USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895 > Part 18
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There was at the opening of the campaign, a disposition on the part of a portion of the German Democrats in Milwaukee to bolt the nomination of Mr. Cross, because it had involved the defeat of Doctor Huebschmann. J. A. Noonan was accused of quietly fanning the flame of this dis- affection. An anonymous letter from Milwaukee attributed to Noonan, which appeared in the Madison Patriot shortly before the election, pre- dicted the defeat of Cross by a majority of two thousand in Milwaukee county. Randall made a personal canvass of the state in his own behalf, painting in strong colors the political corruption which had prevailed at Madison when " Barstow and the balance " were in power. The result of the election flouted many predictions. Cross, though defeated in the state by a majority of less than five hundred, received four thousand two hundred and fifteen votes in Milwaukee county, against one thousand seven hundred and five for Randall. The Democratic candidate for lieuten- ant-governor was elected over Carl Schurz by a majority of one hundred and seven. S. D. Hast- ings, the Republican candidate for treasurer, defeated Habich, the Democratic candidate. The Democratic candidate for state prison commis- sioner was a Milwaukeean, Edward McGarry. He was defeated by a small majority by E. M. McGraw, the Republican candidate.
The Milwaukee delegation to the Republican state convention in 1859 was anxious that the place at the head of the ticket should be filled with the name of Carl Schurz. The leaders in the movement were Winfield Smith and General Paine. But Governor Randall succeeded in securing a renomination. Mr. Schurz was proffered the nomination for lieutenant-governor, but refused to accept it. There was strong dissatisfaction in Milwaukee, and the Germans for a time declared that they would not support Randall. Schurz, on
his return from Madison, was given a public recep- tion in Market square by the Young Men's Repub- lican club. He made an eloquent and dignified speech, admitting his disappointment, but declar- ing unwavering attachment to the principles of the Republican party.
The Democratic nominee for the governorship in 1859 was Harrison C. Hobart, who was at that time a resident of Chilton. The campaign was, in one respect, among the inost interesting in the whole history of the state, inasmuch as Randall and Hobart entered into an agreement to make a tour of the principal cities in company and engage in joint debate on the political issues of the day. Outside of Milwaukee the state was ablaze with excitement over the Kansas-Nebraska question. Hobart was personally an anti-slavery man. He managed his campaign so as not to advocate slavery, but strove to as much as possible keep that issue in abeyance. While quoting Thomas Jefferson's famous indictment of the "peculiar in- stitution"-"I tremble when I reflect that God is just"-he nevertheless called attention to the rights of the Southern people under the constitution, and predicted that to attack those rights would inevitably bring on civil war. On the subject of state issues he made the point that even Barstow's administration-which he did not attempt to de- fend-had cost the state less than the administra- tion of Randall. Toward the close of the cam- paign the rival candidates appeared in this city. They were advertised to engage in joint debate at Market Hall on the evening of October 20th. The place was packed with an audience represent- ing both parties. While Randall was in the midst of his opening speech the sound of cracking tim- bers was heard, and some one interrupted the speaker by crying out that the floor had settled four or five inches, and it would be best for the crowd to move out quietly as quickly as possible. Randall attempted to bold his audience, saying he did not think there was much cause for · alarm if the floor had only settled four or five inches. But the people did not share his confi- dence, and the hall was quickly vacated. The debate was concluded the next evening at Albany Hall, which stood on the site of the present Chamber of Commerce. The occasion attracted a huge audience. Randall was a blunt speaker. Hobart's graceful and con- vincing style made him many friends. When
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POLITICS AND POLITICAL ISSUES BEFORE THE WAR.
election day came, Hobart carried every ward in 1856 every ward in the city had gone Democratic, the city, receiving a total of four thousand five hundred and sixty-six votes, against two thousand one hundred and sixty-six for Randall. He was beaten in the state by a narrow majority. The Fourth and Fifth wards sent Republicans to the legislature, the assemblyman from the Fourth ward being E. D. Holton.
It was in 1859 that Abraham Lincoln made his only visit to Milwaukee. He came here on Sep- tember 30th, in response to an invitation to deliver an address at the fair of the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. In the evening, at the re- quest of a concourse of admirers who visited him at the Newhall House, he stood upon a table and delivered a campaign speech.
