and naturally makes
friends wherever he goes. During the late Guber-
natorial campaign his visits throughout the State
proved a great power in his behalf. His happy
faculty of winning the confidence and good wishes
of those with whom he comes in personal contact is a
source of great popularity, especially during a polit-
ical battle. As a speaker he is fluent, his language
is good, voice clear and agreeable, and manner
forcible. His manifest earnestness in what he says
as well as his tact as a public speaker, and his elo-
quent and forceful language, makes him a most
valuable campaign orator and a powerful pleader
at the bar. At the Republican State Convention,
held in May, l,s.s,X, .Mr. Fifer was chosen as its candi-
date for Governor. He proved a popular nominee,
and the name of " Private Joe" became familiar
to everyone throughout the State, lie waged a
vigorous campaign, was elected I iy a good majority,
and in due 1 hue assumed the duties of the Chief

Executive of Illinois.

?1M

m i t ^

Vermilion County

ILLINOIS,

tosJ

INTRODUCTORY.

5HE time has arrived when it
becomes the duty of the
people of this county to per-
petuate the names of their
pioneers, to furnish a record
of their early settlement,
and relate the story of their
progress. The civilization of our
day, the enlightenment of the age
and the duty that men of the pres-
ent time owe to their ancestors, to
themselves and to their posterity,
demand that a record of their lives
and deeds should be made. In bio-
graphical history is found a power
to instruct man by precedent, to
enliven the mental faculties, and
to waft down the river of time a
safe vessel in which the names and actions of the
peopie who contributed to raise this country from its
primitive state may be preserved. Surely and rapidly
the great and aged men, who in their prime entered
the wilderness and claimed the virgin soil as their
heritage, are passing to their graves. The number re-
maining who can relate the incidents of the first days
of settlement is becoming small indeed, so that an
actual necessity exists for the collection and preser-
vation of events without delay, before all the early
settlers are cut down by the scythe of Time.

To be forgotten has been the great dread of mankind
from remotest ages. All will be forgotten soon enough,
in spite of their best works and the most earnest
efforts of their friends to perserve the memory of
their lives. The means employed to prevent oblivion
and to perpetuate their memory has been in propor-
tion to the amount of intelligence they possessed.
Th ! pyramids of Egypt were built to perpetuate the
names and deeds of their great rulers. The exhu-
mations made by the archeologists of Egypt from
buried Memphis indicate a desire of those people

to perpetuate the memory of their achievements
The erection of the great obelisks were for the same
purpose. Coming down to a later period, we find the
Greeks and Romans erecting mausoleums and monu-
ments, and carving out statues to chronicle their
great achievements and carry them down the ages.
It is also evident that the Mound-builders, in piling
up their great mounds of earth, had but this idea —
to leave something to show that they had lived. All
these works, though many of them costly in the ex-
treme, give but a faint idea of the lives and charac-
ters of those whose memory they were intended to
perpetuate, and scarcely anything of the masses of
the people that then lived. The great pyramids and
some of the obelisks remain objects only of curiosity;
the mausoleums, monuments and statues are crum-
bling into dust.

It was left to modern ages to establish an intelli-
gent, undecaying, immutable method of perpetuating
a full history — immutable in that it is almost un-
limited in extent and perpetual in its action ; and
this is through the art of printing.

To the present generation, however, we are in-
debted for the introduction of the admirable system
of local biography. By this system every man, though
he has not achieved what the world calls greatness,
has the means to perpetuate his life, his history,
through the coming ages.

The scythe of Time cuts down all ; nothing of the
physical man is left. The monument which his chil-
dren or friends may erect to his memory in the ceme-
tery will crumble into dust and pass away; but his
life, his achievements, the vvork he has accomplished,
which otherwise would be forgotten, is perpetuated
by a record of this kind.

To preserve the lineaments of our companions we
engrave their portraits, for the same reason we col-
lect the attainable facts of their history. Nor do we
think it necessary, as we speak only truth of them, to
wait until they are dead, or until those who know
them are gone: to do this we are ashamed only to
publish to the world the history of those whose lives
are unworthy of public record.

^■^fe

YKKMILION COUNTY.

191

A^H^^^v^^

• ,. ',, *., »* , ; , ;■ , ^/f :

■>,%J

^-r^s-e-

i.MES S. SCONCE. It is a fitting [ of America, and more especially in Kentucky, of

testimonial to the worth and char- which State they were early settlers. The great-

[jfete acter of this citizen to present : grandfather of the subject of this sketch was one of

his portrait and biography on
these, the opening pages of the
E Album of Vermilion County.
Of the many citizens of Carroll
Township none were better
known <>r more highly esteemed
than this gentleman, who was
born near Brook's Point, Ver-
milion County, Nov. II. 1831,
and died Sept, 21, 1888, at the
age of fifty-seven years. In
childhood he attended the puli-
lie schools, as well as those more
advanced, at Danville, receiving a liberal educa-
tion. His father and mother were Samuel and
Nancy (Waters) Sconce, both natives of Bourbon
County, Ivy., the birth of the former occurring in
1802, while the mother was horn six years later.

The elder Mr. and Mrs. Sconce removed to Illi-
nois in 1828, and settled in Vermilion County in
1829. They had three children, who grew to ma-
turity, namely: .lames S.. America J., and 'I'h as

J. America J., is the widow of Oliver Calvert,
and now makes her home at the residence of her
brother, lately deceased. Thomas •). died in this
county, Jan. I, 1888, while the father passed awaj
in January, 1874. The mother is still living, with

the earliest settlers of Bourbon County, where he
lived in a log house, built especially to resist the
depredations of the Indians. There were eight
brothers, and they were among the brave settlers
who reclaimed that beautiful country from the sav-
ages, and in so doing are entitled to the thanks of
a grateful nation. Nearly all of these brothers emi-
grated South and West. There is a large family of
this name in Texas. James S. Sconce's father. Sam-
uel, was born in Bourbon Count}', Ky. He lived
in the county of his birth until 1828, when lie
removed to this State, and in the following year
located in Vermilion County. His wife came with
her parents to the vicinity of Brook's Point, in
1829, her marriage occurring at that place the fol-
lowing year. Samuel Sconce engaged in farming,
and from start to finish was successful. In 1852 he
engaged in the mercantile business in [ndianola,
under the firm name of Bailey & Sconce. This
firm continued to do business until the big lire,
which destroyed their stock. Mr. Sconce then re-
tired from active life, and died Jan. '.), 1874, leav-
ing behind him a reputation of which any man
might be proud. In 1849 he took a drove of 200

fat cattle to Philadelphia, where he sold half of

them and drove the rest to New York, returning
the entire distance on foot. He also hauled pro-

widow of her son, at the advanced age of duee to Chicago in the early days.
eighty -one years. (> » November 14. 1831, James S. Sconce was

The Sconces were prominent in the early history I born, iii this county, and was one of its first chil-

192

VERMILION COUNTY.

dren born. He was early taught industry, anil be-
ing reared upon a farm was consequently used to
hard work. He remained with his parents until he
was twenty-four years of age, when he engaged as
a clerk in the store of Bailey & Sconce, drawing a
salary of S300 a year for four years. In 18.5!) lie
went to Kansas, where he pre-empted 160 acres in
Lyon County, and at the end of three months he
trader] this piece of land for a similar tract in llli-
. nois. Here commenced his career as a stockman
and drover. During this time he made the ac-
quaintance of his estimable wife, Miss Emma San-
dusky, or as her father wrote it " Sodowsky." She
was the only daughter of the well-known Short-
horjl breeder of Carroll Township. After marriage
Mr. Sconce lived one year with his father-in-law.
when he located on the present homestead, remain-
ing there until the day of his death. He worked
systematically, and to this may be attributed his
success. At any rate he became wealthy, and
when he died was the owner of 2,100 acres of the
most desirable land in the count}-. Upon this he
built an elegant home, said to be the finest country
house tci be seen in the State. It. is a large struct-
ure, built of brick, beautifully located on a slight
elevation, while the surroundings are all that an
admirer of the beautiful could picture. Giant
trees shade the grounds, and what nature has
omitted art has supplied. The lawns and gardens
are laid out artistically, adding to the beauty and
picturesqueness of the landscape, and making it a
•■thing of beauty" not excelled in this great State
of Illinois. The place is called " Fairview," at the
suggestion of Mrs. Sconce. The house is heated by
the Rutan system, and every room is supplied with
hot and cold water, while the spacious parlors and
corridors are illuminated by gas.

When Mr. Sconce died he left a fortune variously
estimated at from $200,000 to $300,000, every
cent of which was accumulated by judicious farm-
ing and stock-raising. It will be many years be-
fore the recollection of this good man will fade
from the memories of the people. His life was
simple and his methods straightforward, his manner
gentle, kind hearted to the poor, indulgent to the
weak, charitable to the erring, and his memory like
a sweet fragrance ascends on high. Generous

friend, kind husband, noble citizen, and sincere
Christian, the world is better for thy living, and
the flowers of a sweet memory will ever blossom
upon thy grave.

Like his illustrious ancestors Mr. Sconce was a
fine looking, active man. He had keen blue e3 r es,
a personal characteristic so marked in his family,
and was of a sanguine temperament. A lifetime of
usefulness and business activity had developed in
him good judgment, and as he became older his
attention w\as directed closely toward the things
revealed in Holy Writ. He was a consistent
and active member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Politically, he was a Democrat from con-
viction and from principle. In 1882 he consented
to run for the State Senate, making a brilliant can-
vass am' running ahead of his ticket. He served
as Township Supervisor, and always evinced a
deep interest in public affairs, and especially in the
welfare of his township, his county ami his State.
His library was tilled with choice and valuable
works, especially those treating upon the tariff, a
question which was studied by him with deep in-
terest, he believing with other leading Democrats,
in a tariff for revenue only.

In matters pertaining to schools he took a great
interest. For several years prior to his death he
was a Regent of the Wesleyan University of
Iiloomington, 111., which was financially favored
by his generosity. As a husband and father he
was most loving and devoted. As a result of his
wedlock two children were born: Anna, who was
a student of Morgan Park two years, and of Wes-
leyan University one year; and Harvey .7.. a bright
lad of fourteen years. He was greatly attached to
his children, anil in them was centered his great
love. The poor young farmer and business man,
who is almost discouraged in life, will miss in Mr.
Sconce a friend, for it was one of his salient char-
acteristics to help those who would help themselves,
and as an illustration of this, it may be stated that
his will provided that those who owed him on
loans, should be allowed to pay his estate in small
yearly installments, that they might not be dis-
tressed.

He was buried with Masonic honors at the Wood-
lawn Cemetery. The funeral was attended by an

VERMILION COUNTY.

193

i tense throng, ami the procession was headed by

200 Masons in mourning, and was over three miles
in length, the largest funeral line ever seen in Ver-
milion County. It was remarked by one who
knew Mr. Sconce well that "a secret society which
commanded the fealty of a man like James Sconce
must have something in it." If lie loved Ma-
sonry it was equally true that the Masons loved
him. To his faithful wife the death of her hus-
band was sad beyond expression. -'Sorrows come
not single." A less noble woman would have given
up to despairing sorrow at the loss of her husband,
her father, and her mother within the space of one
short year. ( )f true Christian grace and motherly
heart she hore up bravely in her bereavement, fully
determined henceforth to give up her life to her
Master, and to the welfare of her children. As
before stated she is the only living child of Harvey
Sandusky and Susan Baum. Coming from illus-
trious ancestors, an effort will be made to herewith
present a few facts in regard to each of her parents.
In the year of 1721 there came to America an
exile from Poland, of noble birth and proud spirit,
and lofty patriotism. He headed a rebellion against
the despotism of Russia and her allies in the dis-
graceful oppression of the defeated but not. subdued
Poles. For this brave act he was exiled and came
to Richmond, Va. That noble man was .lames
Sodowsky, who afterward married tin' sister of
Gov. In-lip. of the Colony of Virginia, and from
them descended Harvey Sandusky, the father of
Mrs. Sconce. Men of courage and force of char-
acter, the family has been represented in every for-
ward movement of civilization in this great coun-
try for more than a century: with the gallant pio-
neers in beating back the savages of the wilderness;
with the brave Continentals, battling for freedom
in the heroic days of '76; at the front in the War
of L812; with Daniel Boone in the wild Kentucky,
where the grandfather of Harvey settled just after
the close of the Revolutionary War. His father.
Abraham Sandusky, was born there, and married
Miss .lane McDowell, who bore him eight children.
Harvey being the eldest. In 1831 he removed
I loin Kentucky to Illinois, and settled with his
family on the Little Vermilion River, where he
continued to reside until his death. His oldest son,

Harvey, was born in Bourbon County, Ky.. May
17. 1817, and came to Illinois with his father, lit-
erally growing up with thecountry. In histwenty-
fom th year he was married to Susan, daughter of
Charles and Susan Baum, who had emigrated from
Ohio and settled on the Little Vermilion River.
After marriage Mr. Sandusky located on the es-
tate which has since become so famous as "Wood-
lawn Stock Farm." Here, by intelligent and indus-
trious use of their opportunities, he and his faithful
wife built up a princely home, and surrounded it
with an abundance that enabled them to dispense
the largest charity and most unbounded hospitality.
Mrs. Sandusky was converted to Christianity in
her girlhood, and rejoiced in the hope of an im-
mortal life.

In the old family Bible is found this record :
"Harvey Sodowsky this day found peace with
God, March 15, 1858." For forty years their's
was a house of prayer. To them were born three
children: The oldest died in infancy; the second
is Emma, the wife of the subject of this sketch;
Gilbert, the third child and only son, died at the
early age of twenty-three years. Harvey San-
dusky died on Saturday, Dec. 18, 1886, and the
following Tuesday was buried by the side of his
son in the beautiful Woodlawn Cemetery, which he
bad selected and donated to the public. "Uncle
Harvey," as he was familiarly called, was in many
respects a noble man. There is always good in a
heart that is always tender, and his was a very ten-
der heart. To feed the hungry, to clothe and help
the needy, afforded him the greatest pleasure. The
foot-sore itinerant, whose horse had died, was taken
to the stables and told to "select the best nng in
the lot," without pay or promise. That preacher
was sent on his way rejoicing, and thereby the
Oospel was spread to those beyond. By him the
homeless were sheltered, the friendless cheered, and
the wretched soothed.

He was a very successful man in business, was
enterprising and public spirited. In the stalls and
on the fields at Woodlawn are perhaps the finest
specimens of Short-horn cattle in America, if not
in the world. For fifty years he had been interested
in raising and exhibiting fine stock. No man in
America has been more successful than he, as the

19!

VERMILION COUNTY.

premium lists of principal fairs will sliow. Evi-
dently he lias added untold riches to the general
community by his enterprise in tin's particular. But

his work is done, and the toils of his busy life have
ceased. The familiar figure has dropped out of the.
picture of this lil\>. and let us hope that it has
dropped into the life that lies beyond the other
shore. His home is lonely without him. his fam-
ily mourn him. his neighbors will miss him, his
friends regret his absence, but "God doeth all
things well." — (Extract from Ihe Rev. G. A. Fra-
sier.) His wife, Susan Sandusky, came from an
equally illustrious family. She was the daughter
miles and Sarah (Moyer) Baum. They were
likewise Polish patriots, and by the Russian au-
thorities banished from their native land. They
for a few years lived in Germany, and then emi-
grated to the Colony of Virginia. This noble ex-
ile and progenitor of the Baums of Vermilion
County, was Charles Baum, the great-grandfather
of Mrs. Emma Sconce. He married Miss Barbara
McDonald, a relative of the brave Gen. McDonald,
of Marion's army. He entered the Colonial forces,
and served on reserve duty in protecting the
frontier. After the war he settled in Bucks County,
and the year following Wayne's treaty with the
Indians, sailed down the Ohio River with his fam-
ily. They landed at the mouth of Bullskin Creek,
and there, close to what is now the river town of
Chilo, established the first settlement in the Ter-
ritory of Ohio. One of his sons was Charles Baum,
Mrs. Sconce's grandfather. He married Susan,
daughter of John Moyer, a Revolutionary soldier,
who fought many years under the immediate com-
mand of Gen. Washington.

