Biographical and historical memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall and Hamilton counties, Nebraska, comprising a condensed history of the state, a number of biographies of distinguished citizens of the same, a brief descriptive history of each of the counties mentioned, and numerous biographical sketches of the citizens of such counties, Part 7

Author: Goodspeed Brothers
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, The Goodspeed publishing co.
Number of Pages: 820

USA > Nebraska > Adams County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall and Hamilton counties, Nebraska, comprising a condensed history of the state, a number of biographies of distinguished citizens of the same, a brief descriptive history of each of the counties mentioned, and numerous biographical sketches of the citizens of such counties > Part 7
USA > Nebraska > Clay County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall and Hamilton counties, Nebraska, comprising a condensed history of the state, a number of biographies of distinguished citizens of the same, a brief descriptive history of each of the counties mentioned, and numerous biographical sketches of the citizens of such counties > Part 7
USA > Nebraska > Hall County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall and Hamilton counties, Nebraska, comprising a condensed history of the state, a number of biographies of distinguished citizens of the same, a brief descriptive history of each of the counties mentioned, and numerous biographical sketches of the citizens of such counties > Part 7
USA > Nebraska > Hamilton County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall and Hamilton counties, Nebraska, comprising a condensed history of the state, a number of biographies of distinguished citizens of the same, a brief descriptive history of each of the counties mentioned, and numerous biographical sketches of the citizens of such counties > Part 7

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The sixth Legislature was noted by the renewal of the contest over the slavery question, and by the first attempt to form a State government. Strictly speaking, Nebraska was not a slave Territory. The bill erecting the Territories of Kansas and Ne- braska left the slavery question to the decision of the citizens of those Territories. The contest over the question of slavery was a bitter one in Kansas ; but, owing to her geographical location, Nebraska did not offer a promising field for the extension of slavery. The first official census, taken in 1854, revealed the presence of thirteen slaves. Most of

them were brought to the Territory by the officials coming from slave States, and it is probably the fact that their servitude was almost voluntary. We have already noted the failure of the first attempt to abolish slavery in Nebraska. The friends of the movement did not long remain idle. On Wednes- day, December 7, 1859, the third day of the sixth session of the Territorial Legislature, William H. Taylor introduced in the Council a bill "to abolish and prohibit slavery or involuntary servitude." It was referred to a special committee consisting of William H. Taylor, George W. Doane and George L. Miller. On December 12, two reports were sub- mitted from the committee, one by Mr. Taylor and one by Mr. Miller. In his report, Mr. Taylor cited the fact that slavery did actually exist in the Terri- tory, and gave the names of the men who held slaves. He recommended the passage of the bill for the following reasons:

1. Because no human being should be held in slavery in this Territory now and hereafter.

2. Because slavery does practically exist in Nebraska, and should be prohibited.

3. Because the people of the Territory, in their Territorial capacity, have the power to prohibit slavery or involuntary servitude, and are responsible for its continuance.

4. Because the administration and a large party in this country maintain that neither the people of the Territories nor the Congress of the United States have the power to legislate upon the subject of slavery; and it is time this monstrous proposition was settled and forever put at rest by the judicial tribunals of the land.

5. Because the passage of the bill will forever rid us of the excitement created in a neighborhood by the slavery propagandist, upon the escape of a . slave from bondage.

6. Because now is the most propitious time to rid ourselves of slavery if there is anything in popu- lar sovereignty.

7. Because if we permit people to hold slaves, and slavery to exist in Nebraska, when we can get rid of it, we will be justly censured by the present and succeeding generations.

