USA > Ohio > Hardin County > Portrait and biographical record of Marion and Hardin counties, Ohio > Part 5
USA > Ohio > Marion County > Portrait and biographical record of Marion and Hardin counties, Ohio > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
Mr. Fillmore. wic now a man of wide repute, and his popularity filled the State. In the year 1847, when he had attained the age of forty- seven years, he was elected Comptroller of the State. His labors at the Bar, in the Legisla- ture, in Congress and as Comptroller, had given him very considerable fame. The Whigs were casting about to find suitable candidates for Presi- dent and Vice-President at the approaching elec- tion. Far away on the waters of the Rio Grande, there was a rough old soldier, who had fought
one or two successful battles with the Mexicans, which had caused his name to be proclaimed in trumpet-tones all over the land as a candidate for the presidency. But it was necessary to associate with him on the same ticket some man of repu- tation as a statesman.
Under the influence of these considerations, the names of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore became the rallying-cry of the Whigs, as their candidates for President and Vice-President. The Whig ticket was signally triumphant. On the 4th of March, 1849, Gen. Taylor was inaugurated President, and Millard Fillmore Vice-President. of the United States.
On the 9th of July, 1850, President Taylor. about one year and four months after his inaugura tion, was suddenly taken sick and died. By the Constitution, Vice-President Fillmore thus be came President. He appointed a very able cabi net, of which the illustrious Daniel Webster was Secretary of State; nevertheless, he had serious difficulties to contend with, since the opposition had a majority in both Houses. He did all in his power to conciliate the South; but the pro-slavery party in the South felt the inadequacy of al measures of transient conciliation. The popula tion of the free States was so rapidly increasing over that of the slave States, that it was inevitable that the power of the Government should soot pass into the hands of the free States. The fa mous compromise measures were adopted undet Mr. Fillmore's administration, and the Japan ex pedition was sent out. On the 4th of March 1853, he, having served one term, retired.
In 1856, Mr. Fillmore was nominated for the Presidency by the "Know-Nothing" party, but was beaten by Mr. Buchanan. After that .Mr. Fillmore lived in retirement. During the terri- ble conflict of civil war, he was mostly silent. It was generally supposed that his sympathies were rather with those who were endeavoring to over- throw our institutions. President Fillmore kept aloof from the conflict, without any cordial words of cheer to one party or the other. He was thus forgotten by both. He lived to a ripe old age. and died in Buffalo, N. Y., March 8, 1874.
6
ยท
FRANKLIN PIERCE.
71
FRANKLIN PIERCE.
RANKLIN PIERCE, the fourteenth Presi- dent of the United States, was born in Hills- borough, N. H., November 23, 1804. His fatlier was a Revolutionary soldier, who with his own strong arm hewed out a home in the wilder- ness. He was a man of inflexible integrity, of strong, though uncultivated, mind, and was an un- compromising Democrat. The mother of Frank- lin Pierce was all that a son could desire-an in- telligent, prudent, affectionate, Christian woman.
Franklin, who was the sixth of eight children, was a remarkably bright and handsome boy, generous, warm-hearted and brave. He won alike the love of old and young. The boys on the play-ground loved him. His teachers loved him. The neighbors looked upon him with pride and affection. He was by instinct a gentleman, always speaking kind words, and doing kind deeds, with a peculiar, unstudied tact which taught him what was agreeable. Without de- veloping any precocity of genius, or any unnatural devotion to books, he was a good scholar, and in body and mind a finely developed boy.
When sixteen years of age, in the year 1820, he entered Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Me. He was one of the most popular young men in the college .. The purity of his moral character, the unvarying courtesy of his demeanor, his rank as a scholar, and genial nature, rendered him a universal favorite. There was something pe- culiarly winning in his address, and it was evi- dently not in the slightest degree studied -- it was the simple outgushing of his own magnanimous and loving nature.
Upon graduating, in the year 1824, Franklin Pierce commenced the study of law in the office of Judge Woodbury, one of the most distinguished
lawyers of the State, and a man of great private worth. The eminent social qualities of the young lawyer, his father's prominence as a public man, and the brilliant political career into which Judge Woodbury was entering, all tended to entice Mr. Pierce into the fascinating yet perilous path of political life. With all the ardor of his nature he espoused the cause of Gen. Jackson for the Presi- dency. He commenced the practice of law in Hillsborough, and was soon elected to represent the town in the State Legislature. Here he served for four years. The last two years he was chosen Speaker of the House by a very large vote.
