A history of Columbia County, Pennsylvania. From the earliest times., Part 29

Author: Freeze, John G. (John Gosse), 1825-1913
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Bloomsburg, Pa. : Elwell & Bittenbender
Number of Pages: 594


USA > Pennsylvania > Columbia County > A history of Columbia County, Pennsylvania. From the earliest times. > Part 29


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"One named Reutant," (Rutan) "a preacher, manifested much concern in regard to his flock, and begged to be permitted to fill the vacated pulpit. The commission consented, on condition that he would, when he got home, write a full account and confession of all he knew in connection with these conspiracies. To this Reutant (Rutan) "expressed himself willing to comply, and he was accordingly paroled, but he has not since been heard from, as promised."


Upon the (so-called) trial of Mr. Rutan, we believe the Hadley meeting was not insisted upon as a disloyal assemblage and the participants therein as criminal, although it was with reference to it that Mr. R. was originally examined with great strictness and directed to make up a statement. The pretense that it was crimi- nal or disloyal had in the meantime been completely exploded upon the trial of other prisoners and could no longer be set up. But other pretexts for his conviction were found. It was charged that he had attended one or more political Club meetings in Lu- zerne county, the most remarkable feature of which was, that like those of the "Loyal Leagues" they were held in secret. He was also charged with having made disloyal declarations on sev- eral occasions in discourse or conversation. The main declaration insisted upon however, was neither proved nor credible. It con- sisted of violent and profane language, which no sensible man


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ever believed he uttered, and the witness to prove it, was flatly impeached as unworthy of belief, and that too even by republi- can witnesses. A balder case for merely censuring a man was never made out, and there could be no pretense even that a crimi- nal offense had been committed.


Such however was the case upon which Mr. Rutan was con- victed and sentenced to a severe imprisonment which was only terminated by the interference of the President of the United States. Altogether he was subjected to great hardship and suf- fering ; his crops were lost ; his business broken up, and his fam- ily harassed and humiliated.


Case of David Lewis :- Mr. Lewis, a leading citizen and rep- utable gentleman of Sugarloaf township, was taken out of his bed at 11 o'clock at night of the day before the State election of 1864, by soldiers, and compelled to go with them to the military camp at Coleman's, six miles distant. He was kept there without ex- amination over election day and until 11 o'clock on the day fol- lowing, when Capt. Short who was, in command at the camp, ex- amined and discharged him. There was no pretense that he had committed any criminal offense, and the questions asked him were only appropriate to him in the character of a witness. Mr. Lewis was fifty-three years of age, and would at any time have attended, upon request, at the camp or elsewhere in the neighborhood, to answer interrogatories. Of course he was arrested simply to pre- vent him from polling his vote at the Sugarloaf election, and after that object was accomplished he was permitted to go home and never further called in question.


Mr. Lewis made the following statement in regard to the mat- ter: "I reside in Sugarloaf township, Columbia county. On Mon- day night, October 10, (the night before the election.) soldiers came to my house and arrested me. It was about 11 o'clock, and I had been some time in bed and asleep. There were two soldiers at the house. A third one was in the road, having in charge Eze- kiel Cole, who had been arrested at his house a mile distant, and from his bed as he informed me. I was taken with Cole to the camp below Benton, on the Coleman farm, about six miles, arriv- ing there shortly after midnight. I was there put under guard and kept until Wednesday without any examination or informa-


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tion as to the cause of arrest. About an hour after Cole and I ar- rived in camp, Rev. Mr. Rutan was brought in, (probably between one and two o'clock,) and on Tuesday morning Daniel B. Hart- man, one of the election board of Benton township, was brought in. Neither I nor any of the others were drafted men. I am 53 years of age, the others are about the same age, except Hartman, who is a cripple.


On Wednesday morning Cole was called up, and after some questions asked him, was discharged. I was called up about 11 o'clock and asked several questions by Capt. Short, which I an- swered. He then consulted with a man named Pealer-commonly called "Professor Pealer"-for a few moments, and then told me I was dismissed for the present. He ordered the guard to let me go. I told him I would have thanked him kindly if he had called me up the day before and asked me those questions. He said he could not attend to it. Hartman had been examined the day be- fore and released.


