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ANDREW JOHNSON PAGE 93

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
OF
LA CROSSE, MONROE
AND
JUNEAU COUNTIES,
WISCONSIN.

Containing Portraits of all the Presidents of the United States, with accompanying
Biographies of each; Engravings of Prominent Citizens of the Counties,
with Personal Histories of many of the Early Settlers
and Leading Families

"Biography is the only true history."--Emerson

CHICAGO:
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1892.

ii

iii

CONTENTS

George Washington ........................... 9

John Adams .................................. 14

Thomas Jefferson ............................ 20

James Madison ............................... 26

James Monroe ................................ 32

John Quincy Adams ........................... 38

Andrew Jackson ............................. 47

Martin Van Buren ............................ 52

William Henry Harrison ...................... 56

John Tyler .................................. 60

James K. Polk................................ 64

Zachary Taylor .............................. 68

Millard Fillmore ............................ 72

Franklin Pierce ............................. 76

James Buchanan .............................. 80

Abraham Lincoln ............................. 84

Andrew Johnson .............................. 93

Ulysses S. Grant ............................ 96

R. B. Hayes ................................. 102

J. A . Garfield ............................. 109

Chester A. Arthur ........................... 113

Grover Cleveland ............................ 117

Benjamin Harrison ........................... 120

iv CONTENTS.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

A

Abbott, Edgar ................. 880
Adams, C. A ................... 764
Adams, D. J ................... 765
Adolph, Chris ................. 131
Alden, Chas. J ................ 271
Alger, L. W ................... 264
Allen, George H ............... 502
Anders, Theron ................ 469
Alverson, W. N ................ 789
Anderson, John ................ 318
Anderson, Mons ................ 221
Anderson, W. A ................ 275
Andreas, Henry ... ........... 487
Andrews, Chester .............. 537
Andrews, E. H ................. 132
Asselin, John .. ... ........ 419
Atchinson, H. H . ............ 636
Atkinson, C. N . .......... 522
Atkinson, George .............. 315
Atwater, W. B ................. 428
Austin, David .. ..... ........ 156
Austin, W. J ................. 631
Aylesworth, A ................. 814

B

Bacon, G ......................930
Bailey, Frank ..... ......... 146
Bailey, G. A ................. 622
Banker, John ............. .... 477
Bans, Wm ..................... 926
Barber Bros ......... ........ 529
Barber, W. A ............. 647
Barclay, D. N ................. 535
Barclay, Thomas .............. 479
Barnes, L. S .................. 776
Barnes, Seth .................. 905
Barney, T. J .................. 450
Bartz, Chas. A ........... ... 223
Beadle, R. J .................. 519
Beardsley, H. S ......... ..... 771
Beck, John M ........... ...... 485
Beckel, Jacob ................. 389
Beckel, L. P ......... ........ 390
Beckler, I. P ................. 907
Beebe, D. W . C ............... 706
Beers, Calvin ................. 744
Belcher, C. H ................. 610
Belky, Peter .................. 907
Bellerue, A ................... 277
Benjamin. A. D ................ 779
Bentley, E. E ... ............ 233
Benton, C. S ........ ......... 452
Berg, Emil .................... 217
Bergh, Martin .. ........... 436
Beyer, K. G ... .............. 163
Beyer, Wm ..................... 854
Bierbauer, H .................. 913

Bigelow, A. A ................. 723
Bigelow, O. W ................. 709
Black, A. O .......... . ..... 415
Black, Ole 0 ................. 404
Blanchard, D. R ............... 457
Bleekman, A. E ................ 153
Blinston, J. H ................ 898
Bliss, H . I ......... .. ... 397
Blyton, Wm. H ................. 669
Boley, A. E ................... 337
Bongers, J. B ... .......... 787
Boorman, L. J., & Co .......... 691
Boring, L .... ............... 847
Borreson, C. L ................ 223
Borreson, E. N ............... 204
Boschert, Jos ................. 212
Boss, Albert ........ ......... 867
Bosshard, Gottlieb ............ 532
Bostwick, E. L ................ 737
Boucher, Jos .................. 475
Bowen, Le Roy ................. 380
Bowen, Oscar .................. 438
Boyd, Andrew .................. 344
Boyington, G. A ............... 756
Boynton, E. G ................. 145
Boynton, F. E ...... . ........ 870
Boynton, M. H ................. 685
Brackett, Myron ............ .. 720
Bradfield, J. A. L ............ 200
Bradley, Jno .................. 447
Braitzman, Ferd ............... 508
Branch, Rollo ................. 371
Brandt, Carl .................. 358
Brice, G. W .................. 269
Briggs, G. E ................. 486
Briggs, Suel .................. 488
Broezel, B. F ................. 762
Brown, David .................. 319
Brown, Frank .................. 161
Brown, S. W .................. 242
Brownell, R ................... 761
Bruha, A. J ..... ............. 590
Bryant, B. F .................. 229
Bunn, Leroy ................... 357
Buol, Christian ............... 494
Burke, M . T .................. 464
Burnett, J .................... 328
Burns, J. C .... .............. 253
Burns, Timothy ................ 489
Bush, W . E .................. 823
Butler, J. F .................. 598

C

Cady, J. D .................... 678
Calahan, H. B ................. 362
Calkins, Seth ...... .......... 737
Callihan, Michael ............. 364
Cameron, Angus ................ 268
Canfield, F. A ............... 839

Canfield, T. M .................774
Capper, Jno ................... 592
Carl, Gustave .. .............. 136
Carlyle, W.J .................. 509
Carter, Andrew ................ 876
Carter, F. P .................. 810
Casberg, Carl C ............... 471
Case, Jere .................... 780
Cash, W. H. H ................. 868
Chamberlain, C. V ............. 613
Chamberlain, E. W ............. 578
Chamberlain, Leroy ............ 612
Chapman, Jesse .............. . 732
Cheney, D. D .................. 651
Child, H. H. L ................ 653
Child, Irving ................. 799
Childers, J. M ................ 268
Clark, Albion ................. 138
Clark. A . P .................. 291
Clark, Nathan ................. 595
Clark, Noah ................... 925
Clark, P. L .................. 460
Cole, Jno. J .................. 274
Cole, R. T. W ................. 835
Coman, J. B ................... 431
Conant, M .................... 273
Coney, Robert ................. 361
Cooper, I. W ................. 602
Copeland, F. A ................ 237
Cordell, L ................... 340
Corrigan, T. B ................ 739
Cowles, E. M ................. 709
Craine, George ................ 842
Crandall, H . L ............... 692
Crapp, Jno .................... 878
Cremer, H . H ................ 648
Cremer. Jno ................... 871
Cronk, W. H .................. 408
Cronk, Rhoda A ................ 526
Crook, Jno., Jr ............... 121
Crook, J. C .................. 402
Culver, C. M ................. 861
Cummings, J. A., & Son ........ 770
Cummings, T. W ................ 219
Curtis, C. D ................. 887
Curtis, Joseph ............... 915
Cuthbert, Wm .................. 521

D

Dahl, J. H .................... 378
Dana, J. C .................... 611
Daniels, J. J ................. 905
Darling, Chester .............. 454
Darms, Michael ................ 435
Davidson, W. J ................ 468
Davis, A. H ................... 332
Davis, Daniel ................. 520
Davis, H. S ................... 688
Davis, Isaac D ................ 462

CONTENTS. V

Davis, J. W ................... 172
Davis, R. T ................... 281
Davis, R. W ................... 377
Davis, Samuel ................. 463
Davis, W. E ................... 240
Davis, W. S ................... 657
Dawson, Jno ................... 483
Dayl, Burt .................... 400
Decker, D. H .................. 809
Decker, J. M .................. 704
DeForce, Byron ................ 312
Deininger, J. V ............... 377
Delle, Frank .................. 831
De Lorea F. X ................. 225
Demmon, C. W .................. 147
Dengel, Peter ................. 408
Dengler, Jno .................. 182
Dinger, George ................ 888
Dodsworth, Henry .............. 877
Donaghue, J. H ................ 799
Doten, Amaziah ................ 833
Douglas, D. H ................. 725
Drowatsky, Bernard ............ 687
Dudley, W. I .................. 183
Dudley, W. L .................. 186
Dunn, T. K .................... 806

E

Eagle, C. C ................... 827
Eaton, E ...................... 927
Easton, J. C .................. 381
Eddy, E. I .................... 616
Edwards, B. E ................. 227
Edwards, George ............... 213
Edwards, J. B ................. 755
Egan, M. C .................... 528
Elliott, J. A ................. 364
Elwell, C. C .................. 254
Ely, G. H ..................... 751
Emberson, I ................... 184
Emerson, 0. B ................. 327
Emmons, J. W .................. 617
Enckhausen, H ................. 734
English, Isaac ..... .......... 716
Erwin, C. K ................... 748
Esch, Henry ................... 605
Escb, J. J .................... 360
Esmiller, Henry ............... 241
Esperson, Henry ............... 181
Euler, George ................. 257
Evans, R. R ................... 596
Evensen, P. 0 ................. 157
Eveson, Ole ................... 593
Ewer, A. B ............... .... 286

F

Fahey, Richard ................ 445
Fairbanks, A. F ............... 909
Farewell, M. M ................ 534
Farnam, E. J .................. 519
Farnam, George ................ 507
Fawcett, Fred ................. 853
Fay, Joseph ................... 492
Ferries, W. H ................. 634
Fetter, A. V .................. 218
Field, F. T ................... 650
Fiers, Peter .................. 399
Filkins, A .................... 367

Finn, Jno. M .................. 207
Fish, I. H .................... 682
Fisher, L. S .................. 619
Fisk, Nathan .................. 812
Fisk, Reuben .................. 813
Flasch, K. C .................. 325
Fletcher, C. W ................ 386
Flock, Henry .................. 640
Flock, Peter .................. 884
Forrest, Alex ................. 467
Fowler, Daniel ................ 640
Fowler, Jno. H ................ 683
Fox, Jno ...................... 168
Fox, W. D ..................... 176
Francis, P .................... 688
Frayn, James .................. 443
Fredrickson, Ole .............. 427
Freeman, W. B ................. 865
Freeman, W. S ................. 608
Freemore, S. J ................ 808
French, Charlott .............. 394
Frey, Nathaniel ............... 246
Frohmader, George ............. 836
Frye, Peter ................... 775
Fryer, Jno .................... 713
Fruit, J. J ................... 262
Fuhrman, F. W ................. 692
Fuller, W. L .................. 811
Fulmer, D. M .................. 880

G

Gage, M. R .................... 663
Galiger, J. P ................. 763
Galvin, Wm ................... 299
Gass, Anthony ................. 303
Gavin, Wm .................... 592
Gay, James .................... 434
Gear, T. P .................... 479
George, Franklin .............. 855
Getman, H ..................... 712
Gibbs, A. W ................... 676
Gile, Abner .......... ........ 169
Gilfillan, James, Sr .......... 490
Gilfillan, J. M .............. 439
Glover, C. A ................. 527
Goddard, Hiram ................ 576
Goddard, L. M ................ 574
Goodland, J. A ................ 344
Goodrich, A. D ................ 193
Goodwin, J. M ................. 627
Goodyear, D. A. & C. A ........ 677
Gordon, D. K .................. 448
Grams, Wenzel ................. 192
Grant, C. H ................... 835
Grant, J. N ................... 890
Grates, J. H .................. 240
Graves, W. H ........... ...... 596
Green, I. E ............ .... 459
Greenfield, A ................. 711
Greenlee, I. C ............... 807
Gregory, John ................. 843
Grigg, J. B ................... 373
Griggs, L. S .................. 705
Grinolds, M. J ................ 844
Gross, F. A ................... 311
Gruetzmacher, P ........... 696
Gudmundson, L ................. 376
Gullickson, Peter ............. 455
Gund, Henry ................... 173

Gund, John, Sr ................ 173
Gund, John, Jr ................ 174
Gunderson, H ............. .... 432

H

Hackner, Egid ................. 307
Hahn, Jacob ................... 305
Haldorson, Knud ............... 520
Hall, C. D .............. ..... 658
Hall, Daniel .................. 425
Hall, W. G .................... 618
Halverson John ................ 313
Hamilton, E. M ................ 814
Hamman, E. M .................. 818
Hanchett, C. E. ............... 659
Hanchett, G. E ................ 672
Hancock,J. W ............ ..... 902
Hancock, T. H ................. 718
Hansen, P. J .................. 879
Hansen, Thomas ................ 220
Hanson, A. C .................. 461
Harbo, E. P ................... 260
Harden, Mary .................. 440
Harrison, D. B ................ 282
Harrison, H. H ................ 500
Hart, Seth .................... 443
Hartley, Mary ................. 356
Haskell, H. C ............. ... 885
Hass, John ................... 508
Hatz, Christian ............... 411
Hatz, Jacob .............. ... 518
Hawkins, C. H ................. 472
Hawley, D. D ................. 864
Hayward, Fred ................. 832
Heath, H. C .................. 155
Hebron, John ................ 670
Heerey, Michael ............... 863
Heilman, G .................... 308
Heinken, F. T ................. 288
Heiss, Michael ................ 247
Heitman, G ............... .... 606
Helmke, Fred .................. 774
Helms, Daniel ................. 728
Hemker, Fred .................. 187
Hemstock, David ............... 388
Henry, James, Jr .............. 334
Heritage, E. B ................ 639
Herring, A. J ................. 707
Herrington, F. C .............. 185
Hewitt, G. B .................. 405
Hewitt, J. C ............ ..... 196
Heydon, E. W .................. 300
Hill, A. J .................... 130
Hill, Ira A ................... 615
Hill, Luther .................. 751
Hill, 0. M .................... 641
Hill, W. R .................... 897
Hillestad, N. G .......... .... 184
Hineman, John ................. 604
Hineman, M. L ................. 604
Hintgen, N .................... 413
Hirschheimer, J. J ........ ... 143
Hirschheimer, M ............... 263
Hitchcock, N. B ............... 569
Hoard, P. ..................... 936
Hobbs, John ................... 395
Hobson, Thomas ................ 626
Hoffmann, C. F ................ 359
Hofmeister, L ................. 883

vi CONTENTS.

Hogan, J. J ................... 360
Hogue, H. T ................... 638
Hollister, A. E . ............ 782
Holmes, Lafayette ............. 127
Holmes, W. S .................. 497
Holway, N. D .................. 253
Horne, H. E ................... 154
Horner, Ernest ................ 441
Hosmer, G. A .................. 480
Hossfeld, R .................. 419
Houck, Oscar . .............. 338
Hough, P. H ................... 128
Howard, A. E .................. 773
Howard, George ................ 597
Howard, H. H .................. 691
Howard, J. C .................. 859
Howie, Robert ................. 699
Hubbard, W. W ................. 683
Huckins, G. N ................. 803
Huff, C. D ............. ...... 801
Hughes, Robert ................ 510
Hunt, A. O .................... 298
Hunt, C. A .................... 178
Hunt, C. A .................... 791
Hutchinson, C. M .............. 788
Hutchinson, James ............. 848

I

Imhoff, William A ............. 216
Irons, Bruce .................. 703
Irwin, Wilbert ................ 575
Isham, A. H ................... 679

J

Jackson, M ................... 831
Jackson, W. H ................. 793
Jacobs, W. P .................. 498
Janes, Samuel ................. 680
Jarvis, Timothy ............... 582
Jenkins, Thomas ............... 733
Jenks, C. L ................... 301
Jenning-, Mrs. A. A .......... 716
Jenny, John ................... 795
Jewell, A. W .................. 720
Jewett, Z. K .................. 754
Joerres, A. J ................. 246
Johnson, Alexander ............ 215
Johnson, C. W ................. 745
Johnson, Eugene ............... 413
Johnson, J. A ................. 404
Johnson, J. J ................. 406
Johnson, J. K ................. 195
Johnson, John ................. 537
Johnson, J. W .......... ...... 473
Johnson, L .................... 924
Johnson, Thomas ............... 580
Johnston, James ............... 781
Jones, D. F ................... 826
Jones, E. G ................... 584
Jones, E. R ................... 658
Jones, Freeman ................ 642
Jones, John ................... 290
Jones, John B ................ 470
Jones, John N ................ 495
Jones, J. S ................... 411
Jones, T. N ................... 837
Jones, W. E ................... 208
Jordson, William .............. 532

K
Kahler, John .................. 304
Kaser, Henry .................. 828
Kaun, William ................. 638
Kavenaugh, J. J ............... 149
Kaylor, A. C .................. 432
Keaveny, Patrick .............. 267
Keaveny, Peter ................ 415
Keizer, J. E .................. 414
Keller, A. J .................. 732
Kelley, H. E .................. 632
Kelly, A. J ................... 305
Kennedy, J. F ................. 792
Kenrick, H. A ................. 454
Kenrick. John ................. 330
Keppel, J. G .................. 512
Kienahs, Theo ................. 309
Kienholz, Peter ............... 190
Kingman, R. S ................. 622
Kinne, E. G ................... 798
Kinnear, R. M. I .............. 250
Kircheis, J. E ................ 252
Klein, C. F ......... ......... 577
Klich, H. B ................... 129
Klick, J. W ................... 503
Kluver, L. & Co .............. 354
Knudson, Lewis ................ 426
Koenig, Christian ............. 346
Koller, John .................. 291
Koller, Michael ............... 292
Kowalke, E. E ................. 280
Kramer, August ................ 523
Kratchivil, M ................. 216
Krebaum, C. A ................. 279
Krueger, William .............. 450
Kuhlman & Gass ................ 303
Kupp, John .................... 530
Kyle, R. E .................... 696

L

La Fleur, Henry ............... 444
La Fleur, R. R ................ 573
Laflin, H. B ...... .......... 210
Lamb, James I ................. 168
Lambert, Stephen .............. 539
Lamberton, H. J ............... 697
Langdon. John ................. 342
Lange, Diego .................. 504
Langstadt, G .................. 338
Lanphere, H. P ................ 332
Larsen, 0. P .................. 570
Larson, Christian ............. 438
Larson, Edward ................ 517
Larson, L ..................... 396
Laurer, J ..................... 822
Law, David .................... 155
Lawrence, N. T ................ 822
Leak, G. A .................... 703
Lebber, Henry ................. 255
Leete, William W .............. 256
Leicht, C. A .................. 876
Lemon, T. J ............ ...... 208
Lester, W. A .................. 372
Lever, M ...................... 920
Leverich, J. W ................ 929
Lewis, T. A ................... 499
Lewis, William H .............. 141

Lightbody, J. H ............... 302
Link, W. W .................... 695
Linse, Charles ................ 236
Lockerby, W. E ................ 369
Lohmiller, William ............ 184
Looney, M. M .................. 148
Loring, N. T .................. 347
Losh, D. W .................... 900
Losey, J. W ................... 125
Lovejoy, Herbert .............. 467
Lovejoy, Hiram ................ 516
Lower, John ................... 856
Luce, Charles ................. 514
Luce, W. S .................... 504
Luening, William .............. 228
Lueth, Henry .................. 456

Mabbott, G. H ................. 883
Mader, D ...................... 126
Madson, G ..................... 455
Magill, H. P .................. 324
Magill, H. T ............... .. 323
Mallow, J. M .................. 873
Mannstedt, Theo ............... 140
Mansergh, G. W ................ 478
Marcher, W. H ................. 731
Markle, E ..................... 258
Marquardt, C. H ............... 178
Marsden, T. B ................. 857
Marshall, John W .............. 800
Martin, T. L .................. 840
Martindale, S ................. 175
Martindale, S., Jr ............ 263
Masters, C. M ................. 729
Matheson, S ................... 188
Mathewson, W. T ............... 594
Matteson, T. E ................ 830
Matthews, A. C ................ 649
McArthur, D. S ................ 323
McArthur, P. S ................ 322
McCaul, Thomas ................ 796
M'Comber, 0. L ................ 805
McConnell, P .................. 215
McCurdy, J. M ................. 675
McDermott, J. H ............... 295
McGary, Selium ................ 746
McHugh, Hall .................. 476
Mcintosh, D ................... 480
McIntyre, J ................... 931
McKinley, James ............... 251
McKenzie, C. W ................ 188
McKenzie, Margaret ............ 453
McKown, C. S .................. 250
McLean, Wm .................... 674
McMillan, Alex ................ 161
McMillan, A. P ................ 585
McMillan, D. D ................ 151
McMillan, Geo ................. 843
McMullen, R. H ................ 741
McMullen, Wm .................. 724
McMullen, W. J ................ 761
Mead, Cephas .................. 767
Meason, L. E .................. 260
Medary, J. S .................. 491
Mercereau, B. B ............... 383
Merkley, M. H ................. 753
Messinger, J .................. 851

CONTENTS vii

Meyer, Felix .................. 583
Mickschl, P . ................. 524
Mierow, Henry ................. 750
Millegan, G. W ................ 645
Miller, C. A .................. 858
Miller, C. H .................. 458
Miller, Conrad ................ 519
Miller, Conrad ................ 894
Miller, H. G .................. 271
Miller, H. P .................. 747
Miller, Jno. A ................ 243
Miller, J. J .................. 908
Miller & Kaser ................ 828
Miller, Peter ................. 828
Miner, E. S ................... 759
Miner, J. T ................... 701
Miner, R. G ................... 249
Moore, Jno. G ................. 390
Moran, Jos .................... 241
Morton, W. P .................. 287
Morris, Jno ................... 765
Morrison, J. M ................ 603
Morse, L. C ................... 646
Morse, M. V. B ................ 727
Moseley, A .................... 910
Moseley, J. H ................. 916
Moseley, W. H ................. 660
Mosher, J. A .................. 417
Moss, P. H .................... 893
Mould, F. W ................... 269
Mueller, E. T ................. 308
Murphy, Ambrose ............... 126
Murray, J. B .................. 160
Myhre, Ole L .................. 503
Myrick, N ..................... 541

N.

Neadfelt, Wm .................. 177
Nechuta, Chas ................. 697
Needham, D .................... 581
Nelson, L. N .................. 220
Nelson, N. R .................. 180
Neuman, H. E .................. 918
Neumeister, Wm ................ 426
Newsome, Jos .................. 738
Newton, A. B .................. 531
Nichols, C. H ................. 333
Nichols, F. E ................. 316
Nichols, G. S ................. 310
Nicol, Alex ................... 654
Nieschulz, F .................. 898
Niles, Wm. D., Jr ............. 841
Nissen, H. K. E ............... 261
North, W. N ................... 536
Northcott, Robt ............... 933
Norton, H. B .................. 919
Nuttall, Jos .................. 815
Nutting, C. W ................. 416
Nyhus, Ole .................... 577
Nyhus, Ole .................... 430

0.

Oakley, H. J .................. 757
O'Connor, James ............... 637
O'Leary, Daniel ............... 739
Olsen, Gustav ................. 886
Osborne, R. E ................. 244

Oswald, J. H .................. 668
Ott, B ........................ 152
Ott, Jno. J ................... 419
Otten, Henry .................. 570
Oyen, 0. J .................... 311

P.

Palmer, H ..................... 628
Palmer, Zerah ................. 611
Pammel, G. J .................. 278
Parker, E. H .................. 911
Parker, Jno ................... 923
Parker, M. S .................. 911
Patterson, S. B ............... 288
Payne, W. C ................... 620
Payson, J. M .................. 423
Peck, C. E .................... 862
Peck, H. J .................... 265
Pederson, C ................... 367
Perry, G. W ................... 893
Peterson, J. A ................ 712
Pettibone, A. W ............... 139
Pettingill, J ................. 572
Pettingill, J. L .............. 210
Pfaff, Jacob .................. 481
Pfaff, Levetta ................ 686
Pfaff, L. 0 ................... 850
Phelps, F. I .................. 348
Phillips, C. E ................ 613
Phillips, J. L ................ 817
Phillips, S. E ................ 548
Phoenix, Alva ................. 824
Pierson, Thos ................. 819
Pinkerton, Jno ................ 506
Pinkerton, Jos ................ 505
Piske, Carl ................... 388
Pitkin, M. J .................. 132
Pittenger, N. 0 ............... 393
Plunket, Wm ................... 778
Poehling, Jos ................. 239
Pollard, E. J ................. 135
Polleys, W. E ................. 266
Pond, F. H .................... 701
Poole, P ...................... 643
Pooler, Frank ................. 398
Powell, D. F .................. 587
Prentiss, G. C ................ 370
Price, Bros ................... 852
Price, Jno. Sr ............... 852
Printz, Wm .................... 820
Prucha, J. E .................. 202
Pugh, H. M .................... 584
Putnam, A ..................... 420
Putnam, C. H .................. 281

Q

Quall, 0. P ................... 407
Quigg, C. E ................... 632
Quinn, Thomas ................. 935

R

Radtke, William J.............. 495
Raetzmann, H. W................ 226
Ramsey, J. F .................. 866
Rand, J. B .................... 493
Randall, Esther M.............. 412

Randall, John ................. 714
Ranney, J. W .................. 198
Rapp, John M .................. 491
Rathbun, J. F ................. 804
Rau, John ..................... 292
Rawlingson, James, Sr ......... 515
Rawlingson, James, Jr.,........ 515
Reed, C. L .................... 423
Reichert,M .................... 466
Reidy, John ................... 829
Reim, C. G .................... 422
Remick, F. A .................. 429
Renggly, J. A ................. 185
Renner, Jacob ................. 524
Renner, Mrs. L ................ 314
Rice, J. P .................... 656
Rice, N. S .................... 177
Rice, W. B .................... 914
Richards, J. E ................ 717
Richards, R. A ................ 768
Richards, Thomas .............. 794
Richardson, J ................. 474
Richardson, J. N .............. 899
Richardson & Foster ........... 662
Richmond, Joseph .............. 482
Rick, William C ............... 513
Riese, Joseph ................. 295
Ring, Frederick ............... 571
Ritter, F. X ................. 376
Ritz, J. W .................... 129
Roberts, E. R ................. 378
Roberts, Ethan ................ 486
Roberts, F. P ................. 583
Roberts, H. S ................. 589
Robertson, M .................. 758
Robinson, 0. B ................ 435
Roddle, J. C .................. 451
Roddle, W. C .................. 410
Rodell, F., &Co ............... 710
Roden, Thomas ................. 526
Rodolf, Theo .................. 296
Rogers, R. H .................. 653
Roosevelt. W. A ............... 145
Root, I. J .................... 721
Roth, Joseph .................. 171
Rowles, J. A .................. 439
Ruedy, John ................... 470
Runckel, Louis ................ 293
Rynning, E. B ................. 400

S

Sacia, Frank .................. 572
Sacia, Harmon ................. 538
Safford, H. M ................. 341
Sagen, A. K ................... 329
Salzer, J. A .................. 158
Samuels, F. J ................. 385
Sanborn, F. L ................. 629
Sandman, D .................... 525
Sargent, J. M ................. 934
Sarles, W. T .................. 667
Sawyer, A. E .................. 384
Sawyer, W. E .................. 385
Schaefer, C. M ................ 320
Schaitel, M ................... 671
Schaller, Charles ............. 418
Scharpf, C. F ................. 289
Scheufler, E .................. 294

viii CONTENTS.