John Mover lived in Pennsylvania some time
after the war, then removed to Ohio, of which
State he also was an early pioneer. Charles Baum,
the grandsire of Mrs. Sconce, came to Vermilion
County in 1839. He lived to be ninety-six years
old, had prospered well, and was a consistent
Christian. From the Rev. G. A. Frasier we quote
the following concerning Mrs. Susan Sandusky.
'•( lur community is again called to mourn the loss of
n most estimable lady, who fell asleep at her home
near Indianola. March 21, 1888. She was a daugh-
ter of Charles and Susan Baum, born in Claremont

County, Ohio. Sept. 25, 1818. She was converted
and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church when
quite young, and was married May 20, 1840. Her
life was singularly pure and exemplary, and she
adorned those stations in which true womanhood
shines the brightest. As a wife, mother, friend
and neighbor she was indeed a model woman.
None doubted the genuineness of her Christian ex-
perience. Always consistent, always true, she was
a power for good in the community. Her chari-
ties and uniform kindness for the poor had won for
her the love of all who knew her. Her devotion
to duty, and her unswerving fidelity had won the
confidence and esteem of all. She was not only
ready, but willing to die. In a conversation a few
days before her death she expressed a desire to
■reach her Father's house.' She leaves but one
child to mourn her absence from the old home-
stead. Mrs. James S. Sconce, the only remain-
ing child was with her mother during her last ill-
ness, faithfully, lovingly attending to every want,
and tearfully watching the slowly ebbing tide of
life till all was still in death. In this great be-
reavement Mrs. Sconce has the sympathy of the
entire community. The old homestead is left deso-
late. A family has passed from earth. We hope
that on the other side of the river they are again
united."

Mrs. Emma Sconce was born in the old Harvey
Sandusky homestead, better known under the name
of -Woodlawn," a name suggested by her for her
father's large farm, which was so famous in pro-
ducing herds of prize-winning Short-horn cattle.
Here she grew up under the influences of a Chris-
tian home, attending Georgetown Academy for
some time. Her loyalty has marked her entire ca-
reer from childhood to widowhood. As the wife
of James S. Sconce she was ever a most worthy,
affectionate, and loving companion; as mistress of
the "Fairview" mansion she is modest, kind, gen-
erous and hospitable; while the taste with which
the mansion is furnished reflects great credit upon
its mistress. She possesses a great deal of knowl-
edge, general and special, and is respected and es-
teemed by all who know her. She is a devout
Christian, and rich and poor alike are graced by
her favors. She deeply mourns the loss of her

YKR.MII.ION COUNTY.

195

husband, for their marriage proved to be a most
happy one. She is truly the type of noble Ameri-
can woman! d, and as a mother is (airly wor-
shipped by her two children, and they in turn
are held most affectionately dear. Her modesty
prevents her giving further facts in regard to her-
self. Her attorney, however, has furnished the
following figures concerning her estate: Personal
property of .lames s. Sconce, deceased, $62,000 ;
personal property of Harvej Sandusky, deceased,

120, I; total number of acres of land held by Mrs.

Sconce. 3,600.

IRAM ARMANTROUT. In no portion of
the world is there illustrated the result of
patient industry more forcibly than in the
great West. Could the youug man of fifty
years ago have had the power to look forward into
the future and discover not only what he himself
would accomplish, but what would lie done by his
brother pioneers, he would have labored with
greater courage than he lias already done; for no
one can dispute that the first settling upof this part
of the country was necessarily an experiment. Few
however, stood in doubt as to the final result, but
fewer still would have prophesied the achievements
which have really been accomplished.

The subject of this sketch was one of the earliest
settlers of Middle Fork Township, whence he re-
moved to Butler Township in April, 1855. He
took up a half-section of government land, em-
bracing a part of sections 2, 22 and 13, in township
22, range 13, before there had been any attempt at
cultivation. In the fall of 1856 he put up a small
frame house, and being unmarried, took in a tenant.
with whom he lived. He had, prior to this, broken
sixty acres. lie proceeded with the improve-
ments of his property single-handed until the
spring of 1859, when he took unto himself a wife
and helpmate. Miss Celinda Pugh. They spent the
first few years of their wedded life in the little
house, and in due time, being prospered, our sub-
ject was enabled to e-ect a larger dwelling. lie
also built a good bain and planted forest and fruit
trees, which flourished, and he now has the finest
grove in the neighborhood. He occupied this farm

until .March. 1889, when he wisely retired from
active labor and purchased property in Rossville.
where he took up his abode and purposes now to
live.

Our subject was burn in Montgomery County,
Ind., Aug. 12, 1829, and lived there until 1855
with his father and mother. The former, Valen-
tine Armantrout, was born in Rockingham County.
Va., April 27, 1799, and removed with his father.
Frederick Armantrout, to Warren County, Ohio,
in 1808, where he was reared to manhood. He
married Miss Catherine Kesling, and they so-
journed in the Buckeye State until 1828, when they
removed to Montgomery County. Ind. There the
father engaged in farming and blacksmithing com-
bined, and lived until his decease, which took place
March 17, 184C.

To the parents of our subject were bom seven
children, of whom he was the third, and of whom
four are living: Ambrose is a resilient of Chautau-
qua County, Kan.; Simon lives in Waynetown,
Montgomery Co., Ind.; Sarah became the wife of
C. s. Bratton, of Rossville, and she is now de-
ceased. Mary Ann is the wife of .lames Applegate,
Of this county; Melinda died at the age of seventeen
years; Henry died in Linn County, Kan., in 1887.
The paternal grandfather was a resident of Vir-
ginia during the Revolutionary War, in which his
father and two brothers fought, while he remained
at home. He was drafted, but Washington sent
him home. The family is of German descent, and
the first representative in this country settled in
Virginia.

At the time of leaving Butler Township Mr.
Armantrout was its oldest living male resident. One
lady, Mrs. Pyles, had been there one year longer
than himself. As a farmer he was more than or-
dinarily successful, and also prosecuted stock-rais-
ing with excellent results. He was prominent in
local affairs, being the first Road Commissioner in
the township, in which ollice he served eleven years.
He officiated as Constable four years, was Justice of
the Peace seven years. School Trustee nine years,
and School Director for a long period. Politically,
he is a Republican.

Of the six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Arman-
trout. the third child, a son, Harmon, died when

196

VERMILION COUNTY.

one year old. The survivors are Scott, Celia M.,
Drusilla, Carrie and Ida. Scott married Miss
Emma Walters, and lives on the home farm ; Celia
May is the wife of Ira G. Philips, and the mother
of one child, a daughter, Mabel; they live near
the homestead. The others are unmarried and
remain with their parents. Mrs. Celinda (Pugh)
Armantrout was born in Warren County, Ind..
Aug. 26, 1833, and is the daughter of George
Pugh. who was a native of Pennsylvania. He mar-
ried Miss Elizabeth Anderson, and they reared a
large family of children. He followed farming his
entire life, and after leaving his native State set-
tled near Lebanon, in Warren County, Ind., where
he spent his last days. His death occurred about
1 864, at the age of seventy years.

.LIVER HARRISON CRANE. The leading
event in the life of this gentleman was his
birth, which occurred in Fountain County.
Ind.. on the 4th of March, 1841, the day of the in-
auguration of President William Henry Harrison)
and in honor of whom the infant was given his sec-
ond name, lie is now a man of forty-eight years,
and one of the most substantial farmers of Grant
Township, being the owner of ICO acres of choice
land, pleasantly located on section 29, township 23,
range 12,

Mr. Crane spent the first eighteen years of his
life in his native county, acquiring a practical edu-
cation in the common schools and becoming famil-
iar with farm pursuits. In the fall of 1859, leaving
the parental roof, he came to this county and as-
sumed charge of the land which his father had en-
tered from the Government at $1.25 per acre. He
boarded at the house of a neighbor until the spring
of 1861 ; then put up a house into which he removed
with his young wife, having been married Feb. 7
of that year to Miss Charlotte Bowling of his own
county in Indiana.

Mr. and Mrs. Crane, although removing into a
more modern domicile, have occupied the same
farm which they moved upon at the time of their
marriage. Their labors and struggles have been
similar to those of the people around ihem; their

rewards likewise. Industry and economy have been
repaid fourfold, and now, in the enjoyment of all
the comforts of life and many of its luxuries, they
sit under their own vine and fig tree and are blest
with the respect of their friends and neighbors.
For some time after Mr. Crane settled here there
were no neighbors north for fifteen miles, the near-
est being at Ash Grove. Deer, wolves and other
wild animals were plentiful, but these slowly dis-
appeared as the country became settled up.

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Crane, eleven
in number, are recorded as follows: The two eldest
died in infancy; Elmer E. was born May 28, 1865;
John N.. Sept. 3, 1867; Lillian L., Jan. 6, 1870;
Alfaretta, Feb. 11. LS72; Winifred. Dec. 4, 1873;
Morris S.. Nov. 2, 1876; Mary A., June 21, 1879;
Perry I)., Jan. 28, 1883; Anna M., Oct. 23. 1885.
The eldest son living, Elmer, married Miss Olive
Keplinger, is a resident of Northwest Nebraska and
the father of two children. Mrs. Charlotte (Low-
ling) Crane was born July 3, 1843, in Fountain
County, Ind., and is the daughter of Willis P. and
Mary (Bruce) Bowling, who -were natives of Ohio.
The father was born in Warren County. .Ian. 25,
1816, and lived there until a lad of eight years.
His parents then removed to Indiana, and after the
death of his father in Fountain County he contin-
ued on the farm, where he reared his family and
spent his last days. This farm is located in Van
Buren Township six miles northeast of Covington.
The maiden name of the mother of Mrs. Crane was
Mary Bruce, and the parents were married in 1838.
( )f the eight children born to them three are living —
Charlotte, Arthur and Morris. The two boys live
at the old farm in Fountain County, Ind., with their
father. The latter, with his estimable wife, is a
member of the Christian Church, and the famil}'
stand high in their community.

Mrs. Mary (Bruce; Bowling was bom in Law-
rence County. Ohio. Jan. 21. 1817, to Joshua and
Margaret (limes) Bruce, the father a farmer bv oc-
cupation. When Man- was a girl of eleven years,
they left the Buckeye State and removed to Foun-
tain County, Ind., where she remained under the
parental roof until her marriage.

Joel Crane, the father of our subject, was born
Jan. 28, 1817, in Warren Count}', Ohio near the

VERMILION COUNTY.

197

birthplace of Mr. Bowling. Me lived there until
1832, and then, a lad of fifteen years, migrated
to Fountain County, Ind., with his parents, where
he was married and still lives on the old farm
northeast of Covington which his father took up
from the Government. His wife was formerly .Miss
Elizabeth Jenkins, and they reared a family of three
children— Oliver EL, Lewis C. and Cyrus, the hit-
ter two of Missouri and Kansas respectively. Mrs.
Elizabeth (Jenkins) Crane was born Dec .">. 1820,
in Ohio, and departed this life at the homestead in
Indiana Sept. 2, 1853. She left the Buckeye State
with her parents in 1839 and remained with them
until her marriage.

Mr. Crane, our subject, has been a man always
full of business and one who has little respect for
the drones in the world's busy hive. He has kept
himself well posted upon events of general interest,
and is one with whom may be spent an hour very
pleasantly and profitably. His course in life has
been that of an honest man, while his industry has
been rewarded with a competence.

HARLES BUHL. This gentleman occupies
no unimportant position among the self-
^i^f' made men of this county who have arisen
by their own efforts from the foot of the ladder
and who by unflagging industry and perseverance
have accumulated a competence and in their later
years are retired and in the enjoyment of it. Mr.
Huh! represents a goodly amount of property — in-
deed is recognized as a capitalist — and has contrib-
uted his full quota to the business interests of Dan-
ville and vicinity. He comes of substantial ances-
try and is a native of Pennsylvania, having been
born in Butler County, Feb. 8, 1812.

Our subject remained a resident of his native
place until a young man of twenty years, acquiring
a practical education in the common school and
being variously occupied. Finally resolving upon
a change of location, he made his way in 1838, to
Detroit and for two years thereafter employed
himself as a teamster. In the fall of 1818, lie vis-
ited Chicago and being favorably impressed with
the outlook, established himself in the hat, cap

and fur business on Lake street, second door west

of Clark street where he operated successfully until
about 1850. Then selling out he invested the
proceeds in a farm of 697 acres, embracing the
present site of Kensington and which he secured
for the sum of $5,000. Nine months later he sold,
the bottom land — about 300 acres — to the Michigan
Central Railway for the price which he had paid
for the whole. For about ten years thereafter he
engaged ill farming, and then sold out and coming
to Danville invested a portion of his capital here
where he has since made his home.

Mr. Buhl has been engaged in different enter-
prises since coming to Danville. He invested a
portion of his capital in the lots embracing Nos. 117
to 123 or Last- Main street where he has put up
buildings, the rents from which yield him a hand-
some income. He has at different times owned
considerable land in the county and has now eigh-
teen acres of valuable land just outside the city
limits. Although a sound Republican politically
he has never sought office, but was twice elected to
represent his ward in the City Council and has
served as a member of the School Board. From
these, however, he withdrew before the expiration
of his term. During the Civil War his son Sidney
served as a soldier in the Union Army.

Mr. Buhl was married in Pennsylvania July 9,
1834, to Miss Eliza Ann McConaughy, and they
became the parents of six children, four of whom
are living, namely: Sidney. Frank. Emma and
Laura, Mrs. Buhl was born in New Lisbon. Ohio.
.Ian. 1, 1820, and is the daughter of James and
Elizabeth McConaughy, with whom she lived in
the Buckeye State until her marriage. Mr. McC,
was a farmer by occupation and the parental house-
hold included ten children — four sons and six
daughters. Sidney Buhl, the only son of our sub-
ject married Miss Sally Myers and they have one
child, a daughter. Georgia; he is in the employ of
the American Express Company. Frank is a resi-
dent of Louisiana where he operates a fruit farm and
nursery; Emma is the wife of William Myers, to
whom she was married Jan. -1. 1888; Mr. M., is em-
ployed as a, carriage salesman and the}' live in
Danville. Laura was married June ."). 1883, to Mr.
John Lawrence, a boot and shoe merchant, located

198

VERMILION COUNTY.

at 117 East Main street. The daughters are mem-
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Christian Buhl, the father of our subject, was a na-
tive of Germany, and came to America when a young
man, and settled near Zeleinople, Fa., where he en-
gaged in the manufacture of hats. lie also became
theownerof considerable land and spent the re-
mainder of his life in that vicinity. Me had mar-
ried Miss Fredrika Gearing and they reared a fam-
ily of ten children, of whom Charles was about the
fifth in order of birth, and of whom seven are now
living. Mr. Buhl died in Pennsylvania at the ad-
vanced age of eighty-seven years. His wife sur-
vived him three years and was also eighty-seven
years old at the time of her decease.

^[OIIX W. BANDY, junior member of the
firm of Smith & Bandy, druggists, is also
owner of the Bandy Block en Vermilion
.' street. Danville, and is well-known to the
citizens of the city and vicinity as representing
some of its most important business interests, lie
is a native of this place and was horn A [nil S,
1844. Of his father. William Bandy, one of the
earliest pioneers of this county ami an aged vete-
ran 6 f seventy-seven years, a sketch will he found
elsewhere in this volume.

The first four years of the lite of our subject
weii' spent upon a farm and then the family re-
moved to Danville, where John W., acquired a
practical education in the common schools When
approaching manhood lie entered the office of the
Danville Plaindealer, then under the control of
John Leslie and with whom he remained until the
office was purchased by Judge Daniel Clapp.
Young Bandy continued with the latter until 1864.
That year he began the study of medicine with Dr.
Samuel Humphrey as preceptor and after a time
began practicing to a certain extent. lie, how-
ever, concluded that he was better adapted to
some other business than that of a physician, which
resolution was strengthened by his failing haalth.
He spent three or four years in recuperating and in
1872 engaged as clerk in the store of E. E. Boudi-
not about five years. At the expiration of this

time he was admitted to partnership with his em-
ployer. Three years later he sold out to Mr. E. G.
Smith, a native of Danville, and the only surviv-
ing member of the family of Giles Smith. These
gentlemen have been in partnership since thai
lime and .Air. Bandy has been in the store since
1872. Mr. Bandy is a gentleman of great energy
and enterprise, and has accumulated a good prop-
erly, including one of the finest brick blocks ,in
North Vermilion street which was erected in 1887,
and is equipped with all modern improvements.

