USA > Pennsylvania > A biographical album of prominent Pennsylvanians, v. 1 > Part 4
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From Central Europe he turned his face to the southwest, traversed France, crossed the Pyrenees and entered the Iberian Peninsula. He visited Madrid, where he talked to the noble cavaliers and beautiful Señoritas, delighting in gay costume; where the beggars are not yet called "tramps," and who ask for alms like gentlemen, never appearing in public without the renowned Spanish cloak and embroidered hat. He made a pilgrimage to the Escurial, which is convent, sepulchre and palace. He wandered through its spacious halls, stood on its grand stairways and descended into its gaping vaults, where "precious stones flash light from the walls, and elaborate urns contain the jewelled skulls of kings." From Madrid he went into Granada, and beheld the dark-eyed and olive-skinned Moors, who yet cling with reverential love to the customs and costumes of the Saracen. Back over the Pyrenees through France he went to the country of dykes and canals, a land redeemed from the sea by its thrifty people, whose women he thought had the most lovely complexions of any he had yet seen. From the Continent he went to the British Isles, passed several weeks in London, visited Crystal Palace, where he saw the conqueror of the first Napoleon, " who was an old man dressed in a blue, tight-body coat, with his head drooped upon his breast." Temple Bar, the Tower, St. Paul's and the famous Wine Vaults, all were inspected. He did not neglect to visit the land of Bruce and the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots, the wild Welsh Mountains, nor the Emerald Isle, and then returned home with a great store of knowledge and information. Unfortunately his retiring disposition and hesitaney of speak- ing of himself and his travels have deprived one of much delightful conversation. He has, however, given to the world short chapters regarding his travels.
In 1862 he published a work of 300 pages, entitled " Miscellanies," which are very interesting, being mainly short sketches of the places which he visited while abroad. In 1867 he published a collection of his poetical writings, which he dedicated to his father ; they are real gems and give evidence of high
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JAMES B. EVERHART.
poetic culture. One of the most beautiful and pathetic is that entitled "She is not There," being a loving son's tribute to his deceased mother. The poems were followed in 1875 by another single poem, entitled "The Fox Chase," and at the time of its publication the following criticism was passed by The Press: "This short but spirited poem conveys a better idea of the 'noble sport' than the celebrated blank verse quarto called 'The Chase,' which appeared in 1735. The character of the poetry is high-some passages exhibit- ing no small skill in word-painting. The action is at a rapid pace and very accurate." The scene of this poem is laid in Chester county, on the Brandywine Battle-Ground, up the stream, over its hills and through its valleys.
In 1888 he published a collection of "Speeches, etc.," which are of a varied character and upon a variety of subjects relating to social events, and matters pertaining to State and National legislation. One, in the State Senate in ISSI, against compensation for the prohibition of the liquor traffic, has been fully justified by a late decision of the United States Supreme Court.
On June 7th, 1876, by invitation, he delivered a poem in the Chestnut Street Theatre, at the reunion of the Army of the James, of which the following are the first two stanzas :
Where is the Army of the James ? Where flies Its banner, beaming with the triple light ? Where its battalions? That, with cheering cries, Went hence in all the pomp of arms bedight ? Is yon the standard, in its faded plight ? Are these the remnants of that famous host, Which climbed the ridges of the gory fight, And drove the stubborn foe from post to post, And, in the captured city, held its Pentecost ?
Bloodshed has uses, and the grave is just ! The soldier's avocation has its place, When power is cruel, and betrays its trust : When haughty nations would inflict disgrace ; When insurrection labors to efface Free institutions, and, with senseless ire, Exhausts its substance to enslave a race ; When reason fails, and peaceful hopes expire- Then must the cannon argue with its longue of fire.
The great Rebellion had been in progress nearly a year when, in 1862, Mr. Everhart commenced to raise a company for the nine months' service. It was while thus engaged that General Lee invaded Maryland. Governor Curtin issued an immediate call for troops, as it was expected that Lee would not stop at the border of Pennsylvania and Maryland. A company was quickly raised, of which Mr. Everhart was captain, and was immediately ordered to Harrisburg, where, with other companies, a regiment was organized and sent to Hagerstown. The battle of Antietam was then in progress, the smoke was visible, and the guns were heard. The colonel of the regiment being called on to join Mc-
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JAMES B. EVERHART.
