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E ?H0 
 
 Samuel Finley Viyiton. 231 
 
 SAMUEL FINLEY VINTON.* 
 
 \^ 
 By Madelene Vinton Dahlgren. 
 
 It was peculiarly characteristic of the patriotic unselfishness 
 that was the dominating principle of the public career of Samuel 
 F. Vinton that he never paused, while laboring with unremitting 
 zeal for his country, to prepare any journal, or written notes of 
 any kind, that might assist the biographer to give the story of his 
 own life. 
 
 Unaided, therefore, by that light which he himself could 
 best have thrown upon the record of a service that was singu- 
 larly useful to the nation, one must look elsewhere for the 
 desired information. 
 
 In so far as the facts that meet the common eye are con- 
 cerned, the Congressional records give the official history, but 
 back of this, and forever screened by his reticence regarding 
 himself, stands after all the real man, the impelling motives, the 
 essential qualities, that moulded all his acts into one consistent 
 whole. 
 
 It may seem startling to say so, but his ab.solute lack of 
 personal ambition, which repeated the severest types of the 
 ancients, was to my apprehension unfortunate in its conse- 
 quences. For, had Mr. Vinton grasped as most men do the 
 opportunities of the power that high station gives, of the occa- 
 sions which were offered to him, and from which he turned 
 aside, it is safe to say, that an influence that was never exerted 
 but for the right would have vastly broadened. 
 
 Ambition properly regulated is for the American citizen a 
 divine right of sovereignty! In this connection I desire to quote 
 from some remarks made by the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop at a 
 
 *This interesting and valuable sketch of Mr. Vinton was written by 
 his daughter, Mrs. Dahlgren. of-i;*tw-¥tyrk-City. It was prepared at the 
 request of the Secretary of this Society for publication in this volume. 
 Mr. Vinton's argument on the boundary line between Ohio and Virginia 
 appears elsewhere in this volume and is one of the ablest legal pleas ever 
 made before an American court. — H. O. R. 
 
232 Ohio Arch and His. Society Publications. [\'OL. 4 
 
 meeting of the Massachusetts Historical Society, held in October, 
 1890. when Mr. Winthrop said of Mr. \'inton : 
 
 "He was a man of eminent ability, of great political expe- 
 rience and wisdom, and of tlie highest integrity and personal 
 excellence. He might at one time have been Secretary of the 
 Treasury had he been willing to accept that office. He might 
 have been Speaker of the House of Representatives of the 
 Ignited States in 1^47 had he not positively declined the nomi- 
 nation." 
 
 Are these not offices which, as Mr. Webster said of the 
 Presidency, "should be neither sought for )ior declined'' f 
 
 Reverting to the "Vinton Memorial," compiled by the Rev. 
 John Adams \'inton, I find that the subject of this sketch was 
 the direct descendant in the sixth generation of John Vinton, of 
 Lynn, Massachusetts, who emigrated to America in 1»US. The 
 traditions of the race all confirm the idea that the founder of the 
 family in this country was a descendant of the de Vintonnes who 
 were exiled from France in the seventeenth century, on account 
 of being Huguenot. 
 
 Samuel Finley was born at South Hadley, Massachu.setts, 
 September 25, 171)2, and called after his great uncle. Dr. Samuel 
 Finley Vinton, who.se name appears, as also that of his grand- 
 father, in the Mas.sachusetts archives as one of the "minute 
 men," that marched on the "Lexington alarm" in 1775. 
 
 Abiathan \'inton, the father of Samuel iMuley, was an 
 adopted son of Dr. \'inton, who bequeathed to him most of his 
 estate. He is spoken of in the "Vinton Memorial" as "a sub- 
 stantial farmer in easy circumstances." He married in 17!*1, 
 Sarah Day. The progenitor of the Day family emigrated from 
 England to New England in l()o4. In the Day genealogy occur 
 the names of a President of Yale and a Secretary of State of the 
 State of Connecticut, and this honorable record continues to be 
 sustained. We would especially mention a first cousin to whom 
 Mr. Vinton was greatly attached, Mr. Henry Day, of New York 
 City, wlio is conspicuous as an able jurist. 
 
 Samuel Finley being the oldest of seven children, it was the 
 intention of his father to train him as a farmer, so that he might 
 be of assistance in the labors of the farm. But from an early 
 
Samuel Finley Vinton. 233 
 
 A^^ the thoughtful, studious boy ardently desired to receive a 
 liberal education, and his wise father soon became convinced 
 that it was his duty to aid the wishes of his son. A younger 
 sister used to relate with great glee the conversation at a family 
 council at the time it was finally decided to send "Finley" (as 
 he was always called at home) to college, when each member 
 had to suggest something they were willing to give up, so as to 
 make a common contrii)ution towards the desired end. A 
 charming picture of a united family, in which the adv^antages 
 of a liberal education were properly appreciated. 
 
 Mr. Vinton graduated at \Villian)s College in 1814. He 
 studied law with the Hon. Stephen Titus Hosmer, afterwards 
 Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut; and while 
 he was a law student he gave lessons in Latin. In 1816 he was 
 admitted to the Connecticut bar. Finding that the profession 
 in New England was somewhat crowded, he soon decided to 
 seek the wider scope of the West, and went to Ohio, fortified 
 with some excellent letters of introduction. After visiting 
 several of the then principal towns of the State, he finally went 
 to Gallipolis, a village of French emigres, on the Ohio River. 
 He had a letter for Mr. Bureau, one of the most influential men 
 of the place, and seeking on his arrival to present it, he was 
 directed to the Court House, where that gentleman was found 
 by him, engaged in the management of some case in his own 
 behalf. Mr. Vinton at once perceived that Mr. Bureau was 
 letting some nice points escape him, and quietly taking a place 
 beside him, he gave him the needed help — soth voce. At first 
 Mr. Bureau glanced with surprise at this stranger, who gave his 
 uninvited aid, but he at once recognized the valuable assistance 
 with quick intelligence. When the short trial was over, Mr. 
 Bureau said to Mr. Vinton, "You have won my case, what is 
 your fee?" Of course a fee was declined, and the letter pre- 
 sented. Mr. Bureau then took Mr. \'inton home to dinner, 
 introducing him to his two charming and very carefully educated 
 daughters, who had just returned from their French pensioyinlat 
 at Philadelphia. Mr. Bureau urged his young friend to locate in 
 Gallipolis, and doubtless the beauty and grace of the younger 
 daughter, Romaine Madelene, whom he married in 1824, aided 
 
234 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [Vol. 4 
 
 his decision. He established himself in ihe practice of the law 
 at Gallipolis. 
 
 The "Vinton Memorial" says: "His first eflforts at the 
 bar attracted much attention, and by the end of the first year he 
 was in the enjoyment of an extensive and prosperous business. 
 During six years he continued to achieve the most flattering 
 success; rising constantly in public estimation, his income 
 steadily increasing, and having apparently no inclination for 
 public life, and no taste for party politics. Without any agency 
 or wish of his own, he unexpectedly found himself, in the 
 autumn of 1S22, nominated for a seat in Congress, b}^ a large 
 meeting of the people of his district. His election over two 
 formidable competitors was a decisive token of the public 
 esteem." 
 
 The astonishment this immediate success created in his New 
 England home is pleasantly depicted in an anecdote told me not 
 many years ago by an aged relative. He said that he happened 
 to be at the \'inton farm one day, when a letter was received 
 from Mr. \'inton bv his father, in which he mentioned bavins: 
 selected Gallipolis as a residence, and asked his father the loan 
 of eight hundred dollars for one year, to enable him to purchase 
 the needed law books, as there was no law library and no books 
 at hand to refer to in the pro.secution of his cases. The old 
 gentleman looked serious, for this was a heavy and an unex- 
 pected drain upon a New Kngland farmer situated as he was, 
 but j)resenlly he said: " Finley must have the tools to work 
 with, but I expect to have to make it a i^if't. not a loan.'". 
 
 Evidently he never supposed his son could earn that sum in 
 one year, or indeed in any definite time, and his surprise was 
 great when some months later, and long before the expiration of 
 the year, "the loan"' was refunded. But the grateful recollec- 
 tion of an afft'Ctionatc child did not end there, for to the day of 
 their death the filial devotion of a good son comfortedjiis excel- 
 lent parents. 
 