Schick, Hugo .................. 179
Schildmann, F ................. 219
Schintjen, Peter .............. 139
Schnell Bros .................. 186
Schuenemaun, H ................ 832
Schultz, John, Sr ............. 605
Schultz, W. H ................. 719
Schmelling, W. F .............. 633
Schmulzer, A .................. 854
Schnell Bros .................. 186
Scholler, P ................... 769
Schwalbe, Joseph & Frank ...... 224
Schwartz, F ................... 288
Schwebach, James .............. 245
Scott, G. W ................... 473
Scott, W. J ................... 501
Searles, J. D ................. 607
Seymour, D. C ................. 891
Shane, Daniel ................. 331
Shankland, John ............... 387
Shaw, F. D .................... 50J
Shepard, D. R. A .............. 533
Sherman, C. H ................. 895
Sherman, W . H ................ 690
Sherwood, H. H ................ 803
Shipley, E. S ................. 845
Sholts, J. A .................. 735
Short, A. M ................... 134
Siebrecht, A .................. 533
Siegler, R .................... 206
Sill, W. R .................... 150
Simenson, Ole ................. 445
Sinks,William ................. 621
Sisson, F. M .................. 363
Sizer, Samuel, Sr ............. 826
Sizer, Samuel, Jr., ........... 753
Skinner, J. W ................. 285
Sliger, George ................ 463
Sloane, E. A .................. 226
Slye, H. H .................... 586
Smith, A. W ................... 655
Smith, Daniel ................. 825
Smith, D. P ................... 484
Smith, F. B ................... 199
Smith, G. M ................... 649
Smith, H. B ................... 167
Smith, J. E ................... 764
Smith, J. J ................... 284
Smith, J. J ................... 892
Smith, J. T ................... 932
Smith, 0. L ................... 174
Smith, R ...................... 722
Smith, Richard ................ 922
Smith, Sarah H ................ 424
Smith, S. W ................... 928
Smith, William ................ 531
Smith, W. T ................... 522
Smutz, D. C ................... 778
Sobotka, A. F ................. 309
Sorenson, Ori ................. 283
Sorerson, Peter ............... 518
Sowle, C. J ................... 742
Sparling, W. R ................ 202
Spaulding, H. C ............... 838
Spence, T. H .................. 306
Spenceley, T. H ............... 534
Spettle Bros .................. 297
Spooner, D. H ................. 708
Sprague, J. F., & Son ......... 726

Stanek, J. J .................. 280
Stangl, Geo ................... 143
Squier, L. B .................. 792
Squire, N. D .................. 910
Starr, A. A ................... 740
Steensen, Stephen ............. 442
Steinlein, A .................. 171
Stephens, Jas ................. 520
Stephenson, J ................. 247
Stevens, Ephraim .............. 321
Stevens, G. P ................. 724
Stevens, 0. B ................. 719
Stewart, I. H ................. 776
Stivers, E. T ................. 769
Stogdill, Robt ................ 313
Stoltze, Gustav ............... 179
Storandt, F ................... 355
Storey, J. 0 .................. 368
Strand, H. E .................. 417
Strom, 0. P ................... 391
Sturdevant, C. W .............. 843
Sturdevant, Lyman ............. 625
Sullivan, Hall ................ 433
Summerfield, W. J ............. 601
Swartzlow, J. C ............... 630
Sweet, L ...................... 698
Sweet, L. N ................... 752
Sykes, Jas .................... 317

T.

Talbot, R.A ................... 756
Techner, H. C ................. 303
Telfer, Alex .................. 901
Thayer, M. A .................. 60I
Thomas, W. D .................. 153
Thomas, W. S .................. 336
Thompson, B. B ................ 889
Thompson, C. G ................ 889
Thompson, L. G ................ 706
Thompson, Peter S ............. 477
Thornbury, J. E ............... 569
Thorp, C. R ................... 329
Thurston, K. W ................ 766
Tiedemann, E. J ............... 180
Titus, L. M ................... 838
Tollefson, T. 0 ............... 192
Tolock, Jno ................... 680
Tonn, J. A .................... 834
Toombs, R ..................... 700
Torgerson, Jno ................ 496
Tourtellotte, Mills ........... 465
Tormey, Jas ................... 924
Towson, Abram ................. 379
Trane, J. A ................... 277
Tritton, E .................... 374
Trumbower, J. A ............... 458
Tucker, Joshua ................ 821
Tucker, Nelson ................ 635
Tyler, T. B ................... 600

U.

Usher, E. B ................... 411

V.

Vandervoort,I ................. 715
Van Kirk, J ................... 626
Van Kuren, W. H ............... 904
Van Loon, A ................... 409
Vannetten, P. H ............... 889

Van Steenwyk, G ............... 349
Van Zandt, Wm ................. 345
Vaughan, J. J ................. 396
Vincent, G. R ................. 807
Vincent, Jas .................. 197
Vogel, H. W ................... 614

W.

Wacker, Jno ................... 203
Wallace, J. L.................. 591
Wannebo, M. ................... 272
Warren, F. G .................. 829
Warren, Geo ................... 664
Warren, G. H .................. 673
Warsaw, A. A .................. 594
Washburn, C. C ................ 365
Washburn, W. H ................ 681
Weaver, H. R .................. 730
Weed, L. H .................... 881
Weingarten, C ................. 209
Wells, Jas . .................. 667
Wensole, Lewis ................ 133
Wenzel, G ..................... 580
West, H. E .................... 211
Weston, Thos .................. 743
Wetherby, A. S ................ 723
Wheeler, J. E ................. 191
Wheelihan, W. P ............... 866
Wheldon, Jno .................. 461
Whicher, Daniel ............... 797
White, Jno .................... 874
White, Wm .................... 320
Widvey, T. r .................. 540
Wiedman, J. B ................. 131
Wiele, Wm ..................... 222
Wier, Neal .................... 849
Wilcox, L. C .................. 644
Willey, G. L .................. 374
Williams, J. B ................ 285
Williams, J. E ................ 437
Williams, W. G ................ 693
Wilson, Amasa ................. 862
Wilson, Chas .................. 645
Wilson, Jas ................... 401
Winter, C. J .................. 810
Winters, Jno .................. 689
Withee, Levi .................. 189
Withee, N. H .................. 205
Withers, Mrs. C. M ............ 738
Wolf, Florian .............. .. 278
Wood, L. W .................... 194
Wood, M. P .................... 624
Woodard, Chas ................. 702
Woodward, G. M ................ 265
Work, R. M .................... 790
Wright, G. D .................. 389
Wyatt, L. D ................... 699

Y.

Yarrington, G. H .............. 243
Yonker, D. H .................. 335
Young, Chas. A ................ 430
Young, J. L ................... 392
Young, Samuel ................. 327

Z.

Ziebell, J .................... 912

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 9

George Washington,
the "Father of
his Country" and its first President,
1789-97, was born February
22, 1732, in Washington Parish,
Westmoreland County, Virginia.
His father, Augustine Washington,
first married Jane Butler,
who bore him four children,
and March 6, 1730, he married Mary
Ball. Of six children by his second marriage,
George was the eldest, the others being Betty,
Samuel, John, Augustine,
Charles and Mildred, of whom the youngest
died in infancy. Little is known
of the early years of Washington, beyond
the fact that the house in which he was
born was burned during his early childhood,
and that his father thereupon moved
to another farm, inherited from his paternal
ancestors, situated in Stafford County, on
the north bank of the Rappahannock, where
he acted as agent of the Principio Iron
Works in the immediate vicinity, and died
there in 1743.

From earliest childhood George developed
a noble character. He had a vigorous
constitution, a fine form, and great bodily
strength. His education was somewhat defective,

being confined to the elementary
branches taught him by his mother and at
a neighboring school. He developed, however,
a fondness for mathematics, and enjoyed
in that branch the instructions of a
private teacher. On leaving school he resided
for some time at Mount Vernon with
his half brother, Lawrence, who acted as
his guardian, and who had married a daughter
of his neighbor at Belvoir on the Potomac,
the wealthy William Fairfax, for some
time president of the executive council of
the colony. Both Fairfax and his son-in-law,
Lawrence Washington, had served with distinction
in 1740 as officers of an American
battalion at the siege of Carthagena, and
were friends and correspondents of Admiral
Vernon, for whom the latter's residence on
the Potomac has been named. George's
inclinations were for a similar career, and a
midshipman's warrant was procured for
him, probably through the influence of the
Admiral; but through the opposition of his
mother the project was abandoned. The
family connection with the Fairfaxes, however,
opened another career for the young
man, who, at the age of sixteen, was appointed
surveyor to the immense estates of
the eccentric Lord Fairfax, who was then
on a visit at Belvoir, and who shortly afterward
established his baronial residence at
Greenway Court, in the Shenandoah Valley.

10 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Three years were passed by young Washington
in a rough frontier life, gaining experience
which afterward proved very essential to him.

In 1751, when the Virginia militia were
put under training with a view to active
service against France, Washington, though
only nineteen years of age, was appointed
Adjutant with the rank of Major. In September
of that year the failing health of
Lawrence Washington rendered it necessary
for him to seek a warmer climate, and
George accompanied him in a voyage to
Barbadoes. They returned early in 1752,
and Lawrence shortly afterward died, leaving
his large property to an infant daughter.
In his will George was named one of the
executors and as eventual heir to Mount
Vernon, and by the death of the infant niece
soon succeeded to that estate.

On the arrival of Robert Dinwiddie as
Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia in 1752
the militia was reorganized, and the province
divided into four districts. Washington
was commissioned by Dinwiddie Adjutant-General
of the Northern District in
1753, and in November of that year a most
important as well as hazardous mission was
assigned him. This was to proceed to the
Canadian posts recently established on
French Creek, near Lake Erie, to demand
in the name of the King of England the
withdrawal of the French from a territory
claimed by Virginia. This enterprise had
been declined by more than one officer,
since it involved a journey through an extensive
and almost unexplored wilderness
in the occupancy of savage Indian tribes,
either hostile to the English, or of doubtful
attachment. Major Washington, however,
accepted the commission with alacrity; and,
accompanied by Captain Gist, he reached
Fort Le Boeuf on French Creek, delivered
his dispatches and received reply, which, of
course, was a polite refusal to surrender the
posts. This reply was of such a character

as to induce the Assembly of Virginia to
authorize the executive to raise a regiment
of 300 men for the purpose of maintaining
the asserted rights of the British crown
over the territory claimed. As Washington
declined to be a candidate for that post,
the command of this regiment was given to
Colonel Joshua Fry, and Major Washington,
at his own request, was commissioned
Lieutenant-Colonel. On the march to Ohio,
news was received that a party previously
sent to build a fort at the confluence of the
Monongahela with the Ohio had been
driven back by a considerable French force,
which had completed the work there begun,
and named it Fort Duquesne, in honor
of the Marquis Duquesne, then Governor
of Canada. This was the beginning of the
great " French and Indian war," which continued
seven years. On the death of Colonel
Fry, Washington succeeded to the command of
the regiment, and so well did he
fulfill his trust that the Virginia Assembly
commissioned him as Commander-in-Chief
of all the forces raised in the colony.

A cessation of all Indian hostility on the
frontier having followed the expulsion of
the French from the Ohio, the object of
Washington was accomplished and he resigned
his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the
Virginia forces. He then proceeded to
Williamsburg to take his seat in
the General Assembly, of which he had
been elected a member.

January 17, 1759, Washington married
Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) Custis, a young
and beautiful widow of great wealth, and
devoted himself for the ensuing fifteen years
to the quiet pursuits of agriculture, interrupted
only by his annual attendance in
winter upon the Colonial Legislature at
Williamsburg, until summoned by his
country to enter upon that other arena in
which his fame was to become world wide.

It is unnecessary here to trace the details
of the struggle upon the question of local

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 11

self-government, which, after ten years, culminated
by act of Parliament of the port of
Boston. It was at the instance of Virginia
that a congress of all the colonies was called
to meet at Philadelphia September 5, 1774,
to secure their common liberties-if possible
by peaceful means. To this Congress
Colonel Washington was sent as a delegate.
On dissolving in October, it recommended
the colonies to send deputies to
another Congress the following spring. In
the meantime several of the colonies felt
impelled to raise local forces to repel insults
and aggressions on the part of British
troops, so that on the assembling of the next
Congress, May 10, 1775, the war preparations
of the mother country were unmistakable.
The battles of Concord and Lexington
had been fought. Among the earliest
acts, therefore, of the Congress was the
selection of a commander-in-chief of the
colonial forces. This office was unanimously
conferred upon Washington, still a
member of the Congress. He accepted it
on June 19, but on the express condition he
should receive no salary.

He immediately repaired to the vicinity
of Boston, against which point the British
ministry had concentrated their forces. As
early as April General Gage had 3,000
troops in and around this proscribed city.
During the fall and winter the British policy
clearly indicated a purpose to divide public
sentiment and to build up a British party
in the colonies. Those who sided with the
ministry were stigmatized by the patriots
as "Tories," while the patriots took to themselves
the name of "Whigs."

As early as 1776 the leading men had
come to the conclusion that there was no
hope except in separation and independence.
In May of that year Washington
wrote from the head of the army in New
York: "A reconciliation with Great Britain
is impossible. . . . . When I took
command of the army, I abhorred the idea

of independence; but I am now fully satisfied
that nothing else will save us."

It is not the object of this sketch to trace
the military acts of the patriot hero, to
whose hands the fortunes and liberties of
the United States were confided during the
seven years' bloody struggle that ensued
until the treaty of 1783, in which England
acknowledged the independence of each of
the thirteen States, and negotiated with
them, jointly, as separate sovereignties. The
merits of Washington as a military chieftain
have been considerably discussed, especially
by writers in his own country. During
the war he was most bitterly assailed
for incompetency, and great efforts were
made to displace him; but he never for a
moment lost the confidence of either the
Congress or the people. December 4, 1783,
the great commander took leave of his officers
in most affectionate and patriotic terms,
and went to Annapolis, Maryland, where
the Congress of the States was in session,
and to that body, when peace and order
prevailed everywhere, resigned his commission
and retired to Mount Vernon.

It was in 1788 that Washington was called
to the chief magistracy of the nation. He
received every electoral vote cast in all the
colleges of the States voting for the office
of President. The 4th of March, 1789, was
the time appointed for the Government of
the United States to begin its operations,
but several weeks elapsed before quorums
of both the newly constituted houses of the
Congress were assembled. The city of New
York was the place where the Congress
then met. April 16 Washington left his
home to enter upon the discharge of his
new duties. He set out with a purpose of
traveling privately, and without attracting
any public attention; but this was impossible.
Everywhere on his way he was met
with thronging crowds, eager to see the
man whom they regarded as the chief defender
of their liberties, and everywhere

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 11

12 PRESIDENTS OP THE UNITED STATES.

he was hailed with those public manifestations
of joy, regard and love which spring
spontaneously from the hearts of an affectionate
and grateful people. His reception
in New York was marked by a grandeur
and an enthusiasm never before witnessed
in that metropolis. The inauguration took
place April 30, in the presence of an immense
multitude which had assembled to witness
the new and imposing ceremony. The oath
of office was administered by Robert R.
Livingston, Chancellor of the State. When
this sacred pledge was given, he retired
with the other officials into the Senate
chamber, where he delivered his inaugural
address to both houses of the newly constituted
Congress in joint assembly.

In the manifold details of his civil administration,
Washington proved himself equal to the
requirements of his position.
The greater portion of the first session of
the first Congress was occupied in passing
the necessary statutes for putting the new
organization into complete operation. In
the discussions brought up in the course of
this legislation the nature and character of
the new system came under general review.
On no one of them did any decided antagonism
of opinion arise. All held it to be a
limited government, clothed only with specific
powers conferred by delegation from
the States. There was no change in the
name of the legislative department; it still
remained "the Congress of the United
States of America." There was no change
in the original flag of the country, and none
in the seal, which still remains with the
Grecian escutcheon borne by the eagle,
with other emblems, under the great and
expressive motto, " E Pluribus Unum."

The first division of parties arose upon
the manner of construing the powers delegated,
and they were first styled "strict
constructionists" and "latitudinarian
constructionists." The former were for confining
the action of the Government strictly

within its specific and limited sphere, while
the others were for enlarging its powers by
inference and implication. Hamilton and
Jefferson, both members of the first cabinet
were regarded as the chief leaders, respectively,
of these rising antagonistic parties
which have existed, under different names
from that day to this. Washington was regarded
as holding a neutral position between
them, though, by mature deliberation, he
vetoed the first apportionment bill, in 1790,
passed by the party headed by Hamilton,
which was based upon a principle constructively
leading to centralization or consolidation.
This was the first exercise of the
veto power under the present Constitution.
It created considerable excitement at the
time. Another bill was soon passed in pursuance
of Mr. Jefferson's views, which has
been adhered to in principle in every
apportionment act passed since.

At the second session of the new Congress,
Washington announced the gratifying
fact of " the accession of North Carolina"
to the Constitution of 1787, and June
1 of the same year he announced by special
message the like " accession of the State of
Rhode Island," with his congratulations on
the happy event which " united under the
general Government" all the States which
were originally confederated.

In 1792, at the second Presidential election,
Washington was desirous to retire;
but he yielded to the general wish of the
country, and was again chosen President
by the unanimous vote of every electoral
college. At the third election, 1796, he was
again most urgently entreated to consent to
remain in the executive chair. This he
positively refused. In September, before
the election, he gave to his countrymen his
memorable Farewell Address, which in language,
sentiment and patriotism was a fit
and crowning glory of his illustrious life.
After March 4, 1797, he again retired to
Mount Vernon for peace, quiet and repose.

12 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 13

His administration for the two terms had
been successful beyond the expectation and
hopes of even the most sanguine of his
friends. The finances of the country were
no longer in an embarrassed condition, the
public credit was fully restored, life was
given to every department of industry, the
workings of the new system in allowing
Congress to raise revenue from duties on
imports proved to be not only harmonious
in its federal action, but astonishing in its
results upon the commerce and trade of all
the States. The exports from the Union
increased from $19,000,000 to over $56,000,000
per annum, while the imports increased
in about the same proportion. Three new
members had been added to the Union. The
progress of the States in their new career
under their new organization thus far was
exceedingly encouraging, not only to the
friends of liberty within their own limits,
but to their sympathizing allies in all climes
and countries.

Of the call again made on this illustrious

chief to quit his repose at Mount Vernon
and take command of all the United States
forces, with the rank of Lieutenant-General,
when war was threatened with France in
1798, nothing need here be stated, except to
note the fact as an unmistakable testimonial
of the high regard in which he was still
held by his countrymen, of all shades of political
opinion. He patriotically accepted
this trust, but a treaty of peace put a stop
to all action under it. He again retired to
Mount Vernon, where, after a short and
severe illness, he died December 14, 1799,
in the sixty-eighth year of his age. The
whole country was filled with gloom by this
sad intelligence. Men of all parties in politics
and creeds in religion, in every State
in the Union, united with Congress in " paying
honor to the man, first in war, first in
peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

His remains were deposited in a family
vault on the banks of the Potomac at Mount
Vernon, where they still lie entombed.

14 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

JOHN ADAMS, the second President of the United
States, 1797 to 1801, was born in the present town
of Quincy, then a portion of Braintree, Massachusetts,
October 30, 1735. His father was a farmer of moderate
means, a worthy and industrious man. He was
a deacon in the church, and was very desirous
of giving his son a collegiate education, hoping that he would
become a minister of the gospel. But, as up to this
time, the age of fourteen, he had been only
a play-boy in the fields and forests, he had
no taste for books, he chose farming. On
being set to work, however, by his father
out in the field, the very first day converted
the boy into a lover of books.

Accordingly, at the age of sixteen he
entered Harvard College, and graduated in
1755, at the age of twenty, highly esteemed
for integrity, energy and ability. Thus,
having no capital but his education, he
started out into the stormy world at a time
of great political excitement, as France and
England were then engaged in their great
seven-years struggle for the mastery over
the New World. The fire of patriotism

seized young Adams, and for a time he
studied over the question whether he
should take to the law, to politics or the
army. He wrote a remarkable letter to a
friend, making prophecies concerning the
future greatness of this country which have
since been more than fulfilled. For two
years he taught school and studied law,
wasting no odd moments, and at the early
age of twenty-two years he opened a law
office in his native town. His inherited
powers of mind and untiring devotion to
his profession caused him to rise rapidly
in public esteem.

In October, 1764, Mr. Adams married
Miss Abigail Smith, daughter of a clergyman
at Weymouth and a lady of rare personal
and intellectual endowments, who
afterward contributed much to her husband's
celebrity.

Soon the oppression of the British in
America reached its climax. The Boston
merchants employed an attorney by the
name of James Otis to argue the legality of
oppressive tax law before the Superior
Court. Adams heard the argument, and
afterward wrote to a friend concerning the
ability displayed, as follows: "Otis was a
flame of fire. With a promptitude of
classical allusion, a depth of research, a
rapid summary of historical events and
dates, a profusion of legal authorities and a

JOHN ADAMS. 17

prophetic glance into futurity, he hurried
away all before him. American independence
was then and there born. Every man of an
immensely crowded audience appeared to
me to go away, as I did, ready to take up
arms."

Soon Mr. Adams wrote an essay to be
read before the literary club of his town,
upon the state of affairs, which was so able
as to attract public attention. It was published
in American journals, republished
in England, and was pronounced by the
friends of the colonists there as "one of the
very best productions ever seen from North
America."

The memorable Stamp Act was now
issued, and Adams entered with all the
ardor of his soul into political life in order
to resist it. He drew up a series of resolutions
remonstrating against the act, which
were adopted at a public meeting of the
citizens of Braintree, and which were subsequently
adopted, word for word, by more
than forty towns in the State. Popular
commotion prevented the landing of the
Stamp Act papers, and the English authorities
then closed the courts. The town of
Boston therefore appointed Jeremy Gridley,
James Otis and John Adams to argue a
petition before the Governor and council
for the re-opening of the courts; and while
the two first mentioned attorneys based
their argument upon the distress caused to
the people by the measure, Adams boldly
claimed that the Stamp Act was a violation
both of the English Constitution and the
charter of the Provinces. It is said that
this was the first direct denial of the unlimited
right of Parliament over the colonies.
Soon after this the Stamp Act was
repealed.

Directly Mr. Adams was employed to
defend Ansell Nickerson, who had killed an
Englishman in the act of impressing him
(Nickerson) into the King's service, and his
client was acquitted, the court thus establishing

the principle that the infamous
royal prerogative of impressment could
have no existence in the colonial code.
But in 1770 Messrs. Adams and Josiah
Quincy defended a party of British soldiers
who had been arrested for murder when
they had been only obeying Governmental
orders; and when reproached for thus apparently
deserting the cause of popular
liberty, Mr. Adams replied that he would a
thousandfold rather live under the domination
of the worst of England's kings than
under that of a lawless mob. Next, after
serving a term as a member of the Colonial
Legislature from Boston, Mr. Adams, finding
his health affected by too great labor,
retired to his native home at Braintree.

The year 1774 soon arrived, with its famous
Boston "Tea Party," the first open
act of rebellion. Adams was sent to the
Congress at Philadelphia; and when the
Attorney-General announced that Great
Britain had "determined on her system,
and that her power to execute it was irresistible,"
Adams replied: "I know that
Great Britain has determined on her system,
and that very determination determines
me on mine. You know that I have
been constant in my opposition to her
measures. The die is now cast. I have
passed the Rubicon. Sink or swim, live or
die, with my country, is my unalterable
determination." The rumor beginning to
prevail at Philadelphia that the Congress
had independence in view, Adams foresaw
that it was too soon to declare it openly.
He advised every one to remain quiet in
that respect; and as soon as it became apparent
that he himself was for independence,
he was advised to hide himself, which
he did.

The next year the great Revolutionary
war opened in earnest, and Mrs. Adams,
residing near Boston, kept her husband advised
by letter of all the events transpiring
in her vicinity. The battle of Bunker Hill

18 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

came on. Congress had to do something
immediately. The first thing was to
choose a commander-in-chief for the-we
can't say " army "-the fighting men of the
colonies. The New England delegation
was almost unanimous in favor of appointing
General Ward, then at the head of the
Massachusetts forces, but Mr. Adams urged
the appointment of George Washington,
then almost unknown outside of his own
State. He was appointed without opposition.
Mr. Adams offered the resolution,
which was adopted, annulling all the royal
authority in the colonies. Having thus
prepared the way, a few weeks later, viz.,
June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia,
who a few months before had declared
that the British Government would abandon
its oppressive measures, now offered
the memorable resolution, seconded by
Adams, " that these United States are, and
of right ought to be, free and independent."
Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Sherman and
Livingston were then appointed a committee
to draught a declaration of independence.
Mr. Jefferson desired Mr. Adams
to draw up the bold document, but the
latter persuaded Mr. Jefferson to perform
that responsible task. The Declaration
drawn up, Mr. Adams became its foremost
defender on the floor of Congress. It was
signed by all the fifty-five members present,
and the next day Mr. Adams wrote to his
wife how great a deed was done, and how
proud he was of it. Mr. Adams continued
to be the leading man of Congress, and
the leading advocate of American independence.
Above all other Americans,
he was considered by every one the principal
shining mark for British vengeance.
Thus circumstanced, he was appointed to
the most dangerous task of crossing the
ocean in winter, exposed to capture by the
British, who knew of his mission, which
was to visit Paris and solicit the co-operation
of the French. Besides, to take himself

away from the country of which he
was the most prominent defender, at that
critical time, was an act of the greatest
self-sacrifice. Sure enough, while crossing the
sea, he had two very narrow escapes from
capture; and the transit was otherwise a
stormy and eventful one. During the
summer of 1779 he returned home, but was
immediately dispatched back to France, to
be in readiness there to negotiate terms of
peace and commerce with Great Britain as
soon as the latter power was ready for such
business. But as Dr. Franklin was more
popular than he at the court of France, Mr.
Adams repaired to Holland, where he was
far more successful as a diplomatist.

The treaty of peace between the United
States and England was finally signed at
Paris, January 21, 1783; and the re-action
from so great excitement as Mr. Adams had
so long been experiencing threw him into
a dangerous fever. Before he fully recovered
he was in London, whence he was
dispatched again to Amsterdam to negotiate
another loan. Compliance with this
order undermined his physical constitution
for life.

In 1785 Mr. Adams was appointed envoy
to the court of St. James, to meet face to
face the very king who had regarded him
as an arch traitor! Accordingly he repaired
thither, where he did actually meet
and converse with George III.! After a
residence there for about three years, he
obtained permission to return to America.
While in London he wrote and published
an able work, in three volumes, entitled:
"A Defense of the American Constitution."

