The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men, Part 46

Author: Le Baron, Wm., Jr. & Co., Chicago, Pub
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : W. Le Baron, Jr.
Number of Pages: 1092

USA > Illinois > McLean County > The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 46

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In 1861, Judge Davis, Judge Holt and Mr. Campbell were chosen by Lincoln to investigate the management of Quartermaster Mckinstry, who held his office under Gen. Fremont. The investigation was thorough and laid bare the corruption and mismanagement of affairs in St. Louis.

In 1862, Judge Davis was appointed by Abraham Lincoln one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. This appointment was not made by any personal solicitation of Judge Davis, but simply on account of Mr. Lincoln's knowledge of the man and by the effort of friends. At the time of his appointment, he was well known in Illinois as a man of great judicial learning and the best of judgment, but his reputation had not gone beyond his State, as he had never filled a position where his decisions would be published. But, when he came to the Supreme Bench of the United States, his reputation as a jurist went beyond the most sanguine expectations of his friends. A writer in the American Law Times, in discussing the character of Judge Davis, says, " Judge Davis is a natural lawyer, a character so truly great that to doubt him would be impossible. His mind is all equity and as vigorous as it is kind. He is progressive, and yet cautious : a people's judge, and yet a lawyer." His opinion in the

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

Milligan case has attracted more attention from the people at large than any decision since that of Judge Taney in the Dred Scott case. Judge Davis lays down some fundamental principles of constitutional law which will stand as landmarks for ages after he shall have been gathered to his fathers. Judge Davis has been remarkably successful as a dealer in real estate, and in all of his purchases and sales has shown the very best of judgment. His first purchase of real estate was made in Chicago; but as he was associated with others and the disposition of the property was in a great measure beyond his control, the speculation was not fortunate. Never- theless, he had great faith in the future of Chicago, although it then numbered but a few hundred inhabitants, and he purchased an eighty-acre tract of land about three miles from the harbor. It now sells by the foot, so far as it is offered for sale. It is to this fortunate invest- ment that he is indebted in part for the ample fortune he possesses.

Ilis policy in dealing in real estate has been to purchase property in the suburbs of a growing town in order that it might become valuable with the increase of the place in size and prosperity. He was always careful to buy land intrinsically valuable, considering what it would produce, so that in any event his speculation would be a safe one. As is well known, Judge Davis is a man of great public spirit, but thinks public matters should be managed as other business matters are, on a good financial basis. He has been charged with being indifferent in the matter of subscribing to build railroads. His theory with regard to railroads is that they should be built where it will pay to build them as an investment, and that the idea of voting aid from towns, counties and States, or donating lands along the line of the proposed road is wrong in principle.

He believes that capitalists are always sharp enough to see where it will pay to invest their money and are ready to build railroads which will return a fair profit to the investors. He thinks that the voting of aid by towns and counties and making land-grants result in many cases in building roads which will not pay running expenses, and in others of putting roads in the hands of unprincipled managers who care nothing whatever for the people who have helped them and the towns that have voted them aid. Under these circumstances, he has always been very conservative and cool about assisting railroads, and some fault has been found with him for so doing, but many of those who have blamed him in times past, are now very much of his way of thinking. Bloomington and Normal have been very much benefited by their State insti- tutions-the Normal School and the Soldiers' Orphans' Home. The location of these institu- tions here was due in a great measure to Judge Davis, who donated forty acres of land to the Normal School and sixty acres to the Orphans' Home. The former donation was worth at the time when given, $4,000 and the latter $12,000. It will be remembered that great exertions were made to have these institutions taken elsewhere, and Judge Davis' example and influence did very much to prevent their transfer. So far as matters of charity are concerned it is not usually safe to speak definitely of any one. People who have the greatest reputation for charity usually only deserve part of the credit they receive, as a suspicion is sometimes aroused that their charities are performed to be seen of men. Judge Davis does not indulge in ostentatious charity, but his friends assert that very few can be found anywhere so liberal, even when judged by the proper standard-ability to give.

Judge Davis was, at one time, enabled to do some service to the city of Bloomington by saving to it the machine-shops of the Chicago & Alton Railroad. These shops secure a monthly disbursement of $50,000, and the matter is of the greatest importance to Bloomington. When they were burned down, Judge Davis was holding court in Chicago ; he there learned that it was the intention of various parties to make an effort to transfer the machine-shops to another point. He immediately gave notice to the citizens of Bloomington, who took active measures to save them.

