USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 36
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of advance indicated by the order, and advocated his own plan of campaign, via the Peninsula. De- spite this concession, however, Mcclellan formed the opinion that Stanton was adversc to him and would oppose him by his influence, and this idea was not abandoned even when, on June 11, 1862, Stanton wrote to him as follows: "Be assured, General, that there never has been a moment when my desire has been otherwise than to aid you with my whole heart, miud and strength, since the hour we first met; and whatever others may say for their own purposes, you have never had and never can have any one more truly your friend, or more anxious to support you, or more joyous than I shall be at the success which I have no doubt will soon be achieved by your arms." But even this kindly letter of appreciation and confidence failed to win the friendship of Mcclellan, who two weeks later wrote a sharp dispatch to the Secretary of War, with these words : " If I save this army now I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to you nor to any other person in Washington. You have done your best to sacrifice this army." Notwithstanding the use of this insolent language to a superior officer, McClellan was permitted to retain his command until the 7th of November following, when he was relieved by order of the President. Stanton found himself at the head of the War Department at a time when the duties to be performed were such as no man in the country had been called upon to face before. Denounced by cnemies, clamored at by politicians, grumbled at by generals and despaired of by his friends, he continued to labor at his ap- pointed task with the same abiding faith in the ulti- mate triumph of the Union arms which character- ized Lincoln and Grant. To his great task Mr. Stanton devoted every energy of his mind and his body. He slept at the War Office for months ; he labored till two or three o'clock in the morning, and after a brief repose would be at his desk again at sunrise. The Assistant Secretaries of War were men of energy and strength, but were unable to sustain the terrible strain of overwork to which their chief never yielded. It was complained of him that he was brusque, harsh and uncivil, and that he was even cruel in many instances, yet such cases, on being investigated, invariably showed a foundation of just judgment in the mind of the great War Minister. He was no respecter of per- sons. Mr. Usher, Secretary of the Interior, once asked him to appoint a young friend to the position of paymaster in the army. "How old is he ?" asked Stanton. "About twenty-onc, I believe," replied Usher ; " he is of good family and of cxcel- lent character." " Usher," exclaimed Stanton, in a
pcremptory manner, "I would not appoint the angel Gabriel a paymaster if he was only twenty- one." Stanton was aggressive, determined; would brook no interference in his plans and would toler- atc no remissness in their execution. As was said of him by a brilliant writer, "No wonder that such a man left enemies. It will be one of his chief titles to historic renown that among those cnemies were the enemies of his country." Between Stanton and Gen. Grant there was entire confidence, co-op- cration and respect from the commencement to the end of their official intercoursc. It was one of the peculiar features of the history of this time that during all the long period while Maj. Gen. Halleck was Commander-in-Chief, he treated Grant in the most inexplicible manner, censuring him in the hour of victory, ignoring his plans and suggestions, and recommending a subordinate to promotion after a battle won through the remarkable foresight and by the sole direction of the commanding officer. This action on the part of Gen. Halleck towards Gen. Grant certainly was not calculated to elevate the latter in the estimation of the President and the Secretary of War. But from Fort Donelson to Appomattox, under varying fortunes and difficult and embarrassing situations, Stanton never lost faith in Grant nor failed to do him justice. After the battle of Fort Donelson, Halleck recommended Gen. C. F. Smith, a division commander under Grant, for promotion to a Major-Generalship, but Stanton, who was perfectly familiar with the details of the battle, paid not the slightest attention to this recommendation, but on the day when the telegram was received recommended to the United States Senate, Brig. Gen. U. S. Grant to be Major-General of Volunteers, a nomination which was confirmed ou the same day. It is stated that Lincoln said himself that he never wished to decide an impor- tant question without first consulting the Secretary of War. During the spring of 1863 great pressure was brought to bear upon Lincoln for the removal of Gen. Graut, who, by an unwise and nearsighted public opinion, was pronounced incompetent and dilatory, while friends of ambitious officers who were kept in the background assailed his personal character industriously in their efforts for his dis- placement and the elevation of their favorites. Finally one of Grant's strongest friends in Congress said to the President that the interest of the coun- try demanded that Grant should be superceded, whereupon Lincoln replied simply, "I rather like the man ; I think we will try him a little longer," and at this very time Secretary Stanton sent a dis- patch to Mr. Charles A. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War, then on special duty with Graut's army, as