The Articles of Confederation proving
inefficient, as Adams had prophesied, a
carefully draughted Constitution was
adopted in 1789, when George Washington
was elected President of the new nation,
and Adams Vice-President. Congress met
for a time in New York, but was removed
to Philadelphia for ten years, until suitable

JOHN ADAMS. 19

buildings should be erected at the new
capital in the District of Columbia. Mr.
Adams then moved his family to Philadelphia.
Toward the close of his term of
office the French Revolution culminated,
when Adams and Washington rather
sympathized with England, and Jefferson
with France. The Presidential election of
1796 resulted in giving Mr. Adams the first
place by a small majority, and Mr. Jefferson
the second place.

Mr. Adams's administration was conscientious,
patriotic and able. The period
was a turbulent one, and even an archangel
could not have reconciled the hostile parties.
Partisanism with reference to England
and France was bitter, and for four
years Mr. Adams struggled through almost
a constant tempest of assaults. In fact, he
was not truly a popular man, and his chagrin
at not receiving a re-election was so
great that he did not even remain at Philadelphia
to witness the inauguration of Mr.
Jefferson, his successor. The friendly
intimacy between these two men was
interrupted for about thirteen years of their
life. Adams finally made the first advances
toward a restoration of their mutual friendship,
which were gratefully accepted by
Jefferson.

Mr. Adams was glad of his opportunity
to retire to private life, where he could rest
his mind and enjoy the comforts of home.
By a thousand bitter experiences he found
the path of public duty a thorny one. For
twenty-six years his service of the public
was as arduous, self-sacrificing and devoted
as ever fell to the lot of man. In one important
sense he was as much the " Father
of his Country" as was Washington in
another sense. During these long years of
anxiety and toil, in which he was laying,
broad and deep, the foundations of the

greatest nation the sun ever shone upon, he
received from his impoverished country a
meager support. The only privilege he
carried with him into his retirement was
that of franking his letters.

Although taking no active part in public
affairs, both himself and his son, John
Quincy, nobly supported the policy of Mr.
Jefferson in resisting the encroachments of
England, who persisted in searching
American ships on the high seas and
dragging from them any sailors that might
be designated by any pert lieutenant as
British subjects. Even for this noble support
Mr. Adams was maligned by thousands
of bitter enemies! On this occasion,
for the first time since his retirement, he
broke silence and drew up a very able
paper, exposing the atrocity of the British
pretensions.

Mr. Adams outlived nearly all his family.
Though his physical frame began to give
way many years before his death, his mental
powers retained their strength and vigor to
the last. In his ninetieth year He was
gladdened by the popular elevation of his
son to the Presidential office, the highest in
the gift of the people. A few months more
passed away and the 4th of July, 1826,
arrived. The people, unaware of the near
approach of the end of two great lives-
that of Adams and Jefferson-were making
unusual preparations for a national holiday.
Mr. Adams lay upon his couch, listening to
the ringing of bells, the waftures of martial
music and the roar of cannon, with silent
emotion. Only four days before, he had
given for a public toast, " Independence
forever." About two o'clock in the afternoon
he said, "And Jefferson still survives."
But he was mistaken by an hour or so;
and in a few minutes he had breathed his
last.

20 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

THOMAS JEFFERSON

Thomas Jefferson, the third President
of the United States, 1801-'9, was
born April 2, 1743, the eldest child of
his parents, Peter and Jane (Randolph) Jefferson,
near Charlottesville, Albemarle County,
Virginia, upon the slopes of the Blue Ridge. When
He was fourteen years of age, his father died, leaving
a widow and eight children. She was a beautiful
and accomplished lady, a good letter-writer, with a fund of
humor, and an admirable housekeeper. His
parents belonged to the Church of England,
and are said to be of Welch origin. But
little is known of them, however.

Thomas was naturally of a serious turn
of mind, apt to learn, and a favorite at
school, his choice studies being mathematics
and the classics. At the age of seventeen
he entered William and Mary College,
in an advanced class, and lived in rather an
expensive style, consequently being much
caressed by gay society. That he was not
ruined, is proof of his stamina of character.
But during his second year he discarded

society, his horses and even his favorite
violin, and devoted thenceforward fifteen
hours a day to hard study, becoming extraordinarily
proficient in Latin and Greek
authors.

On leaving college, before he was twenty-one,
he commenced the study of law, and
pursued it diligently until he was well
qualified for practice, upon which he
entered in 1767. By this time he was also
versed in French, Spanish, Italian and Anglo-Saxon,
and in the criticism of the fine
arts. Being very polite and polished in his
manners, he won the friendship of all whom
he met. Though able with his pen, he was
not fluent in public speech.

In 1769 he was chosen a member of the
Virginia Legislature, and was the largest
slave-holding member of that body. He
introduced a bill empowering slave-holders
to manumit their slaves, but it was rejected
by an overwhelming vote.

In 1770 Mr. Jefferson met with a great
loss; his house at Shadwell was burned,
and his valuable library of 2,000 volumes
was consumed. But he was wealthy
enough to replace the most of it, as from
his 5,000 acres tilled by slaves and his
practice at the bar his income amounted to
about $5,000 a year.

In 1772 he married Mrs. Martha Skelton,
a beautiful, wealthy and accomplished

20

THOMAS JEFFERSON. 23

young widow, who owned 40,000 acres of
land and 130 slaves; yet he labored assiduously
for the abolition of slavery. For his
new home he selected a majestic rise of
land upon his large estate at Shadwell,
called Monticello, whereon he erected a
mansion of modest yet elegant architecture.
Here he lived in luxury, indulging his taste
in magnificent, high-blooded horses.

At this period the British Government
gradually became more insolent and oppressive
toward the American colonies,
and Mr. Jefferson was ever one of the most
foremost to resist its encroachments. From
time to time he drew up resolutions of remonstrance,
which were finally adopted,
thus proving his ability as a statesman and
as a leader. By the year 1774 he became
quite busy, both with voice and pen, in defending
the right of the colonies to defend
themselves. His pamphlet entitled: "A
Summary View of the Rights of British
America," attracted much attention in England.
The following year he, in company
with George Washington, served as an executive
committee in measures to defend
by arms the State of Virginia. As a Member
of the Congress, he was not a speechmaker,
yet in conversation and upon
committees he was so frank and decisive
that he always made a favorable impression.
But as late as the autumn of 1775 he remained
in hopes of reconciliation with the
parent country.

At length, however, the hour arrived for
draughting the " Declaration of Independence,"
and this responsible task was devolved
upon Jefferson. Franklin, and
Adams suggested a few verbal corrections
before it was submitted to Congress, which
was June 28, 1776, only six days before it
was adopted. During the three days of
the fiery ordeal of criticism through which
it passed in Congress, Mr. Jefferson opened
not his lips. John Adams was the main
champion of the Declaration on the floor

of Congress. The signing of this document
was one of the most solemn and momentous
occasions ever attended to by man. Prayer
and silence reigned throughout the hall,
and each signer realized that if American
independence was not finally sustained by
arms he was doomed to the scaffold.

After the colonies became independent
States, Jefferson resigned for a time his seat
in Congress in order to aid in organizing
the government of Virginia, of which State
he was chosen Governor in 1779, when he
was thirty-six years of age. At this time
the British had possession of Georgia and
were invading South Carolina, and at one
time a British officer, Tarleton, sent a
secret expedition to Monticello to capture
the Governor. Five minutes after Mr.
Jefferson escaped with his family, his mansion
was in possession of the enemy! The
British troops also destroyed his valuable
plantation on the James River. "Had they
carried off the slaves," said Jefferson, with
characteristic magnanimity, "to give them
freedom, they would have done right."

The year 1781 was a gloomy one for the
Virginia Governor. While confined to his
secluded home in the forest by a sick and
dying wife, a party arose against him
throughout the State, severely criticising
his course as Governor. Being very sensitive
to reproach, this touched him to the
quick, and the heap of troubles then surrounding
him nearly crushed him. He resolved,
in despair, to retire from public life
for the rest of his days. For weeks Mr.
Jefferson sat lovingly, but with a crushed
heart, at the bedside of his sick wife, during
which time unfeeling letters were sent to
him, accusing him of weakness and unfaithfulness
to duty. All this, after he had lost
so much property and at the same time
done so much for his country! After her
death he actually fainted away, and remained
so long insensible that it was feared
he never would recover! Several weeks

THOMAS JEFFERSON. 23

24 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

passed before he could fully recover his
equilibrium. He was never married a
second time.

In the spring of 1782 the people of England
compelled their king to make to the
Americans overtures of peace, and in November
following, Mr. Jefferson was reappointed
by Congress, unanimously and
without a single adverse remark, minister
plenipotentiary to negotiate a treaty.

In March, 1784, Mr. Jefferson was appointed
on a committee to draught a plan
for the government of the Northwestern
Territory. His slavery-prohibition clause
in that plan was stricken out by the proslavery
majority of the committee; but amid
all the controversies and wrangles of politicians,
he made it a rule never to contradict
anybody or engage in any discussion
as a debater.

In company with Mr. Adams and Dr.
Franklin, Mr. Jefferson was appointed in
May, 1784, to act as minister plenipotentiary
in the negotiation of treaties of commerce
with foreign nations. Accordingly, he went
to Paris and satisfactorily accomplished his
mission. The suavity and high bearing of
his manner made all the French his friends;
and even Mrs. Adams at one time wrote
to her sister that he was " the chosen
of the earth." But all the honors that
he received, both at home and abroad,
seemed to make no change in the simplicity
of his republican tastes. On his return to
America, he found two parties respecting
the foreign commercial policy, Mr. Adams
sympathizing with that in favor of England
and himself favoring France.

On the inauguration of General Washington
as President, Mr. Jefferson was
chosen by him for the office of Secretary of
State. At this time the rising storm of the
French Revolution became visible, and
Washington watched it with great anxiety.
His cabinet was divided in their views of
constitutional government as well as regarding

the issues in France. General
Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, was
the leader of the so-called Federal party,
while Mr. Jefferson was the leader of the
Republican party. At the same time there
was a strong monarchical party in this
country, with which Mr. Adams sympathized.
Some important financial measures,
which were proposed by Hamilton and
finally adopted by the cabinet and approved
by Washington, were opposed by Mr.
Jefferson; and his enemies then began to
reproach him with holding office under an
administration whose views he opposed.
The President poured oil on the troubled
waters. On his re-election to the Presidency
he desired Mr. Jefferson to remain
in the cabinet, but the latter sent in his
resignation at two different times, probably
because he was dissatisfied with some of
the measures of the Government. His
final one was not received until January 1,
1794, when General Washington parted
from him with great regret.

Jefferson then retired to his quiet home
at Monticello, to enjoy a good rest, not even
reading the newspapers lest the political
gossip should disquiet him. On the President's
again calling him back to the office
of Secretary of State, he replied that no
circumstances would ever again tempt him
to engage in anything public! But, while
all Europe was ablaze with war, and France
in the throes of a bloody revolution and the
principal theater of the conflict, a new
Presidential election in this country came
on. John Adams was the Federal candidate
and Mr. Jefferson became the Republican
candidate. The result of the election
was the promotion of the latter to the Vice-Presidency,
while the former was chosen
President. In this contest Mr. Jefferson
really did not desire to have either office,
he was "so weary" of party strife. He
loved the retirement of home more than
any other place on the earth.

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 24

THOMAS JEFFERSON. 25

But for four long years his Vice-Presidency
passed joylessly away, while the
partisan strife between Federalist and Republican
was ever growing hotter. The
former party split and the result of the
fourth general election was the elevation of
Mr. Jefferson to the Presidency! with
Aaron Burr as Vice-President. These men
being at the head of a growing party, their
election was hailed everywhere with joy.
On the other hand, many of the Federalists
turned pale, as they believed what a portion
of the pulpit and the press had been preaching
-that Jefferson was a " scoffing atheist,"
a "Jacobin," the "incarnation of all evil,"
"breathing threatening and slaughter! "

Mr. Jefferson's inaugural address contained
nothing but the noblest sentiments,
expressed in fine language, and his personal
behavior afterward exhibited the extreme
of American, democratic simplicity. His
disgust of European court etiquette grew
upon him with age. He believed that
General Washington was somewhat distrustful
of the ultimate success of a popular
Government, and that, imbued with a little
admiration of the forms of a monarchical
Government, he had instituted levees, birthdays,
pompous meetings with Congress,
etc. Jefferson was always polite, even to
slaves everywhere he met them, and carried
in his countenance the indications of an accommodating
disposition.

The political principles of the Jeffersonian
party now swept the country, and Mr.
Jefferson himself swayed an influence which
was never exceeded even by Washington.
Under his administration, in 1803, the Louisiana
purchase was made, for $15,000,000,
the " Louisiana Territory " purchased comprising
all the land west of the Mississippi
to the Pacific Ocean.

The year 1804 witnessed another severe
loss in his family. His highly accomplished
and most beloved daughter Maria sickened
and died, causing as great grief in the

stricken parent as it was possible for him to
survive with any degree of sanity.

The same year he was re-elected to the
Presidency, with George Clinton as Vice-President.
During his second term our
relations with England became more complicated,
and on June 22, 1807, near Hampton
Roads, the United States frigate
Chesapeake was fired upon by the British
man-of-war Leopard, and was made
to surrender. Three men were killed and
ten wounded. Jefferson demanded reparation.
England grew insolent. It became
evident that war was determined upon by
the latter power. More than 1,200 Americans
were forced into the British service
upon the high seas. Before any satisfactory
solution was reached, Mr. Jefferson's
Presidential term closed. Amid all these
public excitements he thought constantly
of the welfare of his family, and longed
for the time when he could return home
to remain. There, at Monticello, his subsequent
life was very similar to that of
Washington at Mt. Vernon. His hospitality
toward his numerous friends, indulgence
of his slaves, and misfortunes to his
property, etc., finally involved him in debt.
For years his home resembled a fashionable
watering-place. During the summer,
thirty-seven house servants were required!
It was presided over by his daughter, Mrs.
Randolph.

Mr. Jefferson did much for the establishment
of the University at Charlottesville,
making it unsectarian, in keeping with the
spirit of American institutions, but poverty
and the feebleness of old age prevented
him from doing what he would. He even
went so far as to petition the Legislature
for permission to dispose of some of his
possessions by lottery, in order to raise the
necessary funds for home expenses. It was
granted; but before the plan was carried
out, Mr. Jefferson died, July 4, 1826, at
12:50 P. M.

THOMAS JEFFERSON. 25

26 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

JAMES MADISON, the
fourth President of the
United States, 1809-'17,
was born at Port Conway, Prince George
County, Virginia, March
16, 1751. His father,
Colonel James Madison, was
a wealthy planter, residing
upon a very fine estate
called " Montpelier," only
twenty-five miles from the
home of Thomas Jefferson
at Monticello. The closest
personal and political attachment
existed between
these illustrious men from their early youth
until death.

James was the eldest of a family of seven
children, four sons and three daughters, all
of whom attained maturity. His early education
was conducted mostly at home,
under a private tutor. Being naturally intellectual
in his tastes, lie consecrated himself
with unusual vigor to study. At a very
early age he made considerable proficiency
in the Greek, Latin, French and Spanish
languages. In 1769 he entered Princeton
College, New Jersey, of which the illustrious
Dr. Weatherspoon was then President.
He graduated in 1771, with a character

of the utmost purity, and a mind
highly disciplined and stored with all the
learning which embellished and gave efficiency
to his subsequent career. After
graduating he pursued a course of reading
for several months, under the guidance of
President Weatherspoon, and in 1772 returned
to Virginia, where he continued in
incessant study for two years, nominally
directed to the law, but really including
extended researches in theology, philosophy
and general literature.

The Church of England was the established
church in Virginia, invested with all
the prerogatives and immunities which it
enjoyed in the fatherland, and other denominations
labored under serious disabilities,
the enforcement of which was rightly
or wrongly characterized by them as persecution.
Madison took a prominent stand
in behalf of the removal of all disabilities,
repeatedly appeared in the court of his own
county to defend the Baptist nonconformists,
and was elected from Orange County to
the Virginia Convention in the spring of
1766, when he signalized the beginning of
his public career by procuring the passage
of an amendment to the Declaration of
Rights as prepared by George Mason, substituting
for " toleration" a more emphatic
assertion of religious liberty.

JAMES MADISON. 29

In 1776 he was elected a member of the
Virginia Convention to frame the Constitution
of the State. Like Jefferson, he took
but little part in the public debates. His
main strength lay in his conversational influence
and in his pen. In November, 1777,
he was chosen a member of the Council of
State, and in March, 1780, took his seat in
the Continental Congress, where he first
gained prominence through his energetic
opposition to the issue of paper money by
the States. He continued in Congress three
years, one of its most active and influential
members.

In 1784 Mr. Madison was elected a member
of the Virginia Legislature. He rendered
important service by promoting and
participating in that revision of the statutes
which effectually abolished the remnants of
the feudal system subsistent up to that
time in the form of entails, primogeniture,
and State support given the Anglican
Church; and his " Memorial and Remonstrance"
against a general assessment for
the support of religion is one of the ablest
papers which emanated from his pen. It
settled the question of the entire separation
of church and State in Virginia.

Mr. Jefferson says of him, in allusion to
the study and experience through which he
had already passed:

"Trained in these successive schools, he
acquired a habit of self-possession which
placed at ready command the rich resources
of his luminous and discriminating mind and
of his extensive information, and rendered
him the first of every assembly of which he
afterward became a member. Never wandering
from his subject into vain declamation,
but pursuing it closely in language
pure, classical and copious, soothing always
the feelings of his adversaries by civilities
and softness of expression, he rose to the
eminent station which he held in the great
National Convention of 1787; and in that of
Virginia, which followed, he sustained the

new Constitution in all its parts, bearing off
the palm against the logic of George Mason
and the fervid declamation of Patrick
Henry. With these consummate powers
were united a pure and spotless virtue
which no calumny has ever attempted to
sully. Of the power and polish of his pen,
and of the wisdom of his administration in
the highest office of the nation, I need say
nothing. They have spoken, and will for.
ever speak, for themselves."

In January, 1786, Mr. Madison took the
initiative in proposing a meeting of State
Commissioners to devise measures for more
satisfactory commercial relations between
the States. A meeting was held at Annapolis
to discuss this subject, and but five
States were represented. The convention
issued another call, drawn up by Mr. Madison,
urging all the States to send their delegates
to Philadelphia, in May, 1787, to
draught a Constitution for the United
States. The delegates met at the time appointed,
every State except Rhode Island
being represented. George Washington
was chosen president of the convention,
and the present Constitution of the United
States was then and there formed. There
was no mind and no pen more active in
framing this immortal document than the
mind and pen of James Madison. He was,
perhaps, its ablest advocate in the pages of
the Federalist.

Mr. Madison was a member of the first
four Congresses, 1789-'97, in which he maintained
a moderate opposition to Hamilton's
financial policy. He declined the mission
to France and the Secretaryship of State,
and, gradually identifying himself with the
Republican party, became from 1792 its
avowed leader. In 1796 he was its choice
for the Presidency as successor to Washington.
Mr. Jefferson wrote: "There is
not another person in the United States
with whom, being placed at the helm of our
affairs, my mind would be so completely at

30 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

rest for the fortune of our political bark."
But Mr. Madison declined to be a candidate.
His term in Congress had expired,
and he returned from New York to his
beautiful retreat at Montpelier.

In 1794 Mr. Madison married a young
widow of remarkable powers of fascination
-Mrs. Todd. Her maiden name was Dorothy
Paine. She was born in 1767, in Virginia,
of Quaker parents, and had been
educated in the strictest rules of that sect.
When but eighteen years of age she married
a young lawyer and moved to Philadelphia,
where she was introduced to brilliant scenes
of fashionable life. She speedily laid aside
the dress and address of the Quakeress, and
became one of the most fascinating ladies
of the republican court. In New York,
after the death of her husband, she was the
belle of the season and was surrounded with
admirers. Mr. Madison won the prize.
She proved an invaluable helpmate. In
Washington she was the life of society.
If there was any diffident, timid young
girl just making her appearance, she
found in Mrs. Madison an encouraging
friend.

During the stormy administration of John
Adams Madison remained in private life,
but was the author of the celebrated " Resolutions
of 1798," adopted by the Virginia
Legislature, in condemnation of the Alien
and Sedition laws, as well as of the " report"
in which he defended those resolutions,
which is, by many, considered his ablest
State paper.

The storm passed away; the Alien and
Sedition laws were repealed, John Adams
lost his re-election, and in 1801 Thomas Jefferson
was chosen President. The great reaction
in public sentiment which seated
Jefferson in the presidential chair was largely
owing to the writings of Madison, who
was consequently well entitled to the post
of Secretary of State. With great ability
he discharged the duties of this responsible

office during the eight years of Mr. Jefferson's
administration.

As Mr. Jefferson was a widower, and
neither of his daughters could be often with
him, Mrs. Madison usually presided over
the festivities of the White House; and as
her husband succeeded Mr. Jefferson, holding
his office for two terms, this remarkable
woman was the mistress of the presidential
mansion for sixteen years.

Mr. Madison being entirely engrossed by
the cares of his office, all the duties of social
life devolved upon his accomplished
wife. Never were such responsibilities
more ably discharged. The most bitter
foes of her husband and of the administration
were received with the frankly proffered
hand and the cordial smile of welcome;
and the influence of this gentle
woman in allaying the bitterness of party
rancor became a great and salutary power
in the nation.

As the term of Mr. Jefferson's Presidency
drew near its close, party strife was roused
to the utmost to elect his successor. It was
a death-grapple between the two great
parties, the Federal and Republican. Mr.
Madison was chosen President by an electoral
vote of 122 to 53, and was inaugurated
March 4, 1809, at a critical period, when
the relations of the United States with Great
Britain were becoming embittered, and his
first term was passed in diplomatic quarrels,
aggravated by the act of non-intercourse of
May, 1810, and finally resulting in a declaration
of war.

On the 18th of June, 1812, President
Madison gave his approval to an act of
Congress declaring war against Great Britain.
Notwithstanding the bitter hostility
of the Federal party to the war, the country
in general approved; and in the autumn
Madison was re-elected to the Presidency
by 128 electoral votes to 89 in favor of
George Clinton.

March 4, 1817, Madison yielded the Presidency

JAMES MADISON. 31

to his Secretary of State and intimate
friend, James Monroe, and retired to
his ancestral estate at Montpelier, where he
passed the evening of his days surrounded
by attached friends and enjoying the
merited respect of the whole nation. He
took pleasure in promoting agriculture, as
president of the county society, and in
watching the development of the University
of Virginia, of which he was long rector and
visitor. In extreme old age he sat in 1829
as a member of the convention called to reform
the Virginia Constitution, where his
appearance was hailed with the most genuine
interest and satisfaction, though he
was too infirm to participate in the active
work of revision. Small in stature, slender
and delicate in form, with a countenance
full of intelligence, and expressive alike of
mildness and dignity, he attracted the attention
of all who attended the convention,
and was treated with the utmost deference.
He seldom addressed the assembly, though
he always appeared self-possessed, and
watched with unflagging interest the progress
of every measure. Though the convention
sat sixteen weeks, he spoke only
twice; but when he did speak, the whole
house paused to listen. His voice was
feeble though his enunciation was very distinct.
One of the reporters, Mr. Stansbury,
relates the following anecdote of Mr. Madison's
last speech:

"The next day, as there was a great call
for it, and the report had not been returned
for publication, I sent my son with a respectful
note, requesting the manuscript.
My son was a lad of sixteen, whom I had
taken with me to act as amanuensis. On
delivering my note, he was received with
the utmost politeness, and requested to
come up into Mr. Madison's room and wait
while his eye ran over the paper, as company
had prevented his attending to it. He
did so, and Mr. Madison sat down to correct
the report. The lad stood near him so that

his eye fell on the paper. Coming to a
certain sentence in the speech, Mr. Madison
erased a word and substituted another; but
hesitated, and not feeling satisfied with the
second word, drew his pen through it also.
My son was young, ignorant of the world,
and unconscious of the solecism of which he
was about to be guilty, when, in all simplicity,
he suggested a word. Probably no
other person then living would have taken
such a liberty. But the sage, instead of
regarding such an intrusion with a frown,
raised his eyes to the boy's face with a
pleased surprise, and said, 'Thank you, sir;
it is the very word,' and immediately inserted
it. I saw him the next day, and he
mentioned the circumstance, with a compliment
on the young critic."

Mr. Madison died at Montpelier, June 28,
1836, at the advanced age of eighty-five.
While not possessing the highest order of
talent, and deficient in oratorical powers,
he was pre-eminently a statesman, of a well-balanced
mind. His attainments were solid,
his knowledge copious, his judgment generally
sound, his powers of analysis and logical
statement rarely surpassed, his language
and literary style correct and polished, his
conversation witty, his temperament sanguine
and trustful, his integrity unquestioned,
his manners simple, courteous and
winning. By these rare qualities he conciliated
the esteem not only of friends, but
of political opponents, in a greater degree
than any American statesman in the present
century.

Mrs. Madison survived her husband thirteen
years, and died July 12, 1849, in the
eighty-second year of her age. She was one
of the most remarkable women our country
has produced. Even now she is admiringly
remembered in Washington as
"Dolly Madison," and it is fitting that her
memory should descend to posterity in
company with that of the companion of
her life.

32 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

JAMES MONROE, the fifth
President of the United
States, 1817-'25, was born
in Westmoreland County,
Virginia, April 28, 1758.

He was a son of Spence
Monroe, and a descendant
of a Scottish cavalier family.
Like all his predecessors
thus far in the Presidential
chair, he enjoyed all
the advantages of education
which the country
could then afford. He was
early sent to a fine classical
school, and at the age of sixteen
entered William and Mary College..
In 1776, when he had been in college but
two years, the Declaration of Independence
was adopted, and our feeble militia, without
arms, amunition or clothing, were struggling
against the trained armies of England.
James Monroe left college, hastened to
General Washington's headquarters at New
York and enrolled himself as a cadet in the
army.

At Trenton Lieutenant Monroe so distinguished
himself, receiving a wound in his
shoulder, that he was promoted to a Captaincy.
Upon recovering from his wound,
he was invited to act as aide to Lord Sterling,
and in that capacity he took an active part
in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown
and Monmouth. At Germantown

he stood by the side of Lafayette when the
French Marquis received his wound. General
Washington, who had formed a high
idea of young Monroe's ability, sent him to
Virginia to raise a new regiment, of which
he was to be Colonel; but so exhausted was
Virginia at that time that the effort proved
unsuccessful. He, however, received his
commission.

Finding no opportunity to enter the army
as a commissioned officer, he returned to his
original plan of studying law, and entered
the office of Thomas Jefferson, who was
then Governor of Virginia. He developed
a very noble character, frank, manly and
sincere. Mr. Jefferson said of him:

"James Monroe is so perfectly honest
that if his soul were turned inside out there
would not be found a spot on it."

In 1782 he was elected to the Assembly
of Virginia, and was also appointed a member
of the Executive Council. The next
year he was chosen delegate to the Continental
Congress for a term of three years.
He was present at Annapolis when Washington
surrendered his commission of Commander-in-chief.