In 1833, at the age of twenty-nine, he was elected a member of Congress. In 1837, being then but thirty-three years old, he was elected to the Senate, taking liis seat just as Mr. Van Buren commenced his administration. He was the . youngest member in the Senate. In the year 1834, he married Miss Jane Means Appleton, a lady of rare beauty and accomplishments, and one admirably fitted to adorn every station with which her husband was honored. Of the three sons who were born to theni, all now sleep with their par- ents in the grave.
In the year 1838, Mr. Pierce, with growing fame and increasing business as a lawyer, took up his residence in Concord, the capital of New Hampshire. President Polk. upon his accession to office, appointed Mr. Pierce Attorney-General of the United States; but the offer was declined in consequence of numerous professional engage- ments at home, and the precarious state of Mrs. Pierce's health. He also, about the same time, declined the nomination for Governor by the Democratic party. The war with Mexico called
...
JAMES BUCHANAN.
75
JAMES BUCHANAN.
AMES BUCHANAN, the fifteenth President of the United States, was born in a small frontier town, at the foot of tlie eastern ridge of the Alleghanies, in Franklin County, Pa., on the 23d of April, 1791. The place where the humble cabin home stood was called Stony Bat- ter. His father was a native of the north of Ire- land, who had emigrated in 1783; with little prop- erty save his own strong arms. Five years after- ward he married Elizabeth Spear, the daughter of a respectable farmer, and, with his young bride, plunged into the wilderness, staked his claim, reared his log hut, opened a clearing with his axe, and settled down there to perform his obscure part in the drama of life. When James was eight years of age, his father removed to the village of Mercersburg, where his son was placed at school, and commenced a course of study in English, Latin and Greek. His progress was rapid, and at the age of fourteen he entered Dickinson Col- lege, at Carlisle. Here he developed remarkable talent, and took his stand among thie first scholars in the institution.
In the year :" he graduated with the high- est honors of his class He was then eighteen years of age; tall and graceful, vigorous in health, fond of athletic sports, an unerring shot, and en- livened with an exuberant flow of animal spirits. He immediately commenced the study of law in the city of Lancaster, and was admitted to the Bar in 1812, when he was bu twenty-one years of age.
In. 1820, he reluctantly consented to run as a candidate for Congress. He was elected, and for ten years he remained a member of the Lower House. During the vacations of Congress, he
occasionally tried some important case. In 1831 he retired altogether from the toils of his profes- sion, having acquired an ample fortune.
Gen. Jackson, upon his elevation to the Presi- dency, appointed Mr. Buchanan Minister to Rus- sia. The duties of his mission he performed with ability, and gave satisfaction to all parties. Upon his return, in 1833, he was elected to a seat in the United States Senate. He there inet as his associates Webster, Clay, Wright and Cal- houn. He advocated the measures proposed by President Jackson, of making reprisals against France to enforce the payment of our claims against that country, and defended the course of the President in his unprecedented and wholesale removal from office of those who were not the supporters of his administration. Upon this question he was brought into direct collision with Henry Clay. He also, with voice and vote, ad- vocated expunging from the journal of the Senate the vote of censure against Gen. Jackson for re- moving the deposits. Earnestly he opposed the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and urged the prohibition of the circulation of anti-slavery documents by the United States mails. As to petitions on the subject of slavery, he advocated that they should be respectfully re- ceived, and that the reply should be returned that Congress had -no power to legislate upon tlie subject. "Congress," said he, "might as well undertake to interfere with slavery under a for- eign government as in any of the States where it now exists."
Upon Mr. Polk's accession to the Presidency. Mr. Buchanan became Secretary of State, and as such took his share of the responsibility in the
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 1
79
.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
A BRAHAM LINCOLN, the sixteenth Presi- dent of the United States, was born in Hardin County, Ky., February 12, 1809. About the year 1780, a mian by the name of Abraham Lincoln left Virginia with his family and moved into the then wilds of Kentucky. Only two years after this emigration, and while still a young man, he was working one day in a field, when an Indian stealthily approached and killed him. His widow was left in extreme poverty with five little chil- dren, three boys and two girls. Thomas, the youngest of the boys, and the father of President Abraham Lincoln, was four years of age at his father's death.
