USA > Iowa > Henry County > The history of Henry county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 54
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Thus, the meetings were held, ballots taken, and adjournments ordered from day to day and week to week. At last, overtures were made to the Lee delegation, which were honorable and which were such as could be entertained by men of high character. They consisted of nothing more than slight con- cessions on the part of both wings of the Whig party, being an agreement to meet informally and discuss the merits of the regular nominee. This social way of obviating the terrors of " King Caucus " was consented to by those who really admired the candidate and opposed him simply because they felt called upon to sustain their dignity.
A reconciliation was effected, and the Lee County men agreed to support Mr. Harlan. The proceedings of this meeting, although informal, were designed to be of a secret nature. At all events, one would naturally suppose that polit- ical diplomacy would teach parties to such an agreement to retain inviolate their compact until the moment came for action. It proved otherwise in this instance, however, and through some one of the members, who was more voluble than discreet, the Democrats learned of the contemplated union of forces. The con- sultation meeting was held Friday evening, January 5, 1855, and the adjourned session of the Joint Convention was appointed for Saturday morning following, at 10 o'clock.
In the case under consideration, the Senate used to meet with the House in the Hall of Representatives, because of greater convenience, and it therefore devolved upon the Chief Clerk of the House to notify the Senate of the arrival of the hour for convening. On the morning of Saturday, January 6, the Clerk proceeded on his mission, and found, to his surprise, that the Senate had adjourned until the following Monday. The members were all in the Senate- chamber, but the Senate, as a legal body, had no existence for the time being. The Clerk read the formal notice required by law, and repaired to the ball to report upon the condition of affairs.
It subsequently transpired that the intended action of the Whigs had been made known to the Democrats of the Senate, and they, to thwart the purpose of their opponents, had adjourned, just before 10 o'clock. They expected that this bit of diplomacy would defeat the selection of a Senator that day, and possi- bly open an opportunity for a Democratic victory by compromise.
The Whigs were not dismayed at the outlook ; but, being under the guid- ance of Whigs in the House, proceeded to ballot for Senator. There were present the Whigs of both branches of the Legislature, who formed a majority of the entire body on joint ballot. These members elected Mr. Harlan, and the Convention announced its result, and adjourned.
Gov. James W. Grimes was then in the Executive Chair of the State. From the Governor, Mr. Harlan obtained a certificate of election to the Senate, and duly presented his credentials at the opening of the Thirty-Fourth Con- gress, in 1855, or as soon thereafter as he could reach Washington, when he was sworn in and took his seat.
The Democrats of the Iowa Legislature at once drafted a resolution of pro- test against the admission of Senator Harlan, on the ground of his election
I
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being illegal. The matter did not come up in that body, however, during the first session, and the Senator filled the seat undisturbed.
At the beginning of the second session, in December, 1856, Senator Jones called the attention of the Senate to the protest, and apologized for his own neglect in having failed to take earlier cognizance of the document. Upon his: motion, the protest was referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, with instructions to investigate the subject and report as speedily as possible.
The Senate was, at that time, Democratic. The Committee reported adversely to the seating of Senator Harlan, and the body voted, January 12, 1857, to sustain the report. The Senator at once returned to Iowa. The Leg- islature was then in session, at Iowa City; but local elections subsequent to 1854, had so changed the character of that body as to give it a Whig majority in both branches. The Republican party was just coming upon the scene, and it may be termed a Republican majority instead of Whig. At all events, the body was opposed to Democracy; and when Senator Harlan laid his case before the Legislature, with certified transcripts of the United States Senate journal, he met with hearty and instant support. On the 17th day of January, 1857, or just five days after the Senate had voted to oust him, Senator Harlan held in his hands indisputable credentials of his legal election. He returned to Washington, and was admitted to the councils of the nation.
