Portrait and biographical record of Marion and Hardin counties, Ohio, Part 3

Author: Chapman publishing co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 952

USA > Ohio > Hardin County > Portrait and biographical record of Marion and Hardin counties, Ohio > Part 3
USA > Ohio > Marion County > Portrait and biographical record of Marion and Hardin counties, Ohio > Part 3

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On the 4th of March, 1829, Mr. Adams retired from the Presidency, and was succeeded by An- drew Jackson. John C. Callioun was elected Vice-President. The slavery question now be- gan to assume portentous magnitude. Mr. Adams returned to Quincy and to his studies, which he pursued with unabated zeal. But he was not long permitted to remain in retirement. In No- vember, 1830, he was elected Representative in Congress. For seventeen years, or until his deatlı, he occupied the post as Representative, towering above all his peers, ever ready to do brave battle for freedom, and winning the title of "the Old Man Eloquent." Upon taking his seat in the House, he announced that he should hold him- self bound to 110 party. Probably there never was a member more devoted to his duties. He was usually the first in his place in the morning, and the last to leave his seat in the evening. Not a measure could be brought forward and es- cape his scrutiny. The battle which Mr. Adams fought, almost singly, against the pro-slavery party in the Government was sublime in its moral daring and heroism. For persisting in presenting petitions for the abolition of slavery, he was threatened with indictment by the grand jury, with expulsion from the House, with assas- sination; but no threats could intimidate him, and his final triumph was complete.

On the 21st of February, 1848, he rose on the floor of Congress with a paper in his hand, to address the speaker. Suddenly he fell, again stricken by paralysis, and was caught in the arms of those around him. For a time he was sense- less, as he was conveyed to the sofa in the ro- tunda. With reviving consciousness, he opened his eyes, looked calmly around and said "This is the end of earth;" tlien after a moment's pause he added, " I am content." These were the last words of the grand " Old Man Eloquent."

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ANDREW JACKSON.

A NDREW JACKSON, the seventh President of the United States, was born in Waxhaw settlement, N. C., March 15, 1767, a few days after his father's death. His parents were poor emigrants from Ireland, and took up their abode in Waxhaw settlement, where they lived in deepest poverty.

Andrew, or Andy, as he was universally called, grew up a very rough, rude, turbulent boy. His features were coarse, his form ungainly, and there was but very little in his character made visible which was attractive.

When only thirteen years old he joined the volunteers of Carolina against the British invasion. In 1781, he and his brother Robert were captured and imprisoned for a time at Caniden. A British officer ordered him to brush his mud-spattered boots. "I am a prisoner of war, not your serv- ant," was the reply of the dauntless boy.

Andrew supported himself in various ways, such as working at the saddler's trade, teaching school, and clerking in a general store, until 1784, when he entered a law office at Salisbury, N. C. He, however, gave more attention to the wild amuse- ments of the times than to his studies. In 1788, he was appointed solicitor for the Western District of North Carolina, of which Tennessee was then a part. This involved many long journeys amid dangers of every kind, but Andrew Jackson never knew fear, and the Indians had no desire to re- peat a skirmish with "Sharp Knife."

In 1791, Mr. Jackson was married to a woman who supposed herself divorced from her former husband. Great was the surprise of both parties, two years later, to find that the conditions of the divorce had just been definitely settled by the first husband. The marriage ceremony was per- formed a second time, but the occurrence was often used by his enemies to bring Mr. Jackson into disfavor.

In January, 1796, the Territory of Tennessee then containing nearly eighty thousand inhabi- tants, the people met in convention at Knoxville to frame a constitution. Five were sent from each of the eleven counties. Andrew Jackson was one of the delegates. The new State was entitled to but one member in the National House of Representatives. Andrew Jackson was chosen that member. Mounting his horse, he rode to Philadelphia, where Congress then held its ses- sions, a distance of about eight hundred miles.

Jackson was an earnest advocate of the Demo- cratic party, and Jefferson was his idol. He ad- mired Bonaparte, loved France, and hated Eng- land. As Mr. Jackson took his seat, Gen. Wash- ington, whose second term of office was then expiring, delivered his last speech to Congress. A committee drew up a complimentary address in reply. Andrew Jackson did not approve of the address, and was one of the twelve who voted against it. He was not willing to say that Gen. . Washington's administration had been "wise, firm and patriotic."

