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COLLECTIONS

MINNESOTA

HISTORICAL SOCIETY

VOLUME XIII.

ST. PAUL, MINN.
PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY.
AUGUST. 1908.

Printed and Bocnd by
Frbb Prbss Printing Company,
Mankato, Minn.

JAMES H. BAKER.

Minnesota Historical Society Collections
Volume XIII.

LIVES OF
THE GOVERNORS OF
MINNESOTA

By JAMES H. BAKER, A. M.,
Secretary of the State of Minnesota, 1860-62; Brevet
Brigadier General, U. S. Volunteer Army;
Commissioner of Pensions four years
under President Grant; and later
U. S. Surveyor General
for Minnesota.

"Suum cuique tribuere."

ST. PAUL, MINN.
PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY.
1908

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY.
NATHANIEL P. LANGFORD  President
WILLIAM H. LIGHTNER  Vice-President
CHARLES P. NOYES  Second Vice-President
HENRY P. UPHAM  Treasuber
WARREN UPHAM  Secretary and Librarian
DAVID L. KINGSBURY  Assistant Librarian

COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATIONS.
NATHANIEL P. LANGFORD, GEN. JAMES H. BAKER,
REV. EDWARD C. MITCHELL.

COMMITTEE ON OBITUARIES.
EDWARD P. SANBORN, JOHN A. STEES,
GEN. JAMES H. BAKER.

The Secretary of the Society is ex-officio a member
of these Committees.

PREFACE
It is my purpose to write the Lives of the Governors
of Minnesota, from the organization of the territory down
to the present time. This period is profoundly inter
esting to every citizen of the state because the annals
of human affairs can furnish no more glorious example
of development and prosperity. The rulers of 'the
state form a group by themselves and a deep interest
is always manifested in the personal history of any citi
zen who, by talent, character, and the discharge of civic
and public duties, arrives at the dignity of its Chief
Executive. Such a series of biographies necessarily carries with
it much contemporaneous political history. If in all
this the writer shall be able to record facts with accuracy,
and draw inferences with candor, he will have rendered
the state no inconsiderable service.
As to the fitness of the author for this special work,
it should be stated that I have known intimately each
and every one of the governors of the territory and state,
having lived on terms of personal friendship with them
all. I have not only sat at their firesides and known
their home life, but from the time when, in 1860, I be
came Secretary of State to Governor Ramsey, I have
VII

PREFACE.
participated in almost every campaign in the state. Id
company with the governors themselves and their lead
ing organizers, I have canvassed the state, and spoken
from the same platform with them in nearly every
county of Minnesota. I have attended many of the
nominating conventions, and have had personal knowl
edge of the inside workingsi of the political parties, their
motives, purposes, hopes, defeats, such as only those who
have personally shared in their councils can understand.
For fifty years I have studied the progress of Minnesota
and felt the thrill of its political life, and I write the
lives of these sons whom she has most highly honored,
not as a distant and critical spectator, but as a partner
in the struggles and victories of the half-century. Dur
ing all these years I have been the political associate,
the comrade and friend of the governors of our state.
I am fully aware of the difficulty of preserving a
strict impartiality under circumstances of persona]
friendship. Relations of amity, or of hostility may in
sensibly sway the mind. I profoundly appreciate the
difficulty of writing contemporaneous annals, and still
more of writing the history of men yet in the midst of
affairs. The difficulty is not denied. That man yet liv
ing should, in a certain sense, read their own obituaries
is not in accordance with the fitness of things. It is
the penalty, however, which high position must pay.
The design of the work admitted no exception. The
author can only affirm that he has been swayed by no
prejudices, and was under sacred obligations to pursue
the truth, as he understood it; and that if any preju-
VIII

PREFACE.
dices or predilections have operated upon his mind, they
have been unknown to himself.
Praise bestowed upon known political adversaries,
and disapproval of occasional conduct in the history of
members of the writer's own party, will be taken as evi
dence of general impartiality. I feel, too, that I have
now reached that autumnal period when a retrospect
of men and events is no longer disturbed by the pre
judices of the hour, for years have softened to a mel
low tone the occurrences of the past.
The preparation of this work has been something
more than the amusement of literary leisure seeking an
agreeable occupation for a disengaged mind. I have
humbly conceived it to be a duty to the state to record,
from personal knowledge, matters which might other-
Avise perish. It should be understood that the Minnesota
Historical Society has long urged me to this performance,
and is largely responsible for thus trespassing upon the
indulgence of the public. It was thought that the writ
er's personal knowledge of all our governors should be
made available for public use.
I have filled some interstices with pen sketches of
some other public men, who were prominent actors in
the passing drama; but found it necessary to omit many
equally worthy of a place in this gallery, or where would
the volume end?
The portraits in this volume are from accepted
family photographs taken at the time when each gover
nor was filling the executive chair, or as near it as was
possible. IX

PREFACE.
I am indebted to many friends for important assis
tance throughout this book. The vast archives of the
Minnesota Historical Society, by the aid of its librarians,
have been sources from which abundant information has
been received. I would be wanting in courtesy if I failed
publicly to thank the secretary, Dr. Warren Upham,
and Mrs. Rose Barteau Dunlap, for their constant and
intelligent assistance.
It also is just and proper that I should mention, as
authorities carefully consulted, Eugene V. Smalley's ex
cellent volume, "A History of the Republican Party,"
and other kindred papers; and "The Ancestry, Life, and
Times of Hon. Henry Hastings Sibley," by Rev. Nathan
iel West. With well nigh fourscore years pressing upon me,
1 have yet enjoyed the literary work of this volume.
Such as these sketches are, I bequeath them to my
fellow citizens, as the last of my intellectual efforts, and
as a final testimonial of my love and devotion to my
adopted state.
JAMES H. BAKER.
Mankato, Minn., August, 1908.

X

BIOGRAPHIES. Page.
ALEXANDER RAMSEY  1
WILLIS ARNOLD GORMAN  47
SAMUEL MEDARY  65
HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY  75-
HENRY ADONIRAM SWIFT  109
STEPHEN MILLER  129
WILLIAM RAINEY MARSHALL  145
HORACE AUSTIN  167
CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS  189
JOHN SARGENT PILLSBURY  225
LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD  251
ANDREW RYAN McGILL  283
WILLIAM RUSH MERRIAM  303
KNUTE NELSON  327
DAVID MARSTON CLOUGH  357
JOHN LIND  373
SAMUEL RINNAH VAN SANT  395
JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON  423
XI

PORTRAITS.
The biography of each governor
is preceded by his portrait; and the
frontispiece of this volume is a por
trait of the author.

XII

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.

ALEXANDER RAMSEY
First Territorial Governor and Second
State Governor, was born near Harris-
burg, "Pennsylvania, September 8, 1815,
and died in St. Paul, Minnesota, April
22, 1903. He was a Representative in
Congress, from Pennsylvania, 1842-47;
United States Senator, 1863-75; and
Secretary of War in President Hayes'
cabinet, 1879-81.

ALEXANDER RAMSEY
FIRST TERRITORIAL GOVERNOR
June 1, 1849, to May 15, 1853
SECOND STATE GOVERNOR
January 2, 1860, to July 10, 1863

THERE is a storied apartment in our new capitol,
the governor's room, where hang the portraits of
Minnesota's line of chief magistrates in silent arrayj
from Ramsey to Johnson. It is a sort of a State Pan
theon for our Minnesota gubernatorial gods. Eighteen
intelligent faces gaze at you from lofty walls. In these
illuminated countenances you can almost read the politi
cal history of our state. Each one seems to speak for his
era,, and recalls the events of his day and the battles of
which he was the central figure.
Cicero once declared that death could not come to a
man who had once been consul. Thus speaking within
the limitations of our state, a citizen may close his career
with satisfaction who has reached the highest honors of
the commonwealth. I desire to paint, as best I may in words, the por
trait of Alexander Ramsey, the governor who organized
the territory, to set his picture in the environment of his
times, clothed in the characteristics of his marked in
dividuality, and with notice of the more salient features 3

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
of his achievement. Forty-four years of unbroken inti
macy and friendship salute me from his grave; and this
I trust will not warp my judgment, but rather the better
equip me for presenting a true analysis of his character.
He has already received the affectionate praises of de
voted friends, and the generous voices of political oppon
ents have celebrated his lofty character. Eulogy has ex
hausted her votive offerings, and I come late to glean in
a field so abundantly garnered.
The work he did, the influences he set in motion,
are interwoven parts of the state itself. Out of chaos he
organized the territory into official forms, and breathed
into its nostrils the. breath of life. Yon cannot recite
the formative periods of our history without blending his
life with the threads of the story. Like the confluence of
two great streams, whose waters are lost in the com
mingling currents, so the state and the man were borne
on together. Alexander Ramsey appeared at the right time, and
under the right conditions, for his usefulness and his
fame. His education, his experience, his discipline, prior
to his advent on this soil as an empire builder, were
such that it would seem fate herself had prepared him
for his destiny.
If characters are modified by physical scenery around
them, then Ramsey was fortunate in the home of his
youth. He came from the grand old state of Pennsyl
vania, settled by the English, the Scotch, and the Ger
man. He was from the Chestnut Ridges and Laurel
4

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
Hills of the lovely Susquehanna. The blue tops of the
great Appalachian range filled his youthful eye. The
story of William Penn had stamped its impress on the
state, and Indian legends and Indian treaties were a
part of the traditions of every Pennsylvania boy.
He had read, too, of the massacre of Wyoming, and
his youthful imagination had been fired by Campbell's
poetic description of that ruthless slaughter. He had
thus inherited no love for the Indian character, and his
pressing proffer to President Lincoln, to take all the re
sponsibility of promptly hanging the convicted savages
of 1862, must be interpreted in the light of the lurid
flames of Wyoming.
To understand fully one who has played so great a
part in our dramatic history, we must, for the hour, live
in those times, see what he saw, look into the faces of
his remarkable co-partners, sympathize with his trials,
and rejoice in his successes.
Alexander Ramsey was born near Harrisburg, Pa.,
September 8, 1815. His paternal ancestry were Scotch,
and his mother of German origin, a racial combination
difficult to excel. An orphan at ten, by the aid of a
friendly relative he obtained a fair education, which was
greatly enhanced by his strong love for reading and
study. He subsequently became a carpenter by trade; he
taught school, and studied law.
That he did not receive a complete collegiate edu
cation, I think, is happy for us all, for then he might
have contented' himself in filling a professor's chair,
5

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
and measured out his days in expounding the metres of
Homer and Virgil. The self-taught American, like
Franklin and Lincoln, most often develops the vigorous
and broad life so useful to the nation. Nor was there
ever a better illustration of the wholesome training of
a young man in the great common school of experience
and self-study, which is the nursery and stronghold of
American democracy, than we have in the example of
young Ramsey. He was one of those practical men who
quickly avail themselves of the grand opportunities whose
golden gates stand open, in this country, night and day.
He came upon the stage of active life when party
strife was raging with unabated fury. The Whig and
Democratic parties bitterly divided the American people.
The questions about a bank, a tariff, and the distribution
of the proceeds of the public lands, seem to us, at this
distant day, to be trivial. But politics were intense, the
excitement great, and all were politicians, even the
women and children. As a matter of fact, it was not
so much measures, as men, that agitated and divided
the people. Jackson and Clay were the illustrious leaders, and
under their respective banners the contestants were mar
shalled in irreconcilable antagonism. . Both leaders were
men of consummate tact and management. Each held
his followers as with hooks of steel. Clay was the cap
tain of the Whigs, and his graceful manners and splendid
eloquence held in thrall the aspiring young men of the
day. Ramsey caught the contagion which the fervid
6

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
genius of Clay evoked. The Whig party was resplendent
with talent, and in that atmosphere young Ramsey was
matured. The famous Harrisburg convention of 1840 met in
his city. Harrison was nominated, and Clay was de
feated. But the people rose as if en masse. Banners
floated; the air was hot with acclamations; songs were
sung, and even business was neglected. As upon an
ocean wave, "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too," were floated
into office.
A month later Harrison died. Tyler, like another
Arnold, betrayed his party. Clay's heart was broken,
and the Whig party was paralyzed. But the great com
moner of Kentucky bore himself like a plumed knight.
In the midst of these stormy times, Ramsey was rocked
in the cradle of politics.
In 1840, he was secretary of the electoral college;
in 1841 he was chief clerk of the House of Representa
tives; in 1842, he was elected to Congress, and served in
the 28th and 29th Congresses. He was a substantial
Whig member, social, cool, cautious, and given to prac
tical business. He retired, voluntarily, from further
service, after the close of the 29th Congress, while, sin
gularly enough, Henry Hastings Sibley was just entering
the 30th Congress as a delegate from that terra incognita,
the territory of Minnesota.
Ramsey's career in Congress was signalized by his
ardent support of the Wilmot Proviso, in its application
to certain territories acquired as the result of the war
7

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
with Mexico. His seat was next to Wilmot's in the
House, and, as a matter of fact, he wrote the proviso
on his desk for Wilmot, which the latter offered. No
less strange is the fact that Mr. Sibley opposed the ap
plication of the Wilmot Proviso to the territory of Min
nesota in the very next Congress, as "wholly superfluous."
In 1848, Ramsey was made chairman of the Whig
State Central Committee of Pennsylvania, and contrib
uted largely to the election of Zachary Taylor, the last
of the Whig presidents. When that gallant soldier was
inaugurated, he at once tendered the governorship of
Minnesota to Alexander Ramsey. His commission bears
date, April 2, 1849.
The Whig party was now moribund, dying of slav
ery. Clay, too, was dying, and Webster had condoned
with the Slave Power. The Fugitive Slave Law was the
final bolt that slew the great army which Clay and Web
ster had organized. Thus it happened that the brilliant
party which had won Alexander Ramsey's youthful love
and devotion was waning and expiring when he made
his advent into the Northwest.
On the 27th day of May, 1849, the new governor ar
rived at the scene of his official duties. With something
of poetic fitness, he came, with his young wife, from
Sibley's baronial home at Mendota, where they had been
guests, in an Indian birch-bark canoe. On the first day
of June, 1849, he issued his official proclamation, de
claring the territory duly organized.

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
Minnesota thus entered her kindergarten prepara
tion for statehood. Then followed the detail necessary
to the establishment of the machinery of the new govern
ment. This was the historic starting point of the new
commonwealth. These important proceedings brought
Ramsey face to face with the most remarkable body of
men who ever graced a frontier, Sibley, Brown, the Rices,
Olmsted, Morrison, Steele, McLeod, Stevens, Renville,
Borup, Kittson, Bailly.
How, at the mention of their names, the dead arise,
and life starts in the stalwart forms of these primeval
kings of the wilderness ! If New England parades, with
pride, her Puritan ancestors, with equal veneration we
point to the vigorous, intrepid and superb men, who
stood sponsors to the birth of our commonwealth. They
were no ignoble rivals in the race which was to be run.
No stronger men ever colonized a* new country. They
possessed that restlessness that comes of ambition, and
the audacity that comes of enterprise.
Far behind these empire-builders of the Northwest,
there yet appeared in the twilight of our history, other
majestic forms. We behold the saintly Allouez and Mar
quette, glorified by their sufferings. We see Le Sueur
in the valley of the St. Peter, in his journey in pursuit
of gold, shrouded in mystery and romance, as imaginary
as that of Jason in pursuit of the Golden Fleece.
We contemplate the reign and wars of the great fur
companies, those mighty lords of the lakes of the North.
These all are the paladins of our history. Following 9

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
them came the era of the scientists, Nicollet, Pike,
Schoolcraft. This brings the panorama to true historic
ground. We now touch the time when some who are yet
living were co-partners in our early dramatic scenes.
Inspired by these grand traditions, and surrounded
by these stalwart figures, the young Pennsylvanian saw
that this wilderness had an epic of thrilling interest.
As he stood in this environment, what were his dreams
of the future? Did he behold in the aisles of the path
less woods, and in the vernal bloom of the unploughed
prairies, the miraged image of that wonderful state which
is now so proud an ornament in the clustering stars of
the Union ? But as yet, the scene before him was far
from inviting. There was but little to inspire him with
hope. He saw but a small hamlet, with bark-roofed cabins.
Savages yet walked in the straggling streets, with the
scalps of their enemies dangling from their belts. Cran
berries and pelts were the commercial currency of the
settlement. Oxen were the horses of the country, and
Red River carts the chariots of her commerce.
But what gave him greater anxiety than all else,
was the fact that, though he was the nominal executive
of a domain more extensive than France, yet but a frag
ment was open to settlement. Casting his eyes upon
the map, all in reality over which he had authority was
the narrow strip of land lying between the St. Croix
and the Mississippi, bounded on the north by a line

10

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
passing near where Princeton now stands, a "pent-up
Utica," and the land not of the best.
All the territory west of the Mississippi was unceded
by the Indians. Into this rich Sioux empire, the young
governor gazed with longing eyes. He immediately be
gan to press, with zeal, his Whig friends in Congress,
for authority to make a treaty with these savages. At
last the authorization came in 1850. As a logical result
of this warrant, there followed by far the most important
event in the history of Minnesota, and destined to have
the most salutary influence upon our destinies.
The treaty was finally consummated July 23, 1851,
and was ratified by the United States Senate June 26,
1852. That day Minnesota was born again. This treaty
sealed the doom of the Dakota race in Minnesota; they
signed away their heritage, and were henceforth strangers
in the land of their fathers.
Study all the history of that negotiation as you may,
you will find that Alexander Ramsey was the essential
and controlling factor in the transaction. He was not
only governor of the territory, but, ex officio, Superin
tendent of Indian Affairs. It is true that the entire
body of traders used their great influence with the In
dians to accept the treaty, and that influence was pow
erful. But the traders worked from mercenary motives.
Their combined claims amounted to $209,200. Most of
these accounts were of long standing, and were, perhaps
justly, provided for in the terms of the treaty. But the

11

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
one man, in that entire body of whites, who worked
from no sordid motives, was Alexander Ramsey.
The treaty itself was the most imposing spectacle yet
presented in the Northwest. All the dignitaries of the
territory, an army of traders, speculators, editors, and all
the great Dakota chiefs, in barbaric pomp, with thou
sands of their painted followers, were present. Why
it has not earlier received the historic, literary, and ar
tistic notice it so well deserves, it is difficult to under
stand. In the events of that day, it excluded and over
shadowed all other concerns. It gave 25,000,000 acres of
land, 23,000,000 of which inured to the state, and this
the most picturesque and fertile on earth. The Almighty
could have made a better country, but he never did.
The ink was not yet dry on the pages of that
treat}', when a stream of immigration poured in, through
"the inward swinging gates," and barbarism gave way
to civilization. Ramsey beheld the realization of his
dream; a magnificent destiny to the state was assured.
One of the noblest features of this treaty was, that
it was contracted by peaceful persuasion. Nearly all the
treaties of our government with the aborigines have
been the result of bloody wars, and made at the point of
the bayonet. This pacific treaty stands in all honor and
credit with that of William Penn. Not a soldier was
present, nor were they at any time required.
All that is wanting is an artist like Benjamin West,
who gave Penn's treaty to the world, and the scene will
be immortal. Yonder stands your new capitol, with
12

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
"Granite and marble and granite,
Corridor, column, and dome,
A capital huge as a planet,
And massive as marble-built Rome."
This edifice will ever be regarded with enthusiasm,
for its grace, its elegance and dignity. Therefore we hang
its inviolate walls with glorious state histories, first and
foremost of which is the scene representing the great
treaty of 1851.
It may be proper here to note that some disappointed
traders, whose claims were not allowed, brought charges
against Ramsey, affecting the integrity of his conduct
in the negotiations. It is sufficient to state that these
charges were fully investigated by a hostile senate, and
he was triumphantly vindicated. Lethe, long since, sent
her waves of forgetfulness over the whole story.
Correlative to this negotiation, by authority of Con
gress, in 1863, when he was United States senator, he
made a most important treaty with the Red Lake and
Pembina Ojibways. This treaty covered thirty miles on
each side of the Red River, and now includes the fertile
counties of Kittson, Marshall, Polk, and Norman, and
part of Red Lake county, in Minnesota. Previous to
this, by his influence chiefly, the Winnebagoes were per
manently removed from the heart of the fairest portion
of the state. By his early and persistant efforts, the col
onist, the conqueror, the civilizer, the Anglo-Saxon, pos
sesses the state, and the pagan is gone. What senti
mentality regrets the change? 13

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
In the period between the close of his office as ter
ritorial governor and his election as the second executive
of the state, he loyally performed every duty of a good
citizen, serving one term as mayor of the city of St.
Paul. The slavery question, with a potency which subordi
nated all other political ideas, was now "sovereign of the
ascendant." Hitherto, in territorial politics, the Demo
crats held undisputed sway. On the 29th of March,
1855, the opponents of the Nebraska bill held a meeting
at St. Anthony, and assumed the name "Republican."
They issued a call for a convention, which was held in
the capitol at St. Paul on July 28.
Ramsey had been very much attached to the Whig
party, and at first was unwilling to abandon it;
but from this time onward his allegiance to Republican
principles was unfaltering. More and more these princi
ples informed and infused his convictions. He believed
that his party creed was the best for the country and
humanity. All the ills of the republic could be medi
cated in that political pharmacy. He made no unnatural
political alliances, but stood his ground upon the well
defined principles of his party. He constantly gave his
patronage to the support of his party, except during the
period of the Civil War, when he bestowed his favors
equally on both parties, and with a discriminating hand.
In 1857, a state constitution was to be made. A
governor, state officers, two members of Congress, and
two United States senators, were the prizes. The con-
14

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
test was sharp, and both sides claimed a majority. The
result was a double convention, but, by a flash of com
mon sense, each faction produced the same constitution,
alike even in orthography and punctuation. Promptly
it was approved, and the arch of the state was locked
in the cohesion of granitic permanence. Henry H. Sib
ley was the Democratic candidate for governor, and Al
exander Ramsey led the Republican column. He was
counted out under circumstances of great doubt. The
vote, as reported by the board of state canvassers, was
17,790 for Sibley, and 17,550 for Ramsey.
In 1859, Alexander Ramsey was again the logical
Republican nominee, and was elected governor by a de
cisive majority. He received 21,335 votes; and the
Democratic candidate, George L. Becker, received 17,582
votes. Under Ramsey's leadership, the Republicans at
tained power, to be dislodged but once in forty-five years.
No other governor ever so impressed his individuality
upon the state. Well did Henry A. Swift declare that
his administration "was a distinct era in the history of
the state." The study of his messages reveals his prac
tical purposes, and consummate skill as a public adminis
trator. Extravagance was curbed, salaries reduced,
county government simplified, the school and University
lands were safely housed from the despoiler, under the
guarantees of the constitution. The growing and enor
mous school fund will ever remain as a proud monu
ment to his memory. 15

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
His pronounced action in reference to our school
lands, as contained in his celebrated message of January
9, 1861, is undoubtedly the most complete and forceful
presentation of the value to the state, and to posterity,
of the magnificent grant of public lands we received from
the nation, more especially in the mode and method he
devised for safeguarding the gift, which has ever been
presented to a legislative body. He had fully resolved
that this magnificent endowment should not be squan
dered. With matchless courage he constrained the adop
tion of his measures. He left nothing, in this regard, for
his successors to do, but to follow in his footsteps. By
this good work, so successfully accomplished, he may be
justly regarded as the author and builder of that won
derful school fund, which is today the admiration of
every state in the Union.
Kindred to this, and illustrating his practical and eco
nomical state house-keeping, and characteristic of his
German thrift, was his complete reformation of the ex
travagant and expensive government of the preceding
state administration. Our first legislature was prodigal
far beyond the state's resources. State, county, and
township governments, had plunged headlong into exces
sive expenditures, creating debts and embarrassing the
people. He met the situation promptly and vigorously.
He insisted that every state expenditure should be re
duced, that taxation might not eat up the substance of
the people, nor prove a bar to immigration. His econo
mical reforms were sweeping, even to reducing his guber-
16

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
natorial salary one-half. The legislative body was largely-
reduced; county and township expenditures were cur
tailed; the public printing was no longer "a job;" sal
aries and taxes were alike reduced; and a banking law,
whieh authorized a currency on inadequate securities, was
swept away. Out of these radical reforms soon sprang
that prosperity which has since marked the unparalleled
advancement of the state.
In the progress of our history there had occurred
one of those sore tribulations by which so many young
states and territories have been afflicted, leaving wounds
and scars during years of regret. Our misfortune
was the celebrated "Five Million Loan Bill." Had the
first governor of the state stood firm, and permitted no
encroachment upon the executive prerogative, there
would have been a door of escape. Governor Ramsey,
who inherited from his predecessor this ill-fortune, de
vised measures to extricate the state from its entangle
ments. An amended constitution expunged the unfortu
nate measure from the statutes, and the franchises and-
enormous land grants were restored to the state, and by
his devices the state renewed the same to other corpora
tions, so safeguarded as to secure us those great lines
of railroad which have so rapidly developed the state.
Governor Ramsey is entitled to the highest credit for the
masterly skill with which he extricated the endangered
state from its greatest peril.
January 2, 1860, Alexander Ramsey became gov
ernor of Minnesota. Extraordinary events were pulsating
2 . 17

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
the civilized world. Russia was emancipating her serfs;
Garibaldi was liberating Italy; Germany was moving
to unity. But above all, in the United States of Ameri
ca, the revolt against the slave power had arisen to fever
heat. The Fugitive Slave Law, the Dred Scott decision,
Buchanan's career of weakness and imbecility, the over
throw of the Missouri Compromise, were inciting causes
for a revolution which was fated to end in blood. John
Brown's soul, at Harper's Ferry, had begun its ominous
march. A mighty duel between slavery and freedom
was organizing in every home of the republic.
In November, 1860, that man of God, Abraham
Lincoln, was elected president. The storm which had
gathered, now burst in fury, and on a fatal Friday after
noon, April 12, 1861, treason fired its first shots at Fort
Sumter, the portents of the bloody carnage to follow.
For the first time the flag of the Union went down,
but to rise again, for "the eternal years of God are hers !"
Ramsey was well prepared by experience and con
viction, for the new and extraordinary responsibilities
thrust upon him by the dread note of war. Not one
moment did he hesitate, but offered the first troops to
the President, and thus set the pace for loyal governors.
The young state became a military camp, and the roll
of the drum and the thrill of the bugle fired the hearts
of the sons of Minnesota. He issued his call, and his
call was not in vain:

18

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
"And there was mounting in hot haste; the steed,
The mustering squadron and the clattering car,
Went pouring forward with impetuous speed,
And swiftly forming in the ranks of war."
The unexpected exigencies required statesmanlike
abilities. With an empty treasury, he yet equipped regi
ments, supplied batteries, and placed squadrons of cav
alry in the field. He established hospitals, appointed sur
geons, and sent comforts to the sick. He personally
visited his troops in the bivouac and in the hospital, and
no men in the field were better fed, better clothed, or
cared for. At each subsequent call, like the clan of
Roderick Dhu, at the sound of his bugle, warriors came
from every bush and brake. The history of Minnesota
in the mighty struggle became heroic. It was necessary
to choose an army of officers, and well did he select.
His privates became captains; his chaplains, archbishops;
his captains, colonels; and his colonels, generals.
But in the midst of this terrible war, when our flag
was almost fainting in the breeze, there came the foray
of a savage enemy in the rear, with deeds too dark for
description, threatening the desolation of the state. The
dwellings of settlers were blazing at midnight, their
paths ambushed by day. It was an orgy of blood, in
which neither age nor sex were spared.
Never was a governor so tried and tested. Never
was a young state in such deadly peril. But his energies
and resources expanded with the dangers. His Scotch
19

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
blood was fired with the courage of a Bruce. He sum
moned every man to the front. The plow was stopped
in the furrow; the church door was closed, or the church
itself converted into a hospital. The inhabitants were
fleeing toward the cities. The conditions of the state were
trying to the fortitude of the bravest hearts. But it is
the highest of all human praise to say, that their con
stancy and courage were equal to the trial.
I doubt if the records of ancient or modern times
give a better example of heroic deeds and actions, than
were exhibited in that dark day, when rebels were in
our front, and the savages in our rear. Our soldier sons
were falling on the bloody slopes of southern battle fields,
and our citizens, on the frontier, were tomahawked amid
the ghastly flames of New Ulm. This was the famous
and heroic era of our history, when we showed the world
"the might that slumbers in a peasant's arm."
Let our children of all time revive their drooping
faith in periods of despondency, by contemplating this
supreme exhibition of patriotic devotion to the public weal.
By promptness and unwearied exertions, the governor re
stored public confidence, defended the frontier, and kept
two armies in the field, till triumph closed, in honor,
around our faithful and chivalrous sons. These war
achievements opened the door for his admission to the
Loyal Legion, the noblest association following any mili
tary contest in history.
It is idle to compare any other state administration
with that of Alexander Ramsey. All others, however com-
20

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
petent the executives, are commonplace and devoid of
stirring events. Amid all these scenes of financial dis
tress, of prostrated credit, of dire rebellion and savage
onslaught, Ramsey was ever the central figure. His cool
ness, his judgment, his practical good sense, carried us
safely and triumphantly through the most trying condi
tions in all the history of our state.
The roster of our eighteen governors, territorial and
state, comprises a roll of admirable men, of vigor and
marked ability. But Alexander Ramsey is easily the
Nestor of them all. His figure stands out in bold relief,
and his primacy is universally conceded.
On the fourteenth day of January, 1863, he was
elected to the United States Senate. For twelve years he
was a distinguished and working member of that illus
trious body. He served on its most important committees,
and no senator has left a record of greater practical use
fulness during the stirring period of the war and the re
constructive era following.
It was his fortune to participate in those great ques
tions of reconstruction, of resumption, of constitutional
amendments, which in their sweep involved all the issues
of the great civil conflict. Party matters were trivial;
but these demanded wisdom and statesmanship absolute.
In all of these, he obtained the high-water mark of excel
lence. His state was proud of him, and felt a confidence
in his wisdom and pilotage, felt in no other.
As illustrative of his practical state-craft, while he
was chairman of the committee on post-offices and post
21

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
roads, some of our most valuable postal reforms were suc
cessfully achieved, cheap international postage was se
cured, and the celebrated "Ramsey bill" corrected the old
franking abuse. Great improvements in the navigation
of the Mississippi river, essential aid to the Northern
Pacific railroad, and the most satisfactory assistance in
behalf of the territories of Dakota and Montana, — these,
and all matters pertaining to the interests of the great
Northwest, were the objects of his constant and sedulous
care. It is proper here to remark, that, in the matter of
negro suffrage, he believed in a ballot based on intelli
gence. But in view of the extraordinary course of Andrew-
Johnson, in pardoning and restoring to civil rights those
who had served in the rebel army, while all the South
were determined to refuse the negro any rights whatever,
under any conditions, he felt that it was necessary to arm
these wards of the nation with the ballot, that they might
not be utterly helpless, but in some measure become their
own guardians.
Senator Ramsey's senatorial career closed March 4,
1875, having completed twelve years of faithful service.
In 1879 he was appointed by President Hayes to a
seat in the cabinet, as secretary of war. As constitutional
advisor to the President, he filled the office with wisdom
and discretion. He thus widened his personal fame, and
reflected additional lustre upon the state he had been so
instrumental in creating.

22

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
He was called from retirement in 1882, when the
"Edmunds bill" was enacted, the object of which was to
extinguish polygamy in Utah. To execute that important
statute required men of consummate skill and experience.
A commission was formed by the Garfield administration,
of whieh Ramsey was made chairman. He resigned in
1886, and permanently retired to private life. This was
his last public work.
We have now touched the more salient points of his
remarkable history. He had rounded out a splendid
career, more abundant in honors than was ever yet ac
corded to any son of Minnesota. With grace, dignity, and
philosophic satisfaction, he retired to private life. He
was out of the dust of the political arena, but in the full
enjoyment of the profound respect of all his fellow citi
zens. Not Jefferson at Monticello, nor Jackson at the
Hermitage, was the object of greater veneration and love
from their fellow citizens. He had retired full of honors,
as full .of years.
Now that the tomb has claimed him, what do men
think of him? Was Alexander Ramsey a great man?
Well was it remarked that, since the advent of Washing
ton, all estimates of human greatness have essentially
changed. Men are now measured by the actual benefits
they achieve for their fellow citizens, and for humanity.
Measured by this standard, he was a great man, and his
name should be canonized within the limits of our state.
He was one, and the chief one, of an assemblage of
distinguished men, who were eminently conspicuous in
23

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
our early annals. His rivals and co-workers were of the
Titanic type.
There was Henry Hastings Sibley, his most illus
trious compeer; a man of culture amid barbaric surround
ings; brave and chivalric; the "plumed knight" of pre
fer ritorial times.
There was Henry M. Rice, able, graceful, whether in
the wigwam or the senate, always polished, suave and dip
lomatic. There was Joseph Renshaw Brown, the brainiest of
them all, a sort of an intellectual lion, who sported with
the savage Sioux, or ruled a political caucus, with equal
power. There was Ignatius Donnelly, that Celtic genius,
whose dazzling intellect shone like a meteor; but, un
happily, like the elephants of Pyrrhus, he was sometimes
as dangerous to his friends as his foes.
There was Edmund Rice, elegant and courtly, the
Chesterfield of his day. There was John S. Pillsbury,
honest, solid and true; the champion of the University,
and the friend of the settler.
There was Morton S. Wilkinson, stately, gifted and
elegant; the friend of Lincoln. It is to be regretted that
his speeches were always better than his practices.
There was Cushman K. Davis, that great jurist,
whose bugle-notes of eloquence in Ciceronian periods still
live in the echoes of the American Senate, as his memory
yet lives, deathless, in our hearts.

24

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
And there was the familiar face of Charles Eugene
Flandrau, the cavalier of the border, lawyer, jurist, sol
dier, the Prince Rupert of the Northwest.
There was George Loomis Becker, lawyer, railroad
president, state senator, railroad commissioner, twice
Democratic candidate for governor, a true type of an
elegant and occomplished gentleman of the old school.
There is James J. Hill, a strong, unique, virile,
monumental character, for whom a sharp claim will be
justly pressed with all the power of steam, for a high
niche in the Pantheon of Minnesota's great men.
There is the patriotic face of the Right Reverend
John Ireland, priest, army chaplain, assistant bishop,
bishop, archbishop, and soon, we pray (be it prophet
ically said), to wear the red hat of a cardinal, the most
eminent Catholic prelate America has yet produced, and
a splendid type of a loyal American, after the stamp of
Patrick Henry.
And we must mention also the name of Joseph A.
Wheelock, whose polished Athenian pen has been the
brightest jewel in the crown of our literature, and will
remain for him a peerless monument, which proclaims
the pen mightier than the sword.
Men such as these, and other rare spirits, of literary,
civil, and social mark, were Ramsey's' august compeers
and emulators. Yet, in some aggregate way, he meas
ured more than any one of them; and moreover, down
deep in the red core of their hearts, the people loved
him better than any other public man. That position 25

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
he held by the grace of God, and without the leave of
the politicians. Beside him but one scarcely inferior figure is to be
seen, and that is the stately form of Henry Hastings
Sibley. He was a splendid cavalier, "from spur to
plume." He, too, is one of the august fathers of the
state. The panorama of his life, from barbarism to civi
lization, is an unwritten Iliad. He, like Ramsey, was
the type of a man to found an American commonwealth.
These two men are the twin pillars on which the pristine
arches of the state rest, — par nobile fratrum!
There is nothing finer in the history of our state,
than when Ramsey, as governor, summoned his old an
tagonist from retirement, and gave him a commission to
command all the troops in the field against the hostile
Sioux, and with unlimited authority. The trust and
confidence these ancient enemies, in an hour of common
danger, reposed in each other, bespeak for them the en
during regard of all who admire nobility of character.
What then constitutes the qualities which made
Ramsey great? His greatest gift was his strong, prac
tical common sense. Guizot, in his History of Civiliza
tion, says, that saving common sense is the best genius
for mankind, and has ever been its savior in all times of
danger. While not a genius, he possessed talents of the
highest order. His mental fabric was symmetrical, and
he was ever in command of all his faculties, judgment,
memory, perception, discretion. He could apply his
whole intellectual endowment to a solution of the que*-
26

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
tions before him. He was never among the stars, search
ing for ideal conditions, but always on the earth, taking
clear, practical views of affairs. The proverb from Ovid,
"Medio tutissimus ibis," was applicable to his way and
method. He was a man with a purpose. He was one who
did things. He was a projector, as well as an executor.
He possessed a strong individuality of character, and
that character impressed itself indelibly upon the coun
cils of the state. He was gifted with a quality of
temper that could never be ruffled. Always frank and
good humored, he might be described by Goldsmith's well
known line,
"An abridgment of all that was pleasant in man."
And yet, he had firmness and decision of character, and
was not easily turned from his purpose.
Though bitter invective, often descending to abso
lute scurrility, marked the stormy annals of territorial
times, yet he never, for one moment, descended to its
use. Though frequently galled by the poisoned lance of
partisan abuse, he never retorted in kind. His speeches
and public utterances were elevated, clean, and devoid of
grossness or defamation.
Ramsey was not an orator. He in no wise met
the requirements of Cicero, that master of elocution.
So often on the rostrum with him, I always admired his
plain, direct methods, utterly rejecting all ornamentation,
and by the simplest and most direct route reaching the
27

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
purposes of his address. Like Franklin, he seldom ex
ceeded a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes in any
public address. While not a fluent, he was an easy
speaker. He spoke as well in German as in English,
and this fact greatly enhanced his popularity. His evi
dent sincerity always carried conviction, and he won the
judgment of his audience. He had as few idiosyncracies
as any man I ever met in public life, — no crotchets, no
fads, and this left his faculties unclouded and unbiased.
He was a typical American, and loved his country
with a devotion as fervid as Patrick Henry. He could
say, as Webster once said, "I was born an American, I
live an American, I shall die an American." The East,
from whence he came, was narrow; but the West broad
ened and liberalized his ideas.
The effect of the West upon the political thought
and action of the republic, is simply enormous. It is
not so much what the East has done for the West, but
what has not the West done for the East? We take the
sons of the East, and recast them, in stature and breadth,
free from the trammels of tradition, till they widen like
our own ocean prairies. The grand effect of the West
upon the national character, life and government, is a
story yet to be written. The West reconstructed
Alexander Ramsey.
Like all truly great men, he was a firm believer in
the truths of Christianity. He was a Presbyterian of
the most liberal school, and believed more in a practical

28

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
Christian life than in creeds or dogmas. He often
quoted the couplet of the poet :
"For modes of faith, let graceless zealots fight,
His can't be wrong, whose life is in the right."
There was something remarkable in the general
estimate placed upon his character. Public esteem is a
lofty criterion to decide a man's reputation. He who
holds an elevated character, before such a tribunal, is
indeed fortunate. Innumerable were the tongues in the
state which proclaimed his virtues and his safe qualities.
In the convention, in the town meeting, in the city full,-
or on the remote frontier, in the church or on the car,
everywhere, the people said, without distinction of party,
Ramsey was always safe and to be trusted. Such was the
power of reputation and good character. To be thus
confided in was better than a great inheritance or bank
stock. No other public man among us ever so held the
universal confidence, except possibly Sibley. With an
intimate knowledge of our sharp political contests, I
fear not to state that, when beaten for a high office by
legislative coalitions and strange alliances, if left to the
suffrages of his entire party, he would have been tri
umphantly elected.
We love sometimes to look at distinguished men
en deshabille, not always in their robes of state. Let us
view him personally. His social and colloquial qualities
were of the best. In private life, he was a genial and
generous neighbor, a loving husband and a fond father.
29

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
He was neither avaricious nor prodigal of money. He
bowed in knightly homage to women, as all true gentle
men have ever done.
That elegant contrivance of social life, a good din
ner, had its charms for his leisure hours and Epicurean
tastes. The gorgeous table, the embossed plate, the ex
otic bottles, the brilliant flowers, the distinguished guests,
the Attic salt, in his leisure hours, to him were fascinat
ing. The salads of Lucullus, and the wines of Maecenas,
were none too rich for his Pennsylvania blood. I be
lieve he had the best stomach in America, and a good
stomach is the foundation of a strong man.
He was a man of marked personal appearance. He
had broad shoulders, a deep chest, and great muscular
power, denoting immense vitality. He had a noble head,
round, well balanced and symmetrical. His face was
broad and expressive. When the "dew of youth" rested
upon him, he was accounted especially handsome; and
age but added grace and dignity to his noble appearance.
Finally, his connection with and devotion to the
Minnesota Historical Society must not be omitted in
this memorial volume. He was its patron saint from
our natal hour to the end of his days. He signed the
legislative act incorporating this body October 20, 1849,
four weeks before it was organized. His address on as
suming the chair as first president, January 13, 1851,
is a remarkable paper, as it defined the splendid field of
our research, and pointed out, as never since, the great
objects of this Society. To read it even now creates an
30

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
enthusiasm in our work, and an inspiration not to be
received from any other source. He showed how Min
nesota had a history, rich in tales of daring enterprise,
glowing with myths and traditions, which were to be ex
humed and gathered into permanent form. We were
to preserve the fleeting memorials of our territory; in
fact, were to become the embalmers royal to all that
is worth preserving in our history. Hence this Society
has a passion for old things, old traditions, old mounds,
old stories, old pictures, old heroes; we love to grope in
the twilight of the past, to unearth our eldest myths, as
well as to • verify events that otherwise would fade ; — an
employment so suitably symbolized by the motto on the
seal of our Society, "Lux e tenebris."
Like "Old Mortality" in Scott's immortal story,
with mallet and chisel, bending over their tombs in
pious reverence, we remove the moss which time has
gathered, ere yet oblivion dedicates them to forgetfulness.
We protect and preserve the name and the fame of all
the good sons of the state, as each in his turn requires
these good offices. That Minnesota has an Historical
Society, methodically to gather and record chronicles of
men and events, of which any state might be justly
proud, is largely due to Ramsey's wise foresight and his
constant and effective support.
Thus have we endeavored to present the portrait of
our first and greatest governor. We have turned the
dial backward, and recalled some of the scenes in the
gray dawn of the past. We have summoned figures of
31

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
noted cotemporaries, and have touched a few of the more
important events of his history. True, we stumble over
the images of many other distinguished men, and the
fragments of many weighty events; but the canvass will
not carry all things in a single picture. The artist has
aimed at the general effect, without arithmetical weari
ness of detail.
Alexander Ramsey has passed forever to the "starry
court of eternity." The grave closes the scene, and we
scatter, profusely it may be, the lilies of remembrance
upon his sepulcher. But the praise of the dead harms
no rival, though it be generously given. I doubt if the
state shall look upon his like again, because there are no
surroundings to produce such a character. He surely
earned a name and a fame. Minnesota cannot afford
to let it die. A generous people will yet decorate his
tomb with a moment that would please the eye of
Pericles. Ever advancing shadows leave uncovered the forms
of but few who have been active in the arena of the
state. Many we fondly thought imperishable are already
quite forgotten. But Alexander Ramsey has filled so
broad and so useful a page in the annals of Minnesota
that he has bequeathed his name as a household word in
the homes of the state, for centuries to come.
The intelligence of his death fell with an equal
shock upon all classes of society. It invaded alike the
homes of the rich and the cottages of the poor, — "pau-
perum tabernas, regumque turres."
32

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
Alexander Ramsey is dead, so far as such men can
die, and he is henceforth an historical character. We
venture thus early to anticipate the verdict of posterity,
and call him a great man; one test of which surely lies
in this, that no other has yet risen among us, who, all in
all, can' successfully contest with him the palm of
primacy. To few men is it given to witness what, in the limi
tations of a single life time, it was his to behold. The
wilderness of 1849 has been converted into a modern
empire, better equipped than Greece or Rome, for the
people who are its happy citizens. Gladstone, in his
long life, never beheld such a transformation scene.
Moses was denied the promised land, except its distant
vision from a. mountain top; but Ramsey not only saw
the wonderful vision, but he was permitted to enter into
its full enjoyment.' He saw the great Mississippi valley
swiftly filled with the stars of empire. He saw the
mighty gates of the Rocky Mountains open to close no
more. He saw twelve hundred thousand happy and
prosperous people on the very land his genius had given
by Indian treaties to the expanded state. He witnessed
what had been done, and foresaw the unwritten triumphs
of the' future.
' ¦: He must be measured in the completeness, of his
character, physical, moral, and intellectual, in all its
harmony, by what it "was capable of accomplishing, and
by what it did actually, accomplish. The propulsive
force of his work still operates, and, like Tennyson's 33

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA
brook, will flow on forever. In all that pertained to the
well-being of the state, his actions have stood *the test
of time; and no other man, on questions of public policy,
ever committed so few errors of judgment. His name
should be recorded among the heralds of empire, as the
grandest among the founders and statesmen of Min
nesota. He died in the maturity of his years. The very
ends of his being seem to have been fulfilled. It was
no sudden death in the midst of life's great activities
and usefulness, like the lamented Windom; but was like
the close of some pleasing summer's day, whose long
lingering and benignant light charms as it departs, and
melts away into the rosy west, leaving upon its forehead
the evening star of memory.
Nothing could be more appropriate for his monu
mental inscription than that placed upon the tomb of
Sir Christoper Wren, the architect of the Cathedral of
St. Paul, who lies buried in the very building his genius
constructed, and on whose tablet is this immortal legend:
"Si monumentum quaeris, eircumspice."
But Alexander Ramsey lies inurned in a cathedral
whose mighty arches and swelling dome reach to the
very confines of this empire state, which- his genius may
be said to have almost created.
On the 10th of September, 1845, while a member
of Congress, he was married to Miss Anna Earl Jenks,
a beautiful and queenly woman, of eighteen summers,
34

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
possessed of the sweetest disposition and the most estim
able qualities. With a dash of Quaker blood, her
"thee's" and "thou's" were exceedingly agreeable. She
was highly domestic in her tastes. Coming from a home
of comfort and the best society, with marked affability
and practical good sense, she at once adapted herself to
her new surroundings, and by her tact and grace con
tributed largely to the fortunes of her distinguished
husband. After a noble and useful life, she died on
November 29, 1884, and with sad hearts her troops of
friends laid her tenderly away, covered with garlands of
flowers, in Oakland Cemetery.
To this union there were born three children, Alex
ander, William, and Marion. The two boys died in
early childhood, during Minnesota's territorial period.
The only daughter was married to Charles E. Furness,
and resides in St. Paul in the old Ramsey mansion on
Exchange street.
The active duties of Governor Ramsey's life having
been well completed, his last days were spent in quietness
and contemplation in his home in St. Paul. There he
was tenderly cared for by his daughter and grandchil
dren, until death called him, on April 22, 1903.
His body lay in state in the capitol, and a multitude of
his fellow citizens, of all classes of society, came to show
him the last possible honor. He is buried in the Oak
land Cemetery, that beautiful home of the dead, whose
maintenance and improvement had been one of the ob
jects of his care during his later years. 35

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
The following Proclamation, organizing the Territory
of Minnesota, was one of the most important documents
ever signed by Alexander Ramsey. It was published in
The Minnesota Pioneer, June 7, 1849 :
TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
Whereas, by an Act of Congress of the United States
of America entitled "An Act to Establish the Territorial
Government of Minnesota," approved March 3, 1849, a true
copy whereof is hereto annexed, a government was erected
over all the country described in said act, to be called "the
Territory of Minnesota;" and whereas, the following named
officers have been duly appointed and commissioned under
the said act as officers of said government, viz:
Alexander Ramsey, Governor of said territory and com
mander-in-chief of the militia thereof, and superintendent
of Indian affairs therein; Charles K. Smith, secretary of
said territory; Aaron Goodrich, chief justice, and David
Cooper and Bradley B. Meeker, associate justices of the
supreme, court of said territory; Joshua L. Taylor, marshal
of the United States of said territory; Henry L. Moss,
attorney of the United States for said territory.
And said officers having assumed the duties of their
said offices according to law, said territorial government is
declared to be organized and established, and all persons
are enjoined to obey, conform to and respect the laws
hereof accordingly.
Given under my hand and the seal of said territory, at
St. Paul, this first day of June, A. D. 1849, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the seventy-
third. •• ' ¦•• • ALEX. RAMSEY.
By the Governor:
, CHARLES K. SMITH, Secretary.
¦ Ramsey's first message to the Territorial Legislature,
September. 4, 1849, was published in pages 7-18 of the
Journal . of the Council during the first session of the
legislative assembly of the territory of Minnesota (St.
Paul, 1850). Below are given a few extracts from it:-
Our territory, judging from the experience of the few
months since public attention was called to its many ad
vantages, will settle rapidly. Nature has done much for
36

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
us. Our productive soil and salubrious climate will bring
thousands of immigrants within our borders; it is of the
utmost moment that the foundations of our legislation
should be healthful and solid. A knowledge of this fact
will encourage tens of thousands of others to settle in our
midst; and it may not be long ere we may with truth be
recognized throughout the political and the moral world, as
indeed the "polar star" of the republican galaxy.
Thus you will see, gentlemen,, that yours is a most
interesting and responsible position, and that in your hands,
more than ip that of any future Legislative Assembly, will
be the "destinies of Minnesota."

Next in importance, toward facilitating the settlement
of the territory, I would rank the purchase of the Sioux
Indian country, west of the Mississippi river, from the
Iowa line north to the Watab river, whieh is the south
boundary of the Winnebago country; adding as the western
boundary of such purchase a, line drawn due south from
the lake at the head of Long Prairie river. This extensive,
rich, and salubrious region would open new inducements
for the enterprise of our countrymen; for it is considered
equal in soil to any portion of the valley of the Mississippi,
and in healthfulness is probably superior to any part of
the Americon continent. It is known to be rich in minerals
as in soil; is sufficiently timbered, being traversed for one
hundred miles on its western border by a hard-wood forest
some forty miles in width; is watered by some of the finest
rivers of the North-West, such as the Minnesota or St.
Peter's, the- Blue Earth, the Osakis, the Root river, and
others; and is bespangled by beautiful lakes in every direc
tion. To the eye of the observer, it presents an agreeable
mingling of high rolling prairies and gentle slopes; wooded
hill-tops, luxuriant natural meadows, and abundance of the
purest water; and I feel a conviction that this country,
once thrown open for settlement, would be peopled with a
rapidity exceeding anything in the history of western colon
ization. I would therefore press strongly upon the Legisla
tive Assembly the expediency of memorializing Congress
upon the subject.

The preservation by -a community of materials for the
composition of its history, when a future time shall require
it to be written, is a task not without its uses; and when
early commenced, easily accomplished; and as newspapers
are the day-books of history, as well as semi-official records
in many cases, I deem it not improper to recommend to the
Assembly the propriety of authorizing and requiring the
37

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
territorial secretary, or the librarian, to subscribe for and
preserve in a, durable form, a copy of each and every
newspaper that may be published in the territory. Thus
much that is interesting in the fleeting registers of the
day, and which, in years to come, will be esteemed rich
mines for the historian, can be saved for satisfactory refer
ence and future information.
The message of Governor Ramsey at the. opening of
the second territorial legislature, delivered % January 7,
1851, is published in the Journal of the Council, 1851,
pages 11-21.
The message to the third territorial legislature, Jan
uary 14, 1852, is found in the Journal of the Council,
1852, pages 18-28.
Ramsey's last message as territorial governor was de
livered on January 27, 1853, and is printed in the Jour
nal of the Council during the fourth session of the legis
lative assembly, 1853, pages 29-37. The following para
graphs are found near its close:
In concluding this my last annual message, permit me
to observe that it is now a little over three years and six
months since it was my happiness to first land upon the
soil of Minnesota. Not far from where we now are, a
dozen framed houses, not all completed, and some eight or
ten small log buildings, with bark roofs, constituted the capi
tal of the new territory over whose destiny I had been
commissioned to preside. One county, a remnant from Wis
consin territorial organization, alone afforded the ordinary
facilities for the execution of the laws; and in and around
its seat of justice resided the bulk of our scattered popula
tion. Within this single county were embraced all the lands
white men were privileged to till; while between them and
the broad rich hunting grounds of untutored savages rolled,
like Jordan through the Promised Land, the River of Rivers,
here as majestic in its northern youth as in its more south
ern maturity. Emphatically new and wild appeared every
thing to the in -comers from older communities; and a not
least novel feature of the scene was the motley humanitv
partially filling these streets — the blankets and painted face's
of Indians, and the red sashes and moccasins of French
' 38

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
Voyageurs and half-breeds, greatly predominating over the
less picturesque costume of the Anglo-American race. But
even while strangers yet looked, the elements of a mighty
change were working, and civilization with its hundred arms
was commencing its resistless and beneficent empire. To my
lot fell the honorable duty of taking the initial step in this
work by proclaiming, on the 1st of June, 1849", the organiza
tion of the territorial government, and consequent extension
of the protecting arm of law over these distant regions.
Since that day, how impetuously have events crowded time.
The fabled magic of the eastern tale that renewed a palace in
a single night, only can parallel our reality of growth and
progress.

* * * Man in the present age disdains the ancient
limits to his career; and in this country, especially, all pre
cedents of human progress, growth of states, and march of
empires, are set aside by an impetuous originality of action,
which is at once both fact and precedent. Doubtless on over
ruling Providence, for inscrutable purposes, has decreed to the
American nation this quicker transition from the wilderness
of nature to the maturity of social enjoyments — this shorter
probation between the bud and the green tree of empire; and
it well becomes us, therefore, in our gratulations upon present
prosperity, and in our speculations upon greater power and
happiness in the early future, to render humble yet fervent
thanks "unto Him who holdeth nations in the hollow of His
hand," and shapes out the destinies of every people.
The inaugural address by Ramsey as governor of
the state, January 2, 1860, is published in the Journal of
the House of Representatives, second legislature of the
state of Minnesota (St. Paul, 1860), pages 163-183; and
in the Journal of the Senate, 1860, pages 113-133. It
was also printed as a separate- pamphlet of twenty-three
pages, entitled "Inaugural Message of Governor Ramsey
to the Senate and House of Representatives of the State
of Minnesota" (St. Paul, 1860).
Governor Ramsey's second message to the state leg
islature, January 9th, 1861, is the first paper (thirty-one
pages) in the Executive Documents of the State of Min-
39

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
nesota for the year 1860 (St. Paul 1861). In the clos
ing part of this message he spoke of the restriction of
slavery and the danger of civil war, as follows:
One demand is the restoration in effect of the line of
restriction, known as the Missouri Compromise line. But great
objections to this concession are, that the entire South once
declared themselves dissatisfied with it, and that the really dis
affected will not accept it today. Their demands are, briefly, a
slave code for the territories, and a, recognition of slaves as
property by the free states. We cannot believe that such de
mands are made in good faith. They seem to have been devised
purposely to receive rejection which might be alleged as a rea
son for a contemplated revolution. Such demands are entirely
new. Even in the formation of the Constitution of the United
States it was not thought proper to admit the idea of property
in man. Can we now be expected to grant what the slave states
of that day thought it was not proper to ask? Such a thing as
a slave code has no precedent in our history. Precisely the con
trary — Congressional interdiction of slavery in the territories —
has many, both old and more recent. v
But whatever concession or compromise might otherwise be
made, the present treasonable position of one of the Southern
States, and the menacing attitude of others, the war already
levied upon the United States by the seizure of government
property by armed men professedly hostile to United States
authority, demand, first the assertion of the rights of the na
tion, and next the recognition of the principle that existing
constitutional agreements are to be maintained, and that, sub
ject to the Constitution, the majority shall rule, and the min
ority must submit. After this is well settled we can with
honor and security discuss the question of new compro
mises. * * *
It is therefore clear in my opinion that the nation must
vindicate itself and establish again obedience to the constitu
tional agreements and compromises, through all the length and
breadth of the land.
We are gathered from all the states of the Union and
almost all civilized nations of the world. We can have no
narrow or sectional feeling. Our interests equally forbid un
generous or selfish views. We are a young state, not yet
very numerous or powerful, but we are for the Union as it is,
and the Constitution as it is. We hope, we expect no frater
nal war. The blessings of the Union, representation in Con
gress, the benefits of the postal system, the honors to be won
in the various departments of national service, these every
state may participate in, but it is unnecessary to force them
upon an unwilling people. But the territory, the forts, the
40

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
arsenals, the dock-yards, public buildings, ships of war, revenue
cutters, and the revenue, these belong to the whole nation,
and these the nation can hardly relinquish with honor.
Such I believe to be the sentiment of the whole people of
our state, and it may be well for the legislature now assembled,
by some solemn act, in fitting terms to express our undivided
attachment to the Constitution and the Union of our fathers
and our willingness to contribute whatever of moral or material
influence we have to preserve them, now and forever, one and
inseparable. The third annual message of Governor Ramsey to the
state legislature of Minnesota, delivered January 9th,
1862, forms thirty-two pages at the beginning of the
Executive Documents of the State of Minnesota for the
year 1861 (St. Paul, 1862). In this message he gave
the following approval of the establishment of the na
tional banking system.
* * * Our experience, in common with that of all the
Western States, has prepared us to receive with unanimous
favor the excellent suggestions of the secretary of the United
States treasury, looking to the issue of treasury notes upon
the credit of the United States, to be used under proper restric
tions for banking purposes, by responsible parties agreeing to
their redemption. This scheme, if adopted, will probably solve
the difficult problem of Western banking.
It will furnish an unimpeachable currency of equal value
everywhere, and besides the manifest advantages of a uniform
and familiar medium of circulation over the endless and per
plexing variety of issues now current, it promises a final re
lief from the recurrence of the enormous losses which are now
suffered by our people, with the periodical explosion of the
banks. Concerning the state school fund to accrue from sales
or leases of the public school lands, he said:
A just and liberal spirit ought to pervade all the laws
enacted for the sale or rent of the school lands; alike without
invidious discrimination against one class, or in favor of an
other. If the provisions of the present law bear unequally upon
the lessees, they might perhaps be so modified as to remedy
cases of individual hardships. But this should be done with a
strict view to the paramount public interest involved. It is ob-
41

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
vious that if any considerable school fund is to be realized to
the state, for a number of years, the utmost circumspection
must be observed, in the disposition of the class of lands which
have now reached a respectable value.
My own views upon this subject have been urged at so
great length heretofore, that it is unnecessary to repeat them.
But I should be unfaithful to a strong conviction of duty, if
I failed to inculcate once more upon the representatives of the
people the necessity of the most rigid and scrupulous guardi
anship of the sacred trust which the Constitution confides to
you in the management of the school lands, and to admonish
you against any attempts disguised under any pretext, to in
duce you to sacrifice the interests of the school fund.
On account of the Sioux outbreak, which began
August 18, 1862, an extra session of the legislature was
called by Governor Ramsey. His message, delivered on
the first day of the session, September 9, was printed as
a pamphlet of twenty-four pages and also as the first
paper (fifteen pages) in the Executive Documents of the
State of Minnesota for the year 1862. It was devoted
almost entirely to a history of the outbreak, the means he
had employed to check it, and recommendations of fur
ther action by the legislature. The following are ex
tracts from it:
The circumstances of this outbreak give it an aspect of
wanton malignity and perfidy scarcely paralleled, if at all,
even in the tragic annals of Indian crime.

The outbreak of the Sioux occurred at a time when we
were little prepared in many respects to meet so sudden an
emergency. Fortunately, we had just raised a considerable part
of the new levies ordered by the President.- But most of these
were farmers taken from the thick of the pending harvest, and
had enlisted on the promise of a furlough to the first of
September to secure their crops, and so large a part of the
volunteers were absent at the time, that the forces sent had
to be made up of fragments of different companies and regi
ments. A still more serious embarrassment was felt at the outset
from the want of arms and ammunition. Application was, how-
42

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
ever, immediately made by telegraph to Washington, St. Louis,
and the governors of adjoining states, and in addition to sup
plies received from regular sources, I am much indebted to
the governor of Wisconsin for a prompt response to my re
quest for cartridges.

It is estimated that five hundred persons of every age and
sex perished, and worse than perished, by the hands of these
remorseless butchers in the course of the two or three days
succeeding the outbreak, before their progress was checked by
our forces; and hundreds of them lie yet unburied where they
fell, hidden in the grass and bushes of prairies and ravines.
Many, doubtless, in the attempt to escape, have become lost,
or fainting from exhaustion and terror have died from starva
tion. Our course then is plain. The Sioux Indians of Minnesota
must be exterminated or driven forever beyond the borders of
the state.
The public safety imperatively requires it. Justice calls for
it. Humanity itself, outraged by their unutterable atrocities,
demands it. The blood of the murdered cries to Heaven for
vengeance on these assassins of women and children. They
have themselves made their annihilation an imperative neces
sity. Faithless to solenm treaty obligations, to old friendships,
to the ties of blood, regardless even of self interest when it
conflicts with their savage passions, incapable of honor, of truth
or of gratitude; amenable to no law; bound by no moral or so
cial restraints — they have already destroyed, in one monstrous
act of perfidy, every pledge on which it was possible to found
a hope of ultimate reconciliation.
They must be regarded and treated as outlaws. If any
shall escape extinction, the wretched remnant must be driven
beyond our borders and our frontier garrisoned with a force
sufficient to forever prevent their return.
On January 7, 1863, Ramsey delivered his last an
nual message as governor. It was published as a paper
of thirty-two pages in the Executive Documents of the
State of Minnesota for the Year 1862. A few passages
from it are as follows:
It is a source of excusable pride, we trust, to every Min-
nesotian that his state, which in' 1850 had a population of only
5,000, should, within the last few months, have been able to
furnish the federal government with an army of 12,000 men,
43

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
while at the same time she unaided crushed out the most form
idable Indian uprising known in history.
Can we over-estimate the future of such a people?
* * # *
Amid the gloom which has during the past year enshrouded
our distracted country, and the scenes of savage carnage which
have devastated the fairest portions of our own state, it is,
at least, some consolation for us to know that Minnesota has
continued promptly to respond to the demands of the nation;
that in these days of our peril the work of recruiting has
never flagged; that while the scalping knife of the savage was
destroying their loved ones at home, that while their burning
cottages were lighting up the midnight hour, her sons have
followed their banner to the front, upon the banks of the Po
tomac, or met a soldier's death upon the victorious fields of the
Southwest, and their gallant exploits have won for our state
an imperishable name.
We may almost say, that today the sun in his course
shines upon no American bondsman. By the Proclamation of
the President, the shackles have fallen from the limbs of nearly
every slave.
For the first time in the history of the American Republic,
we are in deed, as we long have been in name, a nation of
freemen. Other addresses, reports, and papers by Ramsey are
as follows :
Reports to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, by
Luke Lea and Alexander Ramsey, dated at Mendota,
Minnesota territory, August 6, 1851, transmitting treaties
with the Sioux Indians, and by Governor Ramsey, dated
at St. Paul, November 7, 1851, transmitting a treaty
with the Chippewas at Pembina; published in Executive
Documents of the Senate of the United States, first ses
sion of the Thirty-second Congress, Volume III, forming
respectively pages 278-284 and 284-288 (Washington,
1852). Inaugural Address as mayor of St. Paul, published
in the Daily Minnesota Pioneer, April 12, 1855.
44

ALEXANDER RAMSEY.
Address delivered at the Second Annual Territorial
Fair, in Minneapolis, October 8-10, 1856; published as
a pamphlet of twenty-two pages (St. Paul, 1857).
Address delivered' at the Grand Celebration in the
City of St. Paul, September 1, 1858, in commemoration
of the laying of the Atlantic telegraph cable; published
in a pamphlet of twenty-two pages (St. Paul, 1858), the
address of Governor Ramsey being in pages 12-16.
Address in the United State Senate, on a Bill to
amend the Postal Laws, delivered February 11, 1867;
published in the Congressional Globe, second session,
Thirty-ninth Congress, pages 1145-6.
Address in the United States Senate, introducing
Memorial Resolutions in honor of Daniel Norton, de
livered January 24, 1871 (Congressional Globe, third
session, Forty-first Congress, page 694).
Report of the Secretary of War (House of Repre
sentatives, Forty-sixth Congress, third session, Ex. Doc.
1, Part 2), in four volumes. The report of Governor
Ramsey, as secretary of this department, dated November
19, 1880, forms pages iii-xxvii in Volume I.
First and Second Reports of the Utah Commission,
dated August 31, 1882, and November 17, 1882; pub
lished in the Report of the Secretary of the Interior, sec
ond session, Forty-seventh Congress, pages 1003-1005
and 1005-1009 (Washington, 1882).
The following papers, read by Ramsey before the
Minnesota Historical Society, are published in its series
of Historical Collections : 45

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Our Field of Historical Research, an address at the
Annual Meeting of the Society, January 13, 1851 (Vol
ume I, 1872; pages 43-52, 1902, pages 25-32).
The Origin and Growth of the Minnesota Historical
Society, an address at its annual meeting, January 13,
1896 (Volume VIII, pages 41-44).
Address at the Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniver
sary of the Organization of the Minnesota Historical So
ciety, November 15, 1899 (Volume IX, pages 555-558).

46

WILLIS A. GORMAN.

WILLIS ARNOLD GORMAN
Second Territorial Governor, was born
near Flemingsburg, Kentucky, January
12, 1816, and died in St. Paul, Minnesota,
May 20, 1876. He was a lawyer; served
in the Mexican War and the Civil War;
and was breveted brigadier-general.

WILLIS ARNOLD GORMAN
SECOND TERRITORIAL GOVERNOR
May 15, 1853, to April 23, 1857

THE honored subject of this sketch was a man
who in his time played many parts, a soldier, a
statesman, a lawyer, and a model citizen. An irrever
sible judgment has been pronounced upon the record of
his life, and his imperfections were so few and his vir
tues so many that we give him a position in that temple
of honor consecrated to men only of lofty character.
Willis Arnold Gorman was of Irish descent, the only
son of David L. and Elizabeth Gorman, and one of two
children. He was born in Fleming county, Kentucky,
near Flemingsburg, January 12, 1816. His parents
removed to Bloomington, Indiana, in 1835, where in the
Indiana University, as he had received a good primary
and academic education, he at once applied himself to
'the study of law. He graduated at the law school con
nected with the university at the early age of twenty.
He had many difficulties to encounter, but made a suc
cess of his profession from the beginning, when he de
fended a man charged with murder and won an un
expected victory.
4 49

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
In January, 1836, he married Miss Martha Stone,
a daughter of Ellis Stone, an honored citizen of Monroe
county, Indiana. He gradually won a fine position at
the bar, and his natural ability and growing popularity
seemed to open the door for a public career. He was
first elected to the legislature at the early age of twenty-
three, and gave such satisfaction that he was elected
five times in succession.
At this period the Mexican War broke out, and he
could not repress his patriotic spirit, but volunteered
at once as a private in the Third Indiana Volunteers,
and was elected a major, June, 1846. James H. Lane,
afterward United States senator from Kansas, was his
colonel. This regiment rendered signal service and won
great fame at the battle of Buena Vista. It is said that
under the direct order of General Taylor he made so vig
orous an attack on the enemy's flank as to materially aid
in winning the victory. Every fourth man in Major
Gorman's battalion of five hundred was either killed or
wounded. During this battle, the Major's horse was shot
from under him and fell in a deep ravine, and the fall
severely injured the Major, but he never abandoned his
command till the enemy fled.
In May, 1847, the term of the enlistment of his bat
talion expired, and the regiment returned home with
abundant laurels, and Major Gorman immediately began
the organization of the Fourth Indiana regiment, of
which he was unanimously elected colonel. This regi
ment participated in a number of battles, in which he
50

WILLIS ARNOLD GORMAN.
won the reputation of a dashing and gallant officer. He
served with eminent distinction and returned to In
diana at the close of the war.
In August, 1849, he was chosen to represent his
district in Congress, which position he filled for two
terms. While in Congress he displayed great readiness
and versatility in debate, and on the slavery question
then agitating the country, he distinguished himself for
the clearness of his views and the force and eloquence
with which they were presented.
When Franklin Pierce became president, in 1853, he
appointed Colonel Gorman governor of the then terri
tory of Minnesota.
He reached St. Paul May 13, 1853, and two days
afterward took possession of his office. Thenceforth his
history became identified with the growth and develop
ment of the territory and state of Minnesota. He did
not come to our territory, like Medary, as a bird of pas
sage; but he came to stay, and to share our hopes and
destiny. Shields, one of the first United States sen
ators of Minnesota, was a politician, floating around
among new territories and states, to see what good things
could be picked up, and, if he failed, he would fly to
pastures new. But permanence was the purpose of Gor
man, and he entered at once into the study of those
things which made for the general welfare of the ter
ritory. In his last message he pledged the people that
he would remain in the territory and future state as a
permanent citizen. 51

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Governor Gorman, with his experience in Indiana
as a politician, his fine personal appearance, his earnest
and impressive manner, his gifts as a public speaker,
speedily ingratiated himself into the public notice, and
was accounted a leader in territorial politics. While
he took great interest in inducing the building of rail
ways, he was -firm in protecting the people's rights, and
recommended that in the distribution of the land grants
the state should receive at least three per cent, of the
gross earnings in lieu of general taxation. There is no
doubt but that the present system of three per cent, of
tax upon the gross income of the railways of the state
is owing largely to the firmness and wisdom of Governor
Gorman. It was during the contests growing out of
these land grants that a stranger came to the governor's
office, and made the attempt to offer him a bribe of a
very considerable sum of money if he would suffer a
certain railroad bill to become a law. With flaming eyes
and vehement language the Governor ejected him from
the executive chamber.
The only instance in which Governor Gorman seem
ed to permit personal interests to sway his judgment,
was in the matter of the removal of the state capital
from St. Paul to St. Peter, for it developed in the his
tory of that celebrated contest that the Governor was one
of the leading stockholders in the St. Peter company.
In the Joe Rolette episode, a bill that had passed by a
very narrow majority, having for its object the removal
of the state capital from St. Paul to St. Peter, was
52

WILLIS ARNOLD GORMAN.
spirited away by this Pembina member, and failed to be
come a law. All this occurred during Gorman's admin
istration, and the success of the movement depended
wholly upon the governor's known willingness to sign
the bill. The services of Joe Rolette to St. Paul in the
eventful crisis will never be forgotten by the people of
that city.
During his entire administration, Governor Gor
man made it a point to deal justly and fairly with the
Indian population of the territory. He made several
important treaties with the savages, with perfect peace
and harmony, and entire satisfaction to the government.
He was, ex officio, the general superintendent of the sev
eral tribes, and disbursed for their benefit more than a
million dollars during his term of office, without the In
dians losing a dollar, and no charge was ever made that
any of the moneys went astray. His personal integrity
was without blemish. In 1853, he accomplished the re
moval of the Sioux bands from their possessions oppo
site St. Paul to their new homes at Redwood and Yel
low Medicine, as provided by treaty, without conflict or
disturbance, a most difficult and delicate task requiring
consummate skill and tact.
In 1857, his term of office having expired, he re
sumed the practice of law in St. Paul with much success.
June 1st, of that year, the election of delegates to the
constitutional convention was held, and Governor Gor
man was elected from St. Paul, and took an active part
in the exciting deliberations of that body. During the
53

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
session of the legislature of 1857 he was a candidate for
the Senate of the United States, but was apparently de
feated by the unfortunate division in his party. In the
fall of 1859, he was elected to the legislature, but the
governor declined to call that body together.
The presidential election of 1860 was now approach
ing, in which Governor Gorman took a most active part,
canvassing every portion of the state, and championing
the claims of his personal friend, Stephen A. Douglas.
He was a vigorous and eloquent stump speaker, and wid
ened his influence and popularity by his efficient work.
Prior to the breaking out of the Civil War, and
when secession was threatened, he promptly announced
himself as an unqualified unionist. When Sumter fell,
April 11, 1861, a meeting of the citizens of St. Paui
was called, and Governor Gorman, in a most stirring
and fervid appeal to the people, did much to give a
tone and patriotic direction to public sentiment.
At this moment, Alexander Ramsey, the governor of
the state, was in Washington on executive business, and
on Sunday morning he called on President Lincoln and
made tender of a Minnesota regiment for the common
defense, being the first of the loyal governors to tender
troops for the preservation of the Union. Governor
Ramsey at once sent a dispatch to Lieutenant Governor
Donnelly, instructing him to forthwith issue a call for
the services of a regiment of infantry, which call was
issued Tuesday, the 16th of April. Business was for the
time suspended, and political ties seemed obliterated.
54

WILLIS ARNOLD GORMAN.
This historic First regiment was mustered at Fort
Snelling April 29, 1861. Governor Ramsey was pres
ent at the muster, and immediately announced the field
officers, and Willis A. Gorman was colonel.
On May 1st Colonel German was presented with a
handsome sword by Major W. I. Cullen, of St. Paul.
On May 14, the numerous friends of Colonel Gorman
presented to him a large and serviceable war horse, with
an elegant equipment. On May 24, the ladies of St.
Paul, by the hands of Mrs. Anna E. Ramsey, the accom
plished wife of the Governor, presented the regiment
with a fine flag. On the morning of the 3d of July,
1861, one thousand Minnesota soldiers, with hostile in
tent, under command of Colonel Gorman, passed over
the Potomac and trod the "sacred soil" of old Virginia,
and entered upon that illustrious career which crowned
them with laurels second to none in that mighty con
test. »
Colonel Gorman was ordered to join General Mc
Dowell's command, and was in the battle of the first
Bull Run, where the regiment displayed conspicuous gal
lantry. On returning to Washington, Colonel Gorman
was placed in command of a brigade, and on the recom
mendation of General Scott on the 17th of September fol
lowing, by reason of his gallant conduct at the battle of
Bull Run, he was made a brigadier general, October 1,
1861. This ended his direct connection with the First
Minnesota regiment. October 22 following, his brigade
took part in the battle of Ball's Bluff, and in that cam-
55

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
paign the First regiment was in Gorman's brigade. It
was in this unfortunate battle that Gen. E. D. Baker
was killed, while gallantly fighting, and he fell not far
from Gorman's brigade.
The following spring, General- Gorman's brigade
was with the advance column headed for Richmond by
way of the Peninsula. It was on this march that he
experienced an attack of malarial fever which compelled
his return to Washington. Recovering from his illness,
after Pope's disastrous campaign, he joined ' General
McClellan's column in its march to intercept Lee, when
that officer invaded Maryland, which resulted in the bat
tles of South Mountain and Antietam, in both of which
Gorman participated. General Gorman next won high
commendation for his efficient conduct in the battle of
Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862.
About this time General Gorman was transferred to
an important command in the West. He parted com
pany with the "Old First" with profound regret; indeed,.
the regret was mutual, and this esteem ever remained.
From the beginning he was indefatigable in drilling and
preparing it for service and urging it on to high ideals.
Judge William Lochren, a very excellent authority, says:
"Perhaps the regiment never would have become all
that it was, but for the influence of Gorman, which re
mained after he left it and to the end, and was seen in
its charge at Gettysburg, as in its unyielding attitude in
earlier battles."

