USA > Ohio > Lake County > History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio > Part 43
USA > Ohio > Geauga County > History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio > Part 43
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The debate ran three days, with another speech from Mr. Riddle, when the vote was taken, resulting in a majority of one for Lehman, who proved a sincere supporter of the Union cause. Mr. Riddle took a leading position in the con- tested election case of Upton, of Virginia. Mr. Upton was one of the few Re- publicans of the northern part of his State who, while their Democratic neigh- bors were seceding, cast about a dozen votes for him for Congress, no one else being a candidate and no other votes being cast. The Democrats opposed him on account of his known anti-slavery views, and the committee reported unanimously against him on the ground of a paucity of votes. Mr. Upton requested Mr. Riddle to take charge of his side of the case. Mr. Riddle's argument was con- sidered very original and ingenious, and on the vote he was sustained by more than fifty of the ablest Republicans of the House. His leading idea put forth ·was that the voters were the agents of a district to put it in official relations with . Congress. That all men, women, and children, and all possible interests were the real constituency of a district. That no conspiracy of the voting agents, short of . absolute unanimity, should be permitted to prevent these dozen voters and their interests from representation in the House. That one vote, cast as near in . accordance with the law as one man could do it, was competent to elect, inasmuch .as the law was silent as to the number of votes requisite. No one attempted to -reply to this position.
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Mr. Riddle's first set speech upon the great question of slavery was made in January, 1862. Its chief purpose was to urge the arming of the slaves as soldiers, and in point of time, was the first utterance of the kind on the subject. Incidentally he discussed their relation as subjects of the United States under the - constitution. That, while under the State governments they might be treated as
slaves, they were also subjects of the national government, owed it allegiance, and were entitled to its protection. That the United States was lord paramount, and could permit no inferior power to come between it and its subjects. Judge Thomas, of Massachusetts, said the view was startling; that it would overturn slavery, and he knew of no reply to it ! Members at once subscribed for an im- mense edition of it, though some of them, when the glow of its delivery had passed, were doubtful of the propriety of circulating it.
Mr. Riddle's argument on the bill to abolish slavery in the District of Colum- bia was made the subject of a hopeful and able article by Horace Greeley in the Independent. Whoever reads his speech in favor of striking out the legal tender clause in the bill authorizing the issue of the first one hundred million of national currency, will see how little advance has since been made on that subject. The speech on the ship-canal bill gave great umbrage to the Pennsylvanians, and Moorhead was put forward, with a terse little written speech prepared for him, to assail him. Mr. Riddle replied in a way that brought down the House, and con- gratulations from all parts of it.
Isaac N. Arnold, of Chicago, and himself, were the only avowed, outspoken friends of President Lincoln in the House at the end of the Thirty-seventh Con- gress; and Mr. Riddle's speech, delivered on the last night of the session, and devoted to the conduct of members towards the President, and in review of cur- rent events, was made a leading campaign document in Ohio and elsewhere dur- ing the ensuing canvass. Among other of Mr. Riddle's congressional speeches may be mentioned the eulogies on Senators Baker and Pearce,-the last at the request of the Maryland delegation, radical though he was, and slaveholders as were they.
The first battle of Bull Run must be regarded as fatal to Mr. Riddle's congres- sional career. It was known that when a battle was fought he intended to go into it with the " Cleveland Grays," then in one of the First Ohio three-months regiments. His party did not reach the neighborhood, though pushing on with all expedition, till the battle had begun ; he made his way into the field, and was under fire, but did not reach his friends. In the stampede, commencing in the rear of the army and extending to the field, he was not carried back, but made his way to where his Washington party were halted. This was in the gorge at Cub's run, in the rear of the field, where carriages, army-wagons, fleeing sol- diers, and frightened citizens were at a stand-still. In this melee Mr. Riddle rescued from under the horses' hoofs a little drummer-boy, who, together with a hapless and hatless New York soldier, had places in his carriage with his party, and where they were amply cared for by all. Just when they were under way, a man wearing a major's straps, swordless, and seemingly distraught with fear, but otherwise sound and unharmed, got upon the carriage, and insisted on enter- ing it. The vehicle was overloaded already. The officer's abject condition excited disgust in the minds of all. Mr. Riddle denounced him as a coward, threatened to shoot him, and finally pushed him from the step where he was standing.
