USA > Illinois > Brown County > Biographical review of Cass, Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois: Containing biographical sketches of pioneers and leading citizens > Part 4
USA > Illinois > Cass County > Biographical review of Cass, Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois: Containing biographical sketches of pioneers and leading citizens > Part 4
USA > Illinois > Schuyler County > Biographical review of Cass, Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois: Containing biographical sketches of pioneers and leading citizens > Part 4
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there was no hope of any peaceful adjust- ment of our difficulties with the cabinet of St. James. War was consequently declared in June, 1812. Immediately after the sack of Washington the Secretary of War re- signed, and Mr. Monroe, at the earnest request of Mr. Madison, assumed the ad- ditional duties of the War Department, without resigning his position as Secretary of State. It has been confidently stated, that, had Mr. Monroe's energies been in the War Department a few months earlier, the disaster at Washington would not have occurred.
The duties now devolving upon Mr. Mon- roe were extremely arduous. Ten thou- sand men, picked from the veteran armies of England, were sent with a powerful fleet to New Orleans to acquire possession of the mouths of the Mississippi. Our finan- ces were in the most deplorable condition. The treasury was exhausted and our credit gone. And yet it was necessary to make the most rigorous preparations to meet the foe. In this crisis James Monroe, the Sec- retary of War, with virtue unsurpassed in Greek or Roman story, stepped forward and pledged his own individual credit as subsidiary to that of the nation, and thus succeeded in placing the city of New Or- leans in such a posture of defense, that it was enabled successfully to repel the in- vader.
Mr. Monroe was truly the armor-bearer . of President Madison, and the most efficient business man in his cabinet. His energy in the double capacity of Secretary, both of State and War, pervaded all the depart- ments of the country. He proposed to increase the army to 100,000 men, a meas- ure which he deemed absolutely necessary to save us from ignominious defeat, but which, at the same time, he knew would render his name so unpopular as to preclude the possibility of his being a successful can- didate for the Presidency.
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JAMES MONROE.
The happy result of the conference at Ghent in securing peace rendered the in- crease of the army unnecessary; but it is not too much to say that James Monroe placed in the hands of Andrew Jackson the weapon with which to beat off the foe at New Orleans. Upon the return of peace Mr. Monroe resigned the department of war, devoting himself entirely to the duties of Secretary of State. These he continued to discharge until the close of President Madison's administration, with zeal which was never abated, and with an ardor of self-devotion which made him almost for- getful of the claims of fortune, health or life.
Mr. Madison's second term expired in March, 1817, and Mr. Monroe succeeded to the Presidency. He was a candidate of the Republican party, now taking the name of the Democratic Republican. In 1821 he was re-elected, with scarcely any opposition. Out of 232 electoral votes, he received 231. The slavery question, which subsequently assumed such formidable dimensions, now began to make its appearance. The State of Missouri, which had been carved out of that immense territory which we had pur- chased of France, applied for admission to the Union, with a slavery Constitution. There were not a few who foresaw the evils impending. After the debate of a week it was decided that Missouri could not be admitted into the Union with slav- ery. This important question was at length settled by a compromise proposed by Henry Clay.
The famous "Monroe Doctrine," of which so much has been said, originated in this way: In 1823 it was rumored that the Holy Alliance was about to interfere to prevent the establishment of Republican liberty in the European colonies of South America. President Monroe wrote to his old friend Thomas Jefferson for advice in the emergency. In hisreply under date of
October 24, Mr. Jefferson writes upon the supposition that our attempt to resist this European movement might lead to war:
" Its object is to introduce and establish the American system of keeping out of our land all foreign powers; of never permitting those of Europe to intermeddle with the affairs of our nation. It is to maintain our own principle, not to depart from it."
December 2, 1823, President Monroe sent a message to Congress, declaring it to be the policy of this Government not to entangle ourselves with the broils of Eu- rope, and not to allow Europe to interfere with the affairs of nations on the American continent; and the doctrine was announced, that any attempt on the part of the Euro- pean powers "to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere would be regarded by the United States as danger- ous to our peace and safety."