Rutan, Cole and myself, were legal voters, and we were depriv- ed of our votes by these night arrests and by being kept in cus- tody over election day. We had all, as well as Hartman, been living openly at our homes for some time before.


I would have answered all the questions put to me by Capt. Short, at any time, without hesitation, and would have attended for that purpose at the camp or any other place in the neighbor- hood, upon reasonable notice.


Nov. 11th, 1864.


DAVID LEWIS.


Case of Ezekiel Cole :- Mr. Cole was also a citizen of Sugar- loaf township, of reputable standing, not liable to military duty nor charged with any offense. He likewise was seized the night before the election by soldiers, taken seven miles to the Coleman camp, kept over election day and discharged the morning after- wards. The form of putting a few questions to him was gone through with, and he was told he might go home. In his case also a lawful voter was silenced, and the election return of Sugar- loaf township slightly improved for the radical party.


Case of Daniel B. Hartman :- This gentleman who was a cripple and one of the election officers of Benton township, was


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seized on election morning at the place of voting and hurried off to the camp several miles distant. This was one of the acts in- tended to intimidate voters and keep them away from the polls. Mr. H. was, however, discharged some time during the same day and permitted to go home as he best could. There was no reason at all for his arrest except the political one above mentioned.


Case of Thomas Downs :- Thomas Downs was an elector of Bloom township in 1864, a son-in-law to Michael Casey, an old and well-known citizen, and had been a soldier in service in the war. He enlisted in May 1861 and served a year and a half when he was taken prisoner. He was subsequently paroled and report- ed himself to our military authorities at Annapolis by whom he was directed to go home and remain there until called for. He never received any notice that he was exchanged nor any infor- mation that renewed service under his enlistment was required. In the summer of 1864, however, he was drafted under the con- scription law, reported himself in a proper manner, paid 300 dol- lars commutation money, and was discharged from the draft. He had been openly at Bloomsburg many months before the general election in 1864, when, upon going to the place of election and approaching the polls, ticket in hand, he was seized, pulled away and taken into custody by soldiers of the Deputy Provost Mar- shal's guard. He was held by them very carefully, permitted to to go home for his dinner, but not permitted to approach the Court House where the election was held, and was subsequently forwarded as an arrested soldier to Georgetown in the District of Columbia. This arrest on election day was a great administration triumph. Another vote was gained, or rather another voter was silenced, and for the time Capt. Silver and his soldiers were in high credit.


The editor of The Columbian became fully acquainted with the facts of Mr. Down's case subsequently, and upon his energetic remonstrance to the Provost Marshal General regarding the hard- ship of his case, the injustice done him, and the positive illegality of holding him to double service-that is, under his enlistment and under the draft-secured the refunding to his wife of the $300 commutation paid by him. This was accomplished after some expense and much trouble, in June 1865.


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We will only add, that Mr. Downs complains that his certifi- cate of discharge from the draft was taken from him, or stolen from him, at Georgetown, whereby he was prevented from produc- ing it upon his trial.


Case of Daniel H. Fry :- Mr. Daniel H. Fry of Main town- ship was not in accord in his political views with the administra- tion at Washington. His case required attention and he was waited upon the day before the election (Monday, October 10th, 1864,) by soldiers, and arrested by them. Mr. Fry stared upon his captors and inquired the cause of his arrest. They told him he was a deserter, which statement put Mr. Fry into a state of complete bewilderment. He protested he could not understand the accusation ; that he had never been in military service even at a militia training, much less in a regular force ; that he had never enlisted or been drafted for the war, nor had he been informed in any manner that his military abilities were required by the Gov- ernment. The answer to all his protestations was, that "orders must be executed," and he was brought forthwith across the Sus- quehanna to Bloomsburg and presently found himself thrust like a felon into the county jail. The thick jail door closed behind him and its iron chain was hooked securely. All this was quite a new experience to Mr. Fry, the idea even of going to jail never having before entered his mind, but he summoned his courage and recollecting that his friend Mr. Michael F. Eyerly resided hereabouts, he sent for him, opened to him his situation and re- quested his friendly aid. Mr. Eyerly was skilled in the German language, had some inkling of the law, and naturally sympathized with Mr. F. in his "pursuit of knowledge under difficulties." His selection as adviser and friend was therefore judicious. It hap- pened also that the elder Fry had followed the younger to Blooms- burg, and that he likewise was inquisitive as to the cause of his son's arrest. He had brought him up "to the best of his knowl- edge and belief" in a proper manner, and was astonished and grieved to find not only that he was the inmate of a public jail but that he had concealed his iniquity (whatever it might be) from parental inspection and reproof.