At Centreville the herdsmen were observed gathering up the beef cattle and driving them toward the Potomac for safety, though about them lay the left wing of the army, which had not been engaged, and which was entirely fresh. From here the road was thick with abandoned muskets, provisions, ammunition, etc. Mr. Riddle gathered and carried along at least a half dozen bright, new muskets, many of which were loaded. His carriage was in company with another containing Senators Wade and Chandler, Brown, the sergeant-at-arms of the Senate, and a Major Eaton. When two miles west of Fairfax Court-House, the whole party, well armed, halted, formed'across the highway, stopped and held back the tide of runaways, to the number of several hundred, till a regiment, on its way to the field, came to their relief. In this melee one of Senator Wade's party-Major Eaton-was severely wounded by a shot from a revolver. At Fairfax Mr. Riddle delivered the arms he had picked up to an officer, who prom- ised that they should see service, and made his way leisurely back to Washington. On his return to the capital Mr. Riddle wrote a hurried but very graphic account of the affair to Mrs. Riddle. Written as it was after so fatiguing and exciting an experience, and to his family, the letter was one of much freedom of word and description. From the family it was sent to a friend to read. It fell into the hands of a sub-editor of the Leader, who, without consulting his chief, selected the most striking passages and printed them. It is proper to say here that the editors of the Leader and Herald were rival candidates for the Cleveland post- office. The Leader had never received any party patronage, and Mr. Riddle, though under no obligations to the Leader, recommended its editor for the place, which course, it is perhaps unnecessary to say, did not commend itself, nor him, to the Herald. The portions of Mr. Riddle's letter which appeared in the Leader were seized upon by the Herald, and a malignant ingenuity tortured and twisted them into a most effective instrument with which to assail the absent man. Naturally enough, the public mind at the time was in a most feverish con- dition. Those who were not then in the district can never be made to compre-
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hend the success of these assaults. Mr. Riddle's friends even seemed to have been struck dumb, and never did recover the power of effective speech. From one of the most popular of men he became the most odious; and that, too, with- out an act or word of his own further than those outlined in the letter to which allusion has been made. It was never pretended that he mis-stated a fact ; no part of his letter was questioned; but he was charged with various atrocities and cruelties; among them to have thrown a wounded soldier from his carriage, and left him to be trampled upon and die in the road. He was burned, hanged, and drowned in effigy in various parts of the district. Friends wrote him not to re- turn to Cleveland; or if he did, to keep aloof from public places. This, of course, was not in accord with his own temper.
On his return he was at pains to present himself at the most frequented points, especially in the neighborhood of the Herald office, but no word or whisper of disrespect fell upon his ears. It was well known that he was not a man to be assailed in that manner. Mr. Riddle made a calm and temperate statement of the occurrences of the 21st of July, 1862, and his connection with them, which was published both in the Ohio and in many of the eastern papers, the New York Times pronouncing it the best account of the battle then given. The Herald continued its war upon him, however, during the remainder of his congressional term,-various persons even assailing his wife when they had not the courage to attack him. Meantime, he busied himself in raising and caring for volunteers, and in attention to his duties in Washington, making no further reply to the attacks of his enemies. Mr. Greeley, his warm personal friend, urged him, in 1862, to announce himself as an independent candidate for re-election, and prom- ised him the aid of the Tribune in the canvass. This course would have been in accord with Mr. Riddle's own wishes, but other counsels prevailed. At this time, also, the Herald clique had influence enough to induce the Ohio Legislature to make an important change in the district,-detaching Geauga and annexing Summit county. His opponents for the seat made constant and ingenious use of the Herald libels, and he was defeated in the convention by the defection, as was said, of his Cleveland supporters; he led in the ballotings, but they were the first to give him up. His mistake was in not following Mr. Greeley's advice; that, and the failure to go to the defense of John Brown when applied to for that purpose, may be regarded as two patent blunders of his life. In the latter matter, Mr. Riddle was absent from Cleveland when the message reached there, or he would have gone at once. Late as it was when he reached Cleveland, he was anxious to start, though it was then thought impossible to reach the scene of the trial in time. It was found that he might have done so, and it has been the keenest regret of his life that he did not go. " You cannot save him," said his friend, D. K. Carter, "but you can embalm his memory for history as no other man can." Something of this Mr. Riddle may have also felt. After the close of his brief congressional career he devoted himself again to the law. He was also largely instrumental in bringing forward John Brough for governor in 1863. He attended the State convention, and did effective service in the Vullandigham campaign, from the first predicting that Vallandigham would be defeated by fifty thousand on the popular vote, for which declaration he was thought to be wildly visionary.