Mr. Jackson was elected to the United States Senate in 1797, but soon resigned and returned home. Soon after he was chosen Judge of the Supreme Court of his State, which position he held for six years.

When the War of 1812 with Great Britain com- menced, Madison occupied the Presidential chair. Aaron Burr sent word to the President that there was an unknown man in the West, Andrew Jack- son, who would do credit to a commission if one were conferred upon him. Just at that time Gen. Jackson offered his services and those of twenty- five hundred volunteers. His offer was accepted, and the troops were assembled at Nashville.

As the British were hourly expected to inake an attack upon New Orleans, where Gen. Wil- kinson was in command, he was ordered to de-

ANDREW JACKSON.

scend the river with fifteen hundred troops to aid Wilkinson. The expedition reached Natchez, and after a delay of several weeks there without accomplishing anything, the men were ordered back to their homes. But the energy Gen. Jack- son had displayed, and his entire devotion to the comfort of his soldiers, won for him golden opin- ions, and he became the most popular man in the State. It was in this expedition that his tough- ness gave him the nickname of "Old Hickory."

Soon after this, while attempting to horsewhip Col. Thomas Benton for a remark that gentleman made about his taking part as second in a duel in which a younger brother of Benton's was en- gaged, he received two severe pistol wounds. While he was lingering upon a bed of suffering, news came that the Indians, who had combined under Tecumseh from Florida to the Lakes to ex- terminate the white settlers, were committing the most awful ravages. Decisive action became nec- essary. Gen. Jackson, with his fractured bone just beginning to heal, his arm in a sling, and unable to mount his liorse without assistance, gave his amazing energies to the raising of an army to rendezvous at Fayettesville, Ala.

The Creek Indians liad established a strong fort on one of the bends of the Tallapoosa River, near the center of Alabama, about fifty miles be- low Ft. Strother. With an army of two thousand men, Gen. Jackson traversed the pathless wilder- ness in a march of eleven days. He reached their fort, called Tohopeka or Horse-shoe, on the 27th of March, 1814. The bend of the river enclosed nearly one hundred acres of tangled forest and wild ravine. Across the narrow neck the Indians had constructed a formidable breastwork of logs and brush. Here nine hundred warriors, with an ample supply of arms, were assembled.

The fort was stormed. The fight was utterly desperate. Not an Indian would accept quarter. When bleeding and dying, they would fight those who endeavored to spare their lives. From ten in the morning until dark the battle raged. The carnage was awful and revolting. Some threw themselves into the river; but the unerring bul- lets struck their heads as thev swan. Nearly every one of the nine hundred warriors was

killed. A few, probably, in the night swam the river and escaped. This ended thie war,

This closing of the Creek War enabled us to concentrate all our inilitia upon the British, who were the allies of the Indians. No man of less resolute will than Gen. Jackson could have con- ducted this Indian campaign to so successful an issue. Immediately he was appointed Major- General.

Late in August, with an army of two thousand men on a rushing march, Gen. Jackson went to Mobile. A British fleet went from Pensacola, landed a force upon the beach, anchored near the little fort, and from both ship and shore com- menced a furious assault. The battle was long and doubtful. At length one of the ships was blown up and the rest retired.

Garrisoning Mobile, where he had taken his little army, he moved his troops to New Orleans, and the battle of New Orleans, which soon ensued, was in reality a very arduous campaign. This won for Gen. Jackson an imperishable name. Here his troops, which numbered about four thousand men, won a signal victory over the British army of about nine thousand. His loss was but thirteen, while the loss of the British was twenty-six hundred.

The name of Genl. Jackson soon began to be mentioned in connection with the Presidency, but in 1824 he was defeated by Mr. Adams. He was, however, successful in the election of 1828, and was re-elected for a second term in 1832. In 1829, just before he assumed the reins of government, he met with the most terrible affliction of his life in the death of his wife, whom he had loved with a devotion which has perhaps never been surpassed. From the shock of her death he never recovered.

His administration was one of the most mem- orable in the annals of our country-applauded by one party, condemned by the other. No mail had more bitter enemies or warmer friends. At the expiration of his two terms of office he retired to the Hermitage, where he died June 8, 1845. The last years of Mr. Jackson's life were those of a de- voted Christian man.

MARTIN VAN BUREN.

