USA > South Dakota > Who's who in South Dakota, Vol. I > Part 3
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Again Crawford speaks in epigrams. When he uncorks a new can of them they spurt forth with a hissing, squelching effect like a punctured tube of patent fire extinguisher. His 'imps of hell"", "toads in a cellar", "machine whelps," and dozens of other epigrams hurled at his personal enemies during the bitter campaigns of 1906 and 1908, are now matters of state pride in a chosen son's vocabulary.
Mr. Crawford was one of the ten law students, selected by the faculty out of a class of 130, for commencement honors at he Iowa University Law School. He acquitted himself with oratorical honors, even at that early day in his career.
AS A LAWYER
Senator Crawford earned the money to put himself through aw school, by teaching school. After graduation, he again taught 'or a brief period, to get money with which to start up in his practice.
WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA
Nearly every lawyer has to go through this starvation period. Young Crawford was no exception. He became the junior mem- ber of a law firm at Independence, Iowa, and at the end of a year he found himself $300 /in debt. He got together $25 (enough to pay his carfare to Pierre, S. D.) and started west, to "live or die, sink or swim, survive or perish." Reaching East Pierre, he rented a shack and stuck out his shingle.
His first cases were defending frontier ruffians in justice's court. He soon built up a practice that was phenominal. It was these early efforts at oratory in justice's court that in later years caused his subsequent law partner, the learned Charles E. De Land, to write of him:
"Boundless energy, fearless advocacy of his client's cause, stern and drastic invective against those who sought to trample upon his own rights at the bar-these were the qualities, the memories of which mark my first information of him who is the subject of this sketch, the then young man who, in his maiden efforts in justice's court, after settling in Pierre in 1884, had by sheer force of manhood, expressed in matchless eloquence, arous- ing inquiry and astounded listeners passing by, and who eagerly inquired 'Who is he?' to be told ' He is Coe I Crawford.' "
This promising young attorney soon lost his entire la library in a fire; re- moved to Pierre, stuck out his sign, started in all over again, and in a short time became one of the recog. nizel criminal lawyers of the state. In 1897 he re- moved to Huron to become attorney for the North- western Railway company, where he soon distinguished himself at the Beadle county bar.
His defense of young Hubbard, in the famous Hubbard-Cakebread murder case which occurred on the Miller ranch four miles north-east of Alpena, was perhaps the ablest effort of his life. In the first trial Hubbard was fonud guilty
SEN. COE I. CRAWFORD
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of manslaughter and was sentenced to the penitentiary. Crawford was dauntless in his efforts and at the end of fourteen months he secured a second trial for him. It was his argument before the jury in behalf of his client at this second trial to which we specifically refer. Business was largely sus- pended in all of the surrounding towns. Hundreds made their way to Huron to hear Crawford's closing argument. Those who could be squeezed into the court room will never forget the magic spell of his oratory. Not a dry eye in the jury box; not a dry eye in the entire court room; women sobbing in the audience; strong men burying their faces in handkerchiefs; even the court became visibly effected: as hour after hour, building up climax after climax, while he held his audience in tragic suspense, the gifted oratory mounted from the hill-top to mountain-top in gilded flights of almost supernatural oratory until at last he sud- denly broke the chains of bondage and set his prisoner free!
IN POLITICS
No man will pretend to deny but that Senator Crawford has few equals and no superiors in state politics His rise from that dismal law shack at old East Pierre to the United States senator- ship fully attested his capabilities along this line. He is not only a good campaigner. but he is an adept at campaign execu- tion. He is a born leader. You simply can't down him.
The next year after settling at Pierre he' was elected states attorney for Hughes county. At the same time he formed a law partnership with Mr. De Land, which lasted for twelve years. After serving only two year as sstates attorney, Mr. Crawford was elected to the Territorial Senate in 1888. Two years later he was elected state senator from Hughes county. Two years after this he was elected attorney-general for the state, filling this position for two terms, during a very trying time. This took him up to the eventful campaign of 1896 when he was a candidate for con- gress, and in which, during the tide of populism, he lost by only a few votes.