Mr, Bandy was married in Danville, Sept. 28,
1864, to Miss Margaret Humphrey, who became the
mother of one child and who died together with the
child in 1865. Our subject contracted a second mat-
rimonial alliance with Miss Mary A. Campbell, of
Lafayette. Bid., Aug. 29, 1879. Of this union there
was one ehihl. a son, Claude W., who was born Aug.
29, 1880. and is still living. Mrs. Man A.
(Campbell) Bandy was bora June I, 1853, about
fifteen miles southeast of Logansport, Ind.. and
spent her childhood and youth in Indiana. Both
.Mr. and Mrs. Band}' are members of good standing
of the Kiniher Methodist Episcopal Church. Until
about 1865 Mr. Bandy voted with the Republican
party hut has since that time affiliated with the De-
mocracy, lie has never had any ambition for office,
preferring to give his best efforts to his business
affairs. His home comprisesa neat residence in the
northeast part of the city and as the son of a prom-
inent family he occupies no secondary position in
social and business circles.

ENRY L. BUSHNELL is one of the leading

and successful business men of lloopeslon.
lie is the proprietor of the North Elevator,
which has a capacity of 75,000 bushels. He
also owns several other large elevators on the line
of the Chicago A- Eastern Illinois Railroad. He is
also general agent for the Brazil Block Coal Com-
pany, handling from 2.500 to 3,000 cars yearly,
besides his local trade.

Mr. Bushnell was bom Oct. 2. 1S43. near what is
now Dunlap. III., and there remained with his father
until he left school to enter the army. He enlisted

YFUMIL10N COUNTY.

19:)

on July 2, 1862, in Company E, 77th Illinois In-
fantry. This regiment was assigned to the 13th
Army Corps, originally under Gen. Smith, but
which was latterly under the command of Gen.
Banks, and participated in the battles of Black
River, Jackson, Champion Hill, Black River Bridge,
the siege of Vicksburg, and also in the entire cam-
paign which resulted in the opening of the Missis-
sippi River. At Vicksburg he was wounded on the
22d of May, 1863, in the left, knee, after which he
was in the field hospital until his recovery. The
last seventeen months of the service he was Second
Lieutenant of his company. While on the expedi-
tion with Banks up the Red River, he was cap-
tured at Mansfield, La., April 8, 1864, and taken to
Camp Ford. Tyler. Tex., and was there held until
the close of the war. While a prisoner of war he suf-
fered untold hardships, which impaired his health,

the effects of which lie feels to this day. After his

ise he joined Ins regiment at Mobile, Ala.. Jan-
uary, 1 865, 1 nit remained there lint a few days when
he proceeded to St. Louis, where he was properly
exchanged. Here he was detailed on Gen. Dodge's
staff, remaining on this duty until Aug. 1. when he
was mustered out of the service having served for
several months more than his regular enlistment..
After leaving the army he returned to Peoria, 111.,
and engaged in the lumber business with his father.
In this he continued for some time, having an ex-
tensive trade, and becoming accustomed to railroad
business in the mean time, he was appointed. Assis-
tant General Freight Agent of the Chicago &
Eastern Illinois Railroad, with headquarters at Ter-
re Haute. Ho continued in this capacity for five
years, when in .Inly ISS.'J. he resigned and removed
In Hoopeston where he has since been engaged in
business, and it is not too broad an assertion to
State that, he transacts more business that) any other
man in Eastern Illinois.

Mr. Bushnell has served his city as Mayor for
two terms and for one term has been an Alderman,
lie has also sen ed live years on the Board of Edu-
cation, of which he i- now President, lie has never
aspired to office but his great business talents are

always in request by his neighbors, and he CH t

see his way Vicar to refuse them. He is a hard-
working Republican, i> recognized as a leader in

his party, and can be found attending all it^ conven-
tions and gatherings. lie is a member of the First
Baptist Church and has been a Sunday-school Su-
perintendent for twenty Near,-.

On September is. 1867, Mr. Bushnell married
Miss Hattie A. Littcll. of Peoria, and they have
become the parents of ten children, two of whom
only are living, six dying of diphtheria. The living
are William F.. who was born .Ian. 25, 1872 and
Jessie A., April 21. 1883. Airs. Bushnell was born
in New York City. .March IS. 1844 ami is the
daughter of Isaac Littell, who came West in 1855.
In closing this brief sketch, it is proper to say that
there are no more popular people in this section of
the country than .Mr. and .Mrs. Bushnell.

/^jHARLES M. BAUM, a native of this
|( „ county, may usually be found at his well-
v Vg^ regulated homestead on section 25. Be-

sides general agriculture, he is largely interested
in the breeding of draft horses and has been of
signal service in elevating the standard of horse
flesh in this part, of the State. Active, energetic
and industrious, lie is a scion of the pioneer ele-
ment which located in this county at an early day
and assisted largely in its growth and develop-
ment.

There are some interesting facts connected with
the family history of Mr. Baum which cannot by
any means be properly omitted from this sketch.
His father, Samuel Baura, a farmer by occupation,
was born twenty-live miles SOUth of the city of
Cincinnati, Ohio, and was the son of Charles
Baum., supposed to have been born in Pennsyl-
vania, whence he removed first to Ohio and later
to Illinois. He was a gunsmith by trade, but after
coming to this country occupied himself mostly as
a farmer, and died' at the advanced age of ninety-
eight years. Three of his seven children are yet
living, and Samuel, the father of our subject, was
the oldest of the family. Samuel Baum came to
Illinois as early as 1828, and located on the Little
Vermilion, near the present site of Indianola. The
country then was very thinly settled and Vermil-
ion County was considered quite a frontier. The

200

VERMILION COUNTY.

journey was made overland in a Dearborn wagon,
and they brought with them a bug-horned cow
tied behind the wagon. The incidents of that long
and wearisome journey, during which they camped
and cooked by the wayside and slept in the wagons
at night, and the after experiences, replete with
toil and privation, if properly related, would fill a
good-sized volume.

The parents of our subject, however, possessed
the hardy spirit requisite in the pioneers of '28
and entered with courage upon the task set before
them. The mother was in her girlhood Miss Sarah
Weaver, daughter of Michael Weaver, who also
came to this county in 1828, and the young people
were married in Ohio. Mr. Weaver prior to this
time had served as a soldier in the War of 1812,
and was greatly prospered as a tiller of the soil of
Illinois, becoming one of Vermilion County's
wealthiest men. Mrs. Bauin was the eldest of the
eight children comprising the parental family, of
whom only two are now living.

The parents of our subject were married in 1823.
Samuel Baum became a very successful farmer,
the owner of 1,400 acres of land, and devoted him-
self largely to stock-raising. After the labors of a
well spent life he departed hence in March, 1861.
The mother had passed to the silent land fourteen
years previously, in 1817. Of the ten children
born to them seven are still living. Charles M. was
the sixth child anil was born Dec. 22, 1838, at the
old homestead near Indianola. He pursued his
first studies in the district school and in due time
entered Bryant & Stratum's Commercial College,
Indianapolis, from which he was graduated and at
the age of twenty-two years began work for him-
self on his father's farm.

Our subject operated as a general agriculturist
two years, then for one year turned his attention
to shipping stock. In the meantime he went into
Texas and purchased 500 Texas cattle, which he
drove through the Indian Territory, in 18(16, to
Chicago, consuming eight months on the journey.
He disposed of his stock, then returning to New-
town, this county, embarked in the mercantile
business for two and one-half years. He then pur-
chased ground for a sawmill and in company with
-Robert Craig put up the necessary building, equip-

ping it with machinery and operated the mill for
two years. Then selling out he resumed his for-
mer business as a live stock shipper and afterward
farmed again for about two years.

About this time Mr. Baum became interested in
line horses and began importing Clydesdales from
Canada and was thus occupied two years. After-
wards he began breeding fine horses, for which his
well-equipped farm of 200 acres affords every con-
venience. He has thirty head mostly Clydesdales,
including the Knight of Colander, imported* by
Galbraith Bros., of .lanesville. Wis., and a very
valuable registered mare imported by himself.
Mr. Baum's horses are gaining an enviable reputa-
tion in this part of the State.

On the 22d of .March, 1869, our subject was
united in marriage with Miss Mary .1., daughter
of William and Emily (Vanderin) Craig, who were
among the pioneer settlers of this county. Of this
union there have been born live children: Grace,
Ernest, Katie. Charles and Frank, all of whom are
at home with their parents. Mr. Baum has been
active in politics since becoming a voting citizen,
and is proud to record the fact that his first Presi-
dential candidate was the martyred President,
Abraham Lincoln. He keeps himself well posteel
upon the political issues of the day. and for twelve
years has officiated as School Director in his dis-
trict. He is President of the Newtown Horse and
Cattle Fair and a member of the Clydesdale
American Association, also for the Newtown Horse
Protector Association. Me has been for the hist
three years a Road Commissioner. It will thus be
seen that he has made a good record as a citizen
and is amply worthy of representation in the Bio-
graphical Album of Vermilion County.

attention is now directed is that of a man
possessing some admirable traits of charac-
ter and one whose course in life has been such as to
command the esteem and confidence of all who
have known him. During the vicissitudes of life
he has spent many years in arduous labor, has
handled probably a million dollars in money, has

VERMILION COI'NTY.

201

dealt honestly and fairly by his fellow-men and
should reap a large measure of consolation from
ihe fact that comparatively few have made person-
ally so clean and admirable record. There are few
who have not experienced adversity in their strug-
gle with the world, some more and some less, and
while with some it has had the effect to make them
sour and cynical, others have learned wisely from
the lesson and in this respect at least come off con-
querors in the struggle. Nature endowed Mr.
Adams with those qualities of mind and heart,
which have enabled him to make the best of cir-
cumstances and leave the rest to Providence.

The native place of our subject was not far from
the New England coast in Sussex County, N. J.,
his birth occurring Sept. 25, 1817. He commenced
the battle of life for himself at the early age of
fourteen years, clerking in a store from that, time
until a young man of twenty, lie then accompan-
ied his father's family to Virginia and remained
on a farm in the Old Dominion for a period of
five years. Then leaving the parental roof he emi-
grated to Orange Count}', N. Y., where he was
employed as clerk in the grocery store of Mr.
Reeve in Goshen. Two years later he established
himself as a general merchant at Unionville in the
same county and sold goods there for fifteen years.

Mr. Adams finally becoming wearied of mer-
cantile pursuits concluded he would seek" the
farther West and settle upon a farm. Coming to
this county, in 1857, he purchased 480 acres of
land south of Fairmount* and put up the largest
residence in this vicinity. Thereafter he occupied
himself at farming ami merchandising until 188G,
when on the account of the failing health of his
wife he removed to Kansas, living there with a
daughter one year and then returned to this county.

Our subject in 1844 was united in marriage with
Miss Amanda 1!.. a daughter of .Samuel King of
Pennsylvania and a prominent farmer in his neigh-
borhood. The ceremony took place at the home of
the bride's mother in Philadelphia. This union
resulted in the birth of three children, the eldest of
whom, Frank A., was married and died leaving his
widow with two children. Anna is the wife of
Stanley Conklin, a member of the firm of Jarvis,
Conklin & Co., in Kansas City. Mo., and they

have two children. George ('.. married .Miss
Nellie, daughter of Hiram Catlett of Vance Town-
ship, and they have two children. Mrs Adams
has been sorely afflicted with rheumatism, being in
feeble health for the past twenty years and in 1884
was stricken with total blindness. She and her
children are members of the Baptist Church in
which Mr. Adams has been a Deacon for thirty
years. In politics, Mr. Adams was first a Whig
and later a Democrat. Although seventy-two
years old he is in the enjoyment of good health and
although having met with many reverses main-
tains the cheerful and genial disposition which
has always attracted to him numbers of warm
friends. He appreciates the importance of pre-
serving the family record and a few years ago
wrote up a complete history of his life placing it,
in the hands of his son.

The father of our subject was Joseph Adams, a
native of New Jersey and a farmer by ocupation.
He married Miss Martha Post, a native of New-
Jersey and they lived there until 1839. Then
disposing of their interests in that State they re-
moved to Spottsylvania County, Va., where the
mother died at the age of fifty-two years. Joseph
Adams spent his last years in Virginia and de-
parted this life in July, 184,5.

The parental household included eleven children,
all of whom lived to mature years. Grandfather
\dams was a prominent man in Sussex County,
N.J. and held the position of Judge for some

years.

~^>t^*-^*3>-£^$r>^z~^*e~.

e|p^HOMAS D. McKEE, of OakwoOd Town-
™§l^l SQ iP' nas ^ or y ears been prominent in busi-
v§s0/ ness circles, operating as lawyer, banker and
farmer. His home is located on section 15. and
the farm is chiefly devoted to stock-raising, an in-
dustry which has always proved profitable in this
section. Mr. McKee was born in New York Slate
June 'J, 1833, at the old homestead of his parents.
John C. and Jeanette (Stewart) McKee, the former
of whom was a native also of the Empire State, and
the mother of Scotland.

John C. McKee was born in 1809, and died at,
the age of seventy-six years. The paternal grand-

202

VERMILION COUNTY.

father, Thomas McKee, was born about 1784 in
Dryden, Tompkins Co.. N. Y.. where he spent his
entire life, dying at the age of sixty-two years.
The great-grandfather, James McKee, was born in
the North of Ireland, and died at the age of ninety-
six years. Grandfather John Stewart married a
Miss Mcintosh and emigrated to America, settling
near Dryden. N. Y.. where he engaged in farming
and died at the age of sixty-two years. Thomas D.
had the privilege of seeing all three of the old
veterans.

The parents of our subject were married in New
York State, and afterwards lived upon the same
farm which still remains in the family, and which
is located on the old State Road four and one-half
miles from Cortland, between the latter place and
Ithica. The mother passed away in 1877, and the
lather in 1885. Their family consisted of eleven
children, all of whom grew to mature years, and of
whom our subject is the eldest. Thomas I)., like
his brothers and .sisters, attended the village school
at McLean, and later was a student in Cortland
Academy at Homer, N. Y. He prosecuted his law-
studies in the State and National Law School at
Poughkeepsie under I lie presidency of J. W. Fow-
ler, from which he was graduated and then set out
for the West.

Mi'. McKee left his home in New York State in
1855, and going to Maysville, Wis., taught school
there six months. Prior to this before leaving his
native State he had been similarly occupied at
South ^Cortland. In 1857 he went to Faribault,
Minn., and platted Morristown together with sev-
eral other towns, lie then migrated to St. Louis,
Mo., and from there to Leavenworth, Kan., during
the days of the troubles in the latter State and wit-
neesed many scenes of violence, enacted on the soil
of "bleeding Kansas." In that State he operated
as a surveyor, and taught the first school estab-
lished at Atchison. After a two-year's sojourn in
that region he returned home, completed his law
course in Poughkeepsie, and, in 1861, returning to
Illinois, established himself at Homer, Champaign
County, and began the practice of his chosen pro-
fession.

The next important event in the life of our sub-
ject was his marriage with Miss Alary Groenendyke.

and six or seven years afterwards the newly wedded
pair established themselves at their present home
stead. While at Homer Mr. McKee, in company with
D. S. Pratt, established the bank at Homer, and later
our subject purchased the interest of his partner
therein. That same year through the speculation
of his clerk the bank was obliged to close its doors.
This individual had been trusted implicitly without
bonds, and had made away with ¥23,000 in cash.

Subsequently Mr. McKee became interested in
farming pursuits and began operations on 240 acres
of land, which amount has been augmented so that
the farm now embraces C80 acres all in one body.
It is all in productive condition, but largely de-
voted to stock-raising — forty to fifty cattle in a
year, about 200 head of swine and numbers of very
flne imported Belgium horses.

To Mr. and Mrs. McKee there were born five
children, four of whom are living: Samuel G.,
Stewart T., Mallie and John, all at home with their
parents. Our subject has been for many years the
School Director in his district, and has served on
the School Board in Homer for six years. He was
President of the Town Board there for several
terms, and it was largely through his influence that
sidewalks were laid and shade trees were planted.
He also labored assiduously in suppressing the liq-
uor traffic. He votes the straight Republican
ticket, and is uniformly in favor of those measures
tending to elevate society and advance the inter-
ests of the people. Mrs. .McKee is a very capable
and estimable lady, with a good talent for business
and is a member in good standing of the Presbyte-
rian Church.

