USA > Indiana > Delaware County > A portrait and biographical record of Delaware county, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana > Part 8
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Gen. Arthur obtained considerable legal celebrity in his first great case, the famous Lemmon suit, brought to recover possession of eight slaves who had been declared free by Judge Paine, of the superior court of New York city. It was in 1852 that Jonathan Lemmon, of Virginia, went to New York with his slaves, intending to ship them to Texas, when they were discovered and freed. The
judge decided that they could not be held by the owner under the Fugitive Slave law. A howl of rage went up from the south, and the Virginia legislature authorized the attorney general of that state to assist in an appeal. William M. Evarts and Chester A. Arthur were employed to represent the people, and they won their case, which then went to the supreme court of the United States. Charles O'Conor here espoused the cause of the slave holders, but he too, was beaten by Messrs. Evarts and Arthur, and a long step was taken toward the emancipation of the black race.
Another great service was rendered by Gen. Arthur in the same cause in 1856. Liz- zie Jennings, a respectable colored woman, was put off a Fourth avenue car with violence after she had paid her fare. Gen. Arthur sued on her behalf, and secured a verdict of $500 damages. The next day the company issued an order to admit colored persons to ride on their cars, and the other car companies quickly followed their example. Before that the Sixth avenue company ran a few special cars for col- ored persons and the other lines refused to let them ride at all.
Gen. Arthur was a delegate to the conven- tion at Saratoga that founded the republican party. Previous to the war he was judge-ad- vocate of the Second brigade of the state of New York, and Governor Morgan, of that state, appointed him engineer-in-chief of his staff. In 1861, he was made inspector gen- eral, and soon afterward became quartermas- ter-general. In each of these offices he ren- dered great service to the government during the war. At the end of Gov. Morgan's term he resumed the practice of the law, forming a partnership with Mr. Ransom, and then Mr. Phelps, the district attorney of New York, was added to the firm. The legal practice of this well known firm was very large and lucra- tive; each of the gentlemen composing it was
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an able lawyer, and possessed a splendid local reputation, if not indeed one of national extent.
Arthur was appointed collector of the port of New York by President Grant, November 21, 1872, to succeed Thomas Murphy, and held the office until July 20, 1878, when he was succeeded by Collector Merritt. Mr. Arthur was nominated on the presidential ticket, with Gen. James A. Garfield, at the famous national republican convention held at Chicago in June, 1880. This was perhaps the greatest political convention that ever assem- bled on the continent. It was composed of the leading politicians of the republican party, all able men, and all stood firm and fought vigorously and with signal tenacity for their respective candidates that were before the convention for the nomination. Finally Gen. Garfield received the nomination for president and Gen. Arthur for vice-president. The campaign which followed was one of the most animated known in the history of our country. Gen. Hancock, the standard-bearer of the democratic party, was a popular man, and his party made a valiant fight for his election.
Finally the election came and the coun- try's choice was Garfield and Arthur. They were inaugurated March 4, 1881, as president and vice-president. A few months only had passed ere the newly chosen president was the victim of the assassin's bullet. The remarka- ble patience that Garfield manifested during those hours and weeks, and even months, of the most terrible suffering man has often been called upon · to endure, was seemingly more than human. It was certainly God-like. During all this period of deepest anxiety Mr. Arthur's every move was watched, and be it said to his credit, that his every action dis- played only an earnest desire that the suffer- ing Garfield might recover, to serve the re- mainder of the term he had so auspiciously
begun. Not a selfish feeling was manifested in deed or look of this man, even though the most honored position in the world was at any moment likely to fall to him.
At last God in his mercy relieved President Garfield from further suffering. Then it be- came the duty of the vice president to assume the responsibilities of the high office, and he took the oath in New York, September 20, 1881. The position was an embarrassing one to him, made doubly so from the facts that all eyes were on him, anxious to know what he would do, what policy he would pursue, and whom he would select as advisers. The duties of the office had been greatly neglected during the president's long illness, and many import- ant measures were to be immediately decided by him; and still farther to embarrass him he did not fail to realize under what circumstances he became president, and knew the feelings of many on this point. Under these trying cir- cumstances President Arthur took the reins of the government in his own hands; and, as em- barrassing as was the condition of affairs, he happily surprised the nation, acting so wisely that but few criticised his administration. He served until the close of his administration, March 4, 1885, and was a popular candidate before his party for a second term. His name was ably presented before the convention at Chicago, and was received with great favor, and doubtless but for the personal popularity of one of the opposing candidates, he would have been selected as the standard-bearer of his party for another campaign. He retired to private life carrying with him the best wishes of the American people, whom he had served in a manner. satisfactory to them and with credit to himself. Although not a man of the transcendent ability possessed by the lamented Garfield, Mr. Arthur was able for the emergency he was so unexpectedly called to fill, and was a worthy successor to his chief,
GROVER CLEVELAND.
