. , 1 < V:<.t.;.t;\ ■ ilii Ml ^^^mf0> .^l®^1 ^-^;^ ■ :^^^t#rv ^^^J?sf-.i1Hn£^^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESsJ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A^^^^^H fei#»^^ '^'^o^ws:M^r>^ \f^^^%^>^ ^t^ v/vf^^'^K; N^n '^'^^^:; .^:>^^^^ ^.-V.:; - ' WW vr>nr.= -i^^^^^^^^Sm •^ nUl^Nr b\^\"^ ^r^r^m :3 3> '.-/%^- ^>?v.:/~^ >iu-u,i,n ?5?5-3: :ife^2^'ir^^^^^% "' #^. 5^Aflft;?i*t^.l' 'im r^^^'^ ^-kwhhM ;^:::s^ *^v. MJJnm ^^?r^f^or^.^ 3> TMIE ireST^* g if =1- € ^ ^im OF THE Sfe ^E^ ■:3JifH"^SB Sl'Ji.l'MS MT JC*'- -:ite**^" ''^Hii4C:' 3J^ ^'....ce.^. ^^^'/'■'/'/■/r C? /■' / /M/i-' if lilTlT'DlilEo n K 6 '(1). ItfOi THE Fortieth Congress OF TQE UNITED STATES: HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL. By WILLIAM H. BARNES, AUTDOR OF THE "■ BISTORT OF TDE TUIRTY-NINTU CONGRES?,"' ETC. hlj jportruHs on StccI bji jfcorgc g. ferine. VOLUME n. NEW YORK : (2/ PUBLISHED BY GEORGE E. FERINE, III NASSAU STREET. ISTO. KSTBRED ArcORDINO TO ACT OP CONGRE93, IN THE YEAR ISIO. BT WILLIAM n. BARNES and GEORGE E. PERINK, IN THE Office of the Libhaihan of Congress, at V-'afrington. E. W. GREEN, PRINTKR AND StBRKOTVPKH, 16 and IS Jacob Street, New-York. BIOGRAPHIES A^D PORTRAITS. t-^BBOTT, JOSEPH C, ADAMS, GEORGE M., _ ' ANDERSON, GEORGE W, U?-ANT}IONy, HENRY B. 'AENELL, SAMUEL M, , i^aSIILEY, DELOS R., ... G^AXTELL, SAMUEL B., €> BAILEY, ALEXANDER W. c: ' BAKER, JEHU, ^-T3ECK, JAMES B ^ BENJAJIIN, JOHN F., /^TJENTON, JACOB, ; BLACKBURN, W. JASPER, '<:OVODE, JOHN. > DAVIS, GARRETT, 81 3S9 AMES, OAKES „.„ .-,T^„^„^.,, ^ „^„ ■••• .... .... .... ... ^(0* aw) t ARCHER, STEVENSON. ' ' "" ' " „,!, 283 soil 301 307 * • • ■ ■ • ■ • 332 i-~ BALDWIN, JOHN D., „,. :,SANKS, NATHANIEL P ,..? . p BARNUM, WILLIAM H., .... C? BAYARD, JAMES A., '" BEAMAN, FERNANDO C, 221 72 222 t-BEATTY, JOHN, .... ioq 3G3 250 213 BOLES, THOMAS ' " jj^ 115 241 f-BOUTWELL, GEORGE S ^..^OWEN, C. C, 1^ BOY'DEN, NATHANIEL ^.^ ' BROMWELL, HENRY P. H "" .... "" ■■" '"" j^q "' "" 247 188 L'-BUCKLEY, CHARLES W C BURR, ALBERT G > BUTLER, BENJAMIN F "^ j^BUTLER, RODERICK R., jj'l i-CAKE, HENRY L., ... » CALLIS, JOHN B., t-CAMERON, SIMON, " CHURCHILL, JOHN C I^^CLARKE, READER W "■ COBB. AMASA, l^COBURN, JOHN, . . . .--CONKLING, ROSCOE, 57 I- COOK, BURTON C, 2j, CORLEY, SIMEON, 317 171 31 200 147 246 201 145 61 £-B AWES, HENRY L., 35.3 ,^ DELANO, COLUMBUS, "" . jgg DENISON, CHARLES, 355 ^ DEWEESE, JOHN T., .... " ' '" "'" 333 BIOGRAPHIES AND I'O 1! T U A I TS. ^ DICKEY, OLIVEU J., f DIXON, JAMES, DIXON, NATHAN F., J, DOCKERY, OLIVER U., t_-DODGE, GRENVILLE M. /- ECKLKY', EPIIRAIM E.. ^ EDMUNDS, GEORGE F t ^ ELA, JACOB H., ELDRIDGE, CIIAELES A EIXIOTT, JAMES T ELIOT, THOMAS D., FARNSWORTII, JOUN F., ;- FERRISS, ORANGE, . . t^FERRY, ORRIS S. 'FINNEY', DARWIN A., FOX, JOHN FRELINGUUYSEN, FREDERICK FRENCH, JOHN E FOWLER, JOSEPH S., / GETZ. J. LAWRENCE O GLOSSBRENNER, ADAM J., •^ GOLLADAY, JACOB «.^. .... CGOSS, JAMES 11., .... (:> GRAVELY, JOSEPH J r- GRIMES, JAMES \V., M3R1SW0LD, JOHN A., .Tci-J^f O GROVER, ASA P., ''' HAIGIIT, CHARLES i-HALSEY, GEORGE A., t--HAMILTON, CHARLES M., J>-HARDING, ABNER C, t^HAERIS, JOHN S cr-HAUGHEY, THOMAS, OHAWKINS, ISA.\C R C? HEATON, D.WaO, C? HENDERSON, JOHN B., ... ^ HIGBY, WILLIAM cOHILL, JOHN -• HINDS, JAMES, i^-«OLMAN, WILLIAM S (• HOPKINS, BENJAMIN F C- nOTCHKISS, JULIUS t- HOWARD, JACOB M., (.-< HOWE, TIMOTHY' O c> HUBBARD, ASAHEL W O HUBBARD, RICHARD D., C? HUMPHREY, JAMES M. i; HUNTER, MORTON C, ... ^-^ JONES, ALEXANDER 11 WONES, THOMAS LAURENS, r- KELLOGCi, FRANCIS W., ^-KELLOGG, WILLIAM P., .. KELSEY, WILLIAM H., '-KERR, MICHAEL C, .... CO KETCn.\M, JOHN H., t- KITCHEN, BETHUEL M., >r KNOTT, J. PROCTOR k'KOONTZ, WILLIAM H O LAFLIN, ADDISON II ti^LASU, ISRAEL G., 290 69 29S 849 111 an 75 180 273 327 289 271 165 65 340 307 60 231 70 250 3:4 351 312 319 54 105 353 362 193 243 149 89 313 210 os3 CO 213 196 325 205 277 295 13 21 30(i 296 304 181 3.34 352 350 87 309 200 25S 201 341 »18 .368 229 BIOGUAPniES AND PORTIIAITS. t^TNCOLN, WILLIAM S , .... . .... . 20-1 ctLOAN, BENJ.AMIN F , ..... 317 l.^«cCARTUy, DENNIS .... 293 ,7 Mccormick, J.-i^MES R 339 O-McCREERY, THOMAS C, 62 CMcCULLOUGII, HIRAM 320 L-McDONALD, ALEXANDER .... .... .... .... 77 C McKEE, S.\MDEL 3li3 C5MERCUR, tILYSSES 176 U'^IOORUEAD. JAMES K., .... .... .... .... .... .... 214 i— MORRILL, JUSTIN S .... .... .... .... ..... 55 i_-«ORRILL, LOT M. .... 59 <-^ORRISSEY, JOHN 257 t-MORTON, OLIVER P .... .... .... .... .... 41 OMULLINS, JAMES 322 j^MUNGEN, WILLI.\M, 267 U-^^EWSHAM, JOSEPH P., .... .... .... .... .... 237 *eTllBLACK, WILLIAM E 207 C? NOELL, THOMAS E a38 tfj-NORKIS, BENJAMIN W., 331 C> NORTON, Dx\NIEL S 88 £::?NUNN, DAVID A 310 L.^YE, JAMES W., 37 i3 O'NEILL, CHARLES 263 t^-ORTH, OODLOVE S 1.19 l^OSBORN, THOMAS W 91 [^ PAINE, HALBERT E., 119 C PATTERSON, D.WID T. 90 k-PERHAM, SIDNEY 199 /--PETERS, JOHN A., 2)8 j^-PETTIS, S. NEWTON, 349 OPLANTS, TOBLiS A., 288 t--POL.\ND, LUKE P. ..... 127 '^POLSLEY, DANIEL, ... 292 UPOMEROY, THEODORE M., . 369 b-l'OOL, JOHN, 84 O PRICE, HIRAM, 311 /-PRUYN, JOHN V. L., 263 ^--RAMSEY, ALEXANDER, .11 i, RANDALL, SAMUEL W. 361 ^R.\UM, GREEN 15., .... 335 .U^RICE, BENJAMIN F., 79 O. ROBERTSON, THOMAS J 98 V'ROOTS, LOR.\N 11., 227 ►-^lOSS, EDMUND G. 76 C3 SAULSBURY', WILLARD 71 /.-SAWYER, FREDERICK A., ... .... .... .... .... 9.-) /.SAWYER, PHILETUS, 197 C SELYE. LEWIS, .... .... ... ... .... .... 237 /,_SHANKS, JOHN P. C, 177 c::>SnELLABARGER, SAMUEL 192 «— SHERMAN. JOHN, 27 A' SITGRE.WES, CHARLES, .... .... .... .... .... a.'M ;-SMITH, W^ORTHINGTON C, 163 t'SPENCER, GEORGE a^. 85 •,-SPR.\GUE, WILLIAM, 35 lilOOKAI'IIlES AND POKTUAITS. L- WILLIAMS, (iEOUr.E II.. cr WILLUMS, THOJIAS, . C- WILLIAMS, WILLIAM, 219 167 l- STARKWEATHER, HENRY II. t^^TEVENS, AARON F., .... I^STEWART, WILLIAM M., -^ -^ STONE, FREDERICK .... .... .-■. 3'4 I- STOVER, JOHN 11., .... ... .... .-.• -••• •••• 3:n i SYPHER, J. HALE, .... .... ■■•■ ..•■ ■■• •••■ ^Ul t- TAIiER, STEPHEN, 3°^ tri TAFFE, JOHN ^^ C' TAYLOR, CALED N., ^5" t THOMAS, FRANCIS, 151 TIPTON, THOMAS W ^ TRIMBLE, JOHN, 318 ' TRIMBLE, LAWRENCE S .... 3^ y public officers charged with the custody of convicts. The bills admitting these States on such conditions to representation were returned by the President without his signature, and were promptly passed over the veto by more than the requii-ed two-thirds. On the 22d of Jnne, Messrs. McDonald and Kice, Senators elect from Arkansas, appeared at the bar of the Senate and were sworn in. On the day following, Messrs, Boles, Hinds, and Boot were admitted to the House as representatives from Arkansas. Senators and Bep- 2 THE FOKTIETII CONGRESS. resentativcs from tlic other reconstructed States were sworn in at later dates. All the Democratic members of the House, fortj-five in number, entered a solemn protest against " the recognized presence of these persons on the floor of the Ilonse from the State of Arkansas, sent here by military force acting under a brigadier-general of the army, but nevertheless claiming to be members of this Congress, and to share with us, the representatives of free States, in tlie imposition of taxes, and customs, and other laws upon our people. ^Vc protest against the now proposed co-partnership of military dictators and negroes in the administration of this Government." A concurrent resolution was ado])ted by both Houses on the 21st of July, stating that the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, which had been proposed by the Thirty-ninth Congress, had been adopted by more than three-fourths of the States, and had thus be- come a part of the Constitution. On the 28th of July the Secretary of State issued his official declaration that the said Amendment had become valid to all intents and purposes as a part of the Constitu- tion of the United States. That the political status of the colored man might be for ever settled, another Amendment to the Constitution was proposed by the Fortieth Congress providing that " The right of the citizens of the United States to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." This crowning act of the Fortieth Congress was passed in the House, February 25, 18G9, by one hundred and forty-three to forty-three, and in the Senate on the, following day by thirty-nine to twelve. The labors of the Fortieth Congress were not only devoted to the restoration of the original States, but to extending the Government over new regions. A bill was passed organizing the Territory of Wyoming. Another act appropriated $7,200,000 to pay for Alaska, and extend the laws of the United States all over that country. Circumstances seeming to demand legislation for the protection of American citizens abroad, the House of Kepresentatives instructed THE FORTIETH CONGRESS. 3 its Coinmittee ou Foreign Affairs to inquire and report whether any American citizens had been aitested, tried, and convicted in Great Britain or IreLind, for words spoken or acts done in the United States. Mr. Banks, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, presented a report upon the general question of the rights of naturalized Ameri- can citizens, and proposed a bill, which after amendment by the Senate became a law. It provides that all naturalized citizens ot the United States, while in foreign states, shall be entitled to, and shall receive from this Government, the same protection of persons and prop- erty that is accorded to native-born citizens in like situation and cir- cumstances. Tliat whenever it shall be made known to the President that any citizen of the United States has been unjustly deprived of his liberty by or under the autliority of any foreign Government, it shall be the duty of the President forthwith to demand of that Gov- ernment tlie reasons for such imprisonment ; and if it appears to be wrongful and in violation of the rights of American citizenship, the President shall forthwith demand tlie release of such citizen ; and if tlie release so demanded is unreasonably delayed or refused, it shall be the duty of the President to use such means, not amounting to acts of war, as he may think necessary and proper to obtain or effectuate such release, and all the facts and proceedings relative thereto shall as soon as practicable be communicated by the President to Congress. In the attempt to better the condition of citizens at home. Congress passed a bill providing that " Eight hours shall constitute a day's work for all laborers, mechanics, and workmen now employed, or who may hereafter be employed by, or in behalf of the Government of the United States." The Fortieth Congress was not deficient in the performance of its duty to legislate in behalf of races long deprived of civil and politi- cal rights. Early in the existence of the Fortieth Congress, a law was enacted providing that in the District of Columbia no person should be di^^iualified from holding office on account of race or color. Congress ordered that the Freedman's Bureau bo continued until July 16, 1SG9, and ordered the Secretary of War to re-establish the Bureau when it had been discontinued, if the personal safety of the freedmen 4 THE FORTIETH CONGRESS. required it, and to discontinue it where its necessity no longer existed, and providing that tlie educational division shoukl not be interfered with until a State made suitable provision for the education of the children of the freedmen within the State. A bill was passed to establish peace with Indian tribes, providing that commissioners should be appointed to select a district sufficient to receive all the tril)es east of the Eocky Mountains, not living ])eaceftdly on reservations; that the district should contain sufKcient arable and grazing land to enable tlieni to support themselves by ag- ricultural and pastoral pursuits ; the district to remain a permanent home for the tribes exclusively, and to be so located as not to inter- fere with the travel on higlnvays located by authority of the United States, nor with the routes of the Pacific Kailroads. The Fortieth Congress exempted all cotton grown in the United States after 1807 from Internal Kevenue tax, and reduced the tax on manufactures to such an extent as to diminish the Kevenue $00,000,- 000. The tax on whiskey was reduced to fifty cents per gallon. Il- licit distilleries were made liable to forfeit, their owners being sub- ject to fine and imprisonment. Inharmonious relations continued to exist between President John- son and Congress to the last. The President sent in numerous nom- inations to the Senate that were immediately rejected. The most remarkable instance was that of the mission to Austria, which had been resigned by Mr. Motley. The President successively nomin- ated ex-Senator Cowan of Pennsylvania, General Frank P. Blair, ex-Senator liesmith of Oregon, and Henry J. Raymond, M'ho were all rejected by the Senate. Reverdy Johnson, Senator from Mary- land, M-as confirmed by a unanimous vote as Minister to Eng- land. Mr. Stanberry, who had resigned the position of Attorney- General for the purpose of defending the President in the Impeach- ment Trial, was renominated and M'as rejected. Mr. Everts of tjjc President's counsel was subsequently nominated for the same office, and was confirmed. Near the close of the Fortieth Congress the Senate informally resolved that, except in cases of urgent necessity, no nomination to office made by President Johnson would be acted upon TUE FORTIETH CONGRESS. 5 The President's message, transmitted at the be-inning of the hist session of the Fortieth Congress, was more hostile in its tone than any that had preceded it. He made severe chai-ges against Congress and its legishition. " The various haws," said he, " which have been passed upon the subject of reconstruction, after a feir tiial, have sub- stantially failed, and proved pernicious in their results." He charg- ed that, "one hundred million dollars were annuall}' expended for the military force, a large portion of which is employed in the exe- cution of laws both irnnecessary and unconstitutional." He proposed a plan for paying the public debt by repudiating the principal. His message was denounced in both Houses as a disrespectful and often- eive document. In the Senate its reading was interrupted by ad- journment, but was resumed the following day. That portion relat- ing to the National Debt was made the subject of special animadver- sion, and resolutions disapproving and condemning it were passed in both branches. Many propositions were brought before the Fortieth Congress, from first to last, relating to the National Finances. At the very outset Mr. Edmunds proposed in tlie Senate a joint resolution, to the effect that, except in the cases when other provision was expressly made, the public debt is owing in coin or its equivalent. Another prominent financial scheme was presented by Senator Morrill, providing that, after the 4th of July, 1869, the Secretary of the Treasury should pay in coin all United States legal tender notes not bearing interest, and that after the same date all National Banks should be required to pay in coin all their circulating notes of $5, and under, and all of a higher denomination in coin or legal tender notes. In July, ISGS, a bill was proposed for funding the National Securities, providing that the holders of bonds paying 7.30 may ex- change them for new bonds at 3,05 running forty years, principal and interest payable in gold, the bonds and interest to be free from all taxation. This bill passed both Houses, but at so late a day that it was held by the President until after the adjournment, and thus failed to become a law. A bill was proposed by Mr. Sumner, providing for a return to specie payments July 4, 18G9, 6 THE FORTIETH CONGRESS and for funding the National Debt at a lower rate of interest. A bill V as proposed by Mr. Morton, designed to render at as early a date as possible the currency convertible into and therefore of equal value with gold. A directly opposite plan was proposed by General Butler in the House, looking to the indefinite prolongation of paper currency. No definite and final action was reached upon any of the financial plans proposed. It was thought proper to defer action upon these important questions until such time as the Legislative and Executive Departments of the Government should be in har- mony. '^ru. HENRY WILSOIvT. ^l^l^^ENRY WILSON was born at Farmington, IST. H., Feb- ruary 16, 1812, of poor parentage. He was early appren- ^St^ ticed to a farmer in bis native town, witb wbom be contin- ued eleven years, during wbicb period bis scbool privileges, at dif- ferent intervals, amounted to about one year. He early formed a taste for reading, wbicb be eagerly indulged on Sundays and even- ings by fire-ligbt and moon-light. Tbus, in tbe course of bis eleven years' apprenticeship, be read about 1,000 volmnes— mainly of his- tory and biography. On coming of age, young "Wilson left Farmington, and with all his possessions packed upon his back, walked to Natick, Mass., and hired himself to a shoemaker. Having learned the trade, and labored nearly three years, he returned to New Hampshire for the pmi>ose ot securing an education. His educational career, however, was sud- denly arrested by tbe insolvency of tbe man to wbom he had entrust- ed liis money, and in 1838 be returned to Natick to resume bis trade of shoemaking. Wilson was now twenty-six years of age, and up to this perioidden gnest. At the age of ten 3'cars — to aid iiiin who gave me being in keeping the gaunt specter from the hearth of the mother who bore me — I left the home of my bojdiood, and went forth to earn my bread by ' daily labor.' " From his youtli, Mr. "Wilson seems to have been deeply and perma- nently imbued with tlie spirit of hostility to Slavery, and few men have dealt more numerous or heavy blo^vs against the institution. His political career commenced in 1840. During tliis year he made upwards of sixty speeches in behalf of the election of Gen. Harrison. In the succeeding five years, he was three times elected a Eepresenta- tive, and twice a Senator, to the Massachusetts legislature. Here his stern opposition to Slavery was at once apparent, and in lSi5 he was selected, with the poet Whittier, to bear to Washington the great anti- slavery petition of Massachusetts against the annexation of Texas. In the same year he introduced in the legislature a resolution declar- ing the unalterable hostility of Massachusetts to the farther extension and longer continuance of Slavery in America, and her iixed deter- mination to use all constitutional and lawful means for its extinction. His speech on. this occasion was pronoimced by the leading anti-sla- very jomnals to be the fullest and most comprehensive on the Slavery question that had yet been made in any legislative body in the coun- try. The resolution was adopted by a large majority. Mr. Wilson was a delegate to the Whig National Convention of 1848, and on the rejection of the anti-slavery resolutions presented to that body, he withdrew from it, and was prominent in the organi- zation of the Free Soil party. In the following year he was chosen chairman of the Free Soil State Committee of Massachusetts — a post which he fiUed during four years. In 1850 he was again a membei of the State legislature ; and in 1851 and 1852 was a member of the Senate, and president of that body. He was also president of the Free Soil Ifational ConTcntion at Pittsbiirg in 1862, and chairman of the National Committee. He was the Free Soil candidate for Con- gress in 1852. In 1853 and 1854 he was an unsuccessfid candidate HENRY WILSON. 3 foi Governor of Massachusetts. In 1S53 he was an active and intlu- ential member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention. In 1855, was elected to tlie United States Senate to fill the vacancy- occasioned by the resignation of Mr. Everett. Mr. Wilson took his seat in the Senate in February, 1855, and, by a vote nearly unanimous, has been twice re-elected to that office. As a Senator, he has been uniformly active, earnest, faithful, prominent, and influential, — invariably evincing an inflexible and fearless opposi- tion to Slavery and the slave-power. In his very first speech, made a few days after entering the Senate, he announced for himself and his anti-slavery friends their uncompromising position. " We mean, sir," said he, " to place in the councils of the Nation men who, in the words of Jeflerson, have sworn on tlie altar of God eternal hostility to every kind of oppression over the mind and body of men." This was the key-note of Mr. Wilson's career in the Senate from that day to this. In the spring of 1856 occurred the assault upon Mr. Sumner by Preston S. Brooks of South Carolina. Mr. Wilson — whose fear- lessness is equal to his tii-mness and consistency — denounced this act as " brutal, murderous, and cowardlj'." These words, uttered on the floor of the Senate, drew forth a challenge from Mr. Brooks, which was declined by Wilson in terms so just, dignified, and manly, as to secm-e the warm approval of all good and right-minded ])eo])le. At the commencement of the rebellion, the Senate assigned to Mi\ Wilson the Chairmanship of the Military Committee. In view of his protracted experience as a member of this committee, joined with his great energy and industry, probably no man in the Senate was more completely quaUfied for this most important post. In this committee originated most of the legislation for raising, organizing, and governing the armies, while thousands of nominations of officers of all grades were referred to it. The labors of Mr. Wilson, as chairman of tlie coiinnittee, were inmiense. Important legislation aftecting the armies, and the thousands of nominations, could not but excite the liveliest interest of officers and their friends ; and they 9 4 HENRY WILSON. ever freely visited hiiu, consulted with, and wrote to him. Private soldiers, too, ever felt at liberty to visit him, or write to him concern- iiio; then- aflairs. Thousands did so, and so promptly did he attend to tlieir needs that tliey called him the " Soldiers Friend." As clearly as any man in the country, Mr. Wilson, at the com- mencement of the rebellion, discerned the reality and magnitude of the impending conflict. Hence, at the fall of Fort Sumter, when President Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 men, the clear-sighted Sen- ator advised that the call should be for 300,000 ; and immediately in- duced the Secretary of "War to double the number of regiments assigned to Massachusetts. In the prompt forwarding of these troops Mr. Wilson was specially active. Throughout that spring, and until the meeting of Congress, July 4th, he was constantly occupying liim- self at Washington, aiding the soldiers, working in the hospitals, and preparing the necessary military measures to be presented to the na- tioiuil legislature. Congress assembled ; and, on the second day of the session, Mr. Wilson introduced several important bills relating to the military wants of the country, one of which was a bill authorizing the employ- ment of 500,000 volunteers for three years. Subsecpiently Mr. Wil- son introduced another bill authorizing the President to accept 500,- 000 volunteers additional to those already ordered to be employed. During this extra session, Mr. Wilson, as Chairman of the Military Committee, introduced other measures of great importance relating to the appointment of army officers, the purchase of arms and muni- tions of war, and increasing the pay of private soldiers, — all of which measiu'es were enacted. In fact, such was his acti\-ity and ef- ficiency in presenting and urging forward plans for increasing and organizing the armies necessary to put down the rebellion, that Gen- eral Scott declared of Mr. Wilson that he " had done more work in that short session than all the chairmen of the military committees had done for the last twenty years." After the .lefeat at Bull Rmi, Mr. Wilson was earnestly solicited by Mr. Cameron, Mr. Seward, and ISIr. Chase, to raise a regiment of in- 10 IIENUY WILSON. 5 faiitry, a company uf sliarp-sliooters, and a battery of artillery. Ac- cordingly, retimiing to Massacliusetts, lie issued a stirring appeal to the "young men of the State, addressed several public meetings, and in forty days he succeeded in rallying 2,300 men. He was com- missioned colonel of the Twenty-second Eegiment, and with his regi- ment, a company of sharp-shooters, and the third battery of artillery, he retiu-ned to Washington as colonel ; and afterwards, as aid on the staif of General McClellan, Mr. Wilson served until the beginning of tlie following year, when pressing duties in Congress forced him to resign his military commission. Eeturniug to his seat in the Senate, Mr. Wilson originated and carried through several measures of great importance to tlie interests of the army and the country. Among these was the passage of bills relating to courts-martial, allotment certificates, army-signal depart- ment, sutlers and their duties, the army medical department, en- couragement of enlistments, making free the wives and children of colored soldiers, a uniform system of army ambulances, increas- ing still farther the pay of soldiers, establishing a national mili- tary and naval asylum for totally disabled officers and men of the volunteer forces, encouraging the employment of disabled and dis- charged soldiers, securing to colored soldiers equality of pay, and other wise and judicious pro^^sions. Invariably true and constant in his sympathies for the down- trodden and oppressed, Mr. Wilson never once forgot the slave, for whose freedom and elevation he had consecrated his time and energies for more than a quarter of a century. He actively participated in the measures culminating in the anti-slavery amendment to the Consti- tution. He introduced tlie bill abolishing Slavery in the District of Columbia, by which more than three thousand slaves M'ere made free, and Slavery made for ever impossible in the capital of the Nation. He introduced a provision, which became a law. May 21, 1862, "piwnd- iiig' that persons of color in the District of Columbia should be sub- ject to the same laws to wliich white persons were subject; that they should be tried for offenses against the laws in tlie same manner 11 6 HENRY WILSON. as white persons were tried ; and, if convicted, be liable to the same penalty, and no other, as woiJd be inflicted npon white persons for the same crime." He introduced the amendment to the Militia Bill of 1705, which made negroes a part of the militia, and providing for the freedom of all such men of color as should be called into the ser- vice of the United States, as well as the freedom of their mothers, wives, and children. This, with one or two other measures cif a kin- dred character, introduced by Mr. Wilson, and urged forward thi-ough much and persistent opposition, resulted in the freedom of nearly 100,000 slaves in Kentucky alone. After the close of the war, Mr. Wilson was no less active and in- fluential in procuring legislation for the suitable reduction of the army than he had been in originating measm-es for its creation. Making an extended tour through the Southern States, he delivered numerous able and instructive addresses on political and national to])ics. He was among the first to declare himself in fiivor of General Grant as the Eepublican candidate for the Presidency. After the nomination, Mr. Wilson entered with great zeal into the canvass, and made some of the ablest speeches of the campaign. Amid the pressure of public duties, Mr. Wilson has found time for literary pursuits. He is the author of a " History of the Anti- Slavery Measures of the Thirty-seventh and Thirty -eighth Congresses," and " History of the Keconstruction Measures of the Thirty-ninth Congress." In his personal character Mr. Wilson is without reproach. He possesses purity as stainless as when he entered politics, and integrity as unimpeachable as when first elected to office. He is one of the most practical of statesmen, and one of the most skillful of legislative tacticians. Hk forte as a Senator is hard work — the simple and effi- cient means by which he has arisen from humble origin to his present high position. 12 ■^^t/^Ln^ ^^^^^ JACOB M. HOWARD. ACOB M. HOWAED was born iu Shaftsbuvy, Vermont, July lOth, 1805. His father was a substantial fanner of Bennington County, and the sixth in descent from William I^wai-d, who settled in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1C35, five years after the town was established. The subject of this sketch, althouo-h frequently in requisition to assist in farm labors, early evinced a taste for study, whicli he was permitted at intervals to gratify by attendance at the district school. Subsequently pursuing preparatory studies in the academies of Ben- nington and Brattleboro, lie entered Williams College in 1826. His studies were much interrupted, in consequence of his want of means and the necessity of teaching to pay expenses, yet, with charac- teristic perseverance, he made his way tlu-ongh college, and graduated in 1830. lie immediately commenced the study of law in Ware, Massachusetts, and in July, 1832, he removed to Detroit, then the capital of Michigan Territory, where he was admitted to the bar in the following year. In 1835 he was married to Catharine A. Shaw, a young lady whose acquaintance he had formed at Ware. In his professional career, Mr. Howard was ever faithful to the interests of his clients, bringing to their service great industry, a mind well stored with legal learning, much native sagacity and force of logic. In 1835 he was a Whig candidate for a seat in the Convention to form a State Constitution, but was not elected. In the controversy of 1831 and 1835 between the Territory and Ohio, respecting a tier of to^\^lship3 which had ever belonged to Michigan, on her southern border, embracing the present city of Toledo, Mr. Howard took strong ground against the claim of Ohio ; 13 •i JACOB M. IIOWAUI). and, Iiavini;- employed liis pen in repelling it, linally, when Mr. Mason, tiie teri-itorial governor, thought it necessary to employ mili- tary loroe against a similar force from Ohio, Mr. Howard volun- teered, and jiroceeded with arms to make good the arguments he had advanced. The expedition was, however, productive only of waste- ful expenditure to the Territory, and a large slaughter of pigs and poultry. In 1S3S, Mr. Howard was a member of the State Legislature, and took an active part in the enactment of the code known as the He- vised Laws of that year ; in the railroad legislation of the State ; and in examining into the condition of the brood of " free banks," known as " wildcat banks," that had come into pernicious existence under the free-banking system enacted the year before. This exam- ination developed such a scene of fraud and corruption in the local currency of the State, that the paper of those banks soon lost all ci'edit ; and the State Supreme Court, as soon as the question was fairly brought before it, adjudged them to be all unconstitutional and void; a decision in which the community most heartily ac- quiesced. Li the presidential canvass of ISiO, which resulted in the election of General Harrison, Mr. Howard was a candidate for Congress, and was elected by 1,500 majority. During the three sessions of the Twenty-seventh Congress he engaged but seldom in debate, but was an attentive observer of the scenes which passed before him. His feelings and opinions had ever been against slavery, its influences, its crimes, its power. John Quiney Adams and Joshua li. Giddings, both members of the House, championed the anti-slavery cause. Henry A. Wise, Mr. Gilmer, and Mr. Mallory, of Virginia, and Thomas F. Marshall, of Kentucky, M'ere the leading combatants on the other side. The conflict, wdiich occupied a large portion of that Congress, was fierce and fiery. With what interest did Mr. Howard, then a new member and a young man, drink in the words of the " old man eloquent," as he unfolded his niighty argument against the " sum of all villainies," and the dangers it menaced to the liberties of our crmutry ! 14 JACOB M. IIOAVARD. 3 lie left tliat Coiii^ness with the full conviction that the final soln- tiou of the o-reat question would he in a civil war, though hoping that some measure might be devised less radical and terrible, that should calm the deeply-stirred passions of the people. He remained steadfastly attached to the Whig party, and in the presidential can- vasses of 1844, 1843, and 1852, exerted himself to promote the elec- tion of Mr. Clay, General Taylor, and General Scott. In the trial of a slave case, under the fugitive slave act of 1850, in the United States Circuit Court, before Judge McLean, he denounced that act as a defiance, a challenge to the conflict of arms, l)y the Soutii to the Nortli, and predicted that sooner or later it would be accepted ; and characterized its author (Mr. Mason, of Virginia,) as an enemy of his country and a traitor to the Union. On the defeat of General Scott he resolved to withdraw entirely from iiolitics ; but on the passage of the act of 1854, repealing tlie Missouri compromise, he again entered the political arena in resist- ance to that flagrant encroachment of the slave power. He was among those who took the earliest steps to eflTect an organization for the overthrow of the Democratic party of the jSTorth, whicli had be- come the willing ally of the pro-slavery or secession party of the South. He saw that such a party must embrace all the elements of popular opposition to the principles and aims of the slaveholders. The old Whig party, never as a party having made its influence felt in op- position to those principles and aims, had become powerless as an ao-ency whereby to combat them — or even to move the hearts of the peo- ]_ile. Yet liy far the greater portion of its members in the free states were in sentiment opposed to the schemes of the slave power, now too manifest to be misapprehended or viewed with indiflerence. To count upon this portion of the Whig party was obvious. The great end to be obtained was a firm and cordial union of this with two other elements, the old Abolition party proper, and the " Free Soil Democracy." In Michigan, these last two had already coalesced and had put in nomination a State ticket, at the head of which was the name of Hon. Kinsley S. Bingham as their candidate for Governor. A call, numerously signed, was issued, inviting all freemen of the 15 4 .IA( OT! M. HOWARD. State, opposed to tlie recent measures of Congress on the subject of slavery, to assemble at Jackson on the 6tli of July. The assemblage ^•as numerous, and the utmost harmony and good feeling prevailed. "Whigs," "Abolitionists," "Free Soilers," and "Liberty Men," met and shook hands like a band of brothers. A deep seriousness per- vaded the whole, and a prescience of the events soon to develop themselves, seemed to teach them that this was the "beginning of the end " of slavery. Mr. Howard was the sole author of the series of resolutions that were adopted. They strongly denounced slavery as a moral, social and political evil, as a source of national weakness and endless internal sti-ife ; they condemned the repeal of the Missouri compromise and the consequent opening of all the new territories to slavery ; they encouraged in no equivocal terms the free settlers of Kansas to resist the tyranny and outrages with which the slave power was seeking to crush them. They went further — they demanded, not the restoration of that com]:>romise, but, as an indemnity for the future, as just and necessary safeguards against the grasping ambition of slaveholders, the banishment of slavery, by law, from all the ter- ritories of the United States, from the District of Columbia, and all other places owned by the Government. They invoked the cordial co-operation of all persons and parties for the attainment of these great ends ; and gave to the new party there consolidated the name of " Republicajsts," * by M-hich it has since been known. Mr. Bingham was here again nominated for Governor, and Mr. Howard, against his own earnest remonstrances, put in nomination for Attorney-General of the State. At the ensuing Xovember elec- tion, the whole ticket was elected by a large majority, notwithstand- ing the earnest appeals of General Cass and other speakers from the stunij), struggling against the popular current. Mr. Howard was a member of the committee on the address at the fii"st national Eepublican convention held at Pittsburgh, February 22d, 1850. He held the office of Attorney-General of Michigan for >ix years, and left it January 1st, 1801. "While holding that impor- * Mr. Greoley sngjested the name of "Democratic Republican party," but as the Democratic party had been the authors and abettors of the measures complained of, the new party rejected even any nominal connection with thorn. 16 J A C O B M . II O W A K D . 5 tant office, Lis incessant labors attested liis fidelity to his trust ; and the published reports of the Supreme Coxirt evince his thoroughness and talents as a lawyer. To him the State is indebted for its excel- lent law, known as the registration act, by which all voters arc re- quired to enter their names on the proper books of townships and wards. Mr. Binghani was elected to the United States Senate in January, 1859, and died in October, 1861. On the assembling of the Legisla- ture in January following, Mr. Howard was chosen to fill the va- cancy. He was an active member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and that on Military Attairs. He gave an earnest support to all the measures for the prosecution of the war to subdue the rebel- lion, and was among the first to recommend the passage of the Con- scription Act of 1863, being convinced that the volunteer system could Tiot safely be relied upon as a means of recruiting and increas- ing the army. Every measure for supplying men and means found in him a warm supporter. He favored the principle of confiscation of the property of the rebels, and one of his most elaborate and elo- (pient speeclics was made on that subject in April, 1862. A careful observer of the movements of parties, he early came to the conclusion that General McClellan was acting in the interest of the anti-war portion of the Democratic party, and consequently lost all confidence in his efficiency as a conimander. Influenced by this feeling, he called on President Lincoln, in company with Senator Lane of In- diana, in March, 1862, and earnestly urged the dismissal of that Gen- eral from the command of the Army of the Potomac. But Mr. Lin- coln thought it best, as he said, " to try Mac a little longer." He added : " Mac is slow, but I still have confidence in him." And thus McClellan was retained in command. Mr. Howard was among the first to favor an amendment of the Constitution, abolishing slavery throughout the United States, in the Judiciary Committee of the Senate, who reported the amendment as it was finally passed by both houses and ratified by the State Leg- islatures. He drafted the first and principal clause in the exact words in which it now appears. Some members of the Committee re- 17 G JACOB M. noWAKD. marked despairiuglj: '"it is undertaking too much ; we cannot get it tlirough the Legishxtiires, or even the houses of Congress." Mr. Howard replied with animation : " We can ! Now is the time. oSTone can be more propitious. The people are with us, and it" we give them a cliance tliey will demolish slavery at a blow. Let us try ! " In -Tanuary, 1S65, Mr. Howard was re-elected to the Senate for tlie full term commencing on the -itli of March of that 3'ear. Tlie suc- cesses of our arms in the southwest, and the hope of converting reb- els into union men there, had indnced President Lincoln to send General Banks with a large force to New Orleans, and by formal in- structions to invest liiin with authority to hold, under his own military orders, elections of members of new State conventions, to result finally in the reconstruction of the State governments. This strange plan of reconstruction required the assent of only one-tenth part of the white voters. Tlie crudest and most unsatisfactory of all plans of reconstruction, it went into operation in Louisiana, and was in truth the suggestion of that stupendous plan of iisurpation of the powers of Congress under the pretense of reconstructing the rebel States afterwards, in the summer of 1865, attempted to be carried out hy Andrew Johnson, when he became President by the assassination of Mr. Lincoln. A joint resolution for the recognition of Louisiana, or- ganized under the military orders of General Banks, came before the Senate from the Judiciary Committee, and was the subject of ani- mated and elaborate discussion. Mr. Howard opposed it, and on the 25th of February, 1865, delivered a speech in which he fully and clearly demonstrated, that in the reconstruction of the seceded States tlie authority of Congress was supreme and exclusive, and that the executive as such was invested with no authority wliatever. He in- sisted that by seceding from the Union, and in making war upon the Government, the rebel States became enemies in the sense of the laws of nations, and thus forfeited their rights and privileges as States ; that consequently, when subdued by the arms of the Government, they were " conquered " and lay at the mercy of their conquerors, for exactly the same reason as prevails in cases of international wars ; that it pertained to the law-making power of the ITnited States, not IS JACOB M. HOWARD 7 to tbc President, to deal with the sulijugated coinmunities, and tliat Congress in its own discretion was to judge of the time and mode of re-admitting tlieni as States of the Union. And this is the doctrine that has practically and finally prevailed, after a most gigantic strug- gle between the two branches of the Government. In the reconstruction legislation of 1867 and 1868, the principles of constitutional law, thus atSrmed by Mr. Howard, were fully recog- uized and put into practice ; for that legislation rests exclusively upon the ground that Congress, and not the President, is vested with the power of reorganizing tlie rebel States. During the session of 1S65-6, he served on the joint committee on Keconstruction, one of whose duties was to inquire and report upon the condition of the rebel States. For convenience the committee divided them into several districts, and to Mr. Howard was assigned Virginia, North Carolina and Soutli Carolina. The voluminous report of this committee, containing the testimony of the numerous witnesses examined, shows the extent of their labors and tiie perplexing nature of the subjects committed to them. As the principal result of tlieir labors, they submitted to Congress a proposition to amend the Consti- tution, now known as tlie Fourteenth Article : a most important amendment, which, after thorough discussion, in which Mr. Howard took a leading part, passed both liouses of Congress and was submitted to the State legislatures for ratification. Had it been ratitied by the State governments of the rebel States, inaugurated bv the executive proclamations of Mr. Johnson, all the troubles that followed would liave been avoiiled. But that singular man and a majority of his cabinet strenuously opposed and defeated it in those bodies. The result is known. Forced to vindicate their own authority, and to prevent anarchy in those States, Congress, in March, 1867, enacted the first of that series of statutes known as the reconstruction acts, hj which they declared those States without legal governments, and subjected them to a quasi military rule until proper State constitu- Jons could be formed on the principle of impartial suffrage of whites and blacks, and until Congress should formally re-admit tliem. In the earnest struggle to uphold this legislation, Mr. Howard was ever 19 S JACOB M. HOWARD. at his post of duty. He drew tlie report of the Committee on Mili- tary Affairs, on the removal of Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War, by President Johnson, strongly condemning that act, and exposing Mr. Johnson's complicity in the " New Orleans Eiots." When the contest between the two branches of the government resulted in the impeachment of Mr. Johnson by the House cf Kepre- sentatives, Mr. Howard voted the accused guilty of the high crimes and misdemeanors charged in the articles of impeachment. He is a man of medium stature, compact frame, and much power of endur- ance. He is an eloquent speaker and a formidable antagonist in de- bate. He is as exemplary in his private life as honorable in his public career. 90 -E^g ^-ijyGE.PerVtt® ^yi/i^rty;^iyo^^^^ HON TIMOTHY O. HOWy. SENATOR FROM^VISCONSIK TIMOTHY O. HOWE. ,v- pIMOTIIY O. HOWE is a native of Livermore, Maine, and 1'^ was bora on the 2itli of February, 1816. Many generations since, his ancestors settled in Massachusetts. His lather ■was a physician, living in a strictly rural district, having a wide prac- tice among the farming community of fifty years ago. After receiving a good common school education, Mr. Howe studied law, first with Hon. Samuel P. Benson, of Winthrop, and subsequently with Judge Robinson, of Ellsworth. In 1839 he was admitted to the bar, and immediately commenced the practice of his profession, at Readfleld. In 18il he married Miss L. A. Haynes. In politics, he -was an ardent Whig, and a devoted admirer of Henry Clay. Taking a warm interest in political questions, he was elected by the Whigs of his district as a member of the popular branch of the Maine Legislature of 1845. The Hon. William Pitt Fessenden was a member of the same body. In the Legislature he took an active part in discussions, and was recognized as a young man of unusual promise. In the latter part of that year he removed from Maine to the Territory of Wisconsin, and opened a law office at Green Bay, which, at that time, was a small village, separated from the more thickly settled parts of the Territory by a wide belt of forest, extending for forty or fifty miles to the southward. He soon became known, how- ever, to the people of the Territory, and upon its admission into the Union, in 1818, was nominated by the Whigs for Congress. The district being largely Democratic, he was defeated. In 1850 he was elected Judge of the Cii-cuit Court. At that time the Circuit Judges of the State were also Judges of the Supreme Court, and Judge Howe was, during a part of his term, Chief Justice of the State. In 21 2 TIMOTHY O. HOWE. 1854, immediately after the passage of the Nebraska hill, the Whigs, Free Soilers, and Anti-Xebraska Democrats, of Wisconsin, met in mass convention at Madison, the capital, and organized theKepubli- can party in that State. This occurred two years before the national organization of the part}'. Judge Howe was then on the bench, and took no active part in politics, but published a letter expressing his hearty approbation of the movement. The following year he resigned his office as Judge and resumed the practice of the law. He bore a leading part in the State canvass of that and the following year, as a speaker, in the advocacy of Eepublican principles and the election of the nominees of the Republican party. The year 185G was signalized by one of the most remarkable judi- cial trials in the history of jurisprudence. At the general election in November, 1855, Hon. Wm. A. Barstow, then the Governor of Wisconsin, was the Democratic candidate for re-election. The can- didate of the Republican or opposition party was Hon. Coles Bash- ford, recently a delegate from the Territory of Arizona in the For- tieth Congress. The canvassers determined that Mr. Barstow had received the greatest number of votes. In pursuance of that determination a certificate of election was issued to him, signed by the Secretary of State, and authenticated by the great seal of the State, and on the opening of the next political year Mr. Barstow took the oath of office, and was re-inaugurated with imposing ceremonies and much display of military force. Mr. Bashford averred that, in fact, the greater number of legal votes were cast for him, and not for Mi-. Barstow. He contended that the canvass was fraudulent and false, and he resolved to try the validity of Mr. Barstow's title by a suit at law. Accordingly he also took the oath of office. On the 15th of January the Attorney-General filed, in the Supreme Court of the State, an information in tlie nature of quo warranto against the acting Governor. That is su]iposed to be the only instance in the history of Government, when the people of a State have appealed to the judicial authority to dispossess an incumbent of the executive office. 22 TIMOTHY O. HOWE. 3 Some of the best professional talent in the State was employed iu the conduct of the cause, and in its progress party feeling was stirred to its lowest depths. An attempt was made to deter the prosecution by threats that the litigation would be protracted so that no judgment could be obtained during the Gubernatorial term. It was broadly liinted on the argument, and freely asserted by a portion of the press, that, if the court should give judgment for the relator, the respondent, hav- ing alrea.ly the command of the militia of the State, would not submit to'the judgment. For the relator appeared, besides Mr. Howe, Mr. E. G. Eyan, Mr. J. II. Knowlton, and the late Postmaster-General, Hon. A. W. Eandall, while the defence was managed by Mr. J. E. Arnold, Judge Orton and the present Senator Carpenter. It was expected that Mr. Eyan would lead the prosecution. He was a Democrat in politics, and so was politically opposed to his client ; and, moreover, was a lawyer unsurpassed for ripe learning and forensic ability by any member of the profession in the United States. But an unfortunate disagreement between him and the court, in the commencement of the contest, induced his temporary withdraw- al from the case, and thereupon the lead was assigned to Mr. Howe. A sketch of the progress of the case would hardly fail to interest both the professional and the general reader ; but space forbids. The prosecution, however, was completely triumphant. In spite of threat- ened delays, the court unanimously gave judgment for the relator, on the 2Ath day of March, 1856 — biit little more than two months from the commencement of proceedings —and in spite of threatened resistance, the relator was, on the next day, quietly and peaceably installed in the ofRce. The reputation won by Judge Howe, in the management of that great State trial, gave to liis name marked prominence as a candidate •for the U. S. Senate in the place of Hon. Henry Dodge, whose term expired on the -Ith of March, 1857. When the Legislature assembled, his election was regarded as al most certain. But no sooner had the canvass for Senator fairly opened, tlian a novel question was raised in the party, for an explana- tion of which it is necessary to refer to events that had transpired 23 i TIMOTHY O. HOWE. some years before. lu 185i a fugitive slave from Missouri was arrested at Kaciiie, Wisconsin, taken to Milwaukee, and there thrown into jail for security, while the master was engaged in com- l^lying with the legal forms necessary to enable him to reclaim his human property. The fugitive had been treated with great bar- barity at the time of his arrest, and popular feeling, inflamed by this circumstance, and by detestation of Slavery and the Fugitive Slave act, became so turbulent that it resulted in the organization of a mob which broke open the jail, released the fugitive, and sent him to Can- ada. Some of the prominent actoi's in this proceeding were arrested for violating the provisions of the Fugitive Slave law, but were re- leased upon a writ of habeas corpus, partly upon technical grounds, and partly on the ground that the Fugitive Slave act was unconsti- tutional. Subsequently the case came before the Supreme Court of the State, and one of the Judges delivered a A'ery elaborate opinion, pronouncing the Fugitive act unconstitutional, and affirming the most ultra doctrines of the State Eights school of Southern politi- cians, but applying them to the detriment instead of the support of slavery. The decision became at once immensely popular with a great number of radical anti-slavery men in the State, and was thought by them to be an admirable example of capturing the guns of an enemy and turning them against him. This class of Republi- cans regarded what they termed an anti-State Eights Eepublican as a little worse than an out and out pro-slavery Democrat. Accord- ingly, when the senatorial election approached, in the winter of 1857, the friends of other candidates raised the cry of State Eights, and averred that Judge Howe was iiusound on that issue. In a caucus of the Eepublican members of the Legislature a resolution was adopted in substance identical with the first of the celebrated Ken- tucky resolutions of 1798, declaring the right of each State to be the final judge of the constitutionality of laws of the United States, and in case of infractions upon what it held to be its rights, that it should determine for itself as to the mode and measure of redress. Each of the candidates was requested to declare whether or not he ap- proved of the doctrines of the resolution. Judge Howe alone re- 24 TIMOTHY O. HOWE. 5 fused to endorse tliem. He preferred to remain a private citizen rather than secure a seat in the Senate by endorsing doctrines which he regarded as unsupported by tbe Constitution, and in practice fatal to the perpetuity of the Union. Tlie result was that he was de- feated, and the Hon. James K. Doolittle elected. But his defeat on such grounds attached to him, by the strongest ties of per- sonal esteem and devotion, a large body of influential mem- bers of the party who were in harmony witli him on the question of State Sovereignty. Tliey agreed with their opponents that the Fugitive Slave law was an infamous statute, and they thought it unconstitutional ; but they denied that a State court possessed the right of passing final judgment upon a law of the United States. Upon this question a dangerous division continued among the Republicans of Wisconsin, until the breaking out of the rebellion. Judge Howe was the leader of the Republicans who repudiated the State Sovereignty theory. At every Republican State Convention the question arose, and the opponents of State Sovereignty, only by dint of the most strenu- ous eflorts, succeeded in fighting oft' an endorsement of the principle In the Republican platform of the State. On two occasions, once be- fore a Republican State Convention, and again in the Assembly Cham- ber during the session of the Legislature, Judge Howe met in debate the ablest and most brilliant champions of the State Sovereignty the- ory, the Hon. Carl Schurz, then a resident of Wisconsin, and Judge A. D. Smith, the author of the opinion pronouncing the Fugitive law null and void, and achieved a signal victory over them in the argu- ment of the question. The next senatorial election in Wisconsin occur- red in the winter of 1861. In the pretended secession of the Southern States, justified upon the ground of the sovereignty of each State, the people had a practical illustration of the ultimate consequence of the doctrine. It was the vindication of Judge Howe. The quality of his Republicanism was no longer questioned, and a Republican Leg- islature elected him to the Senate. From that time to the present ne has borne himself in all the new and perplexing crises, that have occm-red in our political history in such a manner as to secure the approbation of his constituents, and the csteen\ and confidence of 25 TIMOTHY O. HOWE. his associates. During the war he served on the Senate Committee on Finance, and several minor committees, and in the Fortieth Con- gress was Chairman of the Committee on Claims, and a member of tlie Committee on A])propriations, and on the Public Library. He was among the earliest advocates of Emancipation, of Universal Suf- frage, and of the right and expediency of establishing Territorial Gov- ernments over those districts of country in which Civil Government was overthrown by Kebellion. As a consequence he was among the foremost of those who took issue with the policy of President John- son — and some of his ablest speeches in the Senate were delivered in the winter of 1865-1866, at the time when the division between the Eadical and the Johnson Eepublicans began to assume the form of an open rupture. Upon the expiration of his term, in 1867, Senator Howe was re elected. Few representatives have ever received so signal evidence of the esteem and confidence of their constituency as was awarded him on that occasion. Every Eepublican member of the Legisla- ture favored his re-election. Ko other candidate was spoken of. He was the unanimous choice of his party. In his senatorial career, he had displayed so much of abilit}', so much of consistency and steadfast adherence to principle, that the people of his State de- manded his re-election with unexampled unanimity. As a conse- quence, no legislative caucus M-as held to nominate a candidate for Senator, and Mr. Howe received the unanimous vote of the Eepub- lican members when the election occurred. In politics, as may be gathered from the above. Senator Howe is a Eadical. He would abridge no man's rights on account of creed, or race, or complexion. As a speaker, he is deliberate and impressive, with a ready command of language and all the resources of extemporaneous oratory. He appears, indeed, to the best advan- tage in the sudden exigencies of debate, the excitement of the occa- sion stimulating his faculties, and rousing them to the fullest action. In private life, he is social and genial, attaching men to him by his cordiality and frankness, and winning their enduring respect by his purity of character and genuine worth. 26 JOHN SHERMAJS". i ■N 1634, three Sliennaiis — two brothers and a cousin— emigra- ted from Essex, England, to tlie infant colony of Massachu- setts Bay. One of them settled in Connecticut, where his family remained and prospered for many years. A great-grandson of the emigrant, who had become a Judge of one of the Connecticut Courts, dying in 1815, his son, Charles Eobert Sherman, himself a thoroughly educated lawyer, removed to Ohio, where he soon acquired an extensive practice, and in 1823 became one of the Judges of the Supreme Court. He married young, and had a family of eleven children. In 1829, he died suddenly of cholera, leaving his family in destitute circumstances. One of his sons was "William Tecumseh Sherman, now General of the Army. The eighth child of the family -was John Sherman, who was born in Lancaster, Ohio, May 10, 1823. lie went steadily to school at Mount Vernon, Ohio, until he was fourteen years old. He was then sent to the Muskingum Improve- ment, to earn his own support, and to learn the business of a civil engineer, and was placed under the care of Colonel Samuel R. Curtis, the resident engineer of the work. He was thus employed for two years, in -ndiich he acquired the best part of his early educa- tion, in learning the methods and forms of business, and acquiring habits of industry and self-reliance. The election of 1838, which brought the Democratic party into power, was followed by the re- moval of Colonel Curtis from his position, and the consequent loss of employment by John Sherman. His engineering apprenticeship closing thus abruptly, he com- menced the study of law with his brother, Charles T. Sherman, now United States District Judge in Ohio, who was then engaged as a lawyer, in Mansfield, Ohio. The day after he was twenty-one years 27 2 JOHN SHERMAN. old, he obtained a license to practice law, and immediately entered into a partnership with his brother, which lasted for eleven years. Entering at once upon an extensive practice, he soon obtained a wide reputation as a laborious, honest, and successful lawyer. In politics, John Sherman took a profound interest, although, as an ardent Whig, in a strongly Democratic district, he had no hope of obtaining office. He was sent as a delegate to the Whig National Conventions of ISiS and 1852, and in the latter year was chosen a Presidential Elector. When the Nebraska issue arose in 1854, he felt the necessity of combining all the elements of opposition against the further exten- sion of Slavery, and earnestly labored to build up the political organ- ization M'hich soon developed into the Republican party. He ac- cepted a nomination for Representative in Congress, from the Thir- teenth Ohio District, and, to his surprise, was elected. He entered the House of Representatives of the Thirty-fourth Congress, fully equipped for useful and successful public service. Fluent in debate, patient of details, laborious in investigation, conciliatory in temper, and persistent in purpose, he entered at once upon a successful con- gressional career. In the first session of the Thirty-fourth Congress, he served upon the Kansas Investigating Committee, and prepared the famous re- port which the Committee presented to the House of Representatives and to the country. This brought him at once into honorable prom- inence before the people. At the close of the session the Repub- lican members of the House, through the influence of Mr. Sherman, adopted the amendment to the Army Bill, denying the validity of the slavery-extending laws of Congress. Had the Republican party stood upon that declaration as a platform, they would probably have carried the presidential election of 1856. Mr. Sherman wrote an ad- dress to the people of the United States, elaborating the principle contained in that declaration. Although it was agreed upon by the Republican members of the House, Mr. Seward and other Senators dissented, and the doctrine was not promulgated. In the Thirty-fifth Congress, Mr. Sherman took an active part in 28 JOHN SHERMAN. 3 the heated contest over the Lecoiiipton Constitution and the En- glish Bill, and made many powerful speeches. He served as Chair- man of the Naval Investigating Committee which made a most dam- aging exposure of the complicity of Buchanan and Toucey witli the crimes of the slavery propagandists. He made an important speech upon the public expenditure, which was widely circulated as a cam- paign document. At the opening of the Thirty-sixth Congress occurred the memor- able contest for the Speakership, in which Mr. Sherman was the can- didate of the Republicans. He had signed a recouimendation of Helper's " Impending Crisis," and this was made the pretext by the Southern members for a violent opposition to his election. Through a long series of ballotings he lacked but one or two votes of an elec- tion. In order to secure an organization, his name was finally with- drawn, and Mr. Pennington was elected. Mr. Sherman was at once honored with the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ways and Means, by virtue of which he became leader of the House of Eepre- sentatives. He distinguished himself as chairman of this committee by putting through the House the Morrill Tariif, a measure greatly promotive of material prosperity to the country. In an important speech, delivered in reply to Pendleton, February, 1861, he displayed a statesmanlike perception of the result of the conflict to which the South was rushing with such arrogant confi- dence, predicting that slavery would be destroyed, and that the North would triumph. Mr. Sherman was elected as a Eepresentative to the Thirty-seventh Congress, but on the resignation of Mr. Chase, as a United States Senator, he was elected by the Legislature to a seat in the Senate. He was placed upon the most important committee of the Senate, that of Finance. He introduced the National Bank Bill, and had charge of that important measure, as well as of the Legal Tender Acts, on the floor and in the debates. His labors were chiefly confined to finance and taxation— to pro- viding money and maintaining credit to carry on the war. In Jan- uary, 1863, he delivered a speech against the continuance of the 29 4 JOHN SHERMAN. State Banking system, and one in favor of the National Banks, both of which were of decisive influence. In the Thirty-ninth Congress he introduced a hill to fund the pul)- lic indebtedness, which if passed, would have resulted in the saving of $20,000,000 of interest per annum, the wider dissemination of the loan among the masses, and the removal of the debt from its pre- sent injurious competition with railroad, mercantile, manufacturing, and all the other vital interests of the country. Unfortunately for the public interests, the bill was mutilated in the Senate and defeated in the House. In the second session of the Thirty-ninth Congress, Mr. Sherman proposed the substitute for the Reconstruction bill which finally be- came a law. In the Fortieth Congress, Mr. Sherman was Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and in this important position exerted a marked effect iipon Congressional legislation. In the second session he reported a new bill for funding the National Debt, and converting the notes of the United States. He advocated this bill as a measure of just and wise public policy, in a speech of remarkable ability. In person, Senator Sherman is tall and spare, with a large head, and countenance expressive of decision, firmness and self-control. He speaks smoothly and rapidly, making no effort at display, aiming only to produce conviction by clear statement of facts and argu- ments. SO .^ 'L^y. ^l.-tyH..£^t^i HON- SIMON CAlsA.ERON. SENATOR FHOMPENNSYLVAICSIA SIMON CAMEEON. t IMON CAMEEON was bom ia Lancaster County, Pennsyl- vania, March Sth, 1799, and was left an orphan at nine years of age. He educated himself while pursuing his em- ployment as a printer in Harrisbprg and in Washington City. He edited and published a paper, called the " Pennsylvania Intelligencer,"' at Doylestown, and subsequently, before he reached the age of twenty- two, he was editor of a newspaper piiblished at Harrisburg. In 1832 he established the Middletown Bank. He devoted much attention to the railroad interests of Pennsylvania, and became president of two railroad companies. Before reaching the age of thirty he was appointed by Governor Shultze, Adjutant-General of Pennsylvania. In 1815 he was elect- ed United States Senator for four years. Ketiring from office in 1849, he resumed active business, and de- voted himself to internal improvements and financial afi'airs. In 1857 he was again elected to the United States Senate for six years, but resigned in 1861 to become Secretary of War under President Lincoln. In this position he favored the most vigorous measures for prosecuting the war, and insisted on arming the negroes. These views being at variance with those of the Administration, he retired from the Cabinet, and accepted the appointment of Minister Pleni- potentiary to Eussia. On his arrival at St. Petersburg, he found the Czar engaged in the noble work of emancipating the serfs, and his first act was to congratulate him for doing that justice which our country could not then be induced to do, predicting at tlie same time that events would force this nation to follow his great example. Du- ring Ms stay at St. Petersburg, the unbroken and continuous news of Federal disasters strengthened his fear that the policy of the Gov- 2 S I M O N C A AI E R O N . ernment foi-eboded ruin, and deeming it yet possible to impress Ins views on the Administration, and believing that the salvation of the country depended on a change of policy, he resigned his office and hastened home to take an active part in the mighty struggle. The Government would not yet yield to the growing pressure for vigorous measures, and he threw himself into the work of recruiting the Fede- ral armj', and supporting the Union cause in Pennsylvania and the loyal States. At last, the negroes were accepted for soldiers, and, finding that the work of their enlistment was unpopular, he offered his services to Mr. Lincoln to recruit a brigade of negro soldiers for the war, and lead them. His offer being declined, he continued to devote himself to the Union cause, to the utmost of his ability, until the end of the war. In 1867 he was elected for the third time to the Senate of the United States, for the term ending in 1873, and taking his seat in that body he was placed on the Committees on Foreign Relations, Military Affairs, and Ordnance, and was made Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture. He was steadfast in his opposi- tion to the policy of the late Executive, and voted for conviction in the great Impeachment Trial. He was one of the founders of the Eepublican party, and, in 1860, was prominent as a candidate for nomination to the Presidency. Whether in the cabinet, on diplomatic duty, or in senatorial service, he has been unswerving in his adherence to Republican principles. If not unanimously allowed the highest rank in statesmanship, he is acknowledged to be unsurpassed in shrewdness as a politician. Eminently successful as a financier, he uses his wealth with great public spirit and liberality in promoting worthy ends. 32 ^^^^ AVM M STEWAFiT se:vATQB from Nevada WILLIAM M. STEWART. rILLIAM M. STEWAET was bora in Wayne County, New York, August 9tli, 1827. AVlien eight years old he re- j^ moved with his lather to Trumbull County, Ohio. He worked on a fiirm in summer, and attended school in winter, until thirteen years old, when he left home with the consent of his parents and worked at farming for various persons, at six, eight, and twelve dollars a month, until 18i4. In the Spring of that year he drove a herd of cattle to Pennsylvania, and visited Philadelphia, the tirst large city he had seen. He thought of going to sea, and went on board the receiving ship with a view to getting into the 'Navy. While on board he saw a boy badly treated, and thinking the situa- tion not congenial to him, he started back to Ohio. In the summer of lSi5, he taught school in Hampden, Ohio, and subsequently attended an academy at Farmington. He then re- turned to his native county in jSTew York, where he taught school, and prosecuted his studies, making especial proficiency in Mathemat- ics. He entered Yale College in 1848, remaining there until the winter of 1850, when he started for California, and arrived there by way of the Isthmus in the following April. He worked two years at mining with varied success. He ran for Sheriff of Nevada County in the Spring of 1851, but there being several ooposing can- didates, who made a combination, he was defeated by a few votes. Soon after he commenced the study of law, and in the fall of 1852 was admitted to the bar, and appointed District-Attorney on the same day. The next year he was elected to the same office by tlie Democratic party. In 185-i, the Attorney-General' of California left the State on leave of absence for six months, and Mr. Stewart was appointed in his place. He subsequently went to San Francisco 3 WILLIAM M. STEWART. and formed a law partnership with Ex-Governor Henry S. Foote of Mississippi, and Judge Aldrfch, wliich continued about two years. In the fall of 1S55 he married a daughter of Governor Foote, and went back to Nevada, where he remained practicing law until 1857. He then went to Downieville, where there was a great deal of litigation growing out of mining disputes. He got the lead of the practice, and received very heavy fees. In the spring of 1860 he went to the Territory of Utah — now Nevada— where he was employed by the first locators of the Comstock Lode to manage their heavy liti- gations. When the Legislature was organized, he was in the Territorial Council. He took an active part in organizing the Union party, and in 1863 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention. On the admission of Nevada into the Union, he was elected to the United States Senate, and was admitted to his seat February 1st, 1865. His term closing in 1869, he was re-elected for the term ending in 1875. Upon his entrance into the Senate, he was appointed to the im- portant Committees on the Judiciary, Public Lands, Pacific Kail- road, and Mines and Mining. Of the last-named committee he was in the Forty -first Congress appointed chairman. He took a prominent part in the important discussions of the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses. In February, 1866, he made a speech, occupying parts of two days in its delivery, in which he maintained the right of the loyal people in the recent rebel States to be represented in Congress. On the 2ith of May, 1866, he made a speech, of three hours' duration, on a pending Constitutional Amendment, in which he advocated " pardon for the rebels, and the ballot for the blacks." He stood in the Fortieth Congress among the firm opponents of President Johnson's policy. He is a ready and effective off-hand debater, never thrown off his guard, and never losing his good humor. 