USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > A twentieth century history of Erie County, Pennsylvania : a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 41
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"Who was in command?" I asked. There memory failed. "I ought to remember," he said, "but I cannot recollect." Strange, is it not, that matters at the time of so great moment should by and by drift into complete forgetfulness? The captain and drill-master of the Erie Home Guards was Captain John Graham, of the Eighty-third Regiment, then home because his term of enlistment had expired.
My own recollection is that there were drills two evenings in each week in Empire Hall. That is on the uppermost floor of the Isaac Baker building at the corner of Fifth and State streets. The drills occurred there, but every gun was carried home by the member of the guard with whom it was entrusted, for these minute men were re- quired to be ready for instant service whenever the alarm should be given. And they did hold themselves in readiness, and continued alert until a northern winter rendered further watchfulness un- necessary.
When spring returned and the waters of the lake were again navigable there was no longer need for the minute men's services. The war was at an end. Fear and apprehension gave place to delirious
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joy, and the memory of that dreadful time passed as a horrid dream.
That mud fort, built in such feverish haste by so many of Erie's distinguished citizens, but never ornamented with a gun, gradually faded away as the elements acted upon it and as vegetation persist- ently encroached. But it was traceable for as much as twenty years- perhaps more. It was an earnest of what the despised home guards might be depended upon to do-it was proof that when the emerg- ency arose Erie would not be without a man to stand up for it. There were many men not cowards who remained at home during that war period, and occasion might have demonstrated it right here in Erie.
Erie had responded nobly to each call that had been made for men to defend the Government, but as time passed the demands in- creased. The first call, at the breaking out of the war, for 75,000 men for three months, was responded to from Erie by the organization of the Erie regiment under Col. McLane. The second call was for 300,000 men for three years, and responding to this, there went out from this part of the state the Eighty-third and One Hundred and Eleventh regiments. In July, 1862, the third call of President Lincoln, for 300,000 more, was issued and responding. the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Regiment took the field, besides several companies of cavalry. But it was not enough to meet the requisition, and therefore a draft was decided upon. Now, while there were many, very many, loyal and true men in the county, there were also many, perhaps also loyal and true, but lacking in courage, and the announcement that there was to be a conscription had a very natural effect. There was consternation. Every effort within the power of the authorities to render a draft unnecessary was tried. The offers of bounties for en- listment of $50, made by the city of Erie, and $25,000 appropriated by the county commissioners, it was hoped might stimulate recruiting so that a draft could be avoided. It did not, however, and an enrol- ment of the militia was made, preliminary to the conscription, I. B. Gara having charge of this work. W. P. Gilson was appointed a deputy marshal to prevent the escape to Canada of men subject to draft ; B. B. Vincent was commissioner to manage the draft and Dr. C. Brandes surgeon.
The first draft was held at the courthouse October 16, 1862, and 1,055 men were drawn, representing the entire county except North East and Springfield, those townships having filled their quotas. For a time there was lively hustling to procure substitutes, the market quotations ranging from $50 to $250 each, and even at these prices not many were to be found. The state act provided that the payment of $300 would relieve conscripts from service, and not a few who were well enough off to raise the money did so and staid at home. But there were many who neither bought substitutes, paid the state fee, nor stayed at home. The deputy marshal was not vigilant enough to prevent their escape to Canada. Besides, about 300 were exempted
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because of physical disability, so that scarcely more than 500 men went forward to recruit the depleted ranks of the army. The councils of Erie appropriated $45,000 for the relief of the families of the drafted men, and the Ladies' Aid Societies furnished a Thanksgiving dinner for each of the families.
The second draft which occurred at Waterford on August 24th and 25th, 1863. This was conducted under the United States law which took the matter of conscription out of the hands of the states. Lieut .- Col. H. S. Campbell, late of the Eighty-third Regiment, was serving as Provost Marshal for this Congressional District and the draft took place at his office in Waterford, with Jerome Powell of Elk county as commissioner and Dr. John Macklin of Jefferson as surgeon. The draft was for 1,400 men, but the net result was very much short of that figure. According to statements in the newspapers of the time, 83 furnished substitutes, 245 furnished commutation, 706 were exempted and but 127 went forward.
