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n^APlilCAL SKETCHES- 



AMES A. Garfield, 



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A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JAMES A. GARFIELD. 

BY E. y. SMALLET. 

James Abram GakpieI/D was born November 19th, 1831, in 
a log-cabin on a new farm in Orange township, Cuyahoga 
County, Obio, which his fatlier was clearing. He comes of 
hardy, industrious, intelligent New England stock. His earli- 
est American ancestor was Edward Garfield, who emigrated 
from Cheshire, England, on the border of Wales, and settled in 
Watertown, Mass., in 1630, and was a selectman of his town 
for many years. The fourth son of Edward was Benjamin 
Garfield, a militia captain and a representative of Watertown in 
the General Court for nine terms. The line of descent comes 
down through Thomas Garfield, of Weston, Mass., his third 
child, and a second Thomas, who lived in Lincoln and was the 
oldest child of the first Thomas, to Solomon, the great-grand- 
father of General Garfield. Solomon's brother Abraham was in 
the fight at Concord Bridge. Solomon moved to Otsego 
County, New York, and settled in the township of Worcester. 
His son Thomas succeeded him as a small farmer. Abram, a 
son of Thomas, born in 1799, went to Ohio when a lad of 
eighteen and worked at chopping wood and clearing land in 
Newburg, near Cleveland. Afterward he journeyed to Mus- 
kingum County, where he met Eliza Ballou, Avho had been his 
schoolmate in his old home in Worcester, when they were 
children. They were married in 1820, and went to live in Bed- 
ford, Cuyahoga County. Eliza Ballou, the mother of General 
Garfield, was born in New Hampshire, of French Huguenot 
stock. Her ancestor, Maturin Ballou, fled from France on the 
revocation of the Edict of Nantes and settled in Rhode Islaud. 



I 



2 REPUBLICAN LEADERS. 

.Tames was the youngest of four children. His father bought 
eighty acres of forest land in Orange a short time before the 
boy's birth, put ujj a log-cabin of a single room, moved his 
family into it, and began thcAvorkof clearing a farm. In May, 
1833, the father died, leaving the farm, partly cleared and only 
partly paid for, as the sole sujDport of his young family. His last 
words were, "Eliza, I have planted four saplings in these 
woods ; I leave them to your care." The mother, a woman of 
gi-eat courage and strong will, sold off half the land to pay the 
debt, and by the help of the oldest son managed to keep the 
family together and to rear the children in the atmosphere of a 
pious, moral, self-sacrificing home life. 

James helped on the farm as soon as he was old enough to 
handle an axe or a hoe or drive the oxen for his big bi-other to 
hold the plough. When older he earned money by working for 
the neighbors in the hay-field. His first regular wages were 
gained by working in a potash-factory owned by a neighboring 
storekeeper. His early education was got at a district school- 
house, whei'e he learned to read, write, and cipher. He had a 
passion for books from his childhood, and read the few volumes 
left by his father and everything he could borrow from the 
neighbors before he was ten years old. As a boy he was 
strong, active, fond of out-door sports, kind, but quick-tempered, 
and swift to resent an insult with his fists. At school he was 
known as a fighting boy, because of his readiness to defend 
himself when misused by the larger boys 

A WOOD-CHOPPER AND A CANAL-SOATMAN. 

When eighteen he went to Newburg and took a contract to f 
chop 100 cords of wood at fifty cents a cord. There he got his 
first glimpse of Lake Erie, and the sight of its blue waters and 
white sails revived in him a boyhood dream of becoming a 
sailor. When the job of chopping was finished he went to 
Cleveland, witli the intention of shipping as a hand on a 



JAMES J, GAllFIELI^. - 3 

schooner, but the captain of the ftrst craft he boarded greeted 
liim with a torrent of profanity and ordered him ashore. As no 
one wanted a green hand on the lake craft he hired out to drive 
horses on the canal, and spent the summer boating between 
Cleveland and Brier Hill, on the Mahoning Kiver, making one 
trip to Pittsburg. He soon rose to the rank of steersman, but 
hard work and exposure brought on a malarial fever which 
lasted all the next winter. 

DETERMINED TO GET AN EDUCATION. 

With the help of the district schoolmaster, his mother dis- 
suaded him from making another effort to go upon the lakes as 
a sailor, and in the following spring he went to Geauga 
Academy, a Baptist institution in the village of Chester, to make 
a start at getting an education. A cousin about the same age 
went with him, and the two lads hired a room and lived mostly 
on provisions which they took from home. His mother gave 
him seventeen dollars, which she and his brother Thomas had 
scraped together, and w'ith this money lie got through one term 
of school. In the summer he worked for day wages in the 
hay and harvest fields, and helped build a frame house for liis 
mother, thus learning sometliing of the carpenter trade, which 
was of great service to him afterward in enabling him to com- 
plete his education. Returning to the academy in the fall, he 
boarded himself at a cost of thirty-one cents per week, but find- 
ing the fare hardly good enough for health, increased his ex- 
penses to fifty cents per week. In the winter he taught a coun- 
try school for twelve dollars a month and " boarded around." 
The only time in his life when he sought a public position waa 
when he looked for his first school. He tramped two days over 
the country without success, his youth and rather awkward, 
overgrown appearance being against him ; but after his return 
from his fruitless search, as lie was was sitting disconsolate at 
home, a neighbor ca me-^ p and offered liim u school lialf a mil'J 



4 REPFBLJCAN LEADER8. 

away, which he had not ventured to apply for because it had 
been broken up two winters in succession by the unruly pupils. 
His good uncle Boynton, who. was his adviser in all his early 
life, told him to undertake the school, and said, " You, will go 
into that school as the boy Jim Gaffield ; see that you leave it as 
Mr. Garfield, the teacher." James conquered the school and 
made an excellent teacher. 

WORKINa AT THE CARPENTER'S BENCH. 

lie went back to the academy next spring, and supported 
himself by working for a carj)enter mornings and evenings and 
Saturdays. The carpenter agreed to board and lodge him and 
do liis washing for one dollar and six cents per week, and 
credit liim with his work by the hour or the job. James paid 
his way, bought himself some clothes and books, and had three 
dollars left at the end of the term. In the winter lie taught 
school again — this time a larger school in the village of Inde- 
pendence — for which he got sixteen dollars a month. He joined 
the Disciples Church, to which his mother and uncle belonged, 
and which met in the school-house near his motlier's farm, and 
was baptized in a little creek running into the Chagrin River. 
From Chester Academy the young student went to Hiram, in 
the adjoining county of Portage, where the Disciples had just 
oj)ened a new school, called the Hiram Eclectic Institute. Tliere, 
too, he earned liis way by teaching country scliools winters 
and working in summer at the carpenter's bench, until he was 
offered a tutorship in the institution. His ruling passion now 
was to get a college education. In three years' time he went 
through a preparatory course and half of the regular college 
course, with the assistance of one of tlie teachers who studied 
with liim, and thus did six years' study in three, while teach- 
ing classes all the time. To accomplish this he did an amount 
of brain work that would have appalled one less resolute, and 
would have l?rokei} down a constitution not remarkably 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. u 

strong. In 1854, when nearly twenty- three yearrt old, he en- 
tered Williams College, at Williamstown, Mass., and passed the 
examinations for the junior class. lie had saved money ejiougli 
from his salary as a teacher to paj' his expenses for one year. 
How to get the rest of the sum needed was a ])roblcm. A kind- 
hearted gentleman, many years his senior, who lias ever since 
been one of his closest friends, loaned him the amount. So 
scrupulous was the young man about the jiaymcnt of the debt 
that he got his life insured and placed the policy in his credit- 
or's hands. "If I live," he said, "I shall pay you, and if I 
die you will suffer no loss." The debt was repaid soon after he 
graduated. In 1856 he graduated with the highest liouor of 
his class. His classmates remember well his prodigious industry 
as a student, his physical activity in the college games, and his 
cordial, hearty, social ways. During tlie two winter vacations 
which occurred while lie was at Williams he taught writing- 
schools, lirst at North Pownal, Vermont, and next at Poesteu- 
kill, near Troy, N. Y. 

PROFESSOK OF LATIN AND (iKEEK. 