 It is a pathetic circumstance that lliis estimable couple died 
 within a few days of eacli other, the loving wife being ill at tlie 
 time of Ikt venerable husband's decease and unable to survive 
 the sliock of his loss. 
 
Samuel Finley Vinton. 235 
 
 Shortly before his death, Mr. Vinton's father had the grati- 
 fication of seeing for himself the esteem his gifted son had so 
 quickly won in the place of his adoption, as he visited him at his 
 home in Gallipolis. The old gentleman was of genial and 
 pleasant manners, very suave and of much intelligence and 
 refinement. The fact is, the Massachusetts farmer of the class 
 to which he belonged was of a superior type of men such as few 
 countries have ever possessed. If you found them during the 
 day like Ciucinuatus at the plow, the evening was given to 
 books, and to a mental activity that kept pace with the progress 
 of the age. Besides, Mr. Vinton's father had been carefully 
 trained in the home of his uncle, Dr. Vinton, an accomplished 
 phj'sician, who had adopted him as his son and heir. * -•' * 
 
 On the threshold of Mr. \'intou's political career, we pause 
 to insert verbatim a communication received some years ago 
 from one who knew him well and whose opinion is entitled to 
 the highest respect. The)- are the recollections of Mr. John T. 
 Brasee, himself an excellent lawyer, of Mr. Vinton. Mr. Brasee 
 says : 
 
 " M}' acquaintance with Mr. Vinton commenced in the 
 autumn of 1819, and continued during his life. From 1819 to 
 1820, I resided at Athens, where he regularly attended the courts. 
 In 1826, I commenced the practice of law at G^fllipolis, where he 
 resided, and until 18->5 we rode the same circuit together and 
 practiced in the same counties. So I may say, I knew him well. 
 
 "Mr. Vinton's mind was remarkably well balanced; all its 
 powers worked together harmoniously, giving him the clearest 
 conceptions of all subjects he investigated, and in debate he 
 imparted those conceptions to his adversaries and auditors, not 
 only clearh' and fully, but in the purest and simplest language. 
 
 " Mr. \'intou was a very accomplished lawyer, learned in all 
 the departments of his profession, and very skillful in the appli- 
 cation of his knowledge to ca.ses as tlie}^ arose on the circuit. In 
 his cases in the higher courts, he came to his work well pre- 
 pared; unlike most other lawyers, he studied both sides of such 
 cases and was therefore never taken by surprise by anything 
 developed during the trial on argument. * ^- * 
 
 "From his peculiar habits of investigation, Mr. Vinton was 
 
236 Ohio Arch. a7id His. Society Publications. [Vol. 4 
 
 a remarkably safe lawyer. His professional engagements, how- 
 ever small the case, were never neglected. If circumstances 
 prevented him, as they sometimes did, from giving his personal 
 attention to a case, he provided in some way for it, so that the 
 interest of his client should not suffer. 
 
 " Mr. Vinton was a fine advocate. He seldom met his equal 
 at the Ohio bar, and never except when he met the late Thomas 
 Ewing. The people in his circuit would assemble at each count}'- 
 seat in great numbers on the first day of each term of the court. 
 Some came to hear him speak, some to employ him as counsel, 
 and others to post themselves as to current political events. On 
 these occasions his room was almost like a levee, except that the 
 men were neither learned nor fashionable, but the sturdy yeo- 
 manry of the country. * * * 
 
 "The physical labor, incident to the practice of law in 
 Southern Ohio, at the time Mr. Vinton practiced there, was 
 great. He traveled over his large circuit four times a year, 
 generally on horseback, as that was the only mode of traveling 
 at that period. '•' =■' * As often as I have thought on the 
 subject, I have been surprised that his fragile frame, unadapted 
 and unaccustomed to anything like manual labor, could endure 
 so much bodily inconvenience, with all the mental strain he was 
 subject to, without any apparent over -work or fatigue. ■•- ^'^ ^= 
 
 "One spring, without Mr. Vinton's knowledge, and in his 
 absence, he was elected supervisor of the Gallipolis road district. 
 This was brought about by reason of his complaints of the 
 neglect of the supervisor of the previous year in not keeping the 
 roads and bridges in order. Those who elected him did not 
 expect him to qualify or serve, but supposed he would decline 
 and pay his fine, which was small. But he promptly qualified, 
 and in due time called out his hands, and accompanied them on 
 the road daily, supervising their work from day to dav, until 
 every man had worked out his two days" lal)or. The hands did 
 not re-elect him. They .said lie exacted full work of them, and 
 that there was no fun in the thing, as they had supposed. Such 
 was his devotion to duty. 
 
 "Mr. \'iiit()n was a man of great moral courage. I never 
 knew his ecjual in that respect. In e\er\- exigency of life this 
 
Samuel Finley Vinton. 237 
 
 trait of character was predominant. It was perhaps the more 
 noticeable because of his delicate physical organization. * * * 
 
 " Mr. Vinton was an exceedingly companionable gentleman. 
 He met the court, the bar. and his personal friends upon a plane 
 of equality. He made every one around him feel pleasantly, 
 while by his wise thoughts and words he was delighting them. 
 He was always especially kind in manner to the young men at 
 the bar, and always disposed to give them aid and coun.sel in 
 their professional difficulties, lie was sagacious about all the 
 affairs of human life. He perfectly understood the motives that 
 impelled to action, and was a consummate judge of all classes of 
 men. I have frequently thought he could elicit the truth from 
 the nature of the falsehoods of a lying witness. * -■' '-•' 
 
 •' Mr. Vinton never was a politician, but a statesman in the 
 best sense of the term. He told me while in Congress, that as 
 often as any new measure came u]) there, the question at once 
 arose with many members, 'How will this affect my popularity 
 at home?' 'As to myself,' said he, ' I never spend my thoughts 
 upon such questions. How will the measure affect the country? 
 occupies all my thoughts.' 
 
 "The late Mr. Thomas Ewing told me, shortly after Mr. 
 Vinton's death, 'That when he died the wisest statesman in 
 Washington died.' 
 
 "When Mr. Vinton was first started to Congress, Jackson 
 county was in his district, and continued so for many years, until 
 a new districting took place, when it was placed in Ross district. 
 The autumn when this change took effect, I think in lSo:2, Mr. 
 Vinton attended the Jackson Court of Common Pleas, and after 
 it was about over, he made a speech at the Court House to his 
 former constituency of that county. It was a great .speech, 
 equally creditable to the head and heart. He called to mind his 
 first election, the generous manner in which they turned out to 
 secure it. when he was young and wholly unknown in the 
 political arena, and for this generous confidence he had ever 
 been grateful. He considered in detail the leading measures 
 that had passed Congress during his .service, that he regarded as 
 beneficial to the Western people. He pointed out questions that 
 were to arise in the future that would be freighted, some with 
 
238 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [Vol. 4 
 
 good and others with great evil and mischief to the country. 
 From these texts he spoke expansively, boldly and manfully; 
 sometimes bringing tears from most of his large audience. * -'' * 
 
 "Mr. Vinton's constituency were more than usually intelli- 
 gent, having a large mixture of New England people and their 
 descendants. The most intelligent men among them were 
 always proud of him as their Representative and controlled 
 matters so as to keep him in Congress about as long as he would 
 serve." * -'• * 
 
 Mr. Brasee, in these interesting reminiscences, has spoken 
 of the "moral courage" of Mr. Vinton. He had also extraordi- 
 nary physical fearles.sness, as was evidenced on various occasions. 
 
 It is related of him, that once when riding along a lonely 
 highway, he was accosted by a notorious desperado, who he 
 had been warned intended to do him harm, when he said to the 
 fellow: "Whenever you are ready, by day or night, come on, 
 I am ready. Good -day," and he rode on unmolested. 
 
 * * ^K Reverting to expressed opinions of Mr. \'inton as 
 a lawyer, Mr. Winthrop says, "That he practiced his profession 
 with great success and 'distinction,' of which numerous cases 
 could be cited before the Circuit Courts, the Supreme Court of 
 Ohio and the Supreme Court of the United States. There was 
 one case that I mention as being of public and enduring import- 
 ance that Mr. Vinton was appointed by the Governor of Ohio to 
 go to Richmond and argue. The argument was delivered before 
 the General Court of \"irginia at its December term in 1S4.3. 
 The real point at issue being the protection of the " rights of 
 sovereignty and of soil." on a boundary question between the 
 States of \''irginia and Ohio, involved in the locality of the recap- 
 ture of certain slaves, alleged to have been abducted. 
 
