USA > Tennessee > History of Tennessee, its people and its institutions > Part 18
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335. The Presidential Contest in 1840 .- As soon as the result of the gubernatorial election had been ascertained, preparation began for the presidential contest of 1840. It was thought that the splendid achievement of Governor Polk would make him the Democratic candi- date for Vice-President on the ticket with President Van Buren. But the National Democratic Convention, over which Gen. William Carroll, of Tennessee, presided, failed to nominate a candidate for Vice- President.
The National Whig Convention, at Harrisburg, nominated Harri- son and Tyler. This involved the Whigs of Tennessee in the incon- sistent position of supporting a candidate who was not their choice because he was nominated by a national convention in which they had declined to participate. That, too, in the face of the fact that, four years before, they had objected to Van Buren because he was nominated by a convention. Nevertheless, they submitted and entered with a will into a campaign of conventions, catchwords, and emblems, the most brilliant and spectacular, as well as the most stubborn and determined,
that ever occurred in the State. It was in this campaign that the Whig leaders established, and Allan A. Hall edited, The Spirit of '76, the first campaign paper published west of the Alleghany Mountains. Jeremiah George Harris promptly followed it with a Democratic campaign paper called the Advance Guard of Democracy. Harrison and Tyler carried the State by a rousing majority.
336. Continuation of the Political Contest in 1841 .- The struggle for supremacy between the Whigs and Democrats of Tennessee from
2 Judge N. Baxter, in The Christian Home and Common Sense Farmer, Livingston, Tenn .. July 15, 1891.
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1834 to 1844 was really but one continuous contest. The smoke of one hard-fought battle had hardly cleared away before the stout-hearted leaders of either party were organizing their hosts for the next. As soon as the returns of the Whig victory of 1840 had been received, Dr. Felix Robertson, Chairman of the Democratic Central Committee, came forward with a new plan of campaign for the following year. Polk was a candidate for reelection. None of the old Whig leaders seemed willing to meet him on the stump. In their desperation, the Whigs nominated James C. Jones, a man of yesterday "unknown to fame."
337. The Canvass between Polk and Jones .- The canvass between Polk and Jones in 1841, repeated with little variation in 1843. was the most unique, and is the most celebrated, that has occurred in the annals of Tennessee. Jones was reared on a farm, and his political expe- rience did not extend beyond a single term in the lower house of the Gen- eral Assembly, which he served in 1839. But in the following year he canvassed his district as a Harrison elector. It was this canvass that pointed him out as the man to meet · Governor Polk on the stump. His
knowledge of political questions, as well as his general historical infor- mation, was limited in extent, as well GOV. JAMES C. JONES. as newly and imperfectly acquired. But he had an unmatched power of burlesque, and could produce the wildest hilarity, not more by what he said than by his manner of saying it. They called him "Lean Jimmy."
He was more than six feet tall, spare and ungainly. His nose was
large, and his small gray eyes were overhung with heavy eyebrows. His mouth was one of remarkable proportions, and his expression pro- foundly grave and solemn. The very sight of him made "the ground- lings howl." After a masterly discussion of the pending issues by Governor Polk, Jones could raise his grotesque figure, fish from his pocket a skin of the old Whig coon, gently stroke it with his hand. and electrify the crowd by simply asking, "Did you ever see such fine fur ?"" But to an intelligent and cultivated audience, his speeches compared to
' Guild's Old Times in Tennessee, p. 159.
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ADMINISTRATIONS OF POLK AND JONES.
Polk's like the cheap tinsel of an actress' stage costume to the royal robes of the legitimate queen.+ Jones was elected, and reelected in 1843. He was the first native Tennessean elected governor.
338. The "Immortal Thirteen."-While Jones carried the State by a comfortable majority in 1841, the Legislature was almost evenly divided between the Whigs and Democrats. The Whigs claimed a majority of one on joint ballot, but the Senate had thirteen Democrats against twelve Whigs. These thirteen Democratic members of the Senate - the "Immortal Thirteen," as they were called -lead by Andrew Johnson and Samuel H. Laughlin, steadfastly refused to meet with the House for the purpose of electing United States Senators, whereby they prevented the election of two United States Senators, and Tennessee went without representation in the Senate from 1841 to 1843.