In the deeply significant campaign of 1860, Re- publican sentiment in Milwaukee fully held its own. Both the great parties made strenuous ex- ertious, and all through the canvass excitement was at a high pitch. Never before and seldom since has there been a degree of political activity in Milwaukee equal to that which was exhibited by Democrats and Republicans in that memorable campaign. Only one of the presidential candi- dates came to this city. Many old Democrats doubtless still remember with a thrill the after- noon of October 13, 1860, when Stephen A. Douglas addressed an assemblage of his support- ers in Milwaukee. A large procession was a feature of the occasion. There were delegations of admirers of " the Little Giant " from Fond du Lac, Waukesha, Racine and many other points. Eight thousand people assembled in Market Square to hear him speak. He was introduced by Mayor Lynde as "the greatest American statesman." He spoke from four o'clock till nearly six. In the evening there was a torch- light procession and a public reception at the Newhall House. Five days later the Republicans had a torch-light procession and gathered in Mar- ket Square to listen to a speech by Galusha A. Grow. He occupied the same platform which had been erected for Douglas, and while he was in the midst of his speech it came down with a crash ; but nobody was hurt. One of the Repub- lican demonstrations during this campaign was made for the purpose of welcoming Carl Schurz on his return from a very successful campaign tour in the east. The election resulted in heavy Republican gains. At the presidential election in
but this year three wards gave small majori- ties for the Republican ticket, while the Demo- cratic majority in the city was cut down to nine hundred and five for the presidential electors, and two thousand one hundred for the candidate for Congress, Jonathan E. Arnold. In the congres- sional district, Arnold was defeated by two thou- sand five hundred, his successful competitor being John F. Potter.
At the state election in 1861 the Democrats did better, the vote of Milwaukee county on governor being five thousand three hundred and seventy for Ferguson, the Democratic candidate, and only one thousand eight hundred and forty for Harvey, the choice of the Republicans, who was elected.
The Democratic state committee, together with a number of prominent Democratic editors and advisers from different parts of the state, held a conference at Milwaukee on the 5th of August, 1862, at which President Lincoln's actions were sharply criticised and speeches were made breath- ing a sentiment inimical to the draft. The Mil- waukeeans in attendance included H. L. Palmer, E. G. Ryan, William Pitt Lynde, Jonathan E. Arnold, Judge Arthur McArthur, Judge J. A. Mallory, J. S. Brown, John W. Cary, J. V. V. Platto, Christian Ott, Charles H. Larkin, Moritz Schoeffler and Joshua La Due.
It must not be inferred that all who were present at this meeting were out of sypmathy with the vigorous prosecution of the war for the preservation of the Union. Moritz Schoeffler, for instance, was a few days later conspicuous at a meeting of Seventh warders in the interest of promoting enlistments, and made a stirring speech.
That feeling ran high at this time is evident from the fact, that a leading editorial in that usually moderate newspaper, the Wisconsin, on the evening of August 9th, began with the fol- lowing significant words : "The few Secessionists in our city and state, and particularly those speakers in the recent Democratic conference held in this city, should take warning from the order of the war department. The efforts of that class of our politicians to prevent drafting are to be punished as treasonable. These Jeff Davis partis- ans are to be tried by a military commission- which is a species of court that does not take long to try, convict and hang."
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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE.
Very frequently, at about this time, war meetings were held in different wards. Don A. J. Upham, A. R. R. Butler, Matt H. Carpenter, and some other Democrats freely lent their aid to the numerous Republicans who were prominent at these meetings in encouraging the enlistment of volunteers for the Union army.
A Democratic state convention, to discuss questions pertaining to national affairs and adopt an address to the people setting forth the princi- ples of the Democratic party of Wisconsin on the subject of the war, assembled in Milwaukee on the afternoon of September 3, 1862. The atten- dance was meager. A committee of five, with E. G. Ryan as chairman, was appointed to draw up resolutions and an address. The address was a long document; the reading of which occupied more than an hour. It was an able presentation of the views of those Democrats who believed that President Lincoln did wrong in suspending the operation of the habeas corpus act, and who disputed the existence of a "higher law" warrant- ing departures from the letter of the consti- tution, even when such departures had become necessary to preserve the political integrity of the nation.
