USA > Ohio > Ross County > Chillicothe > Ohio centennial anniversary celebration at Chillicothe, May 20-21, 1903 : under the auspices of the Ohio State Archaelogical and Historical Society : complete proceedings > Part 25
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In 1873 the Democrats of Ohio had not elected a governor for twenty years. They were just emerging from the overwhelm- ing flood in which the slavery question and the Civil War had engulfed them. A demand arose all over the state for the Old Chieftain, and, on the wide-spread rallying cry of "Rise up, Wil- liam Allen," he was carried to victory. During that campaign, although seventy years of age, he took the stump with all his early vigor and eloquence. His tall, erect and handsome figure - almost the prototype of Henry Clay - was ever at the front of battle; and his clear, resonant voice was everywhere heard pro- claiming his belief in old time Democracy, and triumphantly predicting his own election.
Long after his death the Legislature of the state (although composed principally of men opposed to his political views) decreed that his statue should be one of the two to be erected by the state of Ohio to decorate the capitol at Washington, thus commemorating the honor and affection in which he is held by the people of the commonwealth.
THOMAS LOWRY YOUNG was born at Killyleagh, Ireland, December 4, 1832, and died at Cincinnati, Ohio, July 20, 1888. With his parents he landed in this country at the age of twelve, and at sixteen enlisted in the regular army, serving ten years and retiring as orderly-sergeant. Soon after he removed to Cincinnati. Early in 1861 he saw signs of war, and in a letter to General Scott (whom he knew personally) offered his services as an
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organizer of volunteer forces. General Scott, however, not real- izing the necessity for such action, thanked him for his zeal, but declined the offer. In the following August he was commis- sioned captain in General Fremont's Body Guard and served until January, 1862, when the guard disbanded. For six months after this he edited a Democratic paper at Sidney, Ohio, clamor- ing for a vigorous prosecution of the war. In August, 1862, he recruited a company for the 118th Ohio Infantry. He rose to be colonel and served until September, 1864, when he was hon- orably discharged on account of sickness. At the battle of Resaca Colonel Young led the charge on the enemy's center, his regiment losing in a few minutes 116 out of 270 men engaged. For this and other acts of gallantry, he was brevetted brigadier-general.
He was admitted to the bar in April, 1865, and in October was elected a representative to the Ohio Legislature, serving two years. In December, 1868, he was appointed supervisor of in- ternal revenue, and in 1871 was chosen state senator for one term. In 1875 he was elected lieutenant-governor, and in March, 1877, became governor when Rutherford B. Hayes assumed the presidency. His decisive action during the railroad and mining strikes of 1877, when the whole country was alarmed, are remem- bered and appreciated by the friends of good government. The labor troubles had extended into Ohio; but Governor Young de- clined the aid of the Federal government, saying that "Ohio could take care of herself." The result of this prompt and judicious action averted the danger without loss of life or property. In 1878 he was elected to Congress from the Second District, serv- ing four years, and in 1886 was appointed by Governor Foraker, a member of the board of public affairs of the city of Cincin- nati, which position he held at the time of his death.
Governor Young's rise from the obscurity of an emigrant boy to the governorship is a high tribute to American institu- tions, as well as to his own integrity in civil life, and his unflinch- ing courage as a soldier.
RICHARD MOORE BISHOP was born in Fleming County, Ken- tucky, November 4, 1812, and died at Jacksonville, Florida, March 2, 1893. After a fair common school education, he entered into
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mercantile pursuits in his native county, removing in 1847 to Cincinnati, where later he became a senior member of the whole- sale firm of R. M. Bishop & Co., which long typified the highest standard of business integrity.
In April, 1857, Mr. Bishop took his seat as a member of the city council, and, in the following year, was elected president of that body. This was followed in 1859 by his election as mayor, into which office he introduced the rigid methods which had made his private business successful. He was a member of the constitutional convention, and for many years one of the trus- tees of the Cincinnati Southern Railway. It was largely through his acquaintance and popularity in Kentucky and Tennessee that the rights of way were secured for that great outlet which was so essential to the prosperity of Cincinnati.
He was also associated with many charitable institutions which made great demands upon his time, energy and means, being for thirty years deeply interested in the Home for the Friendless and Foundlings, and president of the board. He was perhaps the best known and influential member in Ohio of the Christian or "Campbellite" Church; and his brethren of that church, regardless of political affiliations, testified at the polls their high appreciation of his piety and liberality.