Returning to Ohio from college, young Garfield went back to 
the school at Hiram, and was given the professorship of Latin 
and Greek, and the next year, when only twenty-six years old, 
he was made President of the Institute. There probably never 
was a younger college president. He carried into his new posi- 
tion the remarkable energy and vigor and good sense which are 
the main springs of his character. He soon increased the attend- 
ance at the school, raised its standard of scholarship, strength- 
ened its faculty, and inspired everybody connected with it witli 
something of his own zeal and enthusiasm. At the same time 
he studied law and was an omnivorous reader of general litera- 
ture. 

Garfield's first political speech Avas made at Williamstown ii 
jS-56, Just before he left college. It was an enthusiastic appen 



6 RKrUBLICAN LEADEn,'=f. 

m behalf of Fremont, the first Republican candidate for the 
Presidenc}'. When he returned to Hiram lie entered with ardor 
into the campaign then ^in progress and made a number of 
speeches at evening meetings in country school-houses and town- 
halls, Ilis first vote was cast that fall. Thus his political 
career began with the birth of the Republican Party ; with the 
glorious work of that party from I80G to the present time )ie 
has been closely associated. 

A FORTUNATE MAKKIAGR. 

t 

Tlis place in life seemed now won, and he married the object 
of his youthful love— Lucretia Rudolph, a farmer's daughter, 
Avho had been his fellow-student at Chester Academy, and 
his pupil at Ilirara. Miss Rudolph was a refined, intelligent, 
affectionate girl, who shared liis thirst for knowledge and his 
ambition for culture, and had, at the same time, the domestic 
tastes and talents which fitted her equally to preside over the 
home of the poor college 2:)rofessor and that of the famous states- 
man. Much of Garfield's subsequent success in life may be 
attributed to his fortunate marriage. His wife has groAvn with 
his growth, and has been, during all his career, the .apprecia- 
tive companion of his studies, the loving mother of his children 
the graceful, hospitable hostess of his friends and guests, and 
the wise and faithful helpmeet m the tiials, vicissitudes, and 
successes of Ins busy life. 

While teaching at Hiram, Garfield w^as in tho hal)it of deliv- 
ering religious discourses on Sunday. He was never ordained 
as a minister, but in his denomination no ordination is required 
for occupying the j^ulpit, any member of tlie church being 
privileged to deliver sermons. Gai field's talent as an orator and 
his sincere religious convictions made liis services as a preacher 
of great value to the Disciples, and he was strongly in-ged to 
become a regular minister. His mind was already made up, 
however, tiliat tho law should be liis uUnnate profession, but he 



JAMFS A. QAIiFIELD. 7 

was glad to aid his denominatiou by jiul pit discourses ■vrhencvcr 
he could. For some time he spoke regularly in the Disciples 
church at Newburg, near Cleveland, going there from Hiram 
Saturdays and returning Monday mornings in time for his 
school duties. His stay at Hiram was a period of great intel- 
lectual activity for him. Besides his teaching and preaching he 
delivered two lectures a week to the pupils of the Institute on 
literary and historical subjects, took part in the fall campaigns, 
and often lectured in the neighboring towns. At one time he 
held a five days' joint discussion on geology with Wilham Den- 
ton, taking the providential against the material view of crea- 
tion. 

Er.ECTED TO THE OHIO SENATE. 

In 1859 Garfield was elected to the Senate of Ohio from the 
counties of Portage and Summit. He had taken part m the 
political campaigns of 1856, 1857, and 1858, and had become 
l)retty well known as a vigorous, logical stumjo orator. He did 
not think a few weeks in tlie winter at Columbus would break 
in seriously upon his college work, to which he wtis devoted. 
It is probable, however, that he already felt the promptings of 
political ambition, which he did not even acknowledge to him- 
self. His most intimate friend in the Senate was J. D. Cox, 
who afterward became a Major-General, Governor of the State, 
and Secretary of the Interior. The two young Senators roomed 
together, studied together, and liclpcd eacli other in the work of 
legislation. Garfield ])ushed his law studies forward, and early 
in the winter of 1801 was admitted to the bar of the Supreme 
Court. During the session of 18G1 Garfield was characteris- 
tically active and vigorous in aiding to prepare the Stale to 
stand by the General Government in opposition to the rising 
storm of rebellion. When the storm burst he determined to 
drop everything and enter the army. He talked the matter 
over with his friend Cox, and both agreed that it was tlieir duty 
to offer their lives, if need be, for their country. 



EEP UBLTCA K LEA BEBS. 



GAKFIEI.D AS A SOI;T)TEll. 



A company was raised at Hiram, composed exclusively of the 
students of his colle^^c, and wa.<? attached to the 42d Ohio Infan- 
try. Governor Dennison offered Garfield the colonelcy, but he 
modestly declined, on account of his lack of military experience, 
and asked that a "West Pointer be put in command. The Gov- 
ernor made him lieutenant-colonel, and a few weeks later, when 
the regiment was organized, he yielded to the universal desire of 
its officers and accepted the colonelcy. The regiment took the 
field in Eastern Kentucky, in December, 1861. Colonel Garfield 
wag assigned to the command of the 18th Brigade, and was 
ordered by General Buell to drive Plumyjhrey Marshall out of 
the Sandy Valley. Thus a citizen soldier, who had never seen 
a battle, was intrusted with the serious task of defeating a force 
outnumbering his by nearly two to one, and commanded by a 
man who had led the famous charge of the Kentucky Volunteers 
at Buena Vista. By a forced night march he reached Marshall's 
position, near Preston burg, at daybreak, fell upon him with 
impetuosity, and after a sharp fight forced him to burn his 
(baggage and retreat into Virginia. Tlie Rebels left a small 
force in Pound Gap, which they fortified and held as a point of 
observation. On the 14th of March Colonel Garfield started with 
oOO infantry and 200 cavalry to dislodge this force. A severe 
march of ten days brought his men to the gap. He sent his 
cavalry along the m.ain road to attract the enemy's attention 
while he scrambled over the rocks and through the woods with 
his infautry and reached the outskirts of the Rebel camp unob- 
served. A few volleys scattered them in full retreat. These 
operations cleared Eastern Kentucky and stopped the flank 
movement which was disturbing Buell's plan. They were of 
much greater military importance than the number of troops in 
it indicated. Garfield was complimented in general orders for 
having displayed the highest qualities of generalship, and was 
rewarded for his victory with the rank of Brigadier-General. 



JAME!S A. GAEFIELD. 9 

CHIEF OP STAFF AM) MAJOH-GKNKHAL,. 

Afterward he was ordered to join Buell's army, which was then 
ou its way to reinforce Grant at Pittsburg Landing. In com- 
mand of the Twentieth Brigade he readied the battle-field on 
the second day of the engagement. His brigade next took part 
in the tedious siege of Corinth. In August ill-health compelled 
him to leave the field for a time, and lie was made a member of 
the court-martial for the trial of Fitz John Porter. In January, 
1803, he was made chief of staff of the Army of the Cumber- 
land, and became the intimate friend and adviser of its com- 
mander, General Rosecrans. At the battle of Chickamauga he 
wrote every order save one, submitting each to General Rose- 
crans for approval or change. That one was the fatal order to 
General Wood which lost the day. The words did not clearly 
convey the meaning of the commanding general ; Wood misin- 
terpreted them, and the result was the opening of the gap in 
the main lines through which the Rebels poured, flanking and 
destroying Rosecrans's right wing. Believing the battle lost 
and the Avhole army falling back ou Chattanooga, Rosecrans 
thought it his duty to return to that place, reorganize his army, 
and hold the town. He rode to the rear with his staff. Gar- 
field did not believe the left wing under Thomas had given way. 
He held an argument with his commander as they rode along, 
insisting that the firing indicated that Thomas was holding his 
ground. Finally, when they came to a cross, road, he asked per- 
mission to leave Rosecrans and go and find Thomas. Getting 
the consent of his commander, he found a guide and made his 
way to Thomas, through a heavy fire. His horse was shot and 
his orderly killed, but he reached the* front and took jiart in the 
glorious struggle which saved the array from a frightful dis- 
aster. 

For his conduct at Chickamauga, Garfield was made a Major- 
Geueral. A military critic writing of his career soon after the 
close of the war wiid : "Asa ciiief of stutt Garfield was \m- 



10 REPUBLICAN LEADERS. 

rivallerl. There, as elsewhere, he was ready to accept the 
gravest responsibilities in following his convictions. The bent 
of his mind was aggressive ; his judgment of purely military 
matters was good ; his papers on the Tullahoma campaign will 
stand a monument of his courage and his far-reaching, soldierly 
sagacity ; and his conduct at Chickamauga will never be for- 
gotten by a nation of brave men." 