 The opening of this defense is a master- piece of dispas- 
 sionate rejily. Mr. \'inton in few, calm, yet forceful words, 
 covers the whole field with logical precision, and shows the true 
 subject at issue. The good taste, the dignity of the defense are 
 consummate. 
 
 Is it irrelevant in this matter, and as illustrating Mr. \'in- 
 ton's calm, personal bravery, to mention, that at the time he 
 went to Richmond to argue this case, there existed an intensely 
 
Samuel Finley Vbiton. 239 
 
 -excited state of public feeling there on the subject, which he had 
 fully measured, for when the writer of this sketch, then a 3oung 
 girl, begged to be permitted to accompany her father to the 
 Capital of Virginia, he said that he "did not deem it safe for her 
 to go with him at that time." '■" * * 
 
 Colonel Charles Whittlesey, in his pamphlet, "Western 
 Reserve — Origin of Title," written for the Historical Society of 
 northern Ohio in 1876, says of this argument: "Its style is 
 unusually interesting, the diction clear, and the investigation 
 exhaustive. Mr. Vinton exhibits the acuteness of a good lawyer, 
 the broad perceptions of a statesman and the eloquence of a 
 practiced historian." 
 
 And here let me state that I prefer, whenever I can do so, 
 rather to quote from other sources than to give my own conclu- 
 sions, so that it may not be supposed that partiality for a parent 
 has influenced judgment. 
 
 A memoir of my father that appeared in the A^nerican 
 Review of September, 1848, saj^s: " It was with more of surprise 
 than pleasure that in the j'ear 1822, he suddenly found himself, 
 without any agency or wish of his own. nominated for a seat in 
 Congress by a large meeting of the people of his electoral 
 district. 
 
 "He had two formidable competitors, over whom he was 
 elected, and for fourteen years, by a merited confidence from his 
 constituency, he continued to be returned with increasing ma- 
 jorities, until in ]8oG, he voluntarily withdrew from public life. 
 
 " From the first, that power of labor and that prompt instinct 
 of the useful, of the substance of things, which had so quickly 
 made Mr. Vinton a leading lawyer, rendered him an efficient 
 representative. 
 
 "He applied to each question as it arose, his strong powers 
 of investigation, and as he was never the man to waste his time 
 or that of the House on attempts at display, on efforts to shine, 
 he soon mastered the main business of legislation, contributed 
 to perfecting it, where the young member can best serve as he 
 learns, in committees, and early began to make himself felt in 
 the origination of sub.stantive measures of importance." 
 
 Mr. Vinton entered Congress as a Representative in 1828, 
 
240 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [VoL. 4' 
 
 and was placed for several successive sessions on the Committee 
 of the Public Land. He was from the outset on the alert to 
 suppress fraudulent practices at the public sales, and he greatly 
 desired that these sales should be used for great purposes of 
 acknowledged utility for some national object or objects. The 
 result of his labors in this direction is admirabh^ given in the 
 American Review, which saj-s: 
 
 "In 1826 he brought forward and carried through the 
 House of Representatives a modification of the Land Laws as 
 to whatever, by the original ordinance of May 20, 1785, was set 
 apart in order to found, in all the future States to be formed out 
 of the National Domain, a great system of popular instruction. 
 By this ordinance (see Laws of the United States, Vol. 1, p. o(3o), 
 was reserved from sale in each township, for purposes of educa- 
 tion, one section of land (six hundred and forty acres), that is, 
 one thirty -sixth of the whole surface. 
 
 "But this endowment and its beneficent purposes was prov- 
 ing a sad failure from the wa.ste of local management, or the 
 spoil of local combinations. A wretched system of leases and 
 tenantry had in particular arisen under it. 
 
 "The correction which Mr. \'inton brought about began, 
 prudently, with an experimental change in his own State: his 
 law empowered the Legi.slature of Ohio to sell the school lands 
 within her borders, and to invest the proceeds in some perma- 
 nent, productive fund, the income to be foroxor applied to the 
 support of schools within the township for whose use the land 
 was originally reserved. Becoming at first the law of Ohio only, 
 the benefits of this bill have been extended in succession to the 
 rest of the United States. * -•' '=^ Few of our legislators have 
 had the good fortune to achieve a public service greater than 
 this, or which will be more felt by posterity in that which will 
 forever make its dearest part, its moral and intellectual being."* 
 
 Speaking on this subject, Mr. Robert C. W'inlhropf says of 
 Mr. X'inton: "It was to him that Ohio t)wed the passage of a 
 
 ^ For the debate on this hill, Gales ic Seatou's Register, Vol. 2, 
 part 1, p. S;}*), 1st Session, lilth Congress. 
 
 t Remarks of lion. Robert C. Winthrop at a meeting of the Massa- 
 chusetts Historical Society. October K, iS'.tU. 
 
Sa7}iucl Finlcy Vintoii. 241 
 
 law authorizing and empowering her Legislature to sell the 
 school lands which had been granted her by Congress in 1H08, 
 and which covered a full thirty -sixth part of her whole terri- 
 tory, and to invest the proceeds in a permanent fund, of which 
 the income should be forever applied to the support of schools. 
 The benefits of this law have since been extended to all the new 
 States. Mr. Vinton is thus most honorably associated with the 
 first great measure of national aid for education." 
 
 In the course of his remarks about Mr. Vinton, Mr. Win- 
 throp adds: "It was my privilege to enjoy his friendship and 
 confidence during all my congressional career. We were in 
 sympathy and accord as members of the old Whig party during 
 that whole period of eleven or twelve years, without the slightest 
 disagreement on any important question of public interest. Our 
 friendship and confidential correspondence ended only wdth his 
 death. '^ * ^ I look back with pleasure and with pride to 
 an intimate association in Washington with not a few of the 
 most eminent men of Ohio. * '''- * But there are none of 
 thera whom I recall with greater respect, or with a warmer or 
 more affectionate regard, than vSamuel Fiule^' Vinton." 
 
 The recognized distinguished public service of Mr. Wiu- 
 throp is such that I have transcribed his generous words regard- 
 ing his friend literally, being fully aware of the weight his 
 words carry. 
 
 * * * But not only as regarded the placing of her public 
 schools upon a sure and enduring foundation, so as permanently 
 to increase the means of education in Ohio, was his public ser- 
 vice inestimable, but also in relation to defining the boundary 
 lines as between Virginia on the South, and her northern bound-, 
 ary with the then territory of Michigan; and was likewise watch- 
 ful to promote a system of internal improvements for her roads, 
 rivers and canals. 
 
 In these and other measures of importance to Ohio as they 
 arose, his untiring and efhcient services were of great value. 
 Like a loving son, he was ever ready to protect her name from 
 even the shadow of aspersion. 
 
 How often did he take occasion on the floor of the House 
 to point out the superior advantages which she po.ssessed. With 
 
242 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [\'OL. 4 
 
 what affectionate pride did he speak of the people of Ohio, f 
 "their cheerful submission to the general government, their 
 firmness and resolution in maintaining their own rights," attrib- 
 uting " the sources of her prosperit}' not solely to the salubrity 
 of her climate, the richness of her soil, but more than all to the 
 moral worth, the enterprise and industry of her people." * * * 
 
 As early as the first session of the nineteenth Congress, 
 1825-20, Mr. Vinton became deeply interested in the legislative 
 provisions necessary to carry into execution our treaties with the 
 various tribes of Indians, and concerning measures needed for 
 their relief. His first solicitude was for the Florida Indians, 
 later on for the Clioctaw Nation. In some remarks made in 1827 
 in their behalf he dwelt upon the evident duty of the House to 
 see that our negotiations with this poor and oppressed race were 
 fairly and properly conducted. 
 