In 1877 the Democracy nominated him to lead a forlorn hope for the governorship. He was then sixty-five years of age, but in perfect health and vigor. His tall form, long white beard, and bushy hair crowning a benevolent and "grandfatherly" face, were seen all over the state at county fairs, old folks' reunions, sol- diers' camp fires, and other gatherings. It was, on his part, a great "hand shaking" campaign, which resulted, much to the sur- prise of his opponents, in success by a huge plurality. He served but one term, retiring with the respect and esteem of the people of the state.
CHARLES FOSTER, of Fostoria, was born in Seneca County, Ohio, April 12, 1828, his parents having removed from New York State to Ohio in 1827. Upon his father's side the first emigrant ancestor came to Massachusetts in 1632, and upon his mother's (Crocker) side to Connecticut about 1650.
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Governor Foster was early put into business and became a. very successful merchant, banker and railway operator. In 1871 he entered Congress, where he served four terms, acquiring a repu- tation for sound judgment, hard work, and brilliant personal campaigning. He was elected governor in 1879, and again in 1881. There are many things to his credit in that office and in his public career generally ; but especial mention should be made of his ardent services in procuring the passage of the "Scott law" and the "Dow law," those two great pieces of legislation by which the traffic in intoxicating liquors in this state has been so bene- ficially regulated and restrained.
Governor Foster remained in active politics until 1891, when he entered President Harrison's cabinet as secretary of the treas- ury, retaining that position until the change of administration. Since that time he has partially retired from business and poli- tics, and is passing the evening of life amidst the people who have known and respected him for so many years. While he has exceeded the allotted "three score and ten," yet he may reason- ably expect to enjoy many happy days, as his father lived to the age of eighty-three and his mother to the age of ninety-nine.
Governor Foster yet retains an active interest in the man- agement and welfare of the Toledo Asylum for the Insane, which has from its inception been his pet charity, and which owes to him much of its wonderful efficiency and success. In fact no governor has ever given more time and thought to the manage- ment, and improvement of the charitable and penal institutions of which our state is so justly proud.
GEORGE HOADLY was born at New Haven, Connecticut, July 31, 1826, and died at Watkins, New York, August 26, 1902. His father was a graduate of Yale College in the class of 1801. His grandfather was for many years a member of the Connecticut Legislature; and also served as an officer in the 2d Regiment of Connecticut militia during Burgoyne's campaign. His mother was a sister of Theodore Woolsey (president of Yale College) and a descendant of Jonathan Edwards.
In 1830 Governor Hoadly's parents removed to Cleveland .. He was there educated, until he entered Western Reserve
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College, from whence he graduated at the age of eighteen. The following year he spent at the Harvard Law School under such professors as Joseph Story and Simon Greenleaf. He entered the office of Salmon P. Chase and Flamen Ball in Cincinnati in 1846, was admitted to the bar in 1847, and soon after became a partner in that firm. In 1851 he was elected judge of the old Superior Court of Cincinnati, serving until the court was abolished by the new constitution. Subsequently he was elected city solicitor, and in 1859 was elected judge of the new Superior Court, which office he resigned in 1866. He was twice offered the appointment of judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, but declined. On March 7, 1887, he removed to New York City and there maintained a. leading law practice until his death.
Among his many special legal services was that of counsel for Mr. Tilden before the Electoral Commission in the Oregon, Louisiana and Florida cases. He was also special counsel for the United States in the Union Pacific foreclosure and reorgan- ization. His friends believe that the immense labor and fatigue incident to the latter case hastened his death.
Governor Hoadly was for many years a professor in the Cincinnati Law School, and one of its trustees. Many members of the Ohio bar remember and extol his teachings there as among the most important of his public services. For ability to quickly grasp and eloquently present a proposition of law, or fact, he has had no superior at the Ohio bar. His fame as a great lawyer will go down to posterity in the law reports of the state of Ohio and New York, and of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Governor Hoadly early became active in politics in the school of Salmon P. Chase. During the war he left the Democratic party, remaining in the Republican party until 1872, when he went back to the Democracy. He affiliated with that organization until 1896. His active political life ended, however, when he re- tired from the governorship in January, 1886, after serving one term with great diligence, although a semi-invalid much of the time.
