USA > New Jersey > Cumberland County > Historic days in Cumberland County, New Jersey, 1855-1865 : political and war time reminiscences > Part 14
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"Stow Creek is all right, You need not be afraid ; We will all go down to Jericho, And vote for Uncle Abe."
The march of the cheering Republicans was an ova- tion. From balcony and every window along the route ladies signaled and waved it onward with handkerchiefs and flags. The Chronicle, in referring to the enthusiasm of the ladies, said: "Especially pleasing was the greeting extended at the Female Seminary, known as Ivy llall, every window of whose ample front literally burst with patriotic beauty." When the parade arrived at Commerce Street bridge the rear was yet at the depot on Irving Avenue ; and so long was the line that it took one hour for it to pass the Davis House. It was acknowledged that no such spectacle of popular en- thusiasm had ever before been witnessed in Bridgeton. . As the marching column passed, the various clubs sang war- time songs, placing especial stress on the clause of "Rally 'Round the Flag." which ended in the lines-"Down with the Copperheads, up with the Stars." This particularly irritated the Democrats, who now and then appeared on the sidewalks to watch the procession, and the result was that several hand-to-hand fights and scrimmages took place, in which the local Democrats were badly used up by the rough- and-ready element from Camden. Whisky from Edmund's bar added to the hilarity, and a land office business was done at the hotel. By evening the Republicans had cleared up the town and not a Democrat was in sight. The town mar- shal and his specials were powerless, and in an attempt to-
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restore order the marshal himself was rolled in the gutter. It was a day of tremendous excitement. To crown the tur- moil of excited partisans Uncle Eph's omnibus was seized and packed full of cheering Republicans who made a tour of the town without compensation, by sheer force of numbers.
While the convention was in session James M. Scovel, then a prominent leader in the Republican politics of West Jersey addressed a great mass meeting in the open lot in the rear of Grosscup's Ilall. It was a fiery speech, replete to the brim with satire of the Democrats and eulogy of Mr. Lincoln and his Administration. Scovel was of impressive appearance and splendid voice. Then in his prime. he com- manded the applause of his audience with encore after en- core. As a member of the New Jersey Senate he had be- come unusually prominent with men of affairs, and was personally acquainted with President Lincoln and a frequent visitor to the White House. It was said that the President had great respect for Colonel Scovel, because of his zeal and loyalty for the Union when so many others from Jersey were lacking in those qualities. Of this friendship on the part of the immortal Lincoln, Scovel was always very proud.
The evening of the convention was a gala night. An immense torchlight parade, led by the Fort Delaware Band made the streets over which it passed as light as day. Com- merce Street was on fire with Roman candles, rockets and glittering torches. Transparencies carried in this proces- sion stared the onlookers in the face with sentences like the following : "We are Coming, Father Abraham!" "The Rebellion can only be ended by a hard fight, and we will make it!" "Ballots for Union men. bullets for traitors!" "We do not belong to the Left Wing of Jeff Davis' Army!" "McClellan is tough, but who can stand Pendleton?" On the sides of one of the transparencies were pictures of Mc- Clellan on horseback, smoking the pipe of peace, and Pen- dleton alongside of him, riding a donkey. It was the Wide- Awake campaign of 1860 over again, more spectacular. more demonstrative because of the critical national situa-
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tion pending the settlement of the great issue of compromise with rebellion, or the continuance of the war and the ulti- mate triumph of the Union cause.
Hon. Frederic T. Frelinghuysen, the most gifted public speaker New Jersey had produced since the days of Samuel L. Southard, delivered one of the most charming, eloquent and convincing speeches to the multitude in Grosscup's Hall that had ever been heard in Cumberland County. The audience listened spell-bound, to break into patriotic cheers at its conclusion. Freylinghuysen was afterward United States Senator, and Secretary of State in President Arthur's Cabinet.
Hon. John T. Nixon was given an ovation at the con- vention when he rose to speak. Alexander G. Cattell, of Salem, later United States Senator from New Jersey, and Colonel .A. B. Woodruff. of Paterson, also addressed the people during the day and evening.
The Congressional Convention met at the Court House about noon. Rev. Charles E. Hill, of Salem, late chaplain of the Corn Exchange Regiment of Pennsylvania, and a former pastor of Commerce Street M. E. Church, offered an intensely loyal and soul-stirring prayer.
General George MI. Robeson, of Camden, was elected chairman of the convention, with George B. Cooper, of Millville, and John S. Mitchell, of Bridgeton, secretaries. General Robeson, a very able and eloquent speaker, aroused the convention to a high pitch of enthusiasm in a memorable speech. Then at the beginning of a distinguished career he was afterward Secretary of the Navy in General Grant's Cabinet, and for four years the ablest Representative in Congress ever sent from the First District.
