USA > Minnesota > Meeker County > Album of history and biography of Meeker County, Minnesota > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
Prussia, and of Isabella of Castile, the pa- troness of Columbus ? Did she bring ' dis- credit ' on her sex by mingling in politics ?"
In this glowing strain Mr. Adams si- lenced and overwhelmed his antagonists.
In January, 1842, Mr. Adams presented a petition from forty-five citizens of Haver- hill, Massachusetts, praying for a peaceable dissolution of the Union. The pro-slavery party in Congress, who were then plotting the destruction of the Government, were aroused to a pretense of commotion such as even our stormy hall of legislation has rarely witnessed. They met in caucus, and, finding that they probably would not be able to expel Mr. Adams from the House drew up a series of resolutions, which, if adopted, would inflict upon him disgrace, equivalent to expulsion. Mr. Adams had presented the petition, which was most re- spectfully worded, and had moved that it be referred to a committee instructed to re- port an answer, showing the reason why the prayer ought not to be granted.
It was the 25th of January. The whole body of the pro-slavery party came crowd- ing together in the House, prepared to crush Mr. Adams forever. One of the num- ber, Thomas F. Marshall, of Kentucky, was appointed to read the resolutions, which accused Mr. Adams of high treason, of having insulted the Government, and of meriting expulsion; but for which deserved punishment, the House, in its great mercy, would substitute its severest censure. With the assumption of a very solemn and mag- isterial air, there being breathless silence in the audience, Mr. Marshall hurled the care- fully prepared anathemas at his victim. Mr. Adams stood alone, the whole pro-slav- ery party against him.
As soon as the resolutions were read, every eye being fixed upon him, that bold old man, whose scattered locks were whit- ened by seventy-five years, casting a wither- ing glance in the direction of his assailants,
=
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
in a clear, shrill tone, tremulous with sup- pressed emotion, said:
" In reply to this audacious, atrocious charge of high treason, I call for the read- ing of the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. Read it! Read it! and sce what that says of the rights of a people to reform, to change, and to dissolve their Government.'
The attitude, the manner, the tone, the words; the venerable old man, with flash- ing eye and flushed cheek, and whose very form seemed to expand under the inspiration of the occasion-all presented a scene over- flowing in its sublimity. There was breath- less silence as that paragraph was read, in defense of whose principles our fathers had pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. It was a proud hour to Mr. Adams as they were all compelled to listen to the words:
" That, to secure these rights, govern- ments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; and that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of those ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundations on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."
That one sentence routed and baffled the
foe. The heroic old man looked around upon the audience, and thundered out, " Read that again !" It was again read. Then in a few fiery, logical words he stated his defense in terms which even prejudiced minds could not resist. His discomfited assailants made several attempts to rally. After a conflict of eleven days they gave up vanquished and their resolution was ig- nominiously laid upon the table.
In January, 1846, when seventy-eight years of age, he took part in the great de- bate on the Oregon question, displaying intellectual vigor, and an extent and accu- racy of acquaintance with the subject that excited great admiration.
()n the 21st of February, 1848, he rose on the floor of Congress with a paper in his hand to address the Speaker. Suddenly he fell, stricken by paralysis, and was caught in the arms of those around him. For a time he was senseless and was conveyed to a sofa in the rotunda. With reviving consciousness he opened his eyes, looked calmly around and said, " This is the end of carth." Then after a moment's pause, he added, " I am content." These were his last words, and he soon breathed his last, in the apartment beneath the dome of the capitol -the theater of his labors and his triumphs. In the language of hymnology, he " died at his post;" he " ceased at once to work and live."
Andrew Jackson
47
ANDREW JACKSON.
O
ANDREW JACKSON.
6
OX
ANDREW JACKSON, the seventh President of the United States, 1829-'37, was born at the Waxhaw Settle. ment, Union Coun- ty, North Carolina, March 16, 1767. His parents were Scotch-Irish, natives of Carrickfergus, who came to America in 1765, and settled on Twelve-Mile Creek, a trib- utary of the Catawba. His father, who was a poor farm laborer, died shortly before An- drew's birth, when his mother removed to Waxhaw, where some relatives resided.