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S TEPHEN GROVER CLEVELAND, the twenty-second and twenty-fourth president of the United States, was born in 1837, in the obscure town of Caldwell, Essex county, N. J., and in a little two-and-a-half story white house which is still standing, characteristically to mark the hum- ble birth-place of one of America's great men in striking contrast with the old world, where all men high in office must be high in origin and born in the cradle of wealth. When three years of age, his father, who was a Presbyte- rian minister with a large family and a small salary, moved by way of the Hudson river and Erie canal to Fayetteville in search of an in- creased income and a larger field of work. Fayetteville was then the most straggling of country villages, about five miles from Pompey Hill, where Gov. Seymour was born. At the last mentioned place young Grover commenced going to school in the "good old-fashioned way," and presumably distinguished himself after the manner of all village boys in doing the things he ought not to do. Such is the distinguishing trait of all village geniuses and independent thinkers. When he arrived at the age of fourteen years he had outgrown the capacity of the village school and expressed a most emphatic desire to be sent to an acad- emy. To this his father decidedly objected. Academies in those days cost money; besides, his father wanted him to become self-support- ing by the quickest possible means, and this at that time in Fayetteville seemed to be a position in a country store, where his father with the large family on his hands had consid- erable influence. Grover was to be paid $50 for his services the first year, and if he proved trustworthy he was to receive $100 the second year. Here the lad commenced his career as salesman, and in two years he had earned so good a reputation for trustworthiness that his employers desired to retain him longer.
But instead of remaining with this firm in Fayetteville, he went with the family in their removal to Clinton, where he had an oppor- tunity of attending a high school. Here he industriously pursued his studies until the family removed with him to a point on Black river known as the Holland Patent, a village of 500 or 600 people, fifteen miles north of Utica, N. Y. At this place his father died, after preaching but three Sundays. This event broke up the family, and Grover set out for New York city to accept, at a small salary, the position of "under-teacher" in an asylum for the blind. He taught faithfully for two years, and although he obtained a good repu- tation in this capacity, he concluded that teaching was not his calling for life, and, re- versing the traditional order, he left the city to seek his fortune, instead of going to a city. He first thought of going to Cleveland, Ohio, as there was some charm in that name for him; but before proceeding to that place he went to Buffalo to ask the advice of his uncle, Lewis F. Allan, a noted stock breeder of that place. After a long consultation, his uncle offered him a place temporarily as assistant herdkeeper at $50 a year, while he could "look around." One day afterwards he boldly walked into the office of Rogers, Bowers & Rogers of Buffalo, and told them what he wanted. A number of young men were already engaged in the office, but Grover's persistency won, and he was fin- ally permitted to come as an office boy and have the use of the law library for the nomi- nal sum of $3 or $4 a week. Out of this he had to pay for his board and washing. The walk to and from his uncle's was a long and rugged one; and, although the first winter was a memorably severe one, yet he was neverthe- less prompt and regular. On the first day of his service there, his senior employer threw down a copy of Blackstone before him with a bang that made the dust fly, saying, "That's
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where they all begin." A titter ran around the little circle of clerks and students, as they thought that was enough to scare young Gro- ver out of his plans; but in due time he mas- tered that cumbersome volume. Then, as ever afterward, however, Mr. Cleveland exhib- ited a talent for executiveness rather than for chasing principles through all their metaphysi- cal possibilities. " Let us quit talking and go and do it," was practically his motto.
