History of Sandusky County, Ohio : with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens and pioneers, Part 80

Author: Everett, Homer, 1813-1887
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : H.Z. Williams
Number of Pages: 1040

USA > Ohio > Sandusky County > History of Sandusky County, Ohio : with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens and pioneers > Part 80

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We have been endeavoring, so far as a brief sketch will permit, to point out the successive steps by which General Hayes

rose in popular favor and official station. The letter of acceptance was undoubtedly the most influential document in the cam- paign which terminated in his election to the Presidency. It was the expression of a man of decided convictions and with courage to maintain them. Further than this, it was a clear, concise definition of Republican doctrines, which Republican papers and orators amplified, but to which little was added. Like the brief speech to the State central committee one year before, this letter determined the issues of the campaign.

The election was closely contested on both sides. The doubtful result in three Southern States threw the whole country into a state of anxiety which continued until inauguration day. The events of that memorable winter are beyond our present scope. General Hayes was declared elected by the highest authority in the Government, and his title has never since been vitiated by the strongest tests which partizan enthusiasm could institute.

It is too soon to write the history of the administration from 1877 to 1881. That it gave satisfaction to the people is shown by the renewed growth of the Republican party from inauguration day, and the deci- sive result of the National election of 1880. Its crowning accomplishment was the resumption of specie payment, and the consequent re-establishment of finan- cial security and promotion of business prosperity. The attitude of the adminis- tration toward the South went far toward allaying public prejudices. The immedi- ate result of this measure has been re- newed life and activity in that long neg- lected section of the country. We can only enumerate a few other important measures of administration. An Indian policy was permanently established, secur- ing the red man undisturbed possession of the soil he occupies, and encouraging him

Lucy NO Hayes

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in civilized pursuits. The Mexican border difficulties were settled by radical meas. ures affording greater security to our border citizens than have they enjoyed since the annexation of Texas. Foreign commerce has been aided by requiring from consular posts detailed monthly reports. The most difficult question with which the Hayes . administration had to deal was reform in the civil service. A system of political pat- ronage, quietly acquiesced in for forty years could not be displaced in four years. Bold measures were adopted and the re- sults have already received the indorse- ment of the country.

President Hayes was fortunate in sur- rounding himself with a Cabinet of able and distinguished men, and holding them, with two exceptions, till the close of his term. The administration devoted itself assiduously to work, and grew more popu- lar as the results of its labors became known. General Hayes retired from the Presidency with the full confidence of the people of all parties. He had traveled in all sections of the country, and was every- where received with the respect due the Chief Magistrate of the Republic. When he again became a private citizen, and re- turned to his home in this city, he was tendered a hearty reception as a mark of personal friendship and local pride.

In this sketch of his public services we have deferred mentioning the social and private life of General Hayes and of Mrs. Hayes, who has occupied a conspicuous place in the State and Nation.

LUCY WEBB HAYES.

The personal appearance of Mrs. Hayes and her qualities as a woman are too well known to justify any comment here. She has been before the public many years, and has always been the recipient of the highest favor and praise.

Lucy Webb was the daughter of Dr. James Webb and Maria Cook Webb, and

was born at Chillicothe, Ohio. Her an- cestors on both sides were Revolutionary soldiers, on her father's side being Virgin- ians, who came from Kentucky to Ohio, and on her mother's side being from Connecti- cut and Pennsylvania. Dr. James Webb was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was one of Ball's squadron, which engaged with a party of Indians just south of this city a few days before the battle of Fort Stephenson. He died of cholera in Lex- ington, Kentucky, in 1833. Maria Cook Webb, the mother of Mrs. Hayes, was a lady of unusual strength of character and deep religious convictions. After the death of Dr. Webb she removed to Dela- ware, where her sons were being educated at the Ohio Wesleyan University. Miss Webb was instructed at Delaware by the University professors, preparatory to enter- ing the Wesleyan Female College at Cin- cinnati. It was while attending college at Cincinnati that Mr. Hayes made her ac- quaintance. Both were spending a short time at Delaware-Miss Webb visiting her mother, Mr. Hayes his old home and birth- place. It is said that the first meeting was at the sulphur spring on the college grounds. Her natural gaiety and attract- iveness made a strong impression on Mr. Hayes, who was thenceforth a frequent visitor.