In October, 1863, President Lincoln issued his fourth call for recruits-for 300,000 more; in October, 1864, the fifth call, for 500,000. was issued, and in January, 1865, the sixth and last, requiring 300,000 additional. There had of course been recruiting in progress in Erie county, but nothing like enough to supply its proportion of what the State of Pennsylvania was called upon to furnish. Another draft be- came imperative and this occurred at Ridgway on March 6, 1865, the Provost Marshal's office having been removed here from Waterford. The excitement of the people that this draft provoked was. in Erie, much more intense than that which had characterized either of the others. This was accounted for by the fact that 2,010 names had been drawn for Erie county, and the list from which the draft had been made was not permitted to include any previously disqualified. But, notwithstanding the fact that to all appearances the war was near its end, Atlanta and all of Georgia having been taken, and, in Virginia the scene of action so circumscribed that Richmond and Petersburg were all that were left to be conquered and these in a desperate way, there was intense apprehension prevalent, and on the morning when the list of the drafted had been received at the office of the Dispatch on Fifth street. a dense throng of thousands had gathered. Upon almost every face anxiety was depicted, and upon hundreds grief succeeded as the names were read from the second story win- dow of the newspaper office. There was many a distressing scene in that congested thoroughfare that March morning, and later there was active going to and fro to obtain substitutes, for this was a draft with no string attached. In an occasional instance as much as $1,500 was paid for a substitute and in numerous cases $800 and $900. Most of this draft went forward, but practically all were back again in their homes in June, for the war ended in a month after the conscription had taken place.
CHAPTER XXXII .- THE WAR DEBT PAID.
THE COUNTY SCRIP AND HOW IT WON OUT .- THE END OF THE WAR. -HOW THE NEWS CAME AND THE CELEBRATION.
The war was an expensive thing, not alone to the general govern- ment, which had the great bulk of all the war expense to bear, but every other lesser division was also involved separately, and Erie county, in common with every other county of the northern states, heaped up a stu- pendous indebtedness in an almost incredibly short space of time. It is not a difficult matter to account for this condition of affairs. The county of Erie was required to furnish its proportion of the troops demanded by the government at Washington for the prosecution of the war. If the soldiers came forward from motives of pure patriotism and volunteered their services there was not much expense to the county connected with the business, and at first the recruiting was upon this basis. Men felt it to be a duty on their part to tender their services, and even more, to their country in the time of need. In the course of time, however, there was a great deal more reluctance on the part of young mmen to enlist. The danger incident to the service, and the hardship in- separable from it, known to and understood by those still at home, were naturally feared, and it required more than patriotic speeches, no matter how able the orators, to overcome the reluctance of those who might enlist but did not feel the demand of duty drawing strong enough. The men must be had; it was imperative that they should. Therefore, it became necessary to offer inducements, and this the county commis- sioners at length decided to do. As early as 1862 offers of bounties of $50 to each recruit were made, and it became necessary also to appro- priate large sums for the equipment of regiments. As the time passed the bounty rate increased until toward the end the county paid as much as $300 for a single enlistment and the State act was amended to allow as high as $400 for each volunteer.
There was no ready money in the county treasury to meet this extra- ordinary demand, therefore warrants were issued. As these bore 6 per cent interest they were readily accepted by the people, who cashed them for the recruits, at a discount if they could, at par if they had to. By the beginning of the year 1864 the amount of indebtedness of the county
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on account of war expenses, and represented by the outstanding warrants, was over $400,000.
