USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume I > Part 66
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In Ray county, one of the first representatives elected to the legislature was Isaac Martin. He defeated Dr. W. P. Thompson, a Virginian and a highly educated man. Thompson made a campaign but Martin who was illiterate con- fined himself to this manner of speech: "Gentlemen and Fellow Citizens,-I was born in Kentucky, I never went to school but three days in my life; the third day I whipped the teacher and left. What little I got was in the field, and it's right here." With that he pointed to his head and quit. It is told of Martin that in his campaign he met an old veteran named Wallace, who had been in the Revolutionary war. Wallace had failed to get a pension and was very poor, Mar- tin said: "Old man, I appreciate your services in the cause of independence ; rest assured I'll see that you get the pension you so justly deserve . . " And he did.
When Providence Intervened.
One of the extraordinary campaigns in Missouri gave a single county two of the state's five members of Congress. At that time, 1844, Missouri had no congressional districts, but voters of the entire state cast their ballots for five men and the five highest were given the certificates. The democratic party was divided into "Hards" and "Softs," according to their position on the financial issue. There were a dozen candidates, two of whom, John S. Phelps, of the "Hards" and Leonard H. Sims, of the "Softs," were residents of Greene county. A few days before election, D. C. M. Jackson, one of the "Hard" candidates died. John G. Jameson was nominated in Jackson's place but the change did not reach all parts of the state. Some of the "hard" votes were thrown away on the dead man, enough to let Sims in with the help of some whig votes. Sims went to Congress and distinguished himself in this speech on the Oregon ques- tion, the issue being with England on the boundary.
"Why! Mr. Speaker, the ox-drivers of Missouri, armed only with their cattle whips, can thrash all of the British troops in that quarter, and make the British lion scamper off with his tail between his legs, and take refuge in the far-off forests of the north and mingle his doleful whine with 'the wolf's long howl from Onalaska's shore.'"
John S. Phelps began his Congressional career of nine consecutive terms as the colleague with Sims. The other three Congressmen elected in that campaign were James B. Bowlin, James H. Rolfe and Sterling Price.
Before the Old Settlers' Association of Audrain county, W. D. H. Hunter recalled the campaign of Abe Tinsley and Dr. Hardin for representative. The canvass was a warm one. They happened to stop at the same house in the country one night, and as was natural they both desired to ingratiate themselves into the good opinion of the lady of the house. Early in the morning before it was yet light, Abe slipped out into the yard to hold the calf, while the lady of the house milked the cow. The doctor, thinking Abe was asleep in the next room,
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stole from his bed with a view of getting a march on the sleeper and in the dark- ness hurried to the chip pile to gather kindling to make a fire for the lady to get breakfast. In his haste and in the darkness he stumbled over Abe with the calf between his knees and thus the trick of each was discovered.
Bingham's County Election.
Thomas Shackelford, in an address before the Missouri Historical Society in 1901, told the story of Bingham's historical painting, the County Election :
"The Sappington family were democrats, and the sharp contest between Darwin Sap- pington as democrat and George C. Bingham as whig, ended by the election of Bingham by one vote. Sappington contested and he was given the place by the dominant party. Bingham was an artist, and immortalized this election by a painting called the 'County Election.' Elections were then held viva voce, and any man from any other township in the county could vote, but he had to swear that he had not and would not vote in any other precinct during the present election. The man administering this oath in the picture is the likeness of Col. M. M. Marmaduke, brother-in-law of Darwin Sappington who stands to the left and has his hat off bowing to the voter who is casting his vote for him. The man with the stoop shoulders is O. B. Pearson, trying to get the voter to vote for his friend Sappington. The man with his head tied up was a well-known character of whom alcohol had got the better. The others are well-known characters of that day. Young America is playing 'mumble the peg.' In these early contests men of different parties went around and alternately addressed the crowd.
"A ludicrous event happened in one of these contests. Thomas Reynolds, afterwards governor, had addressed the people at Old Chariton. His competitor had taken a little too much stimulant, and, when he attempted to mount the goods box from which Rey- nolds spoke, failed to get up. But he was equal to the occasion; he turned around and said, 'I disdain to stand above my constituents,' and so made a telling speech from the ground.