339. School for the Blind .- When the county seat of Overton County was removed from Monroe to Livingston, in 1834, Thomas Champlin, a merchant from East Tennessee, settled in the new town. Champlin had ten children, five of whom were born blind. James, one of the unfortunates, was born at Blain's Cross Roads, March 24, 1821. At nine years of age, by imitating his brothers in their exercises, he learned his letters by heart, and could spell many of the words in their books. When about sixteen years old, he entered the village school. where he made such surprising progress that he was afterwards sent to a boarding school taught by Dr. Isaac T. Reneau. Up to this time. he did not know that there was a system by which the blind could learn to read. In 1838, he heard read "Colonel Crockett's Tour to the North and Down East," in which the author gives an account of the Massa- chusetts Asylum for the Education of the Blind. It was a revelation to him. He went to Massachusetts for the purpose of entering the Boston Institute for the Blind, but was unable to do so for want of means to pay the fees required. However, the superintendent furnished him some raised-print books, and after his return home he soon learned to read with- out a teacher. He entered the Ohio Asylum for the Blind, in 1842. where he first discovered how marvelous a work these institutions were able to do for the blind.5
On his return from Columbus, he went to Nashville, and finding several blind children, got them together and commenced teaching them
4 Judge N. Baxter, in The Christian Home and Common Sense Farmer.
3 Early Biography, Travels and Adventures of Rev. James Champlin, who was Born Blind. Written by Himself. Columbus. 1842.
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to read by touch. He gave an exhibition in one of the Nashville · churches, of the method of reading with the fingers, for the purpose of enlisting interest in his work. Afterwards an exhibition given before the Legislature caused that body to adopt his school as a State institu- tion, and make an appropriation for its support, January 29, 1844.6 The Tennessee School for the Blind has become a great institution. In
1898, it had a total of 150 pupils, 128 of whom were white and 22 colored. Every graduate of the school has contributed to his own sup- port as a respectable member of society. Some of them have been
eminent for their success. F. J. Campbell, LL.D., a native of Ten- nessee, and one of the pupils who entered the Blind School in 1844, is now the foremost blind man in the world, and is Superintendent of the Royal Normal College and Academy for the Blind, Upper Norwood, London, England, the best and most successful school for the blind in existence.7
340. Deaf and Dumb School .- A twin charity with the School for the Blind, at Nashville, was the Tennessee Deaf and Dumb School, at Knoxville. It owes its origin to Gen. John Cocke, then a member of the State Senate, on whose motion the bill establishing the Blind School was amended by making an appropriation for the establishment of the Deaf and Dumb School.
341. Permanent Seat of Government .- The Constitution of 1796 made Knoxville the seat of government until 1802. After that date, the Legislature met either at Knoxville, Nashville, or Murfreesboro. Once it met at Kingston, but immediately adjourned over to Knoxville. The Constitution of 1834 required the Legislature that should meet in 1843 to designate and fix the seat of government within the first week of its session. Accordingly, the Legislature that convened in October, 1843, made Nashville the permanent seat of government, and appro- priated $10,000 to begin building the State Capitol. William Strick- land, who had designed some of the mose imposing buildings in Philadelphia, such, for instance, as the Mint and the United States Bank, was employed as architect of the building. Having died as the work neared its completion, by a vote of the Legislature, his remains were entombed in the wall of the north basement portico, where they
$ History and Prospectus, Tennessee School for the Blind, by J. V. Arm- strong, Superintendent, pp. 44 and 45. This is an interesting and very valuable work.
1 Ibid., pp. 75 and 76.
..
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now repose. The corner-stone of the Capitol was laid, with imposing ceremonies, on the 4th of July, 1845, and the last stone placed in the lower terrace, March 19, 1859. The Legislature first met in the Capitol in 1853. The entire cost of the building and grounds aggregates about $1,000,000.
CHAPTER XXIX.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF AARON V. BROWN, 1845-1847; NEILL S. BROWN, 1847-1849; WILLIAM TROUSDALE, 1849-1851, AND WILLIAM B. CAMPBELL, 1851-1853.
342. James K. Polk Elected President .- The cause of Texas inde- pendence and, afterwards, of the annexation of Texas to the United States, were earnestly favored by the people of the Southwest, and especially by those of Tennessee. Tennessee had given many of her , noblest sons to Texas. David Crockett and Sam Houston were the greatest heroes of the Texas revolution.
