USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Families of the Wyoming Valley: biographical, genealogical and historical. Sketches of the bench and bar of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, vol. I > Part 2
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C. L. VALLANDIGHAM.
He was tried by a military commission, convicted, and sentenced to close confinement in Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, during the war. President Lincoln changed the sentence to a banishment across the lines. He was taken to Tennessee, and delivered into the hands of Colonel Webb, of the 31st Alabama Regiment of the Confederate States army, Mr. Vallandigham making the following declaration :
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HENDRICK BRADLEY WRIGHT.
" I am a citizen of Ohio and of the United States. I am here within your lines by force and against my will. I therefore sur- render myself to you as a prisoner of war."
The arrest, trial, and banishment of Mr. Vallandigham occa- sioned much discussion, both in public assemblies and in the papers of the day. Without an exception among the Demo- cratic newspapers, the whole transaction was denounced as a violation of the rights of free speech, personal liberty, and trial by the constituted tribunals of the country, and also by such Republican champions as the New York Tribune, the New York Evening Post, the New York Commercial Advertiser, the Albany Statesman, the Boston Advertiser, the Boston Traveler, the Spring- field Republican, and, in short, by the ablest and most influential. champions of the Republican party, backed, as the New York Evening Post avows, by at least three-fourths of the Republican party itself. Mr. Vallandigham was coldly received by the Southern leaders as too good a Union man for them, and soon made his escape through the blockade to the Bermudas and Canada. While thus an exile he was nominated for Governor by the Democratic party in Ohio, and received the largest vote ever polled by a Democratic candidate in that State. Mr. Val- landigham was a member of the Democratic National Convention at Chicago in 1864, and brought about the nomination of McClellan and Pendleton. He subsequently held no office, and was always recognized as a Democratic leader until his death.
Mr. Wright was succeeded in Congress by Hon. Charles Denison, a Democrat, and at that time a member of the bar of Luzerne county. He is now deceased. In a speech delivered by him in Congress, May 2d, 1864, he uttered the sentiments of the Democratic party, as follows :
"You speak of bringing the South back. I ask back to what ? back to where? It cannot be back to the constitution, for the constitution has been destroyed, and all civil rights have been destroyed with it. And should they come back to the crude and chaotic proclamation of the President's military war power, that has made a camp of the entire land? They have enough of war power at home; and with this power and its proclamations, and our confiscation acts and reconstruction bureaus, there is no motive for the South to come back. They can but fare worse to fight, and fight they do.
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HENDRICK BRADLEY WRIGHT.
"One hundred and forty thousand of the American people in my district have sent their sons to the army to fight for and maintain their government as laid down in the constitution. They have sent me here as their representative to maintain the same thing, and in their name I ask what you have done with their government? On the 4th day of March, 1861, they placed their government in your hands. And in that government was secured to the people free speech, a free press, security of person and property, and the elective franchise undisturbed by military power, and to those suspected of crime a fair and speedy trial, and to all the benefit of the great right of the writ of habeas corpus. What have you done with this government? The one which you have furnished secures none of these rights. Shall I tell them you are not bound by your oath in time of war; that when you made your oath to 'preserve, protect, and defend the consti- tution,' it was upon condition that we had no war? When do you propose to restore to the people their government ?
"The interpretation which I claim for the President's war power is the only one which will perpetuate our republican form of government. The history of every day which passes over our heads is full of meaning, and confirms this position. There does not exist on earth a more despotic government than that of Abraham Lincoln. He is a despot in fact, if not in name. The constitutional right of the citizen to bear arms has been denied, and houses searched and arms taken from the citizen; the right of trial denied, and citizens have been banished the country with- out trial or conviction; and I only mention some of the outrages perpetrated by this war power to say that if our government has been fairly administered under this new interpretation of the war power for the last three years, it does not matter how soon it is destroyed. It is not worth to the people a dollar, or a battle, or a man. And it does not matter to the people whether their liberties have been taken away by Abraham Lincoln as President or as Commander in Chief of the army; he is no less a despot, and they no less slaves."