The question of providing for this debt had become one of great mo- ment, engaging the attention of the citizens in general but especially of the county commissioners. To the latter the financial condition of the county assumed a most serious aspect. Besides the $400,000, owing on account of the war expenses, there was a railroad debt of $200,000, representing the county's subscription to the stock of the Sunbury & Erie Railroad, and the indebtedenss for the new court house (finished in 1853), of between $50,000 and $60,000. All told the indebtedness of the county was $700,000. This was the situation the latter half of the year 1863. Considering that this was, none of it, definitely provided for, and that there was over $400,000 consisting of floating warrants, it is not to be marveled at that there was a good deal of thought bestowed upon the subject by the commissioners.
Garner Palmer, of Albion, chairman of the board. and Seymour Washburn, of Mckean, occupied the same room at the Zimmerly house on South Park Row, and it often occurred that, after having retired at night they would, lying in bed, discuss ways and means of taking care of the county debt. At that time the United States treasury note, known as the greenback, had become the sole currency medium of the country. There was a suggestion in this to the commissioners seeking for a way out of the trouble. Why not adopt a similar expedient and issue county notes? It was Mr. Palmer's suggestion and Mr. Washburn was not slow to agree with his colleague that it was a good plan. The next day they laid the matter before Judge Vincent, who was the legal adviser of the county commissioners. The Judge could see no objection to the proposition.
Meanwhile the citizens had begun to take an active interest in the matter and a public meeting was held to discuss and debate, what should be done to take care the county's war debt. It was the practically unan- imous opinion of the meeting that it should be funded-that bonds should forthwith be issued and the outstanding warrants taken up. Mr. Palmer at the time was confined to his home at Albion. A son had been ill and died of diphtheria and he was himself stricken. He was not, for that reason, permitted to take part in the proceedings of the public meeting, which he would have done otherwise, and his argument and vote would not have been for bonding the county.
Upon his return to his duties, learning what had been decided by the meeting of citizens, and having already fully made up his mind, he determined that the business could no longer be postponed. The board was called together. The third member, Mr. Boyd of Water- ford, was inclined to favor the idea of issuing bonds as being the more usual and regular method of taking care of such matters, but Mr. Washburn favored the issue of county notes non-interest bearing. Thus
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a majority of the board favored the issue of scrip. Thereupon imme- diate steps were taken. James Skinner, Esq., was sent to New York. commissioned to procure $500,000 of the new money. In due time it was received. It involved an expense of $1,700 for the printing and incidentals, but it was now in the Commissioners' hands and ready to be put in circulation. By this time Mr. Boyd, acquiescing in the will of the majority, along with his colleagues entered diligently into the work of preparing the money and in the course of a few days there had been signed about $190,000 of the notes.
Just here occurred a hitch. Judge Vincent having considered the matter, advised the commissioners that it would be illegal to issue the notes without authority. The legislature was then in session at Harris- burg. Senator Morrow B. Lowry, at home during a recess, was called in by the Commissioners to be instructed with reference to an act it was desired to have passed. He was vigorously opposed to the plan. He advised against it as impracticable. The issue of bonds would be a surer way of raising the necessary money, he said; and he declared himself ready to buy bonds at sixty cents on the dollar and take $60,000 worth on the spot. There were others ready to do the same, he said. All this the commissioners well knew. and. having in their minds al- ready disposed of the matter, told the Senator there was nothing to do but introduce the act and get it passed. This was done. The act be- came a law and the county scrip was issued.
It is one thing, however, to pass a thing out as money, and quite another thing to induce the people to accept it. For the general pur- poses of money it was at the start repudiated. There was no help for those who were creditors of the county ; but in the commerce and busi- ness of the county it was viewed with suspicion and accepted only at a discount. The Dispatch put up a vigorous fight in favor of the county scrip, arguing that the wealth of the entire county was behind it, and therefore it was as good as gold, and this consideration, it was argued should prevail where there was no sense of patriotism present. The people still objected.
It was about the same time that a legal fight against the county scrip was begun. The leader in this was J. C. Marshall, Esq., who brought the Commissioners' currency into court under an indictment that it was unconstitutional. Mr. Marshall was an able lawyer. He was assisted by others, also able lawyers. He put up his best argument. but the shin-plasters won out. The Court declared the scrip to be in good lawful and constitutional standing. Mr. Marshall appealed to the Supreme Court. The opinion of the lower court was sustained and the legality of the issue was established beyond further question.
