USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Warwick's Keystone commonwealth; a review of the history of the great state of Pennsylvania, and a brief record of the growth of its chief city, Philadelphia > Part 32
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souri to the free State of Illinois where he remained for a period of two years. After a short sojourn in Minnesota, to which State he had been taken by his mas- ter, he finally returned to Missouri. There he was sold at public auction, but de- manded his liberty on the ground that he had lived for a considerable time on free soil and that this habitation had given to him the rights and qualities of a free man. The case was fought bitterly from beginning to end and the argu- ments made were most exhaustive, the Bible itself being invoked in support of both sides. At last it was carried for final judgment to the Supreme Court of the United States, where after due consideration, the Court decided (only two justices dissenting) that a negro whether bond or free, who was a descendant of slave parentage or ancestors was not an American citizen, that he had no right to sue in the courts of the United States and that his entry upon free soil did not in any sense emancipate him from slavery or loosen the shackles from his limbs and finally he "had no right which the white man was bound to respect." The opinion culminated in the Civil War, for it shocked the senti- ments of the people when they saw in bold relief the hideous features of slav- ery and how deeply rooted the iniquitous system was in the institution of the country. It gave a new phase to the question, for the South contended under this interpretation, slavery could exist even in the free States if a master saw it to his interest to remove his slaves from a slave State to a free one.
Although the opinion enraged and angered the Abolitionists and aroused the thinking people of the North it after all was a strict interpretation of the law. Chief Justice Taney may have shocked the sentiments of the country, but he laid down the law as it existed and was established by precedent. He was right in his interpretation when he said a slave was a mere thing, a piece of property without any civil or political rights ; he could be owned and sold as a mere chattel, and was but on a level with the cattle of the plantation, and if the court was right then the institution was radically wrong and there was only one thing to do in the name of humanity and that was to destroy the system which had blinded men to justice, equity and right.
While these discussions were on, a business panic took place in 1857. The Ohio Land and Trust Company, of Cincinnati, failed through the fault of its New York agent, in August of that year, and a financial disturbance shook the whole business world to its centre. A large number of houses failed, nearly all the banks in the country suspended payments and were compelled to close their doors while mills and factories in every direction had to shut down. The crisis spread rapidly over the entire nation. Loans could not be made at any premium and the ruin was widespread. The chief cause of this trouble re- sulted from the discovery of gold in California. The increased wealth of the country had induced a reckless speculation. It was a clear case of over-produc- tion ; the supply exceeded the demand. Merchants and manufacturers were loaded with goods for which they could find no customers, while the farmer had no market for his grain. Philadelphia, one of the leading commercial and manufacturing cities in the country, especially felt the effects of the shock and it took many months before normal conditions were reached.
In 1859 Colonel Drake sank the first successful oil well in this State; it was located in Titusville, northwestern Pennsylvania. It was not until fifteen years after the discovery of petroleum, that natural gas was discovered in the same
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locality. This gas was utilized for the lighting of streets and houses, for cooking and for fuel in manufacturing purposes, and for several years the towns in the gas belt were illuminated by great torches or flames of light that issued out of tall iron pipes which at a distance looked like beacons. Pittsburg was especially en- riched and benefited by the discovery, but it was found impracticable to carry it into distant localities, especially in view of the fact that the supply was dimin- ishing.
The conflict against slavery, notwithstanding the depression in the business world, still continued, and in 1859 John Brown, of Ossawatomie, made an in- cursion into Virginia, seized the public buildings at Harper's Ferry, and at- tempted to liberate the slaves in that vicinity. His campaign was unsuccessful and he and six of his companions were hanged at Charleston, Virginia. This event was followed in 1860 by the nomination of Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, for the Presidency of the United States, and the battle was now fairly on which was to result either in the destruction of slavery or in the Union.
The population of the country at this period was over 30,000,000 of people. In material wealth she had grown so rapidly that she was the wonder and marvel of the world. Railroads, canals and steamships on the rivers, lakes and coasts made transportation comparatively a cheap and easy matter, while the telegraph brought the most distant sections within immediate communication and the Atlantic cable bound the old world to the new.