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

In his report Mr. Miller asserted that it was injudicious for the Legislature to lend itself to the agitation of a subject which, to the people of Ne- braska at least, was conceded to he really of no practical importance. He denied the necessity of the bill, and claimed that "no sane person for a moment supposes that Nebraska is in the slightest possible danger of being either a slave Territory or a slave State." "Popular sentiment in Nebraska," said Mr. Miller, "is universally against the institu- tion of slavery, and even if it were not, and the public voice was to pronounce to-day in favor of its establishment here, the controlling laws of nature, peculiar to the latitude, would utterly preclude the possibility of its obtaining a permanent place among us. Suppose it true-which it is not-that the Ter- ritory does furnish a profitable field for slave labor, who is there so infatuated as to believe for an instant that this Territory, peopled almost entirely by men whose associations from infancy, and whose education in the midst of free institutions have con- ducted them into manhood, not only with all their prejudice, but with all the convictions of their judg- ment against the institution-who so foolish as to say that legislation is required or ought to be granted on this subject?" Mr. Miller made light of the claims of the friends of the bill that its passage was a necessity, and concluded his report as follows: "In view of all the circumstances of the case, the admitted absence of any necessity either for the bill under consideration or the report which is made upon it, it may be justly presumed that both were designed for the single and sole purpose of agitating a subject which may be thought calculated to advance the political interests of restless and am- bitious men, at the expense of the peace, harmony and good will that ought to unite in the bonds of common hopes and common aims of the people of the Territory, which certainly requires the combined efforts and energies of all to secure to it that posi- tion to which, by its inexhaustible resources, geo- graphical situation and other advantages, it is so very justly entitled. Nor can your committee per- mit the occasion to pass without expressing the opinion that the effort to introduce to Nebraska the popular excitements which have agitated and dis-

tracted other communities, in our neighborhood. will be a miserable failure. The people understand the motives which move men to engage in these political games, and they will meet them in the proper way and by the proper means, regarding only those things that shall best redound to the political peace and permanent prosperity of the entire Territory." Mr. Doane concurred, in the main, with the views expressed in the report submitted by Mr. Miller.

The bill also made its appearance in the House on December 7, being presented by T. M. Marquette. On the following day an attempt made to lay the bill on the table was unsuccessful. Then a mo- tion to reject the bill was defeated by a vote of 24 to 11. On December 16, the measure was taken up by the committee of the whole House and amended so as to prohibit the further exten- sion of slavery in the Territory, without effecting the status of the slaves already held. After an un- successful attempt to strike out the enacting clause, the bill was engrossed and passed to a third reading. The bill came up for its final passage in the House on December 17. The opponents of the measure resorted to every form of parliamentary strategy to avoid a vote, but their efforts were unavailing. The bill passed by a vote of 21 to 17.

In the Council, on December 20, consideration of the bill was indefinitely postponed, and for a time the friends of the measure believed that their efforts to make Nebraska a free Territory were to be unsuc- cessful. On December 29, Mr. Little offered "a joint resolution for the prohibition of slavery in Ne- braska." It was objected to on the ground that the whole matter had been disposed of by indefinite postponement. The chair decided the point of order not well taken. The resolution was then put in the form of a bill and passed. In its new form it was returned to the House, where it was again amended and passed. On the 3d of January, the Council concurred in the amendments, and the bill was finally sent to the governor. On January 9, Gov. Black returned the bill with his veto. In his mes- sage, which was an elaborate document, the governor discussed the subject in all its legal and constitu- tional aspects. Ile believed that the constitution, " while not carrying slavery into the Territories, did

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

guarantee the property right of masters in slaves, and permitted the owners to carry them wherever they desired." Discussing the power of the Legis- lature to pass the bill, Gov. Black said : "The Territorial Legislature was deemed but a temporary department, having no right or power to pass a law which was regarded as conflicting with the individual rights of citizens-rights protected by the constitu- tion of the United States." Thus the second attempt to abolish and prohibit slavery in Nebraska proved a failure; but a sentiment in favor of making Ne- braska Territory free soil had been created, and it soon became powerful enough to place the desired law upon the statute books, as will be seen further on in this volume.

Another notable feature of the sixth session was the first attempt to raise Nebraska to the dignity of Statehood. In his message Gov. Black had dis- cussed the question of Statehood, but stated that Nebraska was hardly yet in a position to claim ad- mission, for the reason that the population of the Territory was not large enough. In spite of the governor's views, however, the Legislature at this session passed a bill entitled "an act to frame a constitution and State government for the State of Nebraska." The proposition embodied in the bill was submitted to a vote of the people on March 5, 1860. It was rejected by a vote of 2,372 to 2,094.