With Washington, Jefferson and Madison
he felt deeply the inefficiency of the old
Articles of Confederation, and urged the
formation of a new Constitution, which
should invest the Central Government with
something like national power. Influenced
by these views, he introduced a resolution

JAMES MONROE. 35

that Congress should be empowered to
regulate trade, and to lay an impost duty
of five per cent. The resolution was referred
to a committee of which he was chairman.
The report and the discussion which
rose upon it led to the convention of five
States at Annapolis, and the consequent
general convention at Philadelphia, which,
in 1787, drafted the Constitution of the
United States.

At this time there was a controversy between
New York and Massachusetts in
reference to their boundaries. The high
esteem in which Colonel Monroe was held
is indicated by the fact that he was appointed
one of the judges to decide the
controversy. While in New York attending
Congress, he married Miss Kortright,
a young lady distinguished alike for her
beauty and accomplishments. For nearly
fifty years this happy union remained unbroken.
In London and in Paris, as in her
own country, Mrs. Monroe won admiration
and affection by the loveliness of her person,
the brilliancy of her intellect, and the
amiability of her character.

eturning to Virginia, Colonel Monroe
commenced the practice of law at Fredericksburg.
He was very soon elected to a
seat in the State Legislature, and the next
year he was chosen a member of the Virginia
convention which was assembled to
decide upon the acceptance or rejection of
the Constitution which had been drawn up
at Philadelphia, and was now submitted
to the several States. Deeply as he felt
the imperfections of the old Confederacy,
he was opposed to the new Constitution,
thinking, with many others of the Republican
party, that it gave too much power to
the Central Government, and not enough
to the individual States.

In 1789 he became a member of the
United States Senate, which office he held
acceptably to his constituents, and with
honor to himself for four years.

Having opposed the Constitution as not
leaving enough power with the States, he,
of course, became more and more identified
with the Republican party. Thus he
found himself in cordial co-operation with
Jefferson and Madison. The great Republican
party became the dominant power
which ruled the land.

George Washington was then President.
England had espoused the cause of the
Bourbons against the principles of the
French Revolution. President Washington
issued a proclamation of neutrality between
these contending powers. France
had helped us in the struggle for our liberties.
All the despotisms of Europe were
now combined to prevent the French
from escaping from tyranny a thousandfold
worse than that which we had endured.
Colonel Monroe, more magnanimous than
prudent, was anxious that we should help
our old allies in their extremity. He violently
opposed the President's proclamation
as ungrateful and wanting in
magnanimity.

Washington, who could appreciate such
a character, developed his calm, serene,
almost divine greatness by appointing that
very James Monroe, who was denouncing
the policy of the Government, as the Minister
of that Government to the republic of
France. He was directed by Washington
to express to the French people our warmest
sympathy, communicating to them corresponding
resolves approved by the President,
and adopted by both houses of
Congress.

Mr. Monroe was welcomed by the National
Convention in France with the most
enthusiastic demonstrations of respect and
affection. He was publicly introduced to
that body, and received the embrace of the
President, Merlin de Douay, after having
been addressed in a speech glowing with
congratulations, and with expressions of
desire that harmony might ever exist between

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 36

the two nations. The flags of the
two republics were intertwined in the hall
of the convention. Mr. Monroe presented
the American colors, and received those of
France in return. The course which he
pursued in Paris was so annoying to England
and to the friends of England in
this country that, near the close of Washihgton's
administration, Mr. Monroe, was
recalled.

After his return Colonel Monroe wrote a
book of 400 pages, entitled " A View of the
Conduct of the Executive in Foreign Affairs."
In this work he very ably advocated
his side of the question; but, with
the magnanimity of the man, he recorded a
warm tribute to the patriotism, ability and
spotless integrity of John Jay, between
whom and himself there was intense antagonism
and in subsequent years he expressed
in warmest terms his perfect
veneration for the character of George
Washington.

Shortly after his return to this country
Colonel Monroe was elected Governor of
Virginia, and held that office for three
years, the period limited by the Constitution.
In 1802 he was an Envoy to France,
and to Spain in 1805, and was Minister to
England in 1803. In 1806 he returned to
his quiet home in Virginia, and with his
wife and children and an ample competence
from his paternal estate, enjoyed a few years
of domestic repose.

In 1809 Mr. Jefferson's second term of
office expired, and many of the Republican
party were anxious to nominate James
Monroe as his successor. The majority
were in favor of Mr. Madison. Mr. Monroe
withdrew his name and was soon after
chosen a second time Governor of Virginia.
He soon resigned that office to accept the
position of Secretary of State, offered him
by President Madison. The correspondence
which he then carried on with the
British Government demonstrated that

there was no hope of any peaceful adjustment
of our difficulties with the cabinet of
St. James. War was consequently declared
in June, 1812. Immediately after the sack
of Washington the Secretary of War resigned,
and Mr. Monroe, at the earnest
request of Mr. Madison, assumed the additional
duties of the War Department,
without resigning his position as Secretary
of State. It has been confidently stated,
that, had Mr. Monroe's energies been in the
War Department a few months earlier, the
disaster at Washington would not have
occurred.

The duties now devolving upon Mr. Monroe
were extremely arduous. Ten thousand
men, picked from the veteran armies
of England, were sent with a powerful fleet
to New Orleans to acquire possession of
the mouths of the Mississippi. Our finances
were in the most deplorable condition.
The treasury was exhausted and our credit
gone. And yet it was necessary to make
the most rigorous preparations to meet the
foe. In this crisis James Monroe, the Secretary
of War, with virtue unsurpassed in
Greek or Roman story, stepped forward
and pledged his own individual credit as
subsidiary to that of the nation, and thus
succeeded in placing the city of New Orleans
in such a posture of defense, that it
was enabled successfully to repel the invader.

Mr. Monroe was truly the armor-bearer
of President Madison, and the most efficient
business man in his cabinet. His energy
in the double capacity of Secretary, both
of State and War, pervaded all the departments
of the country. He proposed to
increase the army to 100,000 men, a measure
which he deemed absolutely necessary
to save us from ignominious defeat, but
which, at the same time, he knew would
render his name so unpopular as to preclude
the possibility of his being a successful candidate
for the Presidency.

JAMES MONROE. 37

The happy result of the conference at
Ghent in securing peace rendered the increase
of the army unnecessary; but it is not
too much to say that James Monroe placed
in the hands of Andrew Jackson the
weapon with which to beat off the foe at
New Orleans. Upon the return of peace
Mr. Monroe resigned the department of
war, devoting himself entirely to the duties
of Secretary of State. These he continued
to discharge until the close of President
Madison's administration, with zeal which
was never abated, and with an ardor of
self-devotion which made him almost forgetful
of the claims of fortune, health or
life.

Mr. Madison's second term expired in
March, 1817, and Mr. Monroe succeeded
to the Presidency. He was a candidate of
the Republican party, now taking the name
of the Democratic Republican. In 1821 he
was re-elected, with scarcely any opposition.
Out of 232 electoral votes, he received 231.
The slavery question, which subsequently
assumed such formidable dimensions, now
began to make its appearance. The State
of Missouri, which had been carved out of
that immense territory which we had purchased
of France, applied for admission to
the Union, with a slavery Constitution.
There were not a few who foresaw the
evils impending. After the debate of a
week it was decided that Missouri could
not be admitted into the Union with slavery.
This important question was at length
settled by a compromise proposed by
Henry Clay.

The famous "Monroe Doctrine," of which
so much has been said, originated in this
way: In 1823 it was rumored that the
Holy Alliance was about to interfere to
prevent the establishment of Republican
liberty in the European colonies of South
America. President Monroe wrote to his
old friend Thomas Jefferson for advice in
the emergency. In his reply under date of

October 24, Mr. Jefferson writes upon the
supposition that our attempt to resist this
European movement might lead to war:

"Its object is to introduce and establish
the American system of keeping out of our
land all foreign powers; of never permitting
those of Europe to intermeddle with the
affairs of our nation. It is to maintain our
own principle, not to depart from it."

December 2, 1823, President Monroe
sent a message to Congress, declaring it to
be the policy of this Government not to
entangle ourselves with the broils of Europe,
and not to allow Europe to interfere
with the affairs of nations on the American
continent; and the doctrine was announced,
that any attempt on the part of the European
powers " to extend their system to
any portion of this hemisphere would be
regarded by the United States as dangerous
to our peace and safety."

March 4, 1825, Mr. Monroe surrendered
the presidential chair to his Secretary of
State, John Quincy Adams, and retired,
with the universal respect of the nation,
to his private residence at Oak Hill, Loudoun
County, Virginia. His time had been
so entirely consecrated to his country, that
he had neglected his pecuniary interests,
and was deeply involved in debt. The
welfare of his country had ever been uppermost
in his mind.
For many years Mrs. Monroe was in such
feeble health that she rarely appeared in
public. In 1830 Mr. Monroe took up his
residence with his son-in-law in New York,
where he died on the 4th of July, 1831.
The citizens of New York conducted his
obsequies with pageants more imposing
than had ever been witnessed there before.
Our country will ever cherish his memory
with pride, gratefully enrolling his
name in the list of its benefactors, pronouncing
him the worthy successor of the illustrious
men who had preceded him in the
presidential chair.

38 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,
the sixth President of the
United States, 1825-'9,
was born in the rural
home of his honored
father, John Adams, in
Quincy, Massachusetts,
July 11, 1767. His mother,
a woman of exalted worth,
watched over his childhood
during the almost constant
absence of his father. He
commenced his education
at the village school, giving
at an early period indications
of superior mental endowments.

When eleven years of age he sailed with
his father for Europe, where the latter was
associated with Franklin and Lee as Minister
Plenipotentiary. The intelligence of John
Quincy attracted the attention of these men
and received from them flattering marks of
attention. Mr. Adams had scarcely returned
to this country in 1779 ere he was again
sent abroad, and John Quincy again accompanied
him. On this voyage he commenced
a diary. which practice he continued, with
but few interruptions, until his death- He
journeyed with his father from Ferrol, in
Spain, to Paris. Here he applied himself
for six months to study; then accompanied

his father to Holland, where he entered,
first a school in Amsterdam, and then the
University of Leyden. In 1781, when only
fourteen years of age, he was selected by
Mr. Dana, our Minister to the Russian
court, as his private secretary. In this
school of incessant labor he spent fourteen
months, and then returned alone to Holland
through Sweden, Denmark, Hamburg and
Bremen. Again he resumed his studies
under a private tutor, at The Hague.

In the spring of 1782 he accompanied his
father to Paris, forming acquaintance with
the most distinguished men on the Continent.
After a short visit to England, he returned
to Paris and studied until May,
1785, when he returned to America, leaving
his father an embassador at the court
of St. James. In 1786 he entered the junor
class in Harvard University, and graduated
with the second honor of his class.
The oration he delivered on this occasion,
the " Importance of Public Faith to the
Well-being of a Community," was published
-an event very rare in this or any
other land.

Upon leaving college at the age of twenty
he studied law three years with the Hon.
Theophilus Parsons in Newburyport. In
1790 he opened a law office in Boston. The
profession was crowded with able men, and
the fees were small. The first year he had

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 41

no clients, but not a moment was lost. The
second year passed away, still no clients,
and still he was dependent upon his parents
for support. Anxiously he awaited the
third year. The reward now came. Clients
began to enter his office, and before
the end of the year he was so crowded
with business that all solicitude respecting
a support was at an end.

When Great Britain commenced war
against France, in 1793, Mr. Adams wrote
some articles, urging entire neutrality on
the part of the United States. The view
was not a popular one. Many felt that as
France had helped us, we were bound to
help France. But President Washington
coincided with Mr. Adams, and issued his
proclamation of neutrality. His writings
at this time in the Boston journals gave
him so high a reputation, that in June,
1794, he was appointed by Washington
resident Minister at the Netherlands. In
July, 1797, he left 'lhe Hague to go to Portugal
as Minister Plenipotentiary. Washington
at this time wrote to his father, John
Adams:

"Without intending to compliment the
father or the mother, or to censure any
others, I give it as my decided opinion,
that Mr. Adams is the most valuable character
we have abroad; and there remains
no doubt in my mind that he will prove the
ablest of our diplomatic corps."

On his way to Portugal, upon his arrival
in London, he met with dispatches directing
him to the court of Berlin, but requesting
him to remain in London until he should
receive instructions. While waiting he
was married to Miss Louisa Catherine Johnson,
to whom he had been previously engaged.
Miss Johnson was a daughter of
Mr. Joshua Johnson, American Consul
in London, and was a lady endowed with
that beauty and those accomplishments
which fitted her to move in the elevated
sphere for which she was destined.

In July, 1799, having fulfilled all the purposes
of his mission, Mr. Adams returned.
In 1802 he was chosen to the Senate of
Massachusetts from Boston, and then was
elected Senator of the United States for six
years from March 4, 1804. His reputation,
his ability and his experience, placed him
immediately among the most prominent
and influential members of that body. He
sustained the Government in its measures
of resistance to the encroachments of England,
destroying our commerce and insulting
our flag. There was no man in America
more familiar with the arrogance of the
British court upon these points, and no
one more resolved to present a firm resistance.
This course, so truly patriotic, and
which scarcely a voice will now be found
to condemn, alienated him from the Federal
party dominant in Boston, and subjected
him to censure.

In 1805 Mr. Adams was chosen professor
of rhetoric in Harvard College. His lectures
at this place were subsequently published.
In 1809 he was sent as Minister to
Russia. He was one of the commissioners
that negotiated the treaty of peace with
Great Britain, signed December 24, 1814,
and he was appointed Minister to the court
of St. James in 1815. In 1817 he became
Secretary of State in Mr. Monroe's cabinet
in which position he remained eight years.
Few will now contradict the assertion that
the duties of that office were never more
ably discharged. Probably the most important
measure which Mr. Adams conducted
was the purchase of Florida from
Spain for $5,000,000.

The campaign of 1824 was an exciting
one. Four candidates were in the field.
Of the 260 electoral votes that were cast,
Andrew Jackson received ninety-nine; John
Quincy Adams, eighty-four; William H.
Crawford, forty-one, and Henry Clay,
thirty-seven. As there was no choice by
the people, the question went to the House

42 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

of Representatives. Mr. Clay gave the
vote of Kentucky to Mr. Adams, and he
was elected.

The friends of all disappointed candidates
now combined in a venomous assault upon
Mr. Adams. There is nothing more disgraceful
in the past history of our country
than the abuse which was poured in one
uninterrupted stream upon this highminded,
upright, patriotic man. There was
never an administration more pure in principles,
more conscientiously devoted to the
best interests of the country, than that of
John Quincy Adams; and never, perhaps,
was there an administration more unscrupulously
assailed. Mr. Adams took his seat
in the presidential chair resolved not to
know any partisanship, but only to consult
for the interests of the whole Republic.

He refused to dismiss any man from office
for his political views. If he was a faithful
officer that was enough. Bitter must
have been his disappointment to find that the
Nation could not appreciate such conduct.

Mr. Adams, in his public manners, was
cold and repulsive; though with his personal
friends he was at times very genial.
This chilling address very seriously detracted
from his popularity. No one can
read an impartial record of his administration
without admitting that a more noble
example of uncompromising dignity can
scarcely be found. It was stated publicly
that Mr. Adams' administration was to be
put down, "though it be as pure as the angels
which stand at the right hand of the
throne of God." Many of the active participants
in these scenes lived to regret the
course they pursued. Some years after,
Warren R. Davis, of South Carolina, turning
to Mr. Adams, then a member of the
House of Representatives, said:

"Well do I remember the enthusiastic
zeal with which we reproached the administration
of that gentleman, and the ardor
and vehemence with which we labored to

bring in another. For the share I had in
these transactions, and it was not a small
one, I hope God will forgive me, for I shall
never forgive myself."

March 4, 1829, Mr. Adams retired from
the Presidency and was succeeded by Andrew
Jackson, the latter receiving 168 out
of 261 electoral votes. John C. Calhoun
was elected Vice-President. The slavery
question now began to assume pretentious
magnitude. Mr. Adams returned to
Quincy, and pursued his studies with unabated
zeal. But he was not long permitted
to remain in retirement. In November,
1830, he was elected to Congress. In this
he recognized the principle that it is honorable
for the General of yesterday to act as
Corporal to-day, if by so doing he can render
service to his country. Deep as are
our obligations to John Quincy Adams for
his services as embassador. as Secretary of
State and as President; in his capacity as
legislator in the House of Representatives,
he conferred benefits upon our land
which eclipsed all the rest, and which can
never be over-estimated.

For seventeen years, until his death, he
occupied the post of Representative, towering
above all his peers, ever ready to do
brave battle for freedom, and winning the
title of " the old man eloquent." Upon
taking his seat in the House he announced
that he should hold himself bound to no
party. He was usually the first in his
place in the morning, and the last to leave
his seat in the evening. Not a measure
could escape his scrutiny. The battle
which he fought, almost singly, against the
pro-slavery party in the Government, was
sublime in its moral daring and heroism.
For persisting in presenting petitions for
the abolition of slavery, he was threatened
with indictment by the Grand Jury, with
expulsion from the House, with assassination;
but no threats could intimidate him,
and his final triumph was complete.

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 43

On one occasion Mr. Adams presented a
petition, signed by several women, against
the annexation of Texas for the purpose of
cutting it up into slave States. Mr. Howard,
of Maryland, said that these women
discredited not only themselves, but their
section of the country, by turning from
their domestic duties to the conflicts of political
life.

"Are women," exclaimed Mr. Adams,
"to have no opinions or actions on subjects
relating to the general welfare? Where
did the gentleman get his principle? Did
he find it in sacred history,-in the language
of Miriam, the prophetess, in one of the
noblest and sublime songs of triumph that
ever met the human eye or ear? Did the
gentleman never hear of Deborah, to whom
the children of Israel came up for judgment?
Has he forgotten the deed of Jael,
who slew the dreaded enemy of her country?
Has he forgotten Esther, who, by her
petition saved her people and her country?

"To go from sacred history to profane,
does the gentleman there find it 'discreditable'
for women to take an interest in political
affairs? Has he forgotten the Spartan
mother, who said to her son when going
out to battle, 'My son, come back to me
with thy shield, or upon thy shield ?' Does
he remember Cloelia and her hundred companions,
who swam across the river under
a shower of darts, escaping from Porsena?
Has he forgotten Cornelia, the mother of
the Gracchi? Does he not remember Portia,
the wife of Brutus and the daughter of
Cato?

"To come to later periods, what says the
history of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors?
To say nothing of Boadicea, the British
heroine in the time of the Caesars, what
name is more illustrious than that of Elizabeth?
Or, if he will go to the continent,
will he not find the names of Maria Theresa
of Hungary, of the two Catherines of

Prussia, and of Isabella of Castile, the patroness
of Columbus? Did she bring 'discredit'
on her sex by mingling in politics?"

In this glowing strain Mr. Adams silenced
and overwhelmed his antagonists.

In January, 1842, Mr. Adams presented
a petition from forty-five citizens of Haverhill,
Massachusetts, praying for a peaceable
dissolution of the Union. The pro-slavery
party in Congress, who were then plotting
the destruction of the Government, were
aroused to a pretense of commotion such as
even our stormy hall of legislation has
rarely witnessed. They met in caucus, and,
finding that they probably would not be
able to expel Mr. Adams from the House
drew up a series of resolutions, which, if
adopted, would inflict upon him disgrace,
equivalent to expulsion. Mr. Adams had
presented the petition, which was most respectfully
worded, and had moved that it be
referred to a committee instructed to report
an answer, showing the reason why
the prayer ought not to be granted.

It was the 25th of January. The whole
body of the pro-slavery party came crowding
together in the House, prepared to
crush Mr. Adams forever. One of the number,
Thomas F. Marshall, of Kentucky, was
appointed to read the resolutions, which
accused Mr. Adams of high treason, of
having insulted the Government, and of
meriting expulsion; but for which deserved
punishment, the House, in its great mercy,
would substitute its severest censure. With
the assumption of a very solemn and magisterial
air, there being breathless silence in
the audience, Mr. Marshall hurled the carefully
prepared anathemas at his victim.
Mr. Adams stood alone, the whole pro-slavery
party against him.

As soon as the resolutions were read,
every eye being fixed upon him, that bold
old man, whose scattered locks were whitened
by seventy-five years, casting a withering
glance in the direction of his assailants,

43 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

44 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

in a clear, shrill tone, tremulous with suppressed
emotion, said:

"In reply to this audacious, atrocious
charge of high treason, I call for the reading
of the first paragraph of the Declaration
of Independence. Read it! Read it! and
see what that says of the rights of a people
to reform, to change, and to dissolve their
Government.'

The attitude, the manner, the tone, the
words; the venerable old man, with flashing
eye and flushed cheek, and whose very
form seemed to expand under the inspiration
of the occasion-all presented a scene overflowing
in its sublimity. There was breathless
silence as that paragraph was read, in
defense of whose principles our fathers had
pledged their lives, their fortunes and their
sacred honor. It was a proud hour to Mr.
Adams as they were all compelled to listen
to the words:

"That, to secure these rights, govern-
ments are instituted among men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of the
governance and that whenever any form of
government becomes destructive of those
ends, it is the right of the people to alter or
abolish it, and to institute new government,
laying its foundations on such principles
and organizing its powers in such form
as shall seem most likely to effect their
safety and happiness."

That one sentence routed and baffled the

foe. The heroic old man looked around
upon the audience, and thundered out,
"Read that again!" It was again read.
Then in a few fiery, logical words he stated
his defense in terms which even prejudiced
minds could .not resist. His discomfited
assailants made several attempts to rally.
After a conflict of eleven days they gave
up vanquished and their resolution was ignominiously
laid upon the table.

In January, 1846, when seventy-eight
years of age, he took part in the great debate
on the Oregon question, displaying
intellectual vigor, and an extent and accuracy
of acquaintance with the subject that
excited great admiration.

On the 21st of February, 1848, he rose on
the floor of Congress with a paper in his
hand to address the Speaker. Suddenly
he fell, stricken by paralysis, and was caught
in the arms of those around him. For a
time he was senseless and was conveyed
to a sofa in the rotunda. With reviving
consciousness he opened his eyes, looked
calmly around and said, "This is the end of
earth." Then after a moment's pause, he
added, "I am content." These were his last
words, and he soon breathed his last, in the
apartment beneath the dome of the capitol
-the theater of his labors and his triumphs.
In the language of hymnology, he "died at
his post;" he "ceased at once to work and
live."

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 44

ANDREW JACKSON. 47

ANDREW JACKSON,
the seventh President
of the United States,
1829-'37, was born at
the Waxhaw Settlement,
Union County, North Carolina,
March I6, 1767. His parents
were Scotch-Irish, natives of
Carrickfergus, who came to
America in 1765, and settled
on Twelve-Mile Creek, a tributary
of the Catawba. His
father, who was a poor farm
laborer, died shortly before Andrew's
birth, when his mother removed to
Waxhaw, where some relatives resided.

Few particulars of the childhood of Jackson
have been preserved. His education
was of the most limited kind, and he showed
no fondness for books. He grew up to be a
tall, lank boy, with coarse hair and freckled
cheeks, with bare feet dangling from
trousers too short for him, very fond of athletic sports,
running, boxing and wrestling.
He was generous to the younger and
weaker boys, but very irascible and overbearing
with his equals and superiors. He
was profane-a vice in which he surpassed
all other men. The character of his mother

he revered; and it was not until after her
death that his predominant vices gained
full strength.

In 1780, at the age of thirteen, Andrew,
or Andy, as he was called, with his brother
Robert, volunteered to serve in the Revolutionary
forces under General Sumter, and
was a witness of the latter's defeat at Hanging
Rock. In the following year the
brothers were made prisoners, and confined
in Camden, experiencing brutal treatment
from their captors, and being spectators of
General Green's defeat at Hobkirk Hill.
Through their mother's exertions the boys
were exchanged while suffering from smallpox.
In two days Robert was dead, and
Andy apparently dying. The strength of
his constitution triumphed, and he regained
health and vigor.

As he was getting better, his mother
heard the cry of anguish from the prisoners
whom the British held in Charleston,
among whom were the sons of her sisters.
She hastened to their relief, was attacked
by fever, died and was buried where her
grave could never be found. Thus Andrew
Jackson, when fourteen years of age, was
left alone in the world, without father,
mother, sister or brother, and without one
dollar which he could call his own. He

ANDREW JACKSON. 47

48 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

soon entered a saddler's shop, and labored
diligently for six months. But gradually,
as health returned, he became more and
more a wild, reckless, lawless boy. He
gambled, drank and was regarded as about
the worst character that could be found.

He now turned schoolmaster. He could
teach the alphabet, perhaps the multiplication
table; and as he was a very bold boy,
it is possible he might have ventured to
teach a little writing. But he soon began to
think of a profession and decided to study
law. With a very slender purse, and on
the back of a very fine horse, he set out
for Salisbury, North Carolina, where he
entered the law office of Mr. McCay.
Here he remained two years, professedly
studying law. He is still remembered in
traditions of Salisbury, which say:

"Andrew Jackson was the most roaring,
rollicking, horse-racing, card-playing, mischievous
fellow that ever lived in Salisbury.
He did not trouble the law-books much."

Andrew was now, at the age of twenty,
a tall young man, being over six feet in
height. He was slender, remarkably graceful
and dignified in his manners, an exquisite
horseman, and developed, amidst his
loathesome profanity and multiform vices, a
vein of rare magnanimity. His temper was
fiery in the extreme; but it was said of him
that no man knew better than Andrew
Jackson when to get angry and when not.

In 1786 he was admitted to the bar, and
two years later removed to Nashville,
in what was then the western district of
North Carolina, with the appointment of solicitor,
or public prosecutor. It was an office
of little honor, small emolument and
great peril. Few men could be found to
accept it.

And now Andrew Jackson commenced
vigorously to practice law. It was an important
part of his business to collect debts.
It required nerve. During the first seven
years of his residence in those wilds he

traversed the almost pathless forest between
Nashville and Jonesborough, a distance of
200 miles, twenty-two times. Hostile Indians
were constantly on the watch, and a
man was liable at any moment to be shot
down in his own field. Andrew Jackson
was just the man for this service-a wild,
daring, rough backwoodsman. Daily he
made hair-breadth escapes. He seemed to
bear a charmed life. Boldly, alone or with
few companions, he traversed the forests,
encountering all perils and triumphing
over all.

In 1790 Tennessee became a Territory,
and Jackson was appointed, by President
Washington, United States Attorney for
the new district. In 1791 he married Mrs.
Rachel Robards (daughter of Colonel John
Donelson), whom he supposed to have been
divorced in that year by an act of the Legislature
of Virginia. Two years after this
Mr. and Mrs. Jackson learned, to their
great surprise, that Mr. Robards had just
obtained a divorce in one of the courts of
Kentucky, and that the act of the Virginia
Legislature was not final, but conditional.
To remedy the irregularity as much as possible,
a new license was obtained and the
marriage ceremony was again performed.