While at school Miss Webb became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. She has ever since been ardently attached to the duties and requirements of a Christian life. At college she bore the reputation of being a diligent student, and graduated with good standing.

Her marriage to Mr. Hayes took place December 30, 1852. The ceremony was performed by Dr. L. D. McCabe, of the Wesleyan University, who was also present at the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, celebrated at the White House.

Mrs. Hayes first became known to the

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outside world during the war. A distin- guishing characteristic is the great pleasure she takes in making people happy. In the army, among volunteer soldiers, she found ample opportunity for the exercise of her rare faculties in that direction. Upon learning of the severe wound re- ceived by her husband in the battle of South Mountain, she hastened East and joined him at Middletown, Maryland. As soon as he was able to walk, she spent a portion of each day in the hospitals, cheering the wounded of both armies with delicate attentions and tokens of sym- pathy. The members of the Twenty- third Ohio Volunteer Infantry remember Mrs. Hayes with the kindest affection.

Mrs. Hayes is eminently social and do- mestic. Her residence has seldom been without visitors, and she has always been, in every station, mistress of her own house- hold. One feature of White House life, during the Hayes administration, has been a subject of much newspaper comment. The use of wines was wholly abandoned. Wine had never been brought upon the table in their own private residence, and it was the desire of both the President and Mrs. Hayes that their private custom should be maintained, and respected while at the head of the Government.

Spiegel Grove is the name given the home of the ex-President in Fremont. The grounds are located on Buckland avenue, and consist of thirty acres, a large part of which is shaded by forest trees. The house, a substantial two-story brick, stands near the centre. It was built in 1860 by Sardis Birchard, and was his residence until his death in 1874. General Hayes has since made additions to the house. The well-filled library on the first floor indicates the character of the student whose collection it is. Few private libra- ries in the State will furnish more informa- tion on topics relating to our own country

than that of General Hayes. His knowl- edge of Ohio and Ohio history is espec- ially accurate and extended.

General and Mrs. Hayes have again settled down to the rest and quiet of private life, which, for people of their age, they have indeed had little opportunity to enjoy. Fremont has been for years their home, though for the most of the time not their residence. It is expected that they are now here to remain.

GENERAL R. P. BUCKLAND.

Ralph Pomeroy Buckland was born at Leyden, Massachusetts, on the 20th day of January, 1812. His grand- father and father died from the im- mediate effects of military service in the cause of our country; the former, Stephen Buckland, who was a captain of artillery in the Revolutionary war, from East Hart- ford, Connecticut, dying in the Jersey prison-ship near New York ; the latter, Ralph Buckland, a volunteer in Hull's army during the War of 1812, dying at Ravenna, Ohio, from disease contracted while a prisoner of war .* The subject of

* The following is a copy of a letter written by General Buckland's father bout one year before his death :

RAVENNA, September 12, 1812.

DEAK SISTER :--- These lines will inform you that I am well. I have just arrived from Fort Malden in Upper Canada, a prisoner on parole. I belonged to General Hull's army, and was sold with the rest of my brother volunteers to the British and Indians by that traitor and coward, Hull. The distress the in- habitants have undergone by letting the Indians in upon the frontiers is beyond description. Plundered of every article of property and clothing: and hun- dred of families massacred adds to the scene of dis- tress. But they will have to share the same fate or worse if possible. We have a fine army of ten thou- sand men within a two days' march of here, which will show them that a Hull does not command at this time, Governor Harrison has the command of this army, and will do honor to his country and him- self. He commanded at the Wabash last fall at the

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this biography completes the family's mili- tary record by his service in the Great Rebellion.

His father, acting in the capacity of land-agent and surveyor, came to Portage county, Ohio, in 1811. About the close of the following year, during the severe winter, while an unbroken waste of snow stretched from the New England States westward, the father removed his family in a one-horse sleigh, from their Massachu- setts home to Ravenna in this State, where, as above stated, he died only a few months after. His mother's maiden name was Anna Kent. Her father died at Mantua, Ohio, where he had moved from Leyden, Massachusetts. Some few years after the death of Ralph's father, his mother married Dr. Luther Hanchett, who then had four children by a former mar- riage. Six more children were born to them. The family were always in moder- ate circumstances.

