,t_^al|HJiiH L I B RARY OF THE U N I VERS ITY Of ILLl NOIS 977345 P83 ^^' llUfiOIS HiSTfittCAL SURVEY M piKe ar^d ?all70UQ (?ou9l:ie5, Illinois. :;i^",^.img^ ^;(?'?-^vo^F-^,:^^(?^p^,;^,:ff.:;p;^gj^?:^^ G o O O O O o :#: CONTADINIDINIG FUiiiPemii) o o o o o o IS) CITIZENS mirMniiiMi_^ OF PROMINENTmp REPRESEl OF THE COUNTY TOGETHER WITH- PORTRAITS -AND -BIOGRAPHIES-OF-ALL ■ THE <§; CHICAGO: BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY. 1891. K „.ii ^t^ m& pi\Ep/^?E. ^ -J»t^ -H>-(- <5«f-» ^/(^^r^*^j[IE greatest of English historians, Macaui.ay, and one of the most brilliant writers of "- -' the present century, has said : '-The history of a country is best told in a record of the lives of its people." In conformity with this idea the Portrait and Biograriiical Album of tiiis county has been jjrepared. Instead of going to must3^ records, and taking therefrom dry statistical matter that can be appreciated by but few, our corps of writers have gone to the people, the men and women who have, by their enterprise and industry, brought the county to a rank second to none among those comprising this great and noble State, and from their lips have the story of their life struggles. No more interesting or instructive matter could be presented to an intelli- gent public. In this volume will be found a record of many whose lives are worthy the iuntation of coming generations. It tells how some, commencing life in poverty, by industrj' and economj- have accumulated wealth. It tells how others, with limited advantages for securing an education, have become learned men and women, with an 1^, influence extending throughout the length and breadth of the hind. It tells of men who ave risen from the lower walks of life to eminence as statesmen, and wliose names have li;!V7%^Y^ become famous. It tells of those in every walk in life who have striven to succeed, and ^ P records how that success has usually crowned their efforts. It tells also of many, very many, who, not seeking the applause of the world, have pursued "the even tenor of their way," content to liave it said of them as Christ said of the woman performing a deed of mercy — "they have done what they could." It tells how that many in the pride and strength of young manhood left the plow and the anvil, the lawyer's office and the counting-room, left every trade and profession, and at their country's call went forth valiantly "to do or die," and how through their efforts the Union was restored and peace once more reigned in the land. In tiic life of every man and of every woman is a lesson that should not be lost upon those who follow after. Coming generations will appreciate this volume and preserve it as a saci-ed treasure, from the fact that it contains so much that would never And its way into public records, and which would otherwise be inaccessible. Great care has been taken in the compilation of the work and every opportunity possible o-iven to those represented to insure correctness in what has been written, and the publisliers flatter them- selves that they give to their readers a work with few errors of consequence. In addition to the biograph- ical sketches, portraits of a number of representative citizens are given. The faces of some, and biograjjliical sketches of man}', will be missed in this volume. For this the publishers are not to blame. Not having a proper conception of the work, some refused to give the information necessary to compile a sketch, while others were indifferent. Occasionally some member of the family would oppose the enterprise, and on .account of such opposition the support of the interested one would be withheld. In a few instances men could never be fouml. tliougli repeated calls weie made at their residence or place of business. l)I0(iK.\l'lIICAL Puiil.ISllIN(; Co. ' Chicaoo, January-, 1891. 885096 «>* »?j^4=i/|li£. LaGRRPHlEa C:>: It ^ OF THE GOVERNORS of ILLINOIS, AND OF THE OFTHE .^vj-22^ -M( ^_^§^^:-^ -^wm^BMy^-'''S'mmBB^ ■'^n^^'^W^- Q'j'J^ :i_5^=s-««5«S-< m •L-^^l5^(^J :^ F/JiST PRESIDENT. '0 ©EOSBE WASIHIMBT©K ^^ ^^^^^^^^^lX^^^'^mi^*::^?fiiS\^li^^m\^S?\^^^ HE Father of our Country was born in Westmorland Co., Va., 'Feb. 2 2, 1732. His parents were Augustine and Mary (Ball) Washington. The family to which he belonged has not been satisfactorily traced in England. His great-grand- father, John Washington, em- igrated to Virginia about 1657, and became a prosperous planter. He had two sons, Lawrence and John. The former married Mildred Warner and had three children, John, Augustine and Mildred. Augus- tine, the father of George, first married Jane Butler, who bore him four children, two of whom, Lawrence and Augustine, reached maturity. Of six children by his second marriage, George was the eldest, the others being Betty, Samuel, John Augustine, Charles and Mildred. Augustine Washington, the father of George, died in 1743, leaving a large landed property. To his eldest son, Lawrence, he bequeathed an estate on tlie Patomac, afterwards known as Mount Vernon, and to George he left the parental residence. George received only such education as the neighborhood schools afforded, save for a short time after he left school, when he received private instruction in mathemai'cs. Hie spellinii v/as rather defective. Remarkable stories are told of his great ))hysica. strength and development at an early age. He was an acknowledged leader among his companions, and was early noted for that nobleness of character, fair- ness and veracity which characterized his whole life. When George was 1 4 years old he had a desire to go to sea, and a midshipman's warrant was secured for him, but through the opposition of his mother the idea was abandontd. Two years later he was appointed surveyor to the immense estate of Lord Fairfax. Li this business he spent three years in a rough frontier life, gaining experience which afterwards proved very essential to him. \\\ 1751, though only 19 years of age, he was appointed adjutant with the rank of major in the Virginia militia, then being trained for active service against the French and Indians. Soon after this he sailed to the West Lndies with his brother Lawrence, who went there to restore his health. They soon returned, and in the summer of 1752 Lawrence died, leaving a large fortune to an infant daughter who did not long survive him. On her demise the estate of Mount Vernon was given to George, Upon the arrival of Robert Dinwiddle, as Lieuten- ant-Governor of Virginia, in 1752, the militia was reorganized, and the province divided into four mili- tary districts, of which the northern was assigned to Washington as adjutant general. Shortly after this a very perilous mission was assigned him and ac- cepted, which others had refused. This was to pro- ceed to the French post near Lake Erie in North- western Pennsylvania. The distance to be traversed was between 500 and 600 miles, \\inter was at hand, and the journey was to be made without militar)' escort, through a territory occupied by Indians. The GEORGE WASHINGTON. trip was a perilous one, and several limes he came near losing his life, yet he returned in safety and furnished a full and useful report of his expedition. A regiment of 300 men was raised in Virginia and put in com- mand of Col. Joshua Fry, and Major Washington was commissioned lieutenant-colonel. Active war was then begun against the French and Indians, in which Washington took a most important part. In the memorable event of July 9, 1755, known as Brad- dock's defeat, Washington was almost the only officer of distinction who escaped from the calamities of the day with life and honor. The other aids of Braddock were disabled early in the action, and Wasiiington alone was left in that capacity on the field. In a letter to his brother he says : " I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet I escaped unhurt, though death was leveling my companions on every side." An Indian sharpshooter said he was not born to be killed by a bullet, for he had taken direct aim at him seventeen times, and failed to hit him. After having been five years in the military service, and vainly sought jiromotion in the royal army, he took advantage of the fall of Fort Duquesne and the expulsion of the French from the valley of the Ohio, CO resign his conmiission. Soon after he entered the Legislature, where, although not a leader, he took an active and important part. January 17, 1759, he married Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) Custis, the wealthy widow of John Parke Custis. \Vhen the British Parliament had closed the port -jf Boston, the cry went up throughout the provinces that "The cause of Boston is the cause of us all." It was then, at the suggestion of Virginia, that a Con- gress of all the colonies was called to meet at Phila- delphia,Sept. 5, 1774, to secure their common liberties, peaceably if possible. To this Congress Col. Wash- ington was sent as a delegate. On May 10, 1775, the Congress re-assembled, when the hostile intentions of England were plainly apparent. The battles of Con- cord and Lexington had been fought. Among the first acts of this Congress was the election of a com- mander-in-chief of the colonial forces. This high and responsible office was conferred upon Washington, who was still a member of the Congress. He accepted it on June 19, but upon the express condition that he receive no salary. He would keep an exact account of expenses and expect Congress to pay them and nothing more. It is not the object of this sketch to trace the military acts of Washington, to whom the fortunes and liberties of the people of this country were so long confided. The war was conducted by him under every possible disadvantage, and while his forces often met with reverses, yet he overcame every obstacle, and after seven years of heroic devotion and matchless skill he gained liberty for the greatest nation of earth. On Dec. 23, 1783, Washington, in a parting address of surpassing beauty, lesigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the army to to the Continental Congress sitting at Annapolis. He retired immediately to Mount Vernon and resumed his occupation as a farmer and planter, shunning all connection with public life. In February, 1789, Washington was unanimously elected President. In his presidential career he was subject to the peculiar trials incidental to a rvew government ; trials from lack of confidence on the part of other governments ; trials from want of harmony between the different sections of our own country; trials from the impoverished condition of the country, owmg to the war and want of credit; trials from the beginnings of party strife. He was no partisan. His clear judgment could discern the golden mean; and wiiile perhaps this alone kept our government from sinking at the very outset, it left him exposed to attacks from both sides, which were often bitter and very annoying. At the expiration of his first term he was unani- mously re-elected. At the end of this term many were anxious that he be re-elected, but he absolutely refused a third nomination. On the fourth of March, 1797, at the expiraton of his second term as Presi- dent, he returned to his home, hojnng to pass there his few remaining years free from the annoyances of public life. Later in the year, however, his repose seemed likely to be interrupted by war with France. At the prospect of such a war he was again urged to take command of the armies. He chose his sub- ordinate officers and left to them the charge of mat- ters in tlie field, which he superintended from his home. In accepting the command he made the reservation that he was not to be in the field until it was necessary. In the midst of these preparations his life was suddenly cut off. December 12, he took a severe cold from a ride in the rain, which, settling in his throat, produced inflammation, and terminated fatally on the night of the fourteenth. On the eigh- teenth his body was borne wi(h military honors to its final resting place, and interred in the family vault at Mount Vernon. Of the character of Washington it is impossible to speak but in terms of the highest respect and ad- miration. The more we see of the operations of our government, and the more deeply we feel the difficulty of uniting all opinions in a common interest, the more highly we must estimate the force of his tal- ent and character, which have been able to challenge the reverence of all parties, and principles, and na- tions, and to win a fame as extended as the limits of the globe, and which we cannot but believe will be as lasting as the existence of man. The person of Washington was unusally tan, erect and well proportioned. His muscular strength was great. His features were of a beautiful symmetry. He var. British orders in council destioyed our commerce, and our flag was exposed to constant insult. Mr. Madison was a man of peace. Scholarly in his taste, retinng in his disposition, war had no charms for him. But the meekest spirit can be roused. It makes one's blood boil, even now, to think of an American ship brought to, upon the ocean, by the guns of an English cruiser. A young lieutenant steps on board and orders the crew to be paraded before him. With great nonchal- ance he selects any number whom he may please to designate as British subjects ; orders them down the ship's side into his boat; and places them on the gun- deck of his man-of-war, to fight, by conii)ulsion, the battles of England. This right of search and im- pressment, no efforts of our Government could induce the British cabinet to relinquish. On the 1 8th of June, 181 2, President Madison gave his approval to an act of Congress declaring war against Great Britain. Notwithstanding the bitter hostility of the Federal party to the war, the country in general approved; and Mr. Madison, on the 4th of March, i8i3) was re-elected by a large majority, and entered upon his second term of office. This is not the place to describe the various adventures of this war on the land and on the water. Our infan. navy then laid the foundations of its renown in grap- pling wiih the most formidable power which ever swept the seas. The contest commenced in earnest by the appearance of a British fleet, early in February, 1813, in Chesajieake Bay, declaring nearly the whole coast of the Lfnited States under blockade. The Emperor of Russia offered his services as me ditator. America accepted ; England refused. A Brit- ish force of five thousand men landed on the banks of the Patuxet River, near its entrance into Chesa- peake Bay, and inarched rapidly, by way of Bladens- burg, upon Washington. The straggling little city of Washington was thrown into consternation. The cannon of the brief conflict at Bladensburg echoed through the streets of the metropolis. The whole populaticn fled from the city. The President, leaving Mrs. Madison in the White House, with her carriage drawn up at the doer to await his speedy return, hurried to meet the officers in a council of war He met our troops utterly routed, and he could not go back without danger of being captured. But few hours elapsed ere the Presidential Mansion, the Capitol, and all the public buildings in Washington were in flames. The war closed after two years of fighting, and on Feb. 13, 1815, the treaty of peace was signed at Ghent. On the 4th of March, 1817, his second term of office expired, and he resigned the Presidential chair to his friend, James Monroe. He retired to his beau- tiful home at Montpelier, and there passed the re- mainder of his days. On June 28, 1836, then at the age of 85 years, he fell asleep in death. Mrs. Madi- son died July 12, 1849. 7 -?-o:^_ FIFTH PRESIDENT. 