Mr. Eyerly and Mr. Fry Sr., prosecuted their researches for some time without result. The arrest continued a profound mys-


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tery to client, counsel, parent and public. But at length Capt. Silver opened a little the road of investigation, for he was found competent not only to execute the law but to expound it also. His exposition was to the following purport :- 'True it was,' he said, 'that Daniel H. Fry had not been in fact drafted into the military service or notified to appear, but he ought to have been ; that Daniel Fry, the father, had been drawn in the draft, had been notified to appear and had duly reported himself to the Board of Enrolment, but this was all a mistake; the proceeding ought to have been upon Daniel H. Fry, therefore the latter had been seized as a deserter !' He might have added, like another Dogberry, that though this was not 'crowner quest law' it was good Provost Marshal law, which had become to all intents and purposes, "the law of the land."


His explanation not being satisfactory, affidavits of the facts were at once prepared and sworn to, and application made to the Dep. Prov. Marshal to discharge Mr. Fry, parole him, to take bail for his appearance, etc., but all to no purpose. He was held in confinement beyond election-day, when upon orders from the military authorities at Harrisburg, he was discharged upon the ground that his arrest was illegal, unauthorized, and improper. We will add, that it was clearly outrageous and criminal also, and that the sole motive for making it was to deprive Mr. Fry of his vote and to affect the result of the election. Considering the time when the arrest was made and the circumstances which at- tended and followed it, this conclusion is inevitable. And the pretext put forward for his arrest is too absurd and preposterous to merit the slightest attention. It merits only contempt.


Cases of Holter and Heller :- On Saturday October 8, 1864, (three days before the State election,) Daniel Holter a citizen of Hemlock township was arrested by soldiers under the orders of the Deputy Provost Marshal, and was brought by them to Blooms- burg and lodged in the county jail. On Monday following Wm. H. Heller, another citizen of Hemlock township was arrested by the same authority and was also lodged in the jail. He was promised hearing or examination of his case on Monday and again on Tuesday morning, but none was given him. In fact both the prisoners were committed to prison without any warrant or other


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written authority, or cause shown, and no hearing or examination of their cases was permitted up to the afternoon of election day when the events to be presently mentioned took place. That they were unlawfully arrested and for the express purpose of depriving them of their votes at the election, is most unquestionable.


Holter and Heller secured their votes in the manner we shall describe, but were hurried off to Harrisburg on election night and held there in confinement for two days. But when their cases were examined by the military authorities there, they were promptly and honorably discharged aud returned to their homes. There being no cause or even a reasonable pretense for their ar- rest, they could not be held in custody nor their persecution con- tinued. The high-handed, outrageous and shameless proceedings against them came to an inglorious conclusion.


Case of Sheriff Furman and Robert C. Fruit :- Holter and Heller (of whom we have just spoken) being in the custody of the Sheriff on election day, it was believed that their votes were silenced or prevented and that a certain radical gain was secured. The fact was the subject of conversation in the town and of evi- dent exultation with the radical leaders. It was so good a thing to have power on their side; to have an accommodating Deputy Provost Marshal with a guard of soldiers under his hand, acting in concert with the troops in the county, to pick up voters and keep them away from the polls! After a time the rights of Hol- ter and Heller as voters came into consideration among their po- litical friends, and the Sheriff consulted Senator Buckalew on the subject. The latter promptly advised him that Holter and Heller had been unlawfully and improperly arrested; that they were not liable at all to be arrested by the military authorities of the United States, never having been mustered into the Federal service nor drafted under United States laws; that there was no law, State or Federal, which required or authorized him (the Sheriff) to re- ceive drafted men or deserters, or those claimed to be such, into the county prison, or to hold them there in custody for one mo- ment; and that what he (the Sheriff) had already done and might thereafter do in the matter of receiving and holding such men in charge, was and would be entirely voluntary and upon his own responsibility without any obligation of law. These views were