The first public office to which Mr. Cleve- land was elected was that of sheriff of Erie county, N. Y., in which Buffalo is situated; and in such capacity it fell to his duty to in- flict capital punishment upon two criminals. In 1881 he was elected mayor of the city of Buffalo on the democratic ticket, with especial reference to the bringing about certain reforms in the administration of the municipal affairs of that city. In this office, as well as that of sheriff, his performance of duty has generally been considered fair, with possibly a few ex- ceptions, which were ferreted out and magni- fied during the last presidential campaign. As a specimen of his plain language in a veto message, we quote from one vetoing an iniqui- tous street. cleaning contract: "This is a time for plain speech, and my objection to your action shall be plainly stated. I regard it as the culmination of a most bare-faced, impu- dent and shameless scheme to betray the in- terests of the people and to worse than squan- der the people's money." The New York Sun afterward very highly commended Mr. Cleve- land's administration as mayor of Buffalo, and thereupon recommended him for governor of the Empire state. To the latter office he was elected in 1882, and his administration of the affairs of state was generally satisfactory. The mistakes he made, if any, were made very public throughout the nation after he was nomi- nated for president of the United States. For this high office he was nominated July 11,
1884, by the national democratic convention at Chicago, when other competitors were Thomas F. Bayard, Roswell P. Flower, Thomas A. Hendricks, Benjamin F. Butler, Allen G. Thurman, etc .; and he was elected by the people by a majority of about a thousand over the brilliant and long-tried James G. Blaine. President Cleveland resigned his office as gov- ernor of New York in January, 1885, in order to prepare for his duties as the chief executive of the United States, in which capacity his term commenced at noon on the 4th of March, 1885. For his cabinet officers he selected the follow- ing gentlemen: For secretary of state, Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware; secretary of the treasury, Daniel Manning, of New York; sec- retary of war, William C. Endicott, of Massa- chusetts; secretary of the navy, William C. Whitney, of New York; secretary of the inte- rior, L. Q. C. Lamar, of Mississippi; post- master-general, Wm. F. Vilas, of Wisconsin; attorney-general, A. H. Garland, of Arkansas.
In November, 1892, Mr. Cleveland was re- elected to the presidency by the democratic party, the candidate of the republican party being their ex-chief, Benjamin Harrison, a sketch of whom follows this. The popular vote on this occasion stood: Cleveland, 5. 556, - 562; Harrison, 5,162,874; the electoral vote was 277 for Cleveland, and 145 for Harrison. During the early part of his first administra- tion, Mr. Cleveland was married to Miss Frances Folsom of Buffalo, N. Y., and in Oc- tober, 1891, a daughter, Ruth, came to bless the union, and later a second daughter was born. The first act of Mr. Cleveland, on tak- ing his seat for his second term, was to convene congress in extra session for the purpose of re- pealing the Sherman silver bill, and accordingly that body met September 4, 1893, and both houses being democratic, the bill, in accord- ance with the recommendation of the presi- dent, was unconditionally repealed.
B. HARRISON.
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B ENJAMIN HARRISON, the twenty- third president, is the descendant of one of the historical families of this country. The head of the family was a Major General Harrison, one of Oliver Cromwell's trusted followers and fighters. In the zenith of Cromwell's power it became the duty of this Harrison to participate in the trial of Charles I, and afterward to sign the death warrant of the king. He subsequently paid for this with his life, being hung October 13, 1660. His descendants came to America, and the next of the family that appears in his- tory is Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, great- grandfather of the subject of this sketch, and after whom he was named. Benjamin Har- rison was a member of the continental con- gress during the years 1774-5-6, and was one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was three times elected governor of Virginia.
Gen. William Henry Harrison, the son of the distinguished patriot of the Revolution, after a successful career as a soldier during the war of 1812, and with a clean record as gov- ernor of the Northwestern territory, was elected president of the United States in 1840. His career was cut short by death in one month after his inauguration.
President Benjamin Harrison was born at North Bend, Hamilton county, Ohio, August 20, 1833. His life up to the time of his grad- uation by the Miami university, at Oxford, Ohio, was the uneventful one of a country lad of a family of small means. His father was able to give him a good education, and nothing more. He became engaged while at college to the daughter of Dr. Scott, principal of a female school at Oxford. After graduating, he determined to enter upon the study of the law. He went to Cincinnati and there read law for two years. At the expiration of that time young Harrison received the only inher-
itance of his life; his aunt, dying, left him a lot valued at $800. He regarded this legacy as a fortune, and decided to get married at once, take this money and go to some eastern town and begin the practice of law. He sold his lot, and with the money in his pocket, he started out with his young wife to fight for a place in the world. He decided to go to Indianapolis, which was even at that time a town of promise. He met with slight encour- agement at first, making scarcely anything the first year. He worked diligently, applying himself closely to his calling, built up an ex- tensive practice and took a leading rank in the legal profession. He is the father of two children.