The seventh session of the Legislature convened on Monday, December 3, 1860. Gov. Black's an- nual message indicated that at that time the Ter- ritorial debt amounted to $50,000. Various matters of importance to the development of the Territory were discussed in the message. It was during this session that the slavery question received its final quietus in Nebraska. On December 7, John M. Thayer introduced a bill in the Council "to abolish slavery and involuntary servitude in the Territory." The same bill had been introduced in the House on December 6, by Representative Mathias. Both Houses passed the bill, but for a second time Gov .. Blaek interposed a veto. His veto message was very similar to the one penned by him in the pre- vious session. It was, as may be expected, severely censured by the friends of abolition. Councilman T. W. Tipton, afterward United States Senator from

Nebraska, commented on the veto message as fol- lows : " In my humble opinion this veto message is a most remarkable production-remarkable on account of the pertinacity with which His Excellency follows up this question of human freedom with ponderons documents, earnest protests and unavail- ing entreaties. In its component parts, it is equally remarkable, whether you consider it a system of dove-tailed fallacies, special pleadings or sublimated foolishness. If His Excellency had a mint of gold with which to bribe this Legislature, and we possessed all the logical acumen and captivating eloquence of our race; were we willing to receive the one and exert the other, we could neither give dignity to this document nor force to its conclusions. The honest hearts of our constituents would consign us, for our efforts, to everlasting political infamy." The sentiment in favor of abolition had grown rap- idly in the short time which had elapsed between the sixth and seventh sessions. Consequently the friends of the measure had no difficulty in securing its passage over the governor's veto. Thus closed the contest over slavery in Nebraska. Gov. Black was the last of the succession of Democratic gov- ernors that had presided over the destinies of the young Territory since its organization in 1854. His political and social education had placed him in the ranks of those who believed that the constitution guaranteed the right of a master to own slaves in any State or Territory of the Union. He was a man of sterling integrity, an able jurist and a fine executive officer. He died on the field of battle in defense of the Union, in the second year of the war. He was one of the ablest men connected with the Territorial government of Nebraska.

The year 1861 inaugurated a new era in the his- tory of Nebraska. The Territory had passed through the critical period of its existence, and was now on the highway of prosperity. The National govern- ment had passed under the administration of the Republican party, and the change also resulted in a change in the politics of the Territorial government of Nebraska. Alvin Sannders, of Iowa, was ap- pointed governor of the Territory by President Lin- coln, while Algernon S. Paddock received the appointment of Territorial secretary. Gov. Saunders

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

held his position until Nebraska assumed the mantle of Statehood, and won many high econiums for the able manner in which he wielded the executive authority.

Although appointed soon after President Lincoln took his seat, Gov. Saunders did not assume the office until May, 1861. In the meantime the War of the Rebellion had been inaugurated by the firing upon Fort Sumter. President Lincoln immediately issued his call for 75,000 volunteers. On May 18, 1861, Gov. Saunders issued a proclamation asking for the formation of companies in Nebraska, a call which was speedily responded to. The proclama- tion is of interest to readers of this sketch, and it will be found in its appropriate place, in the chap- ter devoted to Nebraska's part in the Rebellion.

The eighth session of the Territorial Legislature added its endorsement to the cause of the Union by the adoption of resolutions to the following effect :

"That this body deems it its first duty to renew its vows of allegiance to the federal government, and to reaffirm its devotion to the Constitution ; that we regard secession and nullification as treason against the general government; that we indorse the decla- ration of Congress that the war is not waged in any spirit of oppression or purpose of interfering with the rights of established institutions, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution ; that whenever an American citizen unsheaths his sword or shoulders his musket he shall leave the spoilsman, the partisan and the politician in a name- less grave behind him." To these resolutions sup-

plementary resolutions were adopted declaring : "That we approve of the war; that we hold rebels against our government to be outside the pale of its protection ; that we recommend the amendment of the act of confiscation of certain property so as to embrace all kinds of property."

The adoption of the above resolutions left no doubt as to Nebraska's position in the great strug- gle over the preservation of the Union. Nor did Nebraska stop here. She raised troops, not only for the defense of the frontier, but for service against the armies of the Confederacy. The history of Ne- braska's part in the war is reserved for a special chapter.

In his message to the ninth Legislature, which convened on January 7, 1864, Gov. Saunders re- ferred at length to the prosperous condition of the Territory. He also paid a deserved tribute to the courage and high patriotism of the Nebraska volun- teers, and recommended legislation to relieve the necessities of the widows and orphans of those who died in defense of the flag. A resolution indorsiug and upholding President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and the Amnesty Proclamation was adopted.