56

WILLIS ARNOLD GORMAN.
By virtue of the transfer referred to, he assumed
command of a military division in Arkansas with head
quarters at Helena. Here his duties were as much
civil as military. His aim seemed to be to subordinate
the military to the civil law. He established a sort of
court of civil jurisdiction, which was ordered to proceed
according to the form of the common law. Lawlessness
was suppressed, and stability was thus given to all busi
ness interests.
In the latter part of 1864, after nearly four years
of active service, with honor to himself and credit to
his state, he bade adieu to military life and sought rest
and recuperation in private life.
In 1864 he returned to his home in St. Paul and
soon formed a partnership with the Hon C. K. Davis,
later United States senator. This intimacy subsisted
for many years, General Gorman giving special atten
tion to the criminal branch of his profession. He was,
in 1869, elected city attorney, which office he held for
six successive terms, to the entire satisfaction of the
people of the whole city.
General Gorman was primarily a lawyer. As a pro
fessional man, his capacity, skill, and legal attainments
have been celebrated by a better pen than mine. "In
his profession he had no superior as an advocate. His
devotion to a client knew no bounds, and he brought
to the trial of any case in which he engaged, resources
and tact which made him a most dangerous antagonist."1

"Hon. C. K. Davis, in Minnesota Historical Society Collec
tions, Vol. Ill, page 331. 57

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
It remains to speak of General Gorman as a private
man and a citizen. He was in every respect exemplary
and amiable. His disposition was kind and affection
ate. Brave in action and at times rough in manner, yet
he was at heart tender as a woman. He had a strong
sense of moral and religious duty, and was a sincere and
devoted Catholic. As we review his life, we see how
perfectly immaterial are the blemishes which were fre
quently charged to his account. We see, too, how many
were the virtues which adorned his well spent years.
To women he was ever profoundly respectful and chival
ric, which is the mark of a true gentleman. His whole
personal conduct was marked by independence and ster
ling honesty. He never was controlled by any clique,
nor accused of being the tool of any ring. Whatever
came to him in the line of duty, to that he gave the
most intense devotion. In his domestic life he was
sweet and lovable. His hospitable home was the abode
of the most charming social life, and the writer can
never forget the many delightful hours spent at his fire
side. We cannot close this estimate of General Gorman
without quoting from his friend and partner, Cushman
K. Davis, his last eulogistic words touching his dead
friend :
"It is one of the facts to which we cannot reconcile
ourselves, that the force of such personal examples as his,
perishes so soon. Nothing is permanent but the perma
nency of change; and the sure and saddening change in
58

WILLIS ARNOLD GORMAN.
which a good man disappears, and shortly after his mem
ory and his works go after him, 'Like a dream of the
shadow of smoke,' seems to us who look with finite vis
ion, like uncompensated loss. Let us protect him and
his memory, as far as we may, against the inevitable
resolution of all things into dim forgetfulness. Assur
ing ourselves that in our time we shall not see, fortu
nate will those who come after us be if they can
possess as a companion so brave, so faithful, so spotless
a man as Willis Arnold Gorman."
General Gorman was twice married. His first wife
was Miss Martha Stone, of Bloomington, Indiana. She
was a most admirable lady, and possessed of great social
qualities. To this union there were five children as fol
lows: R. F. Gorman, the eldest, so favorably known in
St. Paul, and long the clerk of the Board of Public
Works; James W. Gorman, who was assistant adjutant
general on the General's staff from September, 1862,
till the date of his death at Indianapolis, February 19,
1863, from disease contracted in the service ; Louisa G.,
wife of Harvey Officer, Esq., of St. Paul, who died
March 4, 1870; E. S. Gorman, attorney at law in St.
Paul ; and Martha B., now Mrs. Wood, residing at Evans
ville, Indiana. The noble mother of these children died
March 1, 1864, at Bloomington, Ind'., the home of her
childhood, where she was visiting during the absence of
the General with his military command. He was subse
quently married to Miss Emily Newington, April 27,

59

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
1865. This estimable lady survived her husband, and of
this union there was no issue.
General Gorman died May 20, 1876, at his resi
dence in St. Paul. His mind was clear to the last, and
he died surrounded by his family and friends. The flags
on all city and state buildings were hoisted at half mast,
for his death was regarded as a public calamity. His
funeral cortege was, to that period, the most imposing
the city had seen. The funeral was attended by seventy
lawyers of the city, with the judges of the supreme. and
district courts and the court of common pleas. A com
pany of the 20th United States Infantry from Fort
Snelling, with the full regimental band, was present.
The mayor, the council, and all the city officers, veter
ans of the Mexican War, and many members of the old
Minnesota First, the members of Acker Post of the
Grand Army of the Republic, the governor and other
state officers, — all these were part of the procession
which filled the ample Cathedral. A most tender and
eloquent funeral discourse was delivered by that distin
guished prelate, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Ireland, from those
well known words, "It is appointed unto man once to
die, and after death the judgment." The remains were
deposited in Oakland Cemetery, in the beautiful family
lot, covered with floral offerings, and the 20th United
States Infantry discharged three volleys over the grave
of one whose character and service to his state will stand
as a monument when that of granite shall have crumbled
away. 60

WILLIS ARNOLD GORMAN.
The first message of Governor Gorman to the
territorial legislature January 11, 1854, was published in
pages 25-34 of the Journal of the Council during the
fifth session of the legislative assembly (St. Paul, 1854).
In this message he said:
The maxim that "that government is best which governs
least," has much wise admonition to a state in its infancy. The
laws for the government of a plain republican people should
be few, simple, and with uniform application to every section
of the country, and bearing alike upon all, leaving to each in
dividual the largest liberty consistent with the good of the
whole. Capital always comes forward with the largest demands
upon the legislator, whilst labor is more humble in its pre
tentions, and stands yet far more in need of your fostering
care. I hope we may all profit by an occasional recurrence to
those great principles, which lie at the foundation of all legis
lation. Therefore, should it be your pleasure, during the pres
ent session, to incorporate companies for the development of
our resources, I recommend that they be so guarded, with
restrictions, as to keep them constantly under the control of
the people's representatives. Population and commerce will com
mand capital, and without the aid of legislative protection,
that capital, concentrated, will command power enough for all
legitimate purposes.
The message to the legislature in its sixth session,
delivered January 18, 1855, is in the Journal of the
Council, pages 31-43. Governor Gorman in this message
recommended that the attractions of Minnesota for new
settlers should be made known more widely, as follows:
Sound political economy has taught us that population is
the basis of wealth and greatness. It is therefore the duty
of the law-making power to so frame the political institutions
of government as most certainly to secure it. Our agricultural,
mineral and manufacturing resources are so abundant that
Minnesota needs no Utopian pictures to be drawn to entice to
our territory either population, capital, or commerce. We need
only a true history of our broad fertile prairies, our woods,
lakes, rivers, minerals, pineries, water power and navigation, to
tempt capital in abundance, and direct emigration to where
they can find enough of those advantages combined to satisfy
the enterprising of all classes and countries. We need not stop
61

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
to inquire why it is that thousands of our fathers, brothers,
and friends, can content themselves to stick to the worn out
and comparatively barren soil of the old states, rather than
seek a, home in this invigorating and healthy climate and fer
tile soil. They will soon find out our facilities for wealth and
comfort when we take steps to advertise them. I would, there
fore, as the first step to this end, recommend that you take
into consideration, at the earliest day convenient, the propriety
of appointing an emigration agent to reside chiefly in the city
of New York, whose duty it shall be to give to the people cor
rect information of our territory, its soil, climate, population,
productions, agricultural, manufacturing and educational facili
ties and prospects. * * *
Gorman's message of January 9, 1856, in the
Seventh session of the territorial legislature, published in
pages 1-13 of the Appendix of the Journal of the Coun
cil, contains the following :
It is a source of much satisfaction to observe the laudable
efforts being made by our people in the cause of literature and
science, and particularly in the reorganization of the Minnesota
Historical Society, under circumstances that give the fullest as
surance that no effort will be spared to place it upon a basis
of the most honorable distinction. It will be a matter of much
interest to the coming generation to have perpetuated the
monuments of our early history, not only in this territory, but
for the whole Northwest; and no institution at present promises
to accomplish so much as this society. It is recommended that
a small appropriation be made for the purpose of aiding in
the advancement of these objects.
The last message of Governor Gorman to the legis
lature, delivered January 14, 1857, in its Eighth session,
was published in the Journal of the Council, pages 21-31,
and also as a separate pamphlet of 15 pages. The ad
mission of Minnesota as a state was recommended by
many considerations, beginning as follows :
Prom sources deemed reliable, I am able to state the pop
ulation of the territory at about one hundred and eighty thou
sand souls, and I feel justified in saying that this is rather
under than over the estimate made by many who have taken
some pains to inform themselves on the subject.
62

WILLIS ARNOLD GORMAN.
It is proper to state that the taxable property in the ter
ritory amounts to between thirty and thirty-five millions of
dollars, even at the low rate of assessment made by the officers
appointed for the purpose. The returns made by twenty-four
counties show an assessment of twenty-four millions of dol
lars. In view of our population and wealth, it seems to be a
matter of necessity that steps be taken to throw off our state
of dependence on the National Government, and assume the
mantle of state sovereignty. Even should the most speedy or
ganization be made to this end, our population must run up to
two hundred or two hundred and fifty thousand people, and our
taxable property reach fifty or sixty millions of dollars at
least, before Congress will probably admit us into the
Union. * * *

63

SAMUEL MEDARY.

SAMUEL MEDARY
Third Territorial Governor, was born in
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania,
February 25, 1801, and died in Colum
bus, Ohio, November 7, 1864. He was
the last governor of Minnesota Terri
tory, holding that position until Minne
sota was admitted to statehood.

SAMUEL MEDARY
THIRD TERRITORIAL GOVERNOR
April 23, 1857, to May 24,, 1858

THE acquaintance of the writer with Governor
Medary began in 1855, when just after leaving
college I became editor of the Scioto Gazette at Chilli-
cothe, Ohio. Governor Medary was at that time editor
of the Ohio Statesman. We exchanged papers and also
exchanged pungent paragraphs, he being a violent Jack
sonian Democrat, and I in the chrysalis state, passing
from a Whig to a Republican. In these encounters he
undoubtedly got the better of me, for he was a skilled
knight of the quill, and I but a fledgling. Though he
was a stalwart editor, vehement and caustic, yet person
ally he was one of the most agreeable of men, in every
way genial and lovable. He was at that time easily the
Nestor of the Ohio press.
He was succeeded in the editorship of the States
man by the Hon. S. S. Cox, an able man, long in Con
gress from the Columbus district, and who was known
by the sobriquet of "Sunset Cox," a title I had given
him by reason of a highly wrought and sophomoric edi
torial on a flaming sunset after a great storm. 67

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Samuel Medary, called "the wheel horse of Ohio
Democracy," was born in Montgomery Square, Montgom
ery county, Pa., February 25, 1801. It has been said
that the family name was originally spelled Madeira.
He was the son of Jacob Medary, a respectable farmer.
His ancestors were Quakers, and he was brought up as
a Quaker, and it is of record in the family that his,
mother's ancestors emigrated to this county with William
Penn. Samuel Medary was educated at the Norristown
Academy. It is said of him that in his youth he con
tributed poetic effusions to the local paper. For awhile
he taught school and continued his studies in higher
branches. His family appear to have been unsettled, for
they removed in 1820 to Montgomery county, Md., and
three years later to Georgetown, D. C. In 1822 he him
self went to Montgomery county, Va., where he was mar
ried. In 1826, he settled in Batavia, Clermont county,
Ohio. At the age of twenty-six, he was made county
surveyor, school trustee, and afterward county auditor.
Meantime he learned the trade of a printer. In 1828
lie appears to have entered upon his life work, for he
established the "Ohio Sun," and became an enthusiastic
advocate of General Jackson for the presidency. In
1834 he was elected to the lower house of the state leg
islature, and subsequently to the state senate. His term
having expired, he removed to Columbus, Ohio, the cap
ital of the state, and purchased the "Western Hemis
phere," which in due time was given the name of the

SAMUEL MEDARY.
"Ohio Statesman," and in the columns of this paper he
achieved great success. Perhaps no Ohio editor was ever
better known, or more greatly feared by his enemies than
was Samuel Medary during the twenty-one years he
edited that journal. It was a political power always to
be counted with, not only in Ohio but all the middlt
states. He was recognized by Jackson as his ablest edi
torial supporter, and no editor in the United States en
joyed the confidence and personal regard of "Old Hick
ory" as did Medary.
The old political battle cry of "Fifty-four Forty or
Fight," relative to the Oregon boundary question, orig
inated with him. In 1844 he was made chairman of the
Ohio delegation to the Baltimore convention. The in
ternal history of that celebrated convention develops the
fact that his great friend, General Jackson, had written
a letter to Mr. Medary asking him, in the event of dis
cord, to offer the name of James K. Polk, of Tennessee,
for the presidency. The hour apparently foretold by
Jackson came, and when the tumult was at its height,
Medary produced this letter, and the result was Polk's
nomination by acclamation. His action in securing
Polk's nomination by the Jackson letter, resulted in his
being offered the position of United States minister to
Chili in 1853, which was declined.
In 1856, being a delegate to the Cincinnati con
vention which nominated James Buchanan for the presi
dency, he was made temporary chairman, though he
strongly advocated the nomination of Stephen A. Doug-

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
las, with whom he had been on terms of intimate per
sonal friendship. Subsequently, idien Douglas opposed
Buchanan, a political separation ensued. James Buch
anan having been elected president, he appointed Samuel
Medary of Columbus, Ohio, territorial governor of Min
nesota in March, 1857. He succeeded Willis A. Gorman,
a Democrat, but an appointee of President Pierce, the
latter not being popular among the Democrats of the
Northwest. Governor Medary arrived in St. Paul on the 22d
day of April, 1857. He was quietly sworn in as gov
ernor at the old capitol building, April 23, and on the
29th of April, he delivered to the territorial council and
house of representatives his first message.
Minnesota was at this period in transition from a
territorial to a state government. It was also the period
of the real estate mania. Townsites and paper cities
were the passion of the hour. One humorous citizen,
with bitter irony, recommended that a small portion of
the land be reserved for agriculture and not all be laid
out in town lots. That same year the bubble of specula
tion burst, and almost in a single day the territory drop
ped from the top wave of prosperity into a slough of
despondency. These conditions were not such as to give Medary
a cordial welcome to his new home. Then also occur
red the first state election, though somewhat premature,
the state not yet being admitted. The entire state, ju
dicial, and legislative ticket was elected in October, 1857,
70

SAMUEL MEDARY.
although the constitution was not accepted and approved
by Congress till May 11, 1858. None of the state offi
cers could qualify till after the formal admission of the
state. Meantime, Medary was still recognized as gov
ernor, though most of the time out of the territory and
acting through the secretary of the territory, Charles
L. Chase. The passage of the celebrated Five Million Loan
Bill was of this period, and was approved by Governor
Medary, through the secretary. The situation was in
deed anomalous. The legislature in existence was a
state legislature, so elected, and it was passing acts ap
proved by a territorial governor, the state not being yet
admitted. A "solemn protest" was entered of record
against the validity of all acts passed at this session,
and on the journal of the senate are spread protests and
resolutions to that effect. It was held that the constitu
tion enacted contemplated an admission into the Union
as a prerequisite to the exercise of any act of state sov
ereignty. But the majority held differently and mat
ters of legislation proceeded, and no further objection
was ever raised as to the validity of all acts done under
this double-headed system, either by Congress or the
state. It is proper to remark, however, that the question
of the legality of these laws did reach the territorial
bench, and Judge Flandrau pronounced them legal. But
the general situation was unpleasant for the new gov
ernor, and was the occasion of his continued absence
from the capital. The acting governor during the ab-
71

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
sences of Governor Medary was C. L. Chase, secretary of
the territory. December 11, 1857, Governor Medary issued his
second and last message to the legislature. It was a
comprehensive review of the condition of the territory,
and of the changes necessarily incident to the transition
from a territorial to a state government. This was the
period when Minnesota apparently presented the condi
tion of having three governors at the same time, — H. H.
Sibley was governor elect of the yet unadmitted state;
C. L. Chase, territorial secretary, was acting governor in
the absence of Medary; and Samuel Medary was de facto
governor, being in Columbus, Ohio, and drew his salary
until May 24, 1858.
Governor Medary was in the gubernatorial office
for a period of thirteen months. He was the last of
our territorial governors, there being three, Alexander
Ramsey, Willis A. Gorman, and Samuel Medary.
After the formal admission of Minnesota into the
Union, he was appointed postmaster at Columbus, Ohio.
Soon afterward he was appointed governor of Kansas,
November 19, 1858, and entered upon the duties of,
his office December 20. The long existing difficulties
in Kansas were comparatively at rest during his adminis
tration, and no occasion was given for the display of ad
ministrative ability. He resigned his office December
20, 1860. He again returned to Columbus and re
sumed his old vocation by establishing a paper which

72

SAMUEL MEDARY.
was called "The Crisis," whose proprietor he remained
until his death, which occurred November 7, 1864.
He was buried in Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus,
Ohio; and in 1869 the Democrats of Ohio erected there
a noble monument to his memory. It bears this in
scription : Samuel Medary,
Born in Montgomery County, Penn.,
February 25, 1801.
Died at Columbus, Ohio,
November 7, 1864.
In commemoration of his Public Services, Private Virtues,
Distinguished Ability and Devotion to Principle,
This Monument is Erected by the
Democracy of Ohio.
Governor Medary had twelve children: Virginia
(Mrs. Wilson), Sarah (Mrs. Massey), Kate (Mrs. Blair),
Louise (Mrs. Smith), Missouri, Samuel Adams, Flora
(Mrs. Nevins), Charles Stewart, William Allen, Freder
ick Henry, Laura Willey, and Jacob. Missouri died in
infancy, and Louise died in 1861. The other children
survived the Governor.

Governor Medary's message of April 29, 1857, in
the extra session of the territorial legislature called to
provide for admission to statehood, was published in the
Journal of the Council, pages 5-7, and also as a pamph
let of six pages. The purpose of the session was noted
thus: Herewith transmitted is a copy of the act of Congress,
passed at the last session, "To authorize the people of the Ter
ritory of Minnesota to form a Constitution and State Govern
ment, preparatory to their admission into the Union on an
equal footing with the original States." 73

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
The provisions of the act are explicit, requiring no explana
tion. Thejr are liberal and beneficent to the future state of
Minnesota. It is your province to determine what legislation is
-required at your present session to carry the law into effect.
It will devolve upon you to provide for the compensation of the
members of the Constitutional Convention, and for defraying the
expenses of that body. The whole subject is submitted to your
disposal, in the confidence that your action will be as prompt
and judicious as the interests of the territory may demand;
and that it will be in full harmony with the spirit and intent
of the Enabling Act of Congress.
The message of Medary to the first legislature of the
state of Minnesota, delivered December 11, 1857, pub
lished in the Journal of the Senate, pages 29-39, and
as a separate pamphlet of 13 pages, begins as follows:
I congratulate you upon your organization as the Legisla
tive Department of a State Government.
The territorial existence of Minnesota has been brief,
healthful and fortunate; and having patiently waited until the
full measure of her population is more than attained, and asked
and fulfilled every formality of law and precedent, she is ready
— without dissension, strife or doubt — to take her place among
the co-equal sovereignties of the Federal Union.
You will join with me in the hope and effort that Minne
sota may achieve a position of usefulness and importance in
national affairs, and be powerful in promoting the harmony and
prosperity of these United States.
The Constitution adopted by the people of our territory,
with such distinguished unanimity, is so distinct in its grants
and limitations of power that there need be no difficulty in fol
lowing its true intent and meaning. Securing the fullest liberty
of conscience, of speech, and of the Press, its Republican charac
ter is indisputable. The' work of actual residents, uninfluenced
by outside interference, the people of Minnesota can repose
upon it as their own creation; and if found inadequate to the
complete development of their state, or defective in any of its
provisions, they have reserved to themselves the ways and
means of its revision or abrogation. Upon the legislature now
assembled devolves the high privilege and important duty of
shaping the first laws of our infant state, in accordance with
the charter the people have decreed.

74

HENRY H. SIBLEY.

HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY
First Governor of the State, was born
in Detroit, Michigan, February 20, 1811,
and died in St. Paul, Minnesota, Febru
ary 18, 1891. He was factor for the
American Fur Company in pre-territor-
ial days; was the first delegate to Con
gress from this area; and commanded
the white forces who conquered the
Indian outbreak in 1862.

HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY
FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
May 24, 1858, to January 2, 1860

HENRY Hastings Sibley, the first governor of the
State of Minnesota, was born in the city of Detroit,
Michigan, February 20, 1811. The genealogical re
cord of the Sibley family shows him to haVe been well
born. His ancestors were English. His father was chief
justice Solomon Sibley, of Detroit, whose immediate an
cestors attained prominence in early New England his
tory and were all of thoroughly Puritan stock. The
mother of Henry Hastings Sibley was Sarah Whipple
Sproat, and was the daughter of a Revolutionary sold
ier, Col. Ebenezer Sproat, a family of subsequent dis
tinction in both Ohio and Michigan.
The Sibley family were in Detroit during the War
of 1812, and during the disgraceful surrender of the
fort by General Hull to General Brock, the British
commander. When the attack was made upon the city,
Mrs. Sibley was holding in her arms her youngest child,
Henry Hastings, while she was making cartridges for
the soldiers, or scraping lint for the wounded. To the
memory of this good and noble woman, Mrs. Ellet, in
77

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
her admirable volume, "The Pioneer Women of the
West," pays a beautiful and touching tribute.
Young Sibley was thus by heredity born to an ad
venturous career. He was educated in the academy at
Detroit, and received during two years a polishing course
of Greek and Latin under an Episcopal clergyman.
Then followed two years of study in the law. But this
was irksome work for one who longed for outdoor pur
suits and a more stirring life. Of his own accord he
entered upon a career of his own choosing. In 1828, in
his eighteenth year, he turned his steps to the 'West,
never again to return to his home, except as a transient
guest. He first found employment as a clerk at Sault
Sainte Marie in a sutler's store. This and subsequent
employment familiarized young Sibley with Indian af
fairs, and opened the way for an important clerkship in
the American Fur Company, of which John Jacob Astor,
of New York, was the head. This company gathered
furs and pelts from vast regions in the Northwest.
Sibley's first employment was at Mackinac, then the cen
tral depot of the great fur company, second only to that
of the Hudson Bay Company. There he met Robert
Stuart, the head and embodiment of the fur company it
self. Under the tutorship of that distinguished trader,.
he learned the entire business of traffic with the Indians.
Here he also became intimate with Henry R. Schoolcraft,
who was ever afterward his warm personal friend. The
five years he spent with this great company advanced

HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY.
him to high responsibilities and to the practical control
of its business.
In 1834, John Jacob Astor sold his entire interest
to a new corporation of which Ramsay Crooks, father of
the late Colonel William Crooks, of St. Paul, was chosen
president. Into this new company came Hercules L.
Dousman and Joseph Rolette, Sr., and also young Sibley;
and the latter, largely upon Dousman's recommendation,
was to push into the wilderness and take exclusive con
trol of the direct trade with the Sioux Indians from
Lake Pepin to the British line. This business arrange
ment decided the tenor of young Sibley's whole subse
quent career. In his twenty-third year, he succeeded
Alexis Bailly, a well known trader, in charge of the
company's headquarters post, at the junction of the Mis
sissippi and St. Peter's rivers, at a point subsequently
called Mendota. On the 7th day of November, 1834,
the young adventurer first set foot on that soil which
was destined to be the theater of the activities of his
stirring life. The only friendly object in sight was the
starry flag floating from the turret of Fort Snelling,
erected by the War Department in 1820.
With his accustomed energy, in 1835-36, he erected
two massive stone buildings, one a warehouse, the other
a substantial stone residence, the first stone dwelling-
house ever erected in Minnesota or Dakota. For nine
years, from 1834 to 1843, he lived there in baronial state,
pursuing with ardor the ever growing interests of the fur
company. The long and unoccupied winters gave great
79

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
opportunity for study, and he caused to be sent to him
from Detroit and St. Louis works of the highest merit,
such as those of Gibbon, Hume, Rollin, Cooper's and
Scott's novels, and other kindred works, the first val
uable collection of books brought to Minnesota.
There he became acquainted with all the early mis
sionaries, Protestant and Catholic alike, and bore fre
quent testimony, in his letters and addresses, to their
devotion and zeal for the welfare of the red men.
Samuel W. Pond and Gideon H. Pond, Stephen R.
Riggs, Dr. Thomas S. Williamson, and William T. Bout
well, were all his friends. Nor less friendly was the re
lation he sustained to those noble Catholic pioneers,
Father Galtier, Father Ravoux, and Father Cretin, sub
sequently Bishop of St. Paul.
Among the sturdy pioneer traders, who were his
early associates, were such strong men as Joseph R.
Brown, Joseph Renville, Louis Provencalle, William A.
Aitkin, the two Faribaults, Alexis Bailly, Norman W.
Kittson, Martin McLeod, Franklin Steele, Henry M.
Rice, Philander Prescott, W. H. Forbes, the Morrisons,
Charles H. Oakes, Dr. C. W. W. Borup, and other really
remarkable and widely known men, who carried into
our untrodden wilderness the seeds of the coming civili
zation. Never was a new state blessed with a braver or
more intellectual body of men than that stalwart band
of pioneers who, in the vigor of youth, gave their ener
gies and indomitable courage to the building of the
young empire of Minnesota. These men gathered around
80

HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY.
Sibley as the Greek heroes about Ajax.' He was the cen
tral figure of pre-territorial and territorial times.
It was during these early years that Sibley became
famous as a Nimrod among the hunters and Indians of
the Northwest. With the rifle he was almost an uner
ring shot. Ducks, geese, elk, and deer, often filled his
commissary department with abundant stores. His well
organized hunting expeditions, with trained dogs and
Indians, often hunted buffalo and elk over the great
counties which now comprise the cultivated empire of
Southern Minnesota.
But nine years of this varied and romantic life
brought him to an event which was personally of the
greatest importance. He changed his mode of life from
a bachelor's to a benedict's.
Henry Hastings Sibley and Sarah Jane Steele were
married at Fort Snelling by the post chaplain, Rev.
Ezekiel G. Gear, May 2, 1843. He had met this really
beautiful young lady in the city of Baltimore, where he
had gone as groomsman to the late Franklin Steele,
whose sister she was. She was charming in person and
bright with intelligence. They lived happily together at
Mendota many years, removing to St. Paul in 1862,
when he began his military career. This truly good and
accomplished woman died at St. Paul May 21, 1869.
Mr. Sibley never remarried.
The home of Mr. Sibley at Mendota was ever a
mansion of generous hospitality. Men of civil, military,
and scientific fame found there, in the remote wilder-
81

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
ness, an elegant home. Such distinguished men as Gov
ernor Lewis Cass, of Michigan; Major Stephen H. Long,
U. S. A.; Henry R. Schoolcraft, the unquestioned dis
coverer of the sources of the Mississippi; the noted
savant, Joseph N. Nicollet; the celebrated John C. Fre
mont; George Catlin, whose works and paintings of In
dian character gave him fame; the well known novelist,
Captain Marryatt, were all among the noted guests who
enjoyed his princely hospitality. The fame of the Men
dota mansion as the abode of hospitality traveled far
and wide. Its scenes and rich associations are truly his
toric, and the building should be preserved by the His
torical Society for the memories which enrich its record.
The year 1848 marked an era in the history of
Sibley. He was elected as a delegate to the thirtieth
Congress from the territory of Wisconsin. During that
session of Congress, Wisconsin was admitted as a state
with diminished boundaries, leaving all that portion of
the former territory of Wisconsin west of the St. Croix
river deprived of government representation. It was this
residuum of territory, not included in the new born
state, that Sibley had been elected to represent. Mr.
Sibley defended with marked ability his right to a seat,
and after a sharp contest he was admitted by a vote of
ninety yeas to sixty-two nays. This result blazed the
way for the organization of the territory of Minnesota.
Old Virginia came into possession of the entire
"Territory of the Northwest" by virtue of various royal
charters. Constructively, it reached from sea to sea.

HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY.
But she never claimed jurisdiction except of that terri
tory lying east of the Mississippi and northwest of the
Ohio river, keeping her foot off from French dominion.
Virginia, by an act of the noblest generosity, ceded,
March 1, 1784, this vast domain to the United States
forever. This grant was again fully ratified in the cele
brated ordinance of 1787, establishing a territory and
consecrating the princely domain forever to freedom.
Out of it were carved the great states of Ohio, Michigan,
Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin, and a part only of
the state of Minnesota. That portion of Minnesota lying
wast of the Mississippi came from the "Louisiana Pur
chase." Minnesota thus had a double mother. Her ter
ritory passed through many jurisdictions before it be
came a territorial unit; and the changes on the west
side of the Mississippi may be noted in Mr- Sibley's own
words, "I was successively a citizen of Michigan, Wis
consin, Iowa, and Minnesota territories, without chang
ing my residence from Mendota,"
The important object of Sibley's mission to Con
gress was the organization of the territory of Minnesota.
After a severe struggle it was organized March 3,
1849. There was but little a territorial delegate in
Congress could do for his constituents. The establish
ment of land offices, the fixing of mail routes, and sug
gestions as to the control and management of the In
dian population, comprised the extent of his work.
While in Congress, Sibley took no part in party politics,
and was more influential for that reason. 83

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Alexander Ramsey, of Pennsylvania, had been ap
pointed by the new President, Zachary Taylor, governor
of the new made territory; and on June 1, 1849, he
issued his proclamation for its organization. The new
governor fixed the first day of August for the election of
a delegate to Congress from the territory of Minnesota.
Mr. Sibley was chosen, receiving without opposition the
votes of all the electors in the territory. No political
party had yet been formed in the territory, and no par
tisan distractions yet marred the harmony of his con
stituents. About November, 1849, party organization
made its appearance, but Mr. Sibley's name does not ap
pear in either call.
A multitude of new duties were now devolved upon
the delegate from the new born territory. Post roads
and military roads were to be established ; obstructions
to commerce needed to be removed from the great rivers;
the frontier must be protected from Indians; treaties
were to be negotiated; a capitol building was to be
erected; land offices to be established; pre-emption rights
to be defended; surveys of public lands to be demanded;
the school lands to be assured and protected; and large
appropriations should be solicited. Such were the du
ties now pressing upon the new delegate.
Mr. Sibley was again elected to Congress in 1851,
serving in all in that body four years and three months.
During all this period, he was assiduous in the perform
ance of every duty which involved the interests of his
constituents. His official record is a remarkable one for
84

HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY.
faithful work. Everything he gained for the territory
was won by determined struggles in fierce contests. His
Congressional career is marked with splendid results for
the people of Minnesota, and his great labors in Con
gress underlie the civil and political structure of our
state. Retiring from Congress, Mr. Sibley returned to his
home in Mendota and gave earnest attention to his long
neglected private affairs. In October, 1854, he was re
turned from Dakota county as a member of the Sixth
territorial legislature. In that body he was largely in
strumental in preventing gigantic schemes of robbery by
railroad land jobbery and corruption in connection with
the Minnesota and Northwestern railroad company.
In 1857-58, the time was ripe for Minnesota to
seek entrance into the sisterhood of states. The popula
tion was approaching 200,000. February 23, 1857,
Congress passed an "Enabling Act," authorizing the peo
ple of the territory to meet in convention at St. Paul
and form for themselves a state constitution. An elec
tion for this purpose 'was duly held, June 8, 1857.
The delegates so chosen met in St. Paul July -13, at
the state capitol. Party feeling ran high. Kansas was
"bleeding," and politics were, indeed, acute. The
Democratic and Republican parties organized in differ
ent chambers of the capitol, and each styled itself "the
Constitutional Convention." Sibley was elected chair-'
man of the Democratic convention. Each convention.
claimed that it was valid, and denounced the other as.
85

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
spurious. Party spirit blinded all eyes, and scenes were
enacted which, to calm and retrospective vision, were
ridiculous. The proceedings of these conventions were
published in two separate volumes. After weeks of bit
ter contention, better counsels prevailed; a committee
of "conference and compromise" was appointed; and,
adopting the suggestion of Joseph R. Brown, one con
stitution was agreed upon, on August 29, and was un
animously ratified by a vote of the people October 13,
1857. The Congress approved the constitution and it
received the signature of the President, May 11, 1858.
Thus, nine years after her organization as a territory,
Minnesota shone as a new star in the deep blue of the
national flag.
The election for state officers under the new con
stitution was held October 13, 1857. Henry Hastings
Sibley, after much delay, was declared elected governor
by a majority of 240, the contest being between him
self and Alexander Ramsey. A question arose as to the
voting of Indians, the result of the canvassing board was
not acquiesced in by the opposition, and the papers of
that day fairly glowed with malignity and gall. The re
turns as finally accepted gave Sibley 17,790 votes, and
Ramsey, 17,550.
The year when Sibley became governor, chronicled
the greatest financial disaster ever known to the country.
The fabric of commerce and trade was shattered, and
public and private credit was wrecked. Minnesota was
in the slough of the general distress. In the vigorous

HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY.
language of Judge C. E. Flandrau, "Towns on paper
were thicker than locusts in Egypt. There was little
else than towns. Agriculture was hardly known. The
current rate of interest was three and five per cent per
month. Everybody borrowed all he could to operate in
town lots. Then came a succession of failures all over
the country. Never was smash more complete." But it
gave to the people of Minnesota the salutary lesson that
all true wealth comes from the soil, and that honest labor
is the substantial foundation of all genuine prosperity.
In the midst of this insanity of speculation, came
a most gigantic blunder on the part of the state. The
celebrated "'Five Million Loan Bill" was the crowning
monument of the unreason of the people. This bill, in
the form of a constitutional amendment, provided for a
loan of the credit of the state to four railroad companies,
to the amount of $5,000,000, on certain restrictive con
ditions. Governor Sibley himself voted against the
measure. But the political opponents of his admistra-
tion managed to cast the odium of the measure upon the
Democrats, and in some degree upon Governor Sibley,
though many Republicans shared equally the responsi
bility of its adoption. It was carried like a whirlwind
by a vote of 25,023 in favor, to 6,733 against it. The
election occurred on April 15, 1858. The amendment
thus passed became a part of the organic law of the
state. The railroad companies promptly accepted the
conditions, and began • work. Governor Sibley notified
the companies that, before he would deliver to any of
87

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
these corporations any portion of the state bonds, they
must comply with the letter and spirit of the amend
ment authorizing the loan. However, one of the com
panies, the Minnesota and Pacific, tendered the governor
a trust deed, not in conformity with his requirements,
and demanded the issuance of bonds claimed to be due.
The governor refused to deliver the bonds, and the com
pany appealed to the supreme court for a peremtory writ
to compel their issuance. A majority of the court
granted the mandamus, Judge Flandrau dissenting.
This act and decision of the court was a direct encroach
ment upon the prerogative of the executive. The dis
senting view of Judge Flandrau was an opinion of clear
ness, force, and soundness.
We are of the opinion that Governor Sibley, in this
transaction, committed a serious error of judgment, and
at the same time surrendered his constitutional preroga
tive of alone exercising the executive function. In this
proceeding, he made a majority of the supreme court the
governor, ipso facto, an authority which he could not
surrender or share with any person or tribunal. The de
cision was an encroachment upon the executive preroga
tive. The bonds were accordingly issued as prescribed.
by the mandate of the court. The result was that the
companies defaulted, and the whole arrangement was a
disastrous failure. The honor of the state was com
promised, and we entered upon a period of general dis
grace. Had the governor stood firm, how different
would our history have been in the sad story of the re-

HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY.
suits of the "Five Million Bill." The companies ceased
operations, and for the time being the condition of the
state was most unhappy.
In all this transaction, the personal and official
character of Governor Sibley was untarnished. No one
ever questioned the purity of his purposes, and his honor
was unassailable. But his best friends afterwards hear
tily wished that he had refused to obey the writ of the
court. The court was only a co-ordinate, and not a
superior branch of the state government. The constitu
tion stood above the court, and guaranteed the indepen
dence of the executive. The Republicans did not fail
to use the "Five Million Loan" to great advantage in
the approaching political contest. It was a shibboleth
which, whether rightfully or wrongfully used, carried
dismay into the ranks of their opponents-.
While the Five Million Loan was by far the most
important feature of Governor Sibley's administration,
minor matters claimed attention. The "Wright County
War," so called, occurred during this period. Governor
Sibley in a proper manner vindicated the majesty of the
law as against mob violence. While much ridicule was
sought to be thrown upon the governor in this matter,
his .determination to resist anarchy and maintain and
uphold the majesty of the law through the use of the
militia was heartily sustained by every law-abidingrfciti-
zen. The two years' of- his life as executive of the state
were well filled with the vast business detail of needs

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
incident to a new state. His office as governor expired
January 1, 1860. Mighty events were now filling the
political world with unusual excitement. The revolt of
the country against the aggressions of the slave power;
the fugitive slave law; the Dred -Scott decision; squat
ter sovereignty; the Lecompton constitution of Kansas;
these, and kindred issues, shook the country as with an
earthquake. The Democrats themselves were divided.
The northern Democracy was aligned under the lead of
Stephen A. Douglas; the southern Democracy was fol
lowing John C. Breckenridge. In this contest Ex-Gov
ernor Sibley enlisted under the banner of Douglas, and,
being a delegate to the Charleston convention, he voted
for the "Little Giant" fifty-seven times, notwithstanding
the defection of most of the Minnesota delegation. Gov
ernor Sibley never affiliated with the extreme Democrats
of the South. He was a "War Democrat," and was ever
loyal to the flag of his country.
Abraham Lincoln was elected president in Novem
ber, 1860. South Carolina seceded November 20th,
1860. In Charleston Harbor, April 12, 1861, the fatal
gun was fired which awoke the nation to arms.
In the midst of the lurid light of the flames of the
great Civil War, another woe came to the people of Min
nesota. Not if another Vesuvius had opened its sul
phurous crater in the beautiful valley of Minnesota,
could the people have been taken with greater surprise.
A merciless and vengeful enemy, with instinctive secrecy,
suddenly burst upon the unsuspecting settlers, and com-
90

HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY.
menced an orgy of butchery of men, women, and child
ren. It began at Acton, in Meeker county, and spread
southward till eighteen counties of the state were made
hideous with the savage war-whoop of the naked and
painted Indians, who, with rifle, scalping knife, and
torch, wreaked their fiendish passions upon the unre
sisting and unsuspecting people, and made of a valley
as sweet as Wyoming, a carnival of hell. This is not the
place to discuss the causes of this awful tragedy. Little
Crow followed as the historic successor of King Philip,
Black Hawk, and Tecumseh. He had come with his
warriors to repossess the state.
Alexander Ramsey, then governor, in this alarming
crisis, turned to Henry Hastings Sibley, his old politi
cal antagonist, as the proper man to lead a military force
against the savage foe. No man in the land knew the
Indian character better than Sibley. He understood
their language, their character, their mode of warfare,
their purposes, and had thorough knowledge of the
country. On the 19th day of August, 1862, he was com
missioned by the governor as colonel and commander of
the expedition against the hostile Sioux. With creative
energy he organized military companies, turned lead
pipe into bullets, and found guns and ammunition where
none were known to exist, while medical and commissary
stores were secured as by enchantment. And yet, with
all his energy, a more heterogeneous mass never moved
against a foe. His movements seemed slow and conser
vative because of unpreparedness ; yet the results of his
91

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
first campaign disarmed all censure. He relieved Fort
Ridgely, saved the most of Major Brown's command at
the bloody action at Birch Coulie, re-enforced the re
treating column of Colonel Flandrau from New Ulm,
protected Mankato, St. Peter, Henderson, and Glencoe,
prevented further outrages to an extended - frontier, and
fought the important battle of Wood Lake, September
22 and 23, 1862.
This battle broke utterly the prestige of Little Crow
and his allies and expelled them forever from the state,
released three hundred helpless captives at Camp Re
lease, took one thousand five hundred prisoners, and
put four hundred twenty-five Indian cut-throats and
murderers in irons. The results of the victory were of
immense value to the state and to the whole country.
One important feature of these results was the confisca
tion of the large Indian reservation south of the Minne
sota river and its opening to settlement and civilization.
President Lincoln at once promoted Colonel Sibley
to the rank of a brigadier general in the United States
army. This good work was accomplished in one month
and six days. He immediately organized a military com
mission; caused the 425 alleged murderers to be tried,
321 of whom were duly convicted; and 303 were sen
tenced to capital punishment, whose atrocious crimes
surely made them worthy of death. President Lincoln,
however, in the clemency of his great heart, remitted the
death penalty on all but forty, thirty-eight of whom

92

HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY.
were duly executed by hanging in the city of Mankato
December 26th, 1862.
No more tragic scene was ever witnessed on the
American continent than when these red-handed murder
ers, suspended from thirty-eight ropes, fell when the
strongly built scaffold dropped as the cable which held
the great oak platform was cut by William J. Duly,
whose wife had been violated and children murdered by
these same barbarians. If the massacre was tragic, not
less tragic was the end. The goddess of Justice as she
gazed upon the scene must have been content.
The brilliant results of General Sibley's campaign
in the fall of 1862, thus closed, did not free the fron
tier from savage menace. There still existed portions of
tribes, with more than five thousand warriors who were
still for war. Therefore a second military expedition
was more carefully organized and equipped, in the spring
of 1863, to drive the whole Sioux nation beyond the
Missouri. A force of more than 4,000 men, including
infantry, cavalry, and artillery, was concentrated at
Camp Pope, and on the 16th of June General Sibley
started this army in the general direction of Devil's
Lake, in the neighborhood of which the Indians were
believed to have rendezvoused.
The field of operations was large and pursuit diffi
cult. The' season was excessively hot, and the grass
hoppers had ravaged the plains. The column marched
over marsh, plain, and mounds, amid clouds of dust,

93

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
and the wind was as the breath of a simoom. The lakes
were alkaline, and pure water was scarcely to be found.
Forced marches brought the command to Big
Mound, beyond the James river, where a large body of
Indians were encamped, and an engagement was at once
precipitated, on Friday, July 24, 1863. The savages
were defeated and forced back over successive ridges of
the rolling prairie, a distance of •from ten to fifteen
miles. A mistaken order induced the return of the pur
suing column in the dead of night and far into the
morning, weary and hungry, to the main camp. It
would seem to have been good military policy to have
had the main force follow the pursuing column and
maintain their advantage. Such a purpose was evidently
entertained by the commanding general. For early that.
evening General Sibley called a council of war in his
tent and laid before the members the situation. Just
where the advance detachments were at that time was
not known, but they were believed to be successfully fol
lowing the enemy. The question submitted by the com
manding general to the council was, Should a night
march be made to overtake the advance column and close
in on the enemy who had been taken unawares? All the
field officers present, each in his turn, including the
writer, counseled for an immediate night march. Very
soon, however, General Sibley advised the regimental
officers that no movement would be made that night,
and that the camp would not be broken. This was an
unfortunate determination. Sibley believed the Indians
94

HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY.
to be in full force and feared a night attack upon his
column, with the dispersion of his cattle, which convic
tion may have controlled his decision.
The result was that two full days were lost to the
expedition, for the pursuing column returned, men and
horses utterly worn and exhausted, being without water
and without food, and were unable to move. The re
turning force had retraced their steps with sad and al
most rebellious hearts. The advantage to be gained was
lost, and the enemy had escaped, with time to gather
their aged, their women and children, and camp equip
ment, and to speed on their way to the woods of the
Missouri valley. If the order to bivouac on the field had
not been given, a night march would have enabled the
expedition to overtake the surprised Indian forces, with
all their woman, children, aged, and impedimenta, and
a final contest would have been had under the most
favorable circumstances. Thus it appeared to all his
colonels. The pursuing expedition never again caught up with
the flying savages, who made good their escape to the
tangled thickets bordering the Missouri river and finally
went across that stream. True, the Indian warriors
three several times returned to contest the advance of
the expedition, their evident purpose being to still fur
ther aid in the escape of their families. On July 26,
the battle of Dead Buffalo Lake was fought, where
the Indians retreated, leaving their dead and wounded
on the field. The battle of Stony Lake was fought by
95

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
the returning Indians, Tuesday, July 28, to give their
wretched wives and children further relief from the hor
rors of the pursuit. This was, by far, the most import
ant engagement with the retreating Sioux. Fully 4,000
Sioux warriors confronted the expeditionary forces at
three o'clock in the morning, being the largest Indian
force that ever faced a white man's army on the Ameri
can continent. The fiendish yells of the Indians will
never be forgotten by those who heard them in the dawn
of that day. "The brunt of the conflict was borne by
the Tenth regiment, then in front, where the Indian as
sault was gallantly met and broken."1 The savages rap
idly withdrew from the -field.
The force now advanced, with daily skirmishing, to
the final engagement at Apple Creek, in the tangled wil
derness which lined the Missouri river. After a most
painful march through vast thickets, the banks of the
Missouri were visible and the Indian camps were seen
on the bluffs opposite. They had escaped. This was the
terminal point of the expedition, being about 600 miles
from St. Paul. There was hope, not realized, that Gen
eral Alfred Sully with a like expedition on the west side
of the river would intercept the flying Sioux. Rockets
were sent up and guns fired to attract the attention, if
possible, of General Sully, but in • vain. It was found
subsequently that on that day General Sully was on the
Missouri river 163 miles below this expedition. Without

'General Sibley's personal report of the engagement, Col.
H. Baker being in command of the Tenth Regiment.
96

HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY.
boats to cross the great river, further pursuit was use
less. Rations also were short, so on August 1, 1863,
the whole force started on its return. It had been ab
sent two months and three weeks, and had marched
nearly 1,200 miles.
It is difficult and embarrassing, even at this distant
day, to pass considerate judgment upon the merits of
the Sibley campaign to the Missouri river in 1863. If
to drive the Sioux across the Missouri was the object of
the expedition, it was a triumphant success. But it must
ever remain a historic fact that a single night's march
would have marvelously changed the results of the ex
pedition by the probable overthrow and capture of prac
tically the entire Sioux force, together with their fam
ilies, not less than 8,000 souls.
General Sibley was a careful and considerate com
mander, and every military movement he made was in
spired by the best motives and the purest patriotism. As
compared with other campaigns against hostile Indians,
conducted by able, noted, and experienced officers, no
such important and effective blows were ever given in
the history of this country to frontier savages as those
of General Sibley's two campaigns. With comparatively
little loss to his own force, he made our frontiers secure
forever against Indian* incursions. Between Generals
Sibley and Sully, over 500 Indians were killed and
wounded, and nearly 2,500 prisoners were taken. Gen
eral Sibley will rank, historically, among the very fore
most of the country's Indian fighters. He was a better
7 97

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
and safer commander for not having the dash of Custer.
He possessed the courage of Harney, the caution of Wil
liam Henry Harrison. He had not the ardor of An
thony Wayne, but he had his wise and prudent skill in
preparing for a campaign or an engagement.
He fought greater Indian battles than William
Henry Harrison in his contest against Tecumseh at Tip
pecanoe, which made him President of the United
States. His campaign against the Sioux would have riv
eted the eyes of the country and the civilized world, had
not public attention been so overwhelmingly absorbed
by the gigantic struggle of the Civil War.
His Indian campaigns being closed, General Sibley
returned to his home in St. Paul, where a cordial wel
come was given him. He resumed his place in the ranks
of citizenship, and positions of trust and responsibility
soon came to him. Meantime he was retained in his
military position and appointed on a military commis
sion to negotiate treaties with the Sioux and Cheyennes
on the upper Missouri. This work was promptly and
satisfactorily accomplished, and others of a kindred na
ture followed.
But he finally retired from government service in
1866, to devote himself to his private affairs. Before
his retiring, as a further reward for his military ser
vices, the rank of major general, by brevet, was confer
red upon him. Now that he was again a citizen, many
honors were showered upon him. He was elected presi
dent of the St. Paul Gas Light Company, in whieh ca-

HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY.
pacity he served for twenty-three years. He was made
president of the state normal board; president of the
board of regents of the state university; president of the
chamber of commerce in St. Paul; president of the Min
nesota Club; and commander of the Loyal Legion, a fii>
ting honor for his military service, and it is of record
that one of his ancestors belonged to the "Order of the
Cincinnati." Among all the honorary offices that came to him,
the one nearest his heart was his election as president
of the Minnesota Historical Society. He had been a
charter member of this Society in 1849. General Sibley
was of methodical tastes and habits. He was always
careful to preserve every paper and document of any
value that was sent to him, and to this trait and disposir
tion is due the existence of the invaluable letters and
documents called "The Sibley Papers," which are now
among the collections of this Society's library. Por
tions of his private library, and these invaluable papers
and manuscripts, were bequeathed to this Society. They
are of great historic value, covering a period of sixty
years. For several . years, in advanced age, he fought a
vigorous battle to preserve inviolate the faith and credit
of the state in the. matter of the yet unadjusted railr
road bonds. During a period of twenty-four years this
issue perplexed our state politics. The whole affair was
unfortunate, but the bonds outstanding were issued by
the authority and under the seal of the state, and the

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
honor of Minnesota required their adjustment, which was
finally accomplished after repeated attempts, under the
administration of Governor Pillsbury, in October, 1881.
Through all his declining years, there was contin
uous demand by the public for his counsel and advice on
public questions. In 1880, at that great "Bi-Centennial
Anniversary of the Discovery of the Falls of St. An
thony," he was chosen president, and was himself the
central figure of the august ceremonies.
November 7, 1884, on the completion of fifty years
of his active and useful life in the service of Minnesota,
his friends tendered him a sumptuous banquet, beauti
ful with flowers, and graced by the presence of the
elite of St. Paul. In response to an appropriate toast,
Cushman K. Davis paid him as elegant and touching a
tribute as ever fell from the lips of that distinguished
orator. The universities of the land did not overlook the
merits of this worthy son of Minnesota. The degree of
Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by Princeton
College, June 25, 1888. No other Minnesotan ever re
ceived so many signal marks of public esteem, and he
wore all these honors unclouded by a single stain.
In his waning years he lived at his elegant home in
St. Paul, surrounded by every comfort, with members
of his own family who watched him with assiduous care,
and in the complete enjoyment of the esteem and love of
the people of the state.

100

HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY.
Mrs. Sibley died May 21, 1869, lamented by a
large circle of loving friends. She was a lady of rare
virtues and accomplishments, and was in every way
fitted to adorn the high station in life it was her for
tune to occupy. -They lived together twenty-six years of
happy married life. Two beautiful children died in his
absence while he was leading the expedition against the
Sioux in 1863. These losses bore heavily upon the gen-.
eral, and bowed his stalwart form with age. In all, this
goodly pair lost five children. The family register
shows nine children, as follows: Augusta, who became
Mrs. Captain Douglas Pope; Henry Hastings, who died
in infancy; a second Henry Hastings, who also died in
infancy; Sarah Jane, who became Mrs. Elbert A. Young;
Franklin Steele, deceased; Mary Steele, deceased; Alex
ander, deceased; Charles Frederick; and Alfred Bush.
General Sibley died at his residence, 417 Wood
ward avenue, St. Paul, February 18, 1891, at 4:30
o'clock, A. M., in the eightieth year of his age. The
Loyal Legion laid him, with loving hands, in a soldier's
grave. The services were those of the Episcopal church,
conducted by Bishop M. N. Gilbert. His casket was cov
ered with a profusion of flowers, and, followed by a
most distinguished cortege, was laid away in Oakland
Cemetery. Thus ended the career of Minnesota's most princely
pioneer. His name had become a household word in the
state, and his active life was interwoven with all our
history. A loving and admiring people have perpet-
101

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
uated his name in county, town, and streets. During
later years his polished pen was never idle, as shown by
his lectures, addresses, and a most valuable list of papers
delivered before the Historical Society, to which he was
always warmly attached. He was prominent in social as
well as official life, and his hospitable home was the cen
ter of a wide circle of friends. Authors, tourists, jour
nalists, artists, and strangers who visited St. Paul, were
sure to call on its distinguished citizen. The writer
came to serve under him in the Sioux War with pre
conceived prejudices. Experience taught him to correct
his judgment and revise his opinions. General Sibley
was first of all a gentleman. Every act of his daily life
bespoke the well-bred man. He was truly a baron of the
border, and was surrounded by a body of remarkable
men, who were chiefs to their clan in that day; but it is
easy to note that Sibley was the Douglas of them all.
His work, as if foreordained, was to deliver the wil
derness over to civilization. Nobly was it accomplished,
and the barbaric past is now but as a tale that is told.
What a history, what events, what memories, crowd upon
us as we survey the grand panorama of this man's life!
It is an unwritten Ilaid from savage time to the pre
sent consummate glory of our august state. As a com
mander in Indian warfare, he surely was never sur
passed, if ever equalled. Anthony Wayne or General
Custer would have fought at times when Sibley remained
in his camp. But we recall the fearful disaster which
befell Braddock when he neglected to guard against sur-
102

HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY.
prise. He was the most impressive force in the early
and plastic period of our commonwealth.
As Washington stands for the infant nation, so
Sibley stands for our infant state. He is the bright
consummate flower of our earlier days, and the Muse
of History, in her final decrees, ever loyal to truth and
justice, will write the name of Henry Hastings Sibley,
the pioneer, the statesman, and the soldier, far up in
that pantheon which will preserve the fame of those who
have best served the state.

The message of Governor Sibley to the first legisla
ture of this state, June 3, 1858, was published in the
Journal of the Senate, pages 372-379, and also separately
as a pamphlet of 15 pages. Its last paragraphs are these :
Minnesota enters the Union as the thirty-second state.
She extends a friendly hand to all her sisters, north and south,
and gives them the assurance that she joins their ranks — not
to provoke sectional discord or to engender strife — not to enlist
in a, crusade against such of them as differ with her in the
character of their domestic institutions — but to promote har
mony and good will, and to lend her aid, on all occasions, in
maintaining the integrity of the Union.
Having been elected to the position of Chief Magistrate of
the new state of Minnesota, I enter upon the discharge of the
duties devolving upon me with much diffidence of my own
abilities, but with a. full consciousness that they will be hon
estly performed. Expecting to be held to a rigid accountability
for the course of my administration, I shall exact from those
officials for whose actions I may be in any manner responsi
ble, an equally strict execution of the trusts that may be im
posed upon them. For nearly twenty-four years I have been a
resident of what is now the state of Minnesota, and I have
watched each change in the condition of the country up to its
present state of development, with much solicitude. I have no
objects and no interests whieh are not inseparably bound
up with the welfare of the state, and it is my highest ambi
tion so to conduct her public affairs, that, when my official
103

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
term shall expire, there will be found no blot on her escutcheon,
and no departure, for which I can be made justly responsible,
from those principles of integrity and sound democratic policy
which have been the means, under Providence, of placing the
American Union in the high position it now holds in the es
timation of the world.
In his second and last message to the legislature,
December 8, 1859, published in the Journal of the
Senate, pages 10-27, and also in a pamphlet of 28 pages,
Sibley referred to the strife between the North and the
South, as follows:
The slavery, question has for years been the fruitful source
of sectional discord, and will continue to alienate the affec
tions of the two great parts of the Union from each other, so
long as it can be dragged into the arena of politics. When the
principle of non-intervention on the part of Congress with the
domestic institutions of the states, or organized territories, shall
be fully established as a part of the public policy, and the same
doctrine is made applicable to the several states and territories,
no one being permitted to interfere in any manner with the
domestic affairs of another, we may confidently expect to see
the bonds of fraternal kindness fully restored between the
North and South, and the only element of danger to the in
tegrity of the confederacy wholly dissipated and removed.
It is the duty of Minnesota, and that of every other state,
to promote harmony and good will between the different sec
tions, and to frown upon all endeavors to exasperate one part
of our common country against the other. God has given us
a noble heritage, and while we enjoy the blessings of perfect
freedom, religious as well as civil, we should bear in mind that
we shall be held justly responsible for any failure on our part
to transmit them unimpaired to our descendants.
Governor Sibley contributed the following papers in
the Minnesota Historical Society Collections :
Description of Minnesota, a letter dated February
15, 1850 (Volume I, 1872, pages 37-42; 1902, pages
19-24). Speech before the Committee on Elections of the
House of Representatives in Congress, December 22, 1848
(Vol. I, 1872, pp. 69-76; 1902, pp. 47-54).
104

HENRY HASTINGS SIBLEY.
Memoir of J. N. Nicollet (Vol. I, 1872, pp. 183-
195; 1902, pp. 146-156).
Reminiscences, Historical and Personal; an address
at the annual meeting of this society, February 1, 1856
(Vol. I, 1872, pp. 457-485; 1902, pp. 374-396).
Sketch of John Other Day (Vol. Ill, 1880, pp. 99-
102). Memoir of Jean Baptiste Faribault (Vol. Ill, pp.
168-179). Memoir of Hercules L. Dousman (Vol. Ill, pp.
192-200). Reminiscences of the Early Days of Minnesota (Vol.
Ill, pp. 242-282).
Tribute, to the Memory of Rev. John Mattocks (Vol.
Ill, pp. 307-310).
Memorial of Rev. Gideon H. Pond (Vol. Ill, pp.
364-366).

105

ALEXANDER RAMSEY
SECOND GOVERNOR
OF MINNESOTA
January 2, 1860, to July 10, 1863

The complete biography
of Governor Ramsey will
be found on pages 3 to
46 inclusive.

HENRY A. SWIFT.

HENRY ADONIRAM SWIFT
Third Governor of the State of Minne
sota, was born in Ravenna, Ohio, March
23, 1823, and died in St. Peter, Minne
sota, February 25, 1869. He was a state
senator in 1862-3 and in 1864-5, and
later was register of the United States
Land Office at St. Peter, until his death.
He served as governor from July 10,
1863, to January 11, 1864.

HENRY ADONIRAM SWIFT
THIRD GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
luly 10, 1863, to January 11,. 1864

IN Maple Grove Cemetery, at Ravenna, Ohio, there
sleeps, in his last long sleep, the third governor of
Minnesota, Henry Adoniram Swift. He was a remark
able and uncommon man in the distinguishing features
of his personal character. He was of a rare and delicate
mould, and really devoid of political ambition. What
came to him in the way of official position was conferred
by his fellow citizens because of their belief in his spec
ial fitness and endowment for the place they wished him
to occupy. He never personally sought an office nor so
licited a recommendation for one. He is the only one of
our governors of whom this could be truthfully said.
And of how many men in this nation, who have enjoyed
political preferment, can this be affirmed?
Henry Adoniram Swift was born in Ravenna, Ohio,
March 23, 1823. He was the second son and the third
child of Isaac and Eliza Swift. He was of Revolu
tionary stock; but, as Voltaire was wont to say, "He
who serves his country well has no need of ancestors."
Yet we record the genealogical fact that the Swifts could
trace their lineage back to the Pilgrim Fathers. His
111

GOVERNORS OP MINNESOTA.
grandfather, Dr. Isaac Swift, was a Revolutionary pa
triot, and being a surgeon, was appointed a surgeon
in the army under his cousin, Col. Herman Swift, and in
that capacity he served during the year of 1776.
The Swifts came from England. They settled at
Watertown, several miles west of Boston, in 1634. Ban
croft (Vol. II, page 97) relates how Governor Thomas
Mayhew, who settled at Watertown in 1631 and who
was related to the Swifts, received a good grant of land
from the Earl of Sterling, — Martha's Vineyard, Nan
tucket, and the Elizabeth Islands. So we see they were
well connected. Swift's father, like his grandfather,
was also a physician, Dr. Isaac Swift, and was from
Cornwall, Connecticut. He was graduated at Columbia
College, New York.
In the spring of 1815, Dr. Swift started west on
horseback, with his diploma in his pocket, and all his
effects in a portmanteau. Finally he reached .Ravenna,
Ohio, where, his horse being sick, he was compelled to
stop. He became the guest of one Salmon Carter, who
kept a hotel. Carter soon made it known that he had a
physician in his house, and as there were many sick
in the new settlement, he came unexpectedly into pro
fessional employment which determined his location for
life. In 1818 Dr. Swift married Miss Eliza Thompson.
Her family had come from Pittsfield, Massachusetts,
and had also settled in Ravenna. Here this goodly cou
ple lived for over fifty years, honored and beloved by
112

H E N R Y A D 0 X I R A M S W I F T.
all. And here, at the ripe age of eighty-four, Dr. Swift
died, and ten years later his wife died at the same age.
Young Swift attended the schools of his native town
till the dawn of manhood, when his father sent him to
the Western Reserve College, at Hudson, Ohio, where he
was graduated with high honors in 1842. Henry A.
Swift and Cushman K. Davis are the only ones of our
governors who received a complete collegiate classical
education, carried away their diplomas with a well-earned
A. B., and finally had an A. M. attached to their names.
Not long • after his graduation, young Swift made
a trip South to look the world over and see what there
was for him to do. On the boat he met a wealthy
planter, who, being much pleased with the young man,
at once engaged him as a tutor for his children on his
plantation in Mississippi. The one great question of
the day was that of slavery, and throughout all the
South they were suspicious of Northern men; and Swift,
being from the Western Reserve, was at once denounced
as an abolitionist. His mail was inspected, and, in gen
eral, it became so uncomfortable that save for the in
fluence of his patron he might not have left the com
munity alive. It is of record that in the immediate
vicinity in which he taught, a man denounced as an
"abolitionist" was killed, and his body, cut to pieces and
placed in a box^ was floated down the Mississippi as a
warning to all such persons. Swift, however, safely re
turned to his Northern home, deeply imbued with anti-

113

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
slavery views which he maintainec with vigor to the end
of his life.
At home once more, young Swift studied law with
Messrs. Tilden and Ranney, and was admitted to the
bar in October, 1845. The winter of 1846-47 he spent
in Columbus, Ohio, as assistant clork of the House of
Representatives. The ensuing year he was chosen chief
clerk of the legislature. It was during this period of
his life that he made the acquaintance of Miss Ruth
Livingston, a very accomplished young lady of Gettys
burg, Pennsylvania. She was a graduate of the Female
Seminary of her native city, but with her parents had
removed to Pittsburg, Pa. In 1851 their marriage oc
curred, and they at once settled to housekeeping in Ra
venna. He devoted himself to the law and also acted
as secretary of the Portage County Insurance Company.
For some time Mr. Swift had cast longing eyes to
ward the great Northwest, as the mighty cradle of great
empires and abounding in great opportunities. In the
early spring of 1853, with his wife and infant daughter,
he bade adieu to the Western Reserve and started for
St. Paul, Minnesota. The route was circuitous. He
went to Pittsburg, thence down the Ohio river to St.
Louis, and after much delay as to boats got one to
Galena, Illinois, and finally another to St. Paul, mak
ing a journey of nearly two thousand miles and of three
weeks duration. In a letter home after his arrival in
St. Paul he says: "St. Louis is the smartest business
place I ever saw. I did not expect to find 'Uncle Tom's
114

HENRY ADONIRAM SWIFT.
Cabin' exposed for sale and placarded in every book
store in the city. I asked one bookseller if they sold
well, and his reply was, 'I don't sell anything else.'
I hope, the next time I visit the place, to find that work
has brought down one sign I saw there, which read
'Negroes bought and sold here.' "
March 3, 1849, Congress passed the bill author
izing the organization of the Territory of Minnesota,
and June 1, Alexander Ramsey, the newly appointed
governor, issued a proclamation declaring the territory
duly organized. In his message to the legislature, the
Governor gives this description of St. Paul as he found
it in 1853 : "It was then a village of a dozen frame
houses and some eight or ten log buildings with bark
roofs." The steamer on which the Governor came did
not have a pound of freight for St. Paul.
On his arrival in this embryo city, in May, 1853,
Mr. Swift set to work building a home for his family
on College avenue. It was afterward sold to E. S. Edger
ton. He at once opened an office as a real estate and
insurance agent. He remained in St. Paul about three
years, devoting his time and energies to the upbuilding
of the young commonwealth in many ways. In 1856
he sold his property and invested his money in the "St.
Peter Company," which was the name of the associa
tion seeking to build a new city, and to secure the state
capital, far up the Minnesota river, but as yet without a
single house. Such was the measureless faith the young
man had in the future of Minnesota. 115

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
For some inexplicable reason Mr. Swift's name is
not mentioned in the "History of the Minnesota Valley,"
a pretentious volume of over one thousand pages, pur
porting to give an account of all the leading men of the
great Minnesota valley. Yet he was one of the charter
members of the "St. Peter Land Company," and played
as important a part as any man connected with it, and
was perhaps the best known man in Nicollet county at
that period.
It was in the fall of 1853 that Captain William B.
Dodd made a claim of 160 acres on which a part of St.
Peter now stands. The place was called "Rock Bend."
Subsequently, William and Oliver Ames took claims by
the side of Captain Dodd's, extending the city on paper.
A stock company was organized in February, 1854, and
the land above mentioned, including about five hundred
acres in all, was laid out in a townsite and the name was
changed to St. Peter, this name being given the city of
hope from the name of the river.
The early years of Swift's residence in St. Peter
were years of hardship and privations incident to fron
tier life, yet he and his excellent wife bore them all
patiently. He threw his soul and energies into the task
of building up the town of his early affections. In this
way it is not too much to say that he became the idol
of the young community, so universally was he beloved
and esteemed. The winter of 1857-58 he spent in Wash
ington, trying to secure a grant of lands for railroads
in the new territory, and aiding in the work of gaining
116

HENRY ADONIRAM SWIFT.
admission for the new state, to which much opposition
had developed from political causes. During this ac
tive period, he built a fine residence on Main street, in
St. Peter, whieh he occupied during the residue of his
life. It became an historic spot, and has been kept as
much as possible, in its general features, as he left it.
He suffered, as did all the early settlers, from the
financial crash in 1857. It was in February, 1857, that
the territorial legislature passed the celebrated 'bill re
moving the state capital from St. Paul to St. Peter.
It was a bitter fight, in whieh St. Peter eventually lost.
In consequence of this defeat, property in St. Peter
rapidly depreciated. This, and the financial crash of
1857, greatly embarrassed Mr. Swift, and it was many
years of effort before he re-established himself in com
fortable circumstances.
At this time Mr. Swift's general fitness and quali
fications induced the people of his district to nominate
'him for Congress as a Republican, without solicitation
on' his part. It was a heated canvass, and, as he ap
peared often upon the stump, he won the good opinion
even of his opponents by the fair, candid, and manly
way in which he spoke and deported himself. His party
was defeated, and the Hon. James M. Cavanaugh was
elected, but Mr. Swift gained in popularity and stand
ing. In 1861 Mr. Swift was elected to the state senate,
and served during the two sessions of 1862 and 1863.
The convention which nominated him met at Henderson, 117

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Sibley county, and nominated the Hon. M. J. Sever
ance for senator. But for some unexplained reason,
Mr. Severance immediately declined the honor, and the
convention at once substituted the name of Mr. Swift.
Thus it came to pass that the declination of Mr. Sever
ance opened the door for the advance of Mr. Swift to
gubernatorial honors in a manner wholly unforeseen.
Senator Swift took his seat in the senate in Janu
ary, 1862. His courteous, genial, and manly ways soon
won the good will of the entire senate. He seldom
spoke, but when he did his reasoning always carried con
viction. One important measure to which he gave con
siderate attention was an act for the "Organization
and Regulation of Independent School Districts." It
contained the basis of the present school system, of
which the state is so justly proud.
The news of the terrible Sioux outbreak, which
occurred August 18, 1862, struck fear into all hearts
on the frontier. The news was brought to St. Peter the
evening of the same day. On receipt of this news,
Senator Swift asked William G. Hayden, for many years
auditor of Nicollet county, to accompany him to New
Ulm the next day, and the two left St. Peter in a
buggy about noon, Tuesday, the 19th. In the mean
time, A. M. Bean with sixteen men, well armed, had
already started from Nicollet and reached New Ulm
about one o'clock. About a hundred Indians under Little
Crow, made their appearance about four o'clock, and be
gan an attack, shouting and yelling like demons. Very
118

HENRY ADONIRAM SWIFT.
soon after the battle began Senator Swift and Captain
L. M. Boardman, sheriff of the county, with sixteen well
armed men arrived on the scene, and, taking an active
part, turned the tide of battle, with the result that the
Indians withdrew at dusk. This constituted the first
defense of New Ulm, and it was vitally important as it
unquestionably saved the people of New Ulm from mas
sacre. Senator Swift's prompt action in aiding in rally
ing men and going to that place with the others, on
Tuesday, the 19th of August, was probably the salvation
of the town.
In Charles E. Flandrau's official roster of his com
pany, called the "St. Peter Frontier Guards," we find
Senator Swiff s name as a private serving from the 19th
to the 26th of August, 1862, and being in the first and
second battle of New Ulm. In the St. Peter Tribune,
published cotemporaneously with the event, we find
Swiff s name with that of his companion Hayden as two
of the company of eighteen men who arrived in .New
Ulm on the 19th and took an active and gallant part in
the first defense of the town. From the best informa
tion available, it is probable that Swift returned the
next day towards St. Peter to guide Capt. Charles E.
Flandrau's company to the ferry and to New Ulm, for
Flandrau states in his official report that Swift was his
guide from some point to the ferry. In the second at
tack, on the 23rd, Mr. Swift exhibited the greatest cour
age and bravery throughout that bloody engagement.
His constant exposure in heavy rains and inclement 119

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
weather, while on guard, and other severe duties,
brought upon him a disease from the effects of which his
delicate constitution never recovered. His home for
more than a month was filled with the sick and wounded
from this terrible Indian raid.
During Senator Swift's second term as state sen
ator, Lieutenant Governor Ignatius Donnell)' resigned
his position, having been elected to Congress, in which
body he was to take his seat March 4, 1863. The
senate so highly appreciated Senator Swift's abilities
and general demeanor that he was unanimously elected
president of the senate, to fill the vacancy. Subse
quently, this same legislature elected Governor Alexander
Ramsey to the United States Senate; and Senator
Swift, being now his legal successor, was thus, by rapid
and unexpected promotion, made governor of Minnesota,
July 10, 1863.
His message to the legislature, delivered January
11, 1864, is an excellent document, covering the condition
of the state and country expressed in a clear and forcible
manner. It is replete with many practical suggestions
touching railroads, financial questions, and the State
University, and it closes with an elegant peroration re
viewing the great national struggle then in its last stages.
It is notable for its exalted patriotism, and demonstrates
the Governor's ability to wield a vigorous and classic pen.
It was during his administration that Captain
James L. Fisk, by authority of the general government,
made his celebrated trip to the new gold fields of Mon-
120

HENRY ADONIRAM SWIFT.
tana, and thus demonstrated the superiority of the Min
nesota route to the new discoveries, and indicated it to
be the best route for a northern line of railway to the
Pacific. It was during this period, also, that Little
Crow, the leader and master spirit of the Sioux outbreak,
was killed by Nathan Lamson and his son near Hutchin
son. During this same period, a most important treaty
was made by Senator Ramsey with the Red Lake and
Pembina bands of Chippewa Indians, acquiring the
valley of the Red river, extinguishing the Indian title
to some 10,000 square miles of rich territory, and
opening for settlement an extension to the state of im
measurable value. Solicitude and care for our soldiers
in the field demanded and received the most considerate
attention from Governor Swift. It was just -before the
beginning of his administration, on the 2d and 3d of
July, 1863, that the First Regiment of Minnesota Vol
unteers, on whose standards the names of twenty battles
were already written, entered the very vortex of the con
flict at Gettysburg, and added to its immortal roll the
gallant charge with whieh its name is forever identified.
With Governor Andrew G. Curtin, of Pennsylvania,
Swift arranged the purchase of the ground on which that
greatest battle of modern times was fought, and thus
gave our brave dead a shrine safe from profanation.
And there Abraham Lincoln, on the 19th of November,
1864, delivered one of the most memorable orations rec
orded in human history.