34 HON V.nLLIAM SPRAGUE. GEKAirO!^ FROM RHODE IS'.^AND WILLIAM SPRAGUE. rILLIAM SPKAGUE was born in Cranston, Eliode Island, September 11, 1830. He is a nephew of William Sprague, who was Governor of Khode Island in 1838, and United States Senator in 1842. He received an academical education at Tai-rjtown, New York, and snbsequentlj^ engaged in the calico print woi-ks founded by his father and uncle, in which he is now a partner. He engaged also in other branches of manufactures, became presi- dent of several banks, and a director of various insurance com- panies. In his eighteenth year he joined an artillei-y company in Providence, and became a colonel. In 1860, he was nominated for Governor of Khode Island by a portion of the Kepublican party, and elected, in consequence of a coalition between them and the Democrats. In February, 1861, foreseeing the outbreak of the civil war, he offered to the President and General Scott 1,000 men and a battery of artillery, and as soon as the call for troops was made, hastened to raise regiments, and went with them to the field. The commission of Brigadier-General of Volunteers was offered to him in May, but he refused it. He fought with the Ehode Island troops at Bull Run, and in several en- gagements of the Chickahominy campaign. He was chosen United States Senator for six years from Marcli 4, 1863, and was re-elected for the term ending in 1875. A few years ago he married a daughter of Chief-Justice Chase. In the Senate he served as Chairman of the Committee on Manu factures, a position for which he was fitted by his business-like habits and thorough understanding of commercial law. In the Impeachment trial he voted the President guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors, as charged in the indictment. During 35 2 WILLIAM 6PRAGUE. his first term in the Senate, he seldom spoke, but in March and April, 1869, he startled the Senate and the country by a series of remarkable speeches on national affairs. The first was on " The Financial Condition," and depicted ruin in store for the country unless it should pause in the " forced policy pursued since the close of the war." Two speeches on the Civil Tenure Act drew glowing pictures of the future of the country under " a government of lawyers and judges, educated in one line, practiced in one pursuit ; educated upon the quarrels and the exhibitions of the worst passions of human nature ; practiced in the dissensions, influenced by the vices of the people." Speeches on " The National Currency " and " The Tax Bill " presented the injurious effects upon the country of large accumulation of capital, illustrated by reference to prominent citizens of Khode Island. Mr. Sprague is somewhat slight in person — with a grave expres- sion, and thoughtful attitude. Retiring and reticent, he has none of the qualities of the noisy demagogue. Although the richest man in Congress, he makes no personal ostentation of wealth. As a speaker he is slow and deliberate, uttering his convictions rather with the earnestness of the conversationalist rather than the art of an orator S6 ■^aou^J >vfc^ JAMES W. NYE. 'he son of one of the substantial farmers wlio have given to the Empire State its rapid development and great pros- it- perity, James AV. Nye was born in De Ruyter, Madison County, New York, June 10, 1S15. The labors of the farm, to which he was inured in boyhood, developed great physical strength and power of endurance. As a youth he enjoyed the advantages of superior schools, in which he laid the foundation of a good education and manifested remarkable ability as a speaker. He studied law and practiced in his native county, and afterward in New York City. He entered actively into political life, and soon became consjiicuous for his eloquence, fearlessness, and thorough mastery of all political sub- jects. He was identified with the Free-Soil movement from the beginning, and on the organization of the Eepublican party he became one of its members, and eloquently advocated the election of Fremont in 1856. In 1860 he was a Police Commissioner for the city of New York, under the Metropolitan Police Act. In the campaign which ended in the election of Mr. Lincoln, in 1860, Mr. Nye was one of the most efficient workers, by his convincing logic and moving eloquence winning multitudes to the support of the Republican candidates. Though never actively engaged as a soldier, Mr. Nye has fre- quently shown his interest in the military movements of the country. He was a General of the New York State Militia, and raised a reo-iment for service in the war with Mexico. He would have devoted himself to military service in the war for the suppression of the Eebellion, but the President believed that lie could better promote the interests of the nation as Governor of the new Territory of Nevada, which needed the moulding and guiding influences of 37 JAMES W. NYE. Bucli a man, aud he was accordingly appointed to tliat position in 1861. When Nevada was admitted into the Union as a State he was elected United States Senator, and took his seat in 1865. Two years later he was re-elected for the term ending in 1873. In the Senate he immediately took rank among the most fearless and able of the Kadical Republicans. Entering Congress just at the close of the war, he aided in carrying all the great measures of re-construction. He opposed the policy of President Johnson, and voted for his conviction. Serving at first as Chairman of the Committee on Kevolutionary Claims, he was afterward advanced to the more important position of Chairman of the Committee on Territories. As a speaker, Mr. Nye is graceful, fluent, and sometimes eloquent. His trenchant logic and luminous facts command the respectful attention of the Senate, while his pungent satire, ready repartee and keen wit delight the popular audience in the galleries. S8 ^^g'^byC- E retia^ y-tyC^L^A'L 7P.UMBUI SEX'ATQR FROM V. LTMAN TRUMBULL. ^YMAN TEUMBULL was born in Colchester, Connecticut, October 12th, 1813. He was educated at Bacon Academy, in his native town, which in those times was one of the best institutions of learning in New England. In his sLxteenth year he became a teacher in a district school ; and at twenty years of age went to Georgia, taking charge of an Academy at Greenville in that State. While engaged in teaching, he employed his leisure time in studying law with a view to preparing himself for the legal profession. Having been admitted to practice at the bar in Georgia, in 1837 he removed to Illinois and settled in Belleville, St. Clair County. In 1840, he was elected a Eepresentative in the State Legislature from that county ; and before he had served out his term, he was, in 1841, appointed Secretary of State of Illinois. After serving in this office for two years, he returned to his profession, and gained an eminence therein second to no other lawyer in the State. In 1848, he was nominated and elected one. of the Justices of the State Supreme Court, and, in 1852, was re-elected for nine years. As a Judge on the bench he distinguished himself by great acuteness of discrimina- tion, accuracy of judgment, and familiarity with organic and statute laws. He resigned his place on the bench in 1853, and in the suc- ceeding year was elected to represent the Belleville District, then embracing a wide extent of territory, in Congress ; but before tak- ing his seat in the House, the Legislature elected him to the Senate of the United States for the term of six years from March 4, 1855. During the great political contests which attended the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law and the organization of the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, Mr. Trumbull, both at home and in the halls 39 2 LYMAN TRUMBULL. of Congress, took a bold stand against the policy and doctrines of the old Democratic party, with which he had been actively identified, and espoused the cause of freedom, of which he became one of the strongest of champions. He opposed his colleague, Mr. Douglas, in all questions having reference to slavery, and especially in his cele- brated " popular sovereignty " plan of settling that question in the Territories and future States. With such distinguished ability did he contest this question with Mr. Douglas and his friends, that he at once gained a national reputation. In 1860, he earnestly and ably advocated the election of Abraham Lincoln, his fellow-citizen and friend, to the Presidency. During the early part of the next year, just previous to Mr. Lincoln's inaugura- tion, and when the war of the rebellion had already virtually com- menced, Mr. Trumbull was one of the leaders of the Union party in the Senate, and favored prompt and decided measures for the main- tenance of the Union. In 1861, Mr. Trumbull was re-elected for a second term, and in 1867 for a third term in the Senate of the United States. As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate, a posi- tion which he has held uninterruptedly since 1861, he framed and advocated some of the most important acts which were passed by Congress during and since the war. He was one of the first to pro- pose the amendment of the Constitution abolishing Slavery in the United States, which proposition passed Congress, and was ratified by the requisite votes of two-thirds of the States. He ably advocated the acts establishing and enlarging the Freed- man's Bureau, and eloquently championed the Civil Eights Bill. He voted for the acquittal of President Johnson on the Articles of Impeachment. Senator Trumbull continued his residence at Belleville until 1849, when he removed to Alton, and subsequently, in 1863, to Chicago, where he now resides. He is of medium stature, with a cast of countenance which marks the man of thought. Lacking the warmth of temperament calculated to win personal friendship, he possesses talents which command universal respect. 40 ^SfbyGEPW""' HON^ OLIVcLR F. MORTO: SENATOR FROM INDIANA OLIVER P. MORTON. ' LIVEE P. MOETON was born ia Wayne County, Indiana, Angiist tt, 1823. His parents dying when lie was quite young, he was placed under the care of a grandmother and two" aunts, in the State of Ohio. He served for a while with his brother at the hatter's trade ; but this not being a congenial employ- ment, at the age of fourteen he entered the Wayne County Seminary. He is described by his preceptor as " a timid and rather verdant- looking youth, too shy to bear, with head erect, a master's look." After completing his preparatory studies, he entered Miami Univer- sity, at Oxford, Ohio. He displayed miich talent as a student, and made great proficiency iu his studies, and especially in forensic exer- cises. Leaving college without graduating, he returned to Indiana, and entered upon the study of law with Hon. John S. Newman. He was admitted to the bar in 18i6, and, as a jurist and an advocate, soon took rank among the first lawyers of the State. In 18.52, he was elected Judge of the Circuit Coiu-t. Two years later, the Democratic party, of which he was a member, repealed the Missouri Compromise, and passed the Kansas-Nebraska bill. Mr. Morton, with many others who had been known as free-soil Demo- crats, abandoned his old party relations, and aided in forming the Republican party. In 1856, he was nominated by the Eepublicans as their candidate for Governor of Indiana. He made a thorough and vigorous can- vass of the State, in company with his Democratic competitor, Ashbel P. AVillard. A party so powerful, championed by a leader so elo- quent and popular, could not be overcome in a single campaign. Mr. Morton lost the election by about five thousand votes ; but his speeches, delivered throughout the State, did much to build up and consolidate the Eepublican party in Indiana. 41 3 OLIVER P. iMOinu^". Anticipating the importance of the great political straggle of 1S60, the Eepublicans of Indiana made an exceedingly strong ticket, with Henry S. Lane for Governor, and Oliver P. Morton for Lieutenant- Governor — both unsurpassed for eloquence and efi'ectiveuess in politi cal debate. The Kepublican State ticket was triumphantly elected in October, and, in November, Indiana stood in the unbroken col- umn of Northern States that elected Abraham Lincoln to the Presi- dency. On the 1-ith of January, 1861, Mr. Morton, entering upon the office of Lieutenant-Governor, took his seat as President of the State Senate. He occuijied this position but two days, when, in conse- quence of the election of Henry S. Lane to the Senate of the United States, he became Governor of Indiana. Never before had a Governor of the State been inaugurated amid circumstances so difficult and trying. The election of Mr. Lincoln to the presidency was used as a pretext for rebellion, which was already showing its formidable front in various portions of the South. The State of Indiana was divided on the question of the riglit of secession. Men were heard to say in the State Legislature, that tliey would rather take their muskets and assist the Southern people to obtain their independence, than to support the Government. The Southern traitors believed that should the Administration pursue a coercive policy, Indiana would secede and join the Southern Con- federacy. To repress treason, to foster loyalty, and hold the entire State true to the Union, and to hurl its concentrated moral and phy- sical force against the rising rebellion, constituted the extraordinary work before the newly-inaugurated Governor. Convinced of the importance of prompt action in defence of the Government, he visited the President in person, and assured him that if he would adopt a vigorous policy, Indiana would support him. Soon after his visit to Washington, the bombardment of Fort Sumter inaugurated actual hostilities and produced the great upris- ing of the North. Upon receiving the President's proclamation. Governor Morton issued calls to every part of the State for men. Forty thousand 42 OLIVEU P. .M(H:T()X. men, more than six times the number required, vuluuteered fur tlie defence of the Union. In three days, six regiments, the quota of the State, were in readiness for service, fully armed and equipped. Twenty regiments were tendered in addition, and when they were not accepted by the Government, most of them were mustered into the State service, put in camp and drilled until the time came when the Government was glad to take them.' No sooner were their lirst troops in the field than the Governor ser.t agents to look after their interests, to see that their necessities were supplied while in health, and that they were properly cared for when sick. To meet the extraordinary emergencies of the occasion, Governor Morton called an extra session of the Legislature. His message to this body, delivered April 25th, 18G1, was a patriotic and eloquent presentation of the true relations of the States to the Federal Govern- ment, and the duty of Indiana to aid in crushing the rebellion. During the extra session of the General Assembly the labors of the Executive Department were augmented to an extent never before equalled in the history of the State. Great discernment and discretion were exercised by the Governor in the selection of men to aid ill recruiting, organizing and equipping the regiments. He laid aside party prejudices, and, in dispensing favors, rather showed partiality to his former political foes than to his friends. Loyalty and capacity were the only qualifications for position which he de- manded, and during the early stages of the war he appeared to look for these in the Democratic party. The doubtful attitude of the State of Kentucky gave additional anxiety and labor to the Governor of Indiana. Governor Magofiin, at heart a secessionist, liad refused most positively to respond to the President's call for volunteers. While making professions of a desire to hold Kentucky in a neutral position, he was really rendering the rebels all the aid in his power. He artfully laid his plans to induce Indiana, Ohio, and other Northern border States, to assume the char- acter of sovereign mediators between the Government and the seceded States. To his overtures Governor Morton promptly re- 43 4 OLIVER P. MORTON. spouded, " Thei-e is no ground in the Constitution, midway between the Government and a rebellious State, upon which another State can stand, holding both in check. A State must take her stand upon one side or the other ; and I invoke the State of Kentucky, by all the sacred ties that bind us together, to take her stand with Indi- ana, promptly and efficiently, on the side of the Union." From this time until the close of Magoffin's administration, Gov- ernor Morton was practically the governor of Kentucky. He dis- patched numerous secret agents to watch the movements of Ken- tucky secessionists. Thus he was constantly advised in reference to the traitorous designs of Kentucky rebels and their Confederate allies. In view of the defenceless condition of the Indiana and Ohio border, he urged upon the President and the War Department the importance of gunboats and fortifications along the Ohio river. From the beginning of the difficulties in Kentucky he unremit- tingly pressed upon the attention of the Government the necessity of taking decided steps toward the occupation of the State by the United States forces. On the lethof September, 1861, Governor Morton learned, through one of his secret agents, that the rebel General Zollicoffer had marched his brigade through Cumberland Gap, into Kentucky. On the same day General Buckner, who had for some time been sta- tioned at Bowling Green in command of a body of "neutral State Guards," set out with his men for Louisville. General Rousseau had organized a brigade at Jeffersonville, Indiana, but out of respect for Kentucky's neutrality was ordered to St. Louis. Governor Morton, having been apprised of the movements of Zollicoffijr and Buckner, had General Eousseau's marching orders coimtermanded. He was ordered to cross the Ohio into Kentucky ; thus Louisville was saved from falling into the hands of the rebels, and the fatal charm of neu- trality was broken. Governor Morton withdrew his secret agents and appealed to the people of Indiana to render all possible aid in rescuing Ken- tucky from the hands of the secessionists. Many regiments responded to the call, and ere the lapse of many months Bowling 4A OLIVER P MoitlON. 5 Green, a strongly fortified position, was occupied by a Federal force Zollicofier was defeated and slain at Mill-spring, and the soil of Kentucky cleared of rebel troops. The important agency of Governor Morton in bringing about these results was universally acknowledged. The "Louisville Jour- nal " said of him, " He has been, emphatically, Kentucky's guardian spirit from the very commencement of the dangers that now darkly tlireateu her very existence. Kentucky and the whole country owe him a large debt of gratitude. Oh, that all the public functionaries of the country were as vigilant, as clear-sighted, as energetic, as fearless, as chivalric, as he." The wants of Indiana troops in Missouri, West Virginia, and the Department of the Potomac, received his constant aitention, and his numerous efficient agents were actively employed in every camp where Indiana regiments were stationed. The reverses of the national arms had such a discouraging eftect upon the country, that in most of the States the work of recruiting progressed slowly. Not so in Indiana. The faithfulness of Gov enor Morton in looking after his soldiers, and providing for theii families at home, inspired the people of Indiana M'ith such a degree of confidence that tie volunteering spirit among them did not abate because of national disasters, and by the 11th of December, 1861, an acrorep-ate of forty-four volunteer regiments from Indiana were in the service of the United States. The approiich of the first winter of the war seemed likely to find laro-e numbers of our troops almost destitute of comfortable clothing, owing to the misappropriation of supplies, by incompetent and un- principled quartermasters. Governor Morton sought to remedy this deficiency, so far as the Indiana troops were concerned, by taking the matter of supplying them with clothing into his own hands. Not- withstanding the obstructions thrown in his way, and the insults ofiered him by thieving officials, by indefatigable energy, he carried his points, and had the satisfaction of being assured by his messen- gers that his soldiers would not suffer from lack of clothing amid the rio-ors of winter in the mountains of Western Virginia. 45 Q OLIVER I'. 31 ORT ON. Governor Morton's popularity among the soldiers, and his reputa- tion in other States, having excited the jealousy of certain ambitious politicians, they gave currency to vague charges of mismanagement in State military matters, of corruption in the appointment of oiiicers, and the awarding of contracts. In compliance with Governor Mor- ton's urgent request, a Congressional Investigating Committee visited Indianapolis, and made rigid inquiry into the management of niili- itary matters in Indiana. The ]iuhUshed report of the proceedings of this committee not only exonerates him from all blame, but shows the greatest care on his part to prevent fraud and peculation. It was stated by this committee that, notwithstanding the Indiana troops had been better armed and equipped than those of any other west- ern State, the expense attending their outtit was less, iu proportion to the nmnber of men furnished, than that of any other State iu the Union. Governor Morton steadily rose in the estimation of the President and the Cabinet, until his influence became greater in "Washington than that of any other man in the country outside the Executive De- partments. Many times was his presence requested in AVashington, and his counsel solicited in matters of the greatest moment to the Government. Before the close of the year 1802, more than one hundred thou- sand men had enlisted from Indiana iu the service of the United States. Most of these being Eepublicans, their absence greatly de- pleted the strength of the party at home. Mismanagement of officers aTid reverses in the field had cooled the ardor of many who had been supporters of the war. These causes operated to produce a defeat of the Republican party in Indiana in the autumn of 1862, and the election of Democratic State officers, and a majority of the Legis- lature. Fortunately for the State, Governor Morton held over, hav- ing been elected for a term of four years. He stood as the sole ob- stacle in the path of reckless men who desired to drag the State into alliance with the rebels. The Governor transmitted to the Legislature a message in Avhich he accurately bct forth the condition of the State, and with calmness 46 OLIVER P. MOKTON. 7 and dignity made such suggestions as were appropriate to tlic emer- gencies of the State and Nation. Tiie Legislature insultingly refused to accept this message, and by a joint resolution complimented, and virtually adopted, the message of Governor Seymour of New York. The Democratic majority in caucus drew up a bill designed to take all the military power of the State away from the Governor, and place it in the hands of four Democratic State officers. This bill was engrossed and only prevented from becoming a law by the with- drawal' of the Eepublican members, leaving the Legislature without a quorum. When the Legislature was thus broken up, no appropria- tions had been made to defray the expenses of the State government for the next two years, and Governor Morton must cither call the Legislature back at the risk of having the State involved in civil war, or borrow the money to carry on tlie State government. lie deter- mined to take the latter course, and succeeded in raising nearly two million dollars, with which he paid the expenses of the State gov- ernment and the interest on the State debt. The money was bor- rowed from loyal counties in the State, from railroad companies, lianks, private persons, and from the house of Winslow, Lanier & Co. in New York. During these two years he acted as Auditor and Treasurer of State, kept the accounts in his own office, and dis- bursed the money upou his own checks. The next Legislature ex- amined his accounts, and adopted them without the slightest excep- tion, paid up all his borrowed money, and thus relieved him of the great responsibilities he had incurred. The most persistent and dangerous opposition to Governor Mor- ton's administration was a secret association, popularly known as '< Knights of the Golden Circle." It had a lodgement in every sec- tion of the State, but became most numerous in those places where the people, not having frequent access to the mediums of public intelli- gence, became readily the dupes of designing men. The ultimate ex- posure of this organization showed that it numbered over 80,000 men, bound together by the most solemn oaths, thoroughly drilled and ready to oliey the call of their masters at any time. It was the plan and purpose of the conspirator's to rise and seize 17 S OLIVER p. MUKTON. the goverament arsenals, release rebel prisoners at various points in the North, furnish them with arms, and after assassinating State and United States officers, to take forcible possession of the government. To ferret out and defeat the schemes of these conspirators was a work of no ordinary magnitude, but it was fully accomjjlished. The Governor employed secret detectives, through whose activity and tact he obtained an inside view of almost every lodge within the State. He was fully informed of all their plans, their financial resources, and their strength. Large quantities of anus, consigned to the conspira- tors, were seized and confiscated. Several of the chiefs of the con- spiracy were arraigned, tried, convicted of treason and punished. The op23ortune discovery and exposure of this plot prevented a ter- rible outbreak and massacre on the soil of Indiana, and rescued the State from infamy and ruin. In the fall of 1864, Governor Moiton was re-elected by a majority of 22,000 votes. He continued with energy and ardor to prosecute the work which for four years had occupied his time and attention. He continued to raise soldiers, by volunteering and by draft, until the last call was more than met. He passed tlie last year of the war in unceasing activity. At Washington, in council with the President ; at the front, beholding the brave achievements of his soldiers, moving in person through the hos- pitals to ascertain the wants of the sick and wounded, and directing the operations of his numerous agents ; at home, superintending sanitary movements, appointing extra surgeons and sending them to the field, projecting additional measures for the relief of dependent women and children, and attending personally to all the details of the business of his office — his labors were unsurpassed by those of any man in the civil or military service of the country. The sudden collapse of the rebellion, and the return of the surviv- ing heroes of the M^ar, varied, but did not diminish, the labors of the Governor of Indiana. He made the amplest arrangements for the reception and entertainment of the Indiana volunteers at the State capital. Every regiment was received and M'elcomed by him in person. He gave special attention to the pay department, and saw 48 OLIVER P. MORTON. that no unnecessary delay detained the veterans from their lionics and families. Finally, the war being ended, and the soldiers dismissed to their homes, the long exeitement ended, and the day of relaxation came. For five years his powers of mind and body were taxed to the ut- most. The immense weight of his official responsibilities, the em- barrassments which beset him, the gigantic difficulties he had over- come, had, apparently, made no inroads upon his frame. The cessa- tion of labor and excitement developed the evil results of over-work. In the summer of 1S65 he was attacked with partial paralysis. The efforts of physicians to afford relief were fruitless, and a change of scene and climate was advised as the only means of obtaining relief Accordingly, he devolved his official duties upon the Lieutenant Governor°and sailed for Europe. After an absence of several months he returned, partially relieved, and resumed his official duties. I,- In January, 1867, he was elected to the United States Senate, and resigning the Governorship, he took his seat on the 4th of Marcli, for the term ending in 1873. In the Senate he has not failed fully to meet the high expectations of the country. Though somewhat disabled by disease, he has j^cr formed all the work of .a Statesman and a Senator. His speeches, heard by crowded galleries and an attentive Senate, have ftillen with marked effect upon the country. Though often necessitated to speak in a sitting posture, he retains the commanding presence and the impressive delivery essential to the highest success in oratory. Un- surpassed in executive ability, as proved by a splendid career in an- other field, he has shown himself the peer of the greatest statesmen in legislative talent. 49 JOHN B. HENDERSOi^. ^OHN B. HENDERSON was bora near Danville, Virginia, November 16, 1826. He removed to Missouri with his parents when a child, spent his boyhood on a form, and after obtaining an academical education, occupied several years in school teaching. He studied law ; was admitted to the bar in 1848, and the same year was a member of the Missouri Legislature, to which he was again elected six years later. In 1856 he was a presi- dential elector on the Buchanan ticket, and two years after was defeated as a candidate for Congress, by a large majority. In 1860 he was a candidate for presidential elector, pledging himself to vote for either Douglas or Bell, in order to carry the State against Breck- inridse, the Secession candidate. At the same time he was again a candidate for Congress, but was defeated. In the following year he took a prominent part as a Union member of the State Convention, called to determine whether Missouri should secede. In Juno, 1861, he procured arms and equipped a regiment of loyal State militia, and went into the service with them. He was appointed in Janu- ary, 1862, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the expulsion of Trusten Polk from the United States Senate, and was elected in 1863 for the term which ended in 1869. Mr. Henderson was placed on the Committee on Finance and on the Committee on Indian Affairs, of the latter of which he was chair- man. He was a diligent and active member of the Senate, and was one of the Eepublican members who declined to give his vote for the impeachment of President Johnson, and presented, on voting, an elaborate opinion upon the case. In concluding his opinion, he alleged that his oath compelled him to examine the case from a legal and not a party point of view, and insisted that the question was simply one of guilt under the charges presented by the House. 50 ^'^S'brGSPertT-.e.^^'** HON. ALEXANDER RAMSET se:-iat3b from Minnesota ALEXANDER EAMSET. ^i^^LEXANDER EAMSEY was born near Harrisburg, Penn- ^^^2^ sylvania, September 8, 1815. His father, who was of "^f^^^ Scotch descent, was a native of Ireland, while his mother was of Pennsylvania German jsarentage. Several of his ancestors performed honorable service in the Revolution ai"j war. His parents being worthy and industrious people, their son was trained to exemplary and thrifty habits. He grew up an industrions and moral youth, and at an early age evinced a special fondness for reading and study. Amid almost insuperable dithculties he accom- plished his preparatory studies, and entered Lafliyette College, at Easton, Pennsylvania. He pursued collegiate studies for only a brief period, when he engaged in the study of law, first in Harrisburg, and subsequently with Hon. John Reed at his law school in Carlisle. In 1839, at twenty-four years of age, he was admitted to the bar of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. In the following year he was secretary of the Pennsylvania Electoral College, and a month after- wards, January, ISil, he was elected clerk of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Two years afterwards he received the Whig nomination for Congress as representative of the district com- prising the counties of Dauphin, Lebanon, and Schuylkill. He was elected by a decisive majority ; Harrisburg, his place of residence, and hitherto strongly democratic, honoring him with a largo and flattering vote. He was nominated and elected for a second term, after which he declined in favor of another candidate. In his early career in Congress Mr. Ramsey' sustained the character and earned the reputation of a useful rather than merely ornamental member. He was more remarkable for his practical ability, and dili 51 2 ALEXANDER RAMSEY. gent attention to business, than for any special efforts at oratorical display. In 1845 he was married to Miss Anna E. Jenks, daughter of Hon. Michael E. Jenks, a former member of Congress from Pennsylvania. In 1848 Mr. Kamsey was chairman of the State Central Commit- tee, and in that capacity conducted the campaign which resulted in the election of Johnson as governor of Pennsylvania, and Taylor as president of the United States. In the following year he received from President Taylor the ap- pointment of Territorial Governor of Minnesota. This office he held about four years, during which period he negotiated a treaty with the Sioux half-breed Indians, whereby was extinguished their titles to the lands bordering on Lake Pepin. In 1851 he negotiated another treaty with the Sioux, by which all the lands of Minnesota, west of the Mississippi River, came into possession of the United States ; and thus all that great territory was opened to settlement and civilization. He also negotiated two treaties with the Chip- pewas in the Red River country. It was Mr. Ramsey's good fortune to aid in laying the foundations of a great commonwealth in the north-west, with which his name must ever be honorably associated. In 1855 he was mayor of the young city of St. Paul. In 1858 he was elected first governor of the new State of Minnesota, and held that office during four years. He was then, in 1863, elected Sena- tor in Congress for the term ending 1869, when he was re-elected. In the course of his first senatorial term he served on several impor- tant committees, and was chairman of those on Revolutionary Claims, Revolutionary Pensions, Territories, and finally Post-offices and Post-roads. He is robust in his person, dignified in bearing, and affable in manners. His speeches are usually brief, incisive, and to the pomt. Abounding in matter of fact, and enforced by his own convictions, they are effective of the practical results intended. 53 -^CJ^ GEOEGE II. WILLIAMS. ^EOEGE H. WILLIAMS was born in Columbia County, N"ew York, March 23, 1823. He received an academical education in Onondaga County, and studied law. He was ad- mitted to the bar in 1S44, and immediately emigrated to Iowa. In 1847 he was elected Judge of the First Judicial District of Iowa, and in 1852 he was a presidential elector. In 1852 he received from President Pierce the appointment of Chief-Justice of the Territory of Oregon, and was re-appointed by President Buchanan in 1S57, but resigned. He was a member of the Convention which formed a Constitution for the State of Oregon. When Oregon was under the absolute control of the Democratic party. Judge Williams declared himself a Eepublican, and did much to promote the ultimate triumph of that party in his State. In 18Gi he was elected a United States Senator from Oregon for the term ending in 1871. He at once took an active part in tlie important legislation of the Thirty-ninth Congress. On the first day of the second session of this Congress he brought before the Senate a bill to " regulate the tenure of offices," which was referred to a committee, and subsequently, with modifications, passed over the President's veto. On the 4th of February, 1867, Mr. Williams introduced " A bill to provide for the more efiicient government of the insurrectionary States," which was referred to the Committee on Keconstruction. It was subsequently reported and passed as the "Military Eecon- struction Act." He has served with much ability on the Committee on the Judiciary, and as Chairman of the Committee on Private Land Claims. As a Sj^eaker Mr. Williams is deliberate, logical, and impressive. He is a wise, comprehensive, and practical statesman, having a large and increasing influence in the Senate. 5 a JAMES W. GRIMES. ?AMES "W". GKIMES was born in Deering, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, October 10, 1S16. He pursued his prepai-atory studies at Hampton Academy, and gradu- ated at Dartmouth College in 1S36. In hopes of finding a wider and more congenial field of operations he removed to the West, and settled in Iowa, where he practiced his profession as a lawyer. In 1838 he was elected to the first general Assembly of the territory of Iowa, and held a seat in that body, by re-election, for several years. He held the ofiice of govei-nor of the State of Iowa from 1854 to 1858. He was elected a United States Senator from that State in 1859, and in 1865 was re-elected for the term ending March 3, 1871. He served as chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia, and chairman of the Committee on Naval Afi"airs, a position of much responsibility during the M'ar. He was a member of the Committees on Public Lands, Public Buildings, Appropriations, and the Special Joint Committee on the Eebellious States. In 1865 he received from Iowa College the degree of LL. D. In the Impeachment trial he incurred severe censure from many of his political friends by voting for the acquittal of the President. In his opinion of the case, he said, " I cannot sufl'er my judgment of the law governing this case to be influenced by political considerations, I cannot agree to destroy the harmonious working of the Constitution for the sake of getting rid of an unacceptable President. Whatever may be my opinion of the incumbent, I cannot consent to trifle with the high office he holds. I can do nothing which by implication may be construed into an approval of impeachments as a part of future political machinery." On account of the failure of his health, Mr. Grimes resigned his seat in the Senate in the fall of 1868, and resided several months in Europe with beneficial results. 54 ^Y^r/^^'V^/ JUSTIN" S. MOERILL. 'rSTIN S. MOERILL was bora in Strafford, Vermont, April li, 1810. At fifteen years of age he was taken from an academy, wliere lie was making rapid proficiency in study, and was placed in a country store. From that time he did not enjoy another day's schooling, though he has been a hard student all his life. After a year's experience as a merchant's clerk in his native village, having received for his services only $25, he went to Port- land and was employed in an extensive dry goods establishment. All the money that could be saved from his meagre salary was spent for books, which were studied with great avidity at such hours as were not occupied in his regular labors. By thus improving his time ho pursued a considerable course of classical studies, and read " Black- stone's Commentaries,'' but with no intention of becoming a lawyer. After three years spent in Portland, he returned to his native town, and formed a partnership in mercantile business with Judge Harris. Mr. Morrill continued in this business until 1848, when he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. In 1854, he was elected a Representative from Vermont in the Thirty-fourth Congress, and remained a member of the House by re-elections for twelve continuous years. He was a member of the Committees on Agriculture, and Ways and Means. Of the latter committee, diiring the Thirty-ninth Congress, he held the important position of chairman, thus becoming what is technically styled " Leader of the House." He introduced a bill granting lands to agricultural colleges, which was passed by Congress, but was vetoed by President Buchanan. A similar bill, which finally became a law, was ably advocated by Mr. Morrill in a speech delivered -June G, 1862. In 1856, he opposed 2 JUSTIX S. .MOKIULL. the admission of Kansas on the terms then proposed. Subsequent!}', as a member of a select committee of fifteen appointed to investigate matters in relation to Kansas, he prepared and presented a minority report against the Lecompton constitution. His first speech on the tariff question was delivered in the House, Feb. 6, 1857, against a bill reported by Mr. Campbell of Ohio, the main grounds of Mr. Morrill's opposition being that it was too much in the interest of manufactures, and adverse to agriculture. The " Morrill Tariff" was introduced and explained by him in an elabo- rate speech, April 23, 1860. This tariff, which became a law in 1861, effected a change from ad valorem to specific duties on a large number of articles. Increasing the duties on wool and some other agricultural products, it added many articles to the free list. February 4, 1862, Mr. Morrill made a speech maintaining the im- policy of making paper a legal tender, since this would lead to infla- tion, and make great difficult}- in the return to specie payments. He proposed a system of issuing exchequer bills, which, if adopted, would have tended to prevent the great depreciation of the currency which ultimately occurred. March 12, 1862, lie made a speech explanatory of the Internal Tax Bill, which, as chairman of the sub-committee to whom the sub- ject was referred, he had performed the principal labor in preparing. By this bill was originated the vast internal revenue system which has served so excellent a purpose for the country. A system of such varied application, and yet so simple and efficient for subserv- ing the necessities of a great nation, was never before devised. The present head of the treasury, Mr. Boutwell, after having had the experience of executing the law, as Commissioner of Internal Keve- nue, said that it was " the most perfect system ever devised by any nation." In October, 1866, he was elected a Senator in Congress from Yer- mont, for the term ending in 1873. In the Senate he has made numerous and able speeches on the various subjects relating to the national finances and the public debt. 56 '"*-'53a!iJi>«i-^iP!j!r«i'-"- ' HON F-C5C0E CQNKilNG- 53":CAr??. FP.OM NEWYOP.K. EOSOOE CONKXn^G. k^OSCOE CONKLING was born in Albany, New York, ...^ 4. October 30, 1S28, and is descended from a family long con- ^^* neeted with state and national politics. His father, Hon. Alfred Conkhng, was a member of the Seventeenth Congress, and was subsequently chosen United States District Judge for the New York District, tlie duties of which office he discharged with distinguished honor and ability. He was afterwards appointed, by President Fill- more, minister to Mexico. A brother to Eoscoe— Hon. Frederick A. Conkling— was a leading member of the Thirty-seventh Congress, on many imjwrtant committees, and universally respected as a man of unswerving honor and patriotism. The subject of this sketch commenced his legal studies at the early age of fifteen in the law office of L. A. Spencer, Esq., of Utica. Evincing an early dislike for " formalities of schools and colleges," he seems to have secured but few of the advantages of an elaborate education aside from what he had gained under the paternal roof. In 18i9 the office of district-attorney of Oneida County becoming vacant, he was appointed by the Governor of the State to fill the vacancy. On receiving this important appointment he had just reached his majority, and yet it was universally conceded by mem- bers of the legal profession that the duties of the office were never more skillfully and energetically discharged. In 1858 Mr. Conkling was elected Mayor of the city of Utica— being tlie youngest man who has ever filled that office. He was elected a Eepresentative from New York to the Thirty-sixth Congress in the fell of 1858, and was re-elected to the Thirty-seventh Congress. 57 2 riOSCOE CONKLING. He served as chairman of the Committee on the District of Col- umbia, and also as chairman of the Special Committee on the Bank- rupt Law. In the Thirty-ninth Congress, to which he was also elected, he was placed on the Committee of AVays and Means, and on the Joint Committee on Keconstruction. By a large majority, Mr. Conkling was elected a Kepresentative to the Fortieth Congress ; but before taking his seat, he was chosen by the Legislature of New York as a United States Senator to succeed Hon. Ira Harris. During the Fortieth Congress he served on the Committees on the Judiciary and Commerce, and was chairman on the Committee on the Revision of the Laws of the United States. He took a prominent part in legislation pertaining to Eeconstruction, voted with tiie majority in favor of the conviction of the President in the imiieachment trial, and advocated the resolution submitting the Suffrage Amendment. He presented in the Senate the bill provi- ding for the erection of the magnificent Post-office building in New York City. He acted uniformly with the Eepublicans, although usually taking moderate rather than extreme views on political ques- tions. He was a frequent speaker, addressing the Senate upon nearly very question of importance which came before it, and always in a way which indicated a familiarity resulting from careful research. As a speaker he is fluent in utterance and graceful in manner, with certain marked peculiarities of intonation and inflection. 58 ■s^sS^SH^^S / ^ A^y/C/^^^ HON. LOT M : LOT M. MOERILL. ^^'OT M. MOEEILL was born in Belgrade, Maine, May 3, 1813. f^^ In 1831, at the age of twenty-one, he entered Waterville ■5^ College, but soon after left the institution to commence the study of law. Five years later he was admitted to the bar, and en- tered upon a lucrative practice. Taking an active part in politics, he soon rose to prominence as a leader in the Democratic party. In 1854 he was elected a Eepresentative in the State Legislature, and in 1856 he was elected to the State Senate, of which he was chosen President. He had never been an apologist for slavery, though acting with the Democrats, and when they attempted to force slavery liy fraud and violence upon the people of Kansas, he denounced the scheme and severed his connection with the party. In 1857 he was nominated by the Eepublican party for Governor of the State, and was elected by a majority of fifteen thousand votes. He admin- istered the State Government to the satisfaction of the people, and was by them twice re-elected. In 1861 he was elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Hanni- bal Hamlin. He took his seat on the 17th of January of that year, and in 1863 he was re-elected for the term ending March 4, 1869. In the senatorial election, for the ensuing term, the contest was very wai-m between the friends of Mr. Morrill and Mr. Hamlin. In the Eepublican caucus the latter was nominated by a majority of one vote, and was accordingly elected by the Legislature. In the Senate his record is that of a consistent Eepublican. A promoter of the Congressional plan of reconstruction, he opposed the '" policy" of President Johnson, and voted for his conviction. 50 FEEDERIOK T. FRELINGHUYSEIT. fREDERICK T. FRELINGIIUYSEN was born at MiU- ^^ stone, Somerset County, Xew Jersey, August -t, 1817. He is a grandson of Fredericlc Frelingliuysen, a member of the Continental Congress, who in 1777 resigned his seat to join the army, in which he served as captain during the remainder of the Revolutionary war, and was subsequently in 1793 a Senator in Con- gress. He is nephew and adopted son of Hon. Theodore Freling- huysen. Senator in Congress from 1829 to 1835, and Whig candidate for Vice-President in ISll. The subject of this sketch graduated at Rutger's College in 1836, and liaving studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1839. He was appointed attorney-general of New Jersey in 1861, and was re-ap- pointed in 1866. He was appointed by the governor, and subse- quently elected by the Legislature a Senator in Congress to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of AVilliam Wriglit, and took his seat January 21-, 1867. He served on the Committees on the Judici- ary, Naval Affairs and Claims. In the Impeachment trial he pro- nounced an elaborate opinion that Mr. Johnson, having manifested " willful, persistent and defiant disregard of law," was guilty of a InVh misdemeanor requiring his removal from office. He maintained that " to suffer the Executive successfully to assert the right to adju- dicate on the validity of laws claimed to be inferentially, though not in terms, contrary to the Constitution, and to execute such as he approves, and violate such as he condemns, would be to permit the government to be destroyed." He ably supported the Reconstruc- tion measures, and spoke feelingly in favor of relieving the destitute in the Soutli. His service in the Senate, though short, ending at the close of the Fortieth Congress, March 4, 1869, was honorable to him- self and his constituents, and useful to the country. 60 i^/fc A. ir,'Of. S?erine.>- * '^h'^-cO'^ Q?. (^c^.,^ HON, F'F:ED?'.,M;''?' T '3' /(^''•^i-t-' u ■sv:s-{v. GAEEETT DAYIS. ^AllRETT DAVIS was born at Mount Sterling, Kentucky, September 10, 1801. He received a common-scbool educa- 1^^ tion, and when a boy found employment as a writer in the office of the clerk of the County Court. His associations naturally led him into the study of law, and he was admitted to the bar in 1823. lie was early a Whig in politics, and as such was in 1833 elected to the State Legislature, and served three terms in that body. In 1S39 he was a member of the State Constitutional Convention. In the same year he took his seat as a Representative in Congress from Kentuckj' — his district being that in which Henry Clay resided, with whom he was ever on the most intimate terms of personal and political friendship. He served as a Representative in Congress until 1819, when he declined a re-election. In ISGl he was elected a Senator in Congress to succeed John C. Breckenridge, and took his seat December 3, 1801. He was re-elected in 1867. Mr. Davis steadily antagonized those who favored a vigorous pros- ecution of the war, opposed the emancipation and enfranchisement of the negroes, and obstructed reconstruction at every step. Every proposed amendment of the Constitution encountered his bitter oppo- sition, yet he proposed a resolution that " the Constitution should be so amended as to establish a tribunal for the decision of Constitutional questions," which he supported by a speech of great length. He' opposed a resolution of sympathy with the people of Spain in their efforts to establish a more liberal form of government, for the reason that it appealed to them to abolish slavery. He opposed impeach- ment, and pronounced a labored '• Opinion " for the President's acquittal. 61 THOMAS O. M^CREEEY. illOMAS C. McCKEERY is u native of Kentucky, and was born in 1S17. He studied law, but instead of practising bis profession, be turned bis attention to tbe more peaceful pursuits of agriculture. He was a presidential elector in 1852, and in 1858 was a member of tbe Board of Visitors to tbe military academy at West Point. On tbe resignation of James Gutbrie, as Senator in Congress, from Kentucky in 1S6S, Mr. McCreery was elected as a Democrat for tbe unexpired term ending in 1871, and took bis seat in tbe Senate, February 28, 1868. He was assigned to places on tbe Committee on Agriculture and tbe Committee on Territories. His first elaborate speecb in tbe Senate was delivered May 28, 1SG8, wben be spoke at great lengtb against tbe bill to admit Arkansas to representation in Congress. Tbe style of tbe speecb is illustrated in tbe following passage : " Tbe safeguards wbicb were tbrown around tbe rigbts of the citizen, as well as tbe land-marks wbicb were erected to protect tbe different departments in tbe exercise of tbeir delegated powers bave been obliterated and destroyed ; and instead of tbe symmetry and simplicity of our old republican institutions tbe nation tbis day groans under tbe weigbt of a compound radical iniquity, wbicb may be denominated a civil, circumspect, military, despotic, represented and unrepresented confederation of States, principalities and powers." He was tbe sole supporter of a resolution offered by bis colleague, Mr. Davis, declaring tbat " a court of im- peacbment cannot be legally formed, wbile Senators from certain States are excluded." December 17, ISGS, be proposed an amend- ment to tbe Constitution intended to protect tbe rigbts of minorities, and provide against tbe contingency of bringing an election for President and Vice-President to tbe House of Kepresentatives. He was constantly watchful of tbe interests and honor of Kentucky, and faithful to tbe principles of tbe Democratic party. HE^RY B. ANTPIOXY. $ENEY B. ANTHONY was Lorn of Quaker ancestors, in Coventry, Ebode Island, April 1, 1815. lie graduated at ^ Brown University, in 1833, and adopted the profession of journalism, in which he was successful. In 1838, he assumed the editorial charge of the "Providence Journal," which lie retained for many years. During the period of his editorial supervision, that newspaper had much influence in moulding the politics and the public opinion of the State of Rhode Island. It was an emphatic testimony to his editorial success and his general ability, that he was in 18-1:9 elected Governor of Ebode Island. He served with success, and was re-elected, but declined re-election for a third term. Eetir- ing from official life, be devoted himself with renewed ardor and en- larging influence to his profession. In 1858 be was elected a Senator in Congress from Ebode Island, and took bis seat on the fourth of March ensuing, for the term end- ing in 1865. He served with efl[iciency on the floor of the Senate, and as Chairman of the Committee on Printing. He was re- elected to the Senate for the term ending in 1871, again serving as Chairman of tlie Committee on Printing, and as a member of the Committees on Claims, Naval Affairs, Mines and Mining, and Post Offices. At the opening of the Forty -first Congress be was elected President of the Senate j^;"Ci temjwre. Mr. Anthony is recognized among the most radical of the Ecpub- lican members of the Senate. He has stood almost alone in the Sen- ate as an advocate of woman suffrage. As a Senator he has much influence, consequent upon bis ability in debate, and large experience in public aflairs. He has dignified bearing and commanding presence, with regular features, florid com plexion, and a profusion of iron-gray hair. 63 THO]MAS W. TIPTON. fHOMAS W. TIPTON was born at Cadiz, Ohio, August 8, 1817, and spent his early life on a farm. He graduated at Madison College, Pennsylvania, in ISIO. lie entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but subsequently changed his views of ecclesiastical polity, and became a Congrega- tionalist. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar. In 1845 he was a member of the Ohio Legislature, and subsequently for three years was in Washington at the head of a division in the General Land Office. He then removed to Nebraska, where, in 1860, he was a member of the Territorial Council, and was chosen a delegate to the Convention to frame a State Constitution. On the breaking out of the rebellion he was chosen chaplain of the First Regiment of Nebraska Infantry, and served in that capacity during the war. On the admission of Nebraska into the Union he was elected a Senator in Congress from the new State, and drew the short term, ending in 18G9. He was subsequently re elected for the term ending in 1875. Daring the Fortieth Congress, Mr. Tipton was a member of the Committee on Public Lands and the Committee on Pensions. He introduced a bill, which became a law, extending to the State of Nebraska the provisions of an act relating to agricultural colleges, a bill for the suppression of Indian hostilities, and several bills for the promotion of railroads in the AVest. He addressed the Senate in opposition to a resolution presenting the thanks of Congress to George Peabody. In remarks on the supplementary Reconstruction bill, he took the ground that " the loyal minority of these States should control the destiny of these States," and subsequently in an elaborate speech, February 10, 1868, pronounced emphatically in favor of negro suffrage in the South. He briefly presented im- portant reasons against tlie al)olition of the franking privilege. h A ^/^'^ ■"VrJi EMSiU t,S0aM-W^ •" *■ ' r^ ORRIS S. FERRY. ^RRIS S. FEERY was born at Bethel, Fairfield County, Connecticut, August 15, 1823. He graduated with honor at Yale College in ISi-i. He subsequently studied law and commenced practice at Norwalk, in Connecticut, where he has ever since resided. He pursued his profession with diligence, and rose rapidly at the bar. In politics, Mr. Ferry was of Whig antecedents, and voted and worked with that party ; meanwhile he was far in advance of it in lib- eral and anti-slavery tendencies. Though active and widely popular, he avoided public office until he was nominated and elected to the State Senate in 1855. When he entered that body, the Nebraska bill and debate had con- vulsed Congress, and was agitating the nation to the centre. He was made chairman of the Committee on Federal Relations, which, in Connecticut, is a joint committee of both Houses. He drew up the report and resolutions of the Committee, and advocated them with earnestness. They were adopted, and became the substance of the first platform of the Repxiblican party in the State of Connecticut. On that platform he was re-elected in 1856. He was made chairman of the same committee in the Legislature, and was again author of resolutions which formed the basis of the Republican platform in the succeeding election. In 1855 a proposition was made in the General Assembly to submit to the people an amendment to the State Constitution, con- ferring suffrage on colored men. Mr. Ferry knew well that many of his Whig supporters were strenuously opposed to the amendment. Go 2 OURIS S. FERKY. but convinced that it was right, he gave it his vote, and when it was submitted, advocated it publicly. It was defeated by an overwhelm- ing majority. The conscientious action of Mr. Ferry nearly cost liim liis election in 1866, reducing his heavy majority of the previous year to one hundred and twenty. The old line Whigs actually mourned over what they deemed the mistake of a favorite, and voted sadly against him. Some of these very men lived to confess their error, and openly commend the foresight and courage of the action they had condemned. Mr. Ferry, during 1855 and 1856, M-as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which is, in Connecticut, a joint committee of both Houses. For years, leading men had vainly tried to secure a revision of the Judiciary system and laws of the State. Mr. Ferrj' and the committee with cheerful and persistent energy performed the arduous and much-needed labor, overcame the bitter opposition to the change, and inaugurated a system which stills gives universal satisfaction. In 1856 Mr. Ferry was chosen attorney for the State, which posi- tion he filled until 1859, winning well-deserved reputation for ability, integrity and faithfulness. In 1859 he was nominated for Congress by the Republican party, in a doubtful district. He had emerged into public life with^the Republican party ; bore a leading part in its early struggles, and was fired with all the zeal and vigor of its youth. lie made a personal canvass after the "Western style, a thing not before done in Connecti- cut. He possesses remarkable oratorical powers; he relates no anecdotes, illustrates rarely from the classics, enlivens his speeches only -with an occasional pungent thrust, but his power is higher than this. To a pure, compact, direct, luminous style he adds the magnetic power of a deep and sincere heart, glowing with the ardor of honest and profound convictions. He spoke with lofty and fervid eloquence in every town and village. The young men rallied to his support, and with great enthusiasm triumphantly elected him. Mr. Ferry was an active and unflinching Republican in the stormy sessions of the Thirty-sixth Congress. He was a member of the 66 ORRIS S. PERRY. 3 i'auKnii cooimittee of tlurt^'-tliree "upon the state of tlie Union." After careful and searching consideration, he reluctantly concluded that adjustment of our national difficulties by legislation was impos- sible. He made, on the 2-itli of February, an earnest speech, declar- ing that there was " no course left but for the government to vindi- cate its dignity by an exhibition of its strength." The speech was so savagely criticised by Democrats, and disapproved by hesitating Republicans, as to compass the defeat of Mr. Ferry. The election took place early in April, just in the period of apprehension and anxiety to avoid collision, which preceded the capture of Sumter. After a gallant campaign, Mr. Ferry was beaten by seventeen votes. Had the election taken place four weeks later, he would have been re-elected by thousands on the merits of his bold, manly and truthful speech. After his defeat he returned to Washington, when the capitol was threatened. Before troops could arrive from the North, he enrolled himself in the Cassius M. Clay Guard, and patrolled Washington during those days and nights of alarm. He did not wish to enter the three months'' service, but as soon as three years' troops were called for, he volunteered. He was chosen colonel of the 5th Regiment, the second of three years' troops from Connecticut, and quickly recruited it from a skeleton to a full regiment of superior men. He was earl}' promoted to brigadier-general, and served with unflagging fidelity wherever duty called through the entire war, resigning June 15th, 1863. He immediately applied himself with new zest and characteristic diligence to the law, his favorite pursuit, and rapidly regained his extensive practice. In the same year the Legislature again sub- mitted the colored suffrage amendment to the people. The influence of Andrew Johnson was brought to bear against it. Mr. Ferry could not prevail on the State Republican Committee to make an active canvass, and he resolutely took the stump alone for it. He wrote a series of articles, which were subsequently collected by Mr. Stearns, of Boston, published and widely distributed. The amendment was 67 4 ORRIS S. FERRY. defeated, but by a majority far less than in 1855. The indifferent Eepublicans of 1865 have often since wished that they had seconded the earnest endeavor of Mr. Ferry. In 1866 he was elected to the Senate of the United States to suc- ceed Hon. Lafayette S. Foster, and took his seat at the beginning of the Fortieth Congress, March 4, 1867. As a Senator, he is rigidly faithful to every duty, vigorously studious in law and political science, impartial in investigation, quick in perception, prompt, fearless, independent, and incorruptible in action. Caring far more to be right than to be popular, he is both esteemed and honored. He is genial and brilliant in social qualities, pure and affectionate in domestic life, sincere and devout in religious character. In him, those who know him best see their ideal of a man and of a Senator. "Yi^,^^^ 'k^^i^^^^^ JAMES DIXO^^. *AMES DIXOIST was born at Enlield, Connecticut, August 5, 1814. He pursued his preparatory studies at the High School of Ellington, and at sixteen years of age entered Williams College, where he graduated in 1834. After leaving col- lege he studied law in the office of his father, William Dixon, Esq. ; and after being admitted to tlie bar, commenced the practice of his profession in his native town, which for two years he represented in the State Legislature. Subsequently he removed to Hartford. In October, 1S40, he was married to Miss Elizabeth L. Cogswell, daughter of Rev. Dr, Cogswell, Professor in the Theological Institute of East AVindsor, and soon after went upon a European tour, which occupied him until the following summer. Mr. Dixon devoted much attention to literature. He contributed poems of much merit to the " New England Magazine," and the " Connecticut Courant." Mr. Everest, in his " Poets of Connecticut," says, " Mr. Dixon's articles display truly poetical powers, and his sonnets in particular are characterized by a chasteness of thought and style which entitle tliem to a high place amongst the poems of their order." He was re-elected to the lower branch of tlie Connecticut Legisla- ture in 1844, and was a member of the State Senate in 1849 and 1854. He served as a Representative in Congress from Connecticut, from 1845 to 1849. He was elected a United States Senator from Connecticut, and entered upon the duties of this office in 1857, and was subsequently re-elected for the term which ended March 4th, 1869. He was elected as a Republican, but joined President Johnson in liis defection from that party. In the spring of 1869, he was a candidate of the Democratic party for Representative in Congress, and was defeated. 69 JOSEPH S. FOWLER. ^OSEPil S. FOWLER was born near Steubenville, Ohio, August 31, 1822. When quite young he was left depen- dent on his own resources, but by industry and persever- ance succeeded in obtaining a collegiate education, graduating at FraukUn College in 1843. In that institution he was Professor of Mathematics for four years ; and, subsequently, was Principal of a Seminary near Xashville, Tennessee. On the breaking out of the rebellion he warmly espoused the Union cause. In September, 1861, he left the State under the forty days' proclamation of Jefterson Davis, and went to Springfield, Illinois, where he resided until April, 1862. Returning to Tennessee, he was appointed Comptroller under Governor Johnson, and took a prominent part in reorganizing the State government. In 1865 he was elected a Senator in Congress from Tennessee, but was not admitted to his seat until July, 1866. He was elected as a Eepublican, and acted with that party during the early part of his term in the Senate. In the impeachment trial he voted for the acquittal of Andrew Johnson, and from that time sup- ported his policy, and generally acted with the Democratic minority. He was one of thirteen Senators who voted against the resolution proposing the Suffrage Amendment, which he opposed in several speeches during the preceding discussion. He thought that the extension of the suffrage should be " left to the reflection of the people," rather than be " put in the Constitution an arbitrary and fixed rule that cannot be changed and cannot be reformed without revolution." A portion of his opposition arose from the fact that the Amendment did not include women, and men who were disfran- chised on account of participation in the rebellion. 70 WILLARD SAULSBURY. riLLARD SAULSBURY was born in Kent County, Dela- ware, June 2, 1S20. lie was educated at Delaware College, and at Dickinson College. He adopted the profession of law, and was admitted to the bar in lSi5. In 1S50 he was api)ointed attorney -general of Delaware, and held the ofHce five years. In 1859 he was elected a Senator in Congress from Delaware, and in 1864 was re-elected for the term ending in 1871. He was a member of the " Chicago Convention " of 1864, and during his entire political career has been actively identified with the Democratic party. When he entered the Senate his party was in the majority, but it has been his lot dni-ing the greater portion of his service to act with a meagre minority. From the first he opposed the designs of the secessionists. On the message of President Buclianan, of December, 18CU, Messrs. Wigtall and Ivison occupied an entire day in the Senate advocating the doctrine of secession. At the close of the discussion Mr. Saulsbury briefly and emphatically declared the attitude of Delaware to be one of strict loyalty to the Union. When Jefferson Davis introduced in the Senate his celebrated resolutions in favor of secession, Mr. Saulsbury moved as a substitute a quota- tion from Washington's farewell address. In caucus he opposed the movement, and was the only Democratic Senator who did not vote for the resolutions which finally passed. His position in the impor- tant crisis was similar to that of Crittenden of Kentucky, and Pearce of Maryland. He voted in favor of the resolution authorizing President Lincoln to use military force f6r the collection of the reve- nues in Charleston, and other harbors held by the rebels. During the war, and subsequently, he constantly opposed the Eepublican majority in the Senate. The Civil Rights bill, the Freedmen's Bu- reau bill, and all the constitutional amendments encountered his able and earnest, but ineffectual, opposition. 