It proved to be a marriage of rare felicity.
Probably there never was a more
affectionate union. However rough Mr.
Jackson might have been abroad, he was
always gentle and tender at home; and
through all the vicissitudes of their lives, he
treated Mrs. Jackson with the most chivalric attention.

Under the circumstances it was not unnatural
that the facts in the case of this
marriage were so misrepresented by opponents
in the political campaigns a quarter
or a century later as to become the basis
of serious charges against Jackson's morality
which, however, have been satisfactorily
attested by abundant evidence.

Jackson was untiring in his duties as

ANDREW JACKSON. 49

United States Attorney, which demanded
frequent journeys through the wilderness
and exposed him to Indian hostilities. He
acquired considerable property in land, and
obtained such influence as to be chosen
a member of the convention which framed
the Constitution for the new State of Tennessee,
in 1796, and in that year was elected
its first Representative in Congress. Albert
Gallatin thus describes the first appearance
of the Hon. Andrew Jackson in the House:

"A tall, lank, uncouth-1ooking personage,
with locks of hair hanging over his face and
a cue down his back, tied with an eel skin;
his dress singular, his manners and deportment
those of a rough backwoodsman."

Jackson was an earnest advocate of the
Democratic party. Jefferson was his idol.
He admired Bonaparte, loved France and
hated England. As Mr. Jackson took his
seat, General Washington, whose second
term of office was just expiring, delivered
his last speech to Congress. A committee
drew up a complimentary address in reply.
Andrew Jackson did not approve the address
and was one of twelve who voted
against it.

Tennessee had fitted out an expedition
against the Indians, contrary to the policy
of the Government. A resolution was introduced
that the National Government
should pay the expenses. Jackson advocated
it and it was carried. This rendered
him very popular in Tennessee. A vacancy
chanced soon after to occur in the
Senate, and Andrew Jackson was chosen
United States Senator by the State of Tennessee.
John Adams was then President
and Thomas Jefferson, Vice-President.

In 1798 Mr. Jackson returned to Tennessee,
and resigned his seat in the Senate.
Soon after he was chosen Judge of the Supreme
Court of that State, with a salary of
$600. This office he held six years. It is
said that his decisions, though sometimes
ungrammatical, were generally right. He

did not enjoy his seat upon the bench, and
renounced the dignity in 1804. About
this time he was chosen Major-General of
militia, and lost the title of judge in that of
General.

When he retired from the Senate Chamber,
he decided to try his fortune through
trade. He purchased a stock of goods in
Philadelphia and sent them to Nashville,
where he opened a store. He lived about
thirteen miles from Nashville, on a tract of
land of several thousand acres, mostly uncultivated.
He used a small block-house
for a store, from a narrow window of
which he sold goods to the Indians. As he
had an assistant his office as judge did not
materially interfere with his business.

As to slavery, born in the midst of it, the
idea never seemed to enter his mind that it
could be wrong. He eventually became
an extensive slave owner, but he was one of
the most humane and gentle of masters.

In 1804 Mr. Jackson withdrew from politics
and settled on a plantation which he
called the Hermitage, near Nashville. He
set up a cotton-gin, formed a partnership
and traded in New Orleans, making the
voyage on flatboats. Through his hot temper
he became involved in several quarrels
and "affairs of honor," during this period,
in one of which he was severely wounded,
but had the misfortune to kill his opponent,
Charles Dickinson. For a time this affair
greatly injured General Jackson's popularity.
The verdict then was, and continues
to be, that General Jackson was outrageously
wrong. If he subsequently felt any
remorse he never revealed it to anyone.

In 1805 Aaron Burr had visited Nashville
and been a guest of Jackson, with
whom he corresponded on the subject of a
war with Spain, which was anticipated and
desired by them, as well as by the people
of the Southwest generally.

Burr repeated his visit in September,
1806, when he engaged in the celebrated

ANDREW JACKSON. 49

50 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

combinations which led to his trial for treason.
He was warmly received by Jackson,
at whose instance a public ball was given
in his honor at Nashville, and contracted
with the latter for boats and provisions.
Early in 1807, when Burr had been proclaimed
a traitor by President Jefferson,
volunteer forces for the Federal service
were organized at Nashville under Jackson's
command; but his energy and activity
did not shield him from suspicions of
connivance in the supposed treason. He
was summoned to Richmond as a witness
in Burr's trial, but was not called to the
stand, probably because he was out-spoken
in his partisanship.

On the outbreak of the war with Great
Britain in 1812, Jackson tendered his services,
and in January, 1813, embarked for
New Orleans at the head of the Tennessee
contingent. In March he received an order
to disband his forces; but in September
he again took the field, in the Creek
war, and in conjunction with his former
partner, Colonel Coffee, inflicted upon the
Indians the memorable defeat at Talladega,
Emuckfaw and Tallapoosa.

In May, 1814, Jackson, who had now acquired
a national reputation, was appointed
a Major-General of the United States army,
and commenced a campaign against the
British in Florida. He conducted the defense
at Mobile, September 15, seized upon
Pensacola, November 6, and immediately
transported the bulk of his troops to New
Orleans, then threatened by a powerful
naval force. Martial law was declared in
Louisiana, the State militia was called to
arms, engagements with the British were
fought December 23 and 28, and after re-enforcements
had been received on both sides
the famous victory of January 8, 1815,
crowned Jackson's fame as a soldier, and
made him the typical American hero of
the first half of the nineteenth century.

In 1817-'18 Jackson conducted the war

against the Seminoles of Florida, during
which he seized upon Pensacola and executed
by courtmartial two British subjects,
Arbuthnot and Ambrister acts which
might easily have involved the United
States in war both with Spain and Great
Britain. Fortunately the peril was averted
by the cession of Florida to the United
States; and Jackson, who had escaped a
trial for the irregularity of his conduct
only through a division of opinion in Monroe's cabinet,
was appointed in 1821 Governor
of the new Territory. Soon after he
declined the appointment of minister to
Mexico.

In 1823 Jackson was elected to the United
States Senate, and nominated by the Tennessee
Legislature for the Presidency. This
candidacy, though a matter of surprise, and
even merryment, speedily became popular,
and in 1824, when the stormy electoral canvas
resulted in the choice of John Quincy
Adams by the House of Representatives,
General Jackson received the largest popular
vote among the four candidates.

In 1828 Jackson was triumphantly elected
President over Adams after a campaign of
unparalleled bitterness. He was inaugurated
March 4, 1829, and at once removed
from office all the incumbents belonging to
the opposite party-a procedure new to
American politics, but which naturally became
a precedent.

His first term was characterized by quarrels
between the Vice-President, Calhoun,
and the Secretary of State, Van Buren, attended
by a cabinet crisis originating in
scandals connected with the name of Mrs.
General Eaton, wife of the Secretary of
War; by the beginning of his war upon the
United States Bank, and by his vigorous
action against the partisans of Calhoun,
who, in South Carolina, threatened to
nullify the acts of Congress, establishing a
protective tariff.

In the Presidential campaign of 1832

ANDREW JACKSON. 51

Jackson received 219 out of 288 electoral
votes, his competitor being Mr. Clay, while
Mr. Wirt, on an Anti-Masonic platform,
received the vote of Vermont alone. In
1833 President Jackson removed the Government deposits
from the United States
bank, thereby incurring a vote of censure
from the Senate, which was, however, expunged
four years later. During this second
term of office the Cherokees, Choctaws and
Creeks were removed, not without difficulty,
from Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi,
to the Indian Territory; the National
debt was extinguished; Arkansas and
Michigan were admitted as States to the
Union; the Seminole war was renewed; the
anti-slavery agitation first acquired importance;
the Mormon delusion, which had
organized in 1829, attained considerable
proportions in Ohio and Missouri, and the
country experienced its greatest pecuniary
panic.

Railroads with locomotive propulsion
were irtroduced into America during Jackson's
first term, and had become an important
element of national life before the
close of his second term. For many reasons, therefore,
the administration of President
Jackson formed an era in American
history, political, social and industrial.
He succeeded in effecting the election of

his friend Van Buren as his successor, retired
from the Presidency March 4, 1837;
and led a tranquil life at the Hermitage
until his death, which occurred June 8,
1845.

During his closing years he was a professed
Christian and a member of the Presbyterian
church. No American of this
century has been the subject of such opposite judgments.
He was loved and hated
with equal vehemence during his life, but
at the present distance of time from his
career, while opinions still vary as to, the
merits of his public acts, few of his countrymen
will question that he was a warm-hearted,
brave, patriotic, honest and sincere
man. If his distinguishing qualities were
not such as constitute statesmanship, in the
highest sense, he at least never pretended
to other merits than such as were written
to his credit on the page of American history
-not attempting to disguise the demerits
which were equally legible. The
majority of his countrymen accepted and
honored him, in spite of all that calumny
as well as truth could allege against him.
His faults may therefore be truly said to
have been those of his time; his magnificent
virtues may also, with the same justice,
be considered as typical of a state of
society which has nearly passed away.

ANDREW JACKSON. 51

52 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

MARTIN VAN BUREN,
the eighth
President of the
United States, 1837-'41,
was born at Kinderhook,
New York,
December 5, 1782.
His ancestors were of Dutch
origin, and were among the
earliest emigrants from Holland
to the banks of the
Hudson. His father was a
tavern-keeper, as well as a
farmer, and a very decided
Democrat.

Martin commenced the study
of law at the age of fourteen, and took an
active part in politics before he had reached
the age of twenty. In 1803 he commenced
the practice of law in his native village.
In 1809 he removed to Hudson, the shire
town of his county, where he spent seven
years, gaining strength by contending in
the courts with some of the ablest men
who have adorned the bar of his State.
The heroic example of John Quincy Adams
in retaining in office every faithful man,
without regard to his political preferences,
had been thoroughly repudiated by General
Jackson. The unfortunate principle
was now fully established, that "to the
victor belong the spoils." Still, this principle,
to which Mr. Van Buren gave his adherence,

was not devoid of inconveniences.
When, subsequently, he attained power
which placed vast patronage in his hands,
he was heard to say: "I prefer an office
that has no patronage. When I give a man
an office I offend his disappointed competitors
and their friends. Nor am I certain of
gaining a friend in the man I appoint, for,
in all probability, he expected something
better."

In 1812 Mr. Van Buren was elected to
the State Senate. In 1815 he was appointed
Attorney-General, and in 1816 to the Senate
a second time. In 1818 there was a great
split in the Democratic party in New York,
and Mr. Van Buren took the lead in organizing
that portion of the party called
the Albany Regency, which is said to have
swayed the destinies of the State for a
quarter of a century.

In 1821 he was chosen a member of the
convention for revising the State Constitution,
in which he advocated an extension of
the franchise, but opposed universal suffrage,
and also favored the proposal that
colored persons, in order to vote, should
have freehold property to the amount of
$250. In this year he was also elected to
the United States Senate, and at the conclusion
of his term, in 1827, was re-elected,
but resigned the following year, having
been chosen Governor of the State. In
March, 1829, he was appointed Secretary of

MARTIN VAN BUREN. 55

State by President Jackson, but resigned
in April, 1831, and during the recess of
Congress was appointed minister to England,
whither he proceeded in September,
but the Senate, when convened in December,
refused to ratify the appointment.

In May, 1832, Mr, Van Buren was nominated
as the Democratic candidate for Vice-President,
and elected in the following
November. May 26, 1836, he received the
nomination to succeed General Jackson as
President, and received 170 electoral votes,
out of 283.

Scarcely had he taken his seat in the
Presidential chair when a financial panic
swept over the land. Many attributed
this to the war which General Jackson had
waged on the banks, and to his endeavor to
secure an almost exclusive specie currency.
Nearly every bank in the country was compelled
to suspend specie payment, and ruin
pervaded all our great cities. Not less than
254 houses failed in New York in one week.
All public works were brought to a stand,
and there was a general state of dismay.
President Van Buren urged the adoption of
the independent treasury system, which
was twice passed in the Senate and defeated
in the House, but finially became a law near
the close of his .dministration.

Another important measure was the passage
of a pre-emption law, giving actual settlers
the preference in the purchase of
public lands. The question of slavery, also,
now began to assume great prominence in
national politics, and after an elaborate
anti-slavery speech by Mr. Slade, of Vermont,
in the House of Representatives, the
Southern members withdrew for a separate
consultation, at which Mr. Rhett, of South
Carolina, proposed to declare it expedient
that the Union should be dissolved; but
the matter was tided over by the passage
of a resolution that no petitions or papers
relating to slavery should be in any way
considered or acted upon.

In the Presidential election of 1840 Mr.
Van Buren was nominated, without opposition,
as the Democratic candidate, William
H. Harrison being the candidate of the
Whig party. The Democrats carried only
seven States, and out of 294 electoral votes
only sixty were for Mr. Van Buren, the remaining
234 being for his opponent. The
Whig popular majority, however, was not
large, the elections in many of the States
being very close.

March 4, 1841, Mr. Van Buren retired
from the Presidency. From his fine estate
at Lindenwald he still exerted a powerful
influence upon the politics of the country.
In 1844 he was again proposed as the
Democratic candidate for the Presidency,
and a majority of the delegates of the
nominating convention were in his favor;
but, owing to his opposition to the proposed annexation
of Texas, he could not
secure the requisite two-thirds vote. His
name was at length withdrawn by his
friends, and Mr. Polk received the nomination,
and was elected.

In 1848 Mr. Cass was the regular Democratic candidate. A
schism, however,
sprang up in the party, upon the question
of the permission of slavery in the newly
acquired territory, and a portion of the
party, taking the name of "Free-Soilers,"
nominated Mr. Van Buren. They drew
away sufficient votes to secure the election
of General Taylor, the Whig candidate.
After this Mr. Van Buren retired to his estate at Kinderhook,
where the remainder
of his life was passed, with the exception of
a European tour in 1853. He died at
Kinderhook, July 24, 1862, at the age of
eighty years.

Martin Van Buren was a great and good
man, and no one will question his right to
a high position among those who have
been the successors of Washington in the
faithful occupancy of the Presidential
chair.

MARTIN VAN BUREN. 55

56 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

WILLIAM HENRY
HARRISON, the
ninth President of
the United States,
1841, was born
February 9, 1773,
in Charles County,
Virginia, at Berkeley, the residence
of his father, Governor
Benjamin Harrison. He studied
at Hampden, Sidney College,
with a view of entering the medical
profession. After graduation
he went to Philadelphia to study
medicine under the instruction of
Dr. Rush.

George Washington was then President
Af the United States. The Indians were
committing fearful ravages on our Northwestern frontier.
Young Harrison, either
lured by the love of adventure, or moved
by the sufferings of families exposed to the
most horrible outrages, abandoned his medical
studies and entered the army, having
obtained a commission of ensign from President Washington.
The first duty assigned
him was to take a train of pack-horses
bound to Fort Hamilton, on the Miami
River, about forty miles from Fort Washington.
He was soon promoted to the

rank of Lieutenant, and joined the army
which Washington had placed under the
command of General Wayne to prosecute
more vigorously the war with the Indians.
Lieutenant Harrison received great
commendation from his commanding officer,
and was promoted to the rank of
Captain, and placed in command at Fort
Washington, now Cincinnati, Ohio.

About this time he married a daughter
of John Cleves Symmes, one of the frontiersmen
who had established a thriving
settlement on the bank of the Maumee.

In 1797 Captain Harrison resigned his
commission in the army and was appointed
Secretary of the Northwest Territory, and
ex-ojficio Lieutenant-Governor, General St.
Clair being then Governor of the Territory.
At that time the law in reference to the
disposal of the public lands was such that
no one could purchase in tracts less than
4,000 acres. Captain Harrison, in the
face of violent opposition, succeeded in
obtaining so much of a modification of
this unjust law that the land was sold in
alternate tracts of 640 and 320 acres. The
Northwest Territory vas then entitled
to one delegate in Congress, and Captain
Harrison was chosen to fill that office.
In 1800 he was appointed Governor

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 59

of Indiana Territory and soon after of
Upper Louisiana. He was also Superintendent
of Indian Affairs, and so well did he
fulfill these duties that he was four times
appointed to this office. During his administration he
effected thirteen treaties with
the Indians, by which the United States
acquired 60,000,000 acres of land. In 1804
he obtained a cession from the Indians of
all the land between the Illinois River and
the Mississippi.

In 1812 he was made Major-General of
Kentucky militia and Brigadier-General
in the army, with the command of the
Northwest frontier. In 1813 he was made
Major-General, and as such won much renown
by the defense of Fort Meigs, and the
battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813. In
1814 he left the army and was employed in
Indian affairs by the Government.

In 1816 General Harrison was chosen a
member of the National House of Representatives
to represent the district of Ohio.
In the contest which preceded his election
he was accused of corruption in respect to
the commissariat of the army. Immediately
upon taking his seat, he called for an
investigation of the charge. A committee
was appointed, and his vindication was
triumphant. A high compliment was paid
to his patriotism, disinterestedness and
devotion to the public service. For these
services a gold medal was presented to him
with the thanks of Congress.

In 1819 he was elected to the Senate of
Ohio, and in 1824, as one of the Presidential electors
of that State, he gave his vote
to Henry Clay. In the same year he was
elected to the Senate of the United States.
In 1828 he was appointed by President
Adams minister plenipotentiary to Colombia,
but was recalled by General Jackson
immediately after the inauguration of the
latter.

Upon his return to the United States,
General Harrison retired to his farm at

North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio, sixteen
miles below Cincinnati, where for
twelve years he was clerk of the County
Court. He once owned a distillery, but
perceiving the sad effects of whisky upon
the surrounding population, he promptly
abandoned his business at great pecuniary
sacrifice.

In 1836 General Harrison was brought
forward as a candidate for the Presidency.
Van Buren was the administration candidate;
the opposite party could not unite,
and four candidates were brought forward.
General Harrison received seventy-three
electoral votes without any general concert
among his friends. The Democratic party
triumphed and Mr. Van Buren was chosen
President. In 1839 General Harrison was
again nominated for the Presidency by the
Whigs, at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Mr.
Van Buren being the Democratic candidate.
General Harrison received 234 electoral
votes against sixty for his opponent.
This election is memorable chiefly for the
then extraordinary means employed during
the canvass for popular votes. Mass meetings
and processions were introduced, and
the watchwords "log cabin" and " hard
cider" were effectually used by the Whigs,
and aroused a popular enthusiasm.

A vast concourse of people attended his
inauguration. His address on that occasion
was in accordance with his antecedents, and
gave great satisfaction. A short time after he
took his seat, he was seized by a pleurisy fever,
and after a few days of violent sickness,
died April 4, just one short month after
his inauguration. His death was universally
regarded as one of the greatest of National
calamities. Never, since the death of
Washington, were there, throughout one
land, such demonstrations of sorrow. Not
one single spot can be found to sully his
fame; and through all ages Americans will
pronounce with love and reverence the
name of William Henry Harrison.

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 59

60 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

JOHN TYLER, the tenth
President of the United
States, was born in
Charles City County,
Virginia, March 29, 1790.
His father, Judge John
Tyler, possessed large
landed estates in Virginia,
and was one of the most
distinguished men of his
day, filling the offices of
Speaker of the House of
Delegates, Judge of the Supreme
Court and Governor
of the State.

At the early age of twelve
young John entered William and Mary
College, and graduated with honor when
but seventeen years old. He then closely
applied himself to the study of law, and at
nineteen years of age commenced the practice
of his profession. When only twenty-one
he was elected to a seat in the State
Legislature. He acted with the Democratic
party and advocated the measures of
Jefferson and Madison. For five years he
was elected to the Legislature, receiving
nearly the unanimous vote of his county.

When but twenty-six years of age he was
elected a member of Congress. He advocated
a strict construction of the Constitution
and the most careful vigilance over

State rights. He was soon compelled to
resign his seat in Congress, owing to ill
health, but afterward took his seat in the
State Legislature, where he exerted a
powerful influence in promoting public
works of great utility.

In 1825 Mr. Tyler was chosen Governor
of his State-a high honor, for Virginia
had many able men as competitors for
the prize. His administration was signally
a successful one. He urged forward internal improvements
and strove to remove
sectional jealousies. His popularity secured
his re-election. In 1827 he was elected
United States Senator, and upon taking his
seat joined the ranks of the opposition. He
opposed the tariff, voted against the bank
as unconstitutional, opposed all restrictions
upon slavery, resisted all projects of internal
improvements by the General Government,
avowed his sympathy with Mr. Calhoun's
views of nullification, and declared
that General Jackson, by his opposition to
the nullifiers, had abandoned the principles
of the Democratic party. Such was Mr.
Tyler's record in Congress.

This hostility to Jackson caused Mr.
Tyler's retirement from the Senate, after
his election to a second term. He soon
after removed to Williamsburg for the
better education of his children, and again
took his seat in the Legislature.

JOHN TYLER. 63

In 1839 he was sent to the National Convention
at Harrisburg to nominate a President.
General Harrison received a majority
of votes, much to the disappointment of the
South, who had wished for Henry Clay.
In order to conciliate the Southern Whigs,
John Tyler was nominated for Vice-President.
Harrison and Tyler were inaugurated
March 4, 1841. In one short month
from that time President Harrison died,
and Mr. Tyler, to his own surprise as well
as that of the nation, found himself an
occupant of the Presidential chair. His
position was an exceedingly difficult one,
as he was opposed to the main principles of
the party which had brought him into
power. General Harrison had selected a
Whig cabinet. Should he retain them, and
thus surround himself with councilors
whose views were antagonistic to his own?
or should he turn against the party that
had elected him, and select a cabinet in
harmony with himself? This was his fearful
dilemma.

President Tyler deserves more charity
than he has received. He issued an address
to the people, which gave general satisfaction.
He retained the cabinet General
Harrison had selected. His veto of a bill
chartering a new national bank led to an
open quarrel with the party which elected
him, and to a resignation of the entire
cabinet, except Daniel Webster, Secretary
of State.

President Tyler attempted to conciliate.
He appointed a new cabinet, leaving out all
strong party men, but the Whig members
of Congress were not satisfied, and they
published a manifesto September 13, breaking
off all political relations. The Democrats
had a majority in the House; the
Whigs in the Senate. Mr. Webster soon
found it necessary to resign, being forced
out by the pressure of his Whig friends.

April 12, 1844, President Tyler concluded,
through Mr. Calhoun, a treaty for the annexation

of Texas, which was rejected by
the Senate; but he effected his object in the
closing days of his administration by the
passage of the joint resolution of March 1
1845.

He was nominated for the Presidency by
an informal Democratic Convention, held
at Baltimore in May, 1844, but soon withdrew
from the canvass, perceiving that he
had not gained the confidence of the Democrats
at large.

Mr. Tyler's administration was particularly unfortunate.
No one was satisfied.
Whigs and Democrats alike assailed him.
Situated as he was, it is more than can
be expected of human nature that he
should, in all cases, have acted in the wisest
manner; but it will probably be the verdict
of all candid men, in a careful review of his
career, that John Tyler was placed in a
position of such difficulty that he could not
pursue any course which would not expose
him to severe censure and denunciation.

In 1813 Mr. Tyler married Letitia Christian,
who bore him three sons and three
daughters, and died in Washington in 1842.
June 26, 1844, he contracted a second marriage
with Miss Julia Gardner, of New
York. He lived in almost complete retirement
from politics until February, 1861,
when he was a member of the abortive
"peace convention," held at Washington,
and was chosen its President. Soon after
he renounced his allegiance to the United
States and was elected to the Confederate
Congress. He died at Richmond, January
17, 1862, after a short iilness.

Unfortunately for his memory the name
of John Tyler must forever be associated
with all the misery of that terrible Rebellion,
whose cause he openly espoused.
It is with sorrow that history records that
a President of the United States died while
defending the flag of rebellion, which was
arrayed against the national banner in
deadly warfare.

64 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

JAMES KNOX POLK,
the eleventh President of
the United States, 1845-49,
was born in Mecklenburg
County, North
Carolina, November 2,
1795. He was the eldest
son of a family of six sons
and four daughters, and was
a grand-nephew of Colonel
Thomas Polk, celebrated in
connection with the Mecklenburg
Declaration of Independence.

In 1806 his father, Samuel
Polk, emigrated with his family
two or three hundred miles west to the
valley of the Duck River. He was a surveyor
as well as farmer, and gradually increased
in wealth until he became one of
the leading men of the region.

In the common schools James rapidly became
proficient in all the common branches
of an English education. In 1813 he was
sent to Murfreesboro Academy, and in the
autumn of 1815 entered the sophomore class
in the University of North Carolina, at
Chapel Hill, graduating in 1818. After a
short season of recreation he went to Nashville
and entered the law office of Felix
Grundy. As soon as he had his finished

legal studies and been admitted to the bar,
he returned to Columbia, the shire town of
Maury County, and opened an office.

James K. Polk ever adhered to the political
faith of his father, which was that of
a Jeffersonian Republican. In 1823 he was
elected to the Legislature of Tennessee. As
a " strict constructionist," he did not think
that the Constitution empowered the General Government
to carry on a system of
internal improvements in the States, but
deemed it important that it should have
that power, and wished the Constitution
amended that it might be conferred. Subsequently,
however, he became alarmed lest
the General Government become so strong
as to undertake to interfere with slavery.
He therefore gave all his influence to
strengthen the State governments, and to
check the growth of the central power.

In January, 1824, Mr. Polk married Miss
Mary Childress, of Rutherford County, Tennessee.
Had some one then whispered to
him that he was destined to become President
of the United States, and that he must
select for his companion one who would
adorn that distinguished station, he could
not have made a more fitting choice. She
was truly a lady of rare beauty and culture.

In the fall of 1825 Mr. Polk was chosen
a member of Congress, and was continuously

JAMES K. POLK 67

re-elected until 1839. He then withdrew,
only that he might accept the
gubernatorial chair of his native State.
He was a warm friend of General Jackson,
who had been defeated in the electoral
contest by John Quincy Adams. This
latter gentleman had just taken his seat in
the Presidential chair when Mr. Polk took
his seat in the House of Representatives.
He immediately united himself with the
opponents of Mr. Adams, and was soon
regarded as the leader of the Jackson party
in the House.

The four years of Mr. Adams' administration
passed away, and General Jackson
took the Presidential chair. Mr. Polk had
now become a man of great influence in
Congress, and was chairman of its most
important committee-that of Ways and
Means. Eloquently he sustained General
Jackson in all his measures-in his hostility
to internal improvements, to the banks, and
to the tariff. Eight years of General Jackson's
administration passed away, and the
powers he had wielded passed into the
hands of Martin Van Buren; and still Mr.
Polk remained in the House, the advocate
of that type of Democracy which those
distinguished men upheld.

During five sessions of Congress Mr.
Polk was speaker of the House. He performed
his arduous duties to general satisfaction,
and a unanimous vote of thanks to
him was passed by the House as he withdrew,
March 4, 1839. He was elected
Governor by a large majority, and took
the oath of office at Nashville, October I4,
1839. He was a candidate for re-election
in 1841, but was defeated. In the meantime
a wonderful revolution had swept
over the country. W. H. Harrison,the Whig
candidate, had been called to the Presidential
chair, and in Tennessee the Whig ticket
had been carried by over 12,000 majority.
Under these circumstances Mr. Polk's success
was hopeless. Still he canvassed the

State with his Whig competitor, Mr. Jones,
traveling in the most friendly manner together,
often in the same carriage, and at
one time sleeping in the same bed. Mr.
Jones was elected by 3,000 majority.

