USA > Connecticut > Biographical encyclopaedia of Connecticut and Rhode Island of the nineteenth century > Part 33
USA > Rhode Island > Biographical encyclopaedia of Connecticut and Rhode Island of the nineteenth century > Part 33
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For fifty years Mr. Welles was a constant and prolific political writer, and his essays, habitually bringing to the test of fixed principles the policy of successive administrations, largely contributed to give interest to several leading journals, and character to the politics of the country. Among the papers to which he was a large contributor, besides those of his own Statc, the Globe and the Union at Wash- ington, and the Evening Post at New York, have been conspicuous. As a writer he was fresh, clear, and forcible, and these qualities were conspicuous in his dispatches as Secretary of the Navy. He was in constant correspondence with the State Department upon matters growing out of the blockade, and some of his dispatches are models of vigorous composition. Charles Sumner, who read many of them, said that he considered him the strongest and best writer in the Cabinet. Mr. Welles was not a public speaker, and rarcly indulged in public extemporaneous remarks- his newspaper life had educated him to use the pen with great facility and power, and herein was his strength, rather than the rostrum.
It was Mr. Welles's habit, for exercise, to walk daily from his residence in Hartford, through Main Street as far as Christ Church, and he was a notable figure upon the streets. His tall commanding form, his erect frame, and his vener- able and dignified bearing, marked him at sight as a man not of the ordinary type, and the recollection- of him as he has been seen from day to day among us will remain for a long time to come. Ile was married in 1835 to Miss Mary J. Hale, daughter of Elias W. Hale Esq., a distinguished lawyer of central Pennsyl-
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vania, who, with three sons, survives him-Edgar F., Thomas G., and John A., all of Hartford. In privatc eireles he was social to a remarkable degree, and was never happier than when surrounded by his family and friends. His long news- paper and public life gave him unusual opportunities for becoming intimately acquainted with prominent men and the inside history of events extending back for more than half a century, and he delighted to impart his impressions to others. No one could spend an hour with him without being entertained and instructed. He was of marked simplicity of character-remarkably free from ostentation and show, and always just what he appeared to be. He was idolized by his family and respected by all, and passed away universally honored and lamented.
The Legislature of the State of Connecticut was in session at Hartford at the time of the death of Mr. Welles, which, notwithstanding his advanced age, was a shock to the people of the State as well as the whole country, and as one of the State's most eminent citizens passed touching resolutions of respect, which, with some of the remarks thereon, we subjoin.
THE LATE HON. GIDEON WELLES. Resolutions of Respect.
Mr. Andrews of Litchfield, spoke as follows :
MR. SPEAKER: To-day one of the most eminent of the citizens of this com- monwealth will be carried to his grave. For more than half a century Gideon Welles has ranked among the foremost people of Connecticut. For two decades he has been prominent throughout the entire nation. Dying while we are in session in this the city of his residence, it is altogether fitting that the General Assembly should show some marks of respect to his memory. I desire to offer these resolutions. I will ask the clerk to read them.
The resolutions were then read as follows :
GENERAL ASSEMBLY, January Session, A.D., 1878. 5
Resolved by this Assembly. That we, the representatives of the people of Con- necticut, learn with deep regret the recent decease of the distinguished citizen and patriot, Gideon Welles. His life was one long tribute to the American love of liberty and national unity, those constitutional principles of free government established by the fathers, to the present standard of New England integrity in private and public life. His native State will ever remember his earnest devotion to the cause of his country in her hour of peril, and his faithful and successful performance of duty in all public stations to which he was called, and especially while serving as a member of the Cabinet.
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Resolved, That these resolutions be recorded in the journals of the Senate and House of Representatives, and be published with the special acts of the session.