There was more danger of the shops going to Chicago than the public in Bloom- ington generally imagined, but Judge Davis understood the real state of affairs better than any one else, and Bloomington is deeply indebted to him for his services on this occasion.

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

For the benefit of future historians, we will explain Judge Davis' connection with the famous Cincinnati Convention of May 2, 1872. There were in the Republican party a large number of men who were very much opposed to the renomination of President Grant. Some of these were disappointed office-seekers, but the majority of those who were in the foreground of the movement were men who were of the purest motives, looking for " civil-service reform." It was thought that if a Republican could be agreed upon at Cincinnati who was likely to carry a large number of votes from his own party, he would be nominated by the regular Democratic Convention and elected President ; while it was scen that the nomination of a regular Democrat, with no sup- porters except from his own party, would insure his defeat. From Judge Davis' inde- pendent position, he having been known for years as a Republican, having been one of Abraham Lincoln's warmest friends, being the executor of Mr. L.'s estate, being well known all over the country for his high standing as a Judge in the Supreme Court of the United States, there is little doubt that, had he been nominated at Cincinnati, he might have proved much stronger than Horace Greeley, who was the choice of that Convention, and was accepted by the Democrats at their National Convention soon after. When it was seen that a strong effort would be made at Cincinnati to secure the nomi- nation for Judge Davis, his personal friends in Bloomington rallied with wonderful enthusiasm. A special train of eight passenger-coaches left this city for Cincinnati, carrying nearly three hundred Bloomingtonians, who were full of zcal for their candi- date. Probably Bloomington never experienced such a peculiar excitement as during the few days that preceded this excursion, and the time that elapsed till May 3, when the result at Cincinnati became known. Judge Davis' friends were fully persuaded that he would be nominated, and that, in that event, he would be the next President. His life-long friends were rejoiced at the prospect of such good-fortune, while the citi- zens generally, whether personally or politically friendly or not, were pleased at the prominence that would be given to Bloomington in case of his success.

The Bloomingtonians at Cincinnati, strengthened by the other delegations from Illinois, infused great enthusiasm into the movement, and, on the first ballot, Judge Davis carried a large vote in the Convention. He was not regarded as sufficiently known all over the Union, and Horace Greeley was the fortunate, or, as the event proved, unfortunate, nominee.

But this event was not needed to prove the strong hold Judge Davis has upon the affections of his neighbors, who well know the many instances in which he has assisted the home of his adoption in nearly all plans that have been inaugurated for the public good. During his whole career in this place, he has been one of the foremost in nearly every public enterprise, so that particular enumeration here is entirely unnecessary.

In the winter of 1877 and 1878, at the Senatorial election, when the Legisla- ture was called upon to choose a successor to Gen. John A. Logan, there was a long contest before a choice was effected. The Republican party in the Legislature lacked several of a majority. The balance of power between the Democrats and Republicans was held by five or six Senators and Representatives who were called Independents, though sympathizing more with the Democrats than with the supporters of Gen. Logan, who had been voted for by the Republicans for several days in succession. The Repub- licans balloted for other persons-Judge C. B. Lawrence among others. Finally, the Independents proposed Judge David Davis, whose political sentiments were almost

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

unknown, though he was supposed to lean slightly to the Democratic side, and to be very much in sympathy with the Independents. After a few ballots, the whole strength of the Democratic party, with one or two exceptions, added to the votes of the Inde- pendents, elected David Davis to the United States Senate for the six years commen- cing with the 4th day of March, 1878.

His high standing as a Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States taken in connection with his well-balanced judgment, which is seldom at fault on political questions, gave him an enviable position in the Senate, where he wields an influence of which his constituents may well be proud. He has continued impartially to fill the political position he was expected to occupy-that of an Independent, with a decided inclination to the side of the Democracy. Bloomington, as well as the whole State of Illinois, may well feel honored in being represented in the United States Senate by David Davis.

POLITICAL HISTORY.

Our city has always claimed that the great Republican party of the nation had its birth at Major's Hall in 1856. At the risk of being attacked for our audacity, we will undertake to declare this a spurious claim. In the fall of 1854, the opposition to the Nebraska bill all over the country fought its battles under different names, generally as Free-Soilers, Anti-Nebraska Democrats, the Whig or American party; though in Massa- chusetts the Free-Soilers and Anti-Nebraska Democrats had declared themselves to be Republicans. The election of Speaker in Congress in the winter of 1855 and 1856 resulted in the choice of N. P. Banks, who had been elected as a Republican and American, in 1854. It is, however, a fact that a convention called as the " Anti- Nebraska State Convention " assembled in Major's Hall, in Bloomington, May 29, 1856, which nominated William H. Bissell for Governor, which was a most enthusiastic coll- vention, was addressed by Abraham Lincoln, and was practically the first Republican State Convention ever held in the State of Illinois.