John F. Starr, James M. Scovel and Paul C. Brinck, of Camden: William Moore, of Atlantic, were presented as candidates for the Congressional nomination. The vote by counties resulted as follows: Starr, 39; Scovel. 7; Moore, 7: Brinck, I.
John F. Starr's nomination was then made unanimous
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amid cheers. Starr was a successful iron master of Cam- den, who served the district two terms with eredit.
Committee on Resolutions reported the following, which were unanimously adopted. Vastly different in senti- ment were the utterances of this convention in comparison with those adopted by the Democratic Convention when I. V. Dickinson was nominated for Congress a few days pre- vions :
"Resolved. That the friends of Union and Liberty of the First Congressional District of New Jersey, in conven- tion assembled. do cordially endorse the nomination of those true and tried patriots and statesmen. Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, for President and Vice-President of the United States : that we accept the resolutions adopted by the Convention which nominated those candidates as our plat- form of principles, and as an earnest enunciation of patri- otic sentiments of no doubtful meaning.
"Resolved. That we recognize as the only true basis of a speedy and permanent peace, no compromise with traitors until they shall first lay down their arms and submit to the Constitution and laws of the Union : that we have implicit reliance in our Peace Commissioners, Grant, Sherman, Sher- idan, Farragut, and their brave comrades, to command nego- tiations for a permanent peace.
"Resolved, That an armistice at this time means, as it was intended by the Chicago Convention, a cowardly and disgraceful surrender to a beaten foe : an insult to the heroic dead who have fallen in defence of our country, and a slander upon those still battling for its prosperity and in- tegrity.
"Resolved, That we have no unmeaning words of 'sympathy' for the brave heroes fighting our battles at the front, but tender them our heartfelt thanks for what they have done in behalf of the Union, and our prayers for their continued success."
The Republicans of Cumberland County completed the ticket at a convention held in the court house, October
IHISTORIC DAYS
Ioth, at 10 o'clock. Hon. Providence Ludlam called the convention to order. On motion. Seeley Shute, of Green- wich, was made chairman, and John Kandle, of Landis, secretary. Rev. James M. Challis, an ardent patriot, offered a feeling prayer in behalf of the Union, appealing to God for succor and help with heartfelt thanks to Him for vic- tories won.
Jolın S. Mitchell, chairman of the Committee on Reso- lutions, reported a series of resolutions which were signifi- cant of the political situation of the hour largely upon the lines of those adopted at the Congressional Convention, which were adopted amid applause.
Nominations being in order, Hon. Robert More, a former Assemblyman, was nominated by a unanimous vote as the Republican candidate for Assembly in the First Dis- trict. In the Second District Convention James H. Nixon, a rising young lawyer, was selected as the nominee on the first ballot. The vote stood-Nixon, 21; Dr. Samuel G. Cattell, of Deerfield, 9. Mr. Nixon was then a citizen of Bridgeton. He was four times elected a member of the House of Assembly, and with this, his first nomination, be- gan a distinguished career which ended as a Circuit Judge of the New Jersey courts.
James M. Riley, of Cohansey; Jeremiah F. Zane, of Maurice River; Levi K. Moore, of Hopewell. were nomi- nated for Coroners.
Charles L. Watson was renominated for Sheriff, it being the custom then to give the Sheriff three annual elec- tions after his first success, without opposition from either political party.
The Democrats of Cumberland County convened at the Court House, October 19th, at 10 o'clock. Thomas Ware, of Stow Creek, was made chairman, and John S. McGear, of Bridgeton, secretary.
Jonathan Wood, of Fairfield, was nominated for As- sembly. First District: Samuel Foster, Maurice River, for Assembly, Second District.
The Convention was perfunctory in its proceedings,
(210)
WAR TIME PICTURES-1911-145 Isaac Edwin West William T. Du Bois Elias P. Seeley Band, Third N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols. U. S. Navy Co. F. Fifth Reg. Inf. Vols. Ezbon C. Lambert and William S. Lambert U. S. Navy-Band, Third N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols. William V. Robinson Jonathan Husted
Co. G. Eighth N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols. Elbert Bradford
Co. F. Fifth N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols.
Joseph W. Henderson Co. G. Eighth N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols.
Co. F. Thirty-seventh N. J. Reg. Inf. Vols.
(211)
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and little enthusiasm manifested itself save when the name of General McClellan was mentioned.