71 JAMES A. BAYAED. ^AMES A. BAYAED is a native of Delaware, and son of a statesman of the same name who was a United States Sen- ator in ISOi, a minister to France, and one of the commis- sioners who negotiated the treaty of Ghent. An elder brother, Kichard H. Bayard, was a Senator in Congress from 1836 to 1839, and again from 1811 to 1815. The subject of this sketch took a seat in the Senate from Delaware in 1851 ; was re-elected in 1857, and was again re-elected in 1863, but resigned January 29, 1861. Upon the death of George Eead Riddle, he was appointed to fill the vacancy in the Senate, and took his seat April 1, 1867. His service closed at the end of the Fortieth Congress, when he gave place to his son, seeking in the shades of private life the quiet scenes better befitting his advanced years than the tumultuous arena of politics. During the Fortieth Congress Mr. Bayard served on the Committees on Foreign Relations, Private Land Claims, and Revision of the United States Laws. Among his remarks at different times in the Senate was a speech on the organization of that body as Court of Impeachment, wherein he took strong ground against the presiding officer, Mr. Wade, acting as a member of the Court. He spoke against the bill for the readmission of North Carolina, and steadily opposed the reconstruction measures, and the general policy of Con- gress for the re-establishment of the government over the rebellious States. By birth, by education and association, he was led to sym- pathize with the South, and to act with the opposers of the govern- ment, although liis impaired faculties prevented his opposition from being vigorous or effectual. 72 ctr^atL Occ/C^ GEOEGE TICKERS. f'EORGE VICKERS was born in Chestertown, Kent County, Maryland, November 19, 1801. After receiving an aca- i^ demiciil education, be was employed in the County Clerk's otiice, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1832. He was a member of the Maryland Electoral College in 1836, and was a dele- gate to the Whig National Convention which assembled in Balti- more in 1852. He declined the appointment of judge tendered hiiii hj Governors Hicks and Bradford, but accepted that of major-general of militia offered him by the former in 1861. He was a presiden- tial elector on the McClellau ticket in 1864, and was a member of the Maryland Senate in 1866 and 1867. He was elected a United States Senator from Maryland, and took his seat March 11, 1868. The impeachment trial of President Johnson commenced two days afterwards, and the new Senator watched its progress with intense interest. He viewed the transaction as strictly judicial, and in giving his vote of acquittal he presented a written opinion in which he argued the question solely as a legal one. His first speech was made June 8, 1868, on the bill for the admission of North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama to representation. He contended that negroes could not properly be associated with the whites in the State or National government, and invoked the Senate to deal kindly with the Southern people who had endured so much suftering during the war. Subsequently he spoke against the power of the general government to incorporate railroad companies in the States ; against the proposed Suffrage Amendment to the Constitu- tion ; against the admission of Senator Eevels because he had not been a citizen of the United States nine years, as required by the Constitution, and against the admission of Senator Ames on the ground that he had not acquired a legal residence in Mississippi, and that his election was bv moral coercion of the Lesrislature. il PETER G. VAN WINKLE. . ^'eTER G. VANWINKLE was born in the city of New York, September 7, 1808. He received an academical education, and entered on the study of law. In 1835 lie emigrated to what is now "West "Virginia, and settled in Parkersburg, where he engaged in law practice, in which he continued till 1852. He then became treasurer and afterwards president of a railroad company. He was a member of the Virginia State Constitutional Convention of 1850, and in 18G1 was a member of the "Wheeling Convention, assembled to frame a Constitution for the proposed new State of West Virginia. He was a member of the Legislature of the new State in 1SG3, and in December, of the same year, was elected to the Senate of the United States. Mr. Vanwinkle, as a Senator in the Fortieth Congress, served on the Committee on Post-offices and Post-roads, and as chairman of the Committee on Pensions. Although seldom participating in the de- bates of the Senate he was an active and able member of that body. He several times addressed the Senate pending the consideration of the Tax bill, and the Ohio River Bridge bill. Many of his statements in these speeches are of much interest, and evince that their author had given diligent attention to the subject which he was discussing. Several of his addresses, in presenting various claims for jiensions, as chairman of the committee on that subject,- give evidence of ability and sound discretion. In the Impeachment trial, Mr. Vanwinkle voted to acquit President Johnson, presenting, in a brief but elabo- rate opinion on the case, his reasons for not regarding the offenses charged in the various articles as crimes or misdemeanors. His Senatorial term ended March, 18G9, when he retired from political and public life. GEORGE F. EDMUI^DS. ■EORGE F. EDMUNDS was born in Eiclnnond, \^ermont, February 1, 1828. His education was carried somewhat beyond the curriculum of tlie common schools by the instructions of a private tutor. Possessing naturally an acute intel- lect and a practical readiness with Jiis mother tongue, he took almost instinctively to the law, which he studied with unusual assiduity and success. He was admitted to the bar in 1849, and eschewing poli- tics, devoted himself exclusively to his profession. In 1851 he settled in Burlington, and in 185-1, in 1857, in 1858, and in 1859 he was elected to the lower branch of the Vermont Legislature, in which he served three years as Speaker. In 1861 and 1802, he was elected to the State Senate, and was President pro tern, of that body. On the breaking out of the rebellion he was a member of the State Convention which met to form a coalition between the Republicans and War Democrats, and drew up the resolutions which were adopted by the Convention as the basis of union for tlie country. He was appointed to the United States Senate as a Republican to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Hon. Solomon Foot, and took his seat April 5, 1S6C. He was elected by the Legislature for the remainder of the term ending March 4, 1869, and was re-elected without opposition for the further term of si.x years. He served on the Committees on Commerce, Public Lands, Pensions, Retrench- ment, and the Judiciary, and as chairman of the Committee on Pen- sions. He frequently participated in the debates of the Senate, always speaking with force and clearness. As a member of the Judiciary Committee he has frequently expressed his views on legal questions in such a way as to impress hearers with his ability as a lawyer. 75 EDMUJ^D G. EOSS. .■j^^DMUND G. EOSS was Ijorn in Asliland, Ohio, December '•^^^ 7, 1S26. He i-eceived a good education, learned the art '"^^A of printing, and was for a time foreman in the office of the " Milwaukee Sentinel."' At the commencement of the Kansas troubles, he went to that territory, took an active part in its local affairs, and became editor of the '"Kansas Tribune" — at that time the only free State paper, all others having been destroyed. lie was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1859, which framed the present Constitution of the State, and from that time till ISGl he served in the State Legislature. At the outbreak of the rebel- lion he enlisted as a private soldier in a Kansas regiment, and was promoted step by step to the rank of major. In July, 1866, he was appointed by the governor of the State a Senator in Congress from Kansas for the unexpired term of James H. Lane, deceased, took his seat July 25, and was re-elected in January, 18G7. In the Fortieth Congress he served on the Committee on Indian Affairs, on Mines and Mining, and as chairman of the Joint Committee on Enrolled Bills. Among the speeches of Mr. Ross during tliis Congress was his ad- dress to the Senate on the bill to establish peace with certain Indian tribes. In a speech on the resolution to investigate alleged impro- per influences in the Impeachment trial of President Johnson, Mr. Eoss vindicated himself against insinuations prejudicial to his integ- rity in connection with his vote for the President's acquittal. " I could not," said he, " declare the President guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors on mere differences as to governmental policy. I sought to divest my mind of all party prejudice, hear the accusa- tions and the evidence, and endeavored to cast my vote in the cause witii the candor and courage of an honest judge." 76 il -7 ^iStiaSl^M .ens C~ ' "■' t ^ / > HON KDMUND G ROSS. SENATOR FROMKAJISAS •JJ\'. QAfi\^^.ii_ c PURL 13-1 tRS HO N. ALEXAlv „ _. - . - - SEWATOB FROV ASKa: ALEXAT^DER M^DOXALD. f'lB LKXANDER McDonald was born in Clinton County, /J^^^ Pennsylvania, April 10, 1832, and was educated at the >^,,'^(j3 Dickinson Seminary, and the Lewisburg University. After having been empluyed for some time as a clerk in Williams- port, in 1S52 he commenced business on his own aceomit at Lock ILxven, Pennsylvania, In 1857 he emigrated with liis little family to Kansas, and settled in what has since become tlie city of Fort Scott. His first business experiment in the West was the erection of a saw-mill. He jiureliased an ox team, and hauled his own stone and timber. He acted as fireman in his own mill, tlius earl}' in his western career showing the pluck and hardihood necessary to success. Living within four miles of the Missouri line, he was in tiie midst of the border troubles, in which he took an active part on the side of freedom and good government. He engaged in mercantile pursuits in 1859, and when the great famine prevailed, he proved himself a liberal benefactor of the sufi:ering people. Neither in Fort Scott nor in the country immediately around was there any public aid asked or received, since Mr. McDonald's judicious management in aiding the needy and destitute, by giving them employment at good wages, ])revented destitution and saved the self-respect of all by enabling them to avoid dependence upon ptiblic charity. The 2d Kansas liegiment was organized in May, 18G1, and was sent into the field, on the day of its muster, without any provis- ion for the clothing of the men. Mr. McDonald procured the appointment of a fi-iend as sutler, and himself took along a large outfit of clothing, from which he furhisiied the entire regiment witli clothing which shoidd have been provided by the government ; and he never received in return one-half the amount of his expenditure. Returning to Fort Scott under tlie special authority of Gen. Nathan- .J ALEXANDER McDONALD. iel Lvon, he raised a battalion of six companies whicli was subse- quently enlarged to a full regiment, which, as the Sth Kansas Cavalry, obtained honorable distinction in the war. This regiment, which was not properly mustered into service until after long delay, was entirely Biibsisted by Mr. McDonald for nearly a year. The men could get no rations from the government ; no one else would take the risk ; and Mr. McDonald patriotically furnished the necessary supplies. He also furnished clothing for which payment was repudiated by one entire company. He also fed and clothed the ofKcers of the first reg- iment of colored troops raised in the United States, for seven months before they were recognized by the government. After the battle of Wilson's Creek, when Price led his forces on Fort Scott, which was defended by Gen. James II. Lane, Mr. McDonald, as commanding oiScer of an auxiliary force of militia, par- ticipated in all the battles in that locality, including the celebrated fight at Diywood, winning the respect of his men and the approval of his superior ofRcers. Accompanying the victorious troops of Major-General James G. Blunt, he became one of the first Union settlers in the State of Arkansas after the exodus of the Confederate troops. Settling first at Fort Smith, he engaged again in mercantile pursuits, and soon established the '• First National Bank of Fort Smith" of which he became the president. He subseqiaently removed to Little Rock, where he established the Merchant's National Bank, of wliich he was the first president. Upon the return of the Southern leaders at the close of the war, they attempted to resume their old control by embittering inil)lic sentiment against jSTorthern men who had settled in the South. From a sense of duty to the country, and for self-protection, Mr. McDon,ald threw himself into politics with the same earnestness and devotion to the Union which distinguished his earlier career. He be- came the first signer in his locality of a call for a Ptepubliean con- vention. He took an active part in the ensuing struggle, and, upon the success which followed, he was elected as one of the United States Senatoi-s from Arkansas. 78 ic 1^" "Nw /S-ey HOM- B.F. RIC E, i.ElW'^OR FROM AF-KANSAS BEISTJAMDT F. EICE. V,<>r~r- — - (ENJAMIN F. EICE ^v:^s born in East Otto, Cattaraugus .^^^ County, New York, May 20, 1S2S. Asa boy, he ^vorked '^l on his father's farm during the spring and summer months, and at tifteen lie commenced teaching school in winter, and attending an academy in tlie fall. At eighteen years of age lie left his native State, and entered upon the study of law in Cincinnati, Ohio, •with James Burt, Esq. After about six months study, it be- coming necessary to recruit his iinances, he went to Cambridge city, Indiana, and again engaged in teaching school, at the same time continuing the study of law in the otHce of lion. James Karidan, a leading lawyer of the West. After a year's study there he was ex- amined and licensed to practice law. Ilis health having been im- paired by close confinement he was compelled to postpone entering upon the practice of law for two years, during which time he trav- elled in Texas and Mexico. lie then located in Irvine, Estelle County, Kentnekv, where he entered upon the practice of law, which he pursued successfully for ten years, in that and surrounding counties. In 1835 he was elected to the Kentucky Legislature, and served on the Judiciary and other important committees during the ensuing session. He was appointed in 1850 Presidential Elector on the Demo- cratic ticket, and met during the canvass most of the prondnent poli- ticians of the State in discussion upon the stump. In 1858 he was married to Miss Nannie Riddel, of Irvine, Ky. He was a candidate for Congress in 1859, but withdrew from the canvass through physi- cal inability to engage actively in it. In ISGO he removed to Minnesota, and located in IMankato, where he practiced law successfully until the breaking out of the Kebellion. After the capture of Fort Sumter he attempted to induce the Democratii- party, as such, to take the war side of the 70 2 BENJAMIN F. UIOE. question. To eiFect this he held many meetings, and had several public discnssions, but the effort proved unsuccessful, and he, with all who joined him in the attempt, entered the service bj enlisting in tlie 3d Minnesota Infantry Volunteers. After serving for thirty days as a private he was made captain of a company, and served three years in that capacitj'. He had three commissions sent him at different times for promotion, but declined to accept them. He served in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. After the fall of Vicksburg he was transferred to Arkansas, and was with the expedi- tion that captured Little Rock in the fall of 1SG3. He served there until the latter part of the following year, when he resigned. A loyal State government having been organized, and civil government having been restored in a large part of the State, he located at Little Kock, where he opened an officj and entered upon a very prosperous career as a lawyer. In 1867 he led off in the organization of the Republican party in Arkansas, and at the hrst State Convention held in the spring of that year was made Chairman of the State Central Committee. Under his supervision the Repiiblican party carried the State in three different elections, including the Presidential election of 1868. He was not himself a candidate for any office during the reconstruction period, devoting undivided attention to the work of combining vari- ous elements into a harmonious and victorious party. Arkansas having finally been brought iiito a condition suitable for restoration to practical relations with the Union, Mr. Rice was chosen a United States Senator for the long term ending March 3, 1873. He proceeded at once to Washington, and urged the immediate ad- mission of the State, which was accomplished in advance of that of any other of the rebel States. Upon being admitted to the Senate he was placed on three im- portant Conuuittees, those on the Judiciary, the Pacific Railroad, and the District of Columl)ia. Giving prompt attention to his duties, both in the Senate and on Committees, he soon acquired the reputation of being an efficient working member. 80 ■'•1 .v":^i'U^n JOSEPH O. ABBOTT. ''OSEPII CARTEE ABBOTT, a son of Aaron Alibott, an in- telligent fanner of Concord, New Ilanipsliire, was born July 15, 1S25. He carl)' evinced a decided taste for literary pur- suits, rather than the labors of the home farm. Obtaining a good academical education, and subsequently a suitable training for the bai', he was admitted to the practice of law in 1852. While pursu- ing his professional studies — his tastes leading him into the field of ]iolitic3 as well as of general literature — he was employed for several nitmths as editor of the "Manchester American,"' and, during the last six months of his legal course, as editor of the " New Hampshire Statesman," at Concord. In May, 1852, soon after his admission to the bar, he returned to Manchester and became permanent proprie- tor of the " American " and was its editor until disposing of the establishment in 1857. The practice of law having but few attrac- tions for him, Mr. Abbott, in May, 1859, became editor and proprie- tor of the " Boston Atlas," which he conducted for two years, still continuing his family residence at Manchester. In politics a decided Whig, he was earlj' a member of the New Hampshire State Central Committee, and for a time its chairman ; and also chairman of the committee that reported the resolutions in the Whig Presidential Convention of New Hampshire, in 1852. In July, 1855, Gen. Abbott received the ajipointment of adjutant- general of the State of New Hampshire, which he resigned in 1801. While in this office he was instrumental in effecting a more thorough organization of the State militia — feeling that in time of peace we should prepare for war — and for this purpose he drafted and secured the enactment of an elaborate Ijill, which is, in its main features, the present Militia Law of New Hampshire. ., JOSEPH C. ABBOTT. Although the State authorities were, at the time, making a heavy draft on its available men, in organizing, for purposes of the existing war, four regiments of intantry, a battery, a company of sharp shooters, and a battalion of cavalry, still, in September, 1S61, Gen. Abbott obtained authority from the War Department to raise a regi- ment of infantry in New Hampshire. This he early determined should be under thorough military command, and prove a model regiment. By persevering eifort he was successful in raising the req- uisite number of men, and fixed the headquarters of his regiment- well known as the 7th New Hampshire— at Manchester. He did not seek for himself the chief command, but acccptei the lieutenant- colonelcy— suggesting and urging for appointineut as colonel, Lieu- tenant H. S. Putnam, who hi\d received a military education at West Point, and had already seen some service in the field. These commissions were accordingly issued by the governor. In the early part of 1863, Col. Putnam was assigned to the com- mand of a brigade, and Lieut.-Col. Abbott succeeded to the command of the 7th Eegiment. Under his command, at the assault on Fort Wagner, July IS, 1SC3, where Col. Putnam was killed, the 7th Regiment sufi"ered a loss of 212 ofiicers and men, killed and wounded. Almost immediately npon this, Lieut.-Col. Abbott was promoted to be colonel of the regiment, and continued in command, through several severe battles and marches, until the engagement at Drury's Bluff, in May, 1S61, when, by reason of the sickness of the brigade commander, Col. Abbott succeeded to his place ; and, after this, for nearly all the time until the close of the war, he remained in the command of a brigade. At the capture of Fort Fisher, in North Carolina, he distinguished himself in such command ; and in Jan- uary, ISfio, was " appointed Brigadier-General of U. S. Volunteers, by brevet, for gallant services" on that occasion. Gen. Abbott was mustered out of the United States service with his regiment, returned with it to New Hampshire, and was honorably discharged in August, 1865. Soon after leaving the service, Mr. Abbott purchased valuable 83 JOSEPH C. ABBOTT. 3 tiiul)LM- IiurU ill Nortli Carolina, and removed to Wilmington, near the scene of his last gallant exploits, where he engaged actively in land and lumber business, although still retaining his connection with a partner in the law. He was an influential member of the North Carolina Constitutional Convention, which met at Raleigh in Novem- ber, 1S67, taking an active part in its deliberations, and making sev- eral able speeches ; showing throughout an intimate knowledge of political affairs, and a deep interest iu the concerns of his adopted State. In April, ISGS, he was chosen as a Republican Represen- tative in the State Legislature, and in Jul)' following was elected by that body United States Senator from North Carolina. Of strong native sense, and of sound judgment in political matters, Mr. Abbott was well fitted for his editorial duties, and discharged them with good taste, tact, and ability. Kind and courteous in dis- position, he would not needlessly offend a political opponent, while at tlie same time he would not sacrifice principle to expediency in con- ciliating opposition. Writing with clearness of thought, without any inflation of style, his editorial services were well appreciated as a literary and miscellaneons as well as political writer. In the mili- tary service, whether as a regimental or brigade commander, he was distinguished for prudent care of the troops under his command, not rashlv urffino- them forward where he was not willing, fearless of consequences, to go himself. Cool and deliberate in judgment, he was brave and earnest in action, and jirovcd himself scrupulously j faithful in the discharge of every duty. Mr. Abbott is about six feet in height, of a compact and solid frame. With dark eyes and complexion, regular rather than prom- inent features, and a handsomely rounded contour of visage, his face has none of the wrinkles of age, nor his hair much of the touch of gray. His expression of countenance, when in repose, indicates great kindness and benevolence of character; but his eye gives token that, when roused by proper excitement to action, the will " to do and to dare" will never be wanting. 83 JOHN POOL. 'OHN POOL was born in Pasquotank County, North Caro- lina, June 16, 1826. He graduated at the University of Nortli Carolina in 1847, and in the following August, having obtained license, commenced the practice of law in his native county. In 1856 he was elected to the State Senate, and re-elected in 1858. In 1860 he was the regularly nominated Whig candidate for gover- nor of the State, in opposition to the incumbent. Governor Ellis, but by a reduced and very small majority he was defeated. Mr. Pool declined to take part in the secession movement, and remained in private life until 1864, when he was again elected to the State Senate as a peace candidate over his secession rival. At the ensuing session of the Legislature, he headed the peace movement, and introduced and defended a series of " Peace Kesolutions,'' propos- ing to appoint five commissioners on the part of North Carolina to treat directly with the government of the United States. Mr. Pool was elected a member of the State Constitutional Conven- tion, called by the President in 1865 ; and was again elected to the State Senate convened undei- the new constitution in the same year. In December of that year he was elected by the Legislature to the Senate of the United States ; but North Carolina, under the Presi- dent's policy, not being allowed representation, he did not take his seat under that election. He was again elected in 1868, to the United States Senate, by the Legislature convened in pursuance of the Reconstruction acts of Congress, was qualified, and took his seat in Jul}-, for the Senatorial term ending in March, 1873. During the remainder of the Fortieth Congress, he participated actively in the business of legislation, serving on the Committees on Indian Affairs, Revision of the Laws and Revolutionary Claims. 84 •^^^a-- '''? Vge patT==>-"- ',.i^^^^^-^ !0N. GF.^'Pr;!-: H',. SPENl!-;- GEORGE E. SPEIn^CER. t^EOEGE E. SPENCER was born in the town of Chauipioii, Jefferson Count}', New York, November 1, 1S36, the young- F^^ est of four sons of the late Doctor Gordon P. Spencer, of Watertown, New York, who was a surgeon in the United States Army during the war of 1812. Doctor Spencer was born in Salis- bury, Connecticut, from which State the Spencer family emigrated to New York, prominent among them being the Hon. John C. Spen- cer, and Ambrose Spencer, names familiar to the countrj' in the record of statesmen and lawyers. The subject of this sketcli, after obtaining a liberal education at Montreal College, Canada, returned to his home in AVatertown, New York, and entered upon the study of the law. But he was impa- tient of iiome restraints, and, having imbibed in earl}- j-outh a long- ing for adventure, determined upon emigrating to the far west. He located in the State of Iowa, was admitted to the bar in 1857, and, entering actively the arena of politics as a Republican, was chosen secretary of the Iowa State Senate at its session of 1857-58. At the breaking-out of the rebellion, Mr. Spencer was pioneering further westward, engaged in prospecting tiie mineral resources of Colorado and adjacent territory, a true type of the restless but deter- mined spirit of American adventure, which has discovered and opened up the wealth of gold and silver that has enriched the nation and populated the wilderness. He entered the army of the Union as captain and assistant adjutant-general of volunteers, and served with distinction as chief of statf to Major-Gen. Grenville M. Dodge until 1863, when he recruited and raised the 1st Regiment of Ala- bama cavalry, composed of the loyal miuiiitaineers of that State, and, as colonel, commanded a brigade of cavalry on Sherman's finiou^ 85 2 ( ; E o K ( ; E K . S P E N C E K . •• Maicli to the Sea." He was breveted a brigadier-general for gal- lantry on the field, and, after the war, resumed the practice of the law at Decatur, Alabama, in the neighborhood of the homes of his old comrades of the 1st Alabama cavalry. Mr. Spencer took prominent part in the reconstruction of Ala- bama, and was appointed a register in bankruptcy by Chief Justice Chase in May, 1867, and on the 21st of July, 1868, was elected a Senator in Congress for the term of six years. Mr. Spencer is recognized in the Senate as an industrious and in- fluential member. While possessing the elements of generosity and courtesy to an eminent degree, he battles for his principles and his friends, with commendable and unshaken zeal. An illustration of this is found in a speech delivered by him in the Senate, during the discussion of the labor question and the eight hour system, from which the following is a brief extract : " I have the honor, Mr. Presi- dent, of representing upon this floor a large constituency who have heretofore been deprived by slavery of all benefit and reward of their own toil. For over two hundred years the institution of slavery has degraded the interests and respectability of labor in the South, aflect- ing the poorer classes of whites equally with the blacks. Tiirough much tribulation and bloodshed the shackles have been stricken from tliem, and for the first time in the history of our country its labor is now all free, and invuluntary service no longer exists. Under the cruel laws of slavery, education was denied this people ; they were kept in total obscurity and darkness, the effort being to repress rather than to encourage intelligence. From the first break of dawn they were forced to toil wearily, under the dispiriting lash of the overseer, with no other hope than to see the sun go down tliat tliey might have a brief surcease from the grinding oppression of their tasks. Their toil is now their own, consecrated to them by the best blood of free America ; and it is a matter of deep concern to the country and to myself, that they shall receive the benefits of that freedom, not only in their labor, but in their education ; as weU in books as in their new relations as citizens of the Republic." 86 WILLIAM P. KELLOGG. ^^^ILLIAM PITT KELLOGG was born in Vermont, Decem- ber IS, 1S30. lie was educated at Norwicli University in his native State, and in 1848 removed to Illinois. He studied law at Peoria, was admitted to the bar in 1853, and com- menced practice in Fulton County. In 1856 he was a candidate for the State Legislature, but through a coalition between Democrats and "Americans" he was defeated by a small majurity. tliuui,^]i running two hundred ahead of his ticket. He was a presidential elector on the Lincoln ticket in 1S60, and enjoyed the satisfaction of aiding to elevate his old friend and neighbor to the highest office in the gift of the nation. In ISGl Mr. Kellogg was appointed by Mr. Lincoln cliief justice of Nebraska. He was soon after commissioned by Governor Yates as colonel of the 7th Regiment of Illinois Cavalry, when he obtained leave of absence from the territory and entered the military service. He subsequently returned to Omaha to hold court, and then resigned Ins judgeship for the purpose of devoting himself wholly to military duties. He was present at the taking of New Madrid, when his regiment captured four guns from the enemy. He accompanied Gen. Pope's army u]) the Tennessee, in command of Gen. Granger's cavalry brigade, and took part in the capture of Corinth. In April, 1865, he was appointed collector of the port of New Orleans, his commission being signed by Mr. Lincoln on the afternoon of the evening on which he was assassinated. While collector, Mr. Kellogg appointed and commissioned as revenue inspector the first colored man a])pointed to such position in any Custom House in the United States. In July, 1868, he was elected United States Senator from Louisiana, and was soon after admitted to his seat for the term ending Mai-ch 4, 1873. He was assigned to membership on the Committees on Commerce, Claims, and Private Land Claims. 87 DAITIEL S. NORTON, yg^ ANIEL S. l^OETON is a native of Ohio, having been born _ at Mount Vernon, of that State, April 12, 1829. He was ^^t:(T- educated at Kenjon College, and afterwards served with the Ohio volunteers in the Mexican war. He subsequently visited California and Nicaragua, and having thus spent a year in travel, he returned to Ohio and studied and practiced law, having been admit- ted to the bar in 1852. In 1855 Mr. Norton emigrated to Minnesota, then beginning to attract the attention of eastern people contemplating emigration "Westward. Two years after-.vards he was elected to the State Senate, of which he was a member during six years ending 1804. In 18G5 he was elected to the United States Senate as a Conservative, to succeed M. S. Wilkinson, Republican. On coming into the Senate, Mr. Norton was placed on the Com- mittee on Patents, and the Committee on Territories. He addressed the Senate several times in opposition to the SutlVage Amendment, asserting that it was "urged singly, solely, and simply by party for party purposes." In a speech against the bill to strengthen the public credit he said, " If there was any interest in this country that was especially interested in the successful prosecution of the war and the suppression of the rebellion it was the capital of the country. If there was any class of men who ought to feel more interest in the stake than another it was the capitalists of the country. If it had been possible the Government should have compelled the money of the country to contribute its share and its proportion of the burdens of the wai", just as it compelled the laboring classes to contribute their services and their lives in its defense." In a speech on the civil Appropriation bill he presented an earnest plea for suitable compen- sation to certain Sisters uf Mercy who had labored in the South for the comfort of sick, wounded, and disabled soldiers. 83 ^^^^^^^ HOl^I. JOHN b Hi--RRIS. JOHI^ S. HAEEIS. 'OHN S. HAERIS was bom at Truxton, Cortland Oonnty, New York, December IS, 1825. Having received a com- mon scbool education, he removed to Milwaukee, Wiscon- sin in 1846, where he engaged in commercial and financial pursuits. In 18G3 be removed to Concordia parish, Louisiana, where he pur- chased several thousand acres of land and engaged in the cultivation of cotton. He was very successful in his business although he mot with some reverses, twice losing no less than one hundred thousand dollars by breaks in the levees, througli which the Mississijjpi over- flowed his plantations. Although from the North, and holding radical Republican views of politics, yet, being a large planter and a permanent resident, ho was favoral)ly regarded even by the late rebel element of his locality, and was unanimously elected a member of the Convention to frame a new Constitution for Louisiana. After taking an active part in its proceedings he was chosen by the Convention one of a committee of seven to direct the political aflairs of the State until the inauguration of the new State government. The committee having called upon the Legislature to assemble in June, 1868, Gen. Buchanan, com- mander of the military district, regarded their action as an invasion of his prerogative, and placed the members of the committee under arrest. He at last yielded, however, and the Legislature assembled on the day designated by the committee, Mr. Harris taking his seat in the Senate. He was soon after elected to the Senate of the United States, and took his seat in that body July 17, 1868. He introduced a resolution requesting the Committee on Commerce to inquire into theexpedienc}- of the government of the United States taking charge of the levees of the lower Mississippi. This resulted in a bill chartering a corporation for the promotion of the important interests involved. 83 DAYID T. PATTERSON. .VYID T. PATTEESON was born in Green County, Ten- nessee, February 28, 1S19. He received an academic edu- cation, and in the earlier part of bis life was engaged in manufacturing pursuits, commencing as a paper-maker and laboring subsequently as a miller. He afterwards studied law, entered upon its practice, and settled in Greenville, where he married a daughter of Andrew Johnson, afterwards President of the United States. In 185-4 Mr. Patterson was elected a judge of the circuit court, and was re-elected to the same office in 1862. In 1864 he was a member of the State Convention of Tennessee that was ordered for the reconstruction of the State ; and, in the same year, he was elected a delegate for the State at large to the Republican National Convention at Baltimore, by which Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson were nominated for President and Vice-president of the United States ; but he was prevented fi-om attending from the fact that he was engaged as a member of the Board of Visitors at West Point Military Academy. Mr. Patterson gave his vote for Mr. Lincoln at the re-election of the latter to the presidency of the United States ; was a member of the Philadelphia Convention of 1866, and in the same year was elected to the United States Senate. He took his seat July 26, 1 866, and his term of service expired in March, 1869. He was a member of the Committee on Eevolutionary Claims and the Committee on the District of Columbia. He took no conspicuous part in legislation, but constantly by his votes supported the policy of the President as against Congress. At the close of his term in the Senate he went into retirement upon a farm belonging to his father-in-law, near Greenville, Tennessee. 90 7^J^^^. HON THOMAS W CSBORN, SENATOR FFCM FLORIDA THOMAS W. OSBORK I^^^HOM AS WARD OSBORN was born at Scotch Plains, New Y'^^ Jerse}-, March 9, 1S33. His grandfather, John 13. Osborn, /;lfe?- served in the Revohition as a major and quartermaster ; and his grandmother, a sister of Ezra Darby, member of Congress from 1804 to 1808, has passed into history as one of the '• Heroic Women of the Revohition." His parents removed to New York in 1842, and settled in Jefferson County, where his youth was passed in labor on the farm, with only the advantages of the district school for the months of each winter until 185-1. He subsequently prepared for college at the Governeur Seminary, and in 1857 entered Madison University, where he graduated with the class of 1860. Soon after, he entered the law office of Messrs. Starbuck & Sawyer, in AYatertown, New York, and exei'ted himself with energy to prepare for admission to the bar. Immediately after the defeat at Bull Run, in 18G1, he raised a company whicli, as Battery ''D,'' was attached to the 1st Regiment of New York Artillery. Mr. Osborn at liis own request was made lirst lieutenant, but in a fuw weeks received the commission of captain, and assumed command of the battery. In the following October, he returned to Syracuse, and after passing an ex- amination was admitted to the bar. His regiment having passed the winter in the Camp of Instruction at Washington, early in the spring of 1SC2 Captain Osborn, with his battery, joined the command of General Hooker on the lower Potomac. At the battle of Williamsburg in 18G2, his battery being slightly in the rear, he took possession of the guns of Battery " H '' First U. S. Artillery, from which its own men had been driven by the enemy. He commanded that battery throughout the entire engagement, which lasted all day, losing about one-third of his officers and men killed and wonnded. He participated in all the impoi-tant Jiatrles of the 01 ._j T H O M A S W . () S B U K X . Peninsula in which General Hooker's command was engaged, besides being several times detached to take part in battles nnder other com- manders. Just before the battle of the Wilderness, his battery was comjjlimented by General Meade in General Orders, as having par- ticipated in more battles (32) than an}' regiment or battery in the Army of the Potomac. An inscription to that effect was placed upon the flag of the battery. In tlie winter of 1SG2 and '03, Captain Osborn was attached to the staff of Major-General Berry as Chief of Artillery, and at the battle of Ghaneellorville commanded the greater part of the artillery engaged on the evening of the 2d and morning of the 3d of May, when the main part of the battle was fought. He was standing by the side of the gallant Berry when he fell, and was himself hit three times in as many minutes. Soon after the battle of Ghaneellorville, lie received promotion to the rank of major, in his own regiment, and was at once assigned to duty as Chief of Artillery in the Reserve Artillery Corps of the army, but soon after was assigned to the same duty on the staff of General Howard, commanding the 11th Army Corps. At the battle of Gettysburg the 11th Corps was engaged early on the 1st day of July. The artillery of this Corps took posi- tion on Cemetery Hill, which it held during the ensuing battle lasting two days. Major Osborn placed in position his own bat- teries and tliose of the 1st Army Corps, as well as many of the batteries of the Reserve Corps ; and during the entire engage- ment he commanded them, under the most trying circumstances. The position he held was more commanding and more exposed than any other on tlie field. Upon it the enemy turned nearly all his artillery, but did not succeed in driving a single battery or gun from the position. The conduct of Major Osborn and his command in the battle of Gettysburg was highly commended. A prominent officer who was present wrote: "The success of the Union Army in thi^- battle may be attributed as much to the individual efforts and skill of Major Osborn in the disposition of the artillery corps under his command, and the efficient manner in which he handled it against 92 THOMAS W. OSBORN. - 3 tlie eiieiny, as to the operations of any one officer participating in the engagement." Under the command of General Hooker, Major Osborn took part in the engagement of Lookout Valley and all the battles in that vicinity. At the battle of Mission Eidge he reported to General Sheridan, and served with him during the entire series of battles before Chattanooga. After the death of Major General McPherson, and the assignment of General Howard to the Army and Department of the Tennessee, Major Osborn was also transferred to that army as Chief of Artillery. Under his directions the artillery of the army was reorganized, and most of the batteries re-equipped and given an uniform armament. The artillery of the army was detached from the division of infantry of which it had previously formed a part, and brigaded under the Corps Commander and tlie Chief of Artillery. Under this compact and efficient oi-ganization, the artillery of the army remained until the general disbanding of the army at the close of the war. Major Osborn participated in twenty of the great battles of the war, and in more than fifty engagements where over ten thousand men were engaged. lie honorably earned the rank of Colonel to which he was advanced. AVhen General Howard was appointed Commissioner of the Bureau of Eefugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, lie recpiested the as- signment of Col. Osborn as Assistant Commissioner for the State of Alabama. A serious and jiainful accident, however, prevented his acceptance of the commissionership for Alabama for several weeks, and his assignment was changed to the State of Florida. During his administration of this office he was heartily supported by the com- manding officers of the District, Gen. John Newton, and Gen. J. G. Foster, who co-operated with him so far as their orders from the Presi- dent would permit. The colored people of the State were assisted in every way possible in their contracts, and protected in all their interests. The land- holders were induced toco-operate in tlie administration of the affairs of the Bureau, and in protecting the freed people in all the rights of citizenship. During the spring and summer of 186fi the authoritv 93 4 TH O.MAS W. OS CORN. cif this dep;irtiin,'iit of the Governniuiit was so limited by President Johnson, tliat iittlc was left to the Assistant Commissioners besides tlie mere official position, nearly all their powers having been taken away from them. For this reason Col. Osborn requested to be inns- tered out of service, whicli was done in August, 1S6G. After leaving the army Mr. Osborn commenced the practice of law in tlie city of Tallahassee. In the following spring lie was appointed Eegister in the Court of Bankruptcy. After the passage of the Reconstruction act in the spring of 1S(>7 he at once took an active and leading jiart in the organization of the Republican party. He was elected chairman of the first Republican State Convention held in the State of Florida. His efforts were exerted to bring together, into a compact party organization, the Southern Unionists, the colored men, and recent iumn'grants from the North. In this he was so entirely successful that, in the election of delegates to the Constitu- tional Convention, but one Democrat was chosen. Tlie constitution adopted by the Convention was drawn by Mr. Osborn, and was presented veiy nearly in the precise form and language in which it now appears. At the nominating convention for State officers, he was nrgently solicited to become a candidate for governor, but declined. Under his general direction the party was kept united and harmonious until the election of State officers, and the ratification of the constitution. Although most strenuous exertions were made to prevent the ratifica- tion of the constitution and the success of the Republican candidates, the election was carried by about seven thousand majority. The re- sult of the election being decisive, tlie State at once became peaceful, and an evident desire was manifested on the part of all to acquiesce in the new constitution. At the first session of the legislature under the new constitution, Mr. Osborn was elected to the United States Senate by a vote of fifty- three, against eighteen for lion. William Marvin. Since the admission of Senator Osborn, he has acted and voted with the Republican party on all general questions, and has been an active supjiorter of the administiation of President Grant. 1)4 Eaj*hyGE Per-.u.->"''^* SF.iCATOR FROM SO'JTH CA-^T ""' ' FEEDERICK A. SAWYER [REDERICK a. SAAVYER was bom in Bolton, Worcester ■^1^ County, Massachusetts, December 12, 1S22. He attended '^ the public schools of Holton and the neighboring towns, and subsequently entered Harvard University, where he was graduated among the high scholars of his class in 18i-±. Devoting hims6lf to the work of education he was successively employed as a teacher in Gardiner and Wiscasset, Maine; Nashua, Xew Hampshire, and Lowell, South Eeading, and Boston, Massachusetts. In ISoi ho married a daughter of the late Ira Gay, Esq., of Nashau, New Hamp- shire. In 1859 he accepted an invitation to become principal of the Statu Normal School for girls in Charleston, South Carolina, which position he held until September, 1864, when, after long and persistent efforts on the part of his friends on the Board of Commissioners of the Normal School he obtained for himself and family a passport through the lines of the Confederate Ann}*. As a teacher, the life of Mr. Sawyer for twenty years was an un- broken success. He possessed in a peculiar degree those qualifica- tions which endeared him to his pupils ; gentleness, patience, suavity and the ability to communicate knowledge with perspicuity and im- pressiveness. The associations incident to the school-room extended to the family circle, and thence to ihc community, until there were few men whose ]iersonal character and intellectual acquirements commanded more general respect. During the war, when the pres- ence of Northern men was universally looked upon with disfavor, and Mr. Sawyer was known to be loyal to the government of the 95 o FUKDElllCIC A. bAWYi^K. L'uion, the moit ultra of his political opponents conceded to liiiu the credit of being a gentleman too courageous to surrender and too honest to conceal his convictions. Up to the hour of his departure for the Korth his consistency of principle and his integrit}' of purpose created that confidence in him which afterwards took more detinito shape when he entered the arena of public life. During the j'ears 1S64: and '65, Mr. Sawyer made many patriotic speeches in the Xorth, and when hostilities ceased he returned to Charleston as Col- lector of Internal Revenue for the Second District of South Carolina, the first civil appointment made in the State after the war. It was a just reward for his devotion to the cause of the Union, and it? be- stowal gave entire satisfaction to the people. Subseipiently he was elected a member of the convention to frame a new constitution for the State, but, owing to the ex- acting nature of the duties of his ofiicial position, he was un- able to participate in the proceedings of tliat body. At the first session of the General Assembly elected under the new con- stitution, Mr. Sawyer was pressed to represent the State in the United States Senate. The secret of his jiersonal popularity was the opinion which prevailed in all portions of the State that he was a o-entleman of unswerving integrity and talent, and was possessed of broad, statesmanlike views to make him a fit representative of the interests of the State, at a time when prudence and magnanimity were the necessary re^-piisites to ensure the restoration of a broken Union. It is not surprising therefore, that Democrats, as well as Republicans, gave him their support, and secured his election. A few days thereafter, on the 22d of July, 1S68, he took his seat in tlie Senate chamber. During the Fortieth Congress, he was a member of the Committee on Private Land Claims, and the Committee on Pensions. In the Forty-first Congress, he was a member of the Com- mittee on Private Land Claims, the Committee on Education and Labor, and the Committee on Appropriations. In person, Mr. Sawyer is about si.K feet in height, is compactly built, and has an organization indicative of well balanced muscular 96 FRED EI! I CK A. SAWYEIJ. 3 and intellectual power. In manners he is easy and graceful. He possesses a keen insight of character, measures men at a ghince, and estimates them for what they are worth without reference to their surroundings, and easily wins the good will of those whose friendship he desires. In social life few men are more agreeable. He is genial, witty, and even brilliant in conversation, and in general society is clever and impressive. In the Senate Mr. Sawyer soon took rank among its best debaters. When he speaks, which is but seldom, his efforts are characterized b}' brevity and compactness. He is practical rather then eloquent, and though he indulges in Jio forensic display, he is strong, earnest, and effective. Self-poised, armed with facts, seeking by reason and logic to convince the understanding, and possessing keen critical acu- men, he is always formidable either as a champion or an antagonist. Mr. Sawyer is an admirable ty|ioof that class of Americans, who, by reason of their integi-it}^ talents, and industry, hav^e been elevated to the most exalted positions in tlie councils of the nation. 97 THOMAS J. ROBERTSON. [iKJMAS J. EOBERTSON was born in Fairfield County, South Carolina, August 3, 1S23. His father, John Eob- ertson, was a wealthy planter who is still living, honored in having served the country as a volunteer in the war of 1S12. The subject of this sketch pursued his preparatory studies at Mount Zion Academy in his native district, and graduated at South Carolina College, Columbia, in December, lSi3. He entered upon the study of medicine, but soon found that this was not congenial to his tastes and inclinations, which from the associations of his early life were drawn towards agricultural pursuits. He engaged in planting, at the same time giving attention to railroad enterprises — the most efficient aids for the development of the agricultural interests of the country. At the breaking out of tlie rebellion he did not join the multitude of Southern people who took arms against the United States, but stood forth a remarkable exception among men of his class in loyalty to the Union. He remained during tiie entire war an outspoken Union man, and never in any way compromised his position as a loyal citizen of the United States. He was a member of the State Constitutional Convention which met under the Reconstruction Acts. At the first meeting of the General Assembly, under the new Con stitution, he was elected a Senator frona South Carolina in the Con- gress of the United States by a vote almost unanimous, and took his seat July 22, 1868. He was placed on the Committees on Manufac- tures and Claims, and was made chairman of the Select Committee on the Removal of Political Disabilities. His term of office expires March 3, 1871. 93 SSAf.IIUSKTTS BE^^JAMIJ^^ F. BUTLER. "''^EXJAMIN F. BUTLER was bornin Deerfield, Kew Hamp- ^" sliire, Koveuiber 5, 1S18. Five months afterwards, his father, a sea-captain, died at one of the West India Islands. TIuis lie grew up a fatherless boy, and in early childhood was slender and sickly. Yet he early evinced a fondness for reading, and eagerly availed himself of whatever books came within his reach. His memory from childhood was extraordinary, and he was fond of pleas- ing his motlier by committing and reciting to her long passages— once, indeed, the entire Gospel of Matthew. This extraordinary gift of memory he is said to retain in full force to the present day. At ten years of age his mother removed to Lowell, Massachusetts, that she might find better privileges for schooling her children. Benjamin improved well his opportunity ; graduating duly into the High School, and thence into Exeter Academy, where he completed his preparation for college. After some deliberation it was decided to send him to AVaterville College, Maine. He was at this time sixteen years of age, and is represented as being a youth of small stature, infirm health, and fair complexion, while as to his mental qualities he was "of keen view — fiery, inquisitive, fearless," with ardent curiosity to know, and a perfect memory to retain. In col- lege he excelled in those departments of the course in which he took a more especial interest, as for example the several branches of natural science, giving only ordinary attention to the rest. Meantime he read extensively, devouring books by the multitude. At graduating he was but a weak, attenuated young man, weigh- ing short of a hundred pounds. At the same time he was entirely dependent upon himself, and obliged to carve out his own fortune. To improve his health he accompanied an uncle on a fishing e.xcui-- 99 BENJAMIN F. BUTLER. sion to the coasts of Labrador, when, after a few weeks, he returned strong and well. He now commenced vigcirouslj his life-work. Entering a law office at Lowell he pnrsued the study of the law with all his might, teaching school a portion of the time to aid in defraying his expenses ; and such was his diligence at this period that he was accustomed to work eighteen out of the twenty-four hours. Meanwliile he indulged in no recreation save military exercises, for which he betrayed an early predilec-tion, and served in the State militia in every grade, from tiiat of the private up to brigadier-general. Mr. Butler was admitted to the bar in 18iO, at twenty-two years of age. As a lawyer " he won his way rapidly to a lucrative prac- tice, and with sufficient rapidity to an important leading and con- spicuous position." As an opponent, he was bold, diligent, vehement, and inexhaustible. It was bis well-settled theory, that his Inisiuess was simply and solely to serve the interests of his client. " In some important particulars," says his biographer, "General Butler sur- passed all his contemporaries at the New England bar. His memory was such that he could retain the whole of the \ery longest trial without taking a note. His power of labor seemed unlimited. In fertility of expedient, and in the lightning quickness of his devices to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, his equal has seldom lived." " A verdict of guilty," says another, " is nothing to liim ; it is only the beginning of the case. He has fifty exceptions ; a hundred motions in arrest of judgment ; and, after that, the haheas corjms and personal replevin." Hence, his professional success was extraordinary ; and, when he left his practice to go to the war, he is said to have had a larger business than any other lawyer in the State. After ten years of practice at Lowell he opened an office in Boston also, and werit thither and back punctually every day; and so lucrative had his bus- iness become at the beginning of the war, that it was worth, at a moderate estimate, $18,000 annually. Yet General Butler was among the first, if not the very first of Northern men, to discern the coming of war, and to sound the note of in-eparatiun to meet it, and to leave behind his business, large and 100 BEXJAiMIN F. BUTLER. 3 profitable as it was, and fly to tlie rescue. From the bei;;iiinin2; of his career lie had been one of the most determined and earnest of Democrats. He had been a leader of his party in Massachusetts, although a leader of a " forlorn hope."' Yet when the great crisis came on lie seemed at once to rise above party and party politics, and to think of notliing but crusliing the rebellion, and crushing it, too, with speedy and heavy blows. Ascertaining, on a visit to "Wash- ington, the designs of the Southern leaders, he warned them that those designs would lead to war; that the North would resist them to the death ; and notified them that he himself would be among the first to draw the sword against the attempt to break up the Union. Returning home, he immediately conferred with Governor Andrew, assuring him that war was imminent, and that no time shoidd be lost in the great matter of preparation, and that the militia of Massachusetts should be ready to move at a day's notice. The Gov- ernor acquiesced, and through the winter months, daily, except Sun- days, military drilling was the order of the day, and other necessary preparations of war were diligently prosecuted. Thus when, in the succeeding spring, the first and fatal l)low fell, Massachusetts was ready, and at the call of the Govermnent several full regiments were in a few hours on their way to Washington, under the command of General Butler. Then in quick succession we hear of the murder- ous attack on one of the regiments as it passed through Baltimore, of the landing of the Stli Massachusetts at Annapolis, of the march thence to Washington, of the quiet occupation by General Butler of the city of Baltimore and the consequent distress of poor old General Scott, of the approval of President Lincoln of Butler's promotion to the major-generalship, and of his assuming command of Fortress Mon- roe. During his brief command at this important post he e.xerted himself strenuously to bring order out of confusion. He extended his lines several miles inland, and was eager for a strong demonstra- tion upon Virginia from this point as a base of operations, but his views failed of acquiescence by the Government. It was while in this command that General Butler originated the shrewd device of pro- nouncing as contrahands the slaves that escaped into his lines from 101 4, BENJAMIN F. BUTLEK. the neigliboring country. The epithet was at once seen to be appro- priate as it was skillful, as by the enemy the blacks were esteemed as property; and as such property was used for aiding the rebellion, General Butler rationally conchided that it might be more properly employed in helping to crush it. Hence, this new species of contra- band property, instead of being returned to its alleged owners, .vas retained and set to work for the Government. On his recall from the command of Fortress Monroe, General Butler requested and obtained leave to recruit six regiments in the several jS^ew England States. Witli these new forces he was com- missioned, in conjunction with the naval squadron under command of Captain Farragut, to capture the city of New Orleans. The com- bined military and naval forces were at the mouths of the Missis- sippi in April of 1SG2. Between them and Xew Orleans was 105 miles ; and 30 miles up the river, one on each bank, and nearly opposite each other, were the two impregnable forts, Jackson and St. Philip, together with a huge chain cable, supported liy anchored hulks, stretched sheer across the river. Added to these obstructions was, just above the fort, a fleet of armed steam vessels, ready to aid in disputing every inch of the terrible passage. After several days of severe bombarding, however, with but small impression upon either fort, having succeeded in sundering the cable, the fleet, nnder cover of night, yet with a raking fire from the forts and an engage- ment with the I'ebel squadron, passed the terrible batteries with com- paratively small loss, and proceeded triumphantly up to the cit}'. The transport steamers, still at the river mouths, were then put in motion, and b}' a back passage General Butler landed the troops in the rear of the two forts, which with but little further resistance were suri-endered, and their garrisons parolled. Then presently the General, having manned the forts with loyal troops, followed the fleet to the city, of which he took immediate possession, the rebel troops stationed there having retired precipitately. In ISTew Orleans, General Butler was the right man in the right place. His government may not have been faultless ; yet, if bring- ing order out of confusion, if providing for forty thousand starving 102 BENJAMIN F. BUTLEK. n poor, if the averting of pestilence by cleaning the filthy streets and squares and canals of the city, if giving the loyal citizens freedom of election, sucli as they never had before, and causing justice to be im- partially administered, if restoring to freedom slaves subjected to the most horrible oppression, if imparting salutary lessons on morals and manners to traitorous ofiicials and ministers, and rebellious and impu- dent women— if these and a hundred other kiudred measures were commendable and good, then was General Butler's career at New Orleans praiseworthy and eminently beneficial. Nor is it any mean confirmation of such statement that on being recalled by the Govern- ment, no word or hint was ever given him why such recall was oixlered. During a few months which followed, General Butler, though with- out a command, was not idle, but ably supported the Government by public speeches in various places. His executive ability was soon called into requisition in the military command of New York, which was lately the scene of the terrible " draft riots." In the spring of 1864 he was assigned to the command of the Army of tlie James. He was expected to pave the M'ay for the cap- ture of Petersburg and Bichmond by the capture of the intermediate position of Bermuda Hundi-ed, which he speedily accomi^lished. In the assault on Petersburg General Butler and General Kautz gal- lantry carried out their parts of the plan, but the enterprise was un- successful, from the fact that General Gilmore failed to co-operate witli the force at his command. We find General Butler patiently and labo- riously striving to eftect the fall of Puchmond, whether by hard work at Dutch Gap or successful fighting at Deep Bottom and Straw- berry Plains. We next see him commanding the land forces to co- operate with a naval squadron under Admiral Porter in an expedition against Wilmington. Arriving before Fort Fisher Deecmlier 24, tlie squadron opened a terrific fire. The day following the land forces were diseuibarked, and a joint assault was ordered by sea aiul land. LTpou moving forward to the attack, however. General Weitzol, .vho accompanied the ^olumn, came to the conclusion, from a careful reconnoisanceof the fort, that " it would be butchery to order an as- 103 (; BENJAMIN F. BUT LEH. sault." General Butler, having formed the same opinion from other information, re-embarked his troops and sailed for Hampton Eoada. LTpon his return to the James Eiver he was relieved from the com- mand of the Arm^' of the James, and ordered to report to Lowell, Massachusetts, his residence. Eeturning to civil life, General Butler was triumphantly elected Representative from Massachusetts to the Fortieth Congress, and re- elected to the Forty-first Congress. In the House of Representa- tives he has distinguished himself for activity and industry, and for skill and readiness in debate. He was prominent as a Radical, and assumed a leading position against the views and j)olicy of President Johnson. In the impeachment of that functionary he was desig- nated as one of the managers for the people, and performed his part in that grave transaction with signal ability. In conclusion, while we do not contemplate General Butler as among the most faultless and prudent of men, we cannot at the same time refrain from assigning him an elevated rank among the heroic and distinguished spirits of his generation. He is emphatically a " man of mark," a man whose perceptions are keen and quick to an extraordinary degree, faithful and ready in expedients, sprightly and active beyond most men— of strong and determined purpose— ambi- tious, but true as steel in his patriotism— a man to have enemies, but friends also equally numerous and equally strong— a man like few others, yet just such a one as is needed under peculiar and extraordinary circumstances— a man bold, fearless, prompt, ingen- ious, talented, able, persistent, and efficient. 104 ^^ A i JOH]^ A. GEISWOLD. "OHN A. GEISWOLD was born at l^assau, Eensselaer County, New York, in 1822. His gr..ndtathers fought in the war for Independence, and one of them was confined in the " Jersey Prison Ship." The suhject of this .ketch is described as in youth kind and generous, despising falsehood and deceit, devel- oping strength of body by much out-of-door activity, and at the same time cultivating his mind by diligent attention to study. His tastes tending to commercial pursuits, when seventeen years of age he went to Troy, and entered the iron and hardware house of Hart, Lesley & Warren. At the expiration of a year he accepted the position of book-keeper in the cotton manufacturing and commis- sion house of C. H. & I. J. Merritt. During this period of his life, he lived in tlie tamily of his uncle, Major-General Wool, thus enjoy- ing the influence of a refined and cultivated society in developing his social, moral, and intellectual character. In a few years, Mr. Griswold embarked in business for himself in a wholesale and retail drug establishment. He subsequentlv became mtei-ested in the manufacture of iron, as a partner in the Eensselaer Iron Company. He soon reached a leading position among the busi- ness men of the country as a manufacturer of iron. Owing to the exertions of Mr. Griswold and otiiers engaged in similar pursuite, the city of Troy has gradually grown to be one of the most important iron centers of tlie United States. The introduction into the United States by Mr. Griswold and his associates of the process of iron manuf\;cture known as the Bessemer steel process, promises within a few years to substitute the steel rail for the iron rail on tlie railroads of this country. 2 . JOHN A. GUIS WOLD. Although immersed in business, Mr. Griswold deemed it his duty as a citizen to give attention to public affairs. In 1855, he was elected Mayor of the city of Troy. During his term of office, he gave careful attention to the affairs of the city, and as the presiding officer in the common council, gave acknowledged satisfaction by his urbanity and impartial administration of parliamentary laws. At the breaking out of the rebellion, Mr. Griswold at once arrayed himself among the supporters of the Government. On the 15th of April, 1861, the day after the arrival of the news of the fall of Fort Sumter, he presided at a mass meeting held in Troy for the purpose of raising men to protect the United States against rebels, and means to support the families of those who should enter the service. On this occasion, at the organization of the meeting, he in a few words disclaimed any partisan action in his own conduct, deplored the dis- tracted state of the country, declared that any man who sliould be influenced by political considerations in such a crisis, ought to receive universal public execration, and expressed the hope that the citizens would respond with alacrity to the call of the President for men. The Second Eegiment of New York State Volunteers was the result of the efforts which followed tliis and similar meetings. Mr. Gris- wold also aided in raising the 30th, 125th, and 169th regiments of New York Volunteers, as well as the Black-Horse Cavalry and the 21st New York, or " Griswold Light Cavalry." In August, 1861, Congress made an appropriation for the construc- tion of iron-clad steamships, or floating steam batteries. A few weeks later, C. S. Bushnell of New Haven, John F. Winslow of Troy, and Mr. Griswold, were at Wasliington engaged in closing a contract with the Government for clothing a wooden vessel with iron. This business having been concluded, these gentlemen called the attention of the Naval Board to a model of an iron-clad \essel made by John Ericsson, Mhich they had brought with them, and suggested the propriety of building a vessel after his plans. These gentlemen subsequently had interviews with President Lincoln, who manifested great interest in the ideas presented. Taking up the model, he exam- 106 JOHN A. GRISWOLD. 