ELECTED TO CONGRESS, 

In the summer of 1862, when everybody supposed the war 
was going to end in a few months, a number of officers who had 
gained distinction in the field were taken up at home and elected 
to Congress. Among tliem was General Garfield, who was 
nominated by the Republicans of Joshua R. Giddings' old dis- 
trict while with his brigade in Kentucky. lie hud no knowl- 
edge of any such movement in his behalf, and when he accepted 
the nomination he did so in the belief that the UcLeilion would 
be subdued before he would be called upon to take his seat in 
the House, in December, 1863. His nomination was partly the 
result of his military fame and partly of a desire on the part of 
the friends of Giddings to defeat the man who had pu.shed him 
out of Congress four years before. Garileld's popularity made 
him the most available man in the district for this purpose. He 
was elected by a majority of over ten thousand. He continued 
his military service up to the day of the meeting of Congress. 
Even then he seriously thought of resigning his position as a 
Representative rather than his Major-General's commission, and 
would have done so had not President Lincoln made a personal 
appeal to hino, to enter the House and give the administration 
the help of his military experience in passing measiu'es for filling 
up the army and pushing the war to a conclusion. Had he 
remained in the army he would have had the command of a 
corps in Thomas' array. 

He was Jtppcnnted on the ^Military Comniitte*, under llie 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. U 

chairmanship of General Fchcnck, and was of great service in 
carrying through tlie measures which recruited tlie armies dur- 
ing the closing years of tlie war. At the same time he began 
a course of severe study of the subjects of iinance and politi- 
cal economy, going home every evening to his modest lodgings 
in Thirteenth Street witli Ids arms full of books borrowed from 
the Congressional Library. He soon took rank in the House as 
a ready and forcible debater, a hard worker, and a diligent, 
jiractical legislator. Ilis superior knowledge used to offend 
some of his less learned colleagues at iirst. They thought him 
bookish and pedantic until they found how solid and useful was 
his store of knowledge, and how pertinent to the business iij 
hand were the drafts lie made upon it. His genial personal 
ways soon made him many warm friends in Congress. The men 
of brains in both Houses and in the departments were not long 
in discovering that liere was a fresh, strong intellectual force 
that was destined to make its mark upon the politics of the 
country. They sought Ids acquaintance, and before he had been 
long in Washington he had the advantage of the best society of 
the capita] 

THE CHAMPION 01? AN HONEST FINANCIAL POLICY. 

In 1804 General Garfield was renominated without ojiposition 
and re-elected by an increased majority. He served on the 
Committee of Ways and Means, which was very much in the 
line of his tastes and studies. He favered a moderate protective 
tariff and a steady reduction of taxation and government ex- 
penditures. In 18G6 a few of his constituents living in the 
Mahoning Valle}', an iron-producing district, opposed his re* 
nomination on the ground that he did not favor as high a tariff 
on iron as they wanted. The convention was overwhelmingly 
on his side, liowever, and in after years he succeeded in con- 
vincing his opponents that a moderate duty, affording a suffi- 
cient margin for protection, was better for their interests than a 



12 kKPUBLlCAN LEADMiS. 

i-i!,f>h prohibitory rate. In liis third term he "was chairman of' 
the Committee on Military Affairs, and liad plenty of work in 
remodelling the regular army and looking after the demands of 
the discharged soldiers for jjay and bounty, of "which many had 
been deprived by the red-tape decisions of the Government 
accounting officers. 

Again re-elected in 1868, General Garfield "was appointed chair- 
man of the Banking and Currency Committee, and during the 
same Congress did most of tlie hard "work of the Committee on the 
Ninth Census. Ilis financial vie"ws, always sound, and based on the 
firm foundation of honest money and unsullied national honor, 
had now become strengthened by his studies and investigations, 
aiul he was recognized as the best authority in the House on the 
great subjects of the debt and the currency. His record in the 
legislation concerning these subjects is without a flaw. No man 
in Congress made a more consistent and imwavering fight 
against the paper-money delusions that flom-ished during the 
decade following the war, and in favor of specie payments and 
the strict fulfilment of the nation's obligations to its creditors. 
His speeches became the financial gospel of the Republican 
Party. 

liKmiCING GOVF.RNMEXT KXPENDTTttltES. 

In 1871 General Garfield was made chairman of the Commit- 
tee on Appropriations, and held the post until the Democrats 
got control of the House in 1875, In that important 2wsition 
ho largely reduced the expenditures of the Government and 
tlioroughly reformed the system of estimates and appropria- 
tions, pi-oviding for closer accountability on the part of those 
who spend the public money, and a clear knowledge on the part 
of those who vote it of what it is used for. 

When .lames G. Blaine Went to the Senate, in 1877, the mantle 
of Republican leadership in the House was by common consent 
placed upon Gai-field, and lie has worn it ever since. In Janu- 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 1:^ 

ary last lie was elected to the Senate to the scat ■which -uill he 
vacated by Allen G. Thurman on the 4th of March, 1881. He 
received the unanimous vote of the Republican caucus, an honor 
never given to any other man of any party in the State of Ohio. 

As a leader in the House he is more cautious and less dashing 
tlian Blaine, and his jiidicial turn of mind makes him too i)rouc 
to look for two sides of a question for him to be an efficient 
partisan. When the issue fairly touches his convictions, how- 
ever, he becomes thoroughly aroused and strikes tremendous 
blows. Blaine's tactics were to continually harass the enemy 
by shariJ-shooting sur^mses and picket firing, uarfield waits 
for an opportunity to deliver a pitched battle, and his general- 
ship is shown to best advantage when the fight is a fair one and 
waged on grounds where each party thinks itself strongest. Then 
his solid shot of argument are exceedingly e/Tective. On the 
stump Garfield is one of the very best orators in the Republican 
Party. He has a good voice, an air of evident sincerity, great 
clearness and vigor of statement, and a way of knitting his argu- 
ments together so as to make a speech deepen its impression on 
the mind of the hearer until the climax is reached. 

With the single exception of 1867, when he made a tour in 
Europe, lie has done liard work on the stump for the Republi- 
can Party in every campaign since he entered Congress, For 
the i^ast ten years his services have been in demand in all parts 
of the country. He has usually reserved half his time for the 
Ohio canvass, and given the other lialf to other States. The 
November election finds him worn and haggard with travel and 
speaking in the open air, but his robust constitution always 
carries him through, and after a few weeks' rest on his farm lie 
appears in Washington refreshed and ready for the duties of the 
session. ) 

FACING DOWK SLAKBER AT nOME. 

General Garfield will complete next March his ninth term in 
Congress, making eighteen years of continuous service in the 



U REPUBLICAN LEADERS. 

Housfe. Only once since 18GG has liis nomination bech seriotisly 
contested. That was in 1874, and then the opposition was not 
formidable enough in tiie convention to bring out a candidate, 
but contented itself with casting a few blank ballots. In the 
canvass, however, a strong effort was made to defeat him. 
A former Republican was run against him, and the district was 
sown broadcast with printed sheets furnished hj a New York 
newspaper, containing false charges" of corrupt conduct at 
"Washington. He met the campaign of slander by going before 
his constituents on the stump and refuting the charges. So 
effectually did he dispose of the slanders that his district 
re-elected him by a larger majority than it gave to th« jjopular 
Republican candidate for Governor, General Noyes, against 
whom no personal attacks had been directed. 

General Garfield's legislative work in Congress has been far 
too extensive to be adequately reviewed in the compass of a 
short sketch like this. Nearly all the great measures of the 
past fifteen years for reconstruction, for conferring citizen- 
ship and suffrage upon the former slaves, for maintaining the 
credit of the coimtry, for restoring its currency to a sjiecie basis, 
for protecting American industry, and for securing the purity 
of elections, which are the glory of the Republican Party, re- 
ceived in their inception the stamp of his broad, statesmanlike 
mind, and had in their adoption the help of his great ability 
as a parliamentary orator. Among special measures of which 
he was the author may be mentioned that establishing the 
Bureau of Education and the law under which the present cen-^ 
sus is being taken. 

A COKStStENt UNSWERVII^G REPtTDLICAN. 