 On May 24, 1830, he addressed the House in a speech of two 
 hours against the removal of the Indians beyond the Mississippi. 
 In this ringing speech, which reads in its eloquent appeal like a 
 chapter of "A Century of Dishonor," he recapitulates the injus- 
 tices, the perfidies, inflicted on the Florida, the Quapaeo, the 
 Delawares and other tribes of Indians whom we had reduced to 
 distress by removal. In this speech he advocated "giving them 
 the right of individuality of property," and " also to place them 
 under the influence of schools," characterizing their removal as 
 " a work of desolation and cruelty," and he also pointed out the 
 fact that many of the southern Indians had negro slaves with 
 them, whom they carried beyond the latitude of 30° 30', emi- 
 grating with them, and he commented on our treaty with the 
 Cherokees as a direct and gross violation of all justice. If the 
 country, he asserted, was charged with any violation of public 
 faith which bore with particular force upon its national character, 
 it was this, of its obligations to and contract with the Aborigines. 
 
 Mr. \'inton's deep interest in the welfare of the Indian, and 
 the consequent careful investigation of legislation regarding 
 them, led him in a very unexpected direction. But in the recital 
 of this matter, I prefer again to (luote from the .\nurican Rcvicic, 
 which says : 
 
 " Mr. \'inton"s next great public service consisted in not an 
 
Samuel Finlcy Vinton. 243 
 
 act of Congress brought about, but in a cunningly devised 
 scheme of legislation foiled and defeated. 
 
 " Mr. Calhoun set forth his project in a somewhat elaborate 
 paper from the war office, dated January 24, 1825.* -'- * * 
 The ensuing administration of the War Department, under Gov- 
 ernor Barbour, found this policy actively organized, and in the 
 process of silent and sure execution. He adopted it and urged 
 the scheme in a project for the preservation and civilization of 
 the Indian, communicated on February 3, 1826, to the Com- 
 mittee on Indian Affairs. Mr. \'inton soon penetrated the con- 
 sequences and was able finally to defeat them by making them 
 apparent to others. 
 
 "It was, it seems, intended that under the plea of the 
 impossibility of carrying out this great work of benevolence, 
 otherwise than by uniting the Indians in a single region, that 
 region was to be drawn on the west and north of the line of the 
 Missouri compromise, so as to cut off the formation of any 
 further States in that direction, while the tribes of the south 
 translated almost entirely north of the parallel of 36° 30\ should 
 leave the slave States an open frontier acro.ss which to extend 
 themselves indefinitely west. This astute plan would, one maj- 
 now readily .see, if executed, have secured to the South a perma- 
 nent political ascendanc}'. * * * Except in that part of 
 Michigan, then a territory, no free State could ever have been 
 formed in the West this side the Rocky Mountains. * * H- 
 
 "Mr. Vinton's attention became directed thither, and he 
 discovered the reach of the scheme, as well as its bearing upon 
 the interests and power of the West. He determined at once to 
 apply himself to its defeat^ 
 
 "The Committee of Indian Affairs had, for two of three 
 successive sessions, reported bills for carrying this policy into 
 effect, but tho.se bills had, through the pressure of business, 
 either never reached or not been acted on b}' the House. 
 
 " In this state of things, at the first session of the Twentieth 
 Congress (1827-28), Mr. McDuffie, then Chairman of the Com- 
 mittee of Wavs and Means, moved as an amendment to the 
 
 See Document 64, second session of Eighteenth Congress, H. R. 
 
244 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [\''OL. 4 
 
 Indian Appropriation Bill, the appropriation of $.jU,OUO towards 
 removing beyond the Mississippi tlie Cherokees and such other 
 Indians as might consent to emigrate. The real object of the 
 measure was not the appropriation itself, but something more 
 important; to commit the country and draw it into this policy. 
 To counteract and expose the movement, Mr. Vinton offered an 
 amendment to Mr. McDuffie's proposition, attaching to it the 
 following conditions: That no Indian or Indians living north 
 of latitude 3(J° oO' shall be aided in removing south of that line, 
 nor any living south of it be aided in removing north of it. 
 
 " Upon this amendment Mr. Vinton made a speech, in which 
 he examined and developed the whole plan, its effects upon the 
 Western States and its relation to the balance of political power, 
 as between the slave -holding and the non- slave -holding States. 
 His discourse,* full of weight and .sense, but marked with the 
 firmness and moderation which have always distinguished him, 
 told at once upon the public attention, and although his amend- 
 ment was voted dowai, ^et the debate and the subsequent oppo- 
 sition which it formed to the scheme of transferring the Southern 
 Indians North, under such territorial guarantees, ultimately 
 compelled the abandonment of the plan, and ever after the 
 aborigines, of whatever latitude when removed West, have been 
 carried forward as Mr. X'inlon proposed, upon the parallels of 
 latitude to which they belonged. Tt) him, then, the West owes 
 the subsequent admission of both Wisconsin and Iowa." 
 
 As regards my father's own estimation of the ultimate 
 consequence of thiis being able to thwart the.se machinations for 
 the supremacy of the South, I have a private letter of his, iu 
 which he alludes to this result as probably the most important 
 public service he had accomplished at that time. Although he 
 was modest in the appreciation of his own efforts, yet his mental 
 perceptions were invariably so clear as to enable him accurately 
 to measure the scope of that which \\c performed. 
 
 Mr. \'inton was placed, in the Twenty -first ami Twenty- 
 second Congress of 1820, 18-30 and 18-)1, on a select committee 
 relating lu internal inijirovements and the distribution of the 
 
 "See Gales & Seaton Register of Debates, volume 4, part 2, page 15G8. 
 
Saimiel Fiidey Vhito7i. 245 
 
 •surplus reveuue amoug the several States after payment of the 
 public debt. And in 1832, 1838, 1834, 183o and 1836 on a Com- 
 mittee on Roads and Canals; and public lands for school lands 
 also claimed his attention. 
 
 It was characteristic of Mr. Vinton's mind to investigate 
 any subject placed before him with the most patient diligence, 
 and during these years of untiring committee work, he made 
 himself the master of the questions relating to the public domain, 
 with their cognate branches. He inquired into the effect of the 
 existing pre-emption law^s upon the sales of public lands and 
 upon that portion of the public revenue. 
 
 In 1820 a debate arose concerning an appropriation to in- 
 crease the amount for surveying the public lands of the United 
 S ates. Mr. Vinton was opposed to this increase, as he was 
 satisfied that too much land was thrown into the market at once, 
 in consequence of too rapid a survey of the public lands, and 
 thus pressing the market in excess of the demand, thereby 
 fostering a sj-stem of speculation. 
 
 This question of increased surveys was repeatedly intro- 
 duced, and whenever it aro.se Mr. Vinton debated it and ob- 
 jected to bringing more land into market than there was a 
 demand for. 
 
 When on the Committee of Internal Improvements, he was 
 always in favor of liberal appropriations in their behalf. In 
 defining his views he said: "I would keep up the military, 
 naval and civil establishments of the country, and, if there was 
 any surplus remaining, I would devote it to internal improve- 
 ments, and I mean harbors on the seaboard as well as on the 
 lakes, improvements on the exterior as well as the interior. I 
 would devote it to tho.se purposes that would facilitate inter- 
 communication, that would build up the trade of the country; 
 not merely among ourselves, but with foreign nations." 
 
 In pursuance of this line of policy, he introduced a bill 
 December 11, 1848, granting public lands to certain States 
 therein named, to aid them in the construction of roads and 
 canals, and the improvement of their rivers, making the appeal 
 for public economy, and in order to meet the necessities of pub- 
 lic business. 
 
246 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Picblications. [Vol. 4 
 
 In a speech January' 17, I'^-W, in behalf of the improvement 
 of Western waters, he said, that during all the time he had held 
 a seat in Congress, when appropriations were proposed for public 
 improvements, he had never stopped to inquire in what partic- 
 ular section of the Union those improvements were to be made ; 
 but that he had voted for all improvements of the utility of 
 which he was satisfied, without regard to their location. 
 
 Concerning the constantly disputed question of appropria- 
 tions for the District of Columbia, Mr. Vinton said in a speech 
 on the subject, that " in contemplation of law and of the Con- 
 stitution, this entire district was nothing but a seat of govern- 
 ment, and when it was provided that such a district should be 
 set apart as the seat of the general government, no other idea 
 had ever been entertained but that large appropriations would 
 be requisite for it as such, ■'^ * "'=' and as the city increased 
 in size they must of course increase in amount." 
 
