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^IIE greatest of English historians, Macaui.ay, and one of the most brilliant writers ot the present century, has said: '-The history of a country is best told in a record of the lives of its people." In conformity with this idea the Portkait and Biographical Allium of this county has been prepared. Instead of going to must}' records, and taking therefrom dry statistical matter that can be appreciated by but few, our corps of writers have gone to the people, the men and women who have, by their enteri)rise and industry, brought the county to a rank second to none among those comprising this great and noble State, and from their lips have the story of their life struggles. No more interesting or instructive matter could be presented to an intelli- gent public. In this volume will be found a record of many whose lives are worthy the imitation of coming generations. It tells how some, commencing life in poverty, by industry and economy have accumulated wealth. It tells how others, with limited advantages for securing an education, have become learned men and women, with an influence extending throughout the length and breadth of the land. It tells of men who have risen from the lower wnlJvs of life to eminence as statesmen, and whose names have become famous. It tells of those in every walk in life who have striven to succeed, and records how that success has usually crowned their efforts. It tells also of many, very many, who, not seeking the applause of the world, have pursued "the even tenor of their way,'" content to have it said of them as Christ said of the woman performing a deed of mercy — "they have done what they could." It tells how that many in the pride and strengtii of young manhood left the plow and the anvil, the lawyer's office and the counting-rooin, left every trade and profession, and at their country's call went forth valiantly "to do or die," and how througli their efforts the Union was restored and peace once more reigned in the land. In the life of every man and of every woman is a lesson that should not be lost upon those who follow after.

Coming generations will appreciate this volume and preserve it as a sacred treasure, from the fact that it contains so much that would never find its way into public records, and which would otherwise be inaccessible. Great care has been taken in the compilation of the work and every opportunity possible given to those represented to insure correctness in what lias been written, and the publishers flatter them- selves that they give to their readers a work with few errors of consequence. In addition to the biograph- ical sketches, portraits of a number of representative citizens are given.

The faces of some, and biographical sketches of man3S will be missed in this volume. For this the publishers are not to blame. Not having a proper conception of the work, some refused to give the information necessary to compile a sketch, while others were indifferent. Occasionally some member of the familjr would oppose the enterprise, and on account of such opposition the support of the interested one would be withheld. In a few instances men could never be found, though repeated calls were made at their residence or place of business.

CHAPMAN BROS. Chicago, April, 1889,

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HE Father of our Country was _ born in Westmorland Co., Va., Feb. 22, 1732. His parents were Augustine and Mary (Ball) Washington. The family to which he belonged has not been satisfactorily traced in England. His great-grand- father, John Washington, em- igrated to Virginia about 1657, and became a prosperous planter. He had two sons, Lawrence and John. The former married Mildred Warner and had three children, John, Augustine and Mildred. Augus- tine, the father of George, first married Jane Butler, who bore him four children, two of whom, Lawrence and Augustine, reached maturity. Of six children by his second marriage, George was the eldest, the others being Betty, Samuel, John Augustine, Charles and Mildred. Augustine Washington, the father of George, died in 1743, leaving a large landed property. To his eldest son, Lawrence, he bequeathed an estate on the Patomac, afterwards known as Mount Vernon, and to George he left the parental residence. George received only such education as the neighborhood schools afforded, save for a short time after he left school, when he received private instruction in matheniat'cs. His spelling v/as rather defectiv*.

Remarkable stories are told of his great physical strength and development at an early age. He war. an acknowledged leader among his companions, and was early noted for that nobleness of character, fair- ness and veracity which characterized his whole life.

When George was 14 years old he had a desire to go to sea, and a midshipman's warrant was secured for him, but through the opposition of his mother the idea was abandoned. Two years later he was appointed surveyor to the immense estate of Lord Fairfax. In this business he spent three years in a rough frontier life, gaining experience which afterwards proved very essential to him. In 175 r, though only 19 years of age, he was appointed adjutant with the rank of major in the Virginia militia, then being trained for active service against the French and Indians. Soon after this he sailed to the West Indies with his brother Lawrence, who went there to restore his health They soon returned, and in the summer of 1752 Lawrence died, leaving a large fortune to an infant daughter who did not long survive him. On her demise the estate of Mount Vernon was given to George.

Upon the arrival of Robert Dinwiddie, as Lieuten- ant-Governor of Virginia, in 1752, the militia was reorganized, and the province divided into four mili- tary districts, of which the northern was assigned to Washington as adjutant general. Shortly after this a very perilous mission was assigned him and ac- cepted, which others had refused. This was to pro- ceed to the French post near Lake Erie m North- western Pennsylvania. The distance to be traversed was between 500 and 600 miles. Winter was at hand, and the journey was to be made without military escort, through a territory occupied by Indians. The

GEORGE IVASIJINGTON.

trip was a perilous one, and several limes he came near losing his life, yet he returned in safety and furnished a full and useful report of his expedition. A regiment of 300 men was raised in Virginia and put in com- mand of Col. Joshua Fry, and Major Washington was commissioned lieutenant-colonel. Active war was then begun against the French and Indians, in which Washington took a most important part. In the memorable event of July 9, 1755, known as Brad- dock's defeat, Washington was almost the only officer of distinction who escaped from the calamities of the day with life and honor. The other aids of tSraddock were disabled early in the action, and Washington alone was left in that capacity on the field. In a letter to his brother he says : " I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet I escaped unhurt, though death was levelini my companions on every side." An Indian shar[)shooter said he was not born to be killed by a bullet, for he had taken direct aim at him seventeen times, and failed lo hit him.

After having been five years in the military service, and vainly sought i:>romotion in the royal army, lie look advantage of the fall of Fort Duquesne and the expulsion of the French from the valley of the Ohio, 10 resign his commission. Soon after he entered the Legislature, where, although not a leader, he took an active and important part. January 17, 1759, he married Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) Custis, the wealthy widow of John Parke Custis.

AVhen the British Parliament had closed the port ■■^f Boston, the cry went up throughout the jjrovinces that "The cause of Boston is the cause of us all." It was then, at the suggestion of Virginia, that a Con- gress of all the colonies was called to meet at Phila- delphia,Sept. 5, 1774, lo secure their common liberties, peaceably if possible. To this Congress Col. Wash- ington was sent as a delegate. On May 10, 1775, the Congress re-assembled, when the hostile intentions of England were plainly apparent. The battles of Con- cord and Lexington had been fought. Among the first acts of this Congress was the election of a com- mander-in-chief of the colonial forces. This high and responsible office was conferred upon Washington, who was still a memberof the Congress. He accepted it on June 19, but upon the express condition that he receive no salary. He would keep an exact account of expenses and expect Congress 10 pay them and nothing more. It is not the object of this sketch to trace the military acts of Washington, to whom thj fortunes and liberties of the people of this country were so long confided. The war was conducted by him under every possible disadvantage, and while his forces often met with reverses, yet he overcame every obstacle, and after seven years of heroic devotion and matchless skill he gained liberty for the greatest nation of earth. On Dec. 23, 17S3, Washington, in a parting address of surpassing beauty, lesigned bis

commission as commander-in-chief of the army lo to the Continental Congress sitting at Annapolis. He retired immediately to Mount Vernon and resumed his occupation as a farmer and planter, shunning all connection with public life.

la F'ebruary,i7S9, Washington was unanimously elected President. In his jjresidenlial career ht was subject to the peculiar tri;ds incidental to a new government ; trials from lack of confidence on the part of other governmenls ; trials from want of harmony between the different sections of our own country; trials from the impoverished condition of the country, owmg to the war and want of credit; trials from the beginnings of party strife. He was no partisan. His clear judgment could discern the golden mean; and while perhaps this alone kept our government from sinking at the very outset, it kft him exposed to attacks from both sides, which were often bitter and very annoying.

.\t the expiration of his first term he was unani- mously re-elected. At the end of this term manv were anxious that he be re-elected, but he absolutely refused a third nomination. .On the fourth of Mareh, 1797, at the expiraton of his second term as Presi- dent, he returned to his home, hoping to pass there his few remaining years free from the annoyances of public life. Later in the year, however, his repose seemed likely to be interrupted 1)\- war with F'rance- .■\t the prospect of such a war he was again urged to take command of the armies. He chose his sub- ordinate officers and left to them the charge of mat- ters in the field, which he superinter.ded from his home. In accepting the command he made the reservation that he was not to be in the field until it was necessary. In the midst of these preparations his life was suddenly cut off. December 12, he took a seveie cold from a ride in the rain, which, settling in Irs throat, produced inflammation, and terminated fatally on the night of the fourteenth. On. the eiuh- teenth his body was borne wi'h military honors to its final resting place, and interred in the family vault at Mount Vernon.

Of the character of Washington it is impossible to spe.ak but in terms of the highest respect and ad- miration. The more we see of the operations of our government, and the more deeply we feel the difficulty of uniting all opinions in a common intercs', the more highly we must estimate the force cf his tal- ent and character, which have been able to challenge the reverence of all parties, and principles, and na- tions, and lo win a fame as extended as the Hiniis of the globe, and which we cannot but believe will be as lasting as the existence of man.

The ]5erson of Washington was unusally laii, erect and well proportioned. His muscular strength was great. His features were of a beautiful symmetrv. llerommanded respect without any appcararce of h.iiL'h'iness, and ever serious without being dull.

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b^CONB PRESJDEA'T.

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^ OHN ADAMS, the second ®p President and the lirst Vice- a" President of the United Slates, was born in Braintree ( now Quincy),Mass., and about ten m/^' miles from Boston, Oct. 19, 1735. His great-grandfather, Henry Adams, emigrated from England about 1640, with a family of eight '^\ sons, and settled at Braintree. The parents of John were John and Susannah (Boylston) Adams, His father was a farmer of limited means, to which he added the bus- iness of shoemaking. He gave his eldest son, John, a classical educa- tion at Harvard College. John graduated in T755, and at once took charge of the school in Worcester,' Mass. This he found but a "school of affliction," from which he endeavored to gain relief by devoting himself, in addition, to the study of law. For this purpose he placed liimself under the tuition of tlic only lawyer in the town. He had thought seriously of the clerical profession but seems to have been turned from this by wliat he termed " the frightful engines of ecclesiastical coun- cils, cf diabolical malice, and Calvanistic good nature," of the operations of which he had been a witness in his native town. He was well fitted for the legal profession, possessing a clear, sonorous voice, being ready and fluent of speech, and having quick percep- tive powers. He gradually gained practice, and in 1764 married Abigail Smith, a daughter of a minister, and a lady of superior intelligence. Shortly after his marriage, (1765), the attempt of Parliamentary taxa- tion turned him from law to politics. He took initial steps toward huldin^, a town meeting, and the resolu-

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tions he offered on the subject became very [wpulai throughout the Provmce, and were adopted word fur word by over forty different towns. He moved to Bos- ton in 1768, and became one of the most courageous and prominent advocatesof the popular cause, and was chosen a member of the General Court (ihe Leg- lislature) in t77o.

Mr. Adams was chosen one of the first delegates from Massachusetts to the first Continental Congreis, which met in 1774- Here he distinguished himsel; by his capacity for business and for debate, and ad- vocated the movement for independence against ti?? majority of the members. In May, 1776, he moved and carried a resolution in Congress that the Colonies should assume the duties of self-government. He was a prominent member of the committee of jve appointed June 11, to prejiare a declaration of inde- pendence. This article was drawn by Jefferson, but on Adams devolved the task of battling it through Congress in a three days debate.

On the day after the Declaration of Independence was passed, while his soul was yet warm with th; glow of excited feeling, he wrote a letter to his wite which, as we read it now, seems to have been dictated liy the spirit of prophecy. " Yesterday," he says, " the greatest question was decided that ever was debated in America; and greater, perhaps, never was or wil. be decided among men. A resolution v, as passed without one dissenting colony, ' that these United States are, and of right ought to be, free and inde. pendent states.' The day is passed. The fourth of July, 1776, will be a memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to Almighty God. It ought to be solemnized v/ith i)omp, shows,

24

JOHN ADAMS.

games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward for ever. You will think me transjxirted with entluisiusm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and blood and treasure, that it will cost to maintain this declaration, and sup[)Ort and defend these States; yet, through all the gloom, I can seethe rays of light and glory. 1 can see that the end is worth more than all the means; and that posterity will triumph, although you and I may rue, which 1 hope we shall not."

In November, 1777, Mr. Adams was appointed a delegate to France and to co-operate with Benijamin Franklin and Arthur Lee, who were then in Paris, in the endeavor to obtain assistance in arms and money from the French Government. This was a severe trial to his patriotism, as it separated him from his home, compelled him to cross the ocean in winter, and ex- jxjsed him to great peril of capture by tlie British cruis- ers, who were seeking him. He left France June 17, 1779. In September of the same year he was again cliosen to go to Paris, and there hold himself in readi- ness to negotiate a treaty of peace and of commerce with Great Britian, as soon as the British Cabinet might be found willing to listen to such pioposels. He sailed for France in November, from there he went to Holland, where he negotiated important loans and formed important commercial treaties

Finally a treaty of peace with England was signed Jan. 21, 1783. The re-action from the excitement, toil and anxiety through which Mr. Adams had passed threw him into a fever. After suffering from a con- tinued fever and becoming feeble and emaciated he was advised to goto England to drink the waters of Bath. While in England, still drooping anddespond- ing, he received dispatches from his own government urging the necessity of his going to .\msterdam to negotiate another loan. It was winter, his health was delicate, yet be immediately set out, and through storm, on sea, on horseback and foot, he made the trip.

February 24, 1785, Congress appointed Mr. Adams envoy to the Court of St. James. Here he met face to face the King of England, who had so long re- garded him as a traitor. As England did not condescend to appoint a minister to the United States, and as Mr. Adams felt that he was accom- plishing but little, he sought permission to return to liis own countp,', where he arrived in June, 1788.

\Vhen Washington was first chosen President, John .\dams, rendered illustiious by his signal services at home and abroad, was chosen Vice President, .\gain at the second election of Washington as President, Adams was chosen Vice President. In 1796, Wash- ington retired from public life, and Mr. Adams was elected President,tliough not without much ojiposition. Serving in this office four vears,he was succeeded In' Mr. Jefferson, his opponent in politics.

While Mr. Adams was Vice President the threat

French Revolution shook the continent of Europe, and it was upon this point which he was at issue wiiii the majority of his countrymen led by Mr. Jefferson. Mr. Adams felt no symiiathy with the French people in their struggle, for he had no confidence in their ix)wer of selt-government, and he utterly aljhored the classof atheist philoHo[ihers who he claimed caused it. On tlie other hand Jefferson's sympathies were strongly enlisted in behalf of the French people. Hence or- iginated the alienation between these distinguished men, and two jxswerful parties were thus soon organ- ized, Adams at the head of the one whose sympathies were with England and Jefferson led the other in sympathy with France.

The world has seldom seen a spectacle of more moral beauty and grandeur, than was presented by the old age of Mr. Adams. The violence of party feeling had died away, and he had begun to receive that just ap[)reciation which, to most men, is not accorded till after death. No one could look upon his venerable form, and think of wiiat he had done and suffered, and how he had given up all the prime and strength of his life to the public good, without the deepest emotion of gratitude and respect. It was his peculiar good fortune to witness the complete success of the institution which he had been so active in creating and supporting. In 1824, his cup of happiness was filled to the brim, by seeing his son elevated to the highest station in the gift of the peojile.

The fourth of July, 1826, which completed the half century since the signing of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, arrived, and there were but three of the signers of that immortal instrument left ujmn the earth to hail its morning light. And, as it is well known, on that day two of these finished their earthly pilgrimage, a coincidence so remarkable as to seem miraculous. For a few days before Mr. Adams had been rapidly failing, and on the morning of the fourth he found hmiself too weak to rise from his bed. On being requested to name a toast for the customary celebration of the day, he exclaimed " In- dependence FOREVER." When the day was ushered in, by the ringing of bells and the firing of cannons, he was asked by one of his attendants if he knew what day it was? He replied, "O yes; it is the glor- ious fourch of July — God l)less it — God bless you all." In the course of the dav he said, "It is a great and glorious day." The last words he uttered were, "Jefferson survives." But he had, at one o'clock, re- signed his spiiit into the hands of his God.

The personal appearance and manners of Mr. Adams were not particularly prepossessing. His face, as his ])ortrait manifcsts.was intellectual ard expres- sive, but his figure was low and ungraceful, and his manners were frequently abrupt and uncourteous. He had neither the lofly dignity of Washington, nor the engaging elegance and gracefulness which marked the manners and address of lefferson.

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THIRD PRESIDENT.

27

HOMAS JEFFERSON was

born April 2, 1743, at Shad-

i^^well, Albermarle county, Va.

His parents were Peter and Jane ( Randolph) Jefferson, the tbrmer a native of Wales, and the latter born in Lon- don. To them were born six daughters and two sons, of whom Thomas was the elder. When 14 years of age his father died. He received a most liberal education, hav- ing been kept diligently at school from the time he was five years of age. In 1760 he entered William and Mary College. Williamsburg was then the seat of the Colonial Court, and it was the obode of fashion a.id splendor. Young Jefferson, who was then 17 years old, lived somewhat e,\pensively, keeping fine horses, and much caressed by gay society, yet he was earnestly devoted to his studies, and irreproacha- able in his morals. It is strange, however, under such influences, that he was not ruined. In the sec- ond year of his college course, moved by some un- explained inward impulse, he discarded his horses, society, and even his favorite violin, to which he had previously given much time. He often devoted fifteen hours a day to haid study, allowing himself for ex- ercise only a run in the evening twilight of a mile out of the city and back again. He thus attained very high intellectual culture, alike excellence in philoso- phy and the languages. The most difficult Latin and Greek authors he read with facility. A more finished scholar has seldom gone forth from college halls; and

there was not to be found, perhaps, in all Virginia, a move pureminded, upright, gentlemanly young rnan.

Immediately upon leaving college he began the study of law. For the short time he continued in the practice of his profession lie rose rapidly and distin- guished himself by his energy and accuteness as a lawyer. But the times called for greater action. The policy of England had awakened the spirit of resistance of the American Colonies, and the enlarged views which Jefferson had ever entertained, soon led him into active political life. In 1769 he was chosen a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. In 1772 he married Mrs. Martha Skelton, a very beauti- ful, wealthy and liighly accomplished young widow.

Upon Mr. Jefferson's large estate at Shadwell, there was a majestic swell of land, called Monticello, which commanded a prospect of wonderful extent ar.d beauty. This spot Mr. Jefferson selected for his new home; and here he reared a mansion of modest yet elegant architecture, which, next to Mount Vernon, became the most distinguished resort in our land.

In 1775 he was sent to the Colonial Congress, where, though a silent member, his abilities as a writer and a reasoner soon become known, and he was placed upon a number of important conmiittees, and was chairman of the one appointed for the draw- ing up of a declaration of independence. This com- mittee consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adau;s. Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Rol)ert R. Livingston. Jefferson, as chairman, was appointed to draw up the paper. Franklin and Adams suggested a few verbal changes before it was submitted to Con- gress. On June 28, a few slight changes were made in it by Congress, and it was passed and signed July 4, 1776. Wliat must have been the feelings of that

28

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

man — what the emotions that swelled his breast — who was cliLirged with the preparation of that Dec- laration, which, while it made known the wrongs of America, .vas also to publish her to the world, free, ;,ovcrign and independent. It is orie of the most re- .;K.rkable pa|)ers ever written ; and did no other effort iif the mind of its author exist, that alone would be bufncient to stamp his name with immortality.

In 1779 Mr. Jefferson was elected successor to Patrick Henry, us Governor of Virginia. At one time the British officer, Tarleton, sent a secret expedition to Moniicello, to capture the Governor. Scarcely five minutes elapsed after the hurried escape of Mr. Jef- ferson and his family, ere his mansion was in posses- sicm of the British troops. His wife's health, never very good, was much injured by this excitement, and in the summer of 1782 she died.

Mr. Jefferson was elected to Congress in 1783. Two yens later he was appointed Minister Plenipo- tentiary to France. Returning to the United States in September, 1789, he became Secretary of State in Washington's cabinet. This position he resigned Jan. I, 1794. In 1797, he was chosen Vice Presi- dent, and four years later was elected President over Mr. Adams, with Aaron Burr as Vice President. In T804 he was re-elected with wonderful unanimiiy, and George Clinton, Vice President.