121

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
The last call for troops, 300,000, was made after
Swift assumed office. Minnesota, under this call, was
in debt on her contingent 1,300 men. Governor Swift
proposed to compromise this demand by raising a regi
ment of cavalry to be employed in protecting our fron
tier against the hostile Indians, which request was
granted. It was during the closing days of his administra
tion that Minnesota enjoyed immigration in an unpre
cedented degree, which was estimated, for a large part
of the year, at one thousand per day. His administra
tion was a notable success in every department.
There was a general desire that Governor Swift
should be a candidate to succeed himself. The St. Paul
Daily Press voiced the universal sentiment when it said:
"We know of no one on whom executive honors would
sit with more grace and fitness, and no one more worthy
in his private and public character to fill the guber
natorial chair than Governor Swift."
He was repeatedly urged to permit the use of his
name as a candidate by the important leaders of the Re
publican party, but he steadfastly declined, and in
August, 1863, the St. Paul Press contained an authorita
tive statement from the governor that under no circum
stances would he be a candidate. The announcement
was received with general regret by all parties, and his
nomination was really a foregone conclusion if he would
accept. Stephen Miller was placed in nomination to
succeed him.
122

HENRY ADONIRAM SWIFT.
Subsequently, at the earnest solicitation of his
friends in St. Peter, he did consent to become again a
member of the state senate. During this period he was
urged to be a candidate for the United States Senate,
there being a vacancy. Although he refused, his friends
still voted for him; but as he made no effort whatever
to secure the position, Daniel S. Norton was nominated.
After the convention which nominated Stephen Miller
as his successor as governor, he wrote to his wife ex
pressing his complete satisfaction in not permitting his
name to be presented, as he wished to be at home with
her and his family, who were more to him than any
political honors whatever. In another letter to his wife,
referring to the United States senatorial election, he
uaid: "I am very much relieved and pleased that this
senatorial contest is over as it is, and for a few minutes
I was afraid I might be elected."
During the summer of 1865 he was appointed re
gister of the St. Peter Land Office, with a salary of
$3,000 a year. This position he held till his death, and
greatly enjoyed it because he could be with his family
in their own home.
In January, 1868, on the occasion of the golden
wedding of his honored parents, he visited his old home
in Ravenna, Ohio, for the last time.
About one year after this golden anniversary, Gov
ernor Swift was taken with typhoid fever. His attend
ing physician was Dr. A. W. Daniels, a man eminent in
his profession and the Governor's warm personal friend.
123

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
For three weeks it seemed to be a very mild case, but
after that period there came a relapse, and he gradually
grew worse till his death came at 10 A. M., February
25, 1869. His demise cast a gloom not only over his
family and his city, but over the entire state.* The flag
was placed at half-mast on the state capitol. His fun
eral did not occur till March 3, to give time for his
aged parents to come from Ravenna, Ohio. The Rev.
A. H. Iverr, his friend and pastor and a chaplain of the
Civil War, officiated. His funeral was attended by the
community at large, and by many noted persons from
abroad. He was forty-five years of age at the time of
his death, falling in the very, prime of his manhood.
Many fine tributes of respect for his noble life and his
public services appeared in numerous papers of the state.
Governor Swift was an active member of the Min
nesota Historical Society, and that body passed resolu
tions in honor of his life and public services, and its
secretary, Mr. J. F. Williams, published an excellent
memoir of the governor in Volume III of the Society's
Historical Collections.
About six months after his death his body was re
moved to Maple Grove Cemetery, Ravenna, Ohio, where
he sleeps with his family.
To the happy marriage heretofore mentioned, five
children were born. December, 1863, a daughter, ten
years old, died of diphtheria. About one month later an
only son, four years old, died of scarlet fever. In 1866
an infant child was taken away. His friends have al-
124

HENRY ADONIRAM SWIFT.
ways asserted that these bereavements cast an inefface
able shadow upon his life, and had much to do with his
subsequent aversion to a public career. He seemed then
to have resolved that no official position should deprive
him of the society of his wife and two remaining daugh
ters. These two daughters are still living, and were
both married before the death of their mother. The
elder, Margaret Livingston Swift, was married to Wil
liam M. Spaekman, a prominent lawyer of the city of
New York, where she still resides. Mary Eliza Swift,
a refined lady, was married to the Hon. Gideon S. Ives,
then of St. Peter, who had been a soldier in the Union
army, and who subsequently was mayor of St. Peter,
a state senator, and lieutenant governor of the state. He
is now a leading lawyer in St. Paul, and a man of com
manding position in the state.
The memory of Governor Swift will ever be held
in the highest regard by the people of the state. The in
tegrity of his character, his fidelity to public duty, his
exemplary and spotless life as a citizen, and his devotion
to family ties, made him a model worthy of the regard
and admiration of the youth of Minnesota. Governor
Swift was one of the most interesting personalities of
his clay. A politician in spite of himself, he played a
role given to but few men. Where others, however as
piring and diligent, failed, he obtained honors without
effort. His private life was stainless. He was singu
larly amiable, and of unblemished personal purity in all
the relations of family or society. His unruffled good
125

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
nature always made him an agreeable companion. His
marked characteristic was his persistent hostility to pub
lic life. He seemed utterly devoid of ambition and re
sisted all offers or opportunities of public preferment.
His love of home and family overcame all the attrac
tions of official distinction. He had absolute confidence
in his political principles, and never, for an instant,
swerved from their earnest support. In his inveterate
hostility to slavery he was, undoubtedly, an abolitionist.
Born and reared in the atmosphere of the Western Re
serve, in Ohio, his anti-slavery convictions were of na
tive growth, and they were surely nursed and strength
ened by his experiences in the South. If Joshua R. Gid-
dings was an abolitionist, then Henry A. Swift was one
also. He was of strong religious habits and convictions.
He is the one man, among all our public men, who ever
turned a deaf ear to all the allurements of political pre
ferment.

The annual message of Governor Swift, January 11,
1864, was published as a pamphlet and as the first paper
(33 pages) in the Executive Documents of the state of
Minnesota for the year 1863 (St. Paul, 1864). He al
luded to the gallant charge of the First Minnesota Regi
ment in the battle of Gettysburg, as follows:
The past year has added new lustre to the achievements of
our troops. On nearly every important battle field of the war,
their graves are strewn to mark the glorious share of Minne
sota in the progressive triumphs of the Union cause. * * *
126

HENRY ADONIRAM SWIFT.
On the second and third of July, the first of the gallant
regiments which Minnesota has sent to the field — that regi
ment which already has the names of twenty battles written
upon its standard — took a prominent part in one of the fierc
est struggles of the war. Of the 330 men of the First Min
nesota who had survived the disasters and triumphs of the
Virginia campaigns from Bull Run to ChancellorsviUe, to plunge
again with its shattered ranks and bullet-riddled flag into the
vortex of the conflict at Gettysburg, but ninety-two emerged
unharmed from the smoke and glorious issue of the struggle.
One hundred and seventy-five were wounded and fifty-one
more were added to the immortal roll of its dead heroes, to
find a sepulchre with over twenty-one hundred other brave
men from other States, in the cemetery where they fell.
Of the loyalty of both the great political parties of
the North in their devotion to the preservation of the
Union, he said:
* * * Party spirit and party prejudices were buried
and forgotten in the all absorbing patriotism of the American
people, and if they have since revived, it has been only for
consignment to a more lasting rest, until our country is saved.
And among the more than half a million of freemen who are
doing battle today in the holiest cause that ever stained »
sword, Democrat and Republican stand shoulder to shoulder,
camp side by side, knowing only a common cause and a com
mon enemy. It is » sublime lesson to teach the world. It is
a glad and useful one for us all, and when this trial shall have
ended, in the bright career of glory that awaits us, no man
of this generation can ever forget that in the breast of a
political opponent the heart swells as fervently with patriotic
love as in his own. And God grant that out of this bloody
ordeal may come another spectacle for the admiration of all
nations, that though brothers have joined in deadly conflict
on the field of battle, section been arrayed against section
for destruction, yet when the contest is closed in the removal
of its incitements and the sure triumph of the Right, the old
affection may return in overwhelming tide, and through the
prudence, wisdom, and magnanimity of our national councils,
the old bond of Union may be strengthened with triple bands.

127

STEPHEN MILLER.

STEPHEN MILLER
Fourth Governor of the State of Minne
sota, was born in Carroll, Perry County,
Pennsylvania, January 7, 1816, and died
in Worthington, Minnesota, August 18,
1881. In the Civil War he became a
brigadier general. After 1871 he en
gaged in railroad business. He was
governor from January 11, 1864, to
January 8, 1866; and was a representa
tive in the State Legislature in 1873.

STEPHEN MILLER
FOURTH GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
January 11, 1864, to January 8, 1866

THIS noted son of Pennsylvania was born in Perry
county, of that state, January 7, 1861. His
grandfather, Melchior Miller, came from Germany about
the year 1785. His father was David, and his mother
Rosana Darkness Miller. Stephen was educated in the
common schools of his native county. His first effort
for himself was to learn the milling business. Later, in
1837, he became a forwarding and commission merchant
in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Iq 1849 and 1852 he was
elected prothonotary of Dauphin county. In 1853 to
1855 he edited the Pennsylvania Telegraph, a Whig
journal at Harrisburg, and in 1855 to 1858 he was, by
appointment of Governor James Pollock, flour inspector
at Philadelphia. Some time before this he procured a
large canvas tent and itinerated a portion of the state as
a temperance lecturer, meeting with much success.
In the spring of 1858, his health being impaired, he-
removed to St. Cloud, Minnesota, for the purpose of re--
cuperation. There he engaged in the mercantile busi^
ness with Henry Swisshelm, of Pittsburg, Pa., as a
131

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
partner. Mr. Swisshelm had preceded him, coming to
St. Cloud in 1856.
Mr. Miller at once became quite active in local and
state politics. He was made delegate to the National
Republican convention at Chicago in 1860, and headed
the Republican electoral ticket for Lincoln in that year.
It was during that celebrated campaign that he held
some fifty joint discussions in the principal cities and
towns of the state with Gen. C. C. Andrews, who was the
Douglas elector. This campaign brought Mr. Miller
prominently before the people of the whole state, and
it was generally held that he was much the superior in
debate. He was commissioned as receiver in the United
States Land Office, March, 1861, and in May of the
same year he was offered a captain's commission in the
regular 'army. Both of these appointments he declined.
At the commencement of the Civil War, he and his
eldest son, Wesley F. Miller, enrolled themselves as pri
vate soldiers in the First Minnesota regiment. This son,
after bravely discharging his duty in several battles, be
ing a first lieutenant in the Seventh United States In
fantry, was slain at the battle of Gettysburg, July 2,
1863. His second son, Stephen C, also enlisted as a
private soldier, in the Sixth Minnesota Volunteers, and
was, as a reward for good service, made Commissary
of Subsistence, with the rank of captain. He served
with General Steele in Arkansas.

132

STEPHEN MILLER.
Mr. Miller had been a close friend to Governor
Ramsey back in Pennsylvania, and this early friendship
served him well in furthering his fortunes in Minne
sota. By reason of his great activity in raising recruits
for the war, and of his general fitness, Governor Ramsey
lifted him from the ranks as a private and commissioned
him lieutenant colonel of the First Minnesota regiment,
his commission bearing date April 29, 1861. He was
then in the prime of manhood, being forty-five years of
age. He served faithfully with the "Old First" in num
erous engagements. He commanded the right wing of
the First at the battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861,
when the regiment lost 189 men. He was subsequently
engaged with the enemy at Yorktown, May 4, 1862;
at West Point, May 6, 1862; in the two battles at
Fair Oaks, May 31 and June 1, 1862; in the battles
of Peach Orchard and Savage's Station, June 29,
1862; at White Oak Swamp and Nelson's Farm, June
30, 1862; and in the battle of Malvern Hill, July 31,
1862. In these several engagements he personally com
manded the regiment, and lost ninety-one men in killed,
wounded, and missing. July 2, 1862, he was rear
guard on the retreat to Harrison's Landing. September
15, 1862, he was held in reserve at the battle of South
Mountain. On August 24, 1862, he was commissioned colonel
of the Seventh regiment of Minnesota infantry, but the
order from General Halleck to start west did not reach
133

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
him until September 17, 1862. He left the First
regiment for his new command just before the battle
of Antietam. Judge William Lochren, in his narrative
of that regiment, speaks of him in these complimentary
terms: "Here our brave Lieut. Col. Stephen Miller left
us, on receipt of his commission as colonel of the Sev
enth Minnesota regiment. Without military training
previous to the organization of our regiment, his bravery
was conspicuous on every battlefield, and endeared him
to the men, who parted with him with sincere regret."
He had served with marked courage and skill and
constant activity from April 1, 1862, to September
17, 1862, in Gorman's brigade, Sedgwick's division,
and Sumner's corps. During this time an unfortunate
fall from his horse occurred, affecting the small of his
back and his kidneys, so as to render him quite unable to
ride on horseback. This accounts for his not being in
personal command of the Seventh regiment during the
two Indian campaigns. After a short rest at home, in
St Cloud, he assumed command of the Seventh at Camp
Release, and was subsequently placed in command of
Camp Lincoln, near Mankato, where he had charge of
the three hundred condemned Sioux Indians. December
4, 1862, Camp Lincoln was attacked by a consider
able body of citizens with the purpose of killing the In
dian prisoners, but by firmness and wisdom he pre
vented a disgraceful scene.
During December and January, 1862, he was in
command of the post of Mankato. It was a difficult and
134

STEPHEN MILLER.
perplexing task to care for these Indian prisoners and
guard them against an irritated and embittered public.
The delays and uncertainties attending the carrying out
of the sentence for their execution, as ordered by the
court martial, aggravated public sentiment in the state,
and especially in the frontier counties. There appeared
to be a settled purpose to resort to mob law and violence
to dispose of the prisoners. But Colonel Miller, though
sympathizing with public sentiment in believing that
summary punishment should be meted out to the con
demned murderers, was equally hostile to anything sav
oring of mob law, and to his heroic firmness is due the
fact that all attempts of this character were speedily and
thoroughly squelched. By his manly and decisive pol
icy, Colonel Miller won the respect and esteem even of
the leaders of this rash policy.
The execution of the thirty-eight condemned Sioux
Indians at Mankato, December 26, 1862, was entrusted
by General Sibley to Colonel Miller. It was one of the
most remarkable events of that exciting period. From a
single scaffold, and at one drop, the thirty-eight mur
derers fell at the same moment to their deserved death.
The writer, as an officer in command at the scaffold dur
ing the execution, can never forget this extraordinary
spectacle, perhaps the most extraordinary ever witnessed
on American soil.
From June to September, 1863, Colonel Miller was
in command of all the forces in garrison in the District
of Minnesota, during the absence of General Sibley on
135

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
the Indian expedition of that year. During this period
he was also engaged under the orders of General Sibley
in running a line of posts for the defense of the frontier,
from Paynesville, Stearns county, south to Fort Ridgely,
and thence in a due south course to the Iowa line. The
stockades were about ten miles apart, and daily com
munication was kept up by mounted men.
October 26, 1863, he was appointed brigadier gen
eral of volunteers by the President. This position he re
signed January 12 th, 1864, to assume the duties of
governor of the state.
In August, 1863, the Republican convention . nom
inated General Miller for governor of the state on a very
radical platform. His opponent was the Hon. H. T.
Welles, a gentleman of high character and fine ability.
The war absorbed public attention at the time to the
exclusion of every other question, and on its issues Gen
eral Miller was easily elected, receiving 19,628 votes, and
Welles, 12,739. He entered upon the duties of the chief
executive of the state January- 11, 1864, following
Henry A. Swift, an executive who left behind him an
enviable record for capacity, patriotic devotion to duty,
and unblemished integrity.
Governor Miller was in the executive chair during
the closing years of the rebellion, and in many ways
demonstrated his intense patriotism in caring for the
soldiers yet in the field and on their return home. He
was also diligent in calling the attention of the War De-
136

STEPHEN MILLER.
partment to deserving officers, and secured for such
many brevet promotions, and for others appointments in
the regular army. While in office he delivered two mes
sages, his inaugural address and one annual message.1
They are plain and practical documents, presenting a
comprehensive view of the condition and resources of the
state. Special attention was given in urging measures
for the relief of all soldiers who required assistance,
either for themselves or their families. His paternal
care and solicitude for these exhibited the tenderness of
his heart. His administration of a single term of two
years was mainly devoted to closing Minnesota's con
nection with the various interests growing out of the
Civil War. The old veterans hold him in sweet remem
brance, for to them he was like a kind, indulgent
father, or a warm-hearted, affectionate brother.
After retiring from the executive office, January
8th, 1866, he was for a time without any public employ
ment or special private business.2 In June, 1871, he en
tered into the service of the St. Paul and Sioux City
Railroad Company, as general superintendent of its large
land interests in southwestern Minnesota, and resided at
Worthington. During this period he was, in 1873,

JSee Governors' Messages, 1857 to 1874, in the Historical
Society Library.
2Governor Miller was not a candidate for re-nomination
and received no second term. The reasons for this were of a
sad character, and in no wise reflected upon him. His two
sons had gone to the Pacific coast and were inveigled into
some depredations upon the United States mail. For this, one
was punished and both were morally wrecked. The mortified
father never again asked for public preferment. 137

GOVERNORS OE MINNESOTA.
elected to the legislature and sejrved one session. He
was also presidential elector at large in 1876, and, as
messenger, bore the vote to Washington.
That among our prosaic governors we should find
one who worshipped at the shrine of the Muses, may
occasion some surprise. Governor Miller was, however,
the guilty man. In 1864, Mrs. W. J. Arnold, of Wa
basha, issued a small volume .entitled "The Poets and
Poetry of Minnesota." It was dedicated "To the Hon.
Stephen Miller, Governor of Minnesota, the Soldier, the
Patriot, the True Friend." The fair compiler of this
unique volume claims to admit only poems of merit, and
those the best of each author. She claims to have
received from Governor Miller efficient advice from the
commencement of her labors to their close. We find also
that two others of our pubhc men are generously em
balmed in the same volume, the Hon. Ignatius Donnelly
and Gen. J. H. Baker. This good lady has, with a warm
and generous heart, rescued some of the poetic sins of
sophomoric youth from merited oblivion. I know of but
two copies of this rare volume now in existence, one in
the Historical Society Library, and the other in the pos
session of the writer. The balance of the very limited
edition was either condemned to the waste basket, or
sleep in dusty rest in unknown libraries. The volume
is valuable for its biographical sketches, rather than for
its poetic fire. Governor Miller's youthful effusions are
entitled: "Sow in Tears and Reap with Joy," "Earth's
Angels," "Things I Want," "A Contrast," "On the
138

STEPHEN MILLER.
Death of a Loved One," "For an Album," "Little
Maggie," "Why Don't You Sing as Once You Sung?"
and "The Sky." No kinder hearted woman thah Mrs.
Arnold ever labored to build a budding literature out of
such material as she found. The filial bards of the state,
as such, have gone to their merited f orgetf ulness ; and we
trust a general amnesty and pardon has been duly issued
to those of us- who, in wayward youth, presumed to strike
the harp in the ears of the "Weary Nine."
Stephen Miller was not of the material out of which
great statesmen are made. We cannot place him in the
rank of such governors as Ramsey, Sibley, Davis,
Pillsbury, or Hubbard. But with his good common
sense, his sterling integrity, his ardent patriotism, his
broad sympathies, Minnesota can well congratulate her
self that he was governor at the time he filled the execu
tive chair. Governor Miller was a rough and ready
speaker, and his remarkable wit, his originality of style,
and a somewhat brusque manner on the rostrum, made
him a very attractive and popular speaker among the
early settlers. He was more anecdotal than any other of
our governors. He could make the lines very hard for
an adversary. He thought quickly when on his legs,
and could instantly perceive an opponent's weakness and
could take advantage of it.
No man's private character stood higher in all re
spects, and he possessed the most amiable domestic affec
tions. He had strong religious convictions, though not a
member of any church. All his life he was a man of
139

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
moderate means, and never was a money maker. It is
sad to note that his last days were somewhat clouded by
comparative poverty and personal indulgence; but his
rugged honesty and manly principles were never ques
tioned. Misfortunes seemed to crowd upon him toward the
close of his career. The death of his children and of hr*
beloved wife, after years of harrowing illness, compara
tive poverty for himself, all these things beset his later
years. The general government bestowed a small pen
sion on him toward the last, and with this little fund he
was engaged in preparing a modest home in Worthing
ton, a retreat for his declining years. Governor Miller
was sick for quite a while before death came, but he was
well and tenderly cared for during his last days. He
died Thursday evening August 18, 1881, at 10 :30
o'clock, aged sixty-five years, seven months, and eleven
days. He was buried in the cemetery at Worthington
the following Saturday, the ceremonies being conducted
by the Masonic fraternity.
In 1859 he was married to Miss Margaret Funk, of
Dauphin county, Pa. To this union there were born
three sons and one daughter. Wesley F. was a lieuten
ant in the Seventh U. S. Infantry, and was killed in the
battle of Gettysburg on the 2d of July, 1863. He was
born April 1, 1841. His second son, Stephen C, was
born May 22, 1842, and was also in the army as Com
missary of Subsistence, with the rank of captain. He is
now in the Treasury Department in Washington, D. C.
140

STEPHEN MILLER.
Robert D., born August 18, 1847, died in Pueblo, Col
orado, March 17, 1886. The daughter, Elizabeth, died
February 23, 1848.
A fine monument to the memory of Governor Miller
occupies a prominent place in the well-kept cemetery at
Worthington. The following are the inscriptions, as
they appear on the monument:
On the west side, "Stephen Miller, born January
7th, 1816; died August 18th, 1881. Governor of Min
nesota, 1864-1865."
On the south side, "Enlisted as a private in the
First Minnesota Volunteers, April, 1861; appointed
Lieutenant Colonel, April, 1861."
On the north side, "Appointed Colonel Seventh Min
nesota Volunteers, August, 1862; promoted Brigadier
General, 1863."
On the east side, "Erected by his sons, Stephen C.
and Robert D. Miller."
The Worthington Advance noted a strange coinci
dence in connection with the death of the Governor:
"There were no dreadful coincidents connected with
the death of Governor Miller. A beautiful one did oc
cur, however, which is worthy of note. Just after the
governor died, one of the little apple trees in his lot put
out a bouquet of snow-white blossoms. Our attention
having been called to the fact by several persons, we ex
amined this beautiful phenomenon and found that on
none of the other trees were there any signs of blossoms.
These blossoms were plucked on Saturday and laid on
141

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
the casket, Nature thus furnishing a fresh bouquet as
though it were done especially and spontaneously for the
occasion. This is a fit emblem, at least, of the Gover
nor's advent into a higher life. No whiter-souled public
man has lived during the stirring times of the past
twenty years, and as he leaves behind the troublesome
body with its common frailties, and emerges into the
spirit-world, free and pure in spirit, we can think of no
more fitting and expressive emblem than this cluster of.
snow-white blossoms bursting into bloom just as his
spirit bursts into the eternal bloom of the other world."

The inaugural, address of Governor Miller, January
13, 1864, was published as a pamphlet and as the second
paper (11 pages) in the Executive Documents of the^
state of Minnesota for the year 1863 (St. Paul, 1864).
His annual message of the following year, delivered
January 4, 1865, was published as a pamphlet of 30
pages, and as the first paper (pages 9-38) in the Execu
tive Documents of the state of Minnesota for the year
1864 (St. Paul, 1865). The following is its first para
graph : -
In this solemn and momentous crisis in the history of the,
great nation of which we form a part, it is peculiarly appro
priate that we as representatives of a Christian people, assem
bled to deliberate and act upon grave and important questions
affecting their welfare, should humbly acknowledge our depen
dence upon Almighty God, and invoke his blessing upon our
labors. We have abundant cause for thankfulness in view of
the success vouchsafed to the national arms during the past
year in the struggle with the great rebellion — of the stern de
termination of the loyal States, so lately expressed through ^
the ballot box, to maintain the integrity of the Republic  of
our continued progress in all the elements of prosperity, not-
142

STEPHEN MILLER.
withstanding the great drain upon our resources, and especially
that our State has been almost entirely relieved from appre
hensions of savage raids. The very fact that during the con
tinuance of the prolonged and bloody strife with armed traitors,
most of the great Powers of the World have neither sympa
thized with them nor desired their ultimate success, should in
duce the American people to cling more closely to the God of
their fathers, who holds alike in his hand the destinies of na
tions, and of men.
Governor Miller's last message to the legislature,
January 8, 1866, was published as a pamphlet and as the
first paper (29 pages) in the Executive Documents for
1865 (St. Paul, 1866). The following extracts are se
lected from it:
* * * The great war of the rebellion has been happily,
and successfully closed, and the seceding States have been com
pelled to return to their allegiance. Human slavery has ceased,
to exist, and the national authority is restored over the whole
broad expanse of the Republic. If the hand of the assassin has
stricken to trie earth our late lamented President, in the full
ness of his fame, his mantle has fallen upon the shoulders of
a worthy successor. Our country once more united, and freed
from the embarrassments of the only institution which dark
ened its splendor and impeded its progress, reassumes its posi
tion in the front rank of the nations, as the bulwark of hu
man liberty, and the hope of the oppressed in every land.
We have also cause for grateful acknowledgment in the
condition of our own State during the past year. Pestilence
has not been permitted to visit us — the granaries of our people
are filled with the products of a bountiful harvest — many thou
sands of our citizen soldiers have returned in safety from an
active participation in the bloody but successful conflict with
traitors in arms against the national government, and resumed
the peaceful vocations from which they were summoned. Our
population has steadily and rapidly increased, and Minnesota,
although clothed in the robes of mourning for so many of her
sons who have fallen in a glorious cause, has reason to pride
herself upon their gallant achievements in the field, which
have given her a reputation second to that of no loyal State.

Nor has the precious sacrifice been made in vain. One year
ago when clouds and darkness beset our pathway, relying upon
the justice of God, I said, in my annual message to your prede
cessors, that "Our successes would surely culminate in the
143

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
restoration of the authority of the Government over the se
ceding States, in blessings to ourselves and our posterity, and
in the encouragement of the friends of constitutional liberty
throughout the world." The prediction has been fully verified
by subsequent events. Today the ensign of the Union floats
over every foot of soil pertaining to our common country.
Its folds protect the resting places of our heroic dead, and its
presence proclaims "liberty throughout the land unto all the
inhabitants thereof."
It becomes the duty of the National authority to provide
against a recurrence of the events which have filled the land
with mourning, and shaken the very pillars of our Republican
institutions. When this shall have been accomplished, the country of
which we form a part, will, by the blessings of heaven, be
recognized as the leading power of the world, while Minnesota
will assume a prominent position in the galaxy of States.
Commending the interests of our State to you, to my es
teemed successor in office, and to the still surer protection of
a kind and a merciful Providence, I relinquish, with profound
gratitude to the people of Minnesota, the trust which two years
ago they confided to my hands.

144

WILLIAM R. MARSHALL.

WILLIAM RAINEY MARSHALL
Fifth Governor of the State of Minne
sota, was born near Columbia, Missouri,
October 17, 1825, and died in Pasadena,
California, January 8, 1896. He became
a brigadier general in the Civil War.
He served as governor from January 8,
1866, to January 9, 1870.

10

WILLIAM RAINEY MARSHALL
FIFTH GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
January 8, 1866, to January 9, 1870

TWO of our governors were born south of Mason
and Dixon's Line, Willis Arnold Gorman in
Kentucky, and William Rainey Marshall in Missouri.
Migration from the East to the West has been uniform
and extensive; but from the South to the North there
has been but little. I am of the opinion that both of
these prominent men brought with them something of
the impulsive character of the South, which was modified
and somewhat subdued by the different atmosphere in
which they passed their active lives. Both had a natural
taste for arms, and became good soldiers at the first op
portunity. William R. Marshall was born near Columbia, Mis
souri, October 17, 1825.
About 1830 young Marshall's parents removed to
Quincy, 111., where he passed his boyhood and received
his education in the schools of that town. But it may
be justly said that he was self-taught in all he knew of
books. 147

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
In 1841, with his brother Joseph, he went to the
lead mines near Galena, 111., where he worked for several
years. During this period he learned practical survey
ing, which seems to have been the extent of his book
education, though he was always a great reader.
Sometime in the year 1847, when twenty-two years
of age, he removed to St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, and
made a land and timber claim near the falls on the Wis
consin side, which is now included in what is known as
the Philip Jewell farm. While at St. Croix Falls he
sold goods, dealt in lumber, was deputy receiver of the
United States land office, and took a very active part in
what were called "boundary meetings." He was elected
to the legislature of Wisconsin for the St. Croix Valley
in 1848; but his seat was successfully contested on the
ground of non-residence, as he resided west of the west
ern line of the new state of Wisconsin.
In the autumn of 1847 he made a visit to St.
Anthony Falls, Minnesota, staked out a claim, and cut
logs for a cabin, but, partially abandoning the claim, he
returned to St. Croix Falls. However, in 1849, he re
turned to St. Anthony Falls and perfected his claim.
That same year he was elected to the first Minnesota
Territorial legislature. While living at St. Anthony, he
engaged in a general hardware business with his brother
Joseph. He also surveyed and platted the town of St.
Anthony for Bottineau and Steele, and made some sur
veys of adjacent government lands.

148

WILLIAM RAINEY MARSHALL.
In 1851, he removed to St. Paul and became a pio
neer merchant in the hardware business. The wholesale
house of Nicols and Berkey, and later Nicols and Dean,
became the successor of his pioneer store. During the
same year he continued his survey of public lands. In
1855, in connection with other parties, he established a
banking business, and did well till overwhelmed by the
financial storm of 1857. He then went into dairy farm
ing and stock raising, and brought into the state the first
high-bred cattle.
In 1861 he purchased the St. Paul Daily Times and
the Minnesotian, and merged them into the St. Paul
Press, and this paper at once became the leading Repub
lican journal of the state. Such discordant elements as
existed in the Republican party previous to this consoli
dation at once disappeared. Mr. Joseph A. Wheelock,
a brilliant young writer and at that time Commissioner
of Statistics, was made editor of the new journal. The
Press under its new management was friendly to Gover
nor Ramsey for the United States senate. Its proprie
tors, Marshall and Wheelock, ever afterward remained
steadfast friends of Ramsey.
In the fall of 1862, a legislature was elected which
was to name a new United States senator. The contest
was sharp, and a new man in the person of the Hon.
Cyrus Aldrich, member of Congress from the First Dis
trict, was named in opposition to Ramsey. To aid in the
contest a new paper, called the Union, under the control
of Mr. Frederick Driscoll, was established. The result of
119

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
this fierce battle was the election of Governor Ramsey,
and perhaps no parties rendered more efficient service
than Marshall and Wheelock through the columns of the
St. Paul Press. The Press had the state printing, said
to be worth $20,000 a year. The Union was financially
wrecked by the election of Ramsey and the loss of the
state printing. But the friends of the two papers solved
the problem by inducing Driscoll to buy a half interest
in the Press, and finally Mr. Wheelock bought Marshall's
interest, and under their joint control that paper became
powerful and prosperous. It never forgot, however, to
use its influence for its old friend and founder, Marshall,
in his future career.
In response to President Lincoln's second call for
volunteers, the Seventh Regiment Minnesota Infantry
was organized. Of this regiment, William Rainey
Marshall was commissioned by his friend, Governor
Ramsey, as lieutenant colonel, August 28, 1862. He
at once began a military career which was conspicuous
for courage, even to audacity, till he was mustered out of
service, August 16, 1865.
His first military act was in joining a party of im
provised soldiers under Colonel McPhail for the relief
of Fort Ridgely. Here for the first time he met part of
his regiment, and was immediately ordered to join
General Sibley and march to the relief of Captain Grant
at Birch Coolie. He had now gathered five companies
of his regiment, which, in the confusion incident to the
fierce Indian raid, had been widely scattered, and on
150

WILLIAM RAINEY MARSHALL.
September 22, 1862, he marched toward Wood Lake, in
the battle at which place Colonel Marshall bore a con
spicuous part.
During the winter following this important engage
ment, he was with several companies of his regiment
guarding Indian prisoners at Madelia and Mankato. In
the spring he, with his regiment, was ordered to Camp
Pope to take part in the great expedition then organizing
under General Sibley to operate against the hostile
Sioux, supposed to be now gathered about Devil's Lake,
in Dakota. Col. Stephen Miller, now colonel of the
Seventh regiment, had been ordered back to St. Paul to
the command of the sub-department of Minnesota, in the
absence of General Sibley. This left Lt. Col. Marshall
in full command of the Seventh regiment. June 16th,
1863, the army, under General Sibley, moved from Camp
Pope and started on its long and tedious march in pur
suit of the Sioux. On the Sheyenne river the column
passed through a grasshopper district where all the grass
was eaten away by these countless pests to an extent that
threatened to defeat the purposes of the expedition. The
heat also was intense, and the torrid temperature sent
some of the best to the ambulances. July 24 the Sioux
were encountered at Big Mound. Here the writer wit
nessed Colonel Marshall make a superb charge on hun
dreds of Indians with his regiment, scattering them in
every direction. We will not pursue the story of Colonel
Marshall's history in the campaign against the Sioux. A
more detailed account of that expedition has been given
151

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
in the biography of Governor Sibley. We must observe,
however, that Colonel Marshall was ever a brave and
efficient officer, never sparing himself in the discharge of
his duty. October 7, 1863, the Seventh regiment was or
dered South, with Lieutenant Colonel Marshall in com
mand, Colonel Miller yet remaining in control at St.
Paul. ¦ They were ordered to St. Louis, Mo., together
with the Ninth regiment under command of Col. Alexan
der Wilkin, and the Tenth under command of Col. J. H.
Baker. These regiments subsequently shared fortune to
gether in the future of the Civil War. Shortly after go
ing South, November 6, 1863, Lt. Col. Marshall was
promoted to the colonelcy of the regiment, Colonel Miller
having been promoted to a brigadier-generalship. The
regiment remained in St. Louis, on provost duty, until
the 20th of April, 1864, when it was ordered South.
Arriving at Memphis, Tenn., it was assigned to the right
wing of the Sixteenth army corps, under Gen. A. J.
Smith, and in the Third brigade, commanded by Gen.
J. A. Mower. On the 13th of July they were engaged
in the battle of Tupelo, afterward on the Oxford raid
and in the pursuit of General Price in Missouri. Re
turning from this, they were sent hurriedly to Nashville,
Tenn., where they arrived in time to hear the sound of
the guns at the bloody battle of Franklin. On the 15th
of December, the regiment, Colonel Marshall command
ing, took a conspicuous part in the great battle of Nash
ville. In this battle, as usual, Colonel Marshall rode his-
152

WILLIAM RAINEY MARSHALL.
little chestnut horse, Don, which made him a conspicu
ous mark on every field. The colonel that day carried
his gauntlets doubled up on his breast, and they received
a minie-ball which otherwise would have cost him his
life. The Sixteenth army corps was now ordered to New
Orleans, and thence to Spanish Fort on Mobile bay.
At this time Colonel Marshall, by virtue of the age
of his commission as colonel, was in command of the bri
gade. On the 25th of March, as they were approaching
the Fort, Colonel Marshall, while riding at the head of
his brigade, was wounded, the ball passing through the
side of his neck and out near the spine. He kept on
duty in spite of the orders of his surgeon. The wound
was severe, though not dangerous. The rebels evacu
ated Spanish Fort on the night of April 8, and this
virtually closed the war for Colonel Marshall and his
regiment. On the 20th of July, the Seventh regiment, Colonel
Marshall once again in command, started for home, and
arrived at St. Paul August 8. Here Colonel Mar
shall's commission as a brevet brigadier general, dated
March 13, 1865, reached him. On arriving at Fort
Snelling he issued a farewell order, "General Orders No.
10." He parted with his men, taking each man by the
hand, the tears rolling down his cheeks. Thus, after
three years of arduous service, he parted tenderly with
his regiment and closed his military career. He was
mustered out of service August 16, 1865. It had been
a field of honor and glory for him, and I hesitate not
153

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
to say the noblest and brightest period of his eventful
life. Returning to the duties of private life, it was not
long till he began an active political career. He had
always been an earnest Republican, and in 1855 had
presided over the convention which organized the Re
publican party in Minnesota. In heart and action he
was thoroughly identified with that. party. He still had
behind him the influence of the St. Paul Press and the
Ramsey wing of the party. Stephen Miller's guberna
torial term was about to close. The Republican con
vention was called to meet in Ingersol Hall, September
6, 1865. The candidates were Charles D. Gilfillan of
St. Paul, a very worthy and able man; Gen. John T.
Averill of Lake City, a gentleman of the highest per
sonal character and a soldier with a good record; and
Gen. William R. Marshall, whose good record, up to
this date, we have spread before the reader. At the
start, Averill was well in the lead and Marshall second.
Singularly Marshall began to lose badly, and his cause
was considered hopeless. Suddenly, however, one of
those little political cyclones which often occur in con
ventions took place, and the twenty-second ballot brought
Marshall unexpectedly the nomination.
His opponent was the Hon. Henry M. Rice, a
Democrat of distinction and ability, and formerly a
United States senator. A joint debate was cunningly
devised between them. Neither were public speakers,
and the display of oratory was not brilliant, and after
154

WILLIAM RAINEY MARSHALL.
complimenting each other as good and noble old set
tlers they hastily dropped the joint debate.1 Marshall
was elected, receiving 17,318 votes, while Rice had 13,-
842, and Marshall became governor January 8, 1866.
An examination of his messages exhibits a careful
consideration of the economical condition of the state's
affairs and its public institutions. In his inaugural ad
dress he felicitates the people of Minnesota upon the
discovery of gold at Vermilion lake, which, however,
proved to be unfounded. In the year 1866, Major T.
M. Newson, of St. Paul, a noted character in his day,
organized a company and was its president, which pros
pected for gold at Vermilion lake. It caused great
excitement and aroused great hopes at the time, but
proved a sad failure. The gold was not there; it was
iron, which in time became a gold mine of fabulous
wealth. During Marshall's term of office the regimental
flags of the several regiments engaged in the Civil War
were gathered and turned over to the state, and were de
posited in a suitable case in the rotunda hall of the
old capitol. They have since been transferred to the
new capitol and placed in metallic cases where they will
remain, perhaps for centuries, as mute but eloquent
witnesses of the heroism of the men who bore them.
It was during his first term of office that the grant
of five hundred thousand acres of land for "Internal Im-

TI. P. Hall's Observations, page G7. 155

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
provements' was secured from the general government by
the suggestion of the Hon. E. F. Drake.
It was largely to' his efforts, while governor, that
the word "white" was stricken from the constitution of
Minnesota. In 1869 he vetoed the bill for the removal of the
state capital to Kandiyohi county, where the lands
granted by Congress for a state capital were located.
He urged the payment of whatever "might be justly
due" on the old state railroad bonds, a serious question
which haunted every governor till their final adjustment
under Pillsbury.
In 1867 Marshall was a candidate for re-election,
his Democratic opponent being Charles E. Flandrau,
who was then living in Minneapolis. Marshall's ma
jority was greater than in the previous election, the vote
for Marshall being 34,874, and for Flandrau, 29,502.
During the two terms he was governor of the state
there were no great or exciting questions of state policy,
except that of the adjustment of the old state railroad
bonds. It was an era of peace in which the state grew,
its population doubled, and its wealth also doubled,
while its railroad mileage quadrupled. He dealt only
with present and practical questions, and wholly ignored
remote and speculative matters. He fully believed that
the less legislation we had, the better it would be for
the people. January 7, 1870, he retired from the executive
office, to be followed by the Hon. Horace Austin.
156

WILLIAM RAINEY MARSHALL.
On the conclusion of his term of office, Marshall
again engaged in banking, and became vice president of
the Marine National Bank, and president of the Minne
sota Savings Bank. In 1874 he was appointed a mem
ber of the Board of Railroad Commissioners, and in
November, 1875, there being a change in the law, he
was elected railroad commissioner, the old commission
being abolished, and he was re-elected in 1877. It does
not appear from any record that he was very active in
that capacity, as the writer, who succeeded him, never
was able to secure any books or records covering the
transactions of the office during his term. He held the
office from January 6, 1876, to January 10, 1882.
Subsequently he was engaged in several business en
terprises, in which, however, he was not very successful.
Arriving in Minnesota two years before the organization
of the territory, he lived cotemporaneously with all its
development and progress, in which he bore an honor
able and often an important part. In fact, no governor
of the state had a more eventful career. His business
enterprises were exceedingly numerous. With robust
health and restless energy, and having no regular pro
fession, he was immersed in almost every avocation and
pursuit incident to a growing young territory and state.
It was always regretted by his friends that his push and
energy did not receive some adequate reward. But amid
it all, his integrity and personal honor ever remained
unsullied.

157

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
His military career is that period of his life
which was the most conspicuous, and which brought him
just fame and crowned him with other rewards in the
important positions he subsequently held. He was of
that make and material of which good soldiers are made,
and had he been a West Point graduate at the time of
the war, he would surely have achieved great renown.
He was always actively interested in the Minnesota
Historical Society as a promoter and contributor, and
in 1868 was its president. In 1893 he was elected its
secretary, but ill health made it necessary for him to
resign in 1894, when he went to Pasadena, California,
with the hope of recovery. His friends, however, con
tinued him as the nominal secretary until March, 1895.
Governor Marshall was a member of the Minnesota
Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, both
of his grandfathers, Lieutenant David Marshall and
Private Daniel Shaw, having been Revolutionary soldiers
in the Pennsylvania line.
No one can speak of him more understandingly
than his pastor, the Rev. Edward C. Mitchall, who pays
him this beautiful tribute:
"William R. Marshall was a man whom it was
easy to love. He was large-hearted, broad-minded and
intellectual, generous, sympathetic, genial and consider
ate, and unusually versatile in his activities. At the
time of his death, the press of our state expressed its
158

WILLIAM RAINEY MARSHALL.
high estimate of his character, his ability, and his use
fulness, as a brave soldier, an able statesman, and a
public-spirited citizen. And it is for me, as his pastor
for the last twenty-three years of his life, to speak of
him as a man; of his loving faith in the Word of God;
his steadfast trust in Divine Providence; the purity and
beauty of his social life; his unswerving loyalty to every
good cause; his tender sympathy with all who suffered;
his uncompromising opposition to all forms of meanness;
his chivalrous championing of all who were oppressed;
his dominant cheerfulness; his freedom from vindic-
tiveness; his generous confidence in the good intentions
of others; his patient bearing under severe trials and
sufferings. He was an active member of the New Jeru
salem (or Swedenborgian) Church, and one of those
who united in forming the Society of that Church, in
St. Paul, in 1873. He was a good man to live with,
and he endeared himself to all who came in close con
tact with him. * * * He lacked the cautious cal
culation, the habitual attention to petty details, and the
cool foresight which always allows for unforeseen con
tingencies. "Commercially speaking he left little behind him,
of this world's goods; but, speaking from a spiritual
standpoint, there are few men who carry more with
them to the world beyond."
Governor Marshall died at Pasadena, California,
January 8, 1896. His remains were brought to St.
Paul and buried in Oakland Cemetery. 159

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
On March 22, 1854, William R. Marshall was mar
ried to Miss Abby Langford, one of the most estimable
of women, of Utica, New York. She was a sister of
the Hon. Nathaniel P. Langford, the president of the
Historical Society, of the late Mrs. William A. Spencer,
and of the late Mrs. James W. Taylor, of St. Paul.
Mrs. Marshall died December 23, 1893. To Governor
and Mrs. Marshall there was born but one child, George
Langford Marshall, who died April 21, 1892, leaving
a widow and a daughter, Alice. These were with the
Governor when he died in California.

The inaugural address of Governor Marshall, Jan
uary 8, 1866, was published in the Executive Documents
of the state of Minnesota for the year 1865, pages 31-38
(St. Paul, 1866). It is in part as follows:
The munificent endowment of our schools — already nearly
a million dollars in funds, and millions more to be realized
from the lands — needs for its application the most perfect sys
tem, the best talent and the largest experience that can be
commanded. * * *

State charitable institutions demand immediate attention.
It is due to the State that an enlarged philanthropy should
characterize its efforts for its helpless ones. These children of
sorrow, the blind, the dumb, the insane, have a claim upon us
that we cannot disregard. If speedy action for their relief
is not taken it will be a reproach to our Christian civilization.
Happily the work is no experiment. Enlightened philanthropy
has developed these works of mercy into complete systems, and
the only question is, have we the will and ability to do our
whole duty. No questions of expediency should fetter us in
so plain obligations. Both in respect to these and educational
institutions, parsimony is the worst extravagance. No State
was ever impoverished by liberality to these great interests.
160

WILLIAM RAINEY MARSHALL.
Generally, I commend care and thorough deliberation on
every subject before you. Your wisdom will best be shown in
enacting only ten laws unmistakably necessary and thoroughly
matured, rather than hundreds of acts, some of doubtful neces
sity, and few receiving that careful consideration that public
laws demand.
An important reform can be effected in this regard. Let
it be our record that a small amount of work was well done,
rather than a large amount hurriedly and poorly done.

In conclusion, I can only assure you that I shall welcome
the enactment, and faithfully aid in the execution of all meas
ures which shall tend to promote the material development of
the State, and the moral advancement of the people; which
shall promote wealth, yet check its undue influence through the
power of associated capital; which shall secure the interests of
labor — free, intelligent labor, the very basis of our social and
political system; which shall enlarge and diffuse the blessings
of popular education — the main pillar of Free Government;
which shall provide for those benevolent institutions which are
the crown of modern civilization; which shall fulfill the obliga
tions of the State to her gallant soldiery, in whose hands the
sign and symbol of our nation's sovereignty — our Starry Flag —
was borne aloft amid the smoke and carnage of a hundred bat
tles; finally, which shall advance the standard of public morals
and life in this home of our adoption — this scene of our activi
ties and hopes — our own commonwealth of Minnesota, and that
shall add tp the greatness and grandeur of that ONE NATION
that makes each man of us proud of the name of an American
citizen. Marshall's annual message of January 10, 1867,
published as a pamphlet and also as the first paper, 26
pages, in the Executive Documents of the State of
Minnesota for the year 1866 (St. Paul, 1867), contains
the following estimate of the population of the state:
The result of the state census of June 1, 1865, together
with the returns of the school population on the 30th of Sep
tember of the same year, afford a basis for a close estimate
of the population of the state on the 1st of June last. On
this basis, after allowing for a few palpable omissions in the
last school reports, the population of the state on the 1st of
June last was 310,000. The immigration into the state subse
quent to that date far exceeds that of any corresponding pe-
11 161

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
riod, since the territorial or state organization. The evidences
of this fact from all quarters are uniform and conclusive.
The total immigration of 1866 is variously estimated at from
40,000 to 75,000. I deem 30,000 as a moderate estimate of the
total increase since the last named date, which will make the
present total population of the state 340,000.
January 10, 1868, Governor Marshall delivered his
annual message to the tenth legislature of this state,
which was published as a pamphlet and as the first paper,
30 pages, of the Executive Documents for 1867 (St.
Paul, 1868). A passage entitled "Impartial Suffrage"
is quoted below.
The amendment to the constitution striking out the word
"white" as a qualification of electors submitted at the last
election, failed of adoption by minority of 1,315 votes in a
total vote on the question of over 56,000. Two years ago when
the same question was submitted it failed, lacking 2,327 in a
total vote of 26,000, showing a very considerable advance of
sentiment in favor of equal political rights for all men.
This question involves a principle vital in free government.
It will triumph. I recommend that you again submit the ques
tion to the people. "For freedom's battle once begun
Though baffled oft, is ever won."
It is a proud record of any party or any people that they
espouse the cause of the oppressed and despoiled — that they re
spect the rights of the weakest and humblest. It will be a'
proud day for Minnesota when she shall, by popular vote, re
move from her constitution the disfranchisement of a class —
having its origin in the prejudice of caste growing out of the
enslavement of a race — from whom she demands and has re
ceived the honorable service of the soldier, and whom she taxes
without representation.
The annual message of Marshall to the eleventh
legislature, January 7, 1869, was published in the Ex
ecutive Documents for 1868 (St. Paul, 1869) as the
first paper, 22 pages, and also separately as a pamphlet.
162

WILLIAM RAINEY MARSHALL.
It contains the' following passage in regard to the state
constitutional amendment which had recently passed,
giving the ballot to colored men.
The progress of communities in the elements of perma
nent well-being is most truly recorded, not in the increase of its
wealth, not in the development of its material interests, but
in the advance towards the realization of that Divine rule of
justice and brotherhood, which is the golden law of liberty.
More, then, than on your abounding wealth, I feel disposed
to congratulate you on the final triumph, at the last election,
of the amendment to the State Constitution, wiping out for
ever from our organic law the unrepublican principle that this
is a government for only part of the people, and establishing
equal manhood suffrage as the fundamental law of the com
monwealth. The free young State of Minnesota — now alto
gether free — proclaims from all her statutes that justice and
liberty are the sure inheritance of all who, from the oppres
sions of the Old World or the New, seek an asylum within her
borders. Under date of January, 1869, Governor Marshall
issued a special message to the Legislature, relating to
the state railroad bonds of the "Five Million Loan,"
and transmitting copies of letters and memorials re
ceived from holders of the bonds. In this message,
published, with the accompanying papers, in a pamphlet
of thirteen pages, the governor said:
I have heretofore indicated to the Legislature that it
seemed to me expedient that the five hundred thousand acres
of internal improvement lands should be devoted to the pay
ment of these bonds. Time serves to strengthen this convic
tion. * * *
In my judgment, the duty of the State to enter upon an
adjustment of this suspended debt, begins the moment the State
has the convenient means and ability to do so.
We have the example of the State of Michigan before us,
in which a suspended debt twice greater than ours, and es
sentially of a similar character, was equitably and satisfac
torily adjusted.
We have the example of the State of Illinois, which, in
the attempt to build railroads and canals by the use of her
State credit, broke down with not a mile of railroad completed, 163

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
and with a debt of fifteen million dollars — six times greater
than the nominal debt of Minnesota — and for years the State
of Illinois did not pay a dollar of interest; yet when prosperity
returned to her she promptly met the holders of her bonds and
made satisfactory adjustment of the last dollar of her obliga
tions. * * * 4
Marshall's last annual message to the Legislature,
January 7, 1870, was published in pamphlet form and
as the first paper, 30 pages, in the Executive Docu
ments of Minnesota for 1869 (St. Paul, 1870). Char
acteristic paragraphs near the end of this address are as
follows :
Looking back over the period during which I have been
connected with the State government — humbled by the feeling
that I have been able to do so little for the State — I am yet
proud of what the people and the spontaneous agencies of pub
lic advancement have achieved. During that period the popula
tion of the State has almost doubled. Its wealth has quite
doubled. Its railroads have quadrupled. Its educational funds
and facilities have increased manifold. Its noble public chari
ties — the highest marks of our civilization — have, most of them,
been founded, and all of them advanced, to high positions of
usefulness. The resources of the State, by the half million
acres of internal improvement lands and other liberal grants for
important railroads have been greatly augmented. I am pro
foundly grateful for the providence that has connected me with
the government during so interesting and prosperous a period.
and I yet look forward to gather results in the future, under
wiser and abler administrations.

I am profoundly impressed with the belief that evil lies
in the direction of too much legislation and governing rather
than too little. The fewer, simpler and more stable the laws,
the better. The less interference the better, with the ever
present natural laws that govern individuals and society with
unerring rule of right.
I am taught ever renewed thankfulness for our beneficent
political institutions, that our government, State and National,
gives such large liberty and such large opportunity to each
and all its citizens. This is the source of our marvelous pros
perity, of our wonderful progress in the arts of peace, and of
our might in war.
164

WILLIAM RAINEY MARSHALL.
And now, after seven full years of public service, military
and civil, deeply grateful to my fellow citizens for the un
merited honors they have conferred upon me, I gladly resign to
the eminent citizen, who has been called from another depart
ment of honorable public service, the trust which was commit
ted to my hands. I exchange it willingly for the more con
genial pursuits of private life. There, in the ranks of useful
laborers, I hope henceforth to contribute my personal share to
the well-being of our Commonwealth, my well beloved State.
The two following papers by Governor (and Gen
eral) Marshall have been published by the Minnesota
Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion
of the United States, in their series of volumes entitled
"Glimpses of the Nation's Struggle."
Reminiscences of General U. S. Grant (First Series,
1887, pages 89-106).
Some Letters by General W. T. Sherman, U. S.
A., chiefly relating to Shiloh, read November 8, 1892
(Fourth Series, 1898, pages 605-614).
An Obituary Sketch of Senator Henry M. Rice, read
by Governor Marshall at a meeting of the Minnesota
Historical Society, February 12, 1894, is in this Society's
Collections, Volume IX, 1901, pages 654-658.

165

HORACE AUSTIN.

HORACE AUSTIN
Sixth Governor of the State of Minne
sota, was born in Canterbury, Conn.,
October 15, 1831, and died in Minne
apolis, Minn., November 7, 1905. He
was Judge of the Sixth Judicial District,
1865-69, and was. Governor from Janu
ary 9, 1870", to January 7, 1874, and
subsequently held several subordinate
offices.

HORACE AUSTIN
SIXTH GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
January 9, 1870, to January 7, 1873

THIS great and marvelous state — this infant Her
cules — has usually been careful in selecting its
governors. Their personality and characteristics have
reflected the character and intelligence of our people, not
perhaps as men of letters, not as orators, not as heroes
laureled from the war, but as men substantially represen
tative of the people who have chosen them. There are
men of vital importance to the state, of whose service
history takes but little heed. It is not the man of genius,
nor the orator who is ablaze with wit, who does most and
best for his country. But it is the man who, though un
skilled in these -brilliant arts, aids in keeping the state in
the paths of justice and public righteousness, who brings
comfort and happiness, contentment and prosperity to
his fellows, who opens up the highways of commerce,
who fosters schools and colleges, and in all proper ways
brings to pass practical things for the state.
In all, we have had eighteen governors,, territorial
and state. I would not attempt the appraisement of the
intellectual character or quality of service of our guber
natorial roster. Every governor was in some peculiar
169

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
degree the mirror of his times. His nomination and
election were controlled by peculiar existing conditions.
In all the roster of our chief executives there is little or
nothing of which to be ashamed, and much of which we
may justly be proud. Occasionally the public intelli
gence and the public conscience may appear to have
slumbered, but uniformly public alertness and public
scrutiny have secured the elevation of able men to the
executive chair.
Horace Austin was born October 15, 1831, at Can
terbury, Connecticut. He was the son of a substantial
farmer, and the family was of stern New England stock.
He was reared on the home farm. His education, after
the public school, was finished at an academy in Litch
field, Maine. Subsequently he taught in Belgrade Acad
emy, of which institution he was for a short time the
principal. From there he went to Augusta, Maine, and
studied law in the office of the Hon. Lot Morrill, for
many years a United States senator.
Smitten with the Western fever, in 1856 he turned
his ambitious footsteps to the West in search of home
and fortune, and finally located at St. Peter, Minnesota.
He was then twenty-five years of age. He at once began
the practice of his profession as a lawyer.
In 1862, on the breaking out of the Indian war, he
promptly enlisted as a private in the "St. Peter Frontier
Guards." He was afterward made first lieutenant of the
company. He was in the second battle of New Ulm.
Immediately afterward the First Regiment of Mounted
170

HORACE AUSTIN.
Rangers was organized by Colonel Samuel McPhail. For
this regiment Horace Austin raised Company B, and was
mustered as captain into the service of the United States
for the Indian war, October 29, 1862. He was then
thirty-one years of age. This regiment made a splendid
record in defense of the homes of the frontier. At
Camp Baker it was the fortune of the writer to see
Captain Austin lead a gallant charge against the infuri
ated savages.
His next step was a judicial one. There was a gen
eral conviction that he was a sound lawyer, and, without
much opposition, he was elected judge of the Sixth
Judicial District in 1864. It was soon observed that he
was an independent, upright, and fearless judge. This
fact paved the way for another and greater preferment.
The advent of Judge Austin into polities was quiet
and unostentatious. The Republican state convention of
1869 met September 9 at St. Paul. There seemed to
be an opportunity for the nomination of a safe and pru
dent man. Judge Austin's reputation in his judicial dis
trict was of the best, and that district presented his name
with perfect unanimity. The vote was quite a surprise
and he was nominated on the first ballot, the vote stand
ing Austin 147, Donnelly 64, and McKusick 17. His
Democratic opponent was George L. Otis, a lawyer of St.
Paul, a gentleman of high standing and marked ability.
The campaign was rather a lifeless affair. The Republi
cans came near losing the election. Austin received
27,348 votes; Otis 25,401; and Daniel Cobb, the Prohibi-
171

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
tion candidate, 1,764. Austin's plurality over Otis was
but 1,94-7. He was elected by the smallest majority the
Republicans had ever received in the state.
A study of his messages gives a very favorable idea
of the man, of the condition of the state, and of the im
portant measures he earnestly advocated. The firmness
and decisive character which he developed commended
him more to the people than it did to the politicians.
He advocated a complete revision of the criminal code;
he opposed special legislation; he urged that the state
and federal elections should occur on the same day; and
when a subservient legislature apportioned the internal
improvement lands among certain railroad corporations,
he promptly vetoed the proposition, and secured the adop
tion of a constitutional amendment prohibiting the leg
islature from squandering these lands without consent of
the voters. Subsequently, and after the adoption of this con
stitutional amendment, during his second term, an act
was passed authorizing the division of the proceeds of the
sale of these internal improvement lands for the special
purpose of paying the "Minnesota Railroad Bonds."
This proposition was ratified by the people at the next
ensuing election by a vote of 18,257 yeas, to 12,489 nays.
He suggested the wisdom of a convention to revise
the constitution, the old one having served its day and
usefulness. But the proposition failed then, and subse
quently in 1896.

172

HORACE AUSTIN.
Perhaps the most important act of his administra
tion was his veto of the proposition to divide among the
various railroads of the state what were known as the
"Internal Improvement Lands." A strong combination
of railroad interests secured the passage of an act for
that purpose. The pressure on Government Austin to
sign the bill was intense. But his firmness was equal to
the occasion and the veto came. After full considera
tion of his act, the wisdom of the veto was seen and cor
dially approved by the general public. The result as to
these lands was as above stated.
After serving as governor for two years with honor
and fidelity, he was renominated in 1871 without oppo
sition. The result of the election was a triumphant vin
dication of his conduct as chief executive. The Demo
cratic candidate was Winthrop Young. A Prohibition
candidate, Samuel Mayall, was also in the field. The
vote was as follows: For Austin, 46,950; for Young,
30,376; and for Mayall, 846.
On the 13th of July, 1870, Daniel S. Norton, mem
ber of the United States Senate, having died, Governor
Austin appointed Hon. William Windom, then a mem
ber of Congress from the First District, to fill the va
cancy till the meeting of the legislature.
When the legislature convened, Ozora Pierson
Stearns was elected to fill the yet unexpired term of the
late Senator Norton. At the same time, William Win
dom was elected senator for the full term beginning

173

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
March 4, 1871. Senator Stearns occupied the position
for less than two months.
During the administration of Governor Austin a
very extraordinary event occurred, the only one of its
kind in the history of the state. It was in the winter of
1873 that the great state treasury defalcation was discov
ered. William Seeger was state treasurer. Governor
Austin's message gave a very satisfactory statement of
the condition of the state treasury. It showed a balance
in the treasury of $243,300.
As the people had voted in the preceding fall to is
sue a quarter of a million of bonds to construct neces
sary buildings for the state institutions, the question
arose, where is this $243,300 surplus, and why is it not
made applicable to the situation? In the Senate W. G.
Ward, of Waseca county, offered a resolution to ascertain
whether the surplus funds reported in the governor's
message were actually in the vaults of the treasury, or
loaned to banks or individuals. The resolution was
passed, and Senators Ward, R. B. Langdon, and L. F.
Hubbard, were so appointed. As the investigation pro
ceeded, it began to be clear that this money was not iu
the state treasury, or at least that $180,000 was missing
Mr. Seeger seemed inclined not to give information as to
its actual whereabouts, but insisted that the money could
and would be faithfully accounted for, and the state was
fully protected by his bondsmen. He also insisted that
not one cent of the moneys of the state had ever been
perverted to his own use.
174

HORACE AUSTIN.
The result was that a resolution was offered in the
House, asking William Seeger to resign his office as state
treasurer. Being advised by his attorneys, he declined
to do so. It appeared that the missing money had been
used to cover the actual deficit of Seegeris predecessor,
Emil Munch; that when he took the treasurership, See
ger accepted Emil Munch's note for $112,000 as cash.
This, and an additional sum, Seeger was carrying for
Munch, in the hope that the latter would retrieve certain
personal losses and restore the missing funds. The in
vestigation exposed the whole situation.
A resolution was immediately passed, ordering See-
ger's impeachment. During the progress of the im
peachment proceedings, Seeger, by the advice of his at
torneys, resigned. He sent his resignation to Governor
Austin, and it was accepted by him. The governor was
criticised considerably for so doing.
There was much sympathy for Seeger, as it became
evident that he was the tool of other parties. Seeger's
bondsmen were very responsible men. They proved to
have a high sense of honor, and the state recovered
promptly every dollar, principal and interest. The
bondsmen of the state treasurer were Horace Thompson
and Maurice Auerbach, of St. Paul, Charles Scheffer, of
Stillwater, Emil Munch, who was the son-in-law of
Seeger, and Adolph Munch, brother of the former state
treasurer. Mr. Maurice Auerbach, the only one of the
unfortunate bondsmen now living, states that this en
dorsement cost him personally $100,000. 175

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Mr. Seeger was regularly impeached and removed
from office, in spite of his resignation. Edwin W. Dyke
was appointed treasurer by Governor Austin to fill the
remainder of Seeger's term. Soon afterward, the legis
lature hedged the state treasury about with such ample
provisions of law that such an event could not happen
again. There was no attempt made to criminally prosecute
any one. While the Republicans felt that the party had
received a strain, yet the Democrats did not avail them
selves of the opportunity to make a fuss about this flag
rant crime.
In 1873, there began to be much activity in the
political arena in reference to the selection of a United
States Senator. Governor Ramsey was anxious for a
re-election; Governor Austin was active for securing his
own election to the Senate, but was not favorable to
the re-election of Ramsey. Many opponents of Ramsey
presented, as their candidate, William D. Washburn. The
St. Paul Dispatch was especially bitter against Ramsey,
and in stirring editorials advocated a revolt against what
it termed the "Old fogies." The Dispatch's candidate
for governor was Cushman K. Davis, who was then
United States district attorney. When the state con
vention finally assembled, General L. F. Hubbard pre
sented a letter from Governor Austin, declining to be a
candidate. This left the contest substantially between
Washburn and Davis. On the fourth and final ballot,

176

HORACE AUSTIN.
Davis received 155, and Washburn 152. The young Re
publicans had forged to the front.
Austin, after retiring from the governor's chair, was
appointed by President Grant Third Auditor of the
United States treasury, a position which he held for
four years. He served under three successive secretaries
of the treasury, Bristow, Morrill, and Sherman. He was
then appointed register of the United States land office
in Fargo, Dakota, which position he held seven years.
During the Austin administration, the counties of
Aitkin, Yellow Medicine, Lac qui Parle, Becker, Carlton,
Clay, Cottonwood, Kanabec, Lyon, Nobles, Rock, Stevens,
Swift, Cass, Murray and Wilkin, were organized.
In a compendium of the important laws passed dur
ing his administration, the following are worthy of
note: A revision and codification of all laws relating
to common and Normal schools; a reciprocal general in
surance law; the establishment of a state board of health;
a division of the state into three congressional districts;
to regulate and restrict railroads; Canada thistles pro
nounced a common nuisance, and fines imposed for not
preventing their growth; geological and natural history
survey of the state under the supervision of .the State
University. During this period occurred the presidential election
of 1872, when Ulysses S. Grant was the Republican and
Horace Greeley the Democratic nominee. The vote in
Minnesota stood, for Grant 90,919; for Greeley, 35,211,
and' for Charles O'Connor, a third candidate, 162.
12 177

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Returning to Minnesota and resuming the practice
of law, Austin was, in 1887, appointed by Governor A.
R. McGill a railroad commissioner for the state, and
served from January 12, 1887, to January, 1891. His
associates in the office were Gen. George L. Becker and
Hon. John L. Gibbs.
When Austin became governor, he took Andrew R.
McGill with him from St. Peter as his private secretary.
In due time, Governor Austin promoted McGill to be
Insurance Commissioner. When, in turn, thirteen yean
later, McGill became governor, he appointed Austin on
the Railroad and Warehouse Commission. Thus these
mutual friends served each other.
After retiring from public life, in which he had
spent about thirty years, Austin retained his residence
in Minneapolis, but his family home was at Mound,
Lake Minnetonka. In his last days he appeared to float
about seemingly at sea, without any special purpose in
life. But the uprightness of his character, his general
intelligence and pertinent views on all public questions,
made him a welcome guest among a large circle of friends.
His private life was one of unsullied purity. His relig
ious views were strict, but, in all, liberal. His was not
a perfect life. In some measure it was incomplete, an
admirable fragment, of which we can wish there had been
more. If you will study the roster of our governors with
comparative care, you will find that Horace Austin
stands well up in the front row, and he bequeaths to the
178

HORACE AUSTIN.
state an honorable record as one of the best and firmest
of its executives.
He made the trip to Alaska in company with his
friend, F. B.. Morrill, of Fargo, and greatly enjoyed it.
He spent several winters in southern California, where'
he had a small ranch. He bought a team and roamed
over the country, sometimes prospecting in the mountains
for minerals. He had an assaying outfit, and amused
himself in that way, the main intent being to live out of
doors. It was the writer's privilege in those days to
meet him often and enjoy his agreeable society in com
pany with his lifelong friend, J. K. Moore, formerly
editor of the St. Peter Tribune.
In November, 1905, he required a minor surgical
operation, and for that purpose went to St.. Barnabas
hospital in Minneapolis. He was then in his seventy-
fifth year, and had just celebrated his birthday with bis
family at Mound, October 15th. His condition for the
operation was deemed excellent, but unexpectedly a
change took place, and to the surprise of his physicians
his death came suddenly on Tuesday, the seventh of
November, 1905. Thus ended the days of a noble citi
zen, a sound jurist, a brave soldier, and a good governor.
. At the time of his death, and for some time prev
ious, he was engaged in writing and compiling his me
moirs. We trust that these papers will be given by his
family to the Minnesota Historical Society for preserva
tion and future use. Singularly enough, Governor Mc
Gill, his devoted friend, died only one week before Gov.
179

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
ernor Austin. There was something dramatic in the
lives of these two governors, so devoted in friendship, so
nearly allied in death.
On the day before the operation that resulted in his
death, Governor Austin wrote the following letter to his
lifelong personal friend, Prof. Judson Jones, of Cleve
land, Minn. :
"Dear Jud. : Thirty-five years ago three fast friends
came down the Minnesota valley together to take part in
the affairs of state; they acted well their parts (at least
the other two of the three), and they have been sincere
friends ever since. But on yesterday we laid one of them
away in sleep at Oakland, and now the little circle is
broken, one tie is rent asunder.
"I cannot, as otherwise I would, now write you fully
of the great sorrow and of the last hours of our dear old
friend, Andrew McGill (though there is not much to
be said of the event itself, his death, which does not ap
pear in the public press sent you), for now I am in a
hospital for a surgical operation. This is my last after
noon before it is to take place, and I have many notes
to send out, many little affairs to attend to, and so can
not give -much time to either. In the morning I go un
der the knife and for two or three weeks thereafter, at
the best, I shall not be permitted to write, perhaps not
even read.
"It is not regarded as a very critical operation, and
I submit to it with courage and confidence; but in such
180

HORACE AUSTIN.
cases no one knows in advance what the issue may be; so
it becomes one to be prepared for the worst. And I
have made a pretty good ready as far as my business mat
ters are concerned. As to the rest, having acted on my
best knowledge and judgment, I have no misgivings.
"I confidently expect to meet and greet you again
as we have so often met and greeted each other in the
past for now almost fifty years; but if in this we should
be disappointed, I shall go in the hope to meet you and
greet you in a land that is fairer than this (though this
to both of us has been kind and beautiful), as well as
to meet and greet in love and pleasure so many loved
ones who have gone before and are already fon that beau
tiful shore.' So, my dear old friend, if forever, still for
ever fare thee well.
"As in the goodness of God we have prospered, en
joyed many blessings during a long life, so in unlimited
confidence that His wisdom and grace will prove ample
for the wants of all His children, here and hereafter, and
with courage for any fate, I am, as ever,
Your devoted and sincere friend, "HORACE AUSTIN."
The remains of Governor Austin were cremated at
his request, and the ashes are buried in Oakland Ceme
tery, St. Paul.
Governor Austin was married in March, 1859, to
Miss Mary Lena Morrill, of Augusta, Maine. To this
union were born six children, five daughters and one son,
181

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
as follows: Mrs. Lenora Hamlin, of Chicago; Alice
Austin, an artist of Boston; Ida W. Austin, who died
March 22, 1888; Herbert W. Austin, of St. Paul, now
with the Northern Pacific Railway Company; Mabel,
married to Dr. Ernest Southard, professor in Harvard
Medical College, Boston; and Helen Horace Austin,
teacher in the Central High School, St. Paul. They are
a family of high intellectuality, great and varied talents,
and marked individuality and force of character. The
world will certainly be the better for the earnest and
progressive spirit of their lives.
The Governor had one brother, George Austin, of
Everett, Washington, and also a half brother, C. D.
Austin, of Minneapolis, who are both now living.

Governor Austin's inaugural address to the Legisla
ture, January 7, 1870, was published as a pamphlet of
25 pages, and also as the second paper in the Executive
Documents for the year 1869 (St. Paul, 1870). The
closing part of this address contains the following tri
bute to the memory of Austin's fellow townsman, Gov
ernor Swift:
In the struggle for preserving the unity of the republic,
Minnesota bore her full share. Her gallant troops turned the
tide of battle on many a hard fought field. Well may we
congratulate ourselves, therefore, upon the success of the labors
and sacrifices in which we had a brilliant, if not a command
ing part. Here let me sjjeak, without disparagement to others,
of one of Minnesota's lamented citizens, her dead Governor, the
noble, generous, self-sacrificing Henry A. Swift, in whose char
acter was realized the traits of Wordsworth's "Happy War
rior:" 182

HORACE AUSTIN.
"Who if he rise to station of command
Rises by open means; and there will stand
On honorable terms; or else retire,
And in himself possess his own desire."
His name deserves to be enrolled with those of Andrew,
Curtin, Morton, and the loyal Governors who realized the
genius and strength of the rebellion, and rendered such efficient
aid in its suppression. They were the Lieutenants of the
President, without whose hearty support failure would have
been inevitable.
The annual message of Austin to the Legislature,
January 5, 1871, was of unusual length, forming a
pamphlet of 56 pages, published also as the first paper
in the Executive Documents for 1870 (St. Paul, 1871).
Nearly a third of this message is devoted to discussion
of railway tariffs, on which the governor wrote in part
as follows :
In mj inaugural address I took occasion to examine the
popular complaints against the management of the railroads
within the State, as well as to present, to the best of my
ability, the facts which the roads plead in justification of their
course, and, after an examination of the legal bearings of the
case, took the responsibility of suggesting remedial legislation;
preliminary to which I advised that a commission be created
to make full inquiry into the alleged abuses, and who should,
in case the evils complained of, or other wrongs, were found to
prevail, present some plan remedying the difficulties.
My reason for recommending the precautionary step of a
commission, in advance of other legislation to which the serv
ices of the commissioners were designed to be preparatory,
was not that I questioned the constitutional right of the Leg
islature to regulate freight and passenger tariffs, or doubted
the necessity of so doing, but that you might have before
you the means of an accurate knowledge of the merits of the
controversy, gathered from an extended and thorough exami
nation of the whole subject in all its relations.

However plausible the excuse, there can be no doubt that
the system of freight tariffs and elevator charges practiced
by some of our roads are unjustifiable, extortionate and op
pressive to the last degree — totally indefensible on any well
183

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
recognized principles of legitimate business, of commercial in
tegrity, or of public decency.
Austin's next annual message, delivered January 4,
1872, at the beginning of his second term, was pub
lished as a pamphlet and as the first paper, 41 pages, in
the Executive Documents for 1871 (St. Paul, 1872).
The following were his recommendations for the state
geological survey, which was authorized by the legis
lature in that session, and for the Minnesota Histori
cal Society and the State University.
Considering the vast extent of our territory, its varied
formations, soils, mineral deposits — undoubtedly existing in
great wealth in some sections of the State — and the fact that
we have never had a survey of the State worthy of the
name, except at a few points of easy access, is it not desir
able that you should make provision for a thorough geological
survey by a capable, efficient, practical geologist? Such a
survey would probably have saved the State the six sections
of land consumed at Belle Plaine in the vain search for salt,
the value of which alone would defray the entire expense of
the undertaking, and might have saved to the citizens inter
ested in that enterprise additional expense. A thorough geo
logical survey would most likely reveal sources of wealth un
known, and not even supposed to exist, and would probably
definitely locate and uncover others, the existence of which is.
only surmised. * * *

The Historical Society is steadily and successfully pur
suing its labors and during the past year has made gratifying
progress, amply demonstrating its usefulness and value. Its
library now contains nearly 5,000 bound volumes, most of
them rare and valuable, while its collection of a published
nature concerning the state is remarkably complete and use
ful. The rooms provided for the society several years ago
have already become too limited and should be enlarged as far
as the needs of other departments will admit. I commend the
society to your continued care and recommend liberal pro
visions for its future usefulness.

The annual report of the Board of Regents, which will be
laid before you, shows favorable progress at the University..
184

HORACE AUSTIN.
There have been in attendance, in all the , departments, during
the year past 321 students, of whom 92 were females. This in
crease in the number of students enhances the demand for
more and better accommodations, and the board of regents
therefore make an earnest appeal for an appropriation for the
enlargement of the old building, which is but a wing of the
original plan. There can be no doubt of the necessity of this,
nor of the fact that the School must be embarrassed and
greatly limited in its usefulness until more ample accommoda
tions are provided. No part of the funds arising from the sale
of lands can be applied for the erection of buildings, whieh
leaves the institution entirely dependent upon the legislature
for a supply of its wants in this direction.
The University, being the chief institution of learning in
the State and standing at the head of our system of schools,
should be made to reflect credit on the State and be enabled
to take position with similar institutions of the country. It
should receive such substantial aid as may be consistent with
the means at your disposal and the demands of our charitfble
institutions. January 9, 1873, Governor Austin delivered his third
annual message to the legislature, which was published in
49 pages as a pamphlet and as the first paper of the
Executive Documents for the year 1872 (St. Paul,
1873.) Concerning development of local manufactures,
this message said:
After all shall have been done that can be done to cheapen
the transportation of the bulky freights produced by an agri
cultural people, even though the expectation of the most san
guine should be realized, the profits upon such production will
be small, the prosperity of the people limited -and their lot a
hard one, so long as fifteen hundred to five thousand miles lie
between them and their markets. Minnesota is essentially an
agricultural State, but nature has not been so ungenerous in
the distribution of her bounties as to limit us to the culture
of the earth alone; on the contrary, she has endowed us with
those elements which need but to be utilized by the ingenuity
of man, and inspired by the magic touch of capital to make us
the New England of the great Northwest — to build up a thou
sand active business centres where the busy artisan and the
tradesman shall require not only the surplus production of the
farmer, but where the wealth of our forests and of our mines
shall be demanded, and where they shall be coined into gold,
or become a commodity of ready exchange with the consumer,
without the intervention of a score of middle-men — whose pro-
185

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
fits exceed those of the producer and consumer combined — or
subject to the inexorable extortions of confederated transpor
tation companies. To effect the desired result, I would sug
gest such a change in the constitution as will allow the Leg
islature to enact laws authorizing towns and cities to relieve
from taxation capital whieh shall be invested in manufactur
ing, or perhaps authorize the loan or donation of a specific sum.
However, these privileges, if granted, should be well
guarded, that the flood-gates be not opened to an injudicious
and unlimited indebtedness. I would restrict an exemption
from taxation to a limited number of years, say fifteen, and,
if more direct aid were to be extended, would permit it to be
done by virtue of not less than a two-thirds vote, and would
limit the amount to be loaned or donated, whether paid in
cash or bonds, to a certain per cent of the valuation of the
property in the eitv or other municipal corporation granting
the aid. * " *
The fourth and last annual message of Governor
Austin, January 9, 1874, published in a pamphlet of
45 pages and in the Executive Documents for 1873
(St. Paul, 1874), concludes as follows:
If I have not been able to accomplish any great work of
public improvement or material development, nor to enlarge
the powers or the privileges of the masses, I have not stood in
the way of the former nor retarded the progress of the lat
ter. The growth of the State in wealth, in public and internal
improvements, in agriculture, in population, in the means of
general education, and in the general prosperity and happiness
of the people, has been too great to be questioned.
To have been at the head of affairs, to have my name as
sociated with the events of these four prosperous if not event
ful years, I am profoundly thankful to the people of Minne
sota. And now, after ten years of public service, judicial and
executive, worn with care and realizing the necessity of mak
ing for a dependent family better provision than the oppor
tunities of a public life permit, I willingly resign to another
the honors and responsibilities of my situation, and the more
willingly because they are to be transferred to a gentleman
of eminent ability, who will guard the one and faithfully dis
charge the other.
I bespeak for him your cordial co-operation, and earnestly
do I invoke Heaven's most abundant blessings upon the people
of Minnesota; and that her untarnished name may shine for
ever in the galaxy of American States with the lustre of that
star whieh symbolizes her glory, is my earnest prayer.
186

HORACE AUSTIN.
In the Publications of the Minnesota Commandery
of the Loyal Legion of the United States, "Glimpses of
the Nation's Struggle" (Fourth Series, 1898, pages
124-143), is a paper by Governor Austin, "The Frontier
of Southwestern Minnesota in 1857; the Ink-pa-doota
Outbreak; the Campaign of 1863 against the Sioux,"
read December 12, 1893. This paper is partly auto
biographic, and also contains interesting character notes
of Governor Gorman, Joseph R. Brown, Joseph Rolette,
and other members of the last territorial legislature.