During his earlier years Ralph lived with his stepfather and family on a farm, but the greater part of the time, until he at- tained the age of eighteen, he lived with and labored for a farmer uncle in Mantua, excepting two years when he worked in a woollen factory at Kendall, Ohio, and one year spent as a clerk in a store. In the winters he attended country schools, and the last summer, that of 1830, he attended an academy at Tallmadge, Ohio, where he made a commencement in Latin. In the following fall he embarked at Akron, Ohio, on board a flat boat loaded with a cargo of cheese to be transported through

battle of Tippecance, and the Indians have not for- gotten it. I have enjoyed very good health since I saw you last. Give my love to my mother and all our friends. I am in great haste, and can write no more at present. Yours,

RALPH BUCKLAND.

P. S. You will write me an answer soon. I ex- pect to go to Cincinnati in a few days, on public busi- ness.

the Ohio canal, down the Muskingum, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to Natchez, Mississippi. At Louisville he secured a deck passage on the Daniel Boone, and worked his way by carrying wood on board. When he arrived at Natchez he had less than one dollar in his pocket, but he immediately found employment in a warehouse on the landing, where he re- mained for a few months, but long enough to so thoroughly secure the confidence of his employers that at the end of that time they put him in charge of two flat boats, lashed together, and loaded with twelve hundred barrels of flour for the New Orleans market. On this trip he served his turn with the rest of his crew, as a cook. The voyage was successfully com- pleted, and soon after landing, at the earnest solicitation of his Natchez em- ployers, who had opened a commission house in New Orleans, he remained in their employ in the latter city.

At that time drinking and gambling were quite common with young clerks like himself ; but, besides a natural disin- clination to indulge in things of this na- ture, he was further strengthened in his resolution to wholly abstain from these evils, by the untimely death of the book- keeper of the house in which he was em- ployed, who was killed in a duel arising from dissipation. These resolutions have ever since been strictly kept. In his spare moments, of which he had many during the summer months, while at New Orleans, he pursued the study of the Latin and French languages, and several of the common school branches.

In June, 1834, he started for Ohio on a visit to his mother, leaving New Orleans with the fixed idea of returning and mak- ing that city his future home. He had been offered several first-rate situations, but on arriving home, through his mother's solicitations, he was induced to remain in

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the North. After spending one year at Kenyon College he began the study of law in the office of Gregory Powers, at Middlebury, and completed it with Whittlesey & Newton, at Canfield, being admitted to practice in the spring of 1837.

During the winter of the previous year he spent several months pursuing his studies in the office of George B. Way, who was then editor of the Toledo Blade. While the editor-in-chief was temporarily absent at this time, he acted, for a few weeks, as editor pro tem.

Immediately after admission to the Bar, with about fifty dollars in his pocket, loaned him by his uncle, Alson Kent, he started in quest of a favorable location for an attorney. The failure of the wild-cat banks was what settled Ralph P. Buck- land in Fremont. On arriving here, at what was then known as Lower Sandusky, he found that he had not enough good money wherewith to pay a week's board. The surroundings could not have appeared very favorable to the young lawyer, but under the circumstances he was compelled to stop. He was trusted, by Thomas L. Hawkins, for a sign, opened a law office, and soon secured enough business to pay his expenses, which were kept down to the lowest possible point. At this date he was not only without means, but, even worse, he owed three hundred dollars for his expenses while a student, and for a few necessary law books. This, it would seem, to him was but a trifle. He was confident of ultimate success, for, eight months after opening up his law office in Lower Sandusky, while still worth nothing in a pecuniary point of view, he went to Canfield, Ohio, and there married Char- lotte Boughton. With his wife he re- turned here in the following spring. Al- though, as just spoken of, he was without means, his credit was good. He was

strictly economical, temperate in all things, and diligent in business. His ex- penses during the first year of married life did not exceed three hundred dollars, and his business steadily increased, so that at the end of three or four years he had all he could attend to. In these early days of his life he was very slender in build, and troubled, to some extent, with dyspepsia, but outdoor exercise, gained in travelling on horseback to the courts of adjoining counties during term time, cured him of that complaint, and gradually in- creased his weight and physical strength.