The early part of Mr. Jefferson's second adminstra- tion was disturbed by an event which threatened the tranquility and peace of the Union ; this was the con- spiracy of Aaron Burr. Defeated in the late election to the Vice Presidency, and led on by an unfrincipled ambition, this extraordinary man formed the plan of a military expedition into the Spanish territories on our southwestern frontier, for the purpose of forming there a new republic. This has l)een generally supposed was a mere pretext ; and although it has not been generally known what his real plans were, there is no doubt that they were of a far more dangerous character.

In 1809, at the expiration of the second term for which Mr. Jefferson had lieen elected, he determined to retire from political life. For a period of nearly forty years, he had been continually before the pub- lic, and all that time had been employed in offices of the greatest trust and responsibility. Ha%'ing thus de- voted the best part of his life to the service of his countiy, he now felt desirous of that rest which his declining years required, and uix)n the organization of the new administration, in March, 1809, he b'd fare- well forever to public life, and retired to Monticelio.

Mr. Jefferson was profuse in his hospitality. Whole families came in their coaches with their horses, — fathers and mothers, boys and girls, babies and nurses, — and remained three and even six months. Life at Monticelio, for years, resembled that at a fashionable watering-place.

The fourth of July, 1826, being the fiftieth anniver-

sary of the Declaration of American Independence, great preparations were made in every part of the Union for its celebration, as the nation's jubilee, and the citizens of Washington, to add to the solemnily of the occasion, invited Mr. Jefferson, as the framer and one of the few surviving signers of the Declara- tion, to participate in their festivities. But an ill- ness, whicli had been of several weeks duration, and had been continually increasing, compelled him to decline the invitation.

On the second of July, the disease under whit '1 he was laboring left him, but in such a reduced state that his medical attendants, entetrained ne hope of his recovery. From this time he was perfectly sensible that his last hour was at hand. On the next d;iy, which was Monday, he asked of those around him, the day of the month, and on being told it was the third of July, he expressed the earnest wish that he might be permitted to breathe the air of the fiflieth anniversary. His prayer was heard — that day, whose dawn was hailed with such rapture through om' land, burst upon his eyes, and then they were closed for- ever. And what a noble consummation of a noble life! To die on that day, — the birthday of a nation,- - the day v/hich his own name and his own act had rendered glorious; to die amidst the rejoicings and festivities of a whole nation, who looked up to him, as the author, under God, of their greatest blessings, was all that was wanting to fill up the record his life.

Almost at the same hour of his death, the kin- dred sjiirit of the venerable Adams, as if to bear him company, left the scene of his earthly honors. Hand in hand they had stood forth, the champions of freedom ; hand in hand, during the dark and desider- ate struggle of the Revolution, they had cheered ar.d "animated their desponding cou\Ury'men; for half a century they had laboied together for the good of the country; and now hand in hand they depart. In their lives they had been united in the same great cause of liberty, and in their deaths they were not divided.

In person Mr. Jefferson was tall and thin, rather above six feet in height, but well formed; his eyes were light, his hair originally red, in after life became white and silvery; his complexion was fair, his fore- head broad, and his whole countenance intelligent and thoughtful. He possessed great fortitude of mind as well as personal courage ; and his command of tem- per was such that his oldest and most intimate friends never recollected to have seen him in a passion. His manners, though dignified, were simple and un- affected, and his hospitality was so unbounded that all fomid at his house a ready welcome. In conver- sation he was fluent, eloquent and enthusiastic; and his language was remarkably pure and correct. He was a finished classical scholar, and in his writings is discernable the care with which he formed his style upon the best models of antiquity.

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FO UR TH PR F SI DEN T.

3 1

n^riQES npDisol].

AMES MADISON, "Father of the Constitution,'' and fourth ' President of the United States, was born March i6, 1757, and died at his home in Virginia, ^ June 28, 1836. The name of James Madison is inseparably con- nected with most of tlie important events in that heroic period of our country during which the founda- tions of this great republic were laid. He was the last of the founders of the Constitution of the United States to be called to his eternal reward.

The Madison family were among the early emigrants to the New World, landing upon the shores of the Chesa- peake but 15 years after the settle- ment of Jamestown. The father of James Madison was an opulent planter, residing upon a very fine es- tate called "Montpelier," Orange Co., Va. The mansion was situated in the midst of scenery highly pictur- esque and romantic, on the west side of South-west Mountain, at the foot of Blue Ridge. It was but 25 miles from the home of Jefferson at Monticello. The closest personal and political attachment existed between these illustrious men, from their early youth until death.

The early education of Mr. Madison was conducted mostly at home under a private tutor. At the age of rS he was sent to Princeton College, in New Jersey. Here lie applied himself to study with the most im-

prudent zeal; allowing himfjelf, for months, but three hours' sleep out of the 24. His health thus became so seriously impaired that he never recovered any vigor of constitution. He graduated in 177 i, with a feeble, body, with a character of utmost purity, and with a mind highly disciplined and richly stored witli learning, which embellished and gave proficiency to his subsr ([uent career.

Returning to Virginia, he commenced the study of law and a course of extensive and systematic reading. This educational course, the spirit of the times in which he lived, and the society with which he asso- ciated, all combined to inspire him with a strong love of liberty, and to train him for his life-work of a statesman. Being naturally of a religious turn of m.ind, and his frail health leading him to think that his life was not to be long, he directed especial atten- tion to theological studies. Endowed with a mmd singularly free from passion and prejudice, and with almost unequalled powers of reasoning, he weighed all the arguments for and against revealed religion, until his faith became so established as never to be shaken.

In the spring of 1776, when 26 years of age, he was elected a member of the Virginia Convention, to frame the constitution of the State. The next year (1777)1 'ic was a candidate for the General Assembly. He refused to treat the whisky-lovir.g voters, and consequently lost his election ; but those who had witnessed the talentj energy and public siiirit of the modest young man, enlisted themselves in his behalf, and he was appointed to the E.\ecutive Council.

Both Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson were Ciovernors of Virginia while Mr. Madison remained mem'oer ot the Council ; and their api)recialion of his

32

JAMES MADISON.

intellectual, social and moral worth, contributed not a little to his subsequent eminence. In the year 1780, he was elected a member of the Continental Coufiress. Here he met the most illustrious men in our land, and he was immediately assigned to one of the most conspicuous positions among them.

For three years Mr. Madison continued in Con- gress, one of-its most active and influential members. In tne year 1784, his term having expired, he was elected a member of the Virginia Legislature.

No man felt more deeply than Mr. Madison the utter inefficiency of the old confederacy, with no na- tional government, with no power to form treaties which would be binding, or to enforce law. There was not any State more prominent than Virginia in the declaration, that an efficient national government must be formed. In January, 1786, Mr. Madison carried a resolution through the General Assembly of Virginia, inviting the other States to appoint commis- sioners to meet in convention at Annapolis to discuss this subject. Five States only were re|)resented. 'I'he convention, however, issued another call, drawn up by Mr. Madison, urging all the States to send their delegates to Philadelphia, in May, 1787, to draft a Constitution for the United States, to take the place of that Confederate League. The delegates met at the time appointed. F,very State but Rhode Island was represented. George Washington was chosen president of the convention ; and the present Consti- tution of the United States was then and there formed. There was, perhaps, no mind and no pen more ac- tive in framing this immortal document than tlie mind and the pen of James Madison.

The Constitution, adopted by a vote 81 to 79, was to be presented to the several States for acceptance. But grave solicitude was felt. Should it be rejected we should be left but a conglomeration of independent States, with but little power at home and little respect abroad. Mr. Madison was selected by tne conven- tion to draw up an address to the people of the Uiiiied States, expoimding the principles of the Constitution, and urging its adoption. There was great opposition to it at first, but it at length triumphed over all, and went into effect \w 1789.

Mr. Madison was elected to the House of Repre- sentatives in the first Congress, and soon became the avowed leader of the Republican party. While in New Vork attending Congress, he met Mrs Todd, a young widow of remarkable power of fascination, whom he married. She was in person and character <]ueenly, and probably no lady has thus far occujMed so prominent a position in the very peculiar society which has constituted our republican court as Mrs. Madison.

Mr. Madison served as Secretary' of State under Jefferson, and at the close of his administration was chosen President. At this time the encroach- ments of England had brought us to the verge of war.

British orders in council destioyed our commerce, and our flag was exposed to constant insult. Mr. Madison was a man of peace. Scholarly in his taste, retiring in his disposition, war had no charms for him. But the meekest spirit can be roused. It makes one's blood boil, even now, to think of an American ship brought to, upon the ocean, by the guns of an English cruiser. A young lieutenant steps on board and orders the crcw to be paraded before him. With great nonchal- ance he selects any number whom he may please to designate as British subjects ; orders them down the ship's side into his boat; and places them on the gun- deck of his man-of-war, to fight, by compulsion, the battles of England. This right of search and im- pressment, no efforts of our Government could induce the British cabir.et to relinquish.

On the 1 8th of June, 1812, President Madison gave his appioval 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 Mr. Madison, on the 4th of March, 18 13) was re-elected by a large majority, and entered upon his second term of office. This is not the place to describe the various adventuras of this war on the land and on the water. Our infant navy then laid the foundations of its renown in grap- pling with the most formidable power which ever swept the seas. The contest commenced in earnest by the appearance of a British fleet, early in Februaiy, 18 13, in Chesapeake Bay, declaring nearly the whole coast of the United States under blockade.

The Em[)eror of Russia offered his services as me ditator. America accepted ; England refused. A Brit- ish force of five thousand men landed on the banks of the Patuxet River, near its entrance into Chesa- peake Bay, and marched rapidly, by way of Bladens- burg, ujjon Washington.

The straggling little city of \\'ashington was thrown into consternation. The cannon of the brief conflict at Bladensburg echoed through the streets of the metropolis. The whole |Mpulaticn fled from the city. The President, leaving Mrs. Madison in the White House, with her carriage drawn up at the door to await his speedy return, hurried to meet the officers in a council of war. He met our troops utterly routed, and he could not go back without danger of being captured. But few hours elapsed ere the Presidential Mansion, the Capitol, and all the pulilic buildings in Washington were in flames.

The war closed after two years of fighting, and on Feb. 13, 1S15, the treaty of peace was signed at Ghent.

On the 4th of March, 1817, his second term of office expired, and he resigned the Presidential chair to his friend, James Monroe. He retired to his beau- tiful home at Montpelier, and there passed the re- mainder of his days. On June 28, 1836, then at the age of 85 years, he fell asleep in death. Mrs. Madi- son died July 12, 1849.

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FIFTH PRESIDENT.

35

^$m^ l^W& n]oi]i^oE.

AMES MONROE, the fifth residentof The United States, was l)orn in Westmoreland Co., Va., April 28, 1758. His early life was passed at the place of nativity. His ancestors had for f-q many years resided in the prov-

ince in which he was born. When, at 17 years of age, in the process ^1 of completing his education at WiUiam and Mary College, the Co- lonial Congress assembled at Phila- delphia to deliberate upon the un- just and manifold oppressions of dreat Britian, declared the separa- tion of the Colonies, and promul- gated the Declaration of Indepen- dence. Had he been born ten years before it is highly probable that he would have been one of the signers of that celebrated instrument. At this time he left school and enlisted among the patriots.

He joined the army when everything looked hope- less and gloomy. Tlie number of deserters increased from day to day. The invading armies came pouring in ; and the tories not only favored the cause of the mother country, but disheartened the new recruits, who were sufficiently terrified at the prospect of con- tending with an enemy whom they had been taught to deem invincible. To such brave spirits as James Monroe, who went right onward, undismayed through difficulty and danger, the United States owe their political emancipation. The young cadet joined the ranks, and espoused the cause of his injured country, with a firm determination to live or die with her strife

for liberty. Firmly yet sadly he shared in the mel- ancholy retreat from Harleam Heights and White Plains, and accompanied the dispirited army as it fled before its foes through New Jersey. In four months after the Declaration of Independence, the patriots had been beaten in seven battles. At the battle of Trenton he led the vanguard, and, in the act of charg- ing upon the enemy he received a wound in the left shoulder.

As a reward for his bravery, Mr. Monroe was ]:iro- moted a captain of infantry; and, having recovered from his wound, he rejoined the army. He, however, receded from the line of promotion, by becoming an officer in the staff of Lord Sterling. During the cam- paigns of 1777 and 1778, in the actions of Brandy wine, Germantown and Monmouth, he continued aid-de-camp; but Ijecoming desirous to regain his position in the army, he exerted himself to collect a regiment for tlie Virginia line. This scheme failed owing to the exhausted condition of the State. Upon this failure he entered the office of Mr. Jefferson, at that petiod Governor, and pursued, with considerable ardor, the study of common law. He did not, however, entirely lay aside the knapsack for the green bag; but on the invasions of the enemy, served as a volun- teer, during the two years of his legal pursuits.

In 1782, he was elected from King George county, a member of the Leglislature of Virginia, and by that body he was elevated to a seat in the E.xecutive Council. He was thus honored with the confidence of his fellow citizens at 23 years of age ; and having at this early period displayed some of that aljilit}- and a[)titude for legislation, which were afterwards employed with unremitting energy fortlie public good,

36

JAMES MONROE.

he was in the succeeding year chosen a member of the Congress »)f the Unilid States. Deeplyas Mr. Moiiioe fjlt tlie imperfectioiisof theold Confederacy, he was opposed lo tlie new Constiliilion, Thinking, with many others of 'he Republican party, that it gave too much power to the Central Government, and not enough to the individual States. Still he re- tained the esteem of his friends who were its warm supporters, and who, notwithstanding his opposition secured its adoption. In 1789, he became amember of the United States Senate; which office he held for four years. Every month the line of distinction be- tween the two great iiarties which divided the nation, the Federal and the Republican, was growing more distinct. The two \)rominent iaeas which now sep- arated them were, that the Republican party was in sympathy with France, and also in favor of such a strict construction of the Constitution as to give the Central Government as little power, and the State Governments as much i>ower, as the Constitution would warrant. The Federalists sympathized with England, and were in favor of a liberal construction of the Con- stitution, which would give as much jjower to the Central Crovernment as that document could possiljly authorise.

The leading Federalists and Republicans were alike nolile men, consecrating all their energies to tlie good of the nation. Two more honest men or more pure patriots than John Adams the Federalist, and James Monroe the Rep\iblican, never breathed. In building up this majestic nation, which is destined to eclipse all Grecian and Assyrian greatness, the com- bination of tlieir antagonism was needed to create the liglit eiiuilibriinn. And yet each in his day was de- nounced as almost a demon.

Washington was then President. England had es- poused the cause of the Bourbons against the princi- ples of the French Revolution. All Europe was drawn into the conflict. We were feeble and far away. Washington issued a proclamation of neutrality Ije- tween these contending jjowers. France had helped us in the struggle for our liberties. AH the despotisms of Europe were now comliined to prevent the French from escaping from a tyranny a thousand-fold worse than that which we had endured Col. Monroe, more magnanimous than prudent, was anxious that, at whatever hazard, we should help our old allies in their extremity. It was the impulse of a generous and noble nature. He violently opposed the Pres- ident's proclamation as ungrateful and wanting in magnanimity.

Washington, who could apnreciate such a character, developed his calm, serene, almost divine greatness, by appointing that very James Monroe, who was de- nouncing the policy of the Government, as the minister of that Government to the Re])ublic of France. Mr. Monroe was welcomed by the National Convention in France with the most enthusiastic demonstrations.

Shortly after his return to this country, Mr. Mon- roe was elected Cjoveinor of Virginia, and held the office for three jeais. He was again sent to trance to co-operate with Chancellor Livingston in obtaining the vast territory then known as the Province of Louisiana, which France had but shortly before ob- tained from Spain. Their united efforts were sue cessful. For the comparatively small sum of fifteen millions of dollars, the entire territory of Orleans and district of Louisiana were added to the United States. This was probably the largest transfer of real estate which was ever made in all the history of the world

F'rom France Mr. Monroe went to England to ob- tain from that country some recognition of our rights as neutrals, and to remonstrate against those odious impressments of our seamen. but Eng- land was unrelenting. He again returned to Eng- land on the same mission, but could receive no redress. He returned to his home and was again chosen Governor of Virginia. This he soon resigned to accept the position of Secretary of State under Madison. While in this office war with England was declared, the Secretary of War resigned, and during these tiying times, the duties of the War Department were also put upon him. He was truly the armor- bearer of President Madison, and the most efficient business man in his cabinet. Upon the return of peace he resigned the Department of War, but con- tinued in the office of Secretary of State until the ex- piration of Mr. Madison's adminstration. At the elec tion held the previous autumn Mr. Monroe himself had been chosen President with but little opposition, and upon March 4, 18x7, was inaugurated. Four yearf later he was elected for a second term.

Among the imi>ortant measures of his Presidency were the cession of Florida to the L^nited States; the Missouri Compromise, and the " Monroe doctrine.'-

This famous doctrine, since known as the "Monroe doctrine," was enunciated by him in 1823. At that time the United States had recognized the independ- ence of the South American states, and did not wish to have European powers longer attetnpting to sub- due [lortiuns of the American Continent. The doctrine is as follows: "That we should consider any attempt on the part of European powers to extend their sys- tem to any portion of this hemis])here as dangerous to our peace and safety," and "that we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing or controlling American governments or provinces in any other light than as a manifestation by Eurojiean iiowers of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States." This doctrine immediately affected the course of foreign governments, and has become the approved sentiment of the United States.

At the end of his second term Mr Monroe retired to his home in Virginia, where he li\'ed until 1830, when he went to New York lo live with his son-in- law. In that city he died, on the 4th of July, 1831

J, 3, Ai

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SIXTH PRESIDENT.

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OHN (^UINCY ADAMS, the '*) sixth President of the United ^■■•'States, was born in the rural home of his honored father. John Adams, in Qaincy, Mass., Oil the 1 1 th cf July, 1767. His mother, a woman of exalted 5 worth, watched over liis childhood during the almost constant ab- sence of his father. When but eight years of age, he stood with ■' his mother on an eminence, listen- ing to the booming of the great l)at- tle on Bunker's Hill, and gazing on upon the smoke and flames billow- ing up from the conflagration of Charlestown.

When but eleven years old he took a tearful adieu of his mother, to sail with his falner for Europe, through a fleet of ho.uile British cruisers. The bright, animated boy spent a year and a half in Pan's, where his father was associated with Franklin and Lee as minister plenipotentiary. His intelligence attracted the notice of these distinguished men, and he received from them flattering marks of attention.

Mr. John Adams had scarcely letnrned to this cour.try, in 1779, ere he was again sent abroad Again i'ohii Quincy accompanied his father. At Paris he applied himself with great diligence, for six months, to jtudy; then accompained his father to Holland, where lie entered, first a school in .Amsterdam, then tlie University at Leyden. About a year from this time, in 1781, when the manly boy was Ijut fourteen yea"-'? of age, he was selected by Mr. Dana, our min- ister to the Russian court, as his private secretary.

Tn this school of incessant labor and of enobling culture he spent fourteen months, and then returned to Holland through Sweden, Denmark, Hamburg and Bremen. This long journey he took alone, in the winter, when in his sixteenth year. .'Vgain he resumed his studies, under a private tutor, at Hague, 'i'hence.

in the si)ringof 1782, he accompanied his father 10 Paris, traveling leisurely, and forming acquaintance with the most distinguished men on the Con:iner.f, examining architectural remains, galleries of paintings, and all renowned works of art. At Paris he again became associated with the most illustrious men of all lands in the contemplations of the loftiest temporal themes which can engross the human mind. After a short visit to England he returned to Paris, and consecrated all his energies to study until May, 1785, when he returned to America. To a brilliant young man of eighteen, who had seen much of the world, and who was familiar with the etiquette of courts, a residence with his father in London, under such cir- cumstances, must have been extremely attractive but with judgment very rare in one of his age, he pre- ferred to return to America to complete his education in an American college. He wished then to study law, that with an honorable profession, he might be able to obtain an independent support.

Upon leaving Harvard College, at the age of twenty, he studied law for three years. In June, 1794, be- ing then but twenty-seven years of age, he was ap- Ijointed by Washington, resident minister at the Nelb.erlands. Sailing from Boston in July, he reached London in October, where he was immediately admit- tedto the deliberations of Messrs. Jay and Pinckney, assisting them in negotiating a commercial treaty with Gieat Brilian. After thus spending a fortnight in London, he proceeded to the Hague.