187

CUSHMAN K. DAVIS.

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS
Seventh Governor of the State of Min
nesota, was born in Henderson, New
York, June 16, 1838, and died in St.
Paul, November 27, 1900. He served
in the Civil War; practiced law in St.
Paul; and was Governor of Minnesota
from January 7, 1874, to January 7,
1876. From 1887 until his death he was
a United States Senator. In 1898, at
the conclusion of the war with Spain,
he was a member of the Spanish Ameri
can Peace Commission.

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS
SEVENTH GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
January 7, 1874, to January 7, 1876

POLITICS and literature do not often go hand in
in hand. We have had, however, in this state
a rare exception. But seven years have passed since the
death of Cushman Kellogg Davis. His recognition as
statesman, classic orator, and man of letters, has gained
in expression and cumulative interest with each passing
year. The pervasive atmosphere of his memory is extend
ing through all the ranks of culture. In another genera
tion interest will center more and more about this man,
so unlike our other governors.
Literary talent, culture, a wonderful power of ex
pression, rich as cloth of gold, so potent in him, will
reach with propulsive force to Minnesotans yet unborn.
Amid his political entanglements, his legal work, dry as
dust, and statesmanly employments, his irrepressible lit
erary gifts would flash out like lances of sunlight be
tween the clouds.
His accomplishments as a man of letters, and his
wonderful skill in state-craft, are the two Corinthian
columns on whieh rest his glory and his fame. 191

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
No one can envy the great distinction which came to
this remarkable man. He was too amiable and honorable
to assail or decry any competitor in the race for suprem
acy. The rewards of a commendable ambition came to
him without seeking to humble any rival. "His tongue
dropped manna" for all, and wellnigh made him exempt
from that vituperation which is too often the fate of
our public men. In the earlier period of his professional
career, there seemed to be a sportive tendency in his
tastes; but quite suddenly he dropped all the haunts of
diversion, and studiously gave himself to his library and
his profession. Henceforth his life and career formed a
notable part of the state he so devotedly loved and so
greatly honored.
He was born at the village of Henderson, Jefferson
county, New York, on the 16th day of June, 1838, in
a small home built partly of logs, and mossy and vener
able with age. He came of sturdy Puritan stock, and on
his mother's side he was a descendant of Mary Allerton,
who was the last survivor of the noble band that came
over in the Mayflower. He was a descendant of Robert
Cushman, the preacher, of the Pilgrims, and he had great
pride in his ancestry. His father, Horatio N. Davis,
was quite prominent, had served in the Civil War, and
retired from the army with the brevet rank of major.
He held many municipal offices, and was, at one time, a
member of the Wisconsin Senate. When an infant, his
parents removed to the vicinity of Waukesha, Wis.,
where, for fifteen years, they resided on a farm. He
192

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS.
was trained in the local schools, but was early transferred
to the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, from which
he was graduated in 1857. He studied law, and came to
the bar in Waukesha as soon as he had reached his ma
jority. With his intellectual gifts he speedily attained a
good practice, and was recognized as a rising and am
bitious young lawyer.
But the storm of civil war broke upon the country,
and he entered the army as first lieutenant of Company B
of the Twenty-eighth Wisconsin infantry. He served with
marked courage and fidelity until the complete break
ing down of his health from constant and insidious mal
aria and fever. For nearly two years he was with the
Army of Tennessee in' campaigns in Kentucky, Arkansas,
and Mississippi. He returned to the paternal home,
and with gradually returning health he was ambitious
to seek a larger field of activity. Surveying the great
Northwest, fortunately for both him and this state, he
chose St. Paul as his future home.
He arrived in that city in 1865. Resuming at once
the practice of the law, in partnership with ex-governor
Willis A. Gorman, he became noted as one of the ablest
and most prominent members of a bar eminently dis
tinguished for its rare ability and high character.
In 1867 came his first political recognition, when
he was elected to the legislature of that year. His
ability was speedily recognized, and he took an active
part in its deliberations. In 1868 he was appointed, by
is 193

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
President Johnson, United States attorney for Minnesota,
and served in that capacity till 1875.
In the meantime he was devoting unwearied atten
tion to general literature. In response to the trend of
public sentiment, then greatly agitated over alleged rail
way dominance and aggression, he prepared his celebrated
lecture entitled "Modern Feudalism." He delivered this
lecture at many places over the state, and it won for him
a good deal of reputation. In fact, it was the means of
directing public attention to him, and was probably the
inciting cause of his being nominated for governor by
the Republican party, July 16, 1873.
The contest in the convention was between Davis
and W. D. Washburn, of Minneapolis, a most worthy and
able antagonist. After an exciting struggle, Davis was
declared nominated by one majority. Upon so slender
a thread does human destiny turn. This result changed
many personal and political fortunes in our state. His
opponents were Asa Barton, Democrat, of Faribault,
and Samuel Mayall, Prohibitionist, of St. Paul. Davis
received, in the election, 40,741 votes; Barton, 35,245;
and Mayall, 1,036. Davis was the youngest of all our
governors, being only in the thirty-sixth year of his age
when he entered upon the duties of his office.
January 9, 1875, he delivered his inaugural mes
sage to the legislature. The marked feature of that
document was- his vigorous arraignment of the railways
of the state for extortionate rates, and suggesting reme
dies. Following these suggestions, a board of railway
194

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS.
commissioners was established, and Davis subsequently
appointed the first board.
His last annual message was delivered January 7,
1876. He had from time to time offered many valuable
suggestions for the betterment of our laws, now incor
porated in our statutes, though the source of their in
spiration is forgotten. But the essential feature of his
last message was his views upon the duty of the state as
to the old state railroad bonds. The question of the
moral and legal obligation of the state to adjust that in
debtedness was never, before or since, so succinctly and
cogently presented. There will be found the whole es
sence of the argument against the state, never improved
by any subsequent discussion of that vexed question. He
clearly and boldly set forth, though it was unpopular at
the time, the law and that higher rule of action which
requires that states, no less than men, shall do justice, no
matter how onerous may be the performance. With this
sound admonition, he closed his career as governor of
Minnesota. On the expiration of his term of office Governor
Davis declined to be again a candidate. He alleged that
he was a poor man, and his profession gave him an in
come greatly in excess of the governor's salary. But it
was understood he was then nursing an ambition to go
to the United States Senate, and in the second year of
his term of office he threw his gauntlet into the senatorial
arena.

195

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
The senatorial election came on in 1875. There
were four candidates, to wit: Senator Ramse3r, for a
third term; W. D. Washburn; ex-Governor Austin; and
Davis. Ignatius Donnelly came in later on. The strug
gle was long and bitter, and developed much personal
feeling. The final result was the defeat of Senator Ram
sey and the election of Judge S. J. R. McMillan, of the
Supreme Bench, a "dark horse" introduced to allay the
feeling which had been engendered. Judge McMillan
served two terms in the Senate.
During these long twelve years, Governor Davis
bided his time with calmness and patience. He was rec
ognized as a brilliant and coming man. While he de
voted himself to his profession and to the wide field of
letters, he was prominent in all political campaigns, and
spoke with marked ability for his party, for he was
always a loyal Republican. During this period he lectur
ed on "Hamlet" and "Madame Roland," and also pub
lished his charming little book entitled "The Law in
Shakespeare," which attracted much attention.
The political campaign of 1886 was approaching,
and the Republican press of the state was almost a unit
for Davis for the Senate. The legislature met on the
fourth of January, 1887, and at the Republican caucus
held to nominate a candidate for United States senator
Cushman K. Davis received every vote but one. His
destiny was now fixed, and he entered on the most bril
liant political career that was ever the fortune of anv
son of Minnesota. It remains to add that he was given
196

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS.
his second term by a re-election in 1893, and a third
term by nearly a unanimous vote, in 1899, when death
cut short his great and valuable life, November 27,
1900. He entered the Senate March 4, 1887, in the
forty-ninth year of his age. There were assembled in
that Chamber such senators as Hoar, Lodge, Aldrich,
Allison, Spooner, and Morgan; and its walls yet echoed
with the voices of Webster, Clay, Benton, Calhoun, and
Conkling. He came with respectful regard for the dig
nity and reputation of that high legislative body, which
was equal to that any nation had yet established in the
rank of statesmanship and forensic eloquence.
When this young man entered the chamber that
august body was not aware that Cicero had arrived.
Whatever his aspirations or hopes, his innate modesty
covered them all. He sought his honors through honest
toil by the midnight lamp. While his friends at home
looked confidently forward to a career of honor and fame
for their chosen son, the Senate itself, of its own knowl
edge, had no occasion to be on the tiptoe of expectation.
Indeed, he worked himself upward by the strictest de
votion to senatorial duty, as opportunity came.
To him, at first, was accorded the chairmanship of
the committee on pensions, comparatively a humble posi
tion, the duties of which he discharged with unwearied
diligence and unruffled patience. The Senate soon
learned that this new man was gifted with great intel
lectual force, and was a sound legislator. It was not
197

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
long till he was transferred to the committee on foreign
relations, and here finally, as its chairman, he found a
wide field for his great abilities and for the exercise of
those qualities of statesmanship and diplomacy with
which he was so well gifted and equipped. He was a
profound student of the history of our diplomatic rela
tions with foreign countries, and as a preparation for
this, he was already a master of constitutional and in
ternational law. His wealth of preparation for the
headship of that committee soon gave him a record that
caused the Senate to rely upon his reports and accept his
advice. Following the War with Spain, he was nominated
by President McKinley, in company with two of his
senatorial colleagues and other distinguished persons, to
negotiate a treaty of peace with that country. The posi
tion was one in which the highest skill and learning were
necessary, and in that able body of American commis
sioners he was pre-eminently conspicuous for his learn
ing, his tact, and his fearless advocacy of the right.
That treaty gave to the people of the Spanish islands
relief from the most intolerable despotism, and added the
Philippines and Porto Rico to the American Republic.
The Treaty of Paris was the first occasion on which the
United States was called upon to test its strength and
wisdom in settling grave questions which really involved
the great countries of Europe. Of all that work, Senator
Davis was admitted to be the greatest part. His speeches
and reports on the Spanish War in the Senate, and it
198

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS.
is said more especially those in executive session, were
masterful expositions of all matters involved, and were
the propelling force which controlled the Senate.
When President Harrison sought to acquire the
Hawaiian Islands, that halfway station to Asia, Senator
Davis was his devoted supporter. And later, when
President McKinley was constrained for the broad pur
poses of public defense and welfare to secure their pos
session, it was Senator Davis, with abundant and cogent
reasons, who chiefly devised the plan which resulted in
tlieir annexation.
We recall the value of his services while serving on
the committee of the Pacific railroad, in working out the
mode and manner of settlement between the government
and the roads, so that the people lost nothing by their
generosity in originally aiding the growth and develop
ment of vast regions of our country.
No soldier of the great Civil War should ever forget
the debt of gratitude due him for his skill and persis
tency, while chairman of the committee on pensions, in
framing and securing the Dependent Pension Act of
1890. A veteran himself, he remembered his old com
rades. Through that act more than $750,000,000 has
gone to the needy and infirm veterans and their widows,
in token of the gratitude of a loyal people.
During the Venezuelan contention, his ability and
diplomatic skill enabled him to perform the most signal
service as the head of the committee on foreign relations.

199

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Thus, in all national affairs, he was wise, prudent,
considerate, and far-seeing, even to prophecy, exhibiting
all the elements of exalted statesmanship; never impul
sive, never erratic, but practical, and with broad views
on all public and international questions. Many of his
illustrious services in assisting and directing great poli
cies and events, which profoundly influenced the entire
history of the country, were unknown to the general
public because presented and considered in the com
mittee room and in executive sessions. As chairman
of the committee on foreign relations, he had reached
the field of the greatest opportunity for his abilities and
service to his country. Here he won that supreme dis
tinction which placed him in the advanced line of Amer
ican statesmen.
Absorbed as he was in the consideration of questions
of almost worldwide importance, he did not overlook
matters pertinent to the fortunes of his own state and
the great Northwest. He fully realized that the people
of Minnesota and the Dakotas could never secure the
just rewards of their productive fields unless they were
enabled to reach the markets of the world by the cheap
est and best possible route. Who that is well informed
on matters of momentous public interest has not read
that masterly exposition of traffic by waterways in which
he directed the attention of the senate and the nation to
the imperious necessity of the improvement of the canal
and locks at the Sault Ste. Marie? He saw with the
eye of a statesman that the swelling productions of the
200

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS.
vast wheat belt, the granary of the world, must be moved
to the sea on economic lines and arteries, or the golden
wealth of the vast Northwest would largely be lost to
the people. He educated congressional and public senti
ment by one great oration to the necessity of this im
provement, and it was accomplished. Every home in the
Northwest will forever be more prosperous by reason of
the far-sighted statesmanship of Senator Davis in secur
ing the enlargement and betterment of the Sault Sainte
Marie canal.
Among all our statesmen, he was the most vigorous
and clear expounder of the reach and effect of the
Monroe doctrine. The true relations of the United
States to Europe and the world, and our guardianship
of all American interests, were presented and interpreted
by him in a manner commensurate with the magnitude
of the subject.
These examples will serve to illustrate the scope and
character of his senatorial work. But now we must
study the man himself, the qualities of his intellect,
heart, and character. Sometimes the writer doubts
whether the people of his own state, loving him as they
did, fully appreciated the strength and vigor of his mind,
the abundance of his intellectual resources, and the Gre
cian culture which polished and enriched them all. He
was the first really great man Minnesota had presented to
the Republic. His modesty was as great as his genius
and his talents, and he lived a simple and unostentatious
life in the midst of his friends. He was at all times and
201

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
under all circumstances a true gentleman. It is quite
impossible to define precisely that term, but we always
feel what it means when in the presence of a man who is
endowed with that special grace and courtesy. No man
was ever more tolerant to his foes, and he never answered
another's argument with warmth or heat. Yet, while
he respected the opinion of other men, to the things for
which he stood he was as true as steel. He always re
membered the dignity and honor of his senatorial office.
No Roman senator ever bore himself with more dignity
and decorum, for he was ever mindful that no civil tri
bunal on earth is clothed with more power and majesty
than the Senate of this Republic. He always appreciated
the honor of the great commission he bore from the peo
ple of his state, and never failed to perform for them a
senator's full duty.
His powers of conversation, to which it was always a
delight to listen, were extolled and greatly admired by
those who had the pleasure of his intimacy. His great
and various knowledge and wide reading were always
available to the uses of society. His choicest relaxation
was in the polished company of men of literary tastes.
His manners apparently were not so polished, yet in
personal contact he was one of the most agreeable of men.
His manners were democratic and thoroughly unconven
tional, and he was easily approached by the humblest
citizen. Though clothed with an unaffected simplicity,
his self-respect and innate dignity were unmistakable.

202

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS.
His voice, unfortunately, was not of a quality which
aided him as an orator, being sotto voce, with a tenor
strain. He possessed a felicity of speech which was truly
remarkable, and his language, in speaking or writing, was
a model of excellence.
Society had no charms for him. His place of re
creation and enjoyment was his library, where his books
were his companions and his chosen friends. The wide
range of his reading in history and general literature was
simply extraordinary. He was the only one of our gov
ernors who could be correctly called a literary man.
Sibley was the only other governor who had the inbred
love of letters.
Although Davis dropped his Greek, he retained as
firm a hold on his Latin as any practiced collegian.
Ovid and Livy, Horace and Virgil, were his relaxations.
What do you think of a man who packs his valise for
a journey with a copy of Sallust and a volume of Pliny's
letters, for idle recreation? He had taught himself the
important modern languages, French, Italian, and Ger
man, and he was not an inapt scholar in Spanish. None
of these acquirements were made for parade or show; it
was a love of learning for its own sake.
There were special fields of literature in which he
delighted to roam and pluck flowers for his own enjoy
ment. I believe every truly great man of learning and
taste has studied and loved Shakespeare. The incom
parable dramatic poet was one of his chief loves. His
little book, entitled "The Law of Shakespeare," was a
203

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
royal testimonial of his Shakespearian learning. To il
lustrate the Senator's polished and elegant style, I will
quote a passage from his introduction to this extraordi
nary volume:
"There was everything in that romantic age to stir
the imagination. There was a spirit of chivalry abroad
which marched in quest of something more substantial
than moldy relics and fulfilled vows sworn to something
grander than the achievement of pious absurdities.
Frobisher had sailed northward into the silence of the
eternal seas of ice. El Dorado lifted against the western
skies its shafts and domes of gold. The Armada had
vanished like a portentous phantom, smitten by the
valor of Englishmen, and chased far off into the Hebri-
dean fogs by the waves of the exasperated sea which
fought for its island nurseling. Hawkins, pirate and
admiral, had thrown his fortune into the pit which
threatened to swallow up his country, and had died un
der the displeasure of his stingy yet magnificent queen.
Raleigh, having seen his dream of the New World die out,
lay in the Tower writing his history, doubtless smoking
the consoling weed while awaiting the end of so much
bravery, so much rashness, and so many cares, in the
summons of 'eloquent, just, and mighty Death.'
"Drake had spoiled the seas and cities thereof.
Captain John Smith had told of great empires in the
West and their swarthy emperors. Mary, Queen of Scots,
that changeful enchantress, as we see her now — at one
204

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS.
time the French lily, all sweet, pure, and fragrant, and
again, the Scottish thistle, spinous and cruel to all who
touched her — had woven the cords of love into the chains
of empire, and had pressed the cup of her sorceries to
the lips of many men, until her own glorious head bowed
to 'the long divorce of steel.' "
Thomas Babington Macaulay never wrote more su
perb lines than these. The shade of Shakespeare itself
could bow to their stately rhythm.
His study of international law was held by his sen
atorial associates to be thorough and masterly, and made
him a recognized leader and guide on all complicated
international questions. He was also profoundly versed
in diplomatic precedents and history. His eminence
in the legal profession was universally acknowledged
by the bar, and it is no disparagement to many distin
guished legal cotemporaries to say that he was the lead
ing lawyer of the Northwest. As a lawyer he was not a
specialist in any sense, and his versatility was so great
that there was no branch of the profession in which he
was not at home. It was the judgment of Senator
Spooner, of Wisconsin, himself one of the ablest of at
torneys, that his arguments addressed to the courts upon
questions of law, and to juries upon questions of fact,
could not be excelled by any one for strength, learning,
and^ eloquence.
With him reading was a passion. He invaded every
department of literature. He could say with Gibbon,
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GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
"My early and invincible love of reading I would not
exchange for the treasures of India." As his memory
was remarkably retentive, he became encyclopedic in uni
versal knowledge. Thus he was enabled to enrich and
adorn his public addresses, his senatorial speeches, and
even his private conversation, and that without effort
or ostentation. In his earlier years, as is often the case with as
piring minds, he was undecided in his religious views,
as to what was true in the Bible and the Christian reli
gion. But, with advancing years, profound study and
more serious thought brought him to a safe conclusion.
He was not devoted to any exclusive creed, but he
realized that the spiritual life was the flower and pur
pose of creation. To use his own distinct utterance to
his pastor,1 not long before his final illness, he said:
"It is a great deal better to have these things dis
cussed by the friends of the church rather than by her
enemies, but it is not new — Voltaire had much to say
on the subject. The heart of the question is not in
any debate about the history of the books of the Bible.
I am very familiar with the Bible. Job is the noblest
poem ever written, and there is much of the loftiest
eloquence in the Prophets. Nor is it in the literature
of the Bible that the problem of faith rests. I know
human history, and I know that in the first century
something happened that destroyed the old world and

•Rev. Dr. Samuel G. Smith.
206

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS.
gave birth to the new. The resurrection of Jesus
would account for that change, and I do not know of
any other, adequate solution that has ever been pro
posed." In this noble conviction Senator Davis departed to
his immortal rest, believing that he who had Christ
had all.
Among the many striking incidents of his eventful
career, we recall with pride ' his prompt action and ring- .
ing words, July 1, 1894, when that ill-timed resolution
was introduced into the United States Senate to permit
strikers to stop all railway traffic, provided they did not
interfere with the United States mails. A committee
from Duluth, assuming to speak for labor, wired Senator
Davis, requesting him to support the resolution. The
message came in the middle of the night, and springing
from his couch, without dressing, he wrote the famous
reply which was published in every newspaper in the
land, and which did more to allay the fierce passions
then aflame, and to set all men thinking, than any other
cause in that dark hour of national depression. The
message was instinct with the courage of a patriot, and
exhibited the farsightedness of a great statesman. Here
is the message:
"I have received your telegram. I will not support
the resolution. It is against your real welfare. It is
also a blow at the security, peace, and rights of millions
who never harmed you or your associates. My duty to
the Constitution and the laws forbids me to sustain a
207

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
resolution to. legalize lawlessness. The same duty rests
upon you and your associates. The power to regulate
commerce among the several states is vested by the Con
stitution in Congress. Your associates have usurped
that power at Hammond and other places, and have des
troyed commerce between the states in these particular
instances. You are rapidly approaching the overt act
of levying war against the United States, and you will
find the definition of that in the Constitution. I trust
that wiser thoughts will again control. You might as
well ask me to vote to dissolve the Government."
It was probably from this very message that Presi
dent Cleveland conceived the idea of sending United
States troops to Chicago to suppress the great labor riot,
which was one of the noblest acts of his presidential
career. We would do great injustice to Senator Davis' in
tellectual power, were we to omit calling special atten
tion to his orations and public addresses, delivered on
many occasions of great moment, and on widely different
subjects. When, on July 4, 1880, the Minnesota His
torical Society celebrated the two hundreth anniversary
of the discovery of the Falls of St. Anthony by Louis
Hennepin, Governor Davis was selected as the orator of
that imposing occasion. The audience was immense,
and many of the most distinquished men of the nation
honored the day with their presence. The oration was
all that could be hoped for with such a theme, and such
a spot, and such a speaker. There are passages in it
208

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS.
worthy of Cicero. Take this superb figure: "This
cataract has been manacled by the hand of man, and
works like the blind Samson in his mills."
Another of his elaborate orations was delivered
at the laying of the corner stone of the New Capitol
in St. Paul, July 27, 1898. It was one of his
best addresses, eminently worthy of the stately occa
sion, and was deservedly admired. The design of the
oration was as exalted as the execution was masterly.
On the 2d of July, 1897, Senator Davis delivered an
address on the battlefield of Gettysburg, at the unveil
ing of the statue erected by our state in honor of the
First Regiment's gallant deeds on that historic site.
Spoken upon a battlefield where blood flowed from the
splendid valor of our own sons, yet toleration and moder
ation marked every sentiment of "that grand utterance.
It was a message of peace and good will to all the Re
public. It is rich and fragrant with the generosity of
the great heart of one who spoke as nobly as he fought.
Listen to that patriotic voice of toleration and modera
tion that speaks to a reunited country louder than a
bugle call :
"And it was this transcendental fealty which so
soon reunited us in one family by the combined efforts
of men in whom hostility had been appeased, and closed
that awful chasm which our evil-wishers abroad pre
dicted would always divide us by a fixed and impassa
ble gulf. The same earthquake force which opened that
abyss closed it again, and we stand now, here and every-
u 209

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
where, upon solid ground — holy ground here, because
it is a tomb where the hosts of valor and patriotism have
'set up their everlasting rest.' It is also a field of resur
rection whence has arisen the Genius of a restored
Union." But brilliant examples of his power as an orator
abound through all his addresses. These will serve to
guide the reader to the rich mine that will forever re
main as our state's heritage, bequeathed to us by our
greatest orator. It should be the loving task of some
loyal son of Minnesota, to gather his speeches and ad
dresses in a volume, the better to preserve them in a
proper and durable form. Permit me to quote another
passage from his Gettysburg oration, to further illus
trate his classic style and exquisite beauty of expression:
"How lovingly Peace, enrobed in her imperial man
tle of golden harvests, reigns over this delicious land
scape. The refulgent armor of war now rusts beneath
our feet. The cannon that we see here in position
among the ranks which sleep in the invincible array
of death are silent forever. Peace now holds an un
broken sway over our dear land. And yet thirty-four
years ago today she fled affrighted from this scene. The
fiery chariots of War were reaping here the fields and
were gathering a harvest of men into that tabernacle
of never-ending rest, wherein all grains and fruits and
flowers and men and all living things must be garnered
at last."

210

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS.
It would be an unpardonable fault, in citing these
examples of his style, to omit a quotation from the ad
dress he delivered at the "Seventeenth Meeting of the
Society of the Army of the Tennessee," at Lake Minrie-
tonka, August 13, 1884. General Grant had written
Governor Davis a personal letter, asking him to deliver
the regular address on that occasion. Grant, Sherman,
Sheridan, and other illustrious men were present. At
tention is called to that splendid burst of eloquence
wherein he summons the phantom armies of Napoleon
and their imperial marshals in the "fields of air." T
challenge the whole range of oratory, modern and an
cient as well, to rival this superb utterance.
"* * * It was a sublime conception of the Aus
trian poet Zedlitz, that before the statue of the great
Napoleon in the Place Vendome the hosts of the Em
pire muster for review. While Paris sleeps, the dis
embodied cohorts of the dead conqueror break the marble
calm of death and are marshalled upon the fields of
air. The armies of twenty years stand embattled on
that aerial plain. They come from the slime of the
Nile, from the sands of Arabia, from the snows of Rus
sia, from Alpine ice, from German plains, from the
fields of Italy, from Spanish sierras, from the waves
of Trafalgar. The imperial marshals are there: Murat,
with his squadrons; Davout, with the victors of Auer-
stadt; Massena, with the famine-stricken defenders of
Genoa; Macdonald, sword in hand, and on foot, at the
head of the eighteen thousand immortals who broke the
211

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Austrian center at Wagram; slaughtered Ney, with the
apparition of the despairing Guard, which broke in vain
in bloody surges upon the English squares at Waterloo.
The spectres of auxiliary kings, their brows gold-
bound with phantom crowns bestowed by him, career
before their shadowy legions, and far off upon the con
fines of the night the phantasma of vanquished armies
in full retreat is dimly seen upon a hundred fields.
Martial music is faintly heard beneath the stars, and
upon the spirit banners of the pallid and evanescent host
as it sweeps in dark review before the bronze em-
porer, who has also taken a ghostly life, gleam the words
'Ave Imperator ! Morituri te salutant,' and then the
armies of a lost cause melt into the air and the em
peror becomes bronze again.
! "So now and in all time will the hosts of this army
defile before the Genius of History. They rise, arms
in hand, from the ancient river-beds, from the bivouac
of the grave, from Vicksburg and Kenesaw, from every
historic battlefield, from deadly forests and noisome
prison pens. The living and the dead are there, the
white man and his dusky comrade. The great generals
are in their places. The paeans of victorious music
are heard again. The starry flag gleams among the con
stellations. This pageant fades from the Elysian fields,
and History, taking up her pen, writes of that
army the imperishable words, 'Its cause was not lost,
for it was the cause of Liberty, my best beloved child.

212

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS.
It fought the great battle of humanity and conquered,
and is consecrated to the reverence of mankind.'"
In his addresses and orations there was never any
attempt to be theatrical or dramatic. There was no
fervid declamation; there was no violent action, as is said
of Demosthenes and Roscius. In fact, the manner of his
delivery did not seem much to concern him. He was
calm, dignified, and wholly unimpassioned. He seemed
to rely upon the substance and merit of his discourse for
his impression upon his auditors. His great intellectual
gifts governed his oratory. In his written orations,
by the midnight lamp he carefully prepared, each sen
tence, and was scrupulous in the selection of his words.
His diction was copious, indeed a model of every ele-r
gance. Like Fox, he possessed no grace of action, and
had a voice of little compass. But all this was forgotten
when he got into . his topic, and held you by his in
tellectual power. He never addressed himself to the
reporters, but directly to the people before him. His
pronunciation of our language was clear and beautiful,
and his use of it always pure and chaste.
Nothing so refreshed his mind, except his books,
as intercourse with those friends in whose companion
ship and converse he delighted.
Death found him at the zenith of his powers, and
in control of the really great committee of the Senate.
There was before him a field worthy of his splendid
abilities, and hence the pathos and regret of his unex-

213

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
pected demise. It is to be regretted that he wrote so
little of a permanent character. With his sentiment
and imagination, and his remarkable facility at elegant
composition, combined with his great learning, he
could have achieved permanent fame in any walk of lit
erature he might have chosen.
If we were to consider his private life, he would
appear sometimes to violate the correct principles of
social order. To reconcile private infirmities with
great public virtue is a difficult task. It is indeed a
puzzling question in a biography of this sort, how far
to apply the ethical laws of society to a public man.
Webster was a deep drinker at times, and Clay was
given to gaming; yet it was never alleged that either of
them neglected a public duty by reason of personal in
firmity. It is, however, a dangerous example, of evil
tendency, to let the private faults of great statesmen
pass uncensured. It was said of Pericles that he could
deliver the most brilliant address, and then away to
sup with Aspasia. But nearly twenty centuries ago
society was reconstructed on a different basis. Mankind
are ever indulgent toward the errors of great man. The
only marked blemish on Senator Davis' reputation
was a want of proper appreciation of the true character
of women, who in their exalted purity are the conser
vators of society.
Senator Davis was twice married. His first wife
was a Mrs. Laura Bowman, of Wisconsin, from whom
he procured a legal separation. He was subsequently
214

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS.
married to Anna Malcom Agnew (maiden name), the
divorced wife of Charles Fox, of St. Paul. This mar
riage occurred in 1888. Neither wife bore him children.
He died at eight o'clock, November 27, 1900,
at his home, 130 Farrington avenue, at sixty-two years of
age. He had suffered for two months from senile gan
grene, which later became complicated with acute inflam
mation of the kidneys. There were present at his death
bed his venerable father, ninety years of age (his mother,
eighty-six, was in the adjoining room) ; his wife;
his sister, Mrs. Bartlett Tripp; his regular physician,
Dr. A. J. Stone; two consulting physicians; his legal
partner, C. A. Severance;* and the nurses.
His remains lay in state in the Governor's Room
at the Capitol, where they were visited by an immense
and constant procession of citzens. On the day of the
funeral all public business was suspended. Messages of
sympathy, from the President of the United States, from
cabinet officers, senators, and foreign ministers, poured
in upon the family. The press of the entire nation paid
tribute to his memory. Indeed, the whole people mour
ned. The funeral took place Saturday, December 1,
1900. Half-masted flags told mutely but eloquently of
the national bereavement. The surging throngs which
occupied the streets attested the respect and considera
tion in which he was held by his immediate fellow-citi
zens. The services were conducted by Dr. C. D.
Andrews, of Christ Episcopal church. United States
215

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
senators, congressmen, the governor and his staff, the
Loyal Legion, the city officers, Grand Army posts, and
a long procession of carriages, followed the remains of
Minnesota's greatest statesman, whose casket, covered
with a profusion of flowers, was laid away in the mortu
ary chapel at Oakland Cemetery, December 3d.
His body rested in the chapel at Oakland till
his widow saw fit to cause its removal to Arlington
Cemetery, Washington, D. C, October 23, 1901. The
monument in Arlington Cemetery, erected by his widow.
is quite an imposing structure, fifteen feet high, of
brown Italian granite. It is surmounted by a very good
marble bust of the senator. At the base is a raised
carving on the stone, with a table at which the senator
is sitting, represented as signing the Treaty of Paris.
The inscription on the monument is as follows:
SENATOR
CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS
SOLDIER,
SCHOLAR,
STATESMAN.
June 16, 1838— Nov. 27, 1900.
It is impossible to close this record of Senator
Davis' history without expressing profound regret that
his widow removed his remains to Arlington Cemetery,
near Washington city. This act greatly disturbed the
tender feelings of the people of Minnesota. Here he-
had lived his life, fought his battles, and won his high.
216

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS.
honors. The very threads of his existence were inter
woven with Minnesota, and his body should be inurned
in its soil. I freely express the hope that the day will
yet come when his remains will be returned to sleep in
the bosom of the state he so dearly loved and faith
fully served; and that an admiring and remembering
people will rear to him a monument worthy of his
name and fame.

Governor Davis presented four published messages
to the state legislature, as follows:
Inaugural Message, delivered January 9, 1874, pub
lished as a pamphlet of thirty pages and also in the
Executive Documents of Minnesota for the year 1873
(St. Paul, 1874).
Annual Message, January 8, 1875, thirty-two pages,
as a pamphlet and in the Executive Documents for
1874 (St. Paul, 1875).
Special Message, January 29, 1875, transmitting the
Report of Hon. H. H. Sibley, chairman of the com
mittee appointed by the Governor, to distribute the re
lief afforded to the people of the frontier counties, suf
fering from the ravages of grasshoppers ; a pamphlet
of ten pages, ordered printed by the Senate.
Annual Message, January 7, 1876, a pamphlet of
forty-two pages, also published as the first paper in the
Executive Documents for 1875 (St. Paul, 1876). The
last six pages are devoted to the state railroad bonds,
for which the governor earnestly urged due considera- 217

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
tion and a just settlement. He introduced this part of
the message as follows :
I should feel self reproach from the consciousness of having
left an important duty unperformed, should I suffer this oc
casion to pass without expressing my views upon a subject
whieh has been a topic of reproach by our creditors, and re
crimination, excuse and defence by many of our citizens for
more than fifteen years. I allude to the obligations, moral
and legal, to whieh the state is subject by the evidences of its
indebtedness commonly known as the Minnesota state railroad
bonds. They were executed so long ago that, of our present popu
lation, over four hundred thousand have become inhabitants
since the date of these securities; so many popular ideas upon
the question have been the creation of hasty, angry or in
sufficient assertion, that it does not seem improper to present
here a concise historical statement showing precisely what was
done by the state in the premises. I give it in the hope that
it may be influential in clearing away some of the distorting
and erroneous assumptions of fact which have obscured the
subject, and, as I think, darkened the -conscience of this people.
After relating very clearly the history of these
bonds and of the state enactments concerning them,
Davis closed his final message as governor with the
following argument and farewell:
It is asserted by some persons who have embittered our
people by the infliction of unqualified censure upon them, that
we have planted ourselves upon an explicit denial that there
is anything due upon these securities. Such is not the senti
ment of our people. But many of them do think that the
transaction is affected by circumstances which ought to abate
materially from the obligation to pay these securities at their
face in the case of those who hold the bonds with notice of
the facts. This is a defence that any debtor has the right ta
make. But in making it he ought not to bar every avenue
to adjudication, and make his defence as to part a pretence
for not paying anything. As to the portion which we do
wrongfully refuse to pay, the world will hold that we repudi
ate as long as we deny jurisdiction to any tribunal to en
tertain the question involved. I suppose that when the claims
of this government against Great Britain were first advanced
on account of the damages done by Confederate cruisers, the
English people were as firmly persuaded that they owed noth
ing, and were as firmly resolved to pay nothing, as any of our
218

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS.
people today are. But no man and no nation ought to be
the judge in its own cause, and accordingly these great govern
ments constituted a court at Geneva, submitted to its juris
diction and abided by the judgment of that unimpassioned
forum. It is an example worthy of our imitation. If' a board
of commissioners composed of men of or not of this state,
eminent for integrity and judicial wisdom, could be invested
with jurisdiction to hear and determine the questions involved
by a consideration of every equity, legal or moral, existing
on either side of the controversy, it cannot be presumed that
our people would hesitate to perform the award. If these
bonds were void in their inception for any reason, or if they
were procured by fraudulent representations or unfaithful per
formance of conditions precedent, or if there is a class of un
fortunate persons who invested in good faith, for value, with
out notice, so that the last named defence is not applicable to
them, or if they are wholly due, let us meet each responsibility
as becomes a great state, holding its honor dearer than any
thing else.
I am aware that an over-prudent calculating judgment
might not prompt a public man to whom the immediate com
mendations of those who have honored him' are very gratify
ing, to speak such words. But I know that there is a higher
rule of action whieh requires that states no less than men shall
do justice, no matter how onerous may be the performance.
This rule bears upon our people now. It contains forces of
self-assertion against which no opposition not founded in right
can stand with any permanency. We have disregarded it too
long. Having now performed this final official act, I close my
connection with the high position with which the people have
honored me, with the expression of an earnest wish for the
prosperity of the state, and that the eminent citizen who has
been chosen as my successor may receive your most efficient
aid in making his administration beneficial to the people and
honorable to him.
Other published writings and addresses of Governor
Davis, in their chronologic order, are:
The Railroad Question, an address at Rochester,
Minn., October 9, 1873; a newspaper report, pasted to
form a pamphlet of 11 pages, in the Minnesota Histori
cal Society Library.
The Permanency of our Institutions, an oration at
the Centennial Celebration at St. Paul, July 4, 1876;
219

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
published in "Our National Centennial Jubilee," edited
by Frederick Saunders, New York, 1877, pages 837-848.
Closing Argument for the Respondent in the matter
of the Impeachment of Sherman Page, Judge of the
Tenth Judicial District, Minnesota; pamphlet of 113
pages, St. Paul, 1878. This argument, delivered on
June 25 and 26, 1878, before the State Senate in its
session for the impeachment trial, is also published, the
same as by the pamphlet (which is a reprint, with new
page numbering), in the "Impeachment of Sherman
Page" (three volumes), Journal of the Senate, twentieth
session, 1878, as pages 146-255 of its Volume III.
Eulogy on the Life of Governor Gorman, at a
meeting of the Ramsey County Bar Association, May 24,
1876; in the Minnesota Historical Society Collections,
Volume III, 1880, pages 328-332.
Oration, July 3, 1880, in Minneapolis, at the Cele
bration by the Minnesota Historical Society of the Two
Hundredth Anniversary of the Discovery of the Falls of
Saint Anthony in 1680, by Father Louis Hennepin
(M. H. S. Collections, Volume VI, 1894, pages 39-55).
Hamlet; Madame Roland; Lectures. 102 pages;
St. Paul, 1882.
The Law in Shakespeare, 303 pages; St. Paul,
1883, and second edition, 1884.
Oration of Comrade C. K. Davis, Ex-Governor of
Minnesota, delivered at the Fifteenth Annual Observ
ance of "Memorial Day," in St. Paul, May 30th, 1884;
a pamphlet of seven pages, published by Acker Post
.220

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS.
No. 21, Department of Minnesota, G. A. R., reprinted
from a newspaper.
Address at the Seventeenth Annual Meeting of the
Society of the Army of the Tennessee, held at Lake
Minnetonka, Minn., August 13, 1884; in the Report of
the Proceedings of the Society, 1884-87, published in
Cincinnati, 1893, pages 69-84.
Address at the opening of the Minneapolis Expo
sition, August 23, 1886; pamphlet of 18 pages.
Admission of South Dakota, Speech in the Senate
of the United States, April 11, 1888. 30 pages; Wash
ington, 1888.
Address, September 14, 1889, in Minneapolis, on the
251st Anniversary- of the First Swedish Settlements in
America; pamphlet of 13 pages.
The Claims of the Northwest for the Improvement
of St. Mary's River and Hay Lake Channel, Speech in
the Senate of the United States, January 9, 1890. 16
pages; Washington, 1890.
Against the United States Subsidizing the Maritime
Canal Company of Nicaragua in the Sum of One Hun
dred Millions of Dollars, Speech in the U. S. Senate,
February 20, 1891. 16 pages; Washington, 1891.
Relations with Hawaii, Speech in the U. S. Senate,
January 10-11, 1894. 48 pages; Washington, 1894.
Speech in the Senate of the United States, July 10,
1894, in Reply to Senator Peffer and to Senator Kyle's
Resolution [relating to the great railroad strike]. 16
pages; Washington, 1894. 221

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Progress of the United States during the Half Cen
tury, an address in the Celebration of the Fiftieth An
niversary of the Organization of the Minnesota Histori
cal Society, in the Capitol, St. Paul, November 15,
1895; M. H. S. Collections, Volume IX, 1901, pages
617-622. The Monroe Doctrine, Speech in the U. S. Sen
ate, February 17, 1896. 14 pages; Washington, 1896.
An address to the Citizens of Saint Paul, August
4, 1896 [relating chiefly to national coinage questions] ;.
a pamphlet of 15 pages, reprinted from a newspaper.
An address at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1897, at the
Unveiling of the Statue erected by the State of Min
nesota to commemorate the Charge made by the First
Regiment of Minnesota Infantry Volunteers on the
second day of July, 1863; a pamphlet of ten pages.
Lectures on International Law before the Faculty
and Students of the University of Minnesota, October,
1897; pamphlet of 80 pages, St. Paul.
An address at St. Paul, July 27, 1898, at the Lay
ing of the Corner Stone of the Capitol of Minnesota;.
a pamphlet of 23 pages, and also a part (pages 15-28)
in Proceedings at the Laying of the Corner Stone, etc.
(St. Paul, 1898).
Speech at Minneapolis, September 7, 1898 [relat
ing to party issues in the state political campaign] ; a
pamphlet of 16 pages.

222

CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS.
The Treaty of Paris, Speech before the Union
League Club of Chicago, February 22, 1899; pamphlet,
14 pages. Speech before the Alumni of the University of
Pennsylvania, June 12, 1900; in The Alumni Register,
July, 1900.
A Treatise on International Law, including Ameri
can Diplomacy, with Introduction by Hon. Henry Cabot
Lodge; annotated and revised by Peter J. Healey. 368
pages; St. Paul, 1901.

223

JOHX S. PILLSBURY.

JOHN SARGENT PILLSBURY
Eighth Governor of the State of Min
nesota, was born in Sutton, N. H., July
29, 1827, and died in Minneapolis, Minn.,
October 18, 1901. He was a Territorial
Pioneer of Minnesota; became one of
the foremost business men, in lumber
ing and flour-milling, in the world; and
was preeminent for his service to the
State University. He was Governor of
Minnesota from January 7, 1876, to
January 10, 1882.

15

JOHN SARGENT PILLSBURY
EIGHTH GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
January 7. 1876, to January 10, 1882

THE Pillsbury tribe for more than one hundred
years has been considered a virile race in New
Hampshire. They were of Puritan stock. William
Pillsbury is the name which first appears in this coun
try, coming to Boston, Mass., from England in 1640 or
1641. Micajah Pillsbury, who had served in the Revolu
tionary War, removed from Amesbury, Mass., to Sutton,
N. H., in 1795. Three of his sons were representatives
of that town in the state legislature. The youngest of
these, John Pillsbury, the father of the subject of this
sketch, was a manufacturer, a mechanic, and subsequently
a farmer, a man quite prominent in local and state poli
tics. He lived till 1856, and left behind him a good
reputation for practical ability and manly honor. His
wife was Susan Wadleigh, and to this union there came
five children, four sons and one daughter. John Sar
gent Pillsbury was the third son, and was born in Sutton,
Merrimack county, N. H, July 29, 1827.
He received but a New England common school edu
cation. His college was the great world, its stirring
scenes, events, men, and business. As a youth, he began
227

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
his practical education by learning the painter's trade.
But a taste for commercial life and business dominated
his purposes, and at as early an age as sixteen he entered
on a mercantile career. He was first a clerk for his
brother, George A. Pillsbury, at Warner, N. H., in a
general country store, where he remained until he be
came of age. At that time he entered into co-partner
ship with Walter Harriman, at Warner, which continued
for two years. This business associate afterward became
governor of New Hampshire. Young Pillsbury then . re
moved to Concord, N. H., where he engaged in the busi
ness of merchant tailoring, and here he remained four
years. His experience as an apprentice, a clerk in a coun
try store, a partner in larger business operations, grad
ually developed that business sagacity which was the
marked characteristic of his life. But in 1853 he lis
tened to the voice of Horace Greeley which said "Go
West, young man," and he made an extended tour of
observation into the great Northwest, seeking a more
desirable arena for his ambitious nature. Finally, in
June, 1855, he visited Minnesota, saw the Falls of St.
Anthony, and in his vision beheld, the future possibili
ties of that wonderful spot, and there found home and
destiny for the rest of his life.
He engaged in the hardware business on a contin
ually enlarging scale, with George F. Cross and Wood
bury Fisk, the latter being a brother of his wife. This
firm continued to prosper until the panic of 1857 came,
228

JOHN SARGENT PILLSBURY.
and with it a loss of nearly $38,000 by fire without in
surance. The combined blow would have completely
paralyzed an ordinary man, but it only nerved him to
greater activity and strengthened his courage. Pillsbury
was always at his best in trying ordeals. With his in
domitable will and indefatigable energy, within five years
he had met every obligation and greatly enlarged his
business. He possessed two assets which always carried
the day with his creditors, energy and scrupulous hon
esty. His business yearly increased in magnitude and
became very lucrative.
He continued in the hardware business until 1875,
when he withdrew from that specialty to engage in other
and larger enterprises. He had already entered into the
milling business in 1873. He had associated with him
his nephew, Charles A. Pillsbury, a young man of ability
and. energy who was destined to be a marked figure in
the ' business circles of Minneapolis. Later on this firm
included his brother, George A. Pillsbury, and another
nephew, Fred C. Pillsbury. This firm became noted
throughout the whole country, and their fame extended
to Europe. They erected several large flouring mills
with the very latest improvements, and first introduced
the roller process in the Northwest. One of the mills
was mentioned at that period as the largest in the world,
with a daily capacity of 7,000 barrels. In 1890 this gi
gantic business, now swollen beyond all precedent, was
sold to an English syndicate, though John S. Pillsbury
and his nephews were given the management of these
229

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
mills at Minneapolis, they retaining a large interest in
the stock. During the development of this great industry, Mr.
Pillsbury was called by his fellow citizens to several pub
lic duties. In 1858 he was elected a member of the city
council of St. Anthony, a position he held for many
years. In 1863 he was elected a state senator from Hen
nepin county, and was re-elected for the five following
terms. He must have proved a very efficient member
to be so repeatedly honored.
When the Civil War broke out, he did royal service
in aiding in the formation of several regiments, and at
the outbreak of Indian hostilities, in 1862, he raised and
equipped a mounted company for that service. This set
the seal of patriotism on his character as a citizen.
Fortunately for the state and the State University,
in 1863 Mr. Pillsbury was appointed one of its regents,
and he at once began to examine into its condition. In
1851 Congress had granted 46,000 acres of land in the
then territory of Minnesota to aid in the establishment
of a university. To secure the erection of necessary
buildings, this land had been mortgaged for $40,000,
and when the main building was completed, in 1857, a
mortgage of $15,000 was placed upon it. The financial
crash which came in 1857 found the university over
whelmed with debt, and the trustees were in despair. No
more money could be raised, and the legislature at that
period was unable to come to its assistance.

230

JOHN SARGENT PILLSBURY.
In 1862 the legislature authorized the regents to
"convey any and all of the lands" of the state university
to pay its enormous debts, and to let its creditors take
all its assets. But Mr. Pillsbury resolved differently.
He lived near by the University. He made its desperate
situation a personal matter. Without a collegiate or even
academic education, he resolved that the youth of his
adopted state should have opportunities which had been
denied to him. He studied every detail of the situation.
He gave to its affairs the same study and care as to his
own private business. A new Board of Regents at his
instance was organized by the legislature, March 4, 1864,
to conduct all its business affairs. This act gave full
power to the new board. This was the turning point in
the fate of the university. Mr. Pillsbury now put forth
a supreme personal effort. He visited all the creditors,
traveled far and wide, and, in the end, fully discharged
all debts, liens, and judgments against the university,
and saved some thirty thousand acres of the land grant,
and secured, free from all incumbrances, the present site
of the university, its buildings, and its splendid campus.
From that time on the university has prospered, march
ing forward till it ranks with the greatest and best of
the collegiate institutions of the land. He was its friend
and savior; through all succeeding years, so long as he
lived, he was its powerful protector and promoter; and
when he died, it seemed as though the university had
gone into a state of orphanage.

231

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Mr. Pillsbury, as were all his tribe, was a strict
Republican in politics. Wonderful success had come to
him in all his business affairs. Not only his milling but
his lumber business had increased many fold. His splen
did management of the affairs of the state university
had been the admiration of the state. His comprehen
sive views and practical sagacity during his long service
in the state senate brought and kept him before the
public. Thus it seemed very naturally to happen that,
in 1875, he was, apparently without effort on his part,
nominated for governor of the state. He was elected to
that position by nearly twelve thousand majority over his
principal competitor, the Hon. D. L. Buell, the latter
receiving 32,275 votes. R. F. Humiston received 1,669
votes for governor. Pillsbury's total vote was 47,073.
It seemed that the time was opportune for the state
to have a business governor. The people of the state
were oppressed with local debts; they were scourged
with grasshoppers; agriculture was depressed; mortgages
covered the land; the old Five Million Loan indebted
ness hung like a pall over the commonwealth. It does
not often happen that lawyers and politicians are prac
tical business men. At this epoch the affairs of the
state were generally in a bad situation. What was want
ing was a strong, vigorous, practical and sagacious busi
ness governor. With John S. Pillsbury, the hour and
the man had come. His business career justified popular
expectation, and inspired the people with hope.

232

JOHN SARGENT PILLSBURY.
His inaugural address met the approbation of all
classes. It evinced a clear apprehension of the needs of
the people. The more direct control of railways was
one of the exciting questions of the hour. Governor
Pillsbury took firm ground for governmental control of
these highways, and this position was subsequently af
firmed by the Supreme Court of the United States. He
took strong ground for legislative economy, and resol
utely vetoed reckless extravagance made in defiance of
the condition of the public finances.
But perhaps the most remarkable feature of his
first message was that wherein he pleaded for the honor
of the state, with force and earnestness, for the proper
and speedy adjustment of the long standing and oft re
pudiated old railroad bonds. It was not a popular
measure. The people had rejected several propositions
for the settlement of these old obligations, and ordinary
politicians did not dare to touch the vexed question.
But John S. Pillsbury was not an ordinary man.
Nerve was a family trait. The legislature to which this
first earnest appeal was made was not yet ready to give
it effect. But the governor was persistent in his ef
forts to wipe this stain from the escutcheon of the
state. Year by year, and message by message, he re
turned to the attack, till finally, by an act dated March
3, 1881, his efforts were crowned with victory, and he
had the pleasure of signing the bill which all now ac
knowledge to have been one of obvious public justice,

233

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA
and one with which his name will always be distinctly
identified. It was during his administration that the great
scourge of grasshoppers visited our frontier, and with in
satiable appetite devoured every green thing. It is quite
impossible for the reader of today to realize the destruc
tion which came from these pests. For three succes
sive years they renewed their ravages and desolated en
tire counties. The governor sought to devise some prac
tical plan for public relief. He opened correspondence
with scientific men, and issued invitations to the govern
ors of such states and territories as had suffered most.
He secured a meeting of these dignitaries at Omaha, in
October, 1877. He was chosen chairman of the assem
blage. They memorialized Congress for aid in a thor
ough scientific investigation with a view to protection.
They elicited a large fund of information, and general
instructions were disseminated through the scourged dis
tricts in accordance with the knowledge obtained.
The winter of 1876-77 witnessed the most extreme
suffering in the counties of southwestern Minnesota, the
result of this scourge, that any portion of our people
have ever endured. Not satisfied with the information
gleaned from his agents, the noble-hearted governor re
solved to go in person and see for himself. For the
purposes of more accurate information, he went incog
nito. In the middle of December, in zero weather, over
the bleak prairies the brave governor prosecuted his
search, and discovered hundreds on the verge of starva-
234

JOHN SARGENT PILLSBURY.
tion; and the people of the more prosperous portions of
the state believed his reports, and organized aid poured
in upon the sufferers.
His message to the legislature of 1877 is known as
the "grasshopper message," and is filled with practical
recommendations for the counteracting of the scourge
and the relief of its victims. With returning spring-
came returning apprehensions of a renewal of the fear
ful scourge. Many religious bodies expressed a wish for
a day of fasting and prayer, and with the inspiration of
his Puritan blood and strong religious convictions, the
governor issued his celebrated proclamation asking the
merciful Father for his sovereign interposition in be
half of an afflicted people. This executive utterance at
tracted wide attention and discussion. The recommenda
tion was generally heeded over all the state. As the
season progressed, it was found that the insects had dis
appeared, and thousands of good people firmly believed
that the hand of a special Providence had not been in
voked in vain.
The Republican convention of 1877 renominated
Governor Pillsbury by acclamation, and he was re-elected
for his second term by an increased majority of eighteen
thousand over his opponent, the Hon. William L. Ban
ning, of St. Paul. The vote stood as follows: J. S.
Pillsbury, 57,071; W. L. Banning, 39,147; and William
Meigher, 2,396. This second inauguration was marked
by unusual public demonstrations and took place in the
opera house in St. Paul. His message was marked by
235

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
many practical recommendations, among which may bo
mentioned the establishment of a high school board;
the creation of the office of public examiner; further pro
vision for the care of the insane; the construction of
another state prison; additional aid to the impoverished
victims of the grasshopper scourge; a renewed recom
mendation for biennial sessions of the legislature by con
stitutional amendment; and again, for the third time, he
urged .the speedy adjustment of the old railroad bonds.
The wisdom of all these suggestions was well appre
ciated, and all of them were duly enacted into law.
In 1879 political excitement was once more renewed.
Who should be governor, was the question pressed upon
the general public. Governor Pillsbury had not yet
secured by legislative enactment all his practical sug
gestions, and especially the old railroad bond question
was yet unsettled. The feeling was strongly in favor of
giving the governor a third- term to enable him to com
plete his good work. The nomination was therefore
pressed upon him, and he reluctantly accepted this ex
traordinary mark of honor. His opponent was the Hon.
Edmund Rice, of St. Paul, a most estimable gentleman,
with popular family connections, and widely known over
the state. Governor Pillsbury was, however, re-elected
by a large majority. This was the first and only instance
in our history where a governor was given a third term.
But the people had such confidence in him that all pre
cedent was brushed aside in his favor. In this election
Pillsbury received 57,524 votes, and Rice, 41,524.
236

JOHN SARGENT PILLSBURY.
The proposition for biennial sessions of the legis
lature having carried, there was no legislature in 1880.
It was at this period that the hospital for the insane at
St. Peter was burned. Winter was approaching and
prompt action was required. But Governor Pillsbury
was equal to the emergency. He advanced money out of
his own pocket, as he had done before to aid the grass
hopper sufferers. The work was speedily done, and the
helpless insane were provided for.
The new legislature convened in 1881. The old
battle for the payment of the unadjusted railroad bonds
was renewed. The governor's untiring appeals for a
settlement of this vexed problem had resulted in goorJ
educational work. The Pioneer Press, under the con
trol of that fearless apostle of the state's honor, Joseph
A. Wheelock, did mighty service in convincing the peo
ple of the wisdom of purging its record of the great'
stain resting upon its honor. Religious bodies joined in
swelling the appeal for delayed justice. Public senti
ment itself grew stronger, so that the race of evading
politicians who yet resisted the cleansing of the state's
dishonored record were overwhelmed. The limits of this
work will not admit of our pursuing the long and tor
tuous story of the state's final vindication. Suffice it to
say that the closing days of Governor Pillsbury's ad
ministration were crowned with a noble triumph; the
haunting specter of repudiation was driven away; and
the proud young 'commonwealth, purged and purified,
took its place in the sisterhood of honorable states. The
237

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
victory was due more to the supreme efforts of John
Sargent Pillsbury and Joseph A. Wheelock than to other
instrumentalities, however valiant others may have been.
It was during the closing period of Governor Pills-
bury's last administration that the old territorial capi
tol, completed in 1853, was destroyed by fire. It was on
the night of March 1, 1881, during the last days of
the legislative session of that year. A thorough inspec
tion of the ruins was made, and a new building was
found necessary. Plans secured by Governor Pillsbury
were adopted, and the foundation was laid in the sum
mer of 1881. The fire had not ceased burning when
the city of St. Paul, through its mayor and city council,
generously tendered to Governor Pillsbury the large, new
market house for the use of the state, pending the con
struction of the new building; and almost at the hour
for its usual meeting on the following day the legisla
ture and all the officers of the state were there engaged
in their regular order of work. That building for
twenty-two months became the home of the state govern
ment. It was there, January 10, 1882, that Governor
Pillsbury bade adieu to the cares and perplexities of
gubernatorial life, which for six consecutive years he had
so faithfully met and nobly performed.
For the years following to the date of his death,
he was industriously engaged in managing his large and
prosperous private business. He was now president of
the board of regents of the state University, and gave to
that institution most faithful and paternal care. In
238

JOHN SARGENT PILLSBURY.
company with Judge Greenleaf Clark, he went East in
1883 to search for a new president, Professor W. W.
Folwell having resigned from the presidency after ser
vice during fourteen years. To this question he gave
great care and consideration, and made a wise and for
tunate selection in securing Professor Cyrus Northrop
of Yale College.
April 16, 1889, was made memorable when, in the
presence of the legislature, state officers, and board of
regents, he took them all with complete surprise by his
great gift of $150,000 to erect and complete Science Hall
for the university, which has since been named Pillsbury
Hall by the regents. This large and munificent dona
tion was fully appreciated, for it came at a time when
the financial condition of the state made it impossible
for the legislature to care further for the present neces
sities of the university. The residue of his life was
marked by many public duties and adorned with private
benefactions. In September, 1900, the year before he died, his
statue in bronze, by Daniel Chester French, was placed
in front of the library and administration building of
the University, as the gift of many of its student?,
alumni, faculty, and friends.
His last benefaction to his city was to provide for
the erection of a beautiful library building, as a branch
of the city public library for East Minneapolis, which
was built after his death.

239

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
It was during Pillsbury's last term as governor, in
1880, that a very exciting congressional contest in the
First District occurred. Hon. Mark H. Dunnell, a man
of much force of character, was serving his fifth term
in Congress, and much discontent was manifest in the
district. It was alleged that he had built a "machine,"
and it was the object of the opposition to break it in
pieces. The result was a bitter and malignant contest
such as is seldom seen. Every county in the district
became involved, and two conventions were held in the
same opera house at Waseca, July 7, 1880. Hon. W.
G. Ward was nominated by one convention, and Mark
H. Dunnell by the other. The contest was thence car
ried to the people. An appeal was finally made to the
state central committee, to decide which of the two pos
sessed the merit of regularity. The committee decided
in favor of Dunnell, and the machinery of the party
prevailed and Dunnell was elected.
Still another bitter internecine political war occur
red later, in 1882, during the closing of the Pillsbury
administration. Hon. Knute Nelson and C. F. Kindred
were both Republican candidates for Congress in the
Fifth Congressional District, composed of twenty-eight
northern counties. The rivalry for the nomiantion as
sumed the most intense form. Kindred was a wealthy-
man and spent money freely. It also resulted in a
double-headed convention, 'held at Detroit, July 12th,
1882. Brass bands, shouting processions and yelling
delegates, as if pandemonium had broken loose, were
240

JOHN SARGENT PILLSBURY.
the order of the day. While there was no absolute vio
lence, the air was thick with basest adjectives. Again
the authority of the Republican state central committee
was invoked to settle the question of regularity, and the
decision was in favor of Nelson. But Kindred was not
subdued. . He spent money lavishly, established newspa
pers, and had an expensive literary bureau. With brass:
bands, torch-light processions, special trains, the cam
paign blazed with intense heat. With a shattered for
tune, Kindred emerged from the campaign a defeated
candidate. Never before nor since has the state wit
nessed such a political plunger. In November the vote
stood Nelson, 16,956; Kindred, 12,238; and E. P. Bar-
num, Democrat, 6,248. "Regularity" and the Scandi
navian vote did the work for Nelson, and ushered into
our state politics a virile Norseman, who, ever since,
has not only maintained but steadily increased his poli
tical power.
It was during the administration of Governor Pills
bury, that the country was shocked by the assassination
of President Garfield, an act abhorrent to the civilized
world. William Windom, an honored son of Minnesota,
was the successful Secretary of the United States Treas
ury, and his brilliant financial policy reflected great honor
upon the state. The counties of Beltrami, Norman, Kitt
son, Marshall, Pipestone and Kanabec, were organized.
One of the notable incidents during this administra
tion was the trial and impeachment of E. St. Julien
Cox, judge of the Ninth Judicial District. Intemperate
16 241

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
habits, while on the bench and in the discharge of offic
ial functions, were the gist of the charges, which were
sustained by the court of impeachment, and he was de
posed from office.
Governor Pillsbury was in all respects a remarkable
man. Like Alexander Ramsey, he possessed that rarest
of all faculties, common sense. His services to the state
were truly valuable. He displayed firmness, ability, and
wonderful business sagacity in the important scenes in
which he performed so conspicuous a part. He was not,
like Ramsey or Sibley, one of the original constructors
of the state, but he was the great Conservator of the
commonwealth. He was more, not only preserving from
loss or injury, but augmenting and improving every de
partment of the state government. He never demeaned
himself by pandering to political prejudices. The arts
of a demagogue never were his. He never quailed before
public opinion. He possessed the faculty of doing great
work easily; his self control was admirable.
Of all our governors he was the most paternal. He
cared for the people like a good father. His sympathies
were tender and sweet. His personal qualities were not
such as to compel special admiration, he was no orator
nor even public speaker. But when it came to practical
administrative ability, he ranked with the highest. Pills
bury and Hubbard were much on a level in this regard.
The end of all government is the comfort and happiness
of the people, and these things Governor Pillsbury stud
ied with assiduous care. He seemed to be animated
242

JOHN SARGENT PILLSBURY.
solely with the desire of furthering the public good. His
judicial and other important appointments were all above
party bias, and won the good opinion of all parties.
Governor Pillsbury possessed a strong religious na
ture, and had profound respect for all religious matters.
Though not a member of any church, he joined his wife
in regular attendance at the First Congregational church,
of which he was an officer, and she a devoted member.
Aside from the multidudinous details of lesser mat
ters which commanded time and attention during his
long service as governor, but which, important as they
were, will be speedily forgotten, there are two things
which will ever stand as enduring monuments to his
honor and fame: That the University exists at all, and
has prospered till it has become a state benediction; this,
and the proud achievement of placing the state on the
solid basis of financial honor. These alone will evtr
preserve his name in grateful remembrance.
Governor Pillsbury died at his home in Minneapolis,
October 18th, 1901.
He was married in Warner, N. H., November 3,
1856, to Miss Mahala Fisk. Her family, on both sides,
were very prominent people, with a noble New England
ancestry. She was well educated and was a graduate of
Sanbornton Seminary at the age of nineteen, when she
became a teacher, and only retired from that profession
to become the wife of John Sargent Pillsbury, and at
once removed to the far West. She shared all her hus
band's trials and final success, and was ever his safe and
243

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
prudent counselor. Her annual receptions at her home
to the students of the senior class of the University will
ever be remembered as unique and enjoyable occasions.
She still resides at the family homestead, number 1005
Fifth street southeast, in Minneapolis.
Mrs. Pillsbury is noted for many noble qualities,
and is a woman of fine culture and tenderness of heart.
Her broad and Christian charities mark well her kindly
nature. To the marriage of this goodly couple there came
three children, two daughters, Susan M. (Mrs. Fred B.
Snyder) and Sarah Belle (Mrs. Edward C. Gale), and
a son, Alfred Fisk. They also had an adopted daughter,
Addie A. (Mrs. Charles M. Webster), who died April
2, 1885.

The inaugural message of Governor Pillsbury to the
state legislature, January 7, 1876, was published as a
pamphlet of 28 pages, and as the second paper in the
Executive Documents of Minnesota for the year 1875 (St.
Paul, 1876). The opening paragraphs read thus:
In making, for the first time, that communication to you
touching the condition of the State, which both the constitu
tion and invariable custom enjoin upon the Executive, I desire
to express my deep sense of the responsibility I have assumed,
and to invoke your aid and co-operation in the faithful per
formance of the duties whieh the people have devolved alike
upon us.
The period we have reached in the development of our
State affords an occasion both for congratulation and for warn
ing. We cannot but indulge feelings of pride and gratitude
when we reflect that where, a quarter of a century ago, there
was an unbroken wilderness, inhabited only by the wild beasts
244

JOHN SARGENT PILLSBURY.
and savage men, there exists today a vigorous young com
monwealth of 600,000 people, blest with all the appliances and
comforts of civilized life; that solitary wastes have been sup
planted by illimitable grain fields; that idle rivers have been
bound to the myriad uses of productive industry; that the
young State, whieh, upon her admission to the Union, im
ported breadstuffs to feed the speculators in her unproductive
lands, is, in her eighteenth year, the first wheat State of the
Sisterhood; that where fourteen years ago there was not one
mile of completed railroad, 2,000 miles are now taxed to their
utmost to carry off the surplus products; and that everywhere
throughout the State, church and school-house, thriving cities
and busy industries, mark the abode of a prosperous, energetic
and happy people. For progress so unexampled, and prosperity
so bountiful, our grateful thanks are due to Almighty God,
who has wonderfully upheld us in adversity, and brought us
to the verge of great opportunities; but, while thankful for
such blessings, we should not be unmindful of those opportuni
ties, nor of the responsibilities which they impose.
The annual message delivered January 4, 1877, was
published as the first paper in the Executive Documents
for 1876 (St. Paul, 1877), and in the same form as a
pamphlet, 42 pages. The unpaid railroad bonds, long a
vexed question, are treated in four pages; and the
devastations by grasshoppers are the theme of five
pages. Concerning the state school system, Governor
Pillsbury said in this message:
Perhaps the most inevitable conclusion to which a study
of our school system leads, is the necessity that its various de
partmental agencies and appointments should form auxiliary
parts of a harmonious whole; that its successive steps should
constitute a regular gradation from • the alphabet to collegiate
maturity, and that, like the rills and streams whieh, however
differing in character and varying in course, reach a comman
goal in the ocean, the primary instruction in the common school
should lead by easy stages to the crowning scholarship of the
university. All alike are the gift of the State to her people
dictated by the enlightened policy which qualifies the citizen
for the duties demanded of him, and which sows and nourishes
according to the bounty of the expected harvest. * * *
To the end desired it is therefore essential that in every
stage of instruction and in every variety of school, the purpose,
or at least the possibility, of this ascending continuity should
245

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
be kept constantly in view, and especially that the finishing
course elsewhere should fit pupils for freshmen at the univer
sity. This is essential to the highest efficiency whether in the
lower or higher branches. It would save the time, labor and
means now comparatively wasted in special preparatory schools,
and furnish a perennial supply of trained pupils to push for
ward without interruption to the coveted goal of a complete
education. The advantages are obvious to all concerned, and
although unhappily the majority must fall out by the way, di
verted by the exigencies of business pursuits, it should ever
be a leading and cherished object of our educational system
to afford at least a, standing opportunity to the more fortu
nate and persistent, for an unobstructed pursuit in the path
way of learning from the beginning to the end of a complete
education. I invoke at your hands such fostering care of the
educational institutions of the State as will ensure a, growth
commensurate with a proud material development, and ade
quate to the wants of an expanding future.
January 11, 1878, Governor Pillsbury delivered his
third message to the legislature, published as a pamph
let of 36 pages and as pages 13-48 in Volume I of the
Executive Documents of Minnesota for 1877 (Minneapo
lis, 1878). On the subject of retrenchment and careful
economy in public and private expenditures, he said:
* « * £[ow that we are emerging from a period of what
is termed hard times, there is danger that our best men, im
pelled by a renewed spirit of enterprise, may plunge into re
newed excesses. This is the periodical liability, especially of
energetic communities. The facility with which immediate re
sults may be reached by entailing their cost upon posterity,
is a constant incentive to premature undertakings. If these
were prosecuted only as fast as they could be paid for in'
cash, they would be limited to the urgent need of the hour,
and extravagent expenditures and resulting oppressive taxation
would be effectually checked. Hence- the obvious policy of dis
countenancing the contraction of debt and the consistent obli
gation of all good citizens to curtail their private expenses and
live within their means.

With all the financial skill and boasted progress of the
age, no short cut has yet been discovered as an escape from
the time-honored necessity to spend less than we make, as
the first essential to real success. Whatever may be said for
246

JOHN SARGENT PILLSBURY. ,
our material and political prosperity, it is not flattering to
our vaunted civilization that we possess so little social wisdom;
that we encumber our neighborly intercourse with the costly
follies and affectations of a bedizened society; that we ham
per our social freedom with the machinery of needless conven
tionality, and jeopard both our peace of mind and financial
standing, to support the mockery of social parade.
Pillsbury's message of January 9, 1879, to the
twenty-first legislature, the last holding an annual session,
was published in 25 pages, as a pamphlet and as the
first paper in Volume I of the Executive Documents for
1878 (Minneapolis, 1879). He presented arguments in
favor of holding only biennial elections as follows:
The constitutional amendment providing for biennial, in
lieu of annual, sessions of the Legislature will necessitate much
adjustment of administrative machinery to correspond there
with. In effecting this, great care will be required to include
practical details of an essential nature pertaining to the sev
eral branches of the government. The changes required and
the examination necessarily given to the subject, would seem
to afford a suitable opportunity for the consideration of an
other question of importance. The extraordinary frequency of
elections has long been deemed by reflecting men one of the
most serious evils pertaining to our form of government. The
differing duration of our State offices requiring elections to fill
some of them annually, and the different seasons in which
township and municipal elections are held, leave intervals so
short that the public finds little repose from the distractions of
political warfare. The deleterious effect of these constant dis
turbances is manifest. They are unfavorable to public order,
to the pursuit of private business, and to the dispassionate
discussion of questions concerning the common welfare; they
increase the aversion to political duty entertained by orderly
and busy men, through whose default bad men are elected
to office; while the expenses attending such frequent elections
entail a heavy burden upon the people. In view of these
evils, I suggest the inquiry whether an obvious public interest
would not be subserved by providing for such amendments to
the laws and Constitution as would require biennial elections
only. For this purpose it would be necessary to cause our
State elections to take place the same year as that in which
members of Congress are elected, which would conform to that
in which members of the Legislature are now biennially chosen,
and also to the year in which the Presidential election alter
nately takes place. * •» * 247

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
The first biennial session of the legislature began
January 4, 1881, and on January 6 Governor Pillsbury
delivered his message, whieh forms thirty pages as a
pamphlet and also as the first paper in the Executive
Documents for 1880 (published in 1881). The last
four pages relate to the deferred settlement of the state
debt in its dishonored railroad bonds.
As a result from an act passed in that session, to-
provide for redemption of these bonds, and from deci
sions later given by the State Supreme Court, the gover
nor summoned this legislature to an extra session, in
which, on October 12, 1881, he presented a message that
was published as a pamphlet of ten pages. In the clos
ing part he said:
The act of the last Legislature, proposing an amendment to
the Constitution devoting the proceeds of the Internal Improve
ment Lands to the payment of the adjustment bonds has been
rendered inoperative by the decision of the Supreme Court.
It will therefore be necessary to promptly re-adjust and re-
enact its provisions to conform to the new, action to be taken,
in order to submit the proposed amendment to the people at
the approaching general election. The average price realized'
thus far for the lands sold is about $7 per acre; and the fund
from such sales already amounts to $800,000. In view of the
rapid settlement of the country it is believed that the total
sum which will be finally realized from the sale of these lands
will reach $4,000,000, a sum nearly or quite sufficient to pay
the whole indebtedness without recourse to taxation. That
there may be no wrong impression on your minds regarding
the whole amount due on these bonds, I would say that by a
former decision of our Supreme Court, past-due coupons draw
interest, as well as the bonds to which they are attached, and
should interest be computed in accordance with this decision
the whole debt would amount, on December 1, 1881, to about
$8,200,000, and, should the pending proposition be consummated,
the saving to the State will thus be about $4,000,000.
If this opportunity be not immediately embraced, I am
fully persuaded it will never occur again, for it cannot longer
be expected . that partial payment will hereafter be accepted
248

JOHN SARGENT PILLSBURY.
by the holders of these obligations in view of the ability of
the State to pay in full and the verdict of its highest court
assigning to the Legislature the duty to provide for pay
ment. * * *
For the enduring welfare of the fair State we have chosen
as our home; as we would justly share in that national heri
tage of financial honor which is the wonder of the world;
that we may deserve the reward of a generous prosperity, and
invoke the blessings of Almighty God — I entreat you as a
parting word to perform a simple act of justice which shall
forever put at rest the haunting spectre of repudiation, and
place our young commonwealth irrevocably in the sisterhood
of honorable States.
Under date of June 1, 1892, a convenient reference
book of 132 pages, compiled by Governor Pillsbury, was
published in Minneapolis, entitled "A Compilation of
National and State Laws relating to the University of
Minnesota; also a description of the unsold lands grant
ed by Acts of Congress for the endowment of said
University, including a statement of the permanent
University fund at interest, etc., etc."
July 13, 1892, Governor Pillsbury gave an address
in his native town, which was published in a volume
of 171 pages, entitled "Dedication of the Pillsbury Mem
orial Hall in Sutton, N. H." (printed in Concord, N. H.
1893). This address, forming a part of the dedicatory
exercises, is in pages 73-100. It reviews the marvelous
growth of the United States during the forty-eight years
from the spring of 1844, when Pillsbury as a youth
of seventeen years left his boyhood home. The gift of
the Memorial Town Hall, by Governor and Mrs. Pills
bury, he noted in these words:
And so, gentlemen, selectmen, and officers of my native
town, I have returned here today, with her who for more
249

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
than a generation has been my companion, my helper, my wife,
and I feel that it is fitting that she who during these long
intervening years has shared with me all the burdens and
experiences of life, and with me has passed through the
shadows and sorrows of life, as well as its joys and sunny
places, who joined her heart 'to mine when all we possessed
was the mutual love we bore each other, should share with
me in making this gift to the town of Sutton. Through you,
gentlemen, and in the name of my honored parents, whose
sacred ashes repose in this town, we present to the town of
Sutton a deed of this building and we now deliver to you its
keys. This gift we make without conditions or reservations.
It is our hope that this building may remain many generations
after we and our children have passed away. It is our desire
that you use it not only for all your public meetings and assem
blies, but as a town hall, where not only your citizenship may
be exercised, but where all matters which make for the com
mon good may have a full and fair hearing, where patriotism
and individual ambition may be incited and stirred, and where
the young who shall come after us shall be led on to a
higher manhood and a great enthusiasm for whatever will ad
vance mankind.
The following is a copy of the title-page of a pam
phlet of 33 pages, which gives a concise history of a
large part of Governor Pillsbury's public services and
also states quite as fully the work of his associates : "An
Address delivered by Hon. John S. Pillsbury, before the
Alumni of the University of Minnesota, at the West
Hotel, Minneapolis, June 1st, 1893, being a sketch of the
growth and development of the University for the
thirty years in which he has been a regent. Published
by the Alumni Association of the University of Min
nesota." Another and probably the last of his public ad
dresses was delivered in St. Paul, November 15, 1899,
in the celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the
organization of the Minnesota Historical Society, pub
lished in its Collections, Volume IX, pages 597-601.
250

LUCIUS F. HUBBARD.

LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD
Ninth Governor of the State of Minne
sota, was born in Troy, New York,
January 26, 1836, and is still living in
St. Paul. He engaged in journalism,
milling, and railroad operations; and was
brigadier general in the Civil War. He
was a State senator in 1872-5; and was
governor of Minnesota from January
10, 1882, to January 5, 1887.

LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD
NINTH GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
January 10, 1882, to January 5, 1877.

AMONG the names that adorn our gubernatorial
gallery, few stand higher in practical good
sense, in personal character, political integrity, and in
patriotic devotion to his country in its most trying
crisis, than Lucius Frederick Hubbard, the ninth gov
ernor of our state.
He directly followed another governor of practical
and sagacious administrative ability, John Sargent Pills
bury, and that era of eleven years may be denominated
the era of sound common sense in the administration of
the state government. There is a royalty in that sterl
ing good sense which is the best genius for mankind.
You look in vain for its possessors to do a foolish
thing; but wisdom guides their councils, and good judg
ment, with corresponding good results, crowns their
public career with the happiest consequences.
Conscious as every one must feel how naturally our
judgment may be biased by long personal friendship in
the opinions we form of public men, yet I have most
strenuously endeavored to treat each and all in this
253

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
series of our governors with the historian's unbiased
judgment as to themselves and their relation to their
times and to public measures. It is the constant ob
ject of these pages to record only just and true history.
Some, therefore, may be crowned with honor; others may
at times suffer a shade to their discredit; but all should
be clothed in the garments of truth. Public men must
learn that it is their ultimate fate to be weighed and
estimated both by their personal character and their
public performances, for the private life of every public
man will tinge his reputation, and no apparent public
virtue can suppress the story of tainted private morals.
These observations are a salutary lesson to those ambi
tious politicians whose eyes should often turn towards
an impartial posterity.
Lucius Frederick Hubbard was born January 26th,
1836, at Troy, New York. He was a descendant, on the
father's side, of that Hubbard family (George Hubbard
and Mary Bishop) that emigrated from England to this
country and settled in Connecticut in the seventeenth
century. On the mother's side (Van Valkenburg) he
came of the Holland Dutch stock that have occupied the
valley of the Hudson river since its earliest history.
His great grandfather was Israel Hubbard, who was a
delegate to the Provincial Congress in Massachusetts
Bay from the town of Sunderland in 1774, and in
many active ways contributed to the work of preparing
for the Revolution. His grandmother, on the mother's
side, Margaret Van Cott, was a cousin of President
254

LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD.
Martin Van Buren. Young Hubbard was well blooded
on both sides of the ancestral tree.
His father was Charles F. Hubbard, sheriff of
Rensselaer county, N. Y., a man of high standing and
influence. His mother was Margaret Van Valkenburg.
His father died when he was only three years old,
and his mother died when he was ten years of age.
The young orphan on the death of his father was sent
to live with an aunt at Chester, Vermont, where he
attended the district school for three years. Subsequent
ly he attended an academy at Granville, N. Y. At
the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to a tin smith,
and gave his attention to his trade till he was eighteen
years of age. He then, in 1854, went to Chicago,
where he worked at his trade for three years. Caught
in the current of emigration then setting to the great
.Northwest, he removed to Red Wing in July, 1857.
With literary and political 'predilections, and having
brought with him a printing press and type, he es
tablished in that young and promising city the <cRed
Wing Republican," the first number of which was is
sued September 4, 1857, and which has had a con
tinuous existence since that date. He continued as
the publisher and editor of that paper till he enlisted
in the war.
He came to Red Wing in time to experience the
trials and rugged battles of frontier life. The admis
sion of Minnesota Territory as a state was then being
agitated, and party strife was warm over the control
255

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
of the first administration. The Kansas-Nebraska bill
and Squatter Sovereignty were in the heat of discussion,
and the extension of slavery was the burning question.
These conditions made party strife strenuous indeed.
Politics was the one great business of life, for the re
sources of the ,country had not yet appeared. Then came
the climax of financial disaster in the panic of 1857.
Following this was the era of "wildcat" banking, with
its speedily discredited issues. Town lots lost alike
their intrinsic and inflated values. The "Five Million
Loan Bill," to aid in the building of land grant rail
roads, appeared upon the scene, but, instead of bringing
financial relief, resulted in imposing a lasting debt
upon the state. Money reached the appalling usury
of "five per cent a month." These were some of the
experiences of the pioneer of that day. But in
a few years the clouds which lowered over the young
state passed away, and the sun of a prosperity which has
never since failed sent its cheerful rays over the land.
Young Hubbard was nursed under these condi
tions and strengthened for the battles before him. In
his new home he was surrounded by men of strong
personality, who required manly men to compete with
them. There was Colonel William Colvill, of the First
Minnesota Regiment, whose courage in battle was second
to no man's in the Civil War. There was William Free
born, a typical pioneer, who delighted to live on the
outer fringe of civilization, and for whom a noble
256

LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD.
county was named. There also was Joseph A. Tha-
cher, the "farmer statesman" of Zumbrota, whose
ability sent him often to the legislature, where he was
an efficient and strong man. There also should be
mentioned Judge Eli T. Wilder, a noble and stately char
acter, whose sterling integrity and decided ability made
him a valuable asset in Red Wing. Theodore B. Shel
don should be justly named, who was a true represen
tative of the business and commercial interests of the
place, who left a large fortune and bequeathed to the
city a noble auditorium building as a token of his af
fectionate regard. In this list of compeers should be
noticed the Hon. William W. Phelps, afterward a mem
ber of Congress from the new state, a man of ability,
culture and popularity. With him was associated the
genial and humorous C. C. Graham. These ardent spir
its controlled the United States land office, which was
the center of business in that day.
One of the striking characters of the Hubbard
period was Samuel P. Jennison. He was private secre
tary to Governor Hubbard, and he had been private sec
retary to Governors Ramsey and Marshall. He was
secretary of state from 1872 to 1876. He w*as a de
cided factor in politics from his part of the state, and
was one of the brainy men of the day. He achieved
signal honors in the military field. Entering the service
as adjutant of the Second Minnesota, he was speedily
promoted for gallantry at the battle of Mill Springs
to be lieutenant colonel of the Tenth Minnesota. Being
" 257

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
in command of that regiment at the battle of Nashville,
he was severely wounded, and was made brevet brigadier
general for his conspicuous gallantry. He is a man
who will long be remembered in his part of the state.
He now resides at Covina in southern California.
One morning in April, 1861, the thunder of hostile
cannon on American soil thrilled every patriot's heart.
The young, the brave, the loyal, by a common impulse
sprang to arms. Among those prompt to follow the flag
was Lucius Frederick Hubbard. December 19, 1861,
he enlisted as a private in Company A, Fifth Minnesota
Infantry. His zeal and usefulness caused him to be
elected captain of the company February 5, 1862.
Thence began a military career which for incessant ac
tivity, the number of campaigns and engagements in
which he participated, and the courage he displayed, has
no superior, if any equal, in the great army of officers
who served in the civil war from the state of Minnesota.
This is a high encomium, but the official record sus
tains the eulogy.
His promotions were rapid but well deserved. He
was made lieutenant colonel March 24, 1862; colonel,
August 31, 1862; mustered as a veteran, February 12,
1864; and brevetted as a brigadier general, December
16, 1864, for "conspicuous gallantry in the battle of
Nashville, Dec. 15 and 16," 1864.
Seven companies of the Fifth Minnesota regiment
(the three others remaining in the service against the
hostile Sioux) were ordered South under Colonel Hub-
258

LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD.
bard, and on the 24th of May, 1862, reported to Gen
eral John Pope in the field before Corinth. Scarcely had
the regiment established its camp and realized its
surroundings, before it was brought into action. Four
days after it reached the front it was precipitated into
the battle of Farmington, an engagement which
led up to the siege and capture of Corinth. Here the
regiment received its first baptism of fire, and its gal
lant conduct was attested by its list of killed and
wounded. Among the wounded was Colonel Hubbard.
After this came the battle of Iuka; then weary and burn
ing marches till they confronted the rebels at Corinth.
There are many events in Governor Hubbard's mili
tary career especially worthy of mention. But what
was done at Corinth, Mississippi, October 3 and
4, 1862, must not be omitted. The charge of the
Fifth Minnesota in the streets of Corinth was one of the
most important features of that battle, for according
to General Stanley, who commanded the division, it
saved the day. This fact was fully confirmed by
General Rosecrans, in command of the army, and by
Archbishop Ireland's testimony, who, as regimental chap
lain, was on the ground and witnessed the prompt and
effective action of the Fifth at the critical point in the
tide of battle. "Veterans could not have done better,"
said General Rosecrans.
It is very proper to remark here that the Rev.
John Ireland, a neophyte priest of St. Paul, made his
entrance into public life with Colonel Hubbard," as
259

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
chaplain of the Fifth Minnesota Volunteers. This re
markable man, earnest, holy, and heroic, signalized his
advent into the great world by an act of devotion to his
imperiled country. In his young manhood, ere the
cares of life had ploughed his forehead, he demonstra
ted then, as now, his earnest patriotism. He has grown
in stature till 'he has become one of the leading char
acters in influence in this country and in the world.
No prelate in his church overtops him in public esteem.
Ireland is, indeed, the patriotic prelate. America feels
that no dignitary of his church could be more ap
propriately decorated with the cardinal's red hat, than
the Rev. John Ireland, archbishop of St. Paul.
The Fifth Minnesota regiment was now a part
of the Fifteenth Army Corps, the organization of the
army into corps occurring early in 1863. Colonel
Hubbard commanded the brigade which included the
Fifth regiment after the battle of Corinth, during the
siege of Vicksburg, that Gibraltar of the West, and
continuously till the close of the war.
After the fall of Vicksburg, Colonel Hubbard be
ing in command of his old brigade, it was assigned to the
Sixteenth Army Corps under that fiery soldier, General
A. J. Smith. Hubbard took part in the fated expedition
in the Spring of 1864 under General Banks up the Red
river, where the valor of his brigade was illustrated
on many hard fought fields, and where precious blood
was poured out without avail because of the general
incompetence of the unfortunate leader of that ill-
260

LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD.
starred expedition. There brave men fought and won
seven battles, but lost the campaign.
Following this campaign, Colonel Hubbard com
manded the Second brigade of the First Division of the
Sixteenth Army Corps. After the return, a campaign
was made during the Autumn of 1864 in Northern Mis
sissippi, across Arkansas, and into Missouri in pursuit
of General Price.
Previous to the Red River Expedition, the members
of the Fifth Minnesota regiment had been re-enlisted
as veterans at Black River Bridge, Mississippi, February
12, 1864. After this date Colonel Hubbard was not in im
mediate command of his regiment again during the
war; but the regiment was fortunately included in the
Second brigade before noted as under his command.
At this era of the war 'General Sherman, now a vic
tor at Atlanta, was the center of every military eye
in the nation. His marvelous campaign, "smashing
things to the sea," was determined upon. But in his
rear was a veteran Confederate army, more than 50,000
strong, under General John B. Hood, a born fighter,
whose purpose was to draw Sherman from Atlanta, and
neutralize his splendid Atlanta campaign. This force
now seemed headed for the Ohio river. But General
George H. Thomas, under orders from Washington,
sounded his trumpet, calling every scattered regiment
within reach, to retard Hood's advance and to protect
Sherman's rear. Among these regiments were the Fifth,
261

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Minnesota Infantry. Hence
it came that Minnesota had more of her troops repre
sented in the great battle soon to follow than in any
other contest of the war.
These Minnesota regiments were attached to the
First Division, commanded by General John McArthur.
The Second brigade included the Fifth and Ninth Min
nesota, and was commanded by Colonel Hubbard. While
this hurried organization and these dispositions were
being effected by General Thomas' order, General Scho
field interposed a valiant little army against Hood's ad
vance at the village of Franklin. There occurred what
was perhaps the bloodiest battle of the war. Hood again
and again fiercely attacked the light entrenchments of
Schofield, but his columns were hurled back by a prodig
ious fire, and the wreck of guns and the dead and dying
told of the carnage which was wrought. Schofield ac
complished the imperious purpose of the battle, holding
Hood in check while Thomas was gathering and organiz
ing his scattered forces for the great battle of Nash
ville. Sherman fought no important battles in his march
from Atlanta to the sea. These were all fought by the
"Rock of Chickamauga" in the one engagement at Nash
ville. For two tempestuous days, December 15 and 16,
1864, the battle raged. The four Minnesota regiments,
by the chance of war, were all aligned upon the same
front, and were all fired with the same unconquerable
resolution to win the victory. When that intrepid
262

LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD.
Scotchman, General McArthur, gave the final order for
the grand charge, the Minnesota regiments seized the
initiative, and never lost it, though smitten with a temp
est of shot and shell, till the enemy was driven from
his entrenchments and practically destroyed, and four
Minnesota flags were floating from Hood's abandoned
ramparts. That day the sons of Minnesota wrote the
story of their unshaken valor upon Southern soil. The
gallantry of her men and officers was the theme of all
tongues. Hubbard's brigade had captured nine pieces of ar
tillery, seven stands of colors, and many prisoners. It
is officially recorded that Hubbard had three horses shot
under him, and was himself wounded. For his gallant
conduct in this memorable battle, upon the recommenda
tion of Generals Thomas, Smith, and McArthur, a gol
den star was placed upon his shoulder.
Subsequently his brigade was one of the foremost
in the siege and capture of Spanish Fort and Mobile.
The campaign against Mobile was practically the
close of General Hubbard's career as a soldier in the
Civil War. His regiment and brigade, with him as com
mander, had traversed six rebel states, participated in
thirteen campaigns, five sieges, and thirty-four battles
and important engagements, and had lost quite as many
men in the casualties of the service as were numbered in
the ranks of the brigade when it first reported at the
front.

263

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Seldom, if ever, has it fallen to the lot of any other
field officer to possess a record of such remarkable activ
ity. General John B. Sanborn, of the Fourth Regi
ment, was in very many engagements and battles, but
numerically much less than Hubbard. While the "Old
First" possesses a glorious record of many great battles,
yet no one of its illustrious officers can parallel the en
gagements of the colonel of the Fifth. Twenty battle
fields were emblazoned on the flag of the First; thirty-
four on the flag of the Fifth. The military history of
our Minnesota regiments in the Civil War is justly a
matter of state pride, and is the exemplification of a
Roman courage, in this their virgin effort in "embattled
ranks," which stamps, for all time, the character of her
sons for dauntless valor. The pass of Thermopylae,
the graves of Marathon, the plain of Bannockburn, still
attract the admiration of the generous and brave among
men. So the field of Gettysburg, the slopes of Nash
ville, the bloody heights of Missionary Ridge, will ren
der the name of Minnesota immortal in the annals of the
world's patriot battles, not only for the luster ever wait
ing on lofty courage, but for the moral grandeur of that
patriotism which inspired her soldiers in a truly just
and noble cause. When the battles of Napoleon are but
the shadow of a remembrance, these patriot combats
will shine in undecaying luster in our state history.
From men like General Hubbard we learn the adapt
ability, the skill, the aptitude of the American volunteer
to be speedily converted into the thorough soldier. Yes-
264

LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD.
terday a country editor, scarcely having fired a gun;
today a private soldier; within less than six months hold
ing a colonel's high commission, leading a regiment of
a thousand men with judgment, with coolness, and by
strict military tactics, as though bred a soldier from his
youth. The genius of the American volunteer was
proven equal to the extraordinary demand, guided by
intelligence and fired by that patriotism which is planted
eternally in every American bosom.
This is why a great standing army is not essen
tial in the United States of America. There is a phan
tom army forever bivouacked on our hills and in our
valleys, which needs but the touch of a just cause to
rise, clothed with flesh and blood, in multitudinous and
resistless power, to effect the overthrow of any adversary.
It is the duty of the historian to let no occasion pass in
commemorating the courage, skill, consummate ability,
and glowing patriotism of the American volunteer.
General Hubbard was mustered out of service Sep
tember 6, 1865, when he returned to his old home at
Red Wing. He at once engaged in the pursuits of peace,
and embarked extensively, in 1866, in the grain busi
ness, and subsequently added the milling industry to his
activities. In 1871 and 1873 he was elected as a Re
publican to the state senate, where he had an industrious
and honorable career. In 1874 he was appointed by the
legislature one of the arbitrators to settle the dispute be
tween the state and prison contractors; and also he was
appointed by Governor Marshall one of the commis-
265

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
sioners to investigate the embarrassing question of the
proper adjustment of the old state railroad bonds. In
1877-78, in association with two other gentlemen, he
contracted the building of the "Midland Railroad," from
Wabasha to Zumbrota. This road has since become a
part of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul system. In
1880-81 he became president of the Cannon Valley Rail
road, a line leading from Red Wing to Mankato, which
has since become a part of the Chicago and Great West
ern system. Subsequently, in 1887, he superintended the
construction of the Duluth, Red Wing and Southern
Railroad, and for several years was general manager of
its operations. This line was afterward absorbed by the
Chicago and Great Western.
These varied pursuits illustrate the activity of Gen
eral Hubbard after the close of his war service. Never
for one moment idle, he was always absorbed in import
ant enterprises which were for the upbuilding of his city
and locality. His energy and constant industry did
much, if not more than that of any other single individ
ual, to assure the growth and prosperity that has given
Red Wing its well deserved high rank among the most
progressive and delightful cities of the state.
His career as mechanic, editor, state senator, soldier,
grain merchant and miller, railroad contractor and man
ager, with the attending wide experiences of men and
business, — these educational forces and dramatic life on
a frontier, — led him up to the next important event in
his varied life.
266

LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD.
There was a good deal of politics abroad in Minne
sota in 1881, although the state was solidly Republican.
The preceding political campaign had enthused itself
about the celebrated "brass kettle," a two-quart measure
used by buyers for grading wheat. By the manipulation
of this measure, it was claimed, by Ignatius Donnelly
and his followers, that the farmers were systematically
swindled. Under the restless Donnelly's skillful man
agement, it precipitated a strenuous campaign. Origin
ally a Republican, Donnelly became the Democratic can
didate for Congress in the Third District, and made
one of the most active campaigns the state had yet wit
nessed. But W. D. Washburn was elected by a good
majority, and Donnelly, as usual, was turned down.
The excitement aroused by this campaign served
to warm the people tp political action, though no great
interests were really at stake. John S. Pillsbury had
been governor three terms, and a good governor he had
been. Party usages, however, decided .that he should
now be retired and a new man sought. A flock of am
bitious men appeared in the field, but the lead, from
the beginning, was conceded to General Lucius p. Hub
bard, of Goodhue county, and he was nominated on the
first formal ballot.
Hubbard's competitor was General Richard W. John
son, of St. Paul, a gentleman of culture and good ability,
and a Democrat of high standing, with a good military
record in the Civil War. General Hubbard was elected
by a vote of 65,025, against 37,168 for Johnson. This
267

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
vote illustrates the relative strength of the two parties
at that period, as well as the popularity of Hubbard.
Some intestine contentions disturbed the harmony
of the Republican party at the time of Hubbard's advent
to power, but none of them reflected upon the Governor
himself. The senatorial term of the Hon. William
Windom was about to expire (March 4th, 1883). Sena
tor Windom, it was alleged, had been chiefly instrumen
tal in defeating ,Hon. Mark H. Dunnell for Congress
in the First District the year before. Dunnell was an
active and vigorous political worker, with four years of
Congressional experience and well versed in tactical poli
tics. His work, as the fight went on, foreshadowed Win-
dom's overthrow. The result was the nomination of a
"dark horse," the Hon. Dwight M. Sabin, an entirely
new man, with but little legislative experience, but with
a warm personal following. The shadow of an unfor
tunate business career darkened the political prospects of
Sabin. Otherwise he was strong as a political organizer,
possessed of a fine personality and agreeable manners,
and was in every way an attractive man. After one
term in the senate he was retired into private life, from
whieh he never again emerged.
William Windom was one of the noted political
characters of the Hubbard period, though his political
activities extended through many years. In the defeat
here mentioned, he went to his overthrow, never again
to receive the endorsement of his state. Over confident,

268

LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD.
he had remained in Washington till victory slipped from
his grasp. Windom lacked the grand talents and culture of
Davis, the genial good-nature of Ramsey, and the practi
cal ability of a Pillsbury or a Hubbard. His greatest
political asset was his unblemished personal character.
He lived in that enchanted circle where political and
personal morality dwell together. Even the nation at
large was permeated with the conviction that Windom
was an exceptionally pure man. A commanding pres
ence, a fair speaker, of great industry and clean life,
these were his gifts. Minnesota may justly be proud
to have William Windom in the roster of her public
men. According to the best standard of official life,
though not exempt from errors, he was a noble example
of dignity and virtue, and possessed those talents and
principles by which public life is made honorable. Two
presidents manifested their faith in him, and he surely
conferred high honor upon his state. Sit tibi terra levis.
Lucius F. Hubbard was governor of Minnesota dur
ing five years, from January 10, 1882, to January 5,
1887. His opponent in 1883 was Adolph Biermann, who
received 58,251 votes, against Hubbard's 72,462.
The second term of Hubbard's governorship was
extended to three years, as were other state and county
offices, in connection with the changes from annual to
biennial sessions of the State Legislature, by a legisla
tive act and a constitutional amendment which made

269

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
the biennial state elections coincide every fourth year
with the national elections.1
The old Territorial Capitol, completed in 1853, had
been destroyed by fire on the night of March 1st, 1881.
The flames from the burning had not yet ceased^ to il
luminate the locality, before the city of St. Paul, through
its authorities, tendered to Governor Pillsbury the new-
Market Building, a large and commodious structure, for
the use of the legislature and state officers. In this
building, Governor Hubbard was inaugurated and exer
cised the functions of his office for about one year. But
in January, 1883, the state offices, with the legislative
body, were transferred to the new capitol, where he de
livered his first biennial message.
This message, delivered January 4, 1883, is re
plete with an ample digest of the financial and general
condition of state affairs. He especially invited atten
tion to the necessity of imposing restraints upon the
management of railroads, urging this in such an impres
sive manner as secured legislative attention and action.
The result was the important measure creating the rail
road commission as now existing. In response, also,.
to his recommendation, the present existing system of
state grain inspection was organized.
These measures were radical and far reaching in
their operation and influence. They established upon a
sound and enduring basis the true theory of the control

'See General Laws of the State of Minnesota, Twenty-third
Session of the State Legislature, 1883, page 6.
270

LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD.
of those two vital interests of the state, the railways and
the safe method of marketing grain. The system, as
then established, has been modified and amended as ex
perience has suggested, but the principles then put in
operation are permanent. If nothing else marked Gov
ernor Hubbard's administration, these measures alone
would give lasting value to his public service. With
these was associated state inspection of dairy products,
under the guiding and inspiring influence of which the
state has forge'd to the very front of the world's produc
tion of butter. Minnesota can now say in the words of
Ford, the old English poet:
"I know what's what; I know on which side
My bread is buttered."
To his recommendation we are also largely indebted
for the present system of sanitary organization for the
protection of the public health; for the establishment of
the State Agricultural Society on its present prosperous
basis, for its location on the present grounds, and the
appropriation of the first $100,000 for its use; for the
establishment of the State School at Owatonna, the idea
of which originated with him; for the organization of
the state national guard; and for the beneficent change
from annual to biennial elections. He inspired a re
duction in the tax levies, while the public debt was
materially decreased. These practical measures, though
unattractive to the public eye, illustrate the value of a
safe, prudent, capable administrator, as Governor Hub
bard always demonstrated he was. 271

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
His urgent recommendation was chiefly instrumen
tal in securing the Soldiers' Home, for disabled and in
digent veterans of the Civil War, of which he is at this
writing one of the trustees. It stands at Minnehaha
Falls, as a monument to the honor and patriotism of
Minnesota. He was ever the faithful friend of that invaluable
institution, the Minnesota Historical Society, established
by Ramsey and Sibley, whose interests have been cher
ished and promoted by every governor the state has had.
January 5, 1887, Governor Hubbard retired from
the gubernatorial office with the cordial good wishes of
the people of the state without distinction of party. As
a testimonial of his high standing and excellent work
as governor and his stainless record as a public man,
a noble and prosperous county was named for him
Hubbard County, which will perpetuate his good name
through the coming years.
Governor Hubbard is a member of Acker Post, G.
A. R., the Minnesota Commandery of the Loyal Legion,
the Minnesota Society of the Sons of the American
Revolution, the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, the
Military Order of Foreign Wars, the Society of Ameri
can Wars, and the Red Wing Commandery of Royal
Arch Masons. He was a member for Mmnesota of the
Republican National Committee in the campaign of
1896. During the Spanish War his high character as a
military officer was duly recognized by President Mc-
272

LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD.
Kinley, and on June 6, 1898, he was appointed a briga
dier general, and served throughout that war in com
mand of the Third Division, Seventh Army Corps.
In 1889 he was appointed by the legislature of the
state on a commission to compile and publish a history
of the Minnesota military organizations in the Civil and
Indian wars, a most valuable record in two large vol
umes. As the administration at Washington had enter
tained the idea of recognizing, in some important way,
the fitness and just claims of Governor Hubbard for
federal honors and service, he, at the instance of strong
friends, became in 1897 a candidate for the position of
Ambassador to Italy. The justice- of his claim was
promptly and warmly recognized by our senators and
members of Congress. Archbishop Ireland, among oth
ers, was his strong and active friend. It seemed that
he was quite sure of success, when suddenly a change
came from favorable to adverse conditions. This occas
ioned much surprise among his many friends. The
facts in the case were gradually developed by correspon
dence and statements involving many noted public men.
The allegations made were intended to cast a shade upon
the business integrity of Governor Hubbard. They came
from a noted intermeddler in state and national poli
tics, who was a member of a political party not in sym
pathy with Governor Hubbard, and who has too often
sought to dominate political interests and party poli
tics, and to crush those not comformable to his will.
18 273

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
In vindication of his personal integrity, the Gov
ernor presented to the President an array of testimony
which was overwhelming in its character, and which left
him without stain or censure. These vindicatory docu
ments are all now in the possession of the writer, and
are so complete as to command admiration. But strange
ly enough, and with retributive justice, the prosecution
of the Governor's vindication brought to light one of
the most atrocious efforts at bribery and corruption, on
the part of the very accusant of Governor Hubbard, of
which we have any knowledge in the history of our state,
and the utter failure of which doubtless inspired, in the
spirit of revenge, the attack upon his spotless character.
The vindication, however, came too late, for the appoint
ment was made pending this affair; but Governor Hub
bard's character was maintained inviolate, receiving a
notable endorsement by the national administration it
self in his appointment as brigadier general of Volun
teers by President McKinley in 1898.
As relating to this subject, it is proper and credit
able to mention the fact that in 1884 large corporations
with which the Governor" had previously had business
connections became involved and assigned. He had,
prior to his inauguration as governor, severed his official
connection with these companies, and was neither an
officer nor director. He was, however, unfortunately
an endorser of their paper, which at times was floated
to a large amount. To meet this catastrophe, for which
he was in no wise responsible and for much of which
274

LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD.
he was without legal hability, he surrendered his entire
fortune and also the property of his wife, to such an
extent that not a single personal creditor lost a dollar
by him, and every obligation for which he became re
sponsible, of whatever nature, was, in the end, settled
and discharged on an honorable basis, and he enjoys the
proud satisfaction of leaving an unsullied heritage to
his children. In 1896 Governor Hubbard was elected a delegate
to the National Republican convention at St. Louis, at
which William McKinley was first nominated for presi
dent; and Hubbard was named by that convention as a
member of the Republican National Committee for Min
nesota. That was the notable year in which sound
money as against free silver was the battle cry, and in
which memorable contest William Jennings Bryan went
down to defeat. To this campaign Governor Hubbard
gave much time and attention, and was intimately asso
ciated with Hon. Marcus A. Hanna, chairman of the
National Republican Committee, in the conduct of the
same. During the next year, 1897, Cushman K. Davis be
gan to assert his power in national politics at Washing
ton. His ability and culture were fully recognized, and
Minnesota took pride in her senator.
It was during Governor Hubbard's second term that
the Hon. S. J. R. McMillan was elected to the United
States Senate for a second term. He was originally
elected to that office in 1875 as a compromise candi-
275

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
date, a "dark horse," and was taken from the supreme
bench, for that purpose. He was in no sense a politi
cian, and, though an upright and conscientious man, he
did not rank as a statesman. He had an honorable ca
reer, was a good jurist, but was never in any sense a
strong man as a politician.
Other than those referred to, there were few and un
important political events transpiring during the period
of Governor Hubbard's administration. The Republican
party was firm in its hold of political power. There
was, however, one sharp contest in the Fourth Congres
sional District for congressional honors in 1884. The
Hon. W. D. Washburn had been in Congress for three
terms from the Minneapolis district, and now other as
pirants presented themselves. The Hon. Loren Fletcher,
of Minneapolis, and the Hon. Albert Scheffer, of St.
Paul, appeared in the arena. The old contest between
St. Paul and Minneapolis was distinctly manifest. It
developed quite a notable battle, with the usual results
in such cases. A compromise candidate was sprung at
an opportune moment, and the Hon. John B. Gilfillan,
of Minneapolis, was nominated and elected. But this
contest was so sharp, so well fought, that it riveted the
eyes of the whole state and was regarded as a shrewd
piece of political work.
Few men have retired from the position of governor
who were held in as high regard and esteem by the
people of the state as Governor Hubbard. His practi
cal good sense, the important measures he proposed and
276

LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD,
achieved, the steadiness and cleanness of his administra
tion, his open and manly nature, all conspire to give
him an elevated place in the affections and memory of
the people of Minnesota. He removed from Red Wing
to St. Paul in 1901, where he now resides, happy in his
intercourse with his numerous friends, serving on boards
and commissions of an important public character, and
cheerfully performing the duties ever devolving upon
a good citizen. His honorable and useful life, both in
war and peace, brings him that reward which is better
than a ducal coronet, and crowns him with a laurel
which will not wither.
Governor Hubbard was married in Red Wing, May
17, 1868, to Miss Amelia Thomas, daughter of Charles
and Amelia Thomas. The Thomas family were lineal
descendants of Sir John Moore. Of this union three
children were born: Charles F., in 1869; Julia M., in
1871, now Mrs. Charles H. McGill; and Lucius V., in
1873. The children, at this writing, are all living.

The first biennial message of Governor Hubbard to
the legislature, Jasnuary 4, 1883, was published in 36
pages as a pamphlet and as the first paper in the Execu
tive Documents of Minnesota for 1882 (Minneapolis*
1883). The loss of the first capitol by fire in 1881,
and the building of a new capitol, then occupied by the
state officers and the legislature, are the subjects of the
first four pages of this message. Among other subjects
277

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
that receive lengthy consideration are the railroads and
needed legislation for reducing and equalizing their
freight rates, on which the governor wrote in part as
follows. * * * While we recognize the fact that these corpora
tions confer great benefit upon the country, that they are
mighty in their influence for the spread and development of
our civilization, and should receive the cordial support of pub
lic sympathy in the exercise of their reasonable and legitimate
functions, yet they should on their part feel that they are the
servants and not the masters of the public; that, like the
citizen, they are amenable to laws whose majesty at once
affords them protection and commands them to respect its
restraints. They should be reminded that they are creatures
of the authority of the State; that it has endowed them with
valuable franchises and enormous subsidies, and that it affords
them that protection and enjoyment of possession which gives
to all property its greatest value. They should be impressed
with the fact that their legitimate resources are wholly derived
from the patronage of the public, and that their proper and
legal relation to the public can only be maintained by dis
pensing exact justice to every individual and locality with
which they have to deal.
That the State has power to exercise control, within rea
sonable limits, over these corporations, is a principle long
since established, and that it has not exercised such control
to a greater degree is due to the patience and forbearance of
the public. * * *
Governor Hubbard's second biennial message, Jan
uary 7, 1885, formed a pamphlet of 44 pages, published
also as the first paper in the Executive Documents for
1884. State inspection of grain, for its grading in a
scale of prices, legislation on the management of eleva
tors and warehouses, and state regulation of railroad
freight rates and train service, are again recommended to
the attention of the legislature. Concerning needed re
forms of railroad transportation, the message said:

ii # *

The duty of the railroad companies as common
carriers is to transport for all alike, with reasonable dispatch
278

LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD.
ind at reasonable rates. What are reasonable rates and rea
sonable dispatch depends on the circumstances of the case, but
the obligation to carry for all alike is absolute under all cir
cumstances. No increased dispatch, no reduced rate to some,
will justify any practice which works discrimination, or a
restriction of his free right, to any.
The people look to you to adopt laws which shall interdict
and terminate all these practices. The details of the legisla
tion which will accomplish it, will be yours to elaborate. It
is my duty to recommend that you aim to secure, at every
station, an open and unrestricted market, the right of ship
ment for any and all, without partiality or preference, and
transportation for all without discrimination at equal and rea
sonable rates, to any desired destination. * * *
The third and last biennial message by Hubbard
to the legislature, delivered January 5, 1887, at the end
of his administration as governor, was published as a
pamphlet of 40 pages and as the first paper in the
Executive Documents for 1886-7. In reviewing that
period and its legislation, he said:
During the five years it has been my privilege to occupy
the executive office Minnesota has experienced a development
unprecedented in her history, and hardly equaled by that of
any other community of the country for a like period of time.
Her growth in population has been nearly 60 per cent, and
her assessed real and personal estate has increased from
$271,158,961, in 1881, to $458,424,777, in 1886. The industries
and business interests of her people have kept pace in their
development with this growth in population and wealth, and
the foundations have been broadened and strengthened for
that greatness of empire whieh is the abundant promise of
our future destiny. * * *

Probably the most important measures of reform, more
far reaching in their future influence for relief to the people
than any that have been instituted in recent years, are those
which constitute our present policy respecting the control and
regulation of railway corporations. The legislation of 1885
upon this subject, and also that respecting state supervision
of warehouses and the inspection of grain, was hailed by the
people of the State at large as the dawn of their deliverance 279

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
from monopolistic exactions and oppression. I believe the
reasonable expectations of the people have not been disap
pointed in the result thus far in the administration of this
new policy. Recognizing it as the agency through which their
ultimate emancipation will be worked out, they patiently
await such action at your hands as shall make it fully and
completely effective to that end.
An article on "The Progress of Minnesota" was
contributed by Governor Hubbard in the North Ameri
can Review, January, 1887 (Volume CXLIV, pages 22-28).
By an act of the Legislature, April 16, 1889,
Governor (and General) Hubbard was appointed a mem
ber of a board of commissioners for preparing and pub
lishing a history entitled "Minnesota in the Civil and
Indian Wars, 1861-1865." In this work of two vol
umes he contributed the "Narrative of the Fifth Regi
ment," forming pages 243-281, and followed by the ros
ter of this regiment in pages 282-299, of Volume I
(St. Paul, 1890, and second edition, 1891).
Other papers by General Hubbard relating to the
Civil War are the following:
The Red River Expedition, read November 7, 1888,'
before the Minnesota Commandery of the Military Or
der of the Loyal Legion of the United States, pub
lished in its "Glimpses of the Nation's Struggle,'-" sec
ond series, pages 267-279 (St. Paul, 1890).
Five papers, entitled as follows, read at meetings
of the Minnesota Historical Society, January, 1907, to
February, 1908, to be in Volume XII of its Collections:
Minnesota in the Battles of Corinth, Mississippi,
May to October, 1862.
280

LUCIUS FREDERICK HUBBARD.
Minnesota in the Campaigns of Vickburg, Novem
ber, 1862, to July, 1863.
Minnesota in the Red River Expedition, Louisiana,
.and the Price Missouri Raid, 1864.
Minnesota in the Battles of Nashville, December
15 and 16, 1864.
Minnesota in the Campaign of Mobile, March and
April, 1865.
The first of these five papers was published separa
tely in ^_a pamphlet of 29 pages, 1907, including re
marks by Archbishop Ireland and Gen. M. D. Flower.
The second paper, on the Vicksburg campaigns, was
also published as a part of a pamphlet of 64 pages
1907. Ensuing parts of this pamphlet comprise the
Report of the Minnesota Vicksburg Monument Com
mission, consisting of General Hubbard, General C. C.
Andrews, and Major T. P. Wilson; the addresses given
at the dedication of the Minnesota Memorials in the
Vicksburg National Military Park, May 24, 1907, by
General Hubbard, Governor Johnson of Minnesota, and
Governor Vardaman of Mississippi; and acts of the
Minnesota Legislature and of the United States Con
gress, relating to this military park.
Additional papers by Hubbard in the Minnesota
Historical Society Collections are:
Memorial Address in honor of Governor Ramsey
(Volume X, 1905, pages 748-750).
Early Days in Goodhue County (Volume XII, 1908,
pages 149-166). 281

ANDREW R. lie GILL.

ANDREW RYAN McGILL
Tenth Governor of the State of Minne
sota, was born in Saegerstown, Pennsyl
vania, February 19, 1840, and died in
St. Paul, October 31, 1905. He was
Insurance Commissioner of the State
from 1873 to 1887, and a state senator
from 1899 to 1905. He was governor
of Minnesota from January 5, 1887, to
January 9, 1889.

ANDREW RYAN McGILL
TENTH GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
January 5, 1887, to January 9, 1889

WITHIN one week of each other, two unique per
sonalities departed to the impenetrable beyond, —
Governors Andrew McGill and Horace Austin. They
were the Damon and Pythias of our executives, the
Gemini of the gubernatorial constellation. Their de
parture from this life, so nearly together, recalls the
fact that Adams and Jefferson died upon the same day.
All their lives they were the most intimate friends.
Each had his rise and development in the same city of
St. Peter, a city famous for its governors. It has al
ready furnished the state four executives, Swift, Austin)
McGill, and Johnson. If Virginia was the mother of
"presidents, surely St. Peter is the prolific mother of
governors. But really there was something dramatic in the lives
of these two governors. Their unexpected departure to
the "pale realms of shade," so nearly at the same time,
recalls facts in their history, showing how they had
traveled life's dusty paths together, in sympathy arid
•cooperation. 285

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
When Governor McGill was buried, Governor Austin
was one of the honorary pall bearers, and was the very
last person to remain at the grave, looking where lay his
old-time friend; and on the same day only one week
later, was himself consigned to mother earth.
As they respected and honored each other, so the
writer respects and honors both.
Andrew Ryan McGill was born in Saegerstown,
Crawford county, Pennsylvania, February 19, 1840.
He was of Irish ancestry. His paternal grandfather,
Patrick McGill, came from near Belfast, Ireland, to the
United States in 1774, when twelve years of age. Both
the grandfather and an older brother served in the army
of the Revolution. After the war, the brothers settled
in Pennsylvania in Northumberland county. But in a
few years the entire family emigrated to the western
part of the state, where Patrick McGill secured a large
tract of land in what is now called Crawford county.
This land became the "Old Homestead" of the McGill
family, and here children and grandchildren were born.
Charles Dillon McGill was the youngest son, and the
father of Andrew, the future governor.
The mother of Andrew was Angeline Martin. She
came from Waterford, Pennsylvania. Her father's
name was Armand Martin, and he had been a soldier
in the war of 1812. Her grandfather, Charles Martin,
of English birth, served in the Revolutionary War, and
was honored after the struggle with an appointment by
George Washington as a lieutenant in the Second United
286

ANDREW RYAN McGILL.
States Infantry. This position he resigned, and was ap
pointed a major general in the state troops of Pennsyl
vania, a position of much importance at that time. An
drew MeGill's mother appears to have been not only an
exemplary woman, but a person of strong character and
a thorough Christian, and withal a handsome woman.
Her family were all Methodists, and she was a devout
member of that church till her death. She inculcated
lessons of duty and morality which bore their impress
during life, though she died when Andrew was but eight
years of age.
Andrew was reared in what was known as the Ven
ango Valley, a beautiful and picturesque region on the
banks of French creek, a stream made historic because
of its having formed part of the route taken by Wash
ington in 1753, when acting as a messenger from Gov
ernor Dinwiddie of Virginia to the French commandant
at Fort Le Boeuf. There were good schools in his na
tive town, and he was a good scholar. At the early age
of nineteen, in 1859, he assumed control of his own
course in life and determined to strike out in the world
for himself, notwithstanding inducements made to him
by his father to remain at home on the farm. His first
effort for himself was in teaching school not far from
his home. Then, like Governor Swift, he turned his
footsteps to the South, and going to Kentucky he also
there engaged in teaching school, for which pursuit he
was well qualified. He met with good success, but in a
short period the Civil War occurred, and his pronounced 287

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Union sentiments made his abode unpleasant, and on
the actual beginning of hostilities he turned to the North.
Fortunately directed by an old friend, he came to Min
nesota and settled in St. Peter, June 10, 1861.
The trip having exhausted his funds, he again,
within a month, resorted to the schoolroom. Through his
active energy he opened a select High School July 7,
1861, which he conducted as principal with ability, and
many citizens of Minnesota today recount that their
early education was under his instruction:
Something of the coming man is indicated in a
letter which he wrote home to his oldest sister about this
time (July 14, 1862) : "My aspirations are to go up
higher, and I presume I shall spend a lifetime in trying
to improve my mind. I am studying law and pursuing
other studies of importance."
But the tocsin of war roused his patriotic heart,
ahd we find him leaving the school room and enlisting
as a private in Captain Asgrim K. Skaro's Company D
of the Ninth Minnesota regiment, August 19, 1862, at
the age of twenty-two. He was elected first sergeant.
His service was on the frontier against the Sioux In
dians in their memorable outbreak. He was afterward.
posted at St. Peter, and was present as a guard at the
hanging of the condemned Sioux at Mankato, December
26, 1862, where the writer, who was in command at thaf
most extraordinary execution, first knew young McGill.
He served with fidelity for one year, and was discharged
for serious disability August 18, 1863. This was none
288

ANDREW RYAN McGILL.
too soon, for only nursing and care during weeks and
months brought him back to health, but not to a degree
to make it advisable for him to re-enlist, which was to
him then and afterwards a great regret.
In this connection, it may be added that eleven of
Minnesota's governors, rendered service in the Union
army during the Civil War, or during the Sioux Indian
War in this state, these being Gorman, Sibley, Swift,
Miller, Marshall, Austin, Davis, Hubbard, McGill, Nel
son, and Van Sant.
Returning to his home in St. Peter, McGill was
elected as superintendent of schools for Nicollet county,
in which capacity he served two terms. This signalized
his advent into public life. Subsequently, in 1864, he
purchased the St. Peter Tribune, of which he became
the editor. Following this, he was elected clerk of the
District Court, and during the occupancy of this office
he availed himself of much leisure to study law in the
office of Charles S. Bryant. He was admitted to the
bar May 8, 1869, by Judge Horace Austin.
One year later, Judge Austin became governor of
the state, and he appointed McGill as his private secre
tary. In December, 1873, shortly before the exp'iration of
his term of office, Governor Austin appointed him In
surance Commissioner. In later years, when, in the
shifting scenes, McGill became governor, he had the
pleasure of reciprocating this appointment by naming
ex-Governor Austin as one of the Railroad Commis
sioners. 10 289

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Mr. McGill held the office of Insurance Commis
sioner for thirteen years, having been reappointed suc
cessively by Governors Davis, Pillsbury, and Hubbard.
His work in this office was valuable to the state, and
through his wide information he became a recognized
authority on all insurance matters.
He had now truly become a public man and pos
sessed a general acquaintance throughout the state.
Quiet, unostentatious and dignified in character, he pos
sessed those personal and public virtues which gave him
a large and intelligent following. In 1886 his friends
announced him as a candidate for the Republican nom
ination for governor. The convention met at St. Paul
September 22. His competitors were Charles A. Gil
man, of St. Cloud, John L. Gibbs, of Albert Lea, and
Albert Scheffer, of St. Paul. They were men of ability,
with many friends.
Singularly, there were no nominating speeches made
by the convention, and they proceeded to ballot, no can
didate being named. On the fifth ballot McGill was
duly nominated, receiving 190 out of 361 votes.
McGill's Democratic opponent was Dr. Albert A.
Ames, of Minneapolis, a man who at that time possessed
a remarkable popularity, especially with the laboring
classes. The canvass of 1886 was vigorous and exciting
and was unlike that of any campaign conducted in the
state before or since that time. A High License bill had
been before the legislature of 1885, with every prospect
of becoming a law, but was finally defeated through the
290

ANDREW RYAN McGILL.
organized efforts of the liquor interests. The Republi
can party had in consequence declared in its platform at
the convention September 22, 1886, for high license and
local option, thus concentrating the liquor interests in a
solid phalanx against it; and those representing these in
terests arrayed themselves with the Democratic party,
with Ames as their leader.
The Prohibitionists, whose candidate for governor
was James E. Child, of Waseca, practically and politi
cally gave aid to the Democrats by polling a vote of
9,030, because they could not consistently "compromise
with evil" by voting with the Republicans for the better
regulation of the liquor traffic. The fight in the cam
paign was for and against high license, — all other ques
tions were secondary. The excitement became intense.
Ames conducted a notable and aggressive warfare, and
the result appeared in much doubt. A riot in Minne
apolis the night preceding the election, which it was
claimed had been instigated by Democrats, is said to
have cost Ames so many votes that it lost him the elec
tion. McGill received 107,064 votes, and Ames 104,464,
making McGill's plurality over Ames only 2,600. Count
ing also the Prohibition vote, he lacked 3,216 from a
majority of all the votes cast, and thus became a min
ority governor.
But under all the circumstances McGill's election
must be regarded as a triumph for the high stand taken
by the Republican party in that campaign, no less than
for the man himself who so thoroughly possessed "the
291

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA. •
courage of his convictions," and so gallantly advocated
the principles of his party which he defended to the
end. The lofty character and manly deportment of
McGill throughout this bitter campaign is worthy of air
praise. Andrew R. McGill was inaugurated as governor
January 5, 1887. A careful examination of his in
augural address and the regular biennial address. Jan
uary 9, 1889, exhibits the character and purpose of
the man in an exalted light. With unfaltering resolu
tion he intelligently maintained his principles. The re
cord shows great accomplishments.
The High License fight was resumed in the legis
lature of 1887. There were visible signs of weakening
on the part of members who had been elected on that
issue. The liquor interests, with their forces well or
ganized, lobbied in season and out of season on the floor
of both houses, and were ready to expend any amount
of money to block legislation against the measure. Mass
meetings were held in both St.' Paul and Minneapolis to
express in no uncertain terms the sentiments of the peo
ple that the demand for High License must prevail.
Governor McGill did the very unusual thing of presiding
at the St. Paul meeting, and was untiring in his efforts
to stimulate his party to redeem their pledge. No ques
tion was ever more hotly contested, and on the days set
for its consideration people thronged to the Capitol.
Finally, after several struggles and amidst great excite
ment, the High License bill passed the Senate February
292

ANDREW RYAN McGILL.
4, 1887, and the House five days later, and immediately
received the Governor's signature. This law was subse
quently the model for similar bills in other states, and
the point of view so changed that soon those who had
been its bitterest enemies became its ardent supporters.
This law remains unchanged upon our statute books to
day. Governor McGill's administration was characterized
by faithful and meritorious work in .many other direc
tions. He urged the simplification of the tax laws, the
abolishment of contract prison labor, and the establish
ment of that noble institution, the Soldier's Home.
These all stand to his favor and credit. The wisdom of
these measures is more and more apparent as time ad
vances, and their repeal has never been attempted. Ho
advocated greater supervision pf railroads as to freight
and passenger rates, and was the first governor to re
commend the abolishing of the issuance of free passes.
His friends may well be proud of his fearless and
manly record, and the judgment of posterity will crown
his name with honor. No odor of jobbery, no fumes
of the political pit, rise against him; no private or pub
lic scandal ever raised a whisper against his good name.
The convention for the nomination of Governor
McGill's successor was held September 5 and 6,
1888. It is quite impossible, at this distance of time,
to fully comprehend just why Governor McGill, with his
unexceptional record, was not entitled to the opera
tion of that unwritten law of party usage, a renomina- 293

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
tion. Surely he had made good in every way as gov
ernor. His friends could point with pride to his clean
and satisfactory administration, and to his spotless per
sonal character.
It was urged by those opposed that he was not
popular with the people; that he had failed to receive
a majority of the votes cast at his election; that with his
avowed position on the temperance question he was no
longer available. -These subterfuges, used by designing
and ambitious men who could not wait two years longer
for their opportunity, were loudly paraded to the public
and had their effect.
Chief among those who entered the field against
McGill was William R. Merriam, who had been speaker
of the House of Representatives in 1887, and was presi
dent of a bank. An eager desire for preferment was the
besetting political sin of Mr. Merriam. Young in years,
he could have bided his time with becoming patience.
Charles A. Gilman, of St. Cloud, John L. Gibbs,
of Albert Lea, and Albert Scheffer, of St. Paul, were
also pitted against McGill. They were men of ability,
and each had many friends. McGill had done no wrong;
there were no charges of errors of administration; hut
he was to be unseated because the competitors could not
wait their turn for the gubernatorial mantle.
A platform of principles preceded the nomination.
It endorsed the administration of Governor McGill in
complimentary terms, saying, "The Republican party
points with pride to the pure and clean administration
294

ANDREW RYAN McGILL.
of Governor McGill and to the measures he commended."
The convention, having thus cordially endorsed Gov
ernor McGill, proceeded to stultify itself by rejecting
his unqualified right, under all party usages, and by
every sense of personal justice, to a renomination. It
is not too much to characterize the action of the conven
tion as the most flagrant piece of wrong ever perpe
trated by a political, party in the state of Minnesota. It
was simply a transcendent injustice, which had its basis
in the corruption of delegates, if we credit the news
papers of the day.1
To this sentiment was given further expression on
March 15, 1907, during the eulogistic addresses to his
memory in the Senate Chamber, when Senator L. 0.
Thorpe, of Willmar, said: "Parties, like men, have their
sins of omission and commission to account for, and
one of the dark spots on the Republican party in this
state was the treatment of Governor McGill. * * *
Although for the time being apparently discredited by
his party, he became more popular and has ever since
been held in higher esteem than ever before." Not
withstanding that he had been set aside in respect
to renomination by his party, he remained its earnest
and loyal supporter and resumed his wonted place
in the ranks of citizenship, conscious that he had served
his party faithfully and was willing to be judged by

*See the St. Paul Dispatch of that period, and scores of
other journals.

295

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
the record he had made. Many subsequent rewards came
to him by reason of his dignified and manly course.
On his retirement from the executive chair, Gov
ernor McGill, for a short time, engaged in a banking
and trust business.
In 1898, and again in 1902, he was elected state
senator for the Thirty-seventh Senatorial District. His
legislative career was marked by a close application to
duty and a conscientious exercise of his senatorial prero
gatives. He was the pronounced enemy of all vicious
legislation and the friend of all needful reforms. He was
the spokesman of the old soldier on the floor of the
senate. It was chiefly through his influence that the
noble monument was erected to the Minnesota soldiers
who fell at Vicksburg.
He participated influentially in the movement to
organize Acker Post, No. 21, G. A. R,, and always took
an active interest in all its proceedings. He was, on the
recommendation of the Hon. C. K. Davis, appointed
postmaster of St. Paul by President McKinley in 1900.
He thus occupied, by a suspension of the presidential
rule, the dual offices of state senator and postmaster.
He took a -profound interest in the public schools, and
had served as president of the St. Paul Board of Edu
cation. Governor McGill was justly esteemed as a citizen
and a man. His affections bound him to his country
and to his friends and family. Always kind and consid
erate of friend or foe, with a personal deportment be-
296

ANDREW RYAN McGILL.
yond . the reach of criticism, his constant civilities won
upon all. Anger and resentment were unknown to him
in his conduct of life. He was always, and at all times,
and above all, a gentleman. He was truly the gentle
man in politics. Modest by nature, he was truly in
different to publicity and notoriety. Above all, he pos
sessed a spotless character; and character, like gold coin,
passes current among all men and in all countries. His
private life was pure and sweet, and his friendship a
benediction. The deaths of Andrew Ryan McGill and Horace
Austin, in immediate proximity, with the story of their
mutual devotion, were indeed dramatic. Death closes all
questions and hides all faults; but it is probable that
these two friends had as little to cover and conceal as
any two public men in the state. Their unexpected de
parture, the quick severance of all earthly ties, the sud
den "loosing of the silver cord," while cruel for friends
to bear, I fully believe was in complete accord with the
personal desire of each.
Governor McGill was twice married. His first wife
was Miss Eliza E. Bryant, daughter of Charles S. Bry
ant, a lawyer and an author of considerable repute, who
wrote the "Indian Massacre in Minnesota," a history of
the Sioux War of 1862, which is a valuable work. She
was an excellent woman, wife, and mother. She died in
1877. She was survived by two sons and one daughter,
as follows: Charles H., born in 1866; Robert C, born
in 1869; and Lida B., born in 1874. 297

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
He was again married in 1879 to Miss Mary E.
Wilson, a most estimable, accomplished, and highly edu
cated lady. She was a daughter of Dr. J. C. Wilson, a
prominent physician of Edinborough, Pa. To this happy
union survive two sons, Wilson, born in 1884, and
Thomas, born in 1889.
Governor McGill died suddenly on the morning of
October 31, 1905, at his residence, 2203 Scudder
Avenue, St. Anthony Park, with scarcely a premonition
of his end. An affection of the heart, with whieh he
had suffered for years, was the cause of his death. His
wish that he might be at home when the end came was
gratified. By order of the governor of the state, the flags on
both the old and new capitols were dropped at half-mast,
and the governor's office was appropriately draped in
black. His funeral rites were very simple, in strict ac
cordance with his own often expressed wish. There were
no public services, and the Rev. Samuel G. Smith, pastor
of the People's Church, officiated at the family residence.
Four men who have been governors of Minnesota were
among the honorary pall bearers, namely, Horace Aus
tin, L. F. Hubbard, S. R. Van Sant, and John A. John
son. Members of Acker Post, G. A. R., attended in a
body, as did also the postoffice employees. The inter
ment was at Oakland Cemetery.
Thus passed into the silence of the dead one of
Minnesota's most honored and loyal sons, suddenly cut
down in the midst of a useful and noble life.
298

ANDREW RYAN McGILL.
The inaugural address of Governor McGill to the
legislature, January 5, 1887, was published' as a pamph
let of 22 pages, and also as pages 41-62 of the Executive
Documents of Minnesota for 1886 (St. Paul, 1887).
In this message the subject of the liquor traffic received
considerable attention, as follows:
You will be called upon at this session to consider meas
ures looking to the further regulation of the liquor business
in this State. The people have pronounced in favor of "high
license, local option, and the rigid enforcement of the laws re
lating to the liquor traffic," and now turn to you in the hope
and expectation that you will in the form of suitable legisla
tion, give effect to the verdict which they found. Outside of
the limited number engaged in the liquor traffic in this State,
the people, by a very large majority and without regard to
political parties favor the measures proposed. I can see no
reason why the desired legislation should not be promptly en
acted. It is undoubtedly true that while the question of
high license does not properly relate to party politics, it is
one of intense interest to the liquor vendors of the State, and
in our cities and large towns has become the predominant is
sue at every election. The liquor interests are organized as a
compact power for the avowed purpose of combatting all ef
forts looking to the further regulation of the liquor traffic.
The effect of such an organization in such a case cannot be
otherwise than harmful. All questions are made secondary
to that of high license, and every man who stands for office — •
and more particularly a legislative office — is required to pledge
himself against it, or stand the brunt of their united opposi
tion, in many cases meaning utter defeat from the outset. In
all candor I submit to you if this is not a pernicious influence
on the legislation of the State. Two years ago a high license
bill was before the legislature, with every prospect of be
coming a law, but was finally defeated through the organized
efforts of the liquor interests. This organization is much
stronger today than it was then, and will no doubt oppose
with zeal worthy of a better cause the measures proposed.
Rut I trust this legislature, elected on the issue of "high
license and local option," is also stronger on this subject than
its predecessor, and that it has the. courage and independence
to refuse to be bound and controlled by the liquor dealers.
I have no word to utter against these men — I am willing to
concede that many of them regard the proposed measures as
an infringement on their personal rights and liberty, but in
the name of that great body of our citizens who believe in
299

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
sobriety, in law and order, and who recognize and deplore
the evils traceable to the liquor traffic, I protest against that
interest being permitted to dominate the legislation of the
State. It is not only your province but your duty to elim
inate as far as practicable these evils. It is believed that high
license and local option will minimize them. Sharing in this
belief, and desiring to keep faith with the people, I recom-
'mend the enactment of suitable and efficient legislation to
carry the proposed measures into effect.
McGill served as governor only one term, and there
fore presented only one biennial message, which was de
livered January 9, 1889, and was published as a pamph
let of 40 pages, and also as the first paper in Volume I
of the Executive Documents of Minnesota for 1888 (St.
Paul, 1889). He recommended the creation of a Par
doning Board as follows:
One of the most exacting of the many duties pertaining
to the chief executive office in this state is that growing out
of the pardoning power conferred upon the governor by the
constitution. That power is complete. He can pardon and
turn loose every prisoner in the state if he so wills, and is
responsible only to the people of the state for his acts. The
wisdom of centering in one person this important prerogative
is questioned by many, and by a limited number it is thought
the pardoning power should not exist at all. My own judg
ment is that it should exist, and that its proper lodgment,
is with the chief executive officer of the state. But I am con
vinced from a brief experience in its exercise that in justice
both to the governor and the applicant for pardon an advisory
board of pardons should he created and established by law,
to whom all applications for pardon should be referred, and
whose duty it should be after due investigation and consid
eration to pass upon the merits of each application and re
port their findings and recommendations to the governor for
his use and guidance. The applications for pardon in this state
are already so numerous, and the duties of the governor so
exacting in other directions, that he cannot find the time nec
essary to give them the careful and patient investigation de
manded by the merest considerations of justice. In common
fairness to the prisoner, at any rate, this should be done.
And to the end that the governor may be relieved as fully as
possible from responsibility in exercising the pardoning power,
the board should be entirely free, both in its creation and
300

ANDREW RYAN McGILL.
tenure of office, from obligations or responsibilities to him.
If duly authorized so to do, the chief justice of the supreme
court might very appropriately name the members to con
stitute the board from persons nominated for the positions by
the judges of the district courts. It is important that this
board, if created, shall be as independent of political influence
as possible, and semi-judicial in character. I do not think any
state or judicial officer, or any officer connected with any of
the prisons of the state, should be eligible to appointment on
it. The freer it can be made from political, partisan or out
side official influences the better, in my judgment. But these
are matters of detail which I shall not discuss. The main
thing is the creation of the board, and this I earnestly recom
mend. The governor also referred at length to the effects of
of the High License laws which had been passed during
his administration, saying:
The passage by the last legislature of the act commonly
knpwn as the high license law (and related legislation) marked
an epoch in temperance reform in Minnesota, and set an ex
ample to other states of the Union from which some of them
have already profited and others in all probability soon will.
There was no subject before the legislature in which the people
generally felt so deep an interest, and its consideration there
fore attracted the attention of the public in an unusual de
gree. * * * While no official data have been gathered, in
formation of a .character to be relied upon shows a decrease
of fully one-third in the number of saloons and an increase
of one quarter in the revenue derived from licenses. The con
sumption of liquor has been lessened and the cause of tem
perance materially promoted. * * *
Concerning proposed examinations for appointments
and promotions in civil service, Governor McGill wrote
in this message:
With the growth of the state and increase of public busi
ness it becomes all the more important, on grounds of true
economy, that new appointments of officers and employees be
made solely with reference to their qualifications. The states
of New York and Massachusetts have for four years past ad
ministered their civil service on non-partisan principles with
good results. * * * The examinations are required to be
practical in their character and to relate to those matters
which will fairly test the relative capacity and fitness of the
301

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
persons examined, to discharge the duties of the service into
which they seek to be appointed.
The system thus briefly outlined encountered some preju
dice before it was fully understood, but it is now strongly sus
tained by the sentiment of both political parties in each state
named. It would be a distinction for Minnesota to place her
self abreast of these enlightened and experienced states on this
important subject. Character and high qualifications should be
the tests of fitness for public position rather than zeal in
party manipulations, or ability to serve the partisan interests
of any person or faction. And in a government by the peo
ple the highest office in the public service should be open to
the honorable ambition of every honest citizen, no matter how-
humble his position in life.
From 1874 to 1886, inclusive, Mr. McGill, as the
Insurance Commissioner of this state, published thirteen
annual reports, the third to the fifteenth of that depart
ment. They are largely made up of statistics of the fire
and life insurance companies doing business in Min
nesota, and in size they vary between 300 and 400 pages
each. Under date of July 27, 1883, he published a quarto
pamphlet of statistics, 10 pages, entitled "Experience of
Thirty-three Insurance Companies in Minnesota for a
Period of Ten Years."
June 9, 1886, he gave an address at the Interstate
Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, at
Lake City, Minn., which was published as a pamphlet
of 15 pages.

302

WILLIAM R. MERRIAM.

WILLIAM RUSH MERRIAM
Eleventh Governor of the State of Min
nesota, was born at Wadham's Mills,
New York, July 26, 1849, and is now
residing in the city of Washington. He
grew up from boyhood in St. Paul,
Minn., and became a banker; was a
representative in the legislature in 1883
and 1887; and was governor from Janu
ary 9, 1889, to January 4, 1893. He
was Director of the United States Cen
sus from 1899 to 1903.

WILLIAM RUSH MERRIAM
ELEVENTH GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
January 9, 1889, to January 4, 1893.

THE Merriams were an influential family in Min
nesota, and of honorable descent. They posses
sed vigor of mind, high social standing, and great busi
ness activity. . Few families ever became so interwoven
with the concerns of the people in so young a state.
When we consider all that John L. Merriam (the
father), Amherst H. Wilder (the uncle), and their busi
ness associates, were to our young commonwealth, and
the young governor, William Rush Merriam, to our
financial, social and political life, it seems quite incred
ible that they should all have passed from our vision
and disappeared from our affairs, save in history. Yet
such is the fate of many of the oldest and formerly
most vigorous families of the state. They are perpe
tuated in history, not in descendants.
In Massachusetts the Adamses, the Lawrences, the
Emersons, and the Hawthornes, founded families and
perpetuated themselves. In New York the Livingstons,
Schuylers, Hamiltons, Jays, Roosevelts, Astors, Vander-
bilts, and scores of others, founded families and have
20 305

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
left continuous tribes, endowed with money and with
brains. But many of our early noted and strong men,
save in their noble and useful lives, are perpetuated only
in names of counties and towns. Possibly the Wash-
burns may prove an exception.
The progenitors of William R. Merriam's family on
the paternal side were of Scotch origin; on the mater
nal side they were French. John L. Merriam, father
of the governor, traced his ancestry to that William
Merriam who was born at Bedford, Massachusetts, in
1750, and served with the "Minute Men" in the war of
the Revolution. He took part in the memorable fight
at Concord Bridge, April 19, 1775. He was chair
man of the Board of Select Men in Bedford, 1777. He
was a prominent and well known citizen. The members
of this particular branch of the Merriams located in
northern New York. The father of the governor was
born in Essex county, in 1828, and in time became a
merchant at Wadham's Mills, and was also engaged in
the iron trade, as were many others of the family. At
one time, 1857, he was the treasurer of the county. His
wife, Mahala De Lano, who, as the name indicates, was
of French descent, was a woman of many estimable
qualities, and strong, vigorous character.
To this excellent couple was born William Rush
Merriam, the future governor, July 26, 1849, in Essex
county, N. Y., a region of beautiful and picturesque
scenery. His birthplace was in a small village, called
Wadham's Mills, where there were iron mills and manu-
306

WILLIAM RUSH MERRIAM.
facturing industries, and the few citizens were intelli
gent, industrious, and thrifty.
His middle name, Rush, was for the celebrated Dr.
William Rush, of Philadelphia, a family relative, of
Revolutionary fame.
When William was but twelve years of age, in 1861,
his father removed to Minnesota and settled at once in
St. Paul. It was years before the advent of railroads,
and in connection with those vigorous pioneers, James
C. Burbank, Captain Russell Blakeley, and Colonel
Alvaren Allen, he engaged in the stage and transportation
business, under the name of the "Minnesota Stage Com
pany." This firm secured all the mail contracts of the
Northwest, and, with their passenger and express busi
ness, were men of great business affairs. John L. Mer
riam at once exhibited the pushing, energetic business
qualities which made him eminently successful. In 1870
he was elected to the legislature, and again in 1871, and
in both sessions he was made Speaker of the House.
The son, as events proved, followed the footsteps of his
father. Colonel John L. Merriam was known as one of the
most enterprising and valuable citizens, whose unblem
ished' character and fine social qualities gained him the
esteem of all.
From the time of the family's arrival in St. Paul
till he was fifteen years of age, young William led an
uneventful life, and was habitually in attendance at the
public schools. In 1864 he was sent to school at Ra-
307

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
cine, Wisconsin, for a course at the Academy. Subse
quently he entered Racine College, where in due time he
completed the regular college course. He and Governor
Davis were the only ones of our governors who were col
lege graduates.
Merriam was held to be a very excellent student at
college, and he. was exceedingly fond of all athletic
sports and diversions. At the close of each college year
he stood at the head of his classes, and his average pro
ficiency was so high, that in 1871, in the order of general
merit, he was assigned to the high honor of delivering
the valedictory address.
He returned home, proud of his collegiate record,
and ambitious for duty in the big world of the North
west. Marking out for himself a business career, he
engaged as a clerk in the First National Bank, at a
salary of $50 per month. His work gave great satis
faction to his employers and secured the commendation
of the officers of the bank. In 1873, when the Mer
chants' National Bank of St. Paul was organized, he was
elected as its first cashier, although only twenty-four
years of age. His promotion was rapid, but his work
was good, and his strong family influence did the rest.
In 1880 he was chosen vice president of this bank,
and four years later was elected to the presidency, which
position he held until he was promoted, in the political
world, to the head of the state government. His ad
vancement in commercial circles was regarded as rapid,
and some doubted the propriety of his swift elevation.
308

WILLIAM RUSH MERRIAM.
Meantime, he took a lively interest in the affairs
qf the city of St. Paul, whose growth had been cotem-
poraneous with his own. He had inherited from his
father Republican principles, and was an active member
of that party. He was heartily identified with various
Republican clubs, and his active interest in political
matters caused him to be regarded as one of the leading
young Republicans of the state. In 1882 he was nomi
nated by his party and elected from the Twenty-seventh
District to the .Legislature of 1883. He was appointed
a member of the Committee on Finance and Banks, and
was chairman of the Committee on Appropriations. He
was, as yet, considered but a tyro in political affairs.
During this session of the legislature, there occur
red a bitter fight in the election of a United States sen
ator, when the Hon. William Windom was defeated,
and Dwight M. Sabin succeeded him. Young Merriam
was . an ardent supporter of Sabin. The limitations of
this sketch do not admit of a discussion of the causes
whieh led to the defeat of Mr. Windom; but it has long
been admitted that the state made a serious mistake in
dispensing with the services of so capable and faithful
a public servant as Senator Windom had proven himself
to be. In 1886 Mr. Merriam was again elected to the legis
lature from St. Paul. On the assembling of that body-
he was nominated and duly chosen, as his father had
been sixteen years before, Speaker of the House. His

309

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
career in that elevated position was considered as gener
ally commendable. «
Ignatius Donnelly, for the time acting with the Re
publicans, may be truly said to have given Merriam his
real start in political life. The farmers did not suffer at
the hands of the young Speaker, for Donnelly, represent
ing the Farmers' Alliance, supported Merriam. At the
end of the session, Merriam received the full endorsement
of the House for his administration of the important
functions of his high office, and for the fair and gener
ous treatment he accorded to friends and political foes
alike. As a presiding officer over the popular branch
of the legislature, a position requiring intelligence, ad
dress, and promptness, his decisions were uniformly fair,
and his course commendable. In making up the com
mittees, it was distinctly noticeable that he gave the
farmers a very liberal share.
In 1886 he was chosen vice president of the State
Agricultural Society, and in 1887 he was elected presi
dent of that body, and his marked executive ability made
his administration a decided success.
September 5 and 6, 1888, the regular Republi
can convention for the purpose of nominating state offi
cers was held in St. Paul. The Hon. A. R. McGill, then
governor, was a candidate to succeed himself. By an
unwritten political law, his administration having been
clean and honorable, he was entitled to the endorsement
of a second term. He had been in his first campaign
the champion of high license, which the Republican party
310

WILLIAM RUSH MERRIAM.
had made the issue. On this issue McGill had been
elected, though with a reduced majority. He urged high
license in his message to the legislature, and in every
way he was identified with the measure.
Others ambitious of gubernatorial honors thought
they saw a weakness in McGill's position, and stood
ready to sacrifice the champion of high license on the
altar of their ambition.
Albert Scheffer, of St. Paul, Charles A. Gilman, of
St. Cloud, and William R. Merriam, of St. Paul, were
the contestants of Governor McGill. This contest proved
to be very bitter in the way it was waged. The attacks
on Governor McGill were exceedingly ungenerous and
unfair, for in every way he had been an acceptable official
and was personally without reproach.
William R. Merriam was young and could afford to
bide his time and be generous. Had he done so, he
would undoubtedly have been the nominee two years
later, without controversy and perhaps without opposi
tion, and it would have left him without heartaches and
grievances which probably materially barred his future
political success.
There were vigorous and trenchant comments on
the character and conduct of the convention, and upon
"the political integrity of some of the members; and
many of the Republican papers of the state were unusu
ally severe upon methods which, it was alleged, charac-
ierized the proceedings. But these matters, doubtless

311

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
exaggerated, have passed into forgetfulness, and there is
no occasion to revive them now.
It was the rural districts which gave Merriam his
nomination, for he always stood well with the farmers.
There were four formal ballots, and on the fourth the ex-
Speaker was nominated, receiving 270 out of 448 votes,
225 being necessary to a choice. He had made a vigor
ous canvass and maintained his hold on the rural masses.
His Democratic opponent was Hon. Eugene M. Wilson,
of Minneapolis, an able lawyer, a man of great personal
popularity, and once a member of Congress. The only
other nominee was Hugh Harrison, Prohibitionist. Mer
riam was elected by a majority of 24,104 over Wilson,
who received 110,257 votes, while Harrison received
17,026, and Merriam 134,355. His general administra
tion as governor was quite satisfactory to his party, and
his renomination followed, in 1890, with less opposition.
The Democrats in .1890 ran against him the Hon.
Thomas Wilson, of Winona, once a member of the
Supreme Bench of the state, and a gentleman of fine
culture, marked ability, and well known throughout the
state. The situation was, however, essentially different
from the former contest. The Farmers' Alliance move
ment had gained cohesion and was now at the height of
its power, and it presented a candidate of its own in
the person of S. M. Owen, editor of the Farm, Stock
and Home, an agricultural journal, a resident of Minne
apolis. The tri-party election was close, the Republicans
suffering severe loss. Merriam received 88,111 votes-
312

WILLIAM RUSH MERRIAM.
Wilson, 85,844; and Owen, 58,513. James P. Pinkham
also ran as a Prohibitionist, and received 8,424 votes.
Merriam's plurality over his leading opponent was 2,267.
Merriam thus became a minority governor, and it was
the second instance, since the organization of the state,
in which the Republican candidate had not received a
majority over all competitors.
Governor Merriam's career as chief executive was
marked by an intelligent conception of the important
duties and responsibilities of the office. His messages,
during the four years, are excellent state papers, vigor
ous, clear and comprehensive. His recommendations
were all practical and well received by the legislature
and by the people also. He evidently had at heart the
general welfare, was proud of his state, and indulged
high hopes of its splendid future. The public business
was transacted with a promptness characteristic of a
business man. When it is remembered that he was, in
years, next to the youngest governor in the Union, and
the youngest this state has ever had, we can take pride
in the good judgment and sound discretion which charac
terized his administration.
During his incumbency of the office, several impor
tant measures were passed; among others, the election
law based on the Australian system, the law for leasing
the iron ore lands belonging to the state school fund,
and for refunding the state debt at a lower rate of in
terest.