We have quoted thus largely from the speeches of Mr. Val- landigham and Mr. Denison to show the distinction between the Democratic party, of which the above named gentlemen were honored leaders, and the Union or War Democratic party, of which Mr. Wright was a member. The Democratic party was as much of a union party as either the Republican or War Dem- ocratic party. They believed that the exertion of public force in the war should be exclusively for the object with which the
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HENDRICK BRADLEY WRIGHT.
war was begun, to wit : the restoration of the union, and the juris- diction of our laws over the revolted country, and being confined to that object, and relieved from the incumbrance of other objects, should be brought to a speedy and honorable conclusion. They also charged the Republican and Administration party as being false to its promises made as the condition upon which it attained power; that it had broken the constitution shamefully and often; that it had wasted the public treasure; that it had suspended the ancient writ of liberty, the habeas corpus, rendering it impossible for the citizen to obtain redress against the grossest outrage; that it had changed the war into a humanitarian crusade outside of any constitutional or lawful object; that it had grossly mis- managed the war in the conduct of military operations, and to retain its power it had undertaken to control State elections by direct military force, or by fraudulent selection of voters from the army. The Republican and Administration parties held that the Union should be maintained, even if it became necessary to hold the Confederate States as conquered provinces.
After the close of the XXXVIIth Congress, for a number of years, Mr. Wright held no National or State offices, but he was by no means idle. Besides attending to a large practice, and taking an active interest in municipal affairs, he wrote and pub- lished two works; the one "A Practical Treatise on Labor," which first appeared in the shape of weekly letters to the Anthracite Monitor, the then official organ of the miners and other labor associations of this region. This book is an index to the man's heart. It shows clearly that his great object of life is not per- sonal, but that he is in sympathy with his less fortunate fellow- creatures. These ideas he has made a manly effort to impress on the law-making power of the country. The other, " Historical Sketches of Plymouth," his native town; a work gotten up with taste, containing thirty beautiful illustrations, likenesses of the leading men of the early settlement of the town, some of the old landmarks, private residences, public buildings, coal mines, etc. In tracing the pages of this book, in which the author gives a vivid description of the plain and frugal habits and simple customs of a primitive people, the reader will discover the deep and indelible impressions which they made upon the mind of the
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HENDRICK BRADLEY WRIGHT.
author; a generous and heartfelt offering to a race of men, all of whom he personally knew, but who now, with an exception of one or two, have left the stage of human action. His work was the design of a memorial for these pioneers. The author of this history makes no effort to assume an elevated plane of rhetoric or finished diction, but treats his subject in simple and plain lan- guage; but which, in his narrative of events showing the perils and exposures of frontier life, touches the heart and enkindles sympathetic emotion.
In 1872 Mr. Wright was a Democratic candidate for Congress- man at Large, and having received the endorsement of the Workingmen's Convention, ran several thousand votes ahead of. his ticket. In this region the support he then received was especially liberal and complimentary. In 1873 he was chosen to preside over the State Democratic Convention which met at Erie, and he was subsequently made chairman of the State Central Committee of the party, and conducted the campaign with great vigor, paying out of his own pocket a large proportion of the expense attending it. The defeat of Allen in Ohio disheartened the Democratic forces in our State, and the campaign resulted in a Republican success. In 1876 Mr. Wright was nominated for Congress in the Luzerne district while absent from home, and without his solicitation, or even knowledge. He was elected by a majority of 1,456 votes over Hon. H. B. Payne, his Republican competitor. In 1878 he was renominated and re-elected by a majority of 2,494 over Henry Roberts, his Republican opponent. In 1880 he received over 4,000 votes for Congress, although not a candidate. He closed his political life on March 4, 1881, after a service of thirteen years in the State and National Legislatures.
