USA > Indiana > Kosciusko County > Progressive men and women of Kosciusko County, Indiana : to which is appended a comprehensive compendium of national biography > Part 6
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Among the more prominent works 'ema- nating from the fecund pen of Dr. Noah Webster besides those mentioned above are the following: "Sketches of American Policy," "Winthrop's Journal ," " A Brief History of Epidemics," "Rights of Neutral Nations in time of War," " A Philosophical and Practical Grammar of the English Lan- guage," "Dissertations on the English Language," "A Collection of Essays," "The Revolution in France," "Political Progress of Britain," "Origin, History, and Connection of the Languages of Western Asia and of Europe," and many others.
W ILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, the great anti-slavery pioneer and leader, was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, December 12, 1804. He was apprenticed to the printing business, and in [828 was in- duced to take charge of the " Journal of the Times" at Bennington, Vermont. While supporting John Quincy Adams for the presi- dency he took occasion in that paper to give expression of his views on slavery. These articles attracted notice, and a Quaker named Lundy, editor of the "Genius of Emancipation," published in Baltimore, in- duced him to enter a partnership with him for the conduct of his paper. It soon transpired that the views of the partners were not in harmony,. Lundy favoring grad- ual emancipation, while Garrison favored
immediate freedom. In 1850 Mr. Garrison was thrown into prison for libel, not being able to pay a fine of fifty dollars and costs. In his cell he wrote a number of poems which stirred the entire north, and a mer- chant, Mr. Tappan, of New York, paid his finc and liberated him, after seven weeks of confinement. He at once began a lecture tour of the northern cities, denouncing slavery as a sin before God, and demanding its immediate abolition in the name of re- ligion and humanity. He opposed the col- onization scheme of President Monroe and other leaders, and declared the right of every slave to immediate freedom.
In 1831 he formed a partnership with Isaac Knapp, and began the publication of the "Liberator " at Boston. The "imme- diate abolition " idea began to gather power in the north, while the south became alarmed at the bold utterance of this jour- nal. The mayor of Boston was besought by southern influence to interfere, and upon investigation, reported upon the insignifi- cance, obscurity, and poverty of the editor and his staff, which report was widely published throughout the country. Re- wards were offered by the southern states for his arrest and conviction. Later Garri- son brought from England, where an eman- cipation measure had just been passed, some of the great advocates to work for the cause in this country. In 1835 a mob broke into his office, broke up a meeting ci women, dragged Garrison through the street with a rope around his body, and his life was saved only by the interference of the police, who lodged him in jail. Garrison declined to sit in the World's Anti-Slavery convention at London in 1840, because that body had refused women representa- tion. He opposed the formation of a pu- litical party with emancipation as its basis.
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He favored a dissolution of the union, and & clared the constitution which bound the free states to the slave states " A covenant with death and an agreement with hell." In 1843 he became president of the Amer- Min Anti-Slavery society, which position he held until 1865, when slavery was no more. Dering all this time the " Liberator " had continued to promulgate anti-slavery doc- trines, but in 1865 Garrison resigned his ;ition, and declared his work was com- pleted. He died May 24, 1879.
JOHN BROWN (" Brown of Ossawato- mie"), a noted character in American 1 .. tory, was born at Torrington, Connecticut, May 9. 1800. In his childhood he removed to, Ohio, where he learned the tanner's !! Ne. He married there, and in 1855 set- the ) in Kansas. He lived at the village of " watomie in that state, and there began i .. . . . hit against slavery. He advocated im- 1 .. Mate emancipation, and held that the tres of the slave states merely waited fr a leader in an insurrection that would re- uk in their freedom. He attended the convention called at Chatham, Canada, in ,'s, and was the leading spirit in organiz- Sai raid upon the United States arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. His plans were " fant, and carried out in front andiway. Be rented a farm house near Harper's Ferry : The summer of 1859, and on October rest of that year, with about twenty follow- Es, he surprised and captured the United states arsenal, with all its supplies and To his surprise, the negroes did not come to his support, and the next day he Was attacked by the Virginia state militia, wounded and captured. He was tried in the courts of the state, convicted, and was Inged at Charlestown, December 2, 1859. The raid and its results had a tremendous
effect, and hastened the culmination of the troubles between the north and south. The south had the advantage in discussing this event, claiming that the sentiment which inspired this act of violence was shared by the anti-slavery element of the country.