Mr. Andrews, subscquently Governor Andrews, spoke upon the resolutions, giving a resumé of Mr. Welles' life, and closed as follows: "The political questions which followed the close of the Mexican War, and the agitation consequent therefrom, resulted in the formation of a party opposed to the extension of slavery. With this policy Mr. Welles early identified himself and was prominent in its counsels; and when, in 1860, that party obtained control of the National Administration, he was invited to a seat in the Cabinet of President Lincoln. The events of that Adminis- tration, of the part which Mr. Welles took in it, his efforts throughout the war, and of his life since, are too recent to need mention. It is well known that Mr. Lincoln had a very great personal fondness for Mr. Welles, that he enjoyed his society and trusted in his counsel. All the friends of Mr. Lincoln remember with grateful dis- tinctness the ability and readiness with which Mr. Welles sprang to his defence from the breath of unjust comparison. All detractors, whether high or low, have learned, to their humiliating discomfiture, that so long as Gidcon Welles was alive they could not lay their unhallowed touch upon the least of the laurels that justly belong to the brow of the martyrcd President.
" Mr. Speaker, I had no personal acquaintance with Mr. Welles, and must leave to others the duty of loving eulogy. But this long life of his, spent in high posi- tions-in positions of trust and of great responsibility-and through it all his sturdy integrity, his never-failing courage, his abounding patriotism and his love for his native State, afford an example to which all his surviving friends and fellow-citizens can look back with pride and honest satisfaction."
Mr. McManus, of Hartford, the next speaker, said :
" MR. SPEAKER: In common with the nation and Statc, my native city to-day mourns under the affliction of more than ordinary calamity. The State has lost an honest and efficient citizen; an affectionate family has lost a cherished parent ; many of us have lost a personal friend. But, overshadowing all this, the country has been compelled to part with one of her most illustrious herocs and wisest statesmen. The historic character of our country's gravest crisis are rapidly passing away. The young men of 1861 arc greybeards now ; the wise and prudent statesmen of that period-the men whose wisdom directed the counsels of our armies and fleets to victory-have dropped into the grave, and as we call upon their names only an occasional fecble response is uttered by some surviving veteran. We turn with jus- tifiable pride to the history of Connecticut's able sons, to the long line of her officers and men in the fleet and field, to her civil representatives in the national councils, Dixon, Buckingham, Foster, Deming, and their associates. And looking still
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upward among those invested with still graver responsibilities, we see the venerable figure of our own fellow-citizen, his sixty years refined to almost boyish youth by an untiring patriotic head, combining the wisdom of his age with the indefatigable activ- ity of early manhood. He was not a mcre crcation of the excitement of the hour. His tongue had never learned the arts of flattery and dissimulation, and in his younger days he could never count upon the popularity of the crowds. His acces- sion to the numerous positions of public trust and honor with which he was invested was in consequence of merit, and not because he could inspire a personal campaign enthusiasm. These venerable walls, that now look upon the last Legisla- ture that ever will assemble here, have often echoed with the sound of his voice. Our statute book is enriched with the results of his wisdom. In various depart- ments of the State and National Governments hc proved himself possessor of those indispensable qualities of cxecutive ability that were recognized by the eagle eye of the President, and crowned his honors with the most exalted station next to the Chief Magistracy that the honest ambition of an American could aspire to, and after an exceptionally long and continuous service in the Cabinet, after having dis- charged his onerous duties with a satisfaction to the public, rare indeed, when not a few, and even friends, were more disposed to criticism than to generosity, he re- turned to our midst a private citizen-one of the last of the great men. For years his venerable and imposing form has been a familiar and agreeable presence amongst us, and we fondly hoped that Providence would graciously lengthen out his honorable years that he might remain with us a living tower, connecting the painful present with the tumultuous past ; but no life, however illustrious, can extend the limits of inexorable naturc.
" Death has claimed the statesman as well as the pontiff and the king. And so with the illustrious dead of our State; with the Shermans and the Trumbulls, the Wolcotts, the Seymours, the Ellsworths, Mansfield, Lyon, and McDonough, we reve- rently consign the name and fame of the departed statesman to the pages of history-to the admiration of the American people."
After a few words by Mr. Mooncy, of Newtown, the resolutions were passed unanimously by a rising vote, the rules werc suspended, and the resolutions ordered transmitted to the Senate. The House then, in respect to the memory of Mr. Wclles, adjourned.