"During the time when we voted viva voce, an amusing occurrence happened in a contest, in Howard county, for the office of justice of the peace. The whig, John Harvey, at the close of the polls had voted for his opponent and made a tie. His opponent, Snyder, went up to vote and discovered that if he voted for his opponent it would elect him. He stood for several moments contemplating the situation, then his covetousness got the better of his judgment, and he slowly said, 'I believe I will give Snyder a pop,' and thus he elected himself. It is needless to say that this was the last time he was ever elected."
Lincoln and the St. Louis Whigs.
In 1840 the St. Louis whigs had an experience with Abraham Lincoln in striking contrast with the esteem in which he was afterwards held. There was assembled a mass meeting of the party at Belleville in April of that year. The arrangements were in the hands of Colonel Edward Baker. The attendance was described as "immense." Lincoln came down from Springfield by invita- tion to be one of the speakers.
The Presidential campaign was opening with coonskins, log cabins and hard cider as the party emblems of the supporters of "Old Tippecanoe." Lincoln was introduced as the first orator. He began his speech with frequent references to "coonskins," "log cabins" and "hard cider." He was in hearty sympathy with the homeliness of the campaign. By way of showing how much he felt at home in such a campaign, he described himself as having been "raised over thar on Irish potatoes and buttermilk and mauling rails." The crowd laughed and cheered uproariously.
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Speakers had been invited to represent the whigs of St. Louis. They were John F. Darby and Wilson Primm. John F. Darby was the mayor of St. Louis .. Primm was considered one of the most polished speakers of the city. The two visitors from the city agreed that Lincoln was carrying the funmaking too far. They consulted and decided that a different turn must be given to the spirit of the day. Mayor Darby went to Colonel Baker and said: "We are making this thing ridiculous enough, anyhow, with our 'coonskins' and 'hard cider' emblems and representations ; but when Lincoln goes to weaving in his buttermilk, Irish pota- toes and rail mauling, it would seem as if we are verging too much onto the ridiculous."
The protest was effective, it appears, for Mr. Darby, in his account of what followed, wrote: "We succeeded in getting Lincoln down from the stand, and got up another speaker who seemed to have more judgment in managing the canvass."
"The enthusiasm was great," Mr. Darby added.
The Actor in Missouri Politics.
Thomas R. Ansell had been on the stage with Keene and other distinguished actors before he settled in Callaway county and entered on the practice of law. He carried the dramatic instinct into his new profession. In a case he was argu- ing that the declaration of a person that he was going to do a certain thing was no evidence that he had actually done it. He suddenly shouted, "Gentlemen of the jury, I am going to jump out of that window. I tell you I am going to jump out of that window." He started across the room toward a window which was fifteen feet away. Mr. Hayden, who was on the other side in the case, went after him and stopped him, saying, "Judge Ansell don't jump out of that window, -it will hurt you." When the excitement died down, Ansell turned to the jury and said, "Gentlemen, I told you I would jump out of that window, but did I do it ?" "No," said Hayden, interrupting to turn the point of the argument, "he did not but it was because I prevented him." The court fined Hayden five dol- lars for contempt. Ansell's fondness for quotations from Shakespeare got him into trouble at the climax of a fine speech in the campaign of 1844. The Calla- way orator was addressing a great mass meeting in Fayette. He was recount- ing the great things done by the Jackson administration, for Jackson's name was still one to conjure with in Missouri. He recounted one act after another, in each instance ending with, "Who did that?" Finally he came to the end of his enumeration and said, "Gentlemen, I will tell you. It was the great General ----. " Before Ansell could complete the sentence some one in the crowd shouted "Mac- beth !". There was a roar of laughter. Ansell sat down.
The Jackson Resolutions.
In January, 1849, Senator Claiborne F. Jackson reported to the state senate the resolutions which caused the Benton split and which became historic as "the Jackson resolutions." These resolutions denied any right "on the part of Con- gress to legislate on the subject so as to affect the institution of slavery in the states, in the District of Columbia or in the territories." They asserted "the right to prohibit slavery in any territory belongs exclusively to the people thereof
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and can only be exercised by them in forming their constitution for a state government or in their sovereign capacity as an independent state."