3 incd it closely and critically, commeuted in his shrewd and homely way upon the principles involved in the construction of a vessel on such a model, spoke favorably of the design, and proposed that they should meet him, with the model, at the Navy Department. Thin meeting, suggested by Mr. Lincoln himself, was held, he being present. In their report, which was made soon after this meeting, the Naval Board, Commodores Joseph Smith and H. Paulding, and Captain C. H. Davis, recommended that an experiment be made with one bat- tery of the description presented by Captain Ericsson, with a guar- antee and forfeiture in case of failure in any of the properties and points of the vessel as proposed. The contract as made, stipulated for tlie completion of the battery within one hundred days from the signing of the contract, which was on October 5, 1861 ; and the extraordinary provision was introduced, that the test of the battery, upon wliich its acceptance by the United States Government de- pended, should be its withstanding the fire of the enemy's batteries at the shortest ranges, the United Statas agreeing to fit out the vessel with men and guns. The contract price for building the battery was $275,000. The work was begun in October, 1S61, at the Continental Works, Green- point, Long Island, by Mr. J. F. Eowland, under the direct super- vision of Captain Ericsson. The plating of the vessel, and portions of her muehiuer}' and other iron work, were manufactured at the Rensselaer Iron Works and the Albany Iron AYorks. On January 30, 1802, wliich was the one hundred and first working day from the time the contract was entered into, the Monitor was launched at Greenpoint, and was delivered to the Government March 5, 18C2. Her subsequent history is well known. Formidable in appear- ance, and invulnerable in structure, she appeared at Fortress Monroe at ten oV-lock yn the evening of Friday, March 8, 1862. On the following (hiy, in conflict with tlie rebel iron-clad Merrimao in Hampton liicuN, ^hu nut only compelled her antagonist to retire in a disableil iMm-lition, l)iit saved Fortress Monroe from capture, 107 i JOHN A. GUIS WOLD. proseived niillioiis of shipping and public property, and tlioiisaiids of lives, put an end to all the ])lans and expectations of the rebel authorities based upon their experimental vessel, and gave us pres- tige abroad, the worth of which to us as a nation was inestimable. Speaking of the views that obtained concerning this vessel l)efore and after that celebrated sea-hght of March 9, 1862, one writer has well said, " Never was a greater hope placed upon apparently lucirc insigniticant means, but never was a great hope mfire triumphantly fulfilled." The thanks of Congress were officially returned to Cap- tain Ericsson, the designer of the 3£onifor ; and President Lincoln and his Cabinet personally awarded to the contractors the position of public benefactors. In the following Octolier, Mr. Griswold was nominated l)y the Democratic party of the Fifteenth Congressional District, as a can- didate for Representative in the Thirty-eighth Congress. His nomi- nation was received with great cordiality. Altliuugh nominally a Democrat, his course for months past had shown that he could not allow party attachments or considerations to rise suiicrior to his patriotism. Ever liberal and magnanimous in his political actions and views, he had signally displayed these noble characteristics in his efforts to sustain the Government in crushing the rebellion. In the election that followed, and in a district strongly Ilepublican, he was chosen as Eepresentative in Congress by a majority of l,iiS7 votes, while in the same district the Republican State ticket received a maji)rity of 817 votes. Mr. Griswold's course in the Congress to which he was then elected, was such as to distinguish him as a firm and decided friend of the Government. He refused to affiliate with those members of the Demo- cratic party whi:> were doing their utmost to embarrass the Govern inent, and obstruct the war. As questions of administrative policy, and those of a still more important character — involving the very life of the Republic — arose, he voted promptly and unhesitatingly to provide the nation with everything necessary for its welfare, and his guiding principle was that " the Republic should receive no harm." lie 108 JOHN A, (; HIS WOLD. R favored all measures having for tlieir end a more Yigorous prosecu- tion of the war ; and on all questions of furnishing supplies, on all matters of financial policy, and upon every declaration of the duty of crushing the rebellion and preserving the Government, he constantly and uniformly gave his vote with the Union men in Congress. As a member of the Naval Committee, he labored indefatigably and efl'ectively to strengthen and promote the efficiency of the navy. Acting ever from principle, the agency of former party friendships was exerted in vain to impose upon him a course of conduct that in- volved the spirit of disloyalty. Unflinching patriotism, sucli as was his, stijod Tmshaken by the dictation of caucus, or the persuasion of earlier political ties. With such a record he returned home at the close of the session of 18C4. As one man, the Union men of his dis- trict resolved to return him to the seat in Congress which he had filled with such distinguished honor. On the lltli of Se]iteml)er, ISGi. a Union nominating convention for the Fifteenth Congressional District met at Salem, in Wasliington County, and, without a ballot, selected him by acclamation as their candidate for Representative in the Thirty-ninth Congress. On this occasion the Hon. A. D. Wait, a memlier of tlie convention, said of Mr. Griswold : " He has a recoi'd tliat tlie best man in the land may be proud of lie has passed through the furnace of party influence seven times heated, and escaped without so nmch as a smell of fire upon his garments." Against the most determined eflbrts of tJio Democratic party Mr. Griswold was again elected to Congress fur the term commencing March -4, ISO."). During liis second term iI^ Congress, his course was distinguislied by the same devotion to the principles of patriotism and lilierty that marked his conduct there during his first two years. AVitli men of vacillating natures, disloyal views, vindictive dispositions, or of characters in which and)ition and edi- tion he marched back to Council Bluft's, where he completed the or- ganization of his regiment and battery, and reported with them to General Fremont, at St. Louis, in tlie month of August. ■ He was soon after ordered to RoUa, Missouri, and commanded that post until the "Army of the Soutli-west " was organized under Gen. Curtis, when he was assigned to command the -itli Division of that army, and led its advance in tlie capture of Springfield, Missouri. He commanded the right wing at tlie battle of Pea Ridge, where he had three horses killed under him, and was dangerously wounded. For his gallant conduct in tliis battle he was made a Brigadier-Gen- III 2 GKENVILLE jM . DonnE. eral, and as soon as lie recovered from his wounds was assigned to command tlie district of Columbus, Kentucky. He defeated General Villipigue on the Hatcliie river, captured General Faulkner and hh command near Island Number Ten, and attacked Van Dorn's columu" at Tuseumbia, Tennessee, capturing many prisoners. In the spring of 1SC3 he brilliantly opened the campaign with the defeat of the forces of Forrest, Eoddy and Ferguson in several severe engagements. In July he was assigned to command the left wing of the IGth Army Corps, with headquarters at Corinth, and nrade the famous raid on Grenada which resulted in the capture of fifty-five locomotives and one thousand cars. He rebuilt railroads, organized, armed and equip- ped many thousands of colored troops, and fought many battles which would require a volume to describe. In the spring of 18G4, with his command, he joined General Sher- man at Chattanooga, and was given the advance of the Army of the Tennessee, in its celebrated movement at the opening of the Atlanta campaign. He defeated the rebels in many hotly contested engage- ments, and saw his splendid services recognized by the Governmei.fc in his promotion to the rank of Major-General. He was on the extreme left of the army in the bloody battle of July 22d in front of Atlanta (in which McPherson fell), and for a long time with his corps lie bore the brunt of the battle, and, by stubborn resistance and heroic bravery, hurled back the advancing columns of an enemy confident of success and outnumbering him three to one, and, doubtless, saved the army from a serious disaster, turning a threatened defeat into a substantial victory. In front ot his eleven regiments that held the left, he took prisoners from fortij- nine regiments representing two eorj)s of the enemy. Against this great odds he not only held his ground, drove the enemy with terri- ble slaughter, cajituring a large number of prisoners, but also de- tached an entire brigade to assist the 15th Corps (General Logan's) to retake and hold its works, from which the enemy had driven a portion of it. On the 19th of August, while superintending an advance of his front line, then besieging the city of Atlanta, he fell, dangerously 113 GRENVILLE M. DODGE. 3 wouiided, hy a gun shot iu his Lead, and as soon as able to move was sent ISTorth, where he remained until he had recovered from his wound, when he reported for duty to General Sherman, but not being considered jihysically able to take part in the " march to the Sea," he was ordered to take command of the district of Yicksburg. While e/i route for this command he was assigned by the President to take command i.>f tiie Department of Missouri, relieving General Kosecrans. AVlien he assumed connnand of this difficult department, the " grave of gcnei'als," the troops were iu bad condition, and the State M-as overrun with guerillas and rebel marauders. General Dodge went to work with great energy, and soon succeeded in bring- ing order to the scene of anarchy and confusion. The Departments of Kansas and Utah were soon after merged in his command, brina- ing additional trouble and responsibilities. The Indians of the plains had combined in hostilities, from the British Provinces to the Red River on the sijuth. General Dodge grasped the numberless and peri^lexing difficulties of liis department witli a master hand. Although it was mid-winter, he promptly concentrated and put in motion troops who invaded the country of tlie hostile Indians, chastised them and compelled them to sue for peace. The guerillas were so vigorously hunted down that those who were not killed either fled or surrendered. The rebel general Jefl^". Tliompson, with about 8,000 officers and men, surren- dered to General Dodge in Arkansas, while about 4,000 men of Kirby Smith's army surrendered to him in Missouri. At the close of the M-ar General Dodge turned over the department of Missouri to General Pope. He subsequently held a general command, em- bracing Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, "Western Dakota, Montana, and Utrdi. In June, ISGO, at his urgent solicitation, he was relieved of his command and his resignation was accepted. He immediately entered actively upon his duties as Chief Engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad^ to which position he had been previ- ously ap]iointed. As early as 1853 his attention had been attracted to the Pacific Tlailroad enterprise. During that year he surveyed the present route west from the Missouri River, and made a report to li:! 4- GRENVILLE M. UUUGE. Messrs. Farnliam and Durant. The primary object then was to fix upon tlie most feasible route for the Pacific road, and to accommo- date the terminus of the Mississippi and Missouri road thereto, in order to make a connection. In 1859 Mr. Lincobi visited Council Bluft's and consulted with Mi'. Dodge relative to the Pacific Railroad, at which time all its impor- tant features were discussed. In 1SG3, pending the passage of the Pacific Eailroad bill, President Lincoln telegraphed to General Dodge, then commanding at Corinth, Mississippi, to repair to A¥ash- ington, which he did, and in the interview then had Mr. Lincoln decided to fix the initial point of the road at the western boundary of Iowa, between the towns of Council Bluffs and Omaha, and tlie bill was so perfected. In July, 1S6G, tlie Republicans of the Fifth Congressional District of Iowa, ])roud of his brilliant war record, and grateful for his ser- vices, nominated General Dodge for Congress. The honor was en- tirely unsought and reluctantly accepted, as he was at the time at tlie head of his engineer corps, tracing the route of that grand thor- oughfare, the Union Pacific Railroad, over the plains. Though he made no canvass whatever, being all the while away upon the plains, General Dodge was elected over a popular competitor by 4,398 ma- jority, nearly 2.000 more than the district had ever before given. In the Fortieth Congress Mr. Dodge never occupied the time of the House in speaking, and yet was among tiie most able and effi- cient members. As a member of the Committee on Military Affairs he rendered the country valuable service, especially in the measure for the re-organization of the Army. To his services Iowa is largely indebted for the passage of bills to reimburse the expenses incurred by the State in raising and equipping volunteers and defending its borders. He positively declined a re-nomination, and shortly after the close of the Fortieth Congress he returned to the plains to push for- ward the construction of the Pacific Railroad. He has just enjoyed the proud satisfaction of witnessing the completion of that grand enterprise, to which the best energies of his life have been given, to the success of which no living man has contributed more. 114 Eng'by-^EPer'"' GEORGE S. BOUT WELL. ^E(JRGE S. BOUTWELL was born in Brookline, Massachu- ia,J '''"'' J-'^^i'aiy 2Sth, 1818. He learned to read at hia i.^--> mother's knee while she read the large family Bible. Be- iMK a tanner's son, his assistance was required at home during the greater part of the year, so that his training in the schools was lim- ited to a few weeks of the winter. Whether in school or out, he prosecuted his studies most diligently, and when seventeen years of age he taught school in Shirley, Massachnsetts. In March, 1835, lie went to Groton and commenced business as clerk in a store. In the second story of the store there was kept an old but well-selected library. This was more fortunate for young Boutwell tlian the discovery of a mine of gold. In tlie absence of^ customers, an,l in tlio intervals of business, he read during the day. At nine o'clock, when the store was closed, he would repair to the library and read till overcome by drowsiness, when he would arouse hmiself by physical exercise, or plunging his head in a pail of water at hand for that purpose. He pursued the study of Latin and French, and made proficiency in other branches, such as gave liim rank in scholastic attainments equal to that attained by college graduates. At tlie age of eighteen he entered his name in an attorney's office for tlie study of law, which he pursued with diligence in the intervals of business, for many years. At nineteen he made his first public appearance in a lecture before the Groton Lyceum. In 1840 he entered with youthful ardor into politics, advocating the election of Mr. Yan Buren. At the age of twenty-one he was elected a member of the School Committe'e of Groton, a large town of more than usual wealth and culture. In the same year he was tlie candidate of the Democratic party for the Leg- 115 2 GEORGE S I5 0UTAVELL. islature, but failed to be elected. He was again nominated, however, and in lSi2 was elected to the Legislature, in whicli lie served lor seven vears. He soon became a leading member, surpassing all in thorough mastery of the subjects discussed, and in readiness and ability as a debater. lie ably and successfully advocated the question of retrench- ment of expenses, enlargement of the school fund, and Harvard Col- lege reform. During his service in the Legislature Mr. Bontwell was also Eail- way Commissioner, Bank Commissioner, and three times a Demo- cratic candidate for Congress. He also delivered numerous lyceum lectures and political addresses. In 1S51 he was elected Governor of Massachusetts, and held the otlice two terms. He was a member of the Constitutional Conven- tion of 18.53, in whicli he was a recognized leader. Eufus Clioate was his leading opponent. Early in the session, the subject of " Town Representation" being under consideration, Mr. Choate made one of his most characteristically eloquent speeches, which completely carried away the Convention. Mr. Boutwell rose to reply, sui-pris- ing many with his apparent temerity in attempting to meet the most brilliant orator of the Whigs. But all apprehension of a damaging comparison or a failure soon passed away. He enchained the atten- tion of the Convention, and maintained his cause witli signal ability. He drafted and reported the Constitution, whicli was submitted to the people and adopted. The same year Mr. Boutwell became a.member of the State Board of Education, in which he remained ten years. For five years he was Secretary of the Board, meanwhile preparing its Annual Re- ports, and publishing a " Manual of the School System and School Laws of Massachusetts," and a volume on " Educational Topics and Institutions." In 185G his literary and scientific attainments were recognized in his election as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. From 1851 to 1860 he was a member of the JJoard of Overseers of Harvard College. In 1853 ^Ir. Bontwell cast his last vote with the Detnocratic party, the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, in 1854, completely snnder- 116 ( ; E (J R G K S . li O U T WELL. 3 iiig liis eld political ties. He was a leader in the organization of the Eeiniblican party in Massachusetts. In 1861, having been elected a member of the Phi Beta Kappa of Cambridge, he delivered the Commencement oration. With obvious propriety, political sulyects are usually avoided on such occasions ; but such was the absorbing interest in national affairs, that the oflicers of the college and of the society rer[uested him to discuss freely tlie state of the country. In the oration which followed, he showed that Slavery was the cause of the war, and demonstrated the justice and necessity of emancipation. It was so far in advance of the times as to receive severe censure, not only from Democrats, but from many Republicans. Published entire in many journals, and circulated throughout the country, it did much to hasten the great revolution in public sentiment wiiich was essential to the suppression of the Rebel- lion. Tlie first time that Mr. Boutwell apj)cared in a public capacity outside of Massachsetts, was as a member of the celebrated Peace Congress, held in 18G1, which failed to arrest the rebellion of the South. He was first Commissioner of Internal Revenue, from July, 1802 to March, 1SC3. During his incumbency of this office he or- ganized the vast Revenue System of the United States. Having been elected a Representative in Congress, he took his seat as a member of the House in March, 1863. He was appointed a member of the Judiciary Committee — an evidence of the high estimate in which his legal talent and attainments were held. In the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses he was continued on this connnittcc, and was a member of the Joint Committee on Re- construction. Making his first appearance in the national councils when the country was in the midst of a war of unexampled magnitude, he found a wide field opened before him for the exercise of his abilities. The Emancipation Proclamation of Mr. Lincoln, and all the war meas- ures of the Administration, received his hearty support. When the enliatment of negroes was first resolved upon, he was among the foremost to encourage the policy, making several sjiecches in support 117 4 GEUUGE S. BOUTWELE. of wLat he regarded as a movement essential to a successful prose- ;ution of the war. After the Kebelllon had been suppressed, he was me of the earliest advocates of negro suffrage. Xo one was more impatient with President Johnson's defection '.rom tlie principles of the party b}' whom he had been elected ; no jne was more firmly convinced that he was guilty of crimes and misdemeanors deserving impeachment. As a Manager of the Im- peachment Trial before the Senate, his sincerity, honesty, eloquence and erudition attracted the attention of the entire country. Elected for the fourth time as a Representative from Massachusetts, Mr. Boutwell had just taken his seat in the Forty-first Congress when he was called by President Grant to a seat in the Cabinet, as Secretary of the Treasury. This appointment was recognized by the country as eminently wise and proper. The new Secretary at once addressed himself to the work of regu- lating the complex and much disordered machinery of his Depart- ment. He began at the very opening of his administration of the Treasury to diminish the public debt. Notwithstanding the difiiculties incident to entering upon a new financial policy, during his first three months in ofiiee he reduced the national indebtedness more than twenty millions of dollars. Mr. Boutwell is a man of great force of character, power of mind and strength of will. With indomitable perseverance and rare sagacity, he has risen to a position of commanding influence. He is an impressive speaker, with distinct articulation and earnest manner. He is a vigorous thinker, convincing by the force of logic, rather than captivating with the charms of rhetoric. Whether as State executive, national legislator or cabinet officer, he is the same honest, popular and efficient statesman. 118 )4:%AjavvJo HALBERT E. PAIi^E. ^ALBERT E. TAINE was born in Cluxrdon, Oliio, February 4, 1S2C. He graduated at the AYestern Reserve College in 'fyW 1845, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1848. He L'Ugaged in tlie |iraetice ofhis ])rot'ession in Cleveland until 1857, when he I'eiiioved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. On the Ijreaking out of the civil war he entered the niilitarj^ ser- vice, and was commissioned Colonel of the Fourth Regiment of AVis- consin Volunteer Infantry. Receiving orders to join the Eastern Department, the regiment left the State July 15, 1801, and proceed- ed to Harrisburg, Pa., and thence to Baltimore, where they were furnished with arms. Headquarters were established at the Relay House, and for several months the men were employed in guarding railroads and constructing forts. In November the regiment joined an expedition under Gen. Lockwood against the rebels on the " East- ern Siiiire."' On the successful issue of this expedition Col. Paine led his regiment back to Baltimore, Avhere thej' remained until Febru- ary, 1862, when they were ordered to join Gen. Butler's New Or- leans expedition. Embarking at Fortress Monroe, thej' made a successful voyage, and, having delayed at the mouth of the Missis- sippi until tiie capture of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, they reach- ed New Orleans about the 1st of May. The Fourth AYisconsin and the Thirty-first Massachusetts regiments were the first Union troops landed at New Orleans. With colors flying and band playing, they marched to the Custom House and took forcible possession. Colonel Paine performed provost guard duty in New Orleans until May 8th, and then proceeding up the Mississippi, took possession of Baton Rouge. On the 5th of June General Williams issued an order directing commanders to turn fugitive slaves from their camps, and 2 HAJ.iiEKT j:. paixe. keep them out. Colonel Paine refused to execute the order, and was placed under arrest. The Act of Congress of Marcli 15th, 1SC2, pro- ■ vided that no ofScer should employ the troops under his command in "returnino; fugitives from service or labor" to their masters. Tho order of Gen. "Williams directed that they should be turned out of camp and sent beyond the lines. Col. Paine considered tiiis to mean practically the same thing as returning the fugitives, and disobeyed the order, declaring, in a letter to the General, that his regiment would not witii his consent be employed in the viulation of the law for the purpose of returning fugitives to rebels. The correspondence on the subject was read, at dress parade, before the regiment. His men unanimously sustained their Colonel, and were highly indignant on account of his arrest. On tlie ITth of June the regiment again eml)arked and started on an expedition to Vicksburg. The order with regard to Colonel Paine was so modified that -when the troops landed for action- he was to assume command, and the arrest was to be renewed immediately on re-embarkation. They reached the mouth of Bayou Black, near Grand Gulf, the 23d, and having dispei-sed a rebel battery, they went up the Bayou to the Grand Gulf and Port Gibson Eailroad. Keturn- ing, Colonel Paine took the 4th Wisconsin, the 9th Connecticut, and a section of Artillery, and marched thirteen miles in the excessive heat to the rear of Grand Gulf where they engaged and defeated the enemy, capturing prisoners and camj). On the 31st of July Colonel Paine, in obedience to orders, started for jSTew Orleans to report in arrest to General Butler. A few days after, in a battle with the rebels under Breckinridge, General "Wil- liams was killed, and General Butler ordered Colonel Paine to pro- ceed at once to Baton Eouge and take command. He was ordered to burn the city to the ground, except the State library, paintings, statuary, and charitable institutions. This course was decided on, inasmuch as the city would furnish quarters for a large rebel army if, as was expected, it should be abandoned by the Federal forces. On reaching Baton Eouge, Colonel Paine found that the rebels had retreated, and the Federal troops, having changed their position, 120 HALBEKT E. I'Al^E. 3 M'cre awaiting anotlicr attaclc. The next day Colonel Paine ordered the removal of the statne of Washington, which was sent to the Patent Office in Washington. Several days were spent in forti- fying the city in expectation of an attack from General Brecken- ridge. On the IStli of Augnst a considerable force approached the works, bnt were easily repnlsed with the aid of the gunboats. Meanwhile Colonel Paine sent a messenger to General Butler with an earnest request that the order for the burning of Baton Pouge might be rescinded, as " he felt sure the rebels could not com- pel an evacuation, and believed that the town would be useful to our army in future military operations." While awaiting a reply, Col. Paine ordered notices printed requiring all the residents to leave the town the following day, and directed that they be posted up in the streets at daylight on the 20th, if the order to burn the town should not be revoked before that time. At this critical juncture, a little before daylight on the 20th, a message was received from gL. Butler countermanding his order for the burning of the city. During several months which followed. Colonel Paine was engaged in various successful o])erations on the lower Mississij^pi. In Maix-h, 1863, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General. On the 7th of April he met a considerable rebel force, which was defeated after a spirited engagement. On the 25th he marched to Opelousas, where he met a large number of mounted rebels who fled, and could not be overtaken by infantry, whereupon the 4th Wisconsin was or- dered to seize horses and transform themselves into cavalry. In Uvo days this work was accomplished. During most of the month of May they were occupied night and day in traversing the Eed-River country, in pursuit of the enemy. On the 19tli the expedition started for the Mississippi, and by rapid marching reached it ten miles above Port Hudson on the 25th, having been engaged in almost daily skir- mishing with Taylor's cavalry, which hovered about their rear. General Paine having received orders from General Banks to hasten forward to Port Hudson, reached the rear of that town on the 26th of May. In the first attack upon that rebel stronghold, Tnade on the 27th, General Paine commanded a part of the right of' 1:1 ^ IIALBERT E. PAINE. the assaulting line. The 4th Wisconsin lost, in this attack, five officers and fifty-five men, killed and wounded. They pushed on until they reached the ditch surrounding the enemy's foi'tifieations. The final and successftd assault was made on the -itli of June. General Paine's division held the center, and advanced within fif- teen rods of the rebel works. Having gone to the extreme front to encourage his men, General Paine fell, severely wounded, soon after daylight. A part of the division had entered the works, but the loss of their leader, and the lack of support, prevented the possibility of success. General Paine lay upon the field in the broiling sun all day. As often as he attempted to move, a furious fire opened upon him. Several soldiers, attempting to reach him with a stretcher, to bear him away, were shot and fell near him. Patrick H. Cohen, a wounded private of the 133d New York, was lying near, and deny- ing himself water, tossed to his snfi"ering commander a canteen cut from the body of a dead soldier, and tlius saved his life. In the evening he was rescued by a party under Colonel Kimball, of the 53d Massachusetts. General Paine was taken to New Orleans, where his leg was am- putated on the 23d of June. In less than a month he started for Milwaukee, and on the 1st of September set- out for Washington, to do duty as a member of a military commission. In an emergency he commanded a force for the protection of the capital against an attack by General Early. In March, 1865, he was brevetted Major- General, but resigned his commission soon after to enter upon the duties of Piepresentative from AVisconsin to the Thirty-ninth Con- eress, to which he had been elected. He was re-elected to the Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses, serving on the Committee on Reconstruction and as Chairman of the Committee on the Militia. 122 pti>Muc± JOHIT BE ATT Y". 'OHN BEATTY was born in Sandusky City, Ohio, Decem- ber IG, 1S2S. Having obtained a good English educa- tion, lie engaged in the business of banking at Cardington, in his native State. Meanwhile he was not neglectful of politics, and in 1860 he was a presidential elector on the Republican ticket. Partak- ing of the almost universal feeling of patriotic indignation that aroused the entire North at the fall of Fort Sumter, early in April, 1861, he vol- unteered as a private in a company raised in his own town. Of this company he was immediately and unanimously elected Captain, and on the 19th of the month he reported with his men for duty to the Adju- tant-General of Ohio. Eight days later he was elected Lieutenant Colo- nel of the 3d Ohio Infantry, of which his company was a part. This was originally a three months' regiment, but on the 12th of June it re-organized for three years' service, the field officers remain- ing the same. On the 23rd of June the regiment was sent to Western Virginia. During the summer and fall campaign in that mountainous region, at Middle Fork, Eich Mountain, Cheat Mountain, and Elkwater, it manifested its own valor and the excellence of its officers. Transferred to Kentucky in K'ovember, the regiment was assigned to the old Third Division of the Army of the Ohio, commanded by General 0. M. Mitchell. Soon after Lieutenant Colonel Beatty was promoted to the Colonelcy of his regiment. He accompanied Gen- eral Mitchell in his campaign through Southern Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, and Xorthern Alabama. In the battle of Bridgeport, and in the operations about Decatur, Colonel Beatty took a conspicuous and efficient part. Having been appointed Provost Marshal of I2n 2 JOHN BE ATT Y. Hiintsville, he performed the duties of that office with fidelity and tact. Eeturning to Louisville with General Bucll, in September, 1S62, he joined in the pursuit of Bragj? through Kentucky. On the Sth of October he fought at the head of his regiment in the battle of Perrysville. Holding the extreme right of General Rousseau's divi- sion, his regiment was assailed in both front and flank by an over- whelming force; and though in an hour's time one-third of his men were killed and wounded. Colonel Beatty held his ground until re- lieved by Colonel Pope with the loth Kentucky. In December, 18G2, Colonel Beatty assumed command of tlie old Seventeenth Brigade, which had been commanded previously by such men as Lytle and Dumont. In the Battle of Stone River, on Wednesday, the 31st of December, this brigade, forming part of Rousseau's division, assisted in checking the assault of Hardee. Colonel Beatty had two horses shot under him, but he came out un- injured. On Saturday night, January 3, 1863, he was ordered to attack the enemy's works lying near the Murfreesboro turnpike. Placing him- self at the head of his brigade, he charged over the rebel works, and carried them at the point of the bayonet. On tlie 12th of March, 1803, he M-as commissioned Brigadier Gen- eral of Volunteers, to rank from the 29tli of November, 1862. As- signed to tlie First Brigade of Negley's Division, lie participated in the TuUahoma campaign. After the rebels had been driven out of that stronghold, he led the column which pursued them, skirmi4iing successfully with their rear guard until he gained the lofty plateau of the Cumberland. In the Chattanooga campaign Gen. Beatty had the honor of being the first to lead his command to the summit of Lookout Mountain. The rebels, after a feeble resistance at Johnson's Crook, retired rapidly before him. In the masterly retreat from Dug Gap, which elicited warm commendation from both General Rosecrans and General Thomas, General Beatty was assigned by General Negley to the responsible and difficult duty of protecting and bringing away a large 124 .TOIIX BKATTV. 3 wagon-train ii the face of an immense force of Rebels. Not a sino-le wagon fell into the enemy's hands. In the battle of Chickamaiiga, General Beatty commenced the fighting, both on the 19th and 20th of September; tlie first day upon the extreme right, and the second upon the extreme left of the line. Assailed early on the morning of the 19th, he had scarcely repulsed the enemy after a fight of three hours' duration, and held his ground, when he was ordered to the centre of the line late in the afternoon. On' Sunday morning he reported to General Tliomas with his command, and was placed on the extreme left, along the Lafayette road, with orders to hold it at all hazards. Hour after hour, with his conipara- tively feeble force, he maintained his position :igainst the masses of the foe which surged around him. He was reinforced at last by Colonel T. R. Stanley with liis brigade, and, in conjunction, they charged and drove the Rebels half a mile, capturing a large part of General Adams's Louisiana brigade, with its leader at its head. Later in the day. General Beatty was among the heroes who held the last ]3osition against the combined efforts of the Rebel army. Again, on the 21st, A\liile in position near Rossville, a heavy reco'n- noitering column attacked his brigade, but it was driven back with considerable loss. In the re-organization of the army. General Beatty was assigned to the Second Brigade of Davis's division, and during the operaHons which resulted in the expulsion of the Rebels from' Mission Ridge and Lookout Mountain, his command held the left of the lin^e. Though not actively engaged at that time, he joined with great vigor in pursuit of the retreating foe. On the 20th of Noven^^ber, General Beatty, in conjunction with Colonel Daniel McGook, over- took the Rebel General Maury at Graysville, and after a short con- flict entirely defeated him. On the 1st of December General Davis's division commenced its march toward KnoxviUe, for the relief of General Burnside, not re- turning to its camp at Chattanooga until tlie ISth of the same month. General Beatty participated in this march, sharing fully the fatigues and hardships of the humblest soldier in the conmand 126 4 JOHN BEATTY. On the IStli of January', 1864, he resigned his conimissiou, and re- tumed to the pursuits of a civilian. Hon. C. S. Hamilton, member of the Fortieth Congress from tijo Eighth Ohio District, having been killed by an insane son near the commencement of his term, General Beatty was elected to fill the vacancy. This election, being the fii'st held after the defection of President Johnson from the Eepublican party, was regarded with much interest by the entire country. The election of General Beatty in a doubtful district, over his Democratic competitor, was the first triumph of Congress over President Johnson before the people. General Beatty took an active part in the campaign which result- ed in the elevation of General Grant to the Presidency, and was himself at the same time re-elected to the Forty-first Congress. 126 ^^^-in^^ ,y ayyr^^^^^z^c-<^ LUKE P. POLAND. "^^UKE P. POLAND was Ijorii in Westlbrd, Yermoat, Nov- ember 1, 1815. He attended sueli district scliools as the region aflbrded during his early boyhood. "Wlicn twelve years old he went lor about two j'earsas errand-bo}', hostler, and clerk, to live with an excellent man who kept a store in the village. There he learned to write a good hand, to keep accounts, to cast interest, and acquired some knowledge of the common modes of business. Then for four years he lived at home, helping his fiither carry on a small farm, run a saw-mill on the village brook, and do service in his trade as a house-carpenter. When seventeen years old he went to an acad- emy for a term of five months, and this " finished " him in the schools. He manifested an unusual fondness for reading, and de- voured with eagerness the few books which that remote and rustic neighborhood contained. When fifteen years of age he told his father he thought he could do better for himself than to be a car- penter. Ilis father being unable to do more for him, told him he was free to go forth and take his chances for making headway in the world. So, with his spare shirt and stockings tied up in a handkerchief, he went to the neighboring village of Morristown, and taught a district school during the winter, and in the spring he began the study of the law. He was admitted to the bar in 1836, and continued in practice until 1848, when he was elected one of the Judges of the Supreme Court. For several years he had come to be recognized as one of the ablest lawyers in the Circuit consisting of Lamoille, Orleans, and Washington Counties, and in these counties he was probably engag- ed in the trial of more causes than any other single lawyer during the same period. Judge Charles Davis had for two years held the oflice to which Judge Poland was elected in 1848. In Vermont the 127 2 LUKE P. POLAND. Judges of the Supreme Court are elected annually by the joint vote of the Senate and House of Representatives. Judge Davis had always been a Whig, and Judge Poland a Democrat. i That he Avas elected over such a competitor as Judge Davis, by a legislature composed in large majority of Whigs, at so early an age, is of itself ample proof of the public estimate of his ability as a lawyer and character as a citizen. That he received eighteen suc- cessive elections, all but the first by viva voce vote, is decisive proof that he adeqiiately sustained himself in that high position. The mental qualities and the traits of character, the exercise and development of which had raised their possessor so rapidly to his high standing as a lawyei', marked and distinguished him as a Judge. "With a mind of great native strength, quick in its perceptions, rapid in its operations, given to reasoning by a practical, direct, and forcible logic, he easily and with a kind of spontaneous gracefulness addressed himself to judicial duties in a manner which showed that in mak- ing him Judge the State had put " the right man in the right place." None have held that position in Vermont who more effectively, up- rightly, and acceptably have ministered in the dispensing of justice according to the principles and forms of law. AVith a self possessed placidity and deliberateness of manner that never failed him, with a fortitude and firmness that were strangers to fear or wavering, he wa3 at the same time courteous, complaisant, and kind, so that while the most service-hardened, confident, and captious members of the bar yielded in differential subordination to the power above them, the most inexperienced and diffident were inspired with courage and con- fidence in their efforts to do professional service in the courts over which Judge Poland presided. Hon. James Barrett, one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Vermont, and for many years one of Judge Poland's associates at the bar, says in a communication to the author : '• In thirty years' conversancy with the bench and bar of Vermont, it has not been my fortune to know any other instance in which the presiding Judge in his nisiprius Circuit has been so uniformly' and by the spontane- ous acquiescence of the bar so emphatically ' the end of the law ' in 128 LUKE P. POLAND. 3 all tilings appertaining to the business of these courts. As Judge in the Supreme Court sitting in bank, his adaptedness to the place was equally manifest. His mastery of the principles of the law, his dis- criminating apprehension of the principles involved in the specific case in hand, his facility iu developing by logical processes and practi- cal illustrations the proper applications and results of those piinciples, are very strikinglj^ evinced in the judicial opinions drawn up by him contained in the Vermont licports. Ilis memory of cases in wliich particular points have been decided, is extraordinary ; and this memory is accompanied by a very full and accurate apprehension of the very points, and grounds, and reasons of the judgment. Some of the cases, ia which he drew the opinion of the Court, stand forth as leading cases, and his treatment of the subjects involved ranks with the best specimens of judicial disquisition." Since leaving the bench Judge Poland has engaged somewhat in the practice of the law, appearing in important cases in the State and United States Courts, both at home and in AVashington. He has, however, devoted himself more especially to politics. At the outset of his professional career he developed a taste for politics, and soon became an influential member and a local leader of the Demo- cratic party. He was always an anti-slavery Democrat, having be- come so before his party adopted the maintaining of slavery as a dogma of its fiiith. When the Free-Soil wing of the Democracy took open ground in ISiS, he was its candidate for Lieutenant-Gov- ernor of the State. On being elected Judge he withdrew from active participation in party politics; yet throughout the whole progress of the "irrepressible conflict" he lias been true and firm as the cham- pion of free soil and free men ; and from the organization of the Ke- publican party he has been one of the most sincere and unwavering of its members. His great ability, manifested at the bar and on the bench, the soundness of his political views, his eminently practical judgment in regard to polic}^ and measures, his fearlessness in maintaining his con- victions of the right, his faculty of making his views and the reasons for them clear and forcible, his courteous bearing and imposing per- 129 4 LUKE P. POLAND. 6onal presence rendered him eminently fit to occupy the seat in tho United States Senate made vacant by the death of the lamented Collamer. He took his scat in the Senate in December, 1865, for the remain- oer of Judge Collamer's term, which expired March 4, 1867. At the latter date he took his seat as a Eepresentative from Vermont to the Fortieth Congress, and was re-elected to the Foi-ty-first Congress. "While in the Senate, though for so brief a period, he made upon his fellow-Senators an abiding impression of his eminent "ability and fitness for that position. He at once assumed his full share of leo-is- lative work, and as a member of the Judiciary Committee he was en- trusted with the care and management of the Bankrupt Bill that had been passed by the House. The Judiciary Committee were almost equally divided in their views respecting it, and so also were the mem- bers of the Senate. Seldom has so important a measure successfully passed so perilous an ordeal. Mr. Poland's judicious management of the measure, with the favor that his personal influence secured for it, saved the bill from defeat, and secured its passage into the present Bankrupt Law of the United States. As a member of the House he has secured the same consideration that was accorded him in the Senate. He was appointed Chairman of the Committee on the Ee\-ision of the Laws, a position callin"- into use the professional ability for which as a lawyer and a judge he had long been distinguished. In 1858 the University of Vermont testified its appreciation of Judge Poland by conferring on him the honorary degree of Master of Arts, and in 1861 the degree of Doctor of Laws. In private life Mr. Poland is very popular, his conversation spai-k- ling with wit and genial humor. A marked trait is his fearless inde- pendence, which leads him to shun the pursuit of even woithy ends by unworthy means. Says a distinguished jurist of Vermont : '• The State, so far as her interests depend upon the cliaracter of hor courts, and their administration of the law, has suffered irreparable injury by the transfer of Judge Poland from the chiefship of her Judiciary to a seat in Congress." 180 ^ 'n t ^^^Bu^^-^ ITATHANIEL P. BAXKS. ■^ATIIANIEL P. BANKS was born in Waltham, Massachu- setts, January 30, 1819. With no other early education than 'J^^l^ that aiforded by the common schools, he was placed, as soon as he could be of service, at work in a cotton factory of which his father was the overseer. He afterward learned the trade of a m:if cliinist. Joining a dramatic company which was formed among his associates, he plaj'ed the prominent parts with so much success, that he had inducements oifered him to adopt the profession of an actor. But preferring another stage, he lectured before political meetings, lyceums, and temperance societies, and afterward became editor of a newspaper in his native place. He was in request as a speaker in the jiolitical meetings of the Democratic party, and for his services received an othce under Polk's administration in the Boston Custom House. In 1S19 he was elected to the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, and in 1851 he was chosen Speaker. In the summer of 1853 he was President of the Convention called to revise the Constitution of the State, and in the same year he took his seat as a Representative in the Thirty-third Congress from Massa- chusetts. He signified his withdrawal from the Democratic party by voting against the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which was the absorbing political topic of the time. In 1851 he was re-elected to Congress, and was selected by the Republicans as their candidate for Speaker of the House. lie was elected after a contest of two months, and more than one liundred ballots. He performed the difhcult duties of the Speakership with unequalled ability, and no one of his deci sions was ever overruled by the House. He continued a Representa- tive in Congress until 1857, when he was elected Governor of Massa- chusetts, to which office he was twice re-elected. 2 K AT II AK I EL P. BANKS. At the breaking out of tlie rebellion, he entered the military service of the conntrj'. lie was commissioned a Major-General, May 30, ISGl, and was soon after assigned to command the Department of Annai)olis, with iieadqnarters at Baltimore. The spii-it of rebellion possessed the people and the municipal government of that cit}', requiring for its successful treatment great executive ability and vigorous policy. The measures adopted by General Banks were such as the emergency demanded. The Government re-asserted its authority, and rebellion in Maryland was repressed by the prompti- tude and decision of General Banks in arresting George P. Kane, Marshal of the Baltimore Police, and suspending the powers of tlio Police Commissioners. , Soon after the disaster of Bull Run General Banks was ordered to i-elieve (icneral Patterson. lie was subsequently assigned to com- mand the Fifth Army Coqis which defeated -StonewallJackson in the battle of AVinchester, and broke the '' quiet " which long had a depressing eifect on the country. The siiring of 1S62 found General Banks in the valley of the Shenandoah with a force of about eighteen thousand men, ready to move n}ion Staunton and capture that important military position. He was already within twenty-eight miles of that place, and saw the prize within his grasp, when an order was issued from the War Departnu-nt, directing him to send Shields' Division of 12,000 men to reinforce McDowell. ]5aidcs obeyed the order, though it was the death-blow of his hopes, and placed him at the mercy of Stonewall Jackson, who, Hushed with a recent success, was ready to fall upon him with an overwhelming force. Eesolved not to surrender his little army, he began his masterly retreat by way of Winchester to the Potomac. A series of battles was fought, by which the enemy was held in check until Banks' army and trains were placed across the Potomac with little loss. The necessity for this reti-cnt was created in AVashington, where it naturally and justly created great panic among the officials. Scarcely any movement of tlie war was managed with more consummate generalship than this retreat in tl c Valley of the Shenandoah. 183 K AT HANI EL F. BANKS. 3 His Corps having been pluccJ in the Army of Virginia, under coniniand of Pope, (jenerul Bunks longht tlie Battle of Cedar Moun- tain. He subsequently, for a short tunc, was in command of the defences of AVashington. He was, December 15, lSO-2, assigned to command the Department of the Gulf Never was a more difficult task assigned to an officer than the accomplishment of the various political, diplomatic, and military ends which the Government had in view in this Depart- ment. Tiie recoastruction of Louisiana, the presentation of a for- midable front to the French in Mexico, and tliu cutting in two of the eastern and western armies of the Confederacy — these were some of the multifarious objects aimed at in sending General Baidcs to New Orleans. His administration of civil aifairs in New Orleans, though different in manner from that of General Butler, was similar in its object and eft'ect — the suppression of rebellion and the fostering of tlic loyal element. In his military movements. General Banks was successful in the capture of Burt Hudson on the Mississippi. A movement against Sal)inc Pass, under General Franklin, disastrously failed, although the fort was defended by less than fifty men. Other operations on the coast and on the Rio Grande were attended with success. After the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, it was the advice of General Grant and General BaTdcs tliat a movement should be made on Mobile, and that tiie rebel army west of the Mississippi, isolated as it was, should be left unemployed and useless to the Confederac}'. There were, however, in Washington, influential parties who desired that an expedition sliould be made up the Tied River which would bring into market the cotton of that region. Against his own judiiment General Banks entered upon the Red River expedition witli an inadequate force, which was not wholly under his control, since Smith, and Steele, and Porter willi tlie gundioat fleet, eacli held inde- pendent commands — an arrangement fatal to the success of the expe- dition. Tlie Union army had made its way to a point about fifty miles south of Shreveport on the Red River, when its progress was 4 NATHANIEL P. BANKS. checked by tlie disastrous battle of Sabine Cross Eoads. Banks fell back a few miles with his arni}^ and made a stand at Pleasant Hill, where he giiined a decisive victory. The expedition, however, pro- ceeded no further, since the low stage of water p)revented the further progress of the fleet. General Banks was soon after relieved by General Canby, who had been assigned to command the Depart- ment of the Gulf. In his military career General Banks was by no means as success- ful as in political life. Without military experience, he was appointed a Mnjor-General at so early a daj' as to outrank many experienced officers. This had a tendency to produce insubordination, and to fan the jealousy which existed among regulars against volunteer officers. He lacked the firm military grasp of one " born to command," by which a general causes subordinate officers and men promptly to execute his purposes. He was wanting in the facultj' of looking after his own interests and reputation. He liad no relatives nor partners engaged in profiting by the misfortunes of the counti-y, and engaged in no private speculations of his own, yet he was unwill- ingly made the agent of cotton speculators in the Ked Kiver expe- dition ; and when their schemes were unsuccessful, tliey contrived to lay on General Banks the odium which justly belonged to themselves. No officer of the army gave more honest and patriotic service to the country, no general personally pi'ohted by it so little. Eesigiiing his commission in the army, he was elected a Eepre- sentative from Massachusetts to the Thirty-ninth Congress, and was re-elected to the Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses, serving as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 134 ^^ \Ljiy-^^ JOHN A. LOGAI^. '^OHN A. LOGAN was born in Jackson County, Illinois, February 9, 1S2G. His father, Dr. John Logan, caine from Ireland to Illinois in 1S23 ; his mother, Elizabeth Jenkins, was a Tennesseean. He was indebted for his early education to his father, and to such teachers as chanced to remain for brief periods in the new settlement. At the commencement of the Mexican war younn; Logan volun- teered, and was chosen Lieutenant in a company of the First Illinois Infantry. He did good service as a soldier, and was for some time adjutant of his regiment. On his return home, in the fall of 1848, he commenced the study of law in the office of his uncle, Alexander M. Jenkins, Esq., formerly Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois. In No- vember, ISi'J, he was elected Clerk of Jackson County. He at- tended a course of law lectures in Louisville, and having received his diploma in 1857, he commenced the practice of his profession with Ins uncle. By his popular manners and rare abilities he soon won his way to a high place in jiublic esteem, and was, in 1853, elected Prosecuting- Attorney of the TluVd Judicial District. In the autumn of the same year he was elected to the State Legislature, and was three times re-elected. In 1850 he was a presidential elector. In 1S5S he was elected by the Democrats as a Eepresentative in Con- gress, and was re-elected in 1860. In the Presidential campaign of this year lie ardently advocated the election of Mr. Douglas ; never- theless, on the first intimation of coming trouble from the South, Mr. Logan did not hesitate to declare that in the event of Mr.' Lincoln's election he woidd "shoulder his musket to have him in- augurated." "When in Washington, in attendance on the called session of Con- 135 2 JOHN A. I.(JG AX. ' gi'ess, in July, ISGi, Mr. Logan joined the troops that were marching to meet the enemy. He fought in the ranks at the disastrous buttle of Bull Run, and was among the last to leave the field. Eeturning to his home, he announced to his constituents the determination to enter the service of the countr}-, for the defence of the '• old blood- stained flag." His stirring and patriotic eloquence rallied multitudes of volun- teers ; and on the 13th of September, ISGl, the Thirt^'-first Regiment of Illinois Infantry- was organized and ready to take the field, under command of Colonel Logan. The regiment was attached to Gen- eral McClernand's Brigade. Its first experience in battle was at Belmont, where Colonel Logan had his horse shot under him. And here he assisted materially in preventing the capture of a part of General McClernand's command by leading his men in a ba3-onet charge, breaking the enemy's line, and opening the way for the force that was being surrounded. He led his regiment in the attack upon Fort Henry. "While gallantly leading liis men in the assault on Fort Donelson, he received a severe wound, which disabled hira for some time from active service. Reporting again for duty to Gen- eral Grant, at Pittsburg Landing, he was, in March, 1862, made a Brigadier-General of Yolunteers. He took an important part in the movement against Corinth ; and subscquentl}- was given command at Jackson, Tennessee, with instructions to guard the railroad com- munications. His numerous friends and old constituents urged him to become a candidate for re-election to Congress in 1862, as representative for the State at large ; but he replied to their importunities with these glowing words of patriotism : "In reply I would most respectfully remind you that a compliance with your request on my part would be a departure from the settled resolution with which I resumed my sword in defence and for the perpetuity' of a Government the like and blessings of which no other nation or age shall enjoy, if once suffered to be weakened or de- Btroj-ed. In making this reply, I feel that it is unnecessary to en- 136 JOHN A. LOGAX. 3 large upon wluit were, or are, or may hereafter be, my political views, but would simply state that politics, of every grade and char- acter whatsoever, are now ignored by me, since I am convinced that the Constitution and life of the Republic — which I shall never cease to adore — are in danger. I express all my views and politics when I assert my attachment for the Union. I have no other politics now, and consequently no aspirations for civil place and power. "!No! I am to-day a soldier of tliis Republic, so to remain, changeless and immutable, until her last and weakest enemy shall have expired and passed away. "Ambitious men, who have not a- true love for their country at heart, may bring forth crude and bootless questions to agitate the pulse of our troubled nation, and thwart tlie preservation of this Union, but for none of such am. I. I have entered the field to die, if need be, for this Government, and never expect to return to peace- ful pursuits Until the object of this war of preservation has become a fact established. " Whatever means it may be necessary to adopt, whatever local interests it maj' affect or destroy, is no longer an affair of mine. If any locality or section suffers or is wronged in the prosecution of the war, I am sorrj' for it, but I say it must not be heeded now, for we are at war for the preservation ot the Union. Let the evil be recti- fied when the present breach has been cemented for ever. "If the South by her malignant treachery has imperilled all that made her great and wealthy, and it was to be lost, I would not stretch forth my hand to save her from destruction, if she wi'l not be saved by a restoration of the Union. Since the die of her wretchedness has been cast by her own liands, let the coin of her misery circulate alone in her own dominions until the peace of Union ameliorates her forlorn condition." In Grant's Northern Mississippi campaign. General Logan com- manded the third division of the Seventeenth Army Corps, under General JlcPhcrson, exhibiting a skill and biavery which led to his promotion as Major-General of Volunteers, dating from November 107 4 JOHN A. LOGAN. 2G, 1862. He took an active part in the movement on Vicksburg; the seven steamboats which ran the batteries there with supplies were manned exclusively by men from his command of his own selection. We subsequently see him contributing to the victory at Port Gibson, saving the day by his personal valor at the battle of Raymond, participating in the defeat of the rebels at Jackson, and taking a prominent part in the battle at Champion Hill. General Grant, in his report of the last mentioned battle, uses the following language : " Logan rode up at this time, and told me that if Hovey could make another dash at the enemy, he could come up from where he then was and capture the greater part of their force." "Which suggestions were acted upon and fully realized. In the siege of Vicksburg he commanded McPherson's centre, and on ihe 25th of June made the assault after the explosion of the mine. His column was the first to enter the surrendered city, and he was made its Military Governor. The Seventeenth Army Corps honored him by the presentation of a gold medal inscribed with the names of the nine battles in which his heroism and generalship had been distinguished. He succeeded General Sherman in the command of the Fifteenth Army Corps, in November, 1863, and during the following winter had his head-(iuarters at Huntsville, Alabama. In May, 1864, he joined the Grand Army, which, under General Sherman, was prepar- ing for its march into Georgia. He led the advance of the Army of the Tennessee in the movement at Eesaca, and participated in the battle which ensued, with Wood's Division, charging and capturing the enemy's lines of works between the fort and the river. At Dallas, on the 23d of May, he met and repulsed Hardee's veterans. The next day, while pointing out to Generals Sherman and McPher- pon the position of the enemy, he was again wounded by a shot through the left arm ; nevertheless he continued in the field, carrying his arm in a sling. At Kenesaw Mountain he drove the enemy from his line of works, and on the 27th of June made a desperate assault against the impregnable face of Little Kenesaw. 138 JOHN A . LOGAN. At the battle of Atlanta, on the 22d of July, in the hottest of the fight, Logan was informed of the fall of his beloved commander, General McPherson, in another part of the field. Assuming com- mand, General Logan dashed impetuously along the lines, shouting, "McPherson and revenge." The efteet was electrical, and thou- sands of rebels slain on that sanguinary field attested the hive of the Union soldiers for their dead commander, and their enthusiastic imitation of tiie valor of his successor. General Sherman, in his report, speaking of the death of General McPherson, sa^-s : " General Logan succeeded him and commanded the Army of the Tennessee through this desperate battle, with the same success and ability that had characterized him in the command of a corps or division." And in his letter of August 16th, to General Halleek, General Sherman said : " General Logan fought that battle out as required, unaided save by a small brigade sent by my orders." On the 28tli of July lie fought the battle of Ezra Chapel, where, in the language of General Sherman, "lie commanded in person, and that corps, as heretofore reported, repulsed the rebel army com- pletely." lie was efficieivt in the remaining battles until after the fall of Atlanta, when his troops being ordered into camp for a season of respite, he went North and spent a few months in stuinpino- the "Western States during the Presidential cam]iaign of ISfi-l. His troops forming a part of Sherman's Gi'and Army in its march to the sea. General Logan rejoined them at Savannah, Georgia. From Savannah lie marched with his corps through the Carolinas, actively participating in the battle of Benton's Cross Roads or Mill Creek. After Johnson's surrender, he marched with his veterans to Washington, and took part in the great review of the victorious Union armies on the 23d of May. On the same day he was appointed to the command of the Army of the Tennessee. As soon as active duty in the field was over, he at once tendered his resigna- tion, stating lie did not desire to draw pay when not in active service. He was oflered the position of Minister to Mexico in 1865, but 189 JOHN A. LOGAIS. declined the honor. He was elected a Representative to the For- tieth Congress from the State at large, receiving 203,0i5 votes ao'uinst 147,058 given for his Democratic opponent. He was re- elected to the Forty-lirst Congress, and was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. He was one of the managers in the Impeachment Trial of President Johnson. General Logan's military career was remarkably brilliant. From his impetuous personal bravery on the field of battle he was styled " the Murat of the Union Army." In Congress his career has been scarcely less distinguished. His jet-black hair and strongly-marked features render him conspicuous among the members of the House. His impetuous and eloquent oratory never fails to produce a marked eflfect. • 140 ''■"?:■ n :, . ELIHU B. WASHBURI^E. 'LIIIU B. WASI-IBUENE was born in Livermore, Maine, September 23, 1816. He served an apprenticeship as a '^^^ printer in the otKce of " Tlie Kennebec Journal," and studied law at Harvard University. Eenioving to Illinois he settled at Galena, in the practice of his profession. He was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third Congress, and was eight times re-elected. In the Thirty-eighth Congress he became the " Father of the House " by reason of having served a longer continuous period than any other member. He acted with the Ecpublican party from its organiza- tion, voting always for freedom, from his vote against the Kansas bill to his vote for the Constitutional Amendment extending suffrage without distinction of color. He was Chairman of the Committee on Commerce in each Congress from the Thirty -fifth to the Thirty-ninth. At the death of Tiiaddeus Stevens, he became Chairman of tlie Committee on Appropriations. He has been the distinguished champion of economy in the House, opposing every subsidy, and doing his best to expose, if he could not defeat, every game of plunder. Perhaps his most distinguished service to the country is that of having been the first to bring the genius of General Grant to public notice and official recognition. Mr. Gi-ant had resided several years at Galena before Mr. Washburne knew him. The latter was then the leading man in his District, owned and resided in one of the most elegant residences in the city, while Grant was a clerk in his father's leather store, and pecupied a little two-story cottage. At t])e first war-meeting held at Galena to muster volunteers, Wash- burne offered resolutions and managed the meeting, and Rawlings made a speech. Grant was present, but took no conspicuous part. The first comjiany raised elected one Chetlain captain. Jesse Grant's partner, Mr. Collins, a Peace Democrat, said t ; Mr. Washburne, " A 2 ELIIIU B. WASIIBUUNE. pretty set of fellows your soldiers are, to elect Chetlaiu for captain ! " "Why not ?" " The}' were foolish to take him -when they could get such a man as Grant." " What is Grant's history ? " '' lie was edu- cated at AV^est Point, served in the army eleven years, and came out with the very Lest reputation." Washburne immediately called upon Grant and invited him to go to Springfield. He did so, and was employed to assist in Governor Yates's office, and in mustering in regiments. Governor Yates at length appointed Grant colonel of a regiment, but he was indebted for his next promotion to Washburne. President Lincoln sent a circular to each of the Illinois Senators and Kepresentativcs, asking them to nominate four brigadiers. Wash- burne pressed the claims of Grant, on the ground that his section of the State had raised a good many men, and was entitled to a briga- dier. Grant, Ilurlburt, Prentiss, and McClernand were appointed. When Gi-ant heard of his promotion he said, "It never came from any request of mine. It must be some of Washburne's work." In October, 1S61, while Grant was in con:mand at Cairo, Washburne made him a visit, and then for the first time became inqn-essed that he was " the coming man " of the war. After the battle of Fort Donelson, Grant no longer needed AVash- burne's kind offices to secure his promotion. Nevertheless, Wash- burne found frecpient opportunities to give his influence and argu- ments in refutation of unjust criticisms of Grant's soldierly qualities. He framed the bill to revive the grade of Lieutenant-General which had been previously conferred only on Washington, and was an efficient leader in every movement to fnrther Grant's progress toward the chief command of the armies. Upon General Grant's accession to the Presidency he appointed Mr. AVasliburne Secretary of State. He held this office but a few days, however, when he was appointed United States Minister to France. Mr. AVashburne is a man of mai-ked peculiarities — vigorous in body, Huff in manner, vehement in oratoiy, making no display of learning nor show of profundity in argument, carrying his point rather by strong IjIows tlian by rhetorical art. ■ 142 )C/^Je BF.PRESEKTATPv-E FROM MKWTDRK HENRY VAN AERNAM. ^KXRY VAN AERNAM was bom in Marcellns, New York, March 11, 1S19. In bis iiitaiicy, liis parents removed to i~jj^f^ Cattaraugus County. This portion of Xew York, tlicii known as the " Holland Purchase," was at that time almost an unbroken forest. Educational facilities were very few, and Henry Van xVernam enjoyed but rare opportunities of attending common school. Ills parents being poor, with a large family dependent on tliem, he early learned to rely on his own resources, and after the age of fourteen he received no ])ccuniary assistance from any one. By scrviug as clerk in a country store he earned money to j)ayhis expenses during a short course of study at an academy. He after- ward studied medicine with Dr. Levi Goldsborough. He graduated in 1815, and settled in Franklinville for the practice of medicine and surgery. In the same year he was married to Miss A. M. Etheridge of Mansfield. In 1858 he served in the New York Assembly. Soon after the breaking out of the Rebellion, Dr. Van Aernam entered the army as a regimental surgeon. He was successively pro- moted to be Brigade-Surgeon, and " Surgeon-in-Chief " of the Second Division, Eleventh Army Corps. He served on the '' Operating Stall"' at the battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, "Wauhatchie, Chatta- nooga, Ringgold, Rocky-faced Ridge, Resacca, Dallas, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, and Atlanta. These arduous labors impaired his health to such a degree that he was compelled to resign and quit the service. In 1861, while still in lie field, Dr. Van Aernam was elected a Representative from New \ i)rk to tlic Thirty-ninth Congress, and was re-elected as a Repub- lican to the Fortieth Congress. Fe was appointed to the Committee 143 2 HENRY VAN AERNAM on Pensions, and did much valuable service in liberalizing and improving the Pension laws. His ability as a legislator, while recognized by the country at large, was more apparent to the Eepresentatives themselves, by whom his advice on important measures was frequently sought and followed. He invariably gave his voice and vote in favor of extreme radical measures. In an important speech delivered on the 9th of June, 1866, he advocated equal civil and political rights for all men, taking ground far in advance of his party. " The black man in the war," said he, " has shown that he has an intelligence not to be deceived, a virtue not to be seduced, and a valor not to be daunted. In what quality of manliness does the negro race fall below the degraded whites of the South ? Yet these, men are and have been voters alwaj's. Is there no danger in intrusting the ballot to so many igno- rant blacks ? I answer frankly, there is. But the danger is far greater of intrusting it to the ignorant and disloj-al whites alone. Loj-al ignor- ance, whether white or black, is beyond comparison less dangerous than disloyal ignorance. * * "Worst and most perilous of all is disloyal intelligence. This, in the persons of such men as Calhoun and Eliett, Breckinridge and Jeff. Davis, has brought upon us the awful perils through which we have just passed and are now passing. If the negro is below the whites of the South in mental strength and cul- ture, is he not infinitely above a large majority of them in all the instincts of loyalty and devotion to liberty ? He at least has always been true and fixilliful to his country, which has repaid him with injustice, oppression and stripes. He has always obeyed the laws of the land, paid taxes without a murmur, and yielded his body a willing sacrifice whenever perils dawned upon the nation ; and by his sin- gularly good conduct in the trying situation of the last five years he has earned this boon of suffrage, if it were not his by right, and has given ample evidence that he will make a proper use of it." Soon after the inauguration of President Grant Mr. Van Aernam was nominated and confirmed as Commissioner of Pensions, an office for which he is well qualified by his military and Congressional ser- vices, as well as by his general ability. 