History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume II, Part 57

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1196

USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume II > Part 57

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Never, in the history of this government, has such fearful responsibility rested upon the chief executive of the nation as will now devolve upon you. Never, since the memorable time our patriotic fathers gave existence to the American Republic, have the people looked with such intensity of feeling to the inauguration and future policy of a President, as they do to yours.

Accompanied by Governor Dennison, Mr. Lincoln ascended to the Speaker's desk and spoke as follows :

Mr. President and Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the General Assembly of Ohio: It is true, as has been said by the President of the Senate, that very great responsibility rests upon me in the position to which the votes of the American people have called me. I am duly sensible of that weighty responsibility. I can but know what you all know, that without a name - perhaps without a reason why I should have a name - there has fallen upon me a task such as did not rest upon the Father of his Country, and so feeling I can only turn and look for those supports without which it will be impossible for me to perform that great task. I turn, then, and look to the American people, and to that God who has never forsaken the American people.

Allusion has been made to the interest felt in relation to the policy of the new adminis- tration. In reference to this I have received from some sources some degree of credit for nav- ing kept silence ; from others some degree of depreciation. I still think I was right. In the varying and repeatedly shifting scenes that never could enable us to judge by the past, it has seemed fitting that before speaking upon the difficulties of the country I should have seen the whole ground to be sure; after all being at liberty to modify and change the course of policy as future events may make a change necessary. I have not maintained silence from

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any real want of anxiety. It is a good thing that there is no more anxiety, for there is nothing going wrong. It is a consoling circumstance that when we look out, there is nothing that really hurts anybody. We entertain different views upon political questions, but nobody is suffering anything. This is a most consoling circumstance, and from it we may conclude that all we want is time, patience and reliance on that God who has never forsaken this people.

Fellow citizens, what I have said, I have said altogether extemporaneously and I will now come to a close.

Commenting upon this address, the Ohio State Journal said of Mr. Lincoln :

The impression which the appearance of the President created was most agreeable .. His great height was conspicuous even in that crowd of goodly men. . At first the kindness and amiability of his face strikes you, but as he speaks, the greatness and determin- ation of his nature are apparent. Something in his manner, even more than his words, told how deeply he was affected by the enthusiasm of the people, and when he appealed to them for encouragement and support, every heart responded with mute assurance of both. There was the simplicity of greatness in his unassuming, confiding manner that won its way to instant admiration.

After the reception by the General Assembly, Mr. Lincoln was conducted to the West Front of the Capitol, where he addressed the people as follows :

Ladies and Gentlemen : I appear before you only to address you very briefly. I shall do little else than thank you for this very kind reception ; to greet you and bid you farewell. I should not find strength if I were otherwise inclined, to repeat speeches of very great length upon every occasion similar to this-although few so large-which will occur on my way to the Federal Capital. The General Assembly has just done me the honor to receive me, and to hear a few broken remarks from myself. Judging from what I see, I infer that that reception was one without party distinction, and one of entire kindness ; one that had nothing in it beyond a feeling of the citizenship of the United States of America.

Knowing, as I do, that any crowd drawn together as this has been is made up of citi- zens near about, and that in this county of Franklin there is great difference of political sen- timent, and those agreeing with me having a little the shortest row [laughter]-from this and the circumstances I have mentioned I infer that you do me honor to meet me here with- out distinction of party. I think this is as it should be. Many of you who were not favora- hle to the election of myself to the Presidency were favorable to the election of the distin- guislied Senator from the State in which I reside. If Senator Douglas had been elected to the Presidency in the late contest, I think my friends would have joined heartily in meet- ing and greeting him on his passage through your capital, as you have me today. If any of the other candidates had been elected, I think it would have been altogether becoming and proper for all to have joined in showing honor, quite as well to the office and the country as to the man. The people themselves are honored by such a concentration.

I am doubly thankful that you have appeared here to give me this greeting. It is not much to me, for I shall very soon pass away from you ; but we have a large country and a large future before us, and the manifestations of good will towards the government, and affection for the Union which you may exhibit, are of immense value to you and your pos- terity forever. [Applause]. In this point of view it is that I thank you most heartily for the exhibition you have given me, and with this allow me to bid you an affectionate fare- well.