 Constantly endeavoring to protect the government from a 
 waste of expenditure, and to guard the revenue of the public 
 domain, he opposed the bill for land bounties to the troops who 
 served in Indian wars in the Western country under Wayne and 
 others in the last war with Great Britain, in the Florida war, etc. 
 He considered these bounties as a pure gratuity the country was 
 not in position to grant, and he thought that speculators in these 
 warrants would doubtless pocket nearly the whole amount. This 
 was in 1850, and Mr. Vinton deemed that the financial condition 
 of the country, with its registered debt of ^6o, 000, 000, which 
 was then deemed a vast sum, would not justify the loss of rev- 
 enue derived from the sale of the public lands. This bill was 
 passed to meet the popular clamor, but the result, as usual, 
 proved the wisdom of Mr. \'inton's views. But he was always 
 opposed to demagogues and demagogism. 
 
 The general estimate as to the value of his labors to pre- 
 serve the public domain from waste was voiced by The American 
 Review of b'^48, when it said: " Upon one great branch of legis- 
 lation, the care and disposal of the public lands, Mr. \'inton has 
 long made him.self to be looked to as the leader in the House of 
 Representatives, we might safely add in Congress, of the party 
 who have watched over their right administration or averted 
 
Samuel Finlcy Vinton. 247 
 
 their waste. During all the period over which we have pro- 
 ceeded (of Mr. Vinton's public service), and especially after the 
 accession of General Jackson, unceasing efforts were made; now 
 by speculators, now by demagogues, next by a natural coalition 
 of the two, and lastly by the auxiliary influence of the adminis- 
 tration itself, which was largely made up both of speculators 
 and demagogues, to incorporate into the public land system such 
 changes as would, without any compensating increase of our 
 population, have ruined that branch of the national revenue and 
 broken up entire the great machinery. * '^' ^'^ Mr Vinton 
 made himself master of the history of the public domain and of 
 the policy which has governed its disposal, its management as a 
 srreat branch of the national revenue, its relation to other high 
 questions, the progress of our population, the enlargement of 
 internal commerce, and the connection of all these subjects with 
 the social development of that vast central region, destined prob- 
 ably in the end to control the fortunes of this Republic." 
 
 "It is not going too far to say that but for his able and 
 vigilant resistance of every new scheme for the purpose, but 
 especially of that which calls itself ' graduation and deduction,' 
 laws would have been passed as far back as 1828 which would 
 have resulted in 1.he extinction of that source of public income ; 
 have flung open the whole of these wide territories as the scene 
 of a general scramble for plunder ; have corrupted still more our 
 Government, and have brought about the almost equal evil of 
 wild, and wide, and long continued land speculations." * * * 
 
 Questions of tariff, which may change as to detail, but are 
 always the same as to the underlying principle, were as hotly 
 contested in former Congresses as now. But being then compli- 
 cated with the slavery issue, which entered as a disturbing force 
 in all our legislation, these discussions were of the most serious 
 import. 
 
 As far back as 1828, when a proposed increase of duty on 
 molasses imported from the West Indies was debated, Mr. Vinton 
 said he ' ' was a firm believer in the American system in its fullest 
 extent ; that system being based upon a single and simple prin- 
 ciple that the producer, whether farmer or manufacturer, must 
 have a market for the fruits of his labors. Protect him in the 
 
248 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [\'OL. 4 
 
 possession of the market and against ruinous competition, and 
 he will take care of himself." 
 
 In this and other speeches on the tariff, Mr. \'iulou showed 
 great accuracy of financial detail, so that his opinions were fully 
 supported by facts, and were especially convincing. 
 
 In 1833, there grew out of the nullification movement a pro- 
 longed debate on the cotton duties proposed in the tariff bill, in 
 which Mr. Vinton took a leading part, disproving by carefully 
 prepared statistics the accusation made, that the commercial 
 policy of the country imposed too onerous a taxation on the 
 South. 
 
 In the course of his remarks, he said that he had at all times 
 voted to protect and encourage southern industr}-, but he had 
 done, and would do, the same for northern capital and industry. 
 At that time, South Carolina threatened secession and Georgia 
 disunion. Mr. \'inton made an impressive appeal in behalf of 
 the Union, in which he said: 
 
 "The Constitution of the United States is the consumma- 
 tion of that liljerty and union which our fathers purchased with 
 blood, with suffering, and with treasure. It is a perpetual cove- 
 nant between them and us, and our posterity. They have trans- 
 mitted the precious inheritance to us, and we are bound at every 
 cost to hand it down to those who shall come after us. * * * 
 When force shall triumph over the Constitution, the government 
 is at an end." 
 
 Upon this and other occasions, Mr. \'iuton sustained the 
 protective principle, pointing out that the doctrines of free trade 
 must necessarily end in direct taxation ; and declaring that he 
 "was not a free trade man, and would never agree to impose a 
 direct tax, while a system of indirect taxation would answer the 
 purposes of government." 
 
 He asserted that if they gave up a tariff, it must necessarily 
 end in direct taxation; and that "the protection of the home 
 labor of the country was the only sure foundation of public 
 prosperity and of abundant supply of revenue." 
 
 As we are now nearing the close of Mr. \'inton's first period 
 of service, it may be well to note several other of his motions 
 brought before the House, which have more or less general in- 
 
Samuel Finlcy Vinton. 249 
 
 terest. On May 9, 1834, he reported a 1)111 from the Select Com- 
 mittee on Patents, "to erect a fire-proof bnilding for the Patent 
 office and for other j^urposes." On June 9, 1884, he proposed to 
 extend square west of the Capitol to the foot of the slope and to 
 extend the botanical garden to the canal; but these motions did 
 not succeed at that time. 
 
 Yet Mr. Vinton foresaw the advisability. He wished in 
 1835 to carry the graduation of reduction of postage. This, he 
 said, would increase instead of reducing the revenue. A fact 
 since proved. 
 
 He objected to members of the Plouse who were absent, ex- 
 cept on the business of the House, being paid. 
 
 He was always the friend of scientific investigation, and de- 
 sired liberal appropriations for the coast survey and for the 
 advancement of science. 
 
 He never lost an opportunity to show his affection for his 
 constituents, or his interest in the State of Ohio and the western 
 country. I notice among a host of petitions presented by him, 
 one from citizens of Washington and Athens counties wdiere he 
 takes occasion to add: "There is not beyond the Allegheny 
 mountains a people more eminent for sobriety of habits, social 
 order and general intelligence." 
 
 Although Mr. Vinton had been re-elected to Congress for 
 fourteen successive years by constantly increasing majorities, 
 yet he voluntarily withdrew to private life in 1837. 
 
 At that time it was his intention never again to take any 
 part in public affairs. His private business had long been neg- 
 lected for the public service. He considered it a duty to amass 
 a suitable competence for his family, and he said that he had 
 never been able to do more than make temporary provisions out 
 of the Congressional salar}^ for the necessities of his position. 
 
 During an interval of six years he was engaged in various 
 business projects, as well as in a lucrative and rapidly enlarging 
 practice of his profession, and it was with unfeigned reluctance 
 that he was again in 1843 drawn back into the House of Repre- 
 sentatives. At that time several highlj' respectable men in his 
 district were candidates, and there seemed to be no other way to 
 adjust their differences but to select one who, by his conspicuous 
 
250 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [\'oL. 4 
 
 former service, had gained the general esteem and confidence. 
 Mr. Vinton was accordingly nominated and elected. 
 
 It may be readily supposed that when Mr. \"inton re-entered 
 Congress, his ripe experience and undoubted ability were at once 
 recognized, and that he w'as given a leading place in the councils 
 of the Nation. The Committee of Elections during that Congress 
 had the most weighty issues placed before them, and he was 
 assigned to that committee, where his experience and talent 
 would prove of greatest value to the country. But he begged to 
 be excused from serving on that committee on account of the 
 state of his health, which was at that time two much impaired to 
 admit of so severe a strain. He was then placed on the Judiciarj^ 
 Committee, where he at once directed his attention with the 
 clo.sest scrutiny to questions of constitutional law. 
 
 His labors in this direction culminated in iSoO, in the prepa- 
 ration of a most important organic law, which, later on, I shall 
 speak of. 
 
 A proposition of his, soon after he became a member of the 
 Judiciary, was that an article should be proposed to the legisla- 
 tures of the several States, as an amendment to the Constitution 
 of the United States, to take effect from and after 18G0. regu- 
 lating the mode of election of the President and the Vice Presi- 
 dent, and in the first session of the Twenty-ninth Congress, 
 184o, he re -introduced this amendment as a joint resolution. 
 