ARTIN VAN BUREN, the eighth Presi- dent of the United States, was born at Kin- derhook, N. Y., December 5, 1782. He died at the same place, July 24, 1862. His body rests in the cemetery at Kinderhook. Above it is a plain granite shaft, fifteen feet high, bearing a simple inscription about half-way up on one face. The lot is unfenced, unbordered or unbounded by shrub or flower.

There is but little in the life of Martin Van Buren of romantic interest. He fought no battles, engaged in no wild adventures. Though his life was stormy in political and intellectual conflicts, and he gained many signal victories, his days passed uneventful in those incidents which give zest to biography. His ancestors, as his name indi- cates, were of Dutch origin, and were among the earliest emigrants from Holland to the banks of the Hudson. His father was a farmer, residing in the old town of Kinderhook. His mother, also of Dutch lineage, was a woman of superior intel- ligence and exemplary piety.

He was decidedly a precocious boy, developing unusual activity, vigor and strength of mind. At the age of fourteen, he had finished his academic studies in his native village, and commenced the study of law. As he had not a collegiate educa- tion, seven years of study in a law-office were re- quired of him before he could be admitted to the Bar. Inspired with a lofty ambition, and con- scious of his powers, lie pursued his studies with indefatigable industry. After spending six years in an office in his native village, he went to the city of New York, and prosecuted his studies for the seventh year.

In 1803, Mr. Van Buren, then twenty-one years

of age, commenced the practice of law in his na- tive village. The great conflict between the Federal and Republican parties was then at its height. Mr. Van Buren was from the beginning a politi- cian. He had, perhaps, imbibed that spirit while listening to the many discussions which had been carried on in his father's hotel. He was in cordial sympathy with Jefferson, and earnestly and elo- quently espoused the cause of State Rights, though at that time the Federal party held the supremacy both in his town and State.

His success and increasing reputation led him after six years of practice to remove to Hudson, the county seat of his county. Here he spent seven years, constantly gaining strength by con- tending in the courts with some of the ablest men who have adorned the Bar of his State.

Just before leaving Kinderliook for Hudson, Mr. Van Buren married a lady alike distinguished for beauty and accomplishments. After twelve short years she sank into the grave, a victim of con- sumption, leaving her husband and four sons to weep over her loss. For twenty-five years, Mr. Van Buren was an earnest, successful, assiduous lawyer. The record of those years is barren in items of public interest. In 1812, when thirty years of age, he was chosen to the State Senate, and gave his strenuous support to Mr. Madison's administration. In 1815, he was appointed At- torney-General, and the next year moved to Al- bany, the capital of the State.

While lie was acknowledged as one of the most prominent leaders of the Democratic party, he had the inoral courage to avow that true democracy did not require that "universal suffrage" which admits the vile, the degraded, the ignorant, to the right

MARTIN VAN BUREN.

of governing the State. In true consistency with his democratic principles, he contended that, while the path leading to the privilege of voting should be open to every man without distinction, no one should be invested with that sacred prerogative unless he were in some degree qualified for it by intelligence, virtue, and some property interests in the welfare of the State.

In 1821 he was elected a member of the United States Senate, and in the same year he took a seat in the convention to revise the Constitution of his native State. His course in this convention secured the approval of men of all parties. No one could doubt the singleness of his endeavors to promote the interests of all classes in the com- munity. In the Senate of the United States, he rose at once to a conspicuous position as an active and useful legislator.

In 1827, John Quincy Adams being then in the Presidential chair, Mr. Van Buren was re-elected to the Senate. He had been from the beginning a deterinined opposer of the administration, adopt- ing the "State Rights" view in opposition to what was deemed the Federal proclivities of Mr. Adams.

Soon after this, in 1828, he was chosen Governor of the State of New York, and accordingly resigned his seat in the Senate. Probably no one in the United States contributed so much towards eject- ing John Q. Adams from the Presidential chair, and placing in it Andrew Jackson, as did Martin Van Buren. Whether entitled to the reputation or not, he certainly was regarded throughout the United States as one of the most skillful, sagacious and cunning of politicians. It was supposed that no one knew so well as he how to touch the secret springs of action, how to pull all the wires to put his machinery in motion, and how to organize a political army which would secretly and stealth- ily accomplish the most gigantic results. By tliese powers it is said that he outwitted Mr. Adams, Mr. Clay, and Mr. Webster, and secured results which ew then thought could be accomplished.