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afterwards fully sustained by the military authorities at Harris- burg and by Gov. Curtin and his Secretary and Attorney General. The Sheriff was further advised that his relations to the Deputy Provost Marshal in the matter, (putting the legal question aside,) were simply those of comity ; that having received the men to accommodate the Deputy Provost Marshal and holding them for that reason alone, good faith could only require that he should not permit their escape, but should deliver them up to the Deputy Provost Marshal when called for. In the meantime he could per- mit them to vote in their proper election district without any vio- lation of faith or of duty. Further, that it was evident that Hol- ter and Heller had been arrested and put in his charge not only without lawful cause, but for the express purpose of depriving them of their rights as electors, and that to this fraudulent and unlawful enterprise he (the Sheriff) would become a party by keeping them away from the polls. This, as nearly as we can as- certain, was the advice received by Sheriff Furman and he acted upon it promptly. A carriage was procured, Mr. Robert C. Fruit . {Clerk to the County Commissioners) volunteered as an aid to the Sheriff, and the men were driven from the jail by way of Iron street and the mouth of Little Fishing Creek to the Hemlock elec_ tion polls, four miles distant, where they gave their votes. Thus the shameful fraud intended by their arrest was defeated. All honor to Josiah H. Furman and to the men concerned with him in executing this act of evident justice! They preserved the law from violation, securing to two of their fellow-citizens their un- doubted rights and defied the rage and vengeance of power! Their action was legal, laudable, bold and timely, met the neces- sities of the case in exactly the proper manner, and deserves to be held in lasting remembrance.


But the Sheriff and his assistant did not escape punishment for their upright conduct. When, in the course of the afternoon, the fact transpired that they had taken Holter and Heller to Buck Horn to enable them to vote, radical excitement and indignation became intense. To have the fruits of rascality snatched from their mouths in the very hour of sweet enjoyment was intolerable and a desire for full vengeance filled every breast. The dignity also of Mr. Deputy Provost Marshal Silver had been touched at a tender point and required signal vindication. Therefore, a squad


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of soldiers of Capt. Silver's guard was sent in pursuit of the Sher- iff and his companions with orders to arrest them and bring them to the Captain's Head Quarters in the Exchange Block or Biggs' Buildings. This order was executed with as much of speed as possible, but almost too late to take the arrested parties flagrante delicto. For the Sheriff and his assistant with Holter and Heller in charge were within 500 yards of the jail, on their return, when the soldiers met and arrested them. They were all-the whole party-put in strict confinement and held behind bayonets and barred doors during the remainder of the day, with imperfect ac- cess of friends and with no knowledge of the treatment or fate for which they were reserved. That there was no popular out- break upon that occasion ; that the arrested men and their friends and the people generally submitted to this open and insolent out- rage upon the laws-this most flagrant invasion of private right and of the principles of liberty-furnished high evidence not only of their peaceful disposition but of their determination to give no color of justification to the slanders of their enemies. In fact, during the whole latter half of 1864 while arrests wholly unjusti- fiable were being made in various parts of our county and circum- stances well calculated to excite indignation and turbulence were continually occurring, our people everywhere remained peaceful and law-abiding. Under great and continued provocation they firmly kept the peace and by their conduct gave the most effectual contradiction possible to those miscreants both at home and abroad who defamed them. By unbroken patience and by upright con_ duct they proved beyond all dispute that the charge of insurrec- tion by them, or of an insurrectionary spirit among them, was a base and utter falsehood, fit only for denunciation or contempt.