Omnibuses still rumbled over the cobble stones of Philadelphia, but efforts were now being made to secure charters for the laying of railways in the streets. There was strenuous opposition to this proposition, for it was contended that they would greatly interfere with travel by reason of having their tracks laid in the middle of the streets, and, further than this, that the repose of the people at night would be disturbed by the ringing of bells. A passenger railway was laid from Southwark to Frankford, on Fifth and Sixth streets in 1858. This line was followed by the Tenth and Eleventh streets, Market street, Second and Third streets and the Race and Vine streets lines. Municipal improve- ments were introduced in every direction. The water supply was extended, streets were better lighted and better paved, while more ample police protection was introduced. The city was encroaching upon the suburbs and new streets were being opened in every direction, Pittsburgh was developing into the greatest iron and steel centre in the country while the cities and towns of Pen- sylvania were increasing in population and becoming prosperous communities.
In the decade preceding the Civil War, this city had two severe winters, those of 1854 and 1856. Many people were out of work and the weather was so bitter cold that there was great suffering among the poor. In the begin- ning of 1856 the Delaware River was frozen from bank to bank. So deep was the ice that bonfires were made upon it around which the skaters gathered to warm their hands and feet. Gamblers set up the "Thimble-ring" and the "Three Card Monte" game, while venders had their stands for the sale of hot viands. On the 26th of January, when it was calculated twenty thousand people were enjoying themselves in winter sports on the frozen surface of the river, a dreadful accident took place. A sleighing party containing five persons was speeding over the ice when suddenly the horses disappeared by falling
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into an air hole. Rescuers rushed to the assistance, but, notwithstanding all the efforts that were made, two women were drowned. This made the people more prudent in the future in indulging in their winter sports, but it was not until late in March the ice broke up and the river was cleared for navigation. A ferry boat, while making its way through the floes of ice, suddenly took fire, and, out of one hundred passengers on board, thirty were burned to death or drowned.
One notable event of this period was the visit of Jenny Lind, called the "Swedish Nightingale." She came to this country under a contract made by Phineas T. Barnum. He had been successful in introducing Fanny Ellsler and General Tom Thumb and he thought he would play for higher game. He sent an agent to see her to provide the details, and he entered into an agree- ment for one hundred and fifty nights at a thousand dollars a night. All her hotel and traveling expenses were to be paid as well as the wages of her ser- vants and secretaries and she was to be provided with horses and carriages wherever she went. She was also to be accompanied by Julian Benedict, a well known music director, and Senor Beletti, an Italian baritone. Barnum imme- diately set about raising a sum covering the amount of the contract to be de- posited with bankers in London on or before a specified date. After using every effort he was still short $5,000 and he was afraid the nightingale would fly from his hand for she was being pursuaded at home not to place herself under the care of a man like Barnum who was a recognized humbug. Having, however, secured the full amount and having complied with every letter of his agreement, Jenny Lind sailed from London and arrived in New York where she was most warmly received. Everyone in society was anxions to entertain her. Merchants named their goods after her, such as Jenny Lind gloves, Jenny Lind bonnets, Jenny Lind shawls, etc. The keen showman saw there was more money in the enterprise than he had at first anticipated and generously increased the terms of the agreement. After visiting New York and Boston and arousing her audiences to the wildest enthusiasm, she came to Philadelphia, where she made her first appearance in the Chestnut Street Theatre on the night of October 17th, 1850. So great was the demand for tickets to admis- sion that it was decided to sell them at public auction, and Moses Thomas was chosen as the auctioneer, one ticket bringing the enormous price of $625, which was bought by a man named M. A. Root, a well known daguerreotypist, with a studio on Chestnut street. She gave several concerts in this city in Musical Fund Hall and then began her southern tour. Upon her return she appeared in Burton's old National Theatre at Ninth and Chestnut streets. It was here in Philadelphia that she asked to be released from her agreement. She saw that Barnum, financially, had the better end of the contract. He had so success- fully advertised her and had raised public expectation to such a height that his profits were enormous and after making some concessions released her from the contract, retaining as his share of the profits $535,486.25 as against her share of $176,675.09. She returned to Europe dissatisfied and with a mortal dislike not only for Barnum but for all Americans. Mme. Charles Moulton, in her "Courts of Memory" describes a personal interview she had with the great
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singer in the Duke de Vallombrosa's villa at Cannes. In the course of the con- versation she expressed herself as hating the Americans and as abhorring the very name of Barnum, who, she said, "exhibited me much as he did the big giant or any other of his monstrosities." "But," said her visitor, "you must not forget how you were idolized and appreciated in America, even as a child I can remember how they worshipped you." "Worship, or not," she answered sharply, "I was nothing more than a show in a showman's hands, Ican never forget that."