After this address the Presidentelect took a position in the rotunda, near the stairway leading to the Library, and received the people, who passed in at the south door and out at the north one in eager, impatient and apparently endless mass. For awhile Mr. Lincoln signaled his greetings with his right hand but, says an account,

As the officers gave way before the irresistible crowd, he shook hands right and left with astonishing rapidity. The physical exertion must have been tremendous. People plunged at his arms with frantic enthusiasm, and all the infinite variety of shakes, from the wild and irrepressible pumphandle movement to the dead grip, was executed upon the devoted sinister and dexter of the President. Some glanced into his face as they grasped his hand, others invoked the blessing of Heaven upon him ; others gave him their last gasp- ing assurance of devotion ; others, bewildered and furious, with hats crushed over their eyes, seized his hand in a convulsive grasp, and passed on. . . . But at last the performance became

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intolerable to the President, who retired to the staircase, in exhaustion and contented him- self with looking at the crowd as it swept before him. 1

Mr. Lincoln remained at the Capitol until 4:30 p. M., when he withdrew to the residence of Governor Dennison,2 where he was visited by members of the General Assembly and City Council. In the course of the evening he held another brief levee at the Capitol ; at eight o'clock on the morning of the four- teenth he departed, by rail, for Pittsburgh. He was accompanied by members of his family and others.

In January the General Assembly passed a joint resolution authorizing the Governor to appoint commissioners to represent Ohio at a Peace Conference invited by Virginia and to be held at Washington. S. P. Chase, Thomas Ewing, John C. Wright, V. B. Horton, W. S. Groesbeck, Franklin T. Backus and Reuben Hitchcock were the commissioners named.

Hon. S. P. Chase resigned from the National Senate March 6, to accept appoint- ment as Secretary of the Treasury. John Sherman was chosen to succeed him March 21. B. F. Wade had been elected for the full term some weeks before. A very large Union meeting, at which J. R. Swan presided, was held at Armory Hall April 17. The meeting was addressed by Judges Swan, Warden, and Ran- kin, S. Galloway, J. A. Garfield and others. Resolutions declaring that the National Government must be sustained, at whatever sacrifice, were adopted. Senator Stephen A. Douglas arrived at Columbus from Washington, en route to Chicago, at midnight April 22-23. Sometime after midnight he was serenaded at the American House where he was stopping, and a curious scene took place which was thus described by Hon. J. D. Cox :

A dark mass of men filled the dimly lit street and called for Douglas with an earnestness of tone wholly different from the enthusiasm of common political gatherings. He came halfdressed to his window and, without any light near him, spoke solemnly to the people upon the terrible crisis which had come upon the nation. . . . I remember well the solici- tude with which I listened to his opening sentences as I leaned against the railing of the Statehouse Park trying in vain to see more than the dim outline of a man as he stood at the unlighted window, His deep sonorous tones rolled down through the darkness from above in an earnest, measured voice, the more solemn, the more impressive hecause we could not see the speaker, and it came to us literally as "a voice in the night"-the night of our country's unspeakable trial. There was no uncertainty in his tone ; the Union must be pre- served and the insurrection crushed ; he pledged his earnest support to Mr. Lincoln in doing this. Other questions must stand aside until the National authority should be everywhere recognized. I do not think we greatly cheered him. It was rather a deep amen that went up from the crowd.

One the following day - twentythird - Mr. Douglas, by invitation of the General Assembly, addressed an immense audience at the North Front of the Capitol. A newspaper report thus summarized his remarks, which, we are told, were "received with universal approbation."

He said he would never advise, but would resist at all times, a war against the institu- tions, the property and the constitutional rights of the people of the South; on the other hand, he would resist secession, uphold the flag, and maintain the authority of the Federal Government. He would not fight the South in violation of her rights, but he would uphold the constitution of his country and not lay down our arms until the national authority was vin- dicated . . . The great Northwest would never consent that the Gulf States should con- trol the mouth of the Mississippi, or interrupt the the free navigation thereof. . . . The seceded states have already adopted many of the most odious features of the tyrannical gov- ernments of Europe. Passports of the most oppressive and exacting kind are now in exist- ence there. The questions involved are such as should arouse the patriotic people of the whole Union, and the war should be one of self-defense, and for the preservation of the Gov- ernment He called upon all men, without respect to party, to rally to the defense of the Government and its constitutional head, and for the maintenance of the National Constitu- tion, and said it was no time now to inquire what produced this state of things; no time to discuss this platform or that platform. . .. He paid a high compliment to the patriotic citi-

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zens of Ohio for their loyalty to the Union, and the alacrity with which they are responding to the call of the country.