As the Presidential election of 1844 approached, James K. Polk declared that "the present opportunity should not be lost of becoming reunited with a country from whom we should never have been sep- arated." It was understood, however, that Martin Van Buren would again be the Democratic candidate. The Democratic papers had his name at their mast-heads, and candidates for elector were being ap- pointed to champion his cause. Just before the meeting of the Demo- cratic convention, a letter from Van Buren was made public, in which he declared his opposition to the annexation of Texas. This produced great excitement, not only in Tennessee, but throughout the Southwest. Following the lead of Jo. C. Guild, Democratic candidate for elector in the Hermitage district, the Democrats of Tennessee declared they would not support Van Buren under any circumstances.1
When the convention met, it nominated James K. Polk. a result that gave great satisfaction to the friends of Texas annexation. George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania, was named for Vice-President. The battle-cry of the Democracy was "Polk, Dallas, and Texas." The Whigs nominated Henry Clay, and opposed the annexation of Texas. After a hard-fought campaign, Polk was elected, but he failed to carry
1 Guild's Old Times in Tennessee. pp. 109 and 170.
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Tennessee. This is the only instance in which a President has been elected without receiving the vote of his own State. Still, Polk is entitled to the credit of having reduced the Whig majority in Tennessee from 12,102, in 1840, to 113, in 1844.
343. Aaron V. Brown Elected Gov- ernor .- The gubernatorial contest in 1845 was between Aaron V. Brown. Democrat, and Ephraim H. Foster. Whig. Brown was a graduate of the University of North Carolina. and Foster of Cumberland College (Uni- versity of Nashville). Brown lived at Pulaski, and for a time was a law part- ner of James K. Polk, whose home was GOV. AARON V. BROWN. in an adjoining county. He displayed the same party zeal and fealty, and maintained the same political con- sistency that characterized Polk. He had been a member of Congress since 1839, and had won more than local distinction. He was careful of his reputation, and many of his more important speeches and addresses were reduced to writing and afterwards published.
Foster was eloquent, fiery, and impulsive. When the late Judge Guild went to Nashville to study law, he was directed to the office of William L. Brown, but "sauntering" into the court room, as he relates. he had the privilege of witnessing one of Foster's splendid outbursts of passion, in which he threw a book at the presiding judge with such "gallant and noble bearing" that Guild instantly determined to read law in his office.2 He had not always been consistent in his politics. but he held the confidence of his party, which had twice elected him to the United States Senate. Brown had the advantage in making an ag- gressive canvass on the clear-cut and definite policies of Polk's adminis- tration. His "Mount Pisgah" speech became famous. "Go up with me in imagination,"he said. "and stand for a while on some lofty summi: of the Rocky Mountains. Let us take one ravishing view of this broad land of liberty. Turn your face toward the Gulf of Mexico; what do you behold ? Instead of one lone star faintly shining in the far-distant South, a whole galaxy of stars of the first magnitude are bursting on your vision, and shining with a bright and glorious effulgence. Now
2 Guild's Old Times in Tennessee, p. 71.
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turn with me to the West-the mighty West-where the setting sun dips her broad disk in the western ocean. Look down through the misty dis- tance to the shores of the Pacific, with all its bays and harbors and rivers. Cast your eyes as far as the Russian possessions, in latitude 54 degrees and 40 minutes. What a new world lies before you ! How many magnificent States to be the future homes of the sons and daughters of freedom!
When did mental vision ever rest on such a scene? Moses, when standing on the top of Mount Pisgah, looking over on the promised land, gazed not on a scene half so lovely. O let us EPHRAIM H. FOSTER. this day vow that whatever else we may do, by whatever name we may be called, we will never surrender one square acre of this goodly heritage to the dictation of any king or potentate on earth. Swear it! Swear it, my countrymen, and let heaven record the vow forever."3 The allusion, of course, was to Texas, in the South, threatened by the Mex- icans, and in the West, to Oregon, claimed by the English to the Colum- bia River, but which the Democrats declared they would hold as far north as latitude "Fifty-four - forty, or fight." Foster could not stem the tide of patriotism aroused. Brown was elected by a majority of 1,623 votes.
344. President Polk's Diary .- The last work ever undertaken by the great historian, George Bancroft, was the preparation of a history of President Polk's administration. In 1887, he visited the venerable widow of President Polk, at her home in Nashville, who gave him access to the Polk papers, with permission to use them as he might think fit. But he died before the labor of composition had been seriously begun. Still, he prepared and arranged a mass of materials, out of which, he writes, President Polk's character shines, "just exactly as the man was - prudent, far-sighted, bold, exceeding any Democrat of his day in his undeviatingly correct exposition of Democratic principles."