144 Oi^ (Z^ ^^/~7y~r/^^^^^ r-F,NNSYI.V7VlJlA JOILN COVODE. v.'rK^OIIE than a liundred and thirty years ago a child was ^^%& stolen in Amsterdam by a sea-captain, who gave him the ^r"^"^^ name of Garrett Covode. The boy was brought to Piiil- adelphia and sold into bondage, in wliich he continued til! twenty- eight years old. At this age he was unable to read a word. He afterwards attended General Washington in the capacity of a servant, and died in 1826, at the advanced age of ninety-four. His grandson, John Covode, was born in Westmoi-eland County, Pennsylvania, March 17, ISOS. The mother of John Covode was of Quaker descent, lier ancestors being among those early pioneers who came over with William Penn ; two of whom, and a third by tiie name of Wood, wmte the protest against Penn's decision in favor of human bondage, which was said to have been the first anti-slavery document written on this continent. John Covode's opportunities for early education were limited. He was brought up on a farm, and afterward learned the trade of woollen manufacturing, which business he has now conducted for about forty years. At the same tinae, he was a man too energetic and progressiva to devote all his attention to a woollen mill. When the State canal was building, he was one of the first to give it en- couragement. After its completion he engaged in the transportation business, and commanded the first section boat that went over it from Philadelphia to the Ohio. When the Pennsylvania Tlailroad was contemplated, he gave to that great enterprise his time, his influence, and his means. He was in partnership with the company in the transportation business, until the completion of their road through to Pittsburg. He then organized the Westmoreland Coal Company, and commenced shipping gas coal to the Eastern markets. Of this 145 2 JOHN COVUDK. company he was Pi'esident until his duties in Congress compelled him to resign, and this enterprise, which he organized, and which he managed for several years, is, like most of his undertakings, a com- plete success. Mr. Covode was fii'st a candidate for oiiice in 1845, when he was the Whig nominee for the State Senate in a district strongly Demo- cratic. At his second nomination he came within so few votes of being elected, that the opposing party became alarmed at his grow- ing popularity and changed the district. He was then taken up and elected by his party to the Thirty-fourth, Thirty-fifth, Thirty-sixth, and Thirty-seventh Congresses, during which time he was Chairman of the celebrated Investigating Committee, which did so much to show up and bring to light the enormous frauds and corrupt prac- tices of certain parties at that time associated with the Government. On the bi-eaking out of the rebellion Mr. Covode was one of the first to urge bold, decisive measures. He sent three sons into the army, the youngest of whom was only fifteen years old. They joined the Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry, one of the most gallant and meritori- ous regiments in the service. His eldest son, George Covode, became Colonel of the regiment, and was killed while gallantly leading his regiment at St. Mary's Church, near Richmond. The youngest suf- fered the miseries and torments ot Andersonville for a year and a half, from the effects of which he will never recover. The second son returned at -the expiration of his term of enlistment. In Congress Mr. Covode was placed upon tlie Joint Committee on the conduct of the war. After the close of the war hewas sent South by the President, to aid the Government in working out its Recon- struction policy. His views, however, fixiling to harmonize with those of Mr. Johnson, he declined any further connection with his administration. For the Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Congresses Mr. Covode was not a candidate, and his district was carried by the Democrats. At the earnest solicitation of the Republican party he consented to be nominated for the Fortieth Congress, and was elected by a majority of three hundred votes. l/r'^K^lay^c 'U. lEEADER W. CLARKE. I'EADER weight CLAEKE was bom in Bethel, Clermont tl^ County, Ohio, on the ISth of May, 1812. His father was a '^^ native of Yorkshire, England, and his mother was of Scotch- Irish descent, born in Surry County, North Carolina. He was raised in a village, but employed in his youth in farming. His educa- tion was obtained by attending school in the winter, and private in- struction at home by liis father, who was a man of liberal education, fic learned tlie art of printing, and at eighteen years of age established a paper at Eockville, Parke County, Indiana, called the " Wabash Herald," the first paper ever printed in that county. In 1833 he was married, and in May of that year located at Shawneetown, Illinois, where he published the " Illinois Journal." In consequence of the ill-health of his fiuuily, he removed in 1834: to Ohio, where lie engaged in mercantile pui-suits, in the meantime reading law. His business proved disastrous, and he was completely prostrated financially. He struggled along as best he could, with little or no means, and managed to keep up his law reading, buying his own books, and reading without a preceptor, until April, 1S36, when he was admitted to the bar of his native county. About the same time lie engaged in the newspaper business, and with A. M. Gest established the "Clermont Courier," a radical Whig paper, that started out in the support of General Harrison for the Presidency. With that iiaper he lias been connected, as pulilisher, editor, or cor- res])ondent, for more than thirty years. In 1838 he was a candidate for Prosecuting Attorney of his county, and although his party was in llie minority over five hundred votes, he only fell thirty-six votes short of election. In 1810 he was a candidate for tiie Legislature, was elected by a large majority, and re-elected in 1841, when he U7 READER W. CLARKE. declined further to be a candidato. In the Legislature he ^vas a leading member, and Cliairman of the Committee on Public Print- ing. His report in that capacity attracted much attention, and drew clown upon him the wratli of tlie opposition press, and especially tliat of Samuel Medary, then public printer of tlie State. In ISi-i he was a delegate to the Baltimore Convention, and candidate foi elector on the Whig ticket that year, and aided in casting the elec- toral vote of Ohio for Henry Clay. In 1846 he was appointed Clerk of the Common Pleas and Supreme Courts of his county, which posi- tion he held until 1852, when the new Constitution went into effect and the office became elective, and he was not a candidate for the place. In 1858 he was the Eepublican candidate for Congress, in a Dis- trict with over fifteen hundred opposition majority. He was beaten about eight hundred, carrying his own county by seven majority, when the Democratic majority was over five hundred — Mr. Howard, his competitor, residing in the same county with him. In IS(il) he was a delegate to the Chicago Convention, and was one of the Ohio delegation most zealous for the nomination of Mr. Lincoln. In 180-1: he was the Eepublican nominee for Congress for tlie Cth District of Ohio, and elected by a large majority over Ciiilton A. White, the then sitting member. He was re-elected in 1SC6 over Mr. Howard by a decidetl majority, and in 18G8 was defeated in convention by a whisky ring, to wliich he refused to surrender. At tlio close of his Congressional term, in 1SC9, he was appointed Third Auditor of the Treasury of the United States, which office he now holds. In Con"-ress he was always found acting with the Kadical Repnb- licans. His speeches in the House, which are carefully ]u-epared and read from manuscript, will compare favorably with the best. A practical economist all his lifb, in Congress he uniformly voted against all measures of extravagance and prodigality. His private character, and his integrity and uprightness are unquestioned. 148 •Sn^'-lvOSBa- ,-^/^ y^,.c^/^c s? ABXER C. HARDIXG. ^^^BXER C. IIAEDIXG was born in East Ilamptoii, Coiinec i^^%^ ticut, February 10, 1807. He studied and commenced the '^^^<5■^ J practice of law in tlie State of New York, but subsequently removed to AVarren Co., Illinois, where he has since resided, engaged in the pi'actice of his profession, in extensive farming operations, and in railroad management. He was a member of the State Constitu- tional Convention of 1S4S, and subsequently of the Legislature. In 1802 he enlisted as a private in the Eighty-third Regiment of Illinois Infantry, and was commissioned as Colonel. His military service is chiefly noted for his gallant and successful defence of Fort Donelson, Tennessee, February 3, 1SG3. The army of Kosecrans M'as awaiting reinforcements and supplies, which must come by the Cumberland river. The rebels ajipreciating the situation deter- mined to ciTt off the line of the Cumberland by re-taking Fort Uonel- son. For this purpose they organized a force of eight thousand men, and thirteen pieces of artillery, under Generals Wheeler, Forrest, and Wharton. This force quietly moved north, between the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, flanking General Rosecrans, and on tiie morning of February 3, were within seven miles of Fort Donelson, when a colored man brought to Colonel Harding the first intelligence of their approach. Colonel Harding immediately prepared to defend his position. His whole effective force did not exceed eight bun- ded men. with four six-pounder rifled guns, and one thirty two pounder. He sent all the women and refugees on board a small steamer — the " Wild Cat,"' with orders to drop down the river. Forrest's command surged up the hill in repeated charges, only to be repulsed with terrible slaughter everywhere around the lines. The rebels, maddened bj'the unexpected resistance from this handful of heroes, charged with fiend- ish 3'ell3 until their dead and wounded strewed the hill-sides. They gained a strong position between the Union forces and the river, thus .cutting them off from water; but Colonel Harding leading a charge in person, speedily dislodged them at the point of the bayonet. It 149 ABNER C. HARDING. was now growing dark ; the unequal contest bad been maintained for more than six bours. Tbe Union forces had suffered considerable loss, and were much fatigued by their constant fighting and ra^jid movements from one part of the line to the other. Soon after dark a rebel officer came in with a flag of truce and peremptorily demand- ed a surrender. To this Colonel Harding returned a. prompt and positive refusal. The rebel emissary affected great amazement at tliis response, but no sooner had he rejoined liis forces than they began to withdraw. In a few moments after their departure tiie hoarse cough of gun-boats was lieard as they rounded the bend of tiie river two miles below, followed by the shriek of the shell which they threw into the tim- ber back of the fort. The steamer " "Wild Cat " had gone down the river until she had met Captain Fitch, with a fleet of gun-boats, con- veying a large lunnber of transport.^ with sixteen thousand men, and immense stores for the army of the Cumberland. As soon as informed of the state of things, Captain Fitch signalled the gun-boats to put on all steam and started to the rescue. In this battle the rebels lost more men in killed, wounded, and pris- oners, than Colonel Harding had in his command. Tlie latter lost about one hundred men. The importance of the result of this engagement is not easily over-estimated. Had Wheeler succeeded in capturing or driving out Colonel Harding, he would have immediately occupied Fort Donelson. From that position he could have checked the gun- boats, prevented reinforcements from reaching Rosecrans, and perhaps compelled him to retire from his advanced position at Murfreesboro. Thus the work of two grand armies for a year M'ould have been lost. Colonel Harding was promptly promoted Brigadier-General, and had the high compliment of being confirmed by the Senate without ref- erence to a committee. He was subsequently stationed at Murfreesboro for a short ]3eriod, from whence he was transferred by the people to the House of Representatives at Washington. Taking his seat as a Rep- resentative for Illinois in the Thirty-ninth Congress, he served on the Committees on Manufactures and the Militia. He was re-elected to the Fortieth Congress and served on the Committees on Union Pris- oners, Claims, and Militia. 150 ^a^^^ A^:2±:!^^^ FEANCIS THOMAS. •^i- HE Catoctiii Yalle)', in Frederick County, Maryland, was Y^ffi pronounced by Henry Clay, who was accustomed to pass througli it by stnge on his way to Wasliiiigton, to be one of the loveliest spots in America. In this beautiful valley Francis Thomas was born, February 3, 1799. His ancestors were among the early and prominent residents of Maryland. His father. Colonel John Thomas, filled many otHces of trust and honor in the State. In his childhood, Francis Thomas manifested an unusual taste for reading and study. At the age of twelve he left his fatlier's roof to become a student in Frederick College, and subsequently prosecuted his studies at St. John's College, Annapolis. Being of a thoughtful, philosophic cast of mind, he soon perceived and reflected deeply upon the evils of slavei-y, and in early life conceived that abhorrence for the institution which made him in after years one of its most determined opponents. Mr. Thomas studied law at Annapolis in the ofldce of Alexander C. Magruder, afterwards one of the judges of the Court of Appeals of Maryland. He was admitted to the bar and commenced the practise of law at Frederick in 1S20. At the age of twenty-three he was elected a member of the House of Delegates. He was twice re-elected, and in 1829 was chosen Speaker of the House. In 1831 Mr. Thomas was elected a Representative in Congress, and held this office by reelection for ten successive years. In 1833 he ran for Cona:ress as the I'eguhir nominee of the Jackson Democracy. The Whigs had made no nomination, and were disposed to support an independent Jackson candidate, whose name was Dixon. On the 151 2 FRANCIS THOMAS. day of the election, Henry Clay, passing through Maryland by stage on his way to Washington, stopped for a short time in the village of Middletown. He asked who were the candidates, and on being in- formed, he said, with emphasis: "I would rather vote for Frank Thomas than for any other Jackson man in Maryland." The in- fluence of Clay's emphatic indorsement was such that in this village Mr. Thomas received five hundred and fifty votes against fifty for his opponent, nearly all the latter having been cast before Mr. Clay's arrival. In 1832 Mr. Thomas was a member of a committee associated with John M. Clayton, John Quincy Adams, Richard M. Johnson, McDuffie, and Cambrelling, to examine into the condition of the United States Bank. They went to Philadelphia, and took rooms at the same iiotel, prosecuting their work assiduously for more than a month. The shrewdness of Mr. Thomas aided materially in dis- coverino- evidences of fraud and corruption in the Bank. While in Congress Mr. Thomas boldly and earnestly opposed the schemes of the Southern Nullifiers. At one time, John Quincy Adams having in the House of Representatives presented a petition signed by negro slaves of Fredericksburg, the extreme Southerners became very indignant, and oflered a resolution in the House, the sub- stance of which was that no member who presented a petition from slaves should be regarded as a gentleman or a friend of the Union, The resolution was promptly and decisively voted down. Mr. Thomas was soon after appointed on a Committee to inform Mr. Van Buren of his election to the Presidency of the United States. Having per- formed this duty, on his return to the Hall of Representatives he was surprised to see the seats of the Southern members all vacant, and was informed that the Representatives from the Slave States were holding a consultation in the Committee Room of Claims. Sup- posing there was mischief brewing, Mr. Thomas went immediately to the designated room, where he found about seventy Representa- tives assembled. Asking whether his presence would be considered an intrusion, he was answered in the negative, since all Representa- tives from Slave States had been invited. Having learned that they 152 FRANCIS THOMAS. 3 were seriously considering the question of a suniinary secession from Congress, on account of the rejection of tlie resolution, Mr. Thomas took the floor and spoke earnestly and eloquently against the rash- ness and folly of the movement proposed. He closed with a motion to adjourn, which was carried, and nothing more was heard of the rash design of the oflended slaveholders. At one time, during the administration of Mr. Van Buren, eight Southern members attempted to control Congress, and were thwarted in their schemes bj' Mr. Thomas. The Whigs and Democrats in the House were then very nearly equally divided. The position of pub- lic printer was very lucrative, and much sought after. Gales & Seaton were supported by the Whigs, and Blair & Rives by the Democrats. Eight Southerners bargained with the latter firm that they should have their votes to secure for them the public printing, provided the influence of the firm would be given to throw the votes of the Democratic party for Di.xon H. Lewis, one of their number, for the Speakership. Mr. Thomas, however, and ten other Demo- crats, resolved that this should not be, and, by steadily holding out, prevented the election, which was to be secured by bargain and cor- ruption. At one stage in the contest President Van Buren's son visited Mr. Thomas, and urged him, as a special favor to the Presi- dent, to yield and vote for Lewis. " Not all the power and patron- age of your fother," he replied, " could induce me to do a thing which I regard as so dangerous to the country." He was one of a committee appointed in 1837 to draft a resolution, as a standing order of the House, directing the mode in which peti- tions for the abolition of slavery should be disposed of. Soon after the committee had assembled, Dixon H. Lewis of Alabama, Francis W. Pickens, and R. Barnwell Rhett of South Carolina, entered the room and announced themselves as the representatives of a party then known as " Nullifiers," comprising only eight members of the House of Representatives. They professed to be anxious that they and those they represented should act in concert with the Democratic party, but regretted that it had not yet taken ground satisfactory to 1C3 4 FRANCIS THOMAS. them oil the question of slavery. Mr. Thomas asked them what they desired. They replied, " Our people of the South expect and require that the Democratic Eepresentatives declare that Congress has no power to prohibit the introduction of slavery into the territo- ries." Mr. Thomas answered, " I will not wait for gentlemen on this committee from the Northern States to respond to this proposition. I will not myself vote for any resolution to tliat effect. It would in- evitably lead to combinations against the institution of slavery, and ultimately to its overthrow. It would be equivalent to a declaration that the Missouri compromise line ought to be repealed. That line was established under Mr. Munroe's administration, when he was surrounded by leading- Southern men in his cabinet. It was sanc- tioned by the votes of leading Southern men in both branches of Congress, and I will not myself assist to disturb it." The Commit- tee, of which Mr. Atherton of New Hampshire was chairman, refused to adopt such a resolution, and Mr. Calhoun's representatives retired. During the long period of his first service in Congress Mr. Thomas took rank among the most influential and eflicient members. He occupied for a considerable time the important position of chairman of the Judiciary Committee. lie originated a measure, which was adopted by Congress, to settle the controversy between Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan about the Southern boundary of the last-named State. In 18il Mr. Thomas declined a re-election to Congress, desiring to devote himself to the work of bringing about in Maryland a con- stitutional reform which he had agitated many years before. By the old constitution of Maryland the slaveholding counties were allowed three fifths of the representation in the Legislative Assembly of the State. Baltimore, with a population of two hundred thousand, was allowed but two representatives, and the entire western portion of the State, with a preponderance of wealth and population, had so meagre a representation as practically to possess no power whatever. The Whigs controlled the slaveholding counties, and the Democrats the western counties and Baltimore City. By the constitution of the State a College of Electors was chosen 164 FRANCIS THOMAS. 5 bj the people, consisting of forty members, whose duty it was to elect a governor and a Senate for a term of five years. Mr. Thomas being a Democrat in politics, and an ardent hater of slavery, determined to use all the influence he possessed to break up the constitutional oli- garchy which ruled the State. The fortunate election of a College of Senatorial Electors consist- ing of twenty-one Whigs and nineteen Democrats, gave to Mr. Thomas an opportunity which he had long desired. Since no busi- ness could be done without a quorum of three-fifths, three Democrats were necessary for the organization of the bod_y. Mr. Thomas in- duced the nineteen Democrats to enter into a solemn agreement that they would not take seats in the College of Electors unless the latter would consent to give to the western counties a fair proportion of the representation, and make the governor elective by the people. The Democratic electors went in the same boat from Baltimore to Annapolis, accompanied by Mr. Thomas, who secured quarters for all at the same hotel. They made an organization with a president and secretaiy, through whom the}"^ submitted their terms to the majority, taking care that no three should at any one time go together. The majority not acceding to the proposition, the Demo- crats, under the lead of Mr. Thomas, adjourned, and left Annapolis. After this revolution — for it was nothing less, the old constitution being j^ractically annulled — Mr. Thomas issued a call upon the voters to select delegates to a convention for the formation of a new consti- tution. As he saw great obstacles in the way of securing this result immediatel}', the most he expected to accomplish by issuing the call for a convention was to consolidate f^U parties in the western portion of the State, and thereby secure acquiescence in the just demands of that section. While the call for a Constitutional Convention was pending, and after the Whig electors had been at the capital two months, impatiently waiting to effect an organization, Mr. Thomas consented that three Democratic members elect, who lived nearest, should go, and apparently on their own responsibility propose to form a quorum on condition that the constitution should be altered 155 ^ FRANCIS THOMAS. SO that the governor and State senators should be elected by the people. The desh-ed result was gained. A more just and equal representation was secured, and the governor was ever after elected by the people. Mr. Thomas himself was the second governor elected under the amended constitution. He held the office one terra, and retired from the gubernatorial chair in January, 18i5. Two years later he declined to be a candidate for Congress. In 1850 he was a member of the Maryland State Constitutional Convention. Many years before he had purchased a large tract of land on the line of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, in tlie extreme western end of Maryland. Soon after the close of his public service as governor he went into the wilderness on this great estate, and devoted himself for many years to its development and improvement. From his re- tired residence among the Alleghanies Mr. Thomas viewed events that were passing in the country with the profound interest of a patriot and philanthropist. Mr. Thomas was drawn from his retirement by the danger which he saw gathering against the country in 1860. Having in the course of his long service in Congress thoroughly learned the character of the Southern men engaged in the conspiracy against the government, he understood their designs in breaking up the Charleston Conven- tion. He believed that the plan of the Breckinridge party was to get as large a vote in Maryland and other border States as possible, with the expectation that those who voted with them would be ready to join in rebellion. Under this impression Mr. Tliomas, yielding to. the invitation of his old constituents, came from his seclusion and made numerous speeches against the treason of secession, prior to the Presidential election of 1860. When President Lincoln issued his proclamation calling for seventy- five thousand men to put down the rebellion, Governor Hicks re- sponded that he would send the quota of Maryland with the express understanding that the troops should go no further than "Washing- ton, and be used only in defending the capital. When Mr. Thomas heard of this response, he at once wrote a letter to Governor Hicks 156 FRANCIS THOMAS. 7 protesting against such a narrow construction of the duty of Marj'- land, and asking autliority to raise a regiment of men in his old Con- gressional district who would be willing to go anywhere in the ser- vice of the country against its enemies. Before the proposition was acted upon by Governor Hicks, his proclamation appeared convening the Legislature of Maryland, both branches of which were known to be in sympathy with the rebel- lion. Thereupon Mr. Thomas wrote to the Secretary of War, and asked permission to raise a brigade of Marylanders to quell the in- surrectionary movement in that State. Failing to get this autliority, Mr. Thomas next laid his plans before President Lincoln, who di- rected Secretary Cameron to make out the recpiisite authority. In a short time, as the result of the eiforts of Mr. Thomas, thirty- five hundred men were enrolled as volunteers. All this was done with little expense to the government, since Mr. Thomas would ac- cept no pay for his personal services, and refused the oiferof a briga- dier-general's commission. In March, 1S63, Mr. Thomas proi)Osed to Mr. Lincoln and his cabinet a plan wiiich was designed to rid Maryland of slavery. To eifect this it was necessary to secure the election of a Legislature which would order a convention to revise the Constitution of the State. Mr. Thomas expected by his personal influence to carry the western counties for the scheme, and as the Government had a con- trolling influence in Baltimore, the measure could be carried against tlie scilid opposition of the lower or slaveholding counties. The President a"nd Cabinet at once approved the plan, and, by an arrangement then made, the movement was started under the imme- diate auspices of Mr. Thomas, who addressed a public meeting in Cumberland in support of resolutions instructing the Legislature to | call a Convention to reform the State Constitution. A full report of the proceedings of this meeting was, by direction of the govern- r. ment, copied into the Baltimore papers, and thus the movement was ! fully inaugurated. The Legislature was carried in the fall for the measure, and a Convention was called in 1SGJ-, which submitted to 157 3 FRANCIS THOMAS. a vote of the people :i constitution securing tlic abolition of slavery in Maryland. It received their sanction by a small majority, and thus Maryland was placed beyond the reach of agitation in relation to the " vexed question of slavery." The next time Mr. Thomas vis- ited the White House after the accomplishment of this result, Presi- dent Lincoln arose to meet him, and grasping both his hands, exclaimed in his peculiarly cordial and emphatic manner : " that is a big thing, that is a big thing, that is a big thing ! " His proposing and assisting to carry into' effect a measure emancipating nearly one hundred thousand human beings, and ridding a State forever of the curse of slavery, was an achievement sufHcient to make a statesman distinguished for all time. In the Thirty-seventh Congress Mr. Thomas took his seat for his sixth term as a Representative, and was successively re-elected to the Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses. He served with usefulness upon one of the most important committees of the House — that of the Judiciary. Closing his ninth term in Congress in March, 1869, Mr. Thomas went voluntarily into retirement, believ- ing that the great work which he had, at an advanced period of life, come into Congress to assist in consummating, was virtually accom- plished. Eeviewing the long and active public life of Mr. Thomas, at the close of his Congressional service, the " Frederick Examiner " said : " We have a right to claim for our loyal Reprebentative the proud title of the Emancipator of Maryland." 153 ""4*1.7 EPe GODLOVE S. OETH. & ODLOVE S. ORTII is descended from a Moravian family which emigrated from one of the pah\tinates of the ohl Ger- man Empire to the colony of Pennsylvania abont the year 1725, under the auspices of the celebrated missionary, Count Zinzen- dorf. He was born near Lebanon, Pennsylvania, April 22, 1817. After receiving such education as was afforded b}' the schools of his neighborhood, he spent a few years in attendance at Pennsylvania College, located at Gettysburgh, in which village he subsequently studied law in the office of Hon. James Cooper, and was admitted to the bar in March, 1S39. An inclination to mingle in the new scenes and activities of the growing West, led Mr. Orth in that direction, and he located in La- fayette, Indiana, which has ever since continued his home. Here he at once entered upon the practice of the law, and soon won for him- self a reputation for ability and eloquence that placed him in the front rank of his profession. His debut as a ]iolitical speaker occurred during the famous Har- rison campaign of 1840, in which he took an active part. The effi- ciency of his labors in the campaign gave him political prominence among his neighbors, and in 1813 he was nominated by the Whigs of Tippecanoe County as their candidate for State Senator and was elected in the face of a Democratic majority in the county. Though the youngest, he was recognized as one of the ablest members of the Senate, and before the close of his term was elected its President by an almost unanimous vote. In February, 1S4C, he was nominated by the Whig State Conven- tion for Lieutenant Governor, which position he declined, and at the urgent request of his constituents, he consented to l)ecome a candi- 109 2 UODLOVE S. ORTH. date for re-election to the Senate. He was again successful, and in 1846 entered upon his second term of three years in the Senate. During this term he was assigned to the important position of cliair- man of the Judiciary Committee. This position was conferred by the President of the Senate, who was a Democrat — a rare instance of such a compliment being conferred upon a political opponent. In ISiS he was a candidate for presidential elector, on the Taylor and Fillmore ticket, and as such stumped the northern half of Indi- ana. Upon the close of his second term in the Senate, he withdrew for a time from public life and devoted himself to the practice of his profession, at all times, however, taking a deep interest in current politics, and identifying himself with those who were battling against the encroachments of slavery. In 1861 he was one of the five commissioners appointed by Gov- ernor Morton to represent Indiana in the Peace Congress. His ex- perience in that body satisfied liim of the hopelessness of any com- promise with a power which spurned all overtures except such as were dictated by the Southern delegates, many of whom were then plotting the destruction of the Government. On the return of Mr. Orth from the Peace Congress, his neighbors requested him to address a large meeting of his fellow-citizens on the absorbing question of the hour. He complied, and told them plainly that he regarded a conflict as inevitable, and advised tliem to prepare for the emergency. The outbreak of hostilities at Charleston soon followed, and from that time forth he was zealously committed to the cause of the Union and the suppression of the rebellion, lending all his influence to the support of the administration in its vigorous prosecution of the war. In the summer of 1862, the southern portion of Indiana being threatened with a rebel invasion, the Governor made a call for vol- unteers to meet the emergency. The same day (Sunday) on which this call was issued, it was responded to by a public meeting in La- fayette, at which Mr. Orth closed an eloquent appeal by placing his own name the first upon the roll of volunteers — an example which IGO GODLOVE S. ORTII. 3 was at once followed by about two hundred men, who elected hiin captain, and within twenty-four hours reported for duty at Indian- apolis. Mr. Orth was sent with his men to the Ohio Eiver, and placed in command of the United States ram " Horner," on which he did duty, patrolling the river until his term of service expired. In October, 1SC2, he was elected a Eepresentative in the Thirty- eighth Congress, his competitor being Hon. John Pettit, who had rep- resented tlie district for several years. On the organization of the House, Mr. Orth was assigned to duty on the Committee on Foreign Aifairs, and the Committee on the Freedmen. It was during this Congress tliat the latter committee matured and reported tlie several measures of legislation in reference to that large class of people whom tlie war was daily transferring from slavery to freedom. Mr. Orth was identified with them as well as with the other new and reforma- tory measures of the Ilepublican party. By his intelligent compre- liension of tlie great questions cast upon Congress, and by his able exposition of them at various times on the floor, he obtained high standing and commanding influence among his fellow-members. As a member of the Thirty-eighth Congress Mr. Orth had the en- viable opportunity of placing his name on the roll with those who voted for the memorable amendment abolishing slavery. While this amend- ment was under discussion, he advocated its adaption in a speech of much force and eloquence, predicting the future greatness of the Ee- public, which should culminate in " the American flag floating over every foot of this continent, and the American Constitution protect- ing every human being on its soil." In October, ISC-t, Mr. Orth was elected to the Thirty-ninth Con- gress. Tlie prominent measure of this Congress was the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which was proposed to the diflferent States for ratification, and this, more largely than any other, entered into the political canvass of 186G. The defection of President John- son and the consequent dissensions in the Eepublican party, made the campaign of 1866 more than usually important and exciting. The opposition felt much encouraged, and expected to carry enough lUl GODLOVE S. ORTH. of tlie doubtful Congressional Districts to give them control of the lower house of the ensuing Congress. Mr. Orth was unanimously nominated for re-election, and his district, always close and hotly contested, was now regarded as one which might be carried by the opposition. To effect this, all the elements of opposition, personal and political, were combined against him. The Democrats declined to make any nomination, and united with the " Johnsonized " Kepub- licans in support of an " independent " candidate. The alliance had at its command large sums of money which was most liberally used ; it controlled the entire federal patronage of the district, and subordi- nated every other interest for the sole purpose of ensuring his defeat, but in vain. lie was sustained by his constituents, and although elected by a reduced majority, the result was everywhere regarded as a splendid triumph for Mr. Orth. In the Fortieth Congress to which he was thus elected, Mr. Orth followed to their logical conclusions the several measures already inaugurated by the Republican party. In ISCS he was again re-elected to Congress — the fourth time he was thus honored by his constituents. The honor was the more dis- tinguished from the fact that never before in his district had any one received so many successive elections to Congress. In the Fortieth Congress Mr. Orth introduced a series of resolutions in reference to the annexation of San Domingo, and on the 5th of April, 1S69, made a speech in favor of their adoption, in which he maintained that territorial extension " strengthens our government, increases our wealth, and adds to our power and grandeur." He is entitled to the credit of initiating the measure of annexation which has culminated in a treaty for that purpose now pending in the Senate of the United States. Mr. Orth is a gentleman of fine personal address and of genial manners. His long continuance in public life attests the estimation in which he is held by those who know him best. Tlu-oughout his entire career he has possessed the confidence of his friends and the respect of his opponents. 102 ■^"^ ■* fay Q E Per ine-t- .j-&r\5^ WORTHIKGTOIN' 0. SMITH. ?(^IlTHINGTON CUETIS SMITH was bora iu St. Albans, Vermont, April 23, 1S23. He is a 3'ounger brother of Hon. John Gregory Smith, the popular gov- ernor of Vermont during the late war. He graduated, with honor, at the University of Vermont, and read law in the oftice of his father, Hon. John Smith, who hhnself had an useful public career, serving sev- eral years as Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives, and one term as a member of Congress. After two years of study in his father's oiSce, Mr. Smith, on account of failing health, turned his attention to the business of manufacturing in iron. His enterprise in this direction has resulted in building up a large and prosperous business, and greatly encouraging the growth and prosperity of his native town, in the aifairs of which he has always shown a deep interest. He has been, for several years, President of the Vermont and Canada Kailroad, an important thoroughfare in its connection with the most direct line of communication between the east and the inland lakes. He has been President, also, since its establish- ment, of the Vermont National Bank of St. Albans. He has been for many years a trustee of the University of Vermont, as well as its liberal patron in means and in efforts for its increased usefulness. He was a member of the board which secured, with much effort, the union of the University with the State Agricultural College. Mr. Smith never sought office of any kind, and took no more active part in politics than that of a voter, until the breaking-out of the rebellion. Immediately after the firing upon Fort Sumter, Mr. Smith, then President of the corporation of St. Albans, called a meeting of the citizens to consider and act upon the news. He was then a Democrat, but forgot party in remembering his duty. Iu common efforts with others, alike patriotic, he rendered prompt and 163 2 WUUT IIIXGTON C. SMITH. efficient service in raising and equipping the '• Ransom Guards," a company in the iirst regiment from Vermont. Efiorts were never wanting on his part, during tlie course of the war, to make the response of his State prompt and complete for the national cause. Known by his fellow-citizens as a capable and honest man, he has frecjuently been chosen for positions wliich he never sought. He was elected to the Vermont House of Eepresentatives in 1863, and to the State Senate in 1804, and re-elected in 1865. Against his expressed desire he was, by unanimous choice, made President, pro tern., of the Senate, in which position he discharged his duties, in the absence of the lieutenant-governor, with great acceptability and credit. In 1866 he was elected with little ojjposition to the Fortieth Congress, and served on the Committees on Manufactures, and Coinage, Weights and Measures. Mr. Smith has not been a frequent speaker in Congress, though not lacking in the requisite qualifications. His votes are records of intelligent action upon all questions of legislation. He is faithful to party, as party is faithful to the interests of the country. His first speech, delivered February 24, 1868, when the House for the second time had nnder consideration the resolution of injpeachment of President Johnson, was a discussion of that question upon constitu- tional principles, entirely aside from partisan views. In a speech upon financial matters delivered in the House on the 26tli of Jan- uary, 1869, Mr. Smith took the new ground that betbre our debt could be funded at a lower rate of interest, or any rapid progress made towards specie payments, provision roust be made to retire the legal tender notes as a measure of justice, and to restore public confidence in the ability and disposition of the government to meet fairly and promptly its obligations. His opinions upon finance are the out-growth of a long and suc- cessful business experience. Still in the prime of life, unselfish and earnest of purpose, seeking above all considerations the public good, Mr. Smith inspires nniversal confidence and respect. In all his course as a i>olitician he has preserved himself without reproach. 164 tW^/ OEAI^GE FEEPtlSS. "Wj^i^ RANGE FERRISS was born at Glen's Falls, Warren County, New York, November 2G, ISl-t. His father, John A. '^ Ferriss, was one of the early settlers of tiie town, having moved there from Dutchess County in the year ITOi. His paternal ancestors were from Wales, emigrating to this country before the Revolutionary war. His mother, whose maiden name was Hannah Alden,was a lineal descendant of John Alden, of the 2Iayflower, there being but four generations between them. Tlie subject of this sketch was educated at the University of Ver- mont. He studied law in his native place, and was admitted to the bar in ISiO. He was appointed Surrogate of Warren County in ISil, b}'' Governor William H. Seward, and served four years. In 1845 he was a candidate of the AVhig party for Member of Assembly, but was defeated, the county being largely Democratic. In 1851 he M'as elected County Judge and Surrogate by a majority of more than two hundred over his Democratic competitor, while tlie remainder of the Democratic ticket had five hundred majority. He was re-elected Judge and Surrogate in 1855, and again in 1859, thus serving in tliat capacity for twelve years. In 1S6G he was elected a Representative from the sixteenth dis- trict of New York to the Fortieth Congress, and was re-elected. He served on the Committees on Revision of Laws, Mines and Mining, Coinage, and Weights and Measures. He opposed the purchase of Alaska, and made a!i able speech against the acquisition of that ter- ritory. lie earnestly advocated the Impeachment of President Johnson, and delivered an effective speech in support of this movement March 2, 18C8. The following e.\tract, which is the closing paragraph of 2 OKANGE FKURISS. that speech, indicates the earnestness of his Eadicali^m, and his admi- ration of New England and her institutions: " The contest in our country has been between republican ideas on one side and aristocracy on the other — the Pilgrims and the Cavaliers. Jamestown typifies the one, and Plymouth Rock the other. Weeds and thistles have overgrown the site of the first settlements on the banks of the James, but Plymouth Eock remains ; and ages after the waves of the ocean shall have worn away the last vestige of that rock, the free .civilization and social ideas of New England will be doing theii- work of Christianizing the races, and inculcating a love for liberty which is as broad in its philanthropy as the universe and knows no distinction of race or color." Mr. Ferriss possesses an eminently practical order of statesmanship. He is prone to take common sense rather than sentimental views of the subjects of legislation, as is evinced by the following extract from liis speech in opposition to the purchase of Alaska : " I implore the members of this House to remember that the nation is I'roanins under a debt of more than two thousand five hundred million dollars ; that the acquisition of these Russian possessions in- volves an expense of ten million dollars in currency now called for, with an enormous prospective cost and outlay for their government and protection, perhaps equal to the interest on fifty millions more ; that we do Uiit need the territory, and then determine whether they will heap this additional burden upon their constituents. It is a re- sponsibility I do not crave and shall not take Gentlemen talk about the honor of the nation being involved, and good faitii to a friendly Power requiring the carrying out of this treaty. This is the argument that is expected to win, the sentimental argument cunningly provided and made to hand by the manipulators of the negotiations. The boldness with which this treaty was sought to be forced upon this House has no parallel in our history. For the first time possession was surrendered and taken of the territorj- acquired before provision was made by legislation for cai'rying into eff'ect those provisions that required legislative aid. It was a trick of diplomacy, and I hope no one here will be deceived by any such sliallow device."' 166 AAEOX F. STEYE2TS. y^^AUO^ FLETCHEE STEVENS was born ia Loudondeny, J^^^ HOW Deny, New Ilainpshire, August 9, ISIO. He was 'in^^i^jl, the only son of Captain John F. and Martha Stevens, both of whom were natives of Massachusetts. His father, who had for many years followed the sea, went to Londonderry a short time before the birth of his son, where the family lived until 1828, when tliey re- moved to Manchester, then a small town in Hillsborough County, now the largest and most prosperous city in the State. Here the father, then in the prime of manhood, tried the experiment of farming, but at the end of three years abandoned the pursuit, and took up his resi- dence in Peterboro,' the oldest manufacturing town in the State, at- tracted thither b}^ the superior facilities there presented for affording education and employment for his cliildren. At Peterboro' young Stevens found work in a fictory under tlie charge of Governor Steel, and for about four years alternated between that employment and attendance upon the district school. In the meantime, however, the united savings of the ftimily enabled him to return to his native town and attend for a short time the Pinkerton Academy. The means to defray the expenses of this schooling were furnished in part from tlie earnings of elder sisters, who still live to witness the fruits of their counsels and sacrifices for a brother. The parents, careful and fond of their children, sympathized with their aspirations for improvement, yet the limited means at their com- mand enabled them to furnish little more than the facilities of a com- mon school education. The early aspirations of the son for liberal education and professional life were thus held in check, but he ac- ce]5ted with alacrity the alternative before him, and at the ago of six- teen was ap])rcnticed to the trade of a machinist. He workeil at this trade for several years as a journeyman, varying his employment, 167 ., A A RON V. STEVENS. however, by attendance at the academy at jS'ashua, as well as by school teaching, which occupied his time for several winters. In August, lSi2, Mr. Stevens, at the invitation of Hon. George Y. Sawyer, one of the most distinguished lawyers of the State, entered upon the study of the law in his office at Nashua, and in August, ISiS, he was admitted to the bar. The same kind interest led Mr. Sawyer to propose a partnership with Mr. Stevens, who in that rela- tion entered at once into a prominent practice before the Courts. At that period Hillsborough County was greatly distinguished for the ability of its bar, numbering on its roll, besides Mr. Sawyer, Ben- jamin M. Farley, Charles G. Athertou, Franklin Pierce, Daniel Clark, George W. Morrison, and others, all of eminence in the State, and some of much wider legal reputation. It was into such a professional school that Mr. Stevens, sensible of his deficient early culture, and peculiarly averse to all presumption, was' thus early thrown. The courage and the thorough preparation with which he entered upon his work, together with his power in grasping the substance of a case, and presenting it in a clear, logical manner, commanded the respect of both Court and bar, and gave him a high professional reputation. In the early part of his professional career Mr. Stevens was foi- five years Solicitor of Hillsborough County. The absence of the Attorney-General ordinarily imposed upon the Solicitor the duties of prosecuting officer for that largo county, thus bringing him into pro- fessional conflict with the most experienced and adroit practitioners, furnishing a rigorous test of his resources, and contributing essentially to his early distinction as a lawyer. He subsequently entered into a professional partnership with Hon. Aaron W. Sawyer, his old school- mate and friend, now ranking among the ablest lawyers in the State. Mr. Stevens entered upon active political life as a Whig, and fol- lowed the fortunes of his party with unswerving fidelity when it was in a despised and almost hopeless minority in the State. His first active eflTort in the political arena was put forth in the memorable cam- paign of ISiO. IIo was a member of the last Whig Convention held in Baltimore in 1852. In 1849 he was a member of the State Legis- 168 AARON F. STEVENS. 3 lature, representing the city of Nashua, and again in ISS-t when the Democracy, after an ahuost nnpai'alleled contest, was defeated in the Legislature and overthrown in the State. He was again a Represen- tative in the Legish\ture in 185G and 1857. His judgment, candor, and forecast, united with dignity, clearness, and condensation as a de- bater, gave him commanding influence in the Legislature, and ren- dered him one of the most popular speakers in the State. Li the "Whig party he belonged to that portion who were strong in their anti- slavery convictions, and he carried those ideas with him into the Re- publican organization, of which he was an early and leading member in New Hampshire. AVhen, at the outbreak of the rebellion, a call was made for men to defend the capital, Mr. Stevens, who had the year previous been commissioned as Lieutenant-Colonel in the Volunteer Militia of the State, was one of the first to offer his services to the Governor, and on tiie 2'Jth of April received his commission as Major of the First New Hampshire three months' reginient of Volunteer Infantry. The regiment immediately reported at "Washington, and took part in the movement from ILirper's Ferry towards Winchester, but was en- gaged in no battle. Returning home with his regiment, he resumed the practice of his profession, but in the following year was again called into the service by the unsolicited tender from the Governor of a commission as Colonel of the Thirteenth Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteers. He promptly accepted, and having organized his command, he led to the field a superb regiment made up of men from seven of the ten counties in the State. There was probably no regiment in the war more remarkable for intelligence and soldierly qualities, and under a commander whom they followed with confidence, they maintained their fine reputation to the end. Among tlie names inscribed on the standard of this irfiHant reo-i- ment are Fredericksburg, its baptismal battle, Suffolk, "Walthall Road, Swift Creek, Drury's Bluff, Cold Harbor, Battery 5, Peters- burg, and Battery Harrison, in all of which battles their Colonel 1C9 4 A A KO^' F. STEVENS. participated with them. During tlie siege of Petersburg, in the campaign of 1864, Colonel Stevens commanded a brigade. In the assault on Fort Harrison, September 29th, he fell severely wounded while at the head of his regiment and brigade. He remained upon the spot where he was stricken down, within a few yards of the fort, until the colors of his command were planted upon the parapet of the captured work, and was then carried from the field. In Decem- ber following he was brevetted Brigadier-General. The official re- cords of the war, as well as the voice of his companions in arms, bear testimony to his courage as a soldier and his coolness and skill as a commander. Having closed an lionorable military career, and resumed the prac- tice of his profession. General Stevens was, in December, ISGG, unani- mously nominated for Congress. In March following he took his seat as a Representative in the Fortieth Congress. He served in tliat Congress on the Kaval Committee, and the Committee on the " Treatment of Union Prisoners." Having been re-elected to the Forty-first Congress, he was continued a member of the Naval Com- mittee, and served on the Committee on Patents. During his Con- gressional service, General Stevens has not often addressed the House in a formal speech. His chief efl:orts are given to the investigations of the Committee room, but he has occasionally spoken on national subjects. The vital national interests which were identified with the great political struggle in New Hampshire and Connecticut in 1868 called forth from him a well-considered speech in the House on the Sth of February of that year, in which he presented the subject of Eeconstruction in its leading and essential features. He also made a short but terse argument in favor of the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, in which he paid a merited tribute to the great war minis- ter Edwin M. Stanton. On the 19th of February, 1870, he addressed the House on " Grant and the Administration," in which he fully sustained the policy of the President, and denounced repudiation and the expansion of the currency. 170 //r^^cr^/c^ HON. HENRY L CAKE. REPRC3ENT«riVE PPX)M PENM3YLVANTA HENRY L. CAKE. SENRY L. CAKE was born in Northumberland, Pennsylva- nia, October 6, 1827. After receiving such education as 1^K ^\"^^s aflbrded by the public schools of his native village, he applied himself to learning the art of printing, first in the ofSce of the '• State Capital Gazette," and afterwards in the office of the " Democratic Union," at Ilarrisburg. In ISiQ he joined some of his companions in raising a company in Harrisburg for the war in Mexico, but, after the company was accepted, he was kept at home b}' the interference of his I'elatives. He afterwards worked in tlie office of the " Pottsville Emporium," and subsequently went to Phila- delphia, where, as a journeyman printer, he worked successively in the offices of the " Daily Chronicle," and the " Daily Pennsylvanian," and in the establishment of Messrs. L. Johnson & Co. In the spring of 1819 he was employed in the coal business by the Forest Improvement Company, and removed to Schuylkill County. After remaining in the service of that company a year, he purchased a small interest in a coal-screen factory in Pottsville, and took the personal management of the works. In June, 1851, he was elected brigadier-general of the 1st Brigade, 6th Division, Uniformed Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served five years, during which term there was much interest manifested in his brisrade, which was the strongest in the State. 3 3 o An active politician, his lot had been cast with the Democratic party by reason of his associations, but having early become imbued with the principles of protection to home industry, the Democracy could never safely calculate upon his assistance, when it put forward candidates who were not decided tariff men. The passage of the Omnibus bill by Congress in 1850, followed by 171 2 HENRY L. CAKE. the Kansas-Nebraska bill in 1S54, induced liini to secure an interest in tiie Democratic newspapers in Pottsville, the '' Emporium " and the "Mining Register," in order to influence them in attempting to preserve the status of the party. The attempt to force the Lecompton constitution into the platform divided the Democratic party, and, in ISCO, Mr. Cake took a prominent part in the canvass for Douglas, denouncing all who favored even a temporary compromise with the Breckenridge wing of the party. The weekly issue of his paper, the " Pottsville Mining Record," was a constant warning, from 1S58 until the war began, that the poli- ticians of the South, encouraged by mistaken Democratic leaders throughout the North, meant to rebel against tlie government. To his mind the Democratic party was deliberately and wilfully de- stroyed, in order that an excuse for rebellion might ensue in the elec- tion of Mr. Lincoln. So fully had this thought taken possession of his mind, that he tried to induce his military associates to form, arm, and drill a regiment for active service when called upon ; but his own time being engrossed in the attention required by a constantly-in- creasing business, which included the mining and shipping of coal, the management of two factories, a store, and printing establishment, the suggestion was not carried out. But to his efforts mainly was due the fact that his own company, the Pottsville National Light Infantry, was kept together. The armory of the infantry was in the hall over his store and counting-house. He was captain of the com- pany during tlie time he was at the head of the brigade, but for two years previous to the rebellion it was commanded by his friend Capt. Edmund McDonald, Gen. Cake holding only tlie rank of first cor- poral in the organization. On the evening of Thursday, April 11, 1861, the company met to perfect the details of its annual concert, to come off on the first Mon- day in May. After the business for which the meeting liad been called was disposed of, Gen. Cake, who had returned that evening from a hurried business visit to New York and Philadelphia, stated that the firing on the " Star of the "West " in Charleston harbor had 173 HENRY L. CAKK. 3 precipitated the civil conflict he had dreaded, but deemed inevitable, and constantly predicted for two years past ; that, in his opinion, it was goinp; to surpass the most terrible war on record, and that for those who intended to take part in it there would be some honor in being first in the field. Every man present at once volunteered. A committee was appointed (Capt. E. W. McDonald, Lieut. Louis J. Martin, and Gen. Cake), to forward the resolutions oftering the services of the company to Gen. Cameron, Secretary of War, at Wasliingtou, and to Gov. Curtin, at Ilarrisburg. Tiie duty was per- f(irmed that night. The next morning the recruiting flag was hoisted over the armory, and J. Addison McCool, F. W. Conrad, and other employees of Gen. Cake were started, with drums and flags, in a four-horse band-wagon, and the business of war was commenced in Pottsville. That day Sumter fell. The next, Saturday, April 13, Gen. Cameron telcgra])hed the acceptance of the company. Re- cruiting was brisk. On Mondaj', the 15th, the call for 75,000 troops was ]niblished in all the newspapei's, and the Secretary of the Com- monwealth, Plon. Eli Slifer, telegraphed the acceptance of the com- pany. In the meantiiiie, the always successful rival of the infantry, the Pottsville Washington Artillery, was not idle. Capt. James Wren telegraphed the oflTer of its services to Harrisburg, which were accepted by Mr. Slifer within two hours after he had accej^ted the infantry. Both companies were ordered to Harrisburg on Wednes- da}', April 17, where they met the Ringgold Artillery, of Reading, the Logan Guards, of Lewistown, and the Allen Lifantry, of Allen- town. At six o'clock on the morning of Thursdaj', April IS, these troops were mustered into the service of the United States, and imme- diately ordered off to Washington by way of York and Baltimore. Soon after the train left York a telegram was received stating that it would be impossible to march through Baltimore without a conflict with the mob, and when it arrived within twenty-five miles of Balti- more the authorities of tliat city ordered it to stop, stating that the news of the approaching train with volunteers for Washington had excited the mob to frenzy. The train was thereupon shoved into 173 4 HENRY L. CAKE. a siding. If a conductor had been on the train he had disappeared, and no one in authority could be found to be consulted. At this juncture, Capt. McDonald, at the instance of Gen. Cake, called a meeting of the officers, and stated that he was going on with his company if he had to take charge of the engine and one car for the purpose. He was promptly joined in the resolution by all the officei-s in the battalion, and the train was put in motion and kept on its way, notwithstanding the menacing telegrams received from Balti- more at every station. Upon arriving at the Calvert street station the crowd was so dense and demonstrative tliat the motion was re- versed and the train was shoved back to the Bolton station, where the battalion was formed in line before the excited Baltimorians arrived. The men had been cautioned not to answer any abuse or threats, nor to resent any demonstration short of actual violence. In case of attack they were to remain close together, and they had that ' confidence in themselves that would have rendered it hazardous to block their passage through the city. All the violence that could be offered by words was heaped upon them, and some stones and clubs were thrown ; but the quiet, orderh-, and determined march of that five hundred men, for the most part unarmed and ununiformed, had much of menace in it, and though the mob felt sure of the sympathy of the police, who made a show of guarding the flanks, the battalion reached the Washington depot in good time, and arrived in Wash- ington before dark — where they were hailed by thousands of the loyal sojourners as the saviors of the capitol, and were quartered in the halls of the Senate and House of Representatives. The Massa- chusetts troops arrived twenty-four hours afterwards. Thus, on the 18th of April, the first soldiers had reached Washing- ton from the Ts'orth. Mr. Cake having been formally elected, that morning, before being mustered into service, to fill the vacancy exist- ing in his company for second lieutenant, he was further promoted on the 1st of May following, by the unanimous vote of ofiicers and men, colonel of the regiment, which, instead of being called " 1st," which it was, in fact, was numbered the " 25th" of the Pennsylvania line. 174 HENRY L. CAKE. 5 Arriving at Washington with the first soldiers that enlisted for the defence of the nation, Gen. Cake can justly claim to be the first Northern man to raise the flag in active service against the rebellion. After serving three and a half months the 25th was mustered out, and its colonel was authorized to reorganize his regiment at Potts- ville, which was rapidly accomplished, and he again took tiie field at the head of the 96th Pennsylvania. His command took part in every battle fought by the army of the Potomac, and gained, under him, a reputation for endurance, discipline, and courage that it never lost. During the time that he served, wliether in command of the regiment, brigade, or division, he shared all the dangers and hard- ships of his men. He resigned his commission in the summer of 1863, in order to save a very fine property from destruction. He devoted himself with energy to business, and became president of the Philadelphia Coal Company, one of the most successful enterprises in the anthracite re- gion, owned exclusively by himself and his partner. He was the Union candidate of Schuylkill County for the Penn- sylvania State Senate, in 1861, and again, in 1S61-. He was elected, as a Republican, to the Fortieth Congress for the Tenth District of Pennsylvania, in 1866. His predecessor was a Democrat, and his district was regarded as devotedly Democratic, yet Gen. Cake in Congress acted with the most radical Republicans, being among the first to demand the impeachment of President Johnson, and he was rewarded by his constituents with a re-election by an increased majority. 175 ULYSSES MERCUE. 'LYSSES MERCUR was born in Towanda, Pennsylvania, August 12, 1818. During his early youth he enjoyed but meagre opportunities for education, but at sixteen he went to Jefferson College, where he completed his preparatory and regular collegiate studies in four years, graduating in 1S12 with the first honors of his class. When a junior, he was selected by the literary society of which he was a member as its champion in debate in one of the "contests" for wliich that college is celebrated. The " honor " was, by the judges, awarded to him over his competitor, Clement C. Valandiugham, of the senior class. During the last sixteen months of his college course Mr. Mercur occupied himself, in addition to his regular studies, in reading law under the direction of Hon. Mr. McKennan, of "Washington, Pennsylvania. After gradu- ation, Mr. Mercur continued the study of law in his native town, and in the following year (1813) was admitted to the bar. He at once entered upon the practice of his profession, in which he was engaged till his appointment, in March, 1861, to fill a vacancy as president judge of the Thirteenth District of Pennsylvania. In October fol- lowing he was elected, without opposition, to the same office for the term of ten years. Judge Mercur was a delegate to the I^ational Republican Conven- tion which nominated Fremont for the presidency in 1856, and was a Republican presidential elector in 1860. In October, lS6i, he was elected Representative from the Thirteenth District of Pennsylvania to the Thirty-ninth Congress, and resigned his judgeship. He was re-elected in 1866 and in 1868. During the Fortieth Congress he seiwed on the Committee on Claims, 176 ? /^ ^^/fv JOH^ P. O. SHAI^KS. 'OIIN P. C. SHANKS was born at Martiusburg, Virginia, June 17, 1S26. His paternal ancestors came from Ireland. His grandfather, Joseph Shanks, entered the Continental army immediately after the battle of Lexington, and served through the Eevolution, participating in the battle of Yorktown. His father, Michael Shanks, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and an elder brother served through the Mexican war. His ftither left the State of Virginia in 1839, on account of opposi- tion to slavery, and settled in the wilderness of Jay County, Indiana. The subject of this sketch had few advantages of schools, either in Virginia or in his forest home in the west. His parents being in lim- ited circumstances, struggling to make a home in a new country, their son participated in their labors, hardships, and privations. From his fifteenth to his seventeenth year he suffered intensely from an at- tack of rheumatism, much of his time being helpless, and while in this condition studied industriously under his father, who was a good scholar. Eegaining his health, he pursued his studies during all the waking hours which were not occupied with the severest manual labor. He studied by fire-light at home, and by camp-fires in the woods. He read in the highway while driving his team, and carried his book when he plowed. He worked at the carpenter's trade iu Michigan to earn money with which to pursue the study of law. In 1817 he commenced the study of law in his own county, working for his board, and devoting every third week of his time to labor for his father on the farm. He was admitted to practise law in 1850, and during that year was acting auditor of his county. In the autumn following he was irv 2 JOHN r. C. SlIAXKS. elected prosecuting attorney of the Circuit Court by the unanimous vote of both political parties. Upon his entrance upon the field of politics he was a Whig, and as such he was elected to the Legislature of Indiana in 1853. Two years later, the liquor question being an element in politics, he was defeated as an advocate of legal prohibition. In 1860 he was elected a Eepresentative from Indiana to the Thirty-seventh Congress, and took his seat July 4, 1861, when Con- gress was assembled by proclamation of President Lincoln to take measures for the prosecution of the war. He voluntarily fought in the first battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861, and by great eflbrts suc- ceeded in rallying a portion of the fugitives from the ill-fated field. For his conduct in that battle Mr. Shanks was appointed briga- dier-general by Mr. Lincoln, but declined, as he told the President, because " Bull Pun demonstrated that promotions should be withheld until men proved themselves competent to command." lie accepted an appointment on the staff of General Fremont, and served with him in Missouri. When that oflicer was relieved, Mr. Shanks re- mained with his successor. General Hunter, until the reassembling of Congress. On the 20th of December, 1861, Mr Shanks offered the following important resolution in the House of Representatives : Resolved, That the constitutional power to return fugitive slaves to their masters rests solely with the civil department of the government ; and that the order of the Secretary of War, under date of December 0, 1861, to General Wool, for the deliv- ery of a slave to Mr. Jcssup, of Maryland, as well as all other military orders for the return of slaves, are assumptions of the military power over the civil law and the rights of the slave. This resolution, the first Congressional action against the return of slaves, was referred to the Judiciary Committee, and, eventually, in substance, was made an article of war. On the 4th of March, 1862, in a speech in Congress, Mr. Shanks vindicated General Fremont, and upheld his proclamation giving fi-eedom to the slaves of rebels. At the close of that session of Congress he again served on General Fremont's staff", in his West Virginia campaign. 178 JOHNF. C. SHANKS. 3 In tlie suiiiiner of 1863 Mr. Shanks raised the 7th Indiana Res;!- ment of Vohmteer Cuvahy, and on t!ie 6th of December was ordered with tliein from Indianapolis to tlie field. In the foUowint; Febrnary he was breveted a brigadier-general for meritorious conduct. Hav- ing given efficient service until sometime after the surrender of Lee and Johnson, he was mustered out in September, 1865, at Hempstead, Texas. He was breveted a major-general by the voluntary recom- mendation of Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of "War, as a matter of justice which he declared to be due so meritorious an officer. Mr. Shanks has taken an efficient part in the legislation of the Congresses with which he has been connected. He has made several speeches which have attracted marked attention, especiall}' those delivered in the Fortieth Congress on Fenian prisoners, and on the independence of Crete. For the latter speech, made January 7, 18C9, in support of his resolution introduced in the House Deceml)er 7, 1808, he received the thanks of the Greek and Cretan govern- ments. 