Let us examine a letter signed " Anti-Nebraska," published August 9, 1854, in the Bloomington Pantagraph : "I am in favor of issuing a call for a State Conven- tion, signed by Whigs, Democrats, and persons of all other political faiths. Let all opposed to this Nebraska outrage come together upon equal footing, and when together, let them organize and devise plans by which to carry the State. As to the name under which we might organize and fight, I should care but little. The one adopted in Massachusetts, viz., ' Republicans,' is, perhaps, as unobjectionable as any other.

" ANTI-NEBRASKA."

Here we have proof that as early as August, 1854, the name of the new party had been applied in Massachusetts.

There was a meeting at Potter County, Penn., July 4, 1854, when the Hon. Joshua R. Giddings and others organized those present into the "Republican " party of that county. The proceedings of this meeting were recorded in the Potter County Journal, as we are informed by William Perry, Esq., of this city, who was present at the meeting, and well remembers that Mr. Giddings spoke of the organization of the Republican party as a " new movement " being inaugurated all over the country. These references to what was being done in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania are sufficient proof that the Republican party did not " originate " solely in Bloomington ; and we might also mention that one of the first Republican meetings in this State was held in Aurora, Kane Co., in the month of August, 1854.

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

It is on record that during this month a County Convention in La Salle County, Ill., adopted the same name. Furthermore, Hon. Washington Bushnell, of Ottawa, Ill., sent to Mr. A. B. Ives, of this city, printed notices for calling a Republican County Convention here on the 9th of September, 1854. These notices were posted by Mr. Ives. The idea of such a convention was derided by our leading politicians, who regarded this movement as a sort of disguised abolitionism. This convention was held at our old Court House, its proceedings attracting very little attention. The Pantagraph, then a Whig paper, contained an able editorial arguing against the formation of a new party, which is almost the only evidence we find in its files that any movement was in contemplation. It did not even deign to give a regular editorial report of the County Convention, which is thus reported in the Weekly Pantagraph of September 13, 1854:

REPUBLICAN.

At a meeting of the voters of McLean County, held pursuant to notice, at the Court House in Bloomington, on Saturday, the 9th day of September, for the purpose of appointing delegates to the District Convention to be held at Springfield, on motion, Dr. J. R. Freese was called to the chair, and A. B. Ives was appointed Secretary. On motion, the following delegates were chosen, to wit : Dr. R. O. Warinner, Dr. J. R. Freese, Oliver Graves, A. B. Ives, Bloomington : N. N. Jones, Hudson : W. F. M. Arny, North Bloomington.

On motion of Dr. J. R. Freese, it was

Resolved, That our delegates be instructed to have added to the platform of the new party (if one is formed , the Anti-Liquor plank.

Resolved, That the delegates have power to fill vacancies, and that the proceedings of this meeting be published in the Daily Pantagraph.

J. R. FREESE, Chairman. A. B. IVES, Secretary.

The State Convention to which these delegates were appointed, met at Springfield, October 5, 1854. It was attended by only twenty-six delegates, who were mostly Abolitionists, Owen Lovejoy, Ichabod Codding and Erastus Wright having been the moving spirits. On the 5th of October, it nominated John E. McClun, of McLean, as a candidate for State Treasurer. In a short time, the name of James Miller, of Bloom- ington, was substituted for that of Judge McClun, but the latter gentleman is entitled to the honor of having been the first Republican nominee in Illinois for a State office. This Convention is not generally considered as the first Republican State Convention, its numbers having been insignificant and its organization imperfect, but it is historically the earliest on record.

This is the same State Convention recommended in the Pantagraph's communica- tion of the date of August 9, 1854, and we have now plainly shown the chain of title from its beginning to its ending, proving that Bloomington assisted the general move- ment for a new party, but that our city originated very little that was new in this direction.

