USA > Ohio > History of Ohio; the rise and progress of an American state, Volume Four > Part 5
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Nor was Ohio without representation in the naval operations against Mexico. Reed Werden, James F. Schenck, L. C. Rowan, Roger M. Stembel, George M.
62
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Ransom and Henry Walker, all appointed from Ohio, served in the United States Navy during the Mexican War. Werden was at the capture of Tupsan and became rear admiral. Schenck was in various engage- ments in California and was at the bombardment and capture of Guyamas and Mazatlan in Mexico; he be- came a rear admiral. Rowan fought on sea and land in the Pacific Coast operations which resulted in the sur- render of Los Angeles and the whole of California by the Mexican governor; he became a vice admiral. Stembel and Ransom both served with junior rank in Mexico; the former became a rear admiral and the latter a com- modore. Walker participated in the surrender of Vera Cruz, Tupsan and Tobasco, and became a rear ad- miral. The final rank attained by all these officers was the result of service in the Civil War.
Surely if our Nation won victory and renown in Mexico, Ohio had a full share in all the honors.
No incident of the Mexican War created a more profound impression of sorrow on the people of Ohio than did the death by disease of General Thomas L. Hamer, at Monterey, Mexico, December 2, 1846, in the forty-sixth year of his age. He had entered the army as the major of the First Ohio Volunteer Infantry. As the most popular Democrat of Ohio he was the idol and the ideal of his party. He had served in the Legislature and in Congress and enjoyed the reputation of a great lawyer and an eloquent orator. In the campaign of 1840 he was the only man in Ohio that could engage in joint debate with Tom Corwin, the Whig candidate for Governor. At the first call of the President he organized the first regiment raised in
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OF AN AMERICAN STATE
Ohio. He had a natural aptitude for military affairs, and before he had reached the seat of war President Polk commissioned him a brigadier general. At the battle of Monterey he displayed fine judgment and gallantry in commanding his brigade, and when General Butler, who commanded the Third Division, was wounded, General Hamer succeeded him.
He was extremely popular with his men. When General Zachary Taylor was informed of Hamer's death, he exclaimed, "I have lost the balance wheel of my volunteer army!" In the official communica- tion to the War Department announcing his death General Taylor said: "In council, I found him clear and judicious; and in the administration of his com- mand, though kind, yet always impartial and just. He was an active participant in the operations before Monterey, and since had commanded the volunteer division. His loss to the army at this time cannot be supplied, and the experience which he daily acquired in a new profession rendered his services continually more valuable. I had looked forward with confidence to the benefit of his abilities and judgment in the service which yet lies before us, and feel most sensibly the privation of them."
The participation of General Hamer and Lieutenant Ulysses S. Grant in the battle of Monterey recalls the fact that the young lieutenant owed his West Point cadetship to Hamer. In his "Personal Memoirs" (Volume I, page 33), General Grant refers to this :
"The Honorable Thomas L. Hamer, one of the ablest men Ohio ever produced, was our member of Congress at the time, and had the right of nomination. He and
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
my father had been members of the same debating society (where they were generally pitted on opposite sides), and intimate personal friends from their early manhood up to a few years before. In politics they differed. Hamer was a life-long Democrat, while my father was a Whig. They had a warm discussion, in which they finally became angry, over some act of President Jackson-the removal of the deposit of public moneys, I think,-after which they never spoke until after my appointment. I know both of them felt badly over this estrangement, and would have been glad at any time to come to a reconciliation; but neither would make the advance. Under these circumstances my father would not write to Hamer for the appoint- ment, but he wrote to Thomas Morris, United States Senator from Ohio, informing him that there was a vacancy at West Point from our district, and that he would be glad if I could be appointed to fill it. This letter, I presume, was turned over to Mr. Hamer, and, as there was no other applicant, he cheerfully appointed me. This healed the breach between the two, never after opened."
