USA > Indiana > Daviess County > Living leaders, an encyclopedia of biography : special edition for Daviess and Martin counties, Indiana > Part 11
USA > Indiana > Martin County > Living leaders, an encyclopedia of biography : special edition for Daviess and Martin counties, Indiana > Part 11
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294
DANIEL SCOTT LAMONT.
295
ISABELLA BEECHER HOOKER.
W TTITH the blood of the Beechers in her, it is not surprising that the subject of this sketch should have shown force of charac- ter and become widely known. Isabella Beecher Hooker was born in Litchfield, Conn., February 22, 1822. She was the first child of the second wife of Dr. Beecher, and one of that wonderful family so justly recognized with the Fields, the Washburnes, the fighting McCooks and others as among the notable ones produced in this republic. She mar- ried John Hooker, of Hartford, Conn., in 1841. Mr. Hooker is a lawyer who has achieved a standing in his profession and has refused a seat on the supreme court bench of his native state. Soon after their marriage the couple moved to Hartford, Conn., where they have
since resided. Mrs. Hooker has continued since her marriage her efforts in the direction of attaining woman suffrage. She is one of the best known living exponents of the claims of the women who want to vote. She has written much and well, and has talked much and well. She was one of the conspicuous figures in the Woman's Department of the World's Fair in 1893. At the golden wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Hooker occurred something phenomenal. The event took place August 5, 1891; Senator Joseph B. Hawley acted as mas- ter of ceremonies, and there was a demonstration such as Hartford has rarely seen; the judges of the supreme court of the state paid their respects in a body, and woman's movements were represented by dis- tinguished representatives such as Susan B. Anthony and others. It was an event of note of the day. Such demonstration from such people could have come to no ordinary person. In a green old age Mrs. Hooker is still the center of an earnest circle of reformers.
296
ISABELLA BEECHER HOOKER.
297
WILFRID LAURIER.
B RILLIANT and magnetic, if not always logical, with unquestioned sincerity in his devotion to principle and with an enthusiasm that is infectious, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the leader of the Liberal party in Canada, belongs to the dramatic school of statesmen. He was born in St. Lin, Quebec, November 20, 1841. He was educated at L'As- somption College, graduated in law at McGill University, and admitted to the bar in 1865. From 1871 to 1874 he was in the Quebec Assembly. He then entered the Dominion Parliament, and in 1877 was appointed Minister of Inland Revenue in the Mackenzie government, a position which he held until the resignation of the Ministry, in 1878. Since that year he has held no office, though he has continued to sit in Parliament. Upon the retirement of Edward Blake from the Lib- eral leadership, in 1887, M. Laurier, who had already been recognized as the head of the French-Canadian wing of the party, was unani- mously chosen to succeed him. He has since been knighted for his ser- vices to the cause which he represents. He was violently outspoken in his denunciation of the execution of Louis Riel, and demanded the latter's exemption from punishment upon the ground of his nationality. Sir Wilfrid was at one time editor of "Le Defricheur," is an earnest advo- cate of temperance, and was a delegate to the Dominion Prohibitory Convention at Montreal in 1875. Impassioned and eloquent in debate and on the platform, Sir Wilfrid Laurier has an enthusiastic following, especially with the extreme wing of the Liberal party, and is respected for his marked ability even by his political opponents. His power over his French-Canadian followers is absolute and they are devoted to him, heart and soul.
298
WILFRID LAURIER.
299
VICTOR F. LAWSON.
TT has come to few men to reap greater profit from journalism than 1 has Victor F. Lawson. He was born in Chicago, September 9, 1850. His father was a native of Norway, who came to the United States prior to 1840 and soon after settled in Chicago, where he accu- mulated a handsome estate, including the premises at 123 Fifth avenue, now occupied by the "Daily News." Mr. Lawson received his early education in the public schools, graduating in the high school in 1869, and later attending Phillips Academy in Massachusetts and Cambridge University. Returning to Chicago, he engaged in the business as man- ager of his father's estate and publisher of the "Skandinavian." In July, 1876, he purchased an interest in the "Daily News" and assumed the business management of that paper. The subsequent remarkable success of the "News" was due in no small degree to the industry, enterprise and capital which Mr. Lawson put into the concern. In
March, 1881, Mr. Lawson and his partner, Melville E. Stone, began to issue a morning edition of the paper, which was called the "Morn- ing News," later the "Record." Mr. Stone was soon afterward bought out by Mr. Lawson, but the successful career of the two news- papers continued, and is among the phenomena of journalistic triumphs of the time. The income from the papers is very great, and Mr. Lawson has become a rich man. He takes an active interest in pub- lic affairs and the general welfare of the community. Each summer thousands of poor children have a happier life because of his Fresh Air Sanitarium in Lincoln Park, and in various other ways has he manifested his regard for the obligations attaching to him, and which have resulted in so much good.