Governor Hoadly was a man of unusual high culture, and never let legal and official duties stunt his growth in literature and the fine arts. His deserts were recognized by the degree of
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LL. D., not only from his Alma Mater, but also from Dartmouth and Yale. His wide reading, fertile imagination, genial dispo- sition, lucidity of statement, and good natured wit made him a lovable and fascinating companion; while his high purposes, unswerving integrity, and lofty professional and private stand- ards made him a valued and unchanging friend.
JOSEPH BENSON FORAKER, of Cincinnati, was born near Rainsboro, Highland County, Ohio, on the fifth day of July, 1846. His youth was passed on a farm, and his early education was that of the neighborhood school.
At the age of sixteen he shouldered a musket in the 89th Ohio Infantry, and, before his nineteenth birthday, had risen by meritorious and efficient service to the rank of captain. After the war he spent two years at the Ohio Wesleyan University, and went from there to Cornell University where he graduated in 1869. After a course of law studies he settled in Cincinnati, and was soon a judge of the Superior Court, serving three years, and resigning for the more congenial life of an active lawyer, and ardent politician. His reputation as an eloquent and aggressive campaigner secured him the unprecedented honor of four nomi- nations for the governorship. In 1885 he was elected over Gov- ernor Hoadly after a spirited contest in which those two masters of forensic oratory met in joint debate. He was re-elected in 1887.
Returning from the governor's office to the law in 1890, he acquired a lucrative practice, but did not abandon the field of practical politics, and in 1896 was elected United States senator, to which office he was again elected in 1902. His career in the Senate has been especially brilliant. He earned the approbation of all patriots by his aggressive action prior to the Spanish War. At a crisis when feeble-time servers were declaring that the Maine, which had been blown up by Spanish treachery, was sunken by negligence, he boldly uttered these eloquent words on the floor of the Senate :
Mr. President, we owe it to the brave men dead to vindicate their reputations from the brutal charge that they died of their own negligence .. We owe it, Mr. President, to the splendid record of the American Navy
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to preserve it from the tarnish that is sought to be put upon it. We owe it, Mr. President, to our own good name among the nations of the earth that the perpetrators of such a cruel outrage shall not go unwhipped of justice.
Senator Foraker, as a member of the committee on Foreign Relations, had practical charge of the legislation fixing the status of Porto Rico. While there is difference of opinion upon such legislation, it is but fair to say that the following tribute to the Senator was publicly rendered by Senor Barbora, a leading citi- zen of that island :
We love Senator Foraker. He is the father of liberty in Porto Rico. -the father, I might say, of our new country.
The senator's political opponents in his earlier years some- times thought him over "strenuous ;" but, as one of his biogra- phers (quoting from John Neal) has pertinently said, "No man ever worked his passage in a dead calm."
JAMES EDWIN CAMPBELL of Hamilton, born at Middletown, Ohio, July 7, 1843, was elected governor in 1889, and served one term.
WILLIAM MCKINLEY was born at Niles, Ohio, January 29, 1843, and died at Buffalo, New York, September 14, 1901. He came from Scotch-Irish ancestry, and his grandfather, John Mc- Kinley, was a Revolutionary soldier. After receiving a common school, and partial college education, he taught school and clerked, until the war broke out, when he enlisted as a private in the 23rd Ohio Infantry - that famous regiment which contained so many men of subsequent national fame, among whom may be men- tioned William S. Rosecranz, Rutherford B. Hayes, Stanley Mat- thews, James M. Comly, and Harrison Gray Otis. Advancement came frequently and deservedly, and he was mustered out with the rank of major - his last promotion being for cool and intel- ligent service at Opequan and Fisher's Hill. He was in all re- spects a typical American soldier, just as, throughout his long: and successful career, he was the typical American citizen.
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After attending Albany Law School, he removed to Canton, and served the county of Stark for one term as prosecuting at- torney. Engaging actively in politics, he was sent to Congress for fourteen years, during all of which time he held a high place in the councils of his party, and in the esteem of his fellow mem- bers regardless of political affiliations. He was above all things, and beyond everybody else, the champion of a protective tariff. He believed in high protection and the high protectionists believed in him. He was their staunch advocate and they were his ardent and liberal supporters. In the Fifty-first Congress (the last in which he served) he succeeded in passing a tariff bill to his entire satisfaction, and that tariff has gone into history indelibly asso- ciated with his name.