In July, 1797, he left the Hague to go to Portugal as minister plenipotentiary. On his way to Portugal, upon arriving in London, he met with despatches directing him to the court of Beiiin, but requesting him to remain in London until he should receive his instructions. While wr.iting he was married to an American lady to whom he "had been previously en- gaged,— Miss Louisa Catherine Johnson, daughter of Mr. Joshua Johnson, American con.sul in I ondon ; a lady endownd with that beauty and those accom- plishment which emincnlly fitted her to move in the elevated sphere for which she w^s d.^'slined

40

JOHN QUINCY AUAAJS.

He reached Berlin with his wife in November, 1797 ; where he remained until July, 1799, when, havingful- fiUed all the purposes of his mission, he solicited his recall.

Soon after his return, in 1802, he was chosen to Ihe Senate of Massachusetts, from Boston, and then was elected Senator of the United States for six years, from the 4th of March, 1804. His reputation, his ability and his experience, placed him immediately among the most prominent and influential members of that body. Especially did he sustain the Govern- ment in its measures of resistance to the encroach- ments of England, destroying our commerce and in- sulting 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.

In 1809, Madison succeeded Jefferson in the Pres- idential chair, and he immediately nominated John Quincy Adams minister to St. Petersburg. Resign- ing his professorship in Harvard College, he embarked at Boston, in August, 1809.

While in Russia, Mr. Adams was an intense stu- dent. He devoted his attention to the language and history of Russia; to the Chinese trade; to the European system of weights, measures, and coins ; to the climate and astronomical observations ; while he Kept up a familiar acquaintance with the Greek and Latin classics. In all the universities of Euroi)e, a more accomplished scholar could scarcely be found. .Ml through life the Bible constituted an importart part ot his studies. It was his rule to read five chapters every day.

On the 4th of March, 18 17, Mr. Monroe took the Presidential chair, and immediately ai)i)ointed Mr. Adams Secretary of State. Taking leave of his num- erous friends in public and private life in Euroi^e, he sailed in June, 1819, forthe United States. On the i8th of August, he again crossed the threshold of his home in Quincy. During the eight years of Mr. Mon- roe's administration, Mr. Adams continued Secretary of State.

Some time before the close of Mr. Monroe's second term of office, new candidates began to be presented for the Presidency. The friends of Mr. Adams brought forward his name. It was an exciting campaign. Party spirit was never more bitter. Two hundred and sixty electoral votes were cast. Andrew Jackson re- ceived ninety-nine; John Quincy Adams, eighty-four; William H. Crawford, forty -one; Henry Clay, thirty- se/en. As there was no choice by the people, the question went to the House of Representatives. Mr. Clay gave the vote of Kentucky to Mr. Adams, and he was elected.

The friends of all the disappointed candidates now combined in a venomous and persistent assault upon Mr. Adams. There is nothing more disgraceful in ♦he past historv of our country than the abuse which

was poured in one uninterrupted stream, upon this high-minded, upright, patriotic man. There never was an administration more pure in principles, more con- scientiously devoted to the best interests of the coun- try, than that of John Quincy Adams ; and never, per- haps, was there an administration more unscrupu- lously and outrageously assailed.

Mr. Adams was, to a very remarkable degree, ab- stemious and temperate in his habits; always rising early, and taking much exercise. When at his homein Quincy, he has been known to walk, before breakfast, seven miles to Boston. In Washington, it was said that he was the first man up in the city, lighting his own fire and applying himself to work in his library often long before dawn.

On the 4th of March, 1829, Mr. Adams retired from the Presidency, and was succeeded by Andrew- Jackson. John C. Calhoun was elected Vice Presi- dent. The slavery question now began to assume ixirtentous magnitude. Mr. Adams returned to Quincy and to his studies, which he pursued with un- abated zeal. But he was not long permitted to re- main in retirement. In November, 1830, he was elected representative to Congress. For seventeen years, until his death, he occupied the jx)st as repre- sentative, towering above all his peers, ever ready to do brave battle' for freedoiri, and winning the title of "the old man eloquent." Upon taking his seat in the House, he announced that he should hold him- self bound to no party. Probably there never was a member more devoted to his duties. 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 be brought forward and escape his scrutiny. The battle which Mr. Adams fought, almost singly, against the proslavery 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.

It has been said of President Adams, that when his body was bent and his hair silvered by the lapse of fourscore years, yielding to the simple faith of a little child, he was accustomed to repeat every night, before he slept, the pra)er which his mother taught him in his infant years.

On the 2 1 St of February, 1848, he rose on the floor of Congress, with a pajier in his hand, to address the speaker. Suddenly he fell, again stricken by paraly- sis, and was caught in the arms of those around him. For a lime he was senseless, as he was conveyed to the sofa in the rotunda. With reviving conscious- ness, he opened his eyes, looked calmly around and said " T/n's is ihe end of earth ;"tlien after a moment's pause he add. 'd, '' I atn confent" These were the last words of the grand "Old Man Elocpient."

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SEVENTH PRESIDENT.

4. '5

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M NDREVV JACKSON, the ^^ seventh President of the "United States, was born in Waxhaw settlement, N. C, March 15, 1767, a few days after his father's death. His parents were poor emigrants from Ireland, and took up their abode in Waxhaw set- tlement, where they lived in deepest poverty, Andrew, or Andy, as he was universally called, grew up a very rough, rude, turbulent boy. His features were coarse, his form un- gainly; and there was but very little in his character, made visible, which was at- tractive.

When only thirteen years old he joined the volun- teers of Carolina against the British invasion. In 1781, he and his brother Robert were captured and imprisoned for a time at Camden. A British officer ordered him to brush his mud-spattered boots. " I am a prisoner of war, not your servant," was the reply of the dauntless boy.

The brute drew his sword, and aimed a desperate Dlow at the head of the helpless young prisoner. Andrew raised his hand, and thus received two fear- ful gashes, — one on the hand and the other upon the head. The officer then turned to his brother Robert with the same demand. He also refused, and re- ceived a blow from the keen-edged sabre, which quite disabled him, and which probably soon after caused his death. They suffered much other ill-treatment, and were finally stricken with the small-pox. Their mother was successful in obtaining their exchange,

and took her sick boys home. After a long illn::ss Andrew recovered, and the death of his mother soon left him entirely friendless.

Andrew supported himself in various ways, s i;h as working at the saddler's trade, teaching school and clerking in a general store, until 17S4, when he entered a law office at Salisbury, N. C. He, however, gave more attention to the wild amusements of the times than to his studies. In 1788, he was appointed solicitor for the western district of North Carolina, of which Tennessee was then a part. This involved many long and tedious journeys amid dangers of every kind, but Andrew Jackson never knew fear, and the Indians had no desire to repeat a skirmish witn the Sharp Knife.

In 1 791, Mr. Jackson was married to a woman who supposed herself divorced from her former husband. Great was the surprise of both parties, two years later, to find that the conditionsof the divorce had just been definitely settled by the first husband. The marriage ceremony was performed a second time, but the occur- rence was often used by his enemies to bring Mr. Jackson into disfavor.

During these years he worked hard at his profes- sion, and frequently had one or more duels on hand, one of which, when he killed Dickenson, was espec- ially disgraceful.

In January, 1796, the Territory of Tennessee then containing nearly eighty thousand inhabitants, the people met in convention at Knoxville to frame a con- stitution. Five were sent from each of the elevsn counties. Andrew Jackson was one of the delegates. The new State was entitled to but one meml cr in the National House of Representatives. Andre\v Jack- son was chosen that member. Mourning his liorse he rode to Philedelphia, where Congress ih.en Icld its

44

ANDREW JACKSON.

sjiiij.13, — a diilance of about eight hundred miles.

Jackson was an earnest advocate of the Demo- cratic party. Jefferson was his idol. He admired iionaparte, loved France and hated England. As Mr. Jackson took his seat, Gjn. Washington, whose sjcond term of office was then expi.ing, delivered his last speech to Congress. A committee drew up a com[ilimentary address in reply. Andrew Jackson did not approve of tlie address, and was one of the twelve who voted against it. He was not willing to say that Gen. Washington's adminstration had been " wise, firm and patriotic."

^' Mr. Jackson was elected to the United States Senate in 1797, but soon resigned and returned home. Soon after he was chosen Judge of the Supreme Court of his State, which position he held f^r six years.

When the war of 1812 with Great Biilian com- menced, Madison occupied the Presidential cliair. Aaron Burr sent word to the President that there was an unknown man in the West, Andrew Jackson, who would do credit to a commission if one were con- ferred upon him. Just at that time Gen. [ackson offered his services and those of twenty-five hur-dred Volunteers. His offer was acce])ted, and the troops wer'c assembled at Nashville.

As the British were hourly expected to make an at- tack r.pon New Orleans, where Gen Wilkinson was in command, he was ordered to descend the river with fifteen hundred troops to aid Wilkinson. The expedition reached Natchez; and after a delay of sev- eral weeks ther'e, without accomplishing anything, the men were ordered back to their homes. But the energy Cien. Jackson had displayed, and his entire devotion to the comrfort of his soldiers, won him golden opinions; and he became the most popular man in the State. It was in this expedition llrat his toughness gave him the nickname of '"Old Hickory."

Soon after this, while attempting to horsewhip Col. Thomas H. Betrton, for a remark that genileman made about his taking a ])art as second in a duel, in which a younger brother of Benton's was engaged, he received two severe pistol wounds. While he was lingering upon a bed of suffering news came that the I idians, who had combined under Tecuraseh from Florida to the Lakes, to exterminate the white set- vlers, were committing the most awful ravages. De- cisive action becatrre necessary. Gen. Jackson, with his fractured bone just beginning to heal, his arm in a sling, and unable to mount his horse without assis- lance, gave his amazing energies to the raising of an army to rendezvous at Fayettesville, Alabama.

The Creek Indians had established a strong ford on one of the bendsof theTallaixjosa River, near the cen- ter of Alabama, about fifty miles below Fort Str'othcr. Willi an army of two tho\',sand men, Gen. Jackson traversed the pathless wilderness in a march of eleven ifiys. He reached their fort, called Toho])eka or Horse-shoe, on the 27th of March. 1814. 'I"he bend

of the river enclosed nearly one hundred acres ot tangled forest and wild ravine. Across the narrow- neck the Indians had constructed a formidable breast- work ot logs and brush. Here nine hundred warriors, with an ample suply of arms were assembled.

The fort was stormed. The fight was utterly des- perate. Not an Indian would accept of (juarter. When bleeding and dying, they would fight those who en- deavored to spare their lives. Fronr ten in the mori'.- ing until dark, the battle raged. The carnage was awful and revolting. .Some threw themselves into the river; but the unerring bullet struck their heads as they swam. Nearly everyone of the nine hundred war- rios were killed A few probably, in the night, swam the river and escaped. This ended the war. The power of the Creeks was broken forever. This bold plunge into the wilderness, with its terriffic slaughter, so appalled the savages, that the haggard remnants of the bands came to the camp, begging for j)eace.

This closing of the Creek war enabled us to con- centrate all oirr militia upon the British, who were the allies of the Indians No man of less resolute will than Gen. Jackson could have conducted this Indian campaign to so successful an issue Immediately he was appointed major-general.

Late in .August, with an army of two thousand men, on a rushing march. Gen. Jackson came to Mobile, A British fleet came from Pensacola, landed a force upon the beach, anchored near the little fort, and from both ship and shore commenced a furious assault The battle was long and doubtful. At length one of the ships was blown up and the rest retired.

Garrisoning Mobile, where he had taken his litth.' army, he moved his troops to New Orlear'S, And the battle of New Orleans which soon ensued, was in reality a very arduous campaign. This won for Gen. Jackson an imperishable name. Here his troops, which numbered about four thousand men, won a signal victory over the British army of about nine thousand. His loss was but thirteen, while the loss of the British was two thousand six hundred.

The name of Gen. Jackson soon began to be men- tioned in connection with the Presidency, but, in 1824, he was defeated by Mr. Adams. He was, however, successful in the election of 1828, and was re-elected for a second term in 1832. In 1829, just before he assumed the reins of the government, he met with the most terrible affliction of his life in the death of his wife, whom he had loved with a devotion which has perhaps never been surpassed. From the shock of her death he never recovered.

His administration was one of the most memorable in the annals of oitr country; ajiplauded by one party, condemned by the other. No man had more bitter enemies or warmer friends. At the expiration of his two terms of office he retired to the Hermitage, where he died lune 8, 1845. The last years of I^Ir. Jack- son's life were that of a devoted Christian rrian.

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EIGHTH PRESIDENT.

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ARTIN VAN BUREN, the eighth President of the United States, was born at Kinderhook, N. Y., Dec. 5, 1782. He died at the same place, July 24, 1862. His body rests in the cemetery at Kinderhook. Above it is a plain granite shaft fifteen feet high, bearing a simple inscription about half way up on one face. w The lot is unfenced, unbordered or unbounded by shrub or flower.

There is but little in the life of Martin Van Buren of romantic interest. He fought no battles, engaged in no wild adventures. Though his life was stormy in political and intellectual conflicts, and he gained many signal victories, his days passed uneventful iu those incidents which give zest to biography. His an- cestors, as his name indicates, were of Dutch origin, and were among the earliest emigrants from Holland to the banks of the Hudson. His father was a farmer, residing in the old town of Kinderhook. His mother, also of Dutch lineage, was a woman of superior intel- ligence and exemplary piety.

He was decidedly a precocious boy, developing un- usual activity, vigor and strength of mind. At tiie age of fourteen, ho had finished his academic studies in his native village, and commenced the study of law. As he' had not a collegiate education, seven \ears of study in a law-office were reipiired of him before he could be admitted to the bar. Inspired with a lofty ambition, and conscious of his powers, he pur- sued his studies witli indefatigable industry. After spending six year^ in an office in his native village,

he went to the city of Xew York, and prosecuted his studies for the seventh year.

In 1803, Mr. Van Buren, then twenty-one yeais of age, commenced the practice of law in his native vil- lage. The great conflict between the Federal and Republican party was then at its height. Mr. Van Buren v.'as from the beginning a politician. He had, perhaps, imbibed that spirit while listening to the many discussions which had been carried on in his father's hotel. He was in cordial sympathy with Jefferson, and earnestly and eloquently espoused ihe cause of State Rights; though at that time the Fed- eral party held the supremacy both in his town and State.

His success and increasing ruputation led him after six years of practice, to remove to Hudson, th. county seat of his county. Here he spent seven years constantly gaining strength by contending in tht. courts with some of the ablest men who have adorned the bar of his State.

Just before leaving Kinderhook for Hudson, Mi. Van Buren married a lady alike distinguished for beauty and accomplishments. After twelve shoit years she sank into the grave, the victim of consump- tion, leaving her husband and four sons to weep over her loss. For twenty-five years, Mr. Van Buren was an earnest, successful, assiduous lawyer. The record of those years is barren in items of public interest. In 181 2, when thirty years of age, he was chosen to the State Senate, and gave his strenuous support to Mr. Madison's adniinstration. In 1815, he was ap- pointed Attorney-General, and the next year moved to Albany, the capital of the State.

While he was acknowledged as one of the most p ominent leaders of the Democ-^lic narty, h.e b; d

MARTIN VAN BUREN.

ilie moral courage to avow that true democracy did ivot require that " universal suffrage" which admits ihe vile, tlie degraded, the ignorant, to the right of goveri;ing tlie State. In true consistency with his democratic principles, he contended that, while the path leading to the privilege of voting should be open to every man without distinction, no one should be invested with that sacred prerogative, unless he were in some degree qualified for it by intelligence, virtue and some property interests in the welfare of the State.

In 182 I he was elected a member of the United States Senate; and in the same year, he took a seat in the convention to revise the constitution of his native State. His course in this convention secured the approval of men of all parties. No one could do;il)t the singleness of his endeavors to promote the interests of all classes in the community. In the Senate of the United States, he rose at once to a conspicuous position as an active and useful legislator.

In 1827, John Quincy Adams being then in tlie Presidential chair, Mr. Van Buren was re-elected to the Senate. He had been from the beginning a de- termined opposer of the Administration, adopting the "State Rights" view in opposition to what was deemed the Federal proclivities of Mr. Adams.

Soon after this, in 1828, he was chosen Governorof the State of New York, and accordingly resigned his seat in the Senate. Probably no one in the United States contributed so much towards ejecting John Q. Adams from the Presidential chair, and placing in it Andrew Jackson, as did Martin Van Buren. Whether entitled to the reputation or not, he certainly was re- garded throughout the United States as one of the most skillful, sagacious and cunning of politicians. It was supposed that no one knew so well as he how to touch the secret spiings of action; how to pull all the wires to put his machinery in motion ; and how to organize a political army which would, secretly and stealthily accomplish the most gigantic results. By these powers it is said that he outwitted Mr. Adams, Mr. Clay, Mr. Webster, and secured results wliicli few thought then could be accomplished.

VVhe.i .Andrew Jackson was elected President he api)ointed Mr. Van Buren Secretary of Sta'e. This [losition he resigned in 1831, and was immediately appoipted Minister to England, wliere he went the s ime autumn. The Senate, however, when it met, refused to ratify the nomination, and he returned

home, apparently untroubled ; was nominated Vice President in the place of Calhoun, at the re-election of President Jackson ; and with smiles for all and fiowns for none, he took his place at the head of that Senate which had refused to confirm !iis nomination as ambassador.

His rejection by the Senate roused all the zeal of President Jackson in behalf of his repudiated favor- ite ; and this, probably more than any other cause, secured his elevation to the chair of the Chief Execu- tive. On the 20th of May, 1836, Mr. Van Buren re- ceived the Democratic nomination to succeed Gen. Jackson as President of the United States He was elected by a handsome majority, to the delight of the retiring President. " Leaving New York out of the canvass," says Mr. Parton, ''the election of Mr. Van Buren to the Presidency was as much the act of Gen. Jackson as though the Constitution had conferred upon him the power to appoint a successor."

His administration was filled with exciting events. The insurrection in Canada, which threatened to in volve this country in warwitli England, the agitation of the slavery question, and finally the great commer- cial panic which spread over the country, all were trials to his wisdom. The financial distress was at- tributed to the management of the Democratic party, and brought the President into such disfavor that he failed of re election.

Wiih the exception of being nominated for the Presidency by the "Free Soil" Democrats, in 1848, Mr. Van Buren lived quietly upon his estate until his death.

He had ever been a prudent man, of frugal habits, and living within his income, iiad now fortunately a competence for his declining years. His unblemished character, his commanding abilities, iiis unquestioned patriotism, and the distinguished positions which he had occupied in the government of our country, se- cured to him not only the homage of his party, but the respect ot the whole community. It was on the 4th of March, 1841, that Mr. Van Buren retired from the presidency. From his fine estate at Lindenwald, he still exerted a powerful influence uixjn the politics of the country. From this time until his deatli, on the 24th of July, 1862, at the age of eighty years, he resided at Lindenwald, a gentleman of leisure, of culture and of wealth; enjoying in a healthy old age, probably far more hapj)iness than he had before experienced amid the stormy scenes of his active life.

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NINTH PRESIDKNT.

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ILLIAM HENRY HARRI- SON, the ninth President of the United States, was born at Berkeley, Va., Feb. 9, 1773. His father, Benjamin Harri- son, was in comparatively op- ulent circumstances, and was one of the most distinguished men of his day. He was an intimate friend of George Washington, was early elected a member of the Continental Congress, and was conspicuous among the patriots of Virginia in resisting the encroachments of the British crown. In the celebrated Congress of 1775, Benjamin Har- rison and John Hancock were both candidates for the ofifice of speaker.

Mr Harrison was subsequently chosen Governor of Virginia, and was twice re-elected. His son, i William Henry, of course enjoyed

in childhood all the advantages which wealth and intellectual and cultivated society could give. Hav- ing received a thorough comuion-school education, he entered Hampden Sidney College, where he graduated with honor soon after the death of his father. He then repaired to Philadelphia to study medicine under the instructions of Dr. Rush and the guardianship of Robert Morris, both of whom were, with his father, signers of the Declaration of Independence.

TJpon the outbreak of the Indian troubles, and not- withstanding the remonstrances of his friends, he ahar.doneu his medical studies and entered the army, having obtained a commission of Ensign from Presi-

dent Washington. He was then but 19 years old. From that time he passed gradually upward in rank until he became aid to General Wayne, after whose death he resigned his commission. He was then ap- pointed Secretary of the North-western Territory. Tiiis Territory rt-as then entitled to but one member in Congress and Capt. Harrison was chosen to fill that position.