In 1904, he made a fight for the Governorship and lost. In 1906, he renewed his fight and won. Crawford's ability to forsee he culmination of public sentiment and the probable turn of political events, is his greatest asset. After serving only one erm as governor, he declined to become a candidate for re- somination, but plunged head-long into the senatorial fight, vinning the nomination in the June primaries of 1908, and his lection at the bands of the state legislature in 1909. It will hus be seen that his political record has been a phenominal one.
WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA
CRAWFORD, THE REFORMER
Crawford's political rise was finally due to the reforms for which he stood. During his administration as governor there were enacted into state law some of our mos wholesome reforms. There will of course always be honest differences of opinion con- cerning some of these laws.
He came forward upon the theater of political operations just at the psychological moment. LaFollette had just led off in Wisconsin; Cummings was leading off in Iowa; the spirit of in- surgency, born in the northwest, had taken root and had begun to spread. Dolliver, Beveridge, Lenroot, Bristow, Hubbard, Cooper and others caught the echo and responded. It has plainly become the West against the East, and the former is going to win, even at the expense and peril of turning the country democratic.
PERSONAL HISTORY
Senator Crawford cane from good, old, Presbyterian, Scotch- Irish stock. His father was a wagon maker and an honest, up- right, conscientious, Christian gentleman. In 1851, he removed from Ohio to Allamakee county, Iowa, and settled on a farm. Here Coe I. came into being January 14, 1858. His boyhood was spent on the farm. During the winter he did chores and attended district school for a few months each year. At fifteen years of age he entered a semi-graded school at Rossville. During his two years at this school he stayed with Dr. Simeon H. Drake, who gave him private lessons in Latin, Geometry and English Literature.
He drifted to Ohio, taught school, traveled two years for a publishing house and then entered the law school at Iowa City, where he graduated with honor with the class of '82, and since that time he has repeatedly honored his Alma Mater.
Mr. Crawford was married in 1884 to Miss May Robinson of Iowa City. Two children blessed this union. Mrs. Crawford died in 1894 Complying with the mandates of the scriptures, he married her sister in 1896. Three children were born to this second union.
CRAWFORD'S HUMANITY
When the Revolutionary army was spending its trying winter at Valley Forge, Isaac Potts, at whose home George Washington was making his headquarters, overheard the general in prayer on his knees one day along the river bank. He reduced the prayer to writing. It is still preserved in both history and literature.
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In it may be found these words. "Let all our victories be seasoned with humanity."
In the naval battle at Santiago, Cuba, during our recent war, one of our gun-boats hove near to a shell-riven, dismantled Span- ish gun-boat that was on fire and was sinking. When the Amer- ican crew beheld the terrific effect of their gunnery on the enemy, they began to cheer. Raising his hand, the commander said to his men, "Don't cheer boys, the poor devils are dying."
The humanity displayed by these military heroes was also displayed by Mr. Crawford in his great political battle for the senatorship. During the campaign, his integrity as a citizen, his manhood and his personal record, were attacked in a most vicious manner. Volley after volley of political viputeration was hurled against the armor plate of his character, yet he came out of the fight without sustaining any permanent injury. He was sittng in the governor's office when the united republican ballot of the legislature, in joint-session, was cast for him as United States senator. His presence was immediately demanded and a speech was loudly called for. In a moment he appeared, escorted by a special committee, and took the platform. Raising his hand, to allay the cheering, he calmly said. "Out of the heat of the campaign, I bring no malice toward any man." After completing a neat speech in the senate chamber he returned to the governor's office, where he was met by Governor Vessey who said to him: "This is the first time I have ever felt right about the senatorship since you were denied the appointment eight years ago. The fight has been a bitter personal one, and I congratulate you on your victory "
Senator Crawford replied: "Governor, I could never have stood it if it hadn't been for such loyal friends as yourself, who have stood with me bravely through it all."
Interviewed a few hours later about his speech of forgiveness delivered before the legislature he said: "No man has any right to harbor malice in his soul. He has a right, of course, to de- fend himself in a dignified way, when attacked, but he has no right to harbor malice toward any man when it is over."