Although General Hamer had been buried with all the honors of war at Monterey, the State of Ohio, through its legislature, ordered his remains to be brought back for formal interment at his home at Georgetown in Brown county. For this purpose the following commissioners were appointed to proceed to Mexico: John Allen of Brown county, James C. Kennedy of Clermont and James H. Thompson of Highland. They were authorized to draw on the State treasury for the funds necessary to perform their mission. On their
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OF AN AMERICAN STATE
return, through a State funeral, the final honors of a grief-stricken people were paid Thomas L. Hamer. The sincere and lasting hold that he had upon the affec- tions of its countrymen is in evidence yet. For though more than a generation has passed, his name and memory are as fresh in Southern Ohio as if he had died but yesterday.
Turning from the battle-fields of Mexico, where American arms were winning victories at the sad ex- pense of many brave soldiers and sailors, we find at home a complicated situation. The Whig party was divided in its view of the war. Some favored support- ing the Government inasmuch as there was actual war between the United States and its enemies, but the more radical element opposed it on the ground that to give its support would be promoting the cause of slavery. The representative of the latter section of the Whig party was Senator Thomas Corwin of Ohio. He was firmly convinced that the war was unjust and dishonorable. He finally concluded to take the boldest and most dangerous attitude that any citizen can as- sume when his country is at war. That is to oppose the appropriation of money to carry on the military movements against his country's enemies.
Senator Corwin did this against the earnest advice of many of his Whig friends. He and two of his dis- tinguished Whig Senatorial colleagues had agreed to assume this position, and throw their votes and influence against appropriations to support the Mexi- can War. These Senators were Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and John J. Crittenden of Kentucky. When the time came to "show their hands" they both
66
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
failed him. Webster, doubtless with the Presidential bee of 1848 buzzing about him, saw that this attitude would alienate the southern Whigs, and Crittenden yielded to the slavery influence of his State. So when the time came to oppose the war appropriations Corwin stood alone as the antagonist. In his great speech, of which more later, he referred to this fact, and com- plained that there were not enough with him to have saved the wicked city of the Scriptures.
Senator Corwin spoke against the prosecution of the Mexican War in the United States Senate, February II, 1847. The bill pending was one making further appropriations to bring the existing war with Mexico to a speedy and honorable conclusion. The speech reads as well to-day as when it was delivered, and for lofty eloquence it has not been equalled in the annals of the Senate. It was a courageous speech, honest in its purpose and fearless in its expression. He contended that the war was wrong; that it was a President's and not a people's war, and that it was based on the false proposition that the disputed territory belonged to Texas and not to Mexico. For these reasons, there- fore, he objected to voting supplies to carry on such a dishonorable and illegal conflict. Up to the time that Senator Corwin conceived that the war was being advanced for conquest, he had supported the appro- priations for the Army in Mexico. Now he was op- posed to any further prosecution of the war, and was in favor of withholding its necessary supplies, claiming that the Nation should withdraw its soldiers from Mex- ico and obtain an honorable peace.
67
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
The speech created a profound impression on the country. Its high moral tone, its great ability and parliamentary eloquence were admitted by all, but it was violently attacked by the opposition press as unpatriotic and even treasonable. Nothing but a great moral conviction could have inspired such a speech at such a time. The American arms had been victorious at Palo Alto and Monterey, and General Scott had just commenced his triumphal march toward the City of Mexico. The country was in an ecstasy of exultant victory, and thousands of young men were offering their services daily. The war-spirit had seized the land. For a Senator to oppose such a war and demand the withdrawal of the American troops from Mexico could not be otherwise than unpopular. His political opponents were thrown into a frenzy, and the American people were staggered when he told them: "If I were a Mexican I would tell you: 'Have you not room in your own country to bury your dead men? If you come into mine we will greet you with bloody hands and welcome you to hospitable graves.'"
Many of Corwin's friends deserted him, some of them being high in the Whig party. On the other hand, he won the greatest praise and admiration from the anti- slavery Whigs. Joshua R. Giddings, Horace Greeley and Henry Wilson came out in favor of him as the Whig candidate for President in 1848. His constituents at home-the Miami Valley-supported him to a man. But over the whole country the force of popular opinion was against the speech and the orator. In Ohio there developed against him the most virulent opposition, and he was denounced as a traitor on frequent occasions.