The tenth and eleventh sessions, the last two in the history of the Territory, furnished but little of interest to the reader of these pages. The last ses- sion authorized the people of the Territory to vote upon the question of Statehood. As the proposition was adopted, that period will be discussed in a chap- ter devoted to the history of Nebraska as a State.

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

CHAPTER VII.

ADMITTED INTO THE UNION-FORMATION OF STATE GOVERNMENT-HISTORICAL RECORD BY HON. C. H. GERE- CONDITION AS A STATE PROPER-FIRST OFFICIALS-LINCOLN, THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT-EARLY ELEC- TIONS-FIRST LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS-GOV. BUTLER'S REGIME-THE GOVERNOR IMPEACHED-A

FAMOUS TRIAL-THE JAMES ADMINISTRATION-STIRRING EVENTS-BLIZZARD AND GRASSHOPPER SCOURGE-STATE OFFICERS SINCE ORGANIZATION.

...

Could any but a knowing, prudent canse, Begin such motions, and assign such laws ?- Blackmore.

PRIL 19, 1864, nearly ten years after the formation of the Territory, Congress passed a law authorizing the people of Nebraska to adopt a constitution and form a State government ; me but it was not until February 9, 1866, that the Territorial Legislature made provision for carrying the law into effect. On June 2, 1866, an election was held to decide the question. The question was made a political one by circumstances which will be subse- quently related, and the vote was a very close one ; but the opponents to Statehood were de- feated, the vote standing 3,938 for, and 3,838 against. The best record of the contest over the formation of a State government is found in the archives of the State Historical Society at Lincoln. A portion of the record relating to this part of Nebraska's history is inserted here for the reason that it is of unquestioned reliability, being prepared by Hon. C. H. Gere, who was an active participant in the struggle:

"In 1864 Congress passed an act to enable the people of Nebraska to form a constitution and State government, and for the admission of such State in-

to the Union on an equal footing with the original States, in which the usual amount of lands were set apart for school purposes, embracing the sixteenth and thirty-second sections of each township; also twenty sections to be appropriated for each of the public buildings for legislative and judicial purposes, fifty sections for the erection of a penitentiary, seventy-two sections for the erection of a State uni- versity, twelve salt springs, with six sections to each, adjoining them or contiguous as may be, for the use of the State, and 5 per centum of the proceeds of all sales of lands within the boundaries of the Terri- tory previous to its admission as a State, for a com- mon school fund. By other acts 90,000 acres of land were granted to the State upon admission for the endowment of an agricultural college, and 500,- 000 acres for internal improvements. No action was taken under this act until the meeting of the Legislature of 1865 and 1866. During its session a committee was appointed to draft a constitution for submission to the people. The committee drew up the document. The Legislature by resolution approved it, and passed an act calling an election on June 21, at which election not only the question of rejection or adoption of the instrument be voted upon, but candidates for the executive, judicial and legislative offices authorized by the instrument, should be elected.

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

"The question of adopting the constitution was immediately made a political one. Under the ad- ministration of President Johnson, a considerable change was likely to be made in the boundary lines between the two great parties. The Republican party was more or less divided, and the Democrats were affiliating with the Johnson or liberal wing. The President was exercising the powers of patron- age for the success of the coalition, and the liveliest hope pervaded the ranks of the Democracy and the Johnson Republicans that another election or two would put Congress and the government in their hands. Hence the Republicans in Nebraska were exceedingly anxious to forestall such a change and assist in holding the National Legislature for that party by the immediate admission of Nebraska, in which they seemed to have a good working majority, and sending two Senators and one Congressman of their faith to reinforce the party in the National councils. With equal foresight, the Democratic leaders saw that it was against their interests to permit this to be done; that by delaying the matter until their expected accession of strength would give them control of the nation, and eventually of Nebraska, where the majority against them was comparatively small, they would assist their friends in Washington, and at the same time keep the coveted Senatorship for themselves, to take posses- sion of as soon as they acquired the expected pre- dominance at the polls. For this reason, the can- vass became exceedingly lively, and was, in fact, the most thorough and bitterly contested of any that had previously occurred. Each party, of course, nominated a full State and Legislative ticket. The Republican orators labored for the adoption of the constitution, and the Democratic stumpers worked as hard to defeat that instrument as they did to secure votes for their own candidates for governor, or judge, or a member of the Legislature. But, as is not seldom the case in these disputes of states- men, the real motives of the patriots on each side were not publicly proclaimed, and the debates were ingeniously engineered so as to make it appear that purely economical and financial principles were at stake. The Republicans drew rose-colored pictures of the future of the embryo State. They dotted the