Few particulars of the childhood of Jack- son have been preserved. His education was of the most limited kind, and he showed no fondness for books. He grew up to be a tall, lank boy, with coarse hair and freck- led cheeks, with bare feet dangling from trousers too short for him, very fond of ath- letic sports, running, boxing and wrestling. He was generous to the younger and weaker boys, but very irascible and over- bearing with his equals and superiors. He was profane-a vice in which he surpassed all other men. The character of his mother
he revered; and it was not until after her death that his predominant vices gained full strength.
In 1780, at the age of thirteen, Andrew, or Andy, as he was called, with his brother Robert, volunteered to serve in the Revo- lutionary forces under General Sumter, and was a witness of the latter's defeat at Hang- ing Rock. In the following year the brothers were made prisoners, and confined in Camden, experiencing brutal treatment from their captors, and being spectators of General Green's defeat at Hobkirk Hill. Through their mother's exertions the boys were exchanged while suffering from small- pox. In two days Robert was dead, and Andy apparently dying. The strength of his constitution triumphed, and he regained health and vigor.
As he was getting better, his mother heard the cry of anguish from the prison- ers whom the British held in Charleston, among whom were the sons of her sisters. She hastened to their relief, was attacked by fever, died and was buried where her grave could never be found. Thus Andrew Jackson, when fourteen years of age, was left alone in the world, without father, mother, sister or brother, and without one dollar which he could call his own. He
4.8
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
soon entered a saddler's shop, and labored diligently for six months. But gradually, as health returned, he became more and more a wild, reckless, lawless boy. He gambled, drank and was regarded as about the worst character that could be found.
He now turned schoolmaster. He could teach the alphabet, perhaps the multiplica- tion table; and as he was a very bold boy, it is possible he might have ventured to teach a little writing. But he soon began to think of a profession and decided to study law. With a very slender purse, and ou the back of a very fine horse, he set out for Salisbury, North Carolina, where he entered the law office of Mr. McCay. Here he remained two years, professedły studying law. He is still remembered in traditions of Salisbury, which say:
" Andrew Jackson was the most roaring, rollicking, horse-racing, card-playing, mis- chievous fellow that ever lived in Salisbury. He did not trouble the law-books much."
Andrew was now, at the age of twenty, a tall young man, being over six feet in height. He was slender, remarkably grace- ful and dignified in his manners, an exquis- ite horseman, and developed, amidst his loathesome profanity and multiform vices, a vein of rare magnanimity. His temper was fiery in the extreme; but it was said of him that no man knew better than Andrew Jackson when to get angry and when not.
In 1786 he was admitted to the bar, and two years later removed to Nashville, in what was then the western district of North Carolina, with the appointment of so- licitor, or public prosecutor. It was an of- fice of little honor, small emolument and great peril. Few men could be found to accept it.
And now Andrew Jackson commenced vigorously to practice law. It was an im- portant part of his business to collect debts. It required nerve. During the first seven years of his residence in those wilds he
traversed the almost pathless forest between Nashville and Jonesborough, a distance of 200 miles, twenty-two times. Hostile In- dians were constantly on the watch, and a man was liable at any moment to be shot down in his own field. Andrew Jackson was just the man for this service-a wild, daring, rough backwoodsman. Daily he made hair-breadth escapes. He seemed to bear a charmed life. Boldly, alone or with few companions, he traversed the forests, encountering all perils and triumphing over all.
In 1790 Tennessee became a Territory, and Jackson was appointed, by President Washington, United States Attorney for the new district. In 1791 he married Mrs. Rachel Robards (daughter of Colonel John Donelson), whom he supposed to have been divorced in that year by an act of the Leg- islature of Virginia. Two years after this Mr. and Mrs. Jackson learned, to their great surprise, that Mr. Robards had just obtained a divorce in one of the courts of Kentucky, and that the act of the Virginia Legislature was not final, but conditional. To remedy the irregularity as much as pos- sible, a new license was obtained and the marriage ceremony was again performed.
It proved to be a marriage of rare felic- ity. Probably there never was a more affectionate union. However rough Mr. Jackson might have been abroad, he was always gentle and tender at home; and through all the vicissitudes of their lives, he treated Mrs. Jackson with the most chival- ric attention.