Among other materials left by Bancroft is a copy of the diary kept by President Polk during almost the whole of his administration, con- sisting of twenty-four volumes, averaging about one hundred large.
3 Speeches, Etc., of Aaron V. Brown, pp. 202 and 203.
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octavo typewritten pages. This diary attests the methodical industry of the President, but more important than that, it gives the inside history of his administration. It bears witness to his strong sagacity, his in- domitable will, and his clear comprehension of the ways and means of effecting the purposes of his administration. And it proves that he was the framer and persistent leader in the public policy he pursued with such uniform and complete success.4
345. Achievements of President Polk's Administration .- Presi- dent Polk undertook and accomplished four leading measures: (1) The reenactment of the sub-treasury or independent treasury system on an enduring basis; (2) the passage of a low tariff on the basis of non- protection and liberal trade; (3) the settlement of the dispute with Great Britain concerning the northern boundary of Oregon; (4) the annexation of Texas, which involved the successful termination of the Mexican War and the acquisition of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.5 "On quitting the Presidential office he left nothing unfinished; what he commenced. he did."6 When elected, he was the youngest man who had ever occu-
pied the Presidential chair. He was springy, active, and energetic in
all his movements. On his return home four years later, his coal-black hair had become perfectly white. It did not change to a silver gray. but to a milk-white. His face wore a senatorial gravity more sedate than on his departure, and he looked care-worn and tired." He died three months later, on the 15th of June, 1849.
346. The Mexican War .- The annexation of Texas resulted in war with Mexico. Upon the requisition of the War Department, on the 26th ofMay, 1847, Governor Brown called for three regiments of volunteers, numbering in all 2,800 men. In answer to his call, 30,000 volunteers promptly tendered their services. So eager were all for service that it became necessary to adopt some mode of selection. Ac- cordingly, the governor directed the four Major Generals of the State to decide by ballot, according to rules laid down, the companies to be
4 See an interesting and valuable article on President Polk's Diary, by James Shouler, in The Atlantic Monthly, for August. 1895, p. 235.
" See President Polk's Administration, by James Shouler, in The Atlantic Monthly. for September, 1895, P. 371.
" Eulogy on the Life and Character of the late President James K. Polk, by George M. Dallas, p. 25.
7 Judge N. Baxter, in The Christian Home and Common Sense Farmer.
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received from their respective divisions.8 fall of the City of Mexico, in September, 1847. battles were fought, and the Tennessee volunteers were everywhere distinguished for their determination and courage. Capt. William B. Allen, a young man of bright promise, was killed at the capture of Monterey, and with the comrades who fell by his side, has, at Lawrenceburg, the only monument in the State erected to the memory of the heroes who lost their lives in Mexico. John H. Savage, who came home with the rank of Lieutenant- Colonel, was wounded while gallantly leading an assault upon the Mexican stronghold at Molino-del-Rey.
The war continued until the
Many sanguinary
GEN. GIDEON J. PILLOW.
Brigadier General Gideon J. Pillow distinguished himself at the siege of Vera Cruz, and was one of the commissioners appointed to receive the surrender. He was wounded at Cerro Gordo, and again at Chapultepec. Before the close of the war, he rose to the rank of Major General. His trial and acquittal, on a charge of insubordination, with his powerful address in his own behalf, attracted national attention and interest.
Col. William Trousdale was twice wounded at the battle of Chapultepec, and was breveted Brigadier General in the United States army. William B. Campbell, who gave the famous command, "Boys, follow me," won for his regiment the title of the "Bloody First." Col. William T. Haskell and Col. B. F. Cheatham were also conspicuous for their gallantry and meritorious conduct.
347. Neill S. Brown Succeeds Aaron V. Brown .- Giles County has furnished three governors of Tennessee, all named Brown - Aaron V., Neill S., and John C. The last two were brothers, but were not related to the first. The contest in 1847 came on before the close of the Mexican War. The rich fruits of Polk's sagacious policy were not yet apparent. Aaron V. Brown offered for reelection, and the Whigs nominated Neill S. Brown to oppose him. Though still a
$ Reminiscences of a Campaign in Mexico. By a Member of "The Bloody First," p. 61; Speeches and Other Writings of Ex-Governor Aaron V. Brown, of Tennessee, pp. 395 and 220.