Samuel Groenendyke, the father of Mrs. McKee,
was born in Seneca County, N. Y., in 1803, and
married Miss Lacy Thompson, of Cumberland
County, Pa. In 1821 he removed with his family
to the vicinity of Terre Haute. Ind., and thence to
Vermillion County, Ind.. where he established his
permanent home. He 'finally became 'he owner of
nearly 2.000 acres of land. Later he established him-
self as a general merchant at Eugene, and also had
a branch store at Homer, 111. lie was very indus-
trious and enterprising, and was the first pork-
packer in his locality. He aided largely in encour-
aging the various industries of the new country,

Stock-Farm and Residence of J. W.Goodwii:

; SECS.2I,22, 26,27 & 28. Pi LOTTp,VERMI LION Co.

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

2D7

and was prominent in liis community, being espec-
ally well known bj the old settlers. The parental
family included three children, two daughters and
a son. Samuel, who is now a residenl of Eugene.

Si OHN \V. GOODWINE is one of the leading
fanners and stock-growers of Vermilion
Count}', and the owner of one of its largesl
and most valuable farms, finely located in
the township of Pilot, his substantial resilience,
with its attractive surroundings, being situated on
section 2G. He is the son of a former well known
prosperous pioneer of this section of the country,
who was in his day an extensive land owner, and
did much toward developing the vast agricultural
resources of the county.

The father was a native of Kentucky, of English
descent, his parents having been earl}' pioneers of
that State. In 1810 he went to Bartholomew

( ity. Ind., and was among its earliest settlers,

subsequently removing from there to Warren
County in the same State. In 1826 he came to
Warren County while it was still in the hands of
the pioneers, and located on government land, buy-
ing at that time 200 acres. He built a log house
for the shelter of his family and entered with char-
acteristic zeal upon the development of a farm
from the wild prairies, and from time to time in-
creased its acreage till he became the possessor of
2,400 acres of fine farming land at the time of Ids
death, so fortunate was he in his undertakings. He
died March 8, 1851. His wife, who died in 1824,
was a native of Germany, her maiden name being
Elizabeth Snyder, and she came with her parents to
this country when she was young. Of her mar-
riage nine children were horn: James, Martha and
John, the only ones now living. James married
Sophia Buckels, of Warren County, Ind., where he
is engaged in farming, and they have t'wt.' children
— William. Christina, Indiana. Horace and Fre-
mont; Martha married Richard Lyon, of Warren
County, Ind., and they have three children — .John.
Martha and Thomas.

John Goodwine spent the early years of his life
in his native Stale, gleaning such an education as

was afforded by the pioneer scl Is of those days.

and on the home farm a good practical training in
the management of a farm. He came to Vermil-
ion County March 15, 1848, and when he began an
independent life for himself he had a better start
than many fanner's sons, having inherited 300
acres from his father's estate. !'>ut notwithstanding
such an advantage he worked with persevering en-
ergy, and by wise management and a judicious ex-
penditure of money he has become possessed of one
o! ili: largesl and finest estates within the limits of
Vermilion County, owning over 1,000 acres of
highly improved land, besides having given his
children 2,000. lie docs an extensive business in
general farming, and makes a specialty of raising
Short-horns, having a fine herd of highly graded
cattle of that breed.

Mr. Goodwine has been twice married. His first
wife was Jane Charleton, of Indiana, and to them
were born five children — Marion, John, Jann s,
Mary J. and Fremont. Marion married Susan Sel-
sor. and lives in Marysville, this count}-. They
have five children, one of whom is dead; the others
are Hattie, Fred, Daly E. and Ary; John married
Mary Alexander, and they had one child, Annie ; his
first wife died October, 1872, and about 1874 he was
again married to Miss Alice Lane, and they have
six children — John, Wilber, Nora, Ulysses, Cora
and Villa; James, a farmer in this county, married
Minerva King, of New Jersey, and they have three
children — Nellie, Roy and Coldie; Mary J. mar-
ried James M. Tillotson, of Warren County, Ind..
now a farmer in Louisiana, and they have three
children — Jessie. Estella and Mabel.

The maiden name of the present wife of oursuh-
ject was Arminda Sperry. and she was born in this
county Dec. 24, 1842. Her parents, Erastus and
liuth (Rees) Sperry, -.Mae of German antecedents
though they were horn in this country, the father
in Ohio June :!. 1819, and the mother in Indiana
Aug. 19, l<si ( .). Mr. and Mrs. Goodwine have four
children, namely: Martha. Helen, Dora and Grant
\Y.. all of whom are at home with their parents.

Mr. Goodwine possesses in a rare degree far-see-

igacity and energy, so combined with those

useful qualities oi prudence and steadfastness of

purpose, that he could not fail to increase his wealth

•208

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

by legitimate means, and accomplish whatever tie
attempted. His career in life has been an honor-
able one. and his place is among the most useful
and worthy of the citizens of Vermilion County.
with whose interests his own have been so inti-
mately connected these many years, and whose ma-
terial prosperity he has greatly extended, lie has
served on the juries of the State and county, and
as an intelligent, observant man is greatly inter-
ested in the political issues of the day, giving his
support to the Republican party on all questions of
National or local importance.

A fine large double page view of the handsome
residence and surroundings on the farm of Mr.
Goodwine is among the attractive features of the
opening pages of the album, and is a fitting intro-
duction to those which follow. It shows what can
be accomplished by a life of industry and energy,
coupled with a good business capacity.

'fl/OHN R. BALDWIN. There are few of the
older residents along the western line of
this county who are unfamiliar with the
' name which stands at the head of this bio-
graphical sketch. It is that of a man selfmade in
the broadest sense of the term — one who in his
young manhood resolved to make life a success if
it could be accomplished by industry and wise
management. Many men who are successful per-
haps do not as fully realize the fact as those around
them who have been less so, but the present stand-
ing of Mr. Baldwin, socially and financially^ should
give him an extremely comfortable feeling, for his
career has been worthy of emulation. It is main-
tained that every man has his hobby, and Mr.
Baldwin, a great lover of the equine race, has for
many years given his attention to the breeding of
and dealing in horses, and in this branch of business
can scarcely be excelled. He is an excellent judge
of this noblest of the animal kingdom, and while
developing their fine points has made of the indus-
try a profit as well as a pleasure.

The farm property of Mr. Baldwin is pleasantly
situated on section 17, Vance Township, and com-
prises a homestead furnished with all the modern

improvements, both for agricultural pursuits and
for stock operations. Mr. Baldwin is now past
sixty-one years old, having been born March 9,
1828, and is a native of Mason County, Ky. His
father, George Baldwin, who was born in Virginia,
is still living and in good health, although having
arrived at the ripe old age of over eighty-six
years. In addition to the possession of a strong
constitution he has for the last thirty years espec-
ially avoided the use of liquor in any form. His
life occupation has been that of a farmer, and he is
now living at a comfortable home in Fairmount,
where he enjoys the acquaintance of a large circle
of friends.

The mother of our subject was, in her girlhood.
Miss Rebecca Downing. She was born in Ken-
tucky, and was married in her native State, where
the family lived until 1839. Thence they removed
to Ohio, and in the fall of 18G."> came to this
county, and settled three miles south of Fairmount.
They became the parents of seven children, four of
whom are living, and the mother departed this life
in 1884.

The paternal grandfather of our subject emi-
grated from Prince Edward County, Va., to Mason
County, Ky.jn 181-1, during the period of its earliest
settlement. He there spent the remainder of his life,
dying in 18-13. In the meantime he served as
a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and had a son,
Pleasant Baldwin, who carried a musket in the
War of 1812. The latter died in 1880.

The early education of John R. Baldwin was
obtained partly in Kentucky and partly in Ohio,
and he remained a member of the parental house-
hold until the time of his marriage. This interest-
ing event was celebrated Feb. 22. L850, the bride
being Miss Catherine J., daughter of Nathan (Haze,
of Maryland. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs.
Baldwin settled on a rented farm near Ripley.
Ohio, where they lived until 1856. They then re-
moved to a farm which Mr. Baldwin had purchased
on Straight Creek Ridge, Ohio, and which he partly
improved and sold at a good profit two years later.
The next two jears he operated as a renter, then
purchased more land, which he sold at war prices.
At. the expiration of this time Mr. Baldwin, de-
termining to see something of the Western country.

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

209

came to Illinois, and after viewing the country
went back home, published his sale of personal
property, established his family in Ripley, and in
May, 1865, started out on another tour of investi-
gation. This time he was accompanied by his
father, they boarding a boat at Ripley which con-
veyed them to St. Louis and thence to Rockporl
Landing. Mo. They were prevented from landing
at Lexington on account of the bushwhackers, who
were unaware that the war was over. They next
pursued their travels by stage and hack to St. Jo-
seph, thence to Quincy and Chicago, 111., and from
there by way of Indianapolis and Cincinnati home.

Having seen so many different places, and all
with some advantages, our subject now found him-
self in a dilemma as to where it was best to settle.
He finally concluded to remain in Ohio until he
could get all his money together. He rented a
farm and commenced dealing extensively in horses
and cattle, shipping to Cincinnati and realizing
handsome returns. The fall of 1868 again found
him Westward hound, and passing through this
county. From here he went to .Southern Missouri
by way of Kansas City, and gravitated back to this
county via St. Louis and the Illinois Central Rail-
road. He found nothing in his opinion superior
to this region, and accordingly rented a house in
Fairmount. and returning to Ohio had collected, by
the 11th of March, 1861), all his money, and re-
turned to this county. He did not then intend to
invest his capital here, and in less than two weeks
had loaned about $4,000. He finally purchased the
land comprising his present homestead, and which
was embellished with the best dwelling on the prai-
rie. His stock shipping operations have extended
as far East as Boston and Albany, N. Y., and he
has probably sold more young horses than any
other man in his neighborhood, these being shipped
largely to Pennsylvania buyers, who come to him
and make their purchases at first hands.

During the last ten years Mr. Baldwin has
operated as a breeder, and sold four colts of his
own raising to Pennsylvania buyers for $850. He
does no more shipping, but since abandoning this,
has sold sixteen head of horses for over $3,400, be-
sides three carloads at from $150 to $190 each.
( )ne remarkable circumstance in his career i> the

fact, thai in Ohio he never lost but *10 in his horse

operations. Since coming to Illinois he lias handled
large numbers of valuable horses without loss. In
one carload he losl $262, but made it all right on
the next shipment.

Of the twelve children born to our subject and
his estimable wife nine are living: Charles N., the
eldest, married Miss Susie Guilder, is the father of

three children, and lives two and one-half miles
southwest of Danville; Mary .1., the wife of Bar-
ton Elliott, is the mother of three children, and
they live a half mile east of Fairmount; J. Henry
married Mi>s Lizzie Price, is the father of six chil-
dren, and lives three miles south of Fairmount,;
Emma Belle, Mrs. William Hill, lives in Oakwood
Township, and is the mother of one child; Laura
F. married Edwin North, and they live in Side] I,
without children; Cora I... Mrs. Lincoln Smith, has
no children, and they live three and one-half miles
northwest of Fairmount; Lizzie, Oscar G. and Rob-
ert L. remain at home with their parents.

Mrs. Baldwin was the fifth child of her parents,
and was born Aug. 31, 1829, in Brown County.
Ohio. Her father, a prominent man in his neigh-
borhood, came to Illinois in the spring of 1866,
and died in Hancock County, in 1883, in the nine-
tieth year of his age. The mother survived her hus-
band five years, dying in 1888, in Hancock County
at the advanced age of ninety-two. Their family
consisted of four daughters and six sons. Mrs.
Baldwin's people on both sides of the house were
largely represented, many of them living to a great
age. Her grandfather on her mother's side was
the father of nine children, four of whom lived to
be from eighty to eighty-eight years old; their
united ages being 3:52. Her father, Nathan
Glaze, served as a soldier in the Vfav of 1812, and
was a pensioner at the time of his death. Both he
and his wife were members of the Christian Church
for the long period of sixty years. Mrs. Baldwin
has been a member of the Baptist Church.

Conservative in politics, Mr. Baldwin votes the
Straight Republican ticket, and recalls the fact that
the largest and most enthusiastic political meeting
which he ever attended, was one held in the inter-
ests of William Henry Harrison, in 1 840, at Ripley,
Brown Co., Ohio, when .Mr. Baldwin was a lad of

210

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPAICAL ALBUM.

twelve years. He has mixed very little in public
life with the exception of serving as School Di-
rector twelve years. His interests have chiefly
centered in live stock, and he has been a prominent
worker in the County Fair Association. I lis con-
nection with this in Ohio extended from 1853 to
1867, and in Illinois from 1869 to 1886. He was for
four years a member of the Board of Directors of
Vermilion County Agricultural and Mechanical
Association at Danville, ami took an important
part in the discussion of the matters pertaining to
its best interests. He is a Royal Arch Mason, be-
longing to Homer Lodge Chapter, and in Fair-
mount is a member of lodge number 590, in which
he has served as Master for two years, having
passed all the Chairs. He is a stockholder in the
Homer Agricultural Fair Association.

-€-*-B"

S^l DMUND P.JONES has a valuable farm in
|t<] Danville Township, pleasantly located four
/jj^rj 1 miles southeast of the city in the center of
a rich agricultural region. He is a fine type of
the sturdy, intelligent, self-reliant natives of Ver-
milion County who were born here in the early
days of its settlement, reared amid its pioneer
scenes, and after attaining a stalwart manhood,
took their place among its practical, wide awake
citizens and have ever since been active in devel-
oping and sustaining its many and varied interests.
The subject of this sketch comes of good pioneer
slock, and both his paternal and maternal ancestry
were early settlers of Kentucky, and there his fa-
ther and mother, William and .lane (Martin)
Jones were born, the former in Harrison County,
Feb. 24, 1796, and the latter April 15, 1795. They
were united in marriage Jan. 23, 1816, and con-
tinued to reside in their native State till 1828,
when with their six children they came to Illinois
with a team and cast in their fortunes with the
earl}' pioneers of Vermilion County, locating near
Danville, in Danville Township. They lived a
short time on section 16, and then the father
bought a tract of land on section 11. It was heav-
ily timbered, and the family lived in a rail-pen for
a time as a temporary shelter, and then Mr.

Jones built a log house on the place, and in that
bumble abode the subject of this sketch was born
.Ian. 13, 1830. The father improved a part of his
land, and a few years later removed to another
place, and resided in different parts of the town
till his demise, Oct. 30, 1859. A faithful citizen
was thus lost to the community, one who had led
an honest, sober-minded life, and was deserving of
the respect accorded to him. His worthy wife
survived him till Sept. 10. 1867, when she too
passed away at the home of our subject. The fol-
lowing is recorded of the eight children born to
them: John P. is deceased; Elizabeth is the wife of
Henry Sallee, of Oakwood Township; Joseph M. is
deceased; Sarah A. married Dennis Olehy. and is
now deceased; William Perry and Mazy J. are
deceased; Edmund P. is the subject of this sketch;
Thomas J. lives in Oakwood Township.

The subject of this sketch remembers well the
wildness of the country around about as it first ap-
peared to him when he became old enough to
observe his surroundings, and the beautiful scene
presented by the virgin prairie and primeval for-
est before civilization had wrought its marvelous
changes, is indellibly impressed on his mind. Deer,
wild turkeys and other game were plentiful and
roamed at will, unless brought down by the uner-
ring aim of the hunter anxious to replenish the
scant larder in his humble pioneer home. There
were no railways for many years after our subject's
first recollection, and the nearest market was at
Chicago, 125 miles distant, till after the canal was
finished, and then produce was taken to Perrys-
ville, Ind. The farmers of those days hail to con-
duct their agricultural operations in the most, prim-
itive manner, and Mr. Jones says that when he was
young grain was cut with a sickle, and when the
cradle came into use that was considered a great
improvement, and the present harvesting machine
was undreamed of. Threshing machines were then
unknown, and the grain was either trampled out
by horses or else whipped out by Hails. The plows
in use had wooden mold-boards, and all corn was
dropped by hand and covered with a hoe. while
grass was cut with a scythe and hay was pitched
with a wooden fork. Nor was the work of the
busy housewife lightened bv modern improve-

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

21 1

incuts. The good mother cooked the food before
the 6re in the old-fashioned fireplace, and used to
spin, weave and make all the cloth for the family.
The intelligent pioneers early sought to give their
children educational advantages, and the lir.st

schools were conducted in rude log school-l ses

provided with seats made of puncheon with wooden
pins for legs, and the window comprising an
opening from which a log had been removed
and greased paper inserted through which the
light had to penetrate, and a large fireplace,
the chimney of stick and clay, for heating purposes.
In such a structure our subject gleaned his educa-
tion, lie commenced in his boyhood to assist his
father on the farm, and gained from him a thor-
ough practical knowledge of farming in all its
branches. He remained an inmate of the parental
household till he attained man's estate and then
started out in life for himself by renting land and
carried on agriculture thereon for a while. At
the time of his marriage he went to Iroquois
County and settled on a tract of wild land there,
remaining till 1859, when he returned to Vermil-
ion County, and in 18(!1 he bought forty acres of
land on section 13 of Danville Township. It was
partly fenced and a few acres had been broken,
hut aside from that no improvements had been
made, nut even any buildings had been erected.
lie built a frame houseon forty acres adjoining his
original purchase, and has since bought other land,
till he now has 220 acres, under excellent cultiva-
tion and capable of producing large crops. His
resi 'eiice. a well built house, is located on section
12. and he has other substantial buildings, and
everything about the place is conveniently ar-
ranged and .veil ordered.