In the spring of 1800 the North-western Territory was divided by Congress into two portions. The eastern portion, comprising the region now embraced in the State of Ohio, was called " The Territory north-west of the Ohio." The western portion, which included what is now called Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, was called the "Indiana Territory." Wil- liam Henry Harrison, then 27 years of age, was ajj- pointed by John Adams, Governor of the Indiana Territory, and immediately after, also Governor of Upper Louisiana. He was thus ruler over almost as extensive a realm as any sovereign upon the globe. He was Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and was in- vested with powers nearly dictatorial over the now rapidly increasing white population. The ability and fidelity with which he discharged these res|)onsil)le duties may be inferred from the fact that he was four times appointed to tliis office — first by John Adams, twice by Thomas Jefferson and afterwards liy Presi- dent Madison.

When he began his adminstration there were but three white settlementsin that almost boundless region, now crowded with cities and resounding with all the tumult of wealth and traffic. Oneof these settlements was on the Ohio, nearly opposite Louisville; one at Vincennes, on the Wabash, and the third a French settlement.

The vast wilderness over which Gov. Harrisoi. reigned was filled with many tribes of Indian.^. Abou'

5 =

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.

the year 1806, two extraordinary men, twin brothers, of the Shawnese tribe, rose among them. One of these was called Tecumseh, or " The Crouching Panther;" the other, OUivvacheca, or "The Prophet." Tecumseh was not only an Indian warrior, but a man of great sagacity, far-reaching foresight and indomit- able perseverance in any enterprise m which he might engage. He was inspired with the highest enthusiasm, and had long regarded with dread and with hatred the encroachment of the whites upon the hunting- grounds of his fathers. His brother, the Prophet, was anorator, who could sway the feelings of the untutored Indian as the gale tossed the tree-tops beneath which they dwelt.

But the Prophet was not merely anorator: he was, in the superstitious minds of tlie Indians, invested with the superhuman dignity of a medicine-man or a magician. With an enthusiasm unsurpassed by Peter the Hermit rousing Europe to the crusades, he went from tribe to tribe, assuming that he was specially sent by the Great Spirit.

Gov. Harrison made many attempts to conciliate the Indians, Ijut at last the war came, and at Tippe- canoe the Indians were routed with great slaughter. October 28, 1812, his army began its march. When near the Prophet's town three Indians of rank made their appearance and in(piired why Gov. Harrison was approaching them in so hostile an attitude. After a short conference, arrangements were made for a meet- ing the next day, to agree upon terms of peace.

But Gov. Harrison was too well acquainted with the Indian character to be deceived by such protes- tations Selecting a favorable spot for his night's en- campment, he took every precaution against surprise. His troops were posted in a hollow scjuare, and slept upon their arms.

The troops threw themselves upon the ground for rest; but every man had his accourtrements on, his loaded musket by his side, and his bayonet fixed. The wakeful Governor, between three and four o'clock in the morning, had risen, and was sitting in conversa- tion with liis aids by tlie embers of a waning fire. It was a chill, cloudy morning with a drizzling rain. In the darkness, the Indians had crept as near as possi- ble, and just then, with a savage yell, rushed, with all the desperation which superstition and passion most highly inflamed could give, upon the left flank of the little army. The savages had been amply provided with guns and ammunition by the English. Their war-whoop was accompained by a shower of bullets.

The camp-fires were instantly extinguished, as the light aided the Indians in their aim. With hide- Dus yells, the Indian bands rushed on, not doubting a speedy and an entire victory. But Gen. Harrison's iroops stood as immovable as the rocks around them u'ltil day dawned : they then made a simultaneous charge with the bayonet, and swept every thing be- fore them, and completely routing the foe.

Gov. Harrison now had all his energies tasked to the utmost. The British descending from the Can - adas, were ot themselves a very formidable force ; but with their savage allies, rushing like wolves from the forest, searching out every remote farm-house, burn- ing, plundering, scalping, torturing, the wide frontier was plunged into a state of consternation which even the most vivid imagination can but faintly conceive. The war-whoop was resounding everywhere in the forest. The horizon was illuminated witli tb.e conflagra- tion of the cabins of the settlers. Gen Hull had made the ignominious surrender of his forces at Detroit. Under these despairing circumstances. Gov. Harrison was appointed by President iMadison commander-in- chief of the North-western army, with orders to retake Detroit, and to protect the frontiers.

It would be difficult to place a man in a situation demanding more energy, sagacity and courage; bul General Harrison was found eiiual to the position, and nobly and triumphantly did he meet all the re- sponsibilities.

He won the love of his soldiers by always sharinp with them their fatigue. His whole baggage, while pursuing the foe up the Thames, was carried in a valise; and his bedding consisted of a single blanket lashed over his saddle Thirty-five British officers, his prisoners of war, supped with him after the battle. The only fare he could give them was beef roasted Ijefore tire fire, without bread or salt.

In 1816, Gen. Harrison was chosen a member of the National House of Representatives, to represent the District of Ohio. In Congress he proved an active member; and whenever he spoke, it was with force of reason and power of eloquence, wf.ich arrested the attention of all the members.

In 1S19, Harrison was elected to the Senate oi Ohio; and in 1824, as one of the [iresidential electors of that State, he gave his vote for Henry Clay. The same year he was chosen to the United States Senate.

In 1836, the friends of Gen. Harrison brought him forward as a candidate for the Presidency against Van Buren, but he was defeated, hx the close of Mr. Van Buren's term, he was re-nominated by his party, and Mr. Harrison was unanimou.sly nominated l)y the Whigs, with John Tyler forthe Vice Presidency. The contest was very animated. Gen Jackson gave all his influence to |)revent Harrison's election; but his triumph was signal.

The cabinet which be formed, with Daniel Webster at its head as Secretary of State, was one of the most brilliant with which any President had ever been surroimded. Never were the prospects of an admin- istration more flattering, or the hopes of the country more sanguine. In the midst of these bright and joyous prospects, (}en. Harrison was seized by a pleurisv-fever and after a few days of violent sick- ness, died on the 4th of April ; just one month after his inauguration as President of the United States,

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TENTH PRESIDENT.

-SS

I OHN TYLER, the tenth "V, Presidentof the United States. He was born in Charles-city Co., Va., Marcli 29, 1790. He was the favored child of af- fluence and high social po- sition. At the early age of twelve, John entered William and Mary College and grad- uated with much honor when but seventeen years old. Alter graduating, he devoted him- self with great assiduity to the study of law, partly with his father and partly with Edmund Randolph, one of the most distin- guished lawyers of Virginia.

At nineteen years of age, ne commenced the practice of law. His success was rapid and aston- ishing. It is said that three months had not elapsed ere there was scarcely a case on the dock- et of the court in which he was jiot retained. When but twenty-one years of age, he was almost unanimously elected to a seat in the State Legislature. He connected himself with the Demo- cratic party, and warmly advocated the measures of Jefferson and Madison. For five successive years he was elected to the Legislature, receiving nearly the unanimous vote or his county.

When but twenty-si.x years of age, he was elected a member of Congress. Here he acted earnestly and ably with the Democratic party, opposing a national bank, inte'-nal improvements by the General f^ovem-

ment, a protective tariff, and advocating a strict con- struction of the Constitution, and the most careful vigilance over State rights. His labors in Congress were so arduous that before the close of his second term he found it necessary to resign and retire to his estate in Charles-city Co., to recruit his health. He, however, soon after consented to take his seat in the State Legislature, where his influence was powerful in promoting public works of great utility. With a reputation thus canstantly increasing, he was chosen by a very large majority of votes. Governor of his native State. His administration was signally a suc- cessful one. His popularity secured his re-election.

John Randolpli, a brilliant, erratic, half-crazed man, then represented Virginia in the Senate of the United States. A portion of the Democratic party was displeased with Mr. Randolph's wayward course, and brought forward John Tyler as his opponent, considering him the only man in Virginia of sufficient popularity to succeed against the renowned orator of Roanoke. Mr. T\ler was the victor.

Li accordance with his professions, upon taking his seat in the Senate, he joined the ranks of the opposi- tion. He opposed the tariff; he spoke against and voted against the bank as unconstitutional ; he stren- uously opposed all restrictions upon slavery, resist- ing all projects of internal improvements by the Gen- eral Government, and avowed his sympathy with Mr. Calhoun's view of nullification ; he declared that Gen. Jackson, by his op]josition to tlie nullifiers, had abandoned the piinciples of the Democratic party. Such was Mr. Tyler's record in Congress, — a record in perfect accordance with the principles which he had always avowed.

Returning to Virginia, he resumed llie practice of hi"; profession. There was a cpbl i.i the Democraiic

JOHN TYLER.

party. His friends still regarded him as a true Jef- fersonian, gave him a dinner, and showered compli- ments upon him. He had now attained the age of forty-si.x. His career had been very brilliant. In con- sequence of his devotion to public business, his pri- vate affairs had fallen into some disorder; and it was not without satisfaction that he resumed the practice of law, and devoted himself to the culture of his plan- tation. Soon after this he removed to Williamsburg, for the better education of his children ; and he again look his seat in the Legislature of Virginia.

By the Southern Whigs, he was sent to the national convention at Harrisburg to nominate a President in 1839. The majority of votes werj given to Gen. Har- rison, a genuine Whig, much to the disappointment of the South, who wished for Henry Clay. To concili- ate the Southern Whigs and to secure their vote, the convention then nominated John Tyler for Vice Pres- ident. It was well known that he was not in sympa- thy with the Whig party in the Noith : but the Vice President has but very little power in the Govern- ment, his main and almost only duty being to pre- side over the meetings of the Senate. Thus it hap- pened that a Whig President, and, in reality, a Democratic Vice President were chosen.

In 1 84 1, Mr. Tyler was inaugurated Vice Presi- dent of the United States. In one short month from that time, President Harrison died, and Mr. Tyler thus found himself, to his own surprise and that of the whole Nation, an occupant of the Presidential chair. This was a new test of the stability of our institutions, as it was the first time in the history of our country that such an event had occured. Mr. Tyler was at home in Williamsburg when he received the une.xpected tidings of the death of President Harri- son. He hastened to Washington, and on the 6th of April was inaugurated to the high and responsible office. He was placed in a position of exceeding delicacy and difficulty. All his longlife he had been opposed tc tb.e main principles of the party which had brought him into power. He had ever been a con- sistent, honest man, with an unblemished record. Gen. Harrison had selected a Whig cabinet. Should he retain them, and thus surround himself with coun- sellors whose views were antagonistic to his own.' or, on the other hand, should he turn against the party which had elected him and select a cabinet in har- mony with himself, and which would oppose all those views which the Whigs deemed essential to the pub- lic welfare? This was his fearful dilemma. He in- vited the cabinet which President Harrison had selected to retain their seats. He reccommended a day of fasting and prayer, that God would guide and bless us.

The Whigs carried through Congress a bill for the incorporation of a fiscal bank of the United States. The President, after ten days' delay, returned it with his veto. He "iusieested, however, that he would

approve of a bill drawn up upon such a plan as he proposed. Such a bill was accordingly prepared, and privately submitted to him. He gave it his approval. It was passed without alteration, and he sent it back with his veto. Here commenced the open rupture. It is said that Mr. Tyler was provoked to this meas- ure by a published letter from the Hon. John M. Botts, a distinguished Virginia Whig, who sevcM'ely touched the pride of the President.

The opposition now exultingly received the Presi- dent into their arms. The party which elected him denounced him bitterly. AH the members of his cabinet, excepting Mr. Webster, resigned. The Whigs of Congress, both the Senate and the House, held a meeting and issued an address to the people of the United States, proclaiming that all political alliance between the Whigs and President Tyler were at an end.

Still the President attempted to conciliate. He appointed a new cabmet of distinguished Whigs and Conservatives, carefully leaving out all strong party men. Mr. Webster soon found it necessary to resign, forced out by the pressure of his Whig friends. Thus the four years of Mr. Tyler's unfortunate administra- tion passed sadly away. Ko one was satisfied. The land was filled with murmurs and vituperation. W liigs and Democrats alike assailed him. More and more, however, he brought himself into svmpathy with his old friends, the Democrats, until at the close of his term, he gave his whole influence to the support of Mr. Polk, the Democratic candidate for his successor.

On the 4th of March, 1845, he retired from the harassments of office, tothe regret of neitherparty, and probably to his own unspeakable lelief. His first wife. Miss Letitia Christian, died in Washington, in 1842; and in June, 1844, President Tyler was again married, at New York, to Miss Julia Gardiner, a young lady of many personal and intellectual accomplishments.

The remainder of his days Mr. Tyler passed mainly in retirement at his beautiful home, — Sherwood For- est, Charles-city Co., Va. A polished gentleman in his manners, richly furnished with information from books and e.xperience in the world, and possessing brilliant powers of conversation, his family circle was the scene of unusual attractions. With sufficient means for the exercise of a generous hospitality, he might have enjoyed a serene old age with the few friends who gathered around him, were it not for the storms of civil war which his own principles and policy had helped to introduce.

When the great Rebellion rose, which the State- rights and nullifying doctrines of Mr. John C. Cal- houn had inaugurated. President Tyler renounced his allegiance to the United States, and joined the Confed- erates. He was chosen a member of their Congress; and while engaged in active measures to destroy, b" force of arms, the Government over which he had once presided, he was taken sick and soon died.

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ELEVENTH PRESIDENT.

59

'\ AMES K.POLK, the eleventh

j'..]. President of the United States,

was born in Mecklenburg Co.,

N. C.,Nov. 2, 1795. His par-

- :,<M'. ents were Samuel and Jane

(Kno.x) Polk, the former a son

of Col. Thomas Polk, who located

at the above place, as one of the

first pioneers, in 1735.

In the year 1S06, with his wife and children, ar.d soon after fol- lowed by most of the members of the Polk famly, Samuel Polk emi- grated some two or three hundred miles farther west, to the rich valley of the Duck River. Here in the midst of the wilderness, in a region which was subsequently called Mau- ry Co., they reared their log huls, and established their homes. In the hard toil of a new farm in the wil- derness, James K. Polk spent the early years of his childhood and youth. His father, adding the pur- suit of a surveyor to that of a farmer, gradually increased in wealth until ' he became one of the leading men of the region. His mother was a superior woman, of strong common sense and earnest piety.

Very early in life, James developed a taste for leading and expressed the strongest desire to obtain .1 liberal education. His mother's training had made iiini methodical in his habits, had taught him punct- uality and industry, and had inspired him with lofty principles of morality. His health was frail ; and his father, fearing that he might not be able to endure a

sedentary life, got a situation for him behind the counter, hoping to fit him for commercial pursuits.

This was to James a bitter disappointment. He had no taste for these duties, and his daily tasks were irksome in the extreme. He remained in this uncongenial occupation but a few weeks, wh.en at his earnest solicitation his father removed him, and made arrangements for him to prosecute his studies. Soon after he sent him to Murfreesboro Academy. A\'ith ardor which could scarcely be surpassed, he pressed forward in his studies, and in less than two and a half years, in the autumn of 1S15, entered the sophomore class in the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill. Here he was one of the most e.xemplaiy of scholars, punctual in every exercise, never allowing himself to be absent from a recitation or a religious service.

He graduated in 1S18, with the highest honois,beo ing deemed the best scholar of bis class, both in mathematics and the classics. He was then twenty- three years of age. Mr. Polk's health was at thip time much impaired by the assiduity with which he had prosecuted his studies. After a short season of relaxation he went to Nashville, and entered the office of Felix Grundy, to study law. Here Mr. Polk renewed his acquaintance wuh Andrew Jackson, who resided on his plantation, the Hermitage, but a few miles from Nashville. They had [iroluiLly been sligh'.ly acquainted belbre.

Mr. Polk's father was a Jeffersonian Republican. and James K. Polk ever adhered to the same politi- cal faith. He was a popular public speaker, and was constantly called upon to address the meetings of his party friends. His skill as a speaker was such tl:at he was popularly called the Napoleon of the stump. He was a man of unblemished morals, genial a: d

/AMES K. POLK.

:ourterus in his bearing, and with that sympathetic natu'-e in the jo) s and griefs of others which ever gave him troops of friends. In 1823, Mr. Folic was elected to the Legislature of Tennessee. Here he gave his strong influence towards the election of his friend, Mr. Jackson, to the Presidency of the United States.

In January, 1S24, Mr. Polk married Miss Sarah Childress, of Rutherford Co., Tenn. His bride was altogether worthy of him, — a lady of beauty and cul- ture. In the fall of 1825, Mr. Polk was chosen a meml.^er of Congress. The satisfaction which he gave to his constituents may be inferred from the fact, that for fourteen successive years, until 1839, he was con- tinuec in that office. He then voluntarily withdrew, only I hat he might accept the Gubernatorial chair of Tennessee. In Congress he was a laborious merober, a frequent and a popular speaker. He was alwoys in his seat, always courteous ; and whenever he spoke it was always to the point, and without any ambitious rhetorical display.

During five sessions of Congress, Mr. Polk was Speaker of the House Strong passions were roused, and stormy scenes were witnessed ; but Mr Polk per- formed his arduous duties to a very general satisfac- tion, and a unanimous vote of thanks to him was passed by the House as he withdrew on the 4th of March, 1839.

In accordance with .Southern usage, Mr. Polk, as a candidate for Governor, canvassed the State. He was elected by a large majority, and on the 14th of Octo- ber, 1839, took the oath of office at Nashville. In 1841, his term of office expired, and he was again the can- didate of the Democratic party, but was defeated.

On the 4th of March, 1845, Mr. Polk was inaugur- ated President of the United States. The verdict of the country in favor of the annexation of Texas, exerted its influence upon Congress ; and the last act of the administration of President Tyler was to affix his sig- nature to a joint resolution of Congress, passed on the •jd of March, approving of the annexation of Te.\as to the American Union. As Mexico still claimed Texas as one of her provinces, the Mexican minister, Almonte, immediately demanded his passports and left the country, declaring the act of the annexation to be an act hostile to Mexico.

In his first message. President Polk urged that Texas should immediately, by act-of Congress, be re- ceived into the Union on the same footing with the other States. In the meantime, Gen. Taylor was sent

with an army into Texas to hold the country. He was sent first to Nueces, which the Mexicans said was the western boundary of Texas. Then he was sent nearly two hundred miles further west, to the Rio Grande, where he erected batteries which commanded the Mexican city of Matamoras, which was situated on the western banks.

The anticipated collision soon took place, and war was declared against Mexico by President Polk. Tiie war was pushed forward by Mr. Polk's administration with great vigor. Gen. Taylor, whose army was first called one of "observation," then of "occupation,' then of " invasion, "was sent forward to Monterey. The feeble Mexicans, in every encounter, were hopelessly and awfully slaughtered. The day of judgement alone can reveal tlie misery which this war caused. It v/as by the ingenuity of Mr. Polk's administration that the war was brought on.

' To the victors belong the spoils." Mexico was prostrate before us. Her capital was in our hands. We now consented to peace upon the condition that Mexico should surrender to us, in addition to Texas, all of New Mexico, and all of Upper and Lower Cal- ifornia. This new demand embraced, exclusive of Texas, eight hundred thousand square miles. This was an extent of territory equal to nine States of the size of New York. Thus slavery was securing eighteen majestic States to be added to the LInion. There were some Americans who thought it all right : there were others who thought it all wrong. In the prosecution of this war, we expended twenty thousand lives and more than a hundred million of dollars. t)f this money fifteen millions were paid to Mexico.

On the 3d of M Arch, 1849, Mr. Pulk retired from office, having served one term. The next day was Sunday. On the 5th, Gen. Taylor was inaugurated as his successor. Mr Polk rode to the Capitol in the same carriage with Gen. Taylor; and the same even- ing, with Mrs. Polk, he commenced his return to Tennessee. He was then but fifty-four years of age.- He had ever been strictly temperate in all his habits, and his health was good \\'ith an ample fortune, a choice library, a cultivated mind, and domestic ties of the dearest nature, it seemed as though long years of tranquility and happiness were before him. But the cholera — that fearful scourge — was then sweeijing up the Valley of the Mississippi. This he contracted, and died on the 15th of June, 1849, in the fifty-fourth year of his age, greatly mourned by his countrymen.

TWELFTH PRESIDENT.

