USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume I > Part 24
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 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114
Some Missourians began to talk "national capital removal" as early as 1845. The suggestion to cede the site of St. Louis to the United States with that object in view led to what the newspapers called "a ridiculous blunder." St. Louis sent delegates to the constitutional convention. A proposition was made to offer certain described territory in Missouri "for the purpose of locating and keeping thereon the seat of government of the United States." In the debate it was given out that the proposed cession included St. Louis and considerable contiguous territory. But, when the language was examined carefully it appeared that St. Louis, as then bounded, was not included in the territory to be ceded. The northern boundary of the proposed cession was about where Arsenal street is now. The framers had, as a matter of geographical definition, offered the present workhouse site. Carondelet and the ground north of Jefferson Barracks for a new District of · Columbia. One of the St. Louis papers commenting upon the "ridiculous blun- der" said :
"The nearest approach to our city is the township line which strikes the United States arsenal tract below the city. The section of country ceded takes in the ancient and renowned city of Vide Poche, otherwise denominated Empty Pocket, and reaches nearly to Jefferson Barracks. What effect this strange blunder may have upon the two towns we leave to those interested to find out,
200
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF MISSOURI
certain of one thing only, that Vide Poche and not St. Louis is to be the future seat of the national government if the terms of our constitution are to be re- garded."
Third Constitutional Convention.
- The state convention which had created the provisional state government met in the summer of 1863 and passed an ordinance to provide for amendments to the state constitution emancipating slaves. Under this ordinance slavery in' Missouri was to cease on the 4th day of July, 1870. Those over forty years of age were to remain subject to their late' owners the rest of their lives. Those under twelve years of age were to remain subject to their owners until they arrived at the age of twenty-three. Those of all other ages were to be emancipated on the 4th day of July, 1870. After the 4th of July, 1870, no Missouri slave could be sold to a non-resident or removed from the state. The proposed ordinance was attacked in mass meetings held in different parts of the state. On the 13th of February, 1864, the legislature, in response to petitions, passed an act authoriz- ing the assembling of a convention on January 6, 1865, to deal with the emanci- pation question. The act provided for the election of delegates to the conven- tion from each congressional district. These delegates were "to consider, first, such amendments to the constitution of the state as may be by them deemed necessary for the emancipation of the slaves; second, such amendments to the constitution of the state as may be by them deemed necessary to preserve in purity the elective franchise to loyal citizens; and such other amendments as may be by them deemed essential to the promotion of the public good."
At the November election the delegates were chosen. They were with very few exceptions new men in Missouri politics. Most of them had come to the front with the growth of the Radical party and the disfranchisement of Southern sympathizers. But of the sixty-nine delegates it was a rather curious fact that more than half had been born in slave states. Several of the most radical of the Radicals had been originally pro-slavery men. Lawyers' did not predominate in this as in the Unconditional Union convention which had given Missouri the Hamilton Gamble government. There were more farmers than lawyers. Mer- chants and doctors were well represented. Ten of thé delegates were of European birth. It was a young man's convention. Twenty-five were under forty. The issue on which most of these delegates were elected was immediate emancipation. Among those chosen were Chauncey I. Filley, Gustavus St. Gem, and W. F. Switzler.
Immediate Emancipation Ordained.
The convention met in Mercantile Library hall at St. Louis on the 6th of January. Arnold Krekel, an able lawyer and a leader among the German Rad- icals, afterwards appointed United States district judge, was chosen president. Before the end of the first week the convention adopted the following:
"Be it ordained by the people of the State of Missouri, in convention assembled :,
"That hereafter, in this state, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except in punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted; and all persons held to service or labor as slaves are hereby declared free."
1
HENRY CLAY
From a Daguerreotype taken in St. Louis about 1850. Author of the Missouri Com- promise.
