USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume I > Part 67
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"The sheriff replied that 'the court house was at his service; that a crowd had occu- pied it in the forenoon listening to a speech made by Judge James H. Birch, but he would have it swept and cleaned out.' Benton, with a look of profound disgust, said. 'I will not breathe the same atmophere that that - scoundrel, Jim Birch, has been breathing so recently.' Some one suggested the fair grounds but Benton positively declined to speak in the open air. Then it was announced he could have the chapel of the school building on the hill, and that the speech would be made there. Judge Leonard, Major Rollins and their special friends had been first notified of the place of speaking and had secured seats. The crowd rushed along the streets and across lots. Long before the speaker arrived, every nook and corner of the room was filled to its utmost capacity. Benton's carriage driver was a white man; they walked into the house together and up the aisle, arm in arm to the platform upon which they both took chairs. Their entrance was the signal for a most extraordinary demonstration on the part of Benton's enemies, assisted by all of the rowdies and ruffians present. Some were shrilly whistling with their fingers in their mouths, some were braying like asses and barking like dogs.
Benton's Most Bitter Speech.
"Benton sat as motionless as a statue, occasionally scanning the audience with his glasses and singling out some fellows more noisy than the rest. In looking around he
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discovered that there were two ladies seated in the corner near the platform, and he at once arose and recognized their presence by a most profound bow. Up to that time there had been no recognition of the audience whatever. This wild demonstration continued without abatement for the space of twenty minutes and then suddenly stopped. Rising with all the austerity and dignity of manner peculiar to him, Benton said, 'He was not there for the purpose of speaking to braying asses and barking dogs. He had no message for the ignorant and worthless rabble who could crowd their court house for the purpose of listening to and applauding such a vagabond as Jim Birch, in his abuse of himself, and then come to a meeting of his simply for the purpose of interrupting and insulting him.'
"It was the most personal, bitter speech of his life. For something like twenty years the town of Fayette had been recognized as the point from which all the edicts of the ruling power in the democratic party had been issued. The man who dared to run counter to these edicts soon found himself ostracised and kicked out of the party organiza- tion. No one knew it any better than Colonel Benton. He had at one time held the su- preme power in the regency located here and his hard blows and kicks on this occasion demonstrated that it was gone from him forever. He walked out of the house with his coachman, not stopping to recognize any friend or acquaintance, got into his carriage and drove back to Boonville."
William F. Switzler was present at this speech of Benton's in the chapel of Central college. He recalled that Benton's first words were :
"Citizens and friends, and by the word 'friends' I mean those who are present to hear the truth, who have intellect enough to understand it, and courage enough to believe it-and none others !"
"These last words," Colonel Switzler said, "rang with a thunder peal."
How Norton Averted Bloodshed.
In the Platte country, Benton's campaign of 1849 narrowly escaped a tragedy. Judge Elijah H. Norton was even then a leader in local politics. Although pro- nounced in his opposition to Benton, Norton, by his quick interference when pistols had been drawn, and by his appeal to his own friends for fair play toward Benton, averted bloodshed. Robert P. C. Wilson described the scene, one of the most sensational in the history of Missouri campaigns. His account of what occurred was that of an eye witness :
"My earliest recollection of politics is connected with the great split in the demo- cratic party in Missouri growing out of the passage of what were called the Jackson resolutions, instructing Senator Benton to conform to the wishes of the legislature in a certain matter, or to resign. For thirty years Colonel Benton had represented Missouri in the Senate with great ability. He was the compeer of Webster, Clay, Calhoun and others of nearly equal reputation, and it was thought by many that he should be placed upon the same plane with those mentioned in the golden days of the United States Senate. Colonel Benton, however, was both by nature and training, despotic, arrogant and over- bearing. He would tolerate no differences in political opinion in the state. His word must be the party rule of action, as inexorable as the laws of the Medes and Persians. His intercourse with the politicians of his party was that of a lord to his vassals.
Benton's Motto.
"His motto was, 'an ounce of fear is worth a pound of love,' and so when any demo- crat differed with him, instead of trying to convince and conciliate, he used toward the recalcitrant methods suggested by his motto. Things went on in this fashion for nearly thirty years, and until a new generation pushed aside the old and took their places.