When twenty-eight years old, Thomas Lincoln built a log cabin, and married Nancy Hanks, the daughter of another family of poor Kentucky emigrants, who had also come from Virginia. Their second child was Abraham Lincoln, the sub- ject of this sketch. The mother of Abraham was a noble woman, gentle, loving, pensive, created to adorn a palace, but doomed to toil and pine, and die in a hovel. " All that I am, or hope to be," exclaimed the grateful son, "I owe to my angel- mother." When he was eight years of age, his father sold his cabin and small farm and moved to Indiana, where two years later his mother died.
As the years rolled on, the lot of this lowly family was the usual lot of humanity. There were joys and griefs, weddings and funerals. Abraham's sister Sarah, to whom he was tenderly attached, was married when a child of but four- teen years of age, and soon died. The family was gradually scattered, and Thomas Lincoln sold out his squatter's claim in 1830, and emi- grated to Macon County, Ill.
Abraham Lincoln was then twenty-one years of age. Witli vigorous hands he aided his father in rearing another log cabin, and worked quite diligently at this until he saw the family com- fortably settled, and their small lot of enclosed prairie planted with corn, when he announced to
his father his intention to leave home, and to go out into the world and seek his fortune. Little did lie or his friends imagine how brilliant that fortune was to be. He saw the value of educa- tion and was intensely earnest to improve his mind to the utmost of his power. Religion he revered. His morals were pure, and he was un- contaminated by a single vice.
Young Abraham worked for a time as a hired laborer among the farmers. Then he went to Springfield, where he was employed in building a large flat-boat. In this he took a herd of swine, floated them down the Sangamon to Illinois, and thence by the Mississippi to New Orleans. What- ever Abraham Lincoln undertook, he performed so faithfully as to give great satisfaction to his employers. In this adventure the latter were so well pleased, that upon his return they placed a store and mill under his care.
In 1832, at the outbreak of the Black Hawk War, he enlisted and was chosen Captain of a company. He returned to Sangamon County, and, although only twenty-three years of age, was a candidate for the Legislature, but was defeated. He soon after received from Andrew Jackson the appointment of Postmaster of New Salem. His only post-office was hiis hat. All the letters he received he carried there, ready to deliver to those he chanced to meet. He studied surveying, and soon made this his business. In 1834 he . again became a candidate for the Legislature and was elected. Mr. Stuart, of Springfield, advised him to study law. He walked from New Salem to Springfield, borrowed of Mr. Stuart a load of books, carried them back, and began his legal studies. When the Legislature assembled, lie trudged on foot with his pack on his back one hundred miles to Vandalia, then the capital. In 1836 he was re-elected to the Legislature. Here it was lie first met Stephen A. Douglas. In 1839 he removed to Springfield and began the practice of law. His success with the jury was so great
80
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
that he was soon engaged in almost every noted case in the circuit.
In 1854 the great discussion began between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas on the slavery ques- tion. In the organization of the Republican party in Illinois, in 1856, he took an active part, and at once became one of the leaders in that party. Mr. Lincoln's speeches in opposition to Senator Douglas in the contest in 1858 for a seat in the Senate, form a most notable part of his history. The issue was on the slavery question, and lie took the broad ground of the Declaration of In- dependence, that all men are created equal. Mr. Lincoln was defeated in this contest, but won a far higher prize.
The great Republican Convention met at Chi- cago on the 16th of June, 1860. The delegates and strangers who crowded the city amounted to twenty-five thousand. An immense building called "The Wigwam," was reared to accommo- date the convention. There were eleven candi- dates for whom votes were thrown. William H. Seward, a man whose fame as a statesman had long filled the land, was the most prominent. It was generally supposed he would be the nomi- nee. Abraham Lincoln, however, received the nomination on the third ballot.
