USA > Ohio > The history of the state of Ohio; from the discovery of the great valley, to the present time > Part 62
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 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73
In 1803, eight years after Mr. Corwin's removal to that region, the growing settlement numbered about fifty families, mostly dwelling in log houses and quite scattered in the cultivation of their farms. A continuous school was es- tablished. Still Thomas could attend only during the winter months. His ser- vices during the summer were required in the labors of the farm. He was, however, an earnest student, eager to learn, and endowed with unusual natural abilities. His leisure hours he improved, and thus laid the foundation of his future fame and fortune.
Thomas was about fifteen years of age when, in 1812, our country became . involved in the second war with Great Britain, Our unnatural enemies were stimulating the savages all along our northern frontier to kill, burn and destroy. General Hull had made his disastrous surrender of Detroit. All the plans of the War Department in the Northwest were thus deranged. Our soldiers, un- supplied with food, were in danger of starvation.
In this emergence Judge Corwin, the father of Thomas, determined to send a team to the extreme frontier loaded with supplies for the suffering troops. Young Thomas drove the team. This is almost the only exciting adventure during his life. He was a politician, a statesman, an orator. His great efforts and his great triumphs were in addressing popular assemblies and in legislative halls. And yet this apparently trivial incident probably exerted a powerful in- fluence in promoting his future success in life.
The backwoodsmen in former years were very fond of striking titles. Strange as it may seem, there were thousands who in those days of comparative ignor. ance deemed a man better qualified to fill the highest office in the state because when a boy he had driven a wagon through an almost pathless wilderness. Anu it can not be denied that, as "the boy is father of the man," the energies dis- played in youthful years will doubtless be developed in mature life.
When in 1840 Thomas Corwin was candidate for Governor of Ohio, the rally- ing cry of the campaign was " Tom Corwin, the Wagoner Boy." A vast assem- blage of his supporters was congregated at Columbus. One of the speakers roused the enthusiasm of the masses by the following words :
" When the brave Harrison and his gallant army were exposed to the dangers
7.57
HISTORY OF OHIO.
and hardships of the Northwestern frontier, separated from the interior, on which they were dependent for their supplies, by the brushwood and swamps of St. Mary's country, through which there was no road, where each wagoner had to make his way wherever he could find a passable place, leaving traces and routes which are still visible for a space of several days' journey in length, there was one team managed by a little, dark-complexioned, hardy-looking lad, ap- parently about fifteen or sixteen years old, who was familiarly called Tom Cor- win. Through all of that service he proved himself a good whip and an excel- lent reinsman. And in the situation in which we are about to place him he will be found equally skillful."
A popular song aided in exciting the enthusiasm of the masses during this suc- cessful canvass. The first verse, which we give, will show the character of the whole:
" Success to you, Tom Corwin ! Tom Corwin, our true hearts love you ! Ohio has no nobler son, In worth there's none above you.
And she will soon bestow On you her highest honor ; And then our state will proudly show Without a stain upon her."
In this mysterious life of ours we seldom know what are blessings and what are calamities. Thomas returning from the frontier, resumed his labor upon the farm. One day he seriously injured his knee, which so crippled him that for some time he was incapable of performing any physical labor. During tedious months of confinement his only resource and his delightful resource, was books. He thus enlarged and disciplined his mind, laid up valuable stores of knowledge, and acquired that command of language which made him one of the most effective extempore speakers our country has ever known.
The scholarly tastes and habits he thus acquired led him to engage in the study of the law. He was a hard student, and acquired the reputation of an accomplished scholar. In 1817 he was admitted to the bar, and at once took a commanding position. He was not only a well-read lawyer, but he was a sound. reasoner and an eloquent speaker. The reputation of the young lawyer rapidly increased. In 1822 he was elected to the General Assembly of Ohio. He served but a short time, and very wisely retiring from the Assembly, devoted all his energies to his profession. His practice became very extensive and lucrative.
In 1829 partisan politics ran very high, to the disgust of all sober men, Mr. Corwin, much against his will consented to be the candidate of the intelligent portion of the community, who wished to rebuke the demagogism of the times. The popularity of Mr. Corwin was such that he was elected by a large majority of votes. In 1830 he represented his district in the Congress of the United States, where he continued, by successive elections, for ten years.