179 JACOB H. ELA. A COB H. ELA was born at Eocliester, New Hampshire, July 18, 1820. At fourteen he entered a woolen mill, in which he worked three years, and then went to Concord for the purpose of learning the printing business in the office of the " New Hampshire Statesman," of which lie was afterwards one of the publishers. As early as 1835 he entered actively into the anti- slavery movement ; was for several years one of the Board of Man- agers of the New Hampshire Anti-slavery Society, and the publisher of its organ, " The Herald of Freedom." He aided actively in the movement against the annexation of Texas, which resulted in the defeat of tlie Democrats in New Hampshire, and the election of John P. Hale to tlie United States Senate. He assisted in establishing the " Independent Democrat," at Concord, and was one of its pub- lisliers. In 1847 he returned to his native town, where he held various local ofBces. On the repeal of the Missouri compromise lie asain actively engaged in politics. In 1857 lie was elected a Eepre- sentative in the State Legislature, and in 1861 was appointed United States Marshal, serving until 1866, when he was removed by Presi- dent Jolinson. In 1867 he was elected a Eepresentative for New Hampshire to the Fortietli Congress, in whicli he was a member of the Committee on Printing and the Committee on Freedman's Affairs. He spoke briefly and forcibly on several important subjects of legis- lation ; for example, in a speech, December 3, 1867, he opposed the repeal of the tax on cotton because it would " take from the internal revenue of tlie country one-fifteenth part of the whole amount derived from excise, without making any provision for decreasing the ex- penses of the government." A few days later he ably reviewed the President's Message, asserting " that it was full of the spirit of the rebellion, wicked in its assumptions and reckless in its statements." Mr. Ela was re-elected to the Forty -first Congress by a majority of seventeen hundred votes over the Democratic candidate. 180 ^:^ ^ l^^xi-^'^l^ MOETO:^r C. HUNTER Sjl^^ORTON C. HIJNTEE was bora at Versailles, Indiana, ^^3^^ February 5, 1S25. He was educated at the Indiana Uni- ^1^HILETUS SAWYER was bom in Wliitiiig, Vermont, Sep- fjttf tembcr 22d, 1816. He was favored with no advantages of '^*tf education save those of tlie common schools. At the ase of seventeen he bought his time from liis fatlier, and commenced working by the month as a farm laljorer. Having continned in this em- ployment ten years, saving about two thousand dollars, lie emigrat- ed to Wisconsin in 1847 and engaged into the lumber business. He first rented and subsequently purchased mills and invested in pine lands, building up a large and prosperous business. He was a member of tlie Wisconsin Legislature m 1857 and 1861. He was elected Mayor of Oshkosh in 1863 ; was a member of the Eepublican National Con vention of 18G-4, and the same year was elected a Representative in the Thirty-ninth Congress. He was re-elected to the Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses, and has done efficient service on the Commit- tee on Manufactures and Commerce. He never makes speeches, but no member of Congress has greater influence on committees or in private consultation. In a letter to the " Gi-een Bay Gazette," Senator Howe thus speaks of him : "No District in the United States has sent to Washington an huu- ester man, or a more faithful or efficient Representative. I don't know of an interest in the District that he has abused orneglected. At the same time I do not know a man more tolerant of or generous to his po- litical opponents than he is. Mr. Sawyer's early education was limited ; but he was born a gentleman, and he has lived like a gentle- man in all the relations of life. In spite of lack of culture, he is to- day as wisely and familiarly known to the picked men who represent tlie States of this great repulilic, in Congress, and is as universally respected too, as any nnin in cither house." r.tT HA:^i^.To:N^ ward. '" VMILTON WAED was born in Salisbury, Herkimer County, New York, July 3, 1S29. In liis early cliild- 'fij''^ hood, liis parents removed to Williamsburg, Virginia, and a few years afterwards to Elmira, New York, where Hamilton was employed «pt)n a farm until nineteen years of age. He then entered a law office, and, after a course of study of about three years, he was admitted to the bar. He at once commenced the practice of his profession at what is now Belmont, a thriving village in Alleghany County. His success was encouraging, and five years after com- mencing practice, he was elected district-attorney of the county, retaining this office during three years, wlien he was re-elected. In 1SG2 ho was appointed by the governor one of the Military Committee f )r raising men for the army in tlie Senatorial District in which he resided, and was successful in raising several regi- ments of troops. In ISGi Mr. Ward was elected a Representative to the Thirty-ninth Congress from the Twenty-seventh Congressional District of New York. In his first Congressional term, he served on the Committees of Claims and Accounts. In 1866 he received, by 7,000 majoi-ity, an election to the Fortieth Congress, in which he was a member of the Select Committee of Investigation for inquiring into the subject of President Lincoln's assassination, and chairman of the Committee on Eevolulionary Claims. In 1868 he was elected to the Forty-first Congress. Mr. Ward received in his youth a fair common-school education, obtained mostly, however, by evening study at his homo. A Whig until 185-i, he then affiliated with the newly-formed Re])ublican party, with which he has ever since acted, and for whose success and triumph he has labored with great diligence and efficiency. 198 /^^^-^ U ^^^^/^z^i^ SIDNEY PERHAM. -(;^IDXEY PEEHAM was born in Woodstock, Maine, March ^^ 27, ISl'J. lie was cduoated cliiefly in the common schools, 'i|i/ and nntil thirty-five years of age, he was a farmer and school teacher. He was a member of the Maine State Board of Agriculture in 1S52 and 1S53. He was elected a member of the State Legislature in lS5i, and was cliosen Speaker of the House. He was elected Clerk of Courts for the county of Oxford iu 1858, and was re-elected in ISGl. He was elected to the Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses — receiving in the last election (3,421 majority. In early life he became interested in the Temperance reform, and by his example and lectures contributed largely to the success of that cause in the State of Maine. During the war he was untiring in his attention to the wants of the soldiers — visiting them in the hospital, communicating with their friends, aiding tliem in obtaining discharges, furloughs, pay, bounty, pensions, etc., and in every way passible ministering to their neces- sities. He was for si.x years a member and tViur years Chairman of the Pension Committee, the duties of which involved a very large amount of labor. He reported and carried through the House most of the provisions of law increasing pensions to invalids in pro- portion to the degree of disability, and giving an additional pension to widows, according to the number of children dependent on them forsuppcirt. Mr. Pcrham, as a member of Congress, was always at tlie post of duty, whether in the committee room or on the floor of the House. He made but few speeches, never claiming the atten- tion of the House unless the interest of his constituents or the business lie had in hand required it. ir.D JOHN C. CHURCHILL. "OIIN C. CHUKCHILL was born at Mooers, Clinton County, New York, January 17, 1S21. His father was a fanner in moderate circumstances, with little means at his dis- posal for the liberal education of his son, who was consequently mainly dependent on his own resources for education more extensive than was to be procured in the common schools. He graduated at Middlebury College, Vermont, in lSi3 ; adopted the profession of law, and commenced practice in the city of Oswego, where he has continued to reside. From 1857 to 1860 he was district-attorney for Oswego County, and subsequent!}', until 1861, was county judge. In 1866 he was elected a Kepresentative from the Twenty-second District of New York to the Fortieth Congress, and was re-elected. to the Forty-first Congress. During the Fortieth Congress he was a member of the Judiciary Committee, and with Mr. Boutwell and Mr. Eldridge formed the sub-committee that drafted the Fifteenth Amendment to the Consti- tution in the form in which it was finally adopted, to wit : " The right of citizens of the TInited States to vote shall not he denied or abridged hj the United States or hj any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude^ Mr. Churchill joined with a majority of the Judiciary' Committee in a report recommend- ing the impeachment of President Johnson. He presented a report, revising and improving the judiciary systems of the territories of Montana and Idaho. In an able speech before the House, he sup- ported a bill for constructing a ship canal around the Falls of Niagara. 200 ^-^•£i T^^ ilf (X^v^ct^t JOECX COBUEI^. frOIIN COBUEISr was born at Indianapolis, Indiana, October 27, 1825. His father was a native of Massachusetts, who settled in Indiana while" it was yet a teiritory. The subject of this sketch enjo^'ed excellent advantages of early education in his native city, and subsequently attended "Wabash College, where be graduated in ISiC. He was employed a short time in the office of the clerk of the Supreme Court ; studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1S50. During this and the following year lie was a member of the State Legislature. Although one of the youngest members, and in the "Whig minority, he took an active part in legis- lation. The AVhigs iu-that Legislature voted in. a body against resolutions approving the 'Clay Compromise of 1850 ; thus early showing themselves ready for. the great Republican movement, in which some of them became leaders foiir years later. In 1850 Mr. Coburn was the Eepublican candidate for Congress, and conducted the canvass with such ability that his competitor, unable to answer his arguments, quit the stump soon after they had entered upon a series of joint discussions. Mr. Coburn received a much larger vote than the Eepublican candidates who were success- ful in the preceding and subsequent elections, but his opponent was declared elected, since it was vital to the success of the Buchanan presidential ticket in the State iu November that the Central Con- gressional District should be carried for the Democrats in October. In 1853 Mr. Coburn engaged in the defense of Freeman, who, though never a slave, had been seized by a pretended owner from Kentucky under the Fugitive Slave Law. To find evidence for his 301 JOHN C O B U It X . client, Mr. Oobuni went twice to Kentucky and made two journeys into Canada, and by great exertions succeeded in releasing him from the grasp of the kidnapper. Sympathy with the slave was at that time unpopular in Indiana, and Mr. Coburn lost business by reason of his efforts for Freeman. In 1857 he was counsel for the defence in another celebrated fugitive slave case. These two important cases attracted the attention of the whole country, and had an influ- ence in consolidating a majority in Indiana against the slaveholders in 1860. In 1858 Mr. Coburn was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Soon after the election of Mr. Lincoln, when the plans of the rebels began to appear, many Republicans in Indiana were ready to consent to a peaceful withdrawal of the Southern States, in order to prevent loss of property and life. At this juncture a large mass meet- ing was addressed by Judge Coburn and Hon. Jonathan W. Gordon, who counselled uncompromising adherence to the Union against the treason of secession, and thus a sentiment was promoted at the State capital which did much to direct Indiana upon the course in which the State gained enduring honor in the war. Soon after the breaking out of hostilities, Mr. Coburn entered the military service, and was commissioned colonel of the 33d Regiment of Indiana Volunteers. In September, 1861, he left Indianapolis with his command, and marching into Kentucky was immediately in the midst of active service. With his regiment he bore the brunt of the battle of Wildcat, and did most of the fighting by which Zollicoffer's force was repulsed. Officers and men bore themselves with great cool- ness and valor, although they had never before been under fire. Thus the first battle of the army of the Cumberland was mainly fought by Col. Coburn's regiment, and the first man who fell in defence of the Union in Kentucky was private McFadden of his command. Col. Coburn was given command of a brigade, participated in the movements which resulted in the taking of Cumberland Gap ; took part in operations in Tennessee, and finally was taken prisoner, with four hundred of his command, -at Tliompson's Station, on the 5th of 202 JOHN C'OBUKN. ?, March, 1863. Officers and men were treated with the utmost barbar- ity while on tlie way to Kiclimond, and after tlicir incarceration in Libby Prison. " The iron-hearted monsters who liad charge of tlie prisons," said Col. Coburn, in liis report, '• had no regard for suffering nor for human life." The prisoners were exchanged at City Point, Virginia, May 5, 1S63, and were soon again in active service. During the spring and summer of ISGi, Col. Coburn commanded a brigade in the great Atlanta campaign, participating with distin- guished honor in the battles at Resacca, New Hope Church, Golgotha Church, Culp's Farm, and Peach Tree Creek. On the 2d of September, 1S6J-, the city of Atlanta was surrendered to Col. Coburn, who was met in the suburbs by the mayor, with a flag of truce. The officer who bore a prominent part in the first battle of the army of the Cumberland, had the honor to receive the sur- render of the last rebel stronghold in the West. His term of three years having expired, and the war in the West being virtually ended, he retired from the military service on the 25tli of September, ISOl. In March, 1S65, he was appointed and confirmed Secretary uf Mon- tana Territory, but declined the otfice. In the following October he was elected judge of the 5tli Judicial Cii'cuit of Indiana, an ollice which he accepted against his own inclinations, the duties of which, however, he performed in a manner highly satisfactory to a bar which is among the ablest in the United States. While upon the bench he was unanimously nominated b^' the Republicans as their candidate for Congress, and was elected in October, 186(3. During the Fortieth Congress, Mr. Coburn was a member of the Committee on Public Expenditures and the Committee on Banking and Currency. At the short session of Congress, in July, 1867, he proposed an amendment to the Reconstruction acts, imposing penal- ties for offenses against the rights of voters in the late rebel States. This, if accepted, might have saved Congress the necessity of incor- porating similar provisions in an act to enforce the Fifteenth Amend- ment, which was ]jasscd so late as 1870. On the 2StIi of January, 1868, he addressed the House on the sid)ject of Southern railroad-, 203 JOHN COB URN. in which he was the first to advocate in Congi-ess certain necessary restrictions upon land grants to railroads. In an able legal and his- torical argument on impeachment, he maintained that Mr. Johnson's " whole history as President has been marked with usurpations of power and violations of rights." In February, 1868, he supported bv a speech the bill for the redistribution of the currency, and in Janu- ary, 1869, he delivered an elaborate and eloquent speech on Finance, in which he showed the importance of funding the national debt and the folly of attempting to resume specie payment by legislation. He also addressed the House in opposition to the bill " to strengthen the public credit," in which he maintained that our national credit, so far from needing " strengthening " by legislation was " good, and growing better every day." 204 i7^-£i^^^- .4^ WILLIAM 8. HOLMAIT. 'MlLIAM S. IIOLMAN was bom ia Verdstown, Indiana, ,._^ September 6, 1822. His tatlier was one of the first Judges ^f of the Supreme Court of Indiana, and after giving hin^^i a common selioo] education, instructed him in the science au'd prac- tice of tlie haw. Soon after liis admission to the bar, he was elected Judge of tlie Probate Court, an office wliicli he held from 1843 to 1S46. He was Prosecuting- Attorney from 1847 to 1849. A Conven- tion having been called in 1850 to revise the Constitution of Indiana, Judge Holman was elected a member, and took an important part in the deliberations. In the following year he was a member of the lower branch of tlie State Legislature. In 1852 he was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, a department of the State Ju- diciary which was created by the new Constitution to supersede the Probate Court, with more extended jurisdiction. Judge Hohuan held this ofiice until 1856, when he resumed the practice of law. In 1858 he was elected a Eepresentative from Indiana to the Thirty- sixth Congress as a Democrat, and was re-elected to the Thirty- seventh, Thirty-eighth, Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses. An undeviating Democrat during his entire Congressional service, he resisted secession, and was steadily for the Union, which he desir- ed to serve by compromise until tliat was rendered impossible by the hot blood of tiie rebellious South. He was then for war, but war for the Union only. Few men on the side of the minority in Congress have more influence with political friends, or more respect among partisan opponents than Judge Holman. He is a rapi,l. fluent, and impressive speaker, with all his extensive legal attainments and politi- cal resources effectively at hand in the emergencies of debate. He IS prepossessing in appearance, agreeable in manners, and genial in social intercom-fe. 203 MICHAEL C. KERR r'^^ ICPIAEL C. KERE was born at Titusville, Pennsylvania, March 15, 1S27. Deprived of his father at the age of twelve years, he was left to push his way in the world without material assistance from any one. By his own efforts, and with little aid from schools, he made respectable attainments in knowledge, and commenced the study of law. At twenty years of iio'e he went to Kentucky, where, until 1852, he labored as a teacher, pursuing meantime his law studies. Graduating in the law depart- ment of the University of Louisville, Kentucky, he in 1852 settled in New Albany, Indiana. Here. he engaged diligently in the prac- tice of his profession, and presently formed a partnership with Hon. Thomas L. Smith, ex-Judge of the Supreme Court of Indiana. This partnership continued thirteen years, and in the pursuit of his pro- fession he enjoyed a high degree of success. In 185C Mr. Kerr was elected to the State Legislature of his State, having previously and for some time held the office of prosecuting attorney, and for two years that of city attorney of New Albany. He served in the State Legislature for two years, and in 18C2 he was elected reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court of In- diana. This office he held two years, during which time he pub- lished five volumes of reports which were executed in a manner highly satisfactory to the profession. In 18G1 Mr. Ken- was elected a member of the Thirty-ninth Con- sress. and was re-elected to the Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses, during which he served on the Committee on Elections and the Committee on the Judiciary. He made many speeches which were marked by great legal and logical ability and strict adherence to Democratic polic}'. 208 '-'"r^BBm iks^am''-^^ /I C? yy (Ar[<^^1<^ WILLIAM E. NIBLAOK ILLIAM E. NIBLACK was bora in Dubois County, Indiana, May 19, 1822. His father emigrated to' t Indiana from Kentucky in 1817, and his motlier from Virginia in 1820. His early life was in school and upon the farm at alternate intervals, until about sixteen years of age, when he entered the State University at Bloomington, where he pursued his studies through parts of three years. The death of his father, how- ever, prevented him from graduating, and he devoted himself at once to the study of law, occasionally busying himself temporarily with surveying, civil engineering, and other occupations. In 1843 he was admitted to the bar, but did not formally commence the practice of law until two years afterwards, when he settled at Mount Pleasant, Indiana, where he successfully pursued his profession with slight intervals for two years. Mr. Niblack entered political life in 1849, when he was elected a Eepresentative from Martin County to the State Legislature, where he continued during this and the following year. He was now elected to the State Senate, representing the three counties of Davies, Martin, and Knox. He was in the Senate during that long session of the body which adopted the Revised Statutes of 1852, and modified the system of laws in accordance with the new constitution of Indiana, adopted in 1851. At the end of his Senatorial term he was nomin- ated for re-election, but declined, with a view of devoting himself to his private and professional affairs. In the beginningof 1854, Judge Hovey resigned his place as judge of the 3d Judicial Circuit, and witliout solicitation on the part of Mr. Niblack, Gov. AVright immediately proffered to him the vacatit seat. It was a laborious circuit, embracing no less than eleven 2 WILLIAM E. N I BLACK. counties. After some liesitatiou lie accepted the otiice, and, in the iullowing autumn, was duly elected judge of the circuit for the full term of six years. The next year, 1S55, Judge Niblack removed to Yiucennes, which lie made his permanent residence. Two years afterwards, Hon. James Lockhart, Representative elect to Congress from the 1st District, died before taking his seat, and the subject of this sketch, tlien upon the beticli, was, without opposition, elected to fill the vacancy. He accordingly resigned his office, aud in the following December took his seat in the Thirty-fifth Congress, at its first session. In 1S5S he was nominated for the Thirty-sixtli Congress, and after a sharp contest, was elected. Having served through this Congress, he declined a renomination. But Judge Niblack was not destined to be relieved, as yet, from the responsibilities of public life. In 1S62 we find liira again a member of the State Legislature, where he was chairman of the House Committee of Ways and Means, and a member of the Military Auditing Committee. In 186-t he was again nominated and elected to Congress, and in 1866 was elected to the Fortieth Congress. Not- withstanding the multiplied honors received by him at the hands of his friends, Mr. Niblack seems to have been of that class of public men who, instead of seeking office, has rather been sought by it, and though having acted very strictly and closely with the Democratic party, yet he has aimed to be conciliatory and reasonable in his politi- cal movements and conduct. " I claim," he states of himself, " to be a conservative States Eights man of wliat is sometimes known as the Madison school. During the late war, as at all other times, I have held due obedience to the laws, and to those in authority, as binding upon all citizens alike, however distasteful such laws and such per- sons might be to me or to others personally." Mr. Niblack was re-elected to tlie Forty-first Congress by nearly two thousand majority over his Eepublican opponent, and served on the Committee on Appropriation, and the Select Committee on the Reorganization of the Civil Service of the Government. 208 ^/^L,^,^-^ yf^^^ ?iON OET-.OS J' - DELOS R. ASHLEY. ^EVADA, the richest of tlie United States in mineral re sources, was admitted into the Union, October 31, 1864, J^4^ with a voting- popuLition of little more than sixteen thou- sand. A few da3's hxter, the miners of the new State partici[)ated in the presidential election, giving Mr. Lincoln a majorit_y, and at the same time electing Delos H. Ashley as their first Representative in Congress. He was born at Arkansas Post, February 19, 1828. He received an academic education, and studied law at Monroe, Michigan. In 1840, among the foremost of the adventurers lured westward by the recent discovery of gold, lie went to California, and settled in Mon- terey, where he soon found abundant and profitable demand for his professional services. In 1851 he was chosen district-attorne}', and held the office until 1853. During the two years ensuing, he was a Democratic member of the Assembly of California, and in 1S5G and 1857 he was a State Senator. He then retired from politics, and devoted himself to the practice of his profession. The political issues forced upon the country by the breaking out of the rebellion, caused him to unite with the Republican party, in the interests of which he canvassed the State, and was elected State Treasurer, an office whicli he held two years. In 1864 he removed to Austin, Nevada, where he practised his profession until his election as a Representative to the Thirty-ninth Congress. He was re-elected to the Fortieth Con- gress, during which he served on the Committees on Public Lands, and Mines and Mining. He made a speech, March 2, 1868, in favor of the impeachment of President Johnson, which was a brief, perti- nent and unimpassioned effort. His speeches in Congress were gen- erally and characteristically brief, business-like, and sensible. 209 ISAAC R. HAWKINS. ^V^W-'SAAC R. HAWKINS was bom in Maui-y County, Tcnnes- tMi see, May 16, 1818 ; and -when ten years old removed to Car- ■^ roll County, of the same State. He received a conimon- scliool edncation, and was mainly employed in agricultural pursuits until twenty-two years of age, when he commenced the study of law. In March, 1813, he was married, and commenced the practice of law at Huntington, Tennessee, where he has ever since resided. In 1816 he went as a lieutenant to the Mexican ATar, and was at the siege of Vera Cruz. Returning from the war, he continued in the practice of law, and, in 1861, he was elected by the Tennessee Legislature, a delegate to the Peace Conference of February in that year. In May and June of 1861, he stumped his State against secession, and was, by 3,000 majority, elected to tJie convention for the consideration of Federal relations. In the following year lie was elected a circuit judge, but, preferring the military service, entered the army as lieu- tenant-colonel of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry. In 1864 he was captured with his regiment at Union city, Tennessee, and was im- prisoned at Mobile, at Macon, Georgia, and at camp Oglethorpe, and was one of the fifty officers who were placed under fire at Charleston. Being exchanged in August of that same year, he re- sumed active service, and until the close of the war commanded the cavalry force in Western Kentucky. In July, 1865, Mr. Hawkins was commissioned by Gov. Brownlow one of the chancellors of Tennessee ; but being a candidate for Con- gress, he declined to qualify, and, in August, was elected a Repre- sentative to the Thirty-ninth Congress, and was subsequently re- elected to the Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses. 210 4r\ /(Jc^/i^r^ ^. ^/^nr^c? BURTOX C. COOK ■^^^URTON C. COOK was born in Monroe County, New York, ■^^ ilay 11, 1S19. lie was educated at the Collegiate Institute ' ^&. in the city of Rochester; and in 1S35 he removed to the State of Illinois. Here he entered upon the practice of law, and soon acquired a large and valuable business ; being highly esteemed also, wherever known, for his sterling honesty and iiiteixritv. From 18-4G to 1852 Mr. Cook held the office of State's Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Illinois. In the latter year he was elected to the State Senate, of which body, during the eight suc- ceeding years, he was an active and efficient member. He early be- came identified with the great anti-slaver^' movement of the countrv, delivering heavy blows against the institution of slaveiy, until he was permitted to rejoice in its overthrow. The repeal of the Missouri Compromise had the influence to drive from the Democratic ]iarty in- Illinois such men as Mr. Cook, Mr. Judd, aud Goverudr Palmer ; and on that issue they, being at that time in the State Senate, nominated Mr. Trumbull tbr the Senate of the United States; and with the aid of the Whigs, under the lead- ership of Abraham Lincoln, he was elected ; and thus wj^s com- menced the Republican jwrty in Illinois. Mr. Cook was one of the representatives of the State of Illinois in the Peace Conference which met in Washington, in February, ISGl, in which he earnestly opposed the proposition that slavery should either be recognized or prI S . Retiring from the State Senate, Mr. Williams actively resumed the labors of his profession, and soon achieved a leading position at the bar of the State, and from this time during several years, ho forbore taking any active part in poUtical affairs. At the inauguration of the Republican party, he accepted the position of delegate at large to the Philadelphia Convention of 1856, by which he was appointed a member of the National Executive Committee for his own State, and participated actively in the canvass which followed in several of the adjoining States as well as his own. In 1860 we again find Mr. Williams in the State Legislature, actively engaging, meantime, in the great and decisive campaign which brought Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency. In 1862 he was elected to the Congress of the United States ; to whicli he was re-elected for a second and third term, and by largely increased majorities. In the House of Representatives his well-established reputation as a lawyer, joined with the expressed wishes of his colleagues, resulted in his being placed on the Judiciary Committee, where he continued to serve during his Congressional career. He distinguished himself as a Representative by the authorship and defence of some of the most important measures presented to the House, and held the reputation of being one of the strongest lawyers of the body. Among his many able speeches was his effort as one of the managers on the trial of President Johnson, which was pronounced by tlie best judges as "equal to anything delivered on tliat, or any other like occasion in the history of the country." During the Fortieth Congress he was an efhcient supporter of the policy of his party for the Reconstruction of the rebellious States. 216 ■ PAT M P E! <" KT lET EPHRAIM R. ECKLEY. friIRAIM R. ECKLEY was bora in Jefferson County, Ohio, December 9, 1S12, and received sncli education as could be ^ acquired in the common schools of the West at that early day. He studied and practised law, but was early drawn aside from the pursuit of his profession by the demands of official duty. From 1843 to 1850, for the most of the time, he held a seat in the State Senate. In 1853 he was a Representative in the Ohio Legislature. On the breaking out of the rebellion, he went into the army as colonel of the 26tli Regiment of Ohio Volunteers and subsequently commanded the SOth Regiment. He served in several battles and at Corinth had command of a brigade. In the fall of 1862 he was elected a Representative from Ohio to the Thirty-eighth Congress, and in the following March resigned his position in the army to take his seat, serving during his first term on the Committee on Pri- vate Land Claims and the Committee on Eoads and Canals. lie was re-elected to the Thirty-ninth Congress, during which he served on the Committee on Public Lands and the Committee on Accounts. He was reelected to the Fortieth Congress, receiving 13,917 votes, against 9,275 for a Democratic candidate, and served on the Com- mittee on Public Lands and the Committee on Accounts. He was a delegate to the " Loyalists' Convention," which met in Philadelphia in 18C(J. Mr. Eckley was watchful of business, both in the Commit- tees of which he was a member and on the floor of the House. Ho introduced several bills and resolutions of a private nature, but took no part in the public debates. He was a candidate for Clerk of the House, before the Republican caucus, at the organization of the Forty-first Ci.mgrcss, but failed to receive the nomination and retired to private lit'c. 217 JACOB BENTOIn^. 'ACOB BENTON" was bora in Waterford, Vermont, August 14, 1S19. His ancestors were from Connecticut ; his grand- father owned a part of the present site of the city of Hart- ford. He attended Newbury Seminary, and graduated at Manchester, Vermont. He engaged in teaching, and was four years principal of an academ}' in Concord, New. Hampshire. Meanwhile he com- menced the study of law with Judge Bellows, and completed his prep- aration for the bar under tiie direction of General Young, with whom he subsequently foi'med a partnership in Lancaster, New Hampshire, where he lia;5 cont;inued to reside. He pursued a most successful practice, of his profession, interrupted only by the demands of public service in the offices to, which he has been elected by the people. In 1854 he was elected a Representative in the New Hampshire Legis- lature, in which he made active and successful efforts to secure the election of John P. Hale to the Senate of the United States. He was for several years brigadier-general of the State Militia. In 18G0 he was married to Louisa Dwight, daughter of General Neal Dow, of Portland, Maine. In 186G he was elected a Representative from New Hampshire to the Fortieth Congress, and was reelected two years later. As a member of the Joint Committee on Retrenchment he took part in proposing and advocating important legislation. He opposed the taxation of the United States bonds, and also advocated the payment of the national debt without deviation from the spirit or letter of the law. In February, 1868, he made a speech on Recon- struction, which, as a review of the record of the Democratic party, and the policy of President Johnson, attracted much attention, and was extensively circulated throughout the country as a campaign document. 813 ''V%-^££^.H„al,?F;T.'J FROM 1-IEV/ HA14PSHU-'"!, -.'i:i.' Fi.= j.v'«f.SM:?^rijPYor coMC^fsf , // -.^J^- /^r ^.^^y^! .-^ r <*--'^_ HEXRY H. STARKWEATHER. ^EXRY n. STAEKWEATIIER was bom in Preston, New London Comitj^ Connecticut, April 29, 1826. He received F^ his education at tlie common schools of which his State is justly jiruud. It is their glory that they fit men for the highest M'aiks of public life. Like many of his associates in Congress, he repaid the debt which he had incurred to the free schools by himself becoming a teacher in the institution. Such pursuits, alternating with agriculture, occupied him until twenly-four years of age. lie then studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practised in the city of Norwich. In 1856, Mr. Starkweather was a member of the Legislature of Connecticut. He was a delegate to the Republican National Con- vention whicli nominafed Lincoln in ISGO. Under the Republican administration which followed he was made postmaster of Norwich, and was re-appointed by President Johnson in 1865. ITnwilling to favor the policy of the President he resigned in 1866, and was soon afterwards elected a Representative from Connecticut to the Fortieth Congress, the only Republican member from that State. During that Congress he served on the Committee on Naval Affairs. lie made no speeches, but was otherwise active in the work of legisla- tion. He was re-elected by more than two thousand majority over his Democratic opponent. During the Forty-first Congress, be served on the Committee on Naval Affairs and the Committee on Commerce. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention which nominated Grant in 1868, and rendered efScicnt service during the ensuing campaign as chairman of the Republican State Committee, and as a member of the National Republican Executive Committee. 010 ROWLAI^D E. TROWBRIDGE. ROWLAND E. TliOWBPJDGE was born near Elmlra, New York, June 18, 1821. Shortly after his birth, his parents removed to Michigan, then a territory and a wilderness, and were among the first settlers who penetrated back from the river and the old French settlements. Here the family were subjected to the various privations, discomforts and sufix3rings incidental to a pioneer life. Farming was the family occupation, and the boy, Rowland, grew up amid the hard labors common to a farm in a new country. It would seem that under such circumstances, and espe- cially as his father was far from wealthy, the son's educational oppor- tunities and advantages might be very considerably limited. Yet we find him a graduate from Kenyon College, Ohio ; nor does a liberal education appear to have exerted any influence to wean him from the occupations of agricultural life. He has always resided in Michigan, and, like many other pioneers, has enjoyed the privilege of growing up with his State, and of witnessing, from his earliest memory upward, its constantly advancing prosperity and power. Mr. Trowbridge was twice elected to the State Senate ; and, in 1860, was elected to Congress. He was also elected to the Thirt}'- ninth and Fortieth Congresses. His political position and sentiments we may best present in his own words : " I am," he says, " a Hadical in sentiment — believed with all my heart in crushing out the rebel- lion with the Strong arm of the government — believed in trying and executing some of the leading traitors, in order that bad men might hereafter feel that treason is a dangerous game to play at." He was firm for the Congressional reconstruction measures, a determined opposer of the Johnson policy, and a decided advocate for the impeach ment of its author. 320 W /^:^y^^^^^^^^ WILLIAM H. BARI^^UM. '■'William II. BARNUM was bom in Salisbm-y, Connecti- cut, September 17, 1817. He received a public school p^ education, and at the age of eighteen engaged in mercan- tile pursuits. From a small beginning he soon built up an extensive business, and to his mercantile establishment added an iron foundry. His success in business was uninterrupted, and its extension almost unexampled in this country. In 1851 he commenced the manufac- ture of i^ig iron in Canaan, Connecticut, and soon after engaged in mining and manufacturing Salisbury iron, the most celebrated in the world fur car wheels and ordnance and for malleable purposes. His single iron furnace at Salisbury was soon multiplied until he had no less than six in successful operation. In 18G2 he established a car wheel manufactory in Chicago, and soon after engaged in similar enterprises in Jersey City and Detroit. In 1SC6 he opened two mines, and erected iron furnaces on the shore of Lake Superior. He established a rolling mill for the manufacture of rails at Spuytoa Duyvel, New York, and a manufactory of steel tire for locomotives in Worcester, Massachusetts. His widely extended enterprises furnish employment and subsistence for live thousand persons. In politics he has always been a Democrat. He was a member of the Connecticut State Legislature in 1851-52, and at the close of his_ term announced his determination never to hold political office again. In 1SG6, however, a nomination for Congress was thrust upon him against his will, and he was elected over P. T. Barnum, and was re-elected in 1868. He served on the Committees on Manufactures, on Roads and Canals, and on the Pacific Railroad. In Congress, without participating in general discussions, he has been attentive to the business of legislation and faithful to the interests of his constituents. 221 FEKiSrAl^DO C. BEAMA^, ^llW^ERNANDO C. BEAMAN M-as bom in Chester, Windsor County, Vermont, June 28, 1814. At the age of iive he removed with his parents to the State of New Yorlc, and received a good English education at the Franklin County Academy. At twenty-two years of age he entered upon the study of law at Eochester, "New York. In 1838 he removed to Michigan, where after pursuing his studies another year he was admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of his profession, which ho prosecuted with much success. Politically Mr. Beaman was a Democrat until ISol, when the passage of the JSTebraska act induced him to aid in the organization of the Republican party, of which he has remained one of the most devoted and conscientious adherents. For six years he held the office of prosccuting-attorney for Lenawee County, was judge of probate for four yeai-s, and in 1S5G he was a presidential elector. In 18C0 he was elected a Representative from Michigan to the Thirty-seventh Congress by a large majority, running ahead of the Republican electoral ticket some six hundred votes. He at once took an active part in legislation, and during his first Congressional term delivered two speeches which attracted attention, one on " Provisional Govern- ments for the Rebel States," and another on the " Confiscation of Rebel Property." He was re-elected to the Thirty-eighth Congress, and served on the same committee and also on that on Territories. In the Thirty-ninth Congress he served on the Committees on Terri- tories, the Death of President Lincoln, and Frauds on the Revenue, and as chairman of the Committee on Koads and Canals. In the Fortieth Congress he was a member of the Committees on Recon- struction and Appropriations. He was re-elected to the Forty-first Congress, receiving 22,197 votes against 20,595 for the Democratic candidate. THOMAS BOLES. fnOMAS BOLES was born near Clarksville, Arkansas, July T<^ 16, 1837. His parents were devoted Christians and very attentive to the moral training of their children. As schools were few, and of brief duration, opportunities for education were limited. The subject of tiiis sketch had not the privilege of attend- ing school more than a year in all, a sufficient time, however, to give him a taste for reading and study. By improving his time at night, after the day's work on the farm was done, he succeeded in acquiring a good English education. In 1854, he taught school in an adjoining neighborhood, and continued this employment during parts of the two years succeeding, thus enjoying additional opportunities for self- 'culture, which he did not fiiil to improve. As soon as he attained his majority, he was employed by the sheriif of the county as his deputy. In 1S59, he was appointed deputy clerk of the Circuit Court by Judge Pound, then clerk of Yell County. While in this office he had access to a law library, and devoted his spare time to study under the direction of Judge Pound. In the fall of 1860, he obtained license to practise as an attorney-at-law and solicitor in chancery. In the presidential election of 1860, the race in Arkansas was between Breckenridge, Bell, and Douglass, there being no Lincoln electoral ticket nominated in that State. Mr. Boles espoused the cause of Mr. Douglas, but with no hope of success in Arkansas, since the secession element was predominant in that State. After the elec- tion, he took decided ground in favor of the Union, and had the sat- isfaction of seeing his county, which had been strongly Democratic, give a majority of live hundred votes against the secession of the State. The Bebellion wivs, however, suon fully inaugurated, and swept 9 THOMAS BOLES. over the State with resistless fury, bearing down everything before it. Young men who would not enter the rebel army were branded as cowards, and were insulted by every ingenious device that rebel women could invent. Being of a frail constitution, Mr. Boles pleaded physical disability as an excuse for not entering the rebel service. He was subsequently drafted and taken into conscript headquarters where he was kept two or three weeks, but his health became so bad that he was allowed to return home. In the summer of 1862, an organization was formed in that locality called the " Union League," into which Mr. Boles was actively em- plo}"ed in initiating members. Often, during dark and stormy nights, he met refugees in the mountains to receive them into the organiza- tion, and inform them of the whereabouts of their pursuers. In 1803, the long looked-for advance of the Union army was made, the Arkansas River was crossed, Fort Smith, Dardanelle, and Little Hock were captured. Then the persecuted and hunted Union men rallied from the mountains, the valleys, and the bottoms to swell the advancing columns of the Union army. Mr. Boles, although suffer- ing from chills and fever three times a week, raised a company of one hundred men, and entered the 3d Arkansas Cavalry. lie was elected captain of the company, and saw considerable service in picket, outpost, and scouting duty. He was witli General Steele in his expedition to the southern part of the State at the time Gen- eral Banks met his reverse on Red River. He was captured on that expedition while sick with measles. He was so sick as to be unable to walk or ride on horseback, and was hauled in a wagon with his hands tied together. On arriving at Camden, he was suffer- ing greatly with thirst resulting from a raging fever. The guard obtained a bucket of water for him, but the rebel citizens of whom it was procured, finding that it was for Yankee prisoners, took the bucket and threw the water away. The sick prisoner almost perished with thirst before morning, but at daybreak the guard went to a little stream near by and dipped water in his hat with which to as- suage the feverish thirst. 224 THOMAS JiOLES. 3 Mr. Boles was put in prison at Camden, where lie lay sick, the officers not allowing a humane rebel surgeon of the post to take him to his hospital for treatment, as he proposed to do. A northern gen- tleman and his wife, living in Camden, learning that tliere were sick Union soldiers in prison, brought them teas and many delicacies. This was at first permitted by tlie guard, but when the commanding officers found it out they robbed the prisoner's friends of everytihng they had to subsist upon. Although Dr. Thompson, the humane rebel surgeon, was not permitted to take the sick prisoner to his hospital, he attended hinr closely in tiie prison, and l>y his kind treatment contributed to his partial resti iration of health. About an hour before the Union army took Camden, Mr. Boles was paroled. Proceeding to Little Rock, he was there again pros- trated by sickness, and for some time his life was despaired of. After his recovery, he rejohied his C(^minaiid at Lewisburg, and served in that vicinity during the summer, and part of the fall, of 1864. His health again failing, upon the recommendation of the regimental sur- geon, he resigned, but was unable to leave the hospital for nearly a mouth after his resignation. During tlie absence of Mr. Boles in the army, his mother, a widow with several young children, was robbed by the rebels of nearly everything she had. They burned her beds and took the clothing of the children. Believing that she had some money, in order to compel her to disclose the place of its concealment, they set fire to the house ; suspecting that the money was belted around her person, they tore oft" her dress, cut the belt and took the money. Although sick and almost blind, she then made her «vay to the Union post at Little Bock, over high mountains and across swollen streams, performing the painful journey of one hundred miles in two weeks. As soon as he could leave the hospital after his resignation, Mr. Boles took his mother and her family into Blinois, and remained there with them until he regained his health. He returned to his old regiment in January, 1S65, and, although he did not enlist again, 225 4 THOMAS BOLES. he performed the duty of a private soldier under command of men who had l^een his sergeaiits. In June, 1865, soon after the cessation of liostilities, he was elected Judge of the Circuit Court for the Fourth Judicial District of Ark ansas, and at once entered upon the duties of the office. The records and court-houses having neai'ly all been burned, the labor of reorgan- izing the courts was very arduous, but with the aid of able lawjere of both political parties, it was successfully accomplished. Politically he took a position as a radical Republican, and gave his hearty endorsement to the congressional plan of reconstniction. Upon tlie reorganization of Arkansas, in March, 1868, under the Re- construction acts, Mr. Boles was, without opposition, elected a Repre- sentative in the Fortieth Congress. In the fall of 1868, he was nom- inated for re-election, and made an active canvass in favor of Grant and Colfax. The canvass was conducted with some personal peril in tlie south- ern portion of the district, which was infested by the notorious out- law Cullen Baker and his band. The operations of these despera- does made it necessary for Governor Clayton to send militia to quell disorder. The election resulted in favor of Mr. Boles by a majority of 3,967 votes. 226 ; ARj\ANSAS LOGA^^ H. ROOTS. ^^OGAN H. KOOTS, the youngest member of the Fortieth _ Congress, was born in Perry County, Illinois, March 26, 1841. 'fi^ His parents had not recovered from tlie pecuniary disaster wronglit by the financial storm which swept the country in 1837. They were keeping a boarding-school, and toiling on the wild prairie in a country where near neighbors were twelve miles distant, and where they frequently went twelve miles to attend Sabbath services. As a youth he shared the household duties and farm labors of his parents, thus acquiring habits of industry M-ith a good degree of hardihood and vigor. Almost imperceptibly he picked up, from his associations with the pupils in the house, the rudiments of a comtnon school education at an early age. In 1858, prior to his seventeenth birthday, he entered the Illinois State Normal University, the youngest male student in attendance. During the winter previous to reaching his majority, he left the uni- versity, and was principal of the High School in the city of Da Quoin, in his native county. In 18G3 he returned to the university, and graduated with the first honors of his class. He at once thereafter took an active part in the organization of the 81st Illinois Yolunteers, in which regiment he enlisted. He was soon after commissioned, and served until promoted by an appoint- ment as statf officer of United States Volunteers, under which he was chief depot commissary for the combined armies under General Sherm.an on the " March to the Sea." Upon his leaving the regiment, the officers unanimously passed a series of resolutions, which they all signed and presented to him, in which they speak of him in the highest terms, saying amono- other things, " We will fcircvor remember with gratitude tlie zeal he has 2 LOGAN II. KOOTS. constantly manifested in our welfare, the vigilant, care with which the wants of ourselves and the men of our respective commands have always been anticipated and supplied. His unremitting atten- tion to our wants in camp, his continued watchfulness over our com- fort on the many long and weary marches, his frequently and volun- tarily exposing himself to the thick dangers of the battle-field, M-here quartermasters are not supposed to go, to share the dangers with, and administer to the comfort of the members of this regiment, have in- delibly engraven his memory in recollections of living gratitude upon the hearts of the men of this command." In the position which he filled in the army afterward he continued to acquit himself creditably, and frequently elicited expressions of admiration from prominent commanders, among whom was General Sherman, who, unsolicited, and even without the knowledge of Mr. Roots, recommended him in the most urgent and flattering terms for a colonelcy. At the close of the war Mr. Roots settled in Arkansas, and en- gaged in cotton planting and trading. Upon the passage of the Reconstruction acts, he took a bold and prominent part in the restor- ation of his State, and unexpectedly found himself the nominee of the Republican party for Congress. His canvass was memorable for the fearlessness with which it was conducted, amidst dangers which no one can appreciate who is not conversant with the situation. Upon the re-admission of Arkansas he took his seat in the Fortieth Congress as a Representative from the First District, comprising twenty-four counties of that State. Daring the short session which remained of the Fortieth Congress, there was little opportunity for a member so recently admitted to take a prominent part in legisla- tion, nevertheless, by constant attention to business, Mr. Roots made himself useful to his constituents and the country. His principal speech was an eloquent and appropriate eulogy on his deceased col- league, Hon. James Hinds, who was assassinated in his district. Mr. Roots was unanimously renominated by the Republican Convention, and was, by a large majority, re-elected to the Forty-first Congress. 228 ^^H •g-'V-'SEPsrise-- A^^^^ H L J rJ i S K>£ L ij-. LiA-b it. . = E?HESb;HTATIVE PP.OM HOFTH CAEOI/J^-- ISRAEL G. LASH. ■'^'^^UT few men of wealth and position in the South had the courage to resist the rebellion in its inception, and the per- ^ sistent loyalty to remain true to the Union through all the trying and weary years of the war. The subject of this sketch, how- ever, stands forth in honorable distinction as maintaining such a part. Israel G. Lash was born August 18, 1810, in Be than ia County, North Carolina, where his ancestors settled about the middle of the last century. Ilis opportunities for early education were few, and closed when at fifteen he left school to engage in labor on his father's farm. At the age of twenty he embarked in mercantile pursuits, in which he was remarkably successful. Five years later, he engaged largely and successfally in the manufacture of tobacco and cigars. At the age of thirty-five he removed to Salem, and added the busi- ness of banking to his other pursuits. When the signs of the times indicated an early outbreak of rebellion, Mr. Lash, with wise forecast, invested largely in Northern and Western lands, of which, at the commenceuient of the civil war, he owned not less than two hundred thousand acres. This ultimately proved to be his best investment, since Southern stocks and bonds were rendered worthless by the war. During the former part of his political life he was a Whig, and remained such until he became a Republican. Many years before the war he was appointed a magistrate, an office which in North Carolina was held during good behavior. The rebel government required all magistrates to take an oath to support the Confederate Government. This Mr. Lash refused to do, but, as he made no attempt to perform official duty, no effort was made to remove him. At the close of the war he was able to resume the duties of his mag- 229 2 ISRAEL G. LAS II. istracy, and was the only civil officer in that region competent to administer an oath. To test the disj-iositioii of Mr. Lash, and to commit him to the sup- port of the rebellion, he was offered a position under the Treasury Department of the Confederacy, which lie promptly declined. He at first refused to receive Confederate money in his bank, saying that it would not be long before the bonds of the Confederacy could be bought for a dime a basketful. For taking this stand he was sub- jected to much abuse by the Hichmond papers. He persisted in his refusal to receive Confederate money until near the close of the re- bellion, his bank being the only green spot in the vast financial desert of the South. At last he was compelled by the authorities to receive Confederate paper, and, through forced obedience to this order, his bank lost several hundred thousand dollars within a few daj's. He was the owner of nearly one hundred slaves. As they had generally been educated as mechanics, they were worth, according to the prices current of those daj's, at least eighty thousand dollars. This species of property was, of course, all swept into the vortex of rebellion. Xot only at the peril of his property, but at the risk of his life, he took a decided stand in favor of the Union and against rebellion. His staunch loyalty subjected him to severe disabilities imposed by the rebel government, but ultimately inured to his benefit. His conspicuous loyalty attracted the notice of the Federal Govern- ment, and, when the armies penetrated that portion of the State in which he lived, his influence availed to save not only his own property, but that of his rebel neighbors from destruction. Peace having returned, his fellow-citizens gave evidence of their confidence in his wisdom and ability, by electing him to the conven- tion to form a constitution under which North Carolina should be reconstructed. In 18G8, he was elected a Kepresentative from North Carolina to the Fortieth Congress, and was re-elected to the Forty- first Congress. He was appointed on the Committee on Banking and Currency, for the duties of which the success and experience of his life had thoroughly fitted him. 230 HON- -OLTNA. JOHZ^ E. FEE^^OH. 'OHN E. FEEXCII, a son of Deacon Joseph French, was bom at Gihnanton, N. H., May 2S, 1819, deriving Scotch blood fruiii his mother, whose maiden name was Mary Stuart. His father, an intelhgent and industrious meclianic with a large ftxmily, in a retired country village, could not well give even one of his sons the advantages of a college education. The boy, how- ever, possessed a brightness of intellect, with a youthful ambition which led him to seek a wider field of operations than his home afforded. Accordingly at tlie age of thirteen he left the family roof, and entered the otHce of the " New Hampshire Statesman " as an ap- prentice to the printing business, and before many months was put- ting in type his own communications. Garrison, and his few brave comrades, organized the anti-slavery movement in 1S31. In 1833 the cause had only secured public at- tention so for as to be pretty universally hated — and our printer lad, on a stormy JSToveraber night of that year, led a company of noisy boys to mob the first public anti-slavery meeting attempted in their yillao'e. But, in that spirit of manly fairness which has ever been a leading trait of his character, young French suggested that they "first hear the man." Hearing he was converted; and from that night consecrated his life to that warfare, then so despised — now so gloriously triumphant. The countless wrongs heaped upon the friend- less negro — the daily perpetrated outrages upon justice and liberty — stirred his generous nature to such determined opposition as even in those boy-days lent a fiery eloquence to his tongue, and before he was sixteen years of age he was well known in the anti-slavery lecture-room, and upon the platform of its conventions. In his devotion to that cause in summer and winter be travelled the hills 2C1 o JOIIX K. FRENCH. aud valleys of his native state, until there was scarcely a village that was not agitated aud roused by his impassioned appeals. In those days there was published at Concord an anti-slavery newspaper known as the " Herald of Freedom "—one of the earliest, as by far the ablest, of that class of papers. It was edited by N". P. Sogers, a man of genius as rare as liis intrepidity and single hearted- ness. The timid and the base coiild not brook the publication of such a sheet ; and so an attempt was made to crush it out. At this time Mr. French was twenty years of age. He had obtained a release of one year from his apprenticeship, and entered a school at Concord, where he found as fellow-students several young men since honorably known to the country ; among them Senator "Wilson and Judge Chamberlain, of Massachusetts, and Gen. Hobart of "Wiscon- sin. Seeing this attempt to suppress this gallant anti-slavery paper, without a moment's hesitation Mr. French gave up his school and books and many fond ambitions, determined that his knowledge of printing should serve him in saving this hated " Herald of Freedom." With no money, but with that which serves all the better in carrying a forlorn hope, a heart full of pluck, he undertook the publication of the paper. Like natures were touched by this devotion to princi- ple ; in a few days the young printer was furnished with money for purchasing press and type, and so the defiant anti-slavery banner was nailed to mast-head. Mr. French continued as publisher and associate editor of that famous sheet until the death of Mr. Rogers, in the autumn of ISiG. AVith a lively interest in the kindred cause of temperance, during two years of this period he also pub- lished and edited the " "White Mountain Torrent," a sparkling advo- cate of that cause, which had a large aud useful circulation. In 1S52,'53 and '5i, Mr. French edited the "Eastern Journal," at Biddeford, Maine, and took active part in the temperance and anti- slavery movements, which regenerated parties in that State— making Anson P. Morrill Governor, and placing Mr. Fessenden in the United States Senate. In the autumn of 1854, Mr. French removed to Ohio, and became 232 ■KllIX H. FREXCH. 3 proprietor and editor of tlie - Painesville Telegraph;" Three years later he was elected to the Ohio Legislature, representing Lake County in that body for two years. In April, 1S61, upon receipt of news of the firing ujion Sumter, he enlisted as a common soldier. In 186-i he was sent by Mr. Lin- coln to Nortli Carolina, as one of the Board of Tax Commissioners for that State. In 1867 the Republican Unionists of Chowan County, by a large majority, elected him as their delegate to the North Carolina Constitutional Convention. In ISGS, after such a campaign as was rarely before known in that State, he was returned by the Republicans of the First District as a representative in the Fortieth Congress, by a majority of 5,000, out of a poll of 25,000 votes. He served in the Fortieth Congress during the few months whicli elapsed after the admission of North Carolina to representation, and was subsequently elected to the office of sergeant-at-arms of the Senate. Mr. French is not above the medium stature and is slender but compact in person, with black eyes, and hair intermingled with gray. He is ardent and impulsive in manner, and possesses qualities that win favor with casual associates, and the geniality and frankness that endear him to many old friends. Always tender and de\-oted to his family, his warm heart has carried abroad, wherever the sphere of his life has extended, the beneficence and charity that have their root in the hearth of home. He has always held liberal yet decided convictions on moral and political questions, and has never failed to support his honest belief with honorable action. S33 ■ • CHAELES SITGREAYES. illARLES SITGREAVES is a native of Pennsylvania, and was born at Easton, April 22, 1803. While yet in infancy, the family remo\-ed to New Jersey. He enjoyed the advantages of classical education, and entered the profession of law. During eleven years he was in the New Jersey State Military service, as major-commandant of an independent battalion of volunteers. During this period, he sustained several other important offices ; as, for example, was a member for two years of the General Assembly, one year a member of the Legislative council (now Senate), and was afterwards a member the second time of the council, and its vice- president. During the years 1S52 and 1854, inclusive, Mr. Sitgreaves was a member of the State Senate of New Jersey. While a member of the Legislature, he wrote and presented to that body a treatise entitled " Sitgreaves' Manual of Legislative Practice." lie introduced the bill to '• abolish public executions," and also drafted, introduced, and advocated a bill for relief of the poor by exempting from execu- tion, and for the use of the debtor's family, certain articles of house- hold and kitchen furniture. Mr. Sitgreaves subsequently held the positions of trustee of the State Normal School, president of the Bel- videre and Delaware Eaikoad Company, mayor of the town of Pliillipsburg, and president of the Phillipsburg Baidc. In 186-4 he was elected a Eepresentative from New Jersey to the Thirty-ninth Congress, and was re-elected in 1866. In the Fortieth Congress he served on the Committee on Military Affairs, and was an active and efficient member on the Democratic side of the House. He opposed the Impeachment of the President in an elaborate speach, and on another occasion addressed the House at length " from a Clii-is.tian stand-point " in opposition to the " insane policy of reconstruction." 334 ■^^'-ifC-jEPerin-s^ ' \j'^^:-/) s-ia. ">;'V"^pel"°"' JOSEPH P. ITEWSHAM. 'OSEPII P. NEWSHAM was bom in 1839, in Monroe County, Illinois. He received an academical education, and was clerk in a store for two years. lie studied law and was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of Illinois in ISGO, and by the Supreme Court of Missouri in the winter of the same year. At the breaking out of the rebellion, Mr. Newshara took an early and decided stand in favor of the Union. He enlisted as a private, was in all the battles fought by the three months' men in Missouri, and participated in the capture of Camp Jackson, near St. Louis, where he took his twin brother prisoner. He was offered and accepted the position of aide-de-camp upon the staff of Major-general Fremont, with the rank of first lieutenant of eavahy. He was at the closely contested battle of Wilson's Creek, where his brave commander. General Nathaniel Lyon, was killed. He was in the famous charge of Fremont's body guard, under Majca- Zagonie, the day before Fremont's entrance into the city of Spring- field, Missouri. After the supersedure of General Fremont by Major-general David Hunter, Mr. Newsham was appointed, with his old rank, to the same position on the staff of Major-general Charles F. Smith, and served with this distinguished general until his death at Savan- nah, from wounds received at the battle of Shiloh. Mr. Newsham was then commissioned adjutant of the 32d Mis- souri Volunteer Infantry, and shared the fortunes of his regiment in all its battles, until it was cut down to nineteen men at the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, one of the approaches to Vicksburg. In this bat- tle Mr. Newsham was wounded. He was also at the storming and taking of Vicksburg, when ho was again wounded. Disabled l)y 237 2 JOSEPH r. NEWSHAM. wounds from immediate active service, lie resigned, and was lionor- ably mustered out. Eemoving to Louisiana, he was made clerk of the Fourth Ju- dicial District Court in the Parish of Ascension, and was soon after admitted to the Louisiana Bar. In 1866 he married a French creole lady of Donaldsonville, in Ascension parish. In the following year he removed to West Feliciana parish, where he now resides. He took an active part in the reconstruction of the State of Louisi- ana, under the Act of Congress of 1867. He was elected by a large majority as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1867 and 1868, which held its session in New Orleans. In this Convention Mr. Newsham took a prominent part, and established a reputation for ability as a public sj^eaker and boldness in the defence of liberty and equal rights. He was the unanimous choice of the Third District Congressional Convention for Representative in the Fortieth Congress, and was elected by a majority of ten thousand votes. Admitted near the close of the Fortieth Congress, he had but little opportunity to par- ticipate in its deliberations. His first speech in Congress attracted much attention and was widely published by the party press. In 1869 he started the " Feliciana Kepublican," a newspaper de- voted to the interests of the Hepublican party. He also started a mill and cotton gin, both run b}' steam, carrying them on successfully and profitably against strong opposition. In 1869 he was again the unanimous choice as the nominee of the Republicans of the Fourth District of Louisiana. In that part of the district where a quiet election was held, Mr. Newsham received a majority of the votes, but such was the disturbance and bloodshed in other portions of the district that his friends were deterred from the polls and his opponent received a considerable majority. Mr. Newsham contesting the seat, the Committee on Elections reported in his favor, and he was admitted in June, 1870. Although he was one of the youngest members of the Fortieth Congress, his apjiear- ance does not indicate this fact, since his hair is prematurely gray. 238 '^— "i 'HITTKMOHK. i'uU GO'.'TH CAP.OUNA B. FRAI^K WHITTEMORE. ^riE suliject of this sketch is descended from Captain Samuel j.iM Whittemore, wlio, before the Revolution, was au officer in '^'^ the royal dragoons, and yet, on the breaking-ont of hos- iilities, though at tlie age of eighty, he actively espoused the patriot cause. One of his ancestors, on the maternal side, was AVilliam Floyd, of Long Island, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. B. Frank Whittemore was born in Maiden, Mass., May 18, 182-1. He received an academic education, and was supplied with a broad and practical acquaintance with tlie world, by travel in Europe and South America, as well as in his own country. In 18.59, he entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church as a member of the New England Conference. On the lireakino- out of the war, such was the earnestness and eloquence with which he urged enlistment, that every male member of his church but two entered the army. Mr. "Wliittemore himself became a chaplain in the army. He served faithfully until the close of the war, and was ever ready to perform the duty of spiritual adviser, or to share with his comrades the danger and duties of the fight. The Adjutant-General's Department of Massachusetts contains a tile of letters showing "his unwavering devotion to his duties in the field, bravery in battle, faithfulness to the sick and wounded — one of the very few of the chaplains that followed his i-egiment at all times, whether under fire, in the trenches, on the march, or in the hos- pital." He was with the army of Sheridan at Cedar Creek on the 19th of October, and took command, by orders, of a large body of men, sharing in the reverses and final triumph of that important battle. He was with his regiment in the grand review at Washington, after the surrender of Lee, and was then ordered to the department 2C9 2 B. FRANK WIIITTEMOKE. of the South, and was stationed at Darlington, Soutli Carolina, his present home. There he started and edited the "New Era," the first loyal newspaper published in Soutli Carolina after the war. Through this medium' he disseminated loyal sentiments, and advo- cated such doctrines as tended to promote social and political harmony. In January, ISGO, lie began a tour through South Carolina, addressing whites and blacks on all questions that interested them as citizens, advising such new usages as would suit the altered con- dition of things. He established schools for the education of tlie blacks, and built a number of school-houses and churches, the first the colored people of that section could really call their own. He became superintendent of education, and the system of schools organ- ized by him has become a permanent feature of the State of South Carolina. He was one of tlic pioneers of the Republican party in South Car- olina, and was chairman of the Central Executive Committee that carried the State successfully through the work of reconstruction. He personally labored, and addressed the people in every section of the State, until it was fully restored to the Union with civil govern- ment completely established. He was a member of the convention that framed the present constitution of the State, and himself drafted the Bill of Rights. He was chairman of the South Carolina delega- tion, in the National Republican Convention that nominated Grant and Coltax. In 186S, he was elected to the State Senate, and became one of its leading members. He resigned after a short time, however, having been elected to Congress from the First District of South Carolina by a majority of nearly eleven thousand votes. He took his seat as a member of the Fortieth Congress in July, 1868, and at once dis- played unusual aptitude for the business of legislation. He took an active part in the passage of the resolution proposing the fifteenth amendment, and as a member of the Committee on Reconstruction aided in restoring Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas. 240 '-^z^ HON C-C BOV/EN, ?HE3El!TAT!VE FROM SOVTr. CAROUNA C. C. BOWEI^. ^'^If^S C. BOWEN '^vas born iu Providence, Rhode Island, Janu- ary 5, 1833. Up to the age of twelve he enjoj-cd the benefit of schools ia his native cit}', but about that period his parents removed to the State of Georgia, and settled in a com- munity where such advantages were not enjoyed. Soon after this he was left an orphan, and thrown among strangers with no resources but his own energies. Until he grew to manhood, he was chiefly occupied in agricultural pursuits. He subsequently studied law with a prominent lawyer of Georgia, and then removed to Charleston, South Carolina, where he was admitted to practice, and soon attained a fair position at the bar and a profitable business. At the threshold of his advancement the great civil war was ])reeipitated upon the country, which suspended business and professional pursuits through- out the South. Kegretting the war, and the circumstances which brought it on, he exerted all his influence against secession, but when it came he entered the '■ Confederate '' armj^, and remained with it to the close. He accepted a commission as captain in the Coast Guards, whose duty it was to keep watch and ward on the shores of the Atlantic and the inlets where a hostile force was liable to ap- pear. He repeatedly refused promotions which would have led him into more active service against the Union. Immediately after the close of the war, Mr. Bowen renewed the practice of his profession in Charleston, and was soon again immersed iu a successful business. Iu the course of his practice he did much gratuitous professional service for the poor, which gave Iiim wide and well-deserved popularity. 