35 IM priQES n]oi]ROE. ^'^im^wT'^w 'ij AMES MONROE, the fifth .President of The United States, was born in Westmoreland Co., Va., April 28, 1758. His early life was passed at the place of nativity. His ancestors had for many years resided in the prov- ince in which he was born. When, at 17 years of age, in the process of completing his education at William and Mary College, the Co- lonial Congress assembled at Phila- delphia to deliberate upon the un- just and manifold oppressions of Great Britian, declared the separa- tion of the Colonies, and promul- gated the Declaration of Indejjen- dence. Had he been born ten years before it is highly probable that he would have been one of the signers of that celebrated instrument. At this time he left school and enlisted among the patriots. He joined the army when everything looked hope- less and gloomy. The number of deserters increased from day to day. The invading armies came pouring in ; and the tories not only favored the cause of the mother country, but disheartened the new recruits, who were sufficiently terrified at the prospect of con- tending with an enemy whom they had been taught to deem invincible. To such brave spirits as James Monroe, who went right onward, undismayed through difficulty and danger, the United States owe their political emancipation. The young cadet joined the ranks, and espoused the cause of his injured country, with a firm determination to live or die with her strife for liberty. Firmly yet sadly he shared in the ni.-l. ancholy retreat from Harleam Heights and Wlnf Plains, and accompanied the dispirited army as it flee before its foes through New Jersey. In four niui.tli: after the Declaration of Independence, the patriots had been beaten in seven battles. At the battle c( Trenton he led the vanguard, and, in the actof charg- ing upon the enemy he received a wound in the lef' shoulder. As a reward for his bravery, Mr. Monroe was pro- moted a captain of infantry ; and, having recovered from his wound, he rejoined the army. He, however, receded from the line of promotion, by becoming an officer in the staff of Lord Steding. During the cam- paigns pf 1777 and 1778, in the actions of Brandy wine, Germantown and Monmouth, he continued aid-de-camp; but becoming desirous to regain liii position in the army, he exerted himself to collect a regiment for the Virginia line. This scheme failed owing to the exhausted condition of the State. Upon this failure he entered the office of Mr. Jefferson, at that period Governor, and pursued, with consideralile ardor, the study of common law. He did not, howevei. entirely lay aside the knapsack for the green bag; but on the invasions of the enemy, served as a volun tear, during the two years of his legal pursuits. In 17S2, he was elected from King George county, a member of the Leglislature of Virginia, and by that body he was elevated to a seat in the Executive Council. He was thus honored with the confidence of his fellow citizens at 23 years of age ; and having at this early period displayed some of that abiiitv and aptitude for legislation, which were afterwards employed with unremiitii^g energy for the public good, 36 JAMES MONROE. lie was in the succeeding year chosen a member of ihe Congress of the United States. Deeply as Mr. Monroe felt the imperfections of the old Confederacy, he was opposed to the new Constitution, -.hinking, with many others of the Republican party, '.hat it gave too much power to the Central Government, and not enough to the individual States. Still he re- tained the esteem of his friends who were its warm supporters, and who, notwithstanding his opposition secured its adoption. In 1789, he became a member of the United States Senate ; which office he held for four years. Every month the line of distinction be- tween the two great parties which divided the nation, the Federal and the Republican, was growing more distinct. The two prominent ideas which now sep- arated them were, that the Republican party was in sympathy with France, and also in favor of such a strict construction of tlie Constitution as to give the Central Government as little power, and the State Governments as much power, as the Constitution would warrant. The Federalists sympathized with England, and were in favor of a liberal construction of the Con- stitution, which would give as much power to the Central Government as that document could possibly authorize. The leading Federalists and Republicans were alike noble men, consecrating all their energies to the good of the nation. Two more honest men or more pure patriots than John Adams the Federalist, and James Monroe the Republican, never breathed. In building up this majestic nation, which is destined to eclipse all Grecian and.Vssyrian greatness, the com- bination of their antagonism was needed to create the light equilibrium. And yet each in his day was de- nounced as almost a demon. Washington was then President. England had es- poused the cause of the Bourbons against the princi- ples of the French Revolution. All Europe was drawn into the conflict. We were feeble and far away. Washington issued a proclamation of neutrality be- tween these contending powers. France had helped us in the struggle for our liberties. All the despotisms of Europe were now combined to prevent the French from escaping from a tyranny a thousand-fold worse than that which we had endured Col. Monroe, more magnanimous than prudent, was anxious that, at whatever hazard, we should help our old allies in their extremity. It was the impulse of a generous and noble nature. He violently opposed the Pres- ident's proclamation as ungrateful and wanting in magnanimity. Washington, who could appreciate such a character, developed his calm, serene, almost divine greatness, by appointing that very James Monroe, who was de- nouncing the policy of the Government, as the minister of that Government to the Republic of France. Mr. Monroe was welcomed by the National Convention in France with the most enthusiastic demonstrations. Shortly after his return to this country, Mr. Mon- roe was elected Governor of Virginia, and held the office for three yeais. He was again sent to France to co-operate with Chancellor Livingston in obtaining the vast territory then known as the Province of Louisiana, which France had but shortly before ob- tained from Spain. Tlieir united efforts were suc- cessful. For the comparatively small sum of fifteen millions of dollars, the entire territory of Orleans and district of Louisiana were added to the United States. This was probably the largest transfer of real estate which was ever made in all the history of the world. From France Mr. Monroe went to England to ob- tain from that country some recognition of our rights as neutrals, and to remonstrate against those odious impressments of our seamen. But Eng- land was unrelenting. He again returned to Eng- land on the same mission, but could receive no redress. He returned to his home and was again chosen Governor of Virginia. This he soon resigned to accept the position of Secretary of State under Madison. While in this office war with England was declared, the Secretary of War resigned, and during tliese trying times, the duties of the \\'ar Department were also put upon him. He was truly the armor- bearer of President Madison, and the most efficient business man in his cabinet. Upon the return ol peace he resigned the Department of War, but con- tinued in the office of Secretary of State until the ex- piration of Mr. Madison's adminstration. At the elec tion held the previous autumn Mr. Monroe himself had been chosen President with but little opposition, and upon March 4, iSfy, was inaugurated. Four years later he was elected for a second term. Among the important measures of his Presidency were the cession of Florida to the United States ; the Missouri Compromise, and the " Monroe doctrine.'' This famous doctrine, since known as the " Monroe doctrine," was enunciated by him in 1823. At that time the United States had recognized the independ- ence of the South American states, and did not wish to have European powers longer attempting to sub- due portions of the American Continent. The doctrine is as follows: "That we should consider any attempt on the part of European powers to extend their sys- tem to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety," and "that we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing or controlling American governments or provinces in any other light than as a manifestation by European powers of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States." This doctrine immediately affected the course of foreign governments, and has become the approved sentiment of the LTnited States. At the end of his fecond term Mr. Monroe retired to his home in Virginia, where he lived until 1830, when he went to New York to live with his son-in- law. In that city he died,on the 4th of July, 1831 K n. J. $, Ai oyn^S SIXTH PRESIDENT. 39 "m^^^sS'i L^J,^/^^ :-7^^ " 305I] Qnil]6Y ^D^IIQS. OHN QUINCY ADAMS, the sixth President of the United ^Slates, was bora in the rural home of his honored father. John Adams, m Qaincy, Mass., on the nth cf July, 1767. His mother, a woman of exalted worth, watched over his childhood during the almost constant ab- sence of his father. When but eight years of age, he stood with his mother on an eminence, listen- ing to the booming of the great bat- tle on Bunker's Hill, and gazing on upon the smoke and flames billow- ing up from the conflagration of Charlestown. When but eleven years old he took a tearful adieu of his mother, to sail with his fattier for Europe, through a fleet of hostile British cruisers. The bright, animated boy spent a year and a half in Paris, where his father was associated with Franklin and Lee as minister plenipotentiary. His intelligence attracted the notice of these distinguished men, and he received from them flattering marks of attention. Mr. John Adams had scarcely returned to this cou.-.try, in 1779, ere he was again sent abroad Again ;oI.ii Quincy accompanied his father. At Paris he applied himself with great diligence, for six months, to :,Uidy; then accompained his father to Holland, vnere he entered, first a school in Amsterdam, then the University at I.eyden. About a year from this time, in 1781, when the manly boy was but fourteen yea— 5 of age, he was selected liy Mr. Dana, our min- ister to the Russian court, as his private secretary. In this school of incessant labor and of enobling culture he spent fourteen months, and then returned to Holland through Sweden, Denmark, Hamburg and Bremen. This long journey he took alone, in the winter, when in his sixteenth year. Again he resumed his studies, under a private tutor, at Hague. Thence, in the spring of 1782, he accompanied his father i. Paris, traveling leisurely, and forming acquaintance with the most distinguished men on tlie Con'inei.t examining arcnitectural remains, galleries of paintingi and all renowned works of art. At Paris he agair. became associated with the most illustrious men of all lands in the contemplations of the loftiest temporal themes which can engross the human mind. Aftj ■ a short visit to England he returned to Paris, ana consecrated all his energies to study until May, 1785, when he returned to America. To a brilliant young man of eighteen, v. ho had seen much of the worid, and who was familiar with the etiquette of courts, a residence with his father in London, under such cir- cumstances, must have been extremely attractive but with judgment very rare in one of his age, he pre- ferred to return to America to complete his education in an American college. He wished then to study law, that with an honorable profession, he might be able to obtain an independent support. Upon leaving Harvard College, at the age of twenty- he studied law for three years. In June, 1794, be- ing then but twenty-seven years of age, he was ap- pointed by Washington, resident minister at the Netherlands. Sailing from Boston in July, he reached London in October, where he was immediately admit- ted to the deliberations of Messrs. Jay and Pinckney, assisting them in negotiating a commercial treaty with Great Britian. After thus spending a fortnight ir, London, he proceeded to the Hague. In July, 1797, he left the Hague to go to Portugal a.- minister plenipotentiary. On his way to Portugal upon arriving in London, he met with despatches directing him to the court of Beinn, but requestirp him to remain in London until he should receive his instrucdons. While wr.iting he was married to ar. American lady to whom he had been previously en- gaged, — Miss Louisa Catherine Johnson, daughtf of Mr. Joshua Johnson, American consul in I ondon ; a lady endownd with that beauty and ihose accom- plishment which eminently fitted her to move in ti.t elevated sphere for which she wjis destined- «o JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. He reached Berlin with his wife in November, 1797 ; where he remained until July, 1799, when, having ful- filled all the purix)ses of his mission, he solicited his recall. Soon after his return, in 1802, he was chosen to the Senate of Massachusetts, from Boston, and then was elected Senator of the United States for six years, from the 4th of March, 1804. His reputation, his ability and his experience, placed him immediately among the most prominent and influential members of that body. Especially did he sustain the Govern- ment in its measures of resistance to the encroach- ments of England, destroying our commerce and in- sulting our flag. There was no man in America more rimiliar with the arrogance of the British court upon these points, and no one more resolved to present a firm resistance. In 1809, Madison succeeded Jefferson in the Pres- idential chair, and he immediately nominated John Quincy Adams minister to St. Petersburg. Resign- ing his professorship in Harvard College, he embarked at Boston, in August, 1809. While in Russia, Mr. Adams was an intense stu- dent. He devoted his attention to the language and history of Russia; to the Chinese trade; to the European system of weights, measures, and coins ; to the climate and astronomical observations ; while he Kept up a familiar acquaintance with the Greek and Latin classics. In all the universities of Europe, a more accomplished scholar could scarcely be found. All tlirough life the Bible constituted an important part of his studies. It was his rule to read five chapters every day. On the 4th of March, 1817, Mr. Monroe took the Presidential chair, and immediately appointed Mr. Adams Secretary of State. Taking leave of his num- erous friends in public and private life in Europe, he sailed in June, 1819, forthe United States. On the 1 8th of August, he again crossed the threshold of his home in Quincy. During the eight years of Mr. Mon- roe's administration, Mr. Adams continued Secretary of State. Some time before the close of Mr. Monroe's second term of office, new candidates began to be presented foi the Presidency. The friends of Mr. .\dams brought forward his name. It was an exciting campaign. Party spirit was never more bitter. Two hundred and sixty electoral votes were cast. Andrew Jackson re- ceived ninety-nine; John Quincy .'