At eleven A. M. Senator and Mrs. Douglas quitted the city for Chicago. He died there on the third of the ensuing June.

The Democratic State Convention was held at Columbus August 7; Samuel G. Wilson, of Mahoning, was temporary, and D. A. Starkweather, of Summit, per- manent chairman. Nominations: Governor, H. J. Jewett, Muskingum ; Lieuten- aut-Governor, J. Scott Harrison ; Supreme Court Judge, Thomas J. S. Smith ; Secretary of State, W. W. Armstrong ; State Treasurer, George W. Holmes ; Comp troller, Wayne Griswold ; Board of Public Works, J. W. Fitch. The resolutions adopted declared that the Civil War was the result of "misguided sectionalism engendered by fanatical agitators, north as well as south ;" that it " should not be waged for any purpose of conquest or subjection, nor for the purpose of over- throwing or interfering with the rights of established institutions of the States," but to " defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equality and rights of the States unimpaired ; " and that " the legislatures of the several States " should take measures for calling a national convention to settle the existing difficulties.

On July 25 the Republican State Central Committee assembled at Columbus and adopted resolutions declaring it the duty of all citizens "to put aside all politieal opinions and unite in defense of their government;" that it was there- fore not expedient to call a convention to nominate state officers; that the Democratie State Central Committee be requested to unite with the Republican Committee in a call for a joint delegate convention representing all who were in favor of the maintenance of the National Government and of the vigorous and continued prosecution of the war for that purpose; and that in the event of refusal by the Democratie Committee to accept this proposition before August 9, the Republican Executive Committee be directed to call a delegate nominating convention " to be chosen without reference to party upon the simple basis of the maintenance of the Government and the suppression of the rebellion against it."

No response being received to the invitation extended to the Democratic Committee in pursuance of these resolutions within the prescribed time, and the Democrats having meanwhile nominated their own ticket, a call was issued for a " Union Convention " to be representatives of " all loyal citizens" who were in favor of maintaining the National Government and suppressing the rebellion against it. This call was signed by George M. Parsons, Samuel Galloway, John Brough, G. Volney Dorsey, David Tod, R. P. Spalding, R. B. Warden, and many others, both Democrats and Republicans. The convention thus summoned was held at Columbus September 5, Thomas Ewing presiding. Its nominations were : Governor, David Tod ; Lieutenant-Governor, Benjamin Stanton ; Supreme Court Judge, Josiah Scott; Comptroller, J. H. Riley ; State Treasurer, G. Volney Dorsey ; Secretary of State, B. R. Cowen; Board of Public Works, John Torrence. The resolutions adopted declared that the war had been "foreed upon the country by the disunionists of the Southern States;" that it was being waged on the loyal side in no spirit of resentment and for no purpose of conquest; and that - quoting the language of Hon. Joseph Holt-" we [the Unionists] are for the Union without conditions, one and indivisible now and forever ; for its preserva- tion at any and every cost of blood and treasure against all its assailants; and against any and every compromise that may be proposed to be made under the guns of the rebels." Union State Executive Committee : Isaac J. Allen, James H. Smith, George M. Parsons, Thomas Sparrow, C. N. Olds, John Geary, B. F. Martin. Democratic State Executive Committee : Wayne Griswold, William A. Johnson, Samuel Medary, G. W. Manypenny, Jacob Reinhard, S. R. Hosmer, J. F. Bollmeyer.

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

J. Scott Harrison having declined the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant- Governor, John G. Marshall, of Brown County, was nominated in his stead by the State Executive Committee of the party, which at the same time appointed S. Medary as its chairman, and Amos Layman as its secretary. Hon. J. J. Crittenden, of Kentucky, addressed a large impromptu Democratic meeting at the West Front of the Capitol August 6. Hon. Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, addressed a large audience in behalf of the Union at the Hall of Representatives October 5. The meeting began at the East Terrace, but rain compelled the people to go inside.

1862.

Governor Tod was inaugurated January 13, the ceremonies being held in the rotunda of the Capitol. The Fortysixth Ohio Infantry, from Camp Lyon, the Twentyninth, Fiftheighth and Sixtyninth from Camp Chase, and two companies of United States Infantry under Colonel Carrington, took part in the ceremonies. The troops assembled on State Street, whence they marched to a large field south- east of the Asylum for the Insane, where they were reviewed by Governor Den- nison and staff and the Governorelect.