313

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
As a citizen of St. Paul, Merriam was regarded as
one of its worthiest and most valuable men. He took
an active part in all its local concerns. He was presi
dent of the Merchants' National Bank; a member of the
Chamber of Commerce; treasurer of the Board of Edu
cation; a vestryman of St. Paul's church; and was
largely connected and interested in various local business
enterprises. He was always concerned in agricultural matters.
He was vice president of the State Agricultural Society
in 1886, and in 1887 and 1888 was its president. His
management brought success and prosperity to the
Society. His active temperament made him fond of
athletic sports and diversions, and he was the first presi
dent of the Minnesota Boat Club. He was ever an ad
mirer and owner of good horses. It is a more intelligent
passion to love a good horse than an autombile.
It is very difficult in a work of this sort to fully
consider the conduct and merits of living men, and to
give them their proper place in history. To the living
it is like reading their own obituaries. But one can
obtain many interesting opinions of one's life by reading
contemporaneous journals, especially those of the opposi
tion. It is not always necessary to wait till the under
taker has, with grim joy, arranged the flowers and dec
orated the casket, to find something of the final estimate
of a public man. Pre-obituaries are constantly being
written by enthusiastic journalists, who so often handle
public men with ungracious confidence and merciless
314

WILLIAM RUSH MERRIAM.
method. Somewhere midway between the extravagant
eulogies of a partisan press and the frailties and faults
discovered by unfriendly journals, there is a line of jus
tice and truth. It is the manifest duty of the non
partisan biographer to follow the intervening course. As
Ovid well says, "Medio tutissimus ibis."
From the beginning of his career Governor Mer
riam very much coveted the honors and exhilarations of
politics. That he never achieved his most ambitious de
sires, is due chiefly to his unwillingness to wait with
patience and bide his time. The machinations of his
friends to set aside a predecessor, Governor McGill,
without sufficient cause, were plainly ungenerous, and
the more so when the. aspirant was possessed of youth
and health and could await his turn, which surely would
have come without contention or injustice. The result
of this impatience left behind it sores which were never
healed, and which presented obstacles to all his future as
pirations. The concensus of opinion is now that the set
ting aside of McGill for a second term was a tactical
mistake for the party and all concerned in it, being a
blemish on the fair dealing whieh so generally charac
terized the Republican party in the state. It is not the
purpose of historical composition simply to eulogize men
and carry them on to posterity with garlands of flowers,
but to tell the truth, to the end that the youth of the
state be forewarned, and that every public life be made
a teacher of political wisdom.

315

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
The parts which fell to Governor Merriam in the
drama of political life were always important and often
conspicuous. In 1896, together with Governor L. F.
Hubbard, Robert G. Evans, and George Thompson, he
was sent as one of the delegates to the National Republi
can Convention which nominated William McKinley for
President. The great contest in that convention was
what wras termed the "Battle of the Standards." The
scheming and contention pending the adoption of the
platform was sharp, and results were very uncertain.
Many prominent Republicans were "weak-kneed" on the
question of sound money. Even William McKinley was
in doubt as to the best policy. While Senator Hanna
was sound in his personal views, he was in serious doubt
as to the policy of the party. "Free Silver" was then in
its "run of fever." It really appeared at one time that
the committee on resolutions would report a mongrel
plank, which would admit of a bi-metallic construction
and thus "straddle" the question.
The Minnesota delegation was decidedly for the gold
standard. Governor Merriam had been designated as the
member of the committee on resolutions, and he was es
pecially instructed by his delegation to vote for a gold
standard. But he was known to be largely under the in
fluence of Senator Hanna, whose final action was yet in
doubt. So the delegation riveted Minnesota's position
to the gold standard by positive instructions. This was
strictly in accord wth previous instructions by the Re
publican State Convention. Merriam, as a banker, was
316

WILLIAM RUSH MERRIAM.
surely personally in favor of sound money; but the dele
gation took no chances, and sealed their position by in
structions. This was Minnesota's part in the adoption of
the gold standard in the national platform of 1896.
It is the general belief of our ablest politicians that
Mr. McKinley's election would not have followed had not
the gold standard been unequivocally adopted. After his
election, a wave of confidence swept over the country, as
a consequence of the adoption of the gold standard, which
resulted in continuous and unparalleled prosperity such
as never before was the happy lot of any people. It is
proper to remark that Governor Merriam was selected as
one of the sub-committee to prepare the platform, and
did good work on that important document. His in
fluence counted strongly in favor of sound money, which
at once became the shibboleth of the party.
In 1893, when the late Senator Davis was a can
didate for re-election to the United States Senate, it is
of record that he came near being defeated. Among
those who opposed Davis' re-election, even after his nomi
nation by a Republican caucus, was Governor Merriam,
who was himself a contingent candidate for the place,
for which he received two votes. In the final vote Davis
received eighty-five votes, the exact number necessary to a
choice. It will thus be seen that his danger was immi
nent. It was claimed by Senator Davis and his friends
that he was greatly embarrassed in his canvass by the ac
tion of Governor Merriam, and they charged him with
being the head of the conspiracy for the defeat of Davis.
317

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
A coolness naturally followed between these two promi
nent men, and thenceforth their political friendship
ceased. This alienation proved unfortunate for Governor
Merriam. Senator Davis, by his ability, culture, and the
sum of many distinguishing qualities, had now advanced
to the very highest position in the Senate and in the
councils of his party. His influence had become potent.
In the course of events during the administration of
President McKinley, it came to pass that Governor Mer
riam, or his friends, was anxious to have him nominated
for a first-class position abroad, and even urged him for
a seat in the Cabinet. The embassy to Austria was
named as the first, and the Interior Department as the
latter. But though Governor Merriam, as it was under
stood, was strongly favored by so powerful a senator as
Marcus Hanna, yet Senator Davis was potent enough to
prevent either of these appointments from being made.
But resentment will not always abide in a great and gen
erous heart. A partial reconciliation took place between
these two noted men, as subsequent events proved.
Fortunate, indeed, was it for the government and
the country, when Governor Merriam was appointed
Director of the Census by President McKinley, March 7,
1899. He was promptly confirmed by the assent of
Minnesota's great senator. His special fitness for this
important work was demonstrated by his complete suc
cess in the administration of the office. It was here
that Governor Merriam did the best work of his public
318

WILLIAM RUSH MERRIAM.
life. Dr. S. N. D. North, Merriam's successor in the
office and the present Director of the Census, has kindly
furnished me with a favorable notice of Governor Mer
riam's work in that difficult Bureau, and I have no hesita
tion in using this just tribute to a competent and vig
orous official, with thanks to Dr. North:
The law for the taking of the Twelfth Federal Census
had been approved March 3 prior. This law provided that the
census should be taken as of June 1, the following year. The
governor was thus given a period of twelve months only, in
which to organize a work which, apart from wars, is the most
gigantic and the most difficult undertaken by the government.
He organized it out of nothing, in the nature of things, be
cause the machinery under which the Eleventh Census was
taken had entirely disappeared. There was at first sonje
criticism of the appointment of Governor Merriam, on the
ground that he was not a statistician, and could not therefore
produce a scientific and satisfactory census. It was President
McKinley's theory, in appointing him that the census had
grown to be so large an undertaking, by reason of the trem
endous growth of the country, that business experience rather
than expert knowledge had come to be the prime factor in its
successful outcome. The result completely justified his judg
ment. Governor Merriam immediately drew about him, in the
important positions of chief statisticians in charge of the
five great branches of decennial census work, the five men who
were recognized as knowing more from study and experience
about the best method of handling the work in each of these
branches, than any one else in the country. He told these
men, when he appointed them, that he would hold them in
dividually responsible for their work; that he would not in
terfere with them, except to see that everything was done in
proper business ways. The result was extraordinary, when
judged by our previous census experiences. The Twelfth Cen
sus was not only the best census ever compiled in the United
States, from the point of view of accuracy and comprehen
siveness, but it was also the most economical, tested on the
per capita basis, and what is even more important, the most
expeditious in the publication of the results.
The census law required that these results must be made
public within two years from the date of the enumeration.
This was actually accomplished; and it was due to the busi
ness energy which Governor Merriam brought to the work, and
with which he inspired all his subordinates and of which he
set the daily example. 319

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
One other remarkable achievement distinguished _ Governor
Merriam's administration of the Census Office. It is to his
effort and influence chiefly that the country is indebted for
the establishment of the permanent Census Office. The move
ment for such a law was started more than thirty years ago.
It had the earnest support, during this entire period, of prac
tically all the teachers and students of economics, sociology,
and statistics; but it made no headway. Bill after bill was
introduced in Congress and pigeonholed in committee. Early
in his administration, Governor Merriam became convinced
that a permanent statistical bureau, always available for the
compilation of any statistics that might be wanted, as the
basis of intelligent legislation by Congress, was a prime re
quisite of the government. He turned his energies to the ac
complishment of this end before he had completed the reports
of the Twelfth Census. The first bill introduced to establish
the permanent census was defeated in the House. Undis
mayed, Governor Merriam kept at it; and finally, on March 6,
1902, he had the satisfaction of witnessing the President's sig
nature to the law under which the bureau he had organized so
carefully arid successfully was made permanent. It was Gov
ernor Merriam's personality which made this result possible.
A practical politician himself, he knew how to enlist the sup
port of practical politicians -who comprise the rank and file of
both Houses of Congress. He marshaled all his resources to
accomplish a result which appealed to him as vital to the full
development, of governmental statistical science; and he suc
ceeded when a scientific statistician, in the position he occu
pied, would most certainly have failed. And so it happens
that this great science of statistics, — as yet largely undevel
oped and capable of infinite improvement, — owes more, in the
matter of its future advance in the United States, to this
business man, untrained in statistics, than to all the statisti
cians combined. That he was wholly disinterested in his atti
tude Governor Merriam proved by resigning the Directorship
very shortly to re-enter business life.
For the reasons above stated, future commentators will be
compelled to agree that the science of governmental statistics
in the United States owes more to Director Merriam than to
any of his predecessors in charge of the decennial census.
In 1903 Governor Merriam resigned from the Census
office to take an active part in the management of a large
corporation, and at this time he is president of two cor
porations with his headquarters in the city of Washington,
where, with his family, he now resides.
320

WILLIAM RUSH MERRIAM.
Whether Governor Merriam purposes to retire from
active politics, we are not fully advised. When a man
of energetic persistency abandons a long cherished pur
pose and bows to the force of public sentiment and to
the logic of events, he is entitled to great credit. Hav
ing left this state, and again entered into large business
connections, he has made it quite impracticable to re
enter the political arena in Minnesota, where new combi
nations have been formed and new dispositions effectually
made. Governor Merriam is yet in the prime of active
manhood, being but fifty-eight years of age, and mentally
and physically in vigorous form.
To those who have followed the career of William
Rush Merriam, there is much that is interesting and
dramatic. The first of our governors reared upon our
soil, the youngest in years, his character formed by a
purely Minnesota environment, he came upon the stage
as the representative of the young Republicans of Min
nesota. Well born, with intellectual capacity, finely edu
cated, ambitious and full of energy, he aspired to greater
things than he ever achieved. His besetting hindrance
was his constant impatience. He was too eager in his
ambitions, and, in the excitement of contest and heat of
battle, not always prudent and above criticism in their
promotion. He was not satisfied with a life spent in the
dubious routine of the commercial world, hence he leaped
into politics as a stimulant and feeder of his ambition-
Born at an earlier period, in obedience to the "Call" of
blood, he might have successfully followed Sherman to
21 321

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
the sea, or Grant to Vicksburg, in satisfaction of his rest
less energy, as well as from patriotic motives.
Mr. Merriam was married at St. Paul, October 2,
1872, to Miss Laura E. Hancock, a most estimable and
cultivated woman, daughter ¦ of Colonel John Hancock,
of Washington City, and niece of the celebrated General
Winfield Scott Hancock of the Union army.
Col. John Hancock was adjutant on his brother's
staff during the war. It was in that capacity that
he carried a despatch to Gen. Meade after General
Hancock was wounded, urging him to follow Lee after
the fight at Gettysburg. Had Meade followed this advice
and pushed his advantages, the war might have prac
tically ended then and there.
Mrs. Merriam's mother was a direct descendant
of John Adams, of Masachusetts. She was born in the
city of Philadelphia. She was of a fine lineage, highly
cultured, and especially well qualified for the duties of
the best society.
The Governor had erected a goodly mansion on what
was called "Merriam Hill," a sightly spot, overlook
ing the city of St. Paul. Here his admirable wife dis
pensed the most elegant hospitality, and made the
home the center not only of a brilliant social circle,
but of a happy family. Unfortunately, this mansion
was totally destroyed by fire in 1896, and was never
rebuilt. To this marriage there were born five children:
John Hancock Merriam, July 16, 1874; Mabel de Lano
322

WILLIAM RUSH MERRIAM.
July 31, 1876; William Hancock, May 5, 1878; Amherst
Wilder, January 31, 1888, deceased; and Laura Beatrice,
February 15, 1892.

The inaugural address of Governor Merriam, Jan
uary 9, 1889, was published as a pamphlet of 24 pages,
and as the second paper (pages 41-64) in Volume I
of the Executive Documents of Minnesota for 1888 (St.
Paul, 1889). In this address he said, in part:
The highest obligation devolving upon citizens is to care
fully and loyally serve their state or country. To be called
upon by our fellow men to make or administer their laws,
or to be selected as the guardian of some one of the many
public trusts, should be esteemed a high honor.
More especially is this true in a government like our own,
founded upon republican principles, and maintained by the
popular voice; and yet in the midst of the active and busy
life that is the lot of most of us, we are too apt to overlook
our duty to the state, and to leave to others the care and
management of its affairs.
Among these public trusts and duties none more honor
able, or more important, can be imposed upon a citizen by his
fellows than to intrust him with the enactment of laws for
the protection of life and property, for guarding the unfortu
nate, and for defending the weak as against the strong. ,

Economy in the disbursement of the public funds is no
less important and necessary to the welfare and prosperity of
the state than is the fidelity and integrity of those to whom is
committed the trust of caring for its revenues.

No state in the Union possesses more economical, thrifty
and law abiding citizens than does Minnesota, and as their
representatives, it will undoubtedly be your desires, as it is
clearly your duty, to guard the public fund, and to see that
no unnecessary or useless expenditure is made of the money
which, for the most part, represents the tribute paid by honest
toil for the common good. 323

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
January 14, 1891, Governor Merriam delivered his
biennial message to the twenty-seventh legislature. It
was published as a pamphlet of 18 pages, and also as
pages 33-50 of Volume I, Executive Documents of Min
nesota for 1890 (Minneapolis, 1891).
His second and last biennial message, delivered to
the Legislature on January 4, 1893, was published as the
first paper (pages 19-31) in the first volume of the
Executive Documents for 1892 (Minneapolis, 1893), and
also as a separate pamphlet of 13 pages. In this mes
sage he said, referring to the need of a new capitol
building :
The last legislature selected a commission to inquire into
the desirability of selecting a site upon which to place a new
building for the use of the state officers. In my judgment, the
time has now arrived, in view of the present crowded condi
tion of our capitol building, to seriously contemplate the nec
essity of providing for the future uses of the executive officers
of the State. The present structure is entirely inadequate
for the needs of the officials charged with the performance of
the public, duties of various kinds, and as some years would
necessarily elapse before a new building could be completed,
it would be well to provide during the present session for the
future uses of the State in this regard. * * * The build
ing would necessarily be designed with a view to the future
growth of the State, and to that end could be constructed
with the purpose of having it ready for use eight or ten years
hence. The amount collected year by year would be so small
as to be hardly felt by the taxpayers, and by the time the
building was an absolute necessity we should be possessed of
a handsome edifice entirely proportionate to the importance
of the State. I sincerely commend to you the desirability of
prompt consideration and action upon this subject.
An address by Governor Merriam before the State
Farmers' Alliance at its annual meeting in St. Paul,
March 4, 1890, was published as a pamphlet of thirteen
pages, including reprints (pages 9-13) of editorial arti-
324

WILLIAM RUSH MERRIAM.
cles, commenting on this address, from the St. Paul
Pioneer Press and the Minneapolis Journal.
An article entitled "The Currency of the Future,"
suggesting modifications of the national banking sys
tem, published by Governor Merriam in the Chicago In
ter-Ocean, was reprinted at St. Paul under the date of
March 17, 1892, in a pamphlet of fifteen pages, of which
the last five pages are press comments of St. Paul
and Minneapolis newspapers. This article was also re
printed in Rhodes' Journal of Banking for September,
1892 (pages 1015-1020).
As the director of the Twelfth Census of the United
States, taken in the year 1900, Governor Merriam pub
lished its large series of Bulletins and Reports, compris
ing eighteen quarto volumes, issued at Washington in
the years 1900 to 1903.
During the same years and in connection with this
great work, he contributed the following articles in
magazines :
The Census of 1900; in the North American Review,
volume 170, pages 99-108, January, 1900.
Taking of the Census; in the Independent, vol.
52, pp. 1235-6, May 24, 1900.
Suffrage, North and South; in the Forum, vol.
32, pp. 460-5, December, 1901.
Need of a Permanent Census Office; North Ameri
can Review, vol. 174, pp. 105-112, January, 1902.
"Trusts" in the Light of Census Returns; Atlan
tic Monthly, vol. 89, pp. 332-9, March, 1902. 325

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Evolution of American Census-Taking; Century
Magazine, vol. 65, pp. 831-42, April, 1903.
Noteworthy Results of the Twelfth Census; Century
Magazine, vol. 66, pp. 712-23, September, 1903.
The Census in Foreign Countries; Century Maga
zine, vol. 66, pp. 879-86, October, 1903.

323

KNUTE NELSON.

KNUTE NELSON
Twelfth Governor of the State of Min
nesota, was born at Vosse Elven, Nor
way, February 2, 1843, and is still living.
He came to the United States when six
years old; served in the Civil War; and
afterward became a lawyer. Since 1871
his home has been upon a farm at Alex
andria, Minn. He was governor from
January 4, 1893, to January 31, 1895,
and has since been a United States senator.

KNUTE NELSON
TWELFTH GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
January 4, 1893, to January 31, 1895.

THE frozen North has contributed of the vigor
of its Scandinavian blood to enrich, that of the
Saxon race in the United States, especially in the
Northwest. In that brotherhood of virile races whieh
blend in America to its advantage, the Norseman is in
a high degree conspicuous. Every billow in the great
North Sea has rocked men, as in a cradle, who were des
tined to come to America. And truly, the immigrant
from the land of Bjornson, Ibsen, Kielland, Welhaven,
Ericsson, and Ole Bull, has been gladly welcomed to
our shores. His desirability as an immigrant is un
questioned. He comes here to settle permanently, and
not to hoard his savings and return to spend them in
his native land. His good moral character, his honest
way of doing things, his frugal habits, commend him
as a worthy citizen. "Yon Yonson" comes as deter
mined to stay as did the Pilgrim Fathers. The second
generation is as thoroughly American as the rest of us,
so rapidly do they assimilate. Soon their blood will be
32fl

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
as fully infused with ours as that of the Knickerbockers
of New York or of the Cavaliers of Virginia.1
Of the Norsemen, Minnesota has received its share.
We had in 1905 in the state 237,894 Swedes and Nor
wegians; of these 111,611 are from Norway. The city
of Minneapolis," alone, has a Scandinavian population
(1905) of 42,418. It is within the easy memory of
many of us, when Germany furnished the heaviest por
tion of our foreign population. But she has (in 1905)
but 119,868, as compared with the Scandinavian immi
gration noted above. This numerical strength carries
with it the element of political power, which, if not
always judiciously, has been pretty extensively exercised.
Knute Nelson was born February 2, 1843, on the
rugged coast of Norway, near the "Whirlpool," as given
in the geographies of our childhood. He was the only
son and child of a poor farmer, who lived at the
Vosse Elven, a place located between the glassy fjords
and the storm swept mountains, a little margin of land
next to the sea.
His father owned the soil he tilled. When not
engaged on the farm, he was a sailor on the sea. The
Norwegians of the coast took to the water like ducks,
and sea enterprises were the natural order of things.
When the writer pushed the Senator as to his early

Tt is appropriate to observe that from the ranks of Scan
dinavian immigrants, anarchists, paupers, tramps, and peace
disturbers, are never recruited. In intent and purpose, in
spirit and effort, they do not fail in making good and pa
triotic American citizens.
330

KNUTE NELSON.
progenitors, he replied, "Don't pursue my genealogical
lines too far, or you may run into the roughest nest of
pirates that ever infested the North Sea. I am not
so much concerned as to what my grandfather was as
to what my grandson will be." He knows but little
about his family centuries back, but is solicitous as
to their future in the free land to which they have been
transplanted for the centuries to come.
His father died when Knute was an infant. His
widowed mother gathered together her scanty means,
and with her boy of six years came to America, follow
ing a brother who had ' come before her. For a year or
more she supported herself and boy by hard work in
the City of Chicago, and there the youthful son did
his first work in selling newspapers on the street.
She removed to Dane county, Wisconsin, not far from the
city of Madison, where by hard work and great frugality
she supported herself and child on a small farm. On this
sandy farm young Nelson grew to manhood. Through all
his boyhood and youth they were poor, and in the hayfield
and the harvest he aided in the support of his mother. He
had a hard road to travel, but he had inherited a good
constitution and indomitable perseverance. It is ver
acious history to say that Knute Nelson was not born
with a silver spoon in his mouth.
One Mary Dillon, who taught the district school,
gave his life perhaps its definite direction. She was
a cultivated woman, and became much interested in the
humble fortunes of the boy's family. She urged him
331

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
to educate himself, and told him he might become a dis
tinguished man. "You can't be President," she said,
"for you were not born in this country; but you can be
a United States Senator." The good woman did not live
to see the fulfillment of her prophecy.
From this time he studied with keen interest the
lives of such successful men as he could obtain. In the
pursuit of an education he journeyed in an ox cart of
home construction, the wheels of which were sections of a
big log, to the little village acadamy from which he was
finally graduated. In this cart was a large wooden chest
which they had brought from Norway containing his
scanty wardrobe and provisions to last him for half the
term. He did his own cooking and lived with great
simplicity. He bore the slights and ridicule of his
fellow students with patience and good humor.
At eighteen years old he was thoroughly an Ameri
can in heart and sympathy. This country was his
country. With the consent of his widowed mother, on
the second of July, 1861, he enlisted as a private in
Company B, Fourth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry,
which regiment was changed to the Fourth Wisconsin
Cavalry within the year. From Racine, Wis., the regi
ment was ordered to Washington, D. C, where, after
a short detention, on February 16, 1862, it was or
dered to join General Butler's Gulf Expedition, at Ship
Island. He was present with the regiment at the capture
of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and at the taking of the
city of New Orleans on the thirtieth of April, 1862.
332

KNUTE NELSON.
He was in the expedition up the river against Vicksburg
and was in the battles of Baton Rouge, Camp Bisland,
Franklin, and the sharp engagements at Opelousas.
At the siege of Fort Hudson, on the fourteenth of
June, 1863, his regiment led the desperate charge against
the rebel works. It was in this charge that young Nel
son fell, severely wounded in the thigh. He lay on
the field, exposed to the fire of both friend and foe, till
night ended the combat, when the rebels sallied out
and made him and others prisoners. He remained a
prisoner till Fort Hudson surrendered, July 9, 1863.
Mule meat, corn cake, and sassafras tea, were the ra
tions of the wounded boy. He was two months in the
hospital before he rejoined his regiment. After months
of contests with guerrillas and bushwhackers, his term
of enlistment having expired, and being much broken
in health from the effect of his wound and hardships,
he was mustered out July 13, 1864, and returned
to his home in Wisconsin. In his company and regi
ment his reputation was that of a brave soldier, modest
and unassuming, but manly in his bearing. One of
his comrades declares that he did not have an enemy in
the regiment. With true filial love and loyalty he
sent his soldier's pay to his widowed mother, and
when he returned he found the good mother had saved
it all to aid him in his academic course.
He re-entered the academy at Albion, and finished
his course in the class of 1865. In the autumn of that
year he entered the law office of Colonel William F. Vilas,
333

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
of Madison, Wisconsin, and read law till he was admitted
to the bar in the fall of 1867. Colonel Vilas on frequent
occasions expressed his admiration for the industry
with which he pursued .his professional studies, notwith
standing the privations attendant upon poverty, and was
not at all surprised at Nelson's future success and
achievements. He opened a law office in Madison, and soon es
tablished a good reputation as a young lawyer of
promise. In 1867 he was elected a member of the
legislature from Dane county, which includes the city of
Madison. He made some reputation as a debater.
For some time he entertained the idea of seeking
a new home, and in July, 1871, he came to the fron
tier town of Alexandria, in Douglas county, Minnesota,
and took up a "homestead," adjoining the townsite of
Alexandria. Here, with his own hands, he opened a
farm and diligently cultivated the soil. On this home
stead he resides to this day.
This is the only instance in which a public man,
reaching so elevated a position in the nation, has taken
a homestead claim in his early manhood, continuously
abiding thereon, making it his permanent home during
all the years of struggle and battle, till he became a
distinguished senator of the United States. Surely
such a home must be dear to his heart, and it is today
his place of refuge and rest when he can escape from
the press of his public duties. It is far more dear to

334

KNUTE NELSON.
him than Marshfield was to Webster, or Ashland to
Clay. Having opened a law office in Alexandria, in 1872,
he was elected county attorney of Douglas county, in
which capacity he served three years. In 1874 he was
elected to the state senate, and he gave such satisfac
tion that he was re-nominated by acclamation, and was
elected without opposition. He served on the two most
important committees of the senate, the judiciary and the
railroad. He was pitted by his party against Ignatius
Donnelly, and was able to meet that pugnacious senator
at every point. His service in securing legislation by
whieh the St. Paul and Pacific (now the Great North
ern) railway was built, on the lines it now holds, was
greatly to the permanent benefit of the state.
In 1882 he was elected to a seat in Congress, being
the first member of that body from Northern Minnesota.
The most exciting, the most dramatic political conven
tion ever held in the state was the one at Detroit, in
Becker county, July 12, 1882, being the first convention
in a new congressional district, the Fifth, which was a
monster territory, containing twenty-eight counties.
Knute Nelson and Charles F. Kindred were the princi
pal candidates for Congress. It is impossible at this
distant day to appreciate the intense interest which was
aroused by conditions presented. Hon. Charles A. Gil
man, of St. Cloud, and Hon. C. H. Graves, of Duluth,
were also candidates. But as the campaign developed,
all interest centered about the two former. 335

*

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Mr. Kindred for several years was the chief clerk
of the land department of the Northern Pacific railroad.
It was charged that he had used the opportunities
offered by that office to enrich himself at the expense
of the settlers and the company. The mode and manner
by which he conducted his frauds were distinctly set
forth in charges preferred by the company, published
in the Pioneer Press and Minneapolis Tribune, August
2, 1882. To these charges Mr. Kindred made no public
denial. A special committee of the company was ap
pointed to investigate the charges, and this committee
found Mr. Kindred guilty, and recommended his dis
missal, which was done. But he had accumulated great
wealth, for that time, out of his alleged corrupt prac
tices, and he proposed to make a vigorous financial cam
paign for Congress. He opened "his barrel," and the
district was speedily overrun with brass bands, torch
light processions, and all the machinery of political
warfare. Newspapers were subsidized, and new ones
were established. "Regularity" in county conventions
counted for nothing, all fairness was at an end, and
double delegates appeared from a large number of
counties. When the convention assembled, pandemonium was
let loose. The convention split into a double-header
from the very start; the stage was the scene of the
wildest disorder, and personal encounters followed. Two
conventions were the immediate result, and both men
were then nominated by their respective followers.
336

KNUTE NELSON.
The question as to which was the "regular" con
vention was the great controversy throughout the cam
paign. The Republican state committee was finally ap
pealed to, and that body decided that Nelson was the
"regular" nominee. The canvass which followed was
intensely personal and exciting, and from July until
November the battle raged. Conservative estimates
placed Mr. Kindred's expenditures during the campaign
at $150,000, a large sum of money for that period. No
charges were preferred against Mr. Nelson, and his
personal and political record was not impugned. Mr.
Kindred was surely the most liberal and energetic
political plunger yet seen in the West. Nelson was
elected in November, the vote standing, Nelson, 16,956;
Kindred, 12,238. E. P. Barnum, the Democratic nomi
nee, received 6,248 votes. Thus ended the most bitter
and heated political contest the state ever had, but out
of it Knute Nelson came with increasing prestige and
promise for future advancement. Kindred is now a
resident of Philadelphia, where by successful specula
tions he is said to have recouped his fortunes. If the
charges against him were true, he paid dearly for his
venture in the uncertain sea of politics.
Nelson served by re-elections in the Forty-eighth,
Forty-ninth, and Fiftieth congresses. The House ot
Representatives, during the time he was a member, was
Democratic, and, being a Republican, his influence was
not great. He was a member of the Committee on In
dian Affairs. The most important legislation, while he
22 337

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
was a member of the House, with which he was con
nected, was what is commonly known and designated in
the Interior Department and in the courts as the "Nel
son Law," an act for the "Relief and Civilization of
the Chippewa Indians in Minnesota." This legislation
resulted in the cession of all their lands, except the
White Earth and Red Lake Reservations, and in the
adjustment of all their difficulties.
Nelson took a very active part in securing the
passage of the original "Inter-State Commerce" law.
He also voted for the Morrison and Mills tariff meas
ures, which indicate his conviction as to the importance
of a reduction of existing schedules, a position he has
steadily maintained.
In 1892 Knute Nelson, having declined a renomi
nation to Congress, received the high compliment of a
unanimous nomination for governor of the state, by the
Republican convention. This body met in St. Paul,
July 28, 1892, with 709 delegates in attendance. One
or two others had been mentioned as being probable
candidates, but before the convention met they with
drew. This left Nelson without a competitor, the only
instance of the kind in the history of that party in
the state, except in the case of renominations. The
Democrats nominated the Hon. Daniel W. Lawler, an
able lawyer and eminent in the councils of his party.
The People's Party nominated the Hon. Ignatius Don
nelly, a versatile politician, but singularly gifted. Hon.
William J. Dean was also nominated by the Prohibi-
338

KNUTE NELSON.
tionists. Nelson received 109,220 votes; Lawler, 94,600;
Donnelly, 39,862; and Dean, 12,239. This gave Nelson
14,620 plurality over Lawler.
In 1894 Governor Nelson was re-nominated by
acclamation. Hon. George L. Becker was nominated
by the Democrats, and Sidney M. Owen by the Popu
lists. Nelson received 147,943 votes; Becker, 53,584;
Owen, 87,890; and Hans S. Hilleboe (Prohibitionist),
6,832. Nelson lacked only 182 votes of obtaining a
majority over all his competitors. The People's Party,
however, was forging to the front, out-voting the Demo
crats by a decisive plurality. This was the largest vote
ever polled in the state up to that time.
A digression may be here permitted, to speak some
what fully of Ignatius Donnelly, who headed the Popu
list party in the campaign of 1892. This fickle and in
genious politician had now assumed a new role. He was
the candidate of the Populists and endorsed by many
Democrats, and his candidacy assumed an imposing ap
pearance. He made the canvass of the state with a
rigor that was amazing and that threatened success.
But there was a want of confidence in his sincerity.
The crowd shouted at his ready wit and his incompar
able stories, but they went away and voted for the other
man. The rugged honesty of Nelson was too much for
him, and he was defeated by a large majority.
Hon. Ignatius Donnelly was born in Philadelphia
of full-blooded Irish parents. He was well educated in
339

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
that city. He early floated out to the West, and an
chored at Nininger, Minnesota. A lawyer by profession,
he devoted himself to farming, politics, journalism, and
general literature.
He was twice lieutenant governor, and three times
was elected to Congress. He was impatient for political
preferment. If he had possessed the patience of C. K.
Davis, who waited twelve years, and had been loyal to
his party, he would have undoubtedly achieved the
United States Senate, which was the goal of his ambi
tion. He worked in the Republican vineyard, when he
deemed it profitable ; then in the Democratic ; then again
in that of the Populists, — but always in Donnelly's
plantation. He will be long remembered as the most
meteoric of our political figures, a bewildering shooting
star, whose orbit was a guess.
As an orator, Donnelly was the darling of the
crowd, sparkling, wayward, and incalculable. He seemed
to possess the whole wide gamut of expression and emo
tion. His talent for attractive public speaking surely
was not equalled by any of his contemporaries. Attrac
tive as he was in politics, he founded no school and
never inaugurated a single policy. He was a destructive
and not a constructive politician. He seemed to delight
in smashing things for personal gain or notoriety. He
played more to the galleries than to the common sense
of the people. He possessed a warm imagination, a
dramatic style, powerful invective, brilliant wit and hu
mor. He so often drew upon his imagination for his
340

KNUTE NELSON.
facts that the public lost general confidence in his state
ments. He is pathetically remembered by many of us
for what he could have done but failed to accomplish.
In politics he was the chief mourner at his own funeral.
As a journalist, he was proprietor and editor of the
"Anti-Monopolist," a paper abounding with his idiosyn
crasies, and flashing with pungent editorials. He used this
weapon to attack his foes, rather than to establish
sound public policies. His Parthian arrows flew in
every direction. In due time this personal organ died.
Besides his amateur farming, he possessed a thousand
productive acres which he diligently plowed and sowed
in his elegant library.
His literary work was enormous. He could have
become a grand literary luminary, had he wholly devoted
his genius to his polished quill. It is the encomium of
Donnelly that his general style was the best of any of
our state writers, except it be Davis. His chef d'oeuvre
is "Atlantis." He fairly proves that Plato's story of a
lost island is not a fable but veritable history. The great
Gladstone, in a personal autograph letter which I have
read, said he believed that Donnelly had demonstrated
his proposition. This book, the highest testimony of his
genius, will be read by students and scholars for years to
come. "Caesar's Column" is a remarkable novel, having
charms and invention of a high order, and is yet read
and will long survive on its merits. "Ragnarok" is the
wild vagary of an imaginative but unscientific man.

341

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
But the work into which he flung his whole soul and
strength was "The Great Cryptogram," in which he
claimed to demonstrate that he had found in the Shake
spearean dramas a cipher proving that Bacon was their
real author. These sibylline utterances are the very salt
of Donnelly's erratic mind. This book, long expected,
however consummate the ingenuity shown, and though
he has piled, like a Titan, Pelion on Ossa, was an utter
failure, and the world has willingly let it die. That which
he proudly proclaimed as the monument of his pro
fundity and genius, has proven the cenotaph of his liter
ary reputation. Although many able students believe
that Francis Bacon was the author of the dramas and
other works ascribed to Shakespeare, none probably would
seek further to establish that theory by discovering cipher
readings in those highest masterpieces of all literature.
Donnelly's life, which early gave so much promise,
was the failure of an unfulfilled career. He was baffled
in all his great ambitions. It is true, however, that he
was one of the first to fight trusts, combines, and spe
cial privileges, against -which a determined war has now
become the policy of both the great parties.
With all his Utopian vagaries, we loved Donnelly.
There was much in him to love and admire. He was gen
ial, warm-hearted, of a winning address and a clean
private life. We plant the rose of remembrance on his
neglected grave, though its petals shed more of censure
than praise.

342

KNUTE NELSON.
The period covered by Governor Nelson's adminis
tration was marked by a practical oversight of the condi
tion of the state and its public affairs. Upon his recom
mendation, laws were enacted of a prudential character
and efficacy, affecting the grain and warehouse business,
and remedying many evils in mining matters in the iron
region, now so rapidly developing.
A local event of most serious character occurred,
which elicited public attention and sympathy. On the
1st of September, 1894, a forest fire, lashed into fury by
a high wind, totally destroyed Hinckley and eight other
villages, swept to ruin the property of hundreds of farm
ers over a wide area, and destroyed four hundred lives.
The fire ravaged a district with an area of nearly four
hundred square miles. The promptness of Governor Nel
son, in appointing a commission of prominent and capable
men to supervise a scheme of relief, was highly com
mended and appreciated by a sympathizing state. The
Governor saw that everything possible was done to al
leviate the sufferings of those so suddenly afflicted.
It was during Governor Nelson's administration that
the New Capitol enterprise was undertaken. He appoin
ted the Board of State Capitol Commissioners, which
was entrusted with the entire control of this great public
enterprise and whose efforts were crowned with such re
markable success.
The Governor's efforts in behalf of drainage of
swampy tracts in the. Red River Valley and in other parts
of the state resulted in much advantage to agricultural 343

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
interests, and that policy has since been pursued with
the greatest public benefit.
It was in the winter of 1895 that Governor Nelson
was first a candidate for the Senate of the United States.
Hon. William D. Washburn was the sitting senator, whose
term was about to expire, and his successor was to be
elected. Nelson was then governor. Washburn had been
largely instrumental in defeating Senator D. M. Sabin
in the winter of 1888, and had thus established a one
term precedent. Governor Nelson was disposed to profit
by this precedent. When the legislature was about to con
vene, petitions came to the members, asking that Gov
ernor Nelson be sent to the Senate. Soon it became ap
parent, from the action of his friends, that he was a
candidate. Senator Washburn and his friends were slow
to realize this fact. The bluff farmer from Alexandria
appeared upon the scene with a good following. On Jan
uary 18th the regular caucus was held. Six ballots
were had, and the sixth showed that Nelson was in the
lead of all the candidates, having 66 votes to 55 for
Washburn. An adjournment was then taken, nor was an
other caucus ever called; but the contest, by some sort
of mutual consent, was finished in the open legislative
body. The vote being taken in that body, Nelson had
102 votes, and Washburn had only 36. There were a
few scattering votes of no importance in this contest.
The result was not well received in Minneapolis, where
Washburn was deservedly popular.

344

KNUTE NELSON.
Thus was Governor Nelson, on the 23d of January,
1895, in the beginning of his second term as governor,
launched on his senatorial career. He took his seat
in that illustrious body March 4, 1895, and there
he has since remained. The wave from Scandinavia, and
the hostility created by the fight against Sabin, proved
too much for Senator Washburn and his friends.
We are now to pursue the new senator's career in
the most illustrious body in the world, the American
Senate. He came there unheralded by any special previous
reputation. He had been the first Scandinavian elected.
to the lower House of Congress, and now was the first
to enter the Senate. His fitness for this high position
was to be demonstrated by his own efforts. A descen
dant of those Vikings who were alternately peasants and
pirates, he was of a sturdy and merry race. The heroes
who followed Charles the Twelfth, who ravaged and con
quered Normandy, and carried victorious arms into Eng
land and Scotland, who planted their sturdy colonies on
the coasts of Iceland and Greenland, and who had even
left their monuments on the shores of New England, were
of a blood full of courage and persistent power. With
no finished education, with no claim to oratory, he was
to hammer out on the anvil of patience and industry his
fortunes and his fate.
His course in the senate has vindicated his blood, and
he has now become one of the leading senators in that
body of distinguished men. Senator Beveridge, of In
diana, himself a classical scholar and a senator of high
345

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
repute, has pronounced Nelson "the nearest approach to
an ideal senator." His unflagging patience, his industry,
his tenacity of purpose, his good judgment coupled
with good native ability and good common sense, have en
abled him to be credited with more important legisla
tion than any other senator Minnesota has yet had. A
survey of his accomplishments will be a surprise even to
his friends. To Senator Nelson is due the creation of an entirely
new executive department, with a cabinet officer, known
as the "Department' of Commerce and Labor." The over
burdened condition of the Departments of the Interior
and the Treasury, supervising matters wholly foreign to
those offices, required that a transfer be made of many
bureaus, not only to relieve them, but to place together
in a new department matters that were homogeneous.
The enormous growth of our manufacturing and com
mercial industries presented cogent reasons of themselves
for the creation of the new department. The facts de
manding it were so clearly set forth, in a speech by Sen
ator Nelson, that the measure was adopted. Previous
to this, only two new departments had been added to the
government within a period of a hundred and eleven
years. The Interior Department was created in 1849,
and the Agricultural Department in 1889.
There had come to be more potent reasons for pro
moting the development and supervision of our marvel-
ously growing manufactures and commerce than for
the existence of the other two mentioned. It not only
346

KNUTE NELSON.
lightens the labor and responsibility of other over
burdened secretaries, but prevents duplication of labor,
promotes unity of purpose, and gathers under one control
kindred business. The entire credit of this belongs to
Senator Nelson, and demonstrates the practical character
of his mind in governmental affairs.
The celebrated Bankruptcy Act of 1898 was certainly
his work. There has been much discussion over the pro
priety and advantage of this law to the public. It has
been fiercely denounced and as earnestly defended. But
the general concensus of opinion approves the original
purpose of this measure. Probably it has served its pur
pose and might now with justice be repealed.
An important part of the Currency and Coinage law
of 1900, permitting the establishment of banks with a
capital of only $25,000, was due to Senator Nelson's in
fluence and earnest advocacy, and has been of vast
benefit to the country.
The law giving the government the right of appeal
in certain instances, in criminal cases, was quite im
portant, and is credited to him.
The very useful amendment to the Agricultural bill,
known as the "Nelson Amendment," increasing the
standing appropriation of $25,000 in aid of state agri
cultural colleges to $50,000 per annum, thus doubling
the efficiency of those Land Grant Colleges, was highly
appreciated by the friends of agriculture throughout the
country. No public moneys devoted to any purpose
have been more fruitful of good results than those granted
347

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
to the development of agriculture. Congratulatory let
ters from most of the presidents of those colleges, and
resolutions from their boards of Regents, poured in on the
senator, thanking him for securing a double amount for
so important a purpose. And in our own state this op
portune assistance is already productive of the best re
sults. The Territory of Alaska is indebted to Senator Nel
son for no less than five important measures vitally
affecting the development and prosperity of that great
Northwest province. He has been a father to that won
derful land in the day of its. urgent need. As a mem
ber of the Committee on Commerce, he was instrumental
in securing many important laws relating to our ship
ping, merchant marine, and revenue cutter service.
These and numerous other measures show the prac
tical character of his senatorial work. A more industri
ous man is not to be found in the senate chamber. That
is the verdict of his brother senators, by whom he is
held in the highest esteem. To the old soldiers he has
indeed been a friend, and the hardships he himself en
dured as a private stimulated his sympathies in their
behalf. While on the Pension Committee, he secured
the passage of more pension bills for their relief than
any other senator.
That this plain and unassuming but earnest man,
in the multitude of things which have pressed upon him
in his busy life, has made some mistakes, is not to be
denied. That his vigorous and decided manner has
348

KNUTE NELSON.
made him some enmies, is to be admitted. But take him
for all in all, as a public man, for the immense practical
and valuable service he has rendered to the state and na
tion, there is not his equal in the Senate of the United
States. His periods are not so classic as those of
Davis, nor is he the equal of many of the great senators
in oratorical art; but for practical and useful work, he
sits in the front rank of the Patres Conscripti. His
power does not lie in the direction of mere rhetoric. It
is by untiring industry, united with good judgment and
vigor of mind, that his power is manifest. He possesses
that patient industry which no labor can weary.
In- the field of political conflict he has been a good
fighter, for it came to him with his Viking blood. His
party fealty has always been strong, though twice he
voted for a modified tariff and still persistently main
tains that conviction, whieh policy, at no distant day,
will doubtless become the prevailing faith of the nation.
The staple of his discourse is facts, sound reasoning,
and lucid argument. He never resorts to rhetoric or
ornament. They are foreign to his nature. He therefore
does not shake the walls of the senate with the thunders
of majestic eloquence, as did Conkling, but he accom
plishes things. His earnestness and evident sincerity
carry conviction. Such men shape the policies of the
government and make its laws.
He is adroit and sagacious in political battle, fer
tile in expedients, and bold in council; and though in
the beginning he fought behind the breastworks of a
349

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
large body of Scandinavian supporters, he now stands
firmly on his own personal merits and what he has
achieved. In no country in the world, except the United
States, could this orphaned Norwegian boy have arisen
from friendless obscurity to the eminent position of sen
atorial dignity he now occupies. It must warm the
cockles of his heart into the glow of a romantic patriot
ism, which makes him more American than if the lines
of his lineage led to the very rock of the Pilgrim Fa
thers, or if an ancestor had been slain at Bunker Hill.
He fully appreciates the generosity, the fairness, and the
kindness of the American people, and the liberality of
our system of government, as exemplified in his case.
By his own tireless industry, he has reaped the reward
of his golden opportunities.
He always seems to us like a man who has read
and understands by experience Longfellow's "Psalm of
Life," "Life is real, life is earnest."
To him life has been an earnest reality. He does
not regard this earth as a mere scene of revelry, but as
an arena of contest where only brave spirits can win
"in the world's broad field of battle." That lyric ex
presses, in the happiest and briefest way, what aspiring
spirits so often feel, and the song comes as a spur to
drooping energy and inspires glowing hopes of the fu
ture. 350

KNUTE NELSON.
In private life Senator Nelson is one of the most
amiable of men, beloved by his "friends and family. His
manners are free from all affectation. He has no ap
petite for what is called "society" in Washington, but
devotes himself to his public duties and to his family.
He has purchased a modest house in Washington, where
he resides during the sessions of Congress, but spends
his summers on his homestead at Alexandria.
He has occupied many positions of public trust and
honor confided to him as a citizen competent to look af
ter the general welfare. In 1880 he was designated as
a presidential elector. He was appointed, by Governor
Hubbard, as a member of the Board of Regents of the
State University, and served from February 1, 1882,
to January 1, 1893.
Senator Nelson was married in Madison, Wisconsin,
previous to his removal to Minnesota. There were born
to this marriage five children. Three of these died in
early childhood, at Alexandria, of diphtheria in 1874.
One son, Henry K. Nelson, died in Colorado in 1908.
The only surviving child, his daughter, Ida, lives with
her father and mother at their residence in Washington
City.

The inaugural address of Governor Nelson, January
4, 1893, was published as a pamphlet of thirteen pages,
and as the second paper (pages 33-45) in Volume I
of the Executive Documents of Minnesota for 1892

351

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
(Minneapolis, 1893). He spoke in praise of the State
University, as follows:
In the field of education Minnesota occupies high and ad
vanced grounds at all points. Our State University has within
the last ten years grown beyond all precedent in quality, scope
and numbers, and today ranks as one of the leading educa
tional institutions of our country, to which we can all look
with pride and admiration. In 1882 the total attendance of
students was 253. In 1892 the number had reached 1,374. And
during 1893 the number will exceed 1,500. Departments of
law and medicine have been established and are in most suc
cessful operation. There were 453 law and medical students
in attendance in 1892, and in 1893 the number will no doubt
reach, if not exceed, 600. The fees charged students in these
departments are nearly sufficient to pay the salaries of all the
instructors, and will in the near future be more than ample
for this purpose. Perhaps nothing pertaining to the progress
and growth of the University has been more marked and orig
inal than the establishment of a school of practical agricul
ture, giving special instruction in all that pertains to the
theory and practice of agriculture, in all its branches. In
connection with this school and as a part thereof, is a dairy
hall ample and well equipped, in which instruction is given in
the theory and practice of cheese and butter making by an
expert instructor. This school has been well patronized by the
sons of our farmers. * * *
Nelson's biennial message, delivered January 9,
1895, was published as a pamphlet of twenty-three
pages, and also as the first paper (pages 17-39) in Vol
ume I, Executive Documents of Minnesota for 1894
(St. Paul, 1895). Among many other subjects, he spoke
thus of the Itasca State Park:
The legislature of 1891 acted wisely and with rare good
judgment when it established this park. Itasca lake and its
preservation is sacred and dear to every American heart. The
lake and all its beautiful environment should, as far as pos
sible, be kept intact in its primitive and normal condition; and
in order to accomplish this, the lands in private ownership
should, as speedily as possible, be acquired by the state.
* * * I commend this subject to your favorable considera
tion and recommend that you appropriate sufficient funds to
acquire these lands by purchase or condemnation.
352

KNUTE NELSON.
On legislation in the interest of labor, he said:
Recent labor strikes, prolonged and extensive, strongly sug
gest the importance of enacting suitable laws for the concilia
tion or arbitration of disputes between capital and labor, in
some tribunal or before some board designated by law. In
asmuch, as both capital and labor have the undoubted right
to make a peaceable strike, compulsory arbitration is not
warranted and would be unwise. But in most cases, if a pro
per tribunal with judicious safeguards were provided, capital
and labor would both be disposed to voluntarily submit their
controversies to arbitration. And the tide of public opinion
would, in such cases, not only impel the parties into such a
¦court, but would make its decrees respected and obeyed. He
who would refuse to arbitrate, or, having submitted to arbi
tration, would refuse to accept the result, would forfeit all
public approval and would, in the outcome and in one form or
another, have to submit.
In the presence of so much idle labor needing the assis
tance of public and private charity, it would be proper to con
sider the wisdom of giving our various municipalities more en
larged powers to raise and expend funds in the construction
of water-works, sewerage, streets, parks, electric lights and
other essential urban facilities, to the end that such public
improvements could be made in a, manner to afford labor to
those who without such labor would have to rely on charity
of some kind for their support. The object of such legisla
tion should not be to authorize needless improvement, but to
give the needy unemployed the preference in obtaining muni
cipal work, which they do not have under the ordinary con
tract system.
The following speeches by Nelson were published
.as pamphlets: Interstate Commerce, a speech in the House of
"Representatives in Congress, January 19, 1887; thirteen
pages. Tariff Reform, a speech in the House of Representa
tives, March 29, 1888 ; 'eighteen pages.
Speech, on Political Issues, to farmers of the Red
River Valley, delivered at Argyle, Minnesota, July 28,
3.894; sixteen pages.
.23 353

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
An Adverse Balance of Trade, and not the Green
back, is the Cause of large Gold Withdrawal, speech in
the Senate of the United States, December 31, 1895;
eight pages.
Immigration, one of the Chief Factors in the Rapid
Growth and Development of the Country, speech in the
Senate, May 14, 1896; eighteen pages.
On the Injustice of a Ten Dollar Head Tax on Im
migrants, speech in the Senate, December 17, 1896; four
pages. Uniform System of Bankruptcy, speech in the Sen
ate, April 8, 1897; twenty-four pages.
Issue of $150,000,000 Additional Treasury Notes,.
and the Teller Resolution to coin Silver Dollars on Pri
vate Account and pay the National Bonds with them,.
speeches in the Senate of the United States, January .29,.
and May 27, 1898, fourteen pages.
Affairs in Cuba, speech in the Senate April 16,
1898; eight pages.
Remarks on the Bankruptcy Bill, in the Senate,
June 24, 1898; eight pages.
Speech, on National Questions, delivered at Hallock,.
Minnesota, September 19, 1898; sixteen pages.
The Right to Acquire and Govern Additional Terri
tory, speech in the Senate, January 20, 1899; twenty-
four pages.

354

KNUTE NELSON.
Speech, on the Spanish War and the Philippine
Islands, delivered at Alexandria, Minnesota, September 1,
1900; sixteen pages.
The Philippines; the Constitutional Power of Leg
islation, possessed by Congress, and the Limitations upon
such Power, speech in the Senate, February 20, 1902;
twenty pages.
Speech on the Statehood Bill of Oklahoma, Arizona,
and New Mexico, in the Senate, January 5-8 and 12-13,
1903; thirty-three pages.
Speech on the Statehood Bill of Oklahoma and the
Indian Territory and of New Mexico and Arizona, m
the Senate, January 4 and 5, 1905; fourteen pages.
Railway Rate Legislation; the Duties and Powers
of Congress in the premises, speech in the Senate, Marcn
15, 1906; twenty-three pages.
The Railway Rate Bill is not Unconstitutional,
speech in the Senate, April 2, 1906; seven pages.
Regulation of Railroad Rates, speech in the Senate,
May 3, 1906; eight pages.
Protect Depositors and Keep Reserves at Home,
the True Remedy for Panics, speech in the Senate, Feb
ruary 26, 1908 ; twenty-three pages.

355

DAVID il. CLOUGH

DAVID MARSTON CLOUGH
Thirteenth Governor of the State of
Minnesota, was born in Lyme, New
Hampshire, December 27, 1846. He
was a prominent lumberman in Minne
sota, and now in the state of Washing
ton. He was governor of Minnesota
from January 31, 1895, to January 2,
1899.

DAVID MARSTON CLOUGH
THIRTEENTH GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF
MINNESOTA
January 31, 1895, to January 2, 1899

THE gubernatorial rose which has been placed on the
breast of sixteen chosen citizens of Minnesota, is
something to covet, something worthy of ambition, a
decoration which carries honor. These histories are not
the cenotaph of a party; they are the reflected charac
ter of the people of the state. These governors have
not been the petted children of good fortune. They are,
in a large measure, the express image of the people or
some powerful class of them.
Sibley represented the border barons, the daring
men who controlled in the barbarian days of the terri
tory. Miller and Marshall represented the martial
spirit of the Civil War. Austin personated the rising
judicial force, silently at work in its influence. Pills
bury represented the general business industries of the
state. Nelson was a stalwart type of the Norse element
which has become powerful in its influence. Lind em
bodied the political unrest which, from a variety of
causes, permeated the public mind at that period.
Clough was the ideal lumberman, of an interest which
359

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
comprised many strong men who were always active,
vigilant, and assertive.
A further glance shows how class interests have con
trolled. The first group which dominated our territory
was the great fur traders, the brawniest of men, who
were represented by such intrepid spirits as Ramsay
Crooks, Robert Stuart, Charles Oakes, Charles W. W. Bor
up, Clement H. Beaulieu, and Allan Morrison. These
were followed by Henry H. Sibley and Henry M. Rice.
But the power of the fur traders gradually melted away be
fore the advent of new interests. With rapid growth and
population came the lumber barons. Pine became the
synonym of wealth and power. These, with the Falls
of St. Anthony as an operating center, held sway over
every pine-fringed stream and lake that flowed from
the North, and with their virile force floated into the
politics of the state. There was Dorilus Morrison,
Loren Fletcher, the Pillsburys, the Washburns, the Walk
ers, and John Martin.
There wrere also in the lumber business such strong
companies as Nelson Tenney and Co., E: W. Backus and
Co., C. A. Smith and Co., H. C. Akeley and Co., Shevlin
and Carpenter, the Bovey Lumber Co., Merriman and
Barrow-s, Farnham and Lovejoy, and L. Day and Sons.
Such men created a formidable array of competitors,
and among them Clough had to battle his way.
But in the process of years their power, like that
of the fur barons, has been dissolved by the destruction
of the great pine forests which are rapidly being
360

DAVID MARSTON CLOUGH.
eaten up by the greed of commerce. And now ap
pears upon the scene a new and wonderful interest.
Two rivers of iron pursue their sinuous way through
the mighty masses of eruptive rocks in northern Min
nesota, long secreted by a covering of soil and great
forests, but recently uncovered, exposing fabulous
wealth. To these deposits of wealth people have come,
and towns and cities have sprung up, as with the ma
gic of Aladdin's lamp. This interest, too, evinces a
passion for power, and will yet claim its day in the po
litical arena. Their moneyed hand is already felt in
moulding things. Thus do class interests appear in the
shifting political kaleidoscope of our state. Agriculture,
the basis of all other prosperity, as a class interest,
alone has never had its representation in the executive
chair. David Marston Clough was born in Lyme, New
Hampshire,* December 27, 1846. His father, Elbridge
G. Clough, was a lumberman, and so David came to his
life avocation by inheritance.
The Clough family was of Welsh origin, and all
were farmers and lumbermen by pursuit. The oldest
son of the family, Gilbert, served with honor for three
years in the Civil War in Company A of the Eighth
Minnesota Infantry.
David had very limited educational -opportunities.
His attendance at the district school was very irreg
ular. From early years he had to work on the farm
in summer, and in the winter he generally went to the
361

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
pineries. His chances were not very great in a fam
ily of fourteen children. Good inducements were
held out to prevail upon the family to remove to the far
West. In 1855 they removed to Waupaca, Wisconsin,
where, however, they remained but two years. The fame
of the Minnesota pineries was sufficiently attractive to
induce another hegira, and in July, 1857, the entire
family removed to Spencer Brook, Isanti county, Min
nesota. At the age of twenty, David felt it his duty to seek
employment for himself and relieve the large family of
some of the burden of support. He went to Minnea
polis, where he found his first employer in the person
of Henry F. Brown. He drove a team and sawed logs.
He was thus engaged for about four years, and carefully
saved his money. He then formed a partnership with
his older brother Gilbert, under the firm name of Clough
Brothers, and, returning to the pineries of the Rum
river and the northern Mississippi, they actively en
gaged in lumbering. In 1888 his brother Gilbert died,
and David assumed sole control of the business, which
by their activity had grown to large proportions. Its
importance for that period is shown by the fact that
they employed a capital of half a million dollars, and
handled in a single year more than 15,000,000 feet of
lumber. Up to the time of their partnership, the Clough
brothers lived at Spencer Brook, Isanti county. In
1872, however, business still increasing, the firm re-
362

DAVID MARSTON CLOUGH.
moved to Minneapolis. D. M. Clough took up his resi
dence on the east side, where he remained as long as he
lived in Minnesota. They were early recognized as one of
the substantial firms at the Falls. When Gilbert died,
David brought his younger brothers to his aid. They
now handled millions of feet of pine, and established a
high reputation both as lumbermen and as business men.
During these years the activities of D. M. Clough
were very great. He has been a Republican from his
very boyhood, and was an active worker for the party
of his choice in all caucuses and conventions. From
1883 to 1887 he was a member of the Minneapolis city
council, and he was president of that body for one term.
In 1886 his party activity was recognized, and he was
elected to the state senate and was re-elected in 1888
and 1890. In 1891 he was chosen president of the Min
nesota State Agricultural Society, and by his zeal and in
fluence he put that important institution on its feet fin
ancially so that it became a great success. His ambition
and prominence as a party worker made him more and
more a leader. In 1892 he was nominated for the office
of lieutenant governor, with the Hon. Knute Nelson as
his running mate for governor. Again in 1894 he, with
Governor Nelson, was renominated by acclamation . for
the same office. In January, 1895, Nelson was elected
to the United States senate, and Clough succeeded to
the office of governor. Certainly no man not possessed
of talent and tact could, in so short a time, with but lit-

363

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
tie education, have vaulted from the pineries of th"
North into the gubernatorial chair.
Governor Clough served through the remainder of
Governor Nelson's term, which was two years lacking one
month. He then became a candidate himself before
the Republican convention of 1896. At one time he was
threatened with very material opposition in his own
county. The bluff ways of the somewhat rough and
decided Mississippi lumberman were not wholly agreeable
to quite a number of the citizens of Minneapolis. One
of the leading Republican journals took an active part
in inspiring the opposition. But a few months later
the opposition lost its force, and Clough received the
solid support of the Hennepin delegation in the state
Republican convention. His chief opponent in the cam
paign was John Lind, a bright and able man, who pos
sessed great strength among his own nationality, the
Swedes. The result was 165,806 votes for Clough; and
for Lind, Democrat, 162,254 votes; for William J. Dean,
Prohibitionist, 5,154; for A. A. Ames, Independent,
2,890; and for W. B. Hammond, Socialist, 1,125 votes.
In all aspects the result was quite a triumph for Clough.
He was now governor in his own right, and he exercised
its functions with a firm and decided hand. He was
a little careless of his dignity, but his manners were
open and frank.
A careful review of his messages exhibits a sen
sible and practical knowledge of the condition of the
state. His administration came after a very depressing
361

DAVID MARSTON CLOUGH.
financial revulsion which for three years had operated
to obstruct progress. But better days soon followed.
It was during the Clough period that we had the
war between the United States and Spain. He organ
ized and ¦ equipped four Minnesota regiments for that
service, the Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fif
teenth. The mustering of these regiments reminded the
people of the days of the Civil War. They were mus
tered in April 29, 1898, just thirty-seven years latei
than the First regiment of the Civil War. The duties
of the governor, in all matters pertaining to the organ
ization of these Spanish war troops, were well and
faithfully done.
It was also during this period, in October, 1898,
that, by a blunder serious in its character, the general
government sent a small and insufficient body of troops
to Leech Lake, in this state, to overawe and suppress
an outbreak of the Pillager Indians, which led to the
death of a number of brave and noble-hearted men.
The governor was constrained to call out such state
troops as were available, which gave confidence to the set
tlers and prevented other bands of Indians from joining
in the hostilities about Leech Lake. It was in this out
break that the gallant and true-hearted Major M. C.
Wilkinson of the Third United ¦ States Infantry was
cruelly shot while in the line of patriotic duty.
It was charged against Clough that he was the choice
of an alleged political ring which had controlled state
politics for many years. "Machine rule" was the cry. But
365

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
in the lapse of years we observe that one "ring" succeeds
another, and one "machine" is followed by another.
It was not the people who were suffering, but the hun
gry "outs" were shouting to get in. It is always amus
ing, in the retrospect, to see these fierce battles fading
away into nothingness; yet, when they are on, they roast
each other as on a gridiron.
If Clough had his personal faults, his capacity and
integrity must be acknowledged. Think of an un
trained boy of twenty, reared amid the pines and birches
of the frozen North, with but a limited education,
appearing at the Falls of St. Anthony, drinking in the
measureless possibilities of those mighty waters, and
thence forward, with restless and unpausing energy, el
bowing his way among files of brainy and forceful men.
Soon he was a manufacturing power, then councilman,
senator, lieutenant governor, and governor. These things
are not done without ability, courage, ambition, tact, ca
pacity. He won his way over a score of notable contes
tants, and just and final history must hand him the sig
net of honorable success. He had earnest ways of his
own, and when things went wrong it moved the foun
tains of his indignation and awakened the energies of his
invective. We admit he was not a master in literature,
not a student of Shakespeare or Milton. But from what
one of our governors could you collect a nosegay of li
terary gems, save Davis. Our executives are not a gal
lery of literary luminaries. They were mostly practical

366

DAVID MARSTON CLOUGH.
and earnest men, representing their times and the peo
ple. We endeavor to make clear to our. readers the per
sonalities of the men concerning whom they have been
reading. We try to marshall these men, as in a gallery,
that we may see those who have moved the political wheel
and shaped the policies of the state. We trust we are
absolutely non-partisan, depicting Republicans and Demo
crats alike, without affection or favor. We regard two
parties as a necessity for furthering the public good.
Systematic opposition prevents mischief and keeps the
machine of state in the better path. The captains of
the two great parties are often equally honorable, and
equally worthy of consideration. We seldom do jus
tice but to the dead. Contemporary jealousy of one
person or another attacks the reputation of living men.
There was an innate force of character that lifted
Clough above his fellow lumbermen. He had ambition,
backed by energy. He possessed a personality which is
quite indefinable. But he had it. It was in part the
secret of his triumph as a politician. There are pri
vates and there are captains in business and in politics.
Clough would not consent to be a private. The person
ality of a man is a prodigious factor in his success. Just
what the units of Clough's personality were, it is not easy
to say. Clough had a good smile. It recalls what a
Nebraska farmer said about Mark Hanna. When he
heard him speak, he said, "I have changed my mind.

367

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
You can't make me believe that Hanna is a bad man.
Why, he's got a smile that will grease a wagon."
Men who sought to change Governor Clough's
mind were often disappointed. He had a will of his
own, and it generally worked in a good direction. The
least common thing is common sense. But Clough had
his share of that golden commodity. We remember an
old minister who was wont to say that if you wanted
learning, if you wanted even the grace of God, if you
wanted anything else, in short, you might get it; but
if you wanted common sense, you would never get it.
"The finest culture will not compensate for its ab
sence." There is one point in Governor Clough's political
history for which, as a politician and party man, he is
surely censurable. He used his influence to defeat the
Hon. William H. Eustis, who was the candidate of the
Republican party for the succession. He himself had en
joyed the benefits of party discipline, and he should not
have permitted his personal likes and dislikes to defeat
his own party, to whom he owed what he was.
When Clough left the executive chair, even in one
month thereafter, he could no longer restrain his old in
stincts, wrays, and habits'. The "Call of the Wild" came
upon him, and on the shores of the Pacific, at Everett,
Washington, he has returned to his first love, perhaps
heeding the suggestion of Bryant in Thanatopsis,
"Or lose thyself in the continuous woods,
Where rolls, the Oregon."
368

DAVID MARSTON CLOUGH.
Amid those mighty monarchs, the redwood forests,
he is at home again. He, who with his axe, in youth,
invaded the primeval forests of Minnesota, is now, with
riper age, and vast experience, achieving a greater vic
tory on the shores of the Pacific. With his axe he has
written the epic of the forests.
Under the firm name of the "Clark-Niekerson Lum
ber Company," he is engaged in the manufacture of
band-sawed fir lumber, on a very extensive scale, and
all sorts of white pine lumber. Their properties lie
near Everett, in the state of Washington, and at that
place, in 1900, they erected one of the most complete
lumbering plants in the United States, if not in the
world. This great mill is located at tide-water and on
the railroad, with a view to catering to both the car
and cargo trade. The plant is built on piles so that
ocean-going vessels of the deepest draught can lie along
side and receive their loads at their private docks. They
saw timbers to the amazing length of 120 feet. It is
said that the quality of their lumber is unexcelled on
the Pacific coast.
Governor Clough is now in full charge of the enor
mous business, and his extensive experience gives him a
personal knowledge of the specialty not excelled, perhaps,
by any other man in the country. They make shipments
to South Africa, South America, Honolulu, Australia,
Mexico, and California, by water, and to the Atlantic
coast and all intermediate points, by rail. He is again

24

369

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
the man of business, and politics and the governorship
are but a dream of the past.
In April, 1868, Governor Clough was married to
Miss Addie Barton, of Spencer Brook, Minnesota. The
young people had known each other from childhood, as
their parents had been neighbors, and both came with
their families when they removed to the West. To this
union one child was born, Nina, now Mrs. R. H.
Hartley. They are now living at Everett, Washington,
where Colonel Hartley is one of the stockholders of the
Clark-Nickerson Lumber Company. Of the fourteen
children of Governor Clough's father's family, seven of
whom were boys and seven girls, eight are now liv
ing.

The biennial message of Governor Clough to the
legislature, January 6, 1897, was published as a pamph
let of twenty-four pages, and also as the first paper
(pages 25-48) of Volume I of the Executive Docu
ments of, Minnesota for 1896 (St. Paul, 1897). In this
message he said, in part :
The educational interests .of the state have materially ad
vanced during the past two years, notwithstanding the pre
vailing stagnation of business. In every county there is shown
an increase in school enrollment, average attendance, and ex
penditure for school purposes. * * * The increase in aver
age attendance is the most hopeful sign, showing that the
object for which our people tax themselves to support schools
is being attained to an increasing extent.
********
The superintendent also recommends that a Minnesota Day
for our public schools be established — a day which shall be
specially devoted to teaching the history of the early discovery
370 *

DAVID MARSTON CLOUGH.
and settlement of the state, the heroic deeds of the sons, pf
Minnesota on the frontier and on the field of war, and also
to impart a knowledge of the resources of the state , and a
respect and love for its institutions. I concur in this recom
mendation, and add a further suggestion that the legislature
appropriate annually a small sum of money, $100 or $200, .to
be expended under the joint authority of the superintendent
of public instruction and state historical society for prizes
to be distributed among the students of our high schools for
essays upon topics of . Minnesota interest.

During the past few years many factors have conspired
in all parts of the United States to develop a great, popular
interest in the subject, of good roads. Everywhere there is an
appreciation of the need for and value of such roads. Men of
all classes perceive that the continued prosperity of the state,
and especially of the agricultural sections, demands the early
adoption of efficient measures for improving the condition of
our highways. The main question before us for settlement at
this time involves the choice of the best methods for advancing
this desirable end. I would recommend the adoption of some
system of county roads with limited state aid. * * *
Minnesota was one of the first, if not the first state in
the Union, to place upon the statute book a law seeking to
regulate the hours of all labor and to restrict that of women
and children. That first law of 1858 was followed, later by
the adoption of certain provisions • of the penal code relating
to the employment of children. The legislature of 1895 adopted
a child labor law that in most of its provisions placed Minne
sota in advance of any of her sister commonwealths. Through
the instrumentality of the' bureau of labor, this law has been
made most effective, and by methods that have developed
practically no friction or opposition. The labor of children
under sixteen years of age has been lessened in factories one-
half and that in stores nearly one -third. The average age at
which our youth begin to toil in stores and factories has been
increased fully one year. Those who have studied the evils
of modern child labor can but rejoice at the good results thus
accomplished. * * *
Clough's second biennial message, delivered January
4, 1899, at the end of his administration as governor,
was published in twenty pages as a pamphlet, and also
the second paper (pages 17-36) in the first volume of the
Executive Documents for 1898, (St. Paul, 1899). Of
371:

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
the Spanish-American war and the services of regiments
from this state, he said:
The year just brought to a close has chronicled the open
ing and closing of a war between the United States and the
kingdom of Spain. The citizens of Minnesota, in all stations
and callings, showed their loyalty to our common country and
their readiness to give health, strength and life itself in its
service. The willingness to do and to dare, to suffer and not
complain, on the part of our four Minnesota regiments, is
proof that the spirit of 1776 and of 1861 has not yet departed
from the land and from our state. Our brave boys of the
Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth • and Fifteenth Regiments have,
under mo3t trying circumstances, proved themselves worthy
sons and successors to the brave members of the First Minne
sota who withstood Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, and to the
equally brave men of the other Minnesota Regiments who faced
death on the numerous battlefields of the Civil War. The
state, honored by their services and by their patience under
the most trying circumstances, is ready to honor its volunteers,
from the humblest private in the rankB up through all the
various grades of officers to the distinguished soldier and
statesman whom its citizens have now elected to be chief
magistrate. It will also honor the noble and self-sacrificing
women who organized the forces of human kindness in the
homes of the land and made them effective for ministering to
and comforting those sick, wounded and dying in camp, or in
hospital, or on the bloody field of battle.

372

JOHN LIND.

JOHN LIND
Fourteenth Governor of the State of
Minnesota, was born in Kanna, Sweden,
March 25, 1854. He came to the United
States, with his parents, when thirteen
years of age, and has ever since resided
in Minnesota. He became a lawyer,
and was a Representative in Congress in
1887-1893, and again in 1903-1905. He
was governor of Minnesota from Jan
uary 2, 1899, to January 7, 1901.

JOHN LIND

FOURTEENTH GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF
MINNESOTA
January 2, 1899, to January 7, 1901

WE have been gazing on the likenesses of our
governors, as they stand ranged in the gallery
of the state, representing the unbroken edict of one
party for forty years, to whose express commands they
had yielded inviolate obedience. We now approach the
period when dissent appears. There were not, at first,
radical differences, but the wedge entered and real dis
sensions on public questions began to manifest themselves.
The silver question, as taught by William Jennings
Bryan, came rapidly upon the heels of the tarifl
Tevision doctrine so earnestly maintained, for many years,.
by many able men of both parties. These questions mar
shaled themselves against the established order, and
boldly challenged the country for a hearing.
The stalwart Republicans were always lukewarm re
formers. There was, however, a spirit abroad among the
people which would no longer suffer party leaders to
make up their opinions for them, as doctors do the
prescriptions their patients are to take. The result of
ihe gubernatorial election in 1896, when Clough, the
375

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
stalwart Republican candidate, was elected by the di
minished majority of 3,552, foreshadowed a weakening
in Republican ranks.
There was at this time as remarkable a man, as
a politician, as any man we have yet had in Min
nesota. Born in the humblest station, with a compara
tively limited education, he raised himself by his talents
and industry to a controlling position in the affairs
of the state. To John Lind belongs the unique distinc
tion of being the first to break through the Republican
ranks and assert a new regime. He had thus made
an enduring mark for himself in our political history.
There is in every strong life a certain personal force
and power, a tenacity of purpose, and individuality of
character, which make it assertive, confident, aggressive.
This sort of a personality was possessed by John Lind.
He was fortunate in the time of his separation from
his party, for the conditions were opportune. Party
infidelities were creeping in. Then behind him, as a
positive force, was the racial potency which was al
ready consolidating and hardening into a cohesive mass.
then and afterward to be thrown into the personal
political scale without much reference to issues. That
Mr. Lind did not consider this element in his separa
tion from his party, would be to charge him with
lack of sagacity to appreciate the situation. We find no
fault with Lind on account of his shifting his politics.
Rather the more we admire him for his manly and in
dependent stand, presuming his changed political convic-
376

JOHN LIND.
tions properly rested upon his judgment and con
science. John Lind was born in the Parish of Kanna,
Province of Smaland, Sweden, March 25, 1854. His
forefathers were farmers, freemen, owning the soil they
tilled. Family tradition says they had lived there from
years immemorial. The older men on both sides had
always been identified with the administration of com
munal affairs and as peace officers. They were neither
wealthy nor poor. Their record for character was with
out stain. They were proud of their standing, and re
sented an insult with a promptitude that commanded res
pect. This was particularly true of his maternal grand
father, Jonas Jonason. He was a "deacon," and also
a peace officer. In the latter capacity, it is said
chat his judgments were often enforced with his good
right arm.
John's father was born April 11, 1826, and died
August 11, 1895. His mother was born April 26, 1831,
and is now living at Winthrop, Sibley county, Minnesota.
She is now, at the ripe age of seventy-seven, a well-pre
served woman. Intellectually, she was never brighter or
stronger than she is at this time. The mother is a re
markable woman. She had the full religious training
given to the parish children. In this country, she
joined the Methodist church in 1883, of which she is a
consistent and devout member, and can defend her
faith with the best. She has always been a great
reader, reading English well. She possesses a vigorous
377

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
and logical mind, cogent in reasoning, and is a fine con
versationalist. She is, withal, an excellent farmer. She
directs the work and management of her four hundred
eighty acre farm, with as much judgment and enthusiasm
as any of her neighbors. At the end of each year she
generously distributes the surplus of her annual income
among her grandchildren. This brave and noble woman
has, beyond question, transmitted some of her traits to
her distinguished son.
In 1867, incited by the stories of American oppor
tunities, the family immigrated to the United States,
and, following a popular tide, settled in Goodhue county,
Minnesota. When the family located there, John was
thirteen years old. Soon afterward he began work in
a sawmill, in which he lost his left hand by an acci- •
dent. This was probably not altogether a misfortune,
for it compelled an immediate abandonment of labor
for intellectual pursuits, and thus directed his des
tiny to higher spheres of action.
At once he entered the great American college, the
common school, and by assiduous attention to his op
portunities, at the early age of sixteen, lie was granted a
certificate entitling him to teach in the public schools.
His first venture was in Sibley county, where he taught
one year. He then removed to New Ulm. By hard work
and study in a local law office, and with the exercise of
close economy, he was able to enter the university of the
state in 1875. Here he continued a studious career for
one year, when he was able to pass the examination
378

JOHN LIND..
required to be admitted to the bar as a lawyer, in 1877.
He had a limited practice, and in the meantime he was
elected superintendent of the schools of Brown county,
which position he held for two years. In 1881 he
was appointed, by President Garfield, receiver of the
United States land office at Tracy, in Lyon county.
He by no means abandoned his law practice in New
Ulm, for he was devoted to his profession. His legal
ability now began to be recognized in that portion of
the state, and he won increasing reputation by his suc
cess in some important cases against the railroad com
panies. He was very active in politics at this period,
and was an energetic worker in the Republican party.
In 1886 he was nominated for Congress as a Re
publican in the Second District of Minnesota, succeed
ing Hon. James B. Wakefield. The district at that time
was very large, embracing twenty counties, — in fact,
it included all of southwestern Minnesota. The political
campaign was a very active one, being the year in
which Dr. A. A. Ames, of Minneapolis, a Democrat,
came near defeating A. R. McGill, Republican, for gov
ernor. Lind made a very active canvass and was elec
ted by a majority of 9,648. His Democratic competi
tor was A. H. Bullis, of Faribault county.
Two years later, in 1888, he was again nominated,
and his opponent (Democrat) was Hon. Morton S. Wil
kinson, formerly Republican United States senator from
Minnesota. Lind was elected by a majority of 9,219
over Wilkinson. 379

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Again in 1890 Lind was nominated as the Re
publican candidate for Congress. His opponent was
Gen. James H. Baker, of Blue Earth county. General
Baker was nominated as the Alliance candidate, and re
ceived the votes of the Democratic party, who made no
nomination. Lind received 20,788 votes; Baker, 20,306,
leaving Lind a plurality of 482. The Prohibitionists
also had a ticket in the field. Ira B. Reynolds was
their candidate, who received 1,146 votes. This left
Mr. Lind a minority candidate by 333 votes. General
Baker made a thorough canvass on the issue of "tariff
revision," and planted that seed of tariff reform in the
district which culminated in the overthrow of James
T. McCleary on the "stand-pat" issue of a high tariff
seventeen years later. All the other Congressional dis
tricts in the state elected Democratic Congressmen that
year, 1890, on the same issue. Thus the Republican
strength was greatly impaired and the doctrine of tariff
revision strongly affirmed in Minnesota-
Mr. Lind's career of six years in Congress was
marked by great activity, especially in reform measures
of public importance. He took a very active interest
in Indian affairs, and secured the passage of a bill
establishing seven Indian schools in various parts of the
country, one of which was at Pipestone, in his own dis
trict. He secured the payment of many long-standing
claims for Indian depredations to citizens of his dis
trict.