Election day came, and Mr. Lincoln received one hundred and eighty electoral votes out of two hundred and three cast, and was, therefore, con- stitutionally elected President of the United States. The tirade of abuse that was poured upon this good and merciful man, especially by the slave- holders, was greater than upon any other man ever elected to this high position. In February, 1861, Mr. Lincoln started for Washington, stop- ping in all the large cities on his way, making speeches. The whole journey was fraught with much danger. Many of the Southern States had already seceded, and several attempts at assassi- nation were afterward brought to light. A gang in Baltimore had arranged upon his arrival to "get up a row," and in the confusion to make sure of his death with revolvers and hand-gren- ades. A detective unravelled the plot. A secret and special train was provided to take liim from Harrisburg, through Baltimore, at an unexpected
hour of the night. The tram started at half-past ten, and to prevent any possible communication on tlie part of the Secessionists with their Co ::- federate gang in Baltimore, as soon as the train had started the telegraphi-wires were cut. Mr. Lincoln reached Washington in safety and was inaugurated, although great anxiety was felt by all loyal people.
In the selection of his cabinet Mr. Lincoln gave to Mr. Seward the Department of State, and to other prominent opponents before the convention he gave important positions; but during no other administration had the duties devolving upon tlie President been so manifold, and the responsibilities so great, as those which fell to his lot. Knowing this, and feeling his own weakness and inability to meet, and in his own strength to cope with, the difficulties, he learned early to seek Divine wisdom and guidance in determining his plans, and Divine comfort in all his trials, both personal and national. Contrary to his own estimate of himself, Mr. Lincoln was one of the most cour- ageous of men. He went directly into the rebel capital just as the retreating foe was leaving, with no guard but a few sailors. From the time he had left Springfield, in 1861, however, plans had been made for his assassination, and he at last fell a victim to one of them. April 14, 1865, he, with Gen. Grant, was urgently invited to attend Ford's Theatre. It was announced that they would be present. Gen. Grant, however, left the city. President Lincoln, feeling, with his char- acteristic kindliness of heart, that it would be a disappointment if he should fail them, very re- luctantly consented to go. While listening to the play, an actor by the name of John Wilkes Booth entered the box where the President and family were seated, and fired a bullet into his brain. He died the next morning at seven o'clock.
Never before in the history of the world was a nation plunged into such deep grief by the death of its ruler Strong men met in the streets and wept in speechless anguish. His was a life which will fitly become a model. His name as the Savior of his country will live with that of Wash- ington's, its Father.
8%
ANDREW JOHNSON.
83
ANDREW JOHNSON.
NDREW JOHNSON, seventeenth President of the United States. The early life of An- drew Johnson contains but the record of pov- erty, destitution and friendlessness. He was born December 29, 1808, in Raleigh, N. C. His par- ents, belonging to the class of "poor whites" of the South, were in such circumstances that they could not confer even the slightest advantages of education upon their child. When Andrew was five years of age, his father accidentally lost his life, while heroically endeavoring to save a friend from drowning. Until ten years of age, Andrew was a ragged boy about the streets, supported by the labor of his mother, who obtained her living with her own hands.
He then, having never attended a school one day, and being unable either to read or write, was apprenticed to a tailor in his native town. A gen- tleman was in the habit of going to the tailor's shop occasionally, and reading to the boys at work there. He often read from the speeches of distinguished British statesmen. Andrew, who was endowed with a mind of more than ordinary ability, became much interested in these speeches; his ambition was roused, and he was inspired with a strong desire to learn to read.
He accordingly applied himself to the alphabet, and with the assistance of some of his fellow- workmen learned his letters. He then called upon the gentleman to borrow the book of speeches. The owner, pleased with his zeal, not only gave him the book, but assisted him in learning to con- bine the letters into words. Under such difficul- ties he pressed onward laboriously, spending usu- ally ten or twelve hours at work in the shop, and then robbing himself of rest and recreation to de- vote such time as he could to reading.
He went to Tennessee in 1826, and located at
Greenville, where he married a young lady who possessed some education. Under her instructions he learned to write and cipher. He became prominent in the village debating society, and a favorite with the students of Greenville.College. In 1828, he organized a working man's party, which elected him Alderman, and in 1830 elected him Mayor, which position he held three years.
He now began to take a lively interest in political affairs, identifying himself with the work- ing-class, to which he belonged. In 1835, he was elected a member of the House of Represent- atives of Tennessee. He was then just twenty- seven years of age. He became a very active member of the Legislature, gave his support to the Democratic party, and in 1840 "stumped the State," advocating Martin Van Buren's claims to the Presidency, in opposition to those of Gen. Harrison. In this campaign he acquired much readiness as a speaker, and extended and increased his reputation.