Under the circumstances it was not un- natural that the facts in the case of this marriage were so misrepresented by oppo- nents in the political campaigns a quarter or a century later as to become the basis of serious charges against Jackson's moral- ity which, however, have been satisfactorily attested by abundant evidence.
Jackson was untiring in his duties as
1
49
ANDREW JACKSON.
United States Attorney, which demanded frequent journeys through the wilderness and exposed him to Indian hostilities. He acquired considerable property in land, and obtained such influence as to be chosen a member of the convention which framed the Constitution for the new State of Ten- nessee, in 1796, and in that year was elected its first Representative in Congress. Albert Gallatin thus describes the first appearance of the Hon. Andrew Jackson in the House:
" A tall, lank, uncouth-looking personage, with locks of hair hanging over his face and a cue down his back, tied with an ecl skin; his dress singular, his manners and deport- ment those of a rough backwoodsman."
Jackson was an carnest advocate of the Democratic party. Jefferson was his idol. He admired Bonaparte, loved France and hated England. As Mr. Jackson took his seat, General Washington, whose second term of office was just expiring, delivered his last speech to Congress. A committee drew up a complimentary address in reply. Andrew Jackson did not approve the ad- dress and was one of twelve who voted against it.
Tennessee had fitted out an expedition against the Indians, contrary to the policy of the Government. A resolution was intro- duced that the National Government should pay the expenses. Jackson advo- cated it and it was carried. This rendered him very popular in Tennessee. A va- cancy chanced soon after to occur in the Senate, and Andrew Jackson was chosen United States Senator by the State of Ten- nessee. John Adams was then President and Thomas Jefferson, Vice-President.
In 1798 Mr. Jackson returned to Tennes- see, and resigned his seat in the Senate. Soon after he was chosen Judge of the Su- preme Court of that State, with a salary of $600. This office he held six years. It is said that his decisions, though sometimes ungrammatical, were generally right. He
did not enjoy his seat upon the bench, and renounced the dignity in 1804. About this time he was chosen Major-General of militia, and lost the title of judge in that of General.
When he retired from the Senate Cham- ber, he decided to try his fortune through trade. He purchased a stock of goods in Philadelphia and sent them to Nashville, where he opened a store. He lived about thirteen miles from Nashville, on a tract of land of several thousand acres, mostly un- cultivated. He used a small block-house for a store, from a narrow window of which he sold goods to the Indians. As he had an assistant his office as judge did not materially interfere with his business.
As to slavery, born in the midst of it. the idea never seemed to enter his mind that it could be wrong. He eventually became an extensive slave owner, but he was one of the most humane and gentle of masters.
In 1804 Mr. Jackson withdrew from pol- itics and settled on a plantation which he called the Hermitage, near Nashville. He set up a cotton-gin, formed a partnership and traded in New Orleans, making the voyage on flatboats. Through his hot tem- per he became involved in several quarrels and "affairs of honor," during this period, in one of which he was severely wounded, but had the misfortune to kill his opponent, Charles Dickinson. For a time this affair greatly injured General Jackson's popular- ity. The verdict then was, and continues to be, that General Jackson was outra- geously wrong. If he subsequently felt any remorse he never revealed it to anyone.
In 1805 Aaron Burr had visited Nash- ville and been a guest of Jackson, with whom he corresponded on the subject of a war with Spain, which was anticipated and desired by them, as well as by the people of the Southwest generally.
Burr repeated his visit in September, 1806, when he engaged in the celebrated
50
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
combinations which led to his trial for trea- son. He was warmly received by Jackson, at whose instance a public ball was given in his honor at Nashville, and contracted with the latter for boats and provisions. Early in 1807, when Burr had been pro- claimed a traitor by President Jefferson, volunteer forces for the Federal service were organized at Nashville under Jack- son's command; but his energy and activ- ity did not shield him from suspicions of connivance in the supposed treason. He was summoned to Richmond as a witness in Burr's trial, but was not called to the stand, probably because he was out-spoken in his partisanship.