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
The Legislature was flooded with petitions asking that his resignation be demanded; but a majority of the judiciary committee of the State Senate, to whom these petitions were referred, approved Corwin's course. They reported "that the course pursued, with reference to this war by Honorable Thomas Corwin, has in no degree lessened him in the esteem of the State he repre- sents, but that the implicit confidence in his states- manship, his moral integrity, his pure patriotism, his true loyalty to the union and the State of Ohio, which was evinced by his election to the high and responsible office of Senator in Congress, remains unimpaired and unfaltering."
The intimate connection of Corwin with Ohio and the Mexican War make his subsequent life properly a part of this chapter. With his fine nature, his natural probity and great talents he was always popular in Ohio and throughout the country. His Mexican War speech would have consigned most public men to obliv- ion. But his fearless life and independent attitude on great questions gave him a public character which won the confidence of the people regardless of party. In the presidential canvass for the nomination in 1848, he declined to allow his name to be considered in the convention. He realized as much as any man in the Whig party that his course in the Senate disqualified him for popular favor. A great war had been brought to a successful close; it was full of gain to the United States, and a conquering war chief was the great object of the people's adulation. The result was the setting aside of Clay and Webster and the nomination of General Zachary Taylor. Like all military candi-
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OF AN AMERICAN STATE
dates, with the glamour of military glory surrounding him, he was easily elected. For the second time Death cheated the Whigs out of their victory, and President Taylor died in the midst of his term. Millard Fillmore became President, and Thomas Corwin was confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury in his Cabinet, July 20, 1850. He remained, amidst many changes, in the Cabinet until the end of the administration. It was the last of the power of the Whigs, and that party went out of existence in the evolution of great political questions.
Mr. Corwin returned to private life in 1853, and resumed the practice of his profession at Cincinnati. With great questions involving moral issues crowding to the front, a man like Corwin could not remain silent, neither could a constituency, such as his, allow him to remain in private life. So we find him elected to Congress from a Republican district, composed of Warren, Clinton, Greene, Fayette and Madison coun- ties. He was not in entire harmony with the Repub- lican party. He had not yet reached the position of Lincoln and Seward on the slavery question. He favored prohibiting slavery in the territories, but he believed that they had a right to make a constitution for statehood permitting slavery if they saw fit.
His position was that "Congress having passed an enabling act permitting it [the territory] to make a constitution and set up for itself, could not consistently refuse it admission into the Union on account of a clause in its constitution, when we had in the Union fifteen states with similar constitutions. If we had no power to turn out states on that account, we should not
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
keep them out." This position was not a tenable one and was soon swept away in the aggressive fight against the extension of slavery which became a cardinal prin- ciple of the Republican party.
Again he was elected to Congress in 1858. He became chairman of the famous "Committee of Thirty- Three" appointed to devise some plan to stem secession and to provide for a peaceable settlement of the slavery question. All of its proceedings and recommendations were unavailing. This was due to the fact that it undertook to compromise a moral question; it was willing that slavery should exist and continue undis- turbed, and even went so far as to recommend an amend- ment to the Constitution forever prohibiting the aboli- tion of slavery or the enactment of legislation that would in any wise interfere with its maintenance. Corwin favored this compromise, and it is the one weak spot in his public career. He closed his term in Con- gress uneventfully, except that it was marred by the efforts of his great talents to perpetuate slavery.
On March 12, 1861, President Lincoln appointed him Minister to Mexico, which position he filled until 1864, when he returned to this country and took up the practice of his profession at Washington, D. C. He died there suddenly, December 18, 1865.
His unexpected death touched the nation and Ohio especially mourned. In the reception room of the Senate Chamber the great men of our country at that time, regardless of party, met to express their sorrow. Chief Justice Chase presided and said: "Great were his titles to honor won at the bar, in legislative halls and in executive session; but at this moment they seem
SAMUEL SHELLABARGER
Born in Clark county, Ohio, December 10, 1817; grad- uated from Miami University, 1841; admitted to the bar in 1846 and began practice in Springfield; elected to the Legislature, 1851; member of the thirty-seventh, thirty- ninth, fortieth, and forty-second congresses, and promi- nently identified with the reconstruction measures; ap- pointed Minister to Portugal, 1869; resided during his latter years in Washington and held the office of Civil Service Commissioner; died August 6, 1896.