George B. Smith, of Madison, spoke against the adoption of the address, and offered resolutions proclaiming the Democratic party to be in favor of burying old political issues until after " this wicked rebellion has been suppressed." He said he agreed with the propositions contained in the Ryan address, but did not believe that it was a fit time for their promulgation, and suggested that the address be sealed up and deposited with the State Historical Society, not to be opened till after the close of the war. "I would not have you give up your Democratic principles," he explained ; " but while our armies are melting away; while the Capital is in danger, and twenty thousand brave soldiers-Democrats as well as Republicans-lie bleeding upon the battle-fields, not in defense of the Democratic platform, but in defense of the
Union, so help me God ! I will not now nor here- after discuss politics nor political differences."
Jonathan E. Arnold made a long and eloquent argument against the adoption of the address. He said : " No one could be a true Democrat who is not a true patriot. I am compelled to hesitate as to the policy of adopting this address. As a political disquisition, as a history of the party and of the causes of the war, it is in the main truth- ful and powerful, and such as, if the rebellion were crushed, I would be glad to see printed in letters of gold to-morrow. But till the rebellion is put down, I hesitate as to the policy of its adoption. I am fearful of its effects, both abroad and at home, among our enemies and our friends. I believe, as my friend Mr. Smith remarked, that if Jeff Davis read it he would indeed laugh in his sleeves and say : " Those people profess to be loyal, and yet they are giving fits to the dominant party." S. U. Pinney read an extract from the famous last speech of Stephen A. Douglas, and offered it as an amendment to the address. It included the passage in which Douglas said : " My friends, we have a solemn duty to perform. It is to use all the power that God has given us to maintain the constitution and government that our fathers established for us. The more energy and unanimity we display in the performance of this great duty, the less will be the destruction of life and property, and the sooner will come the day of peace." Both Mr. Smith's substitute and Mr. Pinney's amendment were voted down, and the Ryan address was adopted by a vote of one hundred and twelve to twelve. Jonathan E. Arnold, Jackson Hadley and A. R. R. Butler were the Milwaukeeans in the convention who voted against the adoption of the Ryan address. The address was published in pamphlet form and circulated throughout the state. It provoked an able reply from Matt H. Carpenter, which was widely published by Republican newspapers. War Democrats held a meeting at Janesville and for- inally protested against the Ryan address.
Edward Jau de.
CHAPTER XVIII. .
NEGRO SUFFRAGE IN THE CONSTITUTION.
BY JOHN G. GREGORY.
W ITH some exceptions, the people of Mil- waukee, irrespective of party, were op- posed to negro slavery before it became a party question, and many of them were early disposed to take a liberal view on the subject of ad- mitting the colored man to the privileges of citizen- ship. A colored man-Solomon Juneau's cook- was one of the voters at the first election ever held in Milwaukee, in 1835. That of course illus- trated ambition to secure as large a vote as possible, rather than devotion to the principle of universal suffrage. But it showed a certain degree of free- dom from prejudice. Charles Durkee of Kenosha, who was elected to Congress from the Milwaukee district in 1849, was the organizer of the Liberty party, the avowed object of which was to arrest the extension of slavery into new territory. He was afterward a representative of Wisconsin in the United States Senate. Abolitionists, conspicu- ous among whom were C. C. Sholes, Rev. Icha- bod Codding, S. M. Booth and E. D. Holton, advocated their distinctive principles without ceasing, and the American Freeman, afterward the Free Democrat, spread those principles broad- cast. When the Spring Street Congregational Church was organized, in 1847, the members adopted a resolution that slavery being a great sin against God and man, they would not invite to their communion table or pulpit, persons guilty of slaveholding or taking sides with oppressors.