Clellan's left wing, convened a council of the captains to take a vote if they would march to Antietam. Captain Everhart said it was a disgrace to parley and the men must march. He then went to his company, formed them in line and told them of their duty, and they, without an exception, stood ready to go into the engagement. Very many privates from other companies, and one captain, also signified their willingness to follow him. While this scene was being enacted in the camp, the order to move forward was countermanded.
In 1863 Captain Everhart raised another company, which became a part of the Twenty-ninth Regiment of Emergency Men, who were sworn into the United States service, and he was elected its Major. The companies, and detachments of them, were scattered along the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad and beyond. He, with two companies, occupied an intrenched camp at the extreme end of Morris Cove, not far from Bedford, and relieved some companies of militia who had temporary charge. Some scouting rebel horsemen hovered around occa- sionally, and a few stragglers were captured. After the battle of Gettysburg the regiment was encamped at Loudon, and the men were for weeks constantly under arms, and part of them had a brush with some rebel troopers.
After this regiment was discharged Major Everhart applied through a Con- gressman to the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, for authority to raise a regiment for the war, but was unsuccessful. In 1864, on the report of the attempt on Washington, Major Everhart was raising another company, when the news of the rebel retreat put a stop to recruiting.
In 1876 he was elected to the Senate of Pennsylvania, re-elected in 1880, and there he perhaps prevented the introduction of a resolution expressly affirming the right of the Vice-President to decide the electoral vote on the occasion of the clection of President Hayes. He also opposed the movement, advised by men at Washington, to appropriate a million of dollars to arm the State, for the pur- pose of seeing the electoral vote counted; such procedure, he argued, was unconstitutional. He offered, a few days before the formation of the Electoral Commission, a resolution approving it, by which commission Mr. Hayes was afterward elected. He was the only Republican who voted for the resolution. The next day, with two other Republicans, he supported a similar resolution offered by a Democratic Senator. During his five sessions in the State Senate he perhaps prevented much special legislation by constitutional objections. He constantly opposed severe penalties, and particularly imprisonment for venal offences, as calculated to degrade and not reform, or likely to make the law a dead letter. Ile made a forcible and humorous speech upon the floor of the Senate against incarcerating children for picking up hickory nuts, etc. He made several speeches on extending the jurisdiction of the justices of the peace to jury trials ; on allowing all criminals to testify in their own behalf if they so desire. He also spoke in favor of paying the officers and soldiers who went to Pittsburgh to suppress the riots; and upon military bands of music. Senator Everhart also made able speeches on the resolution to print a report of the great waterways of
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JAMES B. EVERHART.
the State; on the Geodetic Survey of the State; on Constitutional amendments ; on the resolution concerning the deaths of Senators, Governor Bigler, and the late Bayard Taylor, Minister to Germany ; his speech on the latter was printed in pamphlet form by order of the Legislature; on the report of the committee to select statues for the rotunda at Washington, and favored that of General Wayne; and on the resolution concerning the remains of William Penn. In his speech on the graveyard insurance companies, when he introduced the bill to abolish them, he said :
" It is a bill which organizes new corporations on a substantial basis, and pre- vents the abuse of old ones. It does not affect vested rights or benevolent associations. It starts companies upon a cash capital and large numbers, and on the reciprocity of benefits and contributions. It guards them against internal frauds and outside impositions. It gives them room for growth, and yet not scope for mischief. It prescribes conditions which are an earnest of security, and which will attract co-operation and confidence, and be likely to make them prosperous and useful. Its main purpose, however, is by only allowing policies where there is an insurable interest, to prevent the scandalous traffic in the lives of old and sickly persons. It is to destroy this system and break down their occupation who gamble in the dying; who seek for the subjects of insurance in the purlieus of the hospital, the prison and the poorhouse; who count with im- patience the footsteps of the palsied and the respirations of the consumptive, and who sometimes hasten, by violence, to realize their bloody greed. It is to eradi- cate this system, which multiplies policies without limit, and sells them like market wares; which organizes temptations to fraud and felony ; deludes with a promise of instant wealth; demoralizes all labor and business, and inspires con- tempt of decency and fair dealing, and leads, at last, through sin and infamy, to impoverishment, imprisonment and the gallows. It is a system which is worse than the old South Sea scheme or the Mississippi bubble ; worse than the Tulip mania of Holland, or the Multicaulis folly of America. They only squandered money ; this is inhuman. The bill is to arrest this mischief, which seems spreading like a pestilence. It is to restore the ancient credit of insurances, to eliminate the evil elements of speculation, and apply honest methods to mutual interests."