March 4, 1825, Mr. Monroe surrendered the presidential chair to his Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, and retired, with the universal respect of the nation, to his private residence at Oak Hill, Lou- doun County, Virginia. His time had been so entirely consecrated to his country, that he had neglected his pecuniary interests, and was deeply involved in debt. The welfare of his country had ever been up- permost in his mind.
For many years Mrs. Monroe was in such feeble health that she rarely appeared in public. In 1830 Mr. Monroe took up his residence with his son-in-law in New York, where he died on the 4th of July, 1831. The citizens of New York conducted his obsequies with pageants more imposing than had ever been witnessed there before. Our country will ever cherish his mem- ory with pride, gratefully enrolling his name in the list of its benefactors, pronounc- ing him the worthy successor of the illus- trious men who had preceded him in the presidential chair.
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John Quincy Adams
OHN QUINCY ADAMS, the sixth President of the United States, 1825-'9, was born in the rural home of his honored father, John Adams, in Quincy, Massachusetts, July 11, 1767. His mother, a woman of exalted worth, watched over his childhood during the almost constant absence of his father. He commenced his education at the village school, giving at an early period indica- tions of superior mental en- dowments.
When eleven years of age he sailed with his father for Europe, where the latter was associated with Franklin and Lee as Minister Plenipotentiary. The intelligence of John Quincy attracted the attention of these men and received from them flattering marks of attention. Mr. Adams had scarcely returned to this country in 1779 ere he was again sent abroad, and John Quincy again accom- panied him. On this voyage he commenced a diary. which practice he continued, with but few interruptions, until his death. He journeyed with his father from Ferrol, in Spain, to Paris. Here he applied himself for six months to study; then accompanied
his father to Holland, where he entered, first a school in Amsterdam, and then the University of Leyden. In 1781, when only fourteen years of age, he was selected by Mr. Dana, our Minister to the Russian court, as his private secretary. In this school of incessant labor he spent fourteen months, and then returned alone to Holland through Sweden, Denmark, Hamburg and Bremen. Again he resumed his studies under a private tutor, at The Hague.
In the spring of 1782 he accompanied his father to Paris, forming acquaintance with the most distinguished men on the Conti- nent. After a short visit to England, he re- turned to Paris and studied until May, 1785, when he returned to America, leav- ing his father an embassador at the court of St. James. In 1786 he entered the jun- ior class in Harvard University, and grad- uated with the second honor of his class. The oration he delivered on this occasion, the "Importance of Public Faith to the Well-being of a Community," was pub- lished-an event very rare in this or any other land.
Upon leaving college at the age of twenty he studied law three years with the Hon. Theophilus Parsons in Newburyport. In 1790 he opened a law office in Boston. The profession was crowded with able men, and the fees were small. The first year he had
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no clients, but not a moment was lost. The second year passed away, still no clients, and still he was dependent upon his parents for support. Anxiously he awaited the third year. The reward now came. Cli- ents began to enter his office, and before the end of the year he was so crowded with business that all solicitude respecting a support was at an end.
When Great Britain commenced war against France, in 1793, Mr. Adams wrote some articles, urging entire neutrality on the part of the United States. The view was not a popular one. Many felt that as France had helped us, we were bound to help France. But President Washington coincided with Mr. Adams, and issued his proclamation of neutrality. His writings at this time in the Boston journals gave him so high a reputation, that in June, 1794, he was appointed by Washington resident Minister at the Netherlands. In July, 1797, he left 'l'he Hague to go to Port- ugal as Minister Plenipotentiary. Wash- ington at this time wrote to his father, John Adams:
" Without intending to compliment the father or the mother, or to censure any others, I give it as my decided opinion, that Mr. Adams is the most valuable char- acter we have abroad; and there remains no doubt in my mind that he will prove the ablest of our diplomatic corps."
On his way to Portugal, upon his arrival in London, he met with dispatches direct- ing him to the court of Berlin, but request- ing him to remain in London until he should receive instructions. While waiting he was married to Miss Louisa Catherine John- son, to whom he had been previously en- gaged. Miss Johnson was a daughter of Mr. Joshua Johnson, American Consul in London, and was a lady endowed with that beauty and those accomplishments which fitted her to move in the elevated sphere for which she was destined.