Mr. Buckland first entered into pol- itics prominently as a delegate to the Philadelphia convention in 1843, which placed General Taylor in nomination for the Presidency. In the fall of 1855 he was elected to the State Senate as a repre- sentative of the Republican party, in that, the first Legislature after its organization. He was re-elected in 1857, serving four years. He was the author of the law for the adoption of children, which was passed during his service in the Senate.

In October, 1861, he began to organize the Seventy-second regiment, Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, he having, on the 2d of that month, been appointed lieutenant-colonel by William Dennison, Governor of Ohio, and given the authority to raise a regi- ment for three years service in conformity to general orders from the War Depart- ment at Washington. The particulars of the organization of this, the Seventy- second regiment, are given in full in the history of that body. In three months it was fully equipped and ready for the field.

On the roth of January, 1862, he was mustered and sworn into the United States service as colonel of the Seventy- second regiment, and two weeks later with the regiment, in accordance with or- ders, he arrived, by rail, at Columbus,

Charlotte Buckland

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Ohio, and marched at once for Camp Chase, near the city. At Camp Chase he assumed command, and remained in that position until on the 19th of Febru- ary he was ordered, with the regiment, to report to General W. T. Sherman at Padu- cah, Kentucky.

General Sherman placed him in com- mand of the Fourth brigade, First division of the Army of the Tennessee. On March 7, 1862, General Buckland embarked his brigade on steamers on the Tennessee River, under orders to report to Major General C. F. Smith at Fort Henry. This order complied with, he proceeded, with the rest of Sherman's division, up the Ten- nessee to Savannah and Pittsburg Land- ing, and from there he went some fifteen or twenty miles further above, for the pur- pose of cutting the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, but in consequence of the ex- treme high water, the latter expedition was a failure, and he returned to the Landing. The battle of Shiloh, which took place in the first week in the following April, and in which General Buckland, with the Fourth brigade, took a prominent part, is given, in all the details, in General Buckland's his- tory of the fight, to be found in another part of this volume.

The general opinion entertained by those opposing enlistments was that the subject of this sketch was a man of no courage, and that he would never venture into the field of battle. This opinion had been diffused to a considerable extent among the soldiers and officers under his command; but after the first fight on that terrible Friday before Shiloh, all doubts as to his courage or disposition to go into danger were scattered. He there had the opportunity of showing, under fire, that valor and determination were some of the strong points of his character. On one occasion, during the battle of Shiloh, being ordered to advance his

brigade under a very severe fire from the artillery and musketry of the enemy, there seemed, at the moment, to be some hesita- tion in the lines. General Buckland im- mediately rode up to one of the color- bearers, took hold of the staff, and con- ducted the bearer and colors to the de- sired point, followed by the cheers of the soldiers as they swept forward.

General Sherman, in his report of that battle, written on the roth of April, 1862, uses the following language: "Colonel Buckland managed his brigade well. I commend him to your notice as a cool, intelligent, and judicious gentleman, need- ing only confidence and experience to make him a good commander."

This opinion of General Sherman's never changed during the time of the war, but, on the contrary, was strengthened by a more intimate and longer acquaintance, which has continued up to the time of this writing.

In the advance on Corinth, begun on the 29th of April, sickness to a great ex- tent prevailed in the ranks, and it required the utmost courage and attention to pre- vent the men from becoming demoralized. Being in close proximity to the enemy, it was necessary to form line of battle before daylight every morning. The men had be- come so weak and dispirited that few turned out. This condition was alarming, and foreboded fatal results in case of at- tack. To remedy this increasing evil, General Buckland took upon himself to arise before daylight, and, with Surgeon J. B. Rice and a lantern, went from tent to tent of the officers and soldiers, causing all complaints to be examined by the sur- geon, and compelling all those whom the surgeon advised it would not injure to turn out. This proceeding made him very un- popular, and many bitter letters were writ- ten home concerning him. But the sol- diers soon discovered that it was done for

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their good; their feelings changed, and by open thanks they showed him their appre- ciation. From thenceforward he became universally beloved by his soldiers.