The action of the Senate in refusing to admit Senator Harlan was very dif- ferent from the formal adjudication of a knotty problem by the Supreme Court. When a case is carried before such a tribunal, the parties thereto are admitted to a full discussion of its merits, and the Court is obliged to express not only its findings, but the processes by which its conclusions were reached. The privileges of the Senate exceed those of the Supreme Court, so far as the methods of its decisions are concerned. A committee is not required to render account of why it does thus and so ; and a report is generally adopted without much debate. Discussion is permissible, to be sure; but so important a com- mittee as that upon the Judiciary is almost always selected with an eye to pos-
sible partisan exigencies. When a report is made by it on any question touch- ing party strength, the ruling power is thrown in support of the report.
For these reasons, one is at no loss to determine why Senator Harlan was unseated, and Senators Bright and Fitch, of Indiana, were snugly lodged in the Senate, the very next session. The Indiana election was far more ques- tionable than the Iowa; but the action of the Senate was in favor of the former, while it condemned the latter. The spirit is manifested by an anecdote told at the expense of a prominent Democratic member.
It is said that a friend of Senator Harlan's, who had watched the Democrat during both contests, and noticed that he voted against Senator Harlan, while he voted for the Indiana representatives, asked the Democrat why he did so, and how he could reconcile those diametrically antagonistic votes.
" Why," responded the gentleman, " you see, I aimed to observe a strictly honorable and consistent course. When Harlan's case came from the commit- tee, I had never considered it; but I knew that the committee had done so, and with every possible means of ascertaining its real merits. For that reason, I accepted the report, and voted merely to sustain the committee. And so it was with the Bright-Fitch case. I knew nothing of its merits, and the committee did. I voted neither for nor against those gentlemen, but simply to sustain the committee ! "
That " sustaining the committee " idea is a very good one for men of tender sensibilities.
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But the real merits of the Harlan case probably may be summed up in this manner : The Constitution of the United States provides that the Senate thereof shall consist of two members from each State, and these members shall be elected at certain times and in certain manner, as is specified, " by the Leg- islature " of each State.
The question turns upon the meaning of the word " Legislature." That is defined in the State Constitution to mean "a Senate and a House of Represent- atives," chosen by the people.
It will be observed in the foregoing pages that the Senate was not in session, i. e., had no existence for the time being, when Senator Harlan was elected at the so-called Joint Convention. That Convention could legally exist only when composed of the Senate and House, which left their regular session, without adjournment as a Senate and a House, and united as a joint committee of the whole. There can be no doubt but that the Judiciary Committee reported aright ; for it would be establishing a dangerous precedent to recognize informal elections by State Legislatures. The fact that the same Committee stultified itself by reversing its decision for partisan motives ; or, even, that it reported as it did on the Harlan case purely with malignant intent (which we do not claim that it did, but cite that possibility for sake of establishing a point), in no way affects the merits of this case. Two wrongs never make one right.
The case is an historic one of great value, since it has established a prece- dent for the government of future Senates.
January 26, 1858, Gov. James W. Grimes was chosen to succeed Senator Jones. Senator Harlan was re-elected January 11, 1860, for six years. Sen- ator Grimes was re-elected for a term of six years in 1865.
Senator Harlan was appointed Secretary of the Interior by President Lin- coln, and his appointment was confirmed by the Senate just before the assassina- tion of Mr. Lincoln, in the spring of 1865. Mr. Harlan accepted the port- folio on the first of May, of that year, and, consequently, resigned his seat in the Senate. As there was no impending session of Congress, and as the Leg- islature would meet in regular session in the following January, Gov. William M. Stone, then in the Executive office of the State, did not appoint a successor to fill the nnexpired term, which ended March 4, 1867. The Legislature, when it met in January, 1866, was therefore called upon to elect two Senators, one for the short term, and one for the regular term, beginning March 4, 1867.
The Legislature was Republican in sentiment, and, consequently, chose the distinguished War-Governor, Samuel J. Kirkwood, for the short term, and honored Secretary Harlan by returning him to the Senate for the full term.