One of the local papers under date of October 15th. said :
"The numerous friends of Lieutenant Frank M. Riley. of this town, will be gratified to learn that he has returned home after imprisonment in Richmond. He was fortunate in being exchanged so soon. The fare there was very hard. but by sending out by 'contrabands' engaged in the prison. he was enabled to procure several dollars in Confederate money for every one in greenbacks, and thus procure some of the necessaries and luxuries of life. Lieutenant Riley handed us a copy of the Richmond Enquirer of the 3rd inst .. which cost fifty cents. It is printed on a half-sheet of poor paper and makes a miserable appearance."
The Richmond Whig, of October 24th, contained the following paragraph : "A Yankee raiding party visited Fort Gibson. Miss .. last week, and carried off some of the prom- inent citizens, among the number the Hon. Henry T. Ellett."
This was delightful reading for Bridgetonians, who were conversant with Ellett's life and character. AA native of South Jersey, Henry T. Ellett came to Bridgeton in early life and took up the study of law with ex-Governor Elias P. Seeley, a noted lawyer of this State who had won high honors in politics and at the bar. Ellett was a man of ability, and Bridgeton was too small a field for him. He married Miss Rebecca Seeley, daughter of his preceptor Governor Seeley, and went South. The people of his adopted State honored him with a seat in the Legislature and other important places. A believer in human slavery and an extremist as converts from one faith to another are apt to be, it is said of Ellett that he made a speech in the city of New Orleans in 1861, in which he declared that "the North would not fight, and he ( Ellett) would take a con- tract to drink all the blood that would be spilt."
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Ile lived to see the land drenched with fraternal blood, and learned that the North would not only fight, but that it would fight to the end no matter what the cost or what the sacrifice. Two of Ellett's sons enlisted in the Confederate army, one of them being severely wounded by a Northern bullet. the family suffering much at the hands of the North- ern men whom the father had so boastfully denounced as cowards.
Wednesday night. November 20. the Democrats of Cumberland County joined in a torchlight parade through the streets of Bridgeton. A large number of men and boys took part, but there was a noticeable lack of enthusiasm. It was declared by the local press to have been "a sad affair." Several inscriptions on transparencies read: "No Nigger in our Woodpile!" "Little Mac's the boy!" "Do you want your daughter to Marry a Nigger?" "Give us Back our Old Commander !"
When the procession passed beneath the large flag stretched across Commerce street from Sheppard's build- ing. containing the names of "Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson and Victory." it hooted and howled, which salu- tation was answered from the windows of the Republican headquarters with cries of "Copperheads." "Traitors."
It was a night of political bitterness rarely, if ever, sur- passed in any Presidential campaign in the history of the country. The generation of to-day cannot in the remotest degree realize the feeling which pervaded all ranks of so- ciety from the highest to the lowest during the contest for the re-election of Abraham Lincoln in the year 1864. Look- ing back to that historic election. even the men who still survive, who were a part of the MeClellan contingent, must regret that they ever allowed themselves to advocate and sustain a policy which, had it prevailed at the polls, would have restored slavery and destroyed the Union.
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Cumberland County was thoroughly canvassed by the Republicans of 1864. Meetings and parades were held nightly during the month of October at every town-hall and every schoolhouse and in every township. Able speakers were brought from a distance to enlighten the voters as to the political duty of the day. The bulk of the speaking. however, was placed upon local talent. Assembly candi- dates More and Nixon addressed meetings in every section of their districts, but there was no better or more effective speaker in the county than John S. Mitchell, a young law- yer then but recently graduated from the law office of Ehner & Nixon. Tutored by the learned Jurist Hon. L. Q. C. Elmer, Mr. Mitchell had a knowledge of law rarely pos- sessed. In addition he had the gift of oratory, and was a power in the courts and upon the stump. His polished sentences rang with unswerving loyalty for the Union and made a lasting impression upon the electorate who gathered to hear him in the various meetings which he addressed. For his excellent work in this and other campaigns Mr. Mit- chel could have had high honors had he so aspired, but he never sought office, being content with the practice of law. Strong in his likes and dislikes, he was an ardent friend or an unrelenting opponent. Intensely loyal to his client he prepared his cases with great care and fought them to a suc- cessful finish. Few lawyers were so strong with a jury, and few so argumentative or so eloquent.
The Bridgeton Chronicle was in the height of its power and influence in the campaign of 1864. For forty-seven years it had flourished as a weekly newspaper, going into the homes of the best families of Cumberland and adjacent counties. It had existed under Whig and Democratic leader- ship. it was now the leading exponent of Republicanism in Southern New Jersey. During this eventful campaign it rendered splendid service in support of the Lincoln adminis- tration, and the war for the preservation of the Union. Its editorial pages bristled with keen yet eloquent paragraphs
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for the cause on whose success depended the future of our republican form of government and civilization in the United States. Its shibboleth was-"The war must continue until traitors are made to bite the dust, and victory rests upon the Union arms in a permanent peace." The war for the Union must not be a failure, and so believing the Chronicle held up the hands of the great leader in the day of battle, adding strength and courage to the voters in the county of Cumber- land. George F. Nixon, was editor and proprietor. The writer, who was an apprentice in his employ. learning the art preservative in early life, will always remember his kind1 disposition, quiet demeanor, and inflexible integrity for right. Mr. Nixon was the offspring of one of the best families in Cumberland County, a cousin to Hon. John T. Nixon, mem- ber of Congress and Federal Judge. He was a native of Fairfield township.