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ACHARY TAYLOR, twelfth President of the United States, iP'was born on the 24th of Nov., 1784, in Orange Co., Va. His father. Colonel Taylor, was J^y a Virginian of note, and a dis- ■' ■ tinguished patriot and soldier of the Revolution. When Zachary was an infant, his father with iris wife and two children, emigrated to Kentucky, where he settled in tiie pathless wilderness, a few miles from Louisville. Li this front- ier home, away from civilization and all its refinements, young Zachary could enjoy but few social and educational advan- tages. When si.K years of age he attended a common school, and was the;i regarded as a bright, active boy, rather remarkable for bluntness and decision of char- acter He was strong, feailess and self-reliant, and 'nanifested a strong desire to enter tlie army lo fight die Lidians who were ravaging the frontiers. There is little to be recorded of the uneventful years of liis childhood 011 his father's large but lonely plantation. In 1808, his father succeeded in obtaining for him the commission of lieutenant in the United States army; and he joined the tioops which were stationed at New Orleans under Gen. Wilkinson. Soon after this he married Miss Margaret Smith, a young lady from one of the first families of Maryland.

Liimediately after the declaration of war with Eng- land, in 1812, Capt. Taylor (for he had then been promoted to that rank) was put in command of Fort Harrison, on the Wabash, about fifly miles above Vincennes. This fort had been built in the wilder- ness by Gen. Harrison, on his march to Tippecanoe, It v.-as one of the first points of attack by the Indians, -ed by Tecumseh. Its garrison consisted of a broken

company of infantry numbering fifty men, many of whom were sick.

Early in the autumn of 18 r 2, the Indians, stealihiiy. and in large numbers, moved upon the fort. Tii^.i approach was first indicated by the murder of two soldiers just outside of the stockade. Capt. TayLr made every possible preparation to meet the antici- pated assault. On the 4th of September, a band of forty painted and plumed savages came to the fort, waving a white flag, and informed Capt. Taylor that in the morning their chief would con.e to liave a talk with him. It was evident that their object was merely to ascertain the state of things at the fort, and Capt. Taylor, well versed in the wiles of the savages, kept them at a distance.

The sun went down; the savages disappeared, the garrison slept upon their arms. One hour before midnight the war whoop burst from a thousand lips in the forest around, followed by the discharge of musketry, and the rush of the foe. Every man, sick and well, sprang to his post. Every man knew that defeat was not merely death, but in the case of cap- ture, death by the most agonizing and prolonged tor- ture. No pen can describe, no immagination can conceive the scenes which ensued. The savages suc- ceeded in setting Ihe to one of the block houses- Until six o'clock in the morning, this awful conflict continued. The savages then, baffled at eveiy jioint, and gnashing their teeth with rage, retired. Capt. Taylor, for this gallant defence, was promoted to the rank of major by brevet.

Until the close of the war, Majoi Taylor was placed in such situafio;':s that he saw but little more of active service. He was sent far away into the depths of the wilderness, to Fort Crawford, on Fox River, wliich empties into Green Bay. Here th.cre was but li'.tle to be done but to wear away the tedious hours aso"e best could. '1 h.sre were no books, no society, no in-

64

ZACHARY TAYLOR

tellectual stimulus. Thus with him the uneventful years rolled on Gradually he rose to the rank of colonel. In the Black -Hawk war, which resulted in ihe capture of that renowned chieftain, Col Taylor took a subordinate but a brave and efficient part.

For twenty-four years Col. Taylor was engaged in the defence of the frontiers, in scenes so remote, and in employments so obscure, that his name was unknown beyond the limits of his own immediate acquaintance. In the year 1836, he was sent to Florida to compel the Seminole Indians to vacate that region and re- tire beyond the Mississippi, as their chiefs by treaty, ha.c' promised they should do. The services rendered heic secured for Col. Taylor the high appreciation of the Government; and as a reward, he was elevated tc :ke rank of brigadier-general by brevet ; and soon after, in May, 1838, was appointed to the chief com- mand of the United States troops in Florida.

After two years of such wearisome employment amidst the everglades of the peninsula. Gen. 'Faylor obtained, at his own request, a change of command, :.nd was stationed over the Department of the South- west. This field embraced Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Establishing his headquarters at Fort Jessup, in Louisiana, he removed his family to a plantation which he purchased, near Baton Rogue. Here he remained for five years, buried, as it were, from tlie world, but faithfully discharging every duty imposed upon him.

In 1846, Gen. Taylor was sent to guard the land between the Nueces and Rio Grande, the latter river being the boundary of Texas, which was then claimed by tiie United States. Soon the war with Mexico was brought on, and at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palina, Gen. Taylor won brilliant victories over the Me.xicans. The rank of major-general by brevet was then conferred upon Gen. Taylor, and his name was received with entiiusiasm almost everywhere in the Nation. Then came the battles of Monterey and Buena Vista in which he won signal victories over forces much larger than he commanded.

His careless habits of dress and liis unaffected i^iniplicity, secured for Gen. Taylor among his troops, \.\\e. sobriquet of "Old Rough and Ready.'

Tlie tidings of the brilliant victory of Buena Vista spread the wildest enthusiasm over the country. The name of Gen. Taylor was on every one's li|)s. The Whig party decided to take advantage of this wonder- ful pojHilarity in bringing forward the unpolished, un- lettered, honest soldier as their candidate for the Presidency. Gen. Taylor was astonislied at the an- nouncement, and for a time would not listen to it; de- daring that he was not at all ([ualified for such an office. So little interest had lie taken in politics that, for forty years, he h:id not cast a vote. It was not without chagrin that several distinguished statesmen who had been long years in the public service found *l.iir claims set aside in behalf of one whose name

had never been heard of, save in connection with Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey and Buena Vista. It is said that Daniel Webster, in his haste re- marked, " It is a nomination not fit to be made."

Gen. Taylor was not an eloquent speaker nor a fine writer His friends took possession of him, and pre- pared such few communications as it was needful should be presented to the public. Thepoinilarity of the successful warrior swept the land. He was tri- umphantly elected over two opposing candidates, — Gen. Cass and E.\-President Martin Van Buren. Though he selected an excellent cabinet, the good old man found himself in a very uncongenial jMsition, and was, at times, sorely perple.xed and harassed. His mental sufferings were very severe, and probably tended to hasten his death. The pro-slavery party was pushing its claims with tireless energy , expedi- tions were fitting out to capture Cuba ; California was pleading fur admission to the Union, while slavery stood at the door to bar her out. Gen. Taylor found the political conflicts in Washington to be far more trying to the nerves than battles with Mexicans or Indians

In the midst of all these troubles. Gen. Taylor, after he had occupied the Presidential chair but little over a year, took cold, and after a brief sickness of but little over five days, died on the glh of July, 1850. His last words were, " I am not afraid to die. I am ready. I have endeavored to do my duty." He died universally respected and beloved. An honest, un- pretending man, he had been steadily growing in the affections of the people; and the Nation bitterly la- mented his death.

Gen. Scott, who was thoroughly acquainted with Gen. Taylor, gave the following graphic and truthful description of his character: — '' With a good store of common sense. Gen. Taylor's mind had not been en- larged and refreshed by reading, or much converse with the world. Rigidity of ideas was the conse- quence. The frontiers and small military posts had been his home. Hence he was quite ignorant for his rank, and quite bigoted in his ignorance. His sim- plicity was child-like, and with innumerable preju- dices, amusing and incorrigible, well suited to the tender age. Thus, if a man, however respectable, chanced to wear a coat of an unusual color, or his hat a little on one side of his head; or an officer to leave a corner of his handkerchief dangling from an out- side pocket, — in any such case, this critic held the ofif.^nder to be a coxcomb (perhaps something worse), whom he would not, to use his oft repeated ]ihrase, 'touch with a pair of tongs.'

"Any allusion to literature beyond good old Dil- worth's spelling-book, on the part of one wearing a sword, was evidence, with the same judge, of utter unfitness for heavy marchings and combats. In short, few men have ever had a more comfortable, labor- saving contempt for learning of every kind."

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THIRTEENTH PRESIDENT.

67

^'MILLftRl FILLMORE.'^

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ILLARD FILLMORE, thir- teenth President of the United States, was born at Summer Hill, Cayuga Co., N. Y ., on the 7th of January, 1800. His father was a farmer, and ow- ing to misfortune, in humble cir- cumstances. Of his motb.er, the daughter of Dr. Abiathar Millard, 1 of Pittsfield, Mass., it has been said that she possessed an intellect jf very high order, united with much personal loveliness, sweetness of dis- posit'on, graceful manners and ex- quisite sensibilities. She died in 1831 ; having lived to see her son a young man of distinguished prom- ise, though she was not permitted to witness the high dignity which he finally attained.

In consequence of the secluded home and limited raeans of his father, Millard enjoyed but slender ad- vantages for education in his early years. The com- mon schools, which he occasionally attended were very imperfect institutions; and books were scarce j.nd expensive. There was nothing then in his char- acter to indicate the brilliant career upon which he was about to enter. He was a plain farmer's boy ; intelligent, good-looking, kind-hearted, Tlie sacred influences of home had taught him to revere the Bible, and had laid the foundations of an upright character. When fourteen years of age, his father sent him some hundred miles from home, to the then wilds of Livingston County, to learn the trade of a clothier. Near the mill there was a small villiage, where some

enterprising man had commenced the collection of a village library. This proved an inestimable blessing to }'Oung Fillmore. His evenings were spent in read- ing. Soon every leisure moment was occupied with books. His thirst for knowledge became insatiate and the selections which he made were continually more elevating and instructive. He read history biography, oratory, and thus gradually there was en- kindled in his heart a desire to be something more than a mere worker with his hands; and he was be- coming, almost unknown to himself, a well-informed, educated man.

The young clothier had now attained the age of nineteen years, and was of fine personal appearance and of gentlemanly demeanor. It so happened that there was a gentleman m the neighborhood of ample pecuniary means and of benevolence, — Judge Walter Wood, — who was struck >vith the prepossessing a'j- pearance of young Fillmore. He made his acquaint- ance, and was so much impressed with his ability and attainments that he advised him to abandon his trade and devote himself to the study of the law. The young man replied, that he had no means of hi's own, r.o friends to help him and that his previous educa- tion had been very imperfect. But Judge Wood had so much confidence in him that he kindly offered to take him into his own office, and to loan him such money as he needed. Most gratefully the generous offer was accepted.

There is in many minds a strange delusion abou'; a collegiate edi:cation. A young man is supposed to be liberally educated if he has graduated at some col- lege. But many a boy loiters through university hab ■ *nd then enters a law office, who is by no mea^s ii;

06

MILLARD FILLMORE.

well prepared to prosecute his legal studies as was Millard Fillmore when he graduated at the clothing- mill at the end of four years of manual labor, during which every leisure moment had been devoted to in- tense mental culture.

In 1S23, when twenty-three years of age, he v/as admitted to the Court of Co'.iimon Pleas, He then went to the village of Aurora, and commenced the practice of law. In this secluded, peaceful region, his practice of course was limited, and there was no opportunity for a sudden rise in fortune or \\\ fame. Here, in the year 1826, he married a lady of great moral worth, and one capable of adorning any station she might be called to fill, — -Miss Abigail Powers.

His elevation of character, his untiring industiy, his legal acquirements, and his skill as an advocate, gradually attracted attention ; and he was invited to enter into partnership under highly advantageous circumstances, with an elder member of the l)ar in Buffalo. Just before removing to Buffalo, in 1829, he took his seat in the House of Assembly, of tlie State of New York, as a representative from Erie County. 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, and he found himself in a helpless minority in the Legislature , still the testimony comes from all parties, that his courtesy, ability and integrity, won, to a very unusual degn e the respect of his associates.

In the autiKrin of 1832, he was elected to a seat in the United States Congress. He entered that troubled irena in some of the most tunmltuous hours of our national history. The great conflict respecting the national bank and the removal of the deposits, was then raging.

His term of two years closed ; and he returned to his profession, which he pursued with increasing rep- utation and success. After a lapse of two years he again became a candidate for Congress ; was re- elected, and took his seat in 1837. His past expe- rience as a representative gave hmi stKngth and confidence. The first term of service in Congress to any man can be but little more than an introduction. He was now prepared for active duty. All his ener- gies were brought to bear upon the public good. Every measure received his impress.

Mr. Fillmore was now a man of wide repute, and his popularity filled the State, and in the year 1847, he was elected Comptroller of the State.

Mr. Fillmore had attained the age of forty-seven years. His labors at the bar, in the Legislature, in Congress and as Comptroller, had given him very con- siderable fame. The Whigs were casting about to find suitable candidates for President and Vice-Presi- dent at the approaching election. Far away, on the waters of the Rio Grande, there was a rough old soldier, who had fought one or two successful battles with the Mexicans, which had caused his name to be proclaimed in tiumpet-tones all over the land. But it was necessary to associate with him on the same ticket some man of reputation as a statesman.

Under the influence of these considerations, the namesofZachary Taylor ar.d Millard Fillmore became the rallying-cry of the Whigs, as their candidates for President and Vice-Peesident. The Whig ticket was signally triumphant. On the 4th of March, 1849, Gen. Taylor was inaugurated President, and Millard Fillmore Vice-President, of the United States.

On the 9th of July, 1850, President Taylor, but about one year and four moiUhs after his inaugura- tion, was suddenly taken sick and died. By the Con- stitution, Vice-President Fillmore thus became Presi- dent. He appointed a very able cabinet, of which the illustrious Daniel Webster was Secretary of State,

Mr. Fillniore had very 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 the South felt the inadequacy of all measuresof transient conciliation. The population of the free States was so rapidly in- creasing over that of the slave States that it was in- evitable that the power of the Government should soon pass into the hands of the free States. The famous compromise measures were adopted under Mr. FiUmcre's adminstration, and the Japan Expedition was sent out. On the 4th of March, 1853, Mr Fill- more, having served one term, retired.

In 1S56, Mr. Fillmore was nominated for the Pres- idency by the " Know Nothing " party, but was beaten by Mr. Buchanan. After that Mr. Fillmore lived in retirement. During the terrible conflict of civil war, he was mostly silent. It was generally supposed that his sympathies were rather with those who were en- deavoring to overthrow our institutions. President Fillmore kept aloof from the conflict, without any cordial words of cheer to the one parly or the other. He was thus forgotten by both. He lived to a ripe old age, and died in Buffalo. N. V., March 8, 1874.

THE NEW vo

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FOURTEENTH PRESIDENT.

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RANKLIN PIERCE, the fourteenth President of the ' United States, was born ir. Hillsborough, N. H., Nov. 23, 1804. His father was a RevoUitionarj' soldier, who, with his own strong arm, hewed out a home in the wilderness. He was a man of inflexible integrity; of strong, though uncultivated mind, and an uncompromis- ing Democrat. The mother of Franklin Pierce was all that a son could desire, — an intelligent, pru- dent, affectionate, Christian wom- an. Franklin was the sixth of eight children.

Franklin was a very bright and handsome boy, gen- erous, warm-hearted and brave. He won alike the love of old and young. The boys on the play ground loved him. His teachers loved him. The neighbors looked upon him with pride and affection. He was by instinct a gentleman; always sjjeaking kind words, doing kind deeds, with a peculiar unstudied tact which taught him what was agreeable. Without de- veloping any precocity of genius, or any unnatural devotion to books, he was a good scholar; in body, in mind, in affections, a finely-developed boy.

When si.xteen years of age, in the year 1820, he entered Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Me He was one of the most popular young men in the college. The purity cf his moral character, the unvarying courtesy of his demeanor, his rank as a scholar, and

genial nature, rendered him a universal favorite. There was something very peculiarly winning in his address, and it was evidently not in the slightest de- gree studied: it was the simple outgushing of his own magnanimous and loving nature.

Upo;i graduating, in the year 1824, Franklin Pierce conimsnceJ the study of law in the office of Judge Woodbury, one of the most distinguished lawyers of the State, and a man of great private worth. The eminent social qualities of the young lawyer, his father's prominence as a public man, and the brilliant political career into which Judge Woodbury was en- tering, all tended to entice Mr. Pierce into the faci- nating yet perilous path of political life. With all the ardor of his nature he espoused the cause of Gen. Jackson for the Presidency. He coirimenced the practice of law in Hillsborough, and was soon elected to represent the town in the State Legislature. Here he served for four yeais. The last two years he was chosen speaker of the house by a veiy large vote.

In 1833, at the age of twenty-nine, he was elected a member of Congress. Without taking an active part in debates, he was faithful and laborious in duty, and ever rising in the estimation of those with whom lie was associatad.

In 1837, being then but thirty-tliree years of age, he was elected to the Senate of the United States; taking his seat just as Mr. Van Buren commenced his administration. He was the youngest member in the Senate. In the year 1834. lie married Miss Jane Means Appleton, a lady of rare beauty and accom- plishments, and one admirably fitted to adorn every station with which her husbaiid was honoied. Of tlie

72

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

three sons who were born to them, all now sleep with their parents in the grave.

In the year 1838, Mr. Pierce, with growing fame and increasing business as a lawyer, took up his residence in Concord, the capital of New Hampshire. President Polk, upon his accession to office, appointed Mr. Pierce attorney-general of the United States; but the offer was declined, in consequence of numerous professional engagements at home, and the precariuos state of Mrs. Pierce's health. He also, about the same time declined the nomination for governor by the Democratic party. The war with Mexico called Mr. Pierce in the army. Receiving the appointment of brigadier-general, he embarked, with a portion of his troops, at Newport, R. I., on the 27th of May, 1847. He took an important part in this war, proving him- self a brave and true soldier.

When Gen. Pierce reached his home in his native State, he was received enthusiastically by the advo- cates of the Mexican war, and coldly by his oppo- nents. He resumed the practice of his profession, very frequently taking an active part in political ques- tions, giving his cordial support to the pro-slavery wing of the Democratic party. The compromise measures met cordially with his approval ; and he strenuously advocated the enforcement of the infa- mous fugitive-slave law, which so shocked the religious sensibilities of the North. He thus became distin- guished as a "Northern man with Southern principles.'' The strong partisans of slavery in the South conse- quently regarded him as a man whom they could safely trust in office to carry out their plans.

On the I 2th of June, 1S52, the Democratic conven- tion 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 obtained a two-thirds vote. Not a vote thus far had been thrown for Gen. Pierce. Then the Virginia delegation brought forward his name. There were fourteen more ballotings, during which Gen. Pierce constantly gained strength, until, at the forty-ninth ballot, he received two hundred and eighty-two votes, and all other candidates eleven. Gen. Winfield Scott was the Whig candidate. Gen. Pierce was chosen with great unanimity. Only four States — Vermont, Mas- sachusetts, Kentucky and Tennessee — cast their electoral votes against him Gen. Franklin Pierce was therefore inaugurated President of the United States on the 4th of March, 1853.

His administration proved one of the most stormy our country had ever experienced. The controversy be- tween slavery and freedom was then approaching its culminating point. It became evident that there was an "irrepressible conflict " between Iheni, and that this Nation could not long exist " half slave and half free." President Pierce, during the whole of his ad- ministration, did every thing he could to conciliate the South ; but it was all in vain. The conflict every year grew more violent, and threats of the dissolution of the Union were borne to the North on every South- ern breeze.

Such was the condition of affairs when President Pierce approached the close of his four-years' term of office. The North had become thoroughly alien- ated from him. The anti-slavery sentimer.t, goaded by great outrages, had been rapidly increasing; all the intellectual ability and social worth of President Pierce were forgotten in deep reprehension of his ad- ministrative acts. The slaveholders of the South, also, unmindful of the fidelity with which he had advo- cated those measures of Government which they ap- proved, and perhaps, also, feeling that he had rendered himself so unpopular as no longer to be able acceptably to serve them, ungratefully dropped him, and nominated James Buchanan to succeed him.

On the 4th of March, 1857, President Pierce re- tired to his home in Concord. Of three children, two liad died, and his only surviving child had been killed before his eyes by a railroad accident ; and his wife, one of the most estimable and accomplished of ladies, was rapidly sinking in consumption. The hour of dreadful gloom soon came, and he was left alone in the world, without wife or child.

When the terrible Rebellion burst forth, which di- vided our country into two parties, and two only, Mr. Pierce remained steadfast in the principles which he had always cherished, and gave his sympathies to that pro-slavery party with which he had ever been allied. He declined to do anything, either by voice or pen, to strengthen the hand of the National Gov- ernment. He continued to reside in Concord until the time of his death, which occurred in October, 1869. He was one of the most genial and social of men, an honored communicant of the Episcopal Church, and one of the kindest of neighbors. Gen- erous to a fault, he contributed liberally for the al- leviation of suffering and want, and many of his towns- people were often gladened by his material bounty.

