History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, Part 92

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 958

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As a man, in all the various relations of life that he has occupied, perhaps no better idea of him could be given than what was said of him by Hon. Peter Parkinson, Jr., of Fayette, at the Old Settlers' Meeting held in Darlington in 1876, in response to a toast offered upon that occasion, and we here insert it. It was as follows :

Toast-"Gen. Henry Dodge, the Citizen, Hero and Statesman." Mr. Parkinson re- sponded as follows :

MY FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS: Nothing would afford me more pleasure than to respond to the toast just read in your hearing, complimentary to Gen. Dodge, were I competent to do so in a proper and befilling manner ; but I am not. It would require a tongue more gifted and a voice more eloquent than mine to do him justice.

Gen. Dodge was no ordinary man; he was justly and fully entitled to all that is embraced in the sentiment- "The ('itizen, the llero and the Statesman." But few men, in ancient or modern times, possessed these three prom. inent characteristics of the great man more fully than did Gen. Dodge.

As a citizen, he was just, kind and obliging, discharging, with promptness and fidelity all the obligations im- posed upon him, either by the customs of society or the laws of his country. lle lawed not nor wrangled with his neighbors, bat lived in cordiality and friendship with all. In his disposition, he was kind-hearted and generous ; in these respects, he was not unlike the old " llero of the Hermitage." Although he had n bold and daring head, he had n kind and generous heart. In these respects he was, perhaps, not always understood. Some supposed, be- cause he was n bold and daring man, he wns necessarily harsh and cruel ; but such was not the case. I knew him well and in limes of great excitement, and never knew anything like cruelty or harshness in his nature ; bul, on the con- trary, knew many things which showed his kind and generous nature. one of which I will relate. It was al an early time in this country, when he was living with his family in a small cabin, near the present village of Dodgeville, when, on a cold November evening, just at night, a small boy, with a heavily loaded ox-tenm, was overlaken by a storm near his cabin. In the boy's own language, "he could hardly make up his mind, whether to go in and nsk Gen. Dodge if he could stay all night, or go on and run the risk of freezing." He, however, chose the former, and went in and asked if he could stay all night. lle said Gen Dodge replied and said, in n kind tone, " My son, you see that we can scarcely take care of ourselves, but such as we have, you shall be welcome to."

lle immediately sent a man to assist him in taking care of his team. When he came in, the General conversed with him kindly and familiarly, making him, as the boy said, "feel quite at home." In the morning when he was ready to start, he asked what his bill was, when the General replied in the same kind tone, " not anything, my son ; we do not keep people here for money." I have a remarkable instance of his kind and considerate nature in my own case. When I joined his squadron nt the commencement of the Black Ilawk war, I was a mere boy and quite a stranger to all that were in it. lle took me into his own megs and cared for me and looked after me with the kind - ness of n falher.

lleroism, however, I always regarded as his most prominent Irait of character. This was universally accorded to him by all. I never heard any one question it in the least. Most any man can be a good citizen, and many men can be wise statesmen, but few men can be "heroes."

lleroism is a rare qualification, and bat few men ever possessed it. The world's history does not furnish us with an account of many heroes. llis entire military career partakes largely of the heroic character. There is a heroic tinge about all his military nchievements. Ihis taking into custody the five Winnebago chiefs at the Blue Mounds during the Black Hawk war, under the circumstances, was n bold, daring act, and required the nerve of a hero to have undertaken and accomplish it. There were about as many Indians on the ground as there were of Gen.

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Dodge's men, and their main army of warriors were close at hand, and just ready and greatly inclined to seize upon any pretext to join Black Ilawk.

The battle of the Pecatonica was also a bold and heroic act, when we take into consideration the disastrous and terrible effects which all the other commanders hal suffered in their conflicts with the Indians under precisely the same circumstances.

His military expedition to and through the Rocky Mountains for three years among the numerous and hostile tribes of Indians in those regions was characterized by the same bold and heroic achievements that all his military movements were ; so much so that, upon his return to Washington after its completion, both Houses of Congress unanimously passed the most complimentary resolutions expressive of their high admiration of the heroic aud satis- factory manner in which he had discharged the high and delicate trust confided to him. These are only a few of the heroic acts of Gen. Dodge which so justly stamp him with the appellation of hero.

As a statesman, the occasion will not allow me to go into a very extended review of his course. He was honest, frank and sincere, and expressed his views on all matters in a clear and convincing style when addressing the Senate of the United States, in which august body he served twelve years, and ranked as one of its most honored and influential members.