 About the period of his re -entrance into Congress, Mr. 
 Vinton was appointed one of a committee of nine to revise 
 certain standing rules and orders of the House. This was a 
 work he was well fitted to perform, having always been a close 
 student of parliamentary law. Having added to his investiga- 
 tions in this direction a valuable experience, he had gained a 
 familiarity with all the rules regulating debate and the laws of 
 the House. Tliis knowledge gave him great advantages as a 
 party leader, enabling him to seize and avail himself of each 
 occasion as it aro.se and gain any opportunity to be derived by 
 a skillful tactician. Thus when he became Chairman of the 
 Committee of Ways and Means, during the period of the war 
 with Mexico, he evinced a special faculty at this most critical 
 juncture for the systematic expedition of business. 
 
Samuel Finlcy Vinlon. 251 
 
 Mr. Viuton also possessed one absolute qualification that 
 enabled him to exert a dominating influence over others, in 
 never losing command over himself. This remarkable and firm 
 self-control must have resulted from the continued exercise of a 
 severe mental discipline and unconquerable will power, inas- 
 much as Mr. Vinton was naturally of a very sensitive, highly 
 strung, nervous temperament, being a man of deep feeling and 
 slight bodily frame. 
 
 To a close observer and analj'st his appearance indicated 
 very fairly what manner of man he was. His mild, but pene- 
 trating, clear blue -gray eye meant a kindly, but well-balanced 
 intellectual light, while his thin, compressed lips evinced the 
 singular determination of his character, and the high and ample 
 brow heralded a domain of thought that inspired respect. 
 
 Soon after the terrible affliction in 1831, of the death of his 
 dearly beloved wife, whose loss he never ceased to deplore till 
 the day of his death, an affliction made all the more crushing by 
 the sudden decease a few months later of his only son, a bright 
 child of rare promise, his profusion of brown hair turned gray, 
 and from gray soon softened into a silvery white that added a 
 serious dignity to his appearance, while comparatively a young 
 man. 
 
 Mr. \'iutou's manner was calm and composed amidst the 
 excitements of the political arena, but in social circles he was 
 conversational, affable and suave, giving more than glimpses of 
 the real tenderness of his nature. 
 
 I pause midway in the recital of his life's history, affection- 
 ately to transcribe this pen -portrait, from the ineffaceable im- 
 pressions, the vivid coloring of his dear and honored presence 
 stamped upon my heart and fixed in my mind's eye. Thrice 
 happy tho.se whose virtues cause their children to ' ' rise up and 
 call them blessed! " 
 
 But to revert from the personality of the man to the crowded 
 events of his busy life. 
 
 On February 12, 184-1-, there arose a very acrimonious debate, 
 involving the jurisdiction of the States, on the contested elec- 
 tions of the members of the House of Representatives, elected 
 
252 Ohio Arch, ayid Ills. Society Publications. [Vol. 4 
 
 by the general ticket system in the States of Xew Hampshire, 
 Georgia, Missouri and Mississippi. 
 
 Mr. Vinton made a speech that day in which he opposed the 
 nullification of a solemn law of the land by the four States that 
 had thought proper to refuse to comply with the law of Congress 
 declaring that elections should be by single districts throughout 
 the United States. He argued that if the law of Congress should 
 be considered the valid law of the land, as a valid law, it puts 
 aside State legislation. In the absence of any legislation by 
 Congress, Mr. Vinton held that the States had unqualified juris- 
 diction. Congress might interpose to alter, to frame another 
 body of legislation. The duty was mandatory upon the States 
 but discretionary with Congress. This is a provision of the Con- 
 stitution of the United States, made in pursuance to the Consti- 
 tution, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the 
 contrary notwithstanding. At the close of his remarks Mr. 
 Vinton^made an eloquent plea in behalf of sustaining the Con- 
 stitution. 
 
 On February 14, 1845, (second session twenty-eighth Con- 
 gress), Mr. Vinton made a speech on the admission of Iowa and 
 Florida into the Union, in which he forcibly exposed the danger 
 arising from the policy of giving to the new States laid out in 
 the West a greater extent of territory than they ought to have 
 had, thus depriving the West of the political power to which she 
 should be entitled. He pointed out that these States of sufficient 
 area to contain a population equal to two or three Atlantic States 
 have, in this way, no more representation in the Senate than any 
 of them, adding, regarding the admission of Iowa, that he be- 
 lieved the great Western \'nlley would become the conservative 
 power of the Union. 
 
 Mr. Vinton entered Congress in l<S2o, under the second 
 administration of that model statesman, James Monroe, who had 
 held the ship of State amidst threatening breakers taut and safe, 
 and who left her, to all appearance, calmly anchored in tranquil 
 seas. We were at pence and the country prosperous, while the 
 public and tho.se who .served the public alike felt the ennobling 
 influence of so wise and conservative a chief. 
 
 It was a fortunate moment in which to enter Congress, and 
 
Samicrl Finlcy Vinton. 253 
 
 the lessons of patriotism then taught sank deep into the heart of 
 the earnest young member, and formed a controlling influence 
 during his long and arduous career. 
 
 During the succeeding administration of John Quincx- Adams 
 this pleasing period of good feeling was swept away, and the strife 
 of political clashing was heard throughout the land. Calhoun's 
 baneful sectional ambition and Jackson's angry star Irid risen, 
 while Adams, as pure a patriot as the countr\' has ever had, 
 lacked the conciliatory dexterity and, possibly, the administrative 
 ability of Monroe. 
 
 Mr. Vinton at once applied himself to the questions of mo- 
 ment as they arose, and when, in 1821*, Andrew Jackson was 
 inaugurated he found that he was of necessity in conflict with 
 the entire policy of this popular autocrat. With that peculiar 
 sagacit}^ w'hich was always his from the first, he foresaw with an 
 almost prophetic ken the disastrous result of Jackson's reckless 
 and tyrannical policy. He was placed in strict opposition to the 
 spirit that dominated the measures that prevailed during this 
 prolonged administration of eight years of high-handed democ- 
 racy that ended in the financial distress of the country. 
 
 When Mr. \'inton re-entered Congress in 1843, the Whig 
 party was enduring the humiliation of their mistake in the elec- 
 tion of John Tyler, and were forced to look on while the iniquity 
 of Texan annexation was being exacted. Their situation as a 
 party was less painful when in open opposition to James K. Polk 
 than it had been under the unexpected and unprepared for be- 
 trayal of Tyler. 
 
 During the odious war of Mexican Conquest forced upon 
 the American people by Polk, Mr. Vinton w^as Chairman of the 
 Committee of Ways and Means, with all its responsibilities at 
 such a time. He had served on this committee since 184o and 
 was fully conversant with the situation, so that when, in 1847, he 
 was named chairman he knew how to guide the helm in this 
 perilous time. 
 
 Of this appointment Schouler says, in his history of ilie 
 United States*: "Samuel F. Vinton, of Ohio, a member of ripe 
 
 • Vol. V, p. 76. 
 
254 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [Vol. 4 
 
 years and experience in the House, who had declined to contend 
 with Winthrop for the first prize, received with party approba- 
 tion the distinction of Winthrop's selection for Chairman of the 
 Ways and Means and leader upon tlie floor." 
 
 Mr. Winthrop himself generously .says-'- of Mr. \'inton : 
 " Now, the truth is that we never disagreed about anything, and 
 that I was nominated and elected speaker after he had declined 
 the nomination on account of his age and health, and with his 
 earnest advocacy and support." 
 
 Subsequently, during the long period of time that intervened 
 in 1841), when Mr. Wintlirop, after sixty -three ballotings, failed 
 to be re-elected speaker, it was resolved, that the order of the 
 House might be preserved, "that Linn Boyd and Samuel F. 
 Vinton act as chairmen of this House, each sitting alternately 
 one day at a time, until a speaker is elected." 
 
 Finally, however, this most obstinate partisan contest for the 
 election of speaker, which had lasted until December J4 without 
 the House having been able to effect an organization, was finally 
 ended by the adoption of a resolution by the House, that the 
 largest number of votes cast for any one member should elect 
 the speaker. Accordingly Howell Cobb was declared duly elected, 
 having received 102 votes against Robert C. Winthrop's 100. 
 