But all this had not established the popularity of the scrip. It could be paid out by the County Commissioners to those who were ready to accept it and it was in demand for the payment of taxes. Its circu-
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lation therefore was restricted. Mr. Palmer was fertile in expedient. He was the father of the county shin-plaster, and it was up to him if he wished his child to live, to properly nurse it. He did this so well that in the briefest time the child was of full stature.
That period of time was made up of the days of the oil excitement -the early days of petroleum. Then millionaires were sometimes made in a day or a night. Striking oil was like rubbing the lamp of Aladdin; it generally brought immediate riches. Over in Crawford county-the center of the oil excitement of the time-there lived a poor farmer man named Orange Noble. One morning he awoke transformed. He could not count his wealth. He came to Erie, and here he made the people "sit up and take notice," as is the saying of these later days. He lent a hand to every needy enterprise and started not a few new ones. Among the latter was a new banking venture called the Keystone Na- tional Bank. To Mr. Noble went Mr. Palmer in the interests of the county scrip, and his offer of the usual banker's exchange for the re- demption of the war debt notes was accepted. The fact was pro- claimed that the Keystone National Bank would pay dollar for dollar for all the Commissioners' notes presented. There were mighty few re- deemed. The people were no longer particular about it.
Meanwhile the Commissioners continued to keep themselves busy. The tax rate was increased to as high a degree as the law and decency would permit. As fast as the county money came in it was turned out again until at length it ceased to be the sole medium employed for the payment of taxes. Then as fast as it was paid in it was redeemed and retired from circulation through the door of the big furnace in the basement of the court house. There was never more of it in circu- lation than the $190,000 signed by the Commissioners when they were stopped to have the legality of the act passed upon. As early as the first of January, 1866, $74,891 of the scrip was burned; in the year 1867, $79,532 was retired in the same way. In the space of a few years the war debt of the county was entirely wiped out; long before any other county in the commonwealth had ceased to pay interest on its war bonds. Some counties continued struggling under the burden of their war debt for forty years; some are still burdened. Erie coun- ty can almost truthfully be said never to have had a war debt. Not all of the county scrip has been redeemed. Here and there are to be found a bill preserved as a relic, and not for sale, but yet in eager request by those who have them not. And Garner Palmer, the Erie county Morris or Hamilton of his time! He is still with us (or was when this was written, early in 1909) still going in and out among his numerous friends in the little village of Albion, as ever held in the highest respect and esteem.
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Erie had been loyal and patriotic as well. Erie had met every requirement of the State and general government so far as furnish- ing recruits for the army was concerned, and had done much more that was not in the line of requisition. Not only had Erie done and performed all that a loyal county could be asked to do, but as between the county and its money creditors all obligations had been provided for. It was willing and ready to do yet more if it should be required, but, in common with every other community in the land it was
"Wishing for the war to cease,"
and eagerly scanning the news from the front, hoping that the end was near. The turn in the bloody tide was calculated to encourage hope, and toward the end of that year the people grew to be more cheerful, and after a time stopped to make demonstrations of appreciation from time to time as some notable Confederate stronghold fell into the hands of the now uniformly victorious Union forces. The capture of Atlanta, of Savannah, of Charleston, the surrender of Fort Sumter, were all greeted by demonstrations in the public square on the evening of the day the intelligence reached Erie.
But when, Richmond abandoned, Lee surrendered at Appomattox, and peace came and all was over !
It was grand! Erie awoke in the middle of the night and began a celebration unannounced and unprepared for, that was one of the most imposing and impressive in its history. The people had come to ex- pect the news of the end, which seemed near at hand. And yet it might not be so near as it seemed. Hope had been so many times deferred during the tedious four years just ending that hearts had been sick. But it came, and the story of its coming is interesting.