In his refusal of further political honors he is persistent, and will listen to no inducements which will break his resolve. Mr. Wright was, during his long period of time in Congress, what may be called a working man, in committee and in the House, ever on time and ready to share in the public labors. During the last four years of his public service in Congress, his untiring aim and object have been to aid by legislation the working men of the country; to accomplish which he introduced a supple- ment to the homestead law, (in the passage of which he took an
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HENDRICK BRADLEY WRIGHT.
important part in 1862) by which a small loan by the government should be made to poor and deserving men, repayable in ten years, at a small rate of interest, secured on the premises by mortgage, to enable men of small means to enter and settle upon the public lands, which to them is otherwise unavailable. In the accomplishment of this great and philanthropic measure he failed; but this abated none of his zeal or indomitable perseverance. This bill was defeated in the XLVth Congress, but he renewed it in the XLVIth, and it was defeated in .committee of the whole House by three majority only. The committee reported it to the House with a negative recommendation. Mr. Wright was more successful in his support of the eight-hour law. This bill was passed at the last session of Congress by more than a two- third vote. His speeches on the homestead bill and the eight- hour bill should be carefully read by every laboring man in the land. They show a progress much in advance of the age-noble efforts in a great cause. The support of these two great measures has been the daily work of Mr. Wright for the last four years, and the advancement of the social condition of the laboring classes has occupied his attention for the last twenty years. But it is not in a legislative capacity only that we are to deal with the subject of this notice. Mr. Wright has shown by his acts in the whole course of his life. that charity and benevolence were the ruling features of his heart. The distribution of his holiday loaves to the city poor-a practice he has continued for years; his acts of generosity to the poor the year round; his aid to people in debt and contributions to public charities and various subscriptions for public purposes, all indicate the existence in him of that priceless feature of exalted manhood and the true orna- ment of human life. Colonel Wright is now in his seventy-third year, unbent with the weight of more than "three score and ten," and in the enjoyment of good health. Though possessed of a considerable estate, and of the highest rank socially, he is ever approachable to the most humble of his fellow-citizens, who are made to feel as much at home in his presence as they would be in that of their fellow-workmen. There are few of them who have not seen Colonel Wright .- His voice, too, upon the hustings and in the halls of justice still echoes upon their ears.
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HENDRICK BRADLEY WRIGHT.
With his retirement from public life he also retires from busi- ness pursuits. He is now engaged in the erection of a place of retreat at Harvey's Lake, some twelve miles northwest of Wilkes- Barre, where he designs to spend most of his time for the remainder of his days. He and the Hon. Charles T. Barnum, who resides on the western shore, purchased the lake of the State some years ago and have stocked it with fine fish. It is some ten miles in circumference, and a delightful mountain home, a thousand feet above the sea. It is to be hoped that Mr. Wright, in his new home and with leisure on hand, will continue to chronicle and put in print for the public those unwritten mat- ters connected with Wyoming's history, which would afford so much pleasure to the residents of the valley. His knowledge of men and public affairs, gathered up during a long and eventful public life, might, too, be a source of employment to him and pleasure to others. An experience of about three-quarters of a century by an observing man, must necessarily have accumulated a pretty good stock of local general history.
Col. Wright is an old member of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, and was President of the association during the years 1870, 1871, and 1872.
Mr. Wright was, on the 21st day of April, 1835, married to Mary Ann Bradley Robinson, granddaughter of Col. Zebulon Butler, who commanded our army at the Battle of Wyoming, July 3d, 1778, and daughter of John W. Robinson, Esq., of Wilkes-Barre, who was a descendant in direct line of Rev. John Robinson, a portion of whose followers came over on the May- flower. The Colonel has in his possession the veritable cane which that stern and unbending old Dissentor from the English Church carried in his lifetime, and which was brought by his family on their voyage to the New World. It has been handcd down from generation to generation with pious and reverential care. It is a valuable relic, and considering its age of over two hundred and fifty years, is in a state of perfect preservation save that the initials "J. R." engraved upon its silver head have become nearly defaced; but still enough is left of the outline of the letters to indicate their character.
Mrs. Wright died September 8th, 1871. . Mr. and Mrs. Wright
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EBENEZER WARREN STURDEVANT.
have had a family of ten children, five of whom survive. George Riddle Wright, only surviving son, is a member of the Luzerne county bar.
EBENEZER WARREN STURDEVANT.