His position in politics has always been that of a fair*minded) 
progressive Republican, believing firmly that the Republican 
Party contains the best elements of the voting population, and 
is the best organization to give the country safe, honest govern- 



JAMES A. OARFIKLD, 15 

ment. and the only one which can be trusted to maintain the set- 
tlements of the war. He never voted any other than a Repub- 
lican ticket. 

When chairman of the Appropriations Committee, General 
Garfield used to work fifteen hours a day. Of his industry and 
studious habits a great deal might be said, but a single illustra^ 
tion will suffice. Once during the busiest part of a very busy 
session at "Washington a friend found him in his library behind 
a big barricade of books. This was no unusual sight, but wheu 
the visitor glanced at the volumes he saw they were all different 
editions of Horace, or books relating to that poet. " I find I 
am overworked and need recreation," said the General. 
" Now, my theory is that the best way to rest the mind is not 
to let it be idle, but to put it at something quite outside of the 
ordinary line of its employment. So I am resting by learning 
all the Congressional Library can show about Horace, and the 
various editions and translations of his poems." 

General Garfield never went through the lower grades of law 
practice. After he had made his reputation in Congress he av;vs 
occasionally associated with Jeremiah S. Black and other promi- 
nent lawyers in important Supreme Court cases, where his 
power of close logical argument made his aid of great value. 
He has never sought law business, and has never accepted any 
which interfered with his iDublic duties. 

NOMINATED P'OR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

General Garfield's nomination for President by the Chicago 
Convention was unsolicited and unexpected by him. He was 
not a candidate, and did not mean to become one. When it be- 
came evident that neither Grant, Blaine, nor Sherman could be 
nominated, and the dead-lock had continued for thirty-three 
ballots, the Wisconsin delegation voted for Garfield. He arose 
and protested against the use of his name without his consent. 
In spite of his refusal to be a candidate hundreds pf delegateR 



16 HEPUBLICAN LEADERS. 

turned to him as the man for the emergency. On the 35th bal- 
lot he received 50 votes, and on the 36th he was nominated by a 
large majority over all otliers. His long and consistent record, 
his wise counsels in favor of harmony in the midst of the 
stormy scenes at Chicago, his manly independence in advocating 
what he thought the right course, and his national fame as a 
brave, cool-headed, patriotic, conservative Republican leader, 
convinced the convention that he was the man to head the 
ticket. 

GENERAL GARFIELD's TWO HOMES. 

General Garfield is the possessor of two homes, and his family- 
migrates twice a year. Some ten years ago, finding how imsat- 
isfactory life was in hotels and boarding-houses, he bought a 
lot of ground on the corner of Thirteenth and 1st Streets^ in 
Washington, and with money borrowed of a friend built a 
plain, substantial three-story house. A wing was extended 
afterward to make room for the fast-growing library. The 
money was repaid in time, and Avas probably saved in great part 
from what would otherwise have gone to landlords. The chil- 
dren grew up in pleasant home surroundings, and the house be- 
came a centre of much simple and cordial hospitality. Five or 
six years ago the little cottage at Hiram was sold, and for a 
time the only residence the Garfields had in his district was a 
summer house he built on Little Moimtain, a bold elevation in 
Lake County which commands a view of thirty miles of rich 
farming country stretched along the shore of Lake Erie. Three 
years ago he bought a farm in Mentor, in the same county, lying 
on both sides of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Rail- 
road. Here his family spend all the time when he is free from 
his duties in Washington. The original farm-house was a low, 
old-fashioned story-and-a-half building, and its limited accom- 
modations were supplemented by numerous out-buildings, one of 
which General Garfield uses for office and library purposes. 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. IT 

Last spi'ing he had the house enlarged and remodelled, so that 
it now has a handsome modern look. The farm contains about 
160 acres acres of excellent land in a high state of cultivation, 
and the Congressman flnds a recreation, of which he never tires, 
in directing the field work and making improvements in the 
buildings, fences, and orchards. Cleveland is only twenty-five 
miles away ; there is a post-ofl[ice and a railway station within 
half a mile, and the pretty county-seat town of Painesville is 
but five miles distant. One of the pleasures of summer life on 
the Garfield farm is a drive of two miles through the woods to 
the lake shore and a bath in the breakers. Visitors who come 
unannounced often find the General working in the hay-field with 
his boys, with his broad genial face sheltered from the sun un- 
der a big chip hat, and his trousers tucked in a pair of cowhidt; 
boots. He is a thorough countryman by instinct. The smell 
of the good brown earth, the lowing of cattle, the perfume of 
the new-cut grass, and all the sights and sounds of farm life are 
dear to him from early associations. 

THE GARFIELD FAMILY. 

General Garfield has five children living, and has lost, two 
who died in infancy. The two older boys, Harry and James, 
arc now at school in New Hampshire. 3'Iary, or Molly, as 
everybody calls her, is a handsome, rosy-cheeked girl of about 
twelve. The two younger boys are named Irwin and Abrani. 
The General's mother is still living, and has long been a mem- 
ber of his family. She is an intelligent, energetic old lady, with 
a clear head and a strong will, who keeps well posted in the 
news of the day and is very jiroud of her son's career, though 
more liberal of criticism than of praise. 

' General Garfield's property may amount to $20,000. It con- 
sists exclusively of his farm in Ohio and his house in Washing- 
ton, and every dollar of it has been earned by his own exer- 
ti«sns. He has saved a littUi every y«ar from his salary, and 



18 REPUBLICAN LEADERS. 

this, with an occasional legal fee, has made up the bulk of his 
estate. When he entered Congress he owned a little house in 
Hiram, worth, perhaps, $1,500. His hospitable habits have 
interfered somewhat with his economies. It rarely happens 
that the family are a week by themselves in Washington or in 
Mentor. Guests are always welcome, and are made to feel at 
home by being taken into the daily life of the family. The 
long table usually reaches from one end of the dining-room to 
the other, and there is a chair and a plate for any chance caller. 
General Garfield's district lies in the extreme north-eastern 
corner of Ohio, and now embraces the counties of Ashtabula, 
Trumbull, Geauga, Lake, and Portage. With the exception of 
the coal and iron regions in the extreme southern part, the dis- 
trict is a rural one and is inhabited by a population of pure New 
England ancestry. It is the most intelligent Congressional 
district in the country, having less illiteracy in proportion to 
the population than in any other. 

GENERAL GARFIELD's PERSONAL APPEARANCE, 

In person General Garfield is six feet high, broad-shouldered, 
and strongly built. He has an unusually large head, that seems 
to be three fourths forehead, light brown hair and beard, now 
touched with gray, large light blue eyes, a prominent nose, and 
full cheeks. He dresses plainly, is fond of broad-brimmed 
slouch hats and stout boots, eats heartily, cares nothing for 
luxurious living, is a great reader of good books on all subject^, 
is thoroughly temperate in all respects save in that of brain- 
work, and is devoted to his wife and children. Among men lie 
is genial, approachable, companionable, and a remarkably enter- 
taining talker. His mind is a vast storehouse of facts, reminis" 
cences, and anecdotes. P) 

He is not what is called a practical politician. He knows 
little of the machinery of caucuses and conventions, or of tlie 
methods of conducting close campaij^ug. His constituents have 



JAMES A. GAItFlELP. in 

hine times nomiuated liim without any effort on liis part, 
and have elected hiui by majorities ranging from G,000 to 
11,000. As a politician in the larger and better sense of shap- 
ing the policy of a great party, however, he has few equals. To 
no man is the Republican Party more indebted for its successes 
in recent years than to James A. Garfield. 



GEN. GARFIELD'S LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE. 

Mentor, O., July 12. 

Dkar Sir : On the evening of the 8th of .Tune last 1 had the honor to 
receive from you, in the prei?ence of tlm committee of wliicli you were cliairraan, 
the oflicial annQuncement that the Republican National Convention at Chicago had 
that day nominated me as tlieir candidate for President of the United States. I 
accept the nomination with <;ratitiide for the confidence it implies, and with a 
deep scn?e of the responsibilities it imposes. 1 cordially endorse the principles 
set forth in the platform adopted by the Convention. On nearly all the subjects 
of which it treats, ray oi)inions are on record among the published proccedini^s 
of Consjress I venture, however, to make special mention of some of the 
principal topics which are likely to become subjects of discussion. 