In 1840, as we have mentioned, he was nominated for governor at a great mass convention, held at Columbus. He was quite triumphantly elected. He served but one term, from 1840 to 1842. The fluctuation of politics gave a rival candidate a plurality of votes. The office of governor, with the limited powers which, under the constitution, he then possessed, had few attractions for Mr. Corwin. Facetiously he remarked :
" The principal duties of the governor are to appoint notaries public and par- don convicts in the penitentiary."
758
HISTORY OF OHIO.
.
A generous and humane spirit characterized the administration of Governor Corwin. He made special inquiry into the conduct of those in the state's prison. If there was anyone whose deportment had been good during his confinement, and who gave promise of reformation, the governor would sign a pardon a few days before the expiration of his term, that he might be saved the disgrace of lifelong exclusion from all political franchises.
His two annual messages were greatly admired for the sound doctrine advo- cated, and for the eloquence with which his ideas were expressed.
In 1845 Mr. Corwin was elected to the honorable and responsible post of United States Senator. He discharged the duties of this office with distinction, until 1850, when President Fillmore appointed him Secretary of the Treasury. In 1852 he returned from public life to his home among his old neighbors and friends in Lebanon. He had now a national reputation, and though regarding Lebanon as his home, he opened a law office in Cincinnati.
But it is seldom that one who has occupied a responsible position amidst the excitements of Washington, can long be contented with the tranquil scenes of private life. He consented again to stand as a candidate for the Thirty-sixth Congress, and was triumphantly elected. He never rose to speak unless he had something important to say. The consequence was that whenever he appeared upon the floor he commanded the undivided attention of the house.
There were occasions when he exhibited powers of eloquence which were rarely excelled. No man was more quick to discern the weakness of an adver- sary's position. In wielding the weapons of sarcasm and ridicule he was almost unrivaled. These dangerous powers were so under the control of his amiable and gentle disposition, that he rarely excited the animosity of his opponents. The unquestioned sincerity which pervaded every word he uttered, gave great persuasive power to all he said.
In March, 1861, President Lincoln appointed Governor Corwin Minister to Mexico, for which post he sailed the following month. He remained in Mexico until May, 1864, when he returned to the United States, and opened a law office in the City of Washington.
Mr. Corwin continued here in the practice of his profession until his death on the 18th of December, 1865.
While in attendance at a party given to members of Congress and other prom- inent persons from Ohio, at the residence of Mr. Wetmore, on the evening of December 16, he was suddenly stricken down by an attack of apoplexy. In two hours he became unconscious, and remained in this condition till death relieved him. His remains were conducted to his old home in Lebanon, Ohio, by a committee of Congressmen and other prominent citizens of Ohio.
Governor Corwin, in his conversational eloquence, ever drew social groups around him. Though not a man of collegiate culture, he was a highly educated man, far surpassing in his mental furniture thousands of those who have spent listless years in collegiate halls. From boyhood he had exhibited, in private life, the utmost integrity and purity of character. In his professional career, a high sense of honor distinguished him. He was a diligent student through his whole life, ever enlarging and strengthening his mental faculties. And when, at a good old age, he was summoned from the scenes of his useful and active earthly career the whole nation mourned the loss of one of the most illustrious of her sons.
CHAPTER XLI.
LIVES OF THE GOVERNORS -CONTINUED.
MORDECAI BARTLEY, WILLIAM BEBB, SEABURY FORD, REUBEN WOOD, WILLIAM MEDILL.
HON. MORDECAI BARTLEY. [See page 551.]
Mordecai Bartley came from an old English family, engaged in agricultural pursuits. The grandfather of Mordecai came to this country as early as the year 1724, and landed at Jamestown, Virginia. In those early colonial days life with every family was spent in toil and privation. The father of Mordecai married an English woman, and commenced his family life on a farm which he had purchased in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.
Mordecai was born the 16th of December, 1783. His early years, until he attained maturity, were spent in hard work on his father's farm. During this time he attended school sufficiently to obtain a good English education. In 1804 he married Miss Wells, and five years afterwards moved to Jefferson County, Ohio. Here, upon the banks of the beautiful river, and near the mouth of Cross Creek, he purchased a farm.