In 1841, he was elected State Senator; in 1843, he was elected a Member of Congress, and by suc- cessive elections held that important post for ten years. In 1853, he was elected Governor of Tenn- essee, and was re-elected in 1855. In all these responsible positions, he discharged his duties with distinguished ability, and proved himself the warm friend of the working classes. In 1857, Mr. Johnson was elected United States Senator.
Years before, in 1845, he had warinly advocated the annexation of Texas, stating, however, as his reason, that he thought this annexation would probably prove "to be the gateway out of which the sable sons of Africa are to pass from bondage to freedom, and become merged in a population congenial to themselves." In 1850, he also sup- ported the compromise measures, the two essen.
1
84
ANDREW JOHNSON.
tial features of which were, that the white people of the Territories should be permitted to decide for theinselves whether they would enslave the colored people or not, and that the free States of the North should return to the South persons who attempted to escape from slavery.
Mr. Johnson was never ashamed of his lowly origin: on the contrary, he often took pride in avowing that he owed his distinction to his own exertions. "Sir," said he on the floor of the Senate, "I do not forget that I am a mechanic; neither do I forget that Adam was a tailor and sewed fig-leaves, and that our Savior was the son of a carpenter."
In the Charleston-Baltimore convention of 1860, he was the choice of the Tennessee Democrats for the Presidency. In 1861, when the purpose of the Southern Democracy became apparent, he took a decided stand in favor of the Union, and held that "slavery must be held subordinate to the Union at whatever cost." He returned to Tenn- essee, and repeatedly imperiled his own life to protect the Unionists of that State. Tennessee having seceded from the Union, President Lincoln, on March 4, 1862, appointed him Military Gov- ernor of the State, and he established the most stringent military rule. His numerous proclama- tions attracted wide attention. In 1864, he was elected Vice-President of the United States, and upon the death of Mr. Lincoln, April 15, 1865, became President. In a speech two days later he said, "The American people must be taught, if they do not already feel, that treason is a crime and must be punished; that the Government will not always bear with its enemies; that it is strong not only to protect, but to punish. * * The people must understand that it (treason) is the blackest of crimes, and will surely be punished." Yet his whole administration, the history of which is so well known, was in utter inconsistency with, and in the most violent opposition to, the princi- ples laid down in that speech.
In his loose policy of reconstruction and general amnesty, he was opposed by Congress, and lie characterized Congress as a new rebellion, and lawlessly defied it in everything possible to the ut- most. In the beginning of 1868, on account of
"High crimes and misdemeanors," the principal of which was the removal of Secretary Stanton in violation of the Tenure of Office Act, articles of impeachment were preferred against him, and the trial began March 23.
It was very tedious, continuing for nearly three months. A test article of the impeachment was at length submitted to the court for its action. It was certain that as the court voted upon that ar- ticle so would it vote upon all. Thirty-four voices pronounced the President guilty. As a two-thirds vote.was necessary to his condemnation, he was pronounced acquitted, notwithstanding the great majority against him. The change of one vote from the not guilty side would have sustained the impeachment.
The President, for the remainder of liis term, was but little regarded. He continued, though impotently, his conflict with Congress. His own party did not think it expedient to renominate him for the Presidency. The Nation rallied with enthusiasm, unparalleled since the days of Wash- ington, around the name of Gen. Grant. Andrew Johnson was forgotten. The bullet of the assassin introduced him to the President's chair. Not- withstanding this, never was there presented to a man a better opportunity to immortalize his name, and to win the gratitude of a nation. He failed utterly. He retired to his home in Greenville, Tenn., taking no very active part in politics until 1875. On January 26, after an exciting struggle, he was chosen by the Legislature of Tennessee United States Senator in the Forty-fourth Congess, and took his seat in that body, at the special ses- sion convened by President Grant, on the 5th of March. On the 27th of July, 1875, the ex-Presi- dent made a visit to his daughter's home, near Carter Station, Tenn. When he started on his journey, he was apparently in his usual vigorous health, but on reaching the residence of his child the following day, lie was stricken with paralysis, which rendered him unconscious. He rallied oc- casionally, but finally passed away at 2 A. M., July 31, aged sixty-seven years. His funeral was held at Greenville, on the 3d of August, with every demonstration of respect.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.