In July, 1799, having fulfilled all the pur- poses of his mission, Mr. Adams returned. In 1802 he was chosen to the Senate of Massachusetts from Boston, and then was elected Senator of the United States for six years from March 4, 1804. His reputation, his ability and his experience, placed him immediately among the most prominent and influential members of that body. He sustained the Government in its measures of resistance to the encroachments of Eng- land, destroying our commerce and insult- ing our flag. There was no man in America more familiar with the arrogance of the British court upon these points, and no one more resolved to present a firm resist- ance. This course, so truly patriotic, and which scarcely a voice will now be found to condemn, alienated him from the Fed- eral party dominant in Boston, and sub- jected him to censure.
In 1805 Mr. Adams was chosen professor of rhetoric in Harvard College. His lect- ures at this place were subsequently pub- lished. In 1809 he was sent as Minister to Russia. He was one of the commissioners that negotiated the treaty of peace with Great Britain, signed December 24, 1814, and he was appointed Minister to the court of St. James in 1815. In 1817 he became Secretary of State in Mr. Monroe's cabinet in which position he remained eight years. Few will now contradict the assertion that the duties of that office were never more ably discharged. Probably the most im- portant measure which Mr. Adams con- ducted was the purchase of Florida from Spain for $5,000.000.
The campaign of 1824 was an exciting one. Four candidates were in the field. Of the 260 electoral votes that were cast, Andrew Jackson received ninety-nine; John Quincy Adams, eighty-four; William H. Crawford, forty-one, and Henry Clay, thirty-seven. As there was no choice by the people, the question went to the House
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of Representatives. Mr. Clay gave the vote of Kentucky to Mr. Adams, and he was elected.
The friends of all disappointed candidates now combined in a venomous assault upon Mr. Adams. There is nothing more dis- graceful in the past history of our country than the abuse which was poured in one uninterrupted stream upon this high- minded, upright, patriotic man. There was never an administration more pure in prin- ciples, more conscientiously devoted to the best interests of the country, than that of John Quincy Adams; and never, perhaps, was there an administration more unscru- pulously assailed. Mr. Adams took his seat in the presidential chair resolved not to know any partisans hip, but only to con- sult for the interests of the whole Republic,
He refused to dismiss any man from of- fice for his political views. If he was a faith- ful officer that was enough. Bitter must have been his disappointment to find that the Nation could not appreciate such conduct.
Mr. Adams, in his public manners, was cold and repulsive; though with his per- sonal friends he was at times very genial. This chilling address very seriously de- tracted from his popularity. No one can read an impartial record of his administra- tion without admitting that a more noble example of uncompromising dignity can scarcely.be found. It was stated publicly that Mr. Adams' administration was to be put down, " though it be as pure as the an- gels which. stand at the right hand of the throne of God." Many of the active par- ticipants in these scenes lived to regret the course they pursued. Some years after, Warren R. Davis, of South Carolina, turn- ing to Mr. Adams, then a member of the House of Representatives, said:
" Well do I remember the enthusiastic zeal with which we reproached the admin- istration of that gentleman, and the ardor and vehemence. with which we labored to
bring in another. For the share I had in these transactions, and it was not a small one, I hope God will forgive me, for I shall never forgive myself."
March 4, 1829, Mr. Adams retired from the Presidency and was succeeded by An- drew Jackson, the latter receiving 168 out of 261 electoral votes. John C. Calhoun was elected Vice-President. The slavery question now began to assume pretentious magnitude. Mr. Adams returned to Quincy, and pursued his studies with una- bated zeal. But he was not long permitted to remain in retirement. In November, 1830, he was elected to Congress. In this he recognized the principle that it is honor- able for the General of yesterday to act as Corporal to-day, if by so doing he can ren- der service to his country. Deep as are our obligations to John Quincy Adams for his services as embassador, as Secretary of State and as President; in his capacity as legislator in the House of Representa- tives, he conferred benefits upon our land which eclipsed all the rest, and which can never be over-estimated.