In 1890 a Democratic Legislature put Stark County into a Democratic district, so that, just one month after his tariff was enacted, he was defeated for Congress. The result of this de- feat through re-districting (as had been predicted by the Demo- cratic governor then in office) roused his personal friends, and the protected interests, and secured his unanimous nomination for governor in 1891. A whirlwind campaign followed, he re- ceived a larger vote than ever before given for governor, and was elected by a plurality of 21,451. He was re-elected in 1893 by a plurality of 80,995. While governor he was constantly in the eye of the whole nation as a presidential possibility in 1896, and spent much of his time traveling through the country delivering those impressive and finely moulded orations for which he had such a special gift. Success rewarded his labor, and he was twice elected president by majorities unprecedented in our history.
Of his presidential career much may be said, but it will doubt- less be well done by the gentleman here present to whom has been assigned the theme of "Ohio Presidents." Suffice it to say here that he held that great office during the Spanish, Filipino and Chinese wars, when history was rapidly making; when the trade relations of the whole world were revolutionized ; and when the prosperity of the country resulting therefrom, and from other causes, had gone far beyond his fondest expectations.
In the midst of it all, and while at the apex of his career, he fell by the hand of an assassin. He died as one might wish to
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die, when all the world spoke his praise; when he had many friends and no enemies ; when his past was a monument of glory ; and when to him, the Christian of child-like faith, the future was secure.
ASA SMITH BUSHNELL, of Springfield, was born at Rome, New York, on September 26, 1834. His grandfather, Jason Bush- nell, was a Revolutionary soldier who saw much service. His great-uncle, William Bushnell, was one of the forty-eight who made the first settlement at Marietta, and the stone tablet com- memorating that event bears his name. His father, Daniel Bush- nell, brought his family to Cincinnati in 1845, and, in 1851, the future governor removed to Springfield, where he has resided ever since. In all these years he has been engaged in active business, constantly rising in influence, and growing in wealth. First he was a dry-goods clerk, then bookkeeper in a factory, then proprie- tor of a drug store, then an officer and large stockholder in one of the great reaper and mower shops.
During the Civil War, Governor Bushnell served as a cap- tain in the 152d Ohio Infantry. In politics he has always been an ardent Republican, contributing freely in time and money. He has been a delegate to many national conventions, and a regular attendant at state conventions for forty years. He served the state as quartermaster-general during both of Governor Fora- ker's administrations ; and in 1887 declined a unanimous nomina- tion for lieutenant-governor. In 1895 he was elected governor by the largest plurality ever given except in the darkest days of the Civil War, and was re-elected in 1897.
He is an officer in the Episcopal Church; and is noted for his many charities, especially for a donation of $10,000 to the Ma- sonic Home which procured its location at Springfield. He is an enthusiastic Grand Army man, and a 33d degree Mason.
*
GEORGE KILBON NASH, of Columbus, was born in Medina County, Ohio, August 14, 1842, and spent his early years on a farm. His parents were of sturdy New England stock. He en- tered Oberlin College in 1862, but, in his sophomore year, left to enlist as a private in the 150th Ohio Infantry. After the war, he
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went to Columbus and taught school and studied law until his admission to the bar in 1867. He was prosecuting attorney of Franklin County from 1871 to 1875, and attorney-general of the state from 1880 to 1883, when he was appointed upon the Su- preme Court Commission (an adjunct to the Supreme Court, and with similar jurisdiction) created by a constitutional amendment.
Judge Nash was several times chairman of the Republican State Committee, and always active in state and national poli- tics. He was also credited with the laudable ambition to become governor of his native state. Such ambition was gratified in 1899, when he was elected to that office, to which he was also re-elected in 1901.
Governor Nash has had two of the most laborious adminis- trations in the history of the state. By a decision of the Supreme Court the entire municipal system had to be reorganized. The Governor, after much study and toil, formulated a plan which was enacted by the General Assembly on October 22, 1902, at an ex- traordinary session called by him for that purpose. He has also devoted a great deal of time to the question of state revenues, and, as a result, has greatly augmented the income of the state- through salutary legislation. He also procured other changes in the laws governing taxation, making them more just and equable.
Besides this he has been instrumental in procuring legisla- tion whereby certain constitutional amendments shall be submit- ted to the people at the next general election. All of them tend to promote the welfare of the state; and if approved at the polls in November, will make Governor Nash's administration one to- be long remembered with pride.