Senator Grimes was succeeded, in 1871, by Senator George G. Wright, whose term expired March 4, 1877, and who was, in turn, succeeded by Sena- tor Samuel J. Kirkwood, whose term will end March 4, 1883. Senator Harlan was succeeded, March 4. 1873, by Senator William B. Allison, whose term will expire March 4, 1879.
THE MILLER-THOMPSON CONTESTED ELECTION.
The most noted contest over an election to Congress which appears in the annals of this State is that known as the Miller-Thompson case, which tran- spired in 1848, in the then First District. From the date of the admission of Iowa into the Union as a State until the assembling of the Thirty-eighth Con- gress, in 1863, the State was divided into but two Congressional Districts, with
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an equal number of representatives. The first delegation sent to the Lower House, in 1846, consisted of Hon. S. Clinton Hastings, of Muscatine, from the northern half of the State ; and of Hon. Shepherd Leffler, of Burlington, from the southern half. At that time the State was not designated as distinct dis- tricts. At the succeeding election, for the Thirtieth Congress, which began in 1847, a formal districting was observed. The influence of locality was apparent in the choice of candidates, at this period ; for while Hon. William Thompson, of Mount Pleasant, was elected from the newly-created First District, Burlington was also represented by the selection of Hon. Shepherd Leffler, of that place, ostensibly as the member from the Second District. This uneven distribution of honor as between the original settlements, in the old Dubuque and Des Moines Counties, continued until 1851, when Dubuque asserted its rights by sending Hon. Lincoln Clark to the House. Thereafter the two districts were marked as north and south sections, rather than as river and interior counties, as at the time of the contest hereafter described. When this struggle occurred, the issue was apparently between the west and east.
In 1848, the dominant party in Iowa found itself confronted by a foe of no insignificant proportions. The politicians who had for years held the reins of power found it necessary to exert themselves if they would retain possession of the offices, or continue to dictate the policy of the infant commonwealth. A new faction had made not only an appearance on the scene, but it had gained so firm a foothold in the estimation of the people that it asserted its presence with alarming boldness. The Democrats realized the necessity of retaining an unbroken delegation in Congress, and made speedy preparation to repel the un- welcome party. But in a new region, where voters are numbered by scores, instead of by thousands, it is far easier to plan or desire than it is to accomplish marked changes in the popular will. New counties were being formed and new settlements made each year, and what was appalling to the Democrats was the fact that many of those additions to the population were strongly tinctured with Whig sentiments. It became evident that something must be done to offset the Whig influx. At this critical moment, a scheme for the relief of the old party was presented. It is impossible to say just who was the father of the idea, but it undoubtedly had its origin in one of the several able and fertile brains of the leaders who dwelt in Burlington or Mount Pleasant. The plan was none other than that of securing the vote of the hundreds of Mormon refugees who were then resting for a time on the east bank of the Missouri River, where Council Bluffs now stands.
The combination of events which placed the Mormons within the bounda- ries of Iowa long enough to legalize them as voters, is a part of this record possessing no slight interest. In the winter of 1846, the Latter-day' Saints suffered overthrow in their stronghold at Nauvoo, Ill. Their leader, Joseph Smith, was assassinated by a mob, and the vacancy caused by this violent deed had been filled by Brigham Young. President Young ordered his followers to prepare for flight across the continent, to Utah, where he had divine commands to erect an empire beyond the reach of temporal powers. . The Mormons obeyed the mandates of their ruler, but accepted their fate with great bitterness of spirit, blaming the United States. Government for the harshness they had experienced at the hands of the authorities, and manifesting the usual perversity of ignorant wrong-doers against an outraged law. Young hastened on to Utah, but his followers were too destitute to press forward with equal speed. To over- come the obstacles of a concerted movement, Young decreed that his people should start out in numerous bands, by different routes, and thereby economize
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the forage upon which they must subsist. The objective point of all the parties was the present site of Council Bluffs; and that place was to be reached by circuitons ways through the best sections of the State. The Mormons were dependent upon such game as they could kill, and upon whatever food nature placed in their paths. This exodus was not, like the Iraelites, from choice, but was compulsory. The Government had commanded them to relinquish their immoral beliefs, or suffer as violators of the law. Young had interpreted this order to mean a curtailment of personal liberties, and had instilled into the minds of his weak flock the belief that they were an oppressed people. Hence it was that the Mormons saw their homes despoiled and themselves driven out of the land at the point of the bayonet. It is not strange that such a class was blinded to its own wickedness, and accepted the words of its prophet as highest authority.