For seventeen years, until his death, he occupied the post of Representative, tow- ering above all his peers, ever ready to do brave battle for freedom, and winning the title of " the old man eloquent." Upon taking his seat in the House he announced that he should hold himself bound to no party. He was usually the first in his place in the morning, and the last to leave his seat in the evening. Not a measure could escape his scrutiny. The battle which he fought, almost singly, against the pro-slavery party in the Government, was sublime in. its moral daring and heroism. For persisting in presenting petitions for the abolition of slavery, he was threatened with indictment by the Grand Jury, with expulsion from the House, with assassina- tion; but no threats could intimidate him, and his final triumph was complete.
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.On one occasion Mr. Adams presented a petition, signed by several women, against the annexation of Texas for the purpose of cutting it up into slave States. Mr. How- ard, of Maryland, said that these women discredited not only themselves, but their section of the country, by turning from their domestic duties to the conflicts of po- litical life.
" Are women," exclaimed Mr. Adams, " to have no opinions or actions on subjects relating to the general welfare? Where did the gentleman get his principle? Did he find it in sacred history,-in the language of Miriam, the prophetess, in one of the noblest and sublime songs of triumph that ever met the human eye or ear? Did the gentleman never hear of Deborah, to whom the children of Israel came up for judg- ment ? Has he forgotten the deed of Jael, who slew the dreaded enemy of her coun- try? Has he forgotten Esther, who, by her petition saved her people and her coun- try ?
" To go from sacred liistory to profane, does the gentleman there find it 'discredita- ble ' for women to take an interest in politi- cal affairs? Has he forgotten the Spartan mother, who said to her son when going out to battle, 'My son, come back to me with thy shield, or upon thy shield ?' Does he remember Cloelia and her hundred com- panions, who swam across the river under a shower of darts, escaping from Porsena ? Has he forgotten Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi? Does he not remember Por- tia, the wife of Brutus and the daughter of Cato ?
" To come to later periods, what says the history of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors ? To say nothing of Boadicea, the British heroine in the time of the Cæsars, what name is more illustrious than that of Eliza- beth? Or, if he will go to the continent, will he not find the names of Maria Theresa of Hungary, of the two Catherines of 4
Prussia, and of Isabella of Castile, the pa- troness of Columbus ? Did she bring ' dis- credit ' on her sex by mingling in politics ?"
In this glowing strain Mr. Adams si- lenced and overwhelmed his antagonists.
In January, 1842, Mr. Adams presented a petition from forty-five citizens of Haver- hill, Massachusetts, praying for a peaceable dissolution of the Union. The pro-slavery party in Congress, who were then plotting the destruction of the Government, were aroused to a pretense of commotion such as even our stormy hall of legislation has rarely witnessed. They met in caucus, and, finding that they probably would not be able to expel Mr. Adams from the House drew up a series of resolutions, which, if adopted, would inflict upon him disgrace, equivalent to expulsion. Mr. Adams had presented the petition, which was most re- spectfully worded, and had moved that it be referred to a committee instructed to re- port an answer, showing the reason why the prayer ouglit not to be granted.
It was the 25th of January. The whole body of the pro-slavery party came crowd- ing together in the House, prepared to crush Mr. Adams forever. One of the num- ber, Thomas F. Marshall, of Kentucky, was appointed to read the resolutions, which accused Mr. Adams of high treason, of having insulted the Government, and of meriting expulsion; but for which deserved punishment, the House, in its great mercy, would substitute its severest censure. With the assumption of a very solemn and mag- isterial air, there being breathless silence in the audience, Mr. Marshall hurled the care- fully prepared anathemas at his victim. Mr. Adams stood alone, the whole pro-slav- ery party against him.
As soon as the resolutions were read, every eye being fixed upon him, that bold old man, whose scattered locks were whit- ened by seventy-five years, casting a wither- ing glance in the direction of his assailants, -
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in a clear, shrill tone, tremulous with sup- pressed emotion, said:
" In reply to this audacious, atrocious charge of high treason, I call for the read- ing of the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. Read it! Readit! and see what that says of the rights of a people to reform, to change, and to dissolve their Government.'