300
VICTOR F. LAWSON.
301
MARY ELIZABETH LEASE.
W V "HETHER or not one may agree with the views of the remark-
able woman whose name has become familiar because of its frequent appearance in the political news from Kansas, there will be little inclination to deny her vigor and enthusiasm or her gift of express- ive language. Mary Elizabeth Lease was born in Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 11, 1853. Her parents were Joseph P. Clyens and Mary Eliz- abeth Murray Clyens. She was educated in the Allegheny, N. Y., convent school, and in the Young Ladies' Seminary at Ceres, N. Y. She married Charles L. Lease in 1873, and has for some years beer a resident of Wichita, Kan. She visited Great Britain and Canada, and, impressed with reform ideas, made a study of what she saw. She took up the study of the law, and of recent years has been actively engaged in politics. The political revolution in Kansas brought her to the front, and she became prominent as a Populist leader, attracting special attention by her bitter opposition to the re-election of John J. Ingalls as United States senator, and later, in the last presi- dential campaign, by her Southern speaking tour in company with General Weaver, the Populist candidate. She was appointed president of the board of trustees of the charitable institutions of the state of Kan- sas and has held other places of official trust. Impulsive, ambitious
and eloquent, and living in a state where political experiments have found their trial field, Mrs. Lease has acquired a reputation all her own, and one fairly the result of her own intellect and courage. She would, perhaps, have a better following were her views less radical and her course less aggressive toward those she does not like in poli- tics, but she has at least the courage of her convictions.
302
MARY ELIZABETH LEASE.
303
CHARLES B. LEWIS.
G ENERAL writers of wit, humor, pathos and descriptive narrative are by no means few in the American field of journalism, but none has gained a wider reputation in his particular line than Charles B. Lewis, better known by his pen-name of "M. Quad." Mr. Lewis was born in northern Ohio early in the forties, and, after receiving a common-school education, learned the printer's trade. Desiring to better his condition, and hearing of an opening in Maysville, Ky., he started for that place, and came very near losing his life in consequence. The steamboat on which he took passage on the Ohio river was blown to atoms by the explosion of its boiler, and for several months Mr. Lewis hovered between life and death in a Cincinnati hospital. When the war broke out he went to the front with the Seventh Michigan cav- alry, and served with his regiment throughout the conflict. After being mustered out he went to Michigan and again took up the printer's trade. He was connected for a time with the Pontiac "Bill Poster," and then drifted to Lansing, where one winter he was engaged to act as legislative correspondent for the Detroit "Free Press." He subse- quently went to Detroit and became a reporter for the "Free Press," continuing his connection with that paper for over twenty-five years. He made himself and his paper famous with his short stories and arti- cles depicting the humorous and pathetic phases of city life. A few years ago he became connected with a New York paper, and since that time has resided in Brooklyn. He is now on the staff of the American Press Association. Mr. Lewis has written a number of nov- els that have been well received, but he is best known and most ad- mired as a humorist,
304
mey trung. M. Quad.
CHARLES B. LEWIS.
305
SARA JANE LIPPINCOTT.
D ESERVING to be remembered always as the pioneer in the pres- ent well-occupied field of magazines for children, Mrs. Sara J. Lippincott still occupies a place in the esteem of thousands of men and women who think of her only as "Grace Greenwood," the editor of the "Little Pilgrim," and the author of many entertaining books and short stories. Mrs. Lippincott is now living quietly in her pleas- ant home in Washington, D. C., and is still a great friend of the children. She was born in Pompey, Onondaga County, N. Y., Sep- tember 23, 1823. Much of her childhood was passed in Rochester, N. Y., but in 1842 she removed with her father to New Brighton, Pa., and in 1853 married Leander K. Lippincott, of Philadelphia. She
published occasional verses at an early age under her own name, and in 1844 her first prose publications appeared in the New York "Mir- ror," under the pen-name of "Grace Greenwood," which she has since retained. For a number of years she edited in Philadelphia the "Lit- tle Pilgrim," a high-class juvenile monthly magazine, which attained a wide popularity. She is also the author of many addresses and lec- tures, and has been largely connected with periodical literature as editor, contributor and newspaper correspondent. " Ariadne" is probably the best known of her poems. Among her books are "Greenwood Leaves," "History of My Pets," "Poems," "Recollections of My Child- hood," "Haps and Mishaps of a Tour in Europe," "Merrie England," "Forest Tragedy and Other Tales," "Stories and Legends of Travel," " History for Children," "Stories from Famous Ballads," "Stories of Many Lands," "Stories and Sights in France and Italy," "Records of Five Years," and "New Life in New Lands."
306
1
SARA JANE LIPPINCOTT.
307
IDA LEWIS.
W HAT the story of Grace Darling is to Great Britain, that of Ida Lewis is to America. Ida Lewis was born in Newport, R. I., in 1841. Her father, Capt. Hosea Lewis, was keeper of the Lime Rock lighthouse in Newport harbor, and the daughter became in early life a skilled swimmer and oarswoman. She is now a lithe, active woman of fifty-two, and is still at the lighthouse and the work she did so many years ago. She has rescued sixteen persons from drowning, and was only a slight girl of seventeen when her first res- cue was made, a very daring one, of the crew of a boat upset near the lighthouse in a storm. The next morning she rowed them over to Fort Adams, whence an attempt had been made to launch a boat but had been abandoned as hopeless. There was astonishment at the Fort when she arrived with those whom she had rescued. Many similar feats of bravery have followed. The United States Goverment recognized the heroism of Miss Lewis and bestowed upon her a gold medal of the first class, the first ever given to a woman. The Humane Society of Massachusetts has given her a silver medal, and the Life Sav- ing Benevolent Society of New York has done the same. Her snug little home is filled with testimonials of recogall'on of her heroism. She is one of the happiest of women in her increasing age. Her soft, abundant hair is scarcely tinged with gray, and her bright eyes are full of contentment. She has suffered grave losses of friends and relations, but her cheeks have the hue that the sea air gives and she is sturdy and joyous and buoyant all the time. She breakfasts at six, has enough to occupy all her time, and is almost the ideal of a cheerful philosophical Christian.
308
.
IDA LEWIS. 309
HENRY CABOT LODGE.
T HOUGH one of the youngest of the senators of the United States, Henry Cabot Lodge is by no means the least conspicuous. He was born in Boston, May 12, 1850, and is a member of one of the oldest New England families. He graduated from Harvard University in 1871. Three years later he graduated from the law school, and in 1875 received the degree of Ph. D. for his thesis on the Land law of the Anglo-Saxons. The quality of his acquirements and his natu- ral talent were soon recognized, and he was appointed to the position of university lecturer on American history. At about the same time he accepted the position of editor of the "North American Review." He was elected to the Massachusetts legislature in 1880 and re-elected in 1881. He acquired rapidly a prominence in party councils, serving for two years as chairman of the Republican State Central Committee and appearing as a delegate in the Republican National Convention of 1880 and 1884. In 1884 he became a candidate for Congress and was defeated, but was successful in 1888. He served in the Fiftieth, Fifty-first and Fifty-second Congresses and was re-elected to the Fifty- third. In 1893, with the expiration of the senatorial term of Henry L. Dawes, Mr. Lodge was elected for the term expiring in 1899. Mr. Lodge has been an overseer of Harvard University since 1884 and is widely known as a man of letters. He is the author of a number of books, among which are "Life and Letters of George Cabot," a "Short History of English Colonies in America," a "Life of Daniel Webster," and "Studies in History." He is a man of wonderful ability, and although not a conspicuous partisan his voice is potent in the councils of his party.
310
HENRY CABOT LODGE.
311
MARY SIMMERSON CUNNINGHAM LOGAN.
1
C JURRENT history affords no more striking example of how the wife of a great man may become identified with her husband's career, appearing as his best adviser in the gravest crisis of political and civil life, than has been furnished by the wife of the late Senator John A. Logan. Before her marriage Mrs. Logan was Mary Sim- merson Cunningham, daughter of John M. Cunningham, of Missouri. She was born August 15, 1838, in Petersburg, Boone County, Mo., and was educated in the Convent of St. Vincent, in Kentucky. , On leaving that institution she assisted her father, who had been elected sheriff and county clerk of Williamson. County, Missouri, and appointed register of the land office at Shawneetown, Ill. While thus engaged she met John A. Logan, then prosecuting attorney, and was married to him November 27, 1855. During the years that her husband was winning fame on the battle-field she conducted the affairs of the home- stead and the small farm attached, and lent all the aid possible to his advancement. When General Logan appeared in politics, after the war, she manifested an active interest in his political affairs, and greatly assisted him by her earnest, tactful work. At the time of his nomi- nation for the vice-presidency with Mr. Blaine, it was she who restrained the impetuosity of her husband, who would have scorned the nomination, and prevented any differences between the leaders of the party. Mrs. Logan was one of the most gracious and popular host- esses during her husband's senatorial career. His death very nearly caused her own also, but recovering her health she became editor of the "Home Journal" of Washington, and is still a prominent factor in various public enterprises.
312
MARY SIMMERSON CUNNINGHAM LOGAN.
313
JAMES LONGSTREET.
T HE man who was considered the hardest fighter in the Confeder- ate service during the Civil war, and who was known in the army as "Old Pete," is now living quietly on a farm near Gaines- ville, Ga. Gen. James Longstreet was born in the Edgefield district, Hamburg, S. C., January 8, 1821. He removed with his mother to Alabama in 1831, and was appointed from that state to the United States Military Academy, where he graduated in 1842. After serving on garrison and frontier duty for several years, his regiment partici- pated in the war with Mexico, where his conspicuous bravery won him repeated promotions, culminating in the rank of brevet major. He was severely wounded at the storming of Chapultepec. After the war he served as adjutant, captain and paymaster, chiefly on the Texas frontier, until 1861, when he resigned. In that year he was commis- sioned brigadier-general in the Confederate army, and after the first bat- tle of Bull Run was promoted to major-general. His brilliant war record is well known. Early in 1864 he was wounded by the fire of his own troops in the battle of the Wilderness, and a year later was included in the surrender at Appomattox. He had the unbounded confidence of his soldiers, who were devoted to him. After the war he engaged in commercial business in New Orleans, and affiliated with the Republican party. He was appointed surveyor of customs of the port of New Orleans by President Grant; supervisor of internal rev- enue, postmaster at New Orleans and Minister to Turkey by Presi- dent Hayes, and United States marshal for the district of Georgia by President Garfield. Gainesville, in the latter state, has since been his home.
314
JAMES LONGSTREET.
315
DALTON MCCARTHY.
T 'HE leader of a party which is but a skeleton army, Dalton McCarthy yet occupies an enviable position, so far as his stand- ing in the eyes of the people of the Dominion of Canada is concerned. He is about fifty years of age at the present time, and was for many years a barrister of prominence in Barrie, Ontario. None in his pro- fession occupied a higher standing at the bar. He moved to Toronto, where his success was continued. He became a queen's counsel, tak- ing a lively interest in politics, and became eventually a member of the Dominion Parliament. He attached himself to the Conservatives and soon acquired prominence in its councils. The time came when certain differences of opinion between him and the leaders of the party became so marked that he separated from them, though his affiliations did not extend in the direction of the Liberals. He became the rec- ognized head of what was known as the Equal Rights party, or league, something which may be explained to American readers as cor- responding in a measure with the so-called "Mugwumps" of the United States, that is, those who form a middle party-a sort of bal- ance-wheel. The party has never become dominant in Canada, but has always been respected alike by Conservatives and Liberals. At the recent election in Ontario it cut no figure, but is still an existent entity. Mr. McCarthy, aside from being a jurist of admitted great ability, is a fluent and ready debater and a forceful man in support of any measure which he may countenance in the Dominion Parliament. He is one of the strong and admirable figures in Canadian politics. His followers believe firmly in him and those who oppose his measures recognize his power.
316
DALTON MCCARTHY.
317
ALEXANDER KELLY MCCLURE.
S TERNLY opposed to machine power in party management, and official incompetency and dishonesty in public office, Alexander K. McClure, the able editor of the Philadelphia "Times," is widely known as a champion of pure politics. He was born in Sherman's Valley, Perry County, Pa., January 9, 1828, and at the age of fourteen was apprenticed to the tanner's trade. In 1846 he began the publication of a Whig paper, the "Sentinel," at Mifflin, Pa. He sold this paper in 1850, purchased an interest in the Chambersburg "Repository," became its editor, and made it one of the most noted anti-slavery journals in the state. In 1853 he was the Whig candidate for the position of auditor-general, being the youngest man ever nominated for a state office in Philadelphia. He was a member of the convention that organized the Republican party in 1855, and of the National Convention that nominated Fremont for the presidency in 1856. In the latter year he sold the "Repository," quitted journalism, and shortly thereafter was admitted to the bar. He served in the Legislature and State Senate
from 1857 to 1860. In 1862 he repurchased the Chambersburg "Re- pository," but lost it in the burning of Chambersburg in 1864. In 1868 he settled in Philadelphia and practiced law. He supported Hor- ace Greeley in the campaign of 1872, and was elected as an Independ- ent Republican to the State Senate. In the following year he was an independent candidate for the mayoralty of Philadelphia, and was defeated by a small plurality. Deciding to return to journalism, he joined Frank Mclaughlin in the establishment of the "Times," a daily newspaper, in 1873, and since its foundation he has been its editor-in- chief.
318
ALEXANDER KELLY MCCLURE.
319
ALEXANDER McD. McCOOK.
A GREAT family are those McCooks; they know something; they are cultivated and intellectual, but they will fight on every pos- sible occasion. It is doubtful, if in the history of the United States any other single family in two generations has ever made such a fight- ing record as have these same McCooks. The Doones, of whom Blackmore tells us, were hardly comparable with the McCooks, though the latter have fought only for the right. There were and are two branches of the family, known in Ohio as the "fighting McCooks," which branches are known respectively as the "Dan tribe" and the "John tribe." They are simply a good American family who acquired an astonishing reputation during the Civil war. Gen. Alexander McCook is but one of the family-there were sixteen fighting McCooks in the Civil war, all officers, except one who was killed at Ball Run in the first fight, and they made records of note. Of course, such people go to West Point, when they can. Gen. Alexander McCook was born on a farm near New Lisbon, Columbiana County, Ohio, April 22, 1831. He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, and graduated in the class of 1852. At the opening of the Civil war he was made colonel of the First Ohio regiment, and from that time his record was but improved with successive campaigns. He was made a major-general for distinguished services at the battle of Shiloh, was later in command of the army of the Cumberland, and, later still, of one of the trans-Mississippi departments. His appointment to the command of the department of the Colorado was but a just rec- ognition of his service and ability. General McCook deserves the gratitude of the whole nation.
320
ALEXANDER MCD. MCCOOK.
321
WAYNE MACVEAGH.
M 'EASURES and movements designed to purify politics and estab- lish governmental reforms have ever had a stanch advocate in Wayne MacVeagh, of Pennsylvania, who has found it easy to snap party ties in the interest of what he conceives to be a patriotic duty. That is why, after holding high public positions by the grace of the Republican party, he is now United States Ambassador to Italy by appointment of a Democratic President. Mr. MacVeagh was born in Phoenixville, Chester County, Pa., April 19, 1833. He was graduated at Yale in 1853, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and served as district attorney of Chester County from 1859 until 1864. He was captain of cavalry in 1862, when the invasion of Pennsylvania was threatened, and in 1863 was chairman of the Republican Central Com- mittee of Pennsylvania. In 1870 he was appointed United States Min- ister to Turkey, returning the following year, and in 1872 became a member of the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention. He was the chief member of the "MacVeagh Commission" that was sent to Louisi- ana in 1877 by President Hayes to represent him unofficially, and to endeavor to bring the conflicting parties in that state to an understand- ing. In 1881 he was appointed United States Attorney-General in the cabinet of President Garfield, but resigned on the accession of President Arthur, and resumed his law practice in Philadelphia. He was for several years chairman of the Civil Service Reform Association of that city, and also of the Indian Rights Association. In December, 1893, the embassy to Italy was offered by President Cleveland to Mr. Mac- Veagh, who accepted it, and soon after took up his residence in that country.
322.
WAYNE MACVEAGH.
323
JOHN WILLIAM MACKAY.
T THE most noted and perhaps the most romantic incident in the mining history of this country was the discovery, in 1872, of the famous Bonanza mines, with their fabulous deposits of silver and gold. The name most prominently connected with this discovery was that of John W. Mackay, who became widely known as the chief of the "Bonanza Kings." Mr. Mackay was born in Dublin, Ireland, November 28, 1831. He came with his parents to New York in 1840, where he was later apprenticed to the trade of ship building, but in 1849 he caught the gold fever and went to California, where he lived a miner's life for several years with varying fortunes. He acquired a technical and practical knowledge of mining, and in 1860 left California for Nevada, where, in 1872, he was among those who discovered the "Bonanza" mines on a ledge of rock in the Sierra Nevadas, under what is now Virginia City. The incident changed the face of the silver markets of the world. The mines were owned by John W. Mackay, James C. Flood, James G. Fair (afterward sena- tor from Nevada) and William O'Brien, but Mr. Mackay's interest was double that of any of his partners. From one mine alone was taken $150,000,000 in silver and gold, and the active yield of all of them continued for several years, during which time Mr. Mackay personally superintended them. In 1878, with Flood and Fair, he founded the Bank of Nevada, with its headquarters in San Francisco, and in 1884, in partnership with James Gordon Bennett, he laid two cables across the Atlantic. In 1893 an attempt was made on Mr. Mackay's life by a crank in the Grand Palace Hotel, San Francisco. He received a serious pistol-shot wound, from which, however, he recovered.
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