USA > New Jersey > Cumberland County > Historic days in Cumberland County, New Jersey, 1855-1865 : political and war time reminiscences > Part 2
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The smoldering embers of Americanism were extin- guished by the rising tide of popular opinion hostile to the encroachments of the southern slave oligarchs, so that when the hour for action in the campaign of 1859 arrived the Re- publican party pure and simple began its work with an ardor it had not as yet exhibited in the preceding incipient years.
Pursuant to call the Republicans of Cumberland County met at the Court House in Bridgeton, Monday, Oc- tober 17. 1859. Forty delegates were present. Benjamin Ayars, of Greenwich, was made chairman, with Ephraim Bateman, of Fairfield, and Charles West, of Shiloh, secre- taries. Hon. Robert More, of Hopewell, who had served two years in the House of Assembly, was unanimously nominated for State Senator. Ebenezer Hall. of Greenwich, was nominated for Assembly, First District, and Aaron S. Westcott, of Millville, for Assembly, Second District. Hon.
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IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY
James Hampton and Hon. John T. Nixon addressed the convention, their speeches being enthusiastically applauded.
The resolutions were a bugle call for action, brief and to the point, and are the first planks of straightout Republi- can doctrine ever promulgated by a convention in Cumber- land County. They read as follows :
"Whereas, the time has now arrived for the friends of America to take a decided stand upon the great questions of the day ; therefore
"Resolved, that we use all honorable means to carry out our principles which are. Protection to American in- dustry, Free Territory, the Bible in our public schools and the alteration of our naturalization laws."
The convention appointed what was in all probability the first Republican Executive Committee ever named in Cumberland County, to wit :
Providence Ludlam, Bridgeton ; Lawrence Woodruff, Cohansey ; Elwell Nichols, Deerfield; Jonathan Fithian, Hopewell; Isaac Elwell, Stow Creek ; Benjamin Ayars, Greenwich ; Richard D. Bateman, Fairfield ; Jefferson Lore. Downe: Asbury Chester. Millville: Daniel Loper. Maurice River.
Providence Ludlam. Bridgeton: Assembly candidate on the American ticket in 1856, had now become the leader of the Republican party in Cumberland, and as county clerk exercised a large influence in the shaping of political affairs. His efforts told in the canvass of '59. not so much in the way of a successful result for the entire ticket, but in welding and perfecting the new organization for the work which was to come. Ludlam was a born leader. a man of fine per- sonal appearance, with agreeable manners. Everybody liked "Provie" and he lived to become a great power not only in the county but in the State. He became State Senator for two terms dying suddenly on the last year of the second term, his funeral being attended by the Legislature in a body at his home in Bridgeton amid the greatest public demonstration of sympathy in crowded streets ever given any citizen in Cumberland County. Had his life been spared
HISTORIC DAYS
it is generally believed that he would have been Governor of the State.
Charles S. Olden, Republican candidate for Governor, carried the county by 172 majority over Wright, Democrat. Mr. Olden was chosen Governor in the State at large by about 1600 majority. Hon. Robert More who had ren- dered such excellent service in the House of Assembly was defeated for State Senator by Nathaniel Stratton, of Mill- ville, Democrat. Senator-elect Stratton had previously been Sheriff on the Temperance ticket and was a very popu- lar man in the county, and by reason of his wide personal acquaintance succeeded by the narrow margin of 16 votes. Ebenezer Hall, of Greenwich, Republican, was chosen As- semblyman in the First District over Sockwell, Democrat, by 162 majority. John Carter, of Bridgeton. Democrat, defeated Aaron S. Westcott, of Millville, one of the original founders of the Republican party, who had served the pre- vious year as a member of the House, by a majority of 84 votes. Mr. Carter was popular in Bridgeton. He was an honest man as the politicians afterward discovered at Trenton, and with one term of service they had no further use for him.
Congress adjourned in the spring of 1860 when Rep- resentative John T. Nixon returning from Washington. took the steamer "Patuxent" from Philadelphia by way of the Delaware river for his home in Bridgeton. By invitation of Captain David Blew and the request of the passengers, of whom there was a large number on the boat, Mr. Nixon drew a striking picture of political affairs in Washington and the attitude of Southern representatives as to the slave question in Congress. His speech was in a sense the open- ing gun of the exciting campaign for the election of Abra- ham Lincoln so far as the county of Cumberland was con- cerned. It made a strong impression upon those who heard it. and was highly complimented by Rev. Isaiah D. King. then pastor of Trinity M. E. Church, Bridgeton, who made the concluding remarks to the passengers.