lone prairies of the Platte, the Salt, the Blue, the Republican, the Elkhorn, the Loup and the Niobrara Valleys with cities and towns, and drew a complex web of railroads on the school-house maps, and said: 'All these shall we have in the next ten or fifteen years, and a population of hundreds of thou- sands, if we show to the people of the East and Europe our capacity of self-government, and secure the privilege of chartering and encouraging rail- roads.' They pointed to the Rocky Mountains, and said: 'Here is the great mining region; at our back door is a great market, that we need rail- roads to Colorado, to New Mexico, to Montana and Idaho to develop, and when these are built we can sell a great portion of our surplus corn, wheat, pork and beef at a price that will rival the markets of Illinois and Ohio.'. They pointed to Galveston and said: 'There, only 700 miles from our border, is a seaport, and if we attain our sovereignty we shall have a line to the Gulf of Mexico, and need no longer to ship our grain to Europe, to Chicago and New York at rates of transportation that eat up all the profits.' Some of the most fervent of these orators -among whom was, notably, a comparatively new man in politics, though an old settler, David Butler, of Pawnee, the Republican candidate for governor- were so carried away with these prophetic views of the future that they would cut the prairies in every direction with their paper railroads, and in their highest flights of oratory predicted a line to every county seat on the map.

"The Democratic orators shook their heads and threw cold water upon these ardent prophesies. They took the chalk and figured upon the black- boards the enormous cost of railroad building, and called upon the honest farmers and mechanics to pause before they cast a ballot that would impose on the new and sparsely settled community a horde of office-holders, with unlimited power to rate taxes upon the people for their own aggrandizement. The Republicans pointed to the low salaries fixed by the proposed constitution for executive and judicial ofhi- cers, and the limitations by which the Legislative power to bleed the people were hedged and con- fined. The Democrats contended that these were illusions and traps, that the irresistible inclination

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

of the radicals for the loaves and fishes of office. and their well-known ability as public plunderers, would make these constitutional limitations mere ropes of sand, and figured up the' expenses of a State so they amounted to sums far above those set by the Republicans as the utmost limit of expen- diture.

"The event has shown that both sides had really a strong case. Even the sanguine soul of that red-hot optimist, Butler, fell short in its conception of the immense strides of the first decade of Ne- braska's Statehood in the building of railroads, the development of wealth and resources of the country, and the influx of immigration; and the sarcastic tongue of the eloquent pessimist, J. Sterling Morton, his opponent in the race for the gubernatorial chair, failed to state quite high enough the figures of the annual appropriations of the State Legislature for the carrying-on of the machinery of the new commonwealth. Because neither of the contestants dreamed of the mighty impulse of humanity that was about to beat across the western banks of the Mis- souri, the one could not mark high enough the future tide of wealth and improvements, and the other failed to estimate the necessities of large ex- penditures of money to meet the rapid growth and development of Nebraska.

"It was a stoutly fought campaign and an ex- ceedingly close election. The majority for the adop- tion of the constitution was barely 200, and Butler was elected governor by a vote of 4,093 to 3,948 for Morton. So close was the election that the majority of Judge Crounse, one of the Republican candidates for the Supreme Court, was only six, while William A. Little, one of the Democratic candidates for chief justice, was elected.

"But the battle at the polls was merely a pre- liminary skirmish. The advocates of the State had captured the out-works, but the citadel was yet to be stormed. The Republicans had secured a major- ity of certificates of membership in each House, but there was a large number of contested seats. Cass County had given a large majority against the con- stitution, and, though the Republican candidates for the Senate and House from that county were declared elected, a bitter contest for their seats was opened

up by their opponents, and it was considered doubt- ful if some Republican delegate, if an issue was made squarely for or against an application to Con- gress for admission, would not vote with the ac- knowledged sentiment of a majority of their con- stituents, against Statehood.

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Author: Goodspeed Brothers Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago, The Goodspeed publishing co. Number of Pages: 820

Author: Goodspeed Brothers
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, The Goodspeed publishing co.
Number of Pages: 820