On the outbreak of the war with Great Britain in 1812, Jackson tendered his serv- ices, and in January, 1813, embarked for New Orleans at the head of the Tennessce contingent. In March he received an or- der to disband his forces; but in Septem- ber he again took the field, in the Creek war, and in conjunction with his former partner, Colonel Coffee, inflicted upon the Indians the memorable defeat at Talladega, Emuckfaw and Tallapoosa.
In May, 1814, Jackson, who had now ac- quired a national reputation, wasappointed a Major-General of the United States army, and commenced a campaign against the British in Florida. He conducted the de- fense at Mobile, September 15, seized upon Pensacola, November 6, and immediately transported the bulk of his troops to New Orleans, then threatened by a powerful naval force. Martial law was declared in Louisiana, the State militia was called to arms, engagements with the British were fought December 23 and 28, and after re-en- forcements had been received on both sides the famous victory of January 8, 1815, crowned Jackson's fame as a soldier, and made him the typical American hero of the first half of the nineteenth century.
In 1817-'18 Jackson conducted the war
against the Seminoles of Florida, during which he seized upon Pensacola and exe- cuted by courtmartial two British subjects, Arbuthnot and Ambrister-acts which might easily have involved the United States in war both with Spain and Great Britain. Fortunately the peril was averted by the cession of Florida to the United States; and Jackson, who had escaped a trial for the irregularity of his conduct only through a division of opinion in Mon- roe's cabinet, was appointed in 1821 Gov- ernor of the new Territory. Soon after he declined the appointment of minister to Mexico.
In 1823 Jackson was elected to the United States Senate, and nominated by the Ten- nessee Legislature for the Presidency. This candidacy, though a matter of surprise, and even merryment, speedily became popular, and in 1824, when the stormy electoral can- vas resulted in the choice of John Quincy Adams by the House of Representatives, General Jackson received the largest popu- lar vote among the four candidates.
In 1828 Jackson was triumphantly elected President over Adams after a campaign of unparalleled bitterness. He was inaugu- rated March 4, 1829, and at once removed from office all the incumbents belonging to the opposite party-a procedure new to American politics, but which naturally be- came a precedent.
His first term was characterized by quar- rels between the Vice-President, Calhoun, and the Secretary of State, Van Buren, at- tended by a cabinet crisis originating in scandals connected with the name of Mrs. General Eaton, wife of the Secretary of War; by the beginning of his war upon the United States Bank, and by his vigorous action against the partisans of Calhoun, who, in South Carolina, threatened to nullify the acts of Congress, establishing a protective tariff.
In the Presidential campaign of 1832
51
ANDREW JACKSON.
Jackson received 219 out of 288 electoral votes, his competitor being Mr. Clay, while Mr. Wirt, on an Anti-Masonic platform, received the vote of Vermont alone. In 1833 President Jackson removed the Gov- ernment deposits from the United States bank, thereby incurring a vote of censure from the Senate, which was, however, ex- punged four years later. During this second term of office the Cherokees, Choctaws and Creeks were removed, not without diffi- culty, from Georgia, Alabama and Missis- sippi, to the Indian Territory; the National debt was extinguished; Arkansas and Michigan were admitted as States to the Union; the Seminole war was renewed; the anti-slavery agitation first acquired impor- tance; the Mormon delusion, which had organized in 1829, attained considerable proportions in Ohio and Missouri, and the country experienced its greatest pecuniary panic.
Railroads with locomotive propulsion were introduced into America during Jack- son's first term, and had become an impor- tant element of national life before the close of his second term. For many rea- sons, therefore, the administration of Presi- dent Jackson formed an era in American history, political, social and industrial. He succeeded in effecting the election of
his friend Van Buren as his successor, re- tired from the Presidency March 4, 1837, and led a tranquil life at the Hermitage until his death, which occurred June 8, 1845.
During his closing years he was a pro- fessed Christian and a member of the Pres- byterian church. No American of this century has been the subject of such oppo- site judgments. He was loved and hated with equal vehemence during his life, but at the present distance of time from his career, while opinions still vary as to the merits of his public acts, few of his country- men will question that he was a warm- hearted, brave, patriotic, honest and sincere man. If his distinguishing qualities were not such as constitute statesmanship, in the highest sense, he at least never pretended to other merits than such as were written to his credit on the page of American his- tory-not attempting to disguise the de- merits which were equally legible. The majority of his countrymen accepted and honored him, in spite of all that calumny as well as truth could allege against him. His faults may therefore be truly said to have been those of his time; his magnifi- cent virtues may also, with the same jus- tice, be considered as typical of a state of society which has nearly passed away.