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LEADERS OF PUBLIC OPINION IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY-1-61-1-65
Hon. John T. Nixon
Hon. L. Q. C. Elmer (21)
Hon. Lewis Howell
Hon. Benjamin F. Lee
Hon. Charles E. Elmer
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HISTORIC D.VYS
The political horizon was filled with clouds-clouds ready to break with excitement-on the eve of that ever memorable election in the year 1860. Early in June the Republicans of Bridgeton began to organize, and on Satur- day evening, June 16th, a call for a meeting to establish a Lincoln and Hamlin Club was responded to with en- thusiasm. The meeting was organized by the election of Providence Ludlam as president, with the following officers : Vice-presidents, Dr. N. R. Newkirk, Robert Jordan, John Ware, Jonathan Davis, Samuel Wilson, Richard Burch, John Lupton. Dr. Henry Neff. Secretaries, John S. Mit- chell, H. R. Merseilles, Daniel B. Ginenback ; treasurer, Joseph H. Elmer; Committee on Resolutions, Dr. N. R. Newkirk, Robert B. Potter. John S. Mitchell.
Mr. Ludlam, on taking the chair, thanked the meeting for the honor which they had given him, and proceeded to explain the doings of the Republican National Conven- tion at Chicago which resulted in the nomination of Abra- ham Lincoln for President, and Hannibal Hamlin for Vice- President, of which convention he was a delegate from New Jersey. He declared that the prairies of the West were on fire for Lincoln, the rail-splitter of Illinois. This allusion was received by the large audience present with unbounded applause. While Mr. Ludlam was speaking there was suddenly seen projecting itself through the open doorway a small banner fastened to an enormous rail. On this banner was inscribed the names of the candidates and the name of the new organization-"The Rail Splitters' Association." This was followed by a large body of men bearing rails, broad axes, grubbing hoes, beetles, wedges, etc. . \s this procession came into the main hall the applause was long and loud. At the conclusion of the business of the evening Major James Hampton addressed the meet- ing in a very entertaining speech. Thus opened the great campaign in Bridgeton-a campaign which changed the cur- rent of events throughout the nation and brought the people face to face with a civil war soon to shake the very founda- tions of the republic.
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IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY
On the brink of this tremendous revolution how many timid souls there were who had not yet sufficient courage to stand for the right as against the grievous wrong. The Bridgeton papers were yet on the fence fearful as to the source from which might come official patronage. Here is a specimen paragraph from a leading editorial of the issue of one of them under date of June 30th, 1860. After al. lusion to Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Douglass, Mr. Bell, and Mr. Breckinridge as Presidential candidates, the editor said : "Which of the candidates will be elected we shall not under- take to determine, but we have strong reasons for believing that some of them will be defeated. and a private opinion that one of the above will be the next President of the United States."
There were many. however, who had the courage of their convictions, and later on they met again in the Session House at Shiloh, to consider the outrageous treatment which one Robert Ilalford, a fugitive slave, had received at the hands of the local authorities. Halford had fled from a cruel master in the South and was struggling for life and liberty. He made his way into South Jersey where he found friends, only to be discovered by the minions of the law who wore the livery of slavery in the free north. What was then known as the fugitive slave law was an act of Congress whereby slaves escaping from their owners should be re- turned to their masters in the South. Under this act Jus- tice Taney, of the Supreme Court of the United States, rendered the famous decision in the case of Dred Scott, a colored man whose liberty was in danger, that "a negro had no rights which a white man was bound to respect."
Shiloh was the home of a cultured. God-fearing people. fathers and mothers of principle. They loved liberty and abhorred slavery. When they met on the evening of the 2d day of September, 1860, a committee was appointed to investigate the arrest of the fugitive slave. Robert Halford. and report what information they could obtain, together with some appropriate resolutions at a meeting to be hell on the 6th day of September. On the latter date the ap-
HISTORIC DAYS
pended resolutions were reported by the committee, unan- imously adopted as the voice of the meeting, and ordered published in the Bridgeton papers :
"Whereas, the fugitive slave law is an infamous en- actment and diametrically opposed to the spirit of the Dec- laration of Independence : therefore
"Resolved, that we consider the recent capture of a fugitive slave. Robert Halford. in our vicinity, as an out- rage upon the neighborhood from which he was summarily dragged.