Samt Shellalarger
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
keep them out." ATOMAdATAHa HaUMA a tenable one and was sberg ; 1181 ,01 19dmost bo aggressive fightagainst the extentsid ant of bottimbs; 148 .tihovinU. imsiMomoribasdu prin- ciple of odt of botools ; bloftgning? mi soitsiq nsgod bris d481 ni
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recommendations
u to the fact that it
a motal question; it was
willling aber desery would exist and continue undis- turbed, and eve umni ko far as to recommend an amend- ment ve the Compition forever prohibiting the aboli- tiền sen the enactment of legislation that interfere with its maintenance. compromise, and it is the one weak He closed his term in Con- Morpt that it was marred by the ais to perpetuate slavery.
President Lincoln appointed which position he filled until wnej to this country and took up ion at Washington, D. C. He December 18, 1865.
UN touched the nation and Ohio especiado the reception room of the Senate Che ne men of our country at that time, regalos, met to express their sorrow. Chief Justice Ddnl and said: "Great were his titles to bonne one of the bar, in legislative halls and in executive burat this moment they seem
-
Samt Shellalarger
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OF AN AMERICAN STATE
insignificant in comparison with the admiration, love and veneration which gathered around him as a man." And Samuel Shellabarger, who was then a Representa- tive in Congress, and who was at Corwin's side when he was stricken down, wrote this to the Ohio State Journal: "He, who had touched with the scepter of his imperial and god-like intellect, States, Nations, Peoples, Courts, Senators and Senates, made them all bow to the ma- jesty of its power, was now touched-in his time- by the scepter of his Lord, and instantly bowed his head, and laid himself submissively down and died."
CHAPTER IV. A REVIEW OF THE FORTIES, STATISTICAL AND HISTORICAL
T HE mid-century census of 1850 showed the population of Ohio to be 1,980,329. In ten years the increase was 460,862, or 30.15 per cent. over that of 1840. The State still held the third rank in the Union, which it had reached ten years before.
The seventh census of the United States, while superficially a dry compilation, is one of interesting and informing facts concerning Ohio. Indeed we have here the material for accurate study which is far more reliable than the narrative conclusions of historians. A comparison of these statistics will teach an interest- ing lesson in sociological research.
The productiveness of a State is attained by the application of human labor. Therefore population is regarded by political economists as the first element of strength and wealth. Of course it may be qualified by degrees of intelligence and advancement; but after all the individual man is the principal source of power in a State. Population is migratory, and is attracted to this location or the other location by different advan- tages which are either moral, natural or political; and if nature or the quality of its manhood have really given any State or its country advantages, it will in a few years gather a great fruit by the increase and perma- nence of its population. In this respect Ohio ranks as one of the most remarkable instances of the growth of population and power which follow from good insti- tutions and good laws. Up to the time of which we are now writing-1850-no State in the Union had made such progress in population as Ohio, and a com- parison of the ratio of increase of other states, which
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
themselves were regarded in their time as very progres- sive, shows Ohio to have far exceeded them all. For instance, in the twenty years prior to the census of 1850 Virginia increased twenty per cent., New York fifty per cent., Pennsylvania eighty per cent., and Ohio one hundred and ten per cent.
In connection with the population of Ohio, it is inter- esting to consider its origin, and to observe from what states and countries the people came who constituted the State in 1850. There is a movement in population as certain as the Gulf Stream, and it is controlled by growth, migration and natural increase. The popula- tion of a State, especially in its early period, is in con- stant motion, flowing in and out, and out of this situa- tion comes the growth which is derived from three different elements, viz., the foreign immigration, the domestic immigration, and the natural increase. From the aggregate of these three divisions must be sub- tracted the emigration from a State, and the net result is the existent population. It may appear strange, but it is nevertheless true, that notwithstanding the great volume of immigration to Ohio prior to 1850, there was also a very great emigration from the State at the same time. The census of this period shows that the people who had been born in Ohio and then living in other states were 296,453. This conclusion is arrived at by the tabulated statistics showing that according to this census there were living in the United States 1,515,885 persons who were born in Ohio, and that of these 1,219,432 were living within the State of Ohio in 1850, showing the emigration to be the difference as stated above.