He introduced several beneficial rules for the government of the Senate. He never had any particular hobby, but aimed to prevent bad legislation as much as possible. He amended a number of bills on all subjects, many, perhaps, for the better : one, a tax bill, which might otherwise have prevented Chester county from recovering some thousands of dollars of overpaid taxes. He served on the General Judiciary Committee for two years, and was considered attentive and useful. He was also on the Federal Relations, and important questions were often referred to him ; later, he was Chairman also of the Committee on Educa- tion. In 1879 the members of the lower House from Chester county were instructed for him for United States Senator.
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JAMES B. EVERHART.
He never accepted a railroad pass, and was the member of the Legislature who, when no objections were made to paying, declined to take more than the thousand dollars salary, and who refused the perquisite of postage stamps, after the late stationery law went into effect, though he does not criticise others for doing otherwise, or assume any merit for it himself.
He is highly regarded throughout Chester county, and is favorably spoken of not only by the county but by the State press, which have copied several of his speeches, making favorable comment upon them.
In politics he has always been independent of rings, yet a consistent Repub- lican, sustaining the ticket on the stump and at the polls.
He has all his life been considered liberal with his means, but never for any unlawful purpose ; still he has never made a boast of his liberality in any form.
In 1882 he was placed in nomination by the Republicans of Chester county as their choice for Congressman. The Sixth District being composed of Chester and Delaware counties, it was necessary to appoint conferees to meet those from Delaware county. The conferces united upon Mr. Everhart as the choice of the district. His Democratic opponent was J. Edward Clyde, Esq., of Delaware county, and the vote in the November election was : Mr. Everhart, 14,615 ; Mr. Clyde, 9,810. In 1884 he was again nominated by a greater vote than before, and in November of the same year defeated his Democratic opponent, Dr. Frederick Heckel, the vote that year being for Mr. Everhart, 18,593; and for Dr. Heckel, 11,551, Mr. Everhart's majority being the largest ever given for Congressman in the district.
In Congress he was a member of the Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures, interesting on account of the silver question; and also of the Com- mittee on War Claims, a most laborious body, having much law matter to deter- mine : and during the entire term he never missed a regular meeting of either committee, nor a final vote on any measure before the House.
During his service in Congress he aided a number of persons in securing pen- sions. He secured the establishment of several new post-offices and postal routes in the district; presented to Congress a large number of petitions upon various subjects from citizens of the district. Among the bills introduced of a public character were the following: To equalize the right of Fishing in the navigable waters of the United States; to establish the Metric System in gov- ernmental affairs ; to erect a public building in West Chester; to crect monuments to William Penn and General Wayne in Washington. He offered various amendments to bills, such as : To prevent payment of salary to Fitz-John Porter ; to the law for counting the Electoral votes for President and Vice-President; to pay the Government bonds in gold or its equivalent ; to provide for designs for American ships by Americans ; to correct the law of the Presidential succession ; to secure the payment to certain creditors of taxes refunded; to prevent hasty legislation by the rules of the House, and other amendments.
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JAMES B. EVERHART.
He also introduced a motion in opposition to the River and Harbor bill. He made an able speech in favor of the Oleomargarine bill, which was universally approved by the Dairymen Associations of the country. He strongly supported the passage of the bill authorizing the publication of the Geodetic Survey. He introduced a bill authorizing the erection of public buildings in the city of Chester, which failed of passage by only one vote.
In all his speeches before the House his remarks received the closest attention from the members, which to those who are familiar with the proceedings of that body is unusual.
He proposed important amendments to other bills : amongst which the one that presumes every applicant for a pension to have been sound when he enlisted was considered a most beneficial piece of legislation. Besides attending carefully to the public business, he neglected no private application of his constituents connected with his office.