"Resolved, that in proportion as we sympathize with the individual who was deprived of his God-given liberty, and thrust back into the hell of slavery. in the same pro- portion do we execrate the conduct of those persons who willingly gave their aid to such a disgraceful and under- handed plot.
"Resolved, that we believe the County jail was erected for the confinement of the guilty and not for the innocent. and that every departure from that rule, similar to the re- cent occurrence, is treachery to true Democracy and Re- publicanism.
"Resolved. that the spectacle of four or five men, armed and trembling with fear, capturing a boy who has no rights which white men are bound to respect, shows the self-de- stroying tendency of slavery and furnishes to the com- munity food for thought."
Again had the Shiloh abolitionists attacked the monster iniquity of the century, and through these resolutions con- cerning the fugitive slave and their carlier resolutions to which reference has been made, furnished food for thought indeed. The "fugitive slave resolutions" were gall and wormwood to the many who still bowed down to the god of slavery, so much so that one writer in a Bridgeton paper the following week after their publication refers to them as "the consummation of folly, yes. I may say ridiculous- ness, exhibited in last week's issue in the form of some fan- atical resolutions, etc." This writer signed himself "Con- servator." and remains incognito to this day.
FIRST SHERIFFS ELECTED BY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY
Jonathan Fithian
Lewis H. Dowdney
Samuel Peacock
Charles L. Watson
Enoch Hanthorn
(25)
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HISTORIC DAYS
The Republican County Convention of 1860 met in the Court House, Bridgeton, September 29th. There was much interest manifested in the proceedings. The following ticket was nominated: Assembly. First District, William Bacon, of Downe; Assembly, Second District, Jonathan E. Shep- pard, of Maurice River; Sheriff. Lewis H. Dowdney, of Stow Creek.
This was the beginning of the wide-awake campaign in Cumberland County, and in the evening of convention day the Bridgeton Wide-Awakes-some sixty strong-pa- raded to the end of Elmer's mill dam where they met the Millville Wide- Awakes, thirty strong, and escorted them to Grosscup's Hall, when Hon. John C. Ten Eyck, United States Senator. addressed the assembled multitude which the papers said "filled the hall to its utmost capacity." The Bridgeton Wide- Awakes were commanded by Captain Wil- liam Shull and Lieutenants Charles lletzell and Samuel Wilson. They wore red caps and capes, and their Millville guests wore black caps and capes. Each carried transpar- encies with appropriate mottoes and torches which poured forth a great stream of light, making Commerce street as bright as day. The parade was led by a marshal and a fine band of music. Hon. John T. Nixon also addressed the meeting at the hall.
Further on in the campaign there was a greater parade of the Wide-Awakes of Bridgeton and surrounding towns through the streets of Bridgeton. In this procession many transparencies appeared with the mottoes: "Free press, free speech, free soil ;" "Hurrah for Old Abe, the Rail Split- ter of Illinois," "Elect Old Abe who is six foot and four. and the cry of hard times will come no more." One of the great attractions was a large wagon on which stood James Bright, splitting rails in imitation of the early occupation of Mr. Lincoln, the Republican candidate for President. Bright was a muscular young man and a picturesque figure for the vast throng who viewed his dextrous manipulation of the rails. A year later he was a gallant soldier in the Union Army, fighting in the ranks of the Third Regiment.
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IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY
New Jersey Infantry, afterward transferred to the U. S. Navy where he rendered valuable service during the con- tinuance of the war. While the parade was moving Denio- crats stood upon the sidewalk and yelled "woolly heads." "nigger lovers" and other opprobrious epithets. Bricks were thrown and some of the transparencies mashed. The Shiloh Republicans on horseback were hissed every now and then by persons along the line of march, who seemed to have special animosity to them, perhaps because they were the nucleus and essence of the anti-slavery movement around which the Republican party was finally organized in Cum- berland County.
The Wide-Awake feature of the 1860 campaign will never be forgotten by those who witnessed the parades of that year. They were called Wide-Awakes in contradis- tinction to the Douglass Democratic parading clubs who were known as "Eye-Shutters," meaning on the one hand that the Republicans were alive to the great issue while the Democrats of the Douglass stripe were deceivers and com- promisers with the slave power.