Sheriff Furman and the others above named, were arrested about four o'clock in the afternoon. They were sent in the eve- ning of the same day, under guard, to Harrisburg, where they ar- rived a little after midnight. They were then thrust into a room in the third story of a building used by the Provost Marshal, among negroes, bounty jumpers, deserters and other vile scum of the army. There they were kept that night and Wednesday and Wednesday night, but by reason of the active exertions of their friends on Thursday, they were graciously allowed quarters in the County Penitentiary.


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Discharge of Sheriff Furman and others :- It will be observed by our narrative, (carried already to the point of time when Sher- iff Furman and Mr. Fruit were furnished quarters in the Dauphin county Penitentiary,) that two important offices in our county were virtually suspended and the transaction of public business interrupted. The Sheriff was withdrawn from his office and from the charge of the County prison, as was Mr. Fruit from the office of the County Commissioners, whose business was confided to him as Clerk between the meetings of the Board. Public interests therefore, as well as private rights, were assailed in the election day arrests which we have described. It will also be observed that the Courts of Justice were wholly ignored in the proceeding and treated with open contempt. Judge Elwell, it may well be assumed, had a proper interest in the uninterrupted performance of duty by the Sheriff-the principal officer of his Court-as well as in the maintenance and due administration within his judicial district, of those general laws of the State which guarantee and protect the liberty of the citizen. But no opportunity was sought or permitted of bringing the arrested men before him for examina- tion ; in fact they were hurried off to Harrisburg to avoid due in- quiry and judicial action by him, which it was well known must condemn the arrests and restore the arrested men to liberty. Nor was any greater respect paid to the District Court of the United States having jurisdiction in this county (to which any offender against the laws of the United States might have been sent in due course of law) than was paid to our State Court. Military power, when it assumes despotic functions, avoids and hates the Civil Courts as much as the Devil is said to avoid and detest holy water, and never willingly submits to their jurisdiction and cen- sure; lawless itself, it hates all regular justice and the tribunals by which that justice is administered.


But we will proceed to trace the progress of those events at Harrisburg which affected Sheriff Furman and his fellow victims. And in doing so we shall avail ourselves of papers and memor- anda which were made at the time when the events occurred (and now furnished us) as well as of personal information concerning unwritten facts which we have been able to procure from reliable sources. Fortunately, at the time in question and at other times subsequently, a member of our bar was in attendance at Harris-


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burg as one of the counsel for the Columbia county prisoners first arrested, and was in a situation to obtain full and accurate infor- mation of all that took place there. To him and to the other counsel (members of the Harrisburg bar) who were engaged in the defense of our people before the Military Commission, we are largely indebted for documents and for details of fact upon the subject of the military inroad and occupation,


Passing over intervening time we will come to the occurrences of Thursday October 13th 1864. Early in that day Mr. Bucka- lew (who had arrived at Harrisburg) visited the secretary of the Commonwealth (Mr. Slifer) and opened up to him the matter of the arrests. Subsequently by appointment he had an interview in the Executive Building with Gov. Curtin, Secretary Slifer and Mr. Meredith, the Attorney General. The whole subject was con- sidered and a common opinion entertained and expressed that the arrests were improper and unlawful. Gov. Curtin, however, upon being appealed to as the Chief Magistrate of the State (and as such bound to see that the laws were faithfully executed, and that his subordinate state officials received due protection) declared that he could do nothing with Capt. Dodge (the little military satrap who held command at Harrisburg at the time;) that Dodge had treated his Secretary in an insulting manner upon a recent occasion when a proper interposition on behalf of a citizen was attempted; but that he would telegraph a statement of the case to Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War, and ask for him an order of dis- charge. This plan of proceeding involving delay and an uncer- tain issue, Mr. Buckalew said he would himself confront the terri- ble Dodge and endeavor to obtain from him what was desired. Pursuing this design he went to the court house and found Dodge, cap in hand, about to leave his office and apparently not at all inclined to a protracted interview or to any patient atten- tion to business. We have had the scene which ensued described to us, but can hardly hope to succeed in representing it by writ- ten language. Dodge wanted to be off; the Senator insisted on being heard, and there was a hearing and conversation pretty much after the following fashion :




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