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Ambitious, strong, virile, fearless young men like Judge Norton refused to submit to Colonel Benton's political knout and, in 1849, fiercely turned upon the old lion. A battle royal was at once inaugurated all over the state. The young lawyer led the anti-Benton forces in his part of the state, and Colonel Benton denounced it as a hotbed of sedition and treason. He and his friends moved upon the country in the summer of that year. Great preparations were made by his friends for the speech he was to make, and as Platte was known to be under Norton bitterly anti-Benton, there was intense excitement, not un- mixed with fear on the part of thoughtful men that there might be a tragedy enacted dur- ing the meeting. When the day arrived for the speaking it was discovered that the court house was too small to accommodate the immense crowd which had gathered to hear the great senator, and a grove adjoining the town of Platte City was selected, and a stand erected. It seemed that the partisans of Colonel Benton throughout Missouri had been busy in compiling the private history of each member of the legislature who had voted against him in past sessions. At length the expectant hour arrived; a vast audience of all parties was there to hear 'Old Bullion,' as he was familiarly called. Every one was tense with apprehension, for it was well known that both the democratic factions were pre- pared for trouble. Prominent Benton men from Platte and adjoining counties, well armed, swarmed like hornets about the stand. Included with others, I recognized Captain John W. Reed from Jackson county, who had but recently returned from the Mexican war with blushing honors wrought of the white heat of combat thick upon him. There was Colonel H. L. Rout, of Clay county, as fearless a fighter as ever faced a foe, and Colonel Estill, of Union Mills, an ardent and fearless friend of the senator, who sought rather than shunned difficulties. The Benton partisans and the 'antis' were hostile from the outset, each faction remaining together as if prearranged, the Benton men in serried rank around and upon the stand, and the 'antis' massed behind them. Judge Norton had taken his stand in front of the speaker, and Hall L. Wilkinson, Platte's representative in the legislature, was by his side. In the meantime, like a boy at a circus, bent on seeing everything, and not knowing of the danger, I had wormed myself into the crowd, and took my stand near Judge Norton. The scenes and the events of that day made upon my plastic mind an impression so deep that it has never been effaced. It was June, 1849. The day was indeed as 'rare as a day in June.' Nature had laid its royal carpet of blue- grass, and the Druidical oaks, among which we gathered, waved their gorgeous banners of green in impartial shade over both friend and foe.
"Colonel Benton, You Are a Liar."
"The time having arrived to begin his address, Colonel Benton arose and with the lofty mien of a Roman senator, advanced to the front of the stand. An intense stillness pervaded the vast assembly. Colonel Benton paused for a few moments and swept the vast audience with flashing eyes, as if taking note of the character of the people in array about him. As he stood, every eye was riveted upon him as if spellbound. He was scrupulously draped in senatorial garb; brief vest, dress coat, white shirt, high collar and stock under his chin. He was large, plethoric and imposing in person, giving the impres- sion of great physical as well as intellectual power.
"He began his speech by reminding the people that he had aided them materially in many ways, notably in adding to the state the Platte country. Soon, however, he began his 'appeal to the people,' as he called it, against the resolutions of the legislature directed against him and designed to drive him from the Senate. In impassioned tones he de- nounced those who voted for them as traitors, and began to excoriate Wilkinson without mercy. In the meantime the latter had climbed upon a stump, and in a few moments in answer to some bitter denunciation of Colonel Benton, shouted back at the top of his voice, 'Colonel Benton, you are a liar!' Presumably the senator's friends thought Wilkin- son had then given the signal for an attack upon and the killing of Benton; his friends immediately drew him (Benton) back, and with drawn pistols surrounded him. Judge Norton promptly seized the pistol arm of Wilkinson, pulled him from the stump, raised his voice in fierce protest against the conduct of Wilkinson, at Benton's own meeting,
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begged his friends to put up their arms, and in a brief time quelled the incipient riot, which had he not done, would have in all probability led to a tragedy which would have had the most baleful result on the fame of our country and state. Recovering himself from the hands of his friends, Colonel Benton, like an enraged lion, again rushed to the front and completed his fiery speech."