The election took place November 3d, and the entire Republican ticket was chosen in Cumberland County. While the returns were coming in an immense crowd gathered in front of the County Clerk's Office. It was addressed by John S. Mitchell, Esq., and Hon. James Hampton. When the result was announced the cheering could be heard two miles distant.
The Republican Presidential electors, of whom Charles E. Elmer, of Bridgeton, was one, were elected by 608 ma- jority. Mr. Elmer had the honor of being a member of the Electoral College and casting his vote for the immortal Lincoln. He was one of the three Republican electors chosen by New Jersey, the other three going to Mr. Doug- lass on a fusion.
Hon. John T. Nixon was re-elected to a seat in Con- gress from the First District, Cumberland County giving him 638 majority. William Bacon. Assembly. First Dis- trict, had 422 majority: Jonathan E. Sheppard. Assembly.
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HISTORIE DAYS
Second District, had 113 majority. Lewis H. Dowdney was elected the first straight-out Republican Sheriff by a majority of 344 over Benjamin Keen, Democrat. Mr. Keen was a highly-respected citizen of Bridgeton, un- married, remaining a bachelor to the end of his life. Dur- ing the campaign, however, a statement was made by one of his political opponents that while he was a good man lie (Keen) had the unfortunate habit of beating his wife. This yarn was believed by a number of voters, and had the effect of decreasing Mr. Keen's vote. The Sheriff-eleet. Mr. Dowdney, was also a popular man, and brought a large personal following to the support of the Republican tieket. He made a good Sheriff, and was in after years sent to represent the First Assembly District of Cumberland County in the Legislature two successive terms.
The year 186t opened in gloom. The great party which was to save the Union was about to come into pos- session of the Government at Washington. In the South there was derision and defiance of the victors in the cam- paign of 1860, and the cry went up and out that as for them, the Southern people, never would they submit to Black Republican rule. Beginning with South Carolina conventions were held in all of the States, south of Mason and Dixon's line, and ordinances of secession passed. There was hurrying to and fro, a gathering of men and material to force a dissolution of the Union. Treason reared its odious head in high places, and the clouds of war hung low and threatening. The patriotie North, out of whose homes had come the freeman's verdict at the ballot-box, was torpid in the face of the tempest which the slaveocracy had pre- eipitated. Men spoke in hurried breath and in whispers, saying: "Can it be that our brethren of the South are so far lost to reason as to be willing and determined that the Republic of Washington, of Jefferson and of Jackson shall be destroyed? Can it be that they have forgotten the glories of the Revolution, and the battles won at Savannah, at Cowpens, at Yorktown, where Southern blood and South-
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IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY
ern valor brought victory to the old flag and laid firm and deep the foundations of civil and religions liberty in the land of the free? Can it be that because of the traffic in human flesh and the love of power, the brave men of the South are ready to make good the fear of Daniel Webster, that the land might be deluged with fraternal blood and the Union rent by internecine strife?"
Amid such uncertainties, and such gloom, all who loved the Union of the States, turned with one accord to the colos- sal figure of the coming man into whose hands had been com- mitted the destinies of a great nation, whose very existence was dependent upon the proper solution of the tremendous problems then confronting the American people. Six feet. four inches in height, of slender figure, homely countenance. with firm tread, and tender eyes, out of which shone the kindly disposition of a brainy, broad-minded man-such was Abraham Lincoln, whose like the world had not here- tofore seen : whose equal was not hereafter to appear.
The morning of the Fourth of March, 1861, dawned in darkness and mist. The light of the opening day was barely discernible, but Washington awoke nevertheless under high tension and with fear and trembling. It was an unpropitious day. yet thousands had gathered to see and hear the new Executive. In front of the eastern portico of the National Capitol. under the shadow of the dear old flag. Mr. Lincoln appeared, accompanied by the great men of the hour. At the hand of Roger B. Taney, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he took the Bible-his mother's Bible -and the oath of office as the sixteenth President of the United States of America. Justice Taney was he who had but recently rendered that heartrending opinion, based upon the Constitution, that the Fugitive Slave Statute was legal and binding upon every citizen of the Republic. Face to face they stood, the one the representative of the declining slave power, the other the great advocate of the people, soon to be the emancipator of the black men and women who for two centuries had prayed 'mid blood and tears for the com-
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HISTORIC DAYS
ing of that day which God in his good time should alone re- veal.