Three years after this his peaceful labors were interrupted by the breaking out of the war with Great Britain. Vigorously he raised a company of volun- teers, of which he was captain, and he rendered good service under General Harrison. At the close of the war he removed to the almost unbroken wilder- ness of Richland County, in the interior of the state. There was then a small settlement at Mansfield .. But west of that there was a region the white man's foot had seldom traversed, and which civilization had never penetrated.
Here, with his ax, he opened a clearing in the forest and reared his home. Upon this farm he worked diligently and successfully for twenty uneventful years. In 1834 he removed to Mansfield, the county seat, and with the savings of his long years of labor entered into mercantile business.
He must have early developed a character which won the confidence of the community, for, while on the farm, in 1817, he was elected a member of the State Senate. At the same time he was appointed by the Legislature to an im- portant position called Register of the Land Office. This gave him charge of the Virginia Military District School Lands.
760
HISTORY OF OHIO.
In 1823, when forty years of age, he was elected a member of Congress, and con- tiuued to fill that office for eight years. At the end of his fourth term he declined a re-election. Though while in Congress he rarely entered into the debates, he was very faithful in the performance of his duties, He was the first to pro- pose the converting of the land grants of Ohio into a permanent fund for the support of common schools. He secured an appropriation for the improvement of the harbors of Cleveland, Sandusky City, Huron and Vermillion. He was. a warm friend of Henry Clay, and supported the administration of John Quincy Adams.
In 1844, Mr. Bartley, having retired from Congress, and being engaged in mercantile and agricultural pursuits, was nominated for Governor. He was. elected by a small majority over David Tod, the Democratic candidate. Both parties testify to the ability of his administration and to his unselfish devotion to. the public interests. A serious difficulty arose at this time between the States, of Ohio and Virginia.
A band of armed men from Virginia crossed the river, seized and bound three citizens of Ohio, and carried them back into Virginia, accusing them of having aided in the escape of a slave. The grand jury of Washington County, Ohio, indicted the perpetrators of this violation of law, and Governor Bartley made a requisition on the Governor of Virginia for their persons. He refused to surren- der them. This led to a long and very able correspondence. The question was finally carried to the Court of Appeals in Virginia.
In 1846 the war with Mexico broke out. Many were strongly opposed to: the war, regarding it as a measure of the pro-slavery party to wrest land from Mexico to be cut up into slave states. The party which elected Mr. Bartley almost universally entertained this view. When the President of the United States issued his call for troops, Mr. Bartley's friends were not in favor of Ohio filling her quota. But the governor took the ground that Ohio was constitu- tionally bound to respect the requisitions of the National Government. He adopted prompt measures to raise the necessary volunteers. They were organ- ized under his personal supervision, and delivered to the United States author- ities.
The executive messages of the governor prove him to have been a man of real ability. He thoroughly comprehended the somewhat complex principles of our noble institutions, recognizing the sovereignty of the National Government in all those questions surrendered to its jurisdiction, while with equal clearness he recognized those local rights which each state had reserved to itself. He declined a second nomination, though strongly urged to permit it.
Governor Bartley was an earnest Christian. He adorned his profession by his life, and did what he could by example and active influence to lead neigh. bors and friends to embrace that religion of Jesus, whose fundamental princi- ples are, " God is our common father, man is our brother." His comprehensive: mind could not be shackled by narrow sectarianism. In his early years he united with the Baptist Church. As at Mansfield there was no church of his own denomination, he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and en- gaged actively in the promotion of its interests.
He passed the evening of his days at Mansfield, beloved by his children, who
76 1
HISTORY OF OHIO.
were justly proud of their eminent Christian father, and revered by the whole community.
After his term of office as governor expired, he abstained entirely from public life, and divided his attention between the practice of the legal profession and agricultural pursuits, near the City of Mansfield.
For the six years previous to his death he was severely afflicted with paralytic strokes, from the effects of which his sight and hearing became injured, and from which he died at his home in Mansfield, on the 10th of October, 1870.