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AMES BUCHANAN, the fit- jteenth President of the United States, was born in a small frontier town, at the foot of the eastern ridge of the Allegha- nies, in FraniilinCo., Penn.,on the 23d of April, 1791. The place where the humble cabin of his father stood was called Stony Batter. It was a wild and ro- mantic spot in a gorge of the moun- tains, with towering summits rising grandly all around. His father was a native of the north of Ireland ; a poor man, who had emigrated in 1783, with little property save his own strong arms. Five years afterwards he married Elizabeth Spear, the daughter of a respectable farmer, and, with his young bride, plunged into the wilder- ness, staked his claiin, reared his log-hut, opened a clearing with his axe, and settled down there to per- form his obscure part in the drama of life. In this se- cluded home, where James was born, he remained for eight years, enjoying but few social or intellectual advantages. When James was eight years of age, his father removed to the village of Mercersburg, where his son was placed at school, and commenced a course of study in English, Latin and Greek. His jirogress was rapid, and at the age of fourteen, he entered Dickinson College, at Carlisle. Here he de- veloped remarkable talent, and took his stand among the first scholars in the institution. His application t.o study was intense, and yet his native powers en-

abled him to master the most abstruse subjects with facility.

In the year 1S09, he graduated with the highest honors of his class. He was then eighteen years of age; tall and graceful, vigorous in health, fond of athletic sport, an unerring shot, and enlivened with an exuberant flow of animal spirits. He immediately commenced the study of huv in the city of Lancaster, and was admitted to the bar in i8t2, when he was but twenty-one years of age. Veiy rapidly lie rose in his profession, and at once took undisputed stand with the ablest lawyers of the State. When but tvventy-si.x years of age, unaided by counsel, he suc- cessfully 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 adirTitted that he stood at the head of the bar; and there was no lawyer in the State who had a more lu- crative practice.

In 1820, he reluctantly consented to run as a candidate for Congress. He was elected, and for ten years he remained a member of the Lower House. During the vacations of Congress, he occasionally tried some important case. In 1S31, he retired altogether from the toils of his profession, having ac- quired an ample fortune.

Gen. Jackson, uijon his elevation to ihe Presidency, appointed Mr. Buchanan minister to Russia. The duties of his mission he performed with ability, which gave satisfaction to all parties. 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 th.e meas- ures proposed by President Jackson, of m^livng repn-

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JAMES BUCHANAN.

sills against France, to enforce the payment of our claims against that country; and defended tlie course of the President in his unprecedented and wholesale renijval from office of those who were not the sup- porters of his administration. Upon this cpiestion he was brought into direct collision with Hcaiy Clay. He also, with voice and vote, advocated exijunging from the journal of the Senate the vote of censure against Gen. Jackson for removing the deposits. Earnestly he opposed the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and urged the prohibition of the circulation of anti-slavery documents bv the United States mails.

As to petitions on the subject of slavery, he advo- cated that they should be resi)ectfally received; and that the re[)ly should be returned, that Congress had no power to legislate upon the subject. " Congress," said he, " might as well undertake to interfere with slavery under a foreign government as in any of the States where it now e.xists."

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. Mr. Polk assumed that crossing the Nueces by the American troops into the disputed territory was not wrong, but for the Mexicans to cross the Rio (rrande into that territory was a declaration of war. No candid man can read with pleasure the account of the course our Government pursued in that movement

Mr. Buchanan identified himself thoroughly with the party devoted to the perpetuation and extension of slavery, and brought all the energies of his mind to bear against the Wilmot Proviso. He gave his cordial approval to the compromise measures of 1S50, which included the fugitive -slave law. Mr. Pierce, upon his election to the Presidency, honored Mr. Buchanan with the mission to England.

In the year 1856, a national Democratic conven- tion nominated Mr. Buchanan for the Presidency. The political contlict was one of the most severe in which our country has ever engaged. All the friends of slavery were on one side; all the advocates of its re- striction and final abolition, on the other. Mr. Fre- mont, the candidate of the enemies of slavery, re- reived 114 electoral votes. Mr. Buchanan received t74, and was elected. The popular vote stood 1,340,618, for Fremont, 1,224,750 for Buchanan. On March 4th, 1857, Mr. Buchanan was inaugurated.

Mr. Buchanan was far advanced in life. Only four years were wanting to fill up his tiireescore years and ten. His own friends, those with whom he had been allied in political principles and action for years, were seeking the destruction of the Government, that they might rear upon the ruins of our free institutions a nation whose corner-stone should be human slavery. In this emergency, Mr. Buchanan was hopelessly be- wildered He could not, with his long-avowed prin-

ci[)les, consistently oppose the State-rights party in their assumptions. .As Presidejit of the United States, bound by his oath faithfully to administer the laws he could not, without perjury of the grossest kind, unite with those endeavoring to overthrow the repub- lic. He tlieretbre did nothing.

The opponents of Mr. Buchanan's administration nominated .-Xbraiiam Lincoln as their standard bearer in the next I'residential canvass. The pro-slaverv party declared, that if he were elected, and the con- trol of the Government were thus taken from their hands, they would secede from the Union, taking with them, as they retired, the National Capitol at Washington, and the lion's share of the territory of the United States.

Mr. Buchanan's sympathy with the pro-slavery party was such, that he had been willing to offer them far more than they liad ventured to claim. All the South had professed to ask of the North was non- intervention upon the subject of slavery. Mr. Bu- chanan had been ready to. offer them the active co- operation of the Government to defend and extend the institution.

As the storm increased in violence, the slaveholders claiming the right to secede, and iNIr. Buchanan avow- ing that Congress had no power to prevent it, one of the most pitiable exhibitions of governmental im- becility was exhibited the world has ever seen. He declared that t'ongress had no power to enforce its laws in any State which had withdrawn, or which was attempting to withdraw from the Union. This was not the doctrine of Andrew Jackson, when, with his hand upon his sword-hilt, he exclaimed, "The Union must and shall be preserved.'"

South Carolina seceded in December, i860; nearly three months before the inauguration of President Lincoln. Mr. Buchanan looked on in listless despair. The rebel flag was raised in Charleston • Fort Sumpter was besieged ; our forts, navy-yards and arsenals were seized; our depots of military stoies were plun- dered ; and our custom-houses and post-offices were appropriated by the rebels.

The energy of the rebels, and the imbecility of our Executive, were alike marvelous. The Nation looked on in agony, waiting for the slow weeks to glide away, and close the administration, so terrible in its weak- ness At length the long-looked-for hour of deliver- ance came, when Abraham Lincoln was to receive the scepter.

The administration of President Buchanan was certainly the most calamitous our country has ex- l)erienced. His best friends cannot recall it with jileasure. .And still more deplorable it is for his fame, that in that dreadful conflict which rolled its billows of flame and blood over our whole land, no word came from his lips to indicate his wish that our country's banner should triumph over the flag of the rebellion. He died at his Wheatland retreat, June i, 1868.

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SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT.

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BRAHAM LINCOLN, the sixteenth President of the Jj^United States, was born in Hardin Co., Ky., Feb. 12, 1809. About the yean 7 80, a man by the name of Abraham Lincohi left Virginia with liis family and moved into the then wilds of Kentucky. (3nly two years after this emigration, still a young man, while working one day in a field, was stealthily a])pro2ched by an Indian and shot dead. His widow was left in extreme poverty with five little children, three boys and two girls. Thomas, the youngest of the boys, was four years of age at his father's death. This Thomas was the father of Aliraham Lincoln, the President of the United States whose name must henceforth foi-ever be enrolled with the most prominent in the annals of our world. Of course no record has been kept of the life of one so lowly as Thomas Lincoln. He was among the poorest of the poor. His home was a wretched log-cabin; his food the coarsest and the meanest. Education he had none; he could never either read or write. As soon as he was able to do anything for himself, he was compelled to leave the cabin of his starving mother, and push out into the world.a friend- .ess., wandering boy, seeking work. He hired him- self out, and thus spent the whole of his youth as a laborer in the fields of others.

When twenty-eight years of age he built a log- cabin of bis own, and married Nancy Hanks, the daughter of another family of poor Kentucky emi- grants, who had also come from Virginia. Their second child was Abraham Lincoln, the subject of this sketch. The mother of Abraham was a noble woman, gentle, loving, pensive, created to adorn a palace, doomed to toil and pine, and die in a hovel. "All that I am, or hope to be," exclaims the grate- ful son "I owe to my angel-mother. "

When he was eight years of age, his father sold his

cabin and small farm, and moved to Indiana Where two years later his mother died.

Abraham soon became the scribe of the uneducated community around hira. He could not have had a better school than this to teach him to put thoughts into words. Lie also became an eager reader. The books he could obtain were few; but these he read and re-read until they were almost committed to memory.

As the years rolled on, the lot of this lowly family was the usual lot of humanity. There were joys and griefs, vi'eddings and funerals. Abraham's sister Sarah, to whom he was tenderly attached, was mar- ried when a child of but fourteen years of age, and soon died. The family was gradually scattered. Mr. Thomas Lincoln sold out his squatter's claim in 1830, and emigrated to Macon Co., 111.

Abraham Lincoln was then twenty-one years of age. With vigorous hands he aided his father in rearing another log-cabin. Abraham worked diligently at this until he saw the family comfortably settled, and their sm.all lot of enclosed prairie planted with corn, when he announced to his father his intention to leave home, and to go out into the world and seek his for- tune. Little did he or his friends imagine how bril- liant that fortune was to be. He saw the value of education and was intensely earnest to improve his mind to the utmost of his power. He saw the ruin which ardent spirits were causing, and became strictly temperate; refusing to allow a drop of intoxi- cating liquor to pass his lips. And he had read in God's word, " Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain ;" and a profane expression he was never heard to utter. Religion he revered. His morals were pure, and he was uncontaminated by a single vice.

Young Abraham worked for a time as a hired laborer among the farmers. Then he went to Springfield, where he was employed in building a large flat-boat. In this he took a herd of swine, floated them down the Sangamon to the Illinois, and thence by the Mis- sissippi to New Orleans. Whatever Abraham I-in- coln undertook, he performed so faithfully as to give great satisfaction to his employers. In this advcii-

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

ture hia employers were so we'll pleased, that upon his return tney placed a store and uiill under his care.

In 1832, at the outbreak of the Black Hawk war, lie enlisted and was chosen captain of a company. He returned to Sangamon County, and although only 23 years of age, was a candidate for the Legislature, but was defeated. He soon after received from Andrew Jackson the appointmentof Postmaster of New .Salem, His only post-office was his hat. All the letters he received he carried there ready to deliver to those he chanced to meet. He studied surveying, and soon made this his business. In 1834 he again became a candidate for the Legislature, and was elected Mr. Stuart, of Springfield, advised him to study law. He walked from New Salem to Springtield, borrowed of Mr. Stuart a load of books, carried them back and began his legal studies. When the Legislature as- sembled he trudged on foot with his pack on his back o:Te hundred miles to Vandalia, then the capital. In 1836 he was re-elected to the Legislature. Here it was he first met Stephen A. Douglas. In 1839 he re- moved to Springfield and began the practice of law. His success with the jury was so great that he was soon engaged in almost every noted case in the circuit.

In 1854 the great discussion began between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas, on the slavery question. In the organization of the Republican party in Illinois, in 1856, he took an active part, and at once became one of the leaders in that party. Mr. Lincoln's speeches in opposition to Senator Douglas in the con- test in 1858 for a seat in the Senate, form a most notable part of his history. The issue was on the ilavery question, and he took the broad ground of .he Declaration of Independence, that all men are created e([ual. Mr. Lincoln was defeated in this con- test, but won a far higher prize.

The great Republican Convention met at Chicago on the i6lh of June, i860. The delegates and strangers who crowded the city amounted to twenty- five thousand. An immense building called "The Wigwam," was reared to accommodate the Conven- tion. There were eleven candidates for whom votes were thrown. William H. Seward, a man whose fame as a statesman had long filled the land, was the most orominent. It was generally supposed he would be th.e nominee, Abraham Lincoln, however, received the nomination on the third ballot. Little did he then dream of the weary years of toil and care, and the bloody death, to which that nomination doomed him: and as little did he dream that he was to render services to his country, which would fix upon him the eyes of the whole civilized world, and which would give him a place in the affections of his countrymen, second cnly, if second, to that of Washington.

Election day came and Mr. Lincoln received 180 electoral votes out of 203 cast, and was, therefore, constitutionally elected President of the United States. The tirade of abuse that was poured upon this good

and merciful man, especially by the slaveholders, was greater than upon any other man ever elected to this high position. In February, 1861, Mr. Lincoln started for Washington, stopping in all the large cities on his way making speeches. The whole journey was frought with much danger. Many of the Southern States had already seceded, and several attempts at assassination were afterwards brought to light. A gang in Balti- more had arranged, upon his arrival to" get \\\> a row," and in the confusion to make sure of his death with revolvers and hand-grenades. A detective unravelled the plot. .A secret and special train was provided to take him from Harristuirg, through Baltimore, at an une.xpected hour of the night. The train started at halfqjast ten ; and to prevent any possible communi- cation on the part ot the Secessionists with theirCon- federate gang in Baltimore, as soon as the train had started the telegraph-wires were cut. Mr. Lincoln reached Washington in safety and was inaugurated, although great anxiety was felt by all loyal people.

In the selection of his cabinet Mr. Lincoln gave to Mr Seward the Department of State, and to other prominent ojiponents before the convention he gave important positions.

During no other administration have the duties devolving upon the President been so manifold, and the responsibilities so great, as those which fell to the lot of President Lincoln. Knowing this, and feeling his own weakness and inability to meet, and in his own strength to cope with, the difficulties, he learned early to seek Divine wisdom and guidance in determining his plans, and Divine comfort in all his trials, bo'h personal and national Contrary to his own estimate of himself, Mr, Lincoln was one of the most courageous of men. He went directly into the rel)cl capita! just as the retreating foe was leaving, with no guard but a few sailors. From the time he had left Springfield, in 1861, however, plans had been made for his assassination,and he at last fell a victim to one of them, April 14, 1865, he, with Gen. Grant, was urgently invited to attend Fords' Theater. It was announced that they would be present. Gen. Grant, however, left the city. President Lincoln, feel- ing, witli his characteristic kindliness of heart, that it would l)e a disappointment if he should fail them, very reluctantly consented to go. While listening to the play an actor by the name of John Wilkes Booth entered the bo.x where the President and family were seated, and firtd a bullet into his brains. He died the next morning at seven o'clock.

Never before, in the history of the world was a nation plunged into such deep grief by the death of its ruler. Strong men met in the streets and wept in speechless anguish. It is not too much to say that a nation was in tears. His was a life which will fitly become a model. His name as the savior of his country -will live with that of Washington's, its father; his c'^'.^ntry- men being unable to decide whi< h is tl^e greater.

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^^teenth President of the United *" States. The early hfe of Andrew Johnson contains but the record of poverty, destitu- tion and friendlessness. He was born December 29, 180S, in Raleigh, N. C. His parents, belonging to the class of the "poor whites " of the South, were in such circumstances, that they could not confer even the slight- est advantages of education upon their child. When Andrew was five years of age, his father accidentally lost his life while herorically endeavoring to save a friend from drowning. Until ten years of age, Andrew was a ragged boy about the streets, supported by the labor of his mother, who obtained her living with her own hands.

He then, having never attended a school one day, and being unable either to read or write, was ap- prenticed to a tailor in his native town. A gentleman was in the habit of going to the tailor's shop occasion- ally, and reading to the boys at work there. He often read fioni the speeches of distinguished British states- men. .'\ndrew, who was endowed with a mind of more than ordinary native ability, became much interested in these speeches ; his ambition was roused, and he was inspired with a strong desire to learn to read.

He accordingly applied himself to the alphabet, and with the assistance of some of his fellow-workmen, kirned his letters. He then called upon the gentle- man to borrow the book of speeches. The owner,

pleased with his zeal, not only gave him the book, but assisted him in learning to combine the letters into words. Under such difficulties he pressed oi. ward laboriously, spending usually ten or twelve hours at work in the shop, and then robbing himself of rest and recreation to devote such time as he could to reading.

He went to Tennessee in 1826, and located at Greenville, where he married a young lady who pos sessed some education. Under her instructions he learned to write and cipher. He became prominent in the village debating society, and a favorite with the students of Greenville College. In 1828, he or- ganized a working man's party, which elected him alderman, and in 1830 elected him mayor, which position he held three years.

He now began to take a lively interest in political affairs; identifying himself with the working-classes, to which he belonged. In 1835, he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of Tennes- see. He was then just twenty-seven years of age. He became a very active member of the legislature, gave his adhesion to the Democratic party, and in 1840 "stumped the State," advocating Martin Van Buren's claims to the Presidency, in opposition to thos^ of Gen. Harrison. In this cami)aign he acquired much readiness as a speaker, and extended and increased his reputation.

In 1841, he was elected State Senator; in 1843, he was elected a member of Congress, and by successive elections, held that important post for ten years. In 1853, he was elected Governor of Tennessee, and was re-elected in 1855. In all these res])onsible jxisi- tions, he discharged his duties with distinguished abi.

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ity, and proved himself the warm friend of the work- ing classes. In 1857, Mr. Johnson was elected United .States Senator.

Years before, in 1845, he had warmly advocated the anne.xation of Texas, stating however, as his reason, that he thought this annexation would prob- ably prove " to be the gateway out of which the sable sons of Africa are to pass from bondage to freedom, and become merged in a population congenial to themselves." In 1850, he also supported the com- promise measures, the two essential features of which were, that the white people of the Territories should be permitted to decide for themselves whether they would enslave the colored people or not, and that the "'ree States of the North should return to the South persons who attempted to escape from slavery.

Mr. Johnson was never ashamed of his lowly origin: on the contrary, he often took pride in avowing that he owed his distinction to his own exertions. "Sir,'" said he on the floor of the Senate, " I do not forget that I am a mechanic; neither do I forget that Adam was a tailor and sewed fig-leaves, and that our Sav- ior was the son of a carpenter."

In the Charleston- B.altimore convention of iScj, ne ivas the choice of the Tennessee Democrats for the Presidency. In 186 1, when the purpose of the Soutl;- 2rn Democracy became apparent, he took a decided ■itand in favor of the Union, and held that " slavery must be held subordinate to the Union at whatever cost." He returned to Tennessee, and repeatedly imperiled his own life to protect the Unionists of Tennesee. Tennessee having seceded from the Union, President Lincoln, on March 4th, 1862, ap- pointed him Military Governor of the State, and he established the most stringent military rule. His numerous proclamations attracted wide attention. In

1864, he was elected Vice-President of the United States, and upon the death of Mr. Lincoln, April 15,

1865, became President. In a speech two days later he said, " The American people must be taught, if ?hey do not already feel, that treason is a crime and must be punished; that the Government will not always bear with its enemies; that it is strong not only to protect, but to punish. * * The people must understand that it (treason) is the blackest of crimes, and will surely be punished." Yet his whole administration, the history of which is so well known, was in utter inx'.onsistency with, and the most violent

opposition to. the principles laid down in that speech.

In his loose policy of reconstruction and general amnesty, he was opposed by Congress; and he char- acterized Congress as a new rebellion, and lawlessly defied it, in everything possible, to the utmost. In the beginnirig of 1868, on account of "high crimes and misdemeanors," the principal of which was the removal of Secretary Stanton, in violation of tlie Ten- ure of Office Act, articles of impeachment were pre- ferred against him, and the trial began March 23.

It was very tedious, continuing for nearly three months. A test article of the impeachment was at length submitted to the court for its action. It was certain that as the court voted upon that article so would it vote upon all. Thirty-four voices pronounced the President guilty. As a two-thirds vote was neces- sary to his condemnation, he was pronounced ac- quitted, notwithstanding the great majority against him. The change of one vote from the not guilty side would have sustained the impeachment.

The President, for the remainder of his term, was but little regarded. He continued, though imiwtent'; , his conflict with Congress. His own party did not think it expedient to renominate him for the Presi- dency. The Nation rallied, with enthusiasm unpar- alleled since the days of Washington, around the name of Gen. Grant. Andrew Johnson was forgotten. The bullet of the assassin introduced him to the President's chair. Notwithstanding this, never was there presented to a man a better opportunity to im- mortaUze his name, and to win the gratitude of a nation. He failed utterly. He retired to his home in Greenville, Tenn., taking no very active part in politics until 1875. On Jan, 26, after an exciting struggle, he was chosen by the Legislature of Ten- nessee, United States Senator in the forty-fourth Con- gress, and took his seat in that body, at the special session convened by President Grant, on the 5th of March. On the 27th of July, 1875, the ex-President made a visit to his daughter's home, near Carter Station, Tenn. When he started on his journey, he was apparently in his usual vigorous health, but on reach- ing the residence of his child the following day, was stricken with paralysis, rendering him unconscious. He rallied occasionally, but finally passed away at 2 ,.\. M., July 31, aged si.xty-seven years. His fun- eral WIS attended at Geenville, on the 3d of August, with every demonstration of respect.