When Andrew Jackson was elected President he appointed Mr. Van Buren Secretary of State. This position he resigned in 1831, and was im- mediately appointed Minister to England, where he went the same autumn. The Senate, however,

when it met, refused to ratify the nomination, and he returned home, apparently untroubled. Later he was nominated Vice-President in the place of Calhoun, at the re-election of President Jackson, and with smiles for all and frowns for none, he took his place at the head of that Senate which had refused to confirm his nomination as ambassador. .

His rejection by the Senate roused all the zeal of President Jackson in behalf of his repudiated favorite; and this, probably, more than any other cause secured liis elevation to the chair of the Chief Executive. On the 20th of May, 1836, Mr. Van Buren received the Democratic nomination to succeed Gen. Jackson as President of the United States. He was elected by a handsome majority, to the deliglit of the retiring President. "Leaving New York out of the canvass," says Mr. Parton, "the election of Mr. Van Buren to the Presidency was as much the act of Gen. Jackson as though the Constitution had conferred upon him the power to appoint a successor."

His administration was filled with exciting events. The insurrection in Canada, which threatened to involve this country in war with England, the agitation of the slavery question, and finally the great commercial panic which spread over the country, all were trials of his wis- dom. The financial distress was attributed to the management of the Democratic party, and brought the President into such disfavor that he failed of re-election, and on the 4th of March, 1841, he retired from the presidency.

With the exception of being nominated for the Presidency by the "Free Soil" Democrats in 1848, Mr. Van Buren lived quietly upon his estate until his death. He had ever been a prudent man, of frugal habits, and, living within his income, liad now fortunately a competence for his declining years. From his fine estate at Lindenwald, he still exerted a powerful influence upon the politics of the country. From this time until his death, on the 24th of July, 1862, at the age of eighty years, he resided at Lindenwald, a gentleman of leisure, of culture and wealth, enjoying in a healthy old age probably far more happiness than he had before experienced amid the stormy scenes of liis active life.

WILLIAM H. HARRISON,

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WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.

ILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, the ninth President of the United. States, was born at Berkeley, Va., February 9, 1773. His father, Benjamin Harrison, was in comparatively opulent circumstances, and was one of the most distinguished men of his day. He was an inti- miate friend of George Washington, was early elected a member of the Continental Congress, and was conspicuous among the patriots of Vir- ginia in resisting the encroachments of the British crown. In the celebrated Congress of 1775, Ben- jamin Harrison and John Hancock were both candidates for the office of Speaker.

Mr. Harrison was subsequently chosen Gov- ernor of Virginia, and was twice re-elected. His son William Henry, of course, enjoyed in child- hood all the advantages which wealth and intel- lectual and cultivated society could give. Hav- ing received a thorough common-school educa- tion, he entered Hampden Sidney College, where he graduated with honor soon after the death of his father. He then repaired to Philadelphia to study medicine under the instructions of Dr. Rush and the guardianship of Robert Morris, both of whom were, with his father, signers of the Dec- laration of Independence.

Upon the outbreak of the Indian troubles, and notwithstanding the remonstrances of his friends, he abandoned his medical studies and entered the army, having obtained a commission as Ensign from President Washington. He was then but nineteen years old. From that time he passed gradually upward in rank until he became aide to Gen. Wayne, after whose death he resigned his commission. He was then appointed Secre- tary of the Northwestern Territory. This Terri- tory was then entitled to but one member in Con-

gress, and Harrison was chosen to fill that position. In the spring of 1800 the Northwestern Terri- tory was divided by Congress into two portions. The eastern portion, comprising the region now embraced in the State of Ohio, was called "The Territory northwest of the Ohio." The western portion, which included what is now called Indi- ana, Illinois and Wisconsin, was called "the Indi- ana Territory." William Henry Harrison, then twenty-seven years of age, was appointed by John Adams Governor of the Indiana Territory, and immediately after also Governor of Upper Loui- siana. He was thus ruler over almost as exten- sive a realm as any sovereign upon the globe. He was Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and was invested with powers nearly dictatorial over the then rapidly increasing white population. The ability and fidelity with which he discharged these responsible duties may be inferred from the fact that he was four times appointed to this office-first by John Adams, twice by Thomas Jefferson, and afterwards by President Madison.