Governor Mordecai Bartley has three children still living - Ex-Governor Thomas W. Bartley, practicing law in Washington, D. C .; Mrs. Arnold, wife of G. B. Arnold, a merchant in Mansfield, Ohio, and Mrs. Susan B. Steele, the wife of Colonel Steele, of New Orleans, Louisiana. Three of his children have deceased, two of them leaving families to mourn their departure. They were Mrs. Bishop E. Thompson, of the M. E. Church ; Dr. David Bartley, and John P. Bartley. The latter died while a cadet at the West Point Military Academy.
HON. WILLIAM BEBB.
[See page 565.]
William Bebb was Governor of Ohio from 1846 to 1848. His father, Edward Bebb, emigrated to this country from Wales, in the year 1795. Crossing the mountains on foot, with a companion, to explore the Far West, he visited Cincinnati ; and thence the fertile valley of the Miami. He was delighted with the climate, and forseeing the future wealth of the valley, though it was then but a wilderness, purchased an extensive tract of land, and on foot retraced his steps on the long journey back to Pennsylvania. Here he met a lady, Miss Roberts, to whom he had been engaged in Wales, and, marrying her, with his bride returned to his wilderness home in Ohio.
Mr. Bebb was a superior man, of sound judgment, joyous and ever hopeful disposition, and one who made himself agreeable to all who approached him. Mrs. Bebb was a lady of refinement and culture. It must have been a strange home, amidst the solitudes of the forests, to which Mrs. Bebb was introduced. Their neighbors were scattered, in log huts, at distances of several miles. Many of them were vagabonds, fugitives from justice. Wild looking, unshorn, half naked savages were continually entering her door. Under these circumstances her son William was born, in the year 1804.
There were no schools there. But both father and mother took the deepest interest in the instruction of their children. They saw and deplored the fact that many children were growing up around them mere white savages. William learned to read at home. His father took a weekly paper, published at Cincinnati, called the Western Spy. It was distributed by a private post-rider. At that time all the world was watching, with eager interest, the achievements of Napoleon I. William Bebb read with the greatest avidity the brief narra- tive of his campaigns which was contained in the small provincial sheet. At length, as the country advanced, a very eccentric man came along who estab- lished a school. Under him William studied diligently English, Latin and
762
HISTORY OF OHIO.
Mathematics, working in the meantime, and especially in the vacations, on his father's farm.
When twenty years of age he opened a school at North Bend, and resided in the home, very moderate in its appointments, of General Harrison. In this employment he remained a year, and in 1824 married Miss Shuck, a very esti- mable lady, who was the daughter of a wealthy German. Soon after marriage he commenced the study of law, continuing his school and boarding many of his pupils. This double labor rendered it necessary for him to rise very early. He was eminently successful as a teacher, and his school attracted pupils from the most distinguished families of Cincinnati.
Mr. Bebb was a strong Whig, in favor of Henry Clay. Most of his neighbors were equally strong Democrats, supporters of General Jackson. Still he was very popular with his neighbors. He was invited to deliver an address before the Butler County Agricultural Society. He wrote it with great care, and delivered it from memory. It added greatly to his reputation. In 1831 he rode on horseback to Columbus, where the Supreme Court was in session, and was admitted to the bar of the state. He removed to Hamilton, on the Miami, about twenty-five miles north from Cincinnati, and opened a law office. Here he continued, in quiet, successful practice, fourteen years.
During all this time he took an active interest in political affairs. During what was called the "Hard Cider Campaign," he stumped the state in favor of General Harrison. In 1846 he was elected Governor. The conflict between the Demo- crats and Whigs was intense and angry. William Bebb was born in Ohio. Never before had a native-born citizen been a candidate for the Governor's chair. This added to his popularity, and he received the campaign name of the "Buckeye Boy."
When he was inaugurated the Mexican war was in progress. Though strongly opposed to it, as originating in a desire to perpetuate slavery, yet he felt bound to give his energetic support to all the measures ordered by the General Government. Party feeling ran so high that there was not a little danger of civil war. The moderation of the governor aided in averting the terrible calamity. Governor Bebb, a humane man, was much interested in prison reform. He did much to ameliorate the condition of the prisoners. They were provided with books, and their gloomy cells were so lighted, until nine at night, that they could read.