Two days later he was summoned to the Governor's office to accept his commission from the state as United States senator from South Dakota. Taking Governor Vessey by the right hand, and placing his left hand on the Governor's shoulder, Senator Crawford said: "I know of no man in South Dakota whose name I would rather have on this commission than yours, -not simply because of the political strife through which we have passed to- gether, but because of your personal friendship."
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WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA
Thus, "out of the heat of the conflict," Mr. Crawford came forth a forgiving, high-minded, Christian gentleman, ready and willing to practice the daily prayer left for us by the Nazarine, two thousand years ago, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
AS A SENATOR
Men have already begun to criticise the senator pro and con for his record at Washington. We feel that judgment should be suspended for the present. His term is six years. He has served only eighteen months. Why jump at conclusions? The "National Magazine" for this month has this to say about him:
"A new senator, who in debate displays all the self-poise and ease of a veteran, is Hon. Coe I. Crawford of South Dakota. Always forceful and effective, although he keys his voice a trifle higher than most speakers, he is never asked to repeat a sentence because it has not been heard. In his recent speech in the Senate he announced that he should ask attention for only a short time, but he was kept on the orator's witness stand for over an hour. A senatorial debate reminds one of a gridiron dinner, because of the quizzing that goes on across the floor, when the 'broilers' are all red hot, and each senator is ready for carving with his sharp- est knife."
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ROBERT S. VESSEY
1356425
OUR GOVERNOR
Rising to an impassioned outburst of eloquence, while deliv- ering an address at Ethan, during the recent political campaign, Senator Coe I. Crawford said: "My Fellow Citizens When you look into the face of Governor Vessey, you look into the face of a man! - a man who has written his own splendid character on the hearts and in the lives of the people of our entire state!" (Pro- longed applause.) The word "man" has in it only three letters; yet, after all, how few of our own sex (let's be honest) really incorporate into their lives all of the constituent elements em- bodied in this little word.
Senator Gamble, upon be- ing asked recently what gave the governor such a hold on the people of our state, said, "His face." That's it' Any man with Bob Vessey's face can win in politics. He isn't like one of our former public men who was prominent in national life and who, upon being ac- cused of being "two-faced," declared "It isn't true! If it were, I wouldn't be wearing the face I now have."
Have you never noticed the dimple in that stern chin, and the protruding lower lip -each of which are indica- tive of determination? And the deep-set, kindly eyes with their wealth of shadowy eye- brows, denoting his pleasing temperament? What an open countenance ! What a man- hood revealed from within!
ROBERT S. VESSEY
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WHO'S WHO IN SOUTH DAKOTA
Fortunate, indeed! His face is his political asset, and not a liability.
Another campaign has come and gone in our state's proud history. Robert S. Vessey has been triumphantly re-elected gov- ernor at the hands of the republican party. His past record has been accepted as a criterion for the future. The people, by their ballots, have said, "We are content." His unsullied manhood will now become more conspicuous than ever before. The eyes of the state are riveted upon him. The smoke of the last cam- paign is clearing away, and above the clouds of strife, like the sphinx on the Egyptian desert, there stands out in bold relief against the historic sky the resplendent character of the man.
Governor Vessey is a Badgerite by birth. It seems that about sixty per cent of the fellows who have won distinction in the public life of South Dakota, came from Wisconsin. No won- der when that state began to "insurge" in politics that we should "follow suit" or "trump" as the case may be. (We dont' play cards either-we borrowed these expressions.)
Our governor-grand, good man that he is-was denied the advantage of an education. He got his training in the universe instead of a university. But, after all., this counts in life; Vessey has proven it.
In 1882, he was united in marriage to Miss Florence Albert, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Picture if you will an ox team hitched to a covered wagon, wending its way across the prairies in the spring of 1883, toward Wessington Springs, driven by a sober- minded young groom, with his bride by his side. Watch them reach their destination; see the young couple climb out, knee] down and thank God for the scanty blessings of life; and you will have before you the image and circumstances of the man who was destined to become the governor of the state that had just adopted him, Robert S. Vessey.