THE

PUBLIC U8RARY

EIGH TF.ENTH PRESIDENT.

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LYSSES S. GRANT, the eighteenth President of the United States, was born on the 29th of April, 1822, of Christian parents, in a humble ' home, at Point Pleasant, on the banks of the Ohio. Shortly after his father moved to George- town, Brown Co., O. In this re- mote frontier hamlet, Ulysses received a common-school edu- cation. At the age of seven- teen, in the year 1839, he entered the Military Academy at West Point. Here he was regarded as a .50iid, sensilile young man of fair abilities, and of sturdy, honest character. He took respectable rank as a scholar. In June, 1843, he graduated, about the middle in his class, and was sent as lieutenant of in- fantry to one of the distant military [wsts in the Mis- souri Territory. Two years he ))ast in these dreary sohtudes, watching the vagabond and exasperating Indians.

The war with Me.xico came. Lieut. Grant was sent with his regiment to Corpus Christi. His first battle was at Palo Alto. There was no chance here for the exhibition of either skill or heroism, nor at Resacade la Palma, his second battle. At the battle of Monterey, his third engagement, it is said that .le performed a signal service of daring and skillful horsemanship. His brigade had exhausted its am- munition. A messenger must be sent for more, alon" •a route exposed to the bullets of the foe. Lieut. Grant, adopting an expedient learned of the Indians, grasped the mane of his horse, and hanging upon one side of the anirv^;il, ran the gauntlet in entire safety.

From Monterey he was sent, with the fourth infantry, 10 aid Gen. Scott, at the siege of Vera Cruz. In preparation for the march to the city of Mexico, he was appointed quartermaster of his regiment. At the battle of Molino del Rey, he was promoted to a first lieutenancy, and was brevetted captain at Cha- pultepec.

At the close of the Mexican War, Capt. Grant re- turned with his regiment to New York, and was again sent to one of the military posts on the frontier. The discovery of gold in California causing an immense tide of emigration to flow to the Pacific shores, Capt. Grant was sent with a battalion to Fort Dallas, in Oregon, for the protection of the interests of the im- migrants. Life was wearisome in those wilds. Capt. Grant resigned his commission and returned to the States; and having married, entered upon the cultiva- tion of a small farm near St. Louis, Mo. He had but httle skill as a farmer. Finding his toil not re- munerative, he turned to mercantile life, entering into the leather business, with a younger brotlier, at Ga- lena, 111. This was in the year i860. As the tidings of the rebels firing on Fort Sumpter reached the ears of Capt. Grant in his counting-room, he said, — •'Uncle Sam has educated me for the army; though I have served him through one war, I do not feel that I have yet repaid the debt. I am still ready to discharge my obligations. I shall Iherefore buckle on my sword and see Uncle Sam through this war too."

He went into the streets, raised a company of vol- unteers, and led them as their captain to Springfield, the capital of the Slate, where their services were offered to Gov. Yates. The Governor, impressed by the zeal and straightforward executive ability of Capt. Grant, gave him a desk in his oflfice, to assist in the volunteer organization that was being formed in the State in behalf of the Government. On the 15th of

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UL YS5ES S. GRA NT.

June, 1 86 1, Capt. Grant received a commission as Colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment of Illinois Vol- unteers. His merits as a West Point graduate, who had served for 15 years in the regular army, were such that he was soon promoted to the rank of Brigadier- General and was placed in command at Cairo. The rebels raised their banner at Paducah, near the mouth of the Tennessee River. Scarcely had its folds ap- peared in the breeze ere Gen. Grant was there. The rebels fled. Their banner fell, and the star and stripes were unfurled in its stead.

He entered the service with great determination and immediately began active duty. This was the be- ginning, and until the surrender of Lee at Richmond he was ever pushing tlie enemy with great vigor and effectiveness. At Belmont, a few days later, he sur- prised and routed the rebels, then at Fort Henry won another victory. Then came the brilliant fight at Fort Donelson. The nation was electrified by the victory, and the brave leader of the boys in blue was immediately made a M.njor-General, and the militar_\- district of Tennessee was assigned to him.

Like all great captains. Gen. Grant knew well how to secure the results of victory. He immediately pushed on to the enemies' lines. Then came the terrible battles of Pittsburg Landing, Corinth, and the siege of Vicksburg, where Gen. Pemberton made an imconditional surrender of the city with over thirty thousand men and one-hundred and seventy-two can- non. The fall of Vicksburg was by far the most severe blow which the rebels had thus far encountered, and opened up the Mississippi from Cairo to the Gulf.

Gen. Grant was next ordered to co-operate with Gen. Banks in a movement upon Te.\as, and pro- ceeded to New Orleans, where he was thrown from his horse, and received severe injuries, from which he was laid up for months. He then rushed tc the aid of Gens. Rosecrans and Thomas at Chattanooga, and by a wonderful series of strategic and technical meas- ures put the Union Army in fighting condition. Then followed the bloody battles at Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, in which the rebels were routed ^vith great loss. This won for him un- bounded praise in the North. On the 4th of Febru- ary, 1864, Congress revived the grade of lieutenant- general, and the rank was conferred on Gen. Grant. He repaired to Washington to receive his credentials and enter upon '.'ip duties of his new office.

Gen. Grant decided as soon as he took charge of ihe army to concentrate the widelv-dispersed National troops for an attack upon Richmond, the nominal capital of the Rebellion, and endeavor there to de- stroy the rebel armies which would be promptly as- sembled from all quarters for its defence. The whole continent seemed to tremble under the tramp of these majestic armies, rushing to the decisive battle field. Steamers were crowded with troops. Railway trains were burdened with closely packed thousands. His lilans were comprehensive and involved a series of c.impaigns, which were e.xecuted with remarkable en- ergy and ability, and were consummated at the sur- render of Lee, April 9, 1865.

The war was ended. The Union was saved. The almost unanimous voice of tlie Nation declared Gen. Grant to be the most prominent instrument in its sal- vation. The eminent services he had thus rendered the country brought him conspicuously forward as the Republican candidate for the Presidential chair.

At the Republican Convention held at Chicago. May 2 1, 1868, he was unanimously nominated for the Presidency, and at the autumn election received a majority of the jiopular vote, and 214 out of 294 electoral votes.

The National Convention of the Republican party whichmet at Philadel[ihia on the5th of June, 1872, placed Gen. Grant in nomination for a second term by a unanimous vote. The selection was emphati- cally indorsed by the people five months later, 292 electoral votes being cast for him.

Soon after the close of his second term. Gen. Grant started upon his famous trip around the world. He visited almost every country of the civilized world, and was everywhere received with such ovations and demonstrations of respect and honor, private as well as public and official, as were never before bestowed upon any citizen of the United States.

He was the most prominent candidate before the Republican National Conventior; in 1880 for a re- nomination for President. He went to New York and embarked in the brokerage business under the firm nameof Grant & Ward. The latter proved a villain, wrecked Grant's fortune, and for larceny was sent to the penitentiary. The General was attacked with cancer in the throat, but suffered in* his stoic-like manner, never complaining. He was re-instated as General of the Army and retired by Congress. Tlie cancer soon finished its deadly work, and July 23, 1885, the nation went in mourning over the death of the illustrious General.

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NINETEENTH PREISIDENT.

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ra RTJTHEREORD Be HAYES,

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UTHERKORl) B. HAYES,

'"I the nineteenth President of ■^ ■' the United States, was born in Delaware, O., Oct. 4, 1822, al- most three months after the death of his father, Rutherford Hayes. His ancestry on both the paternal and maternal sides, was of the most honorable char- acter. It can be traced, it is said, as far back as 1280, when Hayes and Rutherford were two Scottish chief- tains, fighting side by side with Baliol, William Wallace and Robert Bruce. Both families belonged to the nobility, owned extensive estates, and had a large following. Misfor- tune ov-;-i caking the family, George Hayes left Scot- land in i6;io, and settled in Windsor, Conn. His son George wai born in Windsor, and remained there during his lii'e. Daniel Hayes, son of the latter, mar- ried Sarah L;e, and lived from the time of his mar- riage until his death in Simsbury, Conn. Ezekiel, son of Daniel, was born in 1724, and was a manufac- turer of scythe-j at Bradford, Conn. Rutherford Hayes, son of Ezekiel aud grandfather of President Hayes, was born in New Haven, in August, 1756. He was a farmer, blacksmith and tavern-keeper. He emigrated to Vermont at an unknown date, settling in Brattleboro, where he established a hotel. Here his son Ruth- erford Hayes the father of President Hayes, was

born. He was married, in September, 18 13, to Sophia Birchard, of Wilmington, Vt., whose ancestors emi- grated thither from Connecticut, they having beeti among the wealthiest and best famlies of Norwich. Her ancestry on the male side are traced back ic 1635, to John Birchard, one of the principal founders of Norwich. Both of her grandfathers were soldiers in the Revolutionary War.

The father of President Hayes was an industrious frugal and opened-hearted man. He was of a me chanical turn, and could mend a plow, knit a stock- ing, or do almost anything else that he choose to undertake. He was a member of the Church, active in all the benevolent enterprises of the town, and con- ducted his business on Christian principles. After the close of the war of 18 1 2, for reasons inexplicable to his neighbors, he resolved to emigrate to Ohio.

The journey from Vermont to Ohio in that day when there were no canals, steamers, nor railways. was a very serious affair. A tour of inspection was first made, occupying four months. Mr. Hayts deter mined to move to Delaware, where the family arrived in 1817. He died July 22, 1822, a victim of malarial fever, less than three nronths before the birth of th; son, of whom we now write. Mrs. Hayes, in her sore be- reavement, found the support she so much needed in her brother Sard is, who had been a member of the household from the day of its departure from Ver- mont, and in an orphan girl whom she had adopted some time before as an act of charity.

Mrs. Hayes at this period wns very weak, and the

92

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.

subject of this sketch was so feeble at birth that he was not expected ta 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 in- quiring from time to time '' if Mrs. Hayes' baby died ;ast night. ' On one occasion a neighbor, who was on f.imiliar terras with the family, after alluding to the bi)y's big head, and the mother's assiduous care of •lim, said in a bantering way, " That's right! Stick to iiim. You have got iiim along so far, and 1 shouliln't wonder if he wo;ild really come to something yet."

" You reed not laugh," said Mrs. Hayes. " You ■vait and see. You can't tell but I shall make him Preiident of the United .States yet." The boy lived, in spite of the universal predictions of his speedy death; and when, in 1825, his older brother was drowned, he became, if possible, still dearer to his mother.

The boy was seven years old before he wjnt to school. His education, however, was not neglected. He probably learned as much from his mother and s ister as lie would have done at school. His sjiorts were almost wholly within doors, his playmates being liis sister and her associates. These circumstances tended, no doulit, to foster that gentleness of dispo- sition, and that delicate consideration for the feelings of others, which are marked traits of his character.

His uncle Sardis Birchard took the deei)est interest in his education ; and as the boy's healtli had im- proved, and he was making good progress in his studies, he proposed to send him to college. His pre- paration commenced with a tutor at home; bit he was afterwards sent for one year to a professor in the \Vesleyan University, in Middletown, Conn. He en- tered Kenyon College in 1838,3! the age of sixteen, and was graduated at tlie head of his class in 1842.

Innnediately after his graduation he began the study of law in the office of Thoaias .Sparrow, Esq., in Columbus. Finding his opportunities for study in Columbus somewhat limited, he determined to enter the Law School at Cambridge, Mass., where he re- mained two years.

In 1845, after graduatmg at the Law School, he was admitted to the bar at Marietta, Oliio, and shortly afterward went into practice as an attorney-at-law with Ralph P. Buckland, of Fremont. Here he re- mained three years, acciuiring Init a limited practice, and apparently unambitious of distinitii)n in !iis pro- fession.

In 1849 he moved to Cincmnati, where his ambi- tion found a new stimulus. For several years, how- ever, his progress was slow. Two events, occurring at th.is period, had a powerful influence upon his sul)se- rnent life. One of these was his marrage with Miss lyacy Ware Webb, daughter of Dr. James Webb, of Chilicothe; the othei was his introduction to the Cin- cinnati Literary Club, a body embracing among its members such mei"i as '"'hief Justice Salmon P. Cliase,

Gen. John Pope, Gov. Edward F. Noyes, and many others hardly less distinguished in after life. The marriage was a fortunate one in every respect, as everybody knows. Not one of all the wives of our Presidents wi« more universally admired, reverenced and beloved than was Mrs. Hayes, and no one c!J more than she to reflect honor upon American woman hood. The Literary Cluu brought Mr. Hayes 'nte constant association with young men of high char acter and noble aims, and lured him to display ^he qualities so long hidden by his bashfulne.s anc modesty.

In 1856 he was nominated to the office of Judg; o' the Court of Common Pleas; but he declined to sr- cept the nomination. Two years later, the office o city solicitor becoming vacant, the City Co-mic:' elected him for the unexpired term.

In 1861, when the Rebellion broke out, he was a, the zenith of his professional life. His rank at 'dn- bar was among tlie the tirst. But the news of the attack on Fort Sumpter found him eager to take -lo arms for the defense of liis country.

His military record was bright ard illustrious. in October, 1861, he was made Lieulenant-Colonel, and in August, 1862, promoted Colonel of the 7gth Ohio regiment, but he refused to leave his old comrades and go among strangers. Subsequently, however, he was made Colonel of his old regiment. At the battle of South Mountain he received a wound, and while faint and bleeding displayed courage and fortitude that won admiration from all.

Col. Hayes was detached from his regiment, after his recovery, to act as Brigadier-General, and iilaced in command of the celebrated Kanawha division, and for gallant and meritorious seivices in the battles of Winchester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, he was promoted Brigadier-General. He was also brevetted Major-General,"forgallant and distii^guished services during the campaigns of 1864, in West Virginia." In the course of his arduous services, four horses were shot from under him, and he was wounded four times

In 1864, Gen. Hayes was elected to Congress, from the Second Ohio District, which had long been Dem- ocratic. He was not present during the campaign, and after his election was iniportuned to resign his commission iu the army ; iiut he finally declared, " 1 shall never come to Wasliington until I can come by tlie way of Richmond." He was re-elected in 1866.

Ir. 1867, Gen Hayes was elected GovernorofOhiO; over Hon. .Vllen G. Thurman, a populai Democrat.' In 1869 was re-elected over George H. Pendleton. He was elected Governor for the third term in 1875.

In 1876 he was the standard bearer of the Repul)- lican Party in the Presidential contest, and after a hard long contest was chosen President; and was v.: augurated Monday, March 5, 1875. He served his full term, not, h, wever, with satisfaction to his party, l)ut his adniiiixstration was an average on '

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AMES A. ClARi'IELD, twen- tieth President of the United Slates, was born Nov. ig, i83[, i:i the woods of Orange, Cuyahoga Co., O His par- ents were Abram and Eliza /&"'$'\lZ«5 (Ballou) Garfield, both of New England ancestry and from fami- lies well known in the early his- tory of that section of our coun- try, but had moved to the Western Reserve, in Ohio, early in its settle- ment.

The house in which James A. was born was not unlike tiie houses of poor Ohio farmers of that day. It .as about 20 x 30 feet, built of logs, with the spaces be- ,ween the logs filled witli clay. His father was a iard working farmer, and he soon had his fields .:leared, aa orchard planted, and a log barn built. The household comprised the father and mother and _heir four children — Mehetabel, Thomas, Mary and ames. In May, 1823, the father, from a cold con- . /acted in helping to put out a forest fire, died. At diis time James was about eighteen months old, and Thomas about ten years old. No one, perhaps, can .ell how much James was indebted to his biother's (cil and self-sacrifice during the twenty years suc- ceeding his father's death, but undoubtedly very much. He now lives in Michigan, and the two sis- xtrs live in Solon, O., near their liirthplace.

The early educational advantages young Garfield enjoyed were very limited, yet he made the most of them. He labored at farm work for others, did car- penter work, chopped wood, or did anytliing that would bring in a few dollars to aid his widowed mother in he' 'Struggles to keep the little family to-

gether. Nor was Gen. Garfield ever ashamed of his origin, and he never forgot the friends of his strug- gling childhood, youtli and manhood, neither did they ever forget him. When in the highest seats cf honor the humblest fiiend of his boyhood was as kindly greeted as ever. The poorest laborer was 3ureof the sympathy of one who had known all the bitterness of want and the sweetness of bread earned by the sweat of the brow. He was ever the simple plain, modest gentleman.

The highest ambition of young Garfield until hi was about sixteen years old was to be a captain of a vessel on Lake Erie. He was anxious to go aboard a vessel, which his mother strongly opposed. She finally consented to his going to Cleveland, with th'" understanding, however, that he should try to obtair some other kind of employment. He walked all the way to Cleveland. This was his first visit to the city After making many applications for work, and trying to get aboard a lake vessel, and not meeting witii success, he engaged as a driver for his cousin, Amos Letcher, on the Ohio & Pennsylvania Canal. He re- mained at this work but a short time when he wen' home, and attended the seminary at Chester for about three years, when he entered Hiram and the Eclectic Listitute, teaching a few terms of school in the meantime, and doing other work. This school was started by the Disciijles of Christ in 1850, of which church he was then a member. He became janitor and bell-ringer in order to help pay his way. He then became both teacher and pupil. He soon " exhausted Hiram " and needed more ; hence, in the fall of 1854, he entered Williams College, from which he graduated in 1856, taking one of the highest hon- ors of his class. He afterwards returned to Hiram College as its President. As above stated, he early united with the Christian or Diciples Church at Hiram, and was ever after a devoted, zealous mem- ber, often preaching in its pulpit and places where he happened to be. Dr. Noah Porter, President of Yale College, says of him in reference to hisreliaion;

96

JAMES A. GARFIELD.

" President Garfield was more than a man of strong moral and religious convictions. His whole hiitory, from boyhood to the last, siiows that duty to man and to God, and devotion to Christ and life and f.iith and spiritual commission were controlling springs of his being, and to a more than usual degree. In ny judgment there is no more interesting feature of nis character than his loyal allegiance to tlie body of Cinistians in which he was trained, and the fervent sympathy which he ever showed in their Christian communion. Not many of the few 'wise and mighty and noble who are called' show a similar loyalty to the less stately and cultured Christian communions in which they have been reared. Too often it is true that as they step upward in social and political sig- nificance they step upward from one degree to another in soiue of the many types of fashionable Christianity. President Garfield adhered to the church of his mother, the church in which he was trained, and in which he served as a pillar and an evangelist, and yet with the largest and most unsec- tarian charity (or all 'who loveour Lord in sincerity.'"

Mr. Garfield was united in marriage with Miss Lucretia Rudolph, Nov. ii, 1S58, who proved herself worthy as the wife of one whom all the world loved and mourned. To them were born seven children, five of v/lioni are still living, four boys and one girl.

Mr. Garfield made his first political speeches in 1856, in Hiram and the neighboring villages, and three yjars later he began to speak at county mass-ineet- •-.igs, and became the favorite speaker wherever he was. During this year he was elected to the Ohio Senate. He also began to study law at Cleveland, and in 186 1 was admitted to the bar. The great Rebellion broke out in the early part of this year, and Mr. Garfield at once resolved to fight as he had talked, and enlisted to defend the old flag. He re- ceived his commission as Lieut.-Colonel of the Forty- second Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Aug. 14, 1861. He was immediately put into active ser- vice, and before he had ever seen a gun fired in action, was placed in command of four regiments of infantry and eight companies of cavalry, charged with the work of driving out of his native State the officer 'Humphrey Marshall) reputed to be the ablest of those, not educated to war whom Kentucky liad given to the Rebellion. This work was bravely and speed- ily accomplislied, although against great odds. Pres- ident Lincoln, on his success commissioned him Brigadier-General, Jan. 10, 1862; and as "he had heeii tlie youngest man in the Ohio Senate two years before, so now he was the youngest General in the army." He was witli Gen. Buell's army at Shiloh, iu iiK operations around Corinth and its march through Alabama. He was then detailed as a memberof the General Court-Martial for the trial of Gen. Fitz-John Porter. He was then ordered to report to Gen. Rose- crans, and was assigned to the "Chief of Staff."

The military Wstory of Gen. Garfield closed with

his brilliant services at Chickamauga, where he wor

the stars of the Major-General.