T. L. O.
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NOTE .- Since the above sketch of Mr. Everhart was written and put in type he has passed away. He died at West Chester early on the morning of August 23, 1888, from an attack of dysentery. He was surrounded by his family and near relatives at the time of his decease. He died in full possession of his faculties, and for a considerable time prior to breathing his last was fully aware of the approach of death, which he faced with calmness and fortitude. He was buried on Monday, August 27th, at Oakland Cemetery, West Chester.
The Philadelphia Times, in an editorial the day after his death, pays the following tribute to his worth and character :
" The death of ex Congressman James B. Everhart will be very widely lamented. In Chester county, where he has enjoyed the highest representative honors, his death will be mourned in all circles regard- less of partisan faith. Mr. Everhart was a type of the best and truest representative men of the age. He was not only honest in purpose, but he was honest in action, and, however his fellow-citizens differed from him, he always commanded the respect of friend and foe. In the State Senate Mr. Everhart was known as one of the few who were ever faithful to conviction, and in Congress he maintained the same high standard of integrity. Had he been more pliable he would doubtless have died a Congressman, but he preferred fidelity to his faith in the right even when weighed in the balance with success Such a man will long live in the grateful memories of his people."
Other papers throughout the State bore testimony to the esteem in which he was held by the commu- nity, and to his high character as a statesman and public man -Ens.
HON. EDWIN S. OSBORNE.
EDWIN SYLVANUS OSBORNE.
H ON. EDWIN S. OSBORNE, Congressman-at-large from the State of Pennsyl- vania, was born at Bethany, Wayne county, Pa., on the 7th of August, 1839. He is a direct descendant of John Osborne, who came from England and settled in East Windsor, Conn., prior to May, 1645, and lie inherits revolutionary blood. His great-grandfather, Thomas Osborne, was a soldier in the Continental army, and was killed at the battle of Monmouth, N. J. His grandmother was a daughter of Ephraim Oakley, an officer in the Continental army, and Susannah, a sister of Colonel Raymond, who served with distinction on the staff of General Washington during the Revolutionary war. In 1798 she married Cooper Osborne, son of Thomas Osborne, and they settled in what is now Bethany, Wayne county, Pa. The country was then a wild forest. Here Cooper Osborne bought some land, began a clearing and built a log house, and here Sylvanus, the father of Edwin S., was born in September, 1812. Cooper Osborne died in 1818, leaving his widow with six children to care for. She was a woman of
great energy and determination of character, and struggled along successfully in keeping the home and equipping her children for the active duties of life. She died in 1856, having lived long enough to see the wilderness subdued into cul- tivated fields, mourned by her kindred and beloved by all who knew her.
In 1836 Sylvanus Osborne married Lucy, daughter of Cyrus Messenger, of Bridgewater, Susquehanna county, Pa., a descendant of Henry Messenger, who resided in Boston prior to 1640. Henry Messenger was the first known pro- prietor of the land on which now stands the building owned and occupied by the Massachusetts Historical Society, and a part of that now covered by the Boston Museum.
After a preliminary schooling, Edwin S. Osborne entered the University of Northern Pennsylvania, and later became a student at the New York State and National Law School at Poughkeepsie, graduating from the latter in the class of 1860 with the degree of LL.B. He read law at Wilkes-Barre, and was ad- mitted to the bar of Luzerne county on the 26th of February, 1861.
In April, 1861, when the great civil war broke out, he enlisted as a private in Company C, Eighth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served in the cam- paign of 1861 with General Patterson's division. Subsequently he was authorized by Governor Curtin to recruit a company, and was mustered in as Captain, to rank from August 22, 1862. His regiment was assigned to the First Corps, Army of the Potomac. From September, 1862, until February, 1863, he served upon the staff of General Wadsworth. In February, 1863, at his own request, he was returned to his regiment, and served with it until June, 1863, when he was again detailed for staff duty and appointed Assistant Inspector-General. Hc remained with the First Corps until it was consolidated with the Fifth Corps,
(37)
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EDWIN S. OSBORNE.