Mr. Jones has been twice married, lb; was first
wedded Out. 19, 1854, to Sarah A. Cox, who was,
like himself, a native of Danville Township, born
May .">, 1831. she closed her eyes to the scenes of
earth altera brief and happj married life, dying
in Iroquois County, Nov. 11, 1858. Mr. . I ones
was married to his present wib'. formerly Mary K.
Villars, Feb. 21, 1861. Mrs. Jones is a native of
i Hilton County. Ohio, bom Dec. 11, 1810, to
William and Ruth (Whitaker) Villars (sec sketch
of William Villars l"i parental history). Mr. and

Mrs. Jones have had six children, four of whom
are living, as follows: Rosa Belle married Joshua
( Mehy.of Danville Township: John W. married Mary
J. Rouse, and they live in Danville Township; Lillie
A. married Albert E. Villars of Newell Township;
Clark S. is at home with his parents.

Mr. Jones is a man of self-respecting, energetic
character, well dowered with firmness and decision,
and his conduct in all the various relations of life
is such as to inspire the trust and esteem of all
with whom he comes in contact either in a busi-
ness or in a social way. He and his wife belong to
the Pleasant Grove United Brethren Church, and
are active in aiding their pastor and fellow-inem-
bers in any good work, and they are always to be
found on the side of the right. In him the Dem-
ocratic party in this section of the country find a
stanch ally.

i^F^IIOMAS LEE. Among others who came to
Central Illinois during the period of its pio-
'■' ncership was the sturdy English-born citizen
with the substantial traits of character handed down
to him by his ancestors, the qualities of industry and
perseverance, which were bound to win. He as-
sisted in the development of the soil, in the build-
ing up of communities, and almost without an ex-
ception acquired a competence. Mr. Lee is one of
the representative men of his nationality and an
early settler. He came to Illinois in 185G and took
up his residence in Vermilion County in 1874 on
section 32, township 2.'5, range 12. During the pe-
riod of his fifteen years' residence here he has
opened up a good farm of 120 acres and secured
himself against want in his old age.

Our subject was horn in Devonshire, England,
Sept. 17, 1838, and lived there until approaching
the eighteenth year of his age. He was the first
child of the family to leave home, and the occasion
was one naturally mixed with regret and some ap-
prehensions. Embarking at Liverpool, he made
the long voyage across the Atlantic in safety, land-
ing in New York, and proceeded directly to Illinois,
locating first in Peoria County. He worked on a
farm there several years, and about 18(J0 changed

212

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

his residence to Woodford County. In that county
he purchased wild land, where he opened up a good
farm and lived about twelve years. During this
time he put up good buildings, planted an orchard,
fenced his land, and, in fact, effected the improve-
ments naturally suggested to the progressive agri-
culturist.

In Woodford County, 111., our subject was mar-
ried, March 8, 1862, to Miss Grace Huxtable. The
young people began life together on the new farm,
and after selling out, Mr. Lee traveled all over the
West and the Pacific Slope, but came back to Illi-
nois, not being able to find any section of country
which suited him better. He then came to this
count}' and purchased the farm where he now lives.
There were no buildings upon it to speak of, but he
soon provided a shelter for his family, and here he
has since remained, carrying on general farming
and stock-raising successfully. He cast his first vote
for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and has since been
a stanch supporter of the Republican part}'. He
believes in the doctrines of the Baptist Church, of
which he is a member, attending services at Hoopes-
ton.

Seven of the eight children born to Mr. and Mrs.
Lee are still living — Herschel J., Lizzie, Clarence,
Delraer, Newton, Jennie and Morris. The eldest
son has been in the farther West for the past four
years. Lizzie became the wife of Loren Briggs,
and they live on a farm west of the Lee homestead ;
they have two children. Clarence married Miss
Ada Redden and lives in Butler Township. The
other children are at home with their parents. Mrs.
Lee was likewise born in Devonshire in 1843, and
came to America with her father when a child of
nine years, the family settling on Kickapoo Prairie.
The father farmed there for a time and then re-
moved with his family to Woodford County, where
Mr. Lee made the acquaintance of his future wife.
Mr. Huxtable, also a native of Devonshire, came to
America in 1852, and carried on farming in Wood-
ford County until 1 887. Then, retiring from active
labor, he took up his residence in Benson, Wood-
ford County, where he now lives and is married to
his second wife. His first wife died in England.

William Lee, the father of our subject, also a na-
tive of Devonshire, England, spent his entire life

there. He married Miss Susanna Davey, and they
became the parents of five sons and three daugh-
ters, all of whom, with the exception of two daugh-
ters, came to America, together with the mother,
who died in Benson in January, 1888.

rILLIAM DICKINSON, an honored resi-
dent and well-to-do farmer of Catlin Town-

ship, is numbered among the far-sighted
men of practical ability and cool judgment, who
have been instrumental in promoting its growth,
and making it a rich agricultural centre. He owns
a well-orderod farm on section 26, every acre of
which is highly cultivated, and. with its neat build-
ings and other appointments, it does not compare
unfavorably with the many other fine farms of which
Vermilion County can boast. Here Mr. Dickinson
has passed thirty-six of the best years of his life,
coming here while yet in the prime of a stalwart
manhood, and that these years have been well
spent in diligent and cheerful labor, is shown by
the substantial home that he has built up, in which,
now that the infirmities of age are upon him, he
can rest from his toils, and enjoy its comforts with-
out the necessity of labor and drudgery.

Our subject is of English antecedents and birth.
His parents, John and Hannah Dickinson, were
both natives of England, and they died in Lincoln-
shire. Their son, William Dickinson, of whom this
sketch is written, was born in the old home in Lin-
colnshire, April 27, 1819, and amid its pleasant
surroundings, he grew to man's estate. He early
engaged in farming, and became quite a farmer
before he left the old country to try life in the new
world, coming here in 1853, landing in New York
city the first day of May. He came directly to
Vermilion County in this State, having previously
heard of its wonderful agricultural resources, and
has been engaged in tilling the land in Catlin Town-
ship ever since, though on account of his advanced
age he has retired somewhat from the active duties
of the management of his estate. His farm com-
prises 197 acres of choice land, well cultivated and
supplied with all the necessary buildings and ma-

PORTRAIT AM) BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

•_' 1 3

chinery, and is indeed one of the most desirable
places in fcbe vicinil \ .

Mr. Dickinson was a married man when he emi-
grated to this country, lie having been previously
wedded in the historical old town of Boston, in
Lincolnshire, to Miss Emma Barker, :i native of
that shire. Ten children were born of their union,
as follows: Harriet A., wife of Frederic Jones,
whose sketch appears on another page of this vol-
ume; Elizabeth M., wife of George Stonebraker;
William, who married Callie I. alien; Emma, the
wife of Arthur Jones, whose sketch appears on
another page of this work; .lames; Matilda, the
wife of .lames Bentley: Henry, Hannah B., John
and Joseph.

Aug. 14, 1MS<H, she who had walked by the side
Of Our subject many a year, leaving, for his sake.
home and friends in the dear old England, and for
many a year cheering and strengthening him in his
work, passed out of his life, and entered into the
rest that passeth understanding.

"Her work is compassed and done;
All things are seemly and ready
And her summer is just begun."

Mrs Dickinson — obituary.
Mrs. Emma Dickinson, to whose memory this
notice is inscribed, was" born in. Boston, Lincoln-
shire, England, Sept. 22, 1823, making her age at
time of death, sixty-four years, ten months and
twenty-two days. Her maiden name was Emma
Barker. She was married to William Dickenson,
March 2, 1847. They emigrated to this country
May 1 1 tli. 1853, and located within three miles of
where the family now reside. Her sister, Mrs. Ma-
tilda Clipson came over at the same time. She was
the mother of ten children, five girls and five boys,
of whom the following were born in England:
Harriet A., wife of Frederic JoncS; Mary E.. wife
of George Stonebraker; Emma, wife of A. Jones,
and William, the eldest son. The following were
born in America: .lames, Henry, John, Joseph
and Mat ilda. wife of James Bentley, and Hannah
Ii. the youngest daughter. The children are all of
mature age, and the family have never before been
bereaved by death. The deceased was a member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church in England, ami

although she did not identify herself as a member
here, she was an attendant on divine services, and
lived an exemplary and Christian life. Her illness
dates back several years, however, she was not con-
fined to her bed until about the beginning of Sep-
tember, since which time she was unable to help
herself. Her sufferings were \^\'y ureal, but were
borne with a resignation which none but a Chris-
tian woman could possess. She was a devoted
wife, a faithful mother, the light of the home and
the pride of the family. While we must bid her a
fond farewell, her virtues will not, be forgotten.

A short funeral service was held at the home by
Rev. A. C. Cummings. The music was under the
direction of Mrs. Elsie McGreggor, and the follow-
ing persons were chosen as pall bearers: A. G.
Olmstead, G. W. L. Church, Jno. Parker, jr., T.
Brady, J. M. Douglass and (!. W. Tilton.

By request of the deceased, a sacred song was
sung during the services by little Benny Louis, ac-
companied by his sister. A large procession of
friends accompanied the family to the Jones ceme-
tery, where the body now reposes.

Mr. Dickinson is justly regarded as one of the
solid, reliable citizens of this township, as during
the many years that he has resided here, lie has
evershown himself to be faithful to his duties and
responsibilities in every department of life in which
he has acted, as a husband, father, neighbor and
citizen, and it may truly be said that his character
is such as to inspire respect and esteem.

f AMES M. GEDDES, an Illinois pioneer of

'56, and a man who has been t lie architect
of his own fortune, is now the owner of a
fine property, comprising a well-appointed
farm located on section 7, in Ross Township. He
is a scion of an excellent old family of Scotch an-
cestry, and the son of Joseph Geddes, whose father,
George Geddes, emigrated from the Land of the
Thistle to America about 17<S,H. Making his way
to the Territory of Ohio, he located on a tract of
land m the wilderness, near where the town of
East Liverpool now stands, but which then for miles
around was destitute of any signs Of civilization. He

21 I

PORTRAIT AM) BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

had been married in Boston, Mass. to a lady who
was descended from old Plymouth stock — people
who came over in the Mayflower — and who was
reared iu the strict doctrines of the old Presbyte-
rian faith. They began their wedded life together
in the wilds of Ohio, where they reared their fam-
ily, and spent the remainder of their days, each
attaining to a ripe old age. Of their children,
seven in number, Joseph, the father of our subject,
was the youngest, and was born in 1805. lie was
reared at that home in the wilderness. The coun-
try was gradually settled up, and among the other
adventurous pioneers who followed in the wake of
the Geddes family were William Moore, whose
daughter, Catherine, became the wife of Joseph
Geddes, and the mother of our subject. The
mother's parents lived just, across the Ohio River
in Brook County, Va., until their deaths occurred.

Joseph Geddes and his young wife continued to
reside near the old folk in East Liverpool about
six years, and in the meantime their son, James M.,
the subject of this sketch, was born April 21,1837.
About 1839 they removed to Tuscarawas County,
and later to the northeastern part of Indiana, where
Joseph Geddes departed this life at the age of
sixty-five years, and the mother at the age of sev-
enty-six. They became the parents of twelve chil-
dren, all of whom, with one exception, are living.
The second child, Elizabeth, died when about seven
years old. Those besides our subject, are named
respectively, John, William, Mary A., Wilson,
Richard, Robert, Nancy J., Lucinda, Joseph, and
Minerva. The latter, the 3'oungest of the familv,
is thirty-six years old. The household circle re-
mained undivided by death for more than fifty
years — a circumstance scarcely equalled in the his-
tory of any other family in this region.

The parents of our subject, during their younger
years, were identified with the Presbyterian Church,
but later became connected with the United Breth-
ren, in the faith of which they died. James M.,
upon coming to Illinois in 1850, located first at
Momence, but later removed to Iroquois County.
There he was married, in 1862, to Miss Emma,
daughter of Thomas and Anna (Barkley) Young.
They lived there until the spring of 1883, engaged
in farming pursuits; then our subject disposed of

his interests in that section and purchased his pres-
ent fine farm of ICO acres, which he proposes ?"
make his permanent home. Upon coming to this
State he was without other resources than his good
health and strong hands, and like the wise man of
Scripture, he has increased his talent ten fold..
During his younger years he experienced all the
hardships and difficulties of life in a new country,
and improved his first farm from the raw prairie.
He cast his first Presidential vote for Lincoln, and
has been a steadfast supporter of Republican prin-
ciples, especially since the outbreak of the war, and
has ever maintained an ardent admiration for the
martyred President, Lincoln. Both he and his
wife belong to the Christian Church at Prairie
Chapel. Their seven children, who are all living,
were named respectively: Elmer L., Joseph F.,
Maude, Ruby, Nellie, Grace and Nora. They
form a bright and interesting group, and are being
given the educational advantages which will fit
them for intelligent and worthy members of so-
ciety.

Sr=77>RANKLIN BALDWIN. It must be ad-
-nfe> mitted that although no man attains to suc-
\ cess without encountering difficulties and
drawbacks, life still has its compensations, espec-
ially when the individual has chosen that wise path
of rectitude and honor which has led him to a po-
sition where he is looked upon by his fellow men
with confidence and esteem. The career of Mr.
Baldwin has been pregnant with interesting events
and experiences, some of them dark and trying
and some of them filled in with a large meas-
ure of satisfaction. The former served to devel-
op the naturally strong points of a substantial
character while the latter have shown like the sun
upon a rugged mountain side, rounding up the
whole to a complete end.

The native place of our subject was in the vicin-
ity of Decatur, Ohio, and the date of his birth,
April 26, 1832. When he was a mere child his
parents set out for the West and after landing in
Grant County, Ind., stopped there and raised one
crop. In the spring of 1838 they folded their
tents for a further journey Westward, starting out

I'OliTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

2 1 5

with a four-horse team and taking with them their

household g Is and a quantity of provisions.

Arriving at the Wabash River at Covington, thej

then loaded their belongings on ton terry boat.
The wind being strong and the river high, thej
canie very near being capsized and drowned and
received such a fright that our subject distinctly
remembers the event to this day. Thej succeeded
however, in making the crossing in safety and ar-
rived in this county on the 30th day of March.
stopping at Danville, that place then being a very
small town. 'The country around was compara-
tively unsettled, the cabins of the pioneers being
few and far between. There was oiiI\ one or two wag-
on roads and wild animals were plentiful. The fel-
low feeling which makes all man kin prevailed, and
each new comer was greeted with a heartiness
which made him feel welcome. The father of our
subject died the succeeding fall and the family
were left to struggle along as best as they could
under the stress of limited means, and the hard-
ships and difficulties of life on the frontier. The
mother was a lady of more than ordinary capacity
and by careful management kept her family to-
gether until they were old enough to take care of
themselves. Finally, laying aside the cares and
labors of life she removed to the home of her
daughter in Dallas County. Iowa, where her death
took place at the age of seventy -six yens.