\dams, eighty-four; William H. Crawford, forty-one; Henry Clay, thirty- seven. As there was no choice by the people, the question went to the House of Representatives. Mr. Clay gave the vote of Kentucky to Mr. Adams, and he was elected. The friends of all the disappointed candidates now '.ombined in a venomous and persistent assault upon Mr. Adams. There is nothing more disgraceful in **^ past history of our country than the abuse which was poured in one uninterrupted stream, upon this high-minded, upright, patriotic man. There never was an administration more pure in principles, more con- scientiously devoted to the best interests of the coun- try, than that of John Quincy Adams; and never, per- haps, was there an administration more unscrupu. lously and outrageously assailed. Mr. Adams was, to a very remarkable degree, ab- stemious and temperate in his habits; always rising early, and taking much exercise, ^\'hen at his home in Quincy, he has been known to walk, before breakfast, seven miles to Boston. In Washington, it was said that he was the first man up in the city, lighting his own fire and applying himself to work in his library often long before dawn. On the 4th of March, 1829, Mr. Adams retired from the Presidency, and was succeeded by Andrew- Jackson. John C. Calhoun was elected Vice Presi- dent. The slavery question now began to assume jx)rtentous magnitude. Mr. Adams returned to Quincy and to his studies, which he pursued with un- abated zeal. But he was not long permitted to re- main in retirement. In November, 1830, he was elected representative to Congress. For seventeen years, antil his death, he occupied the post as repre- sentative, towering above all his peers, ever ready to do brave battle' for freedom, and winning the title of "the old man eloquent." Upon taking his seat in the House, he announced that he should hold him- self bound to no party. Probably there never was a member more devoted to his duties. He was usually the first in his [jlace in the morning, and the last to leave his seat in the evening. Not a measure could be brought forward and escape his scrutiny. The battle which Mr. Adams fought, almost singly, against the proslavery party in the Government, was sublime in Us moral daring and heroism. For persisting in presenting petitions for the abolition of slavery, he was threatened with indictment by the grand jury, with expulsion from the House, with assassination but no threats could intimidate him, and his final triumph was complete. It has been said of President Adams, that when his body was bent and his hair silvered l)y the lapse of fourscore years, yielding to the simple faith of a little child, he was accustomed to repeat every night, before he slept, the prajer which his mother taught him in his infant years. On the 2 1 St of February, 1848, he rose on the floor of Congress, with a paper in his hand, to address the speaker. Suddenly he fell, again stricken by jiaraly- sis, and was caught in the arms of those around liim. For a tinre he was senseless, as he was conveyed to the sofa in the rotunda. With reviving conscious- ness, he opened his eyes, looked calmly around and said " This is llie end of earth ;"then after a moment's pause he added, " / am content" These were the last words of the grand " Old Man Eloquent." •c-^ G.^^7 ZjC^^l^^C^^ ^\ -Z-' SEVENTH I'RESIIjENT. n i^?^ NDREW JACKSON, the seventh President of the ' United States, was born in Waxhaw settlement, N. C, March 15, 1767, a few days after his father's death. His parents were poor emigrants from Ireland, and took np their abode in Waxhaw set- tlement, where they lived in deepest poverty. Andrew, or Andy, as he was universally called, grew up a very rough, rude, turbulent boy. His features were coarse, his form un- gainly, and there was but very little in his character, made visible, which was at- tractive. Wiien only thirteen years old he joined the volun- teers of Carolina against the British invasion. In 1781, he and his brother Robert were captured and imprisoned for a time at Camden. A British officer ordered him to brush his mud-spattered boots. " I am a prisoner of war, not your servant," was the reply of the dauntless boy. The brute drew his sword, and aimed a desperate Dlow at the head of the helpless young prisoner. Andrew raised his hand, and thus received two fear- ful gashes, — one on the hand and the other upon the head. The officer then turned to his brother Robert with the same demand. He also refused, and re- ceived a blow from the keen-edged sabre, which quite disabled him, and which probably soon after caused his death. They suffered muchother ill-treatment, and were finally stricken with the small-pox. Their mother was successfiU iu obtaining their exchange. and took her sick boys home. After a long illn jse Andrew recovered, and the death of his mother «;oon left him entirely friendless. Andrew supported himself in various ways, s i;h as working at the saddler's trade, teaching school and clerking in a general store, until 1784, wlien he entered a law office at Salisbury, N. C. He, however, gave more attention to the wild amusements of the times than to his studies. In 1788, he was appointed solicitor for the western district of North Carolina, of which Tennessee was then a part. This involved many long and tedious journeys amid dangers of every kind, but Andrew Jackson never knew fear, and the Indians had no desire to repeat a skirmish with the Sharp Knife. In 1791, Mr. Jackson was married to a woman who supposed herself divorced from her former husband. Great was the surprise of both parties, two years later, to find that the conditionsof the divorce had just been definitely settled by the first husband. The marriage ceremony was performed a second time, but the occur- rence was often used by his enemies to bring Mr. Jackson into disfavor. During these years he worked hard at his profes- sion, and frequently had one or more duels on hand, one of which, when he killed Dickenson, was espec- ially disgraceful. In January, 1796, the Territory of Tennessee then containing nearly eighty thousand inhabitants, the people met in convention at Knoxville to frame a con- stitution. Five were sent from each of the eleven counties, Andrew Jackson was one of the delegafes. The new State was entitled to but one member in. the National House of Representatives. Andrew Jack-' son was chosen that member. Mounting his horse he rode to Philedelphia, where Congress then held its 44 ANDREW JACKSON. ijsiioas, — a distance of about eight hundred miles. Jackson was an earnest advocate of the Demo- cratic party. Jefferson was his idol. He admired tionaparte, loved France and hated England. As Mr. Jackson took his seat, Gjn. Washington, whose second term of office was then expiring, delivered his last speech to Congress. A committee drew up a complimentary address in reply. Andrew Jackson did not approve of the address, and was one of the twelve who voted against it. He was not willing to say that Gen. Washington's adminstration had been " wise, firm and patriotic." Mr, Jackson was elected to the United States Senate in 1797, but soon resigned and returned home. Soon after he was chosen Judge of the Supreme Court of his State, which position he held f^r si.x years. When the war of 1812 with Great Britian com- menced, Madison occupied the Presidential chair. Aaron Burr sent word to the President that there was an unknown 'man in the West, Andrew Jackson, who would do credit to a commission if one were con- ferred upon him. Just at that time Gen. Jackson offered his services and those of twenty-five hundred volunteers. His offer was accej)ted, and the troops were assembled at Nashville. As the British were hourly expected to make an at- tack upon New Orleans, where Geu Wilkinson was in command, he was ordered to descend the river with fifteen hundred troops to aid Wilkinson. The expedition reached Natchez; and after a delay of sev- eral weeks there, without accomplishing anything, the men were ordered back to their homes. But the energy Gen. Jackson had displayed, and his entire devotion to the comrfort of his soldiers, won him golden opinions; and he became the most popular man in the State. It was in this expedition that his toughness gave him the nickname of "Old Hickory." Soan after this, while attempting to horsewhip Col. Thomas H. Benton, for a remark that gentleman made about his taking a part as second in a duel, in which a younger brother of Benton's was engaged, he received two severe [jistol wounds. While he was lingering upon a bed of suffering news came that the Indians, who had combined under Tecumseh from Florida to the Lakes, to exterminate the white set- lers, were committing the most awful ravages. De- cisive action became necessary. Gen. Jackson, with his fractured bone just beginning to heal, his arm in a sling, and unable to mount his horse without assis- tance, gave his amazing energies to the raising of an army to rendezvous at Favettesville, Alabama. The Creek Indians had established a strong fort on one of the bends of the Tallapoosa River, near the cen- ter of Alabama, about fifty miles below Fort Strother. With an army of two thousand men, Gen. Jackson traversed the pathless wilderness in a march of eleven days. He reached their fort, called Tohopeka or Horse-shoe, on the 27th of March. 1814. The bend of the river enclosed nearly one hundred acres ot tangled forest and wild ravine. Across the narrow neck the Indians had constructed a formidable breast- work of logs and brush. Here nine hundred warriors, with an ann^le suplyof arms were assembled. The fort was stormed. The fight was utterly des- perate. Not an Indian would accept of fjuarter. When bleeding and dying, they would fight those who en- deavored to spare their lives. From ten in the morn- ing until dark, the battle raged. The carnage was awful and revolting. Some threw themselves into the river; but the unerring bullet struck their heads as they swam. Nearly everyone of the nine hundred war- rios were killed A few probably, in the night, swam the river and escaped. This ended the war. The power of the Creeks was broken forever. This bold plunge into the wilderness, with its terriffic slaughter, so appalled the savages, that the ha'ggard remnants of the bands came to the camp, begging for peace. This closing of the Creek war enabled us to con- centrate all our militia upon the British, who were the allies of the Indians No man of less resolute will than Gen. Jackson could have conducted this Indian campaign to so successful an issue Immediately he was appointed major-general. Late in .August, with an army of two thousand men, on a rushing march, Gen. Jackson came to Mobile. A British fleet came from Pensacola, landed a force upon the beach, anchored near the little fori, and from both ship and shore commenced a furious assault. The battle was long and doubtful. At length one of the ships was blown up and the rest retired. Garrisoning Mobile, where he had taken his little- army, he moved his troops to New Orleans, .\nd the battle of New Orleans which soon ensued, was in reality a very arduous campaign. This won for Gen. Jackson an imperishable name. Here his troops, which numbered about four thousand men, won a signal victory over the British army of about nine thousand. His loss was but thirteen, while the loss of the British was two thousand six hundred. The name of Gen. Jackson soon began to be men- tioned in connection with the Presidency, but, in 1824, he was defeated by Mr. Adams. He was, however, successful in the election of 1828, and was re-elected for a second term in 1832. In 1829, just before he assumed the reins of the government, he met with the most terrible affliction of his life in the death of his wife, whom he had loved with a devotion which has perhaps never been surpassed. From the shock of her death he never recovered. His administration was one of the most memorable in the annals of our country; applauded by one party, condemned by the other. No man had more bitter enemies or warmer friends. At the expiration of his two terms of office he retired to the Hermitage, where he died June 8, 1845. The last years of Mr. Jack- son's life were that of a devoted Christian man. ^7 7 /^l^e^ ^^^^i^J U^L^^^^z.^^ EIGHTH PRESIDENT. 47 '^^^^^^-^^^\®m^j^^^'m^ IWW^"^ W\ BUREIJ. ARTIN VAN BUREN, the eighth President of the United States, was born at Kinderhook, N. Y., Dec. 5, 17S2. He died at the same place, July 24, 1862. His body rests in the cemetery at Kinderhook. Above it is a plain granite shaft fifteen feet high, bearing a simple inscription about half way up on one face. The lot is unfenced, unbordered or unbounded by shrub or flower. There is but little in the life of Martin Van Buren of romantic interest. He fought no battles, engaged in no wild adventures. Though his life was stormy in political and intellectual conflicts, and he gained many signal victories, his days passed uneventful in those incidents which give zest to biography. His an- cestors, as his name indicates, were of Dutch origin, and were among the earliest emigrants from Holland to the banks of the Hudson. His father was a farmer, residing in the old town of Kinderhook. His mother, also of Dutch lineage, was a woman of superior intel- ligence and exemplary piety. ,fe was decidedly a precocious boy, developing un- usual activity, vigor and strengtli of mind. .'\t the age of fourteen, he had finished his academic studies in his native village, and commenced the study of law. As he had not a collegiate education, seven years of study in a law-office were required of him Ijefore he could be admitted to the bar. Inspired with Ji lofty ambition, and conscious of his powers, he pur- sued his studies with indefatigable industry. After spending six years in an office in ^is native village, he went to the city of Mew York, and prosecuted hii studies for the seventh year. In 1803, Mr. Van Buren, then twenty-one years of age, commenced the practice of law in his native vil- lage. The great conflict between the Federal and Republican party was then at its height. Mr. Van Buren was from the beginning a politician. He had, perhaps, imbibed that spirit while listening to the many discussions which had been carried on in his father's hotel. He was in cordial sympathy with Jefferson, and earnestly and eloquently espoused the cause of State Rights ; though at that time the Fed- eral party held the supremacy both in his town and State. His success and increasing ruputation led him after six years of practice, to remove to Hudson, tlu; county seat of his county. Here he spent seven years constantly gaining strength by contending in tht- courts with some of the ablest men who have adorned the bar of his State. Just before leaving Kinderhook for Hudson, Mi. Van Buren married a lady alike distinguished for beauty and accomplishments. After twelve short years she sank into the grave, the victim of consump- tion, leaving her husband and four sons to weep over her loss. For twenty-five years, Mr. Van Buren was an earnest, successful, assiduous lawyer. The record of those years is barren in items of public interest. In 181 2, when thirty years of age, he was chosen to the State Senate, and gave his strenuous support to Mr. Madison's adminstration. In 18 15, he was ap- pointed Attorney-General, and the next year moved to Albany, the capital of the State. While he was acknowledged as one of the most prominent leaders of the Democratic party, he had 48 MARTIN VAN BUREN. the moral courage to avow that true democracy did not require that " universal suffrage" which admits the vile, the degraded, the ignorant, to the right of governing the State. In true consistency with his democratic principles, he contended that, while the ]:ath leading to the privilege of voting should be open to every man without distinction, no one should be invested with that sacred prerogative, unless he were in some degree qualified for it by intelligence, virtue and some [)roperty interests in the welfare of the State. In 182 I he was elected a member of the United States Senate; and in the same year, he took a seat in the convention to revise the constitution of his native State. His course in this convention secured the approval of men of all parties. No one could doubt the singleness of his endeavors to promote the interests of all classes in the community. In the Senate of the United States, he rose at once to a conspicuous position as an active and useful legislator. In 1827, John Quincy Adams being then in the Presidential chair, Mr. Van Buren was re-elected to .ne Senate. He had been from the beginning a de- .ermined opposer of the Administration, adopting the 'State Rights" view in opposition to what was deemed the Federal proclivities of Mr. Adams. Soon after this, in 1828, he was chosen Governorof the State of New York, and accordingly resigned his seat in the Senate. Probably no one in the United States contributed so much towards ejecting John Q. Adams from the Presidential chair, and placing in it Andrew Jackson, as did Martin Van Buren. Whether entitled to the reputation or not, he certainly was re- garded throughout the United States as one of the most skillful, sagacious and cunning of politicians. It was supposed that no one knew so well as he how io touch the secret sptings of action; how to pull all ihe wires