Nearly ten years before the "iron horse" woke the echoes with his first snort in Wisconsin, Mil- waukee was a station on the " under-ground rail- road," over which unfortunate victims of the South's "peculiar institution " made their escape from slavery. Asahel Finch, Deacon Samuel Brown-the father of Milwaukee's present tax commissioner-E. D. Holton, and others were enlisted in the good cause of helping the poor slaves, at the risk of being sued for damages by their owners. The most notable escape by means of the Milwaukee branch of the underground
railroad was that of Caroline Quarlles or Watkins a young colored woman who ran away from an owner in St. Louis. When she reached Milwau- kee the poor fugitive had eighty-five dollars, which she gave to a colored barber named Titball, at the same time entrusting him with her secret and imploring his assistance. He kept her at his house a week, and then plotted to hand her over to a lawyer who had come here from St. Louis in search of her. The slave-catcher tried to enlist the assistance of Horatio N. Wells, who refused to have anything to do with the case, and made it his business to communicate the matter to Asahel Finch. Mr. Finch took charge of Caro- line, concealed her by heading her up in a barrel which stood all day on a public thoroughfare without exciting suspicion, and at night smuggled her into the keeping of Deacon Brown, who took her to his farm in the suburbs, where she lay in hiding for a week, while the search for her was going on and a watch was being kept on the roads leading in the direction of Prairieville. At the end of that time the Deacon took her in a rickety vehicle to Prairieville, whence she was spirited under safe escort to Detroit, from which place she easily made her way to Canada and freedom.
On the 8th of February, 1849, the Wisconsin legislature adopted a joint resolution, calling upon the senators and representatives from this state in Congress to oppose the passage of any act for the government of New Mexico or Cali- fornia, unless it contained a provision against slavery. Isaac P. Walker, of this city, who was at that time United States Senator, disregarded this injunction, and on the 31st of March, 1849, the legislature adopted a joint resolution censuring him and calling upon him to resign. The Mil- waukee Sentinel of October 9th, 1849, contained a letter eleven columns long, addressed by Senator Walker to the people of Wisconsin, and explaining the reasons for his vote. He did not resign his seat. In 1851 the resolution of censure was rescinded.
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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE.
The 11th of March, 1854, is a celebrated date in the history of Milwaukee, being that of the res- cue of Joshua Glover, the fugitive slave. The escaped bondman had been captured near Racine and brought to Milwaukee. Here he was con- fined in the county jail. A mass meeting of citi- zens, called by S. M. Booth, was held in the court house square. The jail was broken open, and the captive black man spirited away to freedom. Booth, as a result of his prominence in this affair, was imprisoned for several months, awaiting trial, and was involved in much expensive litigation. John Rycraft, who is still living in Milwaukee, was also subjected to severe legal penalties for his humane exertions on behalf of the principle of human liberty. Party lines were not drawn in the matter of the Glover rescue, and the exciting episode had no immediate visible effect politically.
It is a fact, not generally understood, that since 1849 members of the African race have been clothed by the law of Wisconsin with the right to vote. It is also a fact, not generally under- stood, that Milwaukee did her full share toward bringing about this extension of the franchise. There is an element of romantic interest in the circumstance that the law which took down the color bar to citizenship in Wisconsin remained in abeyance for nearly seventeen years. The negro suffrage amendment which was submitted sepa- rately to the people in 1847, when they voted on the question of adopting or rejecting the first constitution, was voted down in the city of Mil- waukee as well as in the state at large. The vote in the city was four hundred and fifty-eight, for, and six hundred and thirty-six, against. But the act of the legislature submitted in 1849 met a happier fate. This measure was entitled, “ An act submitting the question of the right of suffrage to a vote of the people." As a misunderstanding of seventeen years' duration grew out of ambi- guity in its phraseology, it may be worth while to present herewith the text of the act in full .:
The people of the state of Wisconsin represented in the Senate and Assembly do enact as follows :
SECTION 1. A separate ballot may be given at the ensuing general election by every person having a right to vote, to be deposited in a separate box, upon the question of the adoption as a law of section two of this bill. Upon the ballots given for the adoption of section two of this bill shall be written or printed or partly written and partly printed, the words "Equal suf- frage to colored persons. Yes." And upon the ballots given against the adoption of section two. in a like manner, the words "Equal suffrage to colored persons. No." And said
ballots shall be so folded that the words "Equal suffrage" shall appear on the outside. If at the said election a majority of all the votes cast at such election shall be given in favor of equal suffrage to colored persoons, then said section two of this bill shall become a law.