380

JOHN LIND.
One of the most important acts of legislation which
he secured was the passage of a law for the reorganiza
tion of the Federal courts in Minnesota, even now recog
nized as the "Lind Bill." Under this law Federal
courts are now held at Minneapolis, Mankato, Winona,
and Fergus Falls, as well as in St. Paul. This saves
litigants long journeys and great expense. He was also
a strenuous fighter for the integrity and enforcement
of the Interstate Commerce act, to prevent discrimina
tions in favor of persons or places. He earnestly advo
cated the automatic couples and power-brake bill and
other like devices, which proved so effectual in protecting
human life. In another bill he succeeded in having
Minneapolis made a port of entry. He became an
acknowledged authority on all questions relating to the
public lands. He resisted the tariff on lumber in the
economical interests of his constituents, and because he
said that it committed the government to the destruc
tion of its own forests rather than those of other peo
ple. He favored free sugar, free materials for bind
ing twine, and was for free twine. He thus came to the
positions held by General Baker in his celebrated can
vass in 1890.
Mr. Lind voluntarily retired as a candidate for
Congress, in 1892, absolutely refusing to enter the race.
The convention paid him a very high compliment for
his efficient services as a Republican Congressman, in
resolutions nominating his successor. Lind as a mem
ber of Congress had avowed and defended Republican 381

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
principles. All his life, until the free silver agitation,
he was an ardent and enthusiastic Republican, and for
six years was the faithful representative of that party in
Congress. One of the constant adherents and followers of
the free silver policy as espoused by Senator Teller, of
Colorado, and by other "Silver Republicans," was John
Lind. The Republican party, especially of the West,
previous to the National Republican convention held at
St. Louis in 1896, was firm in its adherence to free
silver. In Minnesota the state platform had uniformly
announced that doctrine. So it cannot be said that
Mr. Lind abandoned the party on that issue. He simply
remained in his previous faith on that question, while
the Republican party, in its national convention of 1896,
assumed a new firm position for the gold standard. The
Minnesota Republican state platforms, for years, vindi
cate this statement as to silver.
If anything were wanting to confirm this historic
fact, the following pungent passage from a speech of
Cushman K. Davis, delivered at Crookston, October, 13,
1890, will be convincing:
We passed the silver bill. Since 1878 that instrumentality
of finance, that right arm of every monetary system, which
had existed in efficacy through all the ages since and before
the time when Abraham paid 300 shekels of silver for the
cave in which to bury his dead, that great function of civili
zation was restored and made legal tender, and from the mo
ment it was poured into the veins of circulation, prices in
creased, a universal sense of prosperity was felt, and the coun
try began to move forward upon a career of prosperity, which I
assure you, my fellow citizens, we do not begin to appreciate
even in its beginning. We raised it from its discredited and dis.
382

JOHN LIND.
turbed condition, and we gave it as money the purchasing
power of gold. The price of silver before the bill was passed
was 92 cents, and 120 after the bill was passed, the nominal
price being 129. And what followed immediately upon the pas
sage of the bill? Prices rose throughout the country on the
cereals, on corn and barley. That work for the farmer was
done by the Republican party. I tell you, gentlemen, that
the passage of that silver bill was ten thousand times more
beneficial to the people of Minnesota and the Union than any
tariff bill your reformers could possibly devise.1
The silver question became more and more one
of exciting interest during Mr. Lind's last term as a
Republican in Congress. As late as 1896 he was still
characterized as a "free silver" Republican. Mr. S.
M. Owen had been nominated by the Populists in 1894
as their candidate for governor, and the canvass which
followed blazed the way for coming events. September
12, 1896, Mr. Lind addressed his celebrated letter on
the silver issue to the Minnesota public. By the terms of
this letter, it would appear that now Mr. Lind had
embraced the general political ideas entertained by
the Populists. July 16, 1896, he was unanimously
nominated for governor by the Populist and Free Silver
convention, and was subsequently endorsed by the Demo
cratic party. His Republican opponent was the Hon.
David M. Clough, of Minneapolis. The election de
monstrated that Lind was a popular candidate, as he
reduced the Republican majority to but little over three
thousand.

JThe only copy of Senator Davis' able speech on that oc
casion now in existence (type-written) is at this time in pos
session of the writer.

383

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Of this Populistic convention, Hon. Frank A. Day
was a conspicuous member. Hon. C. A. Towne, of Du
luth, made the leading speech, in which he affirmed that
he had been a Republican till a quarter to two o'clock,
June 18, 1896. Hon. Frank M. Nye was also one of
the orators of the occasion. Free Silver was the ar
gent bridge on which each of them, except Nye, finally
passed over to the Democratic party.
In 1898 the war with Spain was proclaimed, fol
lowing the destruction of the historic war vessel, the
Maine, in Havana harbor. President McKinley called
for volunteers to defend and avenge the national honor.
Minnesota, with its accustomed patriotic impulse, of
fered several regiments for the service, and among other
volunteers John Lind, though with but one arm, gal
lantly offered his services to Governor Clough, although
sacrificing a fine law practice. He was accepted and
made quartermaster of the Twelfth regiment, com
manded by Colonel Bobleter, of New Ulm. He was so
commissioned, with the rank of first lieutenant. Lieu
tenant Lind at once became popular with the regi
ment, by his arduous labors keeping the men well equip
ped and provisioned. The regiment was encamped at
Camp Thomas and Chickamauga National Park.
During this period of military inactivity, Lieuten
ant Lind was unanimously nominated, October 28, 1898,
by the People's Silver Republican and Democratic or
ganizations for governor. Mr. Lind, after his defeat in
1896, had resolved never again to enter the field of
384

JOHN LIND.
politics. But so unanimous and pressing was the call,
that he put aside his desire for retirement and ac
cepted the summons, subject to the limitations of his
military service. After the surrender of the Spanish
forces, at Santiago, and the return of the Minnesota
regiments to the state, Mr. Lind was able to make but
two short series of speeches in some of the more im
portant places of the state. Wherever he went he was
cordially and enthusiastically received. The money
standard of the country, it was claimed, was being sub
verted, and he was the chosen candidate of the new finan
cial ideas. All the forces of so-called reform were ranged
under the banners of Populism. Everywhere he was met
with the most enthusiastic popular demonstrations of
personal admiration, confidence, and sympathy. It was
charged that Mr. Lind was nominated to catch the
Scandinavian vote. But such a charge gave a low es
timate of the character of the man, his convictions, and
his devoted patriotism.
His Republican opponent was William Henry Eus-
tis, of Minneapolis. Eustis was a man of intellectual
ability, of high culture, imbued with the true spirit of
civic patriotism, and with a public and private career
of unblemished manhood. He was indeed a typical
American citizen, and stood in the forefront of his party.
Governor- Clough was singularly bitter against Eustis, in
a way which was ungenerous, in a matter growing out
¦of William D. Washburn's election to a seat in the
United States senate. Clough's obligations to his party
25 385

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
should have constrained him to support the Republican
candidate by every principle of duty and honor. But
even without this defection, it is doubtful if Lind would
not have been elected, as his personal popularity was
great, and he was on the popular side in the financial
questions, then uppermost in the public mind. However,
it was generally held by the Republicans that the
Swede nationality defeated Eustis. Lind's majority
above the aggregate vote for the four other candidates,
was 11,398.
The official returns of this election were as fol
lows: William H. Eustis, Republican, 111,796 votes;
John Lind, Democrat and People's, 131,980; George W.
Higgins, Prohibition, 5,299; William B. Hammond,
Socialist-Labor, 1,685; Lionel C. Long, Midroad-Pop-
ulist, 1,802.
Lind, by the favor and insistence of his friends,
was' three times a candidate for governor: first, in 1896,
when Hon. David M. Clough defeated him by a meager
majority; second, in 1898, when he was elected over Hon.
William H. Eustis; and last, in 1900, when Hon. Samuel
R. Van Sant defeated him by a plurality of 2,254 votes.
By this time the silver question had lost its potency, and
by so much Lind's strength was diminished.
It will be noted that Mr. Lind was the first to break
through the continuous possession of power by the Re
publican party of Minnesota, which had been vigorously
maintained for a period of quite forty years. Vermont
is the only other state that affords so long an unbroken
386

JOHN LIND.
period of Republican supremacy. The causes which un
derlie its final defeat are found in the changed conditions,
of dominating public questions, to which the Republi
cans were slow to respond. The truth of history also re
quires us to note that a contributary cause was the Scan
dinavian vote, which adhered to those of their own blood
even against their fidelity to their political principles.
Governor Lind's messages, in 1899 and 1901, are
of historic interest because of their influence upon the
state's public policy and legislation, especially concern
ing taxation and the regulation of railroads and of state
institutions. Through his influence upon legislation, and
likewise through the board of equalization appointed by
him, the state made marked progress in the assessment
and taxation of mines, railroads, municipal franchise
corporations, and foreign corporations. The railroad and
warehouse commission appointed by him reduced freight
rates. His recommendation for a state board of control
over state institutions bore substantial results.
After retiring from the executive office, Governor
Lind returned to the practice of his profession at his
home in New Ulm. Here he soon gained a lucrative
business and was speedily identified with the most im
portant local interests of his home town. In 1901 he
removed to the city of Minneapolis, where he at
once engaged in his chosen profession, the law, in
company with Mr. Andreas Ueland.
Governor Lind has delivered many public addres
ses on a wide variety of subjects, which illustrate his
general information and interpret his views on economic 387

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
and public questions. Like many other public men,
he has been very careless in preserving copies and has
left them to the- mercy of the ephemeral newspaper.
The writer has resurrected a number of these forgotten
addresses, and finds them worthy of the research made.
Governor Lind is not distinguished for elegant speeches
to which he made but little pretense, but they are
forceful, clear, cogent and convincing. He is evidently
a man given to close thinking. His manner of speaking
is from nature herself, and not a result of cultivation
or art. When he came to Congress we were unable to
assign him any special place as a debater, but his plain,
discriminating and sincere manner of expressing himself
gave him attention and carried conviction, such as is not
always given to eloquence itself.
In political life he has proven a ready and strong
debater. He was the able man of his political persua
sion. Without him the Populist elements would not
have succeeded in holding their forces together. He
presented an undaunted front and gallantly" led his
variegated and mosaic army against a strong array of
Republican leaders, skilled in all the tactics of political
warfare, and this, too, with all the great newspapers of
the state in hostility to him. He was" not able to or
ganize a new permanent party out of the Populistic
elements, but he did succeed in leading most of those
elements into the Democratic party, where he went him
self and found a cordial welcome and distinguished
honors. In truth, he was the strongest accession the
388

JOHN LIND.
Democratic party ever received in this state. The
manifest sincerity of his convictions overcame the
charge of desertion from old political friends, whose
prejudices were deep-rooted. He was, however, just as
consistent a politician as many of his most formidable
opponents. At the bar his success would have been still more as
sured if he had not deviated into politics. Perhaps
his best work has been achieved in the direction of juris
prudence, and the law was undoubtedly really his cho
sen pursuit. But the law is a jealous mistress, and
will not admit of much devotion to politics if one would
achieve her highest honors. Governor Lind has now re
turned to the vigorous pursuit of his profession, from
which, we know, he never desires again to depart.
Criticism has been freely given upon Mr. Lind's
change of political parties. To the philosophic observer,
the real line of distinction between the two great par
ties are pretty difficult to define. The radical differen
ces of opinion are not so real as the cursory citizen
may think,Mor men are mostly marshalled or split in
opposition according to the desire for power or plunder
which each hopes to snatch for himself. Principles are
too often professed more for securing position than
for conserving the interests of the country. Of course,
there are exceptions to this general rule, as in the case
of the slavery question, where the cleavage was on moral
and conscientious grounds. But now, nearly all questions
are simply of expediency. A man may shift his political
389

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
position without being savagely denounced as inconsistent.
Parties themselves, as a whole, shift their positions,
abandoning ancient policies and going over to the other
side. The truth is that the course pursued by one side
generally dictates that taken by the other. Take the
instance of the acquisition of territory: At one time the
Democrats were the avowed champions of territorial
acquisition, as in the case of Texas, California, Arizona,
and New Mexico. Now the Republicans are acquiring
territory, as in Hawaii, Porto Rico, and the Philippines,
and they stand ready to swallow Cuba. President
Roosevelt, supported by a Republican congress, is bravely
pushing sound policies which yesterday were Democratic.
Deep-rooted prejudices are thus being overturned. Such
is party tactics and its imperious necessities, compelling
parties to change views without compunction. The
Democratic party under Benton were for "hard money" v
only. But with years "and changed conditions they be
came the champions of "fiat money." If one party is
for a given reform, the other party is quite liable to be
against it. In the lull of great moral questions, parties
are in the line mainly for the purpose of obtaining or
retaining power, whatever their pretensions to sincerity.
When this maneuvering is going on by great parties,
we must not be surprised that individuals, like Mr. Lind,
from the best of motives, should change, if they so desire,
without censure. Such changes in English politics, by
prominent men, are matters of repeated history. Sir
Robert Peel and his whole cabinet went over from Pro-
390

JOHN LIND.
tection to Free~ Trade, in a single night. Daniel Webster
changed front, in early life, from Free Trade to Pro
tection. Thus it is that on questions of mere expediency
opinions come and go. ' They pass and are forgotten:
Lind's general character is not wanting in those
sterling qualities which greatly entitle a public man
to confidence and respect. His private life is one of
decorum and personal purity, a matter which so en
riches the character and influence of a public man. His
family ties are very dear, well exemplifying what the
domestic virtues should be in a true American home.
His religious convictions have often been challenged.
While as a matter of fact he may not be a strict ortho
dox in religious belief, yet the writer is assured that
he cherishes ' an habitual reverence fo^, the Deity and
His divine perfections, a belief in our personal ac
countability, and that he entertains a lively hope of an
immortal future. With such a mother as he has, his
religious beliefs could not be otherwise than as here
stated. ' ' In church affiliations he may be accounted a
Unitarian. Mr. Lind has. held many appointments of importance
in affairs other than political. In 1892 Governor Nelson
appointed him a regent of the State University, in which
capacity he' served the term of six years. He was long
a director of the Brown County Bank. He was one of
the directors having charge of the building of the
Minneapolis, New Ulm, . and Southwestern railroad.

391

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
After his removal to Minneapolis, Mr. Lind was
considered very available for Congress, by his Democratic
friends, and was nominated in the Fifth Congressional
District, and was elected, in 1902, over a tried and
sturdy Republican, Hon. Loren Fletcher, by a majority
of 2,054. He apparently took but little interest in
a new congressional career, and gladly retired to his
chosen profession, the law.
Governor Lind was married in 1879 to Miss Alice
A. Shepard, a most estimable lady. She was the daugh
ter of a Blue Earth county farmer, and had been edu
cated at the Normal School in the city of Mankato. She
was born October 15, 1859. Her father, Richard Shep
ard, had been an honored soldier in the Union army.
The family later removed to California. Miss Shepard
taught school at New Ulm, where the acquaintance with
her future husband began. To this union there were
born four children; Norman, born August 14, 1880;
Jenny, born April 2, 1884; Winifred, born August
25, 1890; and John Shepard, born September 14, 1900.

Governor Lind's inaugural message, January 4,
1899, was published as a pamphlet of thirty-seven pages
and as the first paper in the Executive Documents of
Minnesota for 1898 (St. Paul, 1899). The first third
of this message relates to taxation, especially of person
al property in bonds or stocks and other securities, and
of corporations and railroads. Concerning the great
392

JOHN LIND.
disproportion of taxes on realty and personalty, the
governor said :
In the early days of the Republic, when the principles
were formulated which still control our methods of taxation,
visible property constituted the property of the community.
Wealth meant houses, lands, implements and cattle. Franchises,
bonds, stocks and securities, were practically unknown. Today
they constitute according to conservative estimates perhaps
eighty per cent of personalty wealth. They are owned by
the wealthy. As a rule, they escape taxation, not because
they are the property of the rich, but because the assessor
cannot get his eyes on them. The producer on the other hand
cannot conceal his stock, or the implements of his trade, and
they are taxed. The patriotic desire to volunteer tribute to
the state is probably no greater in the one than in the
other. * * * Judging by comparison and by data from
other states, it is safe to assume that the value of the per
sonal property in this state is nearly as great as that of the
realty. As returned for taxation, the figures are in round
numbers; real property, $500,000,000; personalty, $100,000,000.
To get at the remaining personal property, or to substitute
some other method of obtaining revenue more just and efficient
than the present antiquated system of taxing personalty, is
the problem. To solve this, I believe with my predecessor that
a Commission should be appointed. * * *
The biennial message delivered by Lind on January
9, 1901, at the termination of his service as governor,
was published as a pamphlet of twenty-eight pages. It
begins with the following statements of the growth and
prospects of Minnesota, which in 1899 completed fifty
years as a territory and state.
The history of Minnesota spans but a half century. In
that brief time the persevering industry of our people has con
verted an inhospitable wilderness into a land of plenty dotted
with homes. Fifty years ago our population was told in
hundreds; we now have nearly eighteen hundred thousand.
Our 'soil yielded in the year 1900 not far from one hundred
thirty-five million bushels of cereals. Our forests produced two
billion feet of lumber. Our mines turned out ten million tons
of ore, and the stock and dairy products of the state exceeded
forty million dollars in value. Our manufactures, including
.flour and lumber, approximated two hundred and eighty mil
lion dollars ($280,000,000). Our commerce is carried over 6,794
393

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
miles of railway within the state, and our banking capital,
exclusive of private banks, is $20,000,000. Learning is dis
seminated by 10,616 teachers employed in 7,303 school houses,
which have been erected at a cost to the public of $14,800,000.
Our past has been phenomenal. Our present is great. The
wonderful discoveries and inventions of the century just closed
have left the present and future generations an inheritance of
potential power over nature and nature's forces which, if ex
tended and applied to the service of man as intelligently in
the present century as in the last, cannot fail to produce, in a
state so rich in natural resources as ours, results that beggar
the dreams of fancy.
I deem it conservative to predict that within this century
Minnesota will have a population of ten millions. The com
fort and happiness of that population will, in a large measure,
depend upon our work and the work of this generation. Our
state and our institutions are yet in the formative period. As
we build, so will future generations dwell. As we sow, they
will reap. The greatness of a state does not consist alone in
the material wealth within its boundaries, nor in the num
bers of its population. The greatness that appeals to me and
that assures its permanency is to be found rather in just and
equal laws, in policies, that produce an equitable distribution
of wealth, that build homes and conserve the independence
and happiness of the people. Our free institutions have aided
us in obtaining these blessings in a larger degree than any
other people, but for their preservation we must not place our
reliance in the mere forms of government or in paper constitu
tions. They can only be preserved by a public spirit that
prompts the citizen to exercise his franchise, and his represen
tative to so discharge his duty as to guard every interest of
the state and further the welfare of society, as a whole.
The following are pamphlet publications of speeches
by Lind :
Remarks on the Wilson Retaliation Bill, in the
House of y Representatives in Congress, September 8,
1888; thirteen pages.
Free Coinage of Silver, a speech in the House of
Representatives, Firty-first Congress, First Session, June
7, 1890; seven pages from the Congressional Record.
Speech accepting Re-nomination for Governor, de
livered in the Old Auditorium, St. Paul, September 6,
1900; forty-eight pages.
394

SAMUEL R. VAN SANT

SAMUEL RINNAH VAN SANT A
Fifteenth Governor of the State of Min
nesota, was born in Rock Island, Illinois,
May 11, 1844. He served in the Civil
War, and afterward engaged in lumber
business and steamboating, and resided
in Minnesota. He was Speaker of the
House of Representatives in the State
Legislature in 1895; and was governor
of Minnesota from January 7, 1901, to
January 4, 1905.

. >"

SAMUEL RINNAH VAN SANT
FIFTEENTH GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF
MINNESOTA
January 7, 1901, to January 4, 1905.

THE many and varied' interests of our state have
been well represented in the gubernatorial chair.
Ramsey and Sibley personated the early pioneers; Miller,
Marshall, and Hubbard, stand for our war memories;
Austin and Davis exhibited the legal and judicial inter
ests of the state; Pillsbury and Merriam stood for the
general business interests; Lind and Nelson represented
the force and power of the Scandinavian element; and
Clough stood for the great lumber interests. Thus
these great concerns, whieh so largely intertwined, make
the fabric of our state, have each had a representative
man in the executive chair to guard their part, if not
in action, certainly in sympathy. And now comes
our vast rafting and steamboat business on the greatest
river of the continent, and receives a representation
among the governmental -state pilots.
The Van Zandts were Hollanders, and the earliest
ancestor known came to this country in 1607, on the ship
"Gude Freund," and landed on Staten Island. His
397

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
name was Johannes Van Zandt. The descendants of
this progenitor settled on Manhattan Island and scat
tered from Albany, N. Y., down along the Jersey coast*
The New Jersey branch of the family is that one from
which the future governor sprang.
For two hundred years the Van Zandts were ship
builders and sailors. It is said that one of the an
cestors equipped a privateer in the Revolution, and at
tacked British shipping on the high -seas. It was a pa
triotic race, and they served in every war for the de
fense or preservation of the country, including the
early colonial wars.
The governor's grandfather was a soldier in the
war of 1812. He was also a Methodist clergyman, and
five sons were clergymen in the same denomination.
Samuel's father, John Wesley Van Sant, came west
from New Jersey in 1837, and settled at Rock Island,
Illinois. The family had now Anglicized the name,
and spelled it Van Sant. The name was Anglicized soon
after the Dutch were conquered by the English, when
the name of New York was substituted for New Am
sterdam. The family endured all the hardships inci
dent to early pioneer life.
Upon the father's arrival at Rock Island, he be
gan at once the building and repairing of steamboats.
He was an abolitionist and a Methodist, and his father
before him was an abolitionist. He lived in the neigh
borhood of Rock Island, working at his naval pursuits,
a vigorous and hearty old man, until a few years since,
398

SAMUEL RINNAH VAN SANT.
when he died at the ripe age of ninety-two years. He
had the pleasure, on his ninety-fjrst birthday, January
9, 1901, of seeing his son inaugurated governor of the
state. His wife, whose maiden name was Lydia An
derson, survived him, and died, in 1905, at the age of
ninety-four years. On the mater-nal side, he also came
of fighting blood, as his maternal grandfather was a
Revolutionary hero.
Samuel Rinnah Van Sant was born May 11, 1844,
at Rock Island, Illinois. The middle name, Rinnah,
came to him from the name of one of his father's near
and dear neighbors) Rinnah Wells. It is a Bible name.
The name Samuel was for an uncle, a Methodist prea
cher. His early youth was spent in attendance at the
common school in Rock Island. He had advanced as
far as the High School, when the war for the preserva
tion of the Union broke out. Though he was but
seventeen years- of age at this period, when the first call
for volunteers was made,, he promptly offered himself
to the recruiting officer, but was rejected on account of
his age. He made other efforts to enlist, but was re
jected for the same reason. Later, having received his
father's written consent, in August, 1861, he enlisted
•in Company A, Ninth Illinois cavalry. He was in ac
tive service for over three years, much of the time with
Grierson's famous cavalry raiders, where the hardships
of the campaigns were unusually severe. He never missed

399

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
a battle, never was wounded, and was never in the
hospital. Indeed, good fortune, smiled upon him in all his
military career. He was in the battles around Mem
phis, Helena, and Tupelo, and in fact participated in
every engagement of his regiment while he was in the
army. He was the last veteran of the Civil War to
occupy the gubernatorial chair in Minnesota, being the
tenth one of our eighteen governors to serve both as a
soldier and statesman. Probably no other state in the
Union has chosen so large a proportion of its chief execu
tives from the ranks of its military heroes.
When the war was over, he was mustered out
with his regiment, and, after a visit at his home, he
went to Burnham's American Business College, at Hud
son, N. Y., where he graduated. But feeling a desire
for a still better education, he soon after entered Knox
College, at Galesburg, Illinois. He was now ambitious
for a regular college course. He completed the prepara
tory course, and entered as a freshman and passed
through that year of the curriculum. He was entirely
dependent on his own resources, and he found that a
lack of means would compel him to abandon his col
lege purpose. He had already, while at college, learned
the ship carpenter and calker's trade. He now engaged-
in the boat yard business with his father at Le Claire,
Iowa. He there- built the first raft boat of large pow
er ever constructed solely for towing logs and lumber

400

SAMUEL RINNAH VAN SANT.
down the Mississippi river, and in honor of his father,
named it the "J. W. Van Sant."
The success of this venture led the firm to construct
other boats of a similar character, arid they became ac
tively engaged in rafting and lumbering on the Mis
sissippi river. It is safe to say that his fleet of steamers
towed more logs and lumber to market down the river
than any other line of boats ever constructed.
It was during this period (1872-73) that Captain
Van Sant met with a series of disasters which would have
appalled a heart less brave. One of his steamboats blew
up, resulting in a great loss of life and the entire
destruction of the boat. Another boat sank in the ice
and was lost. These misfortunes left him heavily in
debt. The same year his house burned down, and to
crown his misfortunes, his only living child died.
In reality, he was homeless, childless, and penniless, One
of his injured boats he placed between two barges and
carried down the river, one hundred and fifty miles, to
his own boat ways where he rebuilt it. Nothing, of this
kind had ever before been done on the river, and all
the river men doubted its practicability. However, he
was not made of a material to quail under difficulties,
a characteristic which has marked his entire career.
This, distinguishing quality was noted in his pursuit
of the governorship, when, having twice failed, he
won on his third effort. It is a noticeable and creditable
fact that in all his financial embarrassments, he never,
26 401

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
at any time, was sued or in any way judicially prose
cuted. In the spring of 1883, for the better managing of
the firm's business, Captain Van Sant removed to Wi
nona, Minnesota. Business .grew and, he was soon very
largely engaged in the transportation business, convey
ing down the Mississippi river logs and lumber to various
mills and concerns. In a few years he was operating a
dozen or more steamboats between Stillwater and Daven
port, Burlington, Keokuk, and Quincy. He was now cal
led "Captain" Van Sant, a brevet title which came to
him from the steamboat business in whieh he had become
so prominent. His business integrity, even in his darkest
days, was never questioned.
He proved himself a man of great energy of charac
ter, and in his new home, with public spirit, he identi
fied himself with the public affairs of the city. He was
a Republican in politics, as all his family had been. His
first political position was when he was elected alderman,
and his course gave great satisfaction. In 1892 he was
elected a member of the legislature, in a Democratic
district, in which President Cleveland had a majority
of 150. Captain Van Sant's majority in the district
was 64. In 1894 he was again elected to the legisla
ture. During his first legislative term he was chairman
of the State Nor-mal School Committee, and in that
position he did much to aid the entire system of Nor
mal Sichools. In the session of 1895, he was elected
Speaker of the House, receiving every Republican, Demo-
402

SAMUEL RINNAH VAN SANT.
cratic and Populist vote, an unusual honor.. He presided
with such marked ability and general approval, that he
became well and favorably known throughout the state.
There was no other part of his career of which
Captain Van Sant was so justly proud as of his military
service. He very naturally, therefore, identified himself
with the Grand Army of the Republic. Twice he ser
ved as commander of the John Ball Post, of Winona. In
1893 he was elected senior vice department commander
of Minnesota. The next year he was elected commander.
He devoted himself to every duty connected with this
honorable position. It is of record that he traveled over
twenty thousand miles, visiting posts, conducting camp
fires, and holding memorial services. His influence and
activity resulted in bringing the National Encampment
of the Grand Army to Minnesota in 1896. No other
commander of the Grand Army in the state did so much
to advance the growth and interests of that distinguished
body, as Captain Van Sant.
His active services in the Grand Army of the
Republic, his course in the legislature, and his praise
worthy conduct, as Speaker of the House, had already
made him a familiar figure in the state. His political
speeches did much to endear him to the Republican party
and its leaders, for he was always an enthusiastic worker
in that cause.
In 1896, Captain Van Sant made his first appear
ance as a candidate for governor. He was well backed
by a good delegation from his own county, Winona.
403

GOVERNORSOF MINNESOTA.
Acting Governor Clough, of Minneapolis, John L. Gibbs>
of Freeborn county, and Moses Clapp, of St. Paul, were
the contestants. Governor Clough won on the first
ballot, but Captain -Van Sant received 158 ballots, which
was considered a very complimentary vote for a new
man, and served to introduce him to the state.
In a short speech, after Clough's nomination, with
a good humor which won the good will of the conven
tion, among other things, he said:
"I feel it is an honor to have been mentioned for
governor in this convention, but I beg to assure you I
was not running for governor, I was only walking."
In the campaign of 1898, Captain Van Sant was
again a candidate for governor. Hon. William H. Eus
tis, of Minneapolis, received the nomination ; but Captain'
Van Sant increased his vote over the preceding conven
tion of 1896, having 401 votes.
After the elegant acceptance speech of Mr. Eustis,
Captain Van Sant, as one of the defeated candidates,
was called before the convention. His speech was so
manly, and replete with such good sense and good humor,
that we are fully justified in publishing it in full as re
ported : ,
"Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention:
"As I sat on the platform listening to the speech
of my successful rival, the thought occurred to me that
if it seemed cfuneral-like' to him while waiting at the
Windsor for the result of your deliberations, just imag
ine my feelings. He won. I lost. I had hoped to re-
404

SAMUEL RINNAH VAN SANT.
turn to my home occupying the front seat on the band
wagon; instead, I go back in the hearse. Again imagine
my embarrassment. I prepared a speech to deliver to
this convention, but alas, it would not be appropriate for
this occasion. Besides, I have been for six months talk
ing to the Republicans of Minnesota, and it does not
seem to have done much good. Why should I speak:
more? But, my friends and fellow workers in the vine
yard of the Republican party, I want to say right here
and now that from a full heart I thank the four hund
red true and tried men who stood by me through thick
and thin and to the last, and have only the kindliest
feeling toward those who opposed my nomination. There
was but one "trouble — I did not have votes enough.
Let me assure you there are no sore spots on me. I
most earnestly congratulate Mr. Eustis; he fairly won
the nomination. Like him I, too, thought I heard a
voice two years ago. < I was mistaken. He heard the
call; it remains with us to make the election sure. We
are all Republicans, but no Republican will carry the
flag further into the enemy's camp during the coming
fall than I will, unless he has a stronger constitution
or greater ability. This will be a Republican year, a
glorious year of sunshine; already the warming glow of
prosperity is assured. The promise of McKinley ~and
prosperity is a fact, and business conditions are so rap
idly and permanently improving that our country is des
tined soon to become and remain the greatest on the face
of the earth. 405

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
"Again I congratulate you, Mr. Eustis, not only
upon your nomination but upon the glorious victory
that awaits you in November; and to the end that it
may be as nearly unanimous as possible let us all re
turn to our homes and go zealously to work burying our
hatchets, if we have any, so deeply that they will never
again be resurrected. Personally I am satisfied, and am
ready for the conflict. I have been carefully taking ac
count of my political assets; I find that all I have re
maining" is my post " office address. If you desire my
services in the coming campaign all you will have to do
is to address me at Winona. I will fight just as hard
as a private soldier, and in the trenches, as if your leader
in command. I believe in the grand old* party, its suc
cess brings prosperity to all the people. No disappoint
ment, however great, can cause me to sulk in my tent;
I weigh two hundred pounds, and every ounce of it is
for my party and its candidates.
"Gentlemen of the convention, in closing let me
assure you that there is some compensation even in de
feat. I shall go home to family and friends, to rest and
quiet, while Mr. Eustis assumes the strenuous duties of
campaign and office. The happier man I."
Captain Van Sant's defeat in the convention was
perhaps fortunate for him. Eustis was defeated in the
campaign by the ungenerous and undeserved machina
tions of some of his own party, Hon. John Lind, Demo
crat, being elected by a majority of 20,184 over Eustis,
and over all opponents by 11,398.
406

SAMUEL RINNAH VAN SANT.
Van Sanfs course after this second defeat greatly
commended him to his party and to the general public.
He took an active part on the stump and spoke nightly
for several weeks for the success of his party and its
candidates. At the next state convention of his party,
Captain Van Sant's time had come, and a large Repub
lican convention, in 1900, nominated him by acclama
tion and by a rising vote. His method of accepting de
feat may well be studied as a model of good sense and
good taste under such circumstances. Ambitious politi
cians can see in it the effects of a wise course under the
sting of defeat.
Governor Lind was his opponent. This was the
third and last time Lind was a candidate. The canvass
was warm, but was conducted in an honorable manner
by the two candidates. Van Sant was elected by a fair
majority. He received 152,905 votes; Lind had 150,651,
giving Van Sant over Lind 2,254 votes.
The vote for the other candidates for governor in
this election stood as follows: Bernt B. Haugan, Pro
hibition, 5,430; Sylvester M. Fairchild, Midroad Popu
list, 763; Thomas H. Lucas, Socialist-Democrat, 3,546;
Edward Kriz, Socialist-Labor, 886.
The ensuing convention, in 1902, re-nominated Gov
ernor Van Sant by acclamation. Lind was no longer
in the field, and Hon. Leonard A. Rosing was substituted
by the Democratic convention as a candidate. Van
Sant received 155,849 votes, against 99,362 for Rosing.
The latter had been Governor Lind's private secretary. 407

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Van Sant had grown in favor, and restored Republican
supremacy. The governor had a majority over Rosing
of 56,487, and thus entered upon his second term with
the full endorsement of his party.
The entire gubernatorial vote in 1902 was 270,888.
Thomas J. Meighen, People's Party candidate, received
4,821; Charles Scanlon, Prohibitionist, 5,765; Jay E.
Nash, Socialist, 2,521; and Thomas Van Lear, Socialist-
Labor, 2,570.
During his entire term of four years, Governor Van
Sant was diligently urging the enforcement of existing
laws, rather than the enactment of new ones. He vigor
ously maintained the wisdom of the measure known as
the Board of Control bill, and insisted that this wise
measure should be made permanent. He held, however,
that the management of the State University and the
Normal Schools should be removed from the Board of
Control. It has. been found that the affairs of the Uni
versity and Normal Schools are better conserved in the
hands of the Regents and the Normal School Board.
The governor's entire administration was patriotic
and business-like, and the conscientious and faithful per
formance of his duties stand well to his credit. In 1902"
he issued a call for an extra session of the legislature..
Large property and corporate interests, from the first,.
opposed an extra session. The prominent and import
ant purpose of this extra session was the preparation
and submission of a series of amendments to the con
stitution as to taxation. Without these proposed amend-
408

SAMUEL RINNAH VAN SANT.
ments, proper legislation, so much desired, could not be
had at the next ensuing regular session. Events proved
the wisdom of the governor's action.
But Governor Van Sant's most conspicuous and most
distinguished services for the state, while he was gov
ernor, were rendered in what came to be known as the
celebrated "Railroad Merger" cases, in 1902-3. It had
been the settled policy, as declared in the laws of the
state for many years, that competing lines of railway
should not be merged. Sections 2716 and 2717 of the
General Statutes of the state, in most specific terms, for
bade the "merging" of parallel or competing lines of
railway. These statutes had been held to be constitu
tional by the Supreme Court of the United States.
Three great railroad corporations, the Northern Pac
ific, the Great Northern, and the Chicago, Burlington
and Quincy, all trans-continental lines, running between
Minnesota and the Pacific coast, had been consolidated
or merged. The effect of the consolidation would be
that railway competition between these terminal points
would be eliminated. People would have to pay what
ever charges would be demanded by the three roads.
The only competing road to the coast, the Soo line,
could be easily disposed of.
The consolidation had been effected by the ingenious
organization of a fourth corporation, called the North
ern Securities Company, chartered by the State of New
Jersey, and designed especially to acquire the majority
of the stock of the Northern Pacific and the Great
409

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Northern, in return for the .stock of the Northern Securi
ties, and to control those roads. The consolidation was
made in November, 1901.
The great project was deemed a most dangerous
menace to the interests of the people of the Northwest.
Public sentiment was fairly aroused. There was a gen
eral and vehement demand that the consolidation of the
railroads, or the "merger," be at once destroyed. The
people of Minnesota were especially insistent that some
thing be done. The merger, like a great triple-headed
monster, constituted a most formidable antagonist which
it seemed foolhardy to attack. It was plain that only
a sovereign state was stout and strong enough to wage
battle against it.
Governor Van Sant was the first chief executive in
the Northwest to spring into the breach and throw his
lance fairly against the strong and mailed armor of the
great corporation so menacing to the people and so
defiant of their will. January 7, 1902, less than two
months after the incorporation of the Northern Securi
ties Company, Attorney General Douglas, by direction
of the governor, began proceedings, in the name of the
State of Minnesota, against the Northern Securities Com
pany. The whole country applauded the action most en
thusiastically. The audacity of the action was only
equalled by its righteousness, but it was popular. The
Legislature came to the governor's assistance and gave
him an appropriation to carry on the fight.
' 410

SAMUEL RINNAH VAN SANT.
The country was so stirred and public sentiment so
awakened that President Roosevelt's attention was at
tracted to the situation. Two months after Governor
Van Sant and the Minnesota authorities had moved, the
President ordered his Attorney General, the Hon. Phil
ander C. Knox, to proceed against the railroads and the
Securities Company, and on March 10, 1902, action was
begun by District Attorney" Purdy in the United States
Circuit Court for the district of Minnesota.
That the State's cases against the corporations fell
and came to nothing because they were improperly
brought, was not the fault of Governor Van Sant. He
gave his Attorney General the assistance of two able- and
eminent lawyers and under the special law paid them
munificent fees, but they erred in presenting their cases
In the first instance they asked leave of the United
States Supreme Court to file a bill in that court in a
case entitled "State of Minnesota vs. the Northern Se
curities Company," "but the Court refused leave because
the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific Railroad
companies had not been made parties defendant, it be
ing manifest from the pleadings that these companies
and their stockholders were deeply interested in the case.
The second case, which joined the railroads as parties,
was begun in the State Court, removed to the United
States District Court, decided against the State by Dis
trict Judge Lochren, appealed to the United States
Supreme Court, and by that Court dismissed for want of
jurisdiction. The Court held that the Federal Courts
411

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
did not have jurisdiction over the case, although this
right had been conceded by. the attorneys of both sides,
but that it was a case for the state courts. Before an
other suit could be commenced, the general Government's
case had caught up with and passed the State's slow moving
contention and been decided, after two years proceeding
in the case, by the Supreme Court, in favor of the
Government. The effect of the decision was that the
Northern Securities Company was dissolved and the
merger broken up. Thereafter there was no need of the
State's proceeding further, because the relief desired
had been afforded by the Federal ¦ Courts under the
Sherman act of Congress, where they had undoubted
jurisdiction. The Northern Securities Company was the most
ingenious scheme ever brought into existence to promote
transportation monopoly and stifle competition. To
Governor Van Sant belongs exclusively the honor and
credit of being the first to move against this powerful
organization, backed, as it was, by unlimited money, and
employing the ablest lawyers of the country. He de
termined, if possible, to prevent the actual consolidation
of these companies, and to enforce the law of ^he state.
When he publicly announced that he would bring suit,
be called a meeting of the governors of all the states
that were penetrated by these lines of railway and af
fected by this consolidation. This conference was held
at Helena, Montana. Minnesota, Montana, South Da
kota, Washington, and Idaho, were represented at this
412

SAMUEL RINNAH VAN SANT.
extraordinary conference. This body fully sustained
Governor Van Sant in his great effort and gave it their
unqualified approval. The meeting and resolutions
served to arouse public sentiment and invited the at
tention of " President Roosevelt. Thereafter followed
one of the most famous legal battles in the nation's his
tory. No party platform has been written by any party
since the "Merger" fight, that does not advocate the
principles involved in that contest. The grand result
was, as indicated, the defeat of the "Merger" company,
and the triumph of the state and general government
on the principles involved. But behind the courts which
tried these cases, there is still a mightier court, the
great court of Public Opinion, whose decrees, in the
end, are irresistible. "The country at large was delighted
over the Northern Securities decision. The consolidation
of competing railroads will now cease; and also, to a
large extent, their common ownership. The open de
fiance of the people's will will gradually disappear as
the result of " the great issue inaugurated by Governor
Van Sant.
Although Van Sant had been the head and front
of the anti-merger battle, the final results of which had
not yet been secured, he himself indulged no purpose of
Being a candidate for a third term. This fact opened
the door to other prominent parties who were ambitious
in that direction. Judge Loren W. Collins, of Steams
county, was among the first to definitely announce his
purpose. He was a lifelong Republican, and had been
413

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
for sixteen years one of the members of the Supreme
Court of the state. He possessed fine ability, a spotless
character, and had hosts of friends. Twice before Judge
Collins had been a candidate for the nomination for
governor, but had made no special effort to secure the
prize. At this time, however, he publicly announced
his pnrpose and made a strong appeal to his friends
for support. To free himself from all embarrassment,
he resigned his place upon the Supreme Bench.
Following this announcement, the Hon. Robert C.
Dunn, ex-auditor of the state, made formal proclamation
of his purpose to be a candidate for the governorship.
He made the announcement of this intention in his
own newspaper, at Princeton, January 12, 1904. "Bob
Dunn," as he was familiarly called, was a gentleman of
robust ability, personal integrity and popularity, and had
a following which was earnest and enthusiastic. Both
of these distinguished competitors publicly announced
their acceptance of the Republican state platform of
1902, and stood for the enforcement of the law against
the "Merger" of parallel and competing lines of rail
way. For this question of the "Merger" had become
the engrossing political question, made so by the vigor
ous efforts of Governor Van Sant.
Very unfortunately for both of these prominent and
popular men, they soon became engaged in a bitter and
personal controversy, such as the state had not yet wit
nessed between opposing candidates in the same party.
The quarrel extended to their respective: followers, and
414

SAMUEL RINNAH VAN SANT.
all jjlse was lost sight of in this exciting personal con
tention. The wrangle was carried to the county conventions,
and appeared soon in ominous heat in the state con
vention. It is useless to revive the unimportant charges
and counter-charges which were made. They should be
consigned to the political waste-basket of forgetfulness.
The bitter quarrel which ensued was carried to the Com
mittee on Credentials. But for the coolness, firmness,
and evident fairness of Senator Moses E. Clapp, who
fortunately was the strong presiding officer of this
turbulent body, two conventions would have been the
result, as in the case between Kindred and Nelson. No
pilot ever conducted his vessel amid shoals and rocks
with more dexterity and wisdom, than did Senator Clapp
guide this tumultuous body into waters of safety. The
final result of the convention was the nomination of
Mr. Dunn. But the animosities which had been aroused
were carried into the canvass, and Mr. Dunn was unjustly
and ungenerously made the victim of defeat. It is to
be profoundly regretted that these two strong and able
men, by this unhappy contention, are probably not again
desirable as candidates, and the state will thereby lose
valuable service.
Governor Van Sant is built on steamboat lines.
His vigorous physical energy, combined with his strength
of mind, makes him a commanding personality. His
courage to follow his own convictions is as marked in
peace as was his intrepidity in war. His grit, in de-
415

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
fiance of the strong railroad combination in the merger
case, exhibited the elements of his character.
There are no snags or reefs in Captain Van Sant's
course that can stay his purpose. His boat is always
headed up stream, and he makes good time against the
current. He has perhaps raised a score or more of
sunken steamboats, many of' them after they were de
clared hopeless. He has a "block-and-tackle" method of
his own, and difficulties disappear and thus he outwits
misfortune. There is sometimes a stormy force about
him, referable to his strong physical nature. But a more
generous and kindly man never sat in the governor's
chair. He loves to grasp the hand of hardened toil,
but whether a man is clad in overalls or fine apparel, he
is sure to meet with a warm and welcome reception.'
He is quite an attractive speaker, and is always ready,
on all suitable occasions, to give free utterance to his
manly sentiments. He is more fluent than eloquent;
more solid than brilliant; more inclined to argument
and facts than to rounded and polished periods. He is
a Methodist, as all his family are and were, and his
father was named for John Wesley. He never lost any
thing in politics by being a member of that church. He
is a Republican by inheritance and conviction. He is a
man of great benevolence and gives abundantly of his
means. He is a temperate man and requires no pledges
nor society to refrain him from indulgence. Had he
lived, in the days of Cromwell, he would undoubtedly
have been a Covenanter.

416

SAMUEL RINNAH VAN SANT.
He is in the meridian of life, about sixty-four years
of age. He is about five feet seven inches in height,
heavily and solidly proportioned; weighs 190 pounds;
has dark hair, a good forehead; eyebrows ponderous;
cheekbones somewhat prominent; complexion dark. His
mouth and jaw pronounce him a man of firmness and
courage, and he has push and persistency, as his history
shows. He has health and strength, and will probably
be heard from again in the field of politics. During the
closing days of his administration the New Capitol was
sufficiently finished to permit the Legislature of 1905
to meet in it, and just before retiring from the guber
natorial chair Van Sant removed the executive office to
the new building, and was thus the first to occupy the
beautiful suite of rooms designed for the governor of
Minnesota. Governor Van Sant now resides in the city of Min
neapolis, at the "Hampshire Arms," and is engaged in
the land and loan business.
Captain Van Sant was married in Le Claire, Iowa,
December 7, 1868, to Miss Ruth Hall. He was married
by his brother, Rev. E. A. Van Sant. His wife was of
Scotch-Irish descent. Her people on the father's side
came from the north of Ireland. Her mother's name
was Ross, and she was descended from Major John
Ross, who was an officer in the war of the Revolution
and also in the War of 1812, Mrs. Van Sanfs grand
father was Henry Ross, who was a soldier in the War
of 1812. Mrs. Van Sant is a woman of strong charac-

27

417

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
ter, a devoted mother and loyal wife. In Captain Van
Sant's darkest days she was a tower of strength, animat
ing and encouraging him to renewed exertions when
fate seemed so adverse. With the return of prosperity
and the elevation of her husband, she was equal to the
duties of her station. To this happy union, there were
born three children. A boy named Paul died at the
age of eight months, and a daughter named Gertrude
died at the age of two years. The surviving child is
named Grant Van Sant, after the great general. He
was graduated from the Law Department of the State
University, and is now practicing his profession in the
city of St. Paul.

The inaugural message of Governor Van Sant to
the legislature, January 9, 1901, was published as a
pamphlet of twenty pages (St. Paul, 1901). He spoke
in high commendation of the State University and Nor
mal Schools, as follows:
Minnesota takes front rank among her sister states along
educational lines. Her great University, the pride of all, is
second to no similar institution in efficiency and is only sur
passed in numbers by one or two others, enrollment of stu
dents this year being 3,400. With its efficient president and
excellent corps of teachers, it is doing a grand work for the
young men and women of Minnesota. Its Department or
School of Agriculture has been of incalculable benefit to the
farmers of the state. Its needs will be carefully looked after
by your honorable body.
The Normal Schools, too, are leaders among schools of like
character. The teachers furnished by them have added greatly
to the efficiency of our school system, for they are to be
found in every part of the state and always doing splendid
work. The new building at Duluth is about completed, and
it is proposed to open this fifth normal school in September of
418

SAMUEL RINNAH VAN SANT.
this year. These great institutions are now fully recognized
as a necessary part of our system, and for their support in
the future I would urge that a certain mill tax be levied
upon the plan adopted for the University. This has been done
in several states.
The closing paragraph reads thus:
Gentlemen of the Legislature, we assemble at the dawn
of the twentieth century. The world has never witnessed
greater advancement in any era than has taken place during
the past one hundred years. The marvelous discoveries in
science, the spread of knowledge, the improvements in govern
ments, the increase in wealth and commerce, challenge the re
cord of the centuries. The people of the earth have been
benefited in. many ways during this time, but in my opinion
the greatest blessing they have received is the proof that a
government "of the people, for the people, and by the people,"
is not a mere figment of the philosopher, but an absolute truth.
Chiefest factor in this proof is the existence of the United
States. There are few brighter pages in history than those
which tell of the origin and growth of our Republic, none
more fraught with promise for the future. Sharing in this
inspiring history, growth and promise is our own common
wealth, and I wish -to congratulate you upon the splendid
growth of our young state and the prosperity of all her peo
ple, and will express the wish that this legislative session, the
first of the new century, may be pointed to with pride and
be a model for all future bodies of a like nature that may as
semble during the next one hundred years. Let our motto be,
regardless of our political belief or bias, that "he best serves
his party, who best serves the state," and may God in his
wisdom guide you and me in the discharge of our public du
ties. In the special session of the legislature called by
Governor Van Sant to take action upon the report of the
Tax Commission, which had been appointed according to
a legislative act of 1901, he delivered a message on Feb
ruary 5, 1902, which was published as a pamphlet of
twelve pages (St. Paul, 1902).
Van Sant's biennial message of January 7, 1903,
was published in thirty-one pages as a pamphlet and
also as the first paper of the Executive Documents of
419

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Minnesota for 1902 (St. Paul, 1903). Referring to the
labor laws of this state, he said:
It would be difficult to find a community where labor
troubles are fewer than in Minnesota. While other nations,
and many sections of our own country, have been disturbed
by serious strikes and lock-outs, culminating in violence and
bloodshed and resulting in the loss of many millions of dol
lars both to labor and capital, our state has been singularly
free from them. The inhuman employment of children, the
unlawful importation of cheap and pauper labor, has not
disgraced the records of any industry in our fair state. Our
fortunate condition in this respect is due to our wise statutory
provision enacted in behalf of labor, and to the enforcement
of these statutes.
Our state received one of the five medals which were
awarded at the Paris Exposition as first prize for the best
labor laws, so that our enactments on this subject have at
tracted international attention.
The biennial message of Van Sant at the end of his
administration, January 4, 1905, was published as a
pamphlet of thirty-six pages (Minneapolis, 1905). On
the subject of needed reforms in taxation, he said :
* * * I am satisfied that it will not be possible to
enact: and pass an entire tax code during a single session of the
legislature. Too much opposition is aroused, for a combination
of every interest opposed unites against ,the measure. The
failure of the recent extra session confirms this view. However,
an examination of the report of the special Tax ' Commission
will disclose the fact that in order to frame adequate legisla
tion and fully meet the requirements for satisfactory tax
laws, amendments to our state constitution must he made.
With this in view the legislature has heretofore caused certain
proposed amendments to be submitted to the people, but
indifference has prevailed to such an extent that the requi
site number of votes was lacking. That the people should
again be afforded an opportunity to pass upon proposed amend
ments that will give the legislature broader scope in the mat
ter of tax legislation is imperative.
The work of the State Board of Control, which be
gan in 1902, is heartily commended, as follows:
.*. * * The Board of Control has fully justified all that
has been claimed for it. Opposition has practically ceased,
420

SAMUEL RINNAH VAN SANT.
and in the near future there will be no adverse criticism. All
the institutions directly under its charge are in a high state
of efficiency, and the great saving to the state has been se
cured without in any way neglecting the wards of the state.
In fact, they were never better and more humanely cared
for. It is matter of the greatest satisfaction to me, as it
must be to our citizens generally, that the Board of Con
trol has accomplished N so much in so short a time. It is due
wholly to the business-like methods employed, and to the
faithful and painstaking work of the members of the board.'
Another factor that has been most essential to success, is
the entire divorcement of ¦ politics from the management of
the various institutions. No man is selected or retained in
position on account of his party affiliations or his political
influence. * * *
Advising the erection of a statue of Governor Ram
sey in the Capitol at Washington, Governor Van Sant
spoke eloquently as follows :
This state owes much to the labors, wisdom and patriot
ism of our pioneers and founders, among whom Alexander
Ramsey, our first Territorial Governor, may be justly named
as the most eminent for his distinguished public services to
the state and to the nation. Before he was appointed by
President Taylor to the governorship of the Territory of
Minnesota in 1849, he had already represented his Pennsyl
vania district for two years in Congress. With much ex
perience in public affairs, he came to Minnesota at the age
of thirty-three, and through the remainder of his long life
for more than half a century, he was the most prominent citi
zen of this territory and 'state. As Governor . of the state
at the beginning to the Civil War, he was the first to proffer
troops to President Lincoln; from 1863 to 1875 he was
United States Senator from Minnesota; and from 1879 to
1881 he was Secretary of War. His other services to this
state in making treaties with the Indians, securing lands for
settlement, in laying the foundation of our magnificent
school fund, together with his noble personal and private
character, were influential not less than his work in national
councils, to make him the greatest and most beloved citizen
of Mmnesota. Each state of the Union is privileged to place two sta
tues of the citizens whom the state most delights to honor in
the National Capitol. Let one of them be the statue of
Alexander Ramsey. Now that he has passed from our midst,
it will be a most befitting tribute that the legislature, repre
senting all our people, honor his memory with this evidence
of love and esteem. 421

JOHN A. JOHNSON.

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON
Sixteenth Governor of the State of Min
nesota, was born near St. Peter, Minne
sota, July 28, 1861. He was of humble
parentage and suffered all the inconven
iences of early poverty. He became a
newspaper editor. In 1898-1902 he was
a state senator, and on January 4, 1905,
he became governor of Minnesota,
which position he still fills.

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON
SIXTEENTH GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
January 4, 1905

WELLNIGH fifty years of statehood have
brought us to that period when Minnesota's na
tive sons begin to appear in the arena of her political
life. Hitherto our governors had been born in other
states and reared under other influences. But the time
had come when one of her own sons, "native here and
to the manner born," was to be called to the head of
the state. Born in a frontier cabin, his eyes early familiar
with trappers, hunters and Indians, John A. Johnson
grew with the young state, a part and parcel of the
commonwealth itself. He is distinctly, in his individu
ality of character and in all his environment, a full-
blooded Minnesotan.
The extraordinary scenes of his early youth must
have, made a vivid impression on his plastic mind.
He saw the tomahawk and rifle gleam in a terrible har
vest, as neighbors and friends fell victims to the red
wave of destruction. He witnessed the devouring swarms
of grasshoppers that for three years devastated the val-
425

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
ley of the Minnesota. He beheld companies of Union
soldiers, with glittering bayonets, marching southward
to the fields of internecine strife. Slowly he saw the
country rise to prosperity from the terrible effects of
barbaric and civil wars, and it grew as he grew, the two
advancing together. Amid such dramatic surroundings
he was nursed from childhood to manhood. By all
these things and a thousand tender ties is he knit in
heart and soul to his native state. He is the only one
of our governors who can truly and appreciatingly
utter the noble acclaim of Walter Scott, "This is my
own, my native land !"
John Albert Johnson was born in a cabin not far
from the then hamlet of St. Peter, Nicollet county, Min
nesota, July 28, 1861. From this humble home the
family was driven into the town for safety during the
Sioux Indian raid, in 1862, where they made a tem
porary residence in a small, frame house. Both the
cabin and the house have disappeared before the march
of improvement. His family were poor and his child
hood was passed amid the inconveniences of poverty,
with humble surroundings. His early life can be epito
mized in a single line of Gray's immortal Elegy, "The
short and simple annals of the poor." For a brief period
he attended the common schools of the town.
It is pretty difficult for the boy of today to proper
ly appreciate what young Johnson's school deprivations
were. Leaving school before he was thirteen years of
age, there were no seventh and eighth grades for him,
426

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON.
and the present High School system was not in opera
tion. His school days ended when other boys had but
fairly begun. He was compelled to earn his bread and
-contribute to the support of the family, by reason of the
moral lapse of his father.
But for a certain innate tendency to industry in
the boy, out of school he might have drifted into idle
ness, and then into crime. But his impulses were right,
and his mother's influence was behind him. His first
employment was in a grocery store. But in two years he
secured a better and more permanent position in a drug
store, with Henry Jones, the proprietor, who is still
living and often recalls, with pride, the faithful services
of the intelligent and active boy. He remained with
Henry Jones for nearly ten years, and thoroughly learn
ed the business, and is a good pharmacist today.
It was while washing bottles in the sink and com
pounding drugs that he develdped a taste for reading.
With an omnivorous appetite, he read everything within
reach. But a kind. friend undertook to give direction to
his tastes, and well-selected works were lent him, which
he devoured with avidity. The small local library now
supplied his growing appetite for reading and gave a
wider scope to his improving literary taste. During
these years he developed an intellectual relish for de
bate, and participated in local discussions, and was re
garded as a local orator.
Meantime, he never forgot his widowed mother, and'
gave liberally of his means to aid her and support the
427

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
family. The "washing" business had long since dis
appeared. He had really become the head of the family,
the provider and father of the little flock. About this
time, for at least a year, he became bookkeeper and pay
master for a railway construction company. While ac
tive and industrious, he had developed no special inclina
tion for any particular business, but his mental activity
and growing intelligence were remarked by all.
He had been born and raised a Lutheran, but
drifted to the Presbyterian church where he became a
pretty regular attendant. He sang in the church choir,
being possessed of a good tenor voice. He was later
made a trustee of the church, and was devoted to its
interests. It is one of the misfortunes of public life that the
lives and services of those men who are nominated as
candidates for high office are subjected not only to the
severest criticism, but to unjust and captious cavilings
by antagonistic politicians. Their personal record is
not only subjected to the lime-light, but even the private
lives of their families are cruelly invaded and exposed
to the shameless shafts of party malignity. It was re
corded that Johnson's father had, in his day, fallen a
victim to dissipation. Some thoughtless political mana
gers, misconstruing the sentiment of eternal justice and
generosity which prevades the great heart of the general
public, thought to make political capital out of this un
fortunate -circumstance. This insane piece of strategy
proved a veritable boomerang to those who attempted to
428

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON.
use it, for, tragic though it was, it developed qualities
in young Johnson's personal character which placed upon
him, so far as he was concerned, a crown of honor, com
pelling the respect and admiration of all who, like the
writer, knew the facts. The character of Johnson's
noble mother, and his own character, shone the brighter
by reason of the sad fact that one so near and dear, and
personally so kind and good, suffered from an incur
able alcoholic dementia. Over the fateful error of this
kind man's only sin, let the curtain of oblivion tenderly
fall. But if the sire in weakness fell with an infirmity
all his own, what tender compensation came to the boy
in the care and devotion of his mother! A maiden's
love, though fragrant with kisses, may be as fickle as
the sea; but a true mother's love never dies.
Mrs. Caroline Johnson, through all her life of sor
row, proved herself a strong and energetic woman, with
her vigorous mind and soul keenly alive to the necessi
ties of her little family. She was more than simply a
good woman; she was a brave and thoughtful woman,
who realized that misfortune had made her the head of
the family, and she met the situation with character
istic fortitude. She was physically a strong person, and
bequeathed to her son a good constitution. She was
left without resources, and for the support of her little
family she resorted to that kind of work which has been
the dependence of so many women in -misfortune, she
took in washing. Many people of St. Peter yet remem-
429

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
ber young John's appearnce on the street, when, with his
little wagon, he brought and carried his mother's
washing to her patrons.
America's uncrowned queen today is the true mother.
The sturdy blood of the Norsemen flowed in Mrs. John
son's veins, and misfortunes brought her noble virtues
into activity. The world is full of examples of what so
many men of force and ability owe to the mother that
bore them. It was true of Napoleon, of Washington, of
Horace Greeley, and a score of great names that suggest
themselves to the mind. The great Emperor said, "The
want of France is more true mothers." Men of marked
intellectual power and great strength of character in
herit these salient features from the mother, and not
from the father. The great hereditary law in the trans
mission of lofty traits works through the mother from
undoubted physiological reasons, if from no other cause.
"The woman is the mother, the mother is life, and life
is love." Mrs. Caroline Johnson gave her son all she had, —
physical and mental vigor. And here it is worthy of
note that the two most distinguished men who have
come to us from the land of the Sagas, Senator Knute
Nelson, and John Albert Johnson, were each the son
of a widowed mother; and in each case the mothers were
strong and energetic in mind and body, and stamped
indelibly upon their offspring those solid traits which
were the inspiring cause of" their success. These two
noble mothers, who in their widowhood so bravely fought
430

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON.
the battles of life for sons who have honored the state,
recall the splendid poem by Joaquin Miller, "The Bravest
Battle," given in manuscript by the poet to a visitor
at his home. It is so singularly appropriate that I
cannot hesitate to quote it in honor of these dauntless
Norse mothers: THE BRAVEST BATTLE.
The bravest battle that ever was fought,
Shall I tell you where and when?
On the maps of the world you'll find it not,
'Twas fought by the mothers of men.
Nay, not with cannon or battle shot,
With sword or nobler pen,
Nay, not with eloquent word or thought
From mouths of wonderful men.
But deep in a walled up woman's heart,
Of woman who would not yield,
But bravely, silently bore her part,
Lo, there is that battle field.
No marshalling troops, no bivouac song,
No banners to gleam and wave,
And oh! those battles they last so long,
From babyhood to the grave.
Yet faithful still as a bridge of stars,
She fights in her walled up town,
Fights on and on thro' the endless wars,
Then silent, unseen goes down.
Oh! ye with banners and battle shot,
With shout of soldiers' praise,
I tell you the kingliest victories fought
Are fought in the silent ways.
Oh! spotless woman in world of shame,
With splendid, silent scorn,
Go back to God as white as you came,
The kingliest warrior born. 431

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
The noble mother of Governor Johnson died in
1906, but not till she had the proud satisfaction of see
ing her son achieve distinguished honors. Both of his
parents came from distant and grand old Sweden, the
home of the Norsemen and the heroes of the sagas. The
father, Gustav Johnson, was born of a good family, .and
resided in Sweden until he was thirty-three years old.
He inherited money which he squandered in riotous
living. He had learned the trade of a blacksmith.
Friends of the family brought him to America on con
dition that he would reform. Temporary reformation
followed, during which he met for the first time a
noble and sturdy Swedish girl, named Caroline Haden.
She had early lost her parents by disease, and she, too,
came to America with friends. She had two brothers,
but they had floated away before in the great stream
of emigration, and she never met them again. Thus
these two lone people met in a foreign land, with no
tie behind them save that ' of a common country and a
common language. He never told of his family nor his
ancestry; and she had lost her parents and all known
relatives. Sympathy and solitude brought them to
gether in St. Peter, and they were married. Their
hearts and their misfortunes were blended. Then came
several years of reasonable contentment, and in these
comparatively happy days four children were born.
But in the midst of these pleasant years an unexpected
stroke came. Old appetites resumed their sway over
the husband, and he gradually fell, never again to re-
432

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON.
gain his manhood; and, at last, wandering away, he
died, and in obscurity was buried.
The fruit of this marriage was three sons and a
daughter. The sons are Edward, now engineer at the
Hospital of the Asylum for the Insane at St. Peter;
John Albert, the governor of Minnesota; and Frederick
W., proprietor of the well known "Dakota House" in
New Ulm; and the daughter, Hattie, has long been a
popular and efficient teacher in the public schools of
St. Peter. Giving good service in the drug store, and working
courageously with his mother to support the family, John
attained the age of twenty-five years. The local Demo
cratic paper at this time lost its editor and proprietor
by sickness. The mechanical department of the paper
had been in the hands of H. J. Essler, a practical
printer, a man of fine business qualities and integrity of
character. He needed an editorial partner to purchase,
with him, the paper. The leading local Democrats cast
about for a proper man to sit upon the tripod and wield
the pen editorial. It was held that young Johnson was
equal to anything he had yet undertaken, and four of
the leading Democrats of the town advanced the money,
and he became, in 1886, joint proprietor with Essler of
the St. Peter Herald. It was a turning point in John
A. Johnson's career. Without newspaper experience,
even without experience as a writer in any way, yet with
recognized talent, great industry and intelligence, he

28

433

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
very soon became an editor of force and vigor. In
brief, he was a newspaper success.
It requires a good deal of tact and talent to be a
successful country newspaper editor. In the great dail
ies of the cities, there is an editor to. each department
and he is responsible only for one subject matter; but
the country newspaper editor must cover all topics, — in
fact, be encyclopaedic. Johnson industriously gathered
all the local news and wrote intelligently on general top
ics. He steadily won his way with his editorial brethren
of the state. He was always firm and independent, but
pacific, avoiding all hostile demonstrations. This peace
able disposition was characteristic of the man. Had he
selected the pulpit for a profession, he certainly would
have embraced the doctrine of unlimited salvation, for
he is too pleasant and- polite to send any unfortunate
victim to that place not found on the map geographical.
In 1891 he was elected secretary of the State Edi
torial Association. In 1893 he was elected president of
that body, when only thirty-two years of age. He was
noted among the members as the most graceful and easy
off-hand speaker in the Association, and that gave him
great influence among the members. His good relations
with -his brother editors was fortunate for him when he
became a candidate for governor, for every country paper
in the state had for him only kindly words and cordial
good wishes.
He had decided military tastes, and for eight years
was a member of the Minnesota National Guard, and
434

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON.
was elected captain of the Second regiment. The regi
mentals became his tall, erect form. During this pe
riod, he became secretary of the Nicollet County Fair
Association, and managed it with such vigor and at
tention to details that it became a great success.
He was a member of that lively order, the Elks,
and also of the Woodmen's Association. He was the ac
tive spirit in securing local lectures, and, indeed, in
tellectual entertainments always had his cordial support.
He was a good dancer" and seldom missed a cotillion, and
was exceedingly popular with the ladies. In fact, he was
the all-round man of the town, ready for every public
enterprise and every innocent diversion. But he never
demeaned himself in his personal conduct, but was al
ways a gentleman under all circumstances. Always in
dustrious, alert, gallant and chivalric in his deportment,
he had won a high position in the community and in
the best social circles. He had the bearing of a man
who was a blue-blood by lineage, and yet he was but
the' blacksmith's son. He had more of the patrician
than the plebeian. Nature's mark of distinction was
upon him. Yet he was obliging, courteous and urbane
to all. He did not expect notoriety, but it came to him
by gradual development. He was always modest enough
to underestimate his abilities. We believe that he was
always surprised at his success. In truth, more men
are surprised at their own success than at their failures.
John was not pessimistic. Very few successful men plan

435

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
and shape their careers from the beginning, and surely
he did not.
That a man so attractive and popular, in a country
where every one is a politician, should turn his atten
tion to the science of government, was to be expected.
He was a devoted follower of President Cleveland on the
revision of the tariff. But his county was overwhelm
ingly Republican. He himself was early inclined that
way, but the tariff question controlled his action. How
ever, in 1888, the Democrats of Nicollet county ven
tured to nominate him for representative in the legis
lature. As was expected, he was defeated by Charles
R. Davis, a Republican, by a margin of 126 votes in a
strong Republican county. But this canvass marked his
entrance into the arena of politics, and convinced his
friends that he was "available" material for future use.
In 1898, he was nominated for the state senate by
the Democratic convention. In the canvass which fol
lowed he showed his tact and shrewdness as a practical
politician. While his Republican opponent discussed the
tariff and other great national questions, with which the
senate had nothing to do, Johnson interested himself and
the voters with a number of questions of state policy,
which were living issues, — the grading of wheat, the
manufacture of binding twine, the condition of the
state penitentiary, state taxation, and such home matters.
The result was his election to the state senate by. a ma
jority of 125. His opponent was Professor C. J. Carl-

436

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON.
son, of Gustavus Adolphus College, a man of fine stand
ing and culture.
Senator Johnson became very popular with his
brother senators, and at once took a high position in
that body. He made one speech which commanded
state-wide attention. The powers of the Board of Con
trol were under consideration. He' maintained that the
management of the finances of the State University
should be placed under the control of that body. So vig
orously did he argue that he carried his point against
all opposition in both branches. The prodigality of the
Board of Regents has more than once endangered appro
priations for the University, and the need of a re
straining hand is still felt.
As a senator, in general, he was a genial, good-
natured, magnetic man, and as a conversationalist he
was very entertaining. The overwhelming Republican
majority in the legislature prevented his accomplishing
much. His four years in the State Senate, however, ap
peared to be satisfactory to his constituents, and 'he was
again, in 1903, nominated for re-election. He was de
feated by a Swedish Republican, Hon. C. A. Johnson.
This defeat proved of the greatest importance to his
future career. There was a provision, of law that no
legislator could be a candidate for any office which was
in any wise affected by any law passed while he was a
member of the legislature. His defeat, which was by a
very narrow margin, was therefore to him a great good
fortune. It was subsequently called "Johnson's luck."
437

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Had he been elected, he would have been ineligible to
the office of governor. As it was he appeared, by this
defeat, to be retired to the sanctum of the St. Peter
Herald, with apparently little hope of further political
honors. But fortune's political wheel has many a capri
cious turn, and she touched the "washerwoman's son"
with her magic wand. Henceforth he becomes the most
picturesque figure of all our governors.
St. Peter has been singularly fortunate in respect
to its crop of governors. There is no city in the state,
and probably none other in the United States, which
has given more men to the governor's chair than St.
Peter. Many reasons have conspired to produce this
harvest of state officials. In its infant days (1853)
Willis A. Gorman was sent by President Pierce to suc
ceed Alexander Ramsey as governor of the territory.
Governor Gorman was one of an organized company
which purposed to make St. Peter the capital of the
coming state. By this company the town was platted
on a scale commensurate with its prospective greatness.
It was given wide streets, sites for the capitol and other
state buildings, and, in general, it was to be a model
city. But fate forestalled these ambitious purposes. How
the bill which was to make St. Peter the capital was
sequestered by the perfidy of one Joseph Rolette, and
never again seen, is one of the curious romances of Min
nesota's early history. The bubble burst; the Temple
of , Jupiter was not to be in Gorman's Rome.