Very few of the delegates appointed at the Republican meeting at the Court House September 9, 1854, attended the State Convention of which we have spoken, but they were present at the Congressional Convention held at Major's Hall September 12. This district, at that time, was made up of Bureau, La Salle, Will, Kendall, Kankakee, Iroquois, Putnam, Woodford, McLean, Livingston, Champaign and Vermilion Counties. Among the delegates were some of the class known as Republicans, or Abolitionists, while others were " Anti-Nebraska" Whigs and Democrats. The Convention was

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

regarded by the people of Bloomington as a sort of Abolition affair, as in this region the Whig party was supposed to be good enough for all purposes. In the organization of the Convention, the " Republican " element (then considered about the same as Abo- litionists) obtained the organization, and the Committee reported and the Convention adopted a full set of Republican resolutions, which were thought to be too strong to please the Whigs, and which were intended to be too radical for the support of Jesse O. Norton, who was the Anti-Nebraska and also Old-Line Whig candidate for a renomi- nation. To the surprise of all, Mr. Norton planted himself squarely upon the Repub- lican platform.

The supporters of the opposing candidate, Mr. C. Coffin, who was also a Whig, withdrew from Major's Hall and assembled at the Pike House. There was great excite- ment in Bloomington ; committees conferred between the two wings of the Convention, and, at 11 o'clock at night, the seceders returned from the Pike House, participated in the meeting, and the Hon. Jesse O. Norton, of Joliet, was nominated as a Republican. This Convention was large and enthusiastic, and was the real parent of the Republican party in McLean County, although many of the Whigs of that day would not acknowl- edge themselves as members of the new party.

The platform of this Convention was strongly " Anti-Nebraska," of course, was quite satisfactory to the Abolitionists, and, though not as radical as was then demanded by the latter class, it was agreeable to the " Anti-Nebraska" Whigs and Democrats ; and by a union of these three parties the Republican party was formed. In the plat- form, the " new party," referred; to in the Court House meeting of September 9, was named the Republican party. This was probably the first convention of any note of this new party held anywhere in the West, though, as we have mentioned above, N. P. Banks and others were chosen to Congress as Republicans from Massachusetts at the same election. The fact seems to be that all over the country, wherever the radical " Anti-Nebraska" men were powerful, there attempts were made, during the fall of 1854, to organize a new party ; and the meeting held in Bloomington was not held in advance of others in different States.

The resolutions of this Convention were not printed in the Weekly Pantagraph, then a Whig paper, which is the only file of newspapers of that date to which we have access. Its report of the Convention is as follows :

REPUBLICAN CONVENTION.

" The Convention in session in this place yesterday, after rather a stirring time, and passing through several phases indicative of the elements of which it was composed, closed its labors at a late hour last night by nominating Hon. Jesse O. Norton. Of course, as sensible men, honest in their anti-Nebraska sentiments, they were obliged to nominate the man who could be elected. Mr. Norton is now what he has ever been-a Whig-and, as such, he may well expect to be re-elected by a large majority."

The Whigs voted for Mr. Norton as a Whig. The Republicans, referring to their Major's Hall resolutions, which he had indorsed, voted for him as a Republican, and he was elected to Congress in November.

At the same election, James H. Woodworth, of Chicago, was elected to Congress as a Republican, as we see by a dispatch from the Chicago Tribune, dated November 8, 1854, which gives the figures : "J. H. Woodworth, Republican, 2,143; Turner

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

(Nebraska Democrat), 695 ; Mayo (Anti-Nebraska Democrat), 70; Blackwell (Whig), 249." In the summary of Congressmen elected, we find Norton classed as a Whig, Woodworth as a Republican, while in one district an Anti-Nebraska Democrat was chosen. All this in 1854 proves that there was a Republican party at that time. The Republican party carried the State of Massachusetts at the election in 1855. When N. P. Banks reached Washington, in the fall of 1855, he and others were willing to be called Republicans, and when the long contest over his election as Speaker ended, in January, 1856, he was known all over the Union as a Republican. In the light of these facts, it is ridiculous for Bloomington to claim that the Republican party had its origin and birthplace here. If there is any historical honor connected with the mat- ter, it attaches itself to the meeting held in our Court House September 9, 1854, whose proceedings we have given above. However, the Republican State Convention held at Major's Hall, May 29, 1856, was of the greatest historical importance, as we shall see.