DANIEL BOONE By Enid Yandell
RESIDENCE OF THOMAS F. RIDDICK, OF ST. LOUIS, 1818 Hero of Riddick's ride to Washington to secure the school lands
203
THREE ORGANIC ACTS
There were polled on the roll call only four votes in the negative. As soon as the result was announced there was a great demonstration. The cheering spread from the crowded hall to the throng gathered on Fifth street. As soon as order was restored Rev. Dr. William G. Eliot was escorted to the platform. He de- livered this prayer of thanksgiving :
"Most merciful God, before whom we are all equal, we look up to Thee who hast declared Thyself our Father and our helper and our strong defense, to thank Thee that Thou art no respecter of persons, to thank Thee that Thou didst send Jesus Christ into the world to redeem the world from sin and that He was the friend of the poor, that He came to break the manacles of the slaves, that the oppressed might go free. We thank Thee that this day the people of this state have had grace given them to do as they would be done by. We pray that Thy blessing may rest upon the proceedings of this conven- tion, that no evil may come to this state from the wrong position of those who do not agree with the action of today, but that we, all of us, may be united to sustain this which is the law of the land. We pray, O God! but our hearts are too full to express our thanks- giving! Thanks be to God for this day that light has now come out of darkness, that all things are now promising a future of peace and quietness to our distracted state. Grant that this voice may go over the whole land until the ordinance of emancipation is made perfect throughout the states. We ask through the name of our dear Lord and Redeemer. Amen."
Encouraged by the popular approval of the emancipation act the delegates proceeded to draft not amendments to the constitution of 1820, but an entirely new constitution. They incorporated an ironclad "Oath of Loyalty." A minority in the constitutional convention led by Dr. Linton fought the test oath. They assailed it as not only a political blunder, but as unjust to thousands of Mis- sourians who had at first sympathized with the South and who had, when hos- tilities came, taken sides with the North and continued loyal to the end. Charles D. Drake, a southerner by birth, led the majority in favor of the test oath.
The convention was in session seventy-eight days. The constitution was submitted to vote on the 6th of June. The total number of votes cast was 85,878. not much more than one-half of those polled in 1860. The majority for the con- stitution was only 1,862. The ironclad provisions, intended to ostracise for all time not only Confederates but all who had sympathized with the South, were imposed by fewer than 45,000 voters.
The Drake Constitution.
Some of the provisions of the Drake constitution were highly commendable. No man who could not read and write could be a voter. The provisions for public education of all grades were strongly expressed. Not all of the sweeping, strin- gent suggestions made during the convention found place in the instrument as finally adopted. For example, there was at one time offered an amendment under which any citizen of the state, white or colored, male or female, would be eligible to the office of governor. This amendment was rejected only by a tic vote. Similarly it was proposed to make white or colored, male or female, eligible to legislative election, but this failed. The argument of those who supported the Drake constitution was that Missourians who had attempted to destroy the gov- ernment either by open acts or by encouragement, sympathy and aid given to
204
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF MISSOURI
the Confederates in any form or manner, had forfeited all right to participate in the affairs of state.
Not until the provisions were put in force did the people realize what had been . done. No official of state, city or county, no judge of any court, no teacher of either sex, no attorney, no preacher, could perform official duty or practice the profession without taking the oath. To refuse the oath and to preach, or teach, or practice law, or perform any official duty made the offender liable to $500 fine or six months in jail or both. To take the oath and then have it proven that in some of the ways set forth in the third section there had been false swearing meant perjury with a penitentiary term of not less than two years. The protest against this "persecution" went up from all parts of the state. Ministers of the Gospel took the ground that the test oath was a blow at religious liberty. And it was. Arrests and indictments followed many refusals to abide by the oath requirements. The "Oath of Loyalty" as the constitution titled it was this :
"I, A. B., do solemnly swear, that I am well acquainted with the terms of the third section of the second article of the constitution of the State of Missouri, adopted in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and have carefully considered the same, that I have never, directly or indirectly, done any of the acts in said section specified; that I have always been truly and loyally on the side of the United States against all "enemies thereof, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the United States, and will support the constitution and laws thereof, as the supreme law of the land, any law or ordinance of any state to the contrary notwithstanding; that I will, to the best of my ability, protect and defend the Union of the United States, and not allow the same to be broken up and dissolved, or the government thereof to be de- stroyed or overthrown, under any circumstances, if in my power to prevent it; that I will support the constitution of the State of Missouri; and that I make this oath with- out any mental reservation or evasion, and hold it to be binding on me."