Ebenezer Warren Sturdevant was born June 11th, 1806, in Braintrim, Luzerne (now Wyoming) county, Pennsylvania, on the property there originally owned by his maternal grandfather, then by his father, and which he now owns. His father, Samuel Sturdevant, was born at Danbury, Connecticut, September 16th, 1773, and died March 4th, 1847. His mother, Elizabeth Stur- devant, nec Skinner, was born at Hebron, Connecticut, July 16th, 1773, and died August 26th, 1833. Mr. Sturdevant's grandfather, Rev. Samuel Sturdevant, took an active part in the struggle for American independence, entering the army as an orderly sergeant, and being promoted to a captaincy, serving uninterruptedly from the battle of Lexington to the surrender at Yorktown. Soon after he emigrated to Braintrim, where, at the place known as Black Walnut Botton, he bought a large farm, and resided there until his death, in 1828. Ebenezer Skinner, the grandfather of our subject on his mother's side, had located in 1776 at the mouth of the Tuscarora creek, only two miles distant, on lands adjoin- ing the after-purchase of the Rev. Samuel Sturdevant. Upon the advance of the Indians down the valley in 1778, he with his family went by canoe down the river to Forty Fort, that being then, and for many years afterwards, the only means of travel up and down the Susquehanna. One of his sons, John N. Skinner, was in the battle of Wyoming, and was one of those in charge of the fort as protectors of the women and children. Mr. Sturde- vant's mother, then but seven years of age, was with her mother in the fort, and after the massacre went on foot, with the women and children spared by the Indians, through the wilderness called the "Shades of Death" to the Delaware river, and thence to Connecticut.
Mr. Sturdevant, like all farmers' boys, remained at home until the age of fifteen, living the uneventful and careless life of a boy
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EBENEZER WARREN STURDEVANT.
on a country farm. At that age he entered the old Wilkes-Barre Academy, then under charge of Dr. Orton as principal, and remained under his tuition a year, making such advancement educationally that he was fitted to continue his studies at Hamil- ton Academy, Hamilton, New York. Remaining at that insti- tution two years, he entered the sophomore class of Hamilton College, then under the presidency of Dr. Davis. A year later a large number of the class, including Mr. Sturdevant, left Ham- ilton to enter at various other colleges, Mr. Sturdevant entering the junior class of Union College, under the presidency of Dr. Nott. Here he took all tlie degrees conferred at the institution, was the junior and senior orator, and graduated in June, 1830, receiving all the honors in a class of one hundred and six, the largest that had at that time graduated from any American edu- cational institution. In the July following his graduation, Mr. Sturdevant entered the law office of Hon. Garrick Mallery, at Wilkes-Barre, and remained two years as a co-student with the Hon. George W. Woodward, since Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the Bar April 3d, 1832, upon the recommendation of John N. Conyngham, Oristus Collins, and Thomas Dyer, the examing committee. In 1836 he was appointed District Attorney of Luzerne county by Governor Wolf, and also one of the aids of the Governor, with the rank of Colonel. In 1837 Colonel Sturdevant was elected a member of the convention to revise the constitution of Pennsylvania, to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Hon. William Swetland. He took his seat October 21st, 1837, and was one of the most active and influential members of that body. The Colonel at that time belonged to the Whig party, his colleagues from this county being George W. Woodward and Andrew Bedford, M. D., Democrats. Chiefly through his instrumentality the word white was inserted in the constitution of 1838, although Dr. Bedford, the father of George R. Bedford, Esq., a member of the Luzerne county bar, had on May 16th, 18.37, submitted the following reso- lution to the convention :
"Resolved, That the conimittee on the third article of the con- stitution be instructed to inquire into the expediency of so amending the said article that every white male citizen, who shall
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EBENEZER WARREN STURDEVANT.
have attained the age of twenty-one years, and shall have resided in this State one year, and for six months next preceding the election in the county where he may offer his vote, shall be enti- tled to vote in the township or ward where he actually resides, and not elsewhere, for all officers that now are, or hereafter may be, made elective by the people."