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OOTE, ANDREW HULL, of New Haven, Conn., Admiral United States Navy. Born September 12th, 1806, in that city. He was of the eighth gen- eration in lincal descent from Nathaniel Foote, who came from England to Watertown, Mass., in 1630, and who, in 1635, settled at Wethersfield, Conn., of which he was one of the original proprietors, and in which he died, in 1644. His son Robert, from whom Admiral Foote descended, removed to Branford, Conn., of which he was one of the first settlers. Members of the Foote family have since then been chiefly addicted to agriculture, but have also filled every respon- sible position in social and civil life, and by sturdy intelligence and sterling worth have largely contributed to build up the good old commonwealth of Connecticut.
The great-grandfather and the grandfather of Admiral Foote were pastors of the Congregational church in Cheshire-the latter for nearly fifty years. His father was Samuel Augustus Foote, Governor of Connecticut in 1834-5, and United States Senator from 1827 to 1833. His mother, née Eudocia Hull, was the daughter of General Andrew Hull, of Cheshire.
While a member of the National Senate, Governor Foote moved the passage of resolutions which bore mainly on the final disposal of the public lands and the proceeds of their sales. The object he had in view was to provoke the Southern members, who held nullification principles, to show their colors in public discussion. The attempt was successful, and " Foote's Resolutions" gave occasion to the celebrated passage of arms between Webster and Hayne. The unshrinking courage of the Connecticut senator on that occasion was prophetic of the heroic daring to be exhibited by his son when the war of words should eventually pass into that of rifled cannon.
Governor Foote trained his family on strict Biblical principles. His supreme authority was never doubted, and unquestioning obedience was the law of domestic life. Idleness was regarded as a great sin, and industry as an exemplary duty. Plain dict, simple apparel, hard work, deference to parents, reverence for the Sabbath, reg- ular attendance upon public worship and all religious ordinances, characterized his household, as they did all sober Puritan households in " the land of steady habits."
Andrew proved to be a lively, frolicsome boy, and the leader of his young compan- ions. While a wee bit of a lad, he had his first ram fight with an infuriated merino sheep that charged viciously upon his little brother. The battle was a drawn one, but the honors remained with the boy. Genial, kind and popular, he was never quarrel- some, but at the same time was always ready to defend his rights against aggression. His desire to become a sailor probably originated in his own peculiar temperament, and was strengthened by his father's occasional voyages to the West Indies as super- cargo of one of his own vessels. The war of 1812, with its long series of brilliant
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naval exploits, often recounted in his hearing, doubtless imparted additional intensity to his maritime longing.
In 18+2 the family removed from New Haven to Cheshire, in the same county, and resided there until the death of Governor Foote in 1846. In the schools of Cheshire he acquired the preparation necessary to pass the examination given to all candidates for the West Point Military Academy, which he entered in June, 1822. But the naval, not the military profession, was his choice, and in December of the same year he was transferred to the navy, being appointed acting midshipman on board the schooner Grampus, under Commander Gregory. Promptness and discipline were learned in a "rough and ready" school. The science of navigation was mastered by assiduous study of books, assisted by daily practical lessons. His supreme ambition was to make himself a perfect naval officer.
Perils and hardships of severest character greeted the youthful neophyte from the very beginning of his career. His vessel was employed in scourging the pirates of the West Indies from the seas, and in conjunction with other American ships accom- plished the undertaking with thoroughness. The terrible curse of piracy was swept from that part of the ocean. Professor J. M. Hoppin* states that "not unfrequently the wily foe, who eludcd pursuit in a thousand ways, turned and challenged the avengers of blood to hand-to-hand conflict. For six months of the time officers went out boating in these stormy waters, and it is said that young Foote personally distin- guished himself in this service. He certainly acquired those habits of discipline, skill, and daring which afterward were so useful to him, and which could not have been lcarned under the best masters on shore."
