USA > Michigan > Gratiot County > Biographical memoirs of Gratiot County, Michigan : compendium of biography of celebrated Americans > Part 31
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the murder of the Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy. The meeting would have ended in a few perfunctory resolutions had not Mr. Phillips by his manly eloquence taken the meeting out of the hands of the few that were in- clined to temporize and avoid radical utter- ances. Having once started out in this ca- reer as an abolitionist Phillips never swerved from what he deemed his duty, and never turned back. He gave up his legal practice and launched himself heart and soul in the movement for the liberation of the slaves. He was an orator of very great ability and by his earnest efforts and eloquence he did much in arousing public sentiment in behalf of the anti-slavery cause-possibly more than any one man of his time. After the abolition of slavery Mr. Phillips was, if pos- sible, even busier than before in the literary and lecture field. Besides temperance and women's rights, he lectured often and wrote much on finance, and the relations of labor and capital, and his utterances on whatever subject always bore the stamp of having emanated from a master mind. Eminent critics have stated that it might fairly be questioned whether there has ever spoken in America an orator superior to Phillips. The death of this great man occurred Feb- ruary 4, 1884.
W ILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN was one of the greatest generals that the world has ever produced and won im- mortal fame by that strategic and famous " march to the sea," in the war of the Re- bellion. He was born February 8, 1820, at Lancaster, Ohio, and was reared in the family of the Hon. Thomas Ewing, as his. father died when he was but nine years of age. He entered West Point in 1836, was graduated from the same in 1840, and ap- pointed a second lieutenant in the Third:
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Artillery. He passed through the various grades of the service and at the outbreak of the Civil war was appointed colonel of the Thirteenth Regular Infantry. A full history of General Sherman's conspicuous services would be to repeat a history of the army. He commanded a division at Shiloh, and was instrumental in the winning of that bat- tle, and was also present at the siege of Vicks- burg. On July 4, 1863, he was appointed brigadier-general of the regular army, and shared with Hooker the victory of Mission- ary Ridge. He was commander of the De- partment of the Tennessee from October 27th until the appointment of General Grant as lieutenant-general, by whom he was appointed to the command of the De- partment of the Mississippi, which he as- sumed in March, 1864. He at once began organizing the army and enlarging his com- munications preparatory to his march upon Atlanta, which he started the same time of the beginning of the Richmond campaign by Grant. He started on May 6, and was op- posed by Johnston, who had fifty thousand men, but by consummate generalship, he captured Atlanta, on September 2, after several months of hard fighting and a severe loss of men. General Sherman started on his famous march to the sea November 15, 1864, and by December 10 he was before Savannah, which he took on December 23. This campaign is a monument to the genius of General Sherman as he only lost 567 men from Atlanta to the sea. After rest- ing his army he moved northward and occu- pied the following places: Columbia, Cheraw, Fayetteville, Ayersboro, Benton- ville, Goldsboro, Raleigh, and April 18, he accepted the surrender of Johnston's army on a basis of agreement that was not re- ceived by the Government with favor, but finally accorded Johnston the same terms as
Lee was given by General Grant. He was present at the grand review at Washington, and after the close of the war was appointed to the command of the military division of the Mississippi; later was appointed lieu- tenant-general, and assigned to the military division of the Missouri. When General Grant was elected president Sherman became general, March 4, 1869, and succeeded to the command of the army. His death oc- curred February 14, 1891, at Washington.
A LEXANDER HAMILTON, one of the most prominent of the early American statesmen and financiers, was born in Nevis, an island of the West Indies, January II, 1757, his father being a Scotchman and his mother of Huguenot descent. Owing to the death of his mother and business reverses which came to his father, young Hamilton was sent to his mother's relatives in Santa Cruz; a few years later was sent to a gram- mar school at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and in 1773 entered what is now known as Columbia College. Even at that time he began taking an active part in public affairs and his speeches, pamphlets, and newspaper articles on political affairs of the day at- tracted considerable attention. In 1776 he received a captain's commission and served in Washington's army with credit, becoming aide-de-camp to Washington with rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1781 he resigned his. commission because of a rebuke from Gen- eral Washington. He next received com- mand of a New York battalion and partici- pated in the battle of Yorktown. After this Hamilton studied law, served several terms in congress and was a member of the convention at which the Federal Constitu- tion was drawn up. His work connected with "The Federalist" at about this time attracted much attention. Mr. Hamilton.
