USA > Pennsylvania > Lives of the governors of Pennsylvania : with the incidental history of the state, from 1609 to 1873 > Part 36
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After reviewing at length the causes which had produced the perilous disaffection both North and South, Governor Packer concluded his Message by recommending a com- promise of existing difficulties, either by a Constitutional amendment, to be submitted by Congress, or by a National convention of delegates emanating from the people them- selves.
At the close of Governor Packer's administration, owing to declining health, he retired from public life, and returned with his family to his former home in the city of Williams- port, where, honored and beloved by all, he died on the 27th of September, 1870, at the age of sixty-three. In stature, he was above the ordinary size, being six feet in height, and weighing, while Governor, two hundred and twenty-five
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pounds. He had blue eyes, chestnut-brown hair, a fair com- plexion, and a capacious forehead, indicating great intellec- tual power. His address was frank, open and cordial, and his conversational powers pleasing and attractive. As a public speaker he had few equals -never failing to attract large audiences, and to command the most profound attention. Through life he was thoroughly democratic in his principles. Springing from the people, he was no empty talker about names and forms, but an energetic actor, always ready to do battle for their rights, and opposing with unflinching firm- ness every form of intolerance, whether political or religious. Looking to the people as the legitimate source of all political authority, he was ever ready to trust them with every power consistent with representative government.
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ANDREW G. CURTIN,
GOVERNOR UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1838. January 15, 1861, to January 15, 1867.
ITHE Rebellion of 1861 brought great labors and responsi- - bilities to the Executives of all the loyal States. It was a period when the exalted patriotism and devoted service of the boldest hearts were put to trying tests. Great armies were to be raised and marshalled, and inspired with enthusiasm for the national cause, from a population long given to peace- ful pursuits, and ignorant of, and averse to the business of war. The productive energies of the country were to be pre- served from languishing, and the means of carrying on a long and wasting contest to be provided. It fell to the lot of the subject of this sketch to come to the Executive chair just as hostilities were opening, and he occupied it until the smoke of the conflict had cleared away, and the veterans from many a hard-fought field and lonely bivouac fire, with banners streaming in triumph, came marching home. He came to that chair with the bloom of youth on his cheek, and a step elastic from the pulsations of health; he left it with a face on which were graved the lines of care, and a head grown pre- maturely gray. Posterity will not suffer the memory of such to fade.
Andrew Gregg Curtin was born on the 22d of April, 1817, at the village of Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania. His father, Roland Curtin, had settled there in 1800, having emigrated to this country from Ireland in 1793. He first en- gaged in business as a merchant; but in a limited way, for the population was then sparse, and in that wild, mountainous region the only means of transportation was by pack-horses.
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In 1867 he erected a forge on Bald Eagle Creek, about four miles from Bellefonte, and in 1817, a furnace, where shortly after he removed with his family. With a single exception, that of General Philip Benner, his was the first manufactory of iron established in all that region, and in this business he continued until his death, which occurred in 1851, and his sons after him to the present time. He was a man of consid- erable literary attainments, having been educated in Paris, where he was sent at the age of eighteen. He was twice married; the second time to a daughter of Andrew Gregg, for many years a member of Congress, a United States Sen- ator, Secretary of State under Governor Heister, and candi- date for Governor in opposition to John Andrew Shulze.
The subject of this sketch was one of seven children by the second marriage. He was first taught in his native village, where Mr. Brown, a man of learning and culture, was em- ployed to instruct a dozen or more boys, and where, among others, he was associated with Roland Curtin Boileau, since remarkably successful as a merchant of Meadville. He was afterwards sent to a school under the charge of Dr. Keagy at Harrisburg, and was finally placed in a widely celebrated institution at Milton, of which the Rev. Dr. Kirkpatrick was principal, where he finished his academic education. He then returned to Bellefonte, where he commenced the study of law in the office of William W. Potter, afterwards a mem- ber of Congress from that district. Attracted by the fame of Dickinson College, which at this period had a law department in a flourishing condition, Mr. Curtin was matriculated in the latter, where he became a pupil of Judge Reed, who was regarded as one of the ablest lawyers in the State.
In 1839 he was admitted to the bar in Centre County, and commenced practice at Bellefonte, in partnership with John Blanchard, an eminent lawyer and afterwards member of Congress. At the very opening of his career he took a lead- ing rank in his profession. Of commanding presence, and ready elocution, he was able, from his well-stored mind, to hold the attention alike of judge and jury. Possessed of
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exuberant spirits, and a keen sense for wit and humor, he was often able, by a few master-strokes of ridicule, to make what seemed in his opponent's case to be plausible, appear utterly indefensible. In criminal cases he was especially successful, and it was before a jury in such causes that his power was most conspicuous, and in conducting which he took great delight.
His tastes and training admirably qualified him for the po- litical arena, and he early entered it embracing the principles of the Whig party of that day, of which he soon became a most successful advocate. In 1840 he labored for the ele- vation of General Harrison to the Presidency, and in 1844 made a successful canvass of the State for Henry Clay, ex- citing great enthusiasm wherever he appeared. In 1848 he was placed upon the electoral ticket and contributed largely in raising and maintaining that tide of enthusiasm which carried the hero of the first Mexican campaign to the Presi- dential chair. He performed a like office for General Scott in 1852, serving again upon the electoral ticket.
In 1854 he was strongly urged to accept the nomination for Governor, but refused, and took instead the laboring oar in securing the election of his friend James Pollock, acting as chairman of the State central committee of the party, con- ducting the canvass with unexampled energy and zeal, and with the most flattering success. Recognizing his eminent qualifications for the position, Governor Pollock appointed him Secretary of the Commonwealth, a post of signal honor and responsibility, as in addition to the duty of Secretary proper, he was ex-officio superintendent of Common Schools. In the discharge of the duties of the latter office he took a special pride, and labored zealously. It was at a period when important changes were being engrafted upon the common- school system, and before it had become firmly rooted in the affections of the people. Previous to this time the super- vision of the schools in many parts of the State was lax, and the uses of the public money were often very questionable, favorites of those who had its custody often creeping into the
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position of teacher with little fitness for the place. County superintendents had just then been chosen for the first time whose duty it was to examine and certify to the qualifications of teachers; and no one could be employed without such certificate. They were also to visit the schools, and annually to report the manner in which moneys had been expended. The people in many parts of the State, ever regarding with jealous eye the creation of new offices, looked with distrust upon the County Superintendency ; and dishonest officials who are usually loudest in their cry for reform, saw in it the ruin of their system of ill-gotten gains. Joined to these causes of disquiet, in many counties an unfortunate choice of officers was made, and in others inadequate salaries were voted, thus crippling the services of good officers. It is not strange, therefore, that considerable opposition was manifested to this feature, and indeed to the whole school system. But by the indefatigable labors of Secretary Curtin, and his able and zealous deputy, Henry C. Hickok, it was preserved in its integrity until the new features could take root, and com- mend themselves by their fruits to the sober judgment of the people. To the steady hand of these officials in this trying period is due one of the most important agencies in making common-school education efficient in Pennsylvania.
In his annual report of 1855, after recounting the numerous evils which had existed previous to the establishment of the County Superintendency and other provisions of the law of 1854, he says : "It is not surprising that, as these abuses were beyond the reach of individual effort, and grew as a conse- quence out of the defects of the system itself, all who could afford it carefully withheld their children from the common schools." Turning to a contemplation of the happy changes which had been produced by the establishment of the County Superintendency in the same report, he says: "It has ef- fected a useful adjustment of the business operations of the boards of directors in correcting the deranged state of their finances, and in many instances in recovering money of the schools overlooked or supposed to be lost. It has elevated
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the profession and established more uniformity in the char acter and qualifications of teachers in theory and generally in practice; the incompetent and unworthy have been rejected, while the door has been opened wide for the admission of the meritorious and qualified, and a stimulus has been given to study and self-improvement. It is the great medium of connection between the Department and the schools; and, while it has produced unity and harmony of action between them, it has secured to the system power and efficiency hith- erto unattainable."
But, while he thus rejoiced in the improvements in the organic law which had been achieved, and the good results which they were producing, he plainly saw that one element of strength and prosperity was still wanting, and deeply lamented the defect. "The leading feature," he says, " of every report emanating from this Department to the Legis- lature for twenty years, is the want of a sufficient number of well-qualified teachers. . . . No substitute for a regular professional training, extending through years, and embrac- ing a complete course of study in all the branches necessary to illustrate those directly taught in the schools, can make the perfect teacher."
That the Legislature might have some definite object for which to labor, in concluding his remarks upon the subject of training teachers, in his report of the following year, he portrays the features of a system of Normal Schools adapted to the wants of the State, and urges its consideration with great warmth and earnestness. " A combination of the best elements of the State and the private school, and at the same time an avoidance of their disadvantages, might be obtained by the enactment of a law of which the following is a synop- sis : - The State to be divided into ten or more Normal School Districts, each to contain one school -the establish- ment, government, powers and duties of the schools to be uni- form in all the districts, and to be regulated by the general provisions of the law. The schools to be erected and gov- erned in accordance with the general law, by private but as-
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sociate enterprise, to contain halls, class-rooms, and apparatus, with a school of practice, and the necessary facilities of in- struction, for not less than three hundred students each ; and only to be recognized as schools for the training of teachers under the law, when completed, in conformity to all its pro- visions, after inspection by the Governor, or such other officer as the Legislature may please to designate. The course and term of study to be arranged by the joint action of the pro- per public authorities, and the principals of all the schools. Each Normal School to receive one or two students annually from each common-school district, at a price for tuition to be fixed by the law, and to be paid either by the State or the district. Such students to be designated by the directors of the proper district, from among its most meritorious and best prepared pupils desirous of acquiring the art and science of teaching. Examinations to be made, and diplomas granted, by all the principals of the district normal schools, with the concurrence and aid of the proper State officers. Such diplomas to be conclusive evidence of the degree of scholarship specified in them; but no certificate of compe- tency in the art of teaching to be given, until after two years successful practical experience, certified by the directors, by whom he or she was employed, and by the County Superin- tendent of the proper district."
At the session of the Legislature following that to which this report was made, a law was passed embodying the iden- tical provisions here recommended. It was the crowning excellence of the admirable system of education with which the State is blessed. Already in eight of the districts pro- fessional schools have been established, or are in process of being established, presided over by able and learned pro- fessors, and filled with an aspiring and intelligent corps of young men and women in training for the office of teacher, an honor to the Commonwealth and the chief glory of the Common School system.
At the expiration of his term as Secretary, Mr. Curtin re- sumed the practice of the law at his old home in Bellefonte,
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and was active and influential in promoting the opening of lines of railway leading into the central part of the State. In 1860, he was nominated as a candidate for Governor. Though the Democratic party in the nation was divided, sup- porting Breckinridge and Douglas for President, it rallied in Pennsylvania with great unanimity to the support of Henry D. Foster. The contest was an animated one, the canvass being conducted on both sides with great energy and ability. Mr. Curtin spoke in nearly every county in the Com- monwealth, often addressing assemblies in two or three places in a single day. IIe everywhere attracted large audiences, and created great enthusiasm in his favor, especially among the young men. He was elected by a majority of over thirty- two thousand votes, much larger than the most sanguine of his friends had anticipated, considering that his immediate predecessor, of opposite politics, had been chosen by a large majority. The struggle had been intensified by the fact that a Presidential election was to follow in less than a month, and Pennsylvania was regarded as the battle-ground where the contest was to be decided. After the gubernatorial de- cision had been pronounced, there was no longer any doubt about the result in November, the choice of Mr. Lincoln being generally conceded.
Governor Curtin was called to the Gubernatorial chair at a time when the gravest problems ever presented to American statesmanship were to be solved. The geographical position of the State added to its overshadowing political importance, made the duties of the Executive peculiarly responsible and perplexing. Separated from the Slave States by a merely imaginary line, and looked to from both the North and the South, to exhaust its great moral and political power to avert war, every expression from its government was awaited with profound interest. It was under such circumstances that Governor Curtin was called to speak for Pennsylvania in his inaugural address of January, 1861. He spoke with words of deliberation, decision, and wisdom, and made a record of statesmanship that stood the severe test of years of bloody
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and wasting war. The conflict obliterated old and sacred landmarks in political teaching; but the relations of the States to each other, and the duties of patriotism as pro- claimed by him in his first official utterance, remain un- changed, and are indorsed throughout the North. In that address he said : "No one who knows the history of Pennsyl- vania, and understands the opinions and feelings of her peo- ple, can justly charge us with hostility to our brethren of other States. We regard them as friends and fellow-country- men, in whose welfare we feel a kindred interest; and we recognize in their broadest extent all our constitutional obli- gations to them. These we are ready and willing to observe, generously and fraternally in their letter and spirit, with unswerving fidelity.
" Ours is a national government .. It has within the sphere of its action all the attributes of sovereignty, and among these are the right and duty of self-preservation. It is based upon a compact to which all the people of the United States are parties. It is the result of mutual concessions, which were made for the purpose of securing reciprocal benefits. It acts directly on the people, and they owe it a personal allegiance. No part of the people, no State, nor combination of States, can voluntarily secede from the Union, nor absolve them- selves from their obligations to it. To permit a State to with- draw at pleasure from the Union, without the consent of the rest, is to confess that our Government is a failure. Penn- sylvania can never acquiesce in such a conspiracy, nor assent to a doctrine which involves the destruction of the Government. If the Government is to exist, all the requirements of the Constitution must be obeyed; and it must have power ade- quate to the enforcement of the supreme law of the land in every State. It is the first duty of the national authorities to stay the progress of anarchy and enforce the laws, and Pennsylvania, with a united people, will give them an honest, faithful and active support. The people mean to preserve the integrity of the national Union at every hazard."
Again, on the 30th of April, when the Legislature met in
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extraordinary session in obedience to his proclamation, to provide for the public defence, he said : "The time is past for temporizing or forbearing with this rebellion, the most causeless in history. The North has not invaded, nor has she sought to invade a single guaranteed right of the South. On the contrary, all political parties, and all administrations, have fully recognized the binding force of every provision of the great compact between the States, and regardless of our views of State policy, our people have respected them. To predicate a rebellion, therefore, upon any alleged wrong, inflicted or sought to be inflicted upon the South, is to offer falsehood as an apology for treason. So will the civilized world and history judge this mad effort to overthrow the most beneficent structure of human government ever devised by man.
" The leaders of the rebellion in the cotton States which has resulted in the establishment of a provisional organiza- tion, assuming to discharge all the functions of governmental power, have mistaken the forbearance of the general Gov- ernment; they have accepted a fraternal indulgence as an evidence of weakness, and have insanely looked to a united South, and a divided North to give success to the wild ambi- tion that has led to the seizure of our national arsenals and arms; the investment and bombardment of our forts, the plundering of our mints, has invited piracy upon our com- merce, and now aims at the possession of the National capi- tal. The insurrection must now be met by force of arms; and to re-establish the Government upon an enduring basis, by asserting its entire supremacy ; to re-possess the forts and other Government property so unlawfully seized and held; to insure personal freedom and safety to the people and com- merce of the Union in every section, the people of the loyal States demand, as with one voice, and will contend for, as with one heart; and a quarter of a million of Pennsylvania's sons will answer the call to arms, if need be, to wrest us from a reign of anarchy and plunder, and secure for themselves and their children, for ages to come, the perpetuity of this Government and its beneficent institutions."
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The concluding paragraph of his message is in the follow- ing truly eloquent and patriotic language :
" You meet together at this special season, surrounded by circumstances involving the most solemn responsibilities; the recollections of the glories of the past, the reflections of the gloomy present, and the uncertainty of the future, all alike call upon you to discharge your duty in a spirit of patriotic cour- age, comprehensive wisdom, and firm resolution. Never in the history of our peace-loving Commonwealth have the hearts of our people been so stirred in their depths as at the present moment. And I feel that I need hardly say to you that, in the performance of your duties on this occasion, and in pro- viding the ways and means for the maintenance of our coun- try's glory and our integrity as a nation, you should be in- spired by feelings of self-sacrifice kindred to those which animate the brave men who have devoted their lives to the perils of the battle-field in defence of our nation's flag.
" Gentlemen, I place the honor of the State in your hands. And I pray that the Almighty God, who protected our fathers in their efforts to establish this our great constitutional liberty -who has controlled the growth of civilization and Chris- tianity in our midst, may not now forsake us; that He may watch over your counsels, and may, in his Providence, lead those who have left the path of duty, and are acting in open rebellion to the Government, back again to perfect loyalty, and restore peace, harmony, and fraternity to our distracted country."
In the meantime communication between the loyal States and the National capital had been cut off by the revolt in Baltimore. The portion of troops required from Pennsyl- vania under the President's proclamation of the 15th of April had been promptly furnished, and many more were offering their services. General Patterson, who had been assigned to command in the State, by reason of the interruption of com- munication with his government and chief, called upon Gov- ernor Curtin for twenty-five thousand additional troops. He at once issued his proclamation, and the response surpassed
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all expectation. From every part of the State men came singly, in squads and in companies, and the requisition was in rapid process of being filled, when, upon the re-opening of' communication through Baltimore with Washington, an order was received from the Secretary of War, revoking General Patterson's requisition, for the reason, as stated, that the troops were not needed, and that less than the number already called for would be preferred to an excess.
But Governor Curtin better understood the magnitude of the impending conflict, and he resolved to prepare for it according to his appreciation of the public danger. With a long line of southern border exposed to the sudden incur- sions of the enemy, and the National army composed of only three-months' men, and likely even with these to be outnum- bered in the field, he determined not to rely upon the mis- taken conceptions of the National authorities for the protec- tion of the State. Thousands of men were already in camp, or were on their way, their services having been accepted, when the order of revocation was received. Governor Cur- tin, instead of disbanding them, directed that they preserve their organization, and immediately applied to the Legisla- ture for authority to form a corps of thirteen regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, and one of artillery, to be organized and equipped by the State, to be subject to the call of the Na- tional Government if needed, and to be at all times in readi- ness for immediate service. The requisite authority was granted, though not without opposition from those who sym- pathized in the opinions of the Washington authorities that the danger would be soon passed, and the result was the organization of the afterwards famous Pennsylvania Reserve Corps. Before its formation was entirely completed, the wis- dom and patriotism of the Governor in recommending it were vindicated ; for there came from the Secretary, who a few weeks before had refused to sanction the raising of more troops because they were not needed, a pressing appeal to have the Reserves sent forward with all possible dispatch to the capital; and when before the disasters at Bull Run the
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