to put his machinery in motion ; and how to organize a political army which would, secretly and iter'thily accomplish the most gigantic results. By these powers it is said that he outv/itted Mr. Adams, Mr. Clay, Mr. Webster, and secured results which few thought then could be accomplished. When Andrew Jackson was elected President he ap]X/inted Mr. Van Buren Secretary of State. This position he resigned in 1831, and was immediately appointed Minister to England, where he went the same autumn. The Senate, however, when it met, refused to ratify the nomination, and he returned home, apparently untroubled; was nominated Vice President in the place of Calhoun, at the re-election of President Jackson ; and with smiles for all and frowns for none, he took his place at the head of that Senate which had refused to confirm his nomination as ambassador. His rejection by the Senate roused all the zeal of President Jackson in behalf of his repudiated favor- ite; and this, probably more than any other cause, secured his elevation to the chair of the Chief Execu tive. On the 20th of May, 1836, Mr. Van Buren re- ceived the Democratic nomination to succeed Gen. Jackson as President of the United States. He was elected by a handsome majority, to the delight of the retiring President. " Leaving New York out of the canvass," says Mr. Parton, "the election of Mr. Van Buren to the Presidency was as much the act of Gen. Jackson as though the Constitution had conferred upon him the power to appoint a successor. ' His administration was filled with exciting events The insurrection in Canada, which threatened to in volve this country in war with England, the agitation of the slavery question, and finally the great commer- cial panic which spread over the country, all were trials to his wisdom. The financial distress was at- tributed to the management of the Democratic i)arty, and brought the President into such disfavor that he failed of re-election. With the exception of being nominated for the Presidency by the "Free Soil" Democrats, in 1848, Mr. Van Buren lived (juietly upon his estate until his death. He had ever been a prudent man, of frugal habits, and living within his income, had now fortunately a competence for his declining years. His unblemished character, his commanding abilities, his unquestioned patriotism, and the distinguished positions which he had occupied in the government of our country, se- cured to him not only the homage of his party, but the respect ot the whole community. It was on the 4th of March, 1841, that Mr. Van Buren retired from the presidency. From his fine estate at Lindenwald^ he still exerted a powerful influence upon the politics of the country. From this time until his death, on the 24th of July, 1862, at the age of eighty years, he resided at Lindenwald, a gentleman of leisure, of culture and of wealth; enjoying in a healthy old age, probably far more happiness than he had before experienced amid the stormy scenes of his active life. A-J /o\ /^)9{^yiA^ i-\^ NINTH PRESIDENT. 5' m ILLIAM HENRY HARRI- SON, the ninth President of the United States, was born at Berkeley, Va., Feb. 9, 1773. His father, Benjamin Harri- son, was in comparatively op- ulent circumstances, and was one of the most distinguished men of his day. He was an intimate friend of George Washington, \\as early elected a member of the Continental Congress, and was conspicuous among the patriots of Virginia in resisting the encroachments of the British crown. In the celebrated Congress of 1775, Benjamin Har- rison and John Hancock were both candidates for the ofifice of si>eaker. Mr Harrison was subsequently chosen Governor of Virginia, and was twice re-elected. His son, i William Henry, of course enjoyed in childhood all the advantages which wealth and intellectual and cultivated society could give. Hav- i;ig received a thorough common-school education, lie entered Hampden Sidney College, where he graduated with honor soor. r.fter the death of his father. He '-iien repaired to Philadelphia to study medicine under the instructions of Dr. Rush and the guardianship of lObert Morris, both of whom were, with his father, 'igners of the Declaration of Independence. .'Jpon the outbreak of the Indian troubles, and not- witiistanding the 'emonstTances of his friends, he ai)ar.do'''eu his medical studies and entered the army, .laving obtained t commission of Ensign from Presi- dent Washington. He was then but 19 years old. From that time he passed gradually upward in rank until he became aid to General Wayne, after whose death he resigned his commission. He was then ap- pointed Secretary of the North-western Territory. This Territory was then entitled to but one member in Congress and Capt. Harrison was chosen to fill that position. In the spring of 1800 the North-western Territory was divided by Congress into two portions. The eastern portion, comprising the region row embraced in the State of Ohio, was called " The Territory north-west of the Ohio." The western portion, which included what is now called Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, was called the "Indiana Territory." Wil. liam Henry Harrison, then 27 years of age, was ap. IX)inted by John Adams, Governor of the Indiana Territory, and immediately after, also Governor of Upper Louisiana. He was thus ruler over almost as extensive a realm as any sovereign upon the globe. He was Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and was in- vested with powers nearly dictatorial over the now rapidly increasing white population. The ability and fidelity with which he discharged these responsible duties may be inferred from the fact that he was four times appointed to this office — first by John Adams, twice by Thomas Jefferson and afterwards by Presi- dent Madison. When he began his adminstration there were but three white settlements in that almost boundless region, now crowded with cities and resounding with all the tumult of wealth and traffic. Oneof these settlements was on the Ohio, nearly opposite Louisville; one at Vincennes, on the Wabash, and the third a French settlement. The vast wilderness over which Gov. Harrisoi. reigned was filled with many tribes of Indians. Abou' S2 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. the year 1806, two extraordinary men, twin brothers, of the Shawnese tribe, rose among them. One of these was called Tecumseh, or " The Crouching Panther;" the other, Olliwacheca, or "The Prophet." Tecuuiseh was not only an Indian warrior, but a man of great sagacity, far-reaching foresight and indomit- able perseverance in any enterprise m which he might engage. He was inspired with the highest enthusiasm, and had long regarded u'lth dread and with hatred the encroachment of the whites upon the hunting- grounds of his fathers. His brother, the Prophet, was anorator, who could sway the feelings of the untutored Indian as ths gale tossed the tree -tops beneath which tliey dwelt. But the Prophet was not merely an orator : he was, i.i the superstitious minds of the Indians, invested with the superhuman dignity of a medicine-man or a magician. With an enthusiasm unsurpassed by Peter the Hermit rousing Europe to the crusades, he went from tribe to tribe, assuming that he was specially sent by the Great Spirit. Gov. Harrison made many attempts to conciliate the Indians, but at last the war came, and at Tippe- canoe the Indians were routed with great slaughter. October 28, 1812, his army began its march. When near the Prophet's town three Indians of rank made their appearance and inquired why Gov. Harrison was approaching them in so hostile an attitude. After a short conference, arrangements were made for a meet- ing the next day, to agree upon terms of peace. But Gov. Harrison was too well acquainted with the Indian character to be deceived by such protes- tations. Selecting a favorable spot for his night's en- campment, he took every precaution against surprise. His troops were posted in a hollow square, and slept upon their arms. The troops threw themselves upon the ground for rest; but every man had his accourtrements on, his loaded musket by his side, and his bayonet fixed. The wakeful Governor, between three and four o'clock in the morning, had risen, and was sitting in conversa- tion with his aids by the embers of a waning fire. It was a chill, cloud)' morning with a drizzling rain. In the darkness, the Indians liad crept as near as possi- ble, and just then, with a savage yell, rushed, with all the djsiieration which superstition and passion most liighly inflamed could give, upon the left flank of the little army. The savages had been amply provided with guns and aminunition by the English. Their war-whoop was accompained by a shower of bullets. The camp-fires were instantly extinguished, as the light aided the Indians in their aim. With hide- tus yells, the Indian bands rushed on, not doubting a speedy and an entire victor)-. But Gen. Harrison's troops stood as immovable as the rocks around them until day dawned : they then mfide a simultaneous charge with the bayonet, and swept every thing be- fore them, and completely routing \\\c foe. Gov. Harrison now had all his energies tasked to the utmost. The British descending from theCan- adas, were of themselves a very formidable force ; but with their savage allies, rushing like wolves from the forest, searching out every remote farm-house, burn- ing, plundering, scalping, torturing, the wide frontier was plunged into a state of consternation which even the most vivid imagination can but faintly conceive. The war-whoop was resounding everywhere in the forest. The horizon was illuminated with the conflagra- tion of the cabins of the settlers. Gen Hull had made the ignominious surrender of his forces at Detroit. Under these despairing circumstances. Gov. Harrison was appointed by President Madison commander-in- chief of the North-western army, with orders to retake D.-troit, and to protect the frontiers. It would be difficult to place a man in a situation demanding more energy, sagacity and courage; but General Harrison was found equal to the position, and nobly and triumphantly did he ineet all the re sponsibilities. He won the love of his soldiers by always sharing with them their fatigue. His whole baggage, while pursunig the foe up the Thames, was carried in a valise; and his bedding consisted of a single blanket lashed over his saddle. Thirty-five British officers, his prisoners of war, supped with him after the battle. The only fare he could give them was beef roasted before the fire, without bread or salt. In 1S16, Gen. Harrison was chosen a ivieniber of the National House of Representatives, to represent the District of Ohio. In Congress he proved an active member; and whenever he spoke, it was with force of reason and power of eloquence, which arrested the attention of all the members. In iSig, Harrison was elected to the Senate of Ohio; and in 1824, as one of the presidential electors of that State, he gave his vote for Henry Clay. The same year he was chosen to the United States Senate. In 1836, the friends of Gen. Harrison brought him forward as a candidate for the Presidency against Van Buren, but he was defeated. At the close of Mr. Van Buren's term, he vi^as re -nominated by his party, and Mr. Harrison was unanimously nominated by the Whigs, with John Tyler for the Vice Presidency. The contest was very animated. Gen. Jackson gave all his influence to prevent Harrison's election ; but his triumph was signal. The cabinet which he formed, with Daniel Webster at its head as Secretary of State, was one of the most brilliant with which any President had ever been surrounded. Never were the prospects of an admin- istration more flattering, or the hopes of the country more sanguine. In the midst of these bright and joyous prospects. Gen. Harrison was seized by a pleurisv-fever and after a few days of violent sick- ness, died on the 4th of April; just one month after his inauguration as President of the United States. ?/??. TENTH PRESIDENT. 55 OHN TYLER, the tenth Presidentof the United States. He was born in Charles-city Co., Va., March 29, 1790. He was the favored child of af- fluence and high social po- sition. At the early age of twelve, John entered William and Mary College and grad- uated with much honor when but seventeen years old. After graduating, he devoted him- self with great assiduity to the study of law, partly with his father and partly with Edmund Randolph, one of the most distin- guished lawyers of Virginia. At nineteen years of age, ne commenced the practice of law. His success was rapid and aston- ishing. It is said that three months had not elapsed ere there was scarcely a case on the dock- et of the court in which he was not retained. When but twenty-one years of age, he was almost unanimously elected to a seat in the State Legislature. He connected himself with the Demo- cratic party, and warmly advocated the measures of Jefferson and Madison. For five successive years he was elected to the Legislature, receiving nearly the unanimous vote or his county. When but twenty-six years of age, he was elected a member of Congress. Here he acted earnestly and ably with the Democratic party, opposing a national bank, internal improvements by the General <^overn- ment, a protective tariff, and advocatmg a strict con- struction of the Constitution, and the most careful vigilance over State rights. His labors in Congress were so arduous that before the close of his second term hi found it necessary to resign and retire to his estate in Charles-city Co., to recruit his health. He, however, soon after consented to take his seat in the State Legislature, where his influence was powerful in promoting public works of great utility. With a reputation thus canstantly increasing, he was chosen by a very large majority of votes. Governor of his native State. His administration was signally a suc- cessful one. His popularity secured his re-election. John Randolph, a brilliant, erratic, half-crazed man, then represented Virginia in the Senate of the United States. A portion of the Democratic party was displeased with Mr. Randolph's wayward course, and brought forward John Tyler as his opponent, considering him the only man in Virginia of sufficient popularity to succeed against the renowned orator of Roanoke. Mr. Tyler was the victor. In accordance with his professions, upon taking his seat in the Senate, he joined the ranks of the opposi- tion. He opposed the tariff; he spoke against and voted against the bank as unconstitutional ; he stren- uously opposed all restrictions upon slavery, resist- ing all projects of internal improvements by the Gen- eral Government, and avowed his sympathy with Mr. Calhoun's view of nullification ; he declared that Gen. Jackson,, by his opposition to the nullifiers, had abandoned the principles of the Democratic party. Such was Mr. Tyler's record in Congress, — a record in perfect accordance with the principles which he had always avowed. Returning to Virginia, he resumed the practice of his profession. There was a rplit in the Democratic 56 JOHN TYLER. party. His friends still regarded him as a true Jef- fersonian, gave him a dinner, and showered compji- nients upon him. He had now attained the age of forty-six. His career had been very brilliant. In con- setiuence of his devotion to public business, his pri- vate affairs had fallen into some disorder; and it was not without satisfaction that he resumed the practice of law, and devoted himself to the culture of his plan- tation. Soon after this he removed fo Williamsburg, for the better education of his children ; and he again took his seat in the Legislature of Virginia. By the Southern Whigs, he was sent to the national convention at Harrisburg to nominate a President in T83g. The maioritv of votes were given to Gen. Har- rison, a genuine Whig, much to the disappointment of the South, who wished for Henry Clay. To concili- ate the Southern Whigs and to secure their vote, the convention then nominated John Tyler for Vice Pres- ident. It was well known that he was not