As Executive of the Territory of Wisconsin, he was deservedly popular, and his messages and other State papers taking high rank with similar documents for their sound. judicious and statesmanlike views. From the Executive office of the Territory, he was chosen one of the first Senators of the State, a convincing proof of the high estimate which his fellow-citizens placed upon his abilities as a statesman.

In the year 1800, a few miles west of St. Louis, Mo., in the Bon Homme (good man's) settlement, Henry Dodge married Christiana MeDonald, with whom he lived sixty-five years, and unto them were born thirteen children, nine of whom, seven daughters and two sons, grew to maturity.

Those who thus lived were named respectively, Nancy (Mrs. Ward), Louisiana (Mrs. Mad- den). Henry L., Augustus C., Elizabeth (Mrs. Bequette), Mary (Mrs. Dement), Sabina (Mrs. Truitt), Christiana (Mrs. Clark) and Virginia (Mrs. Hayden). This marriage took place between these parties at the respective ages of 19 and 15, four years before the tri-colored flag of Napoleon was replaced by the Star Spangled Banner of the United States, in what was then known as the Louisiana purchase. These daughters were all first-class ladies, with liberal education, and married first-class men. Henry L. was killed in Santa Fe, New Mexico, by the Comanche Indians, while acting as their agent. Augustus C. now resides in the city of Burlington, Iowa, and, for high ability and sterling worth, ranks among the first men of the nation.

Besides raising and liberally educating this large family, Gen. Dodge raised and educated Dr. Lewis Lynn, his half-brother, who served as Senator from the State of Missouri, in the Senate of the United States cighteen years, and was a compeer of Thomas H. Benton, and was not less than second to that great statesinan.

During the Black Hawk war. while Gen. Dodge was leading his forces against that great war chief, he was commissioned by President Jackson as Major of the United States Army. In the following year, 1833, he was appointed by the same Old Hickory Jackson (as has already been stated) Colonel of the Thirteenth Regiment of Dragoons.

He led this regiment to Texas, New Mexico, the Rocky Mountains, a terra incognita except to a few Indian traders and trappers, reclaimed prisoners held by the Indians, and made treaties of peace and conciliation with forty different tribes of Indians.

This expedition, however, has been adverted to in the response of Mr. Parkinson, perhaps to a sufficient extent for the purposes of this sketch, as we are necessarily compelled to be brief.

Gen. Dodge, no doubt, had the widest spread fame as an Indian fighter of any man in America. The writer of this sketch once visited him in company with an officer of the United States Navy, who had been in that service fifteen years, and, during that time, had been in nearly all the kingdoms and countries in the world; was with Commodore Perry in his expedition around the world; was in China, Japan, Mediterranean Sea, South American Provinces, etc., etc., but he was in no country, he said, where no inquiries were made about the old Indian fighter Gen. Dodge, of Wisconsin. This officer went into the navy quite young, and, though a Wisconsin boy, he had never seen Gen. Dodge. After our visit was over, I asked him what he thought of the old Indian fighter. He replied that he was very much disappointed in him, indeed; that he

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was very much more of a man, in every respect, than he expected to see; that he was quite astonished at the extent of his knowledge of foreign countries and their principal men ; that he had never met a man who was so conversant with the leading men of the world as he was. It may be justly said of Gen. Dodge that he was a great reader of men. Man was his chief study and but few men knew them better. It was once said of him (by a very prominent man), in speaking of his prominent traits of character, that Gen. Dodge's most prominent trait of char- acter was his great knowledge of men. That he never knew him to be deceived in but one man during his long and intimate acquaintance with him. But, of all the great men with whom he was familiar (by biography), Napoleon the Great was his ideal man, in all matters of war and in handling an army ; was familiar with both his civil and military codes, and often quoted them. Had a great admiration for Gen. Washington, La Fayette, and all the Revolutionary sires, but no patience or sympathy with fanaties or demagogues.

When Gen. Dodge came to Wisconsin, he owned three families of negroes, numbering, per- haps, in all, fifteen persons. Upon his return from his Rocky Mountain expedition, or soon thereafter, he gave all these negroes their freedom, together with forty acres of good land, com- fortably improved, with log cabin and small fruits. good team, wagon, and some farming imple- ments and some stock, and a year's provisions to each family. But, alas ! land, families, stock and all, are now gone, except a few straggling children.

Gen. Dodge died June 19, 1865, in Burlington, Iowa, at the house of his son Augustus C. His wife was born in Nelson County, Ky., the 2d of February, 1785, and died at Burling- ton, Iowa, March 30. 1865, also at the house of her son Augustus C.