When Missourians Voted in Kansas.
In the spring of 1855, notices were posted in Liberty and other centers of population in western Missouri, of which this is a sample :
"Friends of the South! The first election of members of the territorial legislature of Kansas comes off Friday next, the 30th inst. Friends of the South, the crisis has ar- rived, and now is the time for you to determine whether or not that rich and fertile territory shall be governed by the miserable hirelings sent thither from the dens of abolitionism in the East to rob you of your rights and your property. We must act! We must act! A meeting will be held at Liberty on the 29th inst., to take such measures as may be considered proper under the circumstances. Let every friend of the South and her institutions attend."
The Missourians who went to Kansas in territorial days to take part in 'elec- tions did so under such names as "Social Band," "Friends' Society," "Blue Lodge," "The Sons of the South." They had oaths, grips and pass words. They went through certain forms. Before offering his vote a Missourian would stake off a plat a few feet square and say, "I claim this as my residence."
Senator Atchison was quoted as saying in a speech at Weston: "When you reside in one day's journey of the territory (Kansas), and when your peace, your quiet, and your property depend upon your action, you can, without an exertion, send 500 of your young men who will vote in favor of your institutions. Should each county in the state do its duty, the question will be decided quietly and peaceably at the ballot box."
Lafayette county spoke out plainly on the Kansas issue. Posters were put up in Lexington, headed "War in Kansas" and reading :
"Now men of Lafayette, what will you do? Will you stand still and see the enemy approach, step by step, until he stands on your door-sill and finds you unarmed, or will you go out to meet him and drive him from your soil? We have stood still long enough. The time has come when you must do something to protect your firesides. We must have men to go out to the territory at once, or all will be lost The intention of the abolitionists is to drive us from the territory and carry the next election and get possession of the gov- ernment reins. This we must not submit to. If we do, Kansas is lost to the South for- ever, and our slaves in upper Missouri will be useless to us, and our homes must be given up to the abolition enemy. Come, then, to the rescue! Up men of Lafayette! Meet at Lexington on Wednesday, at 12 o'clock, August 20th. Bring your horses with you, your guns and clothing-all ready to go on to Kansas. We want two to three hundred men from this county. Jackson, Johnson, Platte, Clay, Ray, Saline, Carroll and other coun- ties are now acting in this matter. All of them will send up a company of men and there will be concert of action. New Santa Fe in Jackson county will be the place of rendezvous for the whole crowd, and our motto this time will be 'no quarter.'"
The proclamation was signed by twelve representative citizens of Lafayette county.
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Brothers on Opposing Tickets.
Two brothers on opposing tickets gave the state campaign of 1856 additional interest. Robert C. Ewing was the candidate for governor on the ticket nominated at St. Louis by those who had been affiliated with the whig and native American parties. On the Anti-Benton democratic ticket which was headed by Trusten Polk, Ephraim B. Ewing was the candidate for attorney general. He made a vigorous canvass against his brother and was elected. Benton headed a third ticket for governor but the contest was between the tickets headed by Robert C. Ewing and Trusten Polk, the latter winning by a narrow margin. The appear- ance of the two brothers on opposing tickets was a condition without precedent in Missouri campaigns. While the brothers did not mince matters in their attacks upon each other's parties, they did not break fraternal relations. They were sons of Rev. Finis Ewing, famous in the religious life of Missouri in the thirties, the most distinguished of the Cumberland Presbyterian preachers of that period.
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How Sterling Price Became Governor.
In his Memoir, preserved in manuscript by the Missouri Historical Society, Thomas C. Reynolds traced the course of political events from 1852 to 1857. Reynolds was bitterly hostile to Price at the time he wrote, which was at the close of the war.