The subject of this sketch acquired his educa-
tion mostly in the subscription schools. When fif-
teen years old the mother broke up housekeeping
and Franklin began working out by the day.
month and job, and managed to maintain himself
very comfortably, splitting wood by the cord,
plowing, sowing and gathering in the harvest. In
the fall of 1856, he took an important step toward
establishing a home of his own. being married to
.Miss Edith a .lane, daughter of John and Polly
(Stewart) Naylor. The newly wedded pair took
up their residence near Yankee Point and Mr.
Baldwin occupied himself as before, until 1864,
when he purchased a tract of land from which he
built up a good farm and which he occupied for a
period of twenty-one years. In January, 1886, lie
and his estimable wife decided, and wisely, they
would retire from active labor, and accordingly

leaving the farm removed to the new village ol
Sidell, of which they have since been residents.

Mr. Baldwin in the fall of 1885, purchased from
Sanson RawlillgS a stock id' hardware and has since
been engaged in trade, building up a good patron-
age. In the year 1887, he completed a neat res-
idence on Fast Market, street and with ample means
and all the comforts of life, is enabled to live eas-
ily and enjoy the fruits of his early industry.

Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin became the parents of
nine children, the eldest of whom, John M., mar-
ried Miss Lucy Thornton and is farming in Car-
roll Township, they have three children; Ferry A.,
married Miss Sarah E. Lawrence and occupies the
homestead; they have four children — Maude. Ellen
Lester, and Rosa: Charles M.. married Miss Emily
( rices, and they are tile parents of one child; he
conducts a grocery store in Sidell; William A. and
Wilbur A. were twins,] the former is farming in
Sidell Township, and Wilbur is with his brother
Charles in the grocery; Benjamin lives at the home-
stead; Norah E., died at the age of eighteen months ;
Robert W., is in Carroll Township with his brother
John.

The father of our subject was in his early man-
hood an old line Whig, and Franklin remembers
the election of 1840, when tin; grandfather of Pres-
ident Harrison was elevated to the first position in
the land, lie cast his first Presidential vote for
J. C. Fremont, and, was a staunch supporter of Re-
publican principles.

James Baldwin, the father of our subject, mar-
ried Miss Rachel Parry and both were natives of
Brown County, Ohio. The paternal grandfather,
John Baldwin, came from England prior to the
War of 1812, and settled near Ripley in Brown
County, Ohio. The grandfather of our subject
participated in the above war. enlisting at the aye
of twenty-one years, after Hull's surrender. The
father of our subject came to this county in the
spring of 183S. and rented a pari, of the Draper
farm, but died the ensuing fall when Franklin was
a lad of six years. There were eleven other chil-
dren, one of whom, the youngest born. William,
died at the age of three years.

The remaining children of the parental family of
our subject are recorded as follows: Caroline, the

2 1 6

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

eldest, is a resident of Madison County. Iowa, and
is seventy- four years old; Amanda lives in Marys-
ville, this State, and is aged seventy-two; Polly,
sixty five years of age, is a resident of Georgetown.
III.; Jane, aged fifty-five is a resident of Dallas
Count}', Iowa; Thomas lives at Yankee Point, this
county, and is fifty-nine years old. He and our
subject are the only two sons living. The other
children were named respectively, Elizabeth, Dari-
us. John N.. James and Elijah.

Mrs. Baldwin's father was horn in Ohio, and her
mother in Ireland. Mrs. Baldwin was born in Ver-
million County, Iii«l.. June 11, 1840, and there
spent her childhood and youth, attending the com-
mon school and being trained by an excellent
mother to those housewifely duties, a knowledge
of which is essential in a well-ordered household.
She has stood bravely by her husband in his toils
and struggles and he avers that it is owing largely
to her good sense and wise counsels that he has
been enabled to attain to his present position, so-
cially and financially. They take a natural and
pardonable pride in their fine family of children to
whom they have given all the advantages in their
power. Mr. Baldwin believes in education and
has carried out his sentiments in this respect in
providing his children with good schooling. The
family is widely and favorably known throughout
Sidcll Township ami vicinity where they count
their friends by the score.

¥ WILLIAM McBROOM occupies a high place
among the venerable and honored citizens
of Catlin Township, and though not among
the earliest settlers of this part of Vermilion
County, lie may be denominated one of its pioneers.
He is still living on the pleasant tract of land on
section :;."}, that at the time of his purchase formed
a part of the wild prairie, and which he has since im-
proved into a tine farm. He and his wife are serenelj
passing their declining years in one of the cosiest
and neatest homes in this community, where they
are held in respect, and affection by the many who
know them.

Mr. McBroom is a Kentuckiau b\ birth, born in

Preston County April 28, 1815, the eldest of the
five children of Joseph and Phebe (Young) Mc-
Broom, the former a native of Virginia and the
latter of Chilicothe, Ohio. After their marriage
they had settled in Preston County, Ky.. and thence
they removed to Crawfordsville, Ind.. in 1827, be-
coming early settlers of that place. Mr. McBroom
bought a tract of land, and cleared forty acres of
it where the city now stands. He was a man of
considerable enterprise, and besides engaging m
agriculture, he made brick in that locality for four
years, operating two brickyards at a time, and
making the first brick that was ever made in that
county. His useful career was closed in 1841, in
the home that he built up there in Montgomery
County, and a valued citizen was then lost to the
community. His wife survived him several years,
but for fourteen years previous to her death, which
occurred in Cass County, Neb., at the home of her
daughter, Mrs. Sarah Young, she was an invalid.

Our subject was still in his boyhood when his
parents took him to Crawfordsville, Ind., and there
he grew to maturity, developing into a strong.
shrewd, capable man. He learned the trade of
wagon-making in that county, and followed it
exclusively for a long term of years, finding it
quite profitable. He removed to Tippecanoe
County, and was engaged in his trade there, manu-
facturing wagons for some ten years. He then re-
turned to Montgomery County, where he resided
until the month of October, 1854, when he came to
Vermilion County, and settled in Catlin Township,
purposing to give his attention to agriculture on
this rich, alluvial soil, and he has ever since made
his home here. He owns 120 acres of land that is
very fertile and productive, and is supplied with a
good set of buildings; everything about the place
is orderly, and the farm is under good manage-
ment.

Mr. McBroom has been three times married.

The maiden name of the wife of his early manh 1

was Uhoda Ann Stover, and she was. like himself,
a native of Kentucky. She bore him one child,
which died in infancy, and, the mother dying also,
both were buried in the same grave. Mr. McBroom
was married a second time in Montgomery County.
Mrs. Elizabeth Boyd becoming his wife; she was a

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

2i ;

daughter of Joseph Hanks. To them three eliil-"
(Iron were born — Joseph. John and Thomas, the
latter dying when about a year old. Mrs. Mr-
Broom departed this life in Tippecanoe County,
hid., in 1848. Our subject was married to his
present wife in that county March 13, 1851. Her
maiden name was Emily Allen. She was the
daughter of the late Judge William and Susan
(Spurgeon) Allen, and widow of Jacob Snyder.
lie died in Montgomery County Nov. 17. 1846.
She had by her first marriage four children — Sarah,
Susan. Ivea Ann. Amanda M. Sarah was the wife
of Arthur ('. Schocky, and she died in Kansas.
Mrs. McBroom's parents were natives of Ken-
tucky, and she was the sixth of their ten children.
She was born in Bourbon County, Ky., May 20,
1818. By her marriage with our subject she has
had six children, as follows: Phoebe K.. Alfred.
Franklin, Josephine, William and Eddie J. Phoebe
and Franklin are deceased.

Although Mr. and Mrs. McBroom are well ad-
vanced in years, the snows of age have not yet
chilled their hearts or deadened their sympathies
towards the needy and suffering. They still take
an active interest in the affairs of the day. and
keep well posted on topics of general interest. Mr.
McBroom's career in life has been a useful one to
himself and to the community at large, as he has
contributed his quota towards its upbuilding, and
has always acted the part of a good citizen. He is
decided in his political views, and is a faithful ad-
herent of the Democratic party.

fINSON R. BOARDMAN. Occasionally
we find a man who has had the enterprise to
see something of the world before settling
down to the sterner duties of life, as in the case of
the subject of this notice. He has been quite a
traveler throughout the Western country, and
Spent a number of years on the Pacific Slope. lie
came to this county in the fall of 1840, and settled
on this farm in L859, where he lias 2G5 acres of
choice land on section 2(j, township 2."S, range 12.
This has been his home for the long period of
thirty-five years, and he is still on the sunny side

of seventy, surrounded by all Hie comforts of life,
and blest with the esteem and confidence of bis
fellow citizens.

Air. Boardman was born in Ontario County, N.
V.. .May :'., 1822, and there spent his youthful
days, acquiring a practical education in the com-
mon school. He was bred to farming pursuits. In
the spring of 1849, young Boardman decided to
visit California, and. purchasing an ox team at In-
dependence, Mo., started across the plains with a
company of 125 men. They." crossed the Missouri
River at St. Joseph, and followed the usual trail
taken by emigrants. They were five months on
the road, but at the end of that time 12:! of the
men were scattered to different places, only our
subject and one man reaching their destination in
company. The others finally drifted to the same
place after having wandered around north of the
Sacramento River.

Upon his arrival in California, our subject en-
gaged in mining from early in the fall until late
in the winter, then went down to Nappa, when
there was only one building in Sacramento but
acres of tents. He staid there with an attack of
fever, which lasted about four weeks, and then en-
tered the employ of the proprietor of the city, with
whom he remained, hauling lumber at $150 per
month until fall, when he made his way to Oregon,
where he spent the winter. Inthespring he entered
the mines of Northern California, hut with rather
poor success, then returned to Oregon, but finally
went hack to California and rented land, where he
carried on agriculture until returning home.

This return journey was made by our subject via
the water route, across the isthmus to New Orleans,
and up the Mississippi, Mi-. Boardman arriving in
this county again in the spring of 1853. Thai
year he visited New York State. Subsequently
Mr. Boardman employed himself at farming, hav-
ing in view the establishment of a home of his
own. and on the Kith of November, 1854, was
united in marriage with Mrs. Susan Carter. Soon
afterward he settled on his present farm, where he
has since made his home, although the farm did
not equal its present dimensions, having been
added to both by himself and his sons.

To Mr. and Mrs. Boardman there were born four

218

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

children, all of whom are living. Inez is the wife
of Thomas Evans, and they are residing in Grant
Township; Herbert V. and Ernest C. are at home
with their father; Marcus A. is traveling Auditor
for the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Com-
pany. Mr. Boardman has been for a number of
years a member of the Presbyterian Church at
Rossville, and politically gives his support to the
Republican party. He is a man quiet and unosten-
tatious in his manner of living, and has been con-
tent to pursue the even tenor of bis way, making
very little stir in the world, and never seeking po-
litical preferment.

The parents of our subject were Jesse C. and
Mary (Runyon) Boardman, the former a native
of Connecticut. When about eight or nine years
old he removed with bis parents to New York
State, where he was married and settled on a farm
in Ontario County. His wife, the mother of our
subject, died there when the latter was four years
old. Jesse Boardman spent his last days near
Rushville, Ontario County, and departed this life
when about sixty-seven years old.

JfOHN E. SMITH is classed among the able
and highly intelligent young farmers of Ver-
milion County, who are active in sustaining
and extending its great agricultural inter-
ests. His well appointed farm on section 26, Pilot
Township, is in all respects finely improved, and
compares well with other estates in the vicinity.
He has stocked it with cattle, horses and hogs of
fine grades, and he is cultivating it with good re-
sults so as to make money. He is a native born
citizen of this county, Dec. 3, 1854, being the date
of his birth. His father, George G. Smith, was
born in Muskingum County, Ohio, Aug. 31, 1828,
and he came to this county in company with his
parents, who were of German antecedents and
birth, in 1836. They thus became the pioneers of
Vermilion County, and were respected residents
here till death closed their earthly career, the grand-
father of our subject dying in 1864, and the grand-
mother in 1842. The following is recorded of the
nine children born to the parents of our subject:

Elizabeth married George Wilson, of Ohio, now a
farmer of Blount Township, and they have two
children; Elias 1).. a farmer of Blount Township,
married Clara Smith and they have three children;
Sarah lives with her parents; Eva married Andrew
Lanham, of Blount Township, now of Ross Town-
ship, and they have one child; Wesley, a fanner.
married Emma Sperry, of Blount Township, and
they have one child; Marshall. Woodard and Jo-
sephine are the others.

John Smith received the preliminaries of a sound
education in the public schools, which he attended
till he was twenty-one j-ears old, and then being
ambitious to advance still farther in his studies, he
attended the State Normal School, where he pur-
sued an excellent literary course that thoroughly
fitted him for the profession of teaching that he
afterward adopted. He was successfully engaged
at that vocation eight years, but after marriage he
abandoned it to give his attention to agriculture,
and bought eighty acres of finely improved fann-
ing land. He subsequently sold that and pur-
chased his present farm of 160 acres of land equally
good, and well adapted to general farming. It is
under high cultivation, and is provided with a
comfortable, conveniently arranged set of farm
buildings.

Mr. Smith has much financial capacity, is en-
dowed with good mental qualities that have been
stimulated by a liberal education, and he carries on
his farming operations with intelligent skill that
will one day place him among the wealthy and
substantial citizens of this township, if he prospers
as he has heretofore done. In his politics he is an
ardent champion of the Democratic party, and has
been since the days when he cast his first vote for
Samuel J. Tilden, the great New York statesman,
his last vote for president being in favor of G rover
Cleveland.

The marriage of Mr. Smith with .Miss Mary E.
Eirebaugh, of Blount Township, occurred March
25, 1876. She was born Dec. 11, 1853, in the
aforementioned township, her parents being Wil-
liam R. and Melvia (Flora) Eirebaugh, the father
being of German descent. They emigrated from
Ohio to Indiana, and thence to Illinois. The mo-
ther departed this life in 1872. The father still

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

219

resides in this county. They were the parents of
five children: Curtis married Christina Porter, of
this county, and they have two children ; Elizabeth
married George Snyder, of this county, now liv-
ing in Oakwood Township, and they have two
children; Robert, a farmer, married Leo Fairchilds,
of Blount Township, and they have two children.
Emma married Milton Fairchilds, of Blount Town-
ship. The following is the record of the five chil-
dren born of the pleasant wedded life of Mr. and
Mrs Smith: Irvin W., was born June 3,1877:
Edwin R., Jan. 23, 1H79; Alfred G.. Jan 9, 1881;
Everett J., Sept. 5, 1881; Alga, Nov. 6, 1886.

LLEN T. CATIIERWOOD is one of the
most prominent and busy men of Hoopes-
t!' ton, having large interests in various
branches of industry in the town. He is
one of the originators and present owner of the
Hoopeston Canning Factory, and is also its Gen-
eral Manager. This enterprise was inaugurated in
1 882, and at first was operated on a small scale,
but has gradually increased until it has become
a very important factor in the business interests of
Hoopeston. Last year the establishment used
about 2,000 acres of corn and peas, being all
raised by the company, which is composed of Mr.
Catherwood, J, S. McFerren and A.H.Trego. The
concern furnishes employment to 300 people and
fifty teams, and the output of corn alone last year
amounted to 2,500,000 cans. The value of the
plant and stock is given at *1 50,000.

Mr. Catherwood is also engaged in the grain
business on the line of the Lake Erie and Western
Railroad, on which road he owns large elevators
at different points, having associated with him
partners at each place. He also owns a large
grain farm of 1.520 acres in the State of In-
diana in company with Mr. Williams. It will be
seen that Mr. Catherwood has a large business,
which is composed of grain handling, farming and
manufacturing, and, it is safe to say, that there is
no man in this part of the. country r better able to
handle these immense interests. He has held dif-
ferent public offices, and here shows his capacity i

for doing business for others as well as for himself.
He was made Chairman to investigate the differ-
ent plans of waterworks, with a view to the selec-
tion of the best for Hoopeston. He visited differ-
ent places in the country, and after a decision was
finally reached, which practically embodied his
recommendations, he was given the general super-
vision of the erection of the waterworks. With his
partner, Mr. Trego, this important improvement
reached a successful completion.

Mr. Catherwood was born in Belmont County,
Ohio, Dec. 15, 1842, and when fifteen years of
age, and two years after the death of his father,
he, with his mother and family, removed to Chris-
tian County, 111., where he remained with his
mother on their farm until his marriage, which oc-
curred in October, 1874. In 1876 he removed to
Vermilion County, settling on a farm near Hoopes-
ton. He engaged in this business for awhile,
when he purchased a grocery store. While he had
no previous experience in the mercantile business,
his solid common sense guided him on to pros-
perity in his newly-chosen vocation. He continued
in this trade, and also engaged extensively in
stock-raising (which he still follows) until he
launched into the grain business, as has been before
stated.