The following autumn Mr. Riddle was asked to accept a consulate in Cuba, for the purpose of making an examination into the plans and workings of the block- ade-runners,-a consulate being a convenient pretext. In December, 1864, he took passage to Nassau, and from thence to Havana, in a British steamer, which carried a large company of rebels and blockade-runners. Ere his departure from Cleveland, the bar unanimously tendered him a public dinner, the only honor of the kind, it is said, ever rendered by the members of that body. Mr. Riddle went by way of Nassau ; was absent until the following May, performing his mis- sion to the entire satisfaction of the State department, and remained in its ser- vice some time after his return. He was the means of the capture and detention of two blockade-runners, and of breaking up a well-arranged and extensive scheme, having its headquarters in New York. He studied Spanish rule in Cuba, and became greatly interested in the island.
He was now in a position to consider his own future, and leaving the Canada consul-generalship to Mr. Potter, he determined to establish himself in Washing- ton in the practice of law. A very promising opening proffered itself in a firm, the leading lawyer of which had recently died. On consultation with Judge Black, whose offer of partnership was pending, this was thought to be the most immediately eligible, and it was accepted. His family followed him late the succeeding autumn. Those who knew the strength of Mr. R.'s attachments to his life-long associations of persons and places can imagine something of the effort this change cost him. The new firm, for various reasons, was not a success. The prosecution of claims was so utterly distasteful that Mr. R. refused to enter upon it, and would never attempt to "lobby" cases in Congress. He had the confidence of Mr. Stanton, secretary of war, and was retained in many important
military cases, where he achieved both reputation and fees. Among these were his defense of General Buker at Washington, and again at Trenton, and of General Schofield at Richmond, all of these being memorable cuses. At Trenton Mr. R. was associated with Mr. James T. Brady, of New York, who surrendered to him the closing argument, with which, and also his management, Mr. Brady was so well pleased that he invited Mr. R. to remove to New York,-a solicitation subsequently renewed with flattering assurances. Mr. Brady's death soon after prevented further consideration of the matter.
On his entrance to the Washington bar, Mr. Riddle was, and continued to be for some time, the only Republican lawyer in the courts of the District, and his success with juries soon brought him a very large practice. For a time he was the sole adviser and advocate of the colored race in the District; seldom, however, receiving the smallest fee for his services. He has always retained their confi- dence.
A word should be said of the celebrated "Sufe Burglary" case, in some respects the most remarkable that has ever occurred in this country .: A strong combina- tion of the citizens of the District of Columbia were prosecuting its government before a joint committee of both houses of Congress. A conspiracy, originating with persons near the President of the nation, was formed to charge the crime of burglary and larceny on the leader of these citizens in such a way as to cause belief that it was done to aid the prosecution. The safe in the office of the United States district attorney was prepared, the office broken open, the safe blown with gunpowder, the contents carried for delivery to the leader's house, as prearranged, and only failed of being received there from sheer inability to awaken his household. Though the plot was most ingenious, through its failure at the last its managers were compelled to prosecute their own tools. The assist- ant district attorney fell under suspicion for his dilatory proceedings and other causes. Congress investigated the affair, abolished the District government, and sent its evidence as to this crime to the attorney-general. He was thus compelled to notice the case, and the office of the district attorney, the headquarters of the plotters and scene of their workings, was set aside. Mr. Riddle at this time was absent among the White mountains. There was not, nor could there be, any suspicion of his ever having been connected with any ring, and the attorney- general knew and trusted him. It was also said that the person most suspected desired Mr. Riddle's appointment in charge of the case. This person and Mr. Riddle were warm friends, and no doubt there was an impression that, influenced by this friendship, Mr. Riddle would save the other from any penalty attached to his complicity in the matter. In any event, whatever the influence that placed the case in Mr. Riddle's hands, or whatever the expectations formed of his treatment of it, certain it is that he refused to convict the poor tools in jail. The whole case was taken up anew, and investigated before the grand jury in all its bearings.