And now the question of the annexation
of Texas to our country agitated the whole
land. When this question became national
Mr. Polk, as the avowed champion of annexation,
became the Presidential candidate
of the pro-slavery wing of the Democratic
party, and George M. Dallas their candidate
for the Vice-Presidency. They were
elected by a large majority, and were inaugurated March 4, 1845.

President Polk formed an able cabinet,
consisting of James Buchanan, Robert J.
Walker, William L. Marcy, George Bancroft,
Cave Johnson and John Y. Mason.
The Oregon boundary question was settled,
the Department of the Interior was created,
the low tariff of 1846 was carried, the
financial system of the Government was
reorganized, the Mexican war was conducted,
which resulted in the acquisition of
California and New Mexico, and had far-reaching
consequences upon the later fortunes
of the republic. Peace was made.
We had wrested from Mexico territory
equal to four times the empire of France,
and five times that of Spain. In the prosecution
of this war we expended 20,000
lives and more than $100,000,000. Of this
money $15,000,000 were paid to Mexico.

Declining to seek a renomination, Mr.
Polk retired from the Presidency March 4,
1849, when he was succeeded by General
Zachary Taylor. He retired to Nashville,
and died there June 19, 1849, in the fifty-fourth
year of his age. His funeral was attended the following day,
in Nashville, with
every demonstration of respect. He left
no children. Without being possessed of
extraordinary talent, Mr. Polk was a capable
administrator of public affairs, and irreproachable in private life.

68 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

ZACHARY TAYLOR,
the twelfth
President of the
United States,
1849-'50, was born
in Orange County,
Virginia, September
24, 1784. His father,
Richard Taylor, was Colonel
of a Virginia regiment
in the Revolutionary war,
and removed to Kentucky
in 1785; purchased a large
plantation near Louisville
and became an influential citizen;
was a member of the convention that
framed the Constitution of Kentucky; served
in both branches of the Legislature; was
Collector of the port of Louisville under
President Washington; as a Presidential
elector, voted for Jefferson, Madison, Monroe
and Clay; died January I9,1829.
Zachary remained on his father's plantation
until 1808, in which year (May 3) he
was appointed First Lieutenant in the
Seventh Infantry, to fill a vacancy occasioned
by the death of his elder brother,
Hancock. Up to this point he had received
but a limited education.

Joining his regiment at New Orleans, he

was attacked with yellow fever, with nearly
fatal termination. In November, 1810, he
was promoted to Captain, and in the summer
of 1812 he was in command of Fort
Harrison, on the left bank of the Wabash
River, near the present site of Terre Haute,
his successful defense of which with but a
handful of men against a large force of
Indians which had attacked him was one of
the first marked military achievements of
the war. He was then brevetted Major,
and in 1814 promoted to the full rank.

During the remainder of the war Taylor
was actively employed on the Western
frontier. In the peace organization of 1815
he was retained as Captain, but soon after
resigned and settled near Louisville. In
May, 1816, however, he re-entered the army
as Major of the Third Infantry; became
Lieutenant-Colonel of the Eighth Infantry
in 1819, and in 1832 attained the Colonelcy
of the First Infantry, of which he had been
Lieutenant-Colonel since 1821. On different
occasions he had been called to Washington
as member of a military board for organizing
the militia of the Union, and to aid the
Government with his knowledge in the
organization of the Indian Bureau, having
for many years discharged the duties of
Indian agent over large tracts of Western

ZACHARY TAYLOR. 71

country. He served through the Black
Hawk war in 1832, and in 1837 was ordered
to take command in Florida, then the scene
of war with the Indians.

In 1846 he was transferred to the command
of the Army of the Southwest, from
which he was relieved the same year at his
own request. Subsequently he was stationed
on the Arkansas frontier at Forts
Gibbon, Smith and Jesup, which latter work
had been built under his direction in 1822.

May 28, 1845, he received a dispatch from
the Secretary of War informing him of the
receipt of information by the President
"that Texas would shortly accede to the
terms of annexation," in which event he
was instructed to defend and protect her
from "foreign invasion and Indian incursions."
He proceeded, upon the annexation
of Texas, with about 1,500 men to Corpus
Christi, where his force was increased to
some 4,000.

Taylor was brevetted Major-General May
28, and a month later, June 29, 1846, his full
commission to that grade was issued. After
needed rest and reinforcement, he advanced
in September on Monterey, which city capitulated
after three-days stubborn resistance. Here he took up his winter quarters.
The plan for the invasion of Mexico, by
way of Vera Cruz, with General Scott in
command, was now determined upon by
the Govenrment, and at the moment Taylor
was about to resume active operations, he
received orders to send the larger part of
his force to reinforce the army of General
Scott at Vera Cruz. Though subsequently
reinforced by raw recruits, yet after providing
a garrison for Monterey and Saltillo
he had but about 5,300 effective troops, of
which but 500 or 600 were regulars. In
this weakened condition, however, he was
destined to achieve his greatest victory.
Confidently relying upon his strength at
Vera Cruz to resist the enemy for a long
time, Santa Anna directed his entire army

against Taylor to overwhelm him, and then
to return to oppose the advance of Scott's
more formidable ipvasion. The battle of
Buena Vista was fought February 22 and
23, 1847. Taylor received the thanks of
Congress and a gold medal, and "Old
Rough and Ready," the sobriquet given
him in the army, became a household word.
He remained in quiet possession of the
Rio Grande Valley until November, when
he returned to the United States.

In the Whig convention which met at
Philadelphia,June 7, 1848, Taylor was nominated
on the fourth ballot as candidate A;
the Whig party for President, over Henry
Clay, General Scott and Daniel Webster.
In November Taylor received a majority
of electoral votes, and a popular vote of
1,360,752, against 1,219,962 for Cass and
Butler, and 291,342 for Van Buren and
Adams. General Taylor was inaugurated
March 4, 1849.

The free and slave States being then equal
in number, the struggle for supremacy on
the part of the leaders in Congress was
violent and bitter. In the summer of 1849
California adopted in convention a Constitution prohibiting
slavery within its borders.
Taylor advocated the immediate admission
of California with her Constitution, and the
postponement of the question as to the other
Territories until they could hold conventions
and decide for themselves whether
slavery should exist within their borders.
This policy ultimately prevailed through
the celebrated " Compromise Measures" of
Henry Clay; but not during the life of the
brave soldier and patriot statesman. July
5 he was taken suddenly ill with a bilious
fever, which proved fatal, his death occurring
July 9, 1850. One of his daughters
married Colonel W. W. S. Bliss, his Adjutant-General
and Chief of Staff in Florida
and Mexico, and Private Secretary during
his Presidency. Another daughter was
married to Jefferson Davis.

72 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

MILLARD FILLMORE,
the thirteenth
President of the United
States, 1850-'3, was
born in Summer
Hill, Cayuga
County, New York, January
7, 1800. He was of
New England ancestry, and
his educational advantages
were limited. He early
learned the clothiers' trade,
but spent all his leisure time
in study. At nineteen years
of age he was induced by
Judge Walter Wood to abandon his trade
and commence the study of law. Upon
learning that the young man was entirely
destitute of means, he took him into his
own office and loaned him such money as
he needed. That he might not be heavily
burdened with debt, young Fillmore taught
school during the winter months, and in
various other ways helped himself along.

At the age of twenty-three he was ad-
mitted to the Court of Common Pleas, and
commenced the practice of his profession
in the village of Aurora, situated on the

eastern bank of the Cayuga Lake. In 1825
he married Miss Abigail Powers, daughter
of Rev. Lemuel Powers, a lady of great
moral worth. In 1825 he took his seat in
the House of Assembly of his native State,
as Representative from Erie County,
whither he had recently moved.

Though he had never taken a very
active part in politics his vote and his sympathies
were with the Whig party. The
State was then Democratic, but his courtesy,
ability and integrity won the respect
of his associates. In 1832 he was elected
to a seat in the United States Congress.
At the close of his term he returned to his
law practice, and in two years more he was
again elected to Congress.

He now began to have a national reputation.
His labors were very arduous. To
draft resolutions in the committee room,
and then to defend them against the most
skillful opponents on the floor of the House
requires readiness of mind, mental resources
and skill in debate such as few possess.
Weary with these exhausting labors, and
pressed by the claims of his private affairs,
Mr. Fillmore wrote a letter to his constituents
and declined to be a candidate for re.
election. Notwithstanding this communication

MILLARD FILLMORE. 75

his friends met in convention and
renominated him by acclamation. Though
gratified by this proof of their appreciation
of his labors he adhered to his resolve and
returned to his home.

In 1847 Mr. Fillmore was elected to the
important office of comptroller of the State.
In entering upon the very responsible duties
which this situation demanded, it was necessary
for him to abandon his profession,
and he removed to the city of Albany. In
this year, also, the Whigs were looking
around to find suitable candidates for the
President and Vice-President at the approaching election,
and the names of Zachary
Taylor and Millard Fillmore became
the rallying cry of the Whigs. On the 4th
of March, 1849, General Taylor was inaugurated President
and Millard Fillmore
Vice-President of the United States.

The great question of slavery had assumed
enormous proportions, and permeated
every subject that was brought before
Congress. It was evident that the strength
of our institutions was to be severely tried.
July 9, 1850, President Taylor died, and, by
the Constitution, Vice-President Fillmore
became President of the United States.
The agitated condition of the country
brought questions of great delicacy before
him. He was bound by his oath of office
to execute the laws of the United States.
One of these laws was understood to be,
that if a slave, escaping from bondage,
should reach a free State, the United States
was bound to do its utmost to capture him
and return him to his master. Most Christian
men loathed this law. President Fillmore
felt bound by his oath rigidly to see
it enforced. Slavery was organizing armies
to invade Cuba as it had invaded Texas,
and annex it to the United States. President
Fillmore gave all the influence of his
exalted station against the atrocious enterprise.

Mr. Fillmore had serious difficulties to

contend with, since the opposition had a
majority in both Houses. He did everything
in his power to conciliate the South,
but the pro-slavery party in that section
felt the inadequency of all measures of transient
conciliation. The population of the
free States was so rapidly increasing over
that of the slave States, that it was inevitable
that the power of the Government
should soon pass into the hands of the free
States. The famous compromise measures
were adopted under Mr. Fillmore's administration,
and the Japan expedition was
sent out.

March 4, 1853, having served one term,
President Fillmore retired from office. He
then took a long tour through the South,
where he met with quite an enthusiastic
reception. In a speech at Vicksburg, alluding
to the rapid growth of the country,
he said:

"Canada is knocking for admission, and
Mexico would be glad to come in, and
without saying whether it would be right
or wrong, we stand with open arms to receive
them; for it is the manifest destiny of
this Government to embrace the whole
North American Continent."

In 1855 Mr. Fillmore went to Europe
where he was received with those marked
attentions which his position and character
merited. Returning to this country in
1856 he was nominated for the Presidency
by the "Know-Nothing" party. Mr. Buchanan,
the Democratic candidate was
the successful competitor. Mr. Fillmore
ever afterward lived in retirement. During
the conflict of civil war he was mostly
silent. It was generally supposed, how-
ever, that his sympathy was with the Southern Confederacy.
He kept aloof from the
conflict without any words of cheer to the
one party or the other. For this reason
he was forgotten by both. He died of
paralysis, in Buffalo, New York, March 8,
1874.

76 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

FRANKLIN PIERCE,
the fourteenth President
of the United
States, was born in
Hillsborough, New
Hampshire, November
23, 1804. His
f a t h e r, Governor
Benjamin Pierce, was a Revolutionary
soldier, a man of
rigid integrity; was for several
years in the State Legislature,
a member of the Governor's
council and a General
of the militia.

Franklin was the sixth of eight children.
As a boy he listened eagerly to the arguments
of his father, enforced by strong and
ready utterance and earnest gesture. It
was in the days of intense political excitement, when,
all over the New England
States, Federalists and Democrats were arrayed
so fiercely against each other.

In 1820 he entered Bowdoin College, at
Brunswick, Maine, and graduated in 1824,
and commenced the study of law in the
office of Judge Woodbury, a very distinguished lawyer,
and in 1827 was admitted
to the bar. He practiced with great success
in Hillsborough and Concord. He served

in the State Legislature four years, the last
two of which he was chosen Speaker of the
House by a very large vote.

In 1833 he was elected a member of Congress.
In 1837 he was elected to the United
States Senate, just as Mr. Van Buren commenced
his administration.

In 1834 he married Miss Jane Means
Appleton, a lady admirably fitted to adorn
every station with which her husband was
honored. Three sons born to them all
found an early grave.

Upon his accession to office, President
Polk appointed Mr. Pierce Attorney-General
of the United States, but the offer was
declined in consequence of numerous professional
engagements at home and the
precarious state of Mrs. Pierce's health.
About the same time he also declined the
nomination for Governor by the Democratic
party.

The war with Mexico called Mr. Pierce
into the army. Receiving the appointment
of Brigadier-General, he embarked with a
portion of his troops at Newport, Rhode
Island, May 27, 1847. He served during
this war, and distinguished himself by his
bravery, skill and excellent judgment.
When he reached his home in his native
State he was enthusiastically received by

FRANKLIN PIERCE. 79

the advocates of the war, and coldly by its
opponents. He resumed the practice of his
profession, frequently taking an active part
in political questions, and giving his support
to the pro-slavery wing of the Democratic
party.

June I2, 1852, the Democratic convention
met in Baltimore to nominate a candidate
for the Presidency. For four days they
continued in session, and in thirty-five ballotings
no one had received the requisite
two-thirds vote. Not a vote had been
thrown thus far for General Pierce. Then
the Virginia delegation brought forward
his name. There were fourteen more ballotings,
during which General Pierce
gained strength, until, at the forty-ninth
ballot, he received 282 votes, and all other
candidates eleven. General Winfield Scott
was the Whig candidate. General Pierce
was elected with great unanimity. Only
four States-Vermont, Massachusetts, Ken-
tucky and Tennessee-cast their electoral
votes against him. March 4, 1853, he was
inaugurated President of the United States,
and William R. King, Vice-President.

President Pierce's cabinet consisted of
William S. Marcy, James Guthrie, Jefferson
Davis, James C. Dobbin, Robert McClelland,
James Campbell and Caleb Cushing.

At the demand of slavery the Missouri
Compromise was repealed, and all the Territories
of the Union were thrown open to
slavery. The Territory of Kansas, west of
Missouri, was settled by emigrants mainly
from the North. According to law, they
were about to meet and decide whether
slavery or freedom should be the law of
that realm. Slavery in Missouri and
other Southern States rallied her armed
legions, marched them into Kansas, took
possession of the polls, drove away the
citizens, deposited their own votes by
handfuls, went through the farce of counting
them, and then declared that, by an
overwhelming majority, slavery was established

in Kansas. These facts nobody
denied, and yet President Pierce's administration
felt bound to respect the decision
obtained by such votes. The citizens of
Kansas, the majority of whom were free-State
men, met in convention and adopted
the following resolve:

"Resolved, That the body of men who,
for the past two months, have been passing
laws for the people of our Territory,
moved, counseled and dictated to by the
demagogues of other States, are to us a
foreign body, representing only the lawless
invaders who elected them, and not the
people of this Territory; that we repudiate
their action as the monstrous consummation
of an act of violence, usurpation and fraud
unparalleled in the history of the Union."

The free-State people of Kansas also sent
a petition to the General Government, imploring
its protection. In reply the President
issued a proclamation, declaring that
Legislature thus created must be recognized
as the legitimate Legislature of Kansas,
and that its laws were binding upon
the people, and that, if necessary, the whole
force of the Governmental arm would be
put forth to inforce those laws.

James Buchanan succeeded him in the
Presidency, and, March 4, 1857, President
Pierce retired to his home in Concord,
New Hampshire. When the Rebellion
burst forth Mr. Pierce remained steadfast
to the principles he had always cherished,
and gave his sympathies to the pro-slavery
party, with which he had ever been allied.
He declined to do anything, either by
voice or pen, to strengthen the hands of
the National Government. He resided in
Concord until his death, which occurred in
October, 1869. He was one of the most
genial and social of men, generous to
a fault, and contributed liberally of his
moderate means for the alleviation of suffering
and want. He was an honored
communicant of the Episcopal church.

80. PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

JAMES BUCHANAN

JAMES BUCHANAN, the
fifteenth President of the
United States, 1857-'61,
was born in Franklin
County, Pennsylvania,
April 23, 1791. The
place where his father's
cabin stood was called
Stony Batter, and it was
situated in a wild, romantic
a spot, in a gorge of mountains,
with towering summits
rising all around. He
was of Irish ancestry, his
father having emigrated in
1783, with very little property,
save his own strong arms.

James remained in his secluded home for
eight years enjoying very few social or
intellectual advantages. His parents were
industrious, frugal, prosperous and intelligent.
In 1799 his father removed to Mercersburg,
where James was placed in
school and commenced a course in English,
Greek and Latin. His progress was rapid
and in 1801 he entered Dickinson College
at Carlisle. Here he took his stand among
the first scholars in the institution, and was
able to master the most abstruse subjects
with facility. In 1809 he graduated with
the highest honors in his class.

He was then eighteen years of age, tall,

graceful and in vigorous health, fond of
athletic sports, an unerring shot and enlivened
with an exuberant flow of animal
spirits. He immediately commenced the
study of law in the city of Lancaster, and
was admitted to the bar in 1812. He rose
very rapidly in his profession and at once
took undisputed stand with the ablest lawyers
of the State. When but twenty-six
years of age, unaided by counsel, he successfully
defended before the State Senate
one of the Judges of the State, who was
tried upon articles of impeachment. At
the age of thirty it was generally admitted
that he stood at the head of the bar, and
there was no lawyer in the State who had
a more extensive or lucrative practice.

In 1812, just after Mr. Buchanan had
entered upon the practice of the law, our
second war with England occurred. With
all his powers he sustained the Government,
eloquently urging the rigorous prosecution
of the war; and even enlisting as a
private soldier to assist in repelling the
British, who had sacked Washington and
were threatening Baltimore. He was at
that time a Federalist, but when the Constitution
was adopted by both parties,
Jefferson truly said, "We are all Federal-
ists: we are all Republicans."

The opposition of the Federalists to the
war with England, and the alien and sedition

JAMES BUCHANAN. 83

tion laws of John Adams, brought the party
into dispute, and the name of Federalist
became a reproach. Mr. Buchanan almost
immediately upon entering Congress began
to incline more and more to the Republicans.
In the stormy Presidential election
of 1824, in which Jackson, Clay, Crawford
and John Quincy Adams were candidates,
Mr. Buchanan espoused the cause of General
Jackson and unrelentingly opposed the
administration of Mr. Adams.

Upon his elevation to the Presidency,
General Jackson appointed Mr. Buchanan,
minister to Russia. Upon his return in 1833
he was elected to a seat in the United States
Senate. He there met as his associates,
Webster, Clay, Wright and Calhoun. He
advocated the measures proposed by President
Jackson of making reprisals against
France, and defended the course of the President
in his unprecedented and wholesale
removals from office of those who were not
the supporters of his administration. Upon
this question he was brought into direct collision
with Henry Clay. In the discussion
of the question respecting the admission of
Michigan and Arkansas into the Union, Mr.
Buchanan defined his position by saying:

"The older I grow, the more I am inclined
to be what is called a State-rights
man.

M. de Tocqueville, in his renowned work
upon "Democracy in America," foresaw
the trouble which was inevitable from the
doctrine of State sovereignty as held by
Calhoun and Buchanan. He was convinced
that the National Government was
losing that strength which was essential
to its own existence, and that the States
were assuming powers which threatened
the perpetuity of the Union. Mr. Buchanan
received the book in the Senate and declared
the fears of De Tocqueville to be
groundless, and yet he lived to sit in the
Presidential chair and see State after State,
in accordance with his own views of State

rights, breaking from the Union, thus
crumbling our Republic into ruins; while
the unhappy old man folded his arms in
despair, declaring that the National Constitution
invested him with no power to arrest
the destruction.

Upon Mr. Polk's accession to the Presidency, Mr.
Buchanan became Secretary of
State, and as such took his share of the
responsibility in the conduct of the Mexican
war. At the close of Mr. Polk's administration,
Mr. Buchanan retired to private
life; but his intelligence, and his great
ability as a statesman, enabled him to exert
a powerful influence in National affairs.

Mr. Pierce, upon his election to the
Presidency, honored Mr. Buchanan with
the mission to England. In the year 1856
the National Democratic convention nominated
Mr. Buchanan for the Presidency.
The political conflict was one of the most
severe in which our country has ever engaged.
On the 4th of March, 1857, Mr.
Buchanan was inaugurated President. His
cabinet were Lewis Cass, Howell Cobb,
J. B. Floyd, Isaac Toucey, Jacob Thompson,
A. V. Brown and J. S. Black.

The disruption of the Democratic party,
in consequence of the manner in which the
issue of the nationality of slavery was
pressed by the Southern wing, occurred at
the National convention, held at Charleston
in April, 1860, for the nomination of Mr.
Buchanan's successor, when the majority
of Southern delegates withdrew upon the
passage of a resolution declaring that the
constitutional status of slavery should be
determined by the Supreme Court.

In the next Presidential canvass Abraham
Lincoln was nominated by the opponents
of Mr. Buchanan's administration.
Mr. Buchanan remained in Washington
long enough to see his successor installed
and then retired to his home in Wheatland.
He died June 1, 1868, aged seventy-seven
years.

84 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
the sixteenth
President of the
United States, 1861-'5,
was born February
12, 1809, in Larue
(then Hardin) County,
Kentucky, in a cabin on Nolan
Creek, three miles west of
Hudgensville. His parents
were Thomas and Nancy
(Hanks) Lincoln. Of his ancestry
and early years the little
that is known may best be
given in his own language: "My
parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished
families-second families, perhaps
I should say. My mother, who died
in my tenth year, was of a family of the
name of Hanks, some of whom now remain
in Adams. and others in Macon County,
Illinois. My paternal grandfather, Abraham
Lincoln, emigrated from Rockbridge
County, Virginia, to Kentucky in 1781 or
1782, where, a year or two later, he was
killed by Indians-not in battle, but by
stealth, when he was laboring to open a
farm in the forest. His ancestors, who were
Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks
County, Pennsylvania. An effort to identify

them with the New England family of
the same name ended in nothing more definite
than a similarity of Christian names in
both families, such as Enoch, Levi, Mordecai,
Solomon, Abraham and the like.
My father, at the death of his father, was
but six years of age, and he grew up, literally,
without education. He removed from
Kentucky to what is now Spencer County,
Indiana, in my eighth year. We reached
our new home about the time the State came
into the Union. It was a wild region, with
bears and other wild animals still in the
woods. There I grew to manhood.

"There were some schools, so called, but
no qualification was ever required of a
teacher beyond ' readin', writin', and cipherin'
to the rule of three.' If a straggler, supposed
to understand Latin, happened to
sojourn in the neighborhood, he was looked
upon as a wizard. There was absolutely
nothing to excite ambition for education.
O0 course, when I came of age I did not
know much. Still, somehow, I could read,
write and cipher to the rule of three, and
that was all. I have not been to school
since. The little advance I now have upon
this store of education I have picked up
from time to time under the pressure of
necessity. I was raised to farm-work, which

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 87

I continued till I was twenty-two. At
twenty-one I came to Illinois and passed
the first year in Macon County. Then I got
to New Salem, at that time in Sangamon,
now in Menard County, where I remained
a year as a sort of clerk in a store.

"Then came the Black Hawk war, and I
was elected a Captain of volunteers-a success
which gave me more pleasure than any
I have had since. I went the campaign,
was elated; ran for the Legislature the
same year (1832) and was beaten, the only
time I have ever been beaten by the people.
The next and three succeeding biennial
elections I was elected to the Legislature,
and was never a candidate afterward.

"During this legislative period I had
studied law, and removed to Springfield to
practice it. In 1846 I was elected to the
Lower House of Congress; was not a candidate
for re-election. From 1849 to 1854,
inclusive, I practiced the law more assid-
uously than ever before. Always a Whig
in politics, and generally on the Whig electoral
tickets, making active canvasses, I was
losing interest in politics, when the repeal
of the Missouri Compromise roused me
again. What I have done since is pretty
well known."

The early residence of Lincoln in Indiana
was sixteen miles north of the Ohio
River, on Little Pigeon Creek, one and a
half miles east of Gentryville, within the
present township of Carter. Here his
mother died October 5, 1818, and the next
year his father married Mrs. Sally (Bush)
Johnston, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky. She
was an affectionate foster-parent, to whom
Abraham was indebted for his first encouragement
to study. He became an eager
reader, and the few books owned in the
vicinity were many times perused. He
worked frequently for the neighbors as a
farm laborer; was for some time clerk in a
store at Gentryville; and became famous
throughout that region for his athletic

powers, his fondness for argument, his inexhaustible
fund of humerous anecdote, as
well as for mock oratory and the composition
of rude satirical verses. In 1828 he
made a trading voyage to New Orleans as
"bow-hand" on a flatboat; removed to
Illinois in 1830; helped his father build a
log house and clear a farm on the north
fork of Sangamon River, ten miles west of
Decatur, and was for some time employed
in splitting rails for the fences-a fact which
was prominently brought forward for a
political purpose thirty years later.

In the spring of 1851 he, with two of his
relatives, was hired to build a flatboat on
the Sangamon River and navigate it to
New Orleans. The boat "stuck" on a
mill-dam, and was got off with great labor
through an ingenious mechanical device
which some years later led to Lincoln's
taking out a patent for "an improved
method for lifting vessels over shoals."
This voyage was memorable for another
reason-the sight of slaves chained, maltreated
and flogged at New Orleans was
the origin of his deep convictions upon the
slavery question.

Returning from this voyage he became a
resident for several years at New Salem, a
recently settled village on the Sangamon,
where he was successively a clerk, grocer,
surveyor and postmaster, and acted as pilot
to the first steamboat that ascended the
Sangamon. Here he studied law, interested
himself in local politics after his
return from the Black Hawk war, and
became known as an effective "stump
speaker." The subject of his first political
speech was the improvement of the channel
of the Sangamon, and the chief ground on
which he announced himself (1832) a candidate
for the Legislature was his advocacy
of this popular measure, on which subject
his practical experience made him the highest authority.

Elected to the Legislature in 1834 as a

88 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

"Henry Clay Whig," he rapidly acquired
that command of language and that homely
but forcible rhetoric which, added to his
intimate knowledge of the people from
which he sprang, made him more than a
match in debate for his few well-educated
opponents.