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was chosen as the first secretary of the United States treasury and as such was the author of the funding system and founder of the United States Bank. In 1798 he was made inspector-general of the army with the rank of major general and was also for a short time commander-in-chief. In 1804 Aaron Burr, then candidate for governor of New York, challenged Alexander Hamilton to fight a duel, Burr attributing his defeat to Hamilton's opposition, and Hamilton, though declaring the code as a relic of bar- barism, accepted the challenge. They met at Weehawken, New Jersey, July 11, 1804. Hamilton declined to fire at his adversary, but at Burr's first fire was fatally wounded and died July 12, 1804.
A LEXANDER HAMILTON STEPH- ENS, vice-president of tlie southern confederacy, a former United States senator and governor of Georgia, ranks among the great men of American history. He was born February 1I, 1812, near Crawfordsville, Georgia. He was a graduate of the Uni- versity of Georgia, and admitted to the bar in 1834. In 1837 he made his debut in political life as a member of the state house of representatives, and in 1841 declined the nomination for the same office; but in 1842 he was chosen by the same constituency as state senator. Mr. Stephens was one of the promoters of the Western and Atlantic Railroad. In 1843 he was sent by his dis- trict to the national house of representatives, which office he held for sixteen consec- utive years. He was a member of the house during the passing of the Compromise Bill, and was one of its ablest and most active supporters. The same year (1850) Mr. Stephens was a delegate to the state convention that framed the celebrated *ยท Georgia Platform," and was also a dele-
gate to the convention that passed the ordi- nance of secession, though he bitterly op- posed that bill by voice and vote, yet he readily acquiesced in their decision after it received the votes of the majority of the convention. He was chosen vice-president of the confederacy without opposition, and in 1865 he was the head of the commis- sion sent by the south to the Hampton Roads conference. He was arrested after the fall of the confederacy and was con- fined in Fort Warren as a prisoner of state but was released on his own parole. Mr. Stephens was elected to the forty-third, forty-fourth, forty-fifth, forty-sixth and for- ty-seventh congresses, with hardly more than nominal opposition. He was one of the Jeffersonian school of American politics. He wrote a number of works, principal among which are: "Constitutional View of the War between the States," and a " Compendium of the History of the United States." He was inaugurated as governor of Georgia November 4th, 1882, but died March 4, 1883, before the completion of his term.
ROSCOE CONKLING was one of the most noted and famous of American statesmen. He was among the most fin- ished, fluent and eloquent orators that have ever graced the halls of the American con- gress; ever ready, witty and bitter in de- bate he was at once admired and feared by his political opponents and revered by his followers. True to his friends, loyal to the last degree to those with whom his inter- ests were associated, he was unsparing to his foes and it is said "never forgot an injury."
Roscoe Conkling was born at Albany, New York, on the 30th of October, 1829, being a son of Alfred Conkling. Alfred Conkling was also a native of New York,
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born at East Hampton, October 12, 1789, and became one of the most eminent law- yers in the Empire state; published several legal works; served a term in congress; aft- erward as United States district judge for Northern New York, and in 1852 was min- ister to Mexico. Alfred Conkling died in 1874.
Roscoe Conkling, whose name heads this article, at an early age took up the study of law and soon became successful and prominent at the bar. About 1846 he re- moved to Utica and in 1858 was elected mayor of that city. He was elected repre- sentative in congress from this district and was re-elected three times. In 1867 he was elected United States senator from the state of New York and was re-elected in 1873 and 1879. In May, 1881, he resigned on account of differences with the president. In March, 1882, he was appointed and con- firmed as associate justice of the United States supreme court but declined to serve. His death occurred April 18, 1888.
W ASHINGTON IRVING, one of the most eminent, talented and popu- lar of American authors, was born in New York City, April 3, 1783. His father was William Irving, a merchant and a native of Scotland, who had married an English lady and emigrated to America some twenty years prior to the birth of Washington. Two of the older sons, William and Peter, were partially occupied with newspaper work and literary pursuits, and this fact naturally inclined Washington to follow their example. Washington Irving was given the advantages afforded by the common schools until about sixteen years of age when he began studying law, but continued to acquire his literary training by diligent perusal at home of the older English writers.
When nineteen he made his first literary venture by printing in the " Morning Chroni- cle," then edited by his brother, Dr. Peter Irving, a series of local sketches under the nom-de-plume of "Jonathan Oldstyle." In 1804 he began an extensive trip through Europe, returned in 1806, quickly com- pleted his legal studies and was admitted to the bar, but never practiced the profession. In 1807 he began the amusing serial " Sal- magundi," which had an immediate suc- cess, and not only decided his future career but long determined the charac- ter of his writings. In 1808, assisted by his brother Peter, he wrote " Knickerbock- er's History of New York," and in 1810 an excellent biography of Campbell, the poet, After this, for some time, Irving's attention was occupied by mercantile interests, but the commercial house in which he was a partner failed in 1817. In 1814 he was editor of the Philadelphia "Analectic Maga- zine." About 1818 appeared his " Sketch- Book," over the nom-de-plume of "Geoffrey Crayon," which laid the foundation of Ir- ving's fortune and permanent fame. This was soon followed by the legends of "Sleepy Hollow," and "Rip Van Winkle," which at once took high rank as literary productions, and Irving's reputation was firmly established in both the old and new worlds. After this the path of Irving was smooth, and his subsequent writings ap -. peared with rapidity, including "Brace- bridge Hall," "The Tales of a Traveler," "History of the Life and Voyages of Chris- topher Columbus," "The Conquest of Granada," "The Alhambra," "Tour on the Prairies," " Astoria," "Adventures of Captain Bonneville," "Wolfert's Roost," " Mahomet and his Successors," and "Life of Washington," besides other works.
Washington Irving was never married ..
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He resided during the closing years of his life at Sunnyside (Tarrytown) on the Hud- son, where he died November 28, 1859.
C HARLES SUMNER .- Boldly outlined on the pages of our history stands out the rugged figure of Charles Sumner, states- man, lawyer and writer. A man of unim- peachable integrity, indomitable will and with the power of tireless toil, he was a fit leader in troublous times. First in rank as an anti-slavery leader in the halls of con- gress, he has stamped his image upon the annals of his time. As an orator he took front rank and, in wealth of illustration, rhetoric and lofty tone his eloquence equals anything to be found in history.
Charles Sumner was born in Boston, Massachusetts, January 6, 18II, and was the son of Charles P. and Relief J. Sumner. The family had long been prominent in that state. Charles was educated at the Boston Public Latin School; entered Harvard Col- lege in 1826, and graduated therefrom in 1830. In 1831 he joined the Harvard Law School, then under charge of Judge Story, and gave himself up to the study of law with enthusiasm. His leisure was devoted to contributing to the American Jurist. Ad- mitted to the bar in 1834 he was appointed reporter to the circuit court by Judge Story. He published several works about this time, and from 1835 to 1837 and again in 1843 was lecturer in the law school. He had planned a lawyer's life, but in 1845 he gave his attention to politics, speaking and working against the admission of Texas to the Union and subsequently against the Mexican war. In 1848 he was defeated for congress on the Free Soil ticket. His stand on the anti- slavery question at that time alienated both friends and clients, but he never swerved from his convictions. In 185 1 he was elected
to the United States senate and took his seat therein December I of that year. From this time his life became the history of the anti-slavery cause in congress. In August, 1852, he began his attacks on slavery by a masterly argument for the repeal of the fugitive slave law. On May 22, 1856, Pres- ton Brooks, nephew of Senator Butler, of South Carolina, made an attack upon Mr. Sumner, at his desk in the senate, striking him over the head with a heavy cane. The attack was quite serious in its effects and kept Mr. Sumner absent from his seat in the senate for about four years. In 1857, 1863 and 1869 he was re-elected to the office of senator, passing some twenty-three years in that position, always advocating the rights of freedom and equity. He died March II, 1874.
T THOMAS JEFFERSON, the third pres- ident of the United States, was born near Charlottesville, Albemarle county, Vir- ginia, April 13, 1743, and was the son of Peter and Jane (Randolph) Jefferson. He received the elements of a good education, and in 1760 entered William and Mary Col- lege. After remaining in that institution for two years he took up the study of law with George Wythe, of Williamsburg, Virginia, one of the foremost lawyers of his day, and was admitted to practice in 1767. He ob- tained a large and profitable practice, which he held for eight years. The conflict be- tween Great Britain and the Colonies then drew him into public life, he having for some time given his attention to the study of the sources of law, the origin of liberty and equal rights.
Mr. Jefferson was elected to the Virginia house of burgesses in 1769, and served in that body several years, a firm supporter of liberal measures, and, although a slave-
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holder himself, an opponent of slavery. With others, he was a leader among the op- position to the king. He took his place as a member of the Continental congress June 21, 1775, and after serving on several com- mittees was appointed to draught a Declara- tion of Independence, which he did, some corrections being suggested by Dr. Franklin and John Adams. This document was pre- sented to congress June 28, 1776, and after six days' debate was passed and was signed. In the following September Mr. Jefferson resumed his seat in the Virginia legislature, and gave much time to the adapting of laws of that state to the new condition of things. He drew up the law, the first ever passed by a legislature or adopted by a government, which secured perfect religious freedom. June 1, 1779, he succeeded Patrick Henry as governor of Virginia, an office which, after co-operating with Washington in de- fending the country, he resigned two years later. One of his own estates was ravaged by the British, and his house at Monticello was held by Tarleton for several days, and Jefferson narrowly escaped capture. After the death of his wife, in 1782, he accepted the position of plenipotentiary to France, which he had declined in 1776. Before leaving he served a short time in congress at Annapolis, and succeeded in carrying a bill for establishing our present decimal sys- tem of currency, one of his most useful pub- lic services. He remained in an official ca- pacity until October, 1789, and was a most active and vigilant minister. Besides the onerous duties of his office, during this time, he published "Notes on Virginia," sent to the United States seeds, shrubs and plants, forwarded literary and scientific news and gave useful advice to some of the leaders of the French Revolution.
Mr. Jefferson landed in Virginia Novem-
ber 18, 1789, having obtained a leave of absence from his post, and shortly after ac- cepted Washington's offer of the portfolio of the department of state in his cabinet. He entered upon the duties of his office in March, 1791, and held it until January I, 1794, when he tendered his resignation. About this time he and Alexander Hamilton became decided and aggressive political op- ponents, Jefferson being in warm sympathy with the people in the French revolution and strongly democratic in his feelings, while Hamilton took the opposite side. In 1796 Jefferson was elected vice-president of the United States. In 1800 he was elected to the presidency and was inaugurated March 4, 1801. During his administration, which lasted for eight years, he having been re-elected in 1804, he waged a successful war against the Tripolitan pirates; purchased Louisiana of Napoleon; reduced the public debt, and was the originator of many wise measures. Declining a nomination for a third term he returned to Monticello, where he died July 4, 1826, but a few hours before the death of his friend, John Adams.
Mr. Jefferson was married January I, 1772, to Mrs. Martha Skelton, a young, beautiful, and wealthy widow, who died September 6, 1782, leaving three children, three more having died previous to her demise.
C ORNELIUS VANDERBILT, known as "Commodore" Vanderbilt, was the founder of what constitutes the present im- mense fortune of the Vanderbilt family. He was born May 27, 1794, at Port Richmond, Staten Island, Richmond county, New York, and we find him at sixteen years run- ning a small vessel between his home and New York City. The fortifications of Sta- ten and Long Islands were just in course of
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construction, and he carried the laborers from New York to the fortifications in his "perianger, " as it was called, in the day, and at night carried supplies to the fort on the Hudson. Later he removed to New York, where he added to his little fleet. At the age of twenty-three he was free from debt and was worth $9,000, and in 1817, with a partner he built the first steamboat that was run between New York and New Brunswick, New Jersey, and became her captain at a salary of $1,000 a year. The next year he took command of a larger and better boat and by 1824 he was in complete control of the Gibbon's Line, as it was called, which he had brought up to a point where it paid $40,000 a year. Commodore Vanderbilt acquired the ferry between New York and Elizabethport, New Jersey, on a fourteen years' lease and conducted this on a paying basis. He severed his connections with Gibbons in 1829 and engaged in business alone and for twenty years he was the leading steamboat man in the country, building and operating steamboats on the Hudson River, Long Island Sound, on the Delaware River and the route to Boston, and he had the monopoly of trade on these routes. In 1850 he determined to broaden his field of operation and accordingly built the steamship Prometheus and sailed for the Isthmus of Darien, where he desired to make a personal investigation of the pros- pects of the American Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal Company, in which he had pur- chased a controlling interest. Commodore Vanderbilt planned, as a result of this visit, a transit route from Greytown on the At- lantic coast to San Juan del Sud on the Pa- cific coast, which was a saving of 700 miles over the old route. In 1851 he placed three steamers on the Atlantic side and four on the Pacific side to accommodate the enor-
mous traffic occasioned by the discovery of gold in California. The following year three more vessels were added to his fleet and a branch line established from New Orleans to Greytown. In 1853 the Com- modore sold out his Nicaraugua Transit Com- pany, which had netted him $1, 000,000 and built the renowned steam yacht, the "North Star." He continued in the ship- ping business nine years longer and accu- mulated some $10,000,000. In 1861 he presented to the government his magnifi- cent steamer " Vanderbilt, " which had cost him $800,000 and for which he received the thanks of congress. In 1844 he became interested in the railroad business which he followed in later years and became one of the greatest railroad magnates of his time. He founded the Vanderbilt University at a cost of $1,000,000. He died January 4, 1877, leaving a fortune estimated at over $100,000,000 to his children.
D ANIEL BOONE was one of the most famous of the many American scouts, pioneers and hunters which the early settle- ment of the western states brought into prominence. Daniel Boone was born Feb- ruary 11, 1735, in Bucks county, Pennsyl- vania, but while yet a young man removed to North Carolina, where he was married. In 1769, with five companions, he pene- trated into the forests and wilds of Kentucky -then uninhabited by white men. He had frequent conflicts with the Indians and was captured by them but escaped and continued to hunt in and explore that region for over a year, when, in 1771, he returned to his home. In the summer of 1773, he removed with his own and five other families into what was then the wilderness of Kentucky, and to defend his colony against the savages, he built, in 1775, a fort at Boonesborough,
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on the Kentucky river. This fort was at- tacked by the Indians several times in 1777, but they were repulsed. The following year, however, Boone was surprised and captured by them. They took him to De- troit and treated him with leniency, but he soon escaped and returned to his fort which he defended with success against four hun- dred and fifty Indians in August, 1778. His son, Enoch Boone, was the first white male child born in the state of Kentucky. In 1795 Daniel Boone removed with his family to Missouri, locating about forty-five miles west of the present site of St. Louis, where he found fresh fields for his favorite pursuits -adventure, hunting, and pioneer life. His death occurred September 20, 1820.
H ENRY WADSWORTH LONGFEL- LOW, said to have been America's greatest "poet of the people," was born at Portland, Maine, February 27, 1807. He entered Bowdoin College at the age of four- teen, and graduated in 1825. During his college days he distinguished himself in mod- ern languages, and wrote several short poems, one of the best known of which was the " Hymn of the Moravian Nuns." After his graduation he entered the law office of his father, but the following year was offered the professorship of modern languages at Bowdoin, with the privilege of three years study in Europe to perfect himself in French, Spanish, Italian and German. After the three years were passed he returned to the United States and entered upon his profes- sorship in 1829. His first volume was a small essay on the "Moral and Devotional Poetry of Spain " in 1833. In 1835 he pub- lished some prose sketches of travel under the title of " Outre Mer, a Pilgrimage be- yond the Sea." In 1835 he was elected to the chair of modern languages and literature
at Harvard University and spent a year in Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland, culti- vating a knowledge of early Scandinavian literature and entered upon his professor- ship in 1836. Mr. Longfellow published in 1839 " Hyperion, a Romance," and "Voices of the Night, " and his first volume of original verse comprising the selected poems of twenty years work, procured him immediate recognition as a poet. "Ballads and other poems" appeared in 1842, the "Spanish Student " a drama in three acts, in 1843, "The Belfry of Bruges " in 1846, "Evan- geline, a Tale of Acadia," in 1847, which was considered his master piece. In 1845 he published a large volume of the "Poets and Poetry of Europe," 1849 " Kavanagh, a Tale," " The Seaside and Fireside " in 1850, "The Golden Legend " in 1851, "The Song of Hiawatha " in 1855, "The Court- ship of Miles Standish " in 1858, " Tales of a Wayside Inn " in 1863; " Flower de Luce" in 1866;" "New England Tragedies" in 1869; "The Divine Tragedy" in 1871; " Three Books of Song" in 1872; "The Hanging of the Crane " in 1874. He also published a masterly translation of Dante in 1867-70 and the " Morituri Salutamus," a poem read at the fiftieth anniversary of his class at Bowdoin College. Prof. Long- fellow resigned his chair at Harvard Univer- sity in 1854, but continued to reside at Cam- bridge. Some of his poetical works have been translated into many languages, and their popularity rivals that of the best mod- ern English poetry. He died March 24, 1882, but has left an imperishable fame as one of the foremost of American poets.
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