The Test Oath.
The "Oath of Loyalty" became known immediately as the "test oath." Speed- ily the qualifying adjective of "infamous" was prefixed. The words of the oath give no adequate impression of what a test it was designed to be. In Section 3. referred to at the beginning of the oath, was the interpretation and application. As the people of Missouri coupled the section with the oath they realized that sweeping political disfranchisement was only one of the consequences. The con- vention had handed out a Pandora box of trouble. Section 3 must be given in its entirety for the understanding of the full meaning of the test oath.
"Section 3. At any election held by the people under this constitution, or in pursuance of any law of this state, or under any ordinance or by-law of any municipal corporation, no person shall be deemed a qualified voter, who has ever been in armed hostility to the United States, or to the lawful authorities thereof, or to the government of this state, or has ever given aid, comfort, countenance, or support to persons engaged in any such hostility; or has ever in any manner adhered to the enemies, foreign or domestic, of the United States, either by contributing to them, or by unlawfully sending within their lines, money, goods, letter, or information; or has ever disloyally held communication with such enemies; or has ever advised or aided any person to enter the service of such enemies ; or has ever, by act or word, manifested his adherence to the cause of such enemies, or his desire for their triumph over the arms of the United States, or his sympathy with those engaged in exciting or carrying on rebellion against the United States; or has ever, except under overpowering compulsion, submitted to the authority, or been in the
205
THREE ORGANIC ACTS
service of the so-called 'Confederate States of America,' or has left this state and gone within the lines of the armies of the so-called 'Confederate States of America,' with the purpose of adhering to said states or armies; or has ever been a member of, or con- nected with, any order, society, or organization, inimical to the government of the United States, or to the government of this state; or has ever been engaged in guerrilla war- fare against loyal inhabitants of the United States, or in that description of marauding commonly known as 'bushwhacking'; or has ever knowingly and willingly harbored, aided, or countenanced, any person so engaged; or has ever come into or left this state for the purpose of avoiding enrollment for or draft into the military service of the United States; or has ever, with a view to avoid enrollment in the militia of this state, or to escape the performance of duty therein, or for any other purpose, enrolled him- self, or authorized himself to be enrolled, by or before any officer, as disloyal, or as a Southern sympathizer, or in any other terms indicating his disaffection to the govern- ment of the United States in its contest with rebellion, or his sympathy with those en- gaged in such rebellion; or, having ever voted at any election by the people of this state, or in any other of the United States, or in any of their territories, or held office in this state, or in any other of the United States, or in any of their territories, or under the United States, shall thereafter have sought, or received, under claim of alienage, the pro- tection of any foreign government, through any consul or other officer thereof, in order to secure exemption from military duty in the militia of this state, or in the army of the United States; nor shall any such person be capable of holding, in this state, any office of honor, trust, or profit, under its authority; or of, being an officer, councilman, director, trustee, or other manager of any corporation, public or private now existing or hereafter established by its authority ; or of acting as a professor or teacher in any educational in- stitution, or in any common or other school; or of holding any real estate, or other prop- erty, in trust for the use of any church, religious society, or congregation. But the fore- going provisions in relation to acts done against the United States shall not apply to any person not a citizen thereof, who shall have committed such acts while in the service of some foreign country at war with the United States, and who has, since such acts, been naturalized, or may hereafter be naturalized, under the laws of the United States, and the oath of loyalty hereinafter prescribed, when taken by such person, shall be considered as taken in such sense."
There are forty-five different offenses in the foregoing article. The Mis- sourian who wished to vote, to hold office, to teach, to practice law, to preach was required to swear he had not been guilty of any one of them. Under the ninth · section of Article XI, which was entitled the "Right of Suffrage," it was declared that no person shall be permitted to practice law "or be competent as a bishop, priest, deacon, minister, elder or other clergyman of either religious persuasion. sect or denomination to teach or preach unless such person shall have first taken, subscribed and filed said oath."