Admitted to the bar in 1837 he soon
established himself at Springfield, where
the State capital was located in 1839,
largely through his influence; became a
successful pleader in the State, Circuit and
District Courts; married in 1842 a lady belonging
to a prominent family in Lexington,
Kentucky; took an active part in the Presidential
campaigns of 1840 and 1844 as
candidate for elector on the Harrison and
Clay tickets, and in 1846 was elected to the
United States House of Representatives
over the celebrated Peter Cartwright.
During his single term in Congress he did
not attain any prominence.

He voted for the reception of anti-slavery
petitions, for the abolition of the slave trade
in the District of Columbia and for the
Wilmot proviso; but was chiefly remembered
for the stand he took against the
Mexican war. For several years thereafter
he took comparatively little interest
in politics, but gained a leading position at
the Springfield bar. Two or three non-political
lectures and an eulogy on Henry
Clay (1852) added nothing to his reputation.

In 1854 the repeal of the Missouri
Compromise by the Kansas-Nebraska act
aroused Lincoln from his indifference, and
in attacking that measure he had the immense
advantage of knowing perfectly well
the motives and the record of its author,
Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, then popularly
designated as the " Little Giant." The
latter came to Springfield in October, 1854,
on the occasion of the State Fair, to vindicate
his policy in the Senate, and the " Anti-Nebraska"
Whigs, remembering that Lincoln
had often measured his strength with

Douglas in the Illinois Legislature and before
the Springfield Courts, engaged him
to improvise a reply. This speech, in the
opinion of those who heard it, was one of
the greatest efforts of Lincoln's life; certainly
the most effective in his whole career.
It took the audience by storm, and from
that moment it was felt that Douglas had
met his match. Lincoln was accordingly
selected as the Anti-Nebraska candidate for
the United States Senate in place of General
Shields, whose term expired March 4, 1855,
and led to several ballots; but Trumbull
was ultimately chosen.

The second conflict on the soil of Kansas,
which Lincoln had predicted, soon began.
The result was the disruption of the
Whig and the formation of the Republican
party. At the Bloomington State Convention
in 1856, where the new party first
assumed form in Illinois, Lincoln made an
impressive address, in which for the first
time he took distinctive ground against
slavery in itself.

At the National Republican Convention
at Philadelphia, June 17, after the nomination
of Fremont, Lincoln was put forward
by the Illinois delegation for the
Vice-Presidency, and received on the first
ballot 110 votes against 259 for William L.
Dayton. He took a prominent part in the
canvass, being on the electoral ticket.

In 1858 Lincoln was unanimously nominated
by the Republican State Convention
as its candidate for the United States Senate
in place of Douglas, and in his speech of
acceptance used the celebrated illustration
of a "house divided against itself" on the
slavery question, which was, perhaps, the
cause of his defeat. The great debate carried
on at all the principal towns of Illinois
between Lincoln and Douglas as rival Senatorial candidates
resulted at the time in the
election of the latter; but being widely circulated
as a campaign document, it fixed
the attention of the country upon the

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 89

former, as the clearest and most convincing
exponent of Republican doctrine.

Early in 1859 he began to be named in
Illinois as a suitable Republican candidate
for the Presidential campaign of the ensuing
year, and a political address delivered
at the Cooper Institute, New York, February
27, 1860, followed by similar speeches
at New Haven, Hartford and elsewhere in
New England, first made him known to the
Eastern States in the light by which he had
long been regarded at home. By the Republican
State Convention, which met at
Decatur, Illinois, May 9 and 10, Lincoln
was unanimously endorsed for the Presidency.
It was on this occasion that two
rails, said to have been split by his hands
thirty years before, were brought into the
convention, and the incident contributed
much to his popularity. The National
Republican Convention at Chicago, after
spirited efforts made in favor of Seward,
Chase and Bates, nominated Lincoln for
the Presidency, with Hannibal Hamlin
for Vice-President, at the same time adopting
a vigorous anti-slavery platform.

The Democratic party having been disorganized
and presenting two candidates,
Douglas and Breckenridge, and the remnant
of the " American" party having put
forward John Bell, of Tennessee, the Republican
victory was an easy one, Lincoln
being elected November 6 by a large plurality,
comprehending nearly all the Northern
States, but none of the Southern. The
secession of South Carolina and the Gulf
States was the immediate result, followed
a few months later by that of the border
slave States and the outbreak of the great
civil war.

The life of Abraham Lincoln became
thenceforth merged in the history of his
country. None of the details of the vast
conflict which filled the remainder of Lincoln's
life can here be given. Narrowly
escaping assassination by avoiding Baltimore

on his way to the capital, he reached
Washington February 23, and was inaugurated
President of the United States March
4, 1861.

In his inaugural address he said: "I hold,
that in contemplation of universal law and
the Constitution the Union of these States is
perpetual. Perpetuity is implied if not expressed
in the fundamental laws of all national
governments. It is safe to assert
that no government proper ever had a provision
in its organic law for its own termination.
I therefore consider that in view
of the Constitution and the laws, the Union
is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability
I shall take care, as the Constitution enjoins
upon me, that the laws of the United
States be extended in all the States. In
doing this there need be no bloodshed or violence,
and there shall be none unless it be
forced upon the national authority. The
power conferred to me will be used to hold,
occupy and possess the property and places
belonging to the Government, and to collect
the duties and imports, but beyond
what may be necessary for these objects
there will be no invasion, no using of force
against or among the people anywhere. In
your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen,
is the momentous issue of civil War.
The Government will not assail you. You
can have no conflict without being yourselves
the aggressors. You have no oath
registered in heaven to destroy the Government,
while I shall have the most solemn
one to preserve, protect and defend
it."

He called to his cabinet his principal
rivals for the Presidential nomination -
Seward, Chase, Cameron and Bates; secured
the co-operation of the Union Democrats,
headed by Douglas; called out 75,000
militia from the several States upon the first
tidings of the bombardment of Fort Sumter,
April 15; proclaimed a blockade of the
Southern posts April 19; called an extra

90 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

session of Congress for July 4, from which
he asked and obtained 400,000 men and
$400,000,000 for the war; placed McClellan
at the head of the Federal army on General
Scott's resignation, October 3; appointed
Edwin M. Stanton Secretary of War, January
14, 1862, and September 22, 1862,
issued a proclamation declaring the freedom
of all slaves in the States and parts of
States then in rebellion from and after
January 1, 1863. This was the crowning
act of Lincoln's career-the act by which
he will be chiefly known through all future
time-and it decided the war.

October 16, 1863, President Lincoln called
for 300,000 volunteers to replace those
whose term of enlistment had expired;
made a celebrated and touching, though
brief, address at the dedication of the
Gettysburg military cemetery, November
19, 1863; commissioned Ulysses S. Grant
Lieutenant-General and Commander-in-Chief
of the armies of the United States,
March 9, 1864; was re-elected President in
November of the same year, by a large
majority over General McClellan, with
Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, as Vice-President;
delivered a very remarkable address
at his second inauguration, March 4,
1865; visited the army before Richmond the
same month; entered the capital of the Confederacy
the day after its fall, and upon the
surrender of General Robert E. Lee's army,
April 9, was actively engaged in devising
generous plans for the reconstruction of the
Union, when, on the evening of Good Friday,
April 14, he was shot in his box at
Ford's Theatre, Washington, by John Wilkes
Booth, a fanatical actor, and expired early
on the following morning, April 15. Almost
simultaneously a murderous attack
was made upon William H. Seward, Secretary
of State.

At noon on the 15th of April Andrew

Johnson assumed the Presidency, and active
measures were taken which resulted in the
death of Booth and the execution of his
principal accomplices.

The funeral of President Lincoln was
conducted with unexampled solemnity and
magnificence. Impressive services were
held in Washington, after which the sad
procession proceeded over the same route
he had traveled four years before, from
Springfield to Washington. In Philadelphia
his body lay in state in Independence
Hall, in which he had declared before his
first inauguration "that I would sooner be
assassinated than to give up the principles
of the Declaration of Independence." He
was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery, near
Springfield, Illinois, on May 4, where a
monument emblematic of the emancipation
of the slaves and the restoration of the
Union mark his resting place.

The leaders and citizens of the expiring
Confederacy expressed genuine indignation
at the murder of a generous political adversary.
Foreign nations took part in mourning
the death of a statesman who had proved
himself a true representative of American
nationality. The freedmen of the South
almost worshiped the memory of their deliverer;
and the general sentiment of the
great Nation he had saved awarded him a
place in its affections, second only to that
held by Washington.

The characteristics of Abraham Lincoln
have been familiarly known throughout the
civilized world. His tall, gaunt, ungainly
figure, homely countenance, and his shrewd
mother-wit, shown in his celebrated conversations
overflowing in humorous and
pointed anecdote, combined with an accurate,
intuitive appreciation of the questions
of the time, are recognized as forming the
best type of a period of American history
now rapidly passing away.

90

93

NDREWJOHNSON,
the seventeenth Presi-
dent of the United
States, 1865-'9, w a s
born at Raleigh,
North Carolina, De-
*f 2 t cember 29, 1808.
His father died when
-81^^ he was four years old, and in
1X.>& nhis eleventh year he was ap-
f prenticed to a tailor. He nev-
er attended school, and did
not learn to read until late in
his apprenticeship, when he
suddenly acquired a passion for
obtaining knowledge, and devoted
all his spare time to reading.
After working two years as a journey-
man tailor at Lauren's Court-House, South
Carolina, he removed, in 1826, to Green-
ville, Tennessee, where he worked at his
trade and married. Under his wife's in-
structions he made rapid progress in his
education, and manifested such an intelli-
gent interest in local politics as to be
elected as " workingmen's candidate" al-
derman, in 1828, and mayor in 1830, being
twice re-elected to each office.
During this period he cultivated his tal-
ents as a public speaker by taking part in a

debating society, consisting largely of stu-
dents of Greenville College. In 1835, and
again in 1839, he was chosen to the lower
house of the Legislature, as a Democrat.
In 1841 he was elected State Senator, and
in 1843, Representative in Congress, being
re-elected four successive periods, until
1853, when he was chosen Governor of
Tennessee. In Congress he supported the
administrations of Tyler and Polk in their
chief measures, especially the annexation
of Texas, the adjustment of the Oregon
boundary, the Mexican war, and the tariff
of 1846.
In 1855 Mr. Johnson was re elected Gov-
ernor, and in 1857 entered the United
States Senate, where he was conspicuous
as an advocate of retrenchment and of the
Homestead bill, and as an opponent of the
Pacific Railroad. He was supported by the
Tennessee delegation to the Democratic
convention in 1860 for the Presidential
nomination, and lent his influence to the
Breckenridge wing of that party.
When the election of Lincoln had
brought about the first attempt at secession
in December, 1860, Johnson took in the
Senate a firm attitude for the Union, and
in May, 1861, on returning to Tennessee,
he was in imminent peril of suffering- from

. . .........

ATS

ANDREW OHSOV

93

94 PRESIDENTS IO. TILE-UN!.T- P-S-TA TES.

popular violence for his loyalty to the " old
flag." He was the leader of the Loyalists'
convention of East Tennessee, and during
the following winter was very active in or-
ganizing relief for the destitute loyal refu-
gees from that region, his own family being
among those compelled to leave.
By his course in this crisis Johnson came
prominently before the Northern public,
and when in March, 1862, he was appointed
by President Lincoln military Governor of
Tennessee, with the rank of Brigadier-Gen-
eral, he increased in popularity by the vig-'
orous and successful manner in which he
labored to restore order, protect Union
men and punish marauders. On the ap-
proach of the Presidential campaign of 1864,
the termination of the war being plainly
foreseen, and several Southern States being
partially reconstructed, it was felt that the
Vice-Presidency should be given to a South-
ern man of conspicuous loyalty, and Gov-
ernor Johnson was elected on the same
platform and ticket as President Lincoln;
and on the assassination of the latter suc-
ceeded to the Presidency, April 15, 1865.
In a public speech two days later he said:
"The American people must be taught, if
they do not already feel, that treason is a
crime and must be punished; that the Gov-
ernment will not always bear with its ene-
mies; that it is strong, not only to protect,
but to punish. In our peaceful history
treason has been almost unknown. The
people must understand that it is the black-
est of crimes, and will be punished." He
then added the ominous sentence: " In re-
gard to my future course, I make no prom-
ises, no pledges." President Johnson re-
tained the cabinet of Lincoln, and exhibited
considerable severity toward traitors in his
earlier acts and speeches, but he soon inaug-
urated a policy of reconstruction, proclaim-
ing a general amnesty to the late Confeder-
ates, and successively establishing provis-
ional Governments in the Southern States.

These States accordingly claimed represen-
tation in Congress in the following Decem-
ber, and the momentous question of what
should be the policy of the victorious Union
toward its late armed opponents was forced
upon that body.
Two considerations impelled the Repub.
lican majority to reject the policy of Presi,
dent Johnson: First, an apprehension that
the chief magistrate intended to undo the re-
sults of the war in regard to slavery; and,sec-
ond, the sullen attitude of the South, which
seemed to be plotting to regain the policy
which arms had lost. The credentials of the
Southern members elect were laid on the
table, a civil rights bill and a bill extending
the sphere of the Freedmen's Bureau were
passed over the executive veto, and the two
highest branches of the Government were
soon in open antagonism. The action of
Congress was characterized by the Presi-
dent as a "new rebellion." In July the
cabinet was reconstructed, Messrs. Randall,
Stanbury and Browning taking the places
of Messrs. Denison, Speed and Harlan, and
an unsuccessful attempt was made by
means of a general' convention in Philadel-
phia to form a new party on the basisof the
administration policy.
In an excursion to Chicago for the pur-
pose of laying a corner-stone of the monu-
ment to Stephen A. Douglas, President
Johnson, accompanied by several members
of the cabinet, passed through Philadelphia,
New York and Albany, in each of which
cities, and in other places along the route,
he made speeches justifying and explaining
his own policy, and violently denouncing
the action of Congress.
August I2, 1867, President Johnson re-
moved the Secretary of War, replacing
him by General Grant. Secretary Stanton
retired under protest, based upon the ten-
ure-of-office act which had been passed the
preceding March. The President then is-
sued a proclamation declaring the insurrec-

PRSIENS F JJ j~T1,DSTTFS

94

ANDRE W fOtHNSON.

tion at an end, and that " peace, order, tran-
quility and civil authority existed in and
throughout the United States." Another
proclamation enjoined obedience to the
Constitution and the laws, and an amnesty
was published September 7, relieving nearly
all the participants in the late Rebellion
from the disabilities thereby incurred, on
condition of taking the oath to support the
Constitution and the laws.
In December Congress refused to confirm
the removal of Secretary Stanton, who
thereupon resumed the exercise of his of-
fice; but February 21, 1868, President
Johnson again attempted to remove him,
appointing General Lorenzo Thomas in his
place. Stanton refused to vacate his post,
and was sustained by the Senate.
February 24 the House of Representa-
tives voted to impeach the President for
" high crime and misdemeanors," and March
5 presented eleven articles of impeachment
on the ground of his resistance to the exe-
cution of the acts of Congress, alleging, in
addition to the offense lately committed,
his public expressions of contempt for Con-
gress, in "certain intemperate, inflamma-
tory and scandalous harangues" pronounced
in August and September, 1866, and there-
after declaring that the Thirty-ninth Con-
gress of the United States was not a
competent legislative body, and denying
its power to propose Constitutional amend-
ments. March 23 the impeachment trial
began. the President appearing by counsel,
and resulted in acquittal, the vote lacking

one of the two-thirds vote required for
conviction.
The remainder of President Johnson's
term of office was passed without any such
conflicts as might have been anticipated.
He failed to obtain a nomination for re-
election by the Democratic party, though
receiving sixty-five votes on the first ballot.
July 4 and December 25 new proclamations
of pardon to the participants'in the late
Rebellion were issued, but were of little
effect. On the accession of General Grant
to the Presidency, March 4, 1869, Johnson
returned to Greenville, Tennessee. Unsuc-
cessful in 1870 and 1872 as a candidate re-
spectively for United States Senator and
Representative, he was finally elected to the
Senate in 1875, and took his seat in-the extra
session of March, in which his speeches
were comparatively temperate. He died
July 31, 1875, and was buried at Green-
ville.
President Johnson's administration was a
peculiarly unfortunate one. That he should
so soon become involved in bitter feud with
the Republican majority in Congress was
certainly a surprising and deplorable inci-
dent; yet, in reviewing the circumstances
after a lapse of so many years, it is easy to
find ample room for a charitable judgment
of both the parties in the heated contro-
versy, since it cannot be doubted that any
President, even Lincoln himself, had he
lived, must have sacrificed a large portion
of his popularity in carrying out any pos.
sible scheme of reconstruction.

I ~ ~

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

LYSSES SIMPSON
-[ GRANT, the eight-
eenth President of the
United States, 1869-'77,
was born April 27, 1822,
i ^ Mi ~.51. at P o int Pleasant,
o'~ [ Jill ' ~a^' Clermont County,
; 1 ' Ohio. His father was of Scotch
CP l HI descent, and a dealer in leather.
][fl l ., At the age of seventeen he en-
tered the Military Academy at
West Point, and four years later
4i[[ ii.graduated twenty-first in a class
"!j I.- °of thirty-nine, receiving the
li, ~'4 commission of Brevet Second
Lieutenant. He was assigned
to the Fourth Infantry and re-
mained in the army eleven years. He was
engaged in every battle of the Mexican war
except that of Buena Vista, and received
two brevets for gallantry.
In 1848 Mr. Grant married Julia,daughter
of Frederick Dent, a prominent merchant of
St. Louis, and in 1854, having reached the
grade of Captain, he resigned his commis-
sion in the army. For several years he fol-
lowed farming near St. Louis, but unsuc-
cessfully; and in 1860 he entered the leather
trade with his father at Galena, Illinois.
When the civil war broke out in 1861,
Grant was thirty-nine years of age, but en-
tirely unknown to public men and without

any personal acquaintance with great affairs.
President Lincoln's first call for troops was
made on the I5th of April, and on the i9th
Grant was drilling a company of volunteers
at Galena. He also offered his services to
the Adjutant-General of the army, but re-
ceived io reply. The Governor of Illinois,
however, employed him in the organization
of volunteer troops, and at the end of five
weeks he was appointed Colonel of the
Twenty-first Infantry. He took command
of his regiment in June, and reported first
to General Pope in Missouri. His superior
knowledge of military life rather surprised
his superior officers, who had never before
even heard of him, and they were thus led
to place him on the road to rapid advance-
ment. August 7 he was commissioned a
Brigadier-General of volunteers, the ap-
pointment having been made without his
knowledge. He had been unanimously
recommended by the Congressmen from
Illinois, not one of whom had been his
personal acquaintance. For a few weeks
he was occupied in watching the move-
ments of partisan forces in Missouri.
September I he was placed in command
of the District of Southeast Missouri, with
headquarters at Cairo, and on the 6th, with-
out orders, he seized Paducah, at the mouth
of the Tennessee River, and commanding
the navigation both of that stream and oJ

 e

96

)

ILYSE S GRYT 9

the Ohio. This stroke secured Kentucky
to the Union; for the State Legislature,
which had until then affected to be neutral,
at once declared in favor of the Govern-
ment. In November following, according
to orders, he made a demonstration about
eighteen miles below Cairo, preventing the
crossing of hostile troops into Missouri;
but in order to accomplish this purpose he
had to do some fighting, and that, too, with
only 3,000 raw recruits, against 7,000 Con-
federates. Grant carried off two pieces of
artillery and 200 prisoners.
After repeated applications to General
Halleck, his immediate superior, he was
allowed, in February, 1862, to move up the
Tennessee River against Fort Henry, in
conjunction with a naval force. The gun-
boats silenced the fort, and Grant immedi-
ately made preparations to attack Fort
Donelson, about twelve miles distant, on
the Cumberland River. Without waiting
for orders he moved his troops there, and
with I5,000 men began the siege. The
fort, garrisoned with 21,000 men, was a
strong one, but after hard fighting on three
successive days Grant forced an " Uncon-
ditional Surrender" (an alliteration upon
the initials of his name). The prize he capt-
ured consisted of sixty-five cannon, 17,600
small arms and I4,623 soldiers. About 4,-
ooo of the garrison had escaped in the night,
and 2,500 were killed or wounded. Grant's
entire loss was less than 2,000. This was the
first important success won by the national
troops during the war, and its strategic re-
sults were marked, as the entire States of
Kentucky and Tennessee at once fell into the
National hands. Our hero was made a
Major-General of Volunteers and placed in
command of the District of West Ten-
nessee.
In March, 1862, he was ordered to move
up the Tennessee River toward Corinth,
where the Confederates were concentrat-
ing a large army; but he was directed not
8

to attack. His forces, now numbering 38,000,
were accordingly encamped near Shi-
loh, or Pittsburg Landing, to await the
arrival of General Buell with 40,000 more;
but April 6 the Confederates came out from
Corinth 50,000 strong and attacked Grant
violently, hoping to overwhelm him before
Buell could arrive; 5,ooo of his troops were
beyond supporting distance, so that he was
largely outnumbered and forced back to the
river, where, however, he held out until
dark, when the head of Buell's column
came upon the field. The next day the
Confederates were driven back to Corinth,
nineteen miles. The loss was heavy on
both sides; Grant, being senior in rank to
Buell, commanded on both days. Two
days afterward Halleck arrived at the front
and assumed command of the army, Grant
remaining at the head of the right wing and
the reserve. On May 30 Corinth was
evacuated by the Confederates. In July
Halleck was made General-in-Chief, and
Grant succeeded him in command of the
Department of the Tennessee. September
19 the battle of Iuka was fought, where,
owing to Rosecrans's fault, only an incom-
plete victory was obtained.
Next, Grant, with 30,000 men, moved
down into Mississippi and threatened Vicks-
burg, while Sherman, with 40,000 men, was
sent by way of the river to attack that place
in front; but, owing to Colonel Murphy's
surrendering Holly Springs to the Con-
federates, Grant was so weakened that he
had to retire to Corinth, and then Sherman
failed to sustain his intended attack.
In January, 1863, General Grant took
command in person of all the troops in the
Mississippi Valley, and spent several months
in fruitless attempts to compel the surrender
or evacuation of Vicksburg; but July 4,
following, the place surrendered, with 31,-
600 men and 172 cannon, and the Mississippi
River thus fell permanently into the hands
of the Government. Grant was made a

U~rSSES S. RA NT

99

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STA TES.
.~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Major-General in the regular army, and in
October following he was placed in com-
mand of the Division of the Mississippi.
The same month he went to Chattanooga
and saved the Army of the Cumberland
from starvation, and drove Bragg from that
part of the country. This victory over-
threw the last important hostile force west
of the Alleghanies and opened the way for
the National armies into Georgia and Sher-
man's march to the sea.
The remarkable series of successes which
Grant had now achieved pointed him out
as the appropriate leader of the National
armies, and accordingly, in February, 1864,
the rank of Lieutenant-General was created
for him by Congress, and on March 17 he
assumed command of the armies of the
United States. Planning the grand final
campaign, he sent Sherman into Georgia,
Sigel into the valley of Virginia, and Butler
to capture Richmond, while he fought his
own way from the Rapidan to the James.
The costly but victorious battles of the
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna and
Cold Harbor were fought, more for the
purpose of annihilating Lee than to capture
any particular point. In June, 1864, the
siege of Richmond was begun. Sherman,
meanwhile, was marching and fighting daily
in Georgia and steadily advancing toward
Atlanta; but Sigel had been defeated in the
valley of Virginia, and was superseded by
Hunter. Lee sent Early to threaten the Na-
tional capital; whereupon Grant gathered
up a force which he placed under Sheridan,
and that commander rapidly drove Early,
in a succession of battles, through the valley
of Virginia and destroyed his army as an
organized force. The siege of Richmond
went on, and Grant made numerous attacks,
but was only partially successful. The
people of the North grew impatient, and
even the Government advised him to
abandon the attempt to take Richmond or
crush the Confederacy in that way; but he

never wavered. He resolved to "fight it
out on that line, if it took all summer."
By September Sherman had made his
way to Atlanta, and Grant then sent him
on his famous " mrharch to the sea," a route
which the chief had designed six months
before. He made Sherman's success possi-
ble, not only by holding Lee in front of
Richmond, but also by sending reinforce-
ments to Thomas, who then drew off and
defeated the only army which could have
confronted Sherman. Thus the latter was
left unopposed, and, with Thomas and Sheri-
dan, was used in the furtherance of Grant's
plans. Each executed his part in the great
design and contributed his share to the re-
sult at which Grant was aiming. Sherman
finally reached Savannah, Schofield beat
the enemy at Franklin, Thomas at Nash-
ville, and Sheridan wherever he met him;
and all this while General Grant was hold-
ing Lee, with the principal Confederate
army, near Richmond, as it were chained
and helpless. Then Schofield was brought
from the West, and Fort Fisher and Wil-
mington were captured on the sea-coast, so
as to afford him a foothold; from here he
was sent into the interior of- North Caro-
lina, and Sherman was ordered to move
northward to join him. When all this was
effected, and Sheridan could find no one else
to fight in the Shenandoah Valley, Grant
brought the cavalry leader to the front of
Richmond, and, making a last effort, drove
Lee from his entrenchments and captured
Richmond.
At the beginning of the final campaign
Lee had collected 73,000 fighting men in
the lines at Richmond, besides the local
militia and the gunboat crews, amounting
to 5,000 more. Including Sheridan's force
Grant had 10,000 men in the works before
Petersburg and Richmond. Petersburg fell
on the 2d of April, and Richmond on the
3d, and Lee fled in the direction of Lynch-
burg. Grant pursued with remorseiess

IOG

UL SSES S. GRANT.

energy, only stopping to strike fresh blows,
and Lee at last found himself not only out-
fought but also out-marched and out-gen-
eraled. Being completely surrounded, he
surrendered on the 9th of April, 1865, at
Appomattox Court-House, in the open field,
with 27,000 men, all that remained of his
army. This act virtually ended the war.
Thus, in ten days Grant had captured
Petersburg and Richmond, fought, by his
subordinates, the battles of Five Forks and
Sailor's Creek, besides numerous smaller
onos, captured 20,000 men in actual battle,
and received the surrender of 27,000 more
at Appomattox, absolutely annihilating an
army of 70,000 soldiers.
General Grant returned at once to Wash-
ington to superintend the disbandment of
the armies, but this pleasurable work was
scarcely begun when President Lincoln was
assassinated. It had doubtless been in-
tended to inflict the same fate upon Grant;
but he, fortunately, on account of leaving
Washington early in the evening, declined
an invitation to accompany the President
to the theater where the murder was com-
mitted. This event made Andrew Johnson
President, but left Grant by far the most
conspicuous figure in the public life of the
country. He became the object of an en-
thusiasm greater than had ever been known
in America. Every possible honor was
heaped upon him; the grade of General
was created for him by Congress; houses
were presented to him by citizens; towns
were illuminated on his entrance into them;
and, to cap the climax, when he made his
tour around the world, "all nations did him
honor" as they had never before honored
a foreigner.
The General, as Commander-in-Chief,
was placed in an embarrassing position by
the opposition of President Johnson to the
measures of Congress; but he directly man-
ifested his characteristic loyalty by obeying
Congress rather than the disaffected Presi-

dent, although for a short time he had
served in his cabinet as Secretary of War.
Of course, everybody thought of General
Grant as the next President of the United
States, and he was accordingly elected as
such in 1868 "by a large majority," and
four years later re-elected by a much larger
majority - the most overwhelming ever
given by the people of this country. His first
administration was distinguished by a ces-
sation of the strifes which sprang from the
war, by a large reduction of the National
debt, and by a settlement of the difficulties
with England which had grown out of the
depredations committed by privateers fit-
ted out in England during the war. This
last settlement was made by the famous
"Geneva arbitration," which saved to this
Government $i 5,000,000, but, more than all,
prevented a war with England. "Let us
have peace," was Grant's motto. And this
is the most appropriate place to remark
that above all Presidents whom this Gov-
ernment has ever had, General Grant was
the most non-partisan. He regarded the
Executive office as purely and exclusively
executive of the laws of Congress, irrespect-
ive of "politics." But every great man
has jealous, bitter enemies, a fact Grant
was well aware of.
After the close of his Presidency, our
General made his famous tour around the
world, already referred to, and soon after-
ward, in company with Ferdinand Ward,
of New York City, he engaged in banking
and stock brokerage, which business was
made disastrous to Grant, as well as to him-
self, by his rascality. By this time an in-
curable cancer of the tongue developed
itself in the person of the afflicted ex-
President, which ended his unrequited life
July 23, 1885. Thus passed away from
earth's turmoils the man, the General, who
was as truly the " father of this regenerated
country" as was Washington the father of
the infant nation.