These Jackson resolutions declared "that in the event of the passage of any act of Congress conflicting with the principles herein expressed, Missouri will ยท be found in hearty cooperation with the slaveholding states in such measures as may be found necessary for our mutual protection against the encroachments of northern fanaticism."
The resolutions "instructed" senators in Congress and "requested" representa- tives "to act in conformity to the foregoing."
Senator Atchison presented the Jackson resolutions in the United States Senate and they were read on the 3rd of January, 1850. Senator Benton repu- diated the instructions in a vigorous speech. Among other things he said, "This is the proper time for me to say what I believe to be the fact, that these resolu- tions do not express the sentiments of the people of Missouri. They are a law- abiding and Union-loving people, and have no idea of entering into combina- tions to resist or to intimidate the legislation of Congress. The general assem- bly has mistaken the sentiment of the state in adopting these resolutions, and many members who voted for them, and the governor who signed them, have since disavowed and repudiated them.".
Senator Atchison immediately replied to Senator Benton, but in very few words : "I have but one word to say, and that is merely to express an opinion that the people of the State of Missouri, when the time arrives, will prove to all mankind that every sentiment contained in these resolutions, from first to last, will be sustained by them."
Scott on the Right to Instruct.
The binding force of instructions by the legislature on the United States senators was a live issue in Missouri politics for many years. Benton's position in appealing from such instructions in 1849 prompted John Scott to write a letter to a committee which had invited him to address a meeting at Perryville :
"Having long since, and frequently, declined being a candidate for public life or office, I feel at liberty the more freely to say what I think and know in relation to the course and principles of the senator on whose conduct you are about to pass. He was not admitted to a seat in the Senate in 1820, though then from Missouri, but he was as loud and clamor- ous then against the same principles for which he now contends as any southern man at Washington, and he was one of the very first, in connection with Duff Green, to put afloat an impression upon the people of Missouri of the falsehood and the enormity of my offense in having refused, as they stated, and failed to obey the instructions of the legis- lature in regard to casting the vote of Missouri in the Presidential election, when in truth and in fact no instructions were given me, as the journal of 1824-5 will, on examination, show.
"I merely mention these facts to show the consistency when office is wanted. If there was any defect in the framers of the constitution, and perhaps the Missouri compromise, it was in not making the compromise and principles of that instrument and law prospective in regard to future acquisitions of territory. (Signed) JOHN SCOTT."
Benton at Cape Girardeau and Jackson.
"The most exciting and in many respects the most remarkable campaign ever made in Missouri," Judge Fagg said, "was Benton's canvass against the Jackson resolutions in 1849."
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"Jackson, the county seat of Cape Girardeau, was the stronghold of the anti-Benton forces of the southeast. O'Bannon, the register, and Frank J. A. Allen, the receiver, at the land office located at that place, both owed their places mainly to the influence of Benton, and who previously had been his stanch friends, were now known to belong to the conspirators, and were most bitter and vindictive in their denunciations of him. Benton made one or two speeches before reaching that place, at one of which O'Bannon was present, and had presented a paper to him, whilst he was speaking, containing some ques- tions which he wanted the colonel to answer. Benton understood beforehand that this proceeding was a part of the programme of his enemies which was to be followed all over the state simply for the purpose of interrupting and annoying him. He claimed that his thirty years in the Senate was a complete answer to all questions that could be asked as to his position upon every public issue that had arisen during that time, and he regarded every such interrogatory presented to him as a deliberate attempt to insult him. . Turning upon O'Bannon with the air of a man deeply insulted, he said to him in imperious tones : 'Stand and hold it, sir.' Riveted to the spot by Benton's manner and language, O'Bannon stood with his hat in one hand and his paper in the other until the speech was finished and the crowd dispersed.