"After the Mexican war, General Price's prominent reappearance in politics was his nomination for the governorship in the spring of 1852. The history of his nomination was given me by Hon. John M. Krum at St. Louis in February, 1861. The Benton and anti- Benton democrats had agreed upon a fusion in that convention of 1852, on the basis that the former being a majority of the party, the candidate for governor should be a Benton man ; that for lieutenant governor, an anti-Benton, and so on alternately to the end of the ticket. But the fused convention as a whole was to select the candidates, and not each wing of the party select its share of the ticket. The anti-Benton minority at once took measures to secure the fruits of this advantage. General Thomas L. Price was the choice of the great body of the Benton men, but especially distasteful to the anti-Benton men. Accordingly in a caucus of some leaders of the latter. Judge Krum was selected to have an interview with General Sterling Price, a Benton delegate to the convention, and conspicu- ous for the ardent support he had given Colonel Benton not only before but since the division in 1849 in the Missouri democracy on the subject of that senator. Judge Krum's report of the interview, concerning the policy which General Sterling Price, if elected governor, would pursue in regard to both the men and the measures of the anti-Benton democracy, being entirely satisfactory to the caucus, it was resolved to support him in the convention. The solid vote of the anti-Benton minority, added to a small portion of the Benton majority, secured him the nomination over General Thomas L. Price. Dr. Brown, a zealous anti-Benton man, was nominated for lieutenant governor.
Fusion Success.
"Colonel Benton promptly denounced the ticket as a fraud, a bargain and sale, and 'spit upon the platform'-all publicly in his speeches. But the fusion was maintained. General Price acted with consummate discretion, keeping very quiet and making no gen- eral canvass. The entire fusion ticket was elected. Thenceforward, as governor in 1853-7, Price vigorously opposed Colonel Benton and sustained the anti-Benton democracy. The election of 1856 completely demolished the Benton party in Missouri. Of its remnants some returned to the reunited national democracy; the others joined the newly established republican party.
"In January, 1857, the Missouri legislature met with an overwhelming democratic Vol. 1-40
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majority in each branch. Two senators were to be elected, one for the short term end- ing March 3, 1861, and the other for six years commencing March 4, 1857. For the short term, General Price, whose gubernatorial term had just expired, Hon. James L. Green, elected member of Congress. and Hon. Willard P. Hall were candidates for the nomina- tion before the democratic caucus. The two latter had been anti-Benton democrats since the division in the party in 1849, Mr. Hall, however, being considered the least decided of the two in his states' rights principles. In the caucus Mr. Hall received the largest vote, but not a majority; Mr. Green came next, and Governor Price last, with a vote so small as to render his chance hopeless. He promptly withdrew and his late supporters joined those of Mr. Green, who received the nomination over Mr. Hall and was elected by the legislature. For the long term Governor Trusten Polk was elected senator over Mr. Phelps, the latter being urged, as was Governor Price, for the admittedly immense service in abandoning Colonel Benton some months after Governor Price."
Among the traditions preserved by Sarcoxie is the story of the immense meeting which Benton addressed when he was running for governor. In connection with the meeting it is remembered that the senator "drank a great deal of buttermilk."
How Rollins Beat Henderson on Pronunciation.
Good stories which illustrate aptly the entertaining character of Missouri campaigns have been resurrected by Walter Williams, Dean of the College of Journalism of the University of Missouri. One of them relates to the hotly contested race for Congress by James S. Rollins and John B. Henderson in 1860. Henderson's mispronunciation of a German name and Rollins' quick turn of a critical situation decided the election. This is the story as Dean Williams has printed it :
"Each candidate charged the other with being unsound on the slavery question, with having freesoil if not abolition sympathies and therefore unworthy of support. The district in which the campaign was conducted was largely pro-slavery, except in two counties-St. Charles and Warren, where there was a larger German, or freesoil, element, republican in sentiment, whose support was essential to the success of one or the other of the candidates. Therefore, the effort of both candidates seemed to be to conciliate and receive this independent or freesoil vote, residing mainly in Warren and St. Charles counties. The effort was extremely dangerous, however, as both of them well knew, for either of them to go too far in the work of conciliation, lest they might be seriously prejudiced in the minds of the voters in other parts of the district.