52
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
MARTIN VAN BUREN.ES+
ARTIN VAN BU- REN, the eighth President of the United States, 1837- '41, was born at Kin- derhook, New York, December 5, 1782. His ancestors were of Dutch origin, and were among the earliest emigrants from Hol- land to the banks of the Hudson. His father was a tavern-keeper, as well as a farmer, and a very decided Democrat.
Martin commenced the study of law at the age of fourteen, and took an active part in politics before he had reached the age of twenty. In 1803 he commenced the practice of law in his native village. In 1809 he removed to Hudson, the shire town of his county, where he spent seven years, gaining strength by contending in the courts with some of the ablest men who have adorned the bar of his State. The heroic example of John Quincy Adams in retaining in office every faithful man, without regard to his political preferences, had been thoroughly repudiated by Gen- eral Jackson. The unfortunate principle was now fully established, that "to the victor belong the spoils." Still, this prin- ciple, to which Mr. Van Buren gave his ad-
herence, was not devoid of inconveniences. When, subsequently, he attained power which placed vast patronage in his hands, he was heard to say: " I prefer an office that has no patronage. When I give a man an office I offend his disappointed competi- tors and their friends. Nor am 1 certain of gaining a friend in the man I appoint, for, in all probability, he expected something better."
In 1812 Mr. Van Buren was elected to the State Senate. In 1815 he was appointed Attorney-General, and in 1816 to the Senate a second time. In 1818 there was a great split in the Democratic party in New York, and Mr. Van Buren took the lead in or- ganizing that portion of the party called the Albany Regency, which is said to have swayed the destinies of the State for a quarter of a century.
In 1821 he was chosen a member of the convention for revising the State Constitu- tion, in which he advocated an extension of the franchise, but opposed universal suf- frage, and also favored the proposal that colored persons, in order to vote, should have freehold property to the amount of $250. In this year he was also elected to the United States Senate, and at the con- clusion of his term, in 1827, was re-elected, but resigned the following year, having been chosen Governor of the State. In March, 1829, he was appointed Secretary of
122vanBuuren
55
MARTIN VAN BUREN.
State by President Jackson, but resigned in April, 1831, and during the recess of Congress was appointed minister to Eng- land, whither he proceeded in September, but the Senate, when convened in Decem- ber, refused to ratify the appointment.
In May, 1832, Mr. Van Buren was nomi- nated as the Democratic candidate for Vice- President, and elected in the following November. May 26, 1836, he received the nomination to succeed General Jackson as President, and received 170 electoral votes, out of 283.
Scarcely had he taken his seat in the Presidential chair when a financial panic swept over the land. Many attributed this to the war which General Jackson had waged on the banks, and to his endeavor to secure an almost exclusive specie currency. Nearly every bank in the country was com- pelled to suspend specie payment, and ruin pervaded all our great cities. Not less than 254 houses failed in New York in one week. All public works were brought to a stand, and there was a general state of dismay. President Van Buren urged the adoption of the independent treasury system, which was twice passed in the Senate and defeated in the House, but finally became a law near the close of his administration.
Another important measure was the pass- age of a pre-emption law, giving actual set- tlers the preference in the purchase of public lands. The question of slavery, also, now began to assume great prominence in national politics, and after an elaborate anti-slavery speech by Mr. Slade, of Ver- mont, in the House of Representatives, the Southern members withdrew for a separate consultation, at which Mr. Rhett, of South Carolina, proposed to declare it expedient that the Union should be dissolved; but the matter was tided over by the passage . of a resolution that no petitions or papers relating to slavery should be in any way considered or acted upon.
In the Presidential election of 1840 Mr. Van Buren was nominated, without opposi- tion, as the Democratic candidate, William H. Harrison being the candidate of the Whig party. The Democrats carried only seven States, and out of 294 electoral votes only sixty were for Mr. Van Buren, the re- maining 234 being for his opponent. The Whig popular majority, however, was not large, the elections in many of the States being very close.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.