Without reviewing the controversies which have been settled during tlie 
last twenty years, and with no purpose or wish to revive the passions of I he 
late war, it should be said that while the Republicans fully recognize and will 
strenuously defend all the rights retained by the people and all the rights re- 
served to the States, they reject the pernicious doctrine oT Slate supieraacy 
which so long crippled the functions of the National Government, and at out; 
time broughfthe Union very near to destruction. They insist that the United 
States is a nation with ample power of self preservation ; that its Constitution 
and the laws made in pursuance thereof are the supreme law of the land ; that 
the right of the Nation to determine the method by which its own Legislature 
shall l)e created cannot be surrendered without abdicating one of the funda- 
mental powers of Government: that ilie national laws relating to the election of 
Representatives in Congress shall neither be violated nor evaded ; that every 
elector shall be permitted freely and without intimidation to cast his lawful 
ballot at such election and have it honestly counted, and that the potency of his 
vote shall not be destroyed by the fraudulent vote of any other person. 
• The best thought.^ and euersrii.'s of our people should be directed to those 
great questions of national well being in which all have a common inlercst. 
Such efforts will soonest restore perfect peace to thdse who were lately in arms 
against each other ; for justice and good-will will outlast passion. But it Is 
certain that the wounds of the war cannot be completely healed, and the spirit 
of brotherhood cannot fully pervade the whole country, 'until every citizen, rich 
or poor, white or black, is secure in the free and equal enjoyment of every civil 
and political right guaranteed by Ihe Constitution and the Taws. Wherever the 
enjoyment of these rights is not assured, discontent will prevail, immigration 
will cease, and the social and industrial forces will continue to be disturoed by 
the migration of laborers and the consequent diminution of prosjierily. The 
National Government should e.Kerci<e all its constitutional authority to put an 
end to these evils ; for all Ihe people and all the States are members of one 
body, and no member can suffer without, injury to all. The most serious evils 
which now afflict the South arise from the fact that there is not euch freedom 



30 REPUBLICAN LWADEHS. 



and tolevatlon of political opinion and action that the minority party can exer-' 
cise an eflective and wholesome restraint upon ttie party in power. Without 
such restraint party rule becomes tyrannical and corrupt. Tlie ])rosperity which 
is made possible in the Sonth by its great advantages of soil and climate will 
never be realized until every voter can freely and safely support any party he 
pleases. 

Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without 
which neither freedom nor justice can bo permanently maintained. Its interests 
ate entrusted to tlie States and to the voluntary action of the people. What- 
ever help the Nation can justly afford should be generously given to aid the 
States in suijporting common schools ; but it, would be unjust to our people and 
daugeroiis to our institutions to apply any portion of the revenues of the Nation, 
or of the Slates, to the sn])port of sectarian .schools. The separation of the 
Church and the Stale in everything relating to taxation should be absolute. 

On the subject of national finances, my views have been so frequently and 
fully exjiressed that little is needed in the way of additional statement. The 
public debt is now so well secured aiid the rate of annual interest has been so 
reduced by refunding, that rigid economy in expenditures and the faithful 
application of our surplus revenues to the payment of the principal of the debt 
will gradually but certainly free the people from its burdens, and close with 
lionor the financinl chajjler of the war. At the same time the Government can 
provide for all its ordinary expenditures and discharge its sacred obligations to 
the soldier? ofthe Union, and to the widows and orphans of those who fell in 
its defence. The resumption fif specie payments, which the Republican Party 
so courageously and successfully accomplished, has removed from the field of 
controversy many questions thai long and seriously disturbed the credit of the 
Governmeut and the ])iisiness ofthe country. Our paper currency is now as 
national as the flag, and resumptiou has not only made it everywhere equal to 
coin, but has brought into use our store of gold and silver. The circulating 
medium is more abundant than ever before, and we need only to maintain the 
equality of all our dollars to insure to labor and capital a measure of value from 
the tise of wliich no one can sutler loss. The great prosperity which the country 
is now enjoying should not be endangered by any violent changes or doubtfid 
financial experiments. 

lu reference to our customs laws a policy should he pursued which will bring 
revenues to the Treasury, and will enable the labor and capital employed in our 
great industries to compete fairly in our own markets with the labor and capital 
of foreign producers. We legislate for the peoi)le of the I'nited States, and not 
for the whole world, and it is our glory that the American laborer is more 
intelligent and better paid than his foreign competitor. Our country cannot be 
independent unless its people, with theirabundant natural resources, possess the 
requisite skill at any lime to clothe, arm, and equip themselvea for war, and in 
time of peace to produce all the necessary implements of labor. It was the 
manifest iutentiou of the founders of the Government to provide for the 
common defence, not by standing armies alone, but by raisin^among the people 
a greater array of artisans whose intelligence and skill should powerfully con- 
tribute to the safety and glory ofthe nation. 

Fortunately for the interests of commerce, there is no longer any formida^ 
ble opposition to appropriations for the improvement of our harbors and great 
navigable rivers, provided that the expenditures (or that pnipose are strictly 
limited to works of national importance. The Mississippi River, with its great 
tributaries, is of such vital importance to so many millions of people that the 
safety of its navigation requires exceptional consideration. In order to secure 
to the Nation the control of all its waters. President Jefferson negotiated llie 
purchase of avast territory, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific 
Ocean. The wisdom of Ccmgress should be invoked to devise some plan by 
which that great river shall cease to be a terror to those who dwell upon its 
banks, and by which its shipping may safely carry the industrial products of 
35,000,000 of people. The interests of agriculture, which is the basis of all our 



.lAMES A. GARFJRLD. 'U 

material piospority, nnd in wliicli Fovcn-twelfth? of nnr^npnlation are engaged, 
as well as ihe inlcVopts oi nianufacfurcs and commerce, demand tli:it the facili- 
ties for cheap trausportaiion bliall be. increased l)y the nee of all our great water- 
course!*. 

The material interests of this country, (he traditions of its seftlement, and 
the scnliment of onr people have led the Government to offer the widest hospi- 
tality to imniiyraiits wlio seek onr shores for^iew and happier homes, willinj^ to 
share the bnvdena as well as the benefits of our society, and intending that their 
posterity shall become an iindistinjr'dshable part of onr population. The recent 
movement of the Chinese to onr Paciiic coast partakes but little of the quali- 
ties of such an immigration either in its purposes or its result. It is too much 
like an importation to be welcomed without restriction ; loo much lilie an inva- 
sion to be looked npon without solicitude. We cannot consent to allow any 
form of servile laborto be introduced among us under the guise of immigration. 
Recognizing the gravity of this subject, the present Administration, snpporti-d 
by Congress, has sent to China a commission of distinguished citizens lor the 
purpose of securing such a modilicatiou of the existing treaty aswilJ prevent the 
evils likely to arise from the jireseut situation. It is confidently believed that 
these diiilomntic negotiations wili be successful without the loss of commercial 
intercourse between the iwo Powers, which promises a great increase of lecipro- 
cal trade and the enlargement of our markets. Should these efforts fail, it will 
be the duty of Congress to mitigate the evils already felt, and prevent their in- 
crease by such restrictions as, without violence or injustice, will place npon a 
sure foundation the peace of our communities and the freedom and dignity of 
labor. 

The appointment of citizens to the various executive and judicial offices of 
the Government is, perhaps, the most difficult of all duties which the Constitu- 
tion has imi)osed on the Kxecutive, The Convention wisely demands that Con- 
gress shall co-operate with the executive departments in placing the Civil Ser- 
vice on a better basis. Experience has proved that with our frequent changes 
of admiiiistialion no system of reform can be made effective and permanent 
without the aid of legislation. Appointments to the military and naval service 
are so regulated by law and custom as to leave but little ground for complaint. 
It may not be wise to make similar regulations bylaw forthecivil service. But, 
without invading the authority or necessary discretion of the Executive, Con- 
gress should devise a method that will determine the tenure of office, and 
greatly reduce the uncertainty which makes that service so uncertain and unsat- 
isfactory. Without depriving any officer of his rights as a citizen, the Govern- 
ment should require him to discharge all his official duties with intelligence, 
efficiency, and faithfulness. To select wisely from our vast population those who 
are best fitted for the many oflices to be filled, requires an acquaintance far be- 
yond the range of any one man. The Executive shqtild, therefore, seek and re- 
ceive the information and assistance of those who.se Knowledge of the commu- 
nities in which the duties are to be performed best qualifies them to aid in mak- 
ing the wisest choice. 