William G. (" Parson ") Brownlow, of Tennessee, visited Columbus, April 13, and was received with special honors by the General Assembly. In the evening a soirée at which he was the principal guest, was given at the residence of Luther Donaldson, President of the City Council.

The Democratie State Convention met at the Naughten Hall, where Doctor Wayne Griswold called it to order " by waving a green hickory bough " under- stood to symbolize an " olive branch of peace." John O'Neill, of Muskingum, was the temporary, and S. Medary, of Franklin, the permanent chairman .. Among the speakers who delivered addresses during the day and evening were Messrs. Medary, Vallandigham, Thurman, Jackson, Trainer and Finck. The resolutions denounced the emancipation measures of President Lincoln. Nominations : Supreme Court Judge, R. P. Ranney; Secretary of State, W. W. Armstrong ; Attorney-General, Lyman R. Critchfield ; School Commissioner, C. W. II. Cath- cart ; Board of Public Works, James Gamble.

The Union State Convention assembled in Naughten Hall, August 21, Benja- min Stanton chairman, both temporary and permanent. The resolutions adopted opposed all compromises with the Rebellion, and endorsed the administration of Governor Tod. Nominations: Supreme Court Judge, Franklin T. Backus; Sec- retary of State, W. S. Kennon ; Attorney-General, Chauncey N. Olds; School Commissioner, William D. Henkle; Board of Public Works, John B. Gregory.

On October 6, a mass meeting " without reference to party " was held in the Capitol Square to "give expression of public sentiment in endorsement of the President's [emancipation] proclamation." This meeting was referred to as " one of the grandest assemblages ever witnessed in Ohio." It was addressed by Gover- nor Tod, G. V. Dorsey, General Wallace and Samuel Galloway. T. Buchanan Read recited his poem - The Defenders. Professor Lewis Heyl presided. A meet- ing of colored citizens to express their joy over the Emancipation Proclamation was held October 8, at the First Baptist Church. H. B. Ferguson was chairman, J. R. Roney secretary.

1863.

On January 5, Edson B. Olds, discharged from political imprisonment, was escorted from Lancaster to Columbus by his partisans. A great procession, formed

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six miles out, conducted him into the city. An address of welcome was delivered by George L. Converse and responded to by Mr. Olds. The marshals of the day were B. W. Carlisle and sheriff Miller, of Fairfield, and J. O. Reamey of Frank- lin. On March 5, the office of Medary's Crisis was mobbed, as described in another chapter. The Eighth of January was celebrated by the Democracy at the Ameri- ean House, Judge R. P. Ranney presiding. Addresses were made by H. J. Jewett, Milton Saylor, E. B. Olds, Colonel Manypenny, L. R. Critchfield, William J. Flagg and A. M. Jackson.

A great Union mass meeting held in Columbus. March 3, was addressed by Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee ; Governor Wright, of Indiana; Benjamin Stanton and S. F. Cary. Mr. Johnson arrived March 2, and was entertained at the resi- dence of Governor Tod whence he was escorted to the Capitol by a detachment of the Eighteenth Regulars, Captain Eyster ; the Governor's Guard, and the Second Ohio Cavalry, Colonel Kountz. Despite a snow storm prevailing at the time, the streets through which the procession passed were crowded with people. On the Capitol grounds the party was welcomed by an artillery salute of 144 guns, fired by Captain Konkle's Battery. The meeting was held in the Hall of Representa - tives, which was densely crowded. Mr. Johnson began his address at two o'clock P. M., and spoke three hours. An " overflow" meeting in the Senate Chamber was addressed by Colonel L. D. Campbell. A Union League was organized in the course of the spring ; its hall was in the Carpenter Block. C. L. Vallandig- ham addressed meetings of bis partisans at Columbus on April 28 and 30. On May 1, he delivered an address at Mount Vernon, for the treasonable sentiments of which he was arrested at Dayton, May 5, condemned, and sent sonth.