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OF AN AMERICAN STATE
The foreign population, that is, migrations from foreign countries, amounted to 218,512, principally derived, as will be seen, from the following countries: England, 25,660; Ireland, 51,562; Scotland, 5,232; Wales, 5,849; Germany, 111,257. But of course the greatest proportion of the non-native population of Ohio came from the other states of the Union. This contribution to Ohio's population forms an interesting study in historical statistics. Pennsylvania furnished 200,634, more than twice as many as any other State, and more than three times as many as all New England. Natives of the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Ver- mont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, living in Ohio, according to this census, numbered 66,032. Of these the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut furnished nearly two-thirds. But it will be observed that the chief immigration to Ohio came from other states in the East and South. The prin- cipal ones can be thus mentioned: New York, 83,979; New Jersey, 23,532; Maryland, 36,698; Virginia, 85,762; Kentucky, 13,824. The total number of natives of other states living in Ohio was 542,385. Seven states furnished approximately a half million of this immigration, in the following proportions: Pennsyl- vania added forty-three per cent .; Virginia, eighteen per cent .; New York, seventeen per cent .; New Jersey, five per cent .; Connecticut, five per cent .; Massa- chusetts, four per cent .; and Maryland, eight per cent. These seven states furnished eighty-seven per cent. of the domestic emigration from other states to Ohio in 1850.
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Up to the period of the construction of canals and railroads, Ohio necessarily was an agricultural State; but we find a decided transition occurring between 1840 and 1850. We can see marked evidences of the transformation of a State purely agricultural to one of mixed industries, and at the same time there must be noted an enormous increase of agricultural products and values. We find the first indications in the in- creased number of males engaged in professions, occu- pations and trades. The census of 1850 shows these to number 530,792. And further we note that there were over ten thousand manufacturing establishments, employing a capital of more than thirty million dollars, turning out products valued at over sixty-two million dollars. Naturally this progress in manufacturing means the growth of cities. So we observe a marked increase in the urban population of Ohio during the forties. For example, taking thirty selected cities and towns, in 1840 there were in these 112,367 inhabitants, and in 1850 these same towns showed a population of 255,522. The population of the seven leading cities for the period referred to can be given as a fair example of the general trend of the people, already commenced at that early day:
1840
1850
Cincinnati.
46,338
115,436
Cleveland.
6,071
17,034
Dayton.
6,067
10,977
Columbus.
6,487
17,882
Zanesville
5,14I
10,355
Steubenville.
4,247
6,140
Chillicothe.
3,977
7,100
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OF AN AMERICAN STATE
The country was keeping pace with the town, and while manufacturing was being developed, there was also a marked advance in agriculture. As evidence, the corn crop of 1850 was twenty-five million bushels more than it was in 1840. This was an increase of seventy-six per cent. There were produced fifteen million bushels of wheat more in 1850 than there were in 1840-an increase of nearly one hundred per cent. The increase of animal products-horses, mules, cattle, sheep and swine-was thirty-four per cent. in the same period.
The chief mineral staples of Ohio at this time were coal, iron and salt, and in the decade under review the mining of these natural products advanced more than any other branch of industry. Excepting gold and silver, mining is the last industry to be developed. The clearing of the forest and the tilling of the soil come first in order to sustain a people. Then come the coarser arts and manufactures to supply the tools of industry and household operations. But to the mining of minerals little attention is given until the community has supplied itself with the means of a comfortable subsistence. We therefore find that mining as a busi- ness had not really secured a good start until in the thirties. In 1840 the real progress commenced, and in the decade following, the mining of coal, iron and salt became very substantial industries and contributed much to the development of the State.
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