Upon the death of Gen. Dodge. Lucius Fairchild, then Governor of the State of Wis- consin, caused the following Executive Order to be issued :

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 4.

MADISON, June 29, 1865.

It is with deep regret that I have to announce to the people of this State the death, at Burlington, lewa, on the 19th insl., of Hon. Henry Dodge, one of Wisconsin's most henered public men.

Frem an early day, Gen. Dodge was actively and intimately connected with the affairs of Wisconsin, in the several capacities of Governor, Delegate in Congress and L'oited States Senator.

At the close of liis Senatorial career, he retired from public life, and to the enjoyment of a dignified and happy seclusion, which he had so well earned, by long and faithful services as a brave and accomplished seldier, an enlightened and incomparable statesman.

Gen. Dodge was fer many years recognized as one of the most distinguished lea lers in the natien. Too brave te be elher than he seemed, too honest to be a demagogue, his course was characterized by a manly independence in deing the right, which won for him the confidence of the whole people.

After a long life of rare usefulness, he has gone from our midst ; and truly may it be said of him, that to few, indeed, has it been given to leave a fame at once so widespread and so spotless.

LucIt's FAIRCHILD, As a testimony of respect, the usual badge of mourning will be displayed at the several State Departments for the peried ef thirty days.

Governor of Wisconsin.

In commemoration of his public services, the Legislature of Wisconsin has directed that a marble bust of the late Gov. Henry Dodge be placed within the State capitol.

The subjoined is a copy of the law :

AN ACT TO PERPETUATE THE MEMORY OF THE LATE GOV. HENRY DODOE :

WHEREAS, It has ever been an honored custem of all civilized and enlightened governments to perpetuate the memory ef their eminent statesmen, generals and philanthropists, by means of paintings and statuary, as well a through the annals of history ; and

WHEREAS, The State of Wisconsin has reason to be proud of the ability, the sterling integrity and the eminent services of the late Gov. llenry Dedge, and is called upon to recognize these qualities and services in some perma- nent and enduring way, that shall be alike creditable and honorable te the State ; and

WHEREAS, We believe Mr. E. l'. Knowles te possess genius and talent as a sculpter of the highest erder, and that he is capable of executing a statue that shall reflect credit, both upen himself as an artist, and upen the Stale of which he is a citizen ; Therefore,

The people of the State of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, de enact as follows, etc.

The act then goes on to authorize Mr. Knowles to execute the bust, of the finest marble, at a cost of $2,000 ; and when done to be placed in some conspicuous place in the capitol, under the direction of the Governor, the Secretary and Chief Justice of the State.

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

Thus it will be seen that the highest honors of the State, as well as of the people, have been conferred upon him ; and perhaps no man ever more justly deserved such honors.

GEN. WILLIAM R. SMITH.

William Rudolph Smith, the eldest son of William Moore Smith, was born at LaTrappe, in Montgomery County, Penn., on the 31st day of August, A. D. 1787. The family removing to Philadelphia in 1792, he was placed at school under the tuition of Mr. James Little and his ushers, this being at that time the largest and best preparatory school in the city. In 1799, he was placed in the Latin school of the Rev. James McCrea, but soon afterward the whole care of his education was assumed by his grandfather, the Rev. William Smith, D. D., who received him into the old family residence at the Falls of Schuykill, where he remained under a rigid course of instruction until April, 1803. when, as private secretary, he accompanied his father to En- gland, the latter being one of the Commissioners under the sixth article of the Jay treaty, to adjust and settle the demands of the British claimants. During their protracted residence in England, the father and son traveled much together at various times, journeying along the south coast from Dover to Falmouth, visiting all points of interest in the interior of the South and West, and making frequent and extended journeys into other parts of the Kingdom. In Lon- don their time was happily spent at the houses of many friends, and particularly at the house of Charles Dilly, Queens Square, so often mentioned by Boswell in his " Life of Johnson." Mr. Dilly took a great satisfaction in showing to his guests the arm-chair in.which Dr. Johnson sat at his table, and where he enjoyed himself perhaps more than at any other house in London. It was at this hospitable table that Dr. Johnson met with and learned to tolerate the great radical leader John Wilkes. In Mr. Dilly's house the young Secretary had the gratification to meet with the venerable Pascal Paoli, with Richard Cumberland, with a brother of James Boswell and with many of the literary celebrities and other notorieties of the day. Benjamin West, the Presi- dent of the Royal Society, in his friendly attentions to the father and son, did much to repay the obligations which in early life he owed to his friend and patron Dr. William Smith.