The exodus of the Latter-day Saints began in the year 1846. Iowa was the scene of unwonted activity occasioned by the flight of the refugees from the law. Some bands moved through the State on the line of the forty-second par- allel; some went through the southern tier of counties, and some passed over the territory now composing the range in which Monroe is located. Many of the Mormons did not reach the river in 1846, nor even in 1847. Hundreds camped in Marshall County during that year, and scores of the poor wretches
died from actual starvation. Those who passed through this tier of counties reached Lucas County in the winter of 1846-47, and located a few miles south east of the present town of Chariton. There rude huts were erected, and a party sojourned for several months. Subsequently, these passed on to the Mis- souri River, where they also tarried for a time. A portion of the band did not remain in Lucas that year, but pushed westward in hopes of gaining the place of rendezvous designated by Young. Their hopes were blighted, however, for the weather was so inclement that they could not proceed. They did not reach a point beyond Clarke County. Three men, John Conyer, James and John Longley, became separated from the party and lost their way. They concluded to encamp for the winter (of 1846-47) where they were, and constructed a log hut. In this they lived, and attached to it the name of "Lost Camp," a title by which the locality is still known and pointed out. In the spring, these men found other Mormons but a few miles from them, in the same county. Ulti- mately the greater number of the survivors of these several divisions reached the Missouri, where a general halt was made, for the purpose of recuperating their exhausted strength before setting out on the dreary march over the plains.
It was thus that the year 1847 found a large settlement of men in the extreme western part of Iowa. By virtue of their sojourn in the State, they had become legal voters. A town had been by accident, as it were, created there, under the Mormon authority of Orson Hyde. The location of that sect, in so large a body, had naturally attracted to the spot other pioneers, and, in 1847, the colony did what all American pioneers hasten to do, asserted its right of independence as a county. That year, a delegation of representative men came east, and proposed the erection of a new county on the Missouri River.
Here was the aid for which the Democrats had been so earnestly praying! Gen. Dodge became much interested in the matter, foreseeing the possible strength such an organization might bring them. Nothing was then done, how- ever, to effect the formation of the county, but the Democrats did not lose sight of the tide of Mormons moving westward, and halting for breath on the shores of the river. In Nauvoo, the Mormon vote had been a powerful ally to the
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Democrats at general elections, and a continuance of their support was both desirable and reasonable, according to the logic of Gen. Dodge. The organiza- tion of the new county rested with Judge Carleton, of the then Fourth Judicial District, and there is evidence which warrants the belief that the Judge counseled with the General in this matter.
Of course, so serious a matter as the creation of a Democratic county could not be proposed without the Whigs learning of it, and taking council concern- ing its influence on their destiny. The cautiousness with which the Democrats approached the subject naturally awakened a belief that there was a question as to the partisan feeling of Elder Hyde; and that doubt was equivalent to an admission of weakness on the part of the Democrats. So it transpired that the leaders of both parties set to work at once to test the temperament of the Elder. Now ensued a sharp encounter of wits. Gen. Dodge felt that he held the key to the situation, since through him alone could the desired organization be compassed. The Whigs, on the other hand, apprised themselves of the fact that the Mormons were becoming anxious to show their ill-will toward the Democratic party, as a means of avenging themselves for their expulsion from Nauvoo.