Without an effort on liis part Gev Garfield wav elected to Congress iu the fall of 1862 from the Nineteenth District of Ohio. This section of Ohio had been represented in Congress for si.xty years mainly by two men — Elisha Whittlesey and Joshua R. Giddings. It was not without a struggle that he resigned his jilace in the army. At the time he en- tered Congress he was the youngest member in thai body. Ther> he remained by successive re- elections until he was elected President in 1880. Of liis labors in Congress Senator Hoar says : " Since the year 1864 you cannot think of a question which has been debated in Congress, or discussed before a tribunel of the American people, in regard to which you will not find, if you wish instruction, the argu- ment on one side stated, in almost every instance better than l.iy anybody else, in some speech made in the House of Representatives or on the hustings by Mr. Garfield."

UiJon Jan. 14, 1880, Gen. Garfield was elected tu the U. S. Senate, and on the eighth of June, of the same year, was nominated as the candidate of his party for President at the great Chicago Convention. He was elected in the following November, and on March 4, 1881, was inaugurated. Probably no ad- ministration ever opened its existence under brighter auspices than that of President Garfield, and every day it grew in favo.' with the people, and by the first of July he had completed all the initiatory and pre- liminary work of his administration and was prepar- ing to leave the city to meet his friends at Williams College. While on his way and at the depot, in cora- l)any with Secretary lilaine, a man stepped behind him, drew a revolver, and fired directly at his back. I'he President tottered and fell, and as he did so the assassin fired a second shot, the bullet cutting the left coat sleeve of his victim, but in.licting nofurthei injury. It has been very truthfully said that this was " the shot that was heard round the world " Never before in the history of the Nation had anything oc- curred which so nearly froze the blood of the peop^; for the moment, as this awful deed. He was smit ten on the brightest, gladdest day of all his life, and was at the summit of his power and hope. Foreighty days, all during the hot months of July and August, he lingered and suffered. He, however, remained master of himself till the last, and by his magnificent bearing was teaching the country and the world the noblest of human lessons — how to live grandly in the very clutch of death. Great in life, he was surpass- ingly great in death. He passed serenely away Sept. 19, 1883, at Elberon, N. J , on the very bank of the ocean, where he had been taken shortly previous. The world wept at his death, as it never had done on the death of any other man who had ever lived \ipon it. The murderer was duly tried, found guilty and exe- cuted, in one year after he committed the fou; deed.

TWENTY. FIRST PRESIDENT.

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HESTER A. ARTHUR,

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the oldest of a family of two

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emigrated to tb'.s country fro-n

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Newtonville, neai Albany, after a

long and successful ministry.

Young Arthur was educated at Union College, S( henectady, where he excelled in all his studies. Af- ter his graduation he taught schoo! in Vermont for two years, and at the expiration cf that time came to New York, with ,^500 in his jjocket, and eiitered the office of ex-Judge E. D, Culver as student. After being admitted to the bar he formed a partnership with his intimate friend and room-mate, Henry D. Gardiner, with the intention of practicing in the West, and for three months they roamed about in the Western States in search of an eligible site, but in the end returned to New York, where they hung out their shingle, and entered upon a success- ful career almost from the start. General Arthur soon afterward nwrppd the daughter of Lieutenant

Herndon, of the United States Navy, who was lost at sea. Congress voted a gold medal to his widow ir, recognition of the bravery he displayed on that occa- sion. Mrs. Arthur died shortly before Mr. Arthurs nommation to the Vice Presidency, leaving two children.

Gen. Arthur obtained considerable legal celebrity in his first great case, the famous Lemmon suit, brought to recover possession of eight slaves who had been declared free by Judge Paine, of the Superior Court of New York City. It was in 1852 that Jon. athan Lemmon, of Virginia, went to New York with his slaves, intending to ship them to Texas, when they were discovered and freed. The Judge decided that they could not be held by the owner under the Fugitive Slave Law. A howl of rage went up from the South, and the Virginia Legislature authorized the Attorney General of that State to assist in an appeal. Wm. M. Evarts and Chester A. Arthur were employed to represent the People, and they won their case, which then went to the Supreme Court of the United States. Cliatles O'Conor here espoused the cause of the slave-holders, but he too was beaten by Messrs Evarts and Arthur, and a long step was taken toward the emancipation of the black race.

Another great service was rendeied by General .\rthur in the same cause in 1856. Lizzie Jennings, a respectable colored woman, was put off a Fourth Avenue car with violence after she had paid her fare. General Arthur sued on her behalf, and secured a verdict of $500 damages. The next day the compa- ny issued an order to admit colored persons to ride on their cars, and the other car companies quickly

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

followed their example. Before that the Sixth Ave- nue Company ran a few special cars for colored per- sons and the other lines refused to let them ride at all.

General Arthur was a delegate to the Convention at Saratoga that founded the Republican party. Previous to the war he was Judge-Advocate of the Second Brigade of the State of New York, and Gov- ernor Morgan, of that State, appointed hnn Engineer- in-Chief of his staff. In 1861, he was made Inspec- tor General, and soon afterward became Quartermas- ter-General. In each of these ofifices he rendered great service to the Government during the war. At the end of Governor Morgan's term he resumed the practice of the law, forming a partnership with Mr. Ransom, and then Mr. Phelps, the District Attorney of New Yoik, was added to the firm. The legal prac- tice of this well-known firm was very large and lucra- tive, each of the gentlemen composing it were able lawyers, and possessed a splendid local reputation, if not indeed one of national extent.

He always took a leading part in State and city politics. He was appointed Collector of the Port of New York by President Grant, Nov. 21 1872, to suc- ceed Thomas Murphy, and held the office until July, ?o, 1878, when he was succeeded by Collector Merritt.

Mr. Arthi'.r was nominated on the Presidential ticket, with Gen. James A. Garfield, at the famous National Republican Convention held at Chicago in June, 1880. This was perhaps the greatest political convention that ever assembled on the continent. It was composed of the 'wading politicians of the Re- publican party, all able men, and each stood firm and fought vigorously and with signal tenacity for their respective candidates that were before the conven- tion for the nomination. Finally Gen. (iarfield re- ceived the nomination for President and Gen. Arthur for Vice-Presider;t. The campaign which followed was one of the most animated known in the history of our country, (ien. Hancock, the standard-bearer of the Democratic party, was a popular man, and his party made a valiant fight for his election.

Finally the election came and the country's choice .vas Garfield and Arthur. They were inaugurated March 4, i88r, as President and Vice-President. .''i few months only had passed ere the newly chosen President was the victim of the assassin's bullet. Then came terrible weeks of suffering, — those moments of anxious suspense, when the hearts of all civilized na-

tions were throbbing in unison, longing for the re- covery of the noble, the good President. The remark- able [jalience that he manifested during those hours and weeks, and even months, of the most terrible suf- fering man has often been called upon to endure, was seemingly more than human. It was certainly God- like. During all this period of deepest anxiety Mr. Arthur's every move was watched, and be it said to his credit that his every action displayed only an earnest desire that the suffering Garfield might recover, to serve the remainder of the term he had so auspi- ciously begun. Not a selfish feeling was manifested in deed or look of this man, even though the most honored ix)sition in the world was at any moment likely to fiill to him.

At last God in his mercy relieved President Gar- field from further suffering, and the world, as never before in its history over the deatli of any other man, wept at his bier. Then it became the duty of the Vice President to :,ssume the responsibilities of the high office, and he took the oath in New York. Sept. 20, i88r. The position was an embarrassing one to him, made doubly so from the facts that all eyes were on him, anxious to know what he would do, what policy he would pursue, and who he would se- lect as advisers. The duties of the oflSce had been greatly neglected during the President's long illness, and many important measures were to be immediately decided by him ; and still farther to embarrass him he did not fail to realize under what circumstances he became President, and knew the feelings of many on this point. Under these trying circumstances President Arthur took the reins of the Government in his own hands ; and, as embarrassing as were the condition of affairs, he happily surprised the nation, acting so wisely that but few criticised his administration. He served the nation well and fa'thfully, until the close of his administration, March 4, 1885., and was a popular candidate before his party for a second term. His name was ably presented before the con ■ vention at Chicago, and was received with great favor, and doubtless but for the personal popularity of one of the opposing candidates, he would have been selected as the standard-bearer of his party for another campaign. He retired to private life car- r)'ing with him the best wishes of the American peo- ple, whom he had served in a manner satisfactory to then and witli i;r-"dir t- himself.

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TWENTY-SECOND PRESIDENT.

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TEPHEN GROVER CLEVE- LAND, the twenty- second Pres- ident of the United States, was born in 1837, in the obscure town of Caldwell, Essex Co., N. J., and in a little two-and-a- half-story white house which is still standing, characteristically to mark the humble birth-place of one of America's great men in striking con- trast with the Old World, where all men high in office mast be high in origin and born in the cradle of wealth. When the subject of this sketch was three years of age, his father, who was a Presbyterian min- ister, with a large family and a small salary, moved, by way of the Hudson River and Erie Canal, to FayetteviUe, in search of an incveased income and a larger field of work. FayetteviUe was then the most straggling of country villages, about five miles from Ponipey Hill, where Governor Seymour was born.

At the last mentioned place young Grover com- menced going to school in the "good, old-fashioned way," and presumably distinguished himself after the manner of all village boys, in doing the things he ought not to do. Such is the distinguishing trait of all geniuses and independent thinkers. When he arrived at the age of 14 years, he had outgrown the capacity of the village school and expressed a most

emphatic desire to be sent to an academy. To this his father decidedly objected. Academies in those days cost money; besides, his father wanted him to become self-supporting by the quickest possible means, and this at that time in FayetteviUe seemed to be a position in a country store, where his fathe" and the large family on his hands had considerable infl.ienc.;. Grover was to be paid $50 for his services t'le first year, and if he proved trustworthy he was to receive $100 the second year. Here the lad com- menced his career as salesman, and in two years he hid earned so good a reputation for trustworthiness that his employers desired to retain him for an in- difinite length of time. Otherwise he did not ex- hibit as yet any particular "flashes of genius" or eccentricities of talent. He was simply a good boy. Bat instead of remaining with this firm in Fayette- viUe, he went with the family in their removal to Clinton, where he had an opportunity of attending a high school. Here he industriously pursued his studies until the family removed with him to a point oa Black River known as the " Holland Patent," a village of 500 or 600 people, 15 miles north of Utica, .V. Y. At this place his father died, after preaching but three Sundays. This event broke up the family, and Grover set out for New York City to accept, at a small salary, the position of " under-teacher " in an asylum for the blind. He taught faithfully for two years, and although he obtained a good reputation in this capacity, he concluded that teaching was not his

ro4

S. GROVER CLEVELAAB.

calling for life, and, reversing the traditional order, he left the city to seek his fortune, instead of going to a city. He first thought of Cleveland, Ohio, as there was some charm in that name for him; but before proceeding to that place he went to Buffalo to isk the advice of liis uncle, Lewis F. Allan, a noted Etock- breeder of that place. The latter did not [■])eak enthusiascically. ''What is it you want to do, my boy.'" he asked. "Well, sii, I want to study 'aw," was the reply. "Good gracious!" remarked he old gentleman ; "do you, indeeJ ? What ever put that into your head? How uuich money have you got?" "Well, sir, to tell the truth, I haven't got any.

After a long consultation, his uncle offered him a place temporarily as assistant herd-keeper, at $50 a year, wiiile lie could "look around." One day soon Afterward he boldly walked into the office of Rogers, Bowen & Rogers, of Buffalo, and told Ihem what he wanted. A number of young men were already en- gaged in the office, but Grover's persistency won, and ne was finally permitted to come as an office boy and have the use of the law library, for the nominal sum of $3 or $4 a week. Out of this he had to pay for liis board and washing. Tiie walk to and from his uncle's was a long and rugged one; and, although the first winter was a memorably severe one, his shoes were out of repair and his overcoat— he had lone — yet he was nevertheless prompt and regular. On the first day of his service here, his senior em- ployer threw down a copy of Blackstone before him with a bang that made the dust fly, saying "That's v.liere they all begin." A titter ran around the little (ircle of clerks and students, as they thought that was enough to scare young Grover out of his plans ; but in due time he mastered that cumbersome volume. Then, as ever afterward, however, Mr. Cleveland exhibited a talent for executiveness rather than for i;hasing principles through all their metaphysical iiossibilitles. " Let us quit talking and go and do t," was practically his motto.

The first public office to which Mr. Cleveland was C'.ected v.-as that of Sheriff of Erie Co., N. Y., in which Buffalo is situated; and in such capacity it fell to his duty to inflict capital punishment upon two criminals. In 18S1 he was elected Mayor of the City of Buffalo, 01 the Democratic ticket, with es- pecial reference to the bringing about certain refoffps

in the administration of the municipal affairs of that city. In this office, as well as that of Sheriff, his performance of duty has generally been considered fair, with possibly a few exceptions which were fer- reted out and magnified during the last Presidential campaign. As a specimen of his plain language in a veto message, we quote from one vetoing an iniqui- tous street-cleaning contract: "This is a time fo; I)lain speech, and my objection to your action s'lall be plainly stated. I regard it as the culmination of a mos bare-faced, impudent and shameless scheme to betray the interests of the peopl-. and to wors3 than squander the people's money." The New York Sun afterward very higlily commended Mr. Cleve- land's administration as Mayor of Buffalo, and there- upon recommended him for Governor of tlie Empirs State. To the latter office he was elected in 1882, and his administration of the affairs of State was generally satisfactory. The mistakes he made, if any, were made very public throughout the nation after he was nominated for President of the United States. For this high office he was nominated July IT, 1884, by the National Democratic Convention at Chicago, when other competitors were Thomas F. Bayard, Roswell P. Flower, Thomas A. Hendricks, Benjamin F. Butler, Allen G. Thunr.an, etc.: and he was elected by the peojjle, by a majority of about a thousand, over the brilliant and long-tried Repub- lican statesman, James G. Blaine. President Cleve- land resigned his office as Governor of New York in January, 1885, in order to prepare for his duties as the Chief Executive of the United States, in which capacity his term commenced at noon on the 4th of March, 1885. For his Cabinet officers he selected the following gentlemen: For Secretary of State, Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware ; Secretary of the Treasury, Daniel Manning, of New York; Secretary of War, William C. Endicott, of I\Lissachusettr> ; Secretary of the Navy, William C. Whitney, of New York; Secretary of the Interior, L. Q. C. Lamar, (>(" Mississippi; Postmaster-General, William F. Vilas, of Wisconsin ; Attorney-General, A. H. Garland, of .Arkansas.

The silver question precipitated a controversy be- tween those who were in favor of the continuance of silver coinage and those who were opposed, Mr. Clevelaiid answering for the latter, even before !iis inauguration.

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TAVEIS TY-TH IRU PRESIDENT.

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ENJAMIN HARRISON, the \ J '^wenty-thircl I'resident, is •"4b? the descendant of one of the historical families of this country. The head of the iJ3 family was a Major General — ; u^^ Harrison, one of Oliver ^-' Cromwell's trusted follow-

ers and fighters. In the zenith of Croni- well's power it became the duty of this Harrison to participate in the trial of Charles I, and afterward to sign the deaih warrant of the king. He subse- quently paid for this with his life, being hung Oct. 13, IGCO. His descendants came to America, and the next of the family that appears in history is Benja- .•".:in 'larrison, of Virginia, great-grand- father of the subject of this sketch, and after wbom he was named. Benjamin Harrison was a member of the Continental Congress during the years i774-5-G, and was one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was three times elected Governor of Virginia. QeVi V.'iliiani Ilcniy ilnrrisim, the son of the

distinguished patriot of the Revolution, after a suc- cessful career as a soldier during the War of 1812, and with -a clean record as Governor of the North- western Territor}', was elected President of the United States in 1840. His career was cut short by death within one month after his inauguration. President Harrison was born at North Bem;, Hamilton Co., Ohio, Aug. .'>0, 18S3. His life up to the time of his graduation by the Miami University' at Oxford, Ohio, was the uneventful one of a coun- try lad of a family of small means. His fathe" was able to give him a good education, and nothing more. He became engaged while at college to th3 daughter of Dr. Scott, Princip.al of a female schoo at Oxford. After graduating he determined to en- ter upon the study of the law. He went to Cir. cinnati and then read law for two years. At the ex|)iration of that time young Harrison received tb . only inheritance of his life; his aunt dying left iiia a lot valued at $800. He regarded this legacy as t fortune, and decided to get married at once, <ak3 this money and go to some Eastern town an " oe- gin the practice of law. He sold his lot, and with tlie money in his pocket, he started out wita his young wife to fight for a place in t!;p world, lie

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BEl\JAMiN ilAKKiSON,

decidetl to go to Indianapolis, which was even at Uiat time a town of pioniise. lie met with slight encouragement at fust, making scarcely anything the first year. lie worUcil diligently, applying him- self closely to his calling, built up an extensive practice and took a leading rank in the legal pro- fession. He is the father of two children.

In 1860 Mr. Harrison was nominated for tiie position of Supreme Court ltep(jrtcr, and then be- gan his experience as a stump speake: lie can- vassed the State thoroughly, and was elected by a handsome majority. In 18G2 he raised the 17th Indiana Infantry, and was chosen its Colonel. His regiment was composed of the rawest of material, Jut Col. Harrison enipio^'ed all his time at first mastering military tactics and drilling his men, when he therefore came to move toward the Plast with Sherman his regiment was one of the best trilled and organizccl in the army. At Resaca he especially distinguished himself, and for his bravery '.it Peachtree Creek he was made a Brigadier Gen- cial, Geu. Hooker speaking of him in the most ■•oraplimentar}' terms.

During the absence of Gen. Harrison in the field

he Supremo Court declared the office of the Su- preme Court Reporter vacant, and another person was elected to tiie jiosition. From the time of leav- ii.g Indiana with his regiment until the fall of 1864 he had taken no leave of absence, but having been Dominated that year for the .same office, he got a thirty-d.ay leave of absence, and during that time made a brilliant canvass of the State, and was elected for another term. He then started to rejoin Sher- man, but on the way was stricken down with scarlet jcver, and after a most trying siege made his w.ay to the front in time to participate in the closing Incidents of the war.

In 1868 Gen. Harrison declined , re-election as .;eporter, and resumed the practice of law. In 187G ije was a candidate for Governor. Although de-

eated, the brilliant campaign he made won for him a National reputation, and he was much sought, es- peciaLy in the East, to in.ake speeches. In 1880, as usual, he took an active part in the campaign, snd wr/. elected to the United States Senate. Here he served six years, auO w'as known as one of the ablest men, best lawyer^' ,ind strongest debaters in

that bo<ly. AVitli the expiration of his Senatorial term he returned to the practice of his profession, becoming the head of one of the strongest firms in tiie State.

The i)olitical campaign of 1888 was one of the most memorable in the history of our country. The convention which assembled in Ciiicago in .lime and named Mr. Harrison as the chief standard bearer of tlie Rei)ublican [larty, w.as great in every partic- ular, and on this account, and the attitude it as- sumed u^on the vital questions of the day, chief among which was the tariff, awoke a deep interest in the campaign througho.ut the Nation. Shortly after the nomination delegations began to visit Mr. Harrison at Indianapolis, his home. This move- ment ))ecame popular, and from all sections of the country societies, clubs and delegations journeyed thither to pay their respects to the distinguished statesman. The popularity of these was greatly increased on account of the remarkable speeches made by IMr. Harrison. He spoke daily all through the sununer and autumn to these visiting delega- tions, and so varied, masterly and eloquent were his speeches that they at once placed him in the foremost rank of American orators and statesmen.

On account of his eloquence as a speaker and liir; jjower as a debater, he was called upon at an un- commonly early age to take part in the discussion <if the great questums that then began la agitate tlu' country. He was an nncomprcmiising ant: slavery man. and was matched against some of '"..e ir.ost eminent Denidcratic speakers of his State. \o ninn who fell the touch of his blade desired to 1)1- pitted with him again. "With all his eloq''cnce as an orator he never spoke for oratoi'ical effect. 1ml liis words always Avent like bullets to the mark lie is purely American in his ide.as and is a si)ler did t^-pe of the American statesman. Gifted witi (piick perception, a logical mind and a ready tongue, he is one of the most distinguished impromptu speakers in the Nation. Many of these siieeehes .sparkled with tlie rarest of eloquenceaud contained arguments of greatest weight. Many of liis terse statements have already bectmie aphorisms. Gi'igi- nal in thought, precise in logic, terse in statement, yet withal faultless in eloquence, he is reeog-nized as the sound statcsm,au and brilliant orator o* the day

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HARLES ROBINSON, the first Governor of Kansas, was