 After this election, Mr. \'inton continued to remain upon the 
 Committee of Ways and Means, but not as chairman. The 
 period of his greatest activity- may, therefore, be fixed as within 
 the two years of his leadership in the House. But these were 
 years filled with the heavy burden of war, of legislative turmoil, 
 of sectional strife, of the accomplishment of iniquitous schemes 
 by the administration, and of financial strain. 
 
 About this time, Mr. A'iiiton made a .series of very able 
 speeches. February •}, 1848, he addressed the Hou.se on the 
 project of direct taxation for the support of the war with Mexico. 
 Mr. Vinton said " he never would vote to lay a direct tax to sup- 
 port the war, so long as any other means remained by which the 
 revenues of the country could be replenished. " 
 
 ' Remarks at a meeling of the Massachusetts Historical Society Octo- 
 ber 1), 18'JO, p. 5. 
 
Samuel Fmley Vinton. 255 
 
 "The war was begun in 1S4(!, and the country then had a 
 revenue system which, had it been suffered to remain, would 
 have brought into the treasury many milHons more than were 
 now to be found there. * * * But the party in power had 
 established the sub -treasury and cut the government off at a 
 single blow, in a time of war, from all aid to be derived from the 
 banking institutions and from the use of the ordinary business 
 currency of the countr3^ Having thus created a necessity of an 
 increased revenue to meet the war expenses, the}' proceeded at 
 the same session to abolish the then existing tarifif of duties, 
 and substituted another in its place, by which at least one- 
 third of the duties were stricken off, and the revenue reduced 
 accordingly." 
 
 Mr. Vinton called upon the administration to revise its 
 tariff. February 8, 1848, Mr. Vinton made a speech, showing 
 how far below the actual needs of the war with Mexico, were 
 the estimates made by the Executive. 
 
 The Executive had stated that if the war with Mexico 
 should be continued till July 1, 1848, a loan of twenty -three 
 millions of dollars was all that would be wanted to carry the 
 government forward to that date, and leave a surplus of four 
 millions in the treasury. -•- * * 
 
 The loan was granted by Congress, and the money obtained. 
 And now they are informed that an additional loan of sixteen 
 millions would be required. 
 
 Then Mr. Vinton showed, by carefully-prepared estimates, 
 that in reality the expenditures would far exceed that sum, and 
 he made a sad disclosure of the present and the prospective con- 
 dition of the financial affairs of the country. 
 
 Looking into the executive estimates of the year for the 
 prosecution of the war with Mexico, he showed how the income 
 of the government had been overestimated by the secretary 
 of the treasury, and its expenditures underestimated by the .sec- 
 retary of war, and he then proceeded to discu.ss the various 
 methods of meeting these demands. 
 
 He deprecated any sacrifice of the public lands, and thought 
 we should look to the customs for the support of the govern- 
 ment. He called upon the government to abandon its mis- 
 
25G Ohio Arch, arid His. Society Publications. [Vol. 4 
 
 chievous free-trade policy and come back again to the protection 
 of the home labor of the country as the only sure foundation of 
 public prosperity, and of abundant supply of revenue. 
 
 February 16, 1848, Mr. Vinton, availing himself of the 
 privilege allowed him by the rules of the house to close the 
 debate, made the concluding speech on the loan bill, in which he 
 reviewed the discussion, taking up various points made by the 
 Democratic party, and reiterated his opinions as to the preferable 
 mode of raising revenue for the relief of the treasury. He 
 clo-sed by saying that he felt assured that "no remedy short 
 of peace and protection to the American laborer could restore to 
 health and vigor a bleeding and sinking country." 
 
 Mr. Vinton opposed to the last, not only the annexation of 
 Texas, but its consequences. He thought that it was not the 
 policy of this country to acquire any territory beyond the Rio' 
 Grande. He deemed the war with Mexico unnecessary and un- 
 constitutionall}' begun by the President of the United States. 
 He also objected to the duties levied upon American citizens, 
 and upon neutrals in those parts of Mexico which were in 
 pos.session of the American army, under a tariff enacted by the 
 President of the United States, as without warrant of law. 
 And as to the rights and powers of the executive in time of war, 
 he said the executive power was constantly increasing by impli- 
 cation, and whatever power was once permitted to be exercised 
 without being denied by the proper legislative authority, was 
 considered as established forever. It was the congress of the 
 United States that had the right to pass a tariff of duties. The 
 constitution gave to congress exclusive power to levy taxes and 
 raise armies. 
 
 It is evident that Mr. \'inton preferred a decrease rather 
 than an increa.se of executive power, for in his speech on the 
 Oregon bill, he said "that he was led by experience of the past 
 to oppo.se the veto altogether. In this bill he should vote for 
 striking it out." 
 
 It is to be supposed that had Mr. \'inton foreseen the speedy 
 extinction of the slave power, he would have modified his ob- 
 jections to an increase of territory beyond the Rio Grande. 
 
Samuel Finley Vinton. 25T 
 
 But this is merely the supposition of the writer, for Mr. Vinton 
 was very far-seeing. 
 
 Upon the death of the iUustrious and venerable John 
 Quincy Adams, which sad event occurred February 28, 1848, 
 Mr. Vinton was appointed one of a committee of arrangements 
 for the funeral ceremonies; and Februar}^ 24, when the house 
 met to offer public testimonials of their profound respect, Mr. 
 Vinton, among others, deliv^ered an eulogium which might well 
 serve as a model for similar efforts. It is a masterpiece of 
 brevity, simplicity, just thought suited to the occasion, and 
 deep feeling. 
 
 On February 12, 1849, Mr. Vinton, from the committee of 
 ways and means, reported a bill to establish the Department 
 of the Interior, explaining at length the scope of this depart- 
 ment. This bill was passed February 15th, entitled "An Act to 
 Establish the Home Department." 
 
 The objections so strenuously urged against this bill at this 
 day read strangely, for there was a heated debate on the subject. 
 Schouler .says : ' ' One single act of legislation left the session 
 notable. This was the creation of a new executive department, 
 styled 'The Home Department,' but formalh- described in the 
 body of the act as ' The Department of the Interior.' =•- -■- * 
 Vinton, from the Ways and Means, reported accordingly a bill 
 in the House, which went through by a strong non-partisan 
 vote, and the Senate, on the last day of the session, concurred in 
 the measure."* 
 
 It was one of the distinctive excellencies of Mr. Vinton that 
 he had a remarkable faculty of making complex questions clear. 
 An analytical mind and great force and simplicity of expression 
 obtained this result. 
 
 April 80, ISoO, he proposed a change in an organic law, 
 which of itself alone entitles him to the grateful recollection of 
 the country. It was proposed in the shape of two amendments 
 to the Census Bill. Mr. Vinton said that the Constitution 
 enjoined an apportionment of the Representatives amongst the 
 several States, according to their respective federal numbers,, 
 
 *Schouler, History of the United States, volume 0, page 121. 
 
258 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [\''OL. 4 
 
 every ten years, and this law which directs the taking of the 
 census is by its nature and object an organic law. The amend- 
 ment guards against any contingenc}', or its consequences, by 
 providing that in case Congress shall omit at any future time to 
 pass a census act before the commencement of the year, when it 
 is required to be taken, then it shall be taken in conformity with 
 his act, which was as follows: 
 
 "Be it enacted, that this act shall continue in force until 
 altered or repealed; and if no other law be passed providing for 
 the taking of any subsequent census of the United States, on or 
 before January 1 of any year, when, by the Constitution of the 
 United States, any future enumeration of the inhabitants thereof 
 is required to be taken, such census shall, in all things, be taken 
 and completed according to the provisions of this act." 
 
 The second amendment established the permanent organiza- 
 tion of the House of Representatives. 
 
 The substance of this proposed new rule of apportionment 
 was, that after the completion of each census the aggregate 
 result w'as to be divided by a certain number, and the product 
 of such division made the ratio or rule of apportionment of 
 Representatives among the several States. Then in order to 
 ascertain the representative population of each State the whole 
 number of such representative population must be divided by a 
 ratio already determined on. Mr. \'inton explained, that this 
 would fix the nui;ii)er of the House on a permanent footing, as 
 heretofore the body became disorganized every ten years and 
 took the chance of reconstruction. Added to this were minor 
 propositions with regard to the adjustment of fractions. 
 