when he was assigned to duty with the First Division of that corps. He remained with this division until September, 1864, when he was transferred to the Third Division of the Fifth Corps, and remained with this command until the close of the war. He participated with the Army of the Potomac in all the bat- tles in which that army was engaged after he joined it. He was on several occa- sions highly complimented for gallant conduct and skilful handling of troops in the face of the enemy. He became Major of his regiment, was three times brevetted for meritorious conduct, and shortly after the surrender of Lee was appointed a Judge Advocate, and assigned to duty in the Bureau of Military Justice. While Judge Advocate he was detailed by the Secretary of War on sev- eral important missions, among others to investigate the charges preferred against citizens of Pennsylvania held by military authority, and report to the Secretary what action, according to the law and evidence, would be proper in each case. Through his recommendation those so held were set at liberty, or turned over to the civil authorities. He was also sent by the War Department to Macon, Andersonville, and other points in the South, to investigate and report upon the treatment of the Union soldiers while held as prisoners of war by the Confeder- ates. This investigation led to the arrest and trial of Captain Wirz, Confederate commandant at Andersonville. He drew up the charges that were preferred against Wirz, and prepared the case for trial, which resulted in his conviction and execution. After performing this duty he offered his resignation, which, after some hesitation, was accepted by the Secretary of War, and he returned to Wilkes-Barre and resumed the practice of the law.
In 1870 he was appointed Major-General in the National Guard of Pennsylva- nia, and commanded the troops sent to Scranton in 1871 to suppress the mining riots. For his action on that occasion he received the thanks and congratula- tions of the Commonwealth through the Governor, and was honorably mentioned in his annual message to the Legislature. He commanded the troops at Hazle- ton in 1874 during the troubles in the Lehigh coal fields, and at Susquehanna during the strike on the New York and Erie Railroad in 1875, and at Wilkes- Barre during the riots of 1877. He retired from the National Guard in 1878. Hc was one of the originators of the system, and it was largely through his efforts that the Legislature, in 1873, repealed the military tax.
General Osborne has been a member of the Grand Army of the Republic since its organization, and was Commander of the Department of Pennsylvania in 1883. He was elected a Representative-at-large in Congress from Pennsylvania in 1884 by the largest vote ever polled in the State, it having exceeded the vote for Blaine and Logan two thousand three hundred and thirty-six. His total vote was four hundred and seventy-six thousand two hundred and forty. He was re-elected in 1886 by a majority that exceeded that of General Beaver for Gov- ernor by five thousand nine hundred and sixty-four. He has always been a Republican. In Congress he has advocated with force the doctrine of protection to American labor, as may be seen by reference to the following extracts from a
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EDWIN S. OSBORNE.
speech delivered July 24, 1886, in the first session of the Forty-ninth Congress upon the subject of increasing the Navy with American-built ships :
" It has long been a matter of astonishment that the American Congress has contemplated with such supreme indifference the dilapidated and utterly inefficient condition into which our once proud navy has been allowed to fall. When the Republic was in its infancy, and while still struggling for its exist- ence, no flag floated with more confidence than our starry banner, and the heroic deeds of the American Navy during those years can never be recalled without emotions of pleasure and pride. The renown of our Navy spread through the world and received unbounded praise. From that high eminence we have suffered an ignominious fall, and to-day it can hardly be claimed that we have a navy worthy to be so called. If this Congress shall succeed in putting under headway any plan that shall result ultimately in giving the country such a navy as our wants and standing demand, its work in that regard will receive the just plaudits of the nation, and will be remembered with much gratitude through all coming time. . . .
"Mr. Chairman, we have all the material in our own country necessary to construct these vessels, and why should we go to the foreigner to buy that which we already have ? Our mechanics and ship-build- ers are as intelligent and skilful as the foreigner. Why should we go to him for his labor? To go abroad for anything entering into the building, construction and armament of these vessels is not patriotic, it is not just to our own people, it is not American, and I can never consent to do it. Whenever our people have been brought in contact with the cheap labor of Europe they have risen in their might and repelled it with just indignation. I need hardly ask you to remember the discontent aronsed among the coal-workers of Pennsylvania when a few years ago the mining corporations threatened and in some cases actually did import contract labor to take the place of our citizens in their mines. Nor need I, perhaps, call to your mind the degrading influence imported Chinese labor has had upon American labor on the Pacific coast.
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