Owing to the enormous labor entailed by the foregoing leg- islation, Governor Nash's health has to some extent been im- paired ; but the entire people of the state, regardless of creed, or party, earnestly pray for the restoration of his health, and a long: extension of his usefulness as a public and private citizen.
OHIO IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.
J. B. FORAKER.
This is a sufficiently comprehensive subject to admit, with propriety, of an extended biographical sketch of each man who has held the office of Senator.
But, manifestly, it would require more time to do such a work properly than such an occasion as this will allow, and it would also, I fear, re- quire distinctions and discriminations which might appear invidious.
In so far, therefore, as I may speak of individuals, it will be only incidentally in connection with their general services in the Senate or in connection with particular questions they had to consider.
Counting Garfield, who was elected but never qualified, Ohio was J. B. FORAKER. represented in the United States Sen- ate during the first one hundred years of her existence as a state by thirty different men.
The constitution of the United States provides that the members of the Senate shall be divided into three classes.
Owing to the date of the admission of Ohio to statehood, her senators were assigned to the first and third classes.
The following table shows their names, political affiliations, the counties of their residence, and the date and length of service of each in the order in which their names are borne upon the roll of the Senate.
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1ST CLASS.
Name.
Politics.
Residence.
Service.
John Smith
Democrat
Hamilton
County . .
1803-1808
Return J. Meigs, Jr.
Washington
1808-1810
Thomas Worthington
66
. .
66
66
1814-1815
Benjamin Ruggles
66
. .
Clermont
66
1833-1839
Benjamin Tappan
66
Jefferson
66
1839-1845
Thomas Corwin
Whig
Warren
66
1845-1850
Thomas Ewing
66
Fairfield
66
1850-1851
Benjamin F. Wade
Republican
Ashtabula
66
1851-1869
Allen G. Thurman
Democrat
Franklin
66
1869-1881
John Sherman
Republican
Richland
66
1881-1897
Marcus A. Hanna
Cuyahoga
66
1897-1905
3D CLASS.
Thomas Worthington
Democrat
Ross
66
1803-1807
Edward Tiffin
66
66
66
1807-1809
Stanley Griswold
66
. .
Cuyahoga
66
.
1809-1813
Jeremiah Morrow
66
Warren
66
1813-1819
William A. Trimble
Federalist
Highland
1819-1821
William H. Harrison
Whig
Federalist
Thomas Ewing
Whig
Fairfield
66
1831-1837
William Allen
Democrat
Ross
66
1837-1849
Salmon P. Chase
Republican
Hamilton
66
. .
1849-1855
George E. Pugh
Democrat
Salmon P. Chase
Republican
66
66
1861-1861
John Sherman
Richland
1861-1877
Stanley Matthews
Hamilton
1877-1879
George H. Pendleton
Democrat
66
66
1879-1885
Henry B. Payne
66
.
Cuyahoga
66
. .
1885-1891
Calvin S. Brice.
66
Allen
66
1891-1897
Joseph B. Foraker
Republican
Hamilton
1897-1909
. .
Ross
1810-1814
Joseph Kerr
66
. .
Belmont
66
1815-1833
Thomas Morris
66
.
Hamilton 66
1822-1825
Ethan Allen Brown
Democrat
1825-1828
Jacob Burnet
66
1828-1831
. .
. .
. .
1855-1861
. .
. .
. .
. .
It will be observed that, of these thirty senators, three - Ruggles, Meigs and Tappan - were from eastern Ohio; one - Thurman - from central Ohio; seven of them - Griswold, Wade, Sherman, Garfield, Payne, Brice, and Hanna - from northern Ohio; while southern Ohio had the honor of furnishing all the other nineteen.
This apparent inequality of favor was largely overcome by the long terms of service of Senators Wade and Sherman - one
1809-1809
Alexander Campbell
. .
Brown
66
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eighteen years and the other thirty-one years - on account of which the aggregate number of years of senatorial representation to the credit of northern Ohio was made approximately equal to that of southern Ohio.
From seventy-two counties of the state no senator has been contributed, while one has come from each of the following twelve counties : Allen, Ashtabula, Belmont, Brown, Clermont, Fairfield, Franklin, Highland, Jefferson, Lake, Richland, and Washington ; two from Warren, three from Cuyahoga, four from Ross, and nine from Hamilton.
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