The doctrines announced by the Chicago Convention are not the temporary 
devices of a party to aitract votes and carry an election ; they are deliberate con- 
victions resulting from a careful study of the spirit of our institutions, the 
events of our history, and tlie best impulses of our people. In my judgment 
these principles should control the legislation and administration of the Govern- 
ment. In any event, they will guide my conduct until experience points out a 
better way. 

If elected, it will be my purpose to enforce strict obedience to tlie Constitu- 
tion and the laws, and to ))romote, as best 1 may, the interes, and honor of the 
whole country relying for support upon the wisdom of Congress, the intelligence 
and patriotism of the people , and the Javor of God. With great respect, I am 
very truly yours, J. A. Gabpteld. 

To the Hon. Geokge F. IToar, Chairmnn of Commitke. 



A BIOGHAPHICAL SKETCH OF CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 

BY EDGAR L. MURLIN. 

Chester Allan Arthur was born in Franklin County, Ver-" 
mont, on October 5th, 1830. He "vvas the eldest son of the Rev. 
Dr. William Arthur, a Baptist clergyman, wlio, born of Scotch- 
Irish parentage at Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland, had come 
to the United States when eighteen years old. Dr. Arthur was 
pastor of several churches in Vermont and New York, and 
finally from 1855 to 1863, of Calvary Church, in Albany. A fine 
scholar, he gained much reputation outside of the Baptist de- 
nomination by a work on " Family Kamcs" and his editorship 
of The Antiquarian-- a. journal devoted to antiquarian sub- 
jects. He died at Newtonville, New York, in 1875. His family 
consisted of two boys and six girls. The second son, William 
Arthur, was in the Union army during the Rebellion, and after- 
Ward was made an officer of the Regular Army. 

ARTHT<7V AS A STUDENT AND TEACHER. 

Chester A. Arthur was a strong, tall and broad-shouldefed 
boy, precocious in his studies. Under the guidance of his 
father, who, as a graduate of Belfast University, was an excel- 
lent classical scholar, he began his preparation for college in 
Greenwich. Washington County, New York, and finished it at 
the grammar school in Schenectady. Entering Union College, 
he at once took high rank. But the family Avas poor, the Rev. 
Dr. Arthur only receiving a salary of $500 yearly, and when in 
the Sophomore class and only sixteen years old, he was compelled 
to leave college and teach school to earn money to continue his 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 28 

cditcation. Ho '•boarded around" and taught the village 
school at $15 a month salary, in Schaghticoke, Rensselaer 
County, New York. Again in the Senior year of his college 
course he taught school at the same place. He was graduated 
from Union College at eighteen years of age, in 1848, receiving 
the high honor of being one of six out of a class o'f one hundred 
Avho were elected members of the Phi Beta Kappa Society 
because they had the best standing in their studies. Upon 
graduating he began the study of law in the Ballston Law 
School. Still pursuing his law studies, he obtained the post of 
principal of an academy at North Pownal, Vermont, and there 
prepared boys for college for a year. A year after his depart- 
ure a young student from Williams College, named James A. 
Garfield, came to the same place and taught in the same 
academy. 

AN ANTI-SLAVERY LAWYER IN NEW YORK. 

In the year 1851, having by great economy saved $500, 
young Arthur went to New York City and entered as a law 
student the law office of E. D. Culver ; and was admitted to 
the Bar in 1853. Mr. Culver, while member of Congress from 
Washington County, had made himself noted at Washington for 
his anti-slavery views, and these opinons he sedulously instilled 
into the mind of Mr. Arthur. A year afterward, in 1853, the 
office had the management of a very celebrated slave case. 
Jonathan Lcmmon, a slave-owner of Virginia, came to New 
York with eight slaves, intending to ship them to Virginia. 
The slaves were brought before Judge Paine of the Superior 
Court, on the complaint that they were unlawfully deprived of 
their liberty, and v.-crc released by him. This act caused great 
indignation in the South. Governor Cobb of Georgia thought 
it " a just cause for war" ; and the Legislature of Virginia 
instructed the Attorney-General of that State to appeal from 
Judge Paine's decision. The Legislature of New York tberf 



ii 



24 REPUBLICAN LEADERS. 

upon requested the Governor to appoint counsel to defend the 
interests of the State. Mr. Culver having acted as counsel for 
the slaves before Judge Paine, was appointed the State's coun- 
sel. He subsequently resigned it in favor of Mr. Arthur, who, 
associating with himself William M. Evarts, fought the case up 
to the Court of Appeals. In every court the decision was in 
their favor, although Charles O' Conor was the opposing coun~ 
sel. Ever after this no slave-owner dared venture with his 
slaves on the soil of New York. Mr. Arthur formed a law 
partnership with Henry D. Gardiner in 1858, and the firm im- 
mediately acquired a very lucrative practice. Soon Mr. Arthur 
was again called upon to show his liberal spirit toward the 
blacks. In 1855 colored people were not permitted to ride oni 
the street cars of New York — except in some shabby ones" 
labelled, "Colored persons allowed on this car." Lizzie Jen- 
nings, a respectable colored woman, while returning home from 
performing her duties as superintendent of a Sunday-school, 
was forced off a Fourth Avenue car, after she had paid her fare, 
by the conductor and several policemen. This was done in 
consequence of a drunken white man saying : "I have paid my 
fare and I want a decent ride ; and you must put her ofE." Mr. 
Arthur sued the railroad company for $500 damages, and won 
his case and the lively gratitude of the colored people. From 
the day the decision was rendered in this case the colored peo- 
ple have ridden without question in the street cars of New 
York. 

AN ACTIVE RKPUBLICAN I'OLITICIAN. 

Mr. Arthur took an active interest in politics from an early 
age. Henry Clay was the hero of his youth, and he cast his 
first ballot for President for General Winfield Scott. On com- 
ing to New York he joined political associations, and acted as 
inspector of elections for many years at a polling place which 
was situated in a carpenter's shop on the present Bite of the Fifth 



ViTHsT/m A. AiiTBirii. as 

A.venue Hotel. His name was appended, with those of William 
M. Evarts and Moses H. Grinnell, to one of the earliest calls that 
was issued in New York city for the formation of a Republican 
Club ; and ho attended the first Republican State Convention 
held in jSTew York, as a delegate. He contributed greatly to the 
re-election of Edwin D. Morgan as Governor, and on January 1, 
1861, was made by him Eugineer-in-Chicf. Upon the breaking 
out of the Rebellion in the spring of 1861, he was summoned to 
Albany by Governor Morgan and was entrusted with the sub- 
sisting, equipping, and arming of New York's troops for the 
war. He opened a Quartermaster's Department in New York 
city and from that point directed the movements of troops in 
every part of the State. Barracks were built with great expe- 
dition ; subsistence was provided, and clothing and arms 
bought for the soldiers promptly and at low rates. The 
accounts of the State with the United States Government for 
thus arming and equipping the soldiers were kept with such 
accuracy that they were the first audited by the War Department, 
and were approved, although much the largest of any of the 
States, without the deduction of a dollar. Some of the States 
had their accounts cut down from $1,000,000 to $10,000,000. 

QUARTEK-MASTKU-GENEBAI, OF THE STATE. 