The National election excited the country from length to breadth. When the voters went to the ballot-box, Tues- day, November 8th, 1864. the nation seemed almost in the throes of dissolution so deep was the chasm between the opposing political forces. As the shades of night gathered, and the last ballot had been deposited, the people waited with bated breath for the great result which was to follow.
The count in Cumberland County gave the Union Re- publican Electors for President 636 majority. John F Starr, for Congress, 631 majority ; Robert More, Assembly, First District, 331 majority ; James H. Nixon. Assembly, Second District, 318 majority.
The returns from the First Congressional District gave Starr, Union-Republican, 1849 majority, but the other three Congressional districts elected Democratic Congress- men, famous among whom was the notorious Copperhead Jack Rogers, of the Third District, by 887 majority.
General McClellan carried the New Jersey Electors by a little over 5.000 majority, and also succeeded in Delaware and Kentucky by small margins.
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Had the soldiers in the field from New Jersey been al- lowed to vote the result would have been different, but while their comrades on either hand were casting their ballots, the Jersey Blues looked on disfranchised by act of a Democratic Legislature.
The balance of the Union, East and West, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio inclusive, gave Mr. Lincoln hand- some majorities.
Election night was turned into a carnival of joy. Dis- patches from every section of the country kept the wires hot, and the crowded rooms of the Union League in Sheppard's Hall and the shouting hundreds upon the sidewalks, added to the flash of red lights, the music of bands, the boom of cannon, the blowing of horns, and rattle of musketry, kept the old town in a quiver of excitement until early dawn of the following morning.
The Union armies on distant battlefields listened for the good news of the election. To them it was the incentive to triumphant results, and so beneath the folds of the old flag they took up a new march to victory.
Confederates in arms heard the news in the valleys of the South and trembled. It was the Omega of their strug- gles and their hopes for the preservation of human slavery through long years of blood and tears-the edict by the hand of God in punishment of their sins and their treason.
To the black man it was the voice of liberty calling him from centuries of bondage. Standing in his cabin door he heard the news and rejoiced.
The year 1865 opened gloriously. The Presidential election of 1864 had settled the question as to who should control and what policy was to be pursued in the adminis- tration of the Government. Victory was in the air-the national skies were propitious. On the 4th of March Mr. Lincoln again assumed the sceptre in the presence of a vast concourse of American citizens. Escorted down Penn- sylvania avenue by a magnificent civic and military pageant
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he again faced the people from the eastern portico of the Na- tional Capitol. But. under what vastly different conditions from those that existed in '61-2. Then, all was doubt and gloom-now all was sunshine and presage of coming success in the final surrender of the Confederate armies. Amid the enthusiastic greetings of thousands, the beauty and wealth of Washington, and the loyal support of every true American in the land, he stood with bared head at the hour of noon on that early March day. a picture in silhouette with the land- scape and sky as a background, the cynosure of all eyes, the beloved President of a great nation. The echoes of the Presidential oath were yet whispers on the passing breeze when with great impressiveness he proceeded to deliver the following address. acknowledged by the greatest scholars to be the most chaste, tender. humble and convincing in- angural that ever fell from the lips of prince, potentate, or statesman in any country or any clime :
"Fellow Countrymen : At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The prog- ress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself. and it is. I trust rea- sonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.
"On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it. all sought to avert it. While the in- angural address was being delivered from this place, de- voted altogether to saving the Union without war. insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war- seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotia- tion. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would
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make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came.
"One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was some- how the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. 'Woe unto the world because of offenses ; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.' If we shall suppose that Ameri- can slavery is one of those offenses which in the providence of God must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove. and . that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three
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thousand years ago, so still it must be said the Judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.'
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right. let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the na- tion's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the bat- tle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
"ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"March 4, 1865."
Few in that vast multitude would have believed it, had the statement been then and there made, that within a few weeks hence, the form of Abraham Lincoln stricken by the hand of an assassin, would lie cold and silent on a cata- falque in the rotunda of the building from the marble por- tico of which he had just enunciated that memorable address. Yet so it was to be. The curtain of the new administration lifted in brightness and joy was soon to be drawn in sorrow and tears.
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