Mr. Riddle soon found that he was without support from any quarter, the " ring" having influence in every direction. The Washington detectives were spies upon him, and he could secure no aid from the United States officers in New York or New Jersey. When the indictments were found, the Washington Repub- lican press opened upon him personally, and pursued him throughout the trial. It was notorious that the jury was " packed" to acquit ; yet the force and vigor of the prosecution made the certainty of the guilt of the accused so clear, that three or four of them stood steadily for conviction. After the trial Mr. Riddle made an arrangement with the chief executor of the conspiracy, by which a confession of the whole affair was to be made to him. At this time, when he had no doubt of the surety that the really guilty ones would be brought to justice, he was suddenly dismissed out of the cases, which for a time were ended. Within eighteen months this same chief executor and a subordinate made full statements of all the facts of the case. This confession proved the accuracy of Mr. Riddle's theory from circumstantial evidence to the minutest detail. This case had to be reviewed on the trial of Babcock, who was now indicted with another for the crime. This chief and subordinate were the principal witnesses, but as they had severally sworn to the opposite facts three separate times, hirelings as they were, thoughtful men, who had no doubt of Babcock's guilt, acquiesced in his acquittal. At the latest moment Mr. R. was appointed to try this case also, and was leading counsel. The prosecution of the " Sufe Burglary" case was fatal to every man towards whom the carefully-prepared and justly-used evidence directed suspicion ; they were marked and ruined men. It was, to some degree, an unfortunate affair also for the man who conducted the prosecution. The secret and wide ramifications of the "ring" conspiracy embraced a large number of influential men, who dared not openly confess to cause of enmity towards him, but who were enabled to seriously interfere with his private practice. The mind of the President was poisoned against him, of which fact an evidence may be cited. The postmaster-general, Mr. Jewell, wished Mr. R. to prosecute certain parties for fraud in the post-office department, but was not permitted to retain him in the cases; and in such various
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ways has he been made to feel the persistent influence of secret, and because secret, powerful enemies .*
As will be seen in the reports of the Supreme Court of the United States, Mr. Riddle is often before that tribunal, and few are accorded a more attentive hearing. Mr. Riddle is the authority for the statement that he never volunteered a speech, and never but once volunteered as counsel. It is his idea that " a lawyer, like a woman, should wait to be asked." He has tried a hundred cases without a fee, but never offered himself in but one. This was the case of a poor black girl for the murder of her white lover,-Minnie Gains. She was reared a slave, and the cir- cumstances of her betrayal and desertion when but two or three months advanced in pregnancy, were heartless and cruel. She was a woman, and colored. The mur- dered man was well connected, and a clerk in the treasury department. It was in the early years of emancipation, and there was an intense feeling against the pris- oner. She killed a white man whose conduct, in the popular opinion of the capital, had honored her. She had not a friend; was almost unknown among those of her color; no money, and of course no counsel or witnesses in her behalf. Mr. Riddle volunteered his services, and sent messengers into the interior of Virginia, where, at much expense, he secured the attendance of witnesses. One of his daughters, with other ladies of Washington society, visited the poor woman in prison, and sat with her during her awful trial for her life. It was one of the first cases in which colored jurors sat,-the jury being about equally divided, black and white. The trial lasted many days; excitement ran high ; but the jury returned a ver- dict of acquittal. The girl Minnie and her child obtained a good home in a family in Boston, where, at last accounts, she was "proving herself worthy of her good fortune." This was one of about forty cases of homicide in which Mr. Riddle has appeared, on one side or the other, in his professional life. Only one of his numerous defenses entirely failed. This last was the case of Barney Wood, a Union soldier, who shot a man in a drunken fury. In spite of every effort of his counsel in his behalf, to the jury and the Executive, he was convicted and hanged. Mr. Riddle has never since appeared in a homicide trial. In the case of Bolster, for murder,-an earlier case,-Mr. Riddle was retained when the prisoner was under sentence of death. When the retainer was forthcoming, it was found to be from the earnings of Bolster's mistress. It is needless to say that the fee was declined, though Mr. Biddle went on with the case.