The entire machinery by which New York sent 690,000 men, or 
one-fifth of the entire number of soldiers in the Union Army, 
was created by General Arthur ; and a largo proportion of these 
soldiers was sent xmder his direct supervision. He was succes- 
sively Engineer-iu-Chief, Inspector General, and Quatermaster 
General ; being moved from place to place by Governor Morgan 
as matters of importance connected with sending troops to the 
front required the attention of some man of vigor and executive 
ability. For two years he saw nothing of his law ofiicc, worked 
every day in the week (Sundays included), and for months had 



26 REPUBLICAN LEADERS. 

\ 
not more than three hours' sleep a night. In cue week 5,000 
men departed from New York city alone, and by telegraphic 
desspatches General Arthur directed the departure of as many 
more from other parts of the State. He made a contract for the 
subsisting of the troops at one-third lower rates than those J 
obtained by the United States Government. Making contracts 
of unexampled size for clothing and arms, some contractors 
strove to placate him by sending him costly presents. All these j 
presents were at once returned to the senders. A friend said 
of him : *' So jealous was he of his integrity that I have known ' 
instances where he could have made thousands of dollars legiti- 
mately, and yet refused to do it, on the ground that he was a 
.public officer and meant to be like Caesar's wife, ' above suspi- 
cion.' " The first quota of the State in the spring of 1861 was 
for thirty-eight regiments. The work of organizing these regi- 
ments went on swiftly at the Quartermaster's headquarters in 
Elm Street, New York. " Men had to do four days' work in 
one then," said General Arthur afterward, in describing this 
period. From his resolute and well-known courageous charac- 
ter he was frequently called upon to quell riots among the 
recruits. Thus, one day Colonel Ellsworth, commander of Ells- 
worth's Zouaves, a regiment largely made up of a rather rough 
class of firemen, sent him word that the members of the regi- 
ment refused to unpack their muskets. Taking with him 
several policemen, General Arthur went to the regiment's quar- 
ters in the Devlin Building on Canal Street. He found a hun-#| 
dred of the Zouaves gathered iu one room. Entering the I'oom, 
he had the chief rioters pointed out to him. As fast as they 
were identified he pointed liis right hand toward them and said ! 
to the policemen in a loud tone of voice : " Arrest that man !" 
His large stature, commanding look, firmness, and courage com- 
pletely cowed the rioters. They suffered themselves to be 
arrested, and their comrades then meekly unpacked the muskets. 



GHESTER A. ARTHUR. 27 

COURAGE AND PECISION IX KMEKGENCY, 

Geueral Arthur was very ready in meeting unexpected emer- 
{^'encies. This very regiment of Ellsworth Zouaves having taken 
steamer for Washington, in disobedience to orders from the War 
Department and without any food supplies on board the steamer, 
General Arthur in three liours obtained rations for them, 
although called upon to do so unexpectedly, and provisioned 
the steamer. Again, in the latter part of 1862, war seemed im- 
minent with England, owing to the seizure of Mr. ]\Iasou and 
Mr. Slidell, on board the Trent, and it was decided to prepare 
to blockade the approaches to the harbor of New York with a 
timber float connected by iron cables. Hastening to Albany 
to buy the immense amount of timber required, General Arthur 
there found Governor Morgan troubled by the fact that there 
was no State appropriation for sucli purchase. Geueral Arthur 
took upon himself the responsibility, and bought the timber at 
once at Albany. But the Hudson River suddenly froze up and 
the lumber was useless. Returning to New York he quickly 
bought up all the timber there. The surrender of Mason and 
SlidcU soon put away all fear of a war with England, and the 
timber was afterward sold at a profit to the State. One Sunday 
morning in the spring of 1862 word came to General Arthur 
from General McClellan, then in command of the Army of the 
Potomac, tliat the rebel ram Merrimac had destroyed two ships 
in Hampton Roads, and w^ould soon perhaps enter the harbor of 
New York. General Arthur knew that the harbor forts were 
only occupied by raw recruits, who did not know how to handle 
heavy cannon, and that there was no powder there ; but before 
nightfall he had drafted cannoneers from the militia regiments 
of the city and sent them to the guns, and had a supply of pow^- 
der at the forts. As Engineer-in-Chief, he submitted soon after- 
ward an elaborate report on the military defences of the State 
which gained great praise. In May, 1861, as Inspector General 
he inspected the New York troops in the armies of General 



38 REPUBLICAN LEADER8. 

McDowell aud General McClellau iu Virginia, While with 
General McClellau' s army on the Chickahominy River, an ad- 
vance on Richmond being expected, he volunteered as an aid on 
the staff of Major-Geueral Hunt, who commanded the reserve 
artillery. It was frequently General Arthur's desire during the 
war to have active duties in the armies at the front. At Gover- 
nor Morgan's request, he declined the post of Colonel of the 
Ninth Regiment, New York Volunteers, to which he had been 
elected. Afterward he was offered the command of the Metro- 
politan Brigade, which had been raised greatly through his ex- 
ertions. He then formally applied to Governor Morgan for per- 
mission to take the command ; but the Governor replied that 
he could not be spared from the service of the State and that 
while he appreciated the strength of such desire it was his opin- 
ion General Arthur would do far more valuable service for the 
country by continuing at his post of duty in the State. In the 
fall of 1863 there w^as a call from the Government for 300,000 
more troops. In relation to his work under this call General 
Arthur said in his annual report : ' ' In summing up the opera- 
tions of the department during the last levy of troops, I need 
only state as the result the fact that through the single office of 
this department in the City of New^ York, from August 1st to 
December 1st, the space of four months, there were completely 
clothed, uniformed and equipped, supplied with camp and gar- 
rison equipage, and transported from the State to the seat of 
war, 68 regiments of infantry, 2 battalions of cavalry, and 4 
battalions and 10 batteries of artillery." 

GEN. AKTHTJR AS A LAWYER AND A REPUBLICAN POLITICIAN. 

As one of Governor Morgan's staff officers, he retired from 
office upon the inauguration of Governor Seymour in 1863. 
The new Quartermaster General, a Democrat, highly praised, in 
his first annual report, the condition of the Quartermaster's De- 
partment as he repeived \% from General Arthur, Returning to 



CHESTER A. ABTHUR. 29 

his law practice, he soon again obtained a large practice. He 
was appointed counsel of the Commissioners of Taxes and 
Assessment, at a salary of $10,000 yearly, but resigned the 
position upon an attempt of the Democratic Tammany Ring to 
coerce Republicans employed in the departments to aid them 
in concealing the robberies of the Ring. In 1863 his law part- 
ner, Mr. Gardiner, died. In 1873 he formed the firm of Arthur, 
Phelps, Knevals & Ransom. He continued his active interest 
in politics, and for several years was chairman of the Executive 
Committee of the Republican State Committee — the working 
committee during a political campaign. In the campaign 
which ended in the election of Ulysses S. Grant as President 
he took a leading part ; being President of the Central Grant 
Club of New York. Upon the resignation of Thomas Murphy 
as Collector of the Port of New York, on November 20, 1871, 
President Grant nominated General Arthur for the position. 

EFFICIENT ADMIN ISTBATION OF THE COLLECTOB'S OFFICE. 

The Collectorship came to General Arthur unsought and unex- 
pectedly, and was accejited with much hesitation. His adminis- 
tration of the Custom House was marked by great improve- 
ments in the methods of doing public business— all for the 
benefit of the mercantile community. The expense of collect- 
ing the revenue was also less than that incurred by any Collector 
since 18G1, with one exception. Under Mr. Barney, from 1861 
to 1864, it was about ,87^ per cent ; under Mr. Draper, in«iSG4 
and 1865, 1.30 percent ; xmder Mr. King, in 1865 about .G3f per 
cent ; under Mr. Smythe, from 1866 to 1869, about .74 ; under 
Mr. Grinnell, in 1869 and 1870, about .85 per cent ; under Mr. 
Murphy, in 1870 and 1871, about .60 per cent ; imder Mr. 
Arthur, from 1871 to 1877, about .03 per cent. At the close of 
his four years' term of office his services had been so satisfactory 
to the Government that President Grant renominated him ; and 
the appointment was at once, confirmed by the Senate without 
vfiferring it to a cfommittee — a coxnjjiifn.ec.t only paid Ijefore to 



:J0 BEl'UIiLIVAN LEADERS. 

ex-Senators. The wholesale removal of clerks and their replace- 
ment by especial friends of the Collector, usually the first token 
of a change of admiuistration in the Custom House, was not a 
blemish of liis rule. During his six years' administration, the 
percentage of removals was only 2| jjer cent, against an annual 
average of 28 per cent under his three immediate predecessors 
and an annual average of about 24 per cent since 1857. In the 
year 1879 he was elected chairman of the Republican State 
Committee, and as such conducted the campaign which resulted 
in tiie election of Governor Cornell and all the other candidates 
of the Republican Party for State positions except one. At the 
Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1880 he was 
\manimously nominated for Vice-President of the United States, 
General Stewart L. Woodford proposed General Arthur's name 
and the nomination was seconded by ex-Governor Dennison, of 
Ohio ; Senator McCarthy, of New York ; William W. Hicks, of 
Florida ; General Kilpatrick of New Jersey ; and many others. 
General Arthur was married in 1859 to Ellen Herndon ; 
daughter of Lieutenant Herndon, commander of the unfortU' 
nate steamer South America, who heroically went down with 
his vessel after providing for the safety of the women and 
children. Mrs. Arthur died in January, 1880, much mourned 
by a large circle of friends. She left two children ; Chester 
Allan Arthur, ago 15 ; and Ellen Herndon Arthur, age 8. 