"Receiver Allen, hearing of the treatment which the register had received and the terrible denunciations that had been uttered against all the subservient followers and tools of the old senator, who now opposed him, armed himself and publicly threatened that if Benton should undertake to abuse him when he came to Jackson, he would shoot him on the spot. The day for his appearance at that place came at last, and with it a large crowd of people, most of whom were prompted by mere curiosity to see the great Benton and to enjoy the fun which was generally anticipated. 'Solitary and alone' he walked into the court house and mounted the stand. Conspicuous in the crowd was the receiver whom everybody supposed was heavily armed and ready to shoot when the first abusive epithet should be hurled against him. Quite prominent also was the burly form of Wil- liam P. Darnes, of Commerce, but formerly of St. Louis. He had at one time figured as a politician of some notoriety and in a difficulty with Andrew J. Davis, editor of the Missouri Argus, had beaten him to death with an iron cane. Benton's arraignment of Allen was most violent and abusive. He described in forcible terms his former subservi- ency to him and denounced with great bitterness his recent treachery and desertion. He gave in detail the circumstances and incidents connected with his last visit to that town, and the elaborate preparations that had been made to entertain and feast him at Allen's house. 'Allen,' he said, 'was so glad to see him that he got drunk and spewed upon his carpet like a sick dog.'
"To the amazement of the crowd, Allen stood and took it without the least show of resentment. Darnes evidently thought it was time for some demonstration of hostility to be made and for that purpose said in a loud voice, 'Colonel Benton, your course in the Senate has been opposed to the true interest of your constituents. They believe you are a free soiler.' For the purpose of forcing the fighting. Darnes added, 'I believe you to be a blanked abolitionist.' The charge was denied in a civil way, and to get rid of a controversy with Darnes, Benton called out in a loud voice, 'Where's O'Bannon?' The old register, to avoid observation and to get out of the way of the shot and shell that were flying in every direction when the engagement between the speaker on one side and Allen and Darnes on the other was raging, had dodged behind one of the pillars in the center of the room and supposed that he would escape Benton's notice. His position only made him the more ridiculous, and laughter and jeers greeted him from every side. Ben- ton commenced on him by giving an account of his first acquaintance with him, his great persistency in hunting office, and how at last he had taken up this man 'almost houseless and homeless and with scarcely a shirt to his back, and now he had turned against him and was doing everything in his power to defeat his return to the Senate.' He said, 'This man O'Bannon had the audacity to come up to the stand with a paper in his hand and say that he had some questions to answer, and I told him to stand and hold them! And he did hold them three hours and twenty minutes by my watch. For that service I owe him a dollar.' Taking from his pocket a ticket issued by some butcher in St. Louis, and
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which passed as currency in the city, he held it out towards Darnes and said, 'Take it, sir, and pay him.' Darnes declined to take it, saying, 'Colonel Benton, I think you had better pay him yourself, and if you do it will be the first honest debt you ever did pay.' The object was accomplished at last. With a fit of passion that convulsed his entire frame, and shaking his fist at Darnes, Benton said, 'You are a liar, sir, a cheat and a fraud, not worthy of the notice of any respectable man in the state. The good woman whom you call mother was the victim of an imposition and a fraud that robbed her of her own off- spring and put in its place one of the vilest and most detested specimens of humanity that can be found upon the globe. This woman had a beautiful and promising infant boy. One evening she took him with her to a corn shucking in the neighborhood, where there was a large crowd of women with their children in attendance. Her babe went to sleep and she laid it gently and carefully away in what she supposed was a safe nook; but whilst it slept, and as the frolic went on, some old hag came along and took her beautiful boy and deposited this brat in the place of it.' The story, manufactured on the spur of the moment, had the desired effect. The meeting at one time looked as if it might have a tragic ending. But Benton's tact and ingenuity turned it into a roaring farce."
The Heckling Programme of '49.
Judge Fagg explained that in this campaign of 1849, no one met Benton for the purpose of holding a joint discussion. The opposition had adopted a pro- gramme which was followed at meeting after meeting. Some one was selected to act at each of Benton's appointments. To this man was given a list of ques- tions to be asked during Benton's speech. These questions were framed for the express purpose of provoking Benton.
"He had an imperious temper as well as manner, and he possessed no power of dis- criminating between friends and foes. Every man who stepped forward to ask him a question he considered an enemy, prompted by his chief opponents to offer him a direct insult. It got to be a common trick for the conspirators and their accomplices to get into a controversy with some conspicuous friend of Benton about putting questions to the senator whilst he was speaking. His friends contended that it was only his enemies that he insulted when he was thus interrogated and they were occasionally induced to try the experiment themselves. It didn't take them long to find out their mistake, and to learn that his denunciations were as bitter against the one as the other.