For a few years he played the "good shepherd" and raised sheep. Then he organized at Wessington Springs a mercantile business which he recently sold; and later he went into the bank- ing business also. At present he is the head of a large trust com- pany organized at Pierre, and he is a trustee of the Wessington Springs Seminary, and of Dakota Wesleyan, at Mitchell.
In 1905 and in 1907, he was state senator from Jerauld county. During this period he was steeped in reform. The old political methods employed in the state did not appeal to him. He was open and above board in all of his contentions. He in- troduced the measure compelling campaign committees to keep. an account of their expenses and to make public report; also the
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measure compelling railroads to build connecting tracks at inter- secting points; and he secured the adoption of better state bank- ing laws.
Always on the side of the people his determined and manly stand on public questions invited the attention and commanded the respect of the state. When Governor Crawford decided not to stand for re-election as governor but to make the race for the United States senate, Vessey's geographical position, the fact that he was in accord with Crawford's program and that he had organized the first Crawford club in the state, made him the log- ical candidate for governor.
He went into the primaries, won a decisive victory at the hands of the republican party; was elected by 17,000 majority in the fall of 1908; was renominated by a tremendous lead over his two republican opponents in 1901, and on November 8, skinned his democratic opponent by over 23,000 votes. Going some, eh?
AS A PUBLIC SPEAKER
Vessey went into the political campaign of 1908, wholly un- prepared by experience on the platform to make the fight that was facing him. Every time he tried to speak his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth, and you could scarcely have pried it loose with a crow-bar. His friends took him over west of the river in Lyman county where the population was not nearly so thick as it is to-day, and gave him the opportunity of practicing on some small audiences.
The first night was awful. The fellow was frightened half to death. The next night was no better -- possibly worse. Here, the nifty, versatile, experienced Crawford took him under his Demostenesian wings and gave him a bit of Platonian advice. Said he, "Now to-day, think up some good story; and when you get up to speak tonight, tell it first of all."
Vessey thought, the story was born; he told it; it took like a Dakota prairie fire; his audience responded, he had found the key to the situation, and he has been talking ever since. Would you believe it? - this bashful, untrained business man has made more public addresses during his two years in office than any other governor whom we have ever had. This may sound start- ling, but it's true. He has addressed old settlers' picnics, stock growers' associations, conservation congresses, educational gath- erings, political meetings, Sunday school conventions-in fact a multitude of associations and organizations, both within and without the state.
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WRITINGS
But whatever may be said pro and con for his work as a speaker, no one will deny but that he is an ideal writer. His first message to the legislature was absolutely faultless in its English and it rang true with humanity and did him and the state great credit.
Read two paragraphs taken from his last Thanksgiving proc- lamation:
"The absence of the opening buds of spring, the faded blos- soms of departe summer, the gray veiled skies of autumn, the chill of lengthen'ng nights and the tang of frosty mornings, -- all serve to remind us of the approaching end of the present year and bring again to our minds our beautiful custom of National Thanksgiving.
The sunshine of prosperity has smiled upon our land, and peace and plenty have been among our people and blessed our homes Civic conditions in our state have been improved, and the plane of morality among our citizens has been lifted, for which let us le especially grateful."
When Mr. Vessey goes out of the governor's chair in 1912, he will be but fifty-four years of age.
There still lies before him fifteen years of active usefulness. What his intentions are we do not know; what his political am- bitions may be we are not prepared to say. He has twice suc- cesstuly withstood not only the democratic campaign fire, but the cross fire of his own powerful party as well.
One thing is certain - the little mound that marks his final bivouac will be revered by the people he has served, and on his tombstone will be engraved the loftiest epitaph in our language, HERE LIES A MAN.
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O. L. BRANSON
A POLISHED ORATOR
In the quietude of eventide, when the stream of life's activ- ities is softly burying itself in the bosom of night, when its wavelets are falling asleep, and when its current no longer speaks even in whispers, O. L. Branson-quiet -meditative-all alone- wrapped in the tinted shroud of twilight, goes out into the gar- den of rhetoric, plucks from the flowrets of language the choicest garlands of speech that ever rang forth from the palate of a man, arranges these posies of thouhgt in superb diction with the dainty touch of an artist's skill, plaits them into full bloom wreathes of oratory ; and then comes forth again, in the wee small hours of the night surcharged with roseate eloquence, ready to deliver a flowery address on the morrow.
