Portrait and biographical album of Gratiot county, Mich., Part 7

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman brothers
Number of Pages: 856

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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ÀSTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATION

. A. Grant

EIGHTEENTH PRESIDENT.

ULYSSES S. GRANT,

LYSSES S. GRANT, the eighteenth President of the # United States, was born on the 29th of April, 1822, of Christian parents, in a humble home, at Point Pleasant, on the banks of the Ohio. Shortly after his father moved to George. town, Brown Co., O. In this re- mote frontier hamlet, Ulysses received a common-school edu- cation. At the age of seven- teen, in the year 1839. he entered the Military Academy at West Point. Here he was regarded sa sold, sensible young man of fair abilities, and of study, honest character. He took respectable Bank as a scholar. In June, 1843, he graduated, about the middle in his class, and was sent as lieutenant of m- fintry to one of the distant military posts in the Mis- wni Territory I've years he past in these dieary solitudes, watching the vagabond und exasperating Induins.

The war with Mesto cime. Liest Grint Was sent with his regiment to Corpus Christ Its first battle wis at Palo Alto, There was mich me here In the exhaustion of either skill of heroes, Jol al Resu de la Palma, his second bitte. If the battle of Monteres, his third engagement. It ud that he performed a signal service of dans at All

a note exposed to the ballet of the the 10:01 tirant, domy respectiva le muel of the led . grasped the man of his house, d hauges Op to

From Monterey he was sent, with the fourth infantry, to and tien. Scott, at the siege of Vera Cruz. in preparation for the march to the city of Mexic, he was appointed quartermaster of his regiment. At the battle of Molino del Rey, he was promoted to a first lieutenancy, and was brevetted captain & Cha pulteper.

At the close of the Mexican War, Capt. Grant re- turned with his regiment to New York, and w . main sent to one of the mil tary guests on the frontter. The diversery of cold in California edin, an immense tide of compration to flow to the l'autre store, I pt. Grant was sent with a battalion to Fort Balls. in Oregon, for the protection of the interests of the I- migrants. Life was wearisome inthose wilds. I ist. Grant resigned his commission and returned to the States; and having married, entered sport coatvi- tion of a small farm near St Louis, Mo I odlet little skill as at farmer Finding las call ret re- mi merative, he turned to mercantile hite, er feri it> the letter business, with a younger Brother. . . - lent HI This wasn the self the Istes of the regels firing of Fost Sumpter with ers of tapt. Grant 1 his with _- rom "I ile sam has ed rated me for the army I have served let the phone war, Ido I have vet repad the debt. La fille alsode . my obligation , Ishal theretonaked und see Uncle Sam through it was too

He went into the street , rimed 2 compass Can tipof the Site, where Se

ULYSSES S. GRANT.

June, 1861, Capt. Grant received a commission as Colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment of Illinois Vol- unteers. His merits as a West Point graduate, who had served for 15 years in the regular army, were such that he was soon promoted to the rank of Brigadier- General and was placed in command at Cairo. The rebels raised their banner at Paducah, near the mouth of the Tennessee River. Scarcely had its folds ap- peared in the breeze ere Gen. Grant was there. The rebels fled. Their banner fell, and the star and stripes were unfurled in its stead.

He entered the service with great determination and immediately began active duty. This was the be- ginning, and until the surrender of Lee at Richmond he was ever pushing the enemy with great vigor and effectiveness. At Belmont, a few days later, he sur- prised and routed the rebels, then at Fort Henry won another victory. Then came the brilliant fight at Fort Donelson. The nation was electrified by the victory, and the brave leader of the boys in blue was immediately made a Major-General, and the military district of Tennessee was assigned to him.

Like all great captains, Gen. Grant knew well how to secure the results of victory. He immediately pushed on to the enemies' lines. Then came the terrible battles of Pittsburg Landing, Corinth, and the siege of Vicksburg, where Gen. Pemberton made an unconditional surrender of the city with over thirty thousand men and one-hundred and seventy-two can- non. The fall of Vicksburg was by far the most severe blow which the rebels had thus far encountered, and opened up the Mississippi from Cairo to the Gulf.

Gen. Grant was next ordered to co-operate with Gen. Banks in a movement upon Texas, and pro- ceeded to New Orleans, where he was thrown from his horse, and received severe injuries, from which he was laid up for months. He then rushed to the aid of Gens. Rosecrans and Thomas at Chattanooga, and by a wonderful series of strategic and tactical meas- ures put the Union army in fighting condition. Then followed the bloody battles at Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, in which the rebels were routed with great loss. This won for him un- bounded praise in the North. On the 4th of Febru- ary, 1864, Congress revived the grade of lieutenant- general, and the rank was conferred on Gen. Grant. He repaired to Washington to receive his credentials and enter upon the duties of his new office.

Gen. Grant decided as soon as he took charge of the army to concentrate the widely-dispersed National troops for an attack upon Richmond, the nominal capital of the Rebellion, and endeavor there to de- stroy the rebel armies which would be promptly as- sembled from all quarters for its defence. The whole continent seemed to tremble under the tramp of these majestic armies, rushing to the decisive battle field. Steamers were crowded with troops. Railway trains were burdened with closely packed thousands. His plans were comprehensive and involved a series of campaigns, which were executed with remarkable en- ergy and ability, and were consummated at the sur- render of Lee, April 9, 1865.

The war was ended. The Union was saved. The almost unanimous voice of the Nation declared Gen. Grant to be the most prominent instrument in its sal- vation. The eminent services he had thus rendered the country brought him conspicuously forward as the Republican candidate for the Presidential chair.

At the Republican Convention held at Chicago, May 21, 1868, he was unanimously nominated for the Presidency, and at the autumn election received a majority of the popular vote, and 214 out of 294 electoral votes.

The National Convention of the Republican party which met at Philadelphia on the 5th of June, 1872, placed Gen. Grant in nomination for a second term by a unanimous vote. The selection was emphati- cally indorsed by the people five months later, 292 electoral votes being cast for him.

Soon after the close of his second term, Gen. Grant started upon his famous trip around the world. He visited almost every country of the civilized world, and was everywhere received with such ovations and demonstrations of respect and honor, private as well as public and official, as were never before bestowed upon any citizen of the United States. It is not too much to say that his modest, courteous, and dignified demeanor in the presence of the most dis- tinguished men in the different nations in the world, reflected honor upon the Republic which he so long and so faithfully served. The country felt a great pride in his reception. Upon his arrival in San Fran- cisco, Sept. 20, 1879, the city authorities gave him a fine reception. After lingering in the Golden State for a while, he began his tour through the States, which extended North and South, everywhere mark- ed by great acclamation and splendid ovations.

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS R

Sincerely

NINETEENTH PRESIDENT.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.

R UTHERFORD B. HAYES, the nineteenth President of the United States, was born in Delaware, O., Oct. 4, 1822, al- most three months after the death of his father, Rutherford Hayes. His ancestry on both the paternal and maternal sides, was of the most honorable char- acter. It can be traced, it is said, as far back as 1280, when Hayes and Rutherford were two Scottish chief- tains, fighting side by side with Baliol, William Wallace and Robert Bruce. Both families belonged to the nobility, owned extensive estates, and had a large following. Misfor- tune overtaking the family, George Hayes left Scot- land in 1680, and settled in Windsor, Conn. His son George was born in Windsor, and remained there during his life. Daniel Hayes, son of the latter, mur- sied Sarah Lee, and lived from the time of his mar- ringe until his death in Simsbury, Conn. Fackiel, son of Daniel, was born in 1724. and was a manuti - turer of sixthesat Bradford, Conn. Rutherford Have», son of Ezekiel and grunttither ot President Haves, w Is Barn in New Haven, in August, 1756. He was a farmer. blacksmith and tavern-keeper He emigrated to Vermont at an unknown date, settling in Brattleboro, where he established a hotel. Here his san Ruth- stord Hives, the father of Pre ident Hues, was

born. He was married, in September, 1813, to sophia Birchard, of Wilmington, Vt., whose ancestors en- grated thither from Connecticut, they having been among the wealthiest and best families of Norwich. Her ancestry on the male side are traced back to 1635, to John Birchard, one of the principal foider of Norwich. Both of her grandfathers were soldiers in the Revolutionary War.

The father of President Hayes was an industrious. frugal and opened-hearted man. He was of a me- chanical turn, and could mend a plow, knit a stock- ing, or do almost anything else that he chose to undertake. He was a member of the Church, cu tive in all the benevolent enterprises of the town, and con- ducted his business on Christian principles After the close of the war of 1812, for reasons inexplicable to his neighbors, he resolved to emigrate to Ohio.

The journey from Vermont to Ohio in that day. when there were no canals, steamers, nor ralweiss. was a very serious affair. \ tour of inspection wis first made, occupying four months Mr. H. ves deter mined to move to Delaware, where the family arrived in 1817 He died July 22, 1522, i victim et mal tol fever, less than three months before the birth of ah son, of whom we now write. Mr- Haves. mn ler write reavement, ford the support she so much needed her brother Sardis, who had been a member of the household from the day of its i gara. trong r. mont, and in an orphan gul whom she Had mor'ed some time before as an act of a hints

Mrs Haves at this period was very weak. (mil the

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.

subject of this sketch was so feeble at birth that he was not expected to live beyond a month or two all most. As the months went by he grew weaker and weaker, so that the neighbors were in the habit of in- quiring from time to time " if Mrs. Hayes' baby died last night." On one occasion a neighbor, who was on familiar terms with the family, after alluding to the boy's big head, and the mother's assiduous care of him, said in a bantering way, " That's right ! Stick to him. You have got him along so far, and I shouldn't wonder if he would really come to something yet."

" You need not laugh," said Mrs. Hayes. "You wait and see. You can't tell but I shall make him President of the United States yet." The boy lived. in spite of the universal predictions of his speedy death; and when, in 1825, his older brother was drowned. he became, if possible, still dearer to his mother.

The boy was seven years old before he went to school. His education, however, was not neglected. He probably learned as much from his mother and sister as he would have done at school. Ilis sports were almost wholly within doors, his playmates being his sister and her associates. These circumstances tended, no doubt, to foster that gentleness of dispo- sition, and that delicate consideration for the feelings of others, which are marked traits of his character.

His uncle Sardis Birchard took the deepest interest in his education ; and as the boy's health had im- proved, and he was making good progress in his studies, he proposed to send him to college. His pre- paration commenced with a tutor at home; but he was afterwards sent for one year to a professor in the Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Conn. He en- tered Kenyon College in 1838, at the age of sixteen, and was graduated at the head of his class in 1842.

Immediately after his graduation he began the study of law in the office of Thomas Sparrow, Esq., in Columbus. Finding his opportunities for study in Columbus somewhat limited, he determined to enter the Law School at Cambridge, Mass., where he re- mained two years.

In 1845, after graduating at the Law School, he was admitted to the bar at Marietta, Ohio, and shortly afterward went into practice as an attorney-at-law with Ralph P. Buckland, of Fremont. Here he re- mained three years, acquiring but a limited practice, and apparently unambitious of distinction in his pro- fession.

In 18449 he moved to Cincinnati, where his ambi- tion found a new stimulus. For several years, how- ever, his progress was slow. Two events, occurring at this period, had a powerful influence upon his suhse- quent life. One of these was his marrage with Miss Lucy Ware Webb, daughter of Dr. James Webb, of Chilicothe; the other was his introduction to the ('in- cinnati Literary Club, a body embracing among its members such men as Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase,

Gen. John Pope, Gov, Edward F. Noyes, and many others hardly less distinguished in after life. The marriage was a fortunate one in every respect, as everybody knows. Not one of all the wives of our Presidents was more universally admired, reverenced and beloved than was Mis. Hayes, and no one did more than she to reflect honor upon American woman- hood. The Literary Club brought Mr. Hayes into constant association with young men of high char- acter and noble aims, and lured him to display the qualities so long hidden by his bashfulness and modesty.

In 1856 he was nominated to the office of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas; but he declined to ac- cept the nomination. Two years later, the office of city solicitor becoming vacant, the City Council elected him for the unexpired term.

In 1861, when the Rebellion broke out, he was at the zenith of his professional life. Ilis rank at the bar was among the the first. But the news of the attack on Fort Sumpter found him eager to take up arms for the defense of his country.

His military record was bright ard illustrious. In October, 1861, he was made Lieutenant-Colonel, and in August, 1862, promoted Colonel of the 79th Ohio regiment, but he refused to leave his old comrades and go among strangers. Subsequently, however, he was made Colonel of his old regiment. At the battle of South Mountain he received a wound, and while faint and bleeding displayed courage and fortitude that won admiration from all.

Col. Hayes was detached from his regiment, after his recovery, to act as Brigadier-General, and placed in command of the celebrated Kanawha division, and for gallant and meritorious services in the battles of Winchester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, he was promoted Brigadier-General. He was also brevetted Major-General, "for galiant and distinguished services during the campaigns of 1864, in West Virginia." In the course of his arduous services, four horses were shot from under him, and he was wounded four times.

In 1864, Gen. Hayes was elected to Congress, from the Second Ohio District, which had long been Dem- ocratic. He was not present during the campaign, and after his election was importuned to resign his commission in the army ; but he finally declared, " 1 shall never come to Washington until I can come by the way of Richmond." He was re-elected in 1866.

In 1867, Gen Hayes was elected Governor of Ohio, over Hon. Allen G. Thurman, a popular Democrat. In 1860 was re-elected over George II. Pendleton. He was elected Governor for the third term in 1875.

In 1876 he was the standard bearer of the Repub- lican Party in the Presidential contest, and after a hard long contest was chosen President, and was in augurated Monday, March 5, 1875. He served his full term, not, however, with satisfaction to his party. but his administration was an average one

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS R

JaGarfield :

TWENTIETH PRESIDENT.

JAMES A. GARFIELD.

AMIES A GARFIELD, two- tieth President of the United States, was born Nov. 19. 1831, in the woods of Orange, Cuyahoga Co., ( His pal- ents were Abram and Ehz. (Ballon) Garfield, both of New England ancestry and from fami- lies well known in the early his- tory of that section of our coun- try, but had moved to the Western Reserve, in Ohio, early in its settle- ment.

The house in which Jaumes . A. w Is born was not unlike the houses of poor Ohio farmers of that day. It Wasabin: 30 feet, built of logs, with the spaces be. tween the logs filled with clay. His father was il hard working farmer, and he soon had his fiells cleared, an orchid planted, and a log barn built The house hold comprised the father and mother and their four children-Mehetabel, Thomas, Mary und James. In Wiy, 1823, the father, from i coll con- trat ted in helping to put out a forest fire, died. . At this time James was about eighteen months old, and Thomas about ten years old. No one, perhaps, can tell how much fines was indested to his brother's toil And self stentice during the twenty years sie. cording his father's death, but ando Bells ven much. le now live, in Michigan, und the two ) ter, live ri Sal m. D), Leu their Birthplace.

The early Justional advantages you to field

Center work, chopped word or did sothin thst wold un'in a few dollie to ad Dis widow d mother in ler tras le to ke jeth la. i dy to

gether Nor was Gien. Garheld ever with in dot hi origin, and he never for_ot the friends of h's strip- gling childhood, youth and manhood, neither did they ever forget him. When in the higher seatsof honor. the humblest friend of his I Blood was as kindly greeted as ever. The poorest le over w s street the sympathy of one who had known .Il the bitterness of want and the sweetness of bread cirned by the sweat of the brow. He was ever the simple, plain. modest gentleman.

The highest ambition of young Garfield unul he was about sixteen years old was to be a captan et a vessel on Lake Ene. Hewas anxios topoalward a vessel, which his mother strongly opposed. She finally consented to his going to Cleveland, with the understanding, however, that he should try to obtain some other kind of employment. Hr w led all the way to Cleveland. This was his first visit to the city After making many applications for work, and trom to get about a lake vessel, and it meeting with success, he engaged as a driver for his desm. Antes Lett her, on the Ohio & Pernsthaft r.l Her mained at this work let a short time when he will home, and attended the seminar t fester for about three years, when he entered Imam and the Electie Institute, touching w tmset schein the meantime, and doing other werk was started In the Disciples of that which church he wi, thena monster. Il lune jenitor and b linger in order to h lo pi 's # s He then became both teacher welt 11. 0 " eshat ted Htm " and need & more ; herer, miti till of 155 1, beentered W .1 le predicted in 1550, taking one of 11 .

College is its l'esder 1

1 untted with the Chreten ce Duplo -

ber, often pen him it ant be hippered to be. De Na Pener, Presdiers

JAMES A. GARFIELD.

" President Garfield was more than a man of strong moral and religious convictions. His whole history, from boyhood to the last, shows that duty to man and to God, and devotion to Christ and life and faith and spiritual commission were controlling springs of his being, and to a more than usual degree. In my judgment there is no more interesting feature of his character than his loyal allegiance to the body of Christians in which he was trained, and the fervent sympathy which he ever showed in their Christian communion. Not many of the few 'wise and mighty and noble who are called' show a similar loyalty to the less stately and cultured Christian communions in which they have been reared. Too often it is true that as they step upward in social and political sig- nificance they step upward from one degree to another in some of the many types of fashionable Christianity. President Garfield adhered to the church of his mother, the church in which he was trained, and in which he served as a pillar and an evangelist, and yet with the largest and most unsec- tarian charity for all 'who loveour Lord in sincerity."

Mr. Garfield was united in marriage with Miss Lucretia Rudolph, Nov. 11, 1858, who proved herself worthy as the wife of one whom all the world loved and mourned. To them were born seven children, five of whom are still living, four boys and one girl.

Mr. Garfield made his first political speeches in 1856, in Hiram and the neighboring villages, and three years later he began to speak at county mass-meet- ings, and became the favorite speaker wherever he was. During this year he was elected to the Ohio Senate. Ile also began to study law at Cleveland, and in 1861 was admitted to the bar. The great Rebellion broke out in the early part of this year, and Mr. Garfield at once resolved to fight as he had talked, and enlisted to defend the old flag. He re- ceived his commission as Lieut .- Colonel of the Forty- second Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Aug. 14, 1861. He was immediately put into active ser- vice, and before he had ever seen a gun fired in action, was placed in command of four regiments of infantry and eight companies of cavalry, charged with the work of driving out of his native State the officer (Humphrey Marshall) reputed to be the ablest of those, not educated to war whom Kentucky had given to the Rebellion. This work was bravely and speed- ily accomplished, although against great odds. l'res- ident Lincoln. on his success commissioned him Brigadier-General, Jan. 10, 1862; and as " he had been the youngest man in the Ohio Senate two years before, so now he was the youngest General in the army." He was with Gen. Buell's army at Shiloh, in its operations around Corinth and its march through Alabama. He was then detailed as a member of the General Court-Martial for the trial of Gen. Fitz- John Porter. He was then ordered to report to Gen. Rose- crans, and was assigned to the "Chief of Staff."

The military history of Gen. Garfield closed with

his brilliant services at Chickamauga, where he won the stars of the Major-General.

Without an effort on his part Gen. Garfield was elected to Congress in the fall of 1862 from the Nineteenth District of Ohio. This section of Ohio had been represented in Congress for sixty years mainly by two men-Elisha Whittlesey and Joshua R. Giddings. It was not without a struggle that he resigned his place in the army . At the time he en- tered Congress he was the youngest member in that body. There he remained by successive re- elections until he was elected President in 1880. Of his labors in Congress Senator Iloar says : " Since the year 1864 you cannot think of a question which has been debated in Congress, or discussed before a tribunel of the American people, in regard to which you will not find, if you wish instruction, the argu- ment on one side stated, in almost every instance better than by anybody else, in some speech made in the House of Representatives or on the hustings by Mr. Garfield."

Upon Jan. 14, 1880, Gen. Garfield was elected to the U. S. Senate, and on the eighth of June, of the same year, was nominated as the candidate of his party for President at the great Chicago Convention. He was elected in the following November, and on March 4, 1881, was inaugurated. Probably no ad- ministration ever opened its existence under brighter auspices than that of President Garfield, and every day it grew in favo. with the people, and by the first of July he had completed all the initiatory and pre- liminary work of his administration and was prepar- ing to leave the city to meet his friends at Williams College. While on his way and at the depot, in com- pany with Secretary Blaine, a man stepped behind him, drew a revolver, and fired directly at his back. The President tottered and fell, and as he did so the assassin fired a second shot, the bullet cutting the left coat sleeve of his victim, but inflicting no further injury. It has been very truthfully said that this was " the shot that was heard round the world " Never before in the history of the Nation had anything oc- curred which so nearly froze the blood of the people for the moment, as this awful deed. He was smit. ten on the brightest, gladdest day of all his life, and was at the summit of his power and hope. For eighty days, all during the hot months of July and August, he lingered and suffered. Ile, however, remained master of himself till the last, and by his magnificent bearing was teaching the country and the world the noblest of human lessons-how to live grandly in the very clutch of death. Great in life, he was surpass- ingly great in death. He passed serenely away Sept. 19, 1883, at Elberon, N. J, on the very bank of the ocean, where he had been taken shortly previous. The world wept at his death, as it never had done on the death of any other man who had ever lived upon it. The murderer was duly tried, found guilty and exe- cuted, in one year after he committed the foul deed.

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Portrait and biographical album of Gratiot county, Mich., Part 7

Author: Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman brothers Number of Pages: 856

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman brothers
Number of Pages: 856