A socalled Ohio Peace Convention was held on the East Terrace of the Capitol June 11. Its temporary chairman was John S. Trimble, of Jefferson County ; its permanent chairman, William Medill, of Fairfield. Judge James of Muskingum proposed C. L. Vallandigham for the nomination for Governor ; Henry B. Payne, of Cuyahoga, proposed H. J. Jewett. All of the votes but eleven were cast for Vallandigham on the first ballot. The other nominations made were: Lieutenant-Governor, George E. Pugh ; Auditor, William Hubbard ; Treas- urer, Henry S Knapp ; Supreme Court Judge, P. Van Trump; Board of Public Works, John H. Heaton. Resolutions reported by Allen G. Thurman were adopted, denouncing Vallandigham's arrest and banishment, and demanding his recall. A committee to present this demand to President Lincoln was appointed as follows: G. H. Pendleton, Alexander Long, D. A. Houk, J. F. Mckinney, F C. LeBlond, Chilton A. White, S. S. Cox, T. W. Bartley, Lonis Schaeffer, W. P. Noble, A. L. Backus, W. A. Hutchins, William E. Fink, John O'Neill, George Bliss, James R. Morris, J. W. White, W. J. Gordon and M. Birchard. This com- mittee held a consultation at Columbus prior to its departure for Washington.

The Union State Convention was held at the Atheneum June 17, L. D. Camp- bell presiding. Nominations: Governor, John Brough ; Lieutenant-Governor, Charles Anderson ; Supreme Court Judge, Hocking IIunter ; Auditor, James H. Godman ; Treasurer, G. V. Dorsey ; Board of Public Works, John M. Barrere. The convention was addressed by L. D. Campbell and Benjamin F. Wade. A large street parade took place, incidental to the convention. Union mass meetings held July 8 were addressed by J. M. Ashley, John Brough and Charles Anderson. The evening meeting in the Capitol Square was described as " immense." Another union meeting held in the Square September 7 was addressed by John Brough, David Tod, Samuel Galloway and Wager Swayne. A closing Union rally at Columbus October 8, at which William Dennison presided, was addressed by B. F. Wade, Z. Chandler and John A. Bingham. A very large street parade took place in the afternoon. A meeting of War Democrats support-

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

ing Brough was held at Columbus September 22, Barnabas Burns chairman. It was addressed by Colonel MeGroarty and Messrs. Fitzgerald and Burke.

A large Democratic meeting, one of the incidentals of which was a long pro- cession, took place September 21. It was addressed by D. W. Voorhes, Allen G. Thurman and William Allen. The speeches were delivered from the East Terrace of the Capitol.

A Union "jollification " over the defeat of Vallandigham took place October 14. Granville Moody, Ex-Governor Tod, N. A. Gray and Secretary S. P. Chase were the principal speakers of the occasion.

On November 1 C. W. H. Cathcart, School Commissioner of Ohio; J. D. Cresup, of Columbus ; Thomas Watson, a Confederate captain ; and Doctor Lazelle, a Confederate Surgeon, were arrested by United States Marshal Sands on charges of aiding and abetting the rebellion by furnishing information to the enemy. The accused persons were taken to Cincinnati for trial.

1864.

On January 8 the two Houses of the General Assembly met jointly in the Hall of Representatives and listened to an address on the life and character of Andrew Jackson by G. V. Dorsey.

The Democratic State Convention met at Naughten Hall March 23, George Rex presiding, and appointed delegates to the National Convention to be held at Chicago. An effort was made to have Vallandigham appointed as one of the dele- gates but failed ; R. P. Ranney was named in his stead. George E. Pugh and T. W. Bartley were nominated for Senatorial Electors. Other nominations were : Secretary of State, W. W. Armstrong ; Supreme Court Judges, P. Van Trump, M. C. Whitely and A. S. Boys ; Attorney-General, Lyman R. Critchfield ; Comp- troller, W. S. V. Prentice ; School Commissioner, A. S. Ramsey ; Board of Public Works, William Larwill. Executive Committee: John G. Thompson, S. W. Andrews, F. Jaeger, George L. Converse and A. G. Thurman.

The State Union Convention met May 25, Colonel T. R. Stanley, of the Eighteenth Ohio Infantay, presiding, and nominated : For Supreme Court Judges, Luther Day, William White and Horace Wilder; Secretary of State, William H. Smith ; Attorney-General, W. P. Richardson; Comptroller, Moses R. Brailey ; Board of Public Works, Philip Herzing full term and James Moore for the vacancy. State Executive Committee :' D. V. Dorsey, James Williams, A. B. Buttles, Theodore Comstock, H. Miller, B. Gillmore and William Dennison. The convention was addressed by Messrs. Brough, Stanton, Bingham, Gaddis, Loudon and Brehm.

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History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume II, Part 57

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co Publication date: 1892 Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1196

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1196