Ah! the sweet peonies of human thought- the gladiolases of entrancing speech! How they warble forth in musical resonance over that magnolia tongue! How the inmost recesses of the hu- man soul unfold like huge poppies to receive into their daised cells the nectar of his magie words.
Branson is easily the most polished orator in the state; and a collection of his model orations should be published in book form, be adopted by the state superintendent of public instruc- tion, and be placed in the school libraries throughout the entire state.
ELOQUENCE AND ORATORY
The line of demarcation between eloquence and oratory is more pronounced than most people think. Eloquence is logic and diction built up togeher in perfect climaxes, and effectively de- livered; oratory is an inspiration born of the occasion, gathered from one's audience and hurled back at them with telling effect. The orator on such occasions is merely a verbal clearing house for a multitude of burning ideas that have been transmitted to him telapathically from his audience. These he assimilates and class-
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ifies, sub consciously, and then reflects them back to his hearers in a current of beatuiful and fluent language. Branson's ad- dresses are usually thoroughly prepared in advance. In this sense he may not always be oratorical, but he is invariably eloquent.
Size and voice are two of the greatest assets to a public speaker. A dwarf excites sympathy, while a giant commands respect; each of them, on account of his size, finds it easy to gain and hold attention. An out-reaching voice that is clear and full is also indispensable. Branson has all of these advantages. He is tall, graceful, dignified, of commanding presence; has a good voice, thoroughly trained; speaks slowly and articulates perfectly.
Following are a few extracts taken from his superbly elo- quent address delivered to the high school graduating class at Volga, S. D., in May, 1905:
"I always feel an inspiration on an occasion of this kind that I never experience upon any other; for while it brings its sorrow in a measure, because from this time forward those who are grad- uating here are expected to fight the battle of life for themselves, yet I never stand in the presence of the youth of our land but what I feel as though the joyous hour of spring is here -
'Mighty nature bounds as from her birth,
'The sun is in the heavens and life on the earth;
'Flowers in the valley, splendor in the beam,
'Health on the gale, and freshness in the stream.'
"Hail! beautiful morning time, when to these young men and women all nature seems to be in harmony . The golden sun- light of morning is resting upon the horizon and shedding its brilliant rays over their young lives; fresh buds are bursting, song birds are singing, the whole Universe is joining in that glad hallelujah chorus- singing to the angels beyond the stars; and what message shall I bring to them that will help to guide them in the great journey they are soon to begin?
"Then too, whatever you do, do well. Dont' be a weakling; don't be a frittering frailty; but in everything you undertake, be master of the situation Sce the greatest of the Roman sen- ators quietly walking down the aisle of the Roman senate, never dreaming of danger; see those sixteen blades of steel pierce his flesh, and as the blood flowed from sixteen wounds his soul went to make its peace with the Great Judge in Heaven. The angry mob that gathered about his prostrate form demanded justice and swore vengeance upon Brutus, but quietly and calmly Mark Antony stood over the dead body of Julius Caesar, master of the situation.
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"Hear the thunder of cannon and the rattle of musketry upon the field of battle; see the charge and countercharge at the point of the bayonet, and finally see the Union forces in disorderly retreat. But, listen! away in the distance I hear the clattering of hoofs, and finally I see a black charger all covered with foam hurrying to the scene of action, and Phil Sheridan rides up the Shenandoah, master of the situation.
"Take your lesson from the 'thunderbolt of war.' More than a hundred times he led the armies of France to victory. He lowered the colors of the enemy at Austerlitz, and stood trium- phant in the face of shot and shell at Lodi Bridge. He led his conquering heroes to the summit of the Alps and carried the Eagles of France to victory beyond the clouds. But, in an un- guarded moment,
'There was a sound of revelry by night,
And Belgium's capital had gathered there
Her beauty and her chivarly,'
and while the red wine flowed and the merry dance went on, the Duke of Wellington was marshalling the forces that carried the day at Waterloo; and the pendulum of time ceased to swing for Napoleon on the rock-bound coast of St. Helena."
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