As the new President turned his face toward the audi- ence which stretched away in the long distance with its thousands of upturned faces, many of them covertly treach- erous, others openly hostile, his countenance assumed a more thoughtful mood than was his wont, and his eyes shown with a gentle radiance which penetrated the hearts of those who listened with a sentiment which seemed to say : "Here stands a man the Creator has sent to do a great work for a troubled people." Out of obscurity, out of poverty. he has been called. a star of the first magnitude. for a few brief years to be abused, to be misrepresented, but in the end to be lauded and loved by North and South as one of the few immortal names that were not born to die.
With the introductory sentence, "Fellow Citizens of the United States." the vast audience stood in silence while Mr. Lincoln argued with those who sought to destroy the nation, pleading as a father would to a wayward child to refrain and return to the Union which the fathers had set up at such costly sacrifice. Leaning his stalwart form and kindly lineaments into the faces of his auditors so far as it were possible he finished his splendid inaugural with the fol- lowing pathetic paragraph :
"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and defend it. I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection."
Tears stod in the eyes of many in the solemn bush which rested upon the audience, for a moment transfixed. then slowly dispersing to wonder and to marvel on the potent truths so wonderfully presented by the great Presi- dent.
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IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY
History was made at rapid pace during the notable year of '61. Fort Sumter, commanded by Major Anderson. fell April 14th. That insult to the flag woke the nation to an intense excitement and patriotic activity. Governor Olden, of New Jersey, issued a proclamation April 17th, calling on the people of the State to rally to the support of the Union. It was headed : "To arms, to arms, ye brave!"
One of the first volunteers from Cumberland County to enlist in the Union Army for three years was George WV. Shute, of Greenwich Township. The fires of patriot- ism were aroused within him by the thunder of the Con- federate guns at Sumter, and an anxiety to enter the volun- teer service. George left Cumberland by stagecoach, reach- ing Philadelphia and from thence to Trenton. The "Cum- berland Greys" were at that time organizing in Bridgeton, but he tarried not. so anxious was he to enlist. Arriving in Trenton. he was mustered in the First New Jersey Regi- ment Infantry Volunteers. Company G. Captain Alexander M. Way. serving with great credit in the battles of the Army of the Potomac from Bull Run to Spottsylvania. June 23d. 1864, he re-enlisted and was transferred to Gen- eral Hancock's Veteran Corps. Company .A. Third Regi- ment Veteran Volunteers. From then on, through the re- mainder of the war he gallantly served until discharged. February 14, 1866, at Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
Saturday evening. April 20th, the largest and most enthusiastic meeting ever held in Bridgeton took place at Grosscup's Hall. It was a mass meeting of all citizens who loved their country, irrespective of party. Hon. John T. Nixon presided. The following were chosen Vice Presi- dents-Dr. William S. Bowen, Richard Lott. Robert C. Nichols. George W. Claypoole. Daniel M. Woodruff, Mor- ton Mills. Dr. J. B. Potter, Jonathan Elmer, Charles D. Burroughs. Dayton B. Whitaker, Alexander Stratton, Rob- ert DuBois. Jas. Stiles, John Cheesman. Sr. Secretaries- Dr. Joseph Moore. Eden M. Hood. Alexander Robeson. John S. McGear. Committee on Resolutions-Charles E.
WAR TIME PICTURES-1-02-1-63 Aaron Terry, Co. K, 12th Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols.
Albert S. Emmell
Co. H. 12th Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols.
Charles Livingston Co. K, 12th Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols.
George W. Shute, Co. G, Ist Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols.
Charles O. Powell John J. Boone
Co. K. 12th Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols. Co. A, 12th Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols.
Bloomfield Holmes Absalom Jordan Adam Jordan Co. K, 12th Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols. Co. K 12th Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols. Co. G, 12th Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols.
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11ISTORIC DAYS
Eliner, James R. Hoagland, John S. Mitchell, Dr. Joseph C. Kirby, Col. David Potter. The committee reported a series of stirring resolutions which were adopted with enthusiasm. Patriotic speeches were made by Judge L. Q. C. Elmer, Dr. William S. Bowen, John S. Mitchell, Rev. James Brown, pastor Baptist Church; Rev. Joseph Hub- bard, pastor Second Presbyterian Church, and Paul T. Jones. Mr. Jones who was a very fervent speaker, aroused the meeting into repeated cheering by his denunciation of treason and those who were giving the Southern leaders aid and sympathy.
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