SECTION 2. Every male colored inhabitant of the age of twenty-one years or upward who shall have resided in this stale for one year, next preceding any election, shall be deemed a qualified elector at such election and eligible to hold any office in the state, subject, however, to the regulations contained in sections two, three, five and six of the constitu- tion of the state."
At the general election held on the 7th of November, 1849, there were duly cast in the city of Milwaukee three hundred and twenty-seven votes in favor of this law and two hundred and ninety against it. At the same election the total vote for governor in the city of Milwaukee was : Nelson Dewey, Democrat, one thousand three hundred and seventy-seven ; A. L. Collins, Whig, five hundred and twenty-eight; W. Chase, Free- soiler, one hundred and seven. The vote of the state on the question of negro suffrage was : For, five thousand six hundred and twenty-five; against, four thousand and seventy-five. The total vote on the suffrage amendment being less than ten thousand, while the vote on the state officers at the same election amounted to thirty thousand, it was tacitly assumed that the suffrage law had been defeated. General Rufus King, the editor of the Sentinel, was one of the strongest advocates of the ratification of the law. But the Sentinel, commenting on the returns of the elec- tion. said :
" If the true construction be, as we presume it is, that a majority of all persons voting at the election must vote for free suffrage, in order to its adoption, the effect is to count every blank vote on the question as a negative one. Thus in this city though there is a majority of the votes cast on the question, in favor of free suffrage, there is not 'a majority of all the votes cast at the election.' And so, we think, it will be found throughout the state."
It was not until 1865 that any one came for. ward to dispute the correctness of this assumption. In the meantime, in the belief that the law of 1849 was invalid, the question of negro suffrage had more than once been submitted anew to a vote of the people. One of these occasions was at the general election of 1865, when Milwaukee's vote was overwhelmingly negative. For, one thousand seven hundred and thirty-five ; against,
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NEGRO SUFFRAGE IN THE CONSTITUTION.
three thousand eight hundred and seventy-four. The Wisconsin, on the day after this election, observed : "Yesterday the right of suffrage to colored men was undoubtedly defeated. We had hoped this question might be settled at this elec- tion; but both Union men and Copperheads deter- mined that equal rights should not prevail in Wisconsin." Yet at this very moment, when friends of negro suffrage were disheartened, the first steps had been taken in an undertaking which was to demonstrate that negro suffrage was already in existence.
On the 31st of October, 1865, Ezekiel Gillespie, a Milwaukeean of mixed African blood, and a resident of the Seventh ward, requested the board of registry of that ward, then in session, to regis- ter his name as an elector, which the board re- fused to do, on the ground that he was a person of color, and not entitled to vote. On the follow- ing election day Mr. Gillespie offered his vote, accompanied by an affidavit giving the reasons why his name did not appear on the registered list of voters, and also accompanied by the affida- vits of two householders of the Seventh ward, to the effect that they knew him to be a resident of that ward. The inspectors of election for the ward, Henry L. Palmer, William H. Williams, and Andrew H. McCormick, refused to accept the ballot, whereupon Mr. Gillespie brought suit against the Board of Inspectors in the Circuit Court for Milwaukee county. Byron Paine ap- peared as counsel for Mr. Gillespie, and D. G.
Hooker for the Board of Inspectors. The defend- ants demurred to the complaint, setting up the claim that it did not state facts sufficient to con- stitute a cause of action. By stipulation, notice of trial was waived and the case put on the calen- dar and submitted without argument, judgment being rendered pro forma sustaining the demur- rer. The object of this was to get the matter without delay before the State Supreme Court, to which Mr. Gillespie's attorney at once took an appeal. The justices of the Supreme Court at that time were three in number. Luther Dixon was chief justice, and Jason Downer and Orsamus Cole were his associates. The main opinion in this case, overruling the order of the Circuit Court, was written by Justice Downer. Chief- justice Dixon agreeing with Justice Downer, wrote : "I do not see how the language could ever have been the subject of doubt or contro- versy. To me, to whom the question was new when this case was presented, it has seemed from the very first that the meaning was, a majority of all the votes cast upon the subject." Justice Cole did not write an opinion, but he also concurred. The decision sustaining the validity of the law was upheld by the full bench.
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