in sympa- thy with the Whig party in the Noith: but the Vice President has but very little power in the Govern- ment, his main and almost only duty being to pre- side over the meetings of the Senate. Thus it hap- pened that a Whig President, and, in reality, a Democratic Vice President were chosen. In r84i, Mr. Tyler was inaugurated Vice Presi- dent of the United States. In one short month from that time, President Harrison died, and Mr. Tyler thus -cund himself, to his own surprise and that of the whole Nation, an occupant of the Presidential chair. This was a new test of the staliility of our institutions, as it was the first time in the history of our country that such an event had occured. Mr. Tyler was at home in Williamsburg when he received the unexpected tidings of the death of President Harri- son. He hastened to Washington, and on the 6th of April was inaugurated to the high and responsible office. He was placed in a position of exceeding delicacy and difficulty. All his long life he had been opposed to the main principles of the party which had brought him into power. He had ever been a con- sistent, hone:t man, with an unblemished record. Gen. Harrison had selected a Whig cabinet. Should he retain them, and thus surround himself with coun- sellors whose views were antagonistic to his own.'' or, on the other hand, should he turn against the party which had elected him and select a cabinet in har- n.ony with himself, and which would oppose all those views which the Whigs deemed essential to the pub- lic welfare ? This was his fearful dilemma. He in- vited the cabinet which President Harrison had selected to retain their seats. He reccommended a day of fasting and prayer, that God would guide and bless us. The Whigs carried through Congress a bill for the incorporation of a fiscal bank of the United States. The President, after ten days' delay, returned it with his veto. He (juegested, however, that he would approve of a bill drawn up upon such a plan as he proposed. Such a bill was accordingly prepared, and privately submitted to him. He gave it his approval. It was passed without alteration, and he sent it back with his veto. Here commenced the open rupture. It is said that Mr. Tyler was provoked to this meas- ure by a published letter from the Hon. John M. Botts, a distinguished Virginia* Whig, who severely touched the pride of the President. The opposition now exultingly received the Presi- dent into their arms. The party which elected him denounced him bitterly. All the members of his cabinet, excepting Mr. Webster, resigned. The Whigs of Congress, both the Senate and the House, held a meeting and issued an address to the people of the United States, proclaiming that all political alliance between the Whigs and President Tyler were at an end. Still the President attempted to conciliate. He appointed a new cabinet of distinguished Whigs and Conservatives, carefully leaving out all strong party men. Mr. Webster soon found it necessary to resign, forced out by the pressure of his Whig friends. Thus the four years of Mr. Tyler's unfortunate administra- tion passed sadly avi^ay. No one was satisfied. The land was filled with murmurs and vituperation. Whigs and Democrats alike assailed him. More and more, however, he brought himself into sympathy with his old friends, the Democrats, until at the close of his term, he gave his whole influence to the support of Mr. Polk, the Democratic candidate for his successor. On the 4th of March, 1845, he retired from the harassments of office, to the regret of neither party, and probably to his own unsjjeakable lelief. His first wife, Miss Letitia Christian, died in Washington, in 1842; and in June, 1844, President Tyler was again married, at New York, to Miss Julia Gardiner, a young lady of many personal and intellectual accomplishments. The remainder of his days Mr. Tyler passed mainly in retirement at his beautiful home, — Sherwood For- est, Charies city Co., Va. A polished gentleman in his manners, richly furnished with information from books and experience in the world, and possessing brilliant powers of conversation, his family circle was the scene of unusual attractions. With sufficient means for the exercise of a generous hospitality, he might have enjoyed a serene old age with the few friends who gathered around him, were it not for the storms of civil war which his own principles and policy had helped to introduce. When the great Rebellion rose, which the State- rights and nullifying doctrines of Mr. John C. CaU houn had inaugurated, President Tyler renounced his allegiance to the United States, and joined the Confed- erates. He was chosen a member of their Congress; and while engaged in active measures to destroy, b" force of arms, the Government over which he had once presided, he was taken sick and soon died. ELEVENTH PRESIDENT. 55 e^X AMES K. POLK, the eleventh liiiPresident of the United States, IjI was born in Mecklenburg Co., N. C.,Nov. 2, 1795. His par- ents were Samuel and Jane (Knox) Polk, the former a son of Col. Thomas Polk, who located at the above place, as one of the first pioneers, in 1735. In the year 1006, with his wife and children, and soon after fol- lowed by most of the members of the Polk famly, Samuel Polk emi- grated some two or three hundred miles farther west, to the rich valley of the Duck River. Here in the midst of the wilderness, in a region which was subsequently called Mau- ry Co., they reared their log huts, and established their homes. In the hard toil of a new farm in the wil- derness, James K. Polk spent the early years of his childhood and youth. His father, adding tlie pur- suit of a surveyor to that of a farmer, ' gradually increased in wealth until lie became one of the leading men of the region. His mother was a superior woman, of strong common sense and earnest piety. Very early in life, James developed a taste for lending and expressed the strongest desire to obtain :i liberal education. His mother's training had made iiim methodical in his habits, had taught him punct- ualit)- and industry, and had inspired him with lofty principles of morality. His health was frail ; and his father, fearing that he might not be able to endure a sedentary life, got a situation for him behind the counter, hoping to fit him for commercial pursuits. This was to James a bitter disappointment. He had no taste for these duties, and his daily tasks were irksome in the e.xtreme. He remained in this uncongenial occupation but a few weeks, when at his earnest solicitation his father removed him, and made arrangements for him to prosecute his studies. Soon after he sent him to Murfreesboro Academy. With ardor which could scarcely be surpassed, he pressed forward in his studies, and in less than two and a half years, in the autumn of 1S15, entered the sophomore class in the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill. Here he was one of the most exemplary of scholars, punctual in every exercise, never allowing himself to be absent from a recitation or a religious service. He graduated in 1818, with the highest honors, be* ing deemed the best scholar of his class, both in mathematics and the classics. He was then twenty- three years of age. Mr. Polk's health was at this time much impaired by the assiduity with which he had prosecuted his studies. After a short season of relaxation he went to Nashville, and entered the office of Felix Grundy, to study law. Here Mr. Polk renewed his acquaintance with Andrew Jackson, who resided on his plantation, the Hermitage, but a few miles from Nashville. They had probably been slightly acquainted before. Mr. Polk's father was a Jeffersonian Republican, and James K. Polk ever adiiered to the same politi- cal faith. He was a popular public speaker, and was constantly called upon to address the meetings of his party friends. His skill as a speaker was such that he was popularly called the Napoleon of the stump. He was a man of unblemished morals, genial ard 6o /AMES K. POLK. courterus in his bearing, and with that sympathetic nature in the jovs and griefs of others which ever gave him troops of friends. In 1823, Mr. Polk was elected to the Legislature of Tennessee. Here he gave his strong influence towards the election of his friend, Mr. Jackson, to the Presidency of the United States. In January, 1S24, Mr. Polk married Miss Sarah Childress, of Rutherford Co., Tenn. His bride was altogether worthy of him, — a lady of beauty and cul- ture. In the fall of 1825, Mr. Polk was chosen a member of Congress. The satisfaction which he gave to liis constituents may be inferred from the fact, that for fourteen successive years, until 1839, he was con- tinuec' in that office. He then voluntarily withdrew, only that he might accept the Gubernatorial chair of I'^nnessee. In Congress he was a laborious meniber, a frequent and a popular speaker. He was always in his seat, always courteous ; and whenever he spoke it was always to the point, and without any ambitious rhetorical display. During five sessions of Congress, Mr. Polk was Speaker of the House. Strong passions were roused, and stormy scenes were witnessed ; but Mr. Polk per- formed his arduous duties to a very general satisfac- tion, and a unanimous vote of thanks to him was passed by the House as he withdrew on the 4th of March, 1839. In accordance with Southern usage, Mr. Polk, as a candidate for Governor, canvassed the State. He was elected by a large majority, and on the 1 4th of Octo- ber, 1839, took the oath of office at Nashville. In 1841, his term of office expired, and he was again the can- didate of the Democratic party, but was defeated. On the 4th of March, 1845, Mr. Polk was inaugur- ated President of the United States. The verdict of the country in favor of the annexation of Texas, exerted its influence upon Congress ; and the last act of the administration of President Tyler was to affix his sig- nature to a joint resolution of Congress, passed on the 3d of March, approving of the annexation of Texas to the American Union. As Mexico still claimed Texas as one of her provinces, the Mexican minister, Almonte, immediately demanded his passports and left the country, declaring the act of the annexation to be an act hostile to Mexico. l-n. his first message. President Polk urged that Texas should immediateb-, Iiy act of Congress, be re- ceived into the Union on the same footing with the Other States. In the meantime. Gen. Taylor was sent with an army into Texas to hold the country. He vas sent first to Nueces, which the Mexicans said was the western boundary of Texas. Then he was sent nearly two hundred miles further west, to the Rio Grande, where he erected batteries which commanded the Mexican city of Matamoras, which was situated 01: the western banks. The anticipated collision soon took place, and wa: was declared against Mexico by President Polk. The war was pushed forward by Mr. Polk's administration with great vigor. Gen. Taylor, whose army was first called one of "observation," then ot "occupation," then of " in vasion," was sent forward to Monterey. The feeble Mexicans, in every encounter, were hopelessly and awfully slaughtered. The day of judgement alone can reveal the misery which this war caused. It v/as by the ingenuity of Mr. Polk's administration that the war was brought on. 'To the victors belong the spoils." Mexico was prostrate before us. Her capital was in our hands. We now consented to peace upon the condition that Mexico should surrender to us, in addition to Texas, all of New Mexico, and all of Upper and Lower Cal- ifornia. This new demand embraced, exclusive of Texas, eight hundred thousand square miles. Tliis was an extent of territory equal to nine States of the size of New York. Thus slavery was securing eighteen majestic States to be added to the Union. There were some Americans who thought it all right : there were others who thought it all wrong. In the prosecution of this war, we expended twenty thousand lives and more than a hundred million of dollars. Of this money fifteen millions were paid to Mexico. On the 3d of March, 1S49, Mr. Polk retired from office, having served one term. The next day was Sunday. On the 5th, Gen. Taylor was inaugurated as his successor. Mr. Polk rode to the Capitol in the same carriage with Gen. Taylor; and the same even- ing, with Mrs. Polk, he commenced his return to Tennessee. He was then but fifty-four years of age. He had ever been strictly temperate in all his habits, and his health was good. With an ample fortune, a choice library, a cultivated mind, and domestic ties of tlie dearest nature, it seemed as though long years of tranquility and happiness were before him. But the cholera — that fearful scourge — was then sweeping up the Vnlley of the Mississippi. This he contracted, and died on the i5tli of June, 1849, '■'' ''''C fiftv-fourth year of his age, greatly mourned by his counuymen. ^^^^^SkP^k-- TWELFTH PRESIDENT. 63 ^^-. ACHARY TAYLOR, twelfth ^3 President of the United States, ^'*was born on the 24th of Nov., 1784, in Orange Co., Va. His %i father, Colonel Taylor, was (Si!;!'.- " -fy 3- Virginian of note, and a dls- l?i tinguished patriot and soldier of the Revolution. When Zachary was an infant, his father with liis wife and two children, emigrated to Kentucky, where he settled in the pathless wilderness, a few miles from Louisville. In this front- ier home, away from civilization and all its refinements, young Zachary could enjoy but few social and educational advan- tages. When six years of age he attended a common school, and was then regarded as a bright, active boy, rather remarkable for bluntness and decision of char- acter He was strong, fearless and self-reliant, and ■manifested a strong desire to enter the army to fight the Lidians who were ravaging the frontiers. There is little to be recorded of the uneventful years of his childhood on his father's large but lonely plantation. \\\ iSoS, his father succeeded in obtaining for him the commission of lieutenant in the United States army ; and he joined the troops which were stationed at New Orleans under Gen. Wilkinson. Soon after this he married Miss Margaret Smith, a young lady irom one of the first families of Maryland. Immediately after the declaration of war with Eng- land, in 18 1 2, Capt. Taylor (for he had then been promoted to that rank) was put in command of Fort Harrison, on the Wabash, about fifty miles above Vincennes. This fort had been built in the wilder- ness by Gen. Harrison, on his march to Tippecanoe. It was one of the first points of attack by the Indians, icd by Tecumseh. Its garrison consisted of a broken company of infantry numbering fifty men, many of whom were sick. Early in the autumn of 1812, the Indians, stealthily, and in large numbers, moved upon the fort. Their approach was first indicated by the murder of two soldiers just outside of the stockade. Capt. Taylor made every possible preparation to meet the antici- pated assault. On the 4th of September, a band of forty painted and plumed savages came to the fort, waving a white flag, and informed Capt. Taylor that in the morning their chief would come to have a talk with him. It was evident that their object was merely to ascertain the state of things at the fort, and Capt. Taylor, well versed in the wiles of the savages, kept them at a distance. The sun went down; the savages disappeared, the garrison slept upon their arms. One hour before midnight the war whoop burst from a thousand lips in the forest around, followed by the discharge of musketry, and the rush of the foe. Every man, sick and well, sprang to his post. Every man knew that defeat was not merely death, but in the case of cap- ture, death by the most agonizing and prolonged tor- ture. No pen can describe, no immagination can conceive the scenes which ensued. The savages suc- ceeded in setting lire to one of the block-houses- Until six o'clock in the morning, this awful conflict continued. The savages then, baffled at every point, and gnashing their teeth with rage, retired. Capt. Taylor, for this gallant defence, was promoted to the rank of major by brevet. Until the close of the war, MajorTaylor was placed in such situations that he saw but little more of active service. He was sent far away into the depths of the wilderness, to Fort Crawford, on Fox River, which empties into Green Bay. Here there was but little to be done but to wear away the tedious hours as one best could. There were no books, no society, no in- 64 ZACHARY TAYLOR, tellectual stimulus. Thus with him the uneventful years rolled on Gradually lie rose to the rank of colonel. In the Black Hawk war, which resulted in the capture of that renowned chieftain, Col Taylor took a subordinate but a brave and efficient part. For twenty-four years Col. Taylor was engaged in the defence of the frontiers, in scenes so remote, and in employments so obscure, that his name was unknown beyond the limits of his own immediate acquaintance. In the year 1836, he was sent to Florida to compel the Seminole Indians to vacate that region and re- tire beyond the Mississippi, as their chiefs by tre.ity, iiac' promised they should do. The services rendered heie secured for Col. Taylor the high appreciation of the Government; and as a reward, he was elevated tc vhe rank of brigadier-general by brevet ; and soon after, in May, 183S, vvas appointed to the chief com- mand of the United States troops in Florida. Afier two years of such wearisome employment a.midst the everglades of the peninsula. Gen. 