GENERAL ARTHUR'S LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE. 

New York. July 15, 1880. 
Dear Sir : I accept tlie position assigned nie by tlie great party whose ac- 
tion you annonnce. This acceptance implies approval of the principles declarud 
by the Convention, l)nt recent nsage permits me to add some expression of my 
own views. The right and duty to secure honesty and order in popular elections 
is a matter so vital that it must stand in front. The authority of the National 
Government to preserve from fraud and force elections at which its own officers 
are chosen, is a chief point on w^hich the two parties are plainly and intensely 
opposed. Acts of Congress for ten years have. In New York and elsewhere, 
done much to curb the violence and wrong to which the ballot and the count have 
!)eeu again and again subjected— sometimes despoiling great cities, sometimes 
stilling the voice of a whole State, often seating, not only in Congress, but on 
Ihe Bench, and in Legislatures, nnrobcvs of men never chosen bytbe people, 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 31 

The Democratic party, since gaining possession of the two houses of Congress, 
has made these just laws tlie object of bitter, ceaseless assault, and, despite all 
resistance, has hedged them with restrictions cunningly contrived to bailie and 
paralyze them. This aggressive majority boldly attempted to extcrt from the 
Executive his approval of various enactments destructive of these election laws, 
by revolutionary threats that a constiCuti(mal exercise of the veto power would 
be punished by withholding the appropriations necessary to carry on the Gov- 
ernment. And these threats were actually carried out by refusing the needed 
appropriations, and by forcing an extra session of Congress, lasting for months, 
and resulting in concessions to this usurping demand which are likely, in many 
States, to subject the majority to tlie lawless will of a minority. Ominous signs 
of public disapproval alone subdued tliis arrogant power into a sullen surrender 
for the time being of a part of its demands. The Kcpublican Party has etrongly 
approved the stern refusal of its representatives to suffer the overthrow of stat- 
utes believed to be salutary and just. It has always insisted, and now insists, 
that the (government of the United States of America is empowered and in duty 
bound to effectually protect the elections denoted by the Constitution as 
national. 

More than this, the Republican Party holds, as a cardinal point in its creed, 
that the Government should, by every means known to the Constitution, protect 
all American citizens everywhere in the full enjoyment of Iheir civil and political 
rights. As a great part of its work of reconstruction, tlic Republican Party gave 
the ballot to the emancipated slave as his right and defence. A large increase in 
the number of members of Congress, and of the Electoral College, from the 
former slaveholding States, was the immediate result. The history of recent 
years abounds in evidence that in many ways and in many places— especially 
where their number has been great enough to endanger Democratic control -the 
very men by whose elevation to citizensliip this increase of representation was 
affected, have been debarred and robbed of their voice and their vote. It is true 
that no State statute or Constitution in so many words denies or abridges the 
exercise of their political riglits ; but the modes employed to bar their way are 
no less effectual. It is a suggestive aud startling thought that the increased 
power derived from the enfrancliiseraeut of a race now denied its share in gov- 
erning the country — wielded by tliose who lately sought the overthrow of the 
Goverunient— is now the sole reliance to defeat the party which represented the 
sovereignty and nationality of the American people in the greatest crisis of our 
history. Republicans cherish none of tlie resentments %vhich may have ani- 
mated them during the actual conflict of arms. They long for a full and real 
reconciliation between the sections which were needlessly and lamentably at 
Strife ; they sincerely offer the hand of gooil-will, but they ask in return a pledge 
\ good faith. They deeply feel that the party whose career is so illustrious in 
\at and patriotic achievement, will not fulfil its destiny until peace and pros- 
^'ty are established in all the land, nor until liberty of thought, conscience, and 
n, aud equality of oijportunity shall be not merely cold formalities of stat- 
ut living birthrights, which the humble may confidently claim and the 
u) dare not deny. 

esolution referring to the public service seems to me deserving of ap- 

Surely no man should be the incumbent of an office the duties of which 

•my cause, unfit to perform, who is lacking in the ability, fidelity, or 

bich a proper administration of such oflice demands. This sentiment 

itless meet with general acquiescence, but opinion has been widely 

'> the wisdom and practicability of the various reformatory schemes 

yen suggested, and of certain proposed regulations Governing ap- 

public office. The efficiency of such regulations nas been dis- 

■)ecause they have seemed to exalt mere erlucational and abstract 

•al business capacity, and even special fitness for the particular 

*: seems to me that the rules which should be applied to the 

■5 public service may properly conform, in the main, to such 

^iuct of successful private business. Oiiginal aijpointnienis 

\ ascertained fitness. The tenure of office should be stable. 

\ 



^ 



33 REPUDLIGAN LEADERS. 

Positions of responsibility should, so far as practicable, be filled by the promo- 
tion of worthy and efficient oflicers. The investigation of all coniplaints, and 
the punishment of all ofllcial misconduct, should be prompt and thorough. 
These views, which 1 have long held, repeatedly declared, and uniformly applied 
when called upon to act, I find embodied in the res'olution, which, of course, I 
approve. 1 will add that, by the acceptance of public oflice, whether high or 
low, one does not, in my judgment, escape any of his responsibilities as a citizen, 
or lose or impair any of his ric,'hts as a citizen, and that he should enjoy absolute 
liberty to think and speak and act in political matters according to his own will 
and conscience, provided only that he honorably, faithfully, and fully discharges 
all his official duties. 

The resumption of specie pajTnents— one of the frnits of Republican policy 
—has brought the return of abundant prosperity, and the settlement of many 
distracting questions. The restoration of sound money, the large reduction of 
our public debt and of the burden of interest, the high advancement of the pab- 
I'C credit, all attest the ability and courage of the Eepublican Party to deal with 
such financial problems as may hereafter demand solution. Our paper currency 
is now as good as gold, and silver is performing its legitimate function for the 
purpose of change. The principles which should govern the relations of these 
elements of the currency are simple and clear There must be no deteriorated 
com. no depreciated paper. And every dollar, whether of metal or paper, should 
stand the test of the world's fixed standard. 

The value of popular education can hardly be overstated. Although its in- 
terests must of necessity be chiefly confided to voluntary efibrt and the individual 
action of the several States, they should be encouraged, so far as the Constitu- 
tion permits, by the generous cooperation of the National Government. The 
interests of the whole country demand that the advantages of our common 
school system should be brought within the reach of every ciiizen. and that no 
revenues of the Nation or of the States should be devoted to the support of sec- 
lariau scliools. 

Such changes should be made in the present tariff and eystem of taxation 
as will relieve any overburdened industry or cliiss. and enable our manufac- 
turers and artisans to compete successfully with those of other lands. 

The Government should aid works of internal improvement national in their 
character, and should promote the development of our water-courses and 
harbors wherever the general interests of commerce require. 

Four years ago, as now, the nation stood at the threshold of a Presidential 
election, and the Republican Party, in soliciting a continuance of it!< ascendency, 
founded its hope of euccess, not upon its promises, but upon its history. It 
subsequent course has been such as to strengthen the claims which it th^ 
made to the confidence and support of the country. On the other hand, 
siderations more urgent than have ever before existed forbid the accessiov 
its opponents to power. Their success, if success attends them, must c/ 
come from the united support of that section which Bought the forcible 
tion of the Union, and which, according to all the teachings of our past I 
will demand ascendency in the councils of the party to whose triumpj/' 
have made by far the largest contribution. 

There is the gravest r(?ason for apprehension that exorbitant els 
the Public Treasury, by no means limited to the hundreds of milli/ 
covered by bills introduced in Congress within the past four year/ 
successfully urged if the Democratic Party i*honld succeed in pupp/ 
present controlof the National Legislature by electino- the Execuif 

There is danger in trusting the control of the whole lawm' 
the Guvernment to a party which has in almost every Southern/ 
obligations quite as sacred as those to which the faith of the N 
pledged. / 

J do not doubt that success awaits the Republican x/ 
triumph will assure a just, economical, and patriotic admii/ 
1 am, respectfully, your obedient ser 

To the lion Gko. P. Hoah, rro'irJent of thf JlfipvbUcan / 




tf' 



The Eepublican lanuaL 

iLSl,?.^. CONGRESS 

Campai 




HiKtory. