USA > Michigan > Kent County > Grand Rapids > Grand Rapids and Kent County, Michigan: History and Account of Their Progress from First. Vol. I > Part 44
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Much interest was taken in politics in 1844, Henry Clay being the Whig Presidential candidate against James K. Polk, Democrat. The Democrats of Michigan were greatly disappointed that the Dem- ocratic nomination did not come to Lewis Cass. The Whigs formed an enthusiastic Clay Club, and the Democrats had a "vigilance com- mittee," with members in each precinct, and rallied to the standard of "Young Hickory." The election was a Democratic victory, the vote being: Polk, 564; Clay, 476. The Democratic majority in Michigan was 3,466, and the vote for Birney, Abolitionist candidate for President, was 3,632. This particularly angered the Whigs, who felt that had the Abolitionists voted with them, they would have been successful.
In the Presidential contest of 1848, a convention of Free-Soilers, held at Buffalo, N. Y., placed in nomination a candidate for the Presidency and adopted a chart of principles satisfactory to nearly all the Abolitionists and to many others of the old parties. This new
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party was a growing affair. The campaign was fought on the issues of the Mexican War, but the slavery question was becoming more prominent, Rhode Island having joined Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and other states in declaring that all slaves should be free upon set- ting foot on their soil. Zachariah Chandler, of Detroit, made his first speech in Grand Rapids, this year, in support of the Whigs, and Charles E. Stuart, of Kalamazoo, was the leading Democratic ora- tor. These political meetings were the largest that had been held in the valley, and for the first time the Free Democrats held a conven- tion at the court house, placing nominees for county offices in the field. While the village of Grand Rapids gave a Whig plurality of 24, the vote of the county was as follows: Taylor, Whig, 653; Cass, Democrat, 768; Van Buren, Free Soil, 337. In the village the vote was: Whig, 183; Democrat, 159; Free Soil, 70. The fact that Cass was the idol of Michigan Democrats made them very bitter toward the Free-Soilers, to whom they laid their defeat and the triumphant election of Zachariah Taylor. This was the last successful stand of the Whigs, and the following year their newly elected President proved short lived, as did President Harrison, and Fillmore proved as unpopular with his party as Tyler.
In 1852 Lewis Cass was again the candidate of Michigan Demo- crats for the Presidential nomination. His chief opponents were James Buchanan and Stephen A. Douglas. Pierce, of New Hamp- shire, was later brought forward, and he was suddenly nominated, just as Polk had been eight years before. The Whigs nominated Gen. Winfield Scott, who had made a great reputation in the Mexican war. While greatly disappointed, the Michigan Democrats rallied to the cause of Pierce with remarkable unanimity, and the campaign, while not so spectacular as the Harrison campaign, was hard fought on both sides. The slavery question was becoming more and more promi- nent. The National Democrats resolved "that Congress has no power under the Constitution to interfere with or control the domestic in- stitutions of the several states, and that such states are the sole and proper judges of everything appertaining to their own affairs, not prohibited by the Constitution. That all efforts of the Abolitionists or others made to induce Congress to interfere with questions of sla- very or to take incipient steps in relation thereto are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous consequences, and that all such efforts have the inevitable tendency to diminish the happiness of the people and endanger the stability of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friends of our political institutions." The platform urged support of the compromises of the Constitution and the upholding of the Fugitive Slave Law. The Whig platform was almost as unsatisfactory to those who were opposed to slavery, and while supporting the ticket the great Horace Greeley said of the plat- form: "The plank evidently means to cover all questions relative to slavery in this country as perilous and wrong. But this is alike futile and preposterous-we defy it, execrate it, spit upon it." Thompson Sinclair, A. Worden, and J. W. Nelson headed the Democratic asso- ciation of Kent County, but party lines were forgotten when an- nouncement was made of the death of the great Henry Clay. A public meeting was held at which Capt. A. X. Cary presided and suitable I-22
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resolutions of respect were passed. The Hollanders had been long enough in this country to have acquired a taste for civil as well as religious liberty, but the pastors of the flock wished to dictate to them. This was resented by many and called forth a letter from Rev. P. Tonne, of which the following is an extract: "Your clergy represents Moses and your elders are the justices of the peace, ac- cording to Deuteronomy first. They are the only ones in the straight line from Moses. It is the right of your minister to preside at your political meetings ; it is his right to require you that you should elect him supervisor of your town, and other wise men belonging to the consistory to the other town offices. I only wanted to observe to you that your church government had, according to Deuteronomy first, the right to compel you to this choice." Prior to this time, the Hol- land vote had been with the Whigs, but in the revolt from this arbi- trary dictation, and dissatisfaction with the failure of the national government to appropriate for harbor improvements, many of the Dutch voted the Democratic ticket for the first time. There was a lively contest for the control of the Democratic caucuses, and it was claimed that Whigs and boys voted at the Democratic meetings, and that one of the Democratic state delegates was a Whig. The Demo- crats held a grand ratification meeting, with Samuel Clark, of Kala- mazoo, as the speaker, and later a mass meeting, which was ad- dressed by no less men than Senator Lewis Cass, ex-Gov. Alpheus Felch, and Governor McClelland. The Whigs responded with pole raisings, one on the west side of the river being the gift of I. L. and J. W. Phillips and S. White, Jr. Messrs. Church, Taylor, Sinclair, Holmes, Godfroy, Clancy, and others were the Democratic campaign orators, holding meetings in almost every precinct. At the Grand Rapids meeting, which was the culmination of their campaign, the speakers occupied the platform which had been built for the Whig meeting. This platform fell while Senator Cass was speaking and Cass is quoted as shouting when the crash came: "The Democrats may fall, but Democratic principles never." Senator Cass finished his speech, standing in a wagon. The Whig flag floated at the foot of Monroe street and beneath its folds Zachariah Chandler, the Whig candidate for Governor, destined to be one of the strongest support- ers of the Union cause, and a man whom Michigan delights to honor, made his second political address in Grand Rapids. The result of the election was a sweeping Democratic victory in nation, state, and county. The vote of Kent County on the national ticket was 1,519 for Pierce and 1,221 for Scott. The strength of the Free-Soil party in Grand Rapids was 48 and in the county 166, a considerable loss from the vote of four years before. The Democratic majority in the state was about 8,000. Between this and the quadrennial election fol- lowing the very name and machinery of the Whig party had passed out of existence.
The new constitution provided for biennial elections, and there was no election in the fall of 1853. There was, however, no cessation in the effort of Whigs, Free-Soil Democrats, and Abolitionists to unite, and it was in the following year that the Republican party was born, in Michigan. At the state election in 1854, for governor, Kins- ley S. Bingham (Republican) received 1,540 votes, and John S. Barry (Democrat), 1,493 votes. The majority of the Republican ticket was
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elected, although the plurality for Mr. Bingham was not large. This was the first instance in the political history of Kent County when the regular nominees of the Democrat party were entirely overthrown in a strictly party contest.
1856-James Buchanan (Dem.), 2,516 votes; John C. Fremont (Rep.), 2,931. Majority for Fremont over Buchanan, 415. Kent County, it will be observed, gave a heavy vote for the Republican ticket, increasing its vote of two years before by more than ninety per cent.
1860-This contest resulted ultimately in the termination of the "irrepressible conflict" between the Free and the Slave states, as Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward had declared several years previous that it was destined to become, and, so far as law could make it so, placed the former master and slave on terms of civil equality. Kent county sustained her Republican majority, giving to Lincoln (Rep.) a vote of 3,647, and to Douglas (Dem.) a vote of 2,540, making the ma- jority for Lincoln over the vote of his chief competitor, 1,107.
1864-Lincoln's (Rep.) vote, 3,398; Mcclellan's (Dem.), 2,966. 1868-Ulysses S. Grant (Rep.), 5,412 votes, and Horatio Sey- mour (Dem.), 3,839, resulting in a majority for Grant of 1,573.
1872-At the November election of this year, Grant received a majority of 2,828 votes over Greeley, thus proving conclusively that the latter was not very popular with Kent County Democrats. The vote stood: Grant, 5,917; Greeley, 3,089. Indeed the candidacy of Mr. Greeley seems to have effected the vote for Governor also, for in 1870 the Republicans had but 225 majority in the county for Gov- ernor, and in 1872 they had 2,657.
1876-Hayes (Rep.), 7,403; Tilden (Dem.), 5,678.
1880-Garfield (Rep.), 8,313; Hancock (Dem.), 5,115.
1884-Blaine (Rep.), 9,007; Cleveland (Dem.), 6,902.
1888-Harrison (Rep.), 12,810; Cleveland (Dem.), 11,865.
1892-Harrison (Rep.), 12,388; Cleveland (Dem.), 11,533. 1896-Mckinley (Rep.), 17,054; Bryan (Dem.), 13.584. 1900-Mckinley (Rep.), 17,891; Bryan (Dem.), 13,794. 1904-Roosevelt (Rep.), 20,266; Parker (Dem.), 6,425.
1908-Taft (Rep.), 16,663; Bryan (Dem.), 11,494.
1912-Roosevelt (Prog.), 13,617; Wilson (Dem.), 9,437; Taft (Rep.), 6,538.
1916-Wilson (Dem.), 20,364; Hughes (Rep.), 16,095.
The figures of 1904 represent the largest majority ever given to a political party in Kent County. And, though there can be no doubt that the Republicans have a comfortable majority in the county, the Presidential election of 1904 is not a fair criterion by which to judge its size. It is but stating a truth in history to say that Mr. Parker was not a popular candidate with the "rank and file" of the Demo- cratic party, and especially was this true after he exhibited his weak conception of the coinage question. With such an independent char- acter as Mr. Roosevelt in the field, many Democrats considered it an opportune time to consign Mr. Parker, "irrevocably," to the shades of political oblivion. As a further evidence of this fact, notwithstand- ing the great majority for Roosevelt, the vote for Governor in the same year was as follows: Warner (Rep.), 12,961; Ferris (Dem.), 14,536, a Democratic majority of 1,575.
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It will be seen, in the statistics given, that since 1852 the Re- publican candidate in Presidential years has carried the county, with the exceptions of the years 1912 and 1916, and that the Democratic vote reached high-water mark in the last named year, when it regis- tered 20,364. The vote given to Mr. Wilson was considered the greatest achievement that has ever been accomplished by the Demo- crats of Kent County.
In local and state affairs, however, an independent spirit has been manifested more or less ever since the close of the Civil War. The voters of the county have been generally given to "scratching" their tickets, and it has been difficult to estimate results, particularly as regards candidates for county offices, until the votes have been officially canvassed, and members of the minority party have fre- quently been incumbents of official positions. In 1878, the Green- back candidate for Governor received a plurality of 385 votes in the county, and the opposition to the Republicans was also successful in the state elections of 1882, 1884, 1886, 1890, 1904, 1908, 1912, and 1914. With these exceptions, however, the Republican candidates for Governor have carried the county at every election from and in- cluding 1854.
The writer has attempted to perfect an official list of Kent Coun- ty, including national, state, and county officers, from the admission of Michigan to statehood to 1918, and also to include with the list, biographical matter concerning some of the gentlemen who have borne the official honors. In some instances the favored ones have passed away, leaving neither "kith nor kin" to preserve their rec- ords, while in others, either from indisposition, churlishness, cupid- ity, ignorance, or some other cause those who could have done so have manifested no disposition to assist with the desired information. Notwithstanding these difficulties, considerable information is here presented concerning residents of Kent County who have held offi- cial honors. For court judges and officers, see chapter on Courts and Lawyers, and the biographical department of this work also contains additional information.
United States Senators-From May 10, 1894, to Jan. 23, 1895, John Patton; 1907, William Alden Smith, present incumbent.
John Patton was born at Curwensville, Clearfield County, Penn- sylvania, Oct. 30, 1850. His preparation for college was at the Phil- lips Academy, Andover, Mass., after which he entered Yale College, in which he was graduated in 1875. After his graduation he traveled in Europe for three months and then entered the Columbia Law School of New York, where he was graduated in 1878. He then came to Grand Rapids, entering the law office of Stuart & Sweet. Later he was with the firm of Hughes, O'Brien & Smiley until he opened an office for himself, in 1879. He was one of the organizers of the Peo- ple's Savings Bank, and for a long time was one of its board of di- rectors. In 1884 he was made a member of the Republican State Central Committee, and for two years he was president of the Michi- gan League of Republican Clubs. On May 5, 1894, Mr. Patton was appointed United States Senator from Michigan by Gov. John T. Rich, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Stockbridge. He served in this position until his successor was elected, in January,
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1895. On Oct. 1, 1885, Mr. Patton was married to Miss Frances Foster, of Grand Rapids, daughter of Hon. Wilder D. Foster, who represented the Grand Rapids district in Congress in 1871-2. Mr. Patton died of heart failure at his home in Grand Rapids, May 24, 1907.
Lieutenant-Governor-From 1881 to 1885, Moreau S. Crosby.
Moreau S. Crosby was born in the town of Manchester, Ontario County, New York, Dec. 2, 1839. He graduated at the University of Rochester in 1863. He first came to Michigan in 1857, and set- tled in Grand Rapids. He was a member of the board of education of the city for four years, was for several years trustee of the Kala- mazoo College, was president of the Young Men's State Christian Association, and was for some years a member of the State Board of Charities. He was engaged in the real estate and insurance business, as a member of the long established firm of I. S. Crosby & Company. He was elected to the State Senate in 1872 and served one term. Mr. Crosby was elected Lieutenant-Governor in 1880, and was re-elected to the same office in 1882, having been nominated in both instances by acclamation.
Secretaries of State-From 1851 to 1853, Charles H. Taylor; 1875 to 1879, Ebenezer G. D. Holden.
Charles H. Taylor was born at Cooperstown, N. Y., Nov. 20, 1813. He was educated at an academy and came to Grand Rapids in 1837. He was clerk of Kent County for eight years, and in 1847-8 was a Representative in the Legislature. He was one of five commis- sioners who selected sites for the insane asylum at Kalamazoo and the deaf and dumb asylum at Flint. He was the first Secretary of State elected under the constitution of 1850, and served from 1851 to 1853. From 1847 to 1855 he edited the Grand Rapids Enquirer, and later he was chief editor and part proprietor of the Detroit Free Press, but ill health compelled him to retire. In politics he was a Democrat, and continued his residence at Grand Rapids until his death, in 1889.
Ebenezer G. D. Holden was born Feb. 18, 1834, in a pioneer's cabin at Kirkland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. His life, until he be- came to his majority, was that of a pioneer boy, his father moving from Ohio to Illinois while the son was yet an infant, and after va- rious shiftings, incident to "wild-cat" times and business failures, finally became a settler in the township of Byron, Kent County, in 1845. The son at the age of seventeen left home to care for himself. He learned the trade of a carpenter, qualified himself for college, and was a student in Knox College, Illinois, for two and a half years. He studied law and was admitted to the Kent County bar in 1859. In 1862 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Kent County and filled that position four years. For six years he was chairman of the Kent County Republican Committee, and for many years a school officer and trustee of Grand Rapids. In 1869 he, with his partner, organ- ized the Grand Rapids Savings Bank, the first in the city. In 1874 he was elected Secretary of State and was re-elected in 1876, serving four years. He was always a Republican.
Auditor-General-From Jan. 28, 1846, to May 9, 1848, Digby V. Bell.
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Digby V. Bell was born Nov. 10, 1784, on the Island of St. Chris- topher, British West Indies. His father, a retired British naval of- ficer and merchant, died when he was five years old. Under the care of an accomplished mother, he received every educational advantage the island afforded. At the age of thirteen, from choice, he became a sailor, and followed that life for six years. Abandoning that occu- pation, he acted as agent of a mining company in New York City, afterwards of the New York Gas Light Company. Following the tide of emigration he came to Michigan in 1834, settling in St. Jos- eph County as a farmer. In a few months he was discharging the functions of seven offices, took an active part in the organization of a state government, and issued the first address to the citizens of St. Joseph County. He was elected judge of probate, and held other important offices. During the "wild-cat" period he was State Bank Commissioner, and in that capacity helped to protect the people from frauds. Having removed to Ada, he was elected Senator in the Leg- islature of 1842 and 1843, and was Representative in 1840 from Kent County. As chairman of the finance committee, he made an exhaus- tive report on the indebtedness of the state, its credits, revenues, and expenditures, which had great weight in preventing repudiation. He was Commissioner of the State Land Office from 1844 to 1846, and Auditor-General from 1846 to 1848. Afterward, for several years, he was cashier of the Michigan Central Railroad Company. In 1850, he established in Chicago the first commercial college in Illinois, which he continued for several years. Then going to New York City, he became interested in a banking house which suspended in the crash of 1857, but resumed and paid off all liabilities. He returned to Chicago in 1858, and was there interested with Bryant & Strat- ton in the Chicago Commercial College, which became one of the first in the country. He was soon appointed by the Legislature of Illinois commissioner of claims, and charged with the duty of in- vestigating the finances of the city of Chicago. He was also special agent of the postoffice department, and discharged its duties with great fidelity. He sent four sons to the war during the rebellion, three of whom served until peace was declared. He removed to Bat- tle Creek, Mich., and died while serving as postmaster, Oct. 28, 1871. He was a man of great ability, and discharged the many varied trusts committed to his hands with signal success. His sense of justice in life, both public and private, was shown when, coming into posses- sion of his father's property at the age of twenty-one, he gave four- teen slaves their freedom, and divided the estate into small farms, giving each a deed to a part of the estate. In politics he was a Democrat until 1854, then a Republican.
Commissioner of State Land Office-From Feb. 2, 1844, to Feb. 16, 1846, Digby V. Bell.
Regents of the University-From 1864 to 1876, Thomas D. Gil- bert; from Jan. 19 to Dec. 31, 1883, Lyman D. Norris.
Thomas D. Gilbert, Representative from Kent County in 1861-2, and regent of the university for twelve years, was born at Greenfield, Mass., Dec. 13, 1815, and was there educated. After five years' serv- ice as a clerk, he engaged in the lumber business at Grand Haven, Mich., in 1835, and was a pioneer in that business. He served as
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sheriff of Ottawa County. He removed to Grand Rapids in 1858, and there resided until his death. He served several years on the board of education, was five years president of the board of public works, and at the time of his death was president of the National City Bank, a position he had held since 1865.
Lyman D. Norris was born at Covington, N. Y., May 4, 1825. His father removed to Ypsilanti in 1828. The son, after a prepara- tory education, entered as the first student of the first class of the Michigan University. After nearly three years there he entered Yale College, and graduated in 1845. He read law with A. D. Frazer, of Detroit, and was admitted in 1847. In 1848 he removed to St. Louis, Mo., and engaged in practice. He subsequently studied civil law at Heidelberg, Germany. In 1852 he was retained in the famous Dred Scott case, and effected a reversal of former decisions of the Su- preme Court of Missouri. In 1854 he returned to Ypsilanti . and practiced there until 1871, and then removed to Grand Rapids, where he became a prominent lawyer. He was a member of the constitu- tional convention of 1867, and in 1869-70 was Senator from Wash- tenaw County. He was the Democratic candidate for supreme judge in 1875, and in 1883 was appointed regent of the university to suc- ceed Byron M. Cutcheon, resigned. He was a man of superior edu- cation and attainments.
Members of Congress-From 1843 to 1845, Lucius Lyon; 1859 to 1865, Francis W. Kellogg; 1871 to 1873, Wilder D. Foster ; 1877 to 1881, John W. Stone; 1883 to 1885, Julius ouseman ; 1885 to 1887, Charles C. Comstock ; 1887 to 1889, Melbourne H. Ford; 1889 to 1893, Charles E. Belknap; 1895 to 1907, William Alden Smith ; 1911 to 1913, Edwin F. Sweet; 1913 to 1919, Carl E. Mapes, present incumbent.
Francis W. Kellogg was born in Worthington, Mass., May 30, 1810. He received a limited education and, removing to Michigan, entered into the business of lumbering at Kelloggsville, Kent Coun- ty. As a Republican he was elected to the Legislature of 1857. In 1858 he was elected to the thirty-sixth Congress as Representative from the Third district of Michigan, and was re-elected in 1860 and 1862, serving from 1859 to 1865. During the rebellion he raised six cavalry regiments for the service. In 1865 President Johnson ap- pointed him collector of internal revenue, for Alabama, and he was afterward elected to Congress from that State.
Wilder D. Foster, member of Congress from 1871 to 1873, was born in Monroe, N. Y., Jan. 8, 1821. He became a blacksmith and a resident of Marshall, Mich., and then of Grand Rapids. In 1845 he entered into the hardware trade at Grand Rapids, and was ulti- mately the largest dealer in that line in the Grand River Valley. He served as alderman, treasurer and mayor of Grand Rapids, and was Senator in 1855. He was a Republican in politics and he had the re- spect and esteem of everybody. He died Sept. 20, 1873.
John W. Stone, Representative in Congress from 1877 to 1881, was born in Wadsworth, Ohio, July 18, 1838. He received a common and select school education, came to Michigan in 1856, and taught school four winters. He was clerk of Allegan County two terms. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and was prosecuting attorney of
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Allegan County from 1865 to 1871. He was elected circuit judge in 1873, resigned in 1874, and entered into practice at Grand Rapids. After the close of his second term in Congress he was United States district attorney for Western Michigan until 1885, and later he re- moved to Houghton, Mich. He is now a member of the Supreme Court of Michigan.
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