Section II prescribed that "Every court in which any person shall be sum- moned to serve as grand or petit juror, shall require him, before he is sworn as a juror, to take said oath in open court ; and no person refusing to take the same shall serve as a juror."
Senator Drake, as Schurz Saw Him.
Carl Schurz in his "Reminiscences" drew this pen picture of the man who dominated the convention and who dictated the spirit of the constitution of 1865 :
"Senator Drake was an able lawyer and an unquestionably honest man, but narrow- minded, dogmatic and intolerant to a degree. He aspired to be the Republican 'boss' of the state-not, indeed, as if he had intended to organize a machine for the purpose of
206
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF MISSOURI
enriching himself or his henchmen. Corrupt schemes were absolutely foreign to his mind. He merely wished to be the recognized authority dictating the policies of his party and controlling the federal offices in Missouri. This ambition overruled with him all others. His appearance was not imposing, but when you approached him, he made you feel that you had to do with a man full of the consciousness of power. He was of small stature, but he planted his feet upon the ground with demonstrative firmness. His face framed with gray hair and a short stubby white beard, and marked with heavy eye- brows, usually wore a stern, and often even a surly expression. His voice had a rasp- ing sound, and his speech, slow and peremptory, was constantly accompanied with a vigorous shake of the forefinger which meant laying down the law. I do not know to what religious denomination he belonged; but he made the impression as if no religion could be satisfactory to him that did not provide for a well-kept hell fire to roast sinners and heretics. Still he was said to be very kind and genial with his family and in his circle of intimate friends. But in politics he was inexorable."
Senator Vest described the situation in Missouri vividly :
"The Girondists, under the leadership of Hamilton R. Gamble, had disappeared, and the Jacobins, under the leadership of Charles D. Drake, were in possession of the state. The Drake constitution had been enacted-the most drastic, the most cruel, the most out- rageous enactment ever known in a civilized country. No man could practise law, teach school, preach the Gospel, act as trustee, hold any office of honor, trust, or profit, or vote at any election, unless he swore he had never sympathized with the cause of the Con- federacy or any person fighting for it. The father who had given a drink of water or a crust of bread to his son who belonged to the Confederate forces was ostracised and put under the ban of the law. Blair came back and went to the polls, dressed in his major- general's uniform, and demanded the right to vote without taking the oath. It was de- nied, and he immediately commenced suit against the election officials. Pending the suit, a Catholic priest named Cummings, who had instituted a similar proceeding, had his case adjudicated by the Supreme Court, and it was decided that the Drake constitution violated that of the United States and was a bill of attainder and ex post facto law. General Blair, not satisfied, attacked the Drake- party throughout the commonwealth, and can- vassed it from one end to the other, denouncing the men who were perpetrating these iniquities upon the people of the state."
Upset by the Supreme Court.
In reversing the decision of the supreme court of Missouri and in declaring the test oath in violation of the Constitution of the United States, the court of last resort said :
"The counsel from Missouri closed his arguments in this case by presenting a strik- ing picture of the struggle for the ascendency in that state during the recent revolution between the forces and the enemies of the Union, and the fierce passions which that struggle raised. It was in the midst of the struggle that the present constitution was framed, although it was not adopted by the people until the war was closed. It would have been strange, therefore, had it not exhibited in its provisions some traces of the excite- ment under which the convention held its deliberations. It was against the excited action of the states, under such influences as these, that the Federal Constitution' was intended to guard."
The section applying to ministers, lawyers and teachers aroused the earliest and greatest opposition. While the constitution went into effect on the 4th of July, 1865, Carl Schurz, B. Gratz Brown and other prominent Republicans formally started a movement for universal amnesty and enfranchisement in Mis-
Courtesy Missouri Historical Society
CHARLES GRATIOT Who led the cheering when the American flag was raised at St. Louis in March, 1804
1
TOWN HOUSE OF CHARLES GRATIOT Corner of Main and Chestnut Streets, St. Louis
1
2
209
THREE ORGANIC ACTS
souri. So widespread was the opposition to the ninth section that Governor Fletcher, in January, 1867, recommended the constitution be amended to strike out these obnoxious provisions. Reaction from the test oath was rapid. Its first practical effect was the political downfall of Drake. That came within three years. Missouri went Republican in 1868, but the legislature refused to accept Drake's candidate, Ben F. Loan, for the Senate and elected Carl Schurz, who was the editor of the Westliche Post and had been a resident of the state a short time.