On the 6th of December, 1823, he was transferred to the Peacock, and on the IIth received his warrant as midshipman. On September 8th, 1824, he was transferred to the frigate United States, which was then employed in guarding American interests in the South Pacific, during the wars for the independence of the South American Republics. While on that station he visited Lima, spent several days very pleas- antly, and was a very keen and eurious observer of Peruvian manners and customs. Returning to New York, April 25th, 1827, he successfully underwent his examination for passcd midshipman. On the 20th of August he was sent off for a second cruise in the West Indies, first in the Natches, and afterwards in the Hornet, to which he was transferred, October 8th, 1827. While serving on the Natches one of the lieutenants spoke to him on religious subjects. Andrew " bluffed him off" by saying that he aimed to be honorable and honest in all things, and that would do for him. Soon afterward the officer spoke to him again, and he saw that honor and honesty in all things necessarily involved entire consecration to the service
Life of Admiral Foote. New York, Harper Brothers.
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of his Maker. "As soon as he was released from duty, he took his Bible and went into the steerage, and read it under great agitation of mind. This hc did for two weeks, when, upon going on deck one day, he came to the resolution that 'henceforth, under all circumstances, he would act for God ;' upon which his mental anguish and trouble vanished."
That was the turning point in the young officer's lifc. He had entered upon the road that unerringly leads to rcal greatness and true success. He had adopted right principles, received the highest and purest impulses, and from thenceforward to the close of his checquered and glorious life never failed "to act for God."
Invincible will in right-doing was his prominent characteristic. Catholic in his opinions; frce, open, and gencrous in his intercourse with men; hc won golden opinions from the calmest judges. His commander, Captain Budd, of the Natches, expressed the universal estimate when he commended young Foote as a " gentle- man of the first respectability ; and of the finest principles and feelings." Soon after his conversion, scruples arose in his mind as to the rightfulness of his pro- fession as a calling. These scruples werc confided to his father, who very wisely removed them by asking if he did. not suppose a navy to be necessary ; and, con- sidering it to be necessary, if there should not be good men and Christian men in it. He was never troubled again by similar doubts.
During a brief stay on shore in 1828 he was married to his first wife, Caroline, daughter of Bethuel Flagg, of Cheshire. She dicd in 1838, having borne him two children, of whom the eldest, Josephine, lived but four years.
In October, 1828, he again sailed for his old station on the Pacific, as sailing- master in the sloop-of-war St. Louis. On his return in December, 1831, he found a lieutenant's commission, dated May 27th, 1830, awaiting him. In January, 1832, he was assigned to the Delaware, seventy-four ship of the linc, and was appointed flag-lieutenant of the squadron. In the cruise which followed he visited many of the historic points up the Nile, in Egypt, and also in the Holy Land. Landing at Joppa, he went to Jerusalem, explored the valley of the Jordan, sailed on the Dead Sca, climbed Mount Lebanon, and looked with reverent delight on the scenes that had been hallowed by the presence of his Lord and Saviour. In November, 1837, he was assigned as first-lieutenant, or executive officer, to the sloop-of-war John Adams, and began a voyage which was really one of circumnavigation of the globe. They sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to Bombay, Canton, Manila, the Sandwich and Society Islands, the coast of Chili, and doubled Cape Horn. At the Sandwich Islands he displayed his characteristic thoroughness, energy, and justice by taking the part of the excellent and apostolic American missionaries against the machinations of the French Romanist missionaries, backed as the latter were by a
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bullying French naval captain. The rigid ecclesiastical discipline instituted by the Americans, their uncompromising opposition to intoxicating liquors, and the marked preference awarded to the Protestant faith by the natives, were the real head and front of our missionaries' offending. Lieutenant Foote's action proceeded on the principle, now universally recognized, that American missionaries are American citi- zens, and as such-wherever they may be-entitled to the full and complete protec- tion of their country's flag. The church owes a constant debt of gratitude to the memory of Admiral Foote for the important service he rendered on that occasion. An extract from his private diary, written during this voyage, unintentionally but eloquently shows what manner of man he was: "Our Father, I renew to thee this day my obligations and vows to be thine-wholly thine. . . . I come with the desire to be taught of God through Christ and the Holy Spirit, so to live and act in my situation as to thy glory, and that my highest ambition may ever lie in being conformed to the will of God. Amen."