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young man, Neill S. Brown had taken part in every political contest since 1836, and had made much reputation as a political debater. More- over, he was justly esteemed for his genial disposition and his sparkling wit, as well as the more sturdy qualities of his mind.
In his canvass, he criticised the con- duct of the war by the President, and lauded the heroism of General Taylor. The northern boundary of Oregon had been fixed by treaty at parallel forty- nine degrees of north latitude, instead of fifty-four degrees and forty minutes. and he pressed home Governor Brown's "Mount Pisgah" speech with telling GOV. NEILL S. BROWN. effect. The election was close and hotly contested, but resulted in a majority for Neill S. Brown.
348. "The War Horse of Sumner County."-When the war was ended, its returning heroes were received with little less than a triumph. and were honored by the people of the nation and State with the highest offices in their gift. General Taylor -"Old Rough and Ready"- was nominated by the Whigs and elected President. & In Tennessee, Haskell and Savage were elected to Congress, and Trousdale and Campbell were, in turn, made governor. Gen. William Trousdale, known to his friends as "the War Horse of Sum- ner County," was nominated by the Democrats to oppose Governor Neill S. Brown. When but a boy, Trousdale left school to enlist in the Creek War; he served in the Florida War of 1836, and won great distinction in the war with Mexico. He added to the purity of his character, and the many homely virtues by which it was adorned, an ex- alted courage, capable of the most daring feats of valor, but had few of the brilliant parts that characterized his GOV. WILLIAM TROUSDALE. opponent. His services, however, had He been too recent to be forgotten, and too brilliant to be ignored. was elected by a small majority.
ANDREW JOHNSON AND ISHAM G. HARRIS. . 199
349. The Commander of "The Bloody First."-When the Whig convention met in 1851, William B. Campbell was nominated for gov- ernor by acclamation. Campbell was a man whose name deserves to be preserved and honored in Tennessee. Modest and brave, honest and true, wise and prudent, he filled the full measure of his duty as a citizen and a patriot. Trousdale was again the candidate of the Democrats. The two Mexican heroes being before the public, the people again alternated between the parties, as they had done for years, and elected Campbell by the customary small majority. He was GOV. WILLIAM B. CAMPBELL. the last Whig governor.
CHAPTER XXX.
ADMINISTRATIONS OF ANDREW JOHNSON, 1853-1857, AND ISHAM G. HARRIS, 1857-1859.
350. The Johnson-Henry Canvass .- The opposing candidates for governor in 1853 were Andrew Johnson, Democrat, and Gustavus A. Henry, Whig. Henry greatly. distinguished himself as an orator in his canvass with Cave Johnson for Congress in 1842. After that, he can- vassed the State three times in suc- cession as a Whig candidate for elector from the State at large. His form was well nigh faultless, his bearing grand and courtly, and his delivery charmingly graceful and almost daz- zlingly brilliant. He was fairly enti- tled to be called the "Eagle Orator."
Johnson, on the other hand, was the plainest of Democrats, but a powerful GOV. ANDREW JOHNSON. Tribune of the People. Born in pov- erty, the death of his father made it necessary for the County Court to bind him out to service at the age of ten years. He was, accordingly,
-
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apprenticed to a tailor, but his proud spirit chafing under his servitude, he ran away from his master when about the age of sixteen. His edu- cation was wholly neglected. He never had the privilege of attending school a day in his life. He learned to read without a preceptor, his first book being an old "American Speaker." His fur- ther tuition was under the direction and with the assistance of his wife, while he won his bread at the tailor's bench. Still, he filled every political office within the gift of his people - Alderman, Mayor. Representative, State Senator. Governor, Member of Congress, United GUSTAVUS A. HENRY. States Senator, Vice - President, and
President of the United States. After a remarkable canvass, in which the speeches of the candidates bore little reference to each other, Johnson was elected.
351. Slavery and the Union .- In 1854, Congress passed what was known as the Kansas-Nebraska Act, making the Missouri Compromise line of 36 degrees and 30 minutes inoperative and void as to these Terri- tories, and leaving the question of slavery in them to be decided by their people. From that time slavery became the paramount question in national politics. On it, parties were gradually assuming sectional lines. Tennessee was devoted to the Union. It was a Tennessean - Andrew Jackson -who made possible the preservation of the Union in 1861-65.1 His victories in the field brought shame and odium on the secession movement of the Blue Light Federalists of New England in 1812-15; and his courage and patriotism as chief executive of the nation defeated and destroyed the nullification doctrine, in 1832-33.
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