How Schurz Became Senator.
In his "Reminiscences" Carl Schurz tells the story of his candidacy for the Senate :
"I was a member of a little club consisting of a few gentlemen of the same way of thinking in politics and who dined together and then discussed current events once or twice a month. At one of those dinners, soon after the Presidential election of 1868, the conversation turned upon the impending election of Senator Henderson's successor and the candidacy of Mr. Drake's favorite, General Loan. We were all agreed in heartily disliking Mr. Drake's kind of statesmanship. We likewise agreed in disliking the prospect of seeing Mr. Drake duplicated in the Senate-indeed fully duplicated-by the election of Mr. Loan. But how to prevent it? We all recognized, regretfully, the absolute im- possibility of getting the legislature to re-elect Mr. Henderson. But what other candidate was there to oppose Mr. Loan? One of our table-round turned to me and said : 'You!' The others instantly and warmly applauded. The thought that I, a comparatively newcomer in Missouri, should be elected senator in preference to others who had been among the leaders in the great crisis of the state only a few years ago, seemed to me extravagant, and I was by no means eager to expose myself to what I considered almost certain defeat. But my companions insisted, and I finally agreed that a 'feeler' might be put out in the Democrat, the leading Republican journal in St. Louis, of which Colonel William M. Grosvenor, a member of our little table company, was the editor-in-chief."
A Trap Set for Drake.
The "feeler" took well. Newspaper notices of Schurz were favorable. As- stirances of support came from the interior of the state. The legislature met in January, 1869. Schurz went to Jefferson City with a few friends. Senator Drake came on from Washington full of confidence that Loan would be elected when the caucus was held. He freely expressed his opinion that there was noth- ing in the candidacy of Schurz. When the suggestion was made that the caucus hear the two candidates and himself, Senator Drake readily agreed. The ar- rangement was made that two evenings should be given to the speeches. By the program Schurz was to open and Loan was to follow. Then Senator Drake was to speak. The argumentative tournament was to be closed by Schurz. This program was carried out to the great interest of the legislators. It was opened rather indifferently. Some who had been told much of the German's oratorical power were disappointed. When the senator's turn came, he made a strong appeal but it was in a more liberal and conciliatory spirit than might have been expected from the author of the test oath. In closing Schurz was at his best. He captivated the caucus. He sprung a trap on Senator Drake in one of the most dramatic incidents of Missouri politics. He read what he said was formerly the position of Drake on state issues. He contrasted those drastic opinions with the
Vol. 1-14
210
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF MISSOURI
more conciliatory utterances just heard by the caucus. Charles E. Weller, one of the veteran stenographers of Missouri, well described how the trap which determined a senatorship was set and sprung:
"L. L. Walbridge had reported the constitutional convention of 1865, but by reason of lack of state funds it was never ordered written out, and the notes were finally con- signed to the junk pile as a 'dead horse' with no hope of ever being called upon to write it up. The senatorial contest waxed warm, and in the midst of it somebody who was present at the constitutional convention called Schurz's attention to the fact that Drake had made a certain speech in that convention in which he took a stand on an important question which was totally at variance with his later attitude. It became very important for Mr. Schurz to obtain a transcript of that speech and he called on Walbridge and asked him to make a thorough search for his notes, which Walbridge proceeded to do, with little hope of finding it among a mass of old note books covered with the soot and dust of past years; but, fortunately for Mr. Schurz, Walbridge found the notes of the speech and wrote it out for him. Two months later, after the usual preliminary caucuses, the legislature met in joint session, at which they were to be addressed at length by each candidate in his own behalf. It was a battle royal. Drake, who had for years been the autocrat of his party in Missouri, with his ponderous utterances, his dogmatic demeanor, which was characteristic of the man; Schurz, on the other hand, always cool and collected, polite and courteous to his opponent, which gave him a decided advantage over his fiery antagonist.
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.