In those days the telegraphi was in use. It was not only generally employed in a commercial way but its use in connection with the army had been a distinguishing feature of that great contest. The use of the telegraph in war, like the ironclad ships and the breach-loading gun was an innovation attributable to the war of the Rebellion. The telegraph was in use also to furnish news to the daily newspapers. But there was no such system or service then as now. Even the telegraph traveled slow- ly in the decade of the sixties. It therefore happened that though the surrender of Gen. Lee occurred early on the 9th of April, the news of it did not reach Erie until it came in the telegraphic report at 3 o'clock the next morning. As soon as the sheet containing the item reached the hands of the editor he jumped to his feet and shouted the news to the force of compositors at work in the room hard by.
At that time the office of the Dispatch was in the little two-story brick building on Fifth street, in rear of the Isaac Baker block, that has long been occupied as a rag and junk warehouse. There was a
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space of about ten feet between the back end of that building and the out- houses of the building on Park Row directly south. In this space there was thrust a little structure not unlike a dove-cote, which contained the editorial room. It was large enough for only two desks and two chairs and scarcely large enough for the two editor fellows if they wanted to both occupy it at the same time. It was out of this ten feet square editorial room that the shout went up to the compositors on the Fifth street front.
"Hurrah! Lee has surrendered! The war is over."
The effect of the announcement was electrical. Every man laid down his "stick." Father Quinn seized a chase and a footstick and began the ringing of a peal, in which Tom Commisky and Will Winfield and Frank Pratt joined. Lynn was there-Ben Lynn, the man who started the Daily Dispatch. For a moment he joined with his employes but stopped them. The noise was not enough. One of the comps was detailed to start the bells of the city; another to get the cannon out and a force to man and fire it. In an incredibly brief period of time the noise was in operation. By fifteen minutes after three o'clock on Monday morning nearly every bell in town was ringing and the boon- ing of the cannon had awakened all the inhabitants. They streamed into the public square. From every quarter they could be seen ap- proaching until the streets in the vicinity of Brown's Hotel and the market house were packed. The intelligence went from mouth to mouth, and the cheers that went up proved the people to be in a state of delirium. There was no speech making; no formal proceedings ; nothing but a happy crowd jostling one another and now and then bursting into cheers, while the bells rang and the cannon at pretty regular intervals boomed. Of course there was no more sleep. As the day began to come on the flags began to appear, until at length the city was gay.
Hon. F. F. Farrar was mayor of Erie then. He was up bright and early with the other citizens. By seven o'clock he had copy for a hand bill in the printer's hands. It called a meeting of citizens for nine o'clock to perfect arrangements for a celebration. The meeting was held. It did not last a quarter of an hour. Arrangements were completed for a celebration to begin at one o'clock that day.
The hour came. The celebration started off with a grand pro- cession. There had been only four hours to get ready, but the demon- stration was the most imposing Erie had ever seen. Gen. Brown was chief marshal, and, with his assistants was escorted by a large company of horsemen. Then followed these features :
Carriage with the battle-torn flag of the 83d Regt. Mehl's Band. Seamen of the Michigan hauling howitzers. Vol. I-24
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Marines of the Michigan. City Artillery.
Fire Department, parading the new steam fire engine Keystone. Carriages and wagons filled with people. Fire Department with hand engine. Wagon drawn by four horses carrying employes of the Dispatch with a press in operation printing an appropriate leaflet, and the Excelsior Glee Club singing war songs.
Liddell, Selden & Co.'s float containing a boiler with men at work on it. Another float from the same shop with men at work on an engine.
Employes of Liddell, Selden & Co. marching on foot.
Erie Car Co.'s float, with men at work on a freight car. More carriages and wagons. Barr & Johnson's employes in wagons and on foot. More carriages. Sands's steam bakery float. The Genesee Valley Mower from the Densmore shop.
Draymen and cartmen with vehicles gaily decorated with flags. More carriages and wagons. McConkey & Shannon with a trade float. Morrison & Densmore's float.
Carriages and wagons of all kinds with all sorts of flags and decorations.
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