'I'aylor obtained, at his own request, a change of command, r.nd was stationed over the Department of the South- west. This field embraced Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Establishing his headquarters at Fort Jessup, in Louisiana, he removed his family to a plantation which he purchased, near Baton Rogue. Here he remained for five years, buried, as it were, from the world, but faithfully discharging every duty imposed upon him. In 1846, Gen. Taylor was sent to guard the land between the Nueces and Rio Grande, the latter river being the boundary of Texas, which was then claimed by the United States. Soon the war with Mexico was brought on, and at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Gen. Taylor won brilliant victories over the Mexicans. The rank of major-general by brevet was then conferred upon Gen. Taylor, and his name Was received with enthusiasm almost everywhere in the Nation. Then came the battles of Monterey and Buena Vista in which he won signal victories over forces much larger than he commanded. His careless habits of dress and his unaffected f-implicity, secured for Gen. Taylor among his troops, \\\& sobriquet of "Old Rough and Ready.' Tlie tidings of the brilliant victory of Buena Vista .spread the wildest enthusiasm over the country. The name of Gen. Taylor was on every one's lips. The Whig party decided to take advantage of this wonder- ful poi)ularity in Ijringing forward the unpolished, un- lettered, honest soldier as their candidate for the Presidency. Gen. Taylor was astonished at the an- nouncement, and for a time would not listen to it; de- claring that he was not at all qualified for such an office. So little interest had he taken in politics that, .''or forty years, he had not cast a vote. It was not without chagrin that several distinguished statesmen who had_ been long years in the public service found •l.iir claims set aside in behalf of one whose name had never been heard of, save in connection with Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey and Buena Vista. It is said that Daniel \Vebster, in his haste re- marked, " It is a nomination not fit to be made." Gen. Taylor was not an eloquent speaker nor a fine writer His friends took possession of him, and pre- pared such few communications as it was needful should be presented to the public. The popularity of the successful warrior swept the land. He was tri- umphantly elected over two opposing candidates, — Gen. Cass and Ex-President Martin Van Buren. Though he selected an excellent cabinet, the good old man found himself in a very uncongenial position, and was, at times, sorely perplexed and harassed. His mental sufferings were very severe, and probably tended to hasten his death. The pro-slavery party was pushing its claims with tireless energy, expedi- tions were fitting out to capture Cuba ; California was pleading for admission to the Union, while slavery stood at the door to bar her out. Gen. Taylor found the political conflicts in Washington to be far more trying to the nerves than battles with Mexicans or Indians In the midst of all these troubles, Gen. Taylor, after he had occupied the Presidential chair but little over a year, took cold, and after a brief sickness of but little over five days, died on the 9th of July, 1850. His last words were, " I am not afraid to die. I am ready. I have endeavored to do ray duty." He died universally respected and beloved. An honest, un- pretending man, he had been steadily growing in the affections of the people; and the Nation bitterly la- mented his death. Gen. Scott, who was thoioughly acquainted with Gen. Taylor, gave the following graphic and truthful description of his character: — " With a good store of common sense, Gen. Taylor's mind had not been en- larged and refreshed by reading, or much converse with the world. Rigidity of ideas was the conse- quence. The frontiers and small military posts had been his home. Hence he was quite ignorant for his rank, and quite bigoted in his ignorance. His sim- plicity was child-like, and with innumerable preju- dices, amusing and incorrigible, well suited to the tender age. Thus, if a man, however respectable, chanced to wear a coat of an unusual color, or his hat a little on one side of his head; or an officer to leave a corner of his handkerchief dangling from an out- side pocket, — in any such case, this critic held the ofif.'nder to be a coxcomb (perhaps something worse), whom he would not, to use his oft repeated phrase, ' touch with a pair of tongs.' "Any allusion to literature beyond good old Dil- worth's spelling-book, on the part of one wearing a sword, was evidence, with the same judge, of utter unfitness for heavy marchings and combats. Inshorf few men have ever had a more comfortao'ie, laboi- saving contempt for learnirg of eveiy kind." f-^^-i/^ ^ t^c^i^t^^e^rta THIRTEENTH PRESIDENT. 6r irf -^^ .■li f ^'MILLftHfl FILLMnHE.<^ ^;;g.^i;:g^i;:;$Ai;;g-(»*g;g-«».?;;g-«^;g- 7|( ILLARD FILLMORE, thir- teenth President of the United ^, , States, was born at Summer . 'h Hill, Cayuga Co., N. Y ., on the yth of Januar}-, 1800. His ""^ father was a farmer, and ow- ing to misfortune, in humble cir- cumstances. Of his mother, the daughter of Dr. Abiathar Millard, of Pittsfield, Mass., it has been said that she possessed an intellect of very high order, united with much personal loveliness, sweetness of dis- position, graceful manners and ex- quisite sensibilities. She died in 1831 ; having lived to see her son a young man of distinguished prom- ise, though she was not permitted to witness the high dignity which he finally attained. In consequence of the secluded home and limited means of his father, Millard enjoyed but slender ad- vantages for education in his early years. The com- mon schools, which he occasionally attended were very imperfect institutions; and books were scarce and expensive. There was nothing then in his char- acter to indicate the brilliant career upon which he was about to enter. He was a plain farmer's boy ; intelligent, good-looking, kind-hearted. The sacred influences of home had taught him to revere the Bible, and had laid the foundations of an upright character. When fourteen years of age, his father sent him some hundred miles from home, to the then wilds of Livingston County, to learn the trade of a clothier. Near the mill there was a small villiage, where some enterprising man had commenced the collection of a village library. This proved an inestimable blessing to young Fillmore. His evenings were spent in read- ing. Soon every leisure moment was occupied v, iih books. His thirst for knowledge became insatiate and the selections which he made were continually more elevating and instructive. He read history, biography, oratory, and thus gradually there was en- kindled in his heart a desire to be something more than a mere worker with his hands; and he was be- coming, almost unknown to himself, a well-informed, educated man. The young clothier had now attained the age of nineteen years, and was of fine personal appearance and cf gentlemanly demeanor. It so hapi:>ened tha". there was a gentleman in the neighborhood of ample pecuniary means and of benevolence,— Judge Walter Wood, — who was struck with the prepossessing ap- pearance of young Fillmore. He made his acquaint- ance, and was so much impressed with his ability and attainments that he advised him to abandon his trade and devote himself to the study of the law. The young man replied, that he had no means of his own, r.o friends to help him and that his previous educa- tion had been verj' imperfect. But Judge Wood had so much confidence in him that he kindly offered to take him into his own office, and to loan him such money as he needed. Most gratefully the generous offer was accepted. There is in many minds a strange delusion abou'; a collegiate education. A young man is supposed tn be liberally educated if he has graduated at some col- lege. But many a boy loiters through university hal' - ind then enters a law office, who is by no means as ta MILLARD FILLMORE. well prepared to prosecute his legal studies as was Millard Fillmore when he graduated at the clothing- mill at the end of four years of manual labor, during which every leisure moment had been devoted to in- tense mental culture. In 1823, when twenty-three years of age, he was admitted to the Court of Common Pleas. He then went to the village of Aurora, and commenced the practice of law. In this secluded, peaceful region, his practice of course was limited, and there was no opportunity for a sudden rise in fortune or in fame. Here, in the year 1826, he married a lady of great moral worth, and one capable of adorning any station she might be called to fill, — Miss Abigail Powers. His elevation of character, his untiring industry, his legal acquirements, and his skill as an advocate, gradually attracted attention ; and he was invited to enter into partnership under highly advantageous circumstances, with an elder member of the bar in Buffalo. Just before removing to Buffalo, in 1829, he' took his seat in the House of Assembly, of the State of New York, as a representative from Erie County. Though he had never taken a very active part in politics, his vote and his sympathies were with the Whig party. The State was then Democratic, and he found himself in a helpless minority in the Legislature , still the testimony comes from all parties, that his courtesy, ability and integrity, won, to a very unusual degree the respect of his associates. In the autumn of 1832, he was elected to a seat in the United States Congress. He entered that troubled irena in some of the most tumultuous hours of our national history. The great conflict respecting the national bank and the removal of the deposits, was then raging. His term of two years closed ; and he returned to his profession, which he pursued with increasing rep- utation and success. After a lapse of two years he again became a candidate for Congress ; was re- elected, and took his seat in 1837. His past expe- rience as a representative gave him sttength and confidence. The first term of service in Congress to any man can be but little more than an introduction. He was now prepared for active duty. All his ener- gies were brought to bear upon the public good. Every measure received his im-press. Mr. Fillmore was now a man of wide repute, and his popularity filled the State, and in the year 1847, he was elected Comptroller of the State. Mr. Fillmore had attained the age of forty-seven years. His labors at the bar, in the Legislature, in Congress and as Comptroller, had given him very con- siderable fame. The Whigs were casting about to find suitable candidates for President and Vice-Presi- dent at the approaching election. Far away, on the waters of the Rio Grande, there was a rough old soldier, who had fought one or two successful battles with the Mexicans, which had caused his name to be proclaimed in tiumpet-tones all over the land. But it was necessary to associate with him on the same ticket some man of reputation as a statesman. Under the influence of these considerations, the namesofZachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore became the rallying-cry of the Whigs, as their candidates for President and Vice-Peesident. The Whig ticket was signally triumphant. On the 4th of March, 1849, Gen. Taylor was inaugurated President, and Millard Fillmore Vice-President, of the United States. On the gth of July, 1850, President Taylor, but about one year and four months after his inaugura- tion, was suddenly taken sick and died. By the Con- stitution, Vice-President Fillmore thus became Presi- dent. He appointed a very able cabinet, of which the illustrious Daniel Webster was Secretary of State. Mr. Fillniore had very serious difficulties to contend with, since the opposition had a majority in both Houses. He did everything in his power to conciliate the South ; but the pro-slavery party in the South felt the inadequacy of all measuresof transient conciliation. The population of the free States was so rapidly in- creasing over that of the slave States that it was in- evitable thai the power of the Government sliould soon pass into the hands of the free States. The famous compromise measures were adopted under Mr. Fillmore's adminstration, and the Japan Exiiedition was sent out. On the 4th of March, 1853, Mr. Fill- more, having served one term, retired. In 1856, Mr. Fillmore was nominated for the Pres- idency by the " Know Nothing " party, but was beaten by Mr. Buchanan. After that Mr. Fillmore lived in retirement. During the terrible conflict of civil war, he was mostly silent. It was generally supposed that his sympathies were rather with those who were en- deavoring to overthrow our institutions. President Fillmore kept aloof from the conflict, without any cordial words of cheer to the one party or the other. He was tiuis forgotten by both. He lived to a ripe old age, and died in Buffalo. N. Y., March 8, 1874. \ FOURTEENTH PRESIDENT. 71 sfeidfiEa*^ -^■ K^sLSk^&mL% i^lr- ^'FRANKLIN PIERCE.' ^=^^^^^^,'^'».ti.jvA ^t^t,4,.t.^^t. .