This Convention was largely attended by delegates from all the principal counties, a: d was a most remarkable gathering. John M. Palmer presided, and Abraham Lin- coln made his celebrated speech. The " Anti-Nebraska" Whigs and Democrats, with the Abolitionists, and those who, in 1854, were willing to be called Republicans, who in this State were not numerous, with a large number of the Americans, coalesced will- ingly into one party and took upon themselves boldly the name of " Republican," which had now since the election of Speaker Banks, became a name of national importance. The enthusiasm of the convention was most tremendous, and here was started the movement which resulted in the perfect organization of the Republican party of Illi- nois. The nominees of this Convention were elected. Hon. William H. Bissell was elected Governor, and James Miller, of Bloomington, State Treasurer, while the speech of Mr. Lincoln resulted in his election to the Presidency.

Ward H. Lamon, a resident of Bloomington from 1857 to 1861 when he became Marshal of the District of Columbia, in his life of Abraham Lincoln, says: " Mr. Hern- don drew up a paper to be signed by men of his class in politics, calling a County Con- vention to elect delegates to the State Convention at Bloomington. . Mr. Lincoln was then backward,' says Mr. Herndon, 'dodgey,' so and so. I was determined to make him take a stand, if he would not do it willingly, which he might have done, as he was naturally inclined Abolitionward. Lincoln was absent when the call was signed and circulated here. I signed Mr. Lincoln's name without authority-had it published in the Journal. John T. Stuart was keeping his eye on Lincoln, with the view of keeping him on his side, the totally dead conservative side. Mr. Stuart saw the pub- lished call, and grew mad ; rushed into my office, seemed mad, horrified, and said to me, ' Sir, did Mr. Lincoln sign that abolition call which is published this morning ?" I answered, ' Mr. Lincoln did not sign that call.' 'Did Lincoln authorize you to sign it ?' said Mr. Stuart. 'No, he never authorized me to sign it.' 'Then do you know that you have ruined Mr. Lincoln ?' 'I did not know that I had ruined Mr. Lincoln-did not intend to do so-thought he was a made man by it-that the time had come when conservatism was a crime and a blunder.' 'You, then, take the responsibility of your acts, do you ?' ' I do, most emphatically.' However, I instantly sat down and wrote to Mr. Lincoln, who was then in Pekin, or Tremont, possibly at court. He received my letter, and instantly replied, either by letter or telegraph, most likely by letter, that

BLOOMINGTON Ln. H. Junider.

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he adopted in toto what I had done, and promised to meet the Radicals-Lovejoy and such-like.men-at Bloomington."

At Bloomington, Lincoln was the great figure. Beside him, all the rest, even the oldest in the faith and the strongest in the work, were small. Yet, he was universally regarded as a recent convert, although the most important one that could be made in the State of Illinois. "We met at Bloomington, and it was there," says Mr. Herndon in one of his lectures, " that Mr. Lincoln was baptized and joined our church. He made a speech to us. I have heard or read all Mr. Lincoln's great speeches, and give it as my opinion on my best judgment, that the Bloomington speech was the grand effort of his life. Heretofore, and up to this moment, he had simply argued the slavery question on grounds of policy, on what are called the statesman's grounds, never reaching the ques- tion of the radical and the eternal right. Now he was newly baptized and freshly born; he had the fervor of a new convert; the smothered flame broke out; enthusiasm unusual to him blazed up; his eyes were aglow with an inspiration ; he felt justice; his heart was alive to the right ; his sympathies, remarkably deep for him, burst forth, and he stood before the throne of the Eternal Right, in the presence of his God, and then and there unburdened his penitential and fired soul. This speech was fresh, new, genuine, odd, original, filled with fervor not unmixed with a divine enthusiasm ; his head breathing out through his tender heart its truths, its sense of right, and its feeling of the good and for the good. This speech was full of fire, and energy, and force ; it was logic, it was pathos, it was enthusiasm; it was justice, equity, truth, right and the good set ablaze by the divine fires of a soul maddened by the wrong ; it was hard, heavy, knotty, gnarled, edged and heated. I attempted for about fifteen minutes, as was usual with me then, to take notes, but at the end of that time I threw pen and paper to the dogs, and lived only in the inspiration of the hour. If Mr. Lincoln was six feet four inches high usu- ally, at Bloomington he was seven feet, and inspired at that. From that day to the day of his death he stood firm on the right. He felt his great cross, had his great idea, nursed it, kept it, taught it to others, and in his fidelity bore witness of it to his death, and finally sealed it with his precious blood."

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The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men, Part 46

Author: Le Baron, Wm., Jr. & Co., Chicago, Pub Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Chicago : W. Le Baron, Jr. Number of Pages: 1092

Author: Le Baron, Wm., Jr. & Co., Chicago, Pub
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : W. Le Baron, Jr.
Number of Pages: 1092