In the house of Mr. West, in Great Newman street and in the picture gallery, young Will- iam R. Smith met and formed friendships with many of the great painters and artists of En- gland as well as of the continent, for, in those stirring times, London was the " City of Refuge " of all classes of " Emigres " and refugees seeking safety from the whirlwind of strife, then sweep- ing over every country in Europe. George Cadondal, the great Vendean Chief, and Gen. Piche- grou, both afterward concerned in the attempt to assassinate Napoleon, were among the acquaint- ances thus formed.

These London days, teeming with recollections of Sarah Siddons, John and Stephen Kem- ble, of George III, the crazy old King, to whom he had been presented at court, of the Prince of Wales and Beau Brummel, and of the soldiers and statesmen who were then shaping the des- tiny of the civilized world, formed the solace of many an hour in after years, and incidents of this period remembered and related in his inimitable manner were the delight of three successive generations of listening friends. His father intending him for the bar, young William R. Smith, during his residence in England, commenced a preparatory course of study under the direction of Thomas Kearsley, Esq., of the middle temple, and from this period until the autumn of 1808, he was a diligent student of the law, for the first two years after his return to America, under the direction of his father and afterward in the office of James Milnor, in Philadelphia. In after years, Mr. Milnor removed to New York, and, having taken orders, became a distinguished minister of the Episcopal Church.

In 1808, Mr. Smith was admitted to the bar in Philadelphia, his examiners being Richard Rush, Thomas Ross and Peter A. Browne; the Judge was Jacob Rush. The following year he removed to Huntingdon, Penn., a town laid out by his grandfather and named in honor of his friend Selina, Countess of Huntingdon.

Having entered into the practice of his profession and feeling therefore settled in life, Mr. Smith was, on the 17th of March, 1809, married to Eliza Anthony, of Philadelphia, who was

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descended on the father's side from the Rhode Island family of that name, and on the mother's side from Michael Hillegas, the Treasurer of the United States during the Revolution. For the ensuing eleven years, Mr. Smith led a busy life, assuming at once a leadership in his profession, and becoming extensively known as one of the profoundest lawyers in the State. In 1811, he was appointed under Walter Franklin, Deputy Attorney General for Cambria County; was re- appointed to the same office by Richard Rush, and, in 1812, was again re-appointed by Jared Ingersol, the Attorney General. A boy's preference for a military career had impelled Mr. Smith in early life to connect himself with the Third Troop of Philadelphia Light Horse, and, whilst a member of that troop, had the satisfaction of riding the same horse which had carried his father, when a member of this same company, in the expedition to suppress the celebrated whisky in- surrection. This taste for military affairs strengthened with advancing years, and caused Mr. Smith to make a careful study of the national defenses, and the organization of the State militia forces. He devoted a large portion of his time to the study of field tactics, and was energetic and active in the organization and drilling of the Pennsylvania Militia, in which he served in various grades up to the rank of Major General. In the war of 1812-15 with England, he was Colonel of the Sixty-second Regiment of the Pennsylvania Reserves, and commanded that regiment when it was ordered to Erie to support Gen. Scott in the movement on Canada, which resulted in the victory at Lundy's Lane.

Gen. Smith was in Baltimore during the siege of that city ; he witnessed the disaster at Bladensburg, and the burning of Washington by the British. In civil life, Gen. Smith filled with distinguished ability the various offices to which he was at intervals either elected or ap- pointed. He served in both branches of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, held many offices of civil trust and honor, and, in January, 1836, was admitted Counselor of the Supreme Court of the United States at Washington.

In January, 1820, Gen. Smith lost his wife, her death occurring suddenly. after a brief illness of a few hours only. Three years afterward he married again, his second wife being Mary Hamilton Van Dyke, whose family, originally from Delaware, had removed to and settled in the State of Tennessee. In 1828, Gen. Smith removed from Huntingdon to Bedford County, where he resided until the year 1837, when he was appointed Commissioner of the United States in conjunction with Gov. Henry Dodge, to treat with the Chippewa Indians for the purchase of their pineries on the Mississippi River and its tributaries. The journey into the Northwest, in the fulfillment of this trust, forms an important epoch in the life of Gen. Smith. The wonder- ful resources of the country in everything that serves to make a nation happy, rich and great, impressed him profoundly. He saw, with the prophetie vision of a statesman, that the scepter of empire must surely pass from the East to be seized upon with firmness and permanently held by the mighty West. Instantly, almost, he resolved to be one of that earnest hand of pioneers, who, turning heroically from the ease and comforts of their Eastern homes, willingly encoun- tered all the hardships of a frontier life in order to contribute the treasures of their learning and experience to the great work of formulating the legislation and shaping the destiny of these new States of sueli glorious promise. His letters to his brother, Richard Penn Smith, afterward published in Philadelphia under the title of " Observations on Wisconsin Territory," are filled with glowing descriptions of this paradise for farmers. That the magic beauty of the scenery deeply touched his poetic nature, may be witnessed by the following lines, dashed off in a mo- ment of tender recollection :

" All hail Wisconsin ! prairie land, In summer decked with flowers, Aa scattered by some fairy hand Mid sylvan shades and bowers.