"The day Benton spoke at Bowling Green his enemies were present in force and as usual a man was selected to present the questions to him and demand an answer. When such men as A. H. Buckner, Simeon P. Robinson, Peter Carr and S. F. Murray placed these questions in the hands of 'Dandy Bob' Allison, and told him to present them to Colonel Benton just as he was about to commence his speech, it is certain no mistake was made in the selection. Bob's attitude was striking as he stood before the senator, with his plug hat and cane in one hand and the piece of paper in the other. He said, 'Colonel Benton, I want you to answer these questions!' Looking him over carefully with his eye glass, Benton said in a loud voice, 'Read 'em out, sir. Read 'em out. We have no secrets here.' Bob turned and fled out of the room as fast as his feet would carry him. There was no further interruption and the anti-Bentons took the terrible drubbing that Benton gave them.
"When he reached Palmyra, and just as he was about to speak, a rather good-looking and well-dressed farmer stood up in the audience and said, 'Colonel Benton, I would like to ask you some questions.' Scanning him carefully with his eye glass, Benton said to him, 'Who are you, sir? I don't know you, sir.' The farmer replied, 'My name is Hen- dron, sir, I remember to have met you in Hannibal on one occasion. You know me now, Colonel Benton.' Still holding his eye glass on him, Benton said in his own peculiar manner, 'Yes, sir, I know you now, and we'll let the acquaintance drop here, sir.'
Mayor Washington King
Mayor Nathan Cole
Mayor Henry Overstolz
Mayor John M. Krum
Mayor John D. Daggett
A GROUP OF ST. LOUIS MAYORS
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The Climax Reached at Fayette.
"The town of Fayette, the county seat of Howard county, and the home of the chief conspirators against him was a place that he kept constantly in view; and at that point he intended to close up his extraordinary canvass by a speech that Claib. Jackson and Dr. Lowry, with their band of followers, would not soon forget. There was an immense crowd from that and the adjoining counties. Benton had reached Boonville and intended to ride over just in time to make his speech and then return to spend the night in Boon- ville. Many of the citizens believed that it would be impossible to prevent a scene of violence if Benton should attack Jackson, Lowry and others with the same bitterness there that he had at other points in the state. The threat is said to have been made openly that if he should attempt anything of the sort, he would be killed on the spot. I am indebted to the late Major James S. Rollins, who was present and witnessed all of the transactions of the day for an account of Benton's visit. Judge Abiel Leonard, whose home was in Fayette, was so much alarmed at the outlook, that some days in advance he wrote Major Rollins to gather up a few of his most trusty and reliable friends in Boone county and have them all at Fayette properly armed and equipped. Judge Leonard was a man of genuine courage and not easily alarmed or deceived by appearances. He was really con- cerned for the safety of Benton and anxious to preserve the good name of his county and town. The streets were thronged with crowds of men eager to get sight of the man about whom so much had been said and written and one who was so universally hated and abused in that vicinity. A few of the knowing ones said, with an air of confidence, 'He'll never show his face in this town; he's too smart for that.' About two o'clock in the afternoon a cloud of dust was seen rising up along the Boonville road, and soon it was apparent that a carriage with the top thrown back and one large gentleman occupying a seat in it was rapidly approaching. The cry was raised and rapidly carried to every part of the town, 'Benton's coming.' Driving into the most conspicuous part of the public square, he halted. Sitting with his hat on one side of his head, as his custom was, cleanly shaved and dressed with as much care as if he was about to enter the Senate of the United States, he sat and surveyed the mass of people who were crowding around the car- riage and craning their necks to get a good view of his features. Finally, he said, in his peculiar manner, 'Citizens, I am your old senator. I am here to address you. I want a suitable place in which to speak. Where is your sheriff?' Some one ran for the sheriff. Very soon the sheriff made his appearance and approaching the carriage, hat in hand, he spoke to Colonel Benton and asked what he wanted. He had in times past been an old political friend of the senator but without any sign of recognition, Benton said he was there for the purpose of speaking to the people of Howard county. As the sheriff was the custodian of the public buildings he applied to him for a suitable room in which to speak.
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