In 1857 Elisha Kent Kane, a resident of Philadelphia and a member of an old and respected family of that city, died in the West Indies where he had gone to recover his health which had been impaired by his exposure in the Arc- tic regions. It was one of the most impressive funeral processions that had ever taken place in the city and men of the highest distinction took part in the ceremony. Among the pall-bearers were Horace Binney, Commodore Read, ex-Governor Pollock, William B. Reed, Bishop Potter, Judge Grear, Chief Jus- tice Lewis, Dr. Dunglison and Major C. J. Biddle. The body lay in state in Independence Hall, guarded by the Washington Grays. Elisha Kent Kane was a son of Judge Kent Kane. He graduated in medicine in the University of Pennsylvania in 1843, but did not devote himself to an active practice, and immediately began foreign explorations. He entered the Navy in 1850 as a sur- geon and offered his services to the dellaven Arctic Expedition, which was or- ganized for the purpose of rescuing Sir John Franklin, a British polar traveler, from whom nothing had been heard since he entered the polar regions in 1845. The expedition returned without finding any trace of the British explorer and Kane immediately interested Henry Grinnell, a New York merchant, who had made a large contribution to the deflaven expedition, to help him fit up a ship under his own direction. Kane's ship left New York in 1853, but owing to the great accumulation of ice in the Arctic regions, he was compelled to pass the winter north of the 78th parallel. Hle spent the following summer in that locality making scientific experiments and discoveries, but the ice would not release its hold of his vessel and the party was compelled to abandon it, and after the most frightful privations and sufferings they arrived in New York in the Fall of 1855, after an absence of two years and a half. It is needless to say that the return of the adventurers was welcomed with every expression of delight:
His sojourn in the Arctic regions had so undermined Kane's health he was compelled to seek a warmer climate in which to recuperate. In the meantime he wrote a work called "Arctic Explorations" which was eagerly read through- out the country and yielded him iu royalties in the neighborhood of $65,000, one of the most successful books up to that time that had ever been sold by subscription in this country. The soft and balmy air of the West Indies could not restore him to health and he died there of consumption in February of 1857.
Two events worth noticing occurred during this period. The first was the visit of the Japanese Embassy in June, 1860. Perhaps no visiting delegation of foreigners ever created a greater excitement and curiosity. The streets were crowded with people and at every step of the way the Japanese were received with the warmest welcome. Fortunately, the Continental Hotel had been built
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and completed in all its appointments, and here was provided ample accommo- dations up-to-date. Commodore Perry's visit to Japan had brought about this event. It was the uniting of the far East with the modern West and an opening of a new era in commerce and enterprise.
In October of that year, the Prince of Wales, afterwards King Edward VII., came to the city and was handsomely entertained.
CHAPTER XXVI.
ANDREW CURTIN ELECTED GOVERNOR. LINCOLN ELECTED TO THE PRESIDENCY. OPENING OF THE CIVIL WAR. ORGANIZATION OF THE UNION LEAGUE. BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. FMIR OF THE SANITARY COMMISSION. ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
T HE Presidential campaign of 1860 was fought with extreme bitterness. Marching clubs were assailed by showers of stones as they passed through the streets while sometimes factions would meet each other face to face and indulge in a rough and tumble riot.
In the October election Andrew Curtin, candidate for Governor on the Re- publican ticket in Pennsylvania, was given a majority of more than 30,000. In the Presidential election in No- vember the total vote in this State was 476,442 ; Lincoln's vote was 268,- 030: Breckinridge, 178,871 ; Douglas, 16.765, and Bell, candidate of the Con- stitutional Union Party, 12,776. This gave Lincoln a majority over all of 59,598. In the city, Lincoln polled 39.233; Douglas and Breckinridge polled together 30,053, while Bell had bit 7131.
When the returns came in and the election of Mr. Lincoln was announced the country appreciated the fact that it was to meet a crisis and men girded themselves for the fray.
The attitude of the South was threatening in the extreme. South Carolina already declared it was her intention to withdraw from the Union and in order to counteract this pur- pose, many meetings were held in Philadelphia to give an assurance to the Southern States that there was no GOVERNOR ANDREW G. CURTIN. intention upon the part of the North to deprive them of any constitutional rights, or even to destroy the system of slavery which was recognized as an insti- tution. On January 3, 1861, in response to a call signed by a number of prominent citizens, among whom were Henry C. Carey, Morton McMichael, William D. Lewis, Daniel Dougherty, Ellis Lewis, Lewis C. Cassidy and Charles Gilpin, a meeting of citizens, irrespective of party, assembled to consider the questions of the hour and to appeal to the South not to act impulsively nor to take any step
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that would lead to a civil war ; but, notwithstanding these appeals, South Carolina did not change her belligerent attitude while her papers teemed with treasonable utterances and her prominent men defiantly assailed the policy of the new government and that Union which had cost so much blood and treasure in her creation and preservation was at last threatened with disintegration at the hands of her own sons.
The time was rapidly approaching when Lincoln was to be inaugurated and he set out from his home to make a tour of the Eastern States on his way to Washington. He reached Philadelphia on February 21st. He had been met by a committee of citizens at Trenton who escorted him to the city. Public excite- ment was so great and party spirit ran so high that it was feared the president- elect might be assassinated and every precaution was taken to guard against so unfortunate an event. The very moment he entered the precincts of the city he was welcomed warmly, for Philadelphia was loyal to the core. The city was decorated with flags and bunting and an arch was thrown over Chestnut street which bore the words "Abraham Lincoln and the Whole Union." At night the houses were illuminated. The next day he was accompanied to the State House and rode in a barouche drawn by four white horses which was preceded by a cavalcade. The sidewalks were thronged with people who cheered him to the echo.
May I digress for a moment to give a little personal reminiscence? I was but a boy when Abraham Lincoln passed through this city on his way to the Capitol. I had endeavored to go to Independence Hall where he was to raise the Stars and Stripes, but, unfortunately, the streets were so crowded that I was unable to reach that locality and I took my place at the corner of Twelfth and Chestnut streets and waited for the procession. I had never seen a President, and in anticipation was wrought up to a state of anxious curiosity. I had formed in my youthful mind an idea of his appearance. Of course, it was all in imagination, but I expected to see a man of magnificent presence, something entirely out of the ordinary. In time, however, the procession reached our cor- ner and in a barouche stood a tall, black-haired, black-whiskered man, awk- wardly bowing to the cheering crowds that lined both sides of the street. Hle was so different in appearance from what I had expected to see that I stood be- wildered and astonished in my disappointment, but when he turned in our direc- tion I was instantly impressed by the gentle, kindly face which seemed so fath- erly and affectionate. Thank God, my little cap was in the air and my voice helped in its childish strength to swell the chorus of his welcome.
After remaining for a short time in this city arrangements were made for him to continue his journey to Washington. Information had been received that it was not safe to pass through Baltimore, for there was a conspiracy on foot against his life. Instead of taking the cars at the announced hour he secretly boarded a train on the night of the 22d, at Broad and Printe streets, and, arriv- ing in Washington the next morning, took up his quarters at Willard's Hotel.
The South still continued defiant in its opposition and was deaf to every patriotic appeal. The temper of the North, too, began to change and aban- doned its spirit of conciliation. The question had passed beyond the limits of compromise.
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The Inauguration took place on March the fourth, and Lincoln's words rang through the nation when he pleaded for the preservation of the Union. "My countrymen," he said, "one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. If there be any object to hurry any of you in hot haste to a step which you would never take delib- erately, that object will be frustrated by taking time, but no good object can be
frustrated by it. * * * * In your hands, my dissatisfied countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you, you can have no conflict without being yourselves aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, to protect and defend it. I am loath to close. We are not enemies but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory stretching from every battle field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the bet- ter angels of our nature."
But this earnest appeal found no response but jeers and derision.
On April 12th fire was opened on Fort Sumter, which was in command of Major Anderson, and the first shells that flew across the harbor of Charleston, announced to the world that the war was fairly on. The President immedi- ately made a call for 75,000 troops for three months' service and convened an extra session of Congress. It was the general opinion of the people that the conflict would be of short duration. No one at that time thought it would ex- tend its dreary length to four long years of agonizing war, and, in fact, many of the enlisted troops entered upon the campaign as if it were a frolic, but the people were soon brought to a realizing sense of what confronted them. The South seemed to have a contempt for the fighting qualities of her brothers of the North and claimed that one Southerner was worth three Yankees, and there was at the beginning of the conflict, perhaps some reason for this proud boast, because the South was composed of farms and plantations and every boy was brought up to horseback riding and to the use of firearms. Game of all kinds abounded and field sports were indulged in from boyhood. In the North the employees in the factories, mills and shops were afforded no such training and most men knew about as much of a gun as they did of a fiddle.
When the news reached Philadelphia of the firing upon Fort Sumter, the city was thrown into the greatest excitement, the streets were crowded with people and the bulletin boards were surrounded by anxious inquirers, eager to receive every piece of news. Crowds of men and boys, bearing the American flag, paraded through the streets and compelled all suspected persons to hang out the stars and stripes. Enlistment booths were soon opened in every sec- tion and the drum roll resounding through the streets made the city sound like a military encampment. Major General Patterson was put in command of all the Pennsylvania troops while the Philadelphia brigades were under the direc- tion of General Cadwalader. As the troops from other States arrived, an op- portunity was given for the kind offices of women and there were established two great refreshment saloons; one, "The Union Volunteer," was situated at
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the corner of Washington and Delaware avennes, and the other was the well known "Cooper Shop." Here many thousand soldiers during the war were en- tertained and refreshed, and they had every reason to remember with gratitude the kind attention they received from the women of Philadelphia who were as- siduras in their efforts to provide refreshments for tired, hungry and dust so !. dier :.
On the morning of April 19th, the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment and several companies of Philadelphia troops left this city for Washington. In all they numbered about 1,800 men. The train was composed of several sections and the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment was the first to reach Baltimore, which city was filled with Southern sympathizers. They were well uni- formed and equipped and in an affray with the mob four of them were killed and thirty or forty wounded. The soldiers returned fire and killed a number of citizens, then forcing their way at the point of the bayo- net, at last boarded the train and started on their way South. The Penn- sylvania troops that were in the rear were not well uniformed or equipped, many of them being without arms of any kind. The mob which had grown greater in numbers opened fire and hurled volleys of stones against the un- armed Pennsylvania soldiers and it looked as if the latter would be over- whelmed. The authorities pleaded with them not to continue on their way, and after consultation it was decided to return to Philadelphia, which city they reached on the night of April roth. This treatment of the soldiers who were hastening on their way to save the Capital, greatly exasperated the citizens and resulted in making many doubting men loyal to the Union cause. All sorts of rumors were put into circulation and it was said that an army of Baltimoreans were making preparations to invade Pennsylvania and to attempt the capture of this city. The Councils at once appropriated a sum of money for the organ- ization of a home guard in order to avoid a recurrence of the Baltimore riot, tracks were laid around the city and the troops of the North after this were conveyed direct to Washington without being compelled to change cars and to pass on foot through the streets of Baltimore.
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