Detached from the John Adams in June, 1840, Lieutenant Foote was next appointed November 22d, 1841, to the Naval Asylum in Philadelphia; and, after Commodore Barron's resignation, the full charge of that institution during the last two years of the administration of Secretary Upshur, was placed in his hands. The Naval Academy grew out of the Naval Asylum, the. purely educational part of it having been transferred to Annapolis. No naval officer was better fitted than he to organize and mature the preparatory schools which are essential to the existence of our own and every great naval power. In this duty, as in all others, whatsoever his hand found to do he did with all his might, and did it well. The good order, high discipline, and moral tone of our naval schools, asylums, and ship-yards are as much due to his character and labors as to those of any other man. " He was one of the first to introduce the reform of total abstinence from intoxicating drinks into the navy." He first signed the pledge himself, and then others readily followed him. He taught by example, as well as precept, all the moral duties of mankind. In professional ones the same remark holds true. " In all matters of strictly professional education and culture, the principles of navigation, practical seamanship, gunnery, naval tactics, and ship-building," he was a thorough master, and left nothing to subordinates that he could do himself.
On the 27th of January, 1842, Lieutenant Foote married for his second wife, Caroline A., daughter of Augustus R. Street, of New Haven-a gentleman of wealth and culture, and the generous founder of the Vale College Art School. Five children-three sons and two daughters-were the fruit of the union. Two of the sons survived the death of their parents.
In August, 1843, he was ordered, as first-lieutenant, to the Cumberland, under
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Captain Breese. Under Foote's labors, the Cumberland became the first temperance ship in the United States Navy. In later years she acquired undying renown by her losing conflict with the iron-clad Merrimac. Flag flying, and crew cheering, she delivered her last fire at her country's foes, and then went down unconquered and unstained.
Suffering from ophthalmia, contracted on boating service in Mediterranean waters, he was, on his return to Boston in 1845, furloughed for six months, and in June, 1846, was made executive-officer of the Boston Navy Yard-a post he continued to hold until June Ist, 1848. While in this position he invented the bow-propeller. The object of placing the propeller in the bow was to produce by its motion a partial vacuum or eddy, throwing the water aside that would otherwise rise in front and around, and offer resistance to the bow of the vessel in proportion to the vessel's velocity. Whatever merit may be in the invention, it was not adopted by the Chief of the Bureau of Construction.
More arduous and exhausting professional service than any hitherto exactcd was next required of the indefatigable worker. On September 28th, 1849, he was assigned to the command of the brig Perry, and ordered to the coast of Africa, for the protection of American commerce, and the suppression of the slave-trade. His papers, log-book, private journal, and especially his work, entitled Africa and the American Flag, show how zealously and efficiently he performed his duty. The slave-trade to him was disgusting and extremely abominable. There is genuine force in his statement that " if ever there were anything on earth which, for revolting, filthy, heartless atrocity, might make the devil wonder and hell recognize its own likencss, it was on one of the decks of an old slaver." His efforts to annihilate the diabolical traffic were largely crowned with success, and received the warm and merited encomiums of his superior officers. Uncommonly punctilious in all matters involving national honor, he extended and commanded the respect due from the vessels of one great nation to another. He neither offered nor would submit to slight or insult of any kind. The Government and the nation alike approved his course, nor was that greater public, composed of modern Christendom, at all grudging of its praise.
The beginning of the year 1852 found the veteran sea-rover at his pleasant home in New Haven, where for the period of more than four years he was per- mitted to dwell. Congress had one of its fits of retrenchment and economy, and practised the spasmodic virtue wherever it was likely to prove most expensive in the end. Foote employed his enforced leisure by lecturing on temperance and kindred themes-especially upon Christian missions. His robust faith, and clear perception of passing events, convinced him of the ultimate and not far distant
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triumph of Christianity. He also wrote his book on Africa and the American Flag, which contains much that has been cited as authority from the bench of United State courts. Critics attach high value to its ethnography, and also to its exposition of the relations between the United States and Africa. He also published an address on the " Ashburton Treaty," and " Consular Sea-Letters," which won him considerable reputation as a international legist.
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