The attitude, the manner, the tone, the words; the venerable old man, with flash- ing eye and flushed cheek, and whose very form seemed to expand under the inspiration of the occasion-all presented a scene over- flowing in its sublimity. There was breath- less silence as that paragraph was read, in defense of whose principles our fathers had pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. It was a proud hour to Mr. Adams as they were all compelled to listen to the words:
" That, to secure these rights, govern- ments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; and that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of those ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundations on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."
That one sentence routed and baffled the
foe. The heroic old man looked around upon the audience, and thundered out, " Read that again!" It was again read. Then in a few fiery, logical words he stated his defense in terms which even prejudiced minds could not resist. His discomfited assailants made several attempts to rally. After a conflict of eleven days they gave up vanquished and their resolution was ig- nominiously laid upon the table.
In January, 1846, when seventy-eight years of age, he took part in the great de- bate on the Oregon question, displaying intellectual vigor, and an extent and accu- racy of acquaintance with the subject that excited great admiration.
On the 21st of February, 1848, he rose on the floor of Congress with a paper in his hand to address the Speaker. Suddenly he fell, stricken by paralysis, and was caught in the arms of those around him. For a time he was senseless and was conveyed to a sofa in the rotunda. With reviving consciousness he opened his eyes, looked calmly around and said, " This is the end of earth." Then after a moment's pause, he added, " I am content." These were his last words, and he soon breathed his last, in the apartment beneath the dome of the capitol -- the theater of his labors and his triumphs. In the language of hymnology, he "died at his post;" he " ceased at once to work and live."
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Andrew Jackson
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ANDREW JACKSON.
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ANDREW JACKSON.
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NDREW JACKSON, the seventh President of the United States, 1829-'37, was born at the Waxhaw Settle. ment, Union Coun- ty, North Carolina, March 16, 1767. His parents were Scotch-Irish, natives of Carrickfergus, who came to America in 1765, and settled on Twelve-Mile Creek, a trib- utary of the Catawba. His father, who was a poor farm laborer, died shortly before An- drew's birth, when his mother removed to Waxhaw, where some relatives resided.
Few particulars of the childhood of Jack- son have been preserved. His education was of the most limited kind, and he showed no fondness for books. He grew up to be a tall, lank boy, with coarse hair and freck- led cheeks, with bare feet dangling from trousers too short for him, very fond of ath- letic sports, running, boxing and wrestling. He was generous to the younger and weaker boys, but very irascible and over- bearing with his equals and superiors. He was profane-a vice in which he surpassed all other men. The character of his mother
he revered; and it was not until after her death that his predominant vices gained full strength.
In 1780, at the age of thirteen, Andrew, or Andy, as he was called, with his brother Robert, volunteered to serve in the Revo- lutionary forces under General Sumter, and was a witness of the latter's defeat at Hang- ing Rock. In the following year the brothers were made prisoners, and confined in Camden, experiencing brutal treatment from their captors, and being spectators of General Green's defeat at Hobkirk Hill. Through their mother's exertions the boys were exchanged while suffering from small- pox. In two days Robert was dead, and Andy apparently dying. The strength of his constitution triumphed, and he regained health and vigor.
As he was getting better, his mother heard the cry of anguish from the prison- ers whom the British held in Charleston, among whom were the sons of her sisters. She hastened to their relief, was attacked by fever, died and was buried where her grave could never be found. Thus Andrew Jackson, when fourteen years of age, was left alone in the world, without father, mother, sister or brother, and without one dollar which he could call his own. He
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soon entered a saddler's shop, and labored diligently for six months. But gradually, as health returned, he became more and more a wild, reckless, lawless boy. He gambled, drank and was regarded as about the worst character that could be found.
.* He now turned schoolmaster. He could teach the alphabet, perhaps the multiplica- tion table; and as he was a very bold boy, it is possible he might have ventured to teach a little writing. But he soon began to think of a profession and decided to study law. With a very slender purse, and on the back of a very fine horse, he set out for Salisbury, North Carolina, where he entered the law office of Mr. McCay. Here he remained two years, professedly studying law. He is still remembered in traditions of Salisbury, which say:
" Andrew Jackson was the most roaring, rollicking, horse-racing, card-playing, mis- chievous fellow that ever lived in Salisbury. He did not trouble the law-books much."
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