On the 17th of January, 1838, on the motion of Mr. Martin, of Philadelphia, to amend the first section of the third article of the constitution by inserting the word white before the word freeman, Mr. Sturdevant said :
" Mr. President, I must beg the indulgence of the convention while I, as briefly as possible, submit my views upon the subject now under consideration. My inexperience admonishes me that my opinions on so vital a question as this cannot carry with them much weight, and inclines me to keep silence and learn wisdom from the aged and experienced delegates, whose opinions we may expect to hear before the close of this debate. I, however, sir, have a duty to discharge, and never shall shrink from its per- formance. In justice to my constituents, in justice to the citizens of this Commonwealth, and in justice to myself, I feel called upon to use my feeble exertions in the support of the amendment introduced in this section of the third article. The amend- mend in this section, to which I shall confine my observations, is in the first line of the third article. The section referred to com- mences thus: 'In elections by the citizens, every freeman of the age of twenty-one,' etc. By the proposed amendment it will read: 'In elections by the citizens, every white freeman,' etc. This is the proposed alteration, and I need not say that I feel in common with every delegate in this hall that the subject is a most important one. The question here proposed to be settled is one that has, and is still producing much excitement in this Commonwealth. 'Will the convention introduce into the consti- tution an amendment to exclude negroes from voting?' is a ques- tion that has been often asked me. I for one, sir, am as ready to answer that question here as I ever have been-in the affirmative. I am for settling at once this apparently vexed question, and of placing it hereafter beyond the shadow of a doubt. I am aware that there are a large number of the people of this State who believe, or pretend at least to believe, that the framers of the constitution of 1790 did not desire to exclude the negroes from voting, and that the language used in that instrument conveys no such idea; but, on the contrary, expressly includes them. Hav- ing come to this conclusion, they at once say that we are retro- grading, by creating now an exception, and introducing a distinc-
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EBENEZER WARREN STURDEVANT.
tion where none heretofore existed. I regret much that more examination had not been given to this subject by those who are in favor of giving to the blacks political rights. I deny that a negro is a citizen or a freeman, either by the constitution of 1776, or by the constitution of the United States, or by the constitution of 1790, the present constitution. The constitution of 1776 provides that ' every freeman of the age of twenty-one years,' etc., 'shall enjoy the rights of an elector,' and it declares that 'all men are born equally free and independent,' and it further declares that 'all men have certain inalienable rights, among which are enjoying and defending life, liberty, etc. Now, sir, at this time slavery existed in this Commonwealth, and the children of slaves were born slaves. If you apply the language used here to the negroes, is it true? were they born equal? They were governed by a distinct code of laws, and treated by the framers of that instrument as neither citizens nor freemen. A severe penal code was in force, by which they were punished and governed. They had not the rights of trial by jury, and were regarded as having no interest in the government of the country. By this constitu- tion, too, the freemen of this Commonwealth were directed to be 'trained and armed for the defense of the country.' Yet both slaves and free negroes, by laws then, and for a long time after, in force, were prohibited from carrying arms, either 'guns, swords, clubs,' etc. (see Con. 1705). 'Freemen,' then, as used here, could not apply to negroes. The framers of this constitution unques- tionably regarded them as a degraded race, and therefore took no notice of them. Esteeming them neither citizens nor freemen, they left them where they had found them, in the enjoyment of no political rights. Such, then, was the condition of the negro in 1776, and such it continued to be up to 1780, when an act of the Legislature was passed ' for the gradual abolition of slavery' in this Commonwealth. This law, among other things, repeals the laws for the government of negroes before referred to, gives to them the trial by jury, and ordains that no negro born after its passage in Pennsylvania should be a slave for life. This act changes in no way the political rights of the negro. It gave him no other rights or privileges than those specified. It conferred not upon him the rights of a citisen, a freeman, or an elector. I think, therefore, sir, that up to the date of the constitution of 1790 the negro, although in the enjoyment of some additional civil rights, was not a citizen or a freeman. Did the present con- stitution confer on him the right of suffrage? Pennsylvania was still a slave holding State. All those unfortunate beings who were slaves for life, at the passage of the law referred to, in 1780, were still slaves, and their children, being born of slave parents,
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