^^^^^ RANKLIN PIERCE, the fourteenth President of the ^* United States, was born in Hillsborough, N. H., Nov. 23, 1804. His father was a Revolutionary soldier, who, with his own strong arm, hewed out a home in the wilderness. He was a man of inflexible integrity; of strong, though uncultivated mind, and an uncompromis- ing Democrat. The mother of Franklin Pierce was all that a son could desire, — an intelligent, pru- dent, affectionate, Christian wom- an. Franklin was the sixth of eight children. Franklin was a very bright and handsome boy, gen- erous, warm-hearted and brave. He won alike the love of old and young. The boys on the play ground loved him. His teachers loved him. The neighbors looked upon him with pride and affection. He was by instinct a gentleman; always speaking kind words, doing kind deeds, with a peculiar unstudied tact which taught him what was agreeable. Without de- veloping any precocity of genius, or any unnatural devotion to books, he was a good scholar; in body, in mind, in affections, a finely-developed boy. When sixteen years of age, in the year 1820, he entered Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Me He was one of the most ])opular young men in the college. The purity of his moral character, the unvarying courtesy of his demeanor, his rank as a scholar, and genial nature, rendered him a universal favoiite There was something very peculiarly winning in h: ; address, and it was evidently not in the slightest de gree studied : it was the simple outgushing of his own magnanimous and loving nature. Upon graduating, in the year 1824, Franklin Pierce commenced tlie study of law in the office of Judge Woodbury, one of the most distinguished lawyers of the State, and a man of great private worth. Thi' eminent social qualities of the young lawyer, his father's prominence as a i)ublic man, and the brilliant political career into which Judge Woodbury was en- tering, all tended to entice Mr. Pierce into the faci nating yet perilous path of political life. With all the ardor of his nature he espoused the cause of Gen. Jackson for the Presidency. He commenced the practice of law in Hillsborough, and was soon elected to represent the town in the State Legislature. Here he served for four yeais. The last two years he was chosen speaker of the house by a very large vote. In 1833, at the age of twenty-nine, he was elected a member of Congress. \Vithout taking an active part in debates, he was faithful and laborious in duty, and ever rising in the estimation of those with whom he was associatad. In 1837, being then but thirty-three years of age, he was elected to the Senate of the United States; taking his seat just as Mr. Van Buren commenced his administration. He was tlie youngest member in the Senate. In the year 1834, he married Miss Jane Means Appleton, a lady of rare beauty and accom- plishments, and one admiralily fitted to adorn every station with wiiich her husband was honoied. Of the 7* FRANKLIN FIERCE. three sons who were born to them, all now sleep with their parents in the grave. In the year 1838, Mr. Pierce, with growing fame and increasing business as a lawyer, took up his residence in Concord, the capital of New Hampshire. President Polk, upon his accession to office, appointed Mr. Pierce attorney-general of the United States ; but the offer was declined, in consequence of numerous professional engagements at home, and the precariuos state of Mrs. Pierce's health. He also, about the same time declined the nomination for governor by the Democratic party. The war with Mexico called Mr. Pierce in the army. Receiving the appointment of brigadier-general, he embarked, with a portion of his troops, at Newport, R. I., on the 27th of May, 1847. He took an important part in this war, proving him- self a brave and true soldier. When Gen. Pierce reached his home in his native State, he was received enthusiastically by the advo- cates of the Me.xican war, and coldly by his oppo- nents. He resumed the practice of his profession, very frequently taking an active part in political ques- tions, giving his cordial support to the pro-slavery wing of the Democratic party. The compromise measures met cordially with his approval ; and he strenuously advocated the enforcement of the infa- mous fugitive-slave law, which so shocked the religious sensibilities of the North. He thus became distin- guished as a " Northern man with Southern principles.'' The strong partisans of slavery in the South conse- quently regarded him as a man whom they could safely trust in office to carry out their plans. On the i2th of June, 1852, the Democratic conven- tion met in Baltimore to nominate a candidate for the Presidency. For four days they continued in session, and in thirty-five ballotings no one had obtained a two-thirds vote. Not a vote thus far had been thrown for Gen. Pierce. Then the Virginia delegation brought forward his name. There were fourteen more Imllotings, during which Gen. Pierce constantly gained strength, until, at the forty-ninth ballot, he received two hundred and eighty-two votes, and all other candidates eleven. Gen. Winfield Scott was the Whig candidate. Gen. Pierce was chosen with great unanimity. Only four States — Vermont, Mas- sachusetts, Kentucky and Tennessee — cast their electoral votes against him Gen. Franklin Pierce was therefore inaugurated President of the United States on the 4th of March, 1853. His administration proved one of the most stormy our country had ever experienced. The controversy be tween slavery and freedom was then approaching its culminating point. It became evident that there was an "irrepressible conflict " between them, and that this Nation could not long exist " half slave and half free." President Pierce, during the whole of his ad- ministration, did every thing he could to conciliate the South; but it was all in vain. The conflict every year grew more violent, and threats of the dissolution of the Union were borne to the North on eveiy South- ern breeze. Such was the condition of affairs when President Pierce approached the close of his four-years' term of office. The North had become thoroughly alien- ated from him. The anti-slaverj' sentiment, goaded by great outrages, had been rapidly increasing; all the intellectual ability and social worth of President Pierce were forgotten in deep reprehension of his ad- ministrative acts. The slaveholders of the South, also, unmindful of the fidelity with which he had advo- cated those measures of Government which they ap- proved, and perhaps, also, feeling that he had rendered himself so unpopular as no longer to be able acceptably to serve them, ungratefully dropped him, and nominated James Buchanan to succeed him. On the 4th of March, 1857, President Pierce re- tired to his home in Concord. Of three children, two had died, and his only surviving child had been killed before his eyes by a railroad accident ; and his wife, one of the most estimable and accomplished of ladies, was rapidly sinking in consumption. The hour of dreadful gloom soon came, and he was left alone in the world, without wife or child. When the terrible Rebellion burst forth, which di- vided our country into two parties, and two only, Mr. Pierce remained steadfast in the principles which he had always cherished, and gave his sympathies to that pro-slavery party with which he had ever been allied. He declined to do anything, either by voice or pen, to strengthen the hand of the National Gov- ernment. He continued to reside in Concord until the time of his death, which occurred in October, 1869. He was one of the most genial and social of men, an honored communicant of the Episcopal Church, and one of the kindest of neighbors. Gen erous to a fault, he contributed liberally for the al- leviation of suffering and want, and many of his towns- people were often gladened by his material bounty. 'lZ^7Z£__J (2y^U^As^yP7^€^^^^ I'lFTEENTH PRESIDENT. 75 - <«« ■^»^ ^^ ■sii: ^^^ ^. ©^fkv^j''^^ •-<- s»»- AMES BUCHANAN, the fif- teenth President of the United States, was born in a small frontier town, at the foot of the eastern ridge of the Allegha- nies, in Franklin Co., Penn., on 4^ the 23d of April, 1791. The place wliere the humble cabin of his father stood was called Stony Batter. It was a wild and ro- mantic spot in a gorge of the moun- tains, with towering summits rising grandly all around. His father was a native of the north of Ireland ; l^jffl a poor man, who had emigrated in I 1783, with little property save his own strong arms. Five years afterwards he married Elizabeth Spear, the daughter of a respectable farmer, and, with his young bride, plunged into the wilder- ness, staked his claim, reared his log-hut, opened a clearing with his axe, and settled down there to per- form his obscure part in the drama of life. In this se- cluded home, where James was born, he remained for eight years, enjoying but it\f social or intellectual advantages. When James was eight yeaisof age, his father removed to the village of Mercersburg, where his son was placed at school, and commenced a course of study in English, Latin and Greek. His jirogress was rapid, and at the age of fourteen, he entered Dickinson College, at Carlisle. Here he de- veloped remarkable talent, and took his stand among the first scholars in the institution. His application W study was intense, and yet his native powers en- abled him to master the most abstruse subjects with facility. In the year 1S09, he graduated with the highest honors of his class. He was then eighteen years of age; tall and graceful, vigorous in health, fond of athletic sport, an unerring shot, and enlivened with an exuberant flow of animal spirits. He immediately commenced the study of law in the city of Lancaster, and was admitted to the bar in 1812, when he was but twenty-one years of age. Very rapidly he rose in his profession, and at once took undisputed stand with the ablest law)ers of the State. When but twenty-si-\ years of age, unaided by counsel, he suc- cessfully defended before the State Senate ore of the judges of the State, who was tried upon articles of impeachment. At the age of thirty it was generally admitted that he stood at the head of the bar; and there was no lawyer in the State who had a more lu- crative practice. In 1820, he reluctantly consented to run as a candidate for Congress. He was elected, and for ten years he remained a member of the Lower House. During the vacations of Congress, he occasionally tried some important case. In 1831, he retired altogether from the toils of his profession, having ac- quired an ample fortune. Gen. Jackson, upon his elevation to the Presidency, appointed Mr. Buchanan minister to Russia. The duties of his mission he performed with ability, which gave satisfaction to all parties. LTpon his return, in T 833, he was elected to a seat in the United States Senate. He there met, as his associates, Webster, Clay, Wright and Calhoun. He advocated the meas- ures proposed by President Jackson, of m.tlfjng repri- 76 JAMES BUCHANAN. sals against France, to enforce the payment of our claims against that country; and defended tlie coarse of the President in his unprecedented and wholesale removal from office of those who were not the sup- porters of his administration. Upon this question he was brought into direct collision with Heary Clay. He also, with voice and vote, advocated expunging from the journal of the Senate the vote of censure against Gen. Jackson for removing the deposits. Earnestly he opposed the abolition of slavery in tlie District of Columbia, and urged the prohibition of the circulation of anti-slavery documents by the United States mails. As to petitions on the subject of slavery, he advo- cated that they should be rtrspectfuUy received; and that the reply should be returned, that Congress had no power to legislate upon the subject. ' Congress," said he, "might as well undertake to interfere with slavery under a foreign government as in any of the States where it now exists." Upon Mr. Polk's accession to the Presidency, Mr. Buchanan became Secretary of State, and as such, took his share of the responsibility in the conduct of the Mexican War. Mr. Polk assumed that crossing the Nueces liy the American troops into the disputed territoiy was not wrong, but for the Mexicans to cross the Rio Grande into that territory was a declaration of war. No candid man can read with pleasure the account of the course our Government pursued in that movement Mr. Buchanan identified himself thoroughly with the party devoted to the pi^rpetuatioa and extension of slavery, and brought all the energies of his mind to bear agjinst the Wilmot Proviso. He gave iiis cordial approval to tlie compromise measures of 1S50, which included the fugiiive-slave law. Mr. Pierce, u::on his election to the Presidency, honored Mr. Buchanan with the mission to England. In the year 1856, a national Democratic conven- tion nominated Mr. Buchanan for the Presidency. The political conflict was one of the most severe in which our country has ever engaged. All the friends of slavery were on one side; all the advocates of its re- striction and final abolition, on the other. Mr. Fre- mont, the candidate of the enemies of slavery, re- reived 114 electoral votes. Mr. Buchanan received 174, and was elected. The popular vote stood 1,340,618, for Fremont, 1,224,750 for Buchanan. On March 4th, 1857, Mr. Buchanan was inaugurated. Mr. Buchanan was far advanced in life. Only four -fears were wanting to fill up his threescore years and ten. His own friends, those with whom he had been allied in political princi|)les and action for years, were stj'iking the destruction of the Government, that they might rear upon the ruins of our free institutions a nation whose corner-stone should be human slavery. [n this emergency, Mr. Buchanan was hopelessly be- wildered He could not, with his long-avowed prin- ciples, consistently oppose the State-rights party in their assumptions. As President of the United States, bound by his oath faithfully to administer the laws, he could not, without perjury of the grossest kind, unite with those endeavoring to overthrow the repub- lic. He therefore did nothing. The opponents of Mr. Buchanan's administration nominated Abraham Lincoln as their standard bearer in the next Presidential canvass. The pro-slavery party declared, that if he were elected, and the con- trol of the Government were thus taken from their hands, they would secede from the Union, taking with them, as they retired, the National Capitol at Washington, and the lion's share of the territory of the United States. Mr. Buchanan's sympathy with the pro-slavery party was such, that he had been willing to offer them far more than they had ventured to claim. All the South had professed to ask of the North was non- intervention upon the subject of slavery. Mr. Bu- chanan had been ready to offer them the active co- operation of the Government to defend and extend the institution. As the storm increased in violence, the slaveholders claiming the right to secede, and Mr. Buchanan avow- ing that Congress had no power to prevent it, one of the most pitiable exhibitions of governmental im- becility was exhibited the world has ever seen. He declared that Congress had no power to enforce its laws in any State which had withdrawn, or which was attempting to withdraw from the Union. This was not the doctrine of Andrew Jackson, when, with his hand upon his sword-hilt, he exclaimed, " The Union must and shall be preserved!" South Carolina seceded in December, i860; nearly three months before the inauguration of President Lincoln. Mr. Buchanan looked on in listless despair. The rebel flag was raised in Charleston ; Fort Sumpter was besieged; our forts, navy-yards and arsenals were seized; our depots of military stores were plun- dered ; and our custom-houses and post-offices were appropriated by the rebels. The energy of the rebels, and the imbecility of our Executive, were alike marvelous. The Nation looked on in agony, waiting for the slow weeks to glide away, and close the administration, so terrible in its weak- ness At length the long-looked-for hour of deliver-* ance came, when Abraham Lincoln was to receive the scepter. The administration of President Buchanan was certainly the most calamifous our country has ex- perienced. His best friends cannot recall it with pleasure. And still more de|)lorable it is for his fame, that in that dreadful conflict which rolled its billows of flame and blood over our whole land, no word came from his lips to indicate his wish that our country's banner should triumph over the flag of the rebellion. He died at his Wheatland retreat, June 1, 186S. /^. ^ eX^2^- ^T^T/ SJXTEE.VT/I P(ilii,/DEIVT. T} ■i > 'H^D' < ABRAHAM > ^i>^^^<|S < UNCOLN. ) > m 3v^ '^«i.J.\^SP'^- n^/lif iivJi}^iJiY:?5rLi^l NDREW JOHNSON, seven- teenth President of the United ' States. The early life of Andrew Johnson contains but the record of poverty, destitu- tion and friendlessness. He f/ was born December 29, 180S, in Raleigh, N. C. His parents, belonging to the class of the "poor whites " of the South, T;ere in such circumstances, that they could not confer even the slight- est advantages of education upon their child. When Andrew was five years of age, his father accidentally lost his life while herorically endeavoring to save a friend from drowning. Until ten years of age, Andrew was a ragged boy about the streets, supported by the labor of his mother, who obtained her living with her own hands. He then, having never attended a school one day, and being unable either to read or write, was ap- prenticed to a tailor in his native town. A gentleman was in the habit of going to the tailor's shop occasion- ally, and reading to the boys at work there. He often read from the speeches of distinguished British states- men. Andrew, who was endowed with a mind of more than ordinary native ability, became much interested in these speeches ; his ambition was roused, and he was inspired with a strong desire to learn to read. He accordingly applied himself to the alphabet, and with the assistance of some of his fellow- workmen, learned his letters. He then called upon the gentle- man to borrow the book of speeches. The owner, pleased with his zeal, not only gave him the book, but assisted him in learning to combine the letters into words. Under such difficulties he pressed o\. ward laboriously, spending usually ten or twelve hours at work in the shop, and then robbing himself of rest and recreatio.