Another case-Darden, for the murder of MaCarty-grew out of feud between the two classes of Washington gamblers. It, of course, created much excitement among this peculiar class of " gentlemen," and Mr. Riddle was the object of much effusive attention from them. The liberal fee he received was paid by John Mor- risscy, though no other evidence that he was otherwise connected with the affair ever came to Mr. Riddle's notice. Though much in the criminal courts, Mr. Riddle has always had a large civil practice, and stands quite as well as a commercial lawyer. Of his reported speeches which have received wide commendation, may be mentioned that delivered at the Cleveland Melodeon, on the death of John Brown, his eulogy of the late Secretary Stanton, and the more recent similar address to the Washington bar commemorative of his friend, the late Judge Paschal. His unpublished speeches before the bar on the deaths of Chief-Justice Chase and the younger Stanton, his pupil and friend, are said to be fully equal to the other efforts.
From the commencement, Mr. Riddle has been the unhesitating advocate of the various measures for the advancement of women, and of men as well. The progress of the race, with women perpetually undeveloped, he compares to the "effort of flying with one wing." That the purity of social life can only be attained by the complete delivery of woman into her own hands, which means simply the power and intelligence to take care of herself. That by nature she is less inclined to mercenary marriage than is man. That true marriages can never become the rule until men are compelled to compete for wives. That " woman suffrage" is only a means, not the end. At the request of leading women in the movement he appeared before the judiciary committee of the House of Representatives in support of the proposition that by a just construction of the fourteenth and fifteenth constitutional amendments women are entitled to vote. This he enlarged in the case of Mrs. Spencer, who attempted, and was not per- mitted, to vote. The argument was never, nor can it be, refuted. These speeches, widely circulated, were the arsenal from which were drawn all the weapons used in the affirmative of the above proposition.
A passion for books has always been a distinguishing trait of Mr. Riddle's,
*The best account of this remarkable trial was written by General Boynton, and appeared in the Boston Law Review for April, 1877.
and he is an inveterate buyer of professional and miscellaneous works. He rarely reads a book through, but when he has mastered an author and seen the scope of his work, he leaves it, as he has little taste or leisure for details. His inclina- tion is rather for history and biography, though his library gives evidence of reading in universal channels, including Darwin's, Spencer's, and Mill's works. His first publication was a series of eight provisional law lectures, delivered before the first graduating law class-colored students-of Howard University. The edition was favorably noticed, and received the commendations of prominent lawyers from all parts of the United States. His first novel, " Bart Ridgely," was published in 1873, and was pronounced the best American novel of the year. It seems to have taken a permanent place in American literature, and is said to have been written for the most part without a thought of publication. As in the case of most first novels, the author unconsciously wrote in a good deal of himself, and of his experience, but there is not the slightest foundation for the impression that the story was an intentional autobiography. The hero and heroine are unquestionably creatures of pure fiction ; men and women touched by the portrayal, find in the former their highest ideal conception of a manliness at once sweet and strong. Among the numerous letters addressed to the author is one from one of the foremost statesmen of the land, who said "that so com- pletely did it idealize and realize some of his own personal experiences, that while reading it in a railroad car, he laid his head down on the back of the seat before him and wept with the abandonment of a child."
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