Mr. Catherwood's wife's maiden name was Miss
Cornelia Hartwell, and they are the parents of
three children living — Robert, Maud and Naomi,
and three who died while young. Mr. Catherwood
is a member of the Masonic fraternity, being a
Knight Templar. He is ever willing and ready-
to aid anyone who is deserving, and, as a leading
man of Hoopeston, has an enviable record. It is
safe to assume that there are few better men in this
portion of the State of Illinois.

James Catherwood, father of Allen T., was born
in Ireland, anil when twenty years of age came to
this country and settled in Delaware, where he
married Miss Lydia Tussie. Soon after his mar-
riage he removed to Ohio, where all his children
were born, Allen being the youngest of ten. He
was a general farmer, and was considered a suc-
cessful man in his calling. When his death oc-
curred, in 1H55, his wife and her family removed
to Christian County, as before stated, where she

220

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

purchased a farm, which she operated until the
marriage of Allen, when he. with the other chil-
dren, bought her a nice property in Taylorville,
where she now resides with a single daughter.

^f[ OHN McVEY, general merchant, of Tilton,
and Postmaster of Vandercook Post-office,
Vermilion Co., is one of the most prominent
business men in this locality, and is one of
the leading civic officials. He is of Celtic ancestry
and was born in County Longford, Ireland, in June,
1837. His father, John McVey, was a native (if
the same county, and was there reared and married,
continuing his residence in the home of his nativity
till 1837. In that year he came to the United
States, seeking to better his fortune, leaving his
family behind, intending to send for them at a later
date after he became permanently established. He
located in Schuylkill County, Pa., where he en-
gaged in mining for several years, till an accident
in the mines caused his death in 1852, while yet
scarce past life's prime.

His son John, of whom we write, was but an in-
fant when he had the misfortune to lose the loving
care of a good mother, and his father being in this
country, he was taken to the home of his grand-
parents, and was reared by them till 1851. In that
year he followed his father to America, setting sail
from Liverpool and landing in New York after a
voyage of seven weeks, a poor boy in a strange
land. He hastened to join his father whom he had
scarce seen, he having been an infant when he had
left home, and they were reunited in Pennsylvania.
Our subject soon commenced life for himself as a
mule driver in a coal mine. In 1857 he decided
that he would like to try life in the great West, and
making his way to this State he tried to obtain work
in a coal mine at Danville. Not succeeding in that
attempt he got employment on a railway for a few
months. and then engaged in mining. In May of that
year he answered Lincoln's call for 90-day men,
and enlisting in Company ('. 12th Illinois Infantry,
served with his regiment till the expiration of his
term of enlistment, when he was honorably dis-
charged and returned to Danville. In August,! 862,

he again went forth to aid his adopted country,
and enrolling his name with the members of Com-
pany C. 125th Illinois Infantry, he went to the front
with his regiment, and bravely faced the foe on
many a hotly contested battlefield. The most im-
portant battles in which he took part were those of
Perry ville, Ivy., and Chicamauga. On the way from
Chattanooga to Atlanta with General Sherman, he
fought in the various engagements with the rebels
that they encountered and in the siege and capture
of the latter city. He was also present at the battle
of Jonesboro, where he was severely wounded, and
was obliged to go to the hospital for treatment. He
rejoined his regiment that winter at Savannah.
After that he was unable to carry a musket, so did
not march with his comrades, but went by boat to
Washington, where he was honorably discharged in
May, 1865.

After his experience of military life, Mr. McVey
returned to Danville and resumed mining, which
occupation he continued till 1873. He then rented
land and engaged in farming the ensuing five years.
During that time he established himself in the mer-
cantile business at Tilton, his wife, a woman of
more than ordinary ability, acting as manager. She
proved so successful that Mr. McVey finally deter-
mined to enlarge the business and devote his time
to it, and from that small beginning has grown his
present prosperous business. He is the onlj T mer-
chant in Tilton, and carries a large stock of general
merchandise, groceries, etc., and has a neat, well
appointed store.

July 2, 1869, Mr. M.Vey took a step that has
had an important bearing on his after life whereby
he secured a wife in the person of Mrs. Julia
(McHeney) Mulhatton, who has been an important
factor in his prosperity. She is, like himself, a na-
tive of Ireland, born in County Monaghan, and
is the daughter of Patrick and Ann (Mulhollan)
McHeney, and the widow of James Mulhatton.
Her parents were both natives of Ireland, and her
father dying when she was very young, her mother
soon after took her children to England, and later
came to America, five of her children coming at
different times. Mrs. McVey was first married in
County Durham, England, when but a girl in her
teens, to James .Mulhatton. When she was nineteen

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

22 I

years of age she accompanied her husband to the
United States, and they lived one year in Pennsyl-
vania. They subsequently came to Vermilion
County, and here Mr. Mulhatton died while in the
prime of life.

Our subject is a fine specimen of the genus homo
denominated the self-made man, as all that lie has
and all thai he is he owes to liis own exertions.
IK- is a man of honor, whose character is unblem-
ished, and his standing in business and social circles
is of th.6 highest. His frank, genial, and pleasant
manner has given him a warm place in the hearts
of his many associates and he is popular with -ill
classes. In politics he alliliates with the Demo-
crats, but is friendly with all parties. He has re-
presented Danville Township as Assistant Supervi-
sor of the County Board four years: has served
several terms as a member of the Tilton Town
Council, and is at present President of that honora-
ble body of men. He and his wife are members of
the St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church, contribute
liberally to its support, and are active in its ever)
g, kiiI work.

. OC7Q

- coo

ft/OHN YV. P.oci.KSS. M. I)., stands high in
the medical profession as represented in
Vermilion County, and he has also acquired
VJj a fair reputation as an intelligent, enter-
prising agriculturalist, owning and managing the
farm on which he makes his home, pleasantly lo-
cated on section 29, Catlin Township, he having
retired to this place a few years ago on account of
failing health. This, his native township, has good
reason to be proud of her son. and he has always
exerted his influence to elevate her citizenship.

The father of this subject, likewise named John,
was a Virginian by birth. Monroe County being
his native place. His mother, Jane G. (McCorkle)
Boggess, was born in Green Briar County, W. Va.
After marriage his parents settled either in Green
Briar County, or in Monroe County, W. Ya.. where
the father was engaged as a farmer and stock
raiser. In 1830 he settled up his affairs in that
section of the country, and with his family emi-
grated to the wilds of Vermilion County, and lie-
came an early pioneer of Catlin Township, settling

in what is known as Butler's Point. About 1846
he removed with his wife and children to Wiscon-
sin, considering this locality, with the newly bro-
ken prairie sod and other miasmatic influences,

quite unhealthful then. He did not. however,
sell his real estate in this township, and after an
absence of three years, he returned to this locality
with his family, and settled on the old Elliott
place, jusl "est of Catlin, living there for conven-
ience a short time, and then went back on to his
farm. In 1856 they went to Danville to reside,
and dwelt there four years for the purpose of edu-
cating their children. Mr. Boggess then returned
again to his farm in this township, and continued
to live here till his death, which occurred in Feb-
ruary. 1874. His wife had preceded him to the
grave, dying in .May, 1868. They had eleven
children; William, who died in Catlin Township.
when about twenty-two years old; Diana M., the
wife of Joseph Griffith, died when she was thirty-
seven years old; [lebecca M. is the wife of William
M. Ray; Elizabeth died when about seventeen \ ears
old; Harvey II. died at the age of thirty-eight
years; Charles T. is a farmer in Vermilion County;
America J. is the wife of .lames Davis; Enoch P.
is a farmer in Vermilion County: Julia died when
she was six years old; Melissa died in infancy;
John W.

The latter, of whom we write, was born in Cat-
lin Township. Feb. 27, 1843, and with the excep-
tion of three years spent in Wisconsin, when he
was but an infant, and the four years in Danville
when he was attending school, he was reared to
man's estate in die township of his birth. He was
educated partly in th<; public schools, and in the
seminary at Danville, which he attended till he was
sixteen years old. After that he became a teacher,
and was engaged in that vocation in the winter of
I, Slid and in the summer of 1861. In 1862, ambi-
tious to extend his education, he entered the Illi-
nois Wesleyan University at Bloomington, and was
graduated from that institution in 1866, having
attained high rank for excellent scholarship. He
then took up th'e study of medicine, and while pur-
Suing his course he taught school to pay his ex-
penses. He was under the tutorship of Dr. A. II.
Puce, a well-known physician of Bloomington,

222

PORTRAIT AND Bl< )( iliAPIIICAL ALBUM.

and remained with him till the fall of 1867. In
the winter of that year, he entered the Chicago
Medical College, the medical department of the
Northwestern University, and pursued his studies
with characteristic vigor. In the spring of 1868,
he resumed teaching in Catlin Township, in order
that he might be at home with his mother, to whom
he was devotedly attached, and whose health was
fast failing, and his presence soothed her dying
hours. In the fall of 1 868 he returned to college, and
resuming his studies, was graduated in March 1870,
with all honor for having attained a high standard
in his class. He established himself in his profession
in Oconomowoc, Wis. But he did not remain there
long, however, as in the fall of that year he heard
of a good opening for an enterprising young phy-
sician at Coon Rapids. Iowa, and proceeding to
that place, he opened an office there, and continued
there till the spring of 1872, when he located in
Nevada, Iowa, the county seat of Story County,
which presented a broader field, and during his ten
years residence there, he built up an extensive and
lucrative practice, becoming one of the leading
physicians of the county. In 1882 he retraced his
steps to his native county, and opening an office in
Danville, he soon had more patients than he could
attend to, as his fame as a successful and skillful
practitioner had preceded him to his old home; but
under the continuous strain of overwork his health
gave way, and he was forced to retire from the ar-
duous duties of his profession, and having a nat-
ural taste for out-of door labor, and, as a wise phy-
sician fully believing in its health restoring pro-
perties, he came to Catlin Township in 1884 and
went to farming, and has ever since devoted him-
self to that occupation. He owns a fine farm of
sixty acres, and has it under excellent cultivation.
The doctor was married in Carroll County, Iowa,
Dec. 29, 1872, to Miss Velora B. Piper, who pre-
sides over his home with true grace, and makes it
cosy and attractive to its inmates and to their nu-
merous friends, and even the stranger that hap-
pens under its roof is kindly made welcome. Mrs.
Boggess is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Bed-
ford County, Jan. 8, 1853, a daughter of Thomas
A. and .Mary (Funk) Piper. The following is the
record of the lour children born to her and her

husband: Charles Wesley, born March 2. 1874.
died Aug. 8. 1874; Carrie M., born July 6, 1*7.">:
Walter Thomas. April 24, 1879; Genevieve, April
28, 1888.

The doctor possesses, in a rare degree, those
noble traits of character that mark a man of honor
and veracity, one in whom his fellow-citizens feel
they may safely put their trust. He is a man of
extensive learning and information, and on his
retirement from active practice, the medical pro-
fession of Vermilion County lost one of its most
able members. He is greatly interested in the wel-
fare of his native township, and takes an active
part in everything that tends to promote its moral
elevation, educational or material status, anil is
especially active in religious affairs, he and his wife
being esteemed members of the Methodist Episco-
pal Church, and he has been an active Sunday-
school worker, holding the office of superintendent
and also being a teacher. He is influential in po-
litical matters, being one of the leading Republi-
cans in this vicinity, and a member of the Repub-
lican Central Committee of 1888, of his township.

ON. CHARLES A. ALLEN, member of
the Thirty-sixth General Assembly, from
the Thirty-first District, comprising Vermil-
(Mj ion and Edgar counties, was elected on
the Republican ticket, first in 1884, and re-elected
twice thereafter, having entered now upon his third
term. He has been a member of the Judicial Com-
mittee and several other important committees-,
including Insurance, ami has served as Chairman
of the Railroad and Warehouse Committee, also of
Corporations and Educational Institutions. Dur-
ing the Logan fight he was the first man on the
roll call, at that time a very important position.
He has frequently represented his district in Stale
and other conventions and is in all respects a very
prominent man in Eastern Illinois.

Mr. Allen was born in Danville, July 6, 1851,
and removed with his parents when a child of two
years to the Ridge where they were the earliest
settlers. Charles A., upon leaving the district
school prepared himself to become a student of

^fozsc^^x ^/y^c^c^

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

225

Michigan University from the Law Department of
which he was graduated in 1875. He commenced
the practice of his profession at Rossville where he
remained until 1881, then changed his residence
to Hoopeston, which has sinee remained his home.
In addition to a lucrative law practice, lie has been
largely engaged as a real estate dealer, and has oc-
cupied many positions of trust and responsibility
among his fellow citizens. Socially, he is a char-
ter member of the K. of P. and is identified with
the I. (>. O. F. and Masonic fraternity.

The marriage of our subject with .Miss Mary,
daughter of L. M. Ihompson, of Rossville. was
celebrated April 1. 1878. A sketch of Mr. Thomp-
son appears elsewhere in this volume. Of this
union there have been born two children — John N.
and Lawrence T. The father of our subject was
William I. Allen, one of the first settlers of Ver-
milion County, and a sketch of whom appears on
another page.

!L=> 0>,T - JOSEPH G. CANNON. Member of

\ Congress representing the Danville district

of Illinois. On the opposite page appears

'■(!E<) :l portrait of this gentleman, who has been
for many years a prominent, factor in the official,
social and political life of this section of the State.
and' who has made a national reputation as a legis-
lator and a statesman.

For many years there was a large exodus of the
Soci' ty of Friends from North Carolina to the Wa-
ba.sh Valley, who left their former homes to get
away from the curse of slavery. Among the num-
ber whs Dr. Horace F. Cannon, who, accompanied
bv his family, removed in 1840 to make his home
in Park County 7 , Ind. Thus, far removed from
the scenes of their youth he and his wife passed
the residue of life in the Northern country.
surrounded by old frien Is who had also come
North, and by many new friends whom the} - had
met in their new home. Dr. Cannon was in early
manhood united in marriage with Gulielma IIol-
lingsworth. He was a native of Greensboro, N. C,
and in his early maturity practiced his profession,
being a physician ami surgeon. After his removal

to the Wabash Valley he passed the remainder of
his life in the practice of his profession, and died
an accidental death in 1851 when he was fort}'-
five years of age. He was a man of character and
considerable local note, being a prominent, early
Abolitionist.

Joseph G. Cannon, of whom this brief record is
written, was born in New Garden, Guilford Co..
N. O, May 7, 1836. His education was received
at the Western Manual Labor School, now known
as Bloom ingdale Academy. At the age of fifteen
his school work ended, and for five years thereafter
he was engaged as a clerk in a store.

At the age of twenty-one, having a strong desire
for professional life, Mr. Cannon entered the law
office of the Hon. John 1'. Usher, who afterward
became one of President Lincoln's secretaries. In
1859 he was admitted to the bar to practice in the
courts of the State of Illinois, and located at Tus-
cola, Douglas Co., 111., for the practice of his pro-
fession, in which he continued until 1872. In that
year he was elected to Congress, and has since been
consecutively re-elected, now serving his ninth term.
He made Tuscola his home until 1876, when he re-
moved to Danville, where he has for many years
resided.

Mr. Cannon now stands as one of the foremost
men in the House of Representatives. His position
he owes to the confidence of his constituency, who
have given him long service, and to his industry
in the public service. I lis early preparation was
not all he would have desired, as he was deprived
of a college course, and for financial reasons was
compelled to enter the law practice as soon as lie
could, so it, was only by strenuous exertion that he
fitted himself for the responsible position he
occupies.

After serving for six years on the Committee for
Post-offices and Post-roads. Congressman Cannon
was appointed a member of the Committee on Ap-
propriations, on which he has served until the
present lime. Said Mr. Cannon, with the justifiable
pride and satisfaction arising from having accom-
plished a good work: -'I had charge of the Postal
Appropriation P.ill while on Committee, upon which
legislation was had reducing letter postage from
three to two cents, and containing other important

22G

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

post.il revisions and reforms." During the Forty-
seventh Congress the Republicans had control of
the House. In this same Congress Mr. Cannon
was continued on Appropriations, having special
charge of the Legislative, Executive and Judicial
Appropriation Bill, which carries appropriation for
the officials of the Public Service, and upon which
many reforms were wrought. For many years,
being the head of the minority on that committee,
it has fallen to him to make a statement of the esti-
mates and appropriations for and expenditures by
the Government. It has usually been received by
Congress and the country as authoritative and ex-
haustive.