In 1860 Mr. Harrison was nominated for the position of supreme court reporter, and then began his experience as a stump speaker. He canvassed the state thoroughly, and was elected by a handsome majority. In 1862 he raised the Seventeenth Indiana infantry, and was chosen its colonel. His regiment was composed of the rawest of material, but Col. Harrison employed all his time at first master- ing military tactics and drilling his men; when he therefore came to move toward the east with Sherman his regiment was one of the best drilled and organized in the army. At Resaca he especially distinguished himself, and for his braverp at Peachtree Creek he was made a brigadier general, Gen. Hooker speak- ing of him in the most complimentary terms.
During the absence of Gen. Harrison in the field the supreme court declared the office of the supreme court reporter vacant, and another person was elected to the position. From the time of leaving Indiana with his regiment until the fall of 1864 he had taken no leave of absence, but having been nomi- nated that year for the same office, he got a thirty-day leave of absence, and during that time made a brilliant canvass of the state, and
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was elected for another term. He then started to rejoin Sherman, but on the way was stricken down with scarlet fever, and after a most trying siege made his way to the front in time to participate in the closing incidents of the war.
In 1868 Gen. Harrison declined a re-elec- tion as reporter, and resumed the practice of law. In 1876 he was a candidate for governor. Although defeated, the brilliant campaign he made won for him a national reputation, and he was much sought, especially in the east, to make speeches. In 1880, as usual, he took an active part in the campaign, and was elected to the United States senate. Here he served six years, and was known as one of the ablest men, best lawyers and strongest de- baters in that body. With the expiration of his senatorial term he returned to the practice of his profession, becoming the head of one of the strongest firms in the state of Indiana.
The political campaign of 1888 was one of the most memorable in the history of our coun- try. The convention, which assembled in Chicago in June and named Mr. Harrison as the chief standard bearer of the republican party, was great in every particular, and on this account, and the attitude it assumed upon the vital questions of the day, chief among which was the tariff, awoke a deep interest in the campaign throughout the nation. Shortly after the nomination delegations began to visit Mr. Harrison at Indianapolis, his home. This movement became popular, and from all sec- tions of the country societies, clubs and dele-
gations journeyed thither to pay their respects to the distinguished statesman. The popu- larity of these was greatly increased on ac- count of the remarkable speeches made by Mr. Harrison. He spoke daily all through the summer and autumn to these visiting delega- tions, and so varied, masterly and eloquent were his speeches that they at once placed him in the foremost rank of American orators and statesmen. On account of his eloquence as a speaker and his his power as a debater, he was called upon at an uncommonly early® age to take part in the discussion of the great questions that then began to agitate the coun- try. He was an uncompromising anti-slavery man, and was matched against some of the most eminent democratic speakers of his state. No man who felt the touch of his blade de- sired to be pitted with him again. With all his eloquence as an orator he never spoke for oratorical effect, but his words always went like bullets to the mark. He is purely Ameri- can in his ideas and is a splendid type of the American statesman. Gifted with quick per- ception, a logical mind and a ready tongue, he is one of the most distinguished impromptu speakers in the nation. Original in thought, precise in logic, terse in statement, yet withal faultless in eloquence, he is recognized as the sound statesman and brilliant orator of the day. His term of office as president of the United States expired on March 4, 1893, when he surrendered the high position to Stephen Grover Cleveland, allusion to which fact is made on a preceding page.
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
. . AND .
REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
RTHUR ST. CLAIR, one of the most noted characters of our early colonial days, was a native of Scotland, being born at Edinburg, in 1735. Becom- ing a surgeon in the British army, he subse- quently crossed the Atlantic with his regiment and thenceforward was identified with the history of this country until the day of his death. Serving as a lieutenant with Wolfe in the memorable campaign against Quebec, St. Clair won sufficient reputation to obtain ap- pointment as commander of Fort Ligonier, Pa., where a large tract of land was granted to him. During the Revolutionary war he espoused the colonial cause, and before its close had risen to the rank of major general. In 1785 he was elected a delegate to the Continental congress and afterward became its president. After the passage of the ordinance of 1787, St. Clair was appointed first military governor of the Northwest territory, with headquarters at Fort Washington, now Cincinnati. In 1791 he undertook an expedition against the north- western Indians, which resulted in the great disaster known in western history as "St. Clair's defeat." On November 4 the Indians surprised and routed his whole force of about 1,400 regulars and militia, in what is now Darke county, Ohio, killing over 900 men and capturing his artillery and camp equipage.
Gen. St. Clair held the office of territorial governor until 1802, when he was removed by President Jefferson. He returned to Ligonier, Pa., poor, aged and infirm. The state granted him an annuity which enabled him to pass the last years of his life in comfort. He died near Greensburgh, Pa., August 31, 1818, leaving a family of one son and three daughters.
ILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, first (territorial) governor of Indiana, and ninth President of the United States, was a native of Virginia, born in the town of Berkeley, Charles City county, February 9, 1773, [See presidential sketch. ]
HOMAS POSEY, the last governor of Indiana territory, was born near Alex- andria, Va., on the 9th day of July, 1750. His educational training was limited, being confined to the branches taught in the different schools of those days. In 1774 he took part in the expedition originated by Gov. Dunmore, of Virginia, against the Indians, and was present at the battle of Mount Pleasant. At the close of the war Mr.
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Posey went back to his home in Virginia, but did not long pursue his peaceful vocations, being called upon, the following year, to take the part of the colonies in their struggle for liberty against the mother country. He par- ticipated in the battle of Bemis Heights, as captain in Col. Morgan's command; in 1779 was colonel of the Eleventh Virginia regiment, and afterward commanded a battery under Gen. Wayne. He bore a gallant part in the storming of Stony Point, was at the capitula- tion of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and continued in the service some time after peace was declared. In 1793, he was appointed brigadier general in the army of the Northwest, and, being pleased with the appearance of the country, settled in Kentucky not long after. In that state he was a member of the state senate, being president of the body from November 4, 1805, to November 3, 1806, per- forming the duties of lieutenant governor at the same time. He removed to Louisiana in 1812, and afterward represented the state in the senate of the United States. While a resident of Louisiana he was appointed gov- ernor of Indiana territory, by President Mad- ison, and in May, 1813, he moved to Vin- cennes, and entered upon the discharge of his official duties. When his term as governor expired by reason of the admission of Indiana into the Union, Col. Posey was appointed Indian agent for Illinois territory, with head- quarters at Shawneetown, where his death occurred March 19, 1818.
J ONATHAN JENNINGS, the first gov- ernor of Indiana, was born in Hunter- don county, N. J., in the year 1784. His father, a Presbyterian clergyman, moved to Pennsylvania shortly after Johna-
than's birth, in which state the future gov- ernor received his early educational training and grew to manhood. He early began train- ing himself for the legal profession, but before his admission to the bar he left Pennsylvania and located at Jeffersonville, Ind., where he completed his preparatory study of the law, and became a practitioner in the courts of that and other towns in the territory. He was subsequently made clerk in the territorial legislature, and while discharging the duties of that position became a candidate for con- gress, against Thomas Randolph, attorney general of the territory. The contest between the two was exciting and bitter, the principal question at issue being slavery, which Mr. Randolph opposed, while his competitor was a firm believer in the divine right of the insti- tution. Jennings was elected by a small majority. He was re-elected in 1811, over Walter Taylor, and in 1813 was chosen the third time, his competitor in the last race being Judge Sparks, a very worthy and popular man. Early in 1816, Mr. Jennings reported a bill to congress, enabling the people of the territory to take the necessary steps to convert it into a state. Delegates to a convention to form a state constitution were elected in May, 1816, Mr. Jennings being chosen one from the county of Clark. He was honored by being chosen to preside over this convention, and in the election which followed he was elected governor of the new state by a majority of 1,277 votes over his competitor, Gov. Posey. In this office he served six years, also acting as Indian commissioner in 1818 by appoint- ment of President Monroe. At the close of his term as governor, he was elected as repre- sentative in congress, and was chosen for four terms in succession. He was nearly always in public life and filled his places acceptably. He died near Charleston, July 26, 1834.
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