General Buckland remained in com- mand of the Fourth brigade until the army reached camp No. 6, on the 13th of May, where he was assigned command of the Third brigade; but on the following day General J. W. Denver, having re- ported to Sherman, by order of General Halleck, was put in charge of the Third brigade, and General Buckland returned to the command of his regiment. In the fight before Corinth, his regiment was con- stantly under the fire of the heavy guns on the rebel battlements, and, on the 30th of May, entered the city, finding it deserted.

On the 12th of November, 1862, while at Memphis, he assumed command of the Fifth brigade of troops in General Lau- man's division, and formed part of the Tallahatchee expedition. Under orders from General Grant, who had learned of the capture of Holly Springs by General Van Dorn, he marched to retake the place, which was successfully accomplished. Soon after, the brigade was assigned to the division commanded by Brigadier General Ross, who, three days later, was placed under arrest, and General Buck- land, as the ranking colonel, assumed command of the division until December 26. On the following day he began a march towards Dresden, Tennessee, for the purpose of attacking and driving For- rest from that place; but, on arriving there on the morning of the 29th of December, he found that the enemy had evacuated it the same day.

On the 20th of March he joined Gen- eral Sherman's corps in front of Vicksburg, and participated in a series of battles and skirmishes which occurred in the move- ments to the rear of that city. During the siege he was always active and vigilant,

and at times much exposed. On the 19th of May, on foot, at the head of his brigade, he mached down the grave-yard road, under a terrific fire of musketry and artillery from the enemy's works, and, taking a position along the first parallel ridge, to support an assault on the rebel works, he maintained his place until after the assault on the 22d of the month. Al- though he was constantly exposed, and his men were shot down around him in great numbers, he escaped uninjured.

While on duty, on the 24th of Septem- ber, by the fall of his horse his right wrist was broken. By this injury he was in- capacitated for active service, but con- tinued to command his brigade, except for a short time, until on the 26th of Jan- uary, 1864, General Sherman placed him in command of the district of Memphis, where his administrative abilities were ex- emplified and his integrity of character was clearly manifested.

The incidents connected with General Forrest's night raid on Memphis shed the strongest light on General Buckland's sterling traits of character. But for his courage, decision and promptness of action, the rebel forces would have taken possession of the city, and have captured large stores of Government property. General C. C. Washburne was at that time in command of the department, and had his headquarters in the city. General Buckland commanded the district. Most of the troops, under command of General A. J. Smith, had been sent in pursuit of Forrest, but, by a piece of strategy, the lattter had eluded his pursuers near Ox- ford, Mississippi, and made a rapid march to Memphis. He captured the cavalry patrol, rushed over the infantry pickets, and, under cover of the darkness preced- ing the dawn of Sunday, the 21st of August, entered the slumbering city. General Washburne was surprised at his

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headquarters, his staff and orderlies cap- tured, and he narrowly escaped the enemy's clutches. He was in a building near that occupied by his officers, and, being op- portunely awakened, with only his pants on, he made good his escape to the fort below the city. General Buckland was aroused by the pounding on his door by the sentinel. The rebels were then in possession of a considerable portion of the city. At once realizing the full extent of the danger, and determined not to be captured without a struggle, but still without the least idea of the number of the enemy surrounding him, General Buckland ral- lied about one hundred and fifty men ; at the same time ordering the rapid firing of an alarm gun, which served to awaken his own troops and alarm the enemy; and, in the gray mist of the early dawn, placing himself at their head, he instantly attacked the body of rebels collected near General Washburne's headquarters. He was out- numbered by four to one. He swept the enemy before him down the darkling streets; his numbers increased, and in such spirit was the attack conducted, and so rapidly was it carried on, that in less than an hour every rebel was driven from the city. A sharp battle immediately ensued in the morning, on the Hernando road, in the outskirts of the city, between the Union troops under General Buckland and Gen- eral Forrest's entire forces, in which the latter were defeated and turned in full re- treat.

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History of Sandusky County, Ohio : with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens and pioneers, Part 80

Author: Everett, Homer, 1813-1887 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : H.Z. Williams Number of Pages: 1040

Author: Everett, Homer, 1813-1887
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : H.Z. Williams
Number of Pages: 1040