"Maj. Rollins and Gen. Henderson had appointments to speak in the village of Marthas- ville. Henderson was too ill to be present. Maj. Rollins spoke with his accustomed elo- quence. Among the audience was Frederick Muench, the leader of the German free- soilers. At the close of Maj. Rollins' address Mr. Muench dined with Maj. Rollins and the two discussed the political situation. Mr. Muench frankly complimented Maj. Rol- lins on his speech, telling him he thought the Germans could safely trust him as their Congressman. This was the first meeting between the two and exactly what passed is not known. Both are now dcad. A few days after the meeting Mr. Muench, without Rollins knowing anything of his intentions to do so, wrote a letter to a German freesoil paper at Hannibal, in which he expressed a preference for Rollins over Henderson, saying he believed the Germans might safely support him and that he had met him and found him a very interesting and persuasive gentleman.
"The letter to the Hannibal paper was translated into English, and for Henderson's benefit republished in a St. Louis paper which advocated his election, and on the morning of their joint discussion at Sturgeon reached there a short time before the hour of speak- ing. Rollins did not know it had appeared in print, but Henderson got hold of a paper containing it, and in his opening address made a terrific onslaught on Rollins for having
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bargained with the German freesoilers of Warren and St. Charles counties to vote for him on the ground of the freesoil principles. Rollins promptly jumped to his feet and defiantly denied it. Henderson responded: 'I will prove it on him; I charge that one Mr. Minch, a German, has written a letter urging the Germans to vote for him, and after he had an interview with Minch.' Rollins denied he knew any such man as Minch. Thereupon Henderson read the letter, somewhat to Rollins' embarrassment. Portions of the crowd hurrahed for Henderson, but Rollins rose with much equanimity, real or as- sumed, and said defiantly, 'Read the name of the author.' Henderson did it, 'Frederick Minch.' 'Spell it,' said Rollins, and Henderson spelled it, 'M-u-e-n-c-h.' Rollins: 'The name is Muench; not Minch; you can't play such tricks on me with impunity; you have changed his name !'
"About this time Henderson's hour expired, when Rollins took the stand and said : 'Fellow-citizens: You see the advantage Henderson is taking of you and of me; I denied I had ever heard of such a man as Minch, and he changed his name to Minch to entrap me into that denial. It was Muench, not Minch; I know him. He is a gentleman and a patriot and a man of sense, which I fear Henderson is not.'
"All the whigs were satisfied and shouted for Rollins, and Mr. James Palmer, since deceased, one of the largest men in the county, and an ardent Henry Clay whig, mounted the stand and shouted: 'Rollins is vindicated triumphantly. Henderson changed the name of the writer of the letter, and thus attempted to mislead our gallant leader, Rollins. No man who will do such a thing is entitled to the votes of whigs or democrats, and I now move that we all vote for Rollins.' And he put the vote and there arose in response a thundering aye, and Palmer, without putting the other side, declared it carried unanimously. Maj. Rollins was elected by 254 majority, and Gen. Henderson afterward became United States senator from Missouri."
Eugene Field's Introduction of Carl Schurz.
The second of Dean Williams' stories is of the embarrassment of Carl Schurz in one of his Missouri campaigns. Schurz was accompanied by Eugene Field as the correspondent of a St. Louis newspaper: "One night they came to a small town where Mr. Schurz was to speak. The hall was packed with an expectant crowd, but the presiding officer who was to have introduced Mr. Schurz did not appear. Finally Mr. Schurz suggested quietly to Field that he should fill in the part and introduce him to the audience. Mr. Field acquiesced readily enough. Advancing to the front of the platform, his hand pressed to his throat, he said, with a splendid German dialect : 'Ladies and Gentlemen : I haf contracted such a very severe cold that it is impossible for me to speak tonight, but I haf to introduce the great journalist, Eugene Field, to take my place. I am sure that you will be bleased and benefited by the change.'
"Mr. Schurz nearly had a stroke of apoplexy and it took him some time to explain the situation."
Rise and Decline of the Know-Nothings.
Know-Nothings were numerous in Missouri about 1854-6. They had many lodges. Wherever men most congregated, bits of white paper cut in triangular form were scattered frequently. They bore not a word in print, not a mark of any kind. The Missourian leaving home for business in the morning saw these pieces of paper lying about, seemingly without purpose. If he was a Know- Nothing he knew at once that a meeting of the order was called for that evening. Recognizing a fellow member of the order and wishing to learn what was going on, he asked :
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