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follows: "Gen. Grant has full and absolute author- ity to enforce his own commands and to remove any person who by ignorance, inaction or any other cause, interferes with, or delays his opera- tions. He has the full confidence of the Govern- ment, is expected to enforce his authority and will be firmly and heartily supported, but he will be responsible for any failure to exert his powers. You may communicate this to him." It will thus be seen that with unerring wisdom and judgment Secretary Stanton put every man to the test, but gave his unbounded confidence and support in such instances. In November, 1863, Secretary Stanton created the Military Division of the Mississippi, embracing the departments of the Cumberland, the Ohio and the Tennessee, and placing Gen. Grant in supreme command. In order to invest Grant with this new and enlarged authority, Stanton visited Indianapolis, where Grant met him and a confer- ence was held, after which the Secretary of War accompanied Gen. Grant as far as Louisville, re- maining there a day discussing the situation of affairs. At this time Gen. Rosecrans was in com- mand at Chattanooga, but there was danger of his abandoning this important position. In fact, while the Secretary of War and Gen. Grant were in con- ference, a telegram was received intimating that such would be the case. The Secretary of War at once directed Grant to assume his new command and to relieve Rosecrans. Grant accordingly tele- graphed to Rosecrans and Thomas, assuming com- mand of the Military Division of the Mississippi and ordering the latter to relieve Rosecrans at Chatta- nooga. This action of Stanton's, placing the three great armies under our ablest leader, brought order out of chaos, harmony out of discord, and confidence out of ruin and despair, and the immediate result was the magnificent victories won by Grant around Chattanooga. But while thus engaged in discus- sing and considering the gravest questions bearing upon the movements of our armies and the safety of the country, Stanton never neglected the wants of the armics themselves, nor ever failed, so far as it was in his power, to mitigate the trials, dangers and fatigues of warfare, by holding in strict charge the clothing, arming and feeding of the Union forces. The efficiency of the commissary, quartermaster and medical departments felt especially his power- ful hand at the helm, while the economy of life cffected, as compared with other wars, is certainly the best and most accurate test of the care and skill and thoughtfulness of the head of the army. Wel- lington's army lost 113 per 1,000 annually by disease; the ravages made by sickness in the Crimean War amounted to a rate of 600 per 1,000
per annum during seven months; the American volunteers in Mexico lost 152 per 1,000; while the loss of the Union Army was less than 50 per 1,000. It is one of the finest evidences of clearsightedness in regard to men, which was so remarkable a trait of Abraham Lincoln, that he should choose Stanton as his closest associate and counsellor, and that he then stood by him, accepted his advice and sustained him against his enemies, during his entire career through over four years of struggle. Disappointed officers clamored loudly against the great War Sec- retary, but their voices were not heeded by the Chief Executive. Their testimony against Stanton was written in sand. On the eve of the Wilderness campaign Gen. Grant wrote to President Lincoln as follows: "From my first entrance into the volun- teer service of the country to the present day, I have never had cause of complaint ; have never expressed or implied a complaint against the Administration or the Secretary of War, for throwing any embar- rassment in the way of my vigorously prosecuting what appeared to be my duty. Indeed, since the promotion which placed me in command of all the armies, and in view of the great responsibility and importance of success, I have been astonished at the readiness with which everything asked for has been yielded, without even an explanation being desired." A biographer of Stanton offers to his memory the following splendid testimonial :
"He was faithful when friends were few under Buchanan, he was firm when with military dash McClellan strove to ride him down, he was just to subordinate officers against the advice of one high in authority. When defeat followed defeat, and patriots trembled for their country ; when the enemy was sanguine, and sympathizers with the Rebellion were filled with joy, Stanton, resolute as fate itself, stood erect in the Council of the Administration- a strong pillar upon which weaker spirits could lean for support."
Notwithstanding the eminence of his position and his autocratic ways, no man was more determined in his respect for law and order and the constituted authorities than Stanton. An instance of this deference and recognition of the authority of the head of affairs, occurred on the night previous to the second inauguration of President Lincoln. On this occasion a dispatch was received from General Grant, in which the latter referred to an application made by Gen. Lee for an interview for the purpose of considering the possibility of a return to peace. The President at first thought, and because of his warm heart, and his detestation of war, favored the interview, and even spoke of allowing General Grant to negotiate peace upon terms most favorable to the enemy. But he was met in this intention by the solid wall of Stanton's keen intellect, and by
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his recognition of the impropriety of such an act as was contemplated. "Mr. President," said hc, " to-morrow is Inauguration Day. If youare not to be President of an obedient and united people, you had better not be inaugurated. Your work is al- ready done. If auy other authority than yours is for one moment to be recognized, or any terms made that do not signify that you are the supreme head of this Nation ; if generals in the field are to nego- tiate peace, or any other Chief Magistrate is to be acknowledged on this continent, theu you are not needed, and you had better not take the oath of office." The President recognized at once that Stanton was right, and calling for a pen he indited a letter to Gen. Grant directing him to "have no conference with Gen. Lce, unless it be for the capit- ulation of Lec's army or on some minor or purely military matter." The close of the Rebellion brought to the Secretary of War a desire to relieve himself of the duties of the War Office, to rest after his herculean labors, and to then return to his practice at the bar. The circumstances attending his resignation are thus related by Mr. Carpenter, the artist :
" A few days before the President's death, Secre- tary Stanton tendered his resignation of the War Department. He accompanied the act with a most heartfelt tribute to Mr. Lincoln's constant friend- ship and faithful devotion to the country, saying also that he, as Secretary, had accepted the position to hold it only until the war should end; and that now he felt his work was done, and his duty was to resign. Mr. Lincoln was greatly moved by the Secretary's words, and tearing in pieces the paper containing the resignation, and throwing his arms around the Secretary he said : 'Stanton, you have been a good friend and a faithful public servant, and it is not for you to say when you will no longer be needed here. '"
The three great men of the Rebellion period, Lincoln, Stanton and Grant, met for the last time on the morning of the fatal Friday of the assassination, April 14, 1865, at a Cabinet Council. On the follow- ing day Andrew Johnson, Vice-Presideut, assumed the functions of Chief Magistrate. Johnson's ad- ministration was marked by a conflict between Stanton and Gen. Sherman, who with more zeal than discretion had undertaken to settle the status of the moribund Confederacy in a military agree- ment with the Confederate General, Johnston. This was a blunder on Sherman's part, an inopportune assumption of the civil authority, though of course without the slightest intention on the part of Sher- man of arrogatiug to himself powers which did not belong to him. The occurrence brought about a condition of ill feeling between the two which was unfortunate. Stanton now devoted himself to the work of mustering out the army, which on
March 1, 1865, numbered 965,556 men. With such speed and order was this great task accomplished, that by the fifteenth of October, 785,205 men, or more than three-fourths of the entire number, had returned to private life. A collision between the President and Congress brought about discord in the Cabinet, and President Johnson even went so far as to send a written request to the Secretary of War for his resignation. To this note Stanton re- plied that public considerations constrained him not to resign the office of Secretary of War until the next meeting of Congress. This occurred in August, 1867, and on the twelfth of December, the Senate being in session, the President sent a message to that body aunouncing his suspension of the Secretary of War, and giving his reasons there- for. The Senate in executive session on January 13, 1868, passed a resolution that " having consid- ered the evidence and reasons given by the President in his report of the twelfth of December, 1867, for the suspension from the office of Secretary of War of Edward M. Stanton, the Senate do not concur in such suspension." In the meantime Gen. Grant had been acting Secretary of War ad interim, and he now restored possession of the War Office to Sec- retary Stanton. The President, however, persisted in his efforts to remove the latter, and after offering the appointment to Gen. Sherman, who declined it, he appointed Adjutant-General Lorenzo Thomas, Secretary of War, but upon communicating that fact to the Senate, that body nonconcurred. The whole trouble resulted in President Johnson being impeached on the 25th of February at the bar of the Senate by the House of Representatives. After a protracted trial, the President was declared not guilty, a two-thirds vote being necessary for convic- tion. As soon as the result of the impeachmeut trial became known, Stanton resigned his office. Upon his retirement from public life he resumed his practice at the bar, and one of the ablest arguments he ever made was delivered before Associate Justice Swayne within ten days of his death, but his pow- erful constitution had been shattered, and while his health and very life demanded complete rest from labor, his actual poverty compelled him to continue work. On December 19, 1869, President Grant nom- inated Edwin M. Stantou, upon the latter's birthday, for the appointment of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The nomina- tion was confirmed by the Senate without making the customary reference to the Judiciary Committee ; but he never took his seat upon the Supreme Bench, for on Friday morning, December 24, the disorder, of a pulmonary nature, which he had contracted iu the War Office, took a fatal turn, and he died sud-
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denly at the age of fifty-four. In concluding this sketch of Mr. Stanton, it is proper to add the com- prehensive denial made by his physician, Gen. J. K. Barnes, Surgeon-General of the United States Army, of the charge that the ex-Secretary of War had committed suicide. As to this, Surgeon-Gen- eral Barnes, after giving an exhaustive medical account of the circumstances of his disease, said, under date of April 16, 1879 :
"Rev. Dr. Starkey, rector of the Church of the Epiphany, was summoned, and read the service appointed for such occasions. He, with Mrs. Stan- ton, Mr. E. L. Stanton, the three younger children, Miss Bowie, their governess, myself, and several of the servants, were by his bedside until he died at 4:00 A. M., December 24, 1869. After the pulse became imperceptible at the wrist, I placed a finger on the carotid artery, afterwards my hand over his heart, and when its action ceased, I announced it to those present. * *
* I do most emphatically and unequivocally assert that there is not any foundation whatever for the report that Mr. Edwin M. Stanton died from other than natural causes, or that he attempted or committed suicide.
Very respectfully yours, JOSEPH K. BARNES, M. D."
This charge of suicide originated in the theory that Secretary Stanton was filled with remorse for his share in the military execution of Mrs. Surratt, for her participation in the conspiracy resulting in the assassination of President Lincoln. No charge could have been more fictitious, or made with less possible foundation, either in the character of the man, or in the circumstances which surrounded his connection with the act specified. Mrs. Surratt was executed after a careful trial, in which the circum- stances which pointed to her connection with the atrocious conspiracy were thoroughly and complete- ly verified, and certainly no official of the then ex- isting government, and least of all Mr. Stanton, can be justly charged with any unneccessary or illegal connection therewith.
RICHARD D. WOOD.
RICHARD D. WOOD was descended from one of the early Quakers who came to Pennsylvania from Bristol, England, about 1682, and who served on the first grand jury in Philadelphia. His grandson moved to Greenwich, Cumberland Co., New Jersey, and in 1747 was made Justice of the Peace by George II. He became a member of the Legislature from that county, as did likewise his son and grandson- the father of Richard D. Wood .* Greenwich lies in
a highly fertile country, and was once the best trad- ing point on the east side of Delaware Bay south of Salem. Richard D. Wood's father was its chief merchant, also owning about one thousand acres of farm land. In this town Richard D. Wood was born, in 1799. He employed his early years in gain- ing a good English education and in aiding his father. Before his majority he borrowed, with his father's endorsement, a moderate sum, and began his successful mercantile life in Salem. After two years he came to Philadelphia, and in the fall of 1823 founded a wholesale dry-goods house. One of the first measures adopted by this house was to let it be generally known (by showing bills to their customers) that they would sell everything for cash at five per cent. advance on the purchase money. This system of small profits and quick settlements has become general with the increase of currency as the country has grown in wealth. It was not known in the earlier days by the jobbing trade, and the credit of introducing it into the wholesale dry goods trade is due to this firm. On October 16, 1832, Mr. Wood married Julianna, daughter of Edward Ran- dolph. In the course of a few years the house, under the title of Wood, Abbott & Co., gained a reputation and success which placed them among the most conspicuous throughout the whole interior which had business relations with Philadelphia. Under the name of Wood, Bacon & Co., the busi- ness is still maintained. Seeking a wider range of observation and knowledge than could be obtained while actively participating in business engagements, and finding himself in possession of a comfortable fortune, Mr. Wood, in 1836, committed the care of his affairs to his partners and spent a year in Europe in the pursuit of the culture and information to be gained from foreign travel. His return was has- tened by the panic of 1837, but, on arriving at home (June, 1837), he found no calamity had overtaken his house, and that suspension of the banks had just occurred. Mr. Wood was, for a short period, a director of the Girard Bank, but a difference of views regarding its management led to a severance of his connection with it. In 1835 he became a director of the Philadelphia Bank, which he served most efficiently and devotedly for twenty-six years. On January 1, 1839, he commenced the system of making daily memoranda. This continued until when, in his last illness, sitting up in bed and with hand so tremulous that what it wrote is scarcely legible, he made his latest comments. The diary thus kept for thirty years is an object of interest. It is the minute record of an intelligent and active man, and the index of an earnest and noble life. It has briefly noted, as they passed, a wide variety of
*A collateral descent through a common ancestress from some celebrated personages in early English history has been traced for this and several other families of New Jersey (Vide Memoir of Dorotha Scott by Gideon Scull).
.
1845
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events-the prices of commodities and stocks, ex- ports and imports, states of trade, panics, in their coming and going, bank suspensions, defalcations, discoveries, prospects and troubles of railroads and canals, celebrities visiting the city, Wistar parties and other social concourses, lectures, literary or sci- entific, and political divisions and contests, with their rise and consequences. It reveals, too, the private acts and heartfelt aspirations of the writer, interspersed with his pithy reflections on the books he reads, the men he sees, and his wise and coura- geous views of the world and of the providence sus- taining it. His diary shows what part he took to bring about resumption by the United States Bank in 1841. It had suspended October 10, 1839. The Legislature had fixed February 1, 1841, as the date for its resumption. Action was not taken to bring it about until Mr. Wood, transiently meeting James Martin, one of the directors of the United States Bank, remarked to him the period was fast approach- ing and that it was quite time to put things in order for it. This remark led to an agreement of views by the two gentlemen and the subject was brought before the board of the Philadelphia Bank by Mr. Wood, whereupon committees of the city banks ex- amined the condition of the United States Bank and agreed to lend it $5,000,000, taking its notes at an average of thirteen and a half months. The banks so lending borrowed upon these notes $2,500,000 from the New England and New York banks, and resumption took place. These negotiations occu- pied over four months. They were conducted on the behalf of the borrowing banks by John White, Robert Howell and Richard D. Wood, and on the part of the New England banks by P. Marett. They involved reciprocal visits by these gentlemen to Bos- ton, New York and Philadelphia, correspondence with William Appleton and Abbott Lawrence and a short conference with Daniel Webster. Notwith- standing this endeavor to sustain the United States Bank, it made an assignment upon September 4, 1841. Those who had hoped that these loans would have enabled it to go on, were rewarded by know- ing them to have been ultimately repaid by its as_ signees, and doubtless felt gratified by the conscious- ness of having made the effort. Upon the comple- tion of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad to Mount Carbon, in January, 1842, a contest arose be- tween it and the Schuylkill Navigation Co. for the tonnage of the coal mines. This trade had been in the hands of the latter company since 1826. Its stock had been a favorite with conservative inves- tors and had sold at a premium of 250 per cent. Opinion was much divided regarding the ability of the railroad to transport as cheaply as the canal, and
a spirited newspaper controversy was kept up, not without acrimony, in which the inefficiency of either system was freely asserted by the partisans of the other. Upon the side of the railroad it was urged, that its grade so descended towards the market that a full train could be pulled down and returned up empty by the same locomotive; and further, that it obviated rehandling the coal, as its tracks ran from the mouth of the mine directly to the coal yard of the merchant, or the schooner's side at the coal wharf. Advocates of the canal maintained that in such heavy traffic the wear of rails and destruction of cars and engines were a barrier to cheap trans- portation-that nothing could be so cheap as an old horse and a canal boat. It was proposed to so enlarge the canal that boats of 160 tons could pass its locks, thus doubling its capacity, and calcu- lations were made to prove that were this done its tolls could be so reduced that trade would forsake the road. Shrewd railroad men prophesied that they would carry all the coal ; ardent canal men de- clared, were enlargement completed, the road would earn nothing, that grass would grow upon its tracks. It was an unsolved problem upon which men could be expected to differ. One thing, how- ever, seemed certain, that the competition of car- riers would lessen freights and cheapen coal to the consumer. The cost of enlarging the canal was es- timated at $1,000,000, and to provide the money the sale of $1,250,000 bonds at eighty per cent. was pro- posed. Relatives, who were stockholders of the company, urged Mr. Wood to interest himself in it. They believed his exertions and influence would aid its affairs and assist the sale of its loan. The annual meeting of the stockholders, held January, 1845, quite enthusiastically decided upon the enlarge- ment, and Mr. Wood took a scat in the board. The bonds were distributed among the friends of the company, Mr. Wood placing about one-half of them. Two years were believed to be necessary for the work of enlargement. Labor upon the canal was so carried on during 1845 as not to impede the running of boats, and the enlargement of the locks was deferred to the following year. It was expected that traffic on the canal would thus be interrupted only for a single year. But as winter approached, Charles Ellet proposed that the locks should be roofed in, protected by fires from frost and rebuilt before the boating season of 1846-thus saving the trade of the canal from any interruption. So ardent was he and so able to influence opinion that, in January, 1846, he was elected President of the com- pany and entrusted with the execution of his plan. He failed to carry it out and the canal was not ready for navigation before late in the fall of 1846.
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