The Republicans have a small majority in the
present Congress, which will organize the first
Monday of December next (1*89). It seems to
be generally conceded that from seniority of service
and equipment for work, Mr. Cannon will be chosen
Chairman of the Committee on the organization
of the House, unless he is elected Speaker, for
which position he is a candidate. His service in
the House, his acquaintance with public men and
affairs has given him good standing with the Re-
publicans, and also with those of the opposite
party, who respect him for his sincerity and hon-
esty, even though Ihey differ with him in polities.
His party in the House of Representatives did
him the honor for six years of making him Chair-
man of its Caucus and of the Caucus Commit tee.
which has charge primarily of suggesting the policy
of the Republicans in the House touching matters
of legislation.

Mr. Cannon being engaged in politics, has paid
but little attention to law practice of late years.
He has business interests in the city of Danville,
and also owns farms both in Vermilion and Doug-
lass counties.

Although politics has engaged a great deal of
the consideration and thought of Mr. Cannon, he
has spared the necessary time to found home ties
of his own. His marriage was solemnized on the
7th of January, 1862, with Miss Mary P. Reed, of
Canfield, Ohio. Their union has been blessed by
the birth of two daughters, Helen and Mabel, who
are now at home, having recently finished their
college education. Thus Congressman Cannon, in

his leisure hours, partakes of the enjoyment of a
beautiful home, and the society of those he loves,
and whose interests are ever uppermost in his
mind.

yALKER T. BUTLER is an enterprising
wheelwright of Sidell. He located in this
village in December, 1887, at which time
he erected his shop on Chicago street. He has laid
the foundation for a large business, which is con-
stantly increasing, and in the spring of 1889 he
enlarged his business in a substantial manner. Mr.
Butler is one of the solid men of his adopted town,
and one whose word is as good as a bank note.

On February 23, 184(1, Mr. Butler first saw the
light of day in Edgar County, 111., about a mile
from Chrisman. His father, Asa Butler, was born
near Lexington, Ky., while his mother, Catharine
Porter, is a native of Madison County, that State.
The Butlers were originally from Virginia, and
came to Kentucky in an early day. The father was
a blacksmith, the entire male portion of the family
of Butlers being mechanics. One of the uncles
was a cabinet maker at the age of ninety-two, and
the subject of this sketch saw him at work making
spinning wheels at that great age. In 1834 Asa
Butler and his wife removed to Vermilion County,
settling close to Indianola, erecting a shop there.
He left this place and went to Chrisman, where he
remained for a long time. This couple are the
parents of nine children, whose names are given:
Ephraim P., Elizabeth A., William F., Ellen F.,
Walker Turner, S.mie F., Lucinda C, Rosa A. and
and an infant child, the two latter being deceased.
The father died at Indianola in 1878 at the age of
seventy-two years, while the mother is still living
on the old Butler homestead.

Ephraim resides in Richardson County, Neb.;
Samuel is in the employ of the Burlington iV-
Missouri River Railroad Company at South
Omaha, Neb., as a billing clerk; Eliza is liv-
ing in Indianola with her mother; William F. was
accidentally killed by a traveling man who mistook
his head for a prairie chicken; the man after-
ward went insane; Ellen F. is the wife of Janus
R. Adams, who is farming near Georgetown; Lu-

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

227

cinda C. married Melvin L. Porter, who i.s en-
gaged in the clothing business at Danville; Walker.
of whom this sketch is written, was reared on a
farm, working alternately at farming and in the
blacksmithshop. His schooling was obtained in
the subscription schools. His first attendance
upon the public school was in Edgar County,
111., where the schoolhouse was erected by sub-
scription, and built of logs. He worked on the
farm nine months, attending school the balance
of the year. He continued in this way until he
became eighteen years of age, when he went to
work exclusively at his trade. On .March 26, 1861,
he was married to .Miss Susan J. Porter, daughter
of Richard Porter, and a half-sister of Mrs. Hewes.
Her mother was Elizabeth Howard. The Porters
originally came from Woodford County, Ky., emi-
grating to Illinois in 1834.

At the time the War of the Rebellion broke
out Mr. Butler was a half owner in a shop, and
had just passed his honeymoon. There was every
inducement for him to remain at home, and pros-
per in his business, but his duty lay in enlisting
hi the Union army, which he did in May, 1801,
by joining Company D, 25th Illinois Infantry, being
mustered into service on June 4, following, at
Danville. His regiment drilled at Arsenal Park.
St. Louis, for two months, and here he was elected
Captain of his company. He was young and in-
experienced, and being modest, he refused to
serve, but afterwards accepted the position of
Sergeant. On account of a severe wound in the
right foot, he was honorably discharged, after which
he came home, and devoted his entire attention
to his trade. His arm}' record was a brilliant.
one, and the men are very few who would refuse
a commission as he did, which exhibits his entire
unselfishness and patriotism. He remained in In-
dianola until 1879, when he removed to Ridge
Farm, there engaging in business at his trade until
1887, when he came to his present locution.

Mr. Butler is one of the original members and
organizers of the Baptist Church of Sidell, which
came into existence May 2, 188 ( J, and of which
he was elected Deacon. He has belonged to this
church since he was eighteen years of age, and
for twenty-two years was Superintendent of a

Sabbath-school, lie is also Vice-President of the

Sunday-school Association of Carroll Township.
Mr. Butler belongs to Vermilion Lodge, No. 205,
A. F. A- A. M., and was its Master for three terms,
and also its delegate to the Grand Lodge at Chi-
cago in the years 187:3. 1K71 and 1875. lie is
also a charter member of the C. A. Clark Post,
No. 184, (L A. R.. located at Ridge Farm. The
office of School Director has been filled by him
for fifteen years.

Mr. and Mrs. Butler have had five children: Mel-
vine S., Gracie E., Adoniram J., Leslie F., Bessie
and Willie. Melvine S. was educated at the Jack-
sonville Blind Institute. He died, and his parents
deeply felt his loss. Gracie E. is the wife of
John Fletcher, a farmer of Edgar County, 111.;
they have three children: Henry T., Howard and
Charles. Adoniram J. and the rest of the chil-
dren are living at home. Mr. Butler is a stanch
Republican, and for several years has served his
party on the County Central Committee. He has
always been in favor of temperance laws, and
their strict enforcement, and ii was largely through
his instrumentality that the sale of whisky was
finally abolished in Carroll Township. Mr. But-
ler is one of the very best men of Vermilion
County, and is so regarded by his neighbors.

| IVILLIAM CAST. The subject of this notice
\/\J/i ' s numbered among the pioneer residents
V>7\v and well-to-do farmers of this county, who
carved out their fortunes by the labor of their
hands, and to whom we are indebted for the devel-
opment of the rich resources of the Prairie State.
Mr. Cast has been a resident of Danville Township
for a long period, anil is held in high repute among
its best citizens.

The subject of our sketch was born in Vernon
Township. Clinton Co., Ohio, April 17,1821, and is
the son of Aquilla and Mary (Villars) Cast, the
former born in Kentucky, Dec. 7, 1709, and the
latter born in Pennsylvania, Dec. 13, 1798. The
paternal grandfather. Ezekiel Cast, is supposed to
have been likewise a native of Kentucky, whence
he removed to Ohio in 1805, while it was in the

2-28

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

third year of its dignity as a State. He was one of
the earliest pioneers of Clinton County, and pur-
chased a tract of timber land in Vernon Township,
where he improved a farm and resided until his
death.

The father of our subject was quite young when
his parents removed to Ohio. He was reared and
married in Clinton County, and purchased land in
Vernon Township, where he engaged in (arming
until his death in September, 1831. The mother sur-
vived her husband for a period of twenty-five
years, and died in Clinton County in 1856. Her
father, James Villars, is supposed to have been a
native of Pennsylvania, whence he removed to
Ohio in 1806. making the journey down the river,
and landing at Cincinnati, which was then in its
embryo state. He also, like grandfather Cast, was
one of the earliest pioneers of Clinton County,
and like him cleared a farm from the wilderness,
where he spent his last days. He married Miss Re-
becca Davis, of Pennsylvania, and she also died in
Clinton County, Ohio.

Aquilla Cast, and his estimable wife became the
parents of eight children, seven of whom grew to
mature years, and of whom William, our subject,
was the fourth iu order of birth. lie was only ten
years old when his father died, but remained on the
farm with his mother, acquiring his education in
the common school and becoming familiar with the
labors incident to the routine of farm life. He
continued a resident of Clinton County until 1843,
then started out to seek his fortunes, his destination
being this county. He was equipped with a team
of horses and a wagon and accompanied by his
family, they bringing with them their household
goods. After fourteen days' travel they landed in
Danville Township, and Mr. Cast, in the fall of that
year, purchased 100 acres of land, the nucleus of
his present farm.

There were no railroads in Illinois for some years
after Mr. Cast settled in this county, and for a long
period Covington and Perrysville were the nearest
markets. Deer, turkeys and other game were
plentiful. The Cast family battled with many dif-
ficulties and some hardships, and underwent the
usual experience of life on the frontier. Our sub-
ject proceeded steadily with the improvement of

his property, and was greatly prospered in his la-
bors. As time passed on, he added to his landed
estate, and now has a well-improved farm of 320
acres. He has erected good buildings, and has
gathered around himself and his family all the
comforts and conveniences of modern life.

The marriage of our subject with Miss Rachel
Villars was celebrated at the bride's home in Clin-
ton County, Ohio, Oct. 28, 1843. Mrs. Cast was
born in Vernon Township, Clinton Co., Ohio, May
16, 1823. Her father, William Villars, was born
in Pennsylvania, Aug. 31, 1802, and is the son of
James and Rebecca Villars, who removed to Ohio
when he was four years old. He was reared in the
Buckeye State, and married Miss Ruth Whittaker,
a native of Clinton County. Her parents were
Oliver and Mary Whittaker, natives of New Jer-
sey, who removed to Clinton County, Ohio, during
its early settlement. The father of Mrs. Cast in-
herited a large tract of land in that county, where
he carried on farming until 1843. He then came
to this county, purchasing land in Danville Town-
ship, and has been a resident here since that time,
and is now in his ninety-seventh year.

To Mr. and Mrs. Cast there were born four chil-
dren, the eldest of whom. James W., married Miss
Ella Karris, anil is the father of two children —
Mabel and Minnie. John Oliver married Mary
Thayer, and has two children — (Jeorge and Carrie.
Mary is the wife of Perry Brown, of Chetopa,
Kan. George Aquilla died at the age of nineteen
months. In politics Mr. Cast has been a staunch
Democrat, as was also his father, and Mrs. Cast
also.

NDREW II. KIMBROUGH, M. D., was
!'/LJj born near Elizabeth town, Hardin Co.. K\\,
lii on the 27th day of February, 1823. His
father, Richard C. Kiinbrough, was a
native of Wexhall County, S. C, and his grand-
father, Goldman Kimbrough, was born in the State
of Virginia. The Kimbrough family settled early
in Virginia, and in Colonial times owned a large
tract of land and were extensive farmers. They
served with distinguished ability in the Revolu-
tionary War. The grandfather of Andrew H.

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

229

Kimbrough removed from Virginia toSouth Caro-
lina after the Revolutionary War and later to
Alabama, where he bought large blocks of land,
and where he died in 1835. lie was a large slave-
owner.

Richard C. Kimbrough, the father of Dr. Kim-
brough, was under age when the War of 1812
broke out, and in order to enlist, he ran away from
home and served iu the army until the elose of the
war. He was in several battles including the
Horse Shoe fight and was witli Gen. Jackson at
New Orleans. lie was wounded in the former
battle. After the close of the war he went with
some of his comrades to Hardin County, Ky., and
there taught school until his marriage, and then
witli a brother, he engaged in the business of tan-
ning. In 1825 he emigrated to Illinois and was
therefore a pioneer of Edgar County. The re-
moval was made with teams, bringing all the house-
hold goods along, camping out. on the way. He
entered a tract of eighty acres of land in Wayne,
now Stratton Township. There was no house on
the place and he was compelled to rent a cabin, but
in the following spring he erected a house on his
his own land, which was surmounted by a stick
and clay chimney. There were no sawmills in the
county, a fact which compelled him to make his
own boards in order to build the doors. He had
no nails and so used wooden pegs instead. The old
fashioned fire-place was used to cook food in those
days, stoves being an unknown utensil in the
economy of kitchen work. The cloth with which
they made their clothes was constructed from yarn
spun entirely by hand. He bought another eighty
acres of land which added to his former purchase
made a good farm. He died in 1833. The maiden
name of the mother of the subject of this sketch was
Jane Morrison, a native of Kentucky. Her father,
James Morrison, it was thought was born in Vir-
ginia and removed from there to Kentucky and
settled in Hardin County. He was a farmer and
spent his last years there. The maiden name of
Ids wife was Mary McWiliiams. She was born in
Virginia and removed to Kentucky with her par-
ents in 1791. This family were pioneers of Hardin
County, where they broughta large tract of timber
land and improved a farm which Mr. McWiliiams

afterward lost on an old claim. Mr. McWiliiams
spent his last years in that State. The mother of
our subject was married a second time in 18 17 to
Hall Sims and resided in Edgar County until her
death.

Andrew II. Kimbrough was eleven years old
when his father died leaving his mother with six
children to care for. He resided with his guard-
ian until 1842, and then returned home and man-
aged the farm for his mother until her second
marriage, when he purchased her interest in the
farm. He continued fanning until 1854. He had
some time before resumed the study of medicine,
but had to abandon that on the account of the lack of
funds, but later be again took up the study and grad-
uated from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia,
in March, 1858. In that year he commenced
practice at Georgetown, this county, and contin-
ued so doing until 1873, when he removed to
Danville and has practiced there continuously since
that lime. He married Sarah Ashmore, who was
born in Clark County, April 10, 1820. She was a
danghter of Amos and Patience Ashmore, natives
of Tennessee. They were truly pioneers of Clark
County, 111.

Andrew II. Kimbrough is the father of three
children — Laura H., E. R. Eugene, and Lillie A. T.
Politically, he is a Democrat, and socially, is a
member of Franklin Lodge K. of II. He joined
the I. O. 0. E. in 1850 and has filled all the chairs.

-»*>-

-o*o-@^<A^-o*o..

ENRY DAVIS. The man who ventured
|) into Central Illinois during its pioneer
days is worthy of more than a passing
J^J mention. Few who did not undergo the
experience can have a full realization of the hard
lot of the early settlers. The distant markets,
the inadequate price for the crops which they
raised under great difficulties, the inferior educa-
tional advantages, and the miasma from the fre-
quently low, wet land, which confronted the
pioneers with illness — a physician miles away —
and the generally wild condition of their surround-
ings, no railroads or stage lines, and in some
sections scarcely a well-defined wagon track, made

230

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

life in the pioneer times a .lire struggle frequently.
for existence.

The subject of this sketch has had a full exper-
ience of pioneer life in all its details, but at the
same time lie has been the privileged witness of
changes almost miraculous. He was born in this
county, May 5, 1841, his father. William Davis,
being among the earliest pioneers. The latter was
a native of Ohio, and descended from excellent
Scotch-Irish stock, lie was prospered in his labors
as a tiller of the soil of Illinois, and in due time
became the owner of 2.000 acres .of land, a large
portion of which he gave to his children.

The father of our subject still has about 1,000
acres of land, all in this county, and is likewise in-
terested in the hardware business at Fairmount,
while he has considerable other property. The
mother, Mrs. Elizabeth' (Hayes) Davis, was a na-
tive of Ohio, and the parental household included
ten children, six of whom are living, and of whom
Henry is the fourth in order of birth. He. like
his brothers and sisters, pursued his early studies in
the old log schoolhouse, the system of instruction
of that day being fully in keeping with the fashion
and furnishings of the temple of learning, into
which light was admitted through greased paper,
and the seats and desks of which were made of
slabs, the floor of puncheon, a wide fireplace ex-
tending nearly across one end, and the chimney
built outside of dirt and sticks. Young Davis at-
tended school mostly on stormy days, when he
could not work at home. He had few companions
and little recreation, as the county was very thinly
settled, and for a distance of forty miles south
there was not a single cultivat