 The census law, although organic, was heretofore so framed 
 that in case of an omission by Congress to direct it, there could 
 be no apportionment of Representatives, consequently no House 
 of Representatives, after the time when by the Constitution the 
 apportionment should be made. 
 
 And thus by such an omission the House would have been 
 dissolved and the Governmcni in fact unhinged, without the pos- 
 sibility of reorganizing the House and putting the law-making 
 power in motion again by any constitutional mode. 
 
Samite/ J'^in/ey Vm/on. 259 
 
 It will be seen that, failing to make this change, the Gov- 
 ernment remained only temporaril}-, not permanently, organized 
 under the plan of legislation heretofore pursued, which was: 
 First, a law to take the census, and then a law to declare what 
 number of members shall constitute the body, and then to appor- 
 tion them among the several States. It ma}- readily be seen that 
 if either be omitted the Government is unhinged. 
 
 IkU l)y this amendment of Mr. Vinton, the existence of the 
 Government is put be3'ond hazard from this cause. Thus Mr. 
 Vinton fittingly, as he drew near the clo.se of his public career, 
 in providing a law for the self-pre.servation and perpetuity of the 
 Government, performed the highest function of statesmanship 
 by completing in this direction the organization of the Govern- 
 ment and placing it beyond the reach of accident or faction from 
 this cause. 
 
 And the simplicity of the arrangement brings it within the 
 general comprehension, for by a division of the whole represen- 
 tative population of all the States, by a number fixed upon, the 
 ratio is thus ascertained which would be entitled to a member. 
 
 Then by another division of the whole representative popu- 
 lation of each State by this ratio the number of members for 
 each State is arrived at. Mr. Vinton had proposed the number 
 200. but considered that as quite subordinate, although in his 
 own opinion the propo.sed number was too large. 
 
 A \ery able public man and jurist, the Hon. C. H. Grosvenor, 
 of Ohio, in a letter before me, in reference to this law of appor- 
 tionment, says: "The principle of the law of I80O, which Mr. 
 Vinton introduced, is still applied to the .statutes relating to the 
 congressional apportionment." * * * 
 
 "So the estimate, following the law of 1850, is this: Con- 
 gress decides first how many shall constitute the House of Rep- 
 resentatives and this number is the divisor, and the entire popu- 
 lation is divided b\- tho.se figures, and the result is the ratio of 
 representation. * * '■■ So you see that the principle upon 
 which that law proceeded has been perpetuated through all the 
 years since his time, Mr. Vinton having laid the foundation for 
 an equitable statute for all time to come." 
 
260 Oliio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [Vol. 4 
 
 :}: * * "About this time a compliment received was the 
 naming'^' of Vinton County, which was formed March 23, 1850. 
 from Gallia. Athens, Hocking, Ross and Jackson counties, and 
 named in honor of Samuel Finley Vinton." 
 
 Mr. \'inton was a Representative in Congress twenty -two 
 years in all; from 1823 to 1837, and again from 1843 to l8ol. 
 He then voluntarily withdrew from the turmoil of public life, 
 and most positively declined a re-election. 
 
 While Mr. Vinton was still in Congress, the venerable ex- 
 President, John Quincy Adams, said of him in l.s4i), that "he 
 knew him well; he was a man of decided ability; ver}' few, if 
 any, in Congress were his superiors; when he spoke, it was to 
 good effect; he was a man. not only of talents, but of integrity. "f 
 
 And this is no stinted praise from one colleague to another, 
 while both were actively engaged in the political arena. 
 
 On the accession of Mr. Fillmore to the Presidency, Mr. 
 Vinton was tendered the office of Secretary of the Interior, 
 which he felt compelled to decline on account of impaired 
 health, as he had previously declined, in 1847, and for the same 
 reason, the Speakership of the House. 
 
 In 1851, Mr. \'inton consented to accept the candidacy for 
 Governor of Ohio, and this at a time when, owing to a very 
 peculiar combination of unfavorable circumstances, defeat was 
 considered almost certain, although it was hoped that so strong a 
 nomination might possibl}- ensure success. 
 
 Mr. Vinton himself regarded the election of any Whig as 
 impo.ssible, at the time he generously allowed his name to be 
 used, nor was he mistaken in his opinion, as to the result. 
 
 Of this election Schouler says: "Ohio remained with the 
 opposition as before, though the Whigs put up Vinton, one of 
 the ablest and purest of their party, as a candidate." (\'ol. V, 
 page 226.) 
 
 In 1853, Mr. Vinton assumed the presidency of the Cleve- 
 land and Toledo Railroad, which he consented to retain for one 
 year, for the purpose of a thorough organization, when he re- 
 
 * Howe's Ohio, Vol. III., p. 4U1. 
 t Vinton Memorial, p. IWT. 
 
Samuel Finley Vinton. 261 
 
 signed the post and returned to Washington City, wliere he con- 
 tinued to reside until tlie period of his death, May 11, 18(i2. 
 
 The Hon. Thomas Kwing, of Ohio, wrote of him upon 
 hearing of his death: 
 
 "I feel his loss deepl\ . Though for ten or fifteen years he 
 had more influence in the House of Representatives, much more 
 than any other man in it, yet the nation has never appreciated 
 him fully according to his merits. He was a wise, sagacious, 
 persevering statesman; almost unerring in his perception of the 
 right, bold in pursuing and skillful in sustaining it, he held 
 always a large control over the minds of men with whom he 
 acted. Within the range of my acquaintance, he has hardly left 
 his peer behind him." 
 
 And on March 3, 1880, Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, 
 in a speech made in the House of Representatives, alludes to 
 Mr. Vinton as a Whig leader in the.se words: "Samuel F. Vinton, 
 of Ohio, whose acquaintance with the rules, great prudence, and 
 sound judgment, rendered him, perhaps, the most prominent 
 leader on the Whig side." 
 
 This is a dispassionate verdict, given nearly twenty years 
 after his death, and ma\- thus well pass into history. 
 
 Mr. Vinton was always in his political affiliations a Wliig of 
 the old school, and he regarded with dread the radicalism of the 
 ultra Republicans. Still, during the last j-ears of his life, the 
 moderate Republicans regarded him as one of themselves ; yet, 
 when urged by old Whigs to nominate him for the Presidency in 
 1860, as a man who would secure the conservative vote North 
 and South, they replied " that he was too good a man to secure 
 the nomination." 
 
 "^ " During the closing years of his life he lived in dignified 
 retirement, his home being a hospitable center, much frequented 
 by the best society of the country, where Mr. Vinton was con- 
 sulted by the public men of the day on all leading questions. 
 
 "When the dark days of civil war, during which his life 
 closed, threatened the nation, many and anxious were the delib- 
 erations held at his house as to the best means to avert the swift- 
 
 ■ Cyclopaedia of the State of Ohio, Vol. IV, page 219. 
 
262 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [Vol. 4 
 
 coming calamity of secession, but his prescient mind foresaw 
 from the first the impending ruin. 
 
 "During his residence in Washington as a private citizen 
 he never opened a law office for the transaction of law business, 
 but would when desired argue a law case of importance before 
 the Supreme Court of the United States. He was remarked as 
 singularly successful in the prosecution of his cases, and this 
 success doubtless arose in great part from his habit of patient 
 investigation and clear analysis. He exhausted every subject he 
 discus.sed, and presented his thoughts without rhetorical flourish, 
 but with wonderful lucidity. 
 
 Mr. Vinton never associated himself with any of the relig- 
 ious denominations, although he reverentl}- believed in God and 
 His revealed law, so far as he understood it. No purer or more 
 unselfish patriot ever served his country. His first and highest 
 thought was the national good, and in this ardent desire for the 
 common welfare he merged his own career and all personal con- 
 siderations. 
 
 His last public service of note was as a member of the cele- 
 brated Peace Convention, held in lisijl. Some weeks previous to 
 his death he had yielded to the urgent solicitations of many, and 
 accepted a place as one of the three commi.ssioners appointed b}'' 
 President Lincoln to adjust the claims of slaveholders in the 
 District of Columbia at the time of the manumission of thtir 
 slaves. 
 
 Mr. \'inlon died of traumatic erysipelas after a brief illness, 
 and it was his dying request to be buried in the cemetery of 
 Gallipolis, O., lieside the dear wife who.se memory he had so 
 faithfully cherished for over thirty years. His only surviving 
 child is the writer of this all too inadequate sketch. 
 
 W46 
 

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