438

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON.
But as some compensation for the loss of the seat
of government and its entourage, it has been favored with
a distinguished line of governors and other state officials,
which has given the place a peculiar distinction in the
Commonwealth. Thence came Swift, Austin, McGill,
and now Johnson, to say nothing of Gorman, who, for a
very brief period, lived in the town. Whether St. Peter
has more such seeds within her breast, remains to be
seen. • A conservative and old fashioned town, she has
accepted with dignity and composure the fortune and
fame which have come to her, by reason of her guber
natorial fruitfulness. If we aspired to be classical, we
might compare this town to the mother of the Gracchi,
and she may be as justly proud of her sons.
Many solutions of what has been called St. Peter's
"luck'' have been suggested. One of these was the fact
that the Central Lunatic Asylum, under the old regime,
drew thither a Board of Trustees composed of the best
men of the state, and thus centered political interest and
cabal intrigues at this point. Near by, on the very edge
of the city, is the spot where the great Treaty of Tra
verse des Sioux was made in 1851, which gave to Min
nesota its millions of acres and its territorial wealth.
There, too, were the early trading posts with the Sioux,
and the homes of early and able missionaries. During
the Sioux war it was the center of military formations
and outfitting expeditions. It was thus, from various
causes, a historic spot, and was attractive to men of taste
and political ambition. Just below the city, on the old
439

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
"school section," Charles E. Flandrau built the first
elegant mansion in the valley of the Minnesota; and
where that valiant cavalier and eminent jurist planted
his flag, many good men followed. There were such
noble spirits as J. K. Moore, editor of the Tribune;
John and Harry Lamberton; F. A. Donahower; J. B.
and A. L. Sackett; Henry A. Swift; Captain W. B.
Dodd; E. E. Paulding; Major B. H. Randall; C. S.
Bryant; Dr. A. W. Daniels; Col. Benjamin F. Pratt;
and Eggleston Cutting, the "Hoosier Schoolmaster."
These are some of the splendid men by whom young
Johnson was surrounded in his plastic days. We men
tion these facts to show that John A. Johnson, in spite
of early poverty, was reared under inspiring skies with
elevating associates and surroundings.
August 30, 1904, the Democratic state convention
was held at Minneapolis, and ex-senator John Albert
Johnson was nominated by acclamation as candidate for
governor. Captain W. H. Harries was chairman, and
Hon. W. S. Hammond nominated Johnson. He read an
acceptance speech which was well received. This was ab
solutely a case of the office seeking the man. The Demo
cratic party of Minnesota had been in diligent search
for an available candidate for the executive office. Many
personal friends and admirers, remembering Senator
Johnson's genial style and decided ability, visited St.
Peter and urged him to accept the nomination. But he
was not. very enthusiastic and looked upon the fight as
a forlorn hope. He did not seem at all inclined to
440

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON.
offer himself as a sacrifice upon the altar of his party.
But strong, friendly influences finally won his consent,
and he was nominated by acclamation with loud huzzas.
Though the state was overwhelmingly Republican,
here again came in "Johnson's luck." Extraordinary
conditions existed in the Republican party. The most
bitter political .and personal controversy which the state
has ever seen sprang up. The celebrated Collins-Dunn
fight was a battle royal. It divided the Republican
strength on the gubernatorial head of the ticket, and it
was lost, while the remainder of the Republican ticket
was elected by the usual majorities.
The result of the election was a surprise, and to
no one a greater surprise than to Johnson himself.
Untoward conditions marked the Republican campaign.
It was highly defective in management; the pre-conven-
tion fight left a bitter sting; and it was charged that
railroad and lumber interests dominated the nominee.
In the Twin Cities superhuman exertions were made,
not to elect Johnson, but to defeat Dunn. Johnson's
plurality over Dunn was 7,862. These votes were clearly
accounted for in the Twin Cities. In the state he was
a minority governor. Thus it was demonstrated that
outside of the cities Dunn had carried the state. "John
son's luck" had made him the Democratic candidate at
the propitious moment.
The whole vote for governor in 1904 was as fol
lows: For Robert C. Dunn, Republican, 140,130; John
A. Johnson, Democrat, 147,992; Charles W. Dorset!,
441

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
Prohibition, 7,577; J. E. Nash, Public Ownership, 5,810;
and A. W. M. Anderson, Socialist-Labor, 2,293. The
total vote outside of that received by Johnson was 155,-
810, leaving Johnson in the whole state in a minority of
7,818. The Johnson era was now being ushered in, and
the good stars which shone at his birth did not forsake
him. When he entered the new marble capitol, as the
first governor to officiate there, he was absolutely an un
known quantity to the people at large. He entered upon
the duties of the high office to which he had been so
unexpectedly called with many misgivings as to his abil
ity to meet its requirements. The ego was not largely
developed in the new governor. Self-conceit was no part
of his mental structure. It sometimes required a good
deal of persuasion on the part of his friends to con
vince him that he had ability to do things. This modesty
and reserve was not assumed, it was innate. Upon no
public man of whom the writer has any knowledge, has
the law of mental and political evolution worked more
progressively. With him improvement and development
have been in orderly succession, as a flower from a bud.
Of all sciences, that of politics maintains the highest
public interest. He who materially aids in forming or
helping the state, will always take high rank. Politics
is the door to statesmanship. By this door Webster en
tered; by it Clay advanced to the Council Chamber of
state. All politicians by no means become statesmen;
but all statesmen have been politicians in their day.
442

JOHN ALBERT J O.H N S 0 N.
Governor Johnson has all the aptitudes necessary
to a successful politician of a high order, and possibly
talent enough to advance to the highest grade. Certainly
he has been equal to every position to which he has been
advanced. Not in one thing has he yet failed to sat
isfy his friends and the public. As governor, he was
put at once upon his own merits and capacity. The
problems of his life were growing larger. His executive
duties were performed with marked skill and ability.
In his first message he took hold of. the practical
questions of the hour, and his recommendations were
well received by both parties. The general topics dis
cussed in an annual message are usually too ephemeral in
their character to be included in a history of this kind.
But there were some things in the message which did
not harmonize squarely with Democratic beliefs.
It should be noticed here that while Governor John
son was elected as a Democrat, he is not {he only Demo
crat who ever carried the state. Henry Hastings Sibley,
the man who was the first governor of the state, was of
that party. He was elected in 1858 by a very narrow
majority. In 1898, Hon. John Lind was elected gov
ernor as a Democrat and sat, as such, in the executive
chair two years. The rest of the state ticket, however,
was Republican then under Lind, as now under Johnson.
In the important matter of appointments, a duty
always delicate and exposed to censorious criticism, his
methods were fair and his judgment well approved. He
was not unmindful of his large Republican support, and
443

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
a number of able men of that party were retained in
office, as in the case of the superintendent of public in
struction and the dairy department. Heads of depart
ments were told to manage their offices without reference
to politics. Surely no executive has been more fair and
wary in selecting his official family. The large Repub
lican majority in both branches of the legislature was
responsible for the measures passed; but an examination
of his recommendations, and of the measures considered
and which became laws, shows a remarkable harmony of
sentiment between the executive and legislative branches
of the government. Caution and common sense were
his guides, and general success crowned his executive
career. His appointive methods were clearly shown later,
when the law establishing a permanent Tax Commission
was passed. When he transmitted to the senate the
names of Lord, Hall, and McVey, a non-political body,
the senate without delay confirmed these appointments
by a rising vote.
Johnson's good administration and personal deport
ment won for him a unanimous re-nomination at the
Democratic state convention, in Minneapolis, September
4, 1906. He had made good all his promises, and from
every portion of the state the sentiment seemed to be
"One good term deserves another." He stood free from
what is termed "boss rule," and from timber, mining,
and railroad domination. He had taken the department
of education out of politics. His Board of -Equaliza
tion, on his insistence, had with justice largely increased
444

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON.
the assessed valuation of the iron mines. He had de
clared for a two cent passenger rate, and for the general
abolition of the free pass system, and for lower rates on
grain and merchandise. His progressive stand for insur
ance, reform has even commanded national recognition."
These, and other kindred reasons, seemed to foreshadow
his re-election. Even Republican papers of high repute
endorsed the vigor of his administration and the high
character of his performance. He had visited nearly
every portion of the state, and delivered addresses at
county fairs, before schools and colleges, and at Normal
School commencements, and the people had become fam
iliar with his presence and magnetic manner, and were
proud of their governor.
With these great advantages he entered upon his
celebrated canvass for re-election. With great elasticity
of constitution, he could endure the severest labor. He
visited nearly every one of the eighty-two counties of the
state. He called out immense audiences and addressed
more Minnesotans than any other governor had ever
done. He made almost an incredible number of speeches
for a single campaign.
There was something ¦ of romance about his career
which attracted public attention. The first governor to
be born on Minnesota soil; the sudden rise of the washer
woman's son to be the most conspicuous man in the
state; his early poverty and his fight against adversity;
coming like Lincoln from the cabin to the capitol, —
all these things everywhere struck a responsive chord.
445

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
People like their heroes out of the ordinary. A good
speaker, with attractive and engaging ways, with an as
sured racial following, and with the prestige of a pre
vious victory, he entered the contest with a vast advan
tage over his competitor.
His Republican competitor was Hon. A. L. Cole, of
Cass county. It was the misfortune of Mr. Cole that
he was not widely known, and he was illy understood.
He .entered the canvass in very poor health. He. had not
been in public life enough to make a pronounced record.
His purposes and ability were quite unknown to the
public. It was charged against him, with very damag
ing effect, that he had been nominated through the ma
chinations of the so-called "interests," that is the timber
and railroad power. His physical condition prevented
his making a vigorous and stirring campaign, refuting
these unjust assertions. He was a gentleman of good
ability, of clean personal character, and a good repre
sentative of the northern portion of the state, which
heretofore had not had a candidate for governor. He
failed, however, to arouse Republican enthusiasm, and
thousands of Republicans absented themselves from the
polls. In the Second Congressional district, Hon. James
T. McCleary assumed a spectacular attitude against "tar
iff reform," which did much to defeat the Republican
state ticket. He refused his constituents the boon for
which they pled. The result was not only his own de
feat, but carried with it a decided weakening effect upon
the state ticket. Handicapped with all these things, Cole
446

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON.
went to defeat. The result was the greatest personal tri
umph in the history of the state. The votes were cast
for Johnson, not for his party. There is one word which
symbolizes Johnson's success, — "personality." Conjectures
that some candidate other than Cole would have been
successful, are idle. Johnson's personality and popul
arity would have brought him victory under conditions
then existing, no matter who his opponent might have
been. Mr. Cole took Tiis defeat with becoming grace and
dignity, and was banquetted by his friends on his return
to his home where he was loved and appreciated.
Johnson's total vote was 168,480, against 96,162
for Cole. Johnson's plurality was 72,318. An analysis
of this extraordinary vote would lead to some curious
discoveries, but to pursue these would be idle. The fact
remains that John Albert Johnson received the most
flattering vote ever given a candidate for governor in
Minnesota. Charles W. Dorsett, the candidate of the
Prohibition party, received 7,223 votes; and 0. E.
Lofthus, of the Public Ownership party, 4,646 votes.
It is pertinent to make some inquiry into the things
for which Governor Johnson stands in our state policies,
and which have contributed their share, outside of his
personality, in making him the popular idol he unques
tionably is. In his public addresses and in the admin
istration of the office of governor, one controlling senti
ment which he has always enforced is that there must
be a strict obedience to the law. True, this is an axio
matic principle which ought to be the guide of every
447

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
chief executive. But it must be admitted that in many
special ways he has proved a vigorous enforcer of the
law. He has followed precept by example.
Concerning railroad regulation, a matter univer
sally considered to be of vital importance, he has been
fully abreast of public sentiment, if not a leader in its
thought. He vigorously advocated the two cent fare
and the abolition of passes. His official utterances did
much to force the enactment of laws putting into effect
these provisions demanded by public sentiment. It may
be observed that Governor Hughes of New York, a pro
gressive and able man, did not approve the legal two
cent rate, but remanded the question to a commission.
Governor Johnson in his first message discussed with
ability the general question of railroad regulation. He
presented a comparative statement of freight rates in
this and adjoining states. This revealed the fact that
Minnesota was paying about one-third higher rates than
Iowa on the south and Canada on the north. The re
sult was his timely letter to the Railroad Commission, in
sisting on securing a substantial reduction in merchan
dise rates. He has had the courage to make freight and
passenger rates an issue before the people.
His reforms in the insurance department attracted
wide public attention. Even President Roosevelt, in a
special message to Congress, gave Governor Johnson
credit for instituting the most important insurance re
forms growing out of the recent insurance exposures.
The important Chicago insurance conference, in 1906,
448

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON.
over which he presided, resulted in great reforms in
many states, following his lead on that subject in Min
nesota. He advocated the placing of suburban electric lines
under the control of the Railroad Commission. This was
done, and the result was that the Board of Equaliza
tion increased the tax duplicate not less than two mil
lions of dollars.
Governor Johnson's decided stand in favor of a tax
commission, after some misgivings as to "the personnel
of the commission, became a law. Here he manifested
his good sense by taking the whole question of taxation
out of politics by the appointment of a non-partisan com
mission of the highest personal character.
While not ,a political issue, one policy for which
the governor has constantly stood, and for which his
friends claim he is entitled to more credit than for any
other one thing, is that he has removed from the mire of
partisan politics the educational structure of the state.
Upon assuming the office of governor, he declared that
the educational department, in the persons of the state
superintendent of public instruction and those in that
office, must- be removed from politics. He made absol
utely no change in the faculty of the University, < except
such changes as were suggested by a desire for the ele
vation of the standard of scholarship of that" institution.
It is probably true that ninety per cent of the instructors
in the University are of a different political faith from
that of the present state administration, and yet no man
29 449

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
has felt that his position was in the slightest degree
jeopardized by the incoming of a Democratic administra
tion, and by the appointment of Democrats to the Board
of Regents. The result is that the educational people
of the state believe that they have in the governor a true
and consistent friend rather than a partisan executive.
Governor Johnson's handling of the labor situation
on the iron ranges of Northern Minnesota during the
summer of 1907, is by many of his friends regarded as a
master stroke of diplomacy. Called upon by the officials
of two counties to order the militia to the scene of the
trouble, he went personally to the mining towns and con
ferred with officials and strike leaders regarding the
labor situation. Later, when the conditions seemed to be
at a more acute stage, he conceived the idea of sending
trusted representatives to investigate and report to him
in detail conditions, on the ranges. The result of their
report was a proclamation in which the governor out
lined to the representative belligerents what their rights
were under the law, and he counselled in vigorous terms
that they keep strictly within the letter of the law. This
proclamation was accepted by both sides to the contro
versy, and after this time there was practically no vio
lence or threats of violence. He had accomplished by
peaceful means what in many states an armed force had
been unable to do.
There are many other questions of a subordinate
character where he has indicated his convictions as to

450

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON.
state matters, but they are too ephemeral to be given in
this history. Reference to national questions is hardly to be
considered within the scope ~of these state biographies,
but no complete understanding of Governor Johnson's
grasp of mind can well be had without a brief reference
to his views on questions of national import.
He has long entertained the conviction that real and
immediate revision of the tariff is an issue of paramount
importance, not only because of its many unjust exac
tions for the benefit of the few, but because he grasps
the intimate relation between the tariff and the trusts,
and because it proves a positive restriction to some of
our foreign trade.
He - greatly prefers state regulation of railways, as
against such control by the national government, for he
is apprehensive of too great a centralization of power .in
the general government.
He believes in an income tax and an inheritance
tax; and while ^ such taxes are in a measure of a con
fiscatory nature, yet, because most of our great fortunes
have been mainly acquired through unjust and un
equal special privileges, they may, on such grounds, be
considered justifiable.
He believes in the largest possible measure of state
rights consistent with efficient national administration.
He is a believer in the freest trade relations with Cana
da, but is opposed to the principle involved in ac-
, quiring distant outlying dependencies, such as the Phi-
451

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
lippines. He has no pet political fad. He is an earnest,
progressive American, and a strong believer in Ameri
can institutions and a grand American destiny.
Governor Johnson's outlook for his state and country
are always of the optimistic type. He believes in the
certainty of the nation's grand future, as he believes
in the Christian's hope and anchor of the soul. The
writer calls him a symmetrical man of rare endow
ments, and a worthy leader among those to whom it is
given to shape the progress of the country.
In his political beliefs, so far as national ques
tions are concerned, he should be denominated a Demo
crat, — a Jeffersonian Democrat, if you please, if that de
scription settles anything definite in the public mind.
If President Roosevelt is defined, with some restrictions,
as a Republican, so also may Johnson be defined as a
Democrat. There is a large degree of sanity in John
son's mental composition, which prevents him from being
carried away by political vagaries, such as government
ownership of railroads by state or nation. Self-poised
and clear-minded, such chimeras do not appeal to his
sober judgment. It is, therefore, safe to say that,
by the very conditions of his nature, he is a conserva
tive Democrat. He cannot be enticed into the fields
of folly. It may be observed here that the two great parties,
whether they admit it or not, are moving quite on par
allel lines as to many great questions. If a leader \ pos
sessing the pubhc confidence could be found, we might
452

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON.
have an era rivalling that of James Monroe, who re
ceived the entire electoral vote except one; and that vote
was given with the statement that no man, save the
"Father of his country," should have- the honor of re
ceiving the unanimous electoral vote. The line between
the parties at this time is much like the separation be
tween the Methodist churches, North and South, a differ
ence without a distinction of creed or faith. It is tra
ditional antagonism which chiefly differentiates be
tween the two parties; and allied to this, the venal
one of who shall distribute the rewards of victory.
Though thousands of Republicans in this state voted
for Johnson, it was solely on grounds of personal admir
ation and confidence, and not because he varied a scin
tilla from recognized Democratic doctrines. In his early
youth he leaned to the Republican party; but, tariff re
vision becoming, in his judgment, of paramount impor
tance, he followed Cleveland, and since has consistently
cast his lot with the party of Jefferson. He is always
Democratic, but never demagogic.
We have here noted and summarized the policies
of the state and nation for which Governor Johnson
may safely be said to stand. They are the expressions
of his thought and beliefs on current public questions.
By these he may be judged politically. But if you will
inquire deeper into the causes of his remarkable popular
ity r and success, it is not so much political convictions as
his fortunate personality which is the basis of his achieve
ment. He is not endowed with any fabulous powers or
453

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
superhuman virtues, — he is simply Johnson! His speech
es will not fill the volumes of American eloquence;
but his graceful manner, attractive ways, and evident
sincerity, are better than declamation. There are cer
tain characteristics and qualities in a public man which
have a powerful influence as to his popularity. It is
quite impossible to analyze or name them. It is nei
ther face, form, speech, style, mode or manner; it
is the tout ensemble, — the whole taken together. Web
ster's dignity chilled; Clay's attractive manners won the
world. The old Latin, aphorism, poeta nascitur, non fit,
is equally applicable to native, graceful manners. They
are born to the man, not made. Nor could any man be
more innocent of affectation, that horrid assumption of
a grace not possessed.
His speeches carry substance and weight without the
actor's part or any stage display. He has clear-cut
ideas on all important questions of the time, and de
livers them in a way that commands his audience and
rivets complete attention. Indeed, he must be consider
ed a happy public speaker, always satisfying and gratify
ing his hearers. He has the fault of not preparing his
speeches with care, which comes from his natural facil
ity of easy speaking. Those who have been early
students, with scholarly attainments, are generally care
ful in preparation, as was Cushman K. Davis; but he
who has the grace of easy speaking is apt to be negli
gent in preparation.

454

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON.
Governor Johnson is always accessible and sociable,
yet dignified; kind and generous to all; cautions, but
not timid; constant to his principles and his party,
but tolerant of the feelings and views of a political op
ponent. He has great skill in reading men, and is
quick to seize an advantage. He is not indolent, but
full of activity.- There is an ever ready sense of humor,
easy and of high relish, without any effort to shine, and
invective is quite unknown to 'his manner of speech.
In fact, he is born to be a successful American politi
cian. In this rare and unique combination, we find the
elements of his popularity and much of the reason why
he is the Democratic governor of a Republican state.
For a moment we turn with pleasure from the con
tentions of politics to the more elevating and ennobling
fields of literature. No more distinguished tribute
could be paid to rising ability than the conferring of the
high degree of LL. D., on Governor Johnson by the
University of Pennsylvania, June 19, 1907. The recog
nition of this growing man by this ancient university
was one of those acts which carry inspiration and hope
to honorable ambition. Literature, from one of its high
stations, confers honor upon a son of the West who had
never, for a moment, tasted the advantages of high
education. John A. Johnson and Abraham Lincoln
were schooled in the same great university, — that, of
the world, — and their scholarship was about the same.
Provost Harrison, of the University of Pennsylvania
in his presentation of the Governor for the degree, along
455

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
with his introduction to the students, made the fol
lowing flattering address. It is so appropriate and in
such fine taste, that we quote it.
We have invited to be present John A. Johnson. His pa
rents come from distant and heroic Sweden, home of the Norse
men and Sagas. Migrating to America, they moved westward
to the wild and limitless plains across which still roamed the
braves of the Sioux and the Dakota. Here this son was born,
and, as he grew to manhood, aided to transform uncultivated
fields and tangled forests into agricultural communities and
municipal life. Then he learned the art of printing, then jour
nalism, and afterwards politics. This was the realm where
his ascendency prevailed. He won the regard of the people by
his industry and his integrity, and by his devotion to their in
terests. They conferred upon him the office of State Sena
tor. Their confidence was strengthened as they observed his
public career. Government, he declared, is but a political de
vice whereby all men are insured the fullest opportunity to'
avail themselves of the commercial and social conditions by
which they are surrounded, or to create new forces frorh na
ture which will add to individual prosperity.' His ultimate
election and re-election as Governor of Minnesota came by a
natural law of political evolution.
Of all sciences, that of politics is supreme. It furnishes
the basic ideas out of which law, order and civilization grow.
Organized knowledge — mathematics, physics, chemistry and me
chanics — follow only its recognized establishment. They cannot
precede it. He who helps to form or maintain a. State must
always rank with the noblest figures in history. Men of this
type create or preserve the human foundations on which art,
science, culture, morality and religion are built. It is difficult
to overestimate their relation to our progress.
We accord honor to one of the master builders, of the im
perial Northwest. For the civic virtues that he has displayed
as printer, journalist, and statesman, we, the Trustees, present
him to you that he may receive the degree of Doctor of Laws.
Governor Johnson then delivered an eloquent ad
dress on "The University Man's Opportunity." This
oration presents the governor in a new light, exhibiting
his taste for the refinements of literature and the wide
extent of his self-culture.

456

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON.
At ,the commencement of his second term in the
midst of unwonted success we part company with Gov
ernor Johnson. We have pursued his interesting history
and remarkable career from the cabin of his birth to the
marble palace of. our governors. The story of his strug
gles and his success is a wonderful tale, the political
romance of our state. With no known ancestry, whether
peasant, pirate, or lord, he was a Swede waif cast by
chance into the great American alembic, and stamped,
like true coin, with the American superscription. Since
then, his rise has been truly phenomenal, and at this
time he appears to be the foremost man in the politics
of the state.
To discuss his future would be purely problematical.
Yet in his early prime, only forty-seven years of age, with
a good constitution, fine natural endowments, popular
manners, courteous and urbane, a smart tactician, - the
idol of his party, and crowned with the halo of suc
cess, it would seem that his horoscope is very auspicious.
There is no telling what the gods will do for a
favorite child when once they set their jeweled fingers
to reeling off his destiny.
His influence on his party in the state has been to
inject some living blood into coagulated veins. He is
to them the man of nope, the star on their horizon. But
can any other man step in and hold what he has done?
His influence appears to be so purely individual that we
may well ask, When he is gone, will not the fabric he has
reared, dissolve ? The ' English Commonwealth died
457

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
/
when Cromwell died. The Governor has individualized
his party; he is the party. His good sense, however, will
save him from trifling with his kingship. For ourself,
we have faith in this virile son of Minnesota that he
will fully vindicate his right to a high niche in the
Pantheon of 'the state's best men.
In personal appearance Johnson is tall, six feet
and a little more in stature, with the slightest possible
stoop. He is rather loose-jointed, and somewhat Lin-
colnesque in his physical make-up. He has an ample
forehead, and expressive eyes; his ample jaws are smooth
shaven, and has a decidedly pleasant facial expression.
His hair is brown, and his mouth is of the Henry Clay
style. He has a smile which is very much his own,
and which is known as the "Johnson smile." He
weighs one hundred and eighty pounds. -r
Editor Johnson was married at St. Peter, June 1,
1894, to Miss Elinore M. Preston. She was born in
Wisconsin, but later her parents moved to Rochester,
Minnesota, where they died. She was raised by the
Catholic Sisters, and was educated at their school and in
their faith in that city. Subsequently she went as a ¦
teacher of music and drawing to the parochial school
in St. Peter. Here Mr. Johnson saw, wooed, and won
her as his bride. She is a modest, cultured and ex
cellent lady, of fine manners, much admired in her cir
cle, and a worthy companion of her distinguished hus
band.

458

JOHN ALBERT JOHNSON.
Governor Johnson's inaugural message to the
legislature, January 4, 1905, was published as a pamph
let of twenty-one pages (Minneapolis, 1905). In its
concluding paragraph, he said:
We are assembled today in the new capitol of the state.
This splendid edifice is a monument to the energy, prosperity
and culture of our people.' Whatever opposition may have ex
isted to its erection in the past, the people are now proud
that its glittering dome overlooks the capital city of our be
loved state. This building is the property of the state, and
was provided as a place in which should, be transacted the
business of the people. As their servants, you and I are com
missioned to perform the duties of our several offices in their
interest. We should here dedicate ourselves to that service,
pledging our zeal, our fidelity and our honest purpose in an
endeavor to do our duty to the people who have reposed in
us their confidence and their trust. We should build not for
today alone, but that future generations may reap the re
ward of honest, patriotic effort. If there must be sacrifice,
let it not be at the expense of the state. If we must regard
political considerations, let us also remember that political
parties are but the vehicles of good government, and that you
and I will best serve the parties of our choice by a conscien
tious effort to serve but one master, and that master the
sovereign people of the state of Minnesota.
The biennial message delivered by Johnson to the
thirty-fifth legislature, January 9, 1907, was published in
fifty-six pages as a pamphlet, and as pages 585-640 in
Volume I of the Executive Documents of Minnesota for
1906 (Minneapolis, 1907). The first quarter part of
this message deals with questions of taxation, making
the following important recommendations:
I would most urgently recommend legislation providing for
the establishment of a permanent tax commission, which shall
be empowered to make a careful and scientific study of this
question and report from time to time, both to the executive
officers and to the legislature.
The commission should visit the several counties of the
state annually, or at least bienially, and should be empow
ered to supervise the work of local assessors and boards, and-
provide rules to facilitate the performance of the duties of
459

GOVERNORS OF MINNESOTA.
*
assessors and otherwise aid them in the work of securing equal
and uniform assessments. * * *
Concerning a proposed state department of mines,
the governor said, in part:
By reason of the vast interests of the state in mines and
mineral properties, I herewith submit to you the advisability of
organizing a new state department devoted to that subject
and, the creation of the position of state commissioner of
mines, giving such official powers and duties similar to those
of the commissioners of insurance, labor, railroads and . ware
houses, dairy and food, game and fish, or the superintendent
of banks. * * *
********
The fact that Minnesota today holds over one-half of
the estimated iron ore reserve of the United States, and that
our state school and other public institutions have greater
mineral holdings than those of any other state in the Union,
show the propriety and public value of such a department to
the state, even if our past experience did not prove the nec
essity of additional state executive authority and machinery
in the regulation and protection of its mineral interests.
Other addresses of Governor Johnson, published as
pamphlets, are these:
Commercial and Political Integrity, a speech deliv
ered before the Merchants' Club of Chicago, February
18, 1905; twenty-eight pages (Minneapolis, 1905).
Minnesota and the Railroads, a speech before the
State Municipal League at St. Paul, January 10, 1906 ;
eight pages.
An Address at the Dedication of Minnesota Mem
orials in the Vicksburg National Military Park, May 24,
1907; published with the Report of the Minnesota
Vicksburg Monument Commission, in its pages 50-52.
Commencement Address at the University of Penn-
.sylvania, Philadelphia, June 19, 1907; thirty-one pages.
On this occasion Governor Johnson received the honor
ary degree of Doctor of Laws from this University.
460

INDEX.

Acker Post., G. A. R., 296.
Acton, 91.
Adams, President John, 322.
Agricultural bill, Nelson amendment, 347-8. \
Agricultural School, University of Minnesota, 352, 418.
Agricultural Society, 271, 310, 314, 363.
Aitkin, William A., 80.
Alaska, legislation, 348.
Albion, Wis., 332, 333.
Aldrich, Hon. Cyrus, 149.
Alexandria, 334, 335, 351.
Allen, Col. Alvaren, 307.-
Allouez, Claude, 9.
American Fur Company 78.
Ames, Dr. Albert A., 290, 291, 364, 379.
Anderson, A. W. M., 442.
Andrew, Gov. John A., 183.
Andrews, Gen, 0. C, 132, 281.
Andrews, Rev. C. D., 215.
Apple Creek, battle, 96.
Apple tree blooming in August, 141.
Argyle, Minn., 353.
Arkansas, military service of Governor Gorman; 57.
Arlington Cemetery, Washington, D. C, 216.
Arnold, Mrs. W. J,, author, 138.
Astor, John Jacob, 79.
Asylum for the Insane, St. Peter, 439.
Atlantic cable, celebration, 1858, 45.
Auerbach, Maurice, 175.
Austin, Governor Horace, 156, 165, 196, 285, 286, 289, 297, 298,
359, 397, 439; biography, 167-182; messages and other pub
lished papers, 172, 182-187; birth and education, 170; teacher
and law student, 170; coming to St. Peter, i 170; service
against the iSioux outbreak, 170-171; judge, 1864-69, 171, elected
governor, 171; his administration, 172-173; defalcation by
William Seeger, state treasurer, 174-176; later service by
Governor Austin as auditor of the United States treasury
and register of the U. S. land office in Fargo, N. D., 177;
laws passed during his administration, 177 ; service as rail
road commissioner, 178; his later years, 178-179; death and
461

MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.
last letter to a friend, 179-181; marriage and family, 181-
182; quotations from his messages, 182-186; tribute to
Governor Swift, 182.
Australian election law, 313.
Averill, Gen. John T., 154.
Bacon-Shakespeare question, 342.
Bailly, Alexis, 9, 79, 80.
Baker, Gen. E. D., 56.
Baker, Gen. James Heaton, Preface; 138, 157; acquaintance
and friendship with Governors of Minnesota, 4, 27, 67, 96,
151, 152, 171, 179, 288; candidate for Congress, 380, 381.
Banking System, United States, 41; Minnesota, 394.
Bankruptcy Act, 347, 354.
Banks, Gen. N. P., 260.
Banning, Hon. William L., 235.
Barnum, E. P., 241, 337.
Barton, Hon. Asa, 194.
Bean, Capt. A. M., 118.
Beaulieu, Clement H, 360.
Becker, Hon. George L., 15, 25, 339.
Berkey, Capt. Peter, 149.
Beveridge, Hon. Albert J., quoted, 346.
Biennial sessions of legislature, 236, 237, 247, 248.
Biermann, Hon. Adolph, 269.
Big Mound, battle, 94, 151.
Blakeley, Capt. Russell, 307.
Board of control, 387, 408, 420, 437.
Boardman, Capt. L. M., 119.
Borup, Dr. Charles W. W., 9, 80, 360.
Bottineau, Pierre, 148.
Boutwell, Rev. William T., 80.
Bravest Battle, poem by Joaquin Miller, 431.
Breckenridge, Hon. John C, 90.
Bribe offered to Governor Gorman, 52.
Brown, John, 18.
Brown, Hon. Joseph R., 9, 24, 80, 86, 92, 187.
Bryan, Hon. William J., 275, 375.
Bryant, Charles S... 289, 297, 440.
Brj'ant, the poet, quoted, 368.
Buchanan, President, 18, 69, 70, 86.
Buell, Hon. D. L., 232.
Buena Vista, battle, 50. »
Bull Run, battle, 55, 127, 133.
Bullis, A. H., 379.
Burbank, James C, 307.
Camp Lincoln, 134.
Camp Pope, 93, 151.
Camp Release, 92.
Capital, proposed removal to St. Peter, 52.
462

INDEX.
Capital and labor, 161, 353.
Capitol, first, burned, 238, 270.
Capitol, new, 3, 13, 209, 222, 324, 343, 417, 442, 459.
Capitol, old, 35, 215, 277.
Carlson, Prof. C. J., 436.
Cass, Gen. Lewis, 82.
Catlin, George, 82.
Cavanaugh, Hon. James M., 117.
Census, Governor Merriam, director, 318-320, 325-6.
Charities of the state, 160, 164.
Chase, Hon. Charles L., 71, 72.
Cheyenne Indians, 98.
Chicago, 111., 331, 460.
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railway, 409-413.
Chicago Great Western railway, 266.
Child, Hon. James E., 291.
Chippewa Indians (see Ojibways).
Christian religion, 28, 58, 126, 139, 142, 159, 206, 235, 243, 244,
245, 287, 391, 416, 428, 452,, 458.
Cicero, quoted, 3; 27, 197, 209.
Civil service, 301.
Civil War, 18-21, 40, 42, 43, 44, 54-57, 90, 132-136, 137, 143,
150-153, 155, 161, 192, 193, 230, 258-265, 273, 280, 288, 289,
332-3, 361, 372, 397, 399, 400, 421, 426.
Clapp, Hon. Moses E., 404, 415.
Clark, Judge Greenleaf, 239.
Clay, Henry, 6, 7, 8, 197, 214, 335, 442, 454, 458.
Cleveland, President, 208, 402, 436, 453,
Clough, Governor David Marston, 375, 384, 385, 386, 397, 404;
biography, 357-360; messages, 364, 370-372; ancestry, birth,
and education, 361; coming to Minnesota, 362; a lumber
man, 362, 369; president of the State Agricultural Society,
363; lieutenant governor, succeeding to the governorship,
363; re-election, 364; his administration, 364-8; the war with
Spain, 365; personal qualities, 366-8; later business life in
the' state of Washington, 368-370; marriage and family, 370;
quotations from messages, 370-372.
Cobb, Hon. Daniel, 171.
Cole, Hon. A. L., 446, 447.
Collins, Hon. Loren W., 413, 414, ,441. '
Columbia College, 112.
Columbus, Ohio, home and burial monument of Governor
Medary, 68, 70-73.
Colvill, Col. William, 256.
Commerce and labor, department, 346, 348.
Common - sense, 26, 139, 242, 253, 346, 368, 444.
Concord, N. H., 228.
Connecticut, birthplace of Governor Austin, 170.
Congress, United States, Governor Sibley, delegate, 84; members:
Governor Ramsey, 7; Governor Gorman, 51; Governor Nelson,
335, 337; Governor Lind. 380, 392. 463 i

MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.
Constitution of Minnesota, 71, 74, 89, 156, 162, 163, 172.
Constitutional Convention, 14-15, 53, 73-74, 85.
Cooper, Hon. David, 36.
Corinth, Miss., battle, 259, 280.
Counties organized during Governor Austin's terms, 177;
Governor Pillsbury's, 241.
Cox, Hon. Samuel S., 67.
Cox, Judge E. St. Julien, 241.
Cretin, Bishop, 80.
Crooks, Ramsey, 79, 360.
Cross, George F., 228.
Cuba, 354, 390.
Oullen, Major W. I., 55.
Currency and coinage law, 347.
Curtin, Gov. Andrew G., 121, 183.
Cutting, Eggleston, 440.
Dakota Indians (see Sioux).
Dakota Territory, 22.
Daniels, Dr. Asa W., 123, 440.
Davis, Governor Cushman Kellogg, 24, 113, 139, 176, 186, 269,
275, 289, 296, 317, 318, 340, 341, 366, 397, 454; quoted on
ability of Governor Gorman as a lawyer, 57, and in eulogy
of his character, 58; biography, 189-217; messages and other
published writings, 194-6, 203-5, 208-213, 217-223; ancestry,
birth, and education, 192-3; service in the Civil War, 193;
coming to St. Paul, and his law practice, 193; United States
attorney, 194; as a lecturer, 194, 196; elected governor, 194;
his administration, 194-5; elected United States senator,
196; services as senator, 196-202; commissioner for the
treaty of peace with Spain, 198; for annexation of Hawaii,
199; as chairman of the committee on pensions, 199; of the
committee on foreign relations, 200; for the Sault Ste.
Marie canal, 200; on the Monroe doctrine, 201; his love of
literature, 191, 202-206; quotations from his introduction
of "The Law in Shakespeare," 204; his ability as a lawyer,
205; his Christian faith, 206; reply to a committee of a rail
way strike, 207; orations in Minneapolis and St. Paul, 208,
209; address on the battlefield of Gettysburg, 209, 210; at
meeting of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, 211-213;
qualities as an orator, 213; as a statesman, 191, 197-202; in
private life, and marriage, 214; his death and funeral, 215;
burial in Washington, D. C, and monument, 216; his mes
sages, with quotations, 217-219; his published addresses,-
speeches in the United States Senate, and other works,
219-223; reference to silver coinage in speech at Crookston.
1 quoted, 382.
Davis, Hon. Charles R., 436.
Day, Hon. Frank A., 384.
Dead Buffalo Lake, battle, 95.
464

INDEX.
Dean, Hon. William B., 149.
Dean, Hon. William J., 338, 364.
Defalcation by William Seeger, state treasurer, 174-6.
Democratic party, 6, 14, 15, 67, 85, 87, 90, 127, 177, 340,
367, 383, 388, 390, 443, 452.-
Detroit, Mich., birthplace of Governor Sibley, 77, 78.
Detroit, Minn., 240, 335.
Dillon, Mary, school teacher, 331.
Dodd, Capt. W. B., 440.
Donahower, F. A., 440.
Donnelly, Hon. Ignatius, 24, 54, 120, 138, 171, 267, 310, 338,
339-342.
Dorsett, Hon. Charles W., 441, 447.
Douglas, Hon. Stephen A., 54, 69, 70, 90,. 132.
Douglas, Hon. Wallace B., 410.
Dousman, Hercules L., 79, 105.
Drainage, 343.
Drake, Hon. Elias F., 156.
Driscoll, Frederick, 149, 150.
Duluth, 207, 335, 384, 418.
Duly, William J., 93.
Dunlap, Mrs. Rose Barteau, Preface.
Dunn, Hon. Robert C, 414, 415, 441.
Dunnell, Hon. Mark H., 240, 268.
Dyke, Edwin W., 176.
Edgerton, E. S., 115.
Editorial Association, 434.
Edmunds Bill, 23. \
Ellet, Mrs. Elizabeth F., cited, 77.
Enabling Act of Congress, 85. '
England, political history, 390.
Essler, H. J., 433.
Eustis, Hon. William H., 368, 385, 386, 404-406.
Evans, Robert G., 316.
Everett, Wash., 368, 370.
Fair, Territorial, 1856, 45; State, 271.
Fair Oaks, battle, 56, 133.
Fairchild, Sylvester M. 407.
Faribault, Jean B., and Alexander, 80, 105.
Farmers' Alliance, 310, 312, 324, 380.
Fast day proclaimed by Governor Pillsbury,' 235.
Federal courts, 381. ,
Fergus Falls, 381. _, ' '
Eifth Minnesota Regiment, 258-264, 280.
Finance, national, 316, 317, 325, 354, 355, 390.
•First Minnesota Regiment, 18, 54, 55, 56, 121, 133, 134. 141,
209.
Fisk, Capt, James L., 120.
30 465

MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.
Fisk, Woodbury, 228.
Five Million Loan to railroads, 17. 71, 87-89, 156, 163, 172,
195, 217-219, 232, 233, 236-8, 248, 256.
Flag presented to First Minnesota Regiment, 55.
Flags of Minnesota Regiments in the Civil War, 155.
Flandrau, Hon. Charles E., 25, 71; quoted, 87; 92, 119, 156, 440.
Fletcher, Hon. Loren, 276, 360, 392.
Flour milling, Minneapolis, 229.
Flower, Gen. Mark D., 281.
Folwell, Prof. William W., 239.
Forbes, William H., 80.
Ford, poet, quoted, 271.
Forest fires, Hinckley, 343.
Forestry, 393.
Fort Hudson, 333.
Fort Ridgelv, 92, 150.
Fort Snelling, 55, 60, 79, 153.
Franklin, Benjamin, 28.
Free Silver party, 382-4, 394.
Free Trade, 391, 451.
Freeborn, Hon. William, 256.
Fremont, Gen. John C, 82.
French, Daniel C, sculptor, 239.
Fugitive Slave Law, S.
Fur companies and traders, 9, 11, 13, 78.
Furness, Charles E., 35.
Galena, 111., 148.
Galesburg, 111., 400.
Galtier, Father Lueian, 80.
Garfield, President, 23, 241, 379.
Gear, Rev. Ezeldel G., 81.
Geological and natural history survey, 177, 184.
Gettvsburg, Pa., 114, 121, 126, 132," 140, 209, 210, 222, 264,
322, 372.
Gibbon, quoted, 206.
Gibbs, Hon. John L.. 290, 294, 404.
Giddings, Hon. Joshua R., 126.
Gilbert, Bishop M. N., 101.
Gilfillan, Hon. Charles D., 154.
Gilfillan, Hon. John B., 276.
Gilman, Hon. Charles A., 290, 294, 311, 335.
Gladstone, quoted, 341.
Glencoe, 92.
Gold standard, 316, 317.
Goldsmith, quoted, 27.
Goodhue county, 267, 281, 378.
Goodrich, Hon. Aaron, 36.
Gorman, Governor Willis Arnold, 134, 187, 193, 220, 289, 43S,
439; biography, 47-60; messages, 51, 61-63; birth and edu
cation, 49; practice as a lawyer, 49, 50, 53, 57; marriage and
466

INDEX.
family, 50, 59; member of the Indiana legislature, 50; ser
vice in the Mexican war, 50; member of Congress, 1849-53,
51; appointed governor of Minnesota Territory, 1853, 51;
his administration, 51-53; relation to the St. Peter land
company, 52; constitutional convention, 53; candidate for
United States Senate, 54; elected to the state legislature,
54; presidential campaign, 1860, 54; service in the Civil
War, 54-57; colonel of the First Minnesota Regiment, 55;
brigadier general, 55; law partnership with C. K. Davis,
57; city attorney of St. Paul, 1869-76, 57; character in
private life and as a citizen, 58; eulogy by Governor Davis,
57, 58; death and funeral, 60; quotations from his messages,
61-63.
Graham, C. Q, 257.
Grand Army of the Republic, 216, 221, 272, 296, 302, 403.
Grant, Capt. Hiram P., 150.
Grasshopper scourge, 151, 217, 234, 235, 236, 245, 425.
Graves, Hon. Charles H., 335.
Great Northern railway, 335, 409-413.
Greeley, Horace, quoted, 228; 430.
Guizot, quoted, 26.
Hall, Hon. O. M., 444.
Hallock, Minn., 354.
Hammond, Hon. W. B., 364, 386.
Hammond, Hon. Winfield S., 440.
Hancock, Gen. Winfield S., 322.
Hanna, Hon. Marcus A., 275, 316, 318, 367.
Harries, Capt. W. H, 440.
Harriman, Gov. Walter, 228.
Harrisburg, Pa., 5, 7, 131.
Harrison, Provost Charles C, 455-6.
Harrison, Hon. Hugh. 312.
Harrison, President William Henry, 7, 98.
Haugan, Hon. Bernt B., 407.
Hawaii, annexation, 199, 221, 390.
Hayden, William G., 118, 119.
Hayes, President, 22.
Helena, Montana, 412.
Henderson, 92, 117.
Henry, Patrick, 28.
Higgins, Hon. George W., 386.
High license, 290, 292, 299, 301.
Hill, James J., 25.
Hinckley, forest fires, 343.
Historical Society, Minnesota, Preface, 30, 62, 82, 99, 102,
104, 124, 138, 158, 165, 179, 184, 208, 220, 222, 250, 272, 280,
281, 371.
Holland, 397.
Hood, Gen. John B., 261-263. 467

MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.
Hubbard, Governor Lucius Frederick, 139, 174, 176, 242, 289,
298, 316, 397; biography, 251-277;- messages" and other pub
lished writings, 270, 277-281; ancestry, birth, and education,
254-5; coming to Red Wing and editorial work, 255; the
panic of 1857, 256; his fellow townsmen, 256-7; service in
the Civil War, colonel 6i the Fifth Minnesota Regiment, and
breveted brigadier general, 258-265; later life in Red Wing,
in flour milling and as a railroad contractor, 265-266; elec
tion as governor, 267; his administration, .268-272; later
honors, and service in the Spanish war, 272-6; removal to
St. Paul, 277; personal character, 253, 258, 265, 266, 274,
276; marriage and family, 277; quotations from his mes
sages, 278-280; other papers of his authorship, mostly on
the Civil War, 280, 281.
Hubbard county, named for Governor Hubbard, 272.
Hudson, N. Y., 400.
Hughes, Gov. Charles E., of New York, 448.
Humiston, Hon. R. F., 232.
Idaho, 412.
Hlinois early home of Governor Van Sant, 399.
Immigration, 12, 37, 61, 122, 161, 162, 354.
Indian Affairs, Commission, 44, 53, 90-98, 337, 380.
Indians (see Ojibways, Sioux, Winnebagoes).
Indiana, home of Governor Gorman, 49-51.
Insurance commissioners, 289, 290, 302.
Insurance reforms, 445, 448.
Internal Improvements, lands granted for, 155, 164, 172, 173,
248.
International law, work of Senator Davis, 198-201, 205, 222, 223.
Inter-State Commerce, 338, 353, 381.
Ireland, Archbishop, 25, 60, 259, 260, 273, 281.
Iron mining, 343, 450, 460.
Itasca State Park, 352.
Irves, Hon. Gideon S., 125.
Jackson, President, 6, 23, 68, 69.
Jefferson, President, 23.
Jennison, Gen. Samuel P., 257.
Johnson, Governor John Albert, 281, 285, 298; biography, 423-
458; messages and addresses, 443, 459, 460; ancestry, birth,
and influence of his mother, 425-432; scanty education, and
early toil, 426-430; becomes an editor, 433; secretary and
president of the State Editorial Association, 434; other
official and social advancement, 435; elected a state senator,
436; numerous governors and other eminent citizens of St.
Peter, 437-440; elected governor, 441; his first ¦ administration,
442-5; re-election, 446-7; his policies and reforms, 447-453;
character as a speaker and politician, 454-5; honorary degree
of LL.D., conferred by the University of Pennsylvania, ' 455-6 ;
468

INDEX.
relations to his party, 457; personal appearance, 458; mar
riage, 458; quotations from his messages, 459, 460.
Johnson, Hon. C. A., 437.
Johnson, Gen. Richard W., 267.
Johnson, President, 22, 194.
Jones, Henry, ,427.
Jones, Prof. Judson, letter of Governor Austin to, 180.
Kandiyohi county, lands for capital, 156.
Kansas Territory, Governor Medary, 72; 85, 90, 256.
Kentucky, birthplace' of Governor Gorman, 49.
Kerr, Rev. A. H., 124.
Kindred, Charles P., 240, 241, 335-7.
Kittson, Hon. Norman W., 9, 80.
Knox, Hon. Philander C, 411.
Kriz, Edward, 407.
Labor and capital, 161, 353, 371, 450.
Labor laws, 420.
Lake City, 302.
Lamberton, John and Harry, 440.
Lamson, Nathan, 121.
Lands ceded by Indians,,, 12-13, 37,' 121,' 338.
Lands granted to railways, 52 164, 172.
Lane, Hon. James H., 50.
Langdon, Hon. R. B., 174:
Langford, Hon. Nathaniel P., 160.
Lawler, Hon. Daniel W., 338, 339.
Le Claire, Iowa, 400.
Leech Lake, Pillager Ojibways, 365.
Legislation, opinion of Governor Marshall, 164.
Le Sueur, Pierre Charles, 9.
Library, first in Minnesota, 80.
Lincoln, President, 5, 6, 18, 24, 42, 44, 54, 90, 92, 121, 132, 143,
150, 183, 421, 445, 455.
Lind, Governor John, 359, 364, 397, 406, 407, 443; biography,
373-392; messages and other published writings, 387, 392-4;
ancestry, birth, and education, 377-8; coming to America and
to New Ulm, Minnesota, 378; law study and admission' to
the bar, 378-9; receiver of the United States land office,
379; election to Congress,, 379; services as Congressman, 380-
383; views of national finance, 382-3; nomination for governor
by the Populist, Free Silver, and Democratic parties, 383-4;
service in the War with Spain, 384; elected governor, 385,-6;
his administration, , 387; again in law practice and removal to
Minneapolis, 387; qualities as a speaker and politician,
388; change of parties, 389-390; in the home, and as a citi
zen, 391; his later term in Congress," 392; marriage, and fam
ily, 392; quotations from messages, 393-4.
Liquor traffic, 291, 299. 469.

MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.
Little Crow, 91, 92, 121.
Lochren, Hon. William, on military service of Governor Gor
man, 56; of Governor Miller, 134; railroad merger, 411.
Lodge, Hon. Henry C, 223.
Lofthus, Hon. 0. E., 447.
Long, Lionel C, 386.
Long, Major Stephen H., 82.
Long Prairie river, 37.
Longfellow, quoted, 350.
Lord, Hon. Samuel, 444.
Louisiana Purchase, 83.
Loyal Legion, 20, 99, 101, 165, 187, 216, 272, 280.
Lucas, Thomas H, 407.
Lumbering, 359, 360, 362-3, 369, 381, 397, 401, 402, 444, 440.
Mackinac, 78.
Madelia, 151.
Madison, Wis., 334, 351.
Maine, earlv home of Governor Austin, 170.
Mankato. Preface; 92, 134, 151, 288, 381.
Manufactures, 185, 393.
Marquette, Father Jacques, 9.
Marryatt, Capt. Frederick, 82. '
Marshall, Governor William Rainev, 257, 265, 289, 359, 397;
biography, 145-160; messages and other published papers,
155, 160-165; birth and education, 147. 148; coming to St.
Croix Falls, Wis., and St. Anthony, Minn., 148; removal to
St! Paul, 149; hardware merchant and banker, 148, 149;
newspaper publisher, 149-150; in the Civil war and Sioux
war, 150-153; breveted brigadier general, 153; elected gov
ernor, 154-155; his administration, 155-156; again a banker,
and railroad commissioner, 157; personal qualities, 157-
159; president and secretary of the Minnesota Historical
Society, 158; tribute to his character by Rev. Edward C.
Mitchell, 158-159; death, 159; marriage and family, 160;
quotations from messages, 160-165.
Martin, Capt. John, 360.
Masonrv. free, 140, 272.
¦Mayall," Hon. Samuel, 173, 194.
McArthur, Gen. John, 262, 263.
McCleary, Hon. James T., 380, 446.
McClellan, Gen. George B., 56.
McDowell, Gen. Irvin, 55.
McGill, Governor Andrew Ryan, 178, 179, 180, 289, 310, 311,
315, 379, 439; biography, 283-298; messages and other pub
lications, 292, 299-302; ancestry, birth, and education, 286-7;
coming to St. Peter, Minn., 288; work as a teacher, 287-8;
military services against the Sioux, 288-9; superintendent
of schools, editor, and law student, 289; private secretary
to Governor Austin, 289; state insurance commissioner,
1873-1886, 289-290; elected governor, 290-1; his administra-
470

INDEX.
tion, 292-5; enactment of the high license law, 292; tribute
to his memory by Hon. L. O. Thorpe, 295; state senator,
1898-1905, 296; postmaster of St. Paul, 1900-1905, 296;
marriage and family, 297-8; death and funeral, 298; quo
tations from his messages, 299-302.
McKinley, President, 198, 199, 272, 274, 275, 296, 316, 317, 318,
384.
McLeod, Hon. Martin, 9, 80.
McMillan, Hon. S. J. R., 196, 275.
McPhail, Colonel Samuel, 150, 171.
MeVey, Prof. Frank L., 444.
Meade, Gen. George G., 322.
Medary, Governor Samuel, 51; biography, 65-73; messages,
70-74; birth and education, 68; marriage and family, 68, 73;
early editorial work in Ohio, 67, 68, 69; member of Ohio
legislature, 68; relations with Presidents Jackson, Polk, and
Buchanan, 68-70; appointed governor of Minnesota Terri
tory, 70; his administration, 70-72; governor of Kansas
Territory, 1858-60, 72; later work as an editor, 72; death
and monument, 73; quotations from his messages to the
legislature of Minnesota, 73, 74.
Meeker, Hon. Bradley B., 36.
Meighen, Hon. Thomas J., 408.
Meigher, Hon. William, 235.
Mendota, 8, 79, 81, 82, 85.
Merger of railroads, ,409-413.
Merriam, Hon. John L., 305, 306, 307.
Merriam, Governor William Rush, 294, 397; biography, 303-
323; messages and other publications, 313, 323-6; ancestry,
birth, and education, 305-308; bank clerk, cashier, and
president, 308; member and Speaker of the legislature, 309;
president of the State Agricultural Society, 310; elected
governor, 311-312; his administration, 313; personal charac
ter as a citizen and politician, 314-317, 321; his opinions on
national finance, 316, 317; alienatipn of Senator Davis, 317-
318; services of Governor Merriam as Director of the Cen
sus, 318; tributes to him by Dr. S. N. D. North, his suc
cessor in the Census Office, 319-320; later business and resi
dence in the city of Washington, 320; marriage and family,
322; quotations from his messages, 323-324; papers on the
national banking system and on the Census, 325-6.
Mexican War, service of Governor Gorman, 50.
Michigan, early home of Governor- Sibley, 77, 78.
Miller, Governor Stephen, 122, 151, 152, 154, 289, 359, 397; bio
graphy, 129-142; messages, 137, 142-144; ancestry, birth and
education, 129, 131; editor and lecturer, 131; removal to St.
Cloud, Minn., 131; speaker in the presidential campaign,
1860, 132; in the Civil War, 132-136; the Sioux outbreak,
134-135; elected governor, 136; his administration, 136-137;
later years at Worthington, 137, 140; poetic writings, 138;
his character, 139-140, 142; marriage and family, 140, 132,
471

MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.
137; death and monument, 140-141; quotations from his
messages, 142-144.
Miller, Joaquin, poem by, 431.
Miners' strike, 450.
Mining, 393, 444, 445, 450, 460.
Minneapolis, 100, 156, 178, 179, 208, 220, 221, 222, 228-230,
239, 250, 276, 291, 292, 312, 330, 344, 363, 364, 381, 387.
392, 417, 440, 444.
Minnesota Pioneer, 36.
Mississippi river, navigation, 22, 38.
Missouri, birthplace of Governor Marshall, 147.
Missouri Compromise, 18, 40.
Mitchell, Rev. Edward C, on character of Governor Marshall,
158.
Mobile, Ala., campaign, 263, 281.
Monroe doctrine, 201, 222.
Monroe, President, 453.
Montana, 22, 412.
Monument of Governor Medary, 73; of Governor Miller, 141;
of Governor Davis, 216.
Moore, J. K., 179, 440.
Morrill, F. B., 179.
Morrill, Hon. Lot, 170.
Morrison, Hon. Allan, 9, 80, 360.
Morrison, Dorilus, 360.
Morrison. William, 80.
Morton, Gov. Oliver P., 183.
Moss, Hon. Henry L., 36.
Mothers, influence of, 77, 287, 331, 333, 377, 429-432.
Mound, Lake Minnetonka, 178, 179.
Munch, Emil, state treasurer, 175. '
Napoleon, 264, 430; poem of Zedlitz, 211; quoted, 430.
Nash, Hon. Jay E., 408, 442.
Nashville, Tenn., battle, 152, 258, 281.
National Guard, Minnesota, 434.
Negro suffrage, 22.
Nelson, Governor Knute, 240, 289, N 359, 391, 397, 430; bio
graphy, 327-351; messages and other published writings,
351-355; birth and education, 330-332; service in the Civil
War, 332-3; admission to the bar, and election to the
Wisconsin legislature, 334; removal to Alexandria, Minn.,
and election as county attorney, 334, 335; state senator
and member of Congress, 335-338; elected governor, 338-9;
sketch of Ignatius Donnelly, candidate for governor in 1892,
339-342; Governor Nelson's administration, 343; election to
the United States senate, 344; his services in the senate,
345-348; personal qualities, 348-350; in private life, and as
a citizen, 351; marriage and family, 351; quotations from
his messages, 352-3; speeches as a member of Congress and
United States senator, 353-5.
472

INDEX.
New England, compared with the Northwest, 9, 350.
New Hampshire, early home of Governor Pillsbury, 227, 228,
243; of Governor Clough, 361.
New Jersev, 398, 409.
New Orleans, 332.
New Ulm, 20, 92, 118-119, 170, 378, 379, 384, 387, 391, 392.
Ne-wson, Major Thomas M., 155.
Newspapers, 37, 67-69, 72, 122, 131, 149, 176, 289, 295, 311, 331,
336, 341, 388, 433, 434. •
New York state, birthplace of Governor Davis, 192: of Gov
ernor Hubbard, 254; of Governor Merriam, 306.
Nicaragua canal, 221.
Nicollet, Joseph Nicolas, 10, 82, 105.
Nicollet county, 435, 436.
Nicols, John, 149.
Ninniger, 340.
Ninth Minnesota Regiment, 152.
Normal Schools, 402, 418, 445.
North, Dr. S. N. D., tribute to ability of Governor Merriam
as director of the Census, 319-320.
Northern Pacific railroad, 22, 336, 409-413.
Northern Securities Company, 409-413.
Northrop, President Cyrus, 239, 418.
Northwest Territory, 82-83.
Norton, Hon. Daniel S., 45, 123, 173.
Norway, birthplace of Governor Nelson, 329-331.
Norwegian immigration to Minnesota, 330.
Nye, Hon. Frank M., 384.
Oakes, Charles H., 80, 360.
Oakland cemetery, St. Paul, 35, 60, 101, 159, 180,. 181, 216, 298.
Ohio, home of Governor Medary, 68-70, 72, 73; early home
and burial place of Governor Swift, 111-114; 124.
Ojibways, treaty, 1863, 13, 121; Nelson Law, 338, 365.
Oklahoma, 355.
Omaha, Neb., 234.
Oregon boundary question, 69.
Otis, Hon. George L., 171.
Ovid, quoted, 27.
Owatonna, 271.
OwenrHon. Sidney M., 312, 313, 339, 383.
Pacific railroad, 199.
Page, Judge Sherman, impeachment, 220.
Paintings in the New Capitol, 13.
Panic, 1857, 86, 117, 149, 228, 230, 256.
Pardoning board, 300.
Paris Exposition, 420.
Pasadena, Cal., 158, 159.
Paulding, E. E., 440.
Paynesville, 136. 473

V
MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.
Peel, Sir Robert, 390.
Pembina band of Ojibways, 13.
Penn, William, 12.
Pennsylvania, early home of Governor Ramsey, 4-5; his poli
tical services there, 7-8, 425; birthplace of Governor Medary,
68; early home of Governor Miller. 131; of Governor McGill,
286.
Pensions of Civil War service, 199, 348.
People's party, 338, 339, 384, 386, 408.
Phelps, Hon. " William W., 257.
Philadelphia, 339.
Philippine Islands, 335, 390, 451.
Pierce, President, 51, 70, 438.
Pike, Lieut. Zebulon M., 10. \
Pillager Indians, an Ojibwav band, 365.
Pillsburv, Hon. Charles A.', 229, 360.
Pillsbury, Hon. George A., 228, 229, 360.
Pillsbury, Governor John Sargent, 24, 100, 139, 156, 253, 267,
269, 270, 359, 360, 397; biography, 225-244; messages and
other published writings, 233, 235, 244-250; ancestry, birth,
and education, 227; his early business life, 22S; coming to
Minneapolis. 228; in hardware business and flour manu
facturing, 228. 229; state senator, 1863-75. 230; services in
the Civil War and the Indian outbreak, 230; regent of the
State University, from 1863 through his life, 230, 231, 238,
239, 249, 250; elected governor, 232; his administration
during six years, 232-238; the grasshopper scourge, 234-5;
settlement of the state railroad bonds, 236-8, 248; the capitol
burned, 238; gift of Science Hall, since named Pillsbury
Hall, to the State University, 239; his statue placed in front
of the University Library, 239; gift of the public library
building, East Minneapolis, 239; contests of candidates for
Congress, 240, 241; impeachment of Judge ^E. St. Julien Cox,
241; character of Governor Pillsbury, 229, 233, 242-3; mar
riage and family, 243-4; death, 243; quotations from his mes
sages, 244-249; other publications and presentation of the
Memorial Towu Hall, Sutton, N. H., 249-50.
Pinklram, Hon. James P., 313.
Pioneer Press, 237, 336.
Pioneer of Minnesota, 9, 80, 397.
Pipestone, Minn., 380.
Poems of Governor Miller, 138.
Polk, President, 69.
Pond, S. W., and G. H., 80, 105.
Pope, Gen, John, 259.
Populist party, 339, 340, 383, 385, 386, 388, 403, 407, 408.
Portraits of the Governors of Minnesota, 3; also see the Preface.
Postal legislation, Senator Ramsey, 22, 45.
Pratt, Col. Benjamin F., 440.
Prescott, Philander, 80.
Price, Gen. Sterling, 261, 281.
474

INDEX.
• Prisons, 300, 301.
Proclamation organizing Minnesota Territorv. 8, 36, 115.
Prohibition party, 173, 194, 291, 312, 313, '339, 364, 380, 386,
407, 408, 442, 4.47.
Protection, 391.
Provenealle, Louis, 80.
Public Ownership party, 442, 447.
Purdy, Hon. Milton' D., 411.
Quincy, 111., early home of Governor Marshall, 147.
Racine College, 308.
Railroad bonds (see Five Million Loan).
Railroad Commissioners, 157, 178, 270, 289, 448, 449.
Railroad merger, 409-413.
Railway legislation, 17, 52, 71, 85, 87-89, 99, 164, 177, 183, 194,
219, 233, 270, 278, 293, 335, 355, 381, 387, 444, 445, 446, 448,
451, 460.
Railway strikers, Governor Davis' reply to, 207, 221.
Ramsey, Governor Alexander, 84, 86, 91, 107, 115, 120, 133,
139, 149, 150, 176, 196, 242, 257, 269, 272, 281, 397, 438;
biography, 1-35; messages and other published writings, 36-
46; ancestry and birth, 5; education and early influences,
5-7; political services in Pennsylvania, 1840-48, 7-8; member
of Congress, 1843-47, 7; appointment as first governor of
Minnesota Territory, 8; official proclamation as governor,
June 1, 1849, 8, 36; condition of the New Territory, 9, 10;
treaties with the Dakota Indians, at Traverse des Sioux and
Mendota, 1851, 10-13; treaty with the Ojibways, 1863, 13;
mayor of St. Paul, 1855, 14, 44; joins the newly formed
Republican party, 14; Republican candidate for governor,
1857, 15; elected second governor of the State, 1859, 15;
summary of his administration, 15-21 ; founder of the state
school fund, 16; economic reforms, 16; action concerning
the "Five Million Loan," 17; the Civil War, 14, 18, 54; the
Sioux outbreak, 1862, 19-20, 42; election and service as
United States senator, 1863-75, 21-22; secretary of war,
1879-81, 22, 45; member of the Utah Commission, 1882-86,
23, 45; estimate of his character, 23-34; his associates, in
Minnesota, 9, 24-25; his common sense, 26; as a speaker,
27; a Presbyterian, 28; in the home and in social life, 29-30;
persona] appearance, 30; devotion to the Minnesota Histori
cal Society, 30-31, 45-46; marriage and children, -8, 34-35;
last years and death, 32-35; development of the country
during his lifetime, 33-34; quotations from his messages,
36-44; his other addresses, reports, and papers, 44-46; statue
recommended by Governor Van Sant, 421.
Ramsey, Mrs. Anna E., 8, 34, 55.
Randall, Major Benjamin H., 440.
Ravenna, Ohio, earlv home and burial place of Governor Swift,
111-114, 124. 475

MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.
Ravoux, Father Augustin, 80.
Red Lake band of Ojibways, 13.
Red River, carts, 10; lands ceded, 13, 121.
Red Wing, 255-7, 265, 266.
Reforms by Governor Ramsey, 16; Governor Pillsbury, 246.
Renville, Joseph, 9, 80.
Republican party, Preface; 14, 15, 67, 85, 87, 127, 149, 154, 177,
276, 291, 294, 309, 340, 367, 382-3, 386, 390, 441, 444, 452.
Revolution, militarv services, American, 77, 112, 227, 254, 286,
306, 399, 417.
Reynolds, Da B., 380.
Rice, Hon. Edmund, 9, 24, 236.
Rice, Hon. Henry M., 9, 24, 80, 154, 165, 360. .
Riggs, Rev. Stephen R., 80.
Rivers of Minnesota, 37.
Roads, 371.
Rochester, 458.
Rock Island, 111., birthplace of Governor Van Sant, 399.
Rolette, Joseph, Sr., 79.
Rolette, Hon. Joseph, 52, 53, 187, 438.
Roosevelt, President, 390, 411, 413, 448.
Rosecrans, Gen. William S., quoted, 259.
Rosing, Hon. Leonard A., 407.
Rush, Dr. William, 307.
Sabin, Hon. Dwight M., 268, 309, 344, 345.
Sackett, J. B., and A. L., 440.
Saint Anthony, 100, 148, 208, 220, 228, 230, 360, 363, 366.
Saint Cloud, 131, 132, 134.
Saint Croix Falls, Wis., 148.
Saint Louis, Mo., 114.
Saint Paul, 8, 14, 35, 44, 45, 51, 57, 81, 85, 98, 100, 101, 114,
115, 122, 153, 159, 193, 209, 219, 220, 222, 235, 238, 270, 276,
277, 290, 292, 296, 307-309, 314, 322, 338, 418.
Saint Paul and Sioux City Railroad Co., 137.
Saint Peter, 52, 92, 115-117, 123, 170, 237, 285, 288, 289, 429,
432, 435, 438-440, 458.
Sanborn, Gen. John B., 264.
Sault Ste. Marie, 78; canal, 201, 221.
Scandinavian voters, 241, 330, 345, 376, 385, 386, 387, 397.
Scanlon, Hon. Charles, 408.
Scheffer, Hon. Albert, 276, 290, 294, 311.
Scheffer, Charles, 175.
School lands and fund, 16, 41, 160, 164, 230, 313, 421, 460.
School system, 118, 177, 185, 236, 245, 370, 394, 402, 408, 418,
427, 444, 449.
Schoolcraft, Henry R., 10, 78, 82.
Scott, Dred, 18, -90.
Scott, Gen. Winfield, 55.
Scott, Sir Walter, quoted, 426.
Seeger, William, state treasurer, defaulter, 174-176.
476

INDEX.
Senate, United States, 21, 24, 197-201, 332, 340, 344-348, 421.
Severance, Cordenio A., 215.
Severance, Hon. Martin J., 118.
Seventh Minnesota Regiment, 133, 134, 141, 150, 152, 153.
Shakespeare, studies published by Governor Davis, 196, 203-205,
220; by Hon. Ignatius Donnelly, 342.
Sheldon, Theodore B., 257.
Sherman, Gen. William T., 261, 262.
Shields, Gen. James, 51.
Sibley, Governor Henry Hastings, Preface, 7, 8, 9, 15, 24, 26,
29, 72, 135, 139, 151, 217, 242, 272, 289, 359, 360, 397, 443;
biography, 75-103; messages and other published papers, 103-
105; ancestry and birth, 77; tribute to his mother by Mrs.
Ellet, 77; his education, 78; clerk at Sault St. Marie, 78; of
the American Fur Company at Mackainac, 78; appointed in
charge of that company' headquarters post for the North
west, at St. Peter's, 1834, 79; first valuable personal library
in Minnesota, 80; friendship with Protestant and Catholic
missionaries, 80; his associates in the fur trade, 80; his
hunting expeditions, 81; marriage and family, 81, 101; home
life and hospitality, 81-82; delegate in Congress, 82-85;
member of the Territorial legislature, 85; of the State con
stitutional convention, 85-86; first governor of the State, 86;
his administration, 86-90; the Five Million Loan for rail
roads, 87-89; the Sioux outbreak, 90-92; campaign against
the Sioux, 1863, 93-98; breveted major general, 98; president
of the Minnesota Histprical Society, and bequest of his
, papers, 99, 102, 103; last years and honors^ J01; summary
of his character, 102; quotations from his messages, 103-104;
other addresses and memoirs, 104-105.
Silver question, 316, 375, 382-3, 394.
Sioux outbreak, 1862, 19-20, 42-43, 90-98, 118-120, 134, 135, 170,
171, 187, 230, 258, 273, 280, 288, 289, 297, 425, 439.
Sioux treaties, 1851, 11-13, 37, 43, 44, 53.
Slavery questions, 14, 18, 40, 44, 90, 104, 113, 143, 398.
Smalley, FTugene V., Preface.
Smith, Gen. A. J., 260, 263.
Smith, Hon. Charles K., 36.
Smith, Rev. Samuel G., 206, 298.
Socialist party, 364, 386, 407, 408, 442.
Soldiers' Home, 272, 293.
Sons of the American Revolution, 158, 272.
South, the, demands concerning slavery, 40, 104, 113.
Sproat, Col. Ebenezer, 77.
Statehood, admission of Minnesota, 63, 71, 73, 74, 85, 86, 103,
255.
Statue of Governor Pillsbury, 239; of Governor Ramsey, pro
posed, 421.
Steamboating, 401, 402.
Stearns, Hon. Ozora P., 173.
Steele, Franklin, 9, 80, 81, 148. 477

MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.
Stevens, Col. John H., 9.
Stillwater," 402.
Strike of miners, 450.
Stone, Dr. A. J., 215.
Stony Lake, battle, 95-96.
Stuart, Robert, 360.
Sully, Gen. Alfred, 96, 97.
Supreme Court of Minnesota, 88, 196, 248, 312, 414.
Supreme Court of the United States, 233, 411, 412..
Sutton, N. H, 249.
Sweden, early home of Governor Lind, 377; of parents of
Governor Johnson, 432, 457.
Swedenborgian church, 159.
Swift, Governor ' Henry Adoniram, quoted concerning Governor
Ramsey, 15; 136, 285, 287, 289, 439, 440; biography, 109-126;
message, 120, 126-7; ancestry, birth, and education, 111-113;
tutor in Mississippi, 113; admission to bar, 114; clerk of the
Ohio legislature, 114; marriage and family, 114, 124-125;
coming to St. Paul, Minnesota, 114; removal to St. Peter,
115-116; panic of 1857, 117; state senator, 1862-63, 117-120;
the Sioux outbreak, 118-119; becomes governor, 120; his
administration, 120-122; again a state senator, 123; register
of the United States Land Office, 123; death and funeral,
124; his character, 125-126; quotations from his message,
126-127; tribute to him by Governor Austin, 182.
Swisshelm, Henry, 131.
Tariff, 338, 353, 375, 380, 381, 383, 391, 436, 446, 451, 453.
Tax commission, 393, 419, 420, 444, 449, 459.
Taxation, 271, 293, 387, 392, 393, 408, 420, 436, 449, 451, 459.
Taylor, Hon. Joshua L., 36.
Taylor, President, 8, 50, 84, 421.
Tecumseh, 98.
Teller, Hon. Henry M., 354, 382.
Temperance, 291, 292-4, 299.
Tennessee, Society of the Army of the, 211, 221.
Tennyson, quoted, 34.
Tenth Minnesota Regiment, 96, 152, 257.
Territorial growth of Minnesota, 39, 62-63.
Territory, Minnesota, organized, 83, 84, 115.
Thacher, Hon. Joseph . A., 257.
Thomas, Gen. George H., 261, 262, 263.
Thompson, George,^ 316.
Thompson, Horace, 175.
Thorpe, Hon. L. O., tribute to memory of Governor McGill, 295.
Towne, Hon. Charles A.,. 384."
Townsite speculation, 1857, 70, 87, 256.
Tracy, 379.
Traders with Indians, 9, 11, 13.
Traverse des Sioux, 11, 439.
478

INDEX.
Treasury of United States, secretary, 41; 140; Governor Austin,
auditor, 177; William Windom, secretary, 241, 268-9.
Treaties with the Cheyennes, 98.
Treaties with the Sioux, 1851, 11-13, 37, 43, 44, 53, 421, 439.
Treaty with the Ojibways, 1863, 13, 44, 53, 121, 421.
Treaty of peace with Spain, 198.
Trusts, 325, 451.
Tyler, President, 7.
Ueland, Andreas, 387.
Uncle Tom's Cabin, 115.
Union, the, loyalty to, 40, 54, 142-144, 161, 400, 421.
University of Michigan, 193.
University of Minnesota, 24, 99, 120, 177, 184-185, 222, 230,
231, 238, 239, 243, 249, 250, 351, 352, 391, 408, 418, 437, 449.-
University of New Jersey, Princeton, 100.
University of Pennsylvania, 223, 455, 460.
Upham, Dr. Warren, Preface.
Usury in 1857, 256.
Utah Commission, Governor Ramsey as a member, 23, 45.
Van Buren, President, 255.
Van Lear, Thomas, 408.
Van Sant, Governor Samuel Rinnah, 289, 298, 386; biography,
395-418; messages. 418-421; ancestry, birth, and education,
397-9; service in the Civil War, 399-400; subsequent studies,
and work as a ship carpenter, 400.; disasters in business and
at home, 401; removal to Winona, prosperity, public ser
vices, election to the legislature, and. as Speaker of the
House, 402; commander in the Grand Army of the Republic,
403; speeches in the Republican state conventions of 1896
and 1898, 404-406; election as governor, 407; his administra
tion, 408; opposition to the railroad merger, 409-413; party
controversy in the ensuing state campaign, 414-415; character
of Governor Van Sant, 415-416; personal appearance, 417;
marriage and family, 417-418; quotations ,from his mes
sages, 418-421; his eulogy of Governor Ramsey, recommend
ing a statue, 421.
Venezuela, 199.
Vermilion lake, 155.
Vermont, 386.
Vicksburg, siege of, 260, 281, 296, 333, 460.
Vilas, Col. Williaifi F., 333, 334. \
Virginia, for some time the home of Governor Medary, 68;
82, 83, 285. ^
Voltaire, quoted, 111; 206.
Wakefield, Hon. James B., 379.
Walker, Thomas B., 360.
War (see Civil War, Mexican War, Spanish War).
War of 1812, 417. 479

MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.
War, Governor Ramsey as Secretary of, 22, 45, 421.
Ward, Hon. W. G., 174, 240.
Waseca, 240.
Washburn, Hon. William D., 176, 194, 196, 267, 276, 306, 344,
345, 360, 385.
Washington, President, 23, 103, 286, 287, 430, 453.
Washington, D. C, 320, 351, 421.
Washington state, 412.
Watab river, 37.
Webster, Daniel, 8, 197, 214, 335, 391, 442, 454; quoted, 28.
Welles, Hon. Henry T., 136.
West, Rev. Nathaniel, Life of Governor Sibley, Preface.
West, the, influence on the East, 28.
Western Reserve, Ohio, 113.
Western Reserve College, 113.
Wheat grading, 267, 271, 436.
Wheelock, Joseph A., 25, 149, 150, 237, 238.
Whig party, 6, 8, 11, 14, 67.
Wilder, Amherst H., 305.
Wilder, Judge Eli T., 257.
Wilkin, Col. Alexander, 152.
Wilkinson, Major Melville C, 365.
Wilkinson, Hon. Morton S., 24, 379.
Williams, John Fletcher, 124.
Williamson, Rev. Thomas S., 80.
Wilmot, Hon. David, 8.
Wilmot Proviso, 7, 8.
Wilson, Hon. Eugene M., 312.
Wilson, Major T. P., 281.
Wilson, Hon. Thomas, 312.
Windom, Hon. William, 34, 173, 241, 268-9, 309.
Winnebago Indians, 13, 37.
Winona, 312, '381, 402, 403.
Wisconsin, admission as a state, 82; early home of Governor
Davis, 192, 193; of Governor Nelson, 331-4.
Wisconsin, aid against the Sioux outbreak, 43.
Wood Lake, battle, 92, 151.
Wordsworth, quoted, 183.
Worthington, home of Governor Miller, 137-141.
Wren, Sir Christopher, epitaph, 34.
Wright County war, 89.
Young, Hon. Winthrop, 173.
Zedlitz, poet, cited, 211.
Zumbrota,' 257, 266.

480

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