There was great activity in constructing railroads and turnpikes. The cur- rency was sound. Free schools were established ; all the arts of industry were amply rewarded, and the whole state was in a condition of high prosperity. In the year 1847 Governor Bebb purchased five thousand acres of land in Rock River County, Illinois. The location was delightful, and the soil rich. Five hundred acres of the pristine forest constituted a magnificent natural park. Other portions consisted of a beautiful prairie, flower-enameled, waiting for the plow. A stream of crystal water ran through the lands fed by perpetual springs.
In July, 1850, Governor Bebb removed to his attractive and valuable pur- chase. He took with him five horses and quite a number of cattle of the choicest breeds. They would find the best of pasturage on the rich prairies, He con- tinued to take an active interest in politics as an earnest Whig.
763
HISTORY OF OHIO.
In 1855 he visited Great Britain and the Continent of Europe. Finding many in Wales inclined to emigrate to America, he took an active interest in the enterprise. A company was formed, and a tract of one hundred thousand acres of land was purchased in East Tennessee.
Just before the arrival of this party, Charles Sumner was struck down in the Senate, by the bludgeon of Brooks. Secession and civil war were threatened. The whole country was in intense agitation. There was no safety for any one, in a southern state, who was not an advocate for slavery. The few of the colo- nists who had arrived were in great consternation. Governor Bebb deemed it his duty to go to them, lend them his countenance and aid, and share their peril. Civil war broke out. Governor Bebb and his family fled. Parson Brownlow warned him that he could not return but at the peril of his life. The discouraged emigrants were scattered, and they settled in different parts of the Union.
Horrid war, with its devastation, swept the region. Governor Bebb lost his house, furniture, library, and everything which the rebels could take or destroy. Thus plundered and outraged by his own countrymen, he returned to his home in Illinois, where he remained until the inauguration of President Lincoln. He then received the appointment of Examiner in the Pension Department. In 1866 he resigned this position, and returned to the peaceful pursuits of agri- culture. The scale upon which he carried on farming may be inferred from the fact that in 1868 he broke up with the plow, for crops, one thousand acres of fertile prairie, and enclosed another thousand to pasture his numerous herd.
In the Fall of 1868 he took a warm interest in the success of the Republican ticket, and entered the campaign for Grant and Colfax. One cold, cloudy night in October, after addressing a meeting in Pecatonica, he rode home, nine miles, in an open wagon. This exposure immediately following the exhaustion of the speech, brought on a severe attack of pneumonia, and for several days his life was despaired of ; but an iron constitution that had never known a strain severe enough to bend it, together with careful attendance, carried him through, and he was able, by election day, to be taken in a carriage to the polls to cast his vote, and thence to the depot, where he took the cars and returned to Washington, where he spent the Winter of 1868-9. Most of his time was occupied listening to the debates in the Senate upon the important measures for civil rights and personal liberty of that winter.
In March, 1869, he returned with his wife and daughter to Illinois. From the effect of this attack of pneumonia he never entirely recovered. It was the beginning of the descent, and from that time he very slowly, but none the less surely and steadily failed from a general breaking down of the vital forces rather than from any functional disease.
Feeling that he was no longer able to superintend his farming land, he pur- chased a residence in Rockford, where he could quietly spend the remaining few years of his life. Shortly after his return to Rockford, Dr. Kerr, a man of marked ability and advanced liberal views of Christianity, withdrew from the Baptist Church, of which he was the pastor, and organized the Church of the Christian Union. In this movement he took an active part, became a member of the church and of its executive board. A warm personal friendship
1
764
HISTORY OF OHIO.
grew up between him and Dr. Kerr, which only terminated with his life. His mind remained clear and active up to the last moments of his life, and he was able to perform mental labor far surpassing his physicial strength. He read much, and kept well posted on all the leading events of the day. In 1872, although no longer able to enter the canvass, he was an ardent supporter of General Grant's reelection. He was much interested in the last gubernatorial contest in Ohio, although occurring but a few weeks before his death.
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.