__

Iot

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNI TED STATES.

X-K~ X .UTHERFORD BIRCH-
ARD HAYES, the nine-
% m7.~1~ EmIteenthPresident of
the United States,
1877-'81, was born in
Delaware, Ohio, Oc-
tober 4, 1822. His
ancestry can be traced as far
back as I280, when Hayes and
Rutherford were two Scottish
( :Sg chieftains fighting side by side
with Baliol, William Wallace
and Robert Bruce. Both fami-
lies belonged to the nobility,
owned extensive estates and had
a large following. The Hayes
family had, for a coat of-arms, a
shield, barred and surmounted by a flying
eagle. There was a circle of stars about
the eagle and above the shield, while on a
scroll underneath the shield was inscribed
the motto, "Recte." Misfortune overtaking
the family, George Hayes left Scotland in
1680, and settled in Windsor, Connecticut.
He was an industrious worker in wood and
iron, having a mechanical genius and a cul-
tivated mind. His son George was born
in Windsor and remained there during his
life.
Daniel Hayes, son of the latter, married
Sarah Lee, and lived in Simsbury, Con-

necticut. Ezekiel, son of Daniel, was born
in 1724, and was a manufacturer of scythes
at Bradford, Connecticut. Rutherford
Hayes, son of Ezekiel and grandfather of
President Hayes, was born in New Haven,
in August, 1756. He was a famous black-
smith and tavern-keeper. He immigrated to
Vermont at an unknown date, settling in
Brattleboro where he established a hotel.
Here his son Rutherford, father of Presi-
dent Hayes, was born. In September, 1813,
he married Sophia Birchard, of Wilming-
ton, Vermont, whose ancestry on the male
side is traced back to 1635, to John Birch-
ard, one of the principal founders of Nor-
wich. Both of her grandfathers were
soldiers in the Revolutionary war.
The father of President Hayes was of a
mechanical turn, and could mend a plow,
knit a stocking, or do almost anything that
he might undertake. He was prosperous
in business, a member of the church and
active in all the benevolent enterprises of
the town. After the close of the war of 1812
he immigrated to Ohio, and purchased a
farm near the present town of Delaware.
His family then consisted of his wife and
two children, and an orphan girl whom he
had adopted.
It was in 1817 that the family arrived at
Delaware. Instead of settling upon his

____ q

102

0 -y{/La3Xe I

{fi Kl ^. < i

I_~ ~~~~~RTEFR B.~ HAYS 0

farm, Mr. Hayes concluded to enter into
business in the village. He purchased an
interest in a distillery, a business then as re-
spectable as it was profitable. His capital
and recognized ability assured him the
highest social position in the community.
He died July 22, 1822, less than three
months before the birth of the son that was
destined to fill the office of President of the
United States.
Mrs. Hayes at this period was very weak,
and the subject of this sketch was so feeble
at birth that he was not expected to live
beyond a month or two at most. As the
months went by he grew weaker and weaker
so that the neighbors were in the habit of
inquiring from time to time "if Mrs.
Hayes's baby died last night." On one oc-
casion a neighbor, who was on friendly
terms with the family, after alluding to the
boy's big head and the mother's assiduous
care of him, said to her, in a bantering way,
"That's right! Stick to him. You have
got him along so far, and I shouldn't won-
der if he would really come to something
yet." "You need not laugh," said Mrs.
Hayes, " you wait and see. You can't tell
but I shall make him President of the
United States yet."
The boy lived, in spite of the universal
predictions of his speedy death; and when,
in 1825, his elder brother was drowned, he
became, if possible, still dearer to his mother.
He was seven years old before he was
placed in school. His education, however,
was not neglected. His sports were almost
wholly within doors, his playmates being
his sister and her associates. These circum-
stances tended, no doubt, to foster that
gentleness of disposition and that delicate
consideration for the feelings of others
which are marked traits of his character.
At school he was ardently devoted to his
studies, obedient to the teacher, and care-
ful to avoid the quarrels in which many of
his schoolmates were involved. He was

always waiting at the school-house door
when it opened in the morning, and never
late in returning to his seat at recess. His
sister Fannie was his constant companion,
and their affection for each other excited
the admiration of their friends.
In 1838 young Hayes entered Kenyon
College and graduated in 1842. He then
began the study of law in the office of
Thomas Sparrow at Columbus. His health
was now well established, his figure robust,
his mind vigorous and alert. In a short
time he determined to enter the law school
at Cambridge, Massachusetts, where for
two years he pursued his studies with great
diligence.
In 1845 he was admitted to the bar at
Marietta, Ohio, and shortly afterward went
into practice as an attorney-at-law with
Ralph P. Buckland, of Fremont. Here he
remained three years, acquiring but limited
practice, and apparently unambitious of
distinction in his profession. His bachelor
uncle, Sardis Birchard, who had always
manifested great interest in his nephew and
rendered him assistance in boyhood, was
now a wealthy banker, and it was under-
stood that the young man would be his
heir. It is possible that this expectation
may have made Mr. Hayes more indifferent
to the attainment of wealth than he would
otherwise have been, but he was led into no
extravagance or vices on this account.
In 1849 he removed to Cincinnati where
his ambition found new stimulus. Two
events occurring at this period had a pow-
erful influence upon his subsequent life.
One of them was his marriage to Miss
Lucy Ware Webb, daughter of Dr. James
Webb, of Cincinnati; the other was his
introduction to the Cincinnati Literary
Club, a body embracing such men as Chief
Justice Salmon P. Chase, General John
Pope and Governor Edward F. Noyes.
The marriage was a fortunate one as every-
body knows. Not one of all the wives of

RUTHERFORDB.HAYS

Ios

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

our Presidents was more universally ad-
mired, reverenced and beloved than is Mrs.
Hayes, and no one has done more than she
to reflect honor upon American woman-
hood.
In 1856 Mr. Hayes was nominated to the
office of Judge of the Court of Common
Pleas, but declined to accept the nomina-
tion. Two years later he was chosen to the
office of City Solicitor.
In 1861, when the Rebellion broke out,
he was eager to take up arms in the defense
of his country. His military life was
bright and illustrious. June 7, 1861, he
was appointed Major of the Twenty-third
Ohio Infantry. In July the regiment was
sent to Virginia. October 15, 1861, he was
made Lieutenant-Colonel of his regiment,
and in August, 1862, was promoted Colonel
of the Seventy-ninth Ohio Regiment, but
refused to leave his old comrades. He was
wounded at the battle of South Mountain,
and suffered severely, being unable to enter
upon active duty for several weeks. No-
vember 30, 1862, he rejoined his regiment as
its Colonel, having been promoted Octo-
ber 15.
December 25, 1862, he was placed in com-
mand of the Kanawha division, and for
meritorious service in several battles was
promoted Brigadier-General. He wasalso
brevetted Major-General for distinguished

services in 1864. He was wounded tour
times, and five horses were shot from
under him.
Mr. Hayes was first a Whig in politics,
and was among the first to unite with the
Free-Soil and Republican parties. In 1864
he was elected to Congress from the Sec-
ond Ohio District, which had always been
Democratic, receiving a majority of 3,098.
In 1866 he was renominated for Congress
and was a second time elected. In 1867 he
was elected Governor over Allen G. Thur-
man, the Democratic candidate, and re-
elected in 1869. In 1874 Sardis Birchard
died, leaving his large estate to General
Hayes.
In 1876 he was nominated for the Presi-
dency. His letter of acceptance excited
the admiration of the whole country. He
resigned the office of Governor and retired
to his home in Fremont to await the result
of the canvass. After a hard, long contest
he was inaugurated March 5, 1877. His
Presidency was characterized by compro-
mises with all parties, in order to please as
many as possible. The close of his Presi-
dential term in 1881 was the close of his
public life, and since then he has remained
at his home in Fremont, Ohio, in Jefferso-
nian retirement from public notice, in strik-
ing contrast with most others of the world's
notables.

rn6

r

11

___~ ~ ~ ~ ~ fAE A. GAFED 109_

. f/m #/ AMES A. GARFIELD,
*'".../'M~k. twentieth President of
the United States, 1881,
"Jtl~)'i/l ~t¢ was born November 19,
~v~ ~&. 1831, in the wild woods
'.%,~-- ..*.' of Cuyahoga County,
-7 ; Ohio. His parents were
Abram and Eliza (Ballou)
X' i(r) i'Garfield, who were of New
. 6^^ England ancestry. T h e
g ? i, senior Garfield was an in-
^?B^ dustrious farmer, as the
i*~ rapid improvements which
~~{~ appeared on his place at-
tested. The residence was
the familiar pioneer log cabin,
and the household comprised the parents
and their children-Mehetable, Thomas,
Mary and James A. In May, 1833, the
father died, and the care of the house-
hold consequently devolved upon young
Thomas, to whom James was greatly in-
debted for the educational and other ad-
vantages he enjoyed. He now lives in
Michigan, and the two sisters live in Solon,
Ohio, near their birthplace.
As the subject of our sketch grew up, he,
too, was industrious, both in mental and
physical labor. He worked upon the farm,
or at carpentering, or chopped wood, or at
any other odd job that would aid in support
of the family, and in the meantime made the

most of his books. Ever afterward he was
never ashamed of his humble origin, nor for-
got the friends of his youth. The poorest
laborer was sure of his sympathy, and he
always exhibited the character of a modest
gentleman.
Until he was about sixteen years of age,
James's highest ambition was to be a lake
captain. To this his mother was strongly
opposed, but she finally consented to his
going to Cleveland to carry out his long-
cherished design, with the understanding,
however, that he should try to obtain some
other kind of employment. lIe walked all
the way to Cleveland, and this was his first
visit to the city. After making many ap-
plications for work, including labor on
board a lake vessel, but all in vain, he
finally engaged as a driver for his cousin,
Amos Letcher, on the Ohio & Pennsyl.
vania Canal. In a short time, however, he
quit this and returned home. He then at-
tended the seminary at Chester for about
three years, and next he entered Hiram In-
stitute, a school started in 1850 by the
Disciples of Christ, of which church he was
a member. In order to pay his way he
assumed the duties of janitor, and at times
taught school. He soon completed the cur-
riculum there, and then entered Williams
College, at which he graduated in 1856,
taking one of the highest honors of his class.

IAMES A. GARFIELD.

Iog

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Afterward he returned to Hiram as Presi-
dent. In his youthful and therefore zealous
piety, he exercised his talents occasionally
as a preacher of the Gospel. He was a
man of strong moral and religious convic-
tions, and as soon as he began to look into
politics, he saw innumerable points that
could be improved. He also studied law,
and was admitted to the bar in 1859.
November 11, 1858, Mr. Garfield married
Miss Lucretia Rudolph, who ever after-
ward proved a worthy consort in all the
stages of her husband's career. They had
seven children, five of whom are still living.
It was in 1859 that Garfield made his
first political speeches, in Hiram and the
neighboring villages, and three years later
he began to speak at county mass-meetings,
being received everywhere with popular
favor. He was elected to the State Senate
this year, taking his seat in January, 1860.
On the breaking out of the war of the
Rebellion in 1861, Mr. Garfield resolved to
fight as he had talked, and accordingly he
enlisted to defend the old flag, receiving
his commission as Lieutenant-Colonel of the
Forty-second Regiment of the Ohio Volun-
teer Infantry, August 14, that year. He
was immediately thrown into active service,
and before he had ever seen a gun fired in
action he was placed in command of four
regiments of infantry and eight companies
of cavalry, charged with the work of driv-
ing the Confederates, headed by Humphrey
Marshall, from his native State, Kentucky.
This task was speedily accomplished, al-
though against great odds. On account of
his success, President Lincoln commissioned
him Brigadier-General, January 11, 1862;
and, as he had been the youngest man in
the Ohio Senate two years before, so now
he was the youngest General in the army.
He was with General Buell's army at Shi-
loh, also in its operations around Corinth
and its march through Alabama. Next, he
was detailed as a member of the general

court-martial for the trial of General Fitz-
John Porter, and then ordered to report to
General Rosecrans, when he was assigned
to the position of Chief of Staff. His mili-
tary history closed with his brilliant ser-
vices at Chickamauga, where he won the
stars of Major-General.
In the fall of 1862, without any effort on
his part, he was elected as a Representative
to Congress, from that section of Ohio
which had been represented for sixty years
mainly by two men-Elisha Whittlesey and
Joshua R. Giddings. Again, he was the
youngest member of that body, and con-
tinued there by successive re-elections, as
Representative or Senator, until he was
elected President in 1880. During his life
in Congress he compiled and published by
his speeches, there and elsewhere, more
information on the issues of the day, espe-
cially on one side, than any other member.
June 8, 1880, at the National Republican
Convention held in Chicago, General Gar-
field was nominated for the Presidency, in
preference to the old war-horses, Blaine
and Grant; and although many of the Re-
publican party felt sore over the failure of
their respective heroes to obtain the nomi-
nation, General Garfield was elected by a
fair popular majority. He was duly in-
augurated, but on July 2 following, before
he had fairly got started in his administra-
tion, he was fatally shot by a half-demented
assassin. After very painful and protracted
suffering, he died September I9, 1881, la-
mented by all the American people. Never
before in the history of this country had
anything occurred which so nearly froze
the blood of the Nation, for the moment, as
the awful act of Guiteau, the murderer.
He was duly tried, convicted and put to
death on the gallows.
The lamented Garfield was succeeded by
the Vice-President, General Arthur, who
seemed to endeavor to carry out the policy
inaugurated by his predecessor.

___ ·

110

ti

t

A i

CHSE A. ARTHUR. 113

4 '~~~~~~A~~~~At1r

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-:
~ 00000000000000000000000000!0 @0
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I9

A]~~r W HESTER ALLEN
ARTHUR, the twen-
ty-first Chief Execu-
tive of this growing
~jj~ ~ [~ republic, 1881-'5, was
born in Franklin
..... . C o u n t y, Vermont,
X1I October 5, 1830, the eldest of a
family of two sons and five
A'1ll' sdaughters. His father, Rev.
{t:~(~ n Dr. William Arthur, a Baptist
clergyman, immigrated to this
country from County Antrim,
*H'r Ireland, in his eighteenth year,
¢r? }and died in 1875, in Newton-
ville, near Albany, New York,
after serving many years as a successful
minister. Chester A. was educated at that
old, conservative institution, Union Col-
lege, at Schenectady, New York, where he
excelled in all his studies. He graduated
there, with honor, and then struck out in
life for himself by teaching school for about
two years in his native State.
At the expiration of that time young
Arthur, with $5oo in his purse, went to the
city of New York and entered the law office
of ex-Judge E. D. Culver as a student. In
due time he was admitted to the bar, when
he formed a partnership with his intimate
0

friend and old room-mate, Henry D. Gar.
diner, with the intention of practicing law
at some point in the West; but after spend-
ing about three months in the Westenr
States, in search of an eligible place, they
returned to New York City, leased a room,
exhibited a sign of their business and al-
most immediately enjoyed a paying patron-
age.
At this stage of his career Mr. Arthur's
business prospects were so encouraging
that he concluded to take a wife, and ac-
cordingly he married the daughter of Lieu-
tenant Herndon, of the United States Navy,
who had been lost at sea. To the widow
of the latter Congress voted a gold medal,
in recognition of the Lieutenant's bravery
during the occasion in which he lost his
life. Mrs. Artnur died shortly before her
husband's nomination to the Vice-Presi-
dency, leaving two children.
Mr. Arthur obtained considerable celeb-
rity as an attorney in the famous Lemmon
suit, which was brought to recover posses-
sion of eight slaves, who had been declared
free by the Superior Court of New York
City. The noted Charles O'Conor, who
was nominated by the "Straight Demo-
crats" in 1872 for the United States Presi-
dency, was retained by Jonathan G. Lem-

CHESTERA.ARH .

. 3

PRfESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

moni, of Virginia, to recover the negroes,
but he lost the suit. In this case, however,
Mr. Arthur was assisted by William M.
Evarts, now United States Senator. Soon
afterward, in 1856, a respectable colored
woman was ejected from a street car in
New York City. Mr. Arthur sued the car
company in her behalf and recovered $500
damages. Immediately afterward all the
car companies in the city issued orders to
their employes to admit colored persons
upon their cars.
Mr. Arthur's political doctrines, as well
as his practice as a lawyer, raised him to
prominence in the party of freedom; and
accordingly he was sent as a delegate to
the first National Republican Convention.
Soon afterward he was appointed Judge
Advocate for the Second Brigade of the
State of New York, and then Engineer-in-
Chief on Governor Morgan's staff. In 1861,
the first year of the war, he was made In-
spector-General, and next, Quartermaster-
General, in both which offices he rendered
great service to the Government. After
the close of Governor Morgan's term he
resumed the practice of law, forming first a
partnership with Mr. Ransom, and subse-
quently adding Mr. Phelps to the firm.
Each of these gentlemen were able lawyers.
November 21, 1872, General Arthur was
appointed Collector of the Port of New
York by President Grant, and he held the
office until July 20, 1878.
The next event of prominence in General
Arthur's career was his nomination to the
V ice-Presidency of the United States, under
the influence of Roscoe Conkling, at the
National Republican Convention held at
Chicago in June, 1880, when James A. Gar-
field was placed at the head of the ticket.
Both the convention and the campaign that
followed were noisy and exciting. The
friends of Grant, constitfifing nearly half

the convention, were exceedingly persist-
ent, and were sorely disappointed over
their defeat. At the head of the Demo-
cratic ticket was placed a very strong and
popular man; yet Garfield and Arthur were
elected by a respectable plurality of the
popular vote. The 4th of March following,
these gentlemen were accordingly inaugu-
rated; but within four months the assassin's
bullet made a fatal wound in the person of
General Garfield, whose life terminated
September 19, 1881, when General Arthur,
ex officio, was obliged to take the chief
reins of government. Some misgivings
were entertained by many in this event, as
Mr. Arthur was thought to represent espe
cially the Grant and Conkling wing of the
Republican party; but President Arthur
had both the ability and the good sense to
allay all fears, and he gave the restless,
critical American people as good an ad-
ministration as they had ever been blessed
with. Neither selfishness nor low parti-
sanism ever characterized any feature of
his public service. He ever maintained a
high sense of every individual right as well
as of the Nation's honor. Indeed, he stood
so high that his successor, President Cleve-
land, though of opposing politics, expressed
a wish in his inaugural address that he
could only satisfy the people with as good
an administration.
But the day of civil service reform had
come in so far, and the corresponding re-
action against "third-termism" had en-
croached so far even upon "second-term"
service, that the Republican party saw fit
in 1884 to nominate another man for Presi-
dent. Only by this means was General
Arthur's tenure of office closed at Wash-
ington. On his retirement from the Presi-
dency, March, 1885, he engaged in the
practice of law at New York City, where he
died November 18, 1886.

- - -~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~ _

tl4

.1

J

GIO FF1? CLE VELA ND. 117

ar ^fe on ^ ^ ^
,,<>e1<-g -
INIX--G^------L^^~LB(DO

/ ROVER CLEVE-
' ' i i LAND, the twenty-
.. second President of the
i*^^ B United States, 1885-,
was born in Caldwell,
Essex County, New
A·^^. _ 6 Jersey, March 18,
1837. The house in which he
YE'^Sy v was born, a small two-story
wooden building, is still stand-
M^^ ing. It was the parsonage of
the Presbyterian church, of
w h i ch his father, Richard
Cleveland, at the time was
pastor. The family is of New
England origin, and for two centuries has
contributed to the professions and to busi-
ness, men who have reflected honor on the
name. Aaron Cleveland, Grover Cleve-
land's great-great-grandfather, was born in
Massachusetts, but subsequently moved to
Philadelphia, where he became an intimate
friend of Benjamin Franklin, at whose
house he died. He left a large family of
children, who in time married and settled
in different parts of New England. A
grandson was one of the small American
force -that fought the British at Bunker
Hill. He served with gallantry through-
out the Revolution and was honorably
discharged at its close as a Lieutenant in
the Continental army. Another grandson,
William Cleveland (a son of a second Aaron

Cleveland, who was distinguished as a
writer and member of the Connecticut
Legislature) was Grover Cleveland's grand-
father. William Cleveland became a silver-
smith in Norwich, Connecticut. He ac-
quired by industry some property and sent
his son, Richard Cleveland, the father of
Grover Cleveland, to Yale College, where
he graduated in 1824. During a year spent
in teaching at Baltimore, Maryland, after
graduation, he met and fell in love with a
Miss Annie Neale, daughter of a wealthy
Baltimore book publisher, of Irish birth.
He was earning his own way in the world
at the time and was unable to marry; but
in three years he completed a course of
preparation for the ministry, secured a
church in Windham, Connecticut, and
married Annie Neale. Subsequently he
moved to Portsmouth, Virginia, where he
preached for nearly two years, when he
was summoned to Caldwell, New Jersey.
where was born Grover Cleveland.
When he was three years old the family
moved to Fayetteville, Onondaga County,
New York. Here Grover Cleveland lived
until he was fourteen years old, the rugged,
healthful life of a country boy. His frank,
generous manner made him a favorite
among his companions, and their respect
was won by the good qualities in the germ
which his manhood developed. He at-
tended the district school of the village and

GROVER CLEVELAND.

117

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

was for a short time at the academy. His
lather, however, believed that boys should
be taught to labor at an early age, and be-
fore he had completed the course of study
at the academy he began to work in the
village store at $5o for the first year, and the
promise of $Ioo for the second year. His
work was well done and the promised in-
crease of pay was granted the second year.
Meanwhile his father and family had
moved to Clinton, the seat of Hamilton
College, where his father acted as agent to
the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions,
preaching in the churches of the vicinity.
Hither Grover came at his father's request
shortly after the beginning of his second
year at the Fayetteville store, and resumed
his studies at the Clinton Academy. After
three years spent in this town, the Rev.
Richard Cleveland was called to the vil-
lage church of Holland Patent. He had
preached here only a month when he was
suddenly stricken down and died without
an hour's warning. The death of the father
left the family in straitened circumstances,
as Richard Cleveland had spent all his
salary of $1,OOO per year, which was not
required for the necessary expenses of liv-
ing, upon the education of his children, of
whom there were nine, Grover being the
fifth. Grover was hoping to enter Hamil-
ton College, but the death of his father
made it necessary for him to earn his own
livelihood. For the first year (1853-'4) he
acted as assistant teacher and bookkeeper in
the Institution for the Blind in New York
City, of which the late Augustus Schell was
for many years the patron. In the winter
of 1854 he returned to Holland Patent
where the generous people of that place,
Fayetteville and Clinton, had purchased a
home for his mother, and in the following
spring, borrowing $25, he set out for the
West to earn his living.
Reaching Buffalo he paid a hasty visit to
an uncle, Lewis F. Allen, a well-known

stock farmer, living at Black Rock, a few
miles distant. He communicated his plans
to Mr. Allen, who discouraged the idea of
the West, and finally induced the enthusi-
astic boy of seventeen to remain with him
and help him prepare a catalogue of blooded
short-horn cattle, known as " Allen's Amer-
ican Herd Book," a publication familiar to
all breeders of cattle. In August, 1855, he
entered the law office of Rogers, Bowen
& Rogers, at Buffalo, and after serving a
few months without pay, was paid $4 a
week-an amount barely sufficient to meet
the necessary expenses of his board in the
family of a fellow-student in Buffalo, with
whom he took lodgings. Life at this time
with Grover Cleveland was a stern battle
with the world. He took his breakfast by
candle-light with the drovers, and went at
once to the office where the whole day was
spent in work and study. Usually he re-
turned again at night to resume reading
which had been interrupted by the duties
of the day. Gradually his employers came
to recognize the ability, trustworthiness
and capacity for hard work in their young
employe, and by the time he was admitted
to the bar (1859) he stood high in their con-
fidence. A year later he was made confi-
dential and managing clerk, and in the
course of three years more his salary had
been raised to $1,000. In 1863 he was ap-
pointed assistant district attorney of Erie
County by the district attorney, the Hon.
C. C. Torrance.
Since his first vote had been cast in 1858
he had been a staunch Democrat, and until
he was chosen Governor he always made
it his duty, rain or shine, to stand at the
polls and give out ballots to Democratic
voters. During the first year of his term
as assistant district attorney, the Democrats
desired especially to carry the Board of Su-
pervisors. The old Second Ward in which
he lived was Republican. ordinarily by 250
majority, but at the urgent request of the

-~ I_

118

GRO VER CLE VELAATD. "9

party Grover Cleveland consented to be
the Democratic candidate for Supervisor,
and came within thirteen votes of an elec-
tion. The three years spent in the district
attorney's office were devoted to assiduous
labor and the extension of his professional
attainments. He then formed a law part-
nership with the late Isaac V. Vanderpoel,
ex-State Treasurer, under the firm name
of Vanderpoel & Cleveland. Here the bulk
of the work devolved on Cleveland's shoul-
ders, and he soon won a good standing at
the bar of Erie County. In 1869 Mr.
Cleveland formed a partnership with ex-
Senator A. P. Laning and ex-Assistant
United States District Attorney Oscar Fol-
som, under the firm name of Laning, Cleve-
land & Folsom. During these years he
began to earn a moderate professional in-
come; but the larger portion of it was sent
to his mother and sisters at Holland Patent
to whose support he had contributed ever
since 1860. He served as sheriff of Erie
County, 1870-'4, and then resumed the
practice of law, associating himself with the
Hon. Lyman K. Bass and Wilson S. Bissell.