" Thy soil abundant harvests yields, Thy rocks give mineral wealth ; And every breeze that sweeps thy fields Comes redolent of health.

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HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY.

" Perennial springs and inland seas Give other beauties zest ; Long may thy dwellers live in ease, Gem of the fertile West !"

Returning to Pennsylvania. Gen. Smith, in 1838, removed his family to Wisconsin and set- tled in Iowa County, at Mineral Point. In 1839, he was appointed Adjutant General of the Territory of Wisconsin, by Gov. Dodge. which office he held under successive administrations for about twelve years. He also received from Gov. Dodge the civil appointment of District Attorney of Iowa County, retaining this office also for many years. In 1840, he presided over the first Democratic Convention that assembled at the seat of government of Wisconsin Terri- tory, and he drafted the address sent forth by that body to the people. He was elected Sec- retary to the Legislative Council of Wisconsin, and, in 1846, was elected delegate to the con- vention to form a constitution for the State of Wisconsin. The journals of that convention show that Gen. Smith either originated or gave most earnest support to many of the legislative reforms that have since become law in Wisconsin, and have been widely adopted in other States of the Union, notably the " Homestead Exemption Law " andthe " Rights of Married Women." In 1849, Gen. Smith was elected Chief Clerk of the Senate, and again in 1850, receiving the compliment of a unanimous vote. In 1849, Gen. Smith, together with a few other citizens in- terested, like himself, in collecting and preserving all matters of historical interest, formed the " State Historical Society of Wisconsin." The immediate success of the society in collecting valuable material induced the Legislature to place the institution under State patronage. A room in the capitol was assigned for the use of the society, and thereafter annual appropriations were regularly made to carry out and enlarge the work and usefulness of the institution. By a special act of the Legislature, in 1852, Gen. Smith was authorized to compile a " Documentary History of Wisconsin, from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time." To this work he de- voted several years of his life, and two volumes of the history were published by the State in 1854. In 1856, Gen. Smith was elected Attorney General of the State of Wisconsin, and for two years he filled that office with marked ability ; then, having reached the ripe age of seventy - one years, he deemed it best to retire from active professional and political life, and, for the re- mainder of his days, to enjoy the well-earned quiet of his home, his library, and the society of his family and intimate friends. Here, for eleven years more, he was the delight of all who approached him ; his ripe scholarship and varied information, his sparkling wit and kindly dis- position, gave a charm to his conversation that will never be obliterated from the memories of those who knew him. His reminiscences of Washington and the statesmen of his day, with many incidents and anecdotes of historical interest, were related with dramatic effect. The hands of Washington had rested upon his head ; he had listened to the reading of the farewell address. He was present in the German Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, when Maj. Gen. Lee, by the appointment of Congress, pronounced the funeral oration of Washington : he was in the theater on the night when the (now) national anthem of " Ifail Columbia " was first sung, and was wit- ness to the enthusiasm with which the song was greeted ; he had seen every President of the United States, from Washington to Lincoln, and was thus in himself, almost, a history of the Republic. These, and similar recollections, endeared him to a generation that regarded many of the events in which he had been an actor as almost belonging to antiquity. In 1868, Gen. Smith, still active and in good health, made the tour of Wisconsin, visiting many of his old friends in the Northern and Eastern parts of the State. Then he proceeded to Quincy, in the State of Illinois, to visit his youngest daughter, Mrs. Robert II. Deaderick, residing in that city, and there, in the fullness of years, this long and brilliant life came to a quiet and peaceful close. Gen. Smith, during all his life, was an active and prominent Freemason, passing through all the degrees of that Order from the Blue Lodge to the Royal Arch Chapter. He had been Grand Master of the State of Pennsylvania, and was several times made Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin. He had a singular love and veneration for the Order whilst he lived, and he was buried with Masonic honors in Mineral Point, Wis., on the 26th day of August, A. D. 1868. A stately Masonic monument now marks his resting-place.

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History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, Part 92

Author: Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Company Number of Pages: 958

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Western Historical Company
Number of Pages: 958