^ to devote such time fl.s he could to reading. He went to Tennessee \\\ 1S26, and located at Greenville, where he married a young lady who pos sessed some education. Under her instructions he learned to write and cipher. He became prominent in the village debating society, and a favorite with the students of Greenville College. In 1828, he or- ganized a working man's party, which elected him alderman, and in 1830 elected him mayor, which position he held three years. He now began to take a lively interest in political affairs ; identifying himself with the working-classes, to which he belonged. In 1835, he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of Tennes- see. He was then just twenty-seven years of age, He became a very active member of the legislature gave his adhesion to the Democratic party, and in 1840 " stumped the State," advocating Martin ">"'ati Buren's claims to the Presidency, in opposition to thos^ of Gen. Harrison. In this campaign he acquired mucli readiness as a speaker, and extended and increased his reputation. l\\ 1841, he was elected Stale Senator; in 1843, he was elected a member of Congress, and by successive elections, held that important post for ten years. In 1853, he was elected Governor of Tennessee, and was re-elected in 1855. In all these resiwnsible posi- tions, he discharged his duties with distinguished abi. 84 ANDREW JOHNSON. ity, and proved himself the warm friend of the work- ing classes. In 1857, Mr. Johnson was elected United States Senator. Years before, in 1S45, he had warmly advocated the anne-xation of Texas, stating however, as his reason, that he thought this annexation would prob- ably prove " to be the gateway out of which the sable sons of Africa are to pass from bondage to freedom, and become merged in a population congenial to themselves." In 1850, he also supported the com- promise measures, the two essential features of which were, that the white people of the Territories should be permitted to decide for themselves whether they would enslave the colored people or not, and that the *"ree States of the North should return to the South persons who attempted to escape from slavery. Mr. Johnson was never ashamed of his lowly origin: on the contrary, he often took pride in avowing that he owed his distinction to his own exertions. "Sir," said he on the floor of the Senate, " I do not forget that I am a mechanic ; neither do I forget that Adam was a tailor and sewed fig-leaves, and that our Sav- ior was the son of a carpenter." In the Charleston-Baltimore convention of iSl-o, ne f7as the choice of the Tennessee Democrats for the Presidency. In 1861, when the purpose of the South- irn Democracy became apparent, he took a decided stand in favor of the Union, and held that " slavery must be held subordinate to the Union at whatever cost." He returned to Tennessee, and repeatedly imperiled his own life to protect the Unionists of Tennesee. Tennessee having seceded from the Union, President Lincoln, on March 4th, 1862, ap- pointed him Military Governor of the State, and he established the most stringent military rule. His numerous proclamations attracted wide attention. In 1864, he was elected Vice-President of the United States, and upon the death of Mr. Lincoln, April 15, 1865, became President. In a speech two days later he said, " The American people must be taught, if ?hey do not already feel, that treason is a crime and must be punished ; that the Government will not always bear with its enemies ; that it is strong not only to protect, but to punish. * * The people must understand that it (treason) is the blackest of crimes, and will surely be punished." Yet his whole administration, the history of which is so well known, was in utter itw;onsistency with, and the most violent opposition to, the principles laid down in that speech. In his loose policy of reconstruction and general amnesty, he was opposed by Congress; and he char- acterized Congress as a new rebellion, and lawlessly defied it, in everything possible, to the utmost. In the beginniiig of 1868, on account of "high crimes and misdemeanors," the principal of which was the removal of Secretary Stanton, in violation of the Ten- ure of Office Act, articles of impeachment were pre- ferred against him, and the trial began March 23. It was very tedious, continuing for nearly three months. A test article of the impeachment was at length submitted to the court for its action. It was certain that as the court voted upon that article so would it vote upon all. Thirty-four voices pronounced the President guilty. As a two-thirds vote was neces- sary to his condemnation, he was pronounced ac- quitted, notwithstanding the great majority against him. The change of one vote from the not guilty side would have sustained the impeachment. The President, for the remainder of his term, was but little regarded. He continued, though impotent';', his conflict with Congress. His own party did not think it expedient to renominate him for the Presi- dency. The Nation rallied, with enthusiasm unpar- .illeled since the days of Washington, around the name of Gen. Grant. ,\ndrew Johnson was forgotten. The bullet of the assassin introduced him to the President's chair. Notwithstanding this, never was there presented to a man a better opportunity to im- mortalize his name, and to win the gratitude of a nation. He failed utterly. He retired to his home in Greenville, Tenn., taking no very active part in politics until 1875. On Jan. 26, after an e.xciting struggle, he was chosen by the Legislature of Ten- nessee, United States Senator in the forty-fourth Con- gress, and took his seat in that body, at the special session convened by President Grant, on the 5th of March. On the 27th of July, 1875, the ex-President made a visit to his daughter's home, near Carter Station, Tenn. When he started on his journey, he was apparently in his usual vigorous health, but on reach- ing the residence of his child the following day, was stricken with paralysis, rendering him unconscious. He rallied occasionally, but finally passed away at 2 A. M., July 31, aged sixty-seven years. His fun- eral was attended at Geenville, on the 3d of August, with every demonstration of respect. y- ^ t-o'^L EIGHTEENTH PRESIDENT. 87 .QPviirjT. =l^, LYSSES S. GRANT, the - \ eighteenth President of the gS United States, was born on the 29th of April, 1822, of lI'b Christian parents, in a humble ' home, at Point Pleasant, on the banks of the Ohio. Shortly after his father moved to George- town, Brown Co., O. In this re- mote frontier hamlet, Ulysses received a common-school edu- cation. At the age of seven- teen, in the year 1839, he entered the Military Academy at West Point. Here he was regarded as a solid, sensible young man of fair abilities, and of sturdy, honest character. He took respectable rank as a scholar. In June, 1843, he graduated, about the middle in his class, and was sent as lieutenant of in- fantry to one of the distant military posts in the Mis- souri Territory. Two years he past in these dreary solitudes, watching the vagabond and exasperating Indians. The war with Mexico came. Lieut. Grant was sent with his regiment to Corpus Christi. His first battle was at Palo Alto. There was no chance here for the exhibition of either skill or heroism, nor at Resaca de la Pal ma, his second battle. At the battle of Monterey, his third engagement, it is said that he performed a signal service of daring and skillful horsemanship. His brigade had exhausted its am- munition. A messenger must be sent for more, along a route exposed to the bullets of the foe. Lieut. Grant, adopting an expedient learned of the Indians, grasped the mane of his horse, and hanging upon one side of the anifoal, ran the gauntlet in entire safety. .Sijg3#V®)@@V5)^)^^f(2) From Monterey he was sent, with the fourth infantry, 10 aid Gen. Scott, at the siege of Vera Cruz. In preparation for the march to the city of Mexico, he was appointed quartermaster of his regiment. At the battle of Molino del Rey, he was promoted to a first lieutenancy, and was brevetted captain at Cha- pultepec. At the close of the Mexican War, Capt. Grant re- turned with his regiment to New York, and was again sent to one of the military posts on the frontier. The discovery of gold in California causing an immense tide of emigration to flow to the Pacific shores, Capt. Grant was sent with a battalion to Fort Dallas, in Oregon, for the protection of the interests of the im- migrants. Life was wearisome in those wilds. Capt. Grant resigned his commission and returned to the States; and having married, entered upon the cultiva- tion of a small farm near St. Louis, Mo. He had but little skill as a farmer. Finding his toil not re- munerative, he turned to mercantile life, entering into the leather business, with a younger brother, at Ga- lena, 111. This was in the year i860. As the ridings of the rebels firing on Fort Sumpter reached the ears of Capt. Grant in his counting-room, he said, — "Uncle Sam has educated me for the army; though I have served him through one war, I do not feel that I have yet repaid the debt. I am still ready to discharge my obligations. I shall therefore buckle on my sword and see Uncle Sam through this war too." He went into the streets, raised a company of vol- unteers, and led them as their captain to Springfield, the capital of the State, where their services were offered to Gov. Yates. The Governor, impressed by the zeal and straightforward executive ability of Capt. Grant, gave him a desk in his office, to assist in the volunteer organization that was being formed in the State in behalf of the Government. On the 15 th of 88 UL YSSES S. GRA NT. June, 1 86 1, Capt. Grant received a commission as Colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment of Illinois Vol- unteers. His merits as a West Point graduate, who had served for 15 years in the regular army, were such that he was soon promoted to the rank of Brigadier- General and was placed in command at Cairo. The rebels raised their banner at Paducah, near the mouth of the Tennessee River. Scarcely had its folds ap- peared ii^the breeze ere Gen. Grant was there. The rebels fled. Their banner fell, and the star and stripes were unfurled in its stead. He entered the service with great determination and immediately began active duty. This was the be- ginning, and until the surrender of Lee at Richmond he was ever pushing the enemy with great vigor and effectiveness. At Belmont, a few days later, he sur- prised and routed the rebels, then at Fort Henry won another victory. Then came the brilliant fight at Fort Donelson. The nation was electrified by the victory, and the brave leader of the boys in blue was immediately made a M.^jor-General, and the military district of Tennessee was assigned to him. Like all great captains. Gen. Grant knew well how to secure the results of victory. He immediately Dushed on to the enemies' Hnes. Then came the terrible battles of Pittsburg Landing, Corinth, and the siege of Vicksburg, where Gen. Pemberton made an unconditional surrender of the city with over thirty thousand men and one-hundred and seventy-two can- non. The fall of Vicksburg was by far the most severe blow which the rebels had thus far encountered, and opened up the Mississippi from Cairo to the Gulf. Gen. Grant was next ordered to co-operate with Gen. Banks in a movement upon Texas, and pro- ceeded to New Orleans, where he was thrown from his horse, and received severe injuries, from which he v/as laid up for months. He then rushed to the aid of Gens. Rosecrans and Thomas at Chattanooga, and by a A'onderful series of strategic and technical meas- ures put the Union Army in fighting condition. Then followed the bloody battles at Chattanooga, Lo&kout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, in which the rebels were routed with great loss. This won for him un- bounded praise in the North. On the 4th of Febru- ary, 1864, Congress revived the grade of lieutenant- general, and the rank was conferred on Gen. Grant. He repaired to Washington to receive his credentials and enter upon tb^ duties of his new office. Gen. Grant decided as sooii as he took charge of the army to concentrate the widely-dispersed National troops for an attack upon Richmond, the nominal capital of the Rebellion, and endeavor there to de- stroy the rebel armies which would be promptly as- sembled from all quarters for its defence. The whole ■ continent seemed to tremble under the tramp of these majestic armies, rushing to the decisive battle field. .Steamers were crowded with troops. Railway trains were burdened with closely packed thousands. His plans were comprehensive and involved a series of campaigns, which were executed with remarkable en- ergy and ability, and were consummated at the sur- render of Lee, April 9, 1S65. The war was ended. The Union was saved. The almost unanimous voice of the Nation declared Gen. Grant to be the most prominent instrument in its sal- vation. The eminent services he had thus rendered the country brought him conspicuously forward as the Republican candidate for the Presidential chair. At the Republican Convention held at Chicago. May 21, 1868, he was unanimously nominated for the Presidency, and at the autumn election received a majority of the popular vote, and 214 out of 294 electoral votes. The National Convention of the Republican party which met at Philadelphia on the 5th of June, 1872, placed Gen. Grant in nomination for a second term by a unanimous vote. The selection was emphati- cally indorsed by the people five months later, 292 electoral votes being cast for him. Soon after the close of his second term, Gen. Grant started upon his famous trip around the world. He visited almost every country of the civilized world, and was everywhere received with such ovations and demonstrations of respect and honor, priv,"te as well as public and official, as were never before bestowed upon any citizen of the United States. He was the most prominent candidate before the Republican National Convention in 1880 for a re- nomination for President. He went to New York and embarked in the bro'cerage business under the firm nanieof Grant & Ward. The latter proved a villain, wrecked Grant's fortune, and for larceny was sent to the penitentiary. The General was attacked with cancer in the throat, but suffered in his stoic-like manner, never complaining. He was re-instated as General of the .'\rmy and retired by Congress. The cancer soon finished its deadly work, and July 23, 1885, the nation went in mourning over the death of the illustrious General. s^ -^^J^ NINETEENTH PRESIDENT. 9» RUTHERl'OiiD Be mSkTEB. W UTHERFORD B. HAYES, the nineteenth President of the United States, was born in Delaware, O., Oct. 4, 1822, al- most three months after the \\/"*'^ death of his father, Rutherford Hayes. His ancestry on both the paternal and maternal sides, was of the most honorable char- acter. It can be traced, it is said, as far back as 1280, when Hayes and Rutherford were two Scottish chief- tains, fighting side by side with Baliol, William Wallace and Robert Bruce. Both families belonged to the nobility, owned extensive estates, and had a large following. Misfor- .ane ov-.-i