At the time of the occurrence of the events written above, the county of Monroe was composed of all the territory from the west line of Wapello County to the Missouri River. The unorganized counties of Lucas and Clarke had been defined in a manner preliminary to permanent establishment, but the latter, how- ever, was entirely unsettled by white men. The former contained not more than eight or ten families. Practically, Monroe County was political dictator of all that region, and, what was significant, it was in the hands of Democratic county officials.
Such was the political condition of Iowa, when the time arrived to choose a successor to Representative Thompson, in 1848. The Democrats honored the incumbent with a renomination, and the Whigs opposed him with Daniel F. Miller, of Fort Madison.
In spite of their sore need of help, the Democrats were evidently afraid to establish the new county in the West, and, as they alone had the power to do so, the opportunity passed without the Mormons gaining their point. This distrust of the result may have had its weight with Orson Hyde, as the sequel will show.
As the time of election approached, both parties began to feel carefully for the coveted vote ; but still the Democrats felt secure, since the failure to create the new county did not prevent the extension of the franchise to the Mormons in another way. Monroe County had the power to create a precinct at the river, and thereby bring the Mormons within the pale of citizenhood. The problem to be decided was still as to the advisability of the step. To determine this, messengers were dispatched from both camps to feel the pulse of the people in the West, and each faction returned bearing metaphorical bunches of huge grapes, while their reports were that the land flowed with oil and honey for their respective candidates. In all this bartering there was evidently an under- standing between the Whigs and the Mormons; for a flat refusal on the part of the latter to vote the Democratic ticket would certainly have prevented their voting at all. The powers that were had to be mollified, and a go-between was found to represent to the Democrats the solidity of the proposed precinct. The Whigs, of course, did not openly claim the success of their embassy, but rather played off coyly, with intent to deceive.
But even after the character of the vote was determined satisfactorily to the Democrats, there still remained the question of its legality. If the territory lay
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west of the last organized county, which was then Monroe, that county had the power to create a precinct. If it did not, then there was an opportunity to contest the validity of returns from the river precinct. The Democrats believed that Kanesville, as the Mormon settlement was called, did lie within the legal territory of Monroe, but a survey was deemed necessary to settle the point. In accordance with that idea, a party was engaged to ascertain the geographical whereabouts of the village, and a random line was run. Subsequent surveys have shown that the line was, indeed, a random one, but that point did not come up in the contest which followed. For all practical purposes, the place lay west of Monroe. In the decision of this question, the Whigs wisely submitted to the Democrats, and the work of establishing the locality was performed by such means as the Democrats could, under no circumstances, thereafter dispute. It was considered highly important by the Democrats to locate Kanesville in Mon- roe territory, because Monroe was then Democratic, and they feared that the Whigs would oppose the organization of so strong a precinct, if they had it in their power to do so. If the village lay north of the upper line of Monroe, it belonged to Marion County, which was then a Whig stronghold. The eager- ness with which the Democrats labored to prove that Kanesville really was sev- eral miles south of its actual location, forms one of the grim humors of this contest.
The Whigs, meanwhile, confident of the victory they were to win, offered no objections to the formation of the precinct, but seemed quiescent in the mat- ter. On the 3d of July, 1848, the Monroe County Commissioners issued the , following order :
Ordered, by said Board, that that portion of country called Pottawattamie County, which lies directly west of Monroe County, be organized into a township, and that Kanesville be a precinct for election purposes in said township, and that the election be held at the Council House in said village; and that Charles Bird, Henry Miller and William Huntington be appointed Judges of said election ; and that the boundaries of said township extend east as far as the East Nish-na-bat-na.
This public announcement of the plan warned the Whigs to unmask. Greek met Greek. It was known that the Board, then consisting of Andrew Elswick, William McBride and George R. Holliday, with Dudley C. Barber as Clerk, was Democratic. The latter officer made out the poll-books and sent them to the new precinct. Both parties sought the field of battle, and for a time the Mormon element became the favorites of the politicians, since they held the balance of power. The Mormons at home in Nauvoo were Democratic in sentiment, it was argued, and the Democrats were confident of their co-opera- tion in the time of need.
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