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When he began his administration there were but three white settlements in that almost bound- less region, now crowded with cities and resound- ing with all the tumult of wealth and traffic. One of these settlements was on the Ohio, nearly opposite Louisville; one at Vincennes, on the Wabash; and the third was a French settlement.

The vast wilderness over which Gov. Harrison reigned was filled with many tribes of Indians. About the year 1806, two extraordinary men, twin brothers of the Shawnee tribe, rose among them. One of these was called Tecumseh, or "the Crouching Panther;" the other Olliwa- checa, or "the Prophet." Tecumseh was not only an Indian warrior, but a man of great sagac-

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.

ity, far-reaching foresight and indomitable perse- verance in any enterprise in which he might en- gage. His brother, the Prophet, was an orator, who could sway the feelings of the untutored In- dians as the gale tossed the tree-tops beneath which they dwelt. With an enthusiasm unsur- passed by Peter the Hermit rousing Europe to the crusades, he went from tribe to tribe, assuming that he was specially sent by the Great Spirit.

Gov. Harrison made many attempts to con- ciliate the Indians, but at last war came, and at Tippecanoe the Indians were routed with great slaughter. October 28, 1812, his army began its march. When near the Prophiet's town, three Indians of rank made their appearance and in- quired why Gov. Harrison was approaching them in so hostile an attitude. After a short confer- ence, arrangements were made for a meeting the next day to agree upon terms of peace.

But Gov. Harrison was too well acquainted with the Indian character to be deceived by such protestations. Selecting a favorable spot for his night's encampment, he took every precaution against surprise. His troops were posted in a hollow square and slept upon their arms. The wakeful Governor, between three and four o'clock in the morning, had risen, and was sitting in conversation with his aides by the embers of a waning fire. It was a chill, cloudy morning, with a drizzling rain. In the darkness, the In- dians had crept as near as possible, and just then, with a savage yell, rushed, with all the despera- tion which superstition and passion most highly inflamed could give, upon the left flank of the little army. The savages had been amply pro- vided with guns and ammunition by the English, and their war-whoop was accompanied by a shower of bullets.

The camp-fires were instantly extinguished, as the light aided the Indians in their aim, and Gen. Harrison's troops stood as immovable as the rocks around them until day dawned, when they made a simultaneous charge with the bayo- net and swept everything before them, completely routing the foe.

Gov. Harrison now had all his energies tasked to the utmost, The British, descending from the

Canadas, were, of themselves a very formidable force, but with their savage allies rushing like wolves from the forest, burning, plundering, scalp- ing, torturing, the wide frontier was plunged into a state of consternation which even the most vivid imagination can but faintly conceive. Gen. Hull had made an ignominious surrender of his forces at Detroit. Under these despairing circumstances, Gov. Harrison was appointed by President Madi- son Commander-in-Chief of the Northwestern Army, with orders to retake Detroit and to protect the frontiers. It would be difficult to place a man in a situation demanding more energy, sagacity and courage, but he was found equal to the position, and nobly and triumphantly did he meet all the responsibilities.

In 1816, Gen. Harrison was chosen a member of the National House of Representatives, to rep- resent the District of Ohio. In Congress he proved an active member, and whenever he spoke it was witli a force of reason and power of eloquence which arrested the attention of all the members.

In 1819, Harrison was elected to the Senate of Ohio, and in 1824, as one of the Presidential Elec- tors of that State, he gave his vote for Henry Clay. The same year he was chosen to the Uni- ted States Senate. In 1836 his friends brought him forward as a candidate for the Presidency against Van Buren, but he was defeated. At the close of Mr. Van Buren's term, he was re-nom- inated by his party, and Mr. Harrison was unani- mously nominated by the Whigs, with John Tyler for the Vice-Presidency. The contest was very animated. Gen. Jackson gave all his influence to prevent Harrison's election, but his triumph was signal.

The cabinet which he formed, with Daniel Web- ster at its head as Secretary of State, was one of the most brilliant with which any President had ever been surrounded. Never were the prospects of an administration more flattering, or the hopes of the country more sanguine. In the midst of these bright and joyous prospects, Gen. Harrison was seized by a pleurisy-fever, and after a few days of violent sickness died, on the 4th of April. just one month after his inauguration as President of the United States.

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Portrait and biographical record of Marion and Hardin counties, Ohio, Part 3

Author: Chapman publishing co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 952

Author: Chapman publishing co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 952