EDWIN BOOTH had no peer upon the American stage during his long career as a star actor. He was the son of a famous actor, Junius Brutus Booth, and was born in 1833 at his father's home at Belair, near Baltimore. At the age of sixteen he made his first appearance on the stage, at the Boston Museum, in a minor part in " Richard III." It was while. playing in California in 1851 that an eminent critic called general atten- tion to the young actor's unusual talent. However, it was not until 1863, at the great Shakspearian revival at the Winter Garden Theatre, New York, that the brilliancy of his career began. His Hamlet held the boards for 100 nights in succession, and from that time forth Booth's reputation was established. In 1868 he opened his own theatre (Booth's Theater) in New York. Mr. Booth never succeeded as a manager, however,, but as an actor he was undoubted- ly the most popular man on the American stage, and perhaps the most eminent one in the world. In England he also won the greatest applause.
Mr. Booth's work was confined mostly to Shakspearean roles, and his art was characterized by intellectual acuteness, fervor, and poetic feeling. His Hamlet, Richard II, Richard III, and Richelieu gave play to his greatest powers. In 1865, when his brother, John Wilkes Booth enacted his great crime, Edwin Booth re- solved to retire from the stage, but was pur- suaded to reconsider that decision. The odium did not in any way attach to the
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great actor, and his popularity was not i affected. In all his work Mr. Booth clung closely to the legitimate and the traditional in drama, making no experiments, and offer- ing little encouragement to new dramatic authors. His death occurred in New York, June 7, 1894.
JOSEPH HOOKER, a noted American officer, was born at Hadley, Massachu- 'setts, November 13, 1814. He graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1837, and was appointed lieutenant of artillery. He served in Florida in the Seminole war, and in garrison until the outbreak of the Mexican war. During the latter he saw service as a staff officer and was breveted captain. major and lieutenant-colonel for gallantry at Monterey, National Bridge and Chapultepec. Resigning his commission in 1833 he took up farming in California, which he followed until 1861. During this time he acted as superintendent of military roads in Oregon. At the outbreak of the Rebel- lion Hooker tendered his services to the government. and, May 17, 1861, was ap- pointed brigadier-general of volunteers. He served in the defence of Washington and on the lower Potomac until his appointment to the command of a division in the Third Corps, in March, 1862. For gallant con- duct at the siege of Yorktown and in the battles of Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Fra- zier's Farm and Malvern Hill he was made major-general. At the head of his division he participated in the battles of Manassas and Chantilly. September 6, 1862, he was placed at the head of the First Corps, and in the battles of South Mountain and An- tietam acted with his usual gallantry, being wounded in the latter engagement. On re- joining the army in November he was made brigadier-general in the regular army. On
General Burnside attaining the command of the Army of the Potomac General Hooker was placed in command of the center grand division, consisting of the Second and Fifth Corps. At the head of these gallant men he participated in the battle of Fred- ericksburg, December 13, 1862. In Janu- ary, 1863, General Hooker assumed com- mand of the Army of the Potomac, and in May following fought the battle of Chan- cellorsville. At the time of the invasion of Pennsylvania, owing to a dispute with Gen- eral Halleck, Hooker requested to be re- lieved of his command, and June 28 was succeeded by George G. Meade. In Sep- tember, 1863, General Hooker was given command of the Twentieth Corps and trans- ferred to the Army of the Cumberland, and distinguished himself at the battles of Look- out Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and Ring- gold. In the Atlanta campaign he saw almost daily service and merited his well- known nickname of " Fighting Joe." July 30, 1864, at his own request, he was re- lieved of his command. He subsequently was in command of several military depart- ments in the north, and in October, 1868. was retired with the full rank of major-gen- eral. He died October 31, 1879.
TAY GOULD, one of the greatest finan- ciers that the world has ever produced. was born May 27, 1836, at Roxbury, Dela- ware county, New York. Hespent his early years on his father's farm and .at the age of fourteen entered Hobart Academy, New York, and kept books for the village black- smith. He acquired a taste for mathematics and surveying and on leaving school found employment in making the surveyor's map of Ulster county. He surveyed very exten- sively in the state and accumulated five thou sand dollars as the fruits of his labor. He
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s ... then stricken with typhoid fever but re- covered and made the acquaintance of one Mick Pratt, who sent him into the west- er part of the state to locate a site for a Wintery. He chose a fine hemlock grove, belt a sawmill and blacksmith shop and was soon doing a large lumber business with M :. Pratt. Mr. Gould soon secured control of the entire plant, which he sold out just Havre the panic of 1857 and in this year he became the largest stockholder in the Strouds- burg. Pennsylvania, bank. Shortly after the (1. is he bought the bonds of the Rutland & Washington Railroad at ten cents on the ¿ Mar, and put all his money into railroad curities. For a long time he conducted this road which he consolidated with the Ken elaer & Saratoga Railroad. In 1859 be removed to New York and became a heavy investor in Erie Railroad stocks, en- tered that company and was president until "> reorganization in 1872. In December, 18:0, Mr. Gould was in control of ten thou- satd miles of railroad. In 1887 he pur- chard the controlling interest in the St. LoJh & San Francisco Railroad Co., and Why a joint owner with the Atchison, Topeka A Santa Fe Railroad Co. of the western lation of the Southern Pacific line. Other Mpes . oon came under his control, aggregat- h . theahand of miles, and he soon was rec- suzed as one of the world's greatest rail- oud migrantes. He continued to hold his fare as one of the master financiers of the entury until the time of his death which ·Vutred December 2, 1892.
THOMAS HART BENTON, a very prominent United States senator and nicoman, was born at Hillsborough, North volna, March 14. 1782. He removed to anessce in carly life, studied law, and be- " to practice at Nashville about 1810.
During the war of 1812-1815 he served as colonel of a Tennessee regiment under Gen- eral Andrew Jackson. In 1815 he removed to St. Louis, Missouri, and in 1820 was chosen United States senator for that state. Having been re-elected in 1826, he sup- ported President Jackson in his opposition to the United States bank and advocated a gold and silver currency, thus gaining the name of " Old Bullion," by which he was familiarly known. For many years he was the most prominent man in Missouri, and took rank among the greatest statesmen of his day. He was a member of the senate for thirty years and opposed the extreme states' rights policy of John C. Calhoun. In 1852 he was elected to the house of rep- resentatives in which he opposed the repeal of the Missouri compromise. He was op- posed by a powerful party of States' Rights Democrats in Missouri, who defeated him as a candidate for governor of that state in 1856.
Colonel Benton published a considerable work in two volumes in 1854-56, entitled "Thirty Years' View, or a History of the Working of the American Government for Thirty Years, 1820-50." He died April 10, 1858.
S TEPHEN ARNOLD DOUGLAS .- One of the most prominent figures in politic- al circles during the intensely exciting days that preceded the war, and a leader of the Union branch of the Democratic party was the gentleman whose name heads this sketch.
He was born at Brandon, Rutland coun- ty, Vermont, April 23, 1813, of poor but respectable parentage. His father, a prac- ticing physician, died while our subject was but an infant, and his mother, with two small children and but small means, could give him but the rudiments of an education.
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At the age of fifteen young Douglas engaged at work in the cabinet making business to raise funds to carry him through college. After a few years of labor he was enabled to pursue an academical course. first at Bran- don, and later at Canandaigua, New York. In the latter piace he remained until 1833; taking up the study of law. Before he was twenty, however, his funds running low, hic abandoned all further attempts at educa- tion, determining to enter at once the battle of life. After some wanderings through the western states he took up his residence at Jacksonville, Illinois, where. after teaching school for three months. he was admitted to the bar, and opened an office in 1834. Within a year from that time. so rapidly had he risen in his profession, he was chosen attorney general of the state, and warmly espoused the principles of the Democratic party. He soon became one of the most popular orators in Illinois. It was at this time he gained the name of the "Little Giant." In 1835 he resigned the position of attorney general having been elected to the legislature. In 1841 he was chosen judge of the supreme court of Illinois which he resigned two years later to take a seat in congress. It was during this period of his life, while a member of the lower house, that he established his reputation and took the side of those who contended that con- gress had no constitutional right to restrict the extension of slavery further than the agreement between the states made in 1820. This, in spite of his being opposed to slav- ery, and only on grounds which he believed to be right, favored what was called the Missouri compromise. In 1847 Mr. Doug- las was chosen United States senator for six years, and greatly distinguished himself. In 1852 he was re-elected to the same office.
ship, the " Kansas-Nebraska bill " was car- ried in the senate. In 1858, nothwith- standing the fierce contest made by his able competitor for the position, Abraham Lin- coln, and with the administration of Bu- chanan arrayed against him, Mr. Douglas was re-elected senator. After the trouble in the Charleston convention, when by the withdrawal of several state delegates with- out a nomination, the Union Democrats, in convention at Baltimore, in 1860, nomi- nated Mr. Douglas as their candidate for presidency. The results of this election are well known and the great events of 1861 coming on, Mr. Douglas was .spared their full development, dying at Chicago, Illinois, June 3, 1861, after a short illness. His last words to his children were, "to obey the laws and support the constitution of the United States."
JAMES MONROE, fifth president of the United States, was born in Westmore- land county, Virginia, April 28, 1758. A: the age of sixteen he entered William and Mary College, but two years later the Declaration of Independence having been adopted, he left college and hastened to New York where he joined Washington's army as a military cadet.
At the battle of Trenton Monroe per- formed gallant service and received a wound in the shoulder, and was promoted to : captaincy. He acted as aide to Lord Ster ling at the battles of Brandywine, German town and Monmouth. Washington the. sent him to Virginia to raise a new regimen of which he was to be colonel. The ex- hausted condition of Virginia made this in possible, but he received his commission He next entered the law office of Thoma Jefferson to study law, as there was no open During this latter term, under his leader- | ing for him as an officer in the army. 1:
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;; 82 he was elected to the Virginia assem- Ny, and the next year he was elected to the Continental congress. Realizing the inade- quacy of the old articles of confederation, he advocated the calling of a convention to consider their revision, and introduced in congress a resolution empowering congress to regulate trade, lay import duties, etc. This resolution was referred to a committee, of which he was chairman, and the report :d to the Annapolis convention, which called a general convention to meet at Phila- d 4phia in 1787, when the constitution was drafted. Mr. Monroe began the practice of Mw at Fredericksburg, Virginia, and was soon after elected to the legislature, and ap- pointed as one of the committee to pass upon the adoption of the constitution. He opposed it, as giving too much power to the central government. He was elected to the United States senate in 1789, where he allied himself with the Anti-Federalists or " Republicans," as they were sometimes called. Although his views as to neutrality between France and England were directly opposed to those of the president, yet Wash- ington appointed him minister to France. !!. s popularity in France was so great that the antagonism of England and her friends in this country brought about his recall. He Minu le came government of Virginia. He was Sent as envoy to France in 1802; minister to England in 1803; and envoy to Spain in 1805. The next year he returned to his · inte in Virginia, and with an ample in- heritance enjoyed a few years of repose. He w is again called to be governor of Virginia, w: d was then appointed secretary of state by President Madison. The war with Eng- And soon resulted, and when the capital was burned by the British, Mr. Monroe be- comme secretary of war also, and planned the measures for the defense of New Orleans.
The treasury being exhausted and credit gone, he pledged his own estate, and thereby inade possible the victory of Jackson at New Orleans.
In 1817 Mr. Monroe became president of the United States, having been a candi- date of the "Republican " party, which at that time had begun to be called the " Demo- cratic" party. In 1820 he was re-elected, having two hundred and thirty-one electoral votes out of two hundred and thirty-two. His administration is known as the " Era of good-feeling," and party lines were almost wiped out. The slavery question began to assume importance at this time, and the Missouri Compromise was passed. The famous " Monroe Doctrine" originated in a great state paper of President Monroe upon the rumored interference of the Holy Alli- ance to prevent the formation of free repub- lics in South America. President Monroe acknowledged their independence, and pro- mulgated his great "Doctrine," which has been held in reverence since. Mr. Monroe's death occurred in New York on July 4, 1831.
THOMAS ALVA EDISON, the master wizard of electrical science and whose name is synonymous with the subjugation of electricity to the service of man, was born in 1847 at Milan, Ohio, and it was at Port Huron, Michigan, whither his parents had moved in 1854, that his self-education began-for he never attended school for more than two months. He eagerly de- voured every book he could lay his hands on and is said to have read through an encyclo pedia without missing a word. At thirteen he began his working life as a trainboy upon the Grand Trunk Railway between Port Huron and Detroit. Much of his time was now spent in Detroit, where he found increased facilities for reading at the public libraries.
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; r and rendered valuable service to the Confederate cause. He participated in : any of the most severe battles of the Civil 1 wir including Bull Run (first and second), Seven Pines, Gaines' Mill, Fraziers Farm, M. Wvern Hill, Antietam, Frederickburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, :... Wilderness. Petersburg and most of the Slang about Richmond.
When the war closed General Long- "ret accepted the result, renewed his alle- gave to the government, and thereafter : bored earnestly to obliterate all traces of war and promote an era of good feeling be- theen all sections of the country. He took Lis residence in New Orleans, and took .: active interest and prominent part in
cole affairs, served as surveyor of that : it for several years; was commissioner of «gineers for Louisiana, served four years ... school commissioner, etc. In 1875 he 1. sappointed supervisor of internal revenue HA settled in Georgia. After that time he wwved four years as United States minister : Turkey, and also for a number of years v . United States marshal of Georgia, be- , having held other important official jetions.
HOLY RUTLEDGE, the second chief- Justice of the United States, was born charleston, South Carolina, in 1739. . : was a son of John Rutledge, who had ireland for America about five years r to the birth of our subject, and a Mer of Edward Rutledge, a signer of the I: Tration of Independence. John Rut- " he received his legal education at the T m.pie, London, after which he returned : Charleston and soon won distinction at : - bar. He was elected to the old Colonial dress in 1765 to protest against the · Stamp Act," and was a member of the
South Carolina convention of 1774, and of the Continental congress of that and the succeeding year. In 1776 he was chairman of the committee that draughted the con- stitution of his state, and was president of the congress of that state. He was not pleased with the state constitution, how- ever, and resigned. In 1779 he was again chosen governor of the state, and granted extraordinary powers, and he at once took the field to repel the British. He joined the army of General Gates in 1782, and the same year was elected to congress. He was a member of the constitutional con- vention which framed our present constitu- tion. In 1789 he was appointed an associate justice of the first supreme court of the United States. He resigned to accept the position of chief-justice of his own state. Upon the resignation of Judge Jay, he was appointed chief-justice of the United States in 1795. The appointment was never con- firmed, for, after presiding at one session, his mind became deranged, and he was suc- ceeded by Judge Ellsworth. He died at Charleston, July 23, 1800.
R ALPH WALDO EMERSON was one of the most noted literary men of his time. He was born in Boston, Massachu- setts, May 25, 1803. He had a minister for an ancestor, either on the paternal or mna- ternal side, in every generation for eight generations back. His father, Rev. Will- iam Emerson, was a native of Concord, Massachusetts, born May 6, 1769, graduated at Harvard, in 1789, became a Unitarian minister; was a fine writer and one of the best orators of his day; died in 1811.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was fitted for college at the public schools of Boston, and graduated at Harvard College in I821, win- ning about this time several prizes for es-
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says. For five years he taught school in Boston; in 1826 was licensed to preach, and in 1829 was ordained as a colleague to Rev. Henry Ware of the Second Unitarian church in Boston. In 1832 he resigned, making the announcement in a sermon of his un- willingness longer to administer the rite of the Lord's Supper, after which he spent about a year in Europe. Upon his return he began his career as a lecturer before the Boston Mechanics Institute, his subject be- ing "Water." His early lectures on " Italy" and "Relation of Man to the Globe " also attracted considerable attention; as did also his biographical lectures on Michael Angelo, Milton, Luther, George Fox, and Edmund Burke. After that time he gave many courses of lectures in Boston and became one of the best known lecturers in America. But very few men have rendered such con- tinued service in this field. He lectured for forty successive seasons before the Salem, Massachusetts, Lyceum and also made re- peated lecturing tours in this country and in England. In 1835 Mr. Emerson took up his residence at Concord, Massachusetts, where he continued to make his home until his death which occurred April 27, 1882.
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