341 2 C.C.BOAVEN. Ill tlie re-organization of political imrties in the South in 1SG7, Mr. Bowen took an active part. He embraced the principles of Kepub- licanism, and became a leader of that party in South Carolina. lie devoted himself with zeal and efficiency to the organization of the Republican party in the State, and was elected a member of the first Eepublican Convention, which was lield in Charleston, in May, 1867, for the purpose of framing and adopting a platform of principles and policy for the party in South Carolina. Mr. Bowen took a leading part in this Convention, and was selected by it as chairman of the First State Central Committee. In that capacity he directed the move- ments of the party in the State, and did much to promote its success. In I^'ovember, 1867, he was elected a member of the State Consti- tutional Convention. His abilities were recognized by his appoint- ment as chairman of the most important Committee of the Convention — that on the Judiciary, and to his liand may be ascribed the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Articles of the Constitution, framed by that Convention. In April, 1868, the people of his district appreciating Mr. Bowen 's valuable services to the party and the State, elected him as a Ilepre- sentative in the Fortieth Congress. In November, 18GS, he was re-elected by twenty thousand majority. His course in Congress has been marked by an untiring devotion to the interests of his district and State. His speeches have been characterized by careful research and practical ability. His speech upon the Fifteenth Amendment received marked attention, and elicited much fiivorable comment from the press. His speech in favor of an appropriation for the Sisters of Mercy of Charleston received high commendation. He served in the Fortieth Congress, on the Committee on Freedmen's Aflairs, and in the Forty-first Con- gress on the same committee, together with that on Invalid Pensions. 3^t3 HON. CHAJ^.LES M.HAMILTON. OHAELES M. KAJVIILTOIT. {01 ■^IIAELES M. IIAMILTOISr was born in Clinton County, ^^ Pennsylvania, November 1, 1S40. His father's farm liav 'y^/A^ ing the Alleglianies rising in its rear, and the broad Susque- hanna sweeping in its front, he was familiar from his boyhood with, scenes of grandeur and sublimity in nature. One of the most remarkable phenomena attending the " Great Uprising of the North " at the outbreak of the Rebellion was the zeal with which students of academies and colleges enlisted in the service of tiie country. It was his early entrance into the army tiiat deprived the subject of this sketch of the honors of a collegiate education, he having, in April, 1861, enlisted as a private soldier in the 5th Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Corps. He participated in the varying fortunes of the army of the Potomac until 1863, passed through sixteen bat- tle:? and was three times severely wounded. At the battle of Fred- ericksburg, on the 13th of December, 1862, he was wounded through the knee while charging in front of the regiment with the colors in his hand, snatched from the grasp of the dying sergeant. Three color- bearers were killed, under the galling concentration of the enemy's fire, in less than five minutes, and the fourth was providentially stricken down with only a shattered limb. He was taken prisoner the moment he fell, but was left for five days and nights on the field of battle among the dead and wounded before he was removed to Libby Prison at Richmond. A masonic sign was the means of saving his life as he fell into the hands of the enemy. He was at length exchanged, and removed to his home in Pennsylvania, where he en- dured a protracted sickness arising from starvation and want of medi- cal treatment at Libby Prison. For a long time his friends had no hope of his recovery, but at length being partially restored he was 243 2 CHARLES M. HAMILTON. removed to Chestnut Hill Hospital, Pliiladelphia, where ho was sub- sequently transferred by promotion to a lieutenancy in the 9th Regi- ment, Veteran Eeserve Corps. Lieutenant Hamilton's tall and soldierly appearance and superior qualifications attracted the notice of his superior officers, and he was given an appointment on the staff of General Martindale, Military Governor of the District of Columbia. He served as judge-advocate of a general court-martial, and pass officer of the military district until it was abolished in ISGi. A new appointment as judge-advo- cate was immediately conferred upon him by General Dent. The duties of this office were discharged with marked success and credit until November, 1865, when he was ordered by the Secretary of Wai- to report to Major-General O. O. Howard, for assignment to duty in the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. He was assigned to duty in Marianna, West Borida, with jurisdic- tion over seven counties. Upon his arrival there in December, 1865, he received the rank of brevet-captain, and before his muster-out on the 1st of January, 1868, he was breveted colonel of United States Volunteers for gallant and meritorious services during the war. The duties of the "Bureau Officer" were of a peculiar and oner- ous character, comprehending a union of civil and military functions. His first duty was to protect " the wards of the nation" from the as- saults and persecutions of their late masters, and save the latter from the horrors of retaliation at the hands of maddened and starving freedmen. The next important work was to inaugurate the free labor system upon safe and just foundations. No oflicer of the bureau in the State of Florida identified himself more thoroughly with these great ends of ofiicial duty than Colonel Hamilton. His reputation for efficiency and just administration was so wide-spread that the poor and oppressed, ignorant that State linos could interpose an obstacle in their way, came hundreds of miles, out of the lower borders of Alabama, to lay their grievances before his tribunal. Mr. Hamilton took an active part in the reconstruction of Florida, successfully advocating the liberal policy under which the Republican 244 CHAKLP:s M. IIAIMILTON. ;> party gave the State a constitution which contained no prescriptive feature to prevent in tiie future the political harmony and reunion of all the peoijle of the State, irrespective of participation in the re- bellion, or previous condition of servitude. On the 2oth of February, 18G8, the Eepublican State Convention unanimously nominated Mr. Hamilton as their candidate for Con- gress. In the canvass that followed, the zeal and eloquence with which he addressed the peojile was inspired by the desire as much for the adoption of the State constitution as the palladium of freedom and equal rights, as for his own election. He was successful in both ; the constitution was ratified and he was elected the iirst Eepresenta- tive in Congress from the disenthralled and rehabilitated State of Florida. On the 25th of June, ISCS, the State was restored to the Union, and Mr. Hamilton was admitted to a seat in the Fortieth Con- gress. In December, 1SC8, he was re-elected over the regular Demo- cratic candidate, and an independent colored Eepublican candidate. "The Florida Union," the leading Eepublican paper of the State, said on this occasion, " Col. Hamilton received the nomination of the party and secured its vote at the election in May, on tiie double ground of fitness for the position, and of his services in bulialf of the party ; his consistent course as a radical Eepublican, in all matters involving political questions, and his unwearied and successful exer- tions in behalf of Union men and freed men while an oflicer of the biH'eau at Marianna. During his few weeks in Congress last sprino-, he took a prominent and active part for so young a meuaber, and comes back to his constituents with a good record and without re- proach." 245 AMASA COBB. 'S'^^MASA COBB was born in Crawford County, Illinois, Sep- i^^^ tember 27, 1823. He was educated in the common s^'Sijt schools, and at the age of nineteen went to "Wisconsin ter- ritory, and worked five years in the lead mines. At the breaking out of hostilities with Mexico, he volunteered, and served as a pri- vate during the war. Such leisure time as he found during his service, he employed in study, and on the return of peace commenced the prac- tice of law. He soon attracted public notice, and in 1850 was elected a district-attorney and served four years. In 1854 he was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate, and in 1855 was adjutant-gen- eral of Wisconsin, an office which he held until 1858. He was a Kepresentative in the State Legislature in 1860 and 1861, and during the last term held the office of Speaker. On the breaking out of the civil war he raised the 5th Eegiment of Wisconsin Volunteers, and went into the service as its colonel. In 1862 he was elected a Eep- resentative in the Thirty-eighth Congress, and resigned his com- mission. Subsequently, however, during a recess of Congress he raised the 43d Eegiment of Wisconsin Volunteers, which he com- manded until July, 1865, when he was mustered out. He M-as brevetted for gallant service at Williamsburg, Golden's Farm, and Antietam. He was re-elected to the Thirty-ninth, Fortieth, and Forty-first Congresses. He served on the Committee on Claims, the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, and the Committee on Military Affiiirs. Although a ready and fluent speaker, he did not often address the House. His speech on Impeachment was an able review of the acts which in his opinion rendered President Johnson "worthy of impeachment and removal from office." 246 7^ PL a^ HON A1.L&.SA COBB bepresehtauve from a«:sco>7sij.i BAFllowing extract from the address of Hon. Joseph C. Abbott in the Senate on this occasion : " In his last breathings he sent out prayers and benedictions toward his people, and especially toward those whom he, as I do, always re- garded as the nation's wards, I mean the colored people. " He was also buoyed up in his last hours bj' the consolations of the Christian faith, in which he had always firmly believed. " His remains are to be deposited, at his own request, in the national cemetery at Newbern, so that he will sleep surrounded by those who fell in defence of their country and with the national flag perpetuall}^ waving above him." 284 SAMUEL M. AENELL. i-.^AMUEL M. AENELL was born in Mauiy County, Tennes- see, May 3, 1833. Ilis grandfather was a soldier in the Eevo- ""■Uif hition, who fought and brought back wounds from King's Mountain and Yorktown. Samuel was educated at Amherst Col- lego, Massachusetts, and studied law, and subsequently engaged in the manufacture of leather in Lewis County, Tennessee. Mr. Arnell having been charged on the floor of the House of Representatives witli furnishing leather to the rebel army, replied, by way of "per- sonal explanation," in a speech of which the following is an extract : " Prior to the war, in connection with other parties, I was engaged in the manufacture of leather, and the breaking out of the war found me so occupied. After the fall of Fort Donelson, General Buell oc- cupied my section of the country, but upon his retreat from Corinth, Mississippi, Middle Tennessee was left entirely exposed to tlie rebels. Before, however, the withdrawal of the Federal forces from my vicin- ity, I promptly informed the ofiicer in command. General James S. jSfegley, that there was a considerable amount of leather in this estab- lishment, and requested him to seize or destroy it. He rejjlied that the abandonment of Middle Tennessee would be very brief. He oould not transport it, and did not consider the necessity sufficiently great to destroy it. For six dreary months thereafter Van Dorn and Forrest occupied that section of country, conscripting men for the rebel service, seizing and impressing every article of food, cloth- ing and transportation. A guard of rebel soldiers came to my premises, took possession of this leather in the name of the Confed- eracy, did what force and bayonets are always able to do, carried it off in their own wagons, and doubtless used it for rebel purposes. This is the head and front of my oflcnding — material out of wliich 2 SAMUEL M. ARNELL. the rebel press in my own State and elsewhere have manufactured every variety of charge In the mad hour of the rebel- lion I gave to my country's cause no doubtful or lukewarm support. In 18G1 I took the stump publicly against secession. In 1862, when the Federal army entered Tennessee, I rallied the scattered Unionists, and we held meetings expressive of our unalterable devotion to the Union. In 1861, at the suggestion of the then military governor of Tennessee, Andrew Johnson, I reorganized my own county of Maury, with the aid of other Unionists, upon a loyal basis. In the Tennessee Legislature of 1865 and 1866 I did my humble share toward building, not a despotism, as the gentleman from New York says, but a free, loyal, Kepublican State Government." Besides the service above referred to in the State Legislature, Mr. Arnell was, in 1865, a member of the Tennessee Constitu- tional Convention. He was the author of the Civil Eights bill, and of the Franchise Law, which became a part of the Constitution of Tennessee. He was elected a Eepresentative from Tennessee to the Thirty-ninth Congress, but the delegation from that State not being admitted immediately, he continued to hold his seat in the State Legislature. At the opening of the second session he was admitted to his seat, and served on the Committee on Public Expen- ditures. Ee-elected to the Fortieth Congress, lie served on the Com- mittee on Accounts, and as chairman of the Committee on Ex- penditures in the State Department. He was re-elected to the Forty-first Congress, during which lie remained a member of the Committee on Accounts, and was chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor. He introduced a resolution instructing the Library Committee to inquire into the subject of international copy- right, and a resolution to repress the outrages of the Ku Klux Ivlan in Tennessee, for which he received letters threatening him with " summary midnight justice" when he should return to his home. He made an eloquent appeal to the House in favor of paying boun- ties to colored soldiers, spoke in favor of the immediate admission of Alabama, and advocated the continuance of the Freediunn's Bureau. 28G WILLIAM WII^DOM. William WINDOM was bom in EL-lmout County, Uliio, May 10, 1S27. lie received an academical education, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1850. Ke M-as elected prosecuting-attorney for Knox County, Oliio, in 1852. In 1850 he removed to Minnesota, making his home in Winona, wliere he engaged in the practise of law and in political ]iursuits. He soon attracted the attention and acquired tlie contidence of the people of his adopted State, and was elected a Eepresentative from Minnesota to the Thirty-sixth Congress, in which he served on the Committee on Public Lands, and on the Special Committee of Thirty-three on the rebellious States. Ee-elected to the Thirty- seventh Congress, he served on tlie Committee on Public Expendi- tures. In the Thirty-eighth Congress he was chairman of tlie Com- mittee on Indian Atiairs, and of the Special Committee to visit the Indian tribes of tlie West. He was re-elected to the Thirty-ninth Congress, served on the Committee on the death of President Lincoln, and was chairman of a Special Committee on the conduct of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. He was re-elected to tlie Fortieth Congress, receiving 13,9G1 votes against 8,021 for the Democratic candidate. In his capacity as chairman of the Commit- tee on Indian Affairs, lie introduced and advocated several measures relating to that important subject. He secured the passage in the House of a bill originating in the Senate designed " to establish peace with certain hostile Indian tribes," with which the United States were at war at an expense of $1,000,000 per week. He op- posed a bill, which passed the House, restoring tlic Bureau of Indian Affairs to the War Department. At the close of the Fortieth Con- gress Mr. Windom declined a re-election, and was subsequently appointed to fill the vacancy in the United States Senate occasioned by the death of Hon. D. S. Norton. ' ■ 287 TOBIAS A. PLAfTTS. I< ,,.^^OBIAS A. PLANTS was born in Beaver County, Penn- TiM^ sylvania, March 17, 1811. When fourteen years of age lie ' -»E^ went to learn the saddler's trade, and served an appren- ticeship of six years. At the close of his apprenticeship, instead of pursuing his trade, he devoted himself to study for the purpose of fitting himself for school-teaching. He removed to Ohio in 1830, and obtained a situation as a teacher in Steubenville, where he re- mained six years, reading law meantime with General Stokely. lie subsequently went to Athens, Ohio, where he remained two years, and then removed to Pomeroy, where he made his permanent resi- dence and began the practise of law in 1841. Mr. Plants commenced his political life as one of the organizers of the '■ Liberty Party,"' which first made itself known to the country with James G. Birney as its candidate for the presidenc}-. Thougli unsuccessfid in the election of its own candidates, it played an impor- tant part in the politics of the country, and finally formed an impor- tant element in the great Republican part}'. Having been regarded as an able, honest and efficient man in the old organization, he was one of the first to be recognized as worthy to be trusted as a leader in the new party, and was in 1858 elected to the State Legislature, to which ho was re-elected in 18C0. He was chairman of the Com- mittee on Schools and Colleges, and had a ver}' severe struggle in maintaining the integrity of the school fund. In 1804 he was elected a Kepresentative from Ohio to the Thirty-ninth Congress, and was re-elected to the Fortieth Congress, serving on the Committees on Public Expenditures, on Mileage, and War Debts of the loyal States. He delivered speeches in favor of the impeachment of the President, and in favor of the bill reported from the Eeconstructing Committee to admit Alabama to representation. 388 THOMAS D. ELIOT. / ^HOMAS D. ELIOT was born in Boston, Massachusetts, March 20, 1S08, but sjient the years of his early life in the ■'^^ city of Washington, where his father, William G. Eliot, held an important position connected with the Treasury Department. Young Eliot graduated at Columbia College, Washington, in 1S25, studied law, and settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He served in both houses of the Massachusetts Legislature, and was elected a Eepresentative to the Thirty-third Congress for the unexpired term of Zeno Scudder. He was re-elected to the Thirty-sixth, Thirty- seventh, Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth, and Fortieth Congresses, serv- ing throughout on the Committee on Commerce, of which, during his last term, he was the chairman. He was also chairman of the Special Committee on Confiscation of the Property of Eebels, of the Special Committee on Emancipation, and on Freedmen. He drew several important bills relating to the colored people, for whose benefit he secured much important legislation. His interest in this oppressed people began very eady. He used to tell with special satisfaction the story of a colored woman whom his father rescued from slavery when she was quite young. As a member of Con- gress he bore a leading part, and exercised an important influence on the legislation of the country. His integrity was unquestioned, and his fidelity to principle undoubted. At the close of the Fortieth Congress it was found that his exhausting labors had impaired his health. It was hoped, however, that rest woidd restore his wonted energies, but in this he was disappointed. He daily grew weaker, until in March, 1870, he sought relief by a visit to Savannah, but without any benefit from the change. After about a month's sojourn there he returned, and gradually sank until he died, June 14, 1870, from a malignant tumor within the abdomen. 2S9 OLIVER J. DICKEY. ^ LIVER J. DICKEY was born in Old Erighton, Beaver Count}', Pennsylvania, April 6, 1823. He was educated at Dickinson College, where be remained nntil the end of his junior year, but did not graduate. He studied law with Hon. Thaddeus Stevens, and engaged in the practise of the profession in Lancaster. From 1856 to 1859 he was district-attorney for Lan- caster Connty. He was elected to fill the vacancy in the Fortieth Congress, occasioned by the death of Hon. Thaddeus Stevens. Mr. Dickey took his seat in the Fortieth Congress at the beginning of its last session, December 7, 1868. His first speech before that body was on December 17, when he announced the death of his distui- guished predecessor. The following passage irom the introductory portion of this address is fitly quoted here : " This distinguished statesman was not merely my predecessor in this body, but in my childhood my father taught me to admire and love him who was the instructor and guide of my youtli, and the friend of my maturer years. If an intimacy with wise and noble men be one of the greatest blessings that can crown a man, then in no part of my career have I been so fortunate as in my association with Thaddeus Stevens. It was in his office, and in connection with him, that I commenced my professional life; and from that moment, through the turmoil of many legal and political contests, down to the moment when in his last will he selected me to perform the last service one man can ask from his fellow, our friendship suiFered neither diminution nor interruption." Mr. Dickey was re-elected by a large majority to the Forty-first Congress, during which he was appointed a member of the Commit- tee on Appropriations. 290 'SBi2!fs,m S2Fiur>K StS ~5SE?- ^^.•:^/E ?"?.o.y V'Si:> i:Yi.V/-,i\7,i, JOHN TAFFE. 'OHN TAFFE was born in ladianapolis, Indiana, January 30, 1827. He received a common school education, and engaged in teaching, He subsequently removed to Illinois, where he remained a short time, and then settled in the territory of Nebraska, in 1856. He set up as a lawyer in Omaha, and turn- ing his attention to politics, soon found his way into the Territorial Legislature. In 1860, he was elected to the Territorial Council, and was chosen President of that body. In 1862 he entered the military service, and served as major in the 2d Nebraska Cavalry. In 1866 he was elected the first Representative from Nebraska to tlie National Legislature, and took his seat in the Fortieth Congress, March 5, 1867. He was placed on the Committee on Territories and Indian Aifairs. He was a quiet, unobtrusive member, making no formal speeches before the House, but participating briefly and in a business-like way in colloquial deliberations on the Indian Appropriation bill, and some other subjects. Being the sole Repre- sentative from a new State it devolved upon him to introduce bills relating to land titles, Indian affairs, and other subjects vitally affecting the interests of his constituents. He was the-author of an important proviso, which was adopted as an amendment to the Indian Appropriation bill, to tlie effect tliat before payment should be made to the western Indians the Secretary of the Interior should be satisfied that the tribes, bands, or individuals named should have observed treaty stipulations. Mr. Taffe gave as a reason for this proviso, that a tribe of Indians whom the Government was paying annually a large sum of money, had attacked a post, and after cap- turing several head of horses, and making warlike demonstrations, " walked leisurely away with their booty and complained that the Government kept such poor stock.'' 291 DANIEL POLSLEY. liANIEL POLSLEY was born near Fairmount, Marion Count}', Virginia, November 28, 1803. He spent his bojliood on a farm, and received a common-school educa- tion. He studied law with Philip Doddridge, and Henry St. George Tucker, and was admitted to the bar in 1827. He practised his profession until 1845, when he retired to a farm, and occupied him- self witli agriculture until 1861. He was a member of the Wheel- ing Convention held in May of that year, for the purpose of reorgan- izing the State government of Virginia on a loyal basis. He was, in the same year, elected lieutenant-governor of the State, an office which he lield until West Virginia was admitted into the Union. In 1862 he was elected judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit of West Virginia. In 1866 he was elected a Representative from West Vir- ginia to the Fortieth Congress as a Eepublican, receiving 5,211 votes against 3,639 for the Democratic candidate. He served on the Com- mittee on Revolutionary Pensions, and the Committee on Invalid Pensions. He made no speeches during his service in Congress, but introduced several bills, principally relating to pensions, and subjects of private interest. On the 2Sth of January he introduced a resolu- tion, which was agreed to, instructing the Committee on Military Affairs to inquire whether the the expenses of the War Department cannot be reduced by mustering out of service supernumary adjutant- generals and inspector-generals. The only other business which he introduced, possessing more than, strictly private interest, was a bill relating to the Covington and Ohio railroad, and its establishment as a post-route and military road of the United States. At the close of the Fortieth Congress, Mr. Polsley retired to private life. 293 HON de:-:n:5 VJ'^-CAHTHY DEX^IS M'CARTHY. -^^l^^^NIS M'CAETHY was born in the village of Salina, now within the Hmits of Syracuse, New Yorlc, March 19, ISli. After obtaining an academical education lie engaged in mercantile pursuits, in which he was successful. In 1846 he was a member of the General Assembly of New York, and in 1S53 he was Mayor of Syracuse. In 1S66 he was elected a Representative from New York to the Fortieth Congress, as a Republican, and in 18G8 he was re-elected to the Forty-first Congress. During the Fortieth Congress he served on the Committees on Foreign Affairs, and Roads and Canals. December 4, 1867, be spoke against the repeal of the tax upon cotton, maintaining that it was a legitimate means of making other nations pay a share of our debt and taxes. Jan- uary 14, 1868, he introduced a resolution recognizing the right of expatriation, and the duty of the Government to protect its citizens, and charging the Executive with want of firm and ener- getic action to protect our citizens in a proper exercise of their privi- leges under other governments. February 24, he delivered a speech in favor of the resolution for Impeachment, and a few days after, during the discussion of tlie articles of Impeachment, he spoke forcibly in favor of their adoption by the House. During the dis- cussion of the tax bill, June 9, 1868, he gave cogent reasons in favor of making the wholesale trade pay a proposed additional tax. July 7, 1868, he opposed the appropriation for the purchase of Alaska, denouncing the treaty as an eftbrt of two powers of the Gov- ernment to override a co-ordinate branch. In the discussion of the Tariif bill, July 13, 1868, he pronounced against the eflbrts of the Special Commissioner of the Revenue to control the tariff. 293 WILLIAM S. LIN"COLE^. ^^ILLIAM S. LINCOLN was born in Newark Valley, Tioga County, New York, August 13, 1813. Having received a common school education, he was trained in commercial studies, and engaged ia mercantile pursuits. He sub- sequently engaged extensively in the manufacture of leather. He was postmaster of Newark Valley from 1838 to 1868, and was for several years supei'visor of his town. In 1SG6 he was elected a Representative from New York to the Fortieth Congress, as a Repiiblican, receiving 10,264 votes against 10,8i9 for the Demo- cratic candidate ; his district being the twenty-sixth, embracing the counties of Bi-oome, Schuyler, Tioga, and Tompkins. Taking his seat in the Fortieth Congress, March 4, 1867, he was appointed to serve on the Committee on Post-offices and Post-roads. He took much interest in the subject of Pensions, and introdnced two bills for the amendment of the Pension laws. From liis committee he reported a bill repealing a section of an act of 18G4 which prohibited the over- land mails from carrying printed matter, except newspapers from the office of publication, thus permitting all printed matter to go through the mails — a measure evidently in the interests of enlightenment and civilization. He introduced a resolution, which was adopted, pro- viding for the appointment of a select committee to investigate charges of frauds and peculations in the paymaster-general's office, it having aj^peared that a large number of claims had been paid to a pretended agent for colored soldiers of New Orleans upon papers made out in Washington, and never seen nor signed by the soldiers whose claims they purported to be. 294 ■> 'C^S^v HOK, W S LING OLiT, rJT.PPESEiTrAriVX FRGM UliW YOPJi, . M rvRc .-,... vs »l^v.- -;.-,r.^ JULIUS HOTCHKISS. 'ULIUS HOTCHKISS was born in Waterbury, Conneclicut, July 11, ISIO. After receiving a common school education he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and subsequently turned his attention to manufactures. In 1851 and 1S5S he was a member of the Legislature of Connecticut, and meanwhile was Mayor of Waterbury. In lS.5-t he was a candidate for the office of Comptrol- ler of the State. In 1S6T he was elected a Eepresentative from Connecticut to the Fortieth Congress, during which he served on the Committees on Territories and Freedmen's aftairs. Mr. Hotchkiss acted uniformly and consistently with the Democrats in opposition to the majority, and in support of the policy of President Johnson. On the 21th of February, 1S6S, Mr. Hotchkiss addressed the House in a long and elaborate argument against the Impeachment of the President, in which he reviewed in terms of severity the course of Secretary Stanton, and eulogized Mr. Johnson. The following pas- sage from this speech, though not a specimen of the argument in the speech, is pertinent to a biographical sketch : " I come here from the busy scenes of a business life. I only review the question from the light of that experience and common observation outside of those legal acquirements possessed by the great majority of this House. I am not skilled in the subtleties of legal ratiocination, of that art which sometimes clothes falsehood with the garb of truth, and thus often deceives the honest inquirer after the genuine article. I leave the task of making the worse appear the better reason to the gentle- men of the legal profession, who compose two-thirds of the radical side of the House, which fact alone would almost indicate that the whole proceeding is a conspiracy of lawj'ers for partisan purposes." EICHARD D. HUBBARD. IGHAED D. HUBBAED was born iu Berlin, Connecticut, September 7, ISIS. He graduated at Tale College, studied yjp/ law, and devoted his entire attention to his profession. In 1S67 he was elected a Representative from Connecticut to the For- tietli Congress, and served on the Committees on Claims, and Expen- ' ditures iu the Post-office Department. Elected as a Democrat, he acted steadily with the minority in opposition to the measures of the Kepublican majority in Congress. His first speech before the House was made January 13, 1S6S, against the bill defining a quorum of the Supreme Court. " The Supreme Court," he said in this speech, is uot the child of legislative power, but is created by the same authority which created the House and Senate. Both children came from one parent, and when one child seeks to slay the otlier, it is guilty of the crime that Cain committed in the elder world." On the 17th of Januar}', ISGS, Mr. Hubbard addressed the House against the Supplementary Reconstruction bill, maintaining that it was " a measure of revolutionary usurpation, because it attempts to strike down the executive department of the government." On the 2d of March, Mr. Hubbard addressed the House in opposition to the Im- peachment of President Johnson " because," as he expressed it, " no case is presented which is worthy of the House and of the dignity of the proceeding, and because, in the second place, the constitu- tional tribunal for the trial of the charges presented has by its own misconduct incapacitated itself to pass a fair, an honest and just judgment in the premises." On the 22d of March, 1S6S, Mr. Hubbard addressed the House in opposition to an act to amend the Judiciary, and in support of the President's veto of that measure. 29G a LEWIS SELTE. ^EWIS SELYE was bora in Chittenango, Madison County, New York, July 11, 1808, and received a common school education. He removed to Eoehester in 1824, where lie became extensively engaged in manufacturing enterprises. He was for many years a member of the city corporation ; lie held the office of supervisor, and was for seven years the treasurer of Monroe County. In 1SG6 he was elected a Kepresentative from New York to the Fortieth Congress, during which he served on the Committees on Manufactures and Eevolutionary Pensions. He made several impor- tant speeches, one of much liistorical research in favor of a protective tariff, and another on the National Debt and Finances, of which the following passage contains interesting biographical details : "I profess no special knowledge, only such as a plain man who has kept his eyes open picks up in the course of an experience lon^ enough to encounter most of the rubs of practical working-day life! I was bred a blacksmith, or, more properly speaking, a forger and machmist, and claim to have been a rather uncommonly good one I know what it is to be in want of money to be used in my business and to be enabled by its use to get a fair profit from industry. I know what it is to be unable to borrow it, not because anybody doubted that I could and would use it advantageouslv to myself, advantageously to the other mechanics whom it would e"nable me to keep employed, and advantageously to the whole community, but because money was scarce, and higher interest could be had from pinched speculators than from people engaged in productive trades. I have pounded my way along in life till I have got to be tolerably independent of money-lenders." 297 natha:n^ f. dixoj^. fATHAN F. BIXON was born in Westerly, Conuecticut, May 1, 1812. His father, bearing the same name, emi- grated from Connecticut to Rhode Island in 1800, and was a Senator in Congress from 1839 to Janxiary 29, 1812, when he died at Washington. The subject of this sketch ])repared for college at Plainfield Academy in Connecticut, and graduated at Brown Univer- sity in 1833. He attended the law-schools of Yale College and Harvard University, and having been admitted to the bar in New London in 1837, he engaged in the practise of his profession in Con- necticut and Ehode Island. He was, however, passionately fond of agricultural pursuits, and devoted much time and expense to the improvement of an extensive farm, and stocking it with the best breeds of blooded animals. He was a member of the Assembly of Rhode Island from 1840 to 1849; was a Whig Presidential Elector in 1844, and was elected a Representative from Rhode Island to the Thirty-first Congress. He was again elected to the General Assem- bly of Rhode Island in 1851, and, with the exception of two years, held the office until 1859. In 18G3 Mr. Dixon was elected a Representative from Rhode Island to the Thirty-eighth Congress, and served on the Committee on Commerce. He was re-elected to the Thirty-ninth, Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses, during which he served as a member, and finally as chairman of the Committee on Commerce. He was a delegate to the Philadelphia " Loyalists' Convention " of 1866. He took no public part in the deliberations of the Fortieth Congress, made no " remarks," and reported no measures, contenting himself simply with giving his vote, which was always with the Republican majority. 293 SENATOrtFROM MASSACHUSETTS w -t BARNE*). PlIfiLoHtK WILLIAM B. WASHBURN. ^^ILLIAM B. WASHBURN was l)oni in Wincbendon, Massachusetts, January 31, 1S20. He graduated at Yale -^W^'^ College in 1844, and engaged in the business of manufac- turing. He also gave attention to banking, and was president of the Greenfield Bank. In 1850 he was elected to the Senate of Mas- sachusetts, and in 1854 he was a member of the lower house of the State Legislature. In 1862 he was elected a Eepresentative from Massachusetts to the Thirty-eighth Congress, during which he served on the Committee on Invalid Pensions, and the Committee on Eoads and Canals. Re-elected to the Thirty-ninth Congress, he served on the Committee on Claims and Revolutionary Pensions. He was re-elected to the Fortieth and Forty -first Congresses, serving during the last as chairman of the Committee on Claims. He seldom occupied the time of the House with remarks, although he occasion- ally made brief and pertinent speeches upon subjects relating to pend- ing claims, taxation, and finance. In his speeches and his votes he uniformly opposed monopolies and favored legislation in the inter- ests of the whole people. In February, 1868, he made a speech opposing the further extension of a patent for screw machinery, for the benefit of the American Screw Company, which he described as " one of the greatest monopolies this country has ever seen, affecting every manuf;icturer, mechanic, and farmer in the land." His per- sonal integrity as a legislator is illustrated by the fact that although himself a large dealer in lumber, he opposed a proposition to exempt that article from tax, maintaining tliat it was "a mistake to say that there is any argument that will apply to lumber, that will not apply to other necessaries of life." 399 CHARLES H. VAN WYOK. JHAELES H. VAN WYCK was born at Poughkeepsle, New York, in 1824. He graduated at Rutger's College, studied and practised law. From 1850 to 1856 he was district-attorney of Sullivan County. He was elected a Eepresenta- tive from New York to the Thirty-sixth Congress, and served on the Committee on Mileage, and was appointed chairman of tlie Com- mittee on Government Contracts. He entered the army as colonel of the " Tenth Legion," or 56th New York Volunteers, and after gome active service was appointed a brigadier-general by brevet. Ee-elected to the Fortieth Congress, he served as chairman of the Committee on Eetrenchment. He opposed with great earnestness and fervor whatever in his opinion was calculated to trench fraud- ulently or extravagantly upon the pockets of the people or the treasury of the nation. Speaking on an amendment proposed by him to the Army Appropriation bill, he said : " It is getting to be time that these appropriations to the different departments for con- tingencies should be discountenanced by Congress." Mr. Van "VYyck introduced resolutions asserting that " foreign nations should not be allowed to raise the question whether American citizenship was acquired by birth or adoption, the rights of citizenship being the same to all citizens," and demanding that " Great Britain should make complete acknowledgment and full reparation in all cases where American citizens have been treated as the subjects of a foreign power." Mr. Van Wyck supported these resolutions by a speech, wherein he gave a conclusive, liistorical, and legal argument against the doctrine of perpetual allegiance, and in favor of the right of expatriation. 300 SAMUEL B. AXTELL. >^^AMUEL B. AXTELL was born in Franklin County, Ohio, ^^ October 14, 1S19. He was educated at "Western Reserve Ui^ College, Ohio, and adopted the profession of law. In 1851 he emigrated to California, and settled in San Francisco. He was elected a Representative from California to tiie Fortieth Congress as a Democrat, and was re-elected to the Forty-first Congress. During his first term he served on the Committees on Commerce and Weiglits and Measures, and during his second term on the Committees on the Pacific Railroad and Agriculture. Mr. Axtell's speeches in the For- tieth Congress, while indicating his adherence to Democratic politics, showed a lively interest in the material prosperity of the country, and especially of the Pacific coast. He addressed the House, July 7, 1868, in favor of the purchase of Alaska, asserting that '" the Pacific States, more intimately acquainted with this territory than the Atlantic States, are unanimously in favor of this purchase." In another part of this speech he said : " We have reached a point in the history of the world, where the Pacific Ocean is to be the great thea- tre of the world's greatness from this time forward When we have, as we shall have in our time, three lines of railroad communi- cation with the Pacific coast and a great ship canal across the isth- mus, we shall then find that the Pacific Ocean is the great theatre for the activity of our citizens ; we shall then rejoice tliat we have extinguished, by purchase, any other national flag upon that coast ; that we have given to our commerce harbors there ; that we have opened up the means of holding and controlling, as it is our destiny to hold and control, not only all North America, but the great com- merce of the Pacific." 301 JAMES M. MARYCs", *AMES M. MARVIN was born at Ballston, Saratoga County, New York, February 27, 1809. He spent his boyhood on _^ a farm, and subsequently enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education. He embarked successfully in business, and became pro- prietor of the United States Hotel at Saratoga Springs. In 1846 he was elected to the New York Assembly, and subsequently held the office of County Supervisor for three terms. In 1862 he was elected a Eepresentative from New York to the Thirty-eighth Congress, and was re-elected to the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses. He served as a member of the Committee on Territories, and as chair- man of the Committee on Expenses in the Treasury Department. Elected as a Republican, Mr. Marvin acted steadily with the major- ity in the great work of reconstructing the South, and restoring the country to a condition of peace and prosperity. He indicated his interest in the development of the region which he represented by introducing a bill to aid in the construction of a railroad for military and postal purposes through the wilderness of Northern New York, from Schenectady to the St. Lawrence river. Mr. Marvin was strictly a silent member of Congress, making no speeches on the floor of the House. As the only representative of a profession desig- nated as " hotel keeper" in the catalogue of the House, he left the talking to the lawyers, who constituted the great majority of the members. Though not appearing conspicuously in the arena of debate, Mr. Marvin brought to bear in Congress a practical e.\'peri- ence in finance of much value in shaping measures to meet emer- gencies which tested the strength of the government as thorouglily as the war itself. 303 ^^^^Z^Ji/^cyU^ /4^^>^ HOK STEPHEN TAEOr- STEPHEN TABER. o ^M^^^^^^ TABER, the son of Thomas Taber, who served ^ in Congress from 1827 to 1S29, M-as born in Dover, Dutchess ^ County, New York, March 7, 1S21. After receiving a com- mon school education, in 1839 he went to Queens County, on Long Island, where he engaged in farming. In politics he wa"s a Denuv crat, and was a member of the New York Legislature in ]800 and 1861. In ISG-t he was elected a Eepresentative from New York t.. the Thirty-ninth Congress, during which he served on the Commit- tee on Public Lands. He was re-elected to the Fortietii Congre^^s. and served on the Committee on Public Expenditures, and chainnan of the Committee on the Ventilation of the Hall.. As a member of the Committee on Public Lands in this Congress, he made vigorous opposition, both in the Committee and in the House, to the bill to declare forfeited to the United States ' certain lands granted to aid in the construction of railroads in the States of Alabama, Mis- sissippi, Louisiana and Florida. Belonging to a profession which is characterized by work rather than talk, Mr. Taber occupied the tune of the House with no set speeches, contenting himself witli occasional brief practical remarks upon subjects reported from com- mittees of which he was a member. His watchful interest in tiie good of Ids constituents, as well as the practical character of the legislation which he labored to promote, is apparent in his efforts to secure the erection of a permanent buoy on Success Eock, Long Island Sound. " This rock," said he, " is in the line of all the ves"- sels passing through the Sound. It is at a point where the tide runs with great force, and where the ice and tide together would remove a buoy that is not permanently fixed. I am informed that the commerce passing through the Sound, amounts on an average daily to $15,000,000." . 803 JAMES M. HUMPHREY. 'AMES M. HUMPHREY was bora in Holland, Erie County, New York, September 21, 1819. Having received a com- mon school education he studied law and practised in the city of Butfalo. In 1857, 1858 and 1859 he was district-attorney for the county of Erie. From 1863 to 1805 lie was a member of the State Senate, and was president of the Democratic State Con- vention. He was elected a Eepresentative from New York to the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses as a Democrat, serving on the Committees on Commerce, the Civil Service, and Expenditures in the State Department. In a speech, February 29, 186S, Mr. Humphrey addressed the House in opposition to the Articles of Impeach- ment, reported by the Judiciary Committee. After denouncing the movement to impeach the President at considerable length, he closed by saying : " If Mr. Stanton and his associates suppose that the people of the United States can be betrayed and subjugated to such a tyranny without an appeal to that God of battles who pro- tects the right, I fear they will find that they have underrated the intelligence and patriotism of the American people." In a speech, June 27, 1868, Mr. Humphrey favored liberal appro- priations for the improvement of rivers and harbors, maintaining the willingness and ability of the people to pay taxes for such purposes. He opposed a bill to provide for the construction of a ship canal around the falls of Niagara in an elaborate and able speech, delivered January li, 1869. He offered a substitute providing for a grant by the Federal government, to the State of New York, of the sum $10,000,000, on condition that the Oswego and the Erie canals should be enlarged to a size sufficient to enable the passage of vessels two litnulred and fifty feet in length, and thirty feet in breadth. 304 WILLIAM LOUGHRIDGE. ?ILLIAM LOUGHPJDGE was bom in Youngstown, Mahoning County, Ohio, July 11, 1827. He received a common school education, studied law, and commenced the practise of his profession in Mansfield, Ohio, at the age of twenty-two. In 1852 he removed to Iowa, settling in Oskaloosa. He was a member of the Iowa State Senate in 1857, 1858, 1859 and 1860. In 1861 he was elected judge of the Sixth Judicial Cir- cuit of Iowa. He was elected a Kepresentative from Iowa to the Fortieth Congress, as a Republican, and was re-elected to the Forty- first Congress. In the Fortieth Congress he was assigned to the Committees on Private Land-claims, Agriculture, and Education in the District of Columbia. He introduced bills to prohibit the sale of the Cherokee lands, in a body ; to grant land for the aid of com- mon schools in the District of Columbia ; to regulate the use of the franking privilege; in relation to the taxation of United States currency for State and municipal purposes ; and to aid in the con- struction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Rio Grande to the Pacific. He proposed resolutions in relation to the purchase of Alaska ; concerning the public debt ; expressing sympathy with tlie people of Crete in their struggle for independence ; and instructing the Judiciary Committee to inquire into the power of Congress to regulate the rates to be charged for freight by railroads engaged in commerce between the ditferent States of the Union. He made many speeches and among them the following : on the Supplement- ary Reconstruction bill ; in favor of the Resolution for Impeachment ; in support of the Articles of Impeachment ; on the purchase of Alaska, favoring the ratification of the treaty, but protesting against the action of the Executive and the Senate in concluding it without reference to the prerogatives of tlje House of Representatives. 30j ASAHEL ^V■ HUBBAED. ^SAHEL AV. IIUBBAED was born at Haddam, Counec- _ ticut, January IS, 1S19. Having received a common y^^^y school education, he removed to Indiana in 1838, and en- gaged in school teaching. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1841. He was elected to the Legislature of Indiana in 18-17, and served three years. In 1857 he removed to Iowa, and made his home in Sioux City, where he practised his profession. He was sub- sequently elected judge of the Fourth Judicial District of Iowa. In 1862 he was elected a Eepresentative from Iowa to the Thirty-eighth Congress, during which he served as a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Special Committee to visit the Indian tribes of the West. He was re-elected to the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses, serving on the Committees on Public Expenditures and Indian Affairs. In the Fortieth Congress he introduced a bill to facilitate the resumption of specie payments, and a bill amenda- tory of an act granting lands in the State of Iowa to aid in the con- struction of railroads. The latter bill was designed to extend the time for the completion of the Dubuque and Sioux City Railroad, and consisted mainly of limitations and restrictions on the original grant. In ex-jjlaining the bill, Mr. Hubbard said : " I have inserted those provisions in the bill for the purpose of protecting the interests of the people along the line of the road as well as the interest of the Gov- ernment. They are guards and restrictions and limitations on the original grant." Beyond the explanation and advocacy of this measure, Mr. Hubbard took no part in the discussions and deliber- ations of the Fortieth Congress, as he was frequently absent from his seat on account of bad health. 306 )KM FOX JOHNS' FOX. 'OHJSr FOX was born June 30, 1835, at Frederickton, New Brunswick, to which place his parents had emigrated from Ireland in 1S26. "When he was five years old his ])arents removed to New York City, and shortly afterward his father died, leaving a widow with three children, of whom John was the second and destined to be the chief support, as the death of his ftither left them in an almost destitute condition. John attended school in the 1st Ward until he was nine years old, when he was compelled to assist his mother in supporting the family. When thirteen years old he was apprenticed to the block and pump making business, serving until he was nineteen years old, when he was employed as a journey- man. He was ambitious, attended night school when it was pos- sible, and occupied his spare time in reading and study. He was appointed master-blockmaker in the Brooklyn Navy Yard when he was twenty two years old, being the youngest man who ever held that responsible position. On the occasion of his ex- amination for this position, which lasted four days, the examining board reported him " a first-rate mechanic, a well-informed and intelligent young man," but they believed him " too young to en- force discipline." The Navy Department overruled the objection to his age, and he was installed as master-blockmaker on the 4th of March, 1S61, from which position he was removed for political rea- sons, by the Kepublican party, in August, 1861. In April, 1861, he married Miss Ellen Byrnes of New York City, a highly educated lady who has borne him three children, and to whom is due mueii of his success in life. Having from the time of his majority taken an active part in pol- itics as a Democrat, he was in 1862 elected alderman of the First 307 2 JOHN FOX. District of New York City, comprising tlic 1st, 2d, 3c], part of the 4tli and Gtli Wards. The rebellion having broken out, he took strong ground in favor of the Union, and worked night and day to advance its cause. In 1SG3 he was one of the most active in suppressing the riots. He organized all the firemen in his district, who patrolled the streets in the lower part of the city for several nights, and succeeded in quelling all riotous demonstrations in that quarter. In 18G4, before his term as alderman had expired, he was elected supervisor of the cormty of New York by 18,000 majority. He served on several of the most important committees, and soon became prom- inent in the Board, although its youngest member. lie was active in raising troops and filling the Union quotas demanded from New York City. In 1866 he wa.s elected a Eepresentativc to the Fortieth Congress from tlie Fourth Congressional District of New York, comjn-ising tiio 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th Wards, by 10,216 majority over Horace Greeley. He served on the Committee on Post-offices and Post-roads, and the Committee on Mileage. He acted constantly with the Democratic party, and stood firmly by President Johnson, sus- taining his policy and opposing impeachment. He was re-elected to the Forty-first Congress, in which he served on the same committees as before. For the last eight years he has represented his disti^ict in the Demo- cratic State Conventions. Industrious, enterprising and pei-severing, Mr. Fox has amassed a moderate fortune by the judicious buying and selling of real estate, in which he has been engaged since ISGl. He still resides in tlie 1st Ward, and is known and respected throughout the city as an lionest, charitable. Christian gentleman, of pleasing address and polished manners. In religion, he is strict Eoman Cath- olic. He is prominently identified with many charitable institutions, and has been president of the New York Foundling Aid Society since its establishment. The poor of his neighborhood, both in the city and at his country seat on Long Island, speak with gratitude of his uni- form kindness and benevolence. 303 WILLIAM H. KELSEY. .ILLIAM II. KELSEY was born in Smyrna, New York, October 2, 1812. After receiving a common school edncation, at the age of fourteen be entered a printing office. Having learned his trade, in 1835 be started and conducted the Livingston " Register," and subsequently the Livingston " Demo- crat," both Whig weekly newspapers published in Genoseo. Mean- while he studied law, and in 1840 he was appointed Surrogate of Livingston County. He was admitted to practise in the Supreme Court, and gave continuous attention to the duties of his profession for many years. In 1851: he was elected a Eepresentative from New York to the Thirty-fourth Congress. Although elected as a Whig, he entered this memorable Congress with an intense hostility to sla- very and a purpose of doing all he could to effect its overthrow. He took an active part in the remarkable contest for the election of Speaker which lasted nine weeks, and resulted in the election of Banks. The daj' before the contest closed, the Eepublicans held a caucus in which a majority resolved to abandon Banks and give their votes for Pennington, but Mr. Kelse}' and five or six others, seeing that this would be to give np all the advantage gained in the long struggle, declared that they would not be bound by the action of the caucus. The result was that tlie majority receded from their resolu- tions, all held together, and the next day Mr. Banks was elected Speaker. The new men, who combined in the Thirty-fourth Con- gress as Republicans, exercised a controlling iniluence upon its action, and prominent among them was Mr. Kelsey. The brutality and arro- gance of the Southern members, which was exhibited in the assault upon Charles Sumner in the Senate Chamber, would have produced 309 2 WILLIAM H. KELSEY. other instances of violence and bloodshed, and even murder, had it not appeared that many of the Northern members were ready to meet the insults and assaults of the Southern bullies with their own weapons. The brave stand taken by Burlingame, Potter, Kelsey and others, in resenting the arrogance of the slave-holders, gave them the first contradiction of their favorite theory that Northern men were too cowardly to defend themselves and their personal honor. During these trying times in Congress, preceding the civil war, Mr. Kelsey was attentive to the work of legislation, and the special interests of his constituents. Eepresenting one of the richest farming regions in the Union, he appropriately served on the Committee on Agriculture. At the breaking out of the war, Mr. Kelsey was active and suc- cessful in raising volunteers for the army, and during the progress of the great struggle he gave constant and efficient support to the gov- ernment. In 1S66 Mr. Kelsey was re-elected a Eepresentative from New York, and took his seat in the Fortieth Congress in March, 1867. He was one of the fifty-seven members who voted for the first resolution to impeach Andrew Johnson. On the 22d of February, 1868, he addressed the House in favor of the iihpeachment, and argued with much ability that the President should be suspended from official power pending the trial. He proposed a bill for fnnding and paying the national debt, which he supported in a speech before the House. Mr. Kelsey was re-elected to the Forty-first Congress, during which he served, as he had done in the preceding Congress on the Com- mittee on Appropriations. In that capacity he was an earnest advo- cate of retrenchment and economy ; himself reporting a bill provid- ing for a reduction of $167,000 in the expenses of the government for consular services. He opposed the treaty for the annexation of of San Domingo. 810 HIRAM PRICE. *° ^^IRAM PRICE was born in Washington County, Pennsyl- vania, January 10, 1S14, received a common school edu- '^i^ cation, and was trained for business pursuits. Removing to Iowa, he settled in Davenport, and devoted himself to mercan- tile pursuits and banking. He became president of the State Bank of Iowa, and was paymaster-general of Iowa in 1861. In 1862 he was elected a Representative from Iowa to the Thirty-eighth Con- gress, in which he was chairman of the Committee on Revolution- ary Claims. Re-elected to the Thirty-nintli and Fortieth Congresses, he was chairman of the Committee on the Pacific Kailroad. A ready and fluent debater, he frequently took part in the discussions of the House, advocating with zeal the measures and policy witii which the Kepublican party was identified in Congress. On the 22d of February, Mr. Price eloquently advocated the impeachment of the President, and a few days after, in anotlier speech on the same subject, declared the proceeding to be " a legal, financial, and political necessity." In an able speech, July 1, 1868, he opposed the purchase of Alaska, using the following plain and conclusive illustration : " If an individual who was pecuniarily involved to such an extent that he was compelled to renew his notes from time to time, and beg time from his creditors, should take money which he borrowed at an exorbitant rate of interest to purchase a piece of property which he had no kind of use for, he would be called by all honest and prudent men either a very weak or a very wicked man, and I hold, sir, that the same rule that applies to individ- uals is equally applicable to nations." 311 JAMES H. GOSS. ^AMES II. GOSS was born August 9, 1820, at Union Court House, South Carolina, a place which continued to be his residence when he was a Eepresentative in Congress. He received a common school education, and in early life entered into mercantile pursuits. After the passage of the Eeconstruction acts, lie advocated their acceptance by the people of South Carolina. He was elected a member of the Convention which framed the Constitu- tion under which South Carolina was re-admitted. He was elect-ed a Eepresentative from South Carolina to the Fortieth Congress, as a Eepublican, receiving a majority of 2,800 votes ; his district being the Fourth, comprising the counties of Fairfield, Chester, York, Spartanburg, Union, Laurens, Ocovee, Pickens and Greenville. Tlie credentials of Mr. Goss and Mr. "Whittemore, members-elect from South Carolina, having been referred to the Committee on Elections, Mr. Dawes, chairman, reported, July 18, ISGS, that they had examined the credentials and found them in due form of law, aud that the state of South Carolina had conformed in all respects to the requirements of the laws of Congress. They therefore recommended that the Eepresentatives-elect be admitted to seats in the House, upon talcing the oath of office prescribed by the statute on July 2, 1862. Mr. Goss then took the oath, and was assigned to the Com- mittee on Eevolutionary Claims. During the brief term of his ser- vice in Congress he took no public part in its deliberations, content- ing himself with giving his votes upon subjects of legislation. 813 THOMAS IliiUGHEY. fllOMAS HAUGnEY was born near the city of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1S26. lie emigrated to the United States at an early age, and settled in Alabama. By his own exer- tions be obtained a classical and clerical education, and having tiiiight school a few years he saved enough of his earnings to enable him to study medicine and graduate at the New Orleans School of Medicine in 1858. At the outbreak of the rebellion he was a resident of Ely ton, Alabama, successfully engaged in the practise of his profession, but having taken a prominent part against secession, he was compelled to abandon his home and take refuge within the Union lines. Entering the Union army as a surgeon, he served from August, 1862, until Octo- ber, 1805, when he was honorably discharged. In 1867 he was elected to the Constitutional Convention of Alabama, and aided in framing the Constitution under which that State was restored to the Union. In February, 1868, he was elected to the Fortieth Congress from Alabama, to represent the district in which he had resided over twenty-five years. He was admitted to his seat July 31, 1808, immediately after the announcement that Alabama had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment, and was appointed to the Committee on Expenditures on the Public Buildings. Soon after his admission he inti'oduced a resolution providing for extending the provisions of the law of July -i, ISOl, providing for the payment of certain demands of loyal citizens of States not in rebellion for quarter- masters' stores and subsistence sujiplies furnished to the army of the United States, so as to include loyal citizens of the State of Alabama. In support of this resolution he made an able speech, January 5, 1809, and again addressed the Uouse at length on the same subject March 2, 1869. 313 FEEDEEICK STONE. IREDERICK STONE was born iu Cliavles Count)-, Mary- land, February 7, 1820. His grandfather, Tliomas Stone, was a member of the Continental Congress and a signer af the Declaration of Independence, and another ancestor, William Stone, was deputy-governor of Maryland under Lord Baltimore. He was educated at St. John's College, Annapolis, studied and prac- tised law. In 1851 he was tendered the office of deputy district- attorney for his county, but declined. In 1852 he was appointed by the Legislature one of the commissioners to revise, simplify, and abridge the rules of pleading, practising, and conveyancing in the courts of Maryland. In 1864 and 1865 he was a member of the State Legislature. In 1866 he was elected a Representative from Maryland to the Fortieth Congress, during which he served on the Committees on Private Land-claims and on Education and Labor. January 25, 1868, he spoke against the bill in relation to the Supreme Court, and the Reconstruction bill, characterizing them as " destructive of all the cardinal principles of our government, and cruelly oppressive to the people who have no voice in these halls." February 24, he addressed the House on the subject of impeachment, and after examining the question legally, he came to the conclusion that the President "need not fear the result," and must be acquitted of the charges brought against him. July 15-, 1868, Mr. Stone spoke on the subject of the payment of the debt, maintaining that " if the debt could be discharged by legal tenders, so far from disturbing, it would only improve the financial condition of the country." He denied " the right of one Congress to prohibit all succeeding Con- gresses from imposing a tax upon government bonds, or any other species of property." 314 s^ --^-- -S^SS "^Yy^^/^^^ y^^^/^7^^^^^^^^ ?:-:SSEN"-A2'tVE t'KCM LO'JiSIAI'-A- W. JASPEE BLACKBUEN. JASPEE BLACKBURN was bora in Arkansas, and became a printer by profession. Locating in Homer, Louisiana, he publislied tlie Homer " Iliad," and had his presses twice destroyed on account of his fearless expressions of Union and Republican sentiments. He was elected a Representa- tive to the Fortieth Congress from the Fifth District of Louisiana, and was admitted to his seat July 18, 1868. He introduced a bill to relieve all American citizens from the legal and political disabilities imposed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Feb- ruary 13, 1869, he addressed the House on " the condition of the country," and *' the duties of the Government," in which he depicted an unhappy state of affairs in the South, and said : " I can very plainly and candidly tell gentlemen who may feel anxious on the Southern situation that we shall never have peace down there until white men ai-e allowed as much and as many privileges, polit- ically, as the negro has." In a speech favoring the suffrage amendment, January 30, 1869, Mr. Blackburn said : " I can assure Northern gentlemen that there was always in the South, both previous to and after the abolition of slavery, more kindly personal feeling toward the negro than I have ever heard of existing toward him among the people of the North. The meanest masters I ever knew were men who came from the North, as rash and fanatical abolitionists, and who, after their cupidity had overcome their philanthropy and patriotism, and they became the owners of slaves, knew no end to their exactions and no limit to their tortures. It comes then, gentlemen, with poor grace from any of yon to object to the enfranchisement of the few colored men among yourselves, after yon have freed by force the slaves of the South, and enfranchised them to a man." 315 DAVID A. NUNN". 'T. |AYID a. NUXN was born in Hayward County, Tennes- see, July 26, 1832. He was educated at the college of West Tennessee, studied law, and practised his profession at Brownsville, in his native State. In 1863 he was elected to the State Senate, and in 1SC5 to the House of Eepresentatives of Ten- nessee. He was elected a Kepresentative from Tennessee to the Fortieth Congress, from the Eighth District, as a Republican. When the Fortieth Congress began its session, March -i, 1S67, the election for Eepresentatives had not yet been held in Ten- nessee, so that the delegation from that State did not appear with their credentials until JS^ovember 21. On that occasion, Mr. Brooks interposed objections to the swearing in of the whole delegation " upon the ground that the elective franchise law" of Tennessee, under which these gentlemen are said to be elected, disfranchises a large portion of the white population of the State of Tennessee." The objection was over-ruled by a vote of 117 to 28, and the dele- gation, except Mr. Butler, were sworn in and took their seats. On the 30th of November, Mr. Nunn introduced a resolution for the repeal of the tax on cotton, which was referred to the Committee of Ways and Means. His first speech before the House was in favor of this measure, December 4, when he said : " The poor laborers, white and colored, looking with an eye of faith to this Radical Congress for a repeal of this cotton tax, have clung to their crops with a tenacity worthy of their faith, and have the same at their farms and homes waiting anxiously for this repeal proposed. And while I do not propose to aid the speculator I do wish to assist the producer, who has raised and held his cotton at great expense." 316 ^ /^Vt 7'' P.EPP.iSSlT'n'iir^'EFS.CJi SOUTH CA?.Ci,:NA SIMEOi^ CORLEY t.m^mON CORLEY was born in Lexington County, South m Carolina, February 10, 1S23. Ue received the rudiments '^ ot an English education in tlie Lexington Academy, which he attended from 1S30 to 1834, and then was apprenticed to learn the tailor's trade. He began business on his own account in 183S, and did not entirely give it up, even after his entrance upon public' life. He manifested no little inventive skill in his trade, and be- came the inventor of a new system of garment cutting. He opposed an attempted secession of South Carolina in 1852, for whicii an at- tempt was made to expel him from the State as an abolitionist. He edited the South Carolina " Temperance Standard " in 1855 and 1856, and during the same years held the office of grand scribe of the Sons' of Temperance of the State. Pie took his stand in hopeless opposi- tion to secession in 18G0, but was finally compelled to enter the rebel army, and was captured by the national troops at Petersburg, Vir- ginia, April 2, 1865, when he gladly took the oath of allegiance, and returned home. He advocated the reconstruction policy of Congress, and was elected to the Constitutional Convention of South Carolina on the Republican ticket by a large majority. He was elected a Representative to the Fortieth Congress froin Soutli Carolina, as a Republican. Having had his disabilities removed by act of 'con- gress, Mr. Corley was admitted to his seat July 25, 1868. In one of his speeches in Congress he describes himself as "one whose humble avocation had placed him beneath the social plane of the aristocratic oligarchy of the South, and whose aspirations and natural bent raised him above the narrow circle to which that aristocracy had assigned him ; whose standpoint was reached by the furious lashings of the storm which rocked the ship of State on the surging sea of rebellion whose waves have borne him thus tar out on the tm-l)nlent ocean of politics." 311 JOHN TRIMBLE. ^OIIN TRIMBLE was born in Roane County, Tennessee, February 7, 1812. He was educated at a classical gram- mar school and Nashville University. He studied law, and practised the profession in the city of Nashville, which he made his residence. In 183G he was elected attorney-general for the Nash- ville District, and held the office for six years. In August, lSi3, he was elected to the House of Representatives of Tennessee, of which he was a member two years. He was immediately elected a State Senator, and held the office one term, when he declined a re-election. In August, 1859, he was again elected a State Senator, and was pres- ent during the regular session from October, 1859, to the following March. In January, 1861, he was present at an extra session of the Leo-islature called to precipitate the State of Tennessee into rebel- lion, which failed, however, to accomplish the purpose. Another called session, that of April, 1861, had a different result, and the State was carried by its legislators into the " Southern Confederacy." Mr. Trimble, remaining true and faithful to the Union and the National Government, resigned his seat in the Senate, and in April, 1862, was appointed United States Attorney for Middle Tennessee. Having resigned this office in August, 1861, he was in the following March elected to the State Senate, and held the office two years. He was elected a Representative from Tennessee to the Fortieth Congress, dnrino- which he served on the Committees on Freedmen's Affairs and Private Land Claims. He made a speech on the bill to declare forfeited to the United States certain lands granted to aid in the con- struction of Southern railroads, favoring the redonation of these lands for railroad purposes, upon a valuation to be represented in stocks to be used in building up common schools. 318 JOSEPH J. GEAVELY. OSEPH J. GEAVELY was born in Henry County, Vir- ginia, in 1828. He received a common school education, and spent his youth mainly in labor on a farm. He was a member of the legislature of the State of Virginia in 1853 and 1851. In the latter year he emigrated to Missouri, and participating actively in the politics of his adopted State, he was in ISCO elected to the Constitutional Convention of Missouri. In 1SG2 and ISCl he was elected to the State Senate. During a portion of the late civil war he served in the army as colonel of the Sth Missouri Cav- alry. After tlie close of the war he turned his attention to the practise of law, and was subsequently elected a Representative from Missouri to the Fortieth Congress, as a Republican, receiving 6,083 votes against 1,929 votes for the " Conservative " candidate. During the Fortieth Congress he served on the Committees on the Militia, and Education and Labor. During the consideration of the Tax bill, Mr. Gravely intro- duced an amendment, in support of which he said : " The tax on tobacco is higher in proportion to its actual value previous to the imposition of the tax than the tax on any other article upon wliicli a revenue tax is now levied. I am and have been acquainted with the original value of tobacco, and I know that from live to ten cents per pound was all it could be sold for in market. For the last two or three years the tax has been forty cents per pound, or five hun- dred per cent., at least, upon the original value of tlie article. Li my opinion there are a great many frauds practiced in the Southern States, especially in Virginia, in Maryland, in Kentucky, and to some extent in Missouri, in consequence of the enormous tax now imposed upon tobacco." 319 HIRAM M'^CULLOUGH. jIRAM McCULLOUGH was born in Cecil County, Mary- land, September 20, 1813. He was educated at the Elk- \C ton Academy, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1838. He was elected to the Maryland Senate in ISio, and served by successive re-elections until the adoption of the Constitu- tion of 1851. In 1852 he was appointed by the Legislature one of the codifiers of the laws of Maryland, and aided in making the pres- ent code of that State. He held various offices of responsibility con- nected with his town and county. In 1861 he was elected a Kepre- sentative from Maryland to the Thirty-ninth Congress, during which he served on the Committee on the District of Columbia. He was re-elected to the Fortieth Congress, as a Democrat, receiving 11,729 votes against 4,052 for a Republican candidate. During the Fortieth Congress he served on the Committee on the District of Columbia, and the Committee on Accounts. Although he took no part in the House debates upon subjects of general interest and national impor- tance, yet on matters which came before his Committee he frequently gave his views, which were generally those of the minority. He op- posed the repeal of the bill by which Alexandria was retroceded to Virginia, reported the bill to incorporate a National Art Union As- sociation for the promotion of art, the encouragement of American artists, etc. He was instructed by the Committee to report, and advocated in the House the bill which became a law, incorporating the " National Life Insurance Company." As a member of the Com- mittee on Accounts, he charged the majority of the Committee with too great haste in exonerating persons from blame who were charged with frauds which demanded investigation. .■530 o^ ^^^1^^-1) J. HALE SYPHER. IIALE SYPIIEE was born in Pennsylvania, and adopted the profession of law. He entered the Union army, and commanded a regiment of colored troops, and was brevetted a brigadier-general. At the close of the war he settled in Louisiana, and was elected a Representative; to the Fortieth Congress from the Fii-st District of Louisiana, embracing six wards of the city of New Orleans, Algiers, and the parishes of Plaquemine and St. Bernard. He introduced bills to promote the construction of th'e Mississippi and Mexican Gulf Ship Canal, and the New Orleans and Ship Island Canal, and a bill to enable the State of Louisiana to receive the pub- lic lands donated to the State by the Act for the benefit of agricul- tural colleges. In a speech opposing the Niagara Ship Canal bill, Mr. Sypher said : " I regret that gentlemen who are here upon this floor advocating this measure have lost sight of the ouly natural outlet to the West. They are looking across the country in a straight line to New York, expecting that, by putting their bands into the national treasury, they can construct a line which will give them a safe and quick transit with cheap freights to the markets of the world. I regret to say that they have never once cast their eyes southward, and thought of the great Father of Waters, where their freights will float much cheaper than they can drag them up hill with locomotives. . . . From St. Louis, via New Orleans to New York, the freight per bushel is twenty-seven cents, and the time eighteen days ; from the same place via Chicago and Buffalo to New York, the freight is forty-four cents, and the time thirty-tliree days ; making a difterence in favor of the route via New Orleans of seventeen cents per bushel, and fifteen days in time." 3SI JAMES MULLINS. ''AMES MULLINS was born at the Three Forks of Duck Eiver, Bedford County, Tennessee, September 15, 1807, and has continued to live -within three miles of his birthplace. • His early education was gained while working on his father's farm — in " the old-field schools," as he was wont to say. At first a farmer, he subsequently turned his attention to the milling business, and then becoming a millwright, he pursued that occupation until just before the breaking out of the rebellion. In 1831 he was made a colonel of militia. From 1840 to 1840 he was high sheriff of Bedford County. In 1862, on account of his devotion to the Union, he was compelled to flee from his home for safety, and resided within the Federal lines at Nashville. He joined the army as a volunteer, and served on the staff of General Eosecrans. He was in the battles of Stone Eiver, Hoover's Gap, Tullahoma, and Spring Creek, besides several skirmishes between 1862 and 1864. He took part in the Nashville Convention of 1865, and in the same year was elected to the lower house of the Tennessee Legislature, of which he was made Speaker. He attended all the National and State, Whig, Union, and Eepublican Conventions from 1840 to August, 1868. In 1867 he was elected a Eepresentative from Tennessee to the For- tieth Congress, over Edmund Cooper, by a majority of 6,243. He served on the Committees on Territories and Eevolutionary Pensions. He was remarkably ready as a debater on the floor of the House, his speeches being characterized by much native wit as well as rugged common sense. He always spoke without notes, and in such a way as to command the attention of the House and excite interest in the galleries. 323 MICHEL YIDAL. ^ICHEL VIDAL was born in the city of Carcassonne, Languedoc, France, where he received a collegiate educa- ^-^ENJAMIN W. NOEKIS was born at Monmouth, Kennebec County, Maine, in 1819, He graduated at Waterville Col- lege, naw Colby University, and engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1848 he was a delegate to the convention that nomin- ated Van Buren and Adams for the presidency and vice-presidency, and in 1864 he was a delegate to the convention that nominated Lincoln and Johnson. He was land agent of Maine from 1860 to 1863, and was subsequently commissioner for Maine of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg. lie served as a paymaster in the Union armj^, and after the surrender settled in Alabama. He was a member of tlie convention that formed the constitution under which Alabama was readmitted, and was elected a Representative from that State to the Fortieth Congress. He took his seat July 21, 1868, and was appointed a member of the Committee on Recon- struction. He introduced a bill, and subsequently reported the same from the Committee on Reconstruction, and secured its passage, providing for the appointment of midshipmen to the Naval Academy from the Southei'n States. He introduced several bills to promote the interests of his constituents, and to develop the resources of the Southern States, for example : a bill making a grant of lands to the Eureka Mining and Transportation Company of Alabama ; a bill granting to the Eupaula, Opelika, Oxford and Guntersville Railroad the right of way througli the public lands, and a subsidy to aid in its construction. He also introduced a bill securing certain rights to the lately reconstructed States, and a resolution instructing the Committee on Post-offices and Post-roads to enqiure into the expe- diency of furtlier legislation to seciu'c greater efficiency in the mail service in the States lately in rebellion." 331 JEHU BAKEE. ^EHU BAKER was bora in Fayette Coiinty, Kentucky, No- vember 4, 1822. He received an academical education, studied law, and located in Belleville, Illinois, for the prac- tise of bis profession. He was elected a Eepresentative from Illinois to the Thirty-ninth Congress, during which he served on the Com- mittee on Private Land Claims, on the Special Committee on the Civil Service, and as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Post-office Department. He was re-elected to the Fortieth Con- gress as a Eepublican, receiving 13,032 votes against 11,956 for the Democratic candidate. In the Fortieth Congress he served on the Committees on Education and Labor, and Freedmen's Aflairs. He delivered several speeches evincing much thought and careful study in their preparation. In a speech delivered July 20, 1807, on the President's message, he denounced the arrogance of Mr. Johnson in presuming to " take into his own hands and to subject to the poor fallible judgment of a single individual the immense work of restor- ing civil order, and guaranteeing republican governments to the dis- organized States of the Union." December 4, 1867, he gave a series of brief and cogent reasons for the repeal of the cotton tax. January 18, 1868, he delivered an eloquent and able speech against the pur- chase of Alaska, in the course of which he said that " the well-being of the nation loudly and imperatively demands a period of rest from territorial growth, during which it may harmonize its jarring and hostile elements, restore its crippled industries, complete its great channels of inter-communication, and unify itself by building up in the hearts of its people that ammr patrim which such immense num- bers of them have lost." 333 ■'^S *>;-Ge<;Eft!-io'^^"'' ^^^ ^^tC^^^^^^ p;-j:;^T)ELPH VAN" TRUMir. PHILADELPH YAN TRUMP. glllLADELPH VAN TRUMP was born in Lancaster, Ohio, |( November 15, 1810. He received a common school educa- tion, learned the art of printing and published for several years the Lancaster " Gazette and Enquirer." He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1838, and practised in partnership with H. F. Stanbery, with whom he had studied his profession. He was a delegate to the "Wliig National Convention wliieh nominated Gen- eral Scott for the Presidency, in 1852. He was a candidate for Sena- torial elector on the Fillmore ticket in 1856. He was president of the Bell and Everett Convention in 1860. After the outbreak of the Rebellion he took sides with the Democrats, and was three times their candidate for supreme judge of Ohio. In 1862 he was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and held the office until 1866, when he resigned. He was in that year elected a Representative from Ohio to the Fortieth Congress, as a Democrat, during which he served on the Committees on the Pacific Railroad and Manufactures. July 13, 1867 he obtained leave to print a speecli in which lie main- tained the riglit of Arkansas to be regarded as a State in the Union, comparing her with West Virginia, which he characterized as a " bastard Commonwealth, a mere political foundling, without a drop of Constitutional blood in her veins." Mr. Van Trumji offered a resolution for the purchase of the key of the Bastile for locking " certain rooms in the basement of the Capitol now being fitted up as a prison-house or bastile for the incar ceration of free-born but deluded American citizens." He made a long and able legal argument against impeachment, a speech on the rights of American citizens abroad, and subsequently several other speeches, 383 ALEXANDER H. JONES. "Sf^^LEXANDER H. JONES was bora in Buncombe County, ~'^ North Carolina, July 21, 1822. He received an academical education, was bred a farmer, engaged in mercantile pur- suits, and finally became an editor just before the breaking out of the rebellion. He took an uncompromising stand for the government of the United States, and in so doing provoked a hostility which compelled him to take refuge within the Union lines. He was com- missioned by General Burnside to raise a regiment of loyal North Carolinians, and while recruiting he was captured by the rebels. He was ironed and imprisoned at Asheville, Camp Vance, Camp Holmes, and in Libby Prison at Richmond, Virginia. He was con- scribed into the rebel army, but made his escape, November, ISGtt, without performing any service. He succeeded in reaching the Union lines at Cumberland, Maryland, December 7, 18G4. His health being broken by his long imprisonment, he was kindly cared for at Cincinnati, and Knoxville, Tennessee, iintil the surrender of General Lee, when he returned to his home. He took an active part in the reconstruction of North Carolina, and in the summer of 1865 he was elected to the convention to form a new State Constitution. Mr. Jones was elected to the Thirty-ninth Congress, but reconstruc- tion not having been consummated, he was not admitted. Having been re-elected to the Fortieth Congress, he was admitted to his seat July 20, 1868, and was subsequently elected to the Forty-first Congress. 834 GREEN B. RAUM. f'REEN B. RA.UM was born in Golconda, Illinois, Decem- ber 3, 1S29. After receiving a common school education, WL> at the age of eighteen, he commenced the stndy of law, and subsequently pursued his profession uninterruptedly for sixteen years, gaining a large and lucrative practise. In politics he was an anti- slavery Democrat, and at the inception of the rebellion he took a firm stand in favor of the Government. On the 23d of April, 1801, while attending a session of the court at Metropolis, he made the first war speech in Southern Illinois. During the following summer and fall he canvassed the southern section of the State, to promote the volunteering of troops for the war, and at the close of this impor- tant service entered the 56th Regiment of Illinois Infantry, in which he received the commission of major. He participated in the siege of Corinth, in May, 1862, and was soon after promoted successively lieutenant-colonel and colonel. In the winter of 1862-3 he was in the campaign of Central Missis- sippi, and in the following March was in the campaign against Vicks- burg, and commanded the Second Brigade, Seventh Division of the Seventeenth Army Corps, when the city surrendered. In Septem- ber, 1863, he had a short leave of absence to return home, where he addressed large meetings, and was the first man in that section of Illinois who advocated the emancipation proclamation of President Lincoln, and the enlistment of slaves in the national armies. On his return to his command he had the advance of his division on the march with Sherman from Vicksburg to Chattanooga, and was in the battle of Mission Eidge, where he was wounded through the left thigh, and carried ofi" the field. He recovered so as to join his com- mand on the 15th of February, at Huntsville, Alabama. The whole 335 2 GREEN B. KAUM. army, under Sherman, was soon on the march to the sea, and to Colonel Raum was assigned the duty of holding the line of communi- cation from Dalton southward, a distance of fifty miles. Having performed this duty satisfactorily, and reinforced and held Eesacca against Hood's army, he received the personal thanks of General Sherman. On the arrival of the army at Savannah, he was com- missioned a brigadier-general, and assigned to a command in the Shenandoah Valley. The war being virtually ended, and his ser- vices no longer needed, General Eaum resigned on the 6th of May, 1865, and went home to resume civil pursuits. In August, 1866, the Eepublicans of the Thirteenth Congressional District of Illinois nominated him as their Eepresentative in the Fortieth Congress. He was elected, and taking his seat in March, 1867, he was assigned to the Committees on Mileage and Military Affairs. He took a prominent part in the deliberations and debates of the House. Pending the Civil Appropriation bill, February 27, 186S, he said of the city of Cairo : " It is the great focal point in the "West for the building up of a large commercial city. Last year there were four thousand eight hundred and thirty-two steamboats that arrived at and departed from Cairo ; four hundred thousand cars of freight were shipped from that place ; and seventy-eight thousand passengers passed over the railroad there, besides those who arrived and departed on nearly five thousand steamboats that landed there. Although Cairo has now but about twelve thousand inhabitants, it has an immense commerce which is increasing day by day and year by year." July 7, 1868, he made an able argument on the Alaska purchase, maintaining that '• honor and good faith de- mand at the hands of the United States that the treaty should be executed in the spirit in which it was entered into." Among other noteworthy speeches of Mr. Eaum was one of much research on the International Pacific Eailroad bill, showing the " importance of the railroad to our people, and the economy of the United States aid- incr in its construction from Cairo to the Eio Grande," and another speech on the Eeconstruction of Yirginia, Mississippi and Texas. 386 '-y^iyBBSdl: e^L^ JOH]^ H. STOYER "OIIN II. STOVER was born at Aaronsburg, Centre County, Pennsylvania, April 2i, 1833. He received an academical education, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1857. He was district-attorney of Centre County until the commencement of the war, when he entered tlic army as a private, and was pro- moted to a captaincy in the 10th Pennsylvania three-months' Regi- ment. He was subsequently appointed major of the 106th Pennsyl- vania Volunteers, in which capacity he served two years and a half, and participated in seventeen engagements. He was detailed by the Secretary of War to recruit the lS4th Pennsylvania Volunteers, of which he was commissioned colonel, and commanded it until the close of the war, participating in the later battles and the capture of General Lee. Soon after the close of the war he settled in Missouri, locating in Versailles for tlie practise of his profession. He was elected a Repre- sentative to the Fortieth Congress to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Hon. Joseph W. MeCIurg, and took his seat December 7, 1868. As a member of the Committee on Elections he addressed the House at considerable length in favor of the risht of Mr. Anderson to his seat, which was contested. After giving the reasons for the laws regulating suflVage in Missouri, he said : " To some they may appear stringent, but gentlemen must remember that they had their baptism in blood, and many of our citizens first read them by the lurid glare of their burning homes. If an apology were needed I would point in triumph to a great State redeemed, regen- erated, and disenthralled from the bonds of slavery, consecrated for- ever to the Federal compact, an annual addition of one hundred thousand to her population, her waste places cultivated, and cities and towns springing up as if by magic." 337 THO]MAS E. IslOEL. ' JHOMAS E. KOEL, son of Hon. John W. Noel, a Kepre- Y"M^ sentative from Missouri, in the Thirty-nintli Congress, ■was born in Perryville, Missoui'i, April 3, 1839. Having been educated in the common English branches, he entered the office of his father as a law student. He was admitted to the bar when twenty years of age, and had but just entered upon a successful practise when his legal pursuits were interrupted by the war. "When the first call was made for volunteers, Mr. Noel hastened to the de- fense of the country. He was appointed major in the first organi- zation of the Missouri Volunteers, and served in that capacity until 1862, when lie accepted the commission of captain in tlic 19th Hegi- ment of Kegulai* Infantry. Upon the death of his father in 1863, Mr. Noel returned to his home on a short leave of absence, and was soon after " honored with a nomination and election to Congress by a constituency then in arms in defense of their homes from raiding rebels." After serving in the Thirty-ninth Congress, he was re- elected to the Fortieth Congress, but served only a few weeks when he died at St. Louis, October 3, 1867, of disease contracted while in the military service. Upon the announcement of his death in the House of Representatives, his colleague, Mr. Newcomb, said of him : '' Social and kind in his nature, he always attracted a large circle of personal friends, who, in despite of political difierences, were ever constant and true. High-toned and unstained by any vicious habits, his associations were pure, his tastes those of the true gentle- man. Mr. Noel was a religious man, and died in the faith of the Catholic Church, and was cheered with the consolations of religion in his last hours ; and as life sank apace and his end came to view, he seemed to review the past witii satisfaction, and looked into the future by faith, and was satisfied." 338 JAMES E. M^'COEMICE:. James R. McCORMICK was bom in Washington County S ^?''°""' "^"^"'^ ^' 1^2^- -f^° ^•^^"v-ed a common school mi education, studied medicine, and received the degree of M. D. m lSi9. He practised his profession until 1861, M'hen he was elected a member of the State Convention from tlie Cape Cxirar- dean District. In 18(;2 he was elected to the State Senate, but re- s.i^ned the following year, and was appointed brigadier-general of the enrolled militia in the Third Congressional District. In 18G3 he was appointed by President Lincoln surgeon of the Board of Euro Iment, and continued in this branch of the military service until the close of the war. In 1865 he was again elected to the Senate of Missour., but resigned on being elected as a Representative to the lortieth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Hou Thomas E Noell. He took his seat as a member of the Fortieth Congress, December 17, 1867, and served on the Committee on Pri- vate Land Claims. He acted with the Democratic party in Congress and strenuously opposed the impeachment. In a speech on that sub- ject, February 24, 1868, he asserted his opinion that this measure if adopted, would "prove a calamity to the whole people and to'all then- interests." After descanting on the delay of Congress to con- summate reconstruction, and speaking in favorable terms of President Joh.rson, Mr. McCormick added : " Sir, the proceedings of this day will find a place in the records of history, and men, in time to come will point back to this Congress as a legitimate child of revolution' who, impatient of restraint and intolerant of those who differed with Its views of public policy, did not hesitate to exclude from its deliber- ations the representatives of ten States in violation of the Constitu- tion of the United States, which each of its members had sworn to support." 339 DARWIN A. Fli^NEY. ARWIN A. FINNEY was born in Shrewsbury, Vermont, in 1814. Eemovino- to Pennsylvania in 1838, he located in Meadville, and graduated with high honors at Alleghany College. He subsequently studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1842, and attained to high standing in his profession. lie was elected to the Senate of Pennsylvania in 1854, was re-elected in 1857, and served until 1860. In 18GG he was elected a Eepresentative from Pennsylvania to the Fortieth Congress as a Eepublican, but on account of impaired health was able to occupy his seat but a few days during the short session of 1867. In hope that a change of scene might favorably affect his health, he went to Europe, but found no permanent benefit, and died in Brussels, Belgium, August 25, 1868. The announcement of his death having been made to the House of Bepresentatives, December 18, 1868, appropriate addresses M-ere delivered by his colleagues, Messrs. Pettis, O'Neil, Kandall and "Woodward. The address of Judge AVoodward contains the fol- lowing interesting passage : " There is no profession or occupation which brings out character into such sharp outlines as the practise of law ; and in the interior counties of Pennsylvania the lawyer is a man of all work. Not only is he an attorney and barrister, but he is a special pleader, a conveyancer, a land agent, a collector of debts, and very frequently the executor of his client's will, or adminisfl-ator of his estate and guardian of his minor children. Besides all this, he is expected to lead in every local improvement. He is to be the foremost man in the community in building churches, school-houses, turnpikes, and other internal improvements ; and he is to sympathize with and direct all the movements of the social life by which he is sm-rounded. Mr. Finney fulfilled faithfully all these multifarious conditions." 340 J. PEOCTOR KI^OTT. FROCTOE KNOTT was bom in Marion County, Ken- tucky, August 29, 1S30. After receiving a liberal educa- tion he studied law, and removed to Missouri in 1S50. lie was elected to the Missouri State Legislature in 1S5S, but resigned in 1859. In 1S60 he was elected attorney-general of the State, and was a delegate to the " Missouri Convention " of ISGl. He returned to Kentucky in 1861, and in May, 1867, was elected a Representative from tliat State to the Fortieth Congress. Chai'ges of disloyalty having been brought against him, his credentials were referi-ed to the Committee on Elections, who made a report, December 3, 1867, that he was entitled to his seat, and he was accordingly sworn in. lie was appointed to the Committee on Mines and Mining. His first speech was delivered January 22, 186S, on the death of Hon. Thomas E. Noell of Missouri, on which occasion he spoke " as a former citizen of the glorious commonwealth, and honored in times gone b}^ by tlie same noble constituency who sent him here." February 1, 1S6S, he made an elaborate argument in a contested election case, in behalf of John Young Brown of Kentucky. Marcli 18, 1868, he spoke at great length against the bill to guaranty to the several States a Republican form of government. In closing an argument against the Sufirage Amendment, "from a legal stand point," Mr. Knott said : " Like Richelieu, ' I appeal to time.' "When the passions and the prejudices of this hour shall have been forgotten, when some sub- ject of the future empire shall look back upon the days of the old Reptiblic, when liberty was protected and justice administered by law, or when, as I would rather hope, our government shall have reared again the ancient landmarks of the Constitution, and " Returning Justice lift aloft her scales," then, and perhaps not till tlien, will my position on this question be vindicated." 341 I^ATHAIN^IEL BOYDEN. ^ 'ATHANIEL BOYDEN was bom in Conway, Massacliusetts, August 16, 1796. His father, John Bovden, Jr., was a sol- Ji^A^ clier of the Eevolution, and was on duty at "West Point at the time of the attempted treason of Arnold. He entered "Wil- liams' College, in September, 1S17, and graduated at Union College, Schenectady, in July, 1S21. In the following year he removed to North Carolina, where he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in December, 1S23. He then devoted himself assiduously to his pro- fession, practising in the Supreme Court of Xorth Carolina regularly for more than thirty years. He was repeatedly a member of the North Carolina State Legislature in both the House and Senate. In 1817 he was a Kepresentative from North Carolina to the Thirtieth Congress in which he served on the Committee on Expenditures in the Navy Department. He declined a re-election for the purpose of devoting liis wliole time to his profession. After the close of the rebellion he aided in the reconstruction of his State, and as a Eepub- lican was elected a Eepresentative to the Fortieth Congress. He was admitted to his seat July 13, 1S6S, taking the test oath in a modified form, he having served in the Legislature of North Carolina under the Confederate Government, and his disabilities thus incurred having been removed by act of Congress. He was appointed on the Committee on the Revision of the Laws of the United States, and took a prominent part in legislation during the brief period of his service in the Fortieth Congress. He participated in the discussions on the Funding bill, the Tax bill, and the bill to strengthen the public credit. "When the subject of the tax on whiskey was under discussion. February 9, 1869, he spoke earnestly against the legislation which would tend to break up the small distilleries, which were numerous in his district. 343 ■.-R-IE1-- 'H^TORV or CCNC-f'ESS STEVENSON ARCHER. '^ "Stevenson AKCIIERwas bom in Ilartbrd Countj, Mary- land, Febi'uary 28, 1827. His grandfather, John x\rcher, was an ofSeer in the Revohition, and a member of Congress from 1801 to 1807. His father, Stevenson Archer, was a member of Con- gress from 1811 to 1817, and again from 1819 to 1821. The subject of this sketch graduated at Princeton College in 1810, adopted the profession of law, and was a member of the Maryland State Legisla- ture in 1851r. In 1866 he was elected a Representative from Mary- land to the Fortieth Congress as a Democrat, receiving 7,091 votes against 5,014 for the Republican candidate. He served on the Com- mittees on Naval Affairs, Expenditures on Public Buildings, and Education in the District of Columbia. In a speech, December 4, 1807, he advocated the repeal of the cotton tax, arguing from facts and figures that "its removal would benefit the very poorest class of the people of the South." Speaking, February 21, 1868, on the Naval Appropriation bill, Mr. Archer said: "If this House is in earnest with regard to the protection of the rights of our naturalized citizens, this, of all other times, is the time when there should be no reduction in the navy of the country. If we are in earnest in the speeches which have been made here and the resolutions which have been offered to protect the naturalized citizens of this country, I say that we ought to present to the world a stronger navy than we pre- sented even during the rebellion. We have got to protect them either by the exhibition of such a force or else by declaring war itself with foreign nations. I hope that their rights will be protected, even if it leads to a declaration of war." January 2.3, he spoke against the reduction of the whiskey tax. " It ought to stand," said he, " if for no other reason than the vindi- 3l;i 2 STEVENSON ARCHER. cation of the Government. If this country could enforce its laws against ten million people in arms against it, I say it presents a strange spectacle if it cannot enforce a law to collect the taxes." He urged that if the energy which the House had displayed in investi- gating the evidence against the President, had been used in investi- gating the frauds against the Government, those who had violated the law in reference to the whiskey tax would have been brought to punishment, adding : "While we go. on legislating in this way this 'whiskey ring,' or the men who are setting the law at defiance which fixes the tax on whiskey at two dollars a gallon, will set a law at defiance if the tax be fixed at fifty cents, or any other sum. I say it is due to the dignity of the Government that, instead of repealing the tax on whiskey, this House should take such measures as will bring those who violate the law to a proper punishment, and the energy of this House ought to be brought to bear for that purpose. When the majesty of the law has been established, and not before, let us legislate for the reduction of this tax." July 13, ISGS, he reviewed the policy of the Eepublican party, and its recently adopted platform. " In this contest for power," said lie, " the Eepublican party resembles, in their recklessness, Sampson of old when led into the temple of the Philistines. He, blind with fury and hate against the surrounding masses, who scoffingly looked upon him and upbraided him for the loss of power and strength which his own folly had de- stroyed, stood between the mighty pillars of that temple, and rending them asunder, all perished in one vast ruin. As Sampson seized these pillars even so did the Eepublican party seize upon the two great pillars which are the sujiports of our temple. I mean the Supreme Court and the Executive. By the power still left in this party they have striven and are still striving to uproot these pillars from their foundations, and overwhelm at one fell swoop the masses of the American people." 344 DANIEL M. VAN AUKEN. [ANIEL M. VAN AUKEN is a native of Pennsylvania, and was born January 15, 1S2G. He graduated at Union College, New York, in 1S52. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1S54. In the following year he was made prosecuting-attorney for Pike County, Pennsylvania. In 18GG he was elected a Representative from Pennsylvania to the Fortieth Congress as a Democrat. He served on the Committees on Revolu- tionary Claims and the Militia. Tiic only speeches made by Mr. Van Auken during the Fortieth Congress were upon the subject of the impeachment of President Johnson — the first on the Slth of February, ISGS, on tlie resolution reported for the impeachment of the President, and the second, two days later, on the articles of impeachment. lu the latter he denounced " the red-hot haste " with which the committee re- ported in favor of impeachment, and explained it on the ground that " the Jacobin revolutionists in this House fear exposition." He gave as the sole occasion for " this grand march of destruction " that " the President of the United States strives to rid himself of Edwin M. Stanton," and maintained that it could be " shown by the contempo- raneous history of the Constitution, by the uniform practise of the government, general principles of interpretation, and decisions of the highest judicial tribunals of the country, that the President had the legal authority, and had he done less would have been derelict of duty." Ho concluded that " the argument falls, and the cries of Congress shriekers are stilled. A just verdict comes and has been coming from an ever-watchful people, which says these oficnders against their liberties shall be coimemned." 345 LAWEENOE S. TEIMBLE. (Lawrence S. TRIMBLE was bom iu Fleming County, Kentucky, August 26, 1825. After receiving an academical education, lie studied and practised law. In 1851 and 1852 he was a member of tlie State Legislature of Kentucky. He was judge of the Equity and Criminal Court of the First Judicial Circuit of the State from 1856 to 1860. He was several years president of the New Orleans and Ohio Railroad Company. In 1861 he was the Union candidate for Representative to the Thirty-seventh Congress, against II. C. Burnett, who, having been elected, -was expelled for treasonable conduct, and subsecpiently took part in the rebellion. During this canvass Mr. Trimble was exposed to much personal dan- ger. His life was threatened, and he Avas urged by his friends to withdraw, but he fticed the danger, and made Union speeches throuo-h- out the district. After the emancipation proclamation was issued, he opposed Mr. Lincoln's administration and the policy of the war. Mr. Trimble was a candidate for the Thirty-eighth Congress in oppo- sition to Hon. Lucian Anderson, a supporter of the administration and the war, -who was declared elected. For the next Congress, Mr. Trimble was again a candidate, was elected, and served on the Com- mittees on Revolutionary Claims, Manufactures, and Revenue Frauds. He was re-elected to tlie Fortieth Congress, receiving 9,787 votes against 1,780 for Symes, the Republican candidate. Mr. Trimble's seat was contested on the charge that he was disqualified on account of having been guilty of acts of disloyalty to the Government. The Committee on Elections, however, reported in his favor, and he was admitted to his seat. He served on the Committee on Invalid Pen- sions, and addressed the House on several subjects, such as the Padu- cah Bridge bill, the impeachment, partisan viudictivencss, etc. 340 ^-- fc.^ hoklawse;-;' .l . ,..-;.x3_i. SEPRESEKTA-rr/E TP.OU KEKT'JUKV C'ICFAVCD roR BARI,;.; nrsroayor CC^C^i BE^JAMIX F. LOAN. •^^^ENJAMIN F. LOAN was born ia Hardinsburg, Breekin- ^^i ^'"^SO County, Kentucky, Octoljei' 4^ 1819. He received jfejl an academical education, studied law, and removed to Mis- souri in 1838, settling in St. Joseph for the practise of his profes- sion. On the breaking out of the rebellion, he actively' espoused tlie cause of the Union, and entering the army did active service as a brigadier-general. In 1862 he was elected a Representative from Missouri to the Thirty-eighth Congress, and after his admission he was reported against by the Committee on Elections, but the action of the Committee was not sustained by the Ilouse, and he retained his seat. He was subsequently re-elected to the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses, receiving in the last election 10,9-12 votes against 3,980 for the opposing candidate. In the course of his three terms in Congress he served on the Committees on Military Affairs, the Pacific Eailroad, Freedmen's Affairs, and the Debts of the Loyal States ; and in the Fortieth Congress as chairman of the Com- mittee on Revolutionary Pensions. Mr. Loan gave expression to radical views on most of the great questions which came before Congress. In a speech on the Supplementary Reconstruction bill, he maintained that " no reconsti'uction can be successful that contem- plates a union of authority of loyalists and traitors." He opposed the bill for the admission of Alabama, asserting that he was " not willing to release tlic grasp of the Federal Government placed upon the rebel States so long as the rebel spirit shall rule in those States." He pronounced boldly and decidedly against the purchase of Alaska, declaring that "wlien Russia comes in the character of a 'Jeremy Diddler,' claiming the fruits of the confidence game which he has been playing, I respectfully ask to be excused from acceding to his unjust demands." 347 WILLIAM H. KOOXTZ. ^^ILLIAM H. KOONTZ was bora in Somerset, Pennsyl- vania, July 15, 1S30. He received a common school O^ education, studied and practised law. In 1854 he became district-attorney for Somerset County, and held the office three years. In ISGl, 1862, and 1SG3 he was protlionotary and clerk of the courts of Somerset County. From the first he acted with the Eepublicau party, and in 1861: was elected a Eepresentative from Pennsylvania to the Thirty -ninth Congress, and was re-elected to the Fortieth Con- gress. He served on the Committees on the District of Columbia, and on Expenditures in the Interior Department. Mr. Koontz ad- vocated a resolution for the relief of the destitute in the Southern States, not only as a measure dictated by the teachings of Christianity, but as a '• most powerful measure of reconstruction." On the 25th of January, he addressed the House on the Supplementary Reconstruc- tion bill, which he maintained, with much force of reasoning, was necessary to a proper enforcement of the reconstruction acts hereto- fore passed, and to a just and fair settlement of this vexed question. Although he at first voted against impeachment, yet he finally favored the proceeding, and in a speech, March 2, 1868, he argued that the violation of the tenure of office act was a sufficient ground for summoning Mr. Johnson to the bar of the Senate, closing with the remark : " If the highest officer of the government has violated the laws, and subjected himself to removal from office, a law-abiding and intelligent people will acquiesce in the verdict." Mr. Koontz delivered in the House an impressive and appropriate eulogy on Hon. Thaddeus Stevens, whom he characterized as " ripe in years and in wisdom, and honored with the confidence and love of his fellow-countrymen." 348 y^^-y^^il^ £^~Z^-7^ <^ 1 HON -a::.: :.'-jjh ?::vntz i^. ^■C^-€. S. NEAVTOI^ PETTIS. NEWTON PETTIS was born in Lenox, Ashtabula County, Olilo, October 10, 1827. He began the study of hxw with '^^f Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, and subsequently read in the office of H. L. Richmond, at Meadville, Pennsylvania, where he made his residence and practised his profession. InlSClhewas appointed by President Lincoln an associate justice for the Territory of Colorado, but resigned the office in the following year. He was elected a Representative from Pennsylvania to. the Fortieth Con- gress, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Hon. Darwin A. Finney. He was sworn in as a member of the Fortieth Congress, December 7, 1868, and was appointed on the Committee on Elec- tions. His first speech in the House was delivered December IS, when he announced the decease of Hon. Darwin A. Finney, his predecessor. From the Committee on Elections Mr. Pettis reported in favor of the contestant in the case of Chaves vs. Clever for the seat of delegate in Congress from New Mexico. On the taking of the final vote, by which the contestant was admitted by 105 against 10, Mr. Dawes, chairman of the Committee, remarked : " The case has come before the committee, some of it in a foreign language, mnch of it in a manner altogether unprecedented and unlike any other examination wo have had to make. The committee have ex- amined it with great patience, and have heard the parties fully upon the subject. The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Pettis), com- ing fresh into the committee with the vigor of youth, and not worn out as some of us have been by the labors of this committee from year to year, has addressed himself with a freshness that has really done the committee good to the conclusion to which all the commit- tee have come." 349 FRANCIS W. KELLOGG. 1 >^"^^ ^SA'Sgr^RANCIS W. KELLOGG was born inWorthington, Hamp- shire County, Massachusetts, May 30, ISIO. Having re- ceived a limited education, he removed to Michigan and engaged in the himber trade. In 1856-57 he was a member of the Michigan Legislature. He was elected a Kepresentative from Michi- gan to the Thirty-sixth Congress, and served on the Committee on Invalid Pensions. He was re-elected to the Thirty -seventh Congress, during which he served on the Committee on Public Lands and Expen- ditures in the Post-office Department. He was also re-elected to the Thirty-eighth Congress, and served on the Committee on Military Affairs. In 1865 he was appointed by President Lincoln collector of Internal Revenue for the Southern District of Alabama, where- upon he removed to Mobile. He was elected a Representative from Alabama to the Fortieth Congress, and on the 21st of July, 18GS, was admitted to take the oath of office. Mr. Kellogg thereupon took his seat in the Fortieth Congress, and was appointed to the Committee on Commerce. He took an active part during the brief period of his service, introducing several measures designed to benefit the region which he represented, for instance : a bill to provide for the improvement of the bay and harbor of Mobile ; a bill granting the New Orleans, Mobile and Chattanooga Eailroad the right of way through the public lauds ; and a bill to renew the grant of lands to aid in the construction of a railroad from Selma to Gadsden in the State of Alabama. He also introduced a resolution directing the Postmaster-general to open negotiations with the several European governments with whom we have postal trea- ties for a further reduction of the rates of international postage, 350 JACOB S. GOLLADAY. PACOB S. GOLLADAY was bora in Lebanon, Wilson County, Tennessee, January 9, 1S19, and was educated at Campbell Academy. lie removed to Nashville in 1838, and thence to Kentucky in 1845. In 1851 and 1S52 he was a mem- ber of the State Legislature of Kentucky. In 1853 he was elected State Senator. In 1860 he was an elector on the Bell and Everett ticket. In August, 1867, he was elected a Representative fmin Ken- tucky to the Fortieth Congress, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Elijah Ilise, who was elected to the Fortieth Congress in May, 1867, and a few days after committed suicide, alleging the gloomy political prospects of the country as a reason for the act. As Mr. Ilise died before the certificate of election was issued, the oppos- ing candidate, who had received but about one-fourth of the votes cast, contested the seat, even after Mr. Golladay had been chosen at a special election to fill the vacancy. The Committee on Elections reported in favor of Mr. Golladay, and he was sworn in December 5, 1867, after having been permitted to address the House in his own behalf. On the 21th of January following, Mr. Golladay introduced resolutions of respect for the memory of his predecessor, which he advocated in well-chosen words of eulogy. February 21, he made an elaborate speech against impeachment. June 15, 1868, Mr. Golla- day spoke against the reconstructed State Government of Tennes- see, in answer to a speech of Mr. Maynard, delivered the 12th of December previous, declaring that he spoke as one who " first saw the light in that once grand old State," to " vindicate her character from the unjust aspersions which have been so wantonly heaped upon her true citizens." February 13, 1869, the House being in Commit- tee of the Whole on the state of the Union, Mr. Golladay made a long and elaborate speech to show that the election of General Grant to the Presidency was an event fraught with evil to the country. 351 THOMAS LAUEEISTS JON"ES. [HOMAS LAUEENS JONES was born on bis father's estate, " White Oak," in Eutherford County, North Caro- lina, January 21, 1819, and was reared in the village of Spartanburg, South Carolina. After pursuing his studies at the Columbian College, of South Carolina, and at Yale College, he grad- uated at Princeton, New Jersey in ISiO, and subsequently at the Law School of Cambridge. After travelling in Europe two years, he further prosecuted the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in lSi6. lie was a member of the Kentucky State Legislature in 1853 and 1854, and was a delegate to several State and National Conventions. In May, 1867, he was elected a Eepresentative from Kentucky to the Fortieth Congress, and was admitted to his seat December 3, 1867, serving on the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. July 25, he proposed a resolution requesting the President, "in furtlierance of tlie harmony, fraternity and union of our beloved country, be requested to issue a proclamation of complete amnesty." December 16, Mr. Jones introduced a resolution, which passed 'the House by a vote of 124 to 27, " that all females in the employment of the Government be allowed equal pay when they perform like services with males." On the last day of the Fortieth Congress Mr. Jones made a speech in favor of restoring the "Washing- ton family relics to Mrs. Eobert E. Lee, in which he said : " If General Grant at the fall of Yicksburg could allow his prison- ers to retire with the arms he had subdued, and if he could, with more majestic courage and dignity of soul, on the final field of Ap- pomattox return his surrendered sword to the grand leader of the rebellions hosts himself, can we not find it in our hearts to restore to the unofi'ending wife of his bosom these poor tokens of peace, the treasured relics of her ancestors ? Oh, how glorious to be ' In war renowned, in peace sublime.' " !ic.'r.L'riiuM.\.. :^. JONifS. ASA p. GROYEE. ^J^^SA V. GEOVEE was Lorn in Ontario County, New York, ^^^^ in 1819. He was educated at Centre College, Kentucky, "^^IT ^^^^ became a resident of that State in 1817. He studied and practised law, and in 1857 he was elected to the Kentucky State Senate. He was re-elected in 1861, and remained in office eight years. In May, 1867, he was elected a Eepresentative from Ken- tucky to the Fortieth Congress, as a Democrat. Acts of disloyalty having been alleged against him, his credentials were referred to the Committee on Elections who reported him as qualified, and ho took his seat as a member of the Fortieth Congress, December 3d, 1867. He was appointed a member of the Committee on Expenditures on the Public Buildings. He introduced a bill " to encourage com- merce and internal trade by facilitating direct importations," which was referred to the Committee on Commerce. Mr. Grover favored an appropriation " towards completing the Louisville and Portland Canal," and advocated it in a speech, June 29, 1868, making the fol- lowing interesting statements : " Let it be remembered that the Ohio Eiver and its tributaries drain the whole of parts of ten States of the Union, the great grainery of the country, the Egypt of the nation, and is one of the most important in a system giving eighteen thousand miles of navigable water. ... It is the matured judgment of those who are believed to know that the amount of freight transported on the Ohio Eiver in the year 1867, including rafts of timber and lumber, equaled 3 733,420 tons ; that the average distance to which said freight was carried was five hundred and sixty-seven miles ; to transport which would require thirty-five railroads three hundred miles long, running foiu- heavily-laden trains each day." 053 ADAM J. GLOSSBEENNEE. "^IMn ^^^^ J- GLOSSBEENNER was boru in Hagerstown, Maryland, August 31, 1810. He received a common -^iS^^j school education, and was apprenticed to the printing bus- iness. When seventeen years old he journeyed westward, and worked as foreman in the office of the Ohio " Monitor," and afterwards of the "Western Telegraph," at Hamilton, Ohio. In 1829 he returned to Maryland, and subsequently settled at York, Penn., where he edited the York " Gazette" from 1835 to 1838. He was clerk of the Pennsyl- vania Legislature in 1838, and during two years ensuing was in charge of transportation on the State railroad at Columbia. He was cashier of the contingent funds of the House of Kepresentatives for the Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Congresses. In 1848 and 1849 he was in the State Department as a confidential clerk to Secretary Buchanan. He was sergeant-at-arms of the House of Representa- tives for the Thirty-first, Thirty-second, Thirty-third, Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth Congresses. In 1860 and 1861 he was President Buchanan's private secretary. In 1863 he established the Philadel- phia "Age." In 1864 he was elected a Representative from Penn- sylvania to the Thirty-ninth Congress, and was re-elected to the Fortieth Congress. Addressing the House in opposition to the impeachment of President Johnson, he said : " The little band of Democratic Representatives with which it is my pride to be num- bered and associated on this floor, have opposed this unrighteous movement step by step. Outnumbered, our rights as a minority trampled upon, every barrier established in the rules of the House by our predecessors' swept away at the behest of party impatience or party convenience, we cannot prevent, and under the recently emas- culated rules of the House, we can no longer even postpone this wrong." 354 CHAELES DENISOE". pi 'J' riARLES DENISON was born in Wyoming Valley, Penn- sylvania, January 23, 1818. The family of which he came is one of distinction in the Wyoming Valley. His grand- father was one of the victims of the massacre of Wyoming. His uncle, Hon. George Denison, was prominent in the politics of Penn- sylvania, and a Representative in Congress from 1819 to 1823. The subject of this sketch graduated at Dickinson College in 1838, and adopted the profession of law, which he continuously and suc- cessfully practised until his election to the Thirty-eighth Congress in 1SG2. He was in 1861 again elected a Representative to Congress from the Twelfth District of Pennsylvania, embracing the counties of Luzerne and Susquehanna. He was re-elected to the Fortieth Congress, but was in his seat only a few days, when he was pros- trated by pulmonary disease which had been long preying upon him, and died at his home in Wilkesbarre, June 27, 1867. On the occa- sion of announcing his death to the House of Representatives, July 10, his colleague Mr. Boyer said : " He was a man of sound judg- ment, patriotic impulses, and inflexible purpose ; modest and with- out ostentation, but full of courage and determination to meet the requirements of every occasion. No possible temptations of personal advantage could swerve him from his convictions of public duty ; and he would make no compromise, even indirectly, which had the least appearance of a surrender of principle. Correct in business affairs, kind, steadfast, and true in his domestic and social relations, his private, like his public life, was above reproach. Death to him was neither unexpected nor terrible." Describing his last interview with his dying colleague, Mr. Boyer said : " He spoke like one whose peace was made with God, and whose conscience was void of offence toward man." 355 JOHN B. OALLIS. aS*® OHN B. CALLIS was bora in Fayetteville, North Carolina, January 3, 1S28. He removed to Carroll County, Ten- nessee, in 183i, and thence to Wisconsin in ISiO, where he received a common school education, and engaged in business pur- suits. Soon after the breaking out of the rebellion, he entered the Union army as a captain in the 7th Wisconsin, and was promoted in 1S62 to be lieutenant-colonel of the same regiment, in which he served until he was badly wounded in the battle of Gettysburg, July, 1, 18G3, and was consequently honorably mustered out, De- cember 29, 18G3. He entered the Veteran Eeserve Corps in ISG-i, and was on duty in Washington, District of Columbia, as superin- tendent of the War Department until December, 1865. He was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers, March 7, ISGi. After the close of the war he was appointed captain in the 45th United States Inf^mtry, and major and lieutenant-colonel by brevet in the regular army. In 18G5 he settled in Alabama, and resigned his commission February 4, 1S68, for the purpose of devoting his atten- tion to civil pursuits. He was elected a Kepresentative from the Fifth District of Alabama to the Fortieth Congress, as a Republican, and having been admitted to his seat July 21, 1SG8, was appointed a member of the Committee on Enrolled Bills. He introduced three bills providing for the establishment of mail routes in Alabama, and five bills for the removal of political disabilities from southern citi- zens. He also introduced a bill granting a loan of $5,000,000, of the 5 per cent, bonds of the United States to the New Orleans and Selma Railroad and Immigrant Association, and a bill granting lands in the State of Alabama to the Tennessee and Coosa Railroad Company. 356 Eas^ln-GeoEPK^"* H' 'M .J'- 'uri >-■ ' ■"■' ■'■'''' ■.l■,l■l'.l■::il^N'^ATlv^ fi-:['14 Alabama 7; ;i tiAPKt ■:^^ r:^ 37 f^ARv^ ROW 'icw ve;^ OAKES AMES. ^AKES AMES was born in Easton, Bristol County, Massa- cliusetts, January 10, 1804. His father, Oliver Ames, many years ago began the business of manufacturing shov- els in a small way, which has developed into tlie immense establish- ment employing hundreds of men under the control of O. Ames & Sons. Years ago, Oakes Ames, while still enlarging and extending his original business, entered the wider field of railroad enterprise. He invested capital and inspired energy in several languishing rail- road enterprises, and was largely concerned in the construction of extended lines of railway in Iowa. When the Pacific Eailroad was regarded by multitudes of intelli- gent men as impracticable, if not impossible, Mr. Ames, with wise faith in the future, invested largely, and contributed in man}' ways to the success of the greatest material achievement of the age. His brother, Oliver Ames, entered into the enterprise, gave almost un- divided attention to its afiairs, and is now president of the road. Notwithstanding the demands of a large business, Mr. Oakes Ames gave some time and attention to political affairs. He served for two years as a member of the Executive Council of Massachusetts. In 1862 he was elected a Representative from Massachusetts to the Thirty-eighth Congress, and was re-elected to the Thirty-ninth, For- tieth and Forty-first Congresses. He served on the Committees on Manufactures, and the Pacific Railroad. He was not in the habit of making speeches, and yet ho exerted much infiuence in legislation. 357 ADOS"IJAH S. WELCH. j^^ DONIJAH S. WELCH was born in the State of Connec- ticut, in 1821. He graduated at the University of Mich- th^O Jga") sind afterwards became one of its professors. He was for fifteen years at the head of the Normal School of Michigan. Soon after the breaking out of the rebellion he entered the Union army, in which he served until the close of the war. He subse- quently settled in Florida, and gave efficient aid in the Keconstruc- tion of that State. He was elected a Senator of the United States from Florida, and took his seat July 2, 1868, for the term ending March 3, 1869. February 8, 1869, he delivered in the Senate a brief but logical and forcible argument in favor of the Suffrage Amendment, in which he said of the Southern negro : " Intellectu- ally and socially below the dominant class, but equal, at least, to the pooi'er class of southern whites, he is, if we except the southern loyalists, who are limited in number, infinitely superior to them all as a patriot ; and I weigh my words well when I say that if his igno- rance were as rayless as the darkest midnight, if he never had a dozen thoughts in all his life and never changed their course, his steady, unflinching love of this Union would render him a far safer depositary of the right of suffrage than he who has compassed all knowledge and all science, and hates his country." In a brief speech on the Civil Appropriation bill, March 2, 1869, he protested against " a distinction being made between male and female clerks, as to the value of labor," and on the same day ably maintained the value and importance of the Department of Educa- tion. At the close of his term in the Senate, Mr. Welch accepted the presidency of the Iowa State Agricultural College. 358 GEORGE M. ADAMS. George M. ADAMS was bom in Knox County, Kentucky, December 20, 1S37. He was educated at Centre College, Danville, Kentucky, studied law, and was clerk of the CircuU Court of Knox County from 1S59 to 1S61. In August, 1S61, he raised a company for service in the war, and entered the Union army as captain in the 7th Kentucky Volunteers. He was soon after appointed additional paymaster of volunteers, and served in that capacity until the close of the war. In May, 1S67, he was elected a Representative from Kentucky to the Fortieth Congress, as a Dem- ocrat, and took his seat July 8. He was appointed to serve on the Committees on the Militia and Freed men's Affairs. Two days after his admission he presented the protests of his colleagues against the action of the House by which their credentials were referi-ed to the Committee on Elections. November 25, he addressed the House in favor of admitting Mr. Golladay to his seat. As a member of the Committee on Freedmen's Affairs he sturdily opposed the bill to continue the bureau for the relief of freedmen and refugees. In a speech on this subject, March 17, 1868, he said : " This country, under its present financial embarrassments, is not able to continue in existence a bureau for the support and maintenance of any class of its people, and more especially for the support and education, as pro- posed by the bill, of this class of roving vagabonds called freedmen, whose only idea of freedom is that it confers upon them the right to be idle, and whose destitution is the result of their own indolence." He subsequently proposed, as an amendment to the bill, that " said bureau shall be immediately withdrawn and discontinued in all the States now represented in Congress, and shall be discontiniied in the remaining States, as soon as they shall be restored to tlieir former political relations with the Government of the United States." sno GEOEGE W. ANDERSON. GEORGE W. ANDERSON was bora in Jefferson County, ^jaei Tennessee, May 22, 1832. lie graduated at Franklin Col- i'^ lege, Tennessee, and adopted the profession of law. He settled in Missouri in 1853, and became editor of the " North-East Missourian." In 1859 and 1860 he was a member of the Missouri Legislature. Early in 1801 he organized a Home Guard, of which he was chosen colonel. He was subsequently commissioned a colonel of militia, and commanded the 49th Regiment of Mis- souri in active service. In 18G0 he was a Presidential Elector, and in 1862 was elected a State Senator. In 1865 he was elected a Representative from Missouri to the Thirty-ninth Congress, in which he served on the Committee on Public Lands, and as chairman of the Committee on Mileage. He received a certificate of election to the Fortieth Congress, but his opponent, Colonel William F. Switzler, made a contest for the seat, which was finally decided in favor of Mr. Anderson, January 21, 1869. The following extract from a speech made by Mr. Anderson before the House during the discussion of the case, was in reply to some charges affecting his loyalty : " In 1860, 1861, and 1862 I was a pro-slavery man. I did not agree with Mr. Lincoln when he issued his emancipation proclamation, but I did not intend to separate myself from the Union men of the country. I accepted that proclamation in good faith. I was the owner of some slave property, and the moment I accepted that proclamation I emancipated every slave I owned, and I did not reserve them for the purpose of presenting a claim for them. Sir, I state upon the floor of the House of Representatives that I was the first man in North Missouri who raised an armed organization against the rebel- lion. I was the first man to whom arms were furnished for the pur- pose of suppressing traitors." SGO I HOK. SAMUEL J PJ^]SDALI . EEPBESENTATIVE PfiOM PENN STLVAIilA W- H BARNES,* CP 37 PARK prt^vt SAMUEL J. EANDALL. 't®A]\IUEL J. EANDALL was born in PhiLadelplua, October ^^ 10, 1S2S. He received a common school education, and was ^ bred a merchant, devoting himself to mercantile pursuits in his native city. He was four years a member of the city councils of Philadelphia. In 1858 and 1859 he was a member of the State Senate of Pennsylvania. In 1862 he was elected a Eepresentative from Pennsvlvania to the Thirty-eighth Congress, in which he served on the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. Ee-elected to the Thirty-ninth Congress, he served on the Committees on Banking and Currency, and Expenditures in tlie State Department, and Retrench- ment. He was re-elected to the Fortieth Congress, during which he served on the Committees on Banking and Currency, Retrenchment, and the Assassination of President Lincoln. Elected as a Democrat, he acted constantly with his party friends in Congress. Without occupying the attention of the House with long speeches, Mr. Ran- dall indicated his constant interest in pending legislation by fre- quently participating briefly and pointedly in discussions. Twice during the Fortieth Congress he was called upon to address the House upon resolutions relating to the death of colleagues He spoke briefly and feelingly in eulogy upon Hon. Charles Denison and Hon. Darwin A. Finney, the latter of whom he characterized as his " warm friend, although of different political opinions." On February 29, 1868 he ar-ued that President Johnson should not be impeached for the violation of an unconstitutional law. He favored the granting of pecuniary aid to the destitute in the South, and deprecated tlie discharge of Government employes from the navy yards and else- where during the winter months. 8G1 CHAELES HAIGHT; ^^y Princeton College, New Jersey, in 1838; subsequently studying and practising law. From 1810 to 1842 he was master and examiner in Chancery for Greene County, New Y^ork. He was justice of the peace in the town of Catskill for four years. In 1849 he was a member of the Assembly of the State of New York. In 1858 he became judge of Greene County, and held the office four years. From 1801 to 18G4 he was a member of the State Senate. He was elected a Representative from New York to the Fortieth Congress to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Roscoe Conkling, and took his seat November 30, 1SG7. He was re-elected to the Forty-first Congress as a Republican, receiving 12,543 votes against 11,240 for the Democratic candidate. During the Fortieth Congress he served on the Committee on Private Land Claims, and the Committee on Expenditures in the Interior Department. On February 4, 1868, he spoke briefly but forcibly in favor of measures to protect the rights of American citizens abroad, asserting that " the just and righteous position here taken, and which is hereafter to be maintained, will insure to every American citizen, no matter what his origin, or how humble he may be, the freedom of the world." February 4, in a long and able argument he maintained that " there is a great public necessity for the impeachment of Andrew Johnson." May 12, in speaking on a bill relating to the Pacific Railroad, he maintained that it " is very important that Con- gress should regulate the tarifl' of charges upon these roads." Al- though representing a district somewhat interested in the Niagara Ship^Canal, he spoke against the proposed work on the ground that " the nation cannot now afford to make the expenditure." 367 ADDISON H. LAFLIIT. ^"^^DDISON H. LAFLIN was born in Lee, Berkshire County, iJ^%^ Massacliusetts, October 21, 1S23, and graduated at Wil- "^^KK^'^A^^;' ^ iiiA/iLJ,i,.,i..-^^-^ ' K;,v. :J ^'ANf ^■'^>'~\'Q'«^ '"y^ m ^^M.^'fl ^Ki ^>^^ HP «J>;? mmt ^■^: ,^f^^.t^^ fs m ^ *|^ iRi ^^-^f^W ^^^^ »\ ' - . : A' u Mfiiym mf^ r^ZMmm^ ^rmM^^ m A(\\\k h^sMmmiM^w i^^^' 'm ,/^!^-: \f-.' -■- ->r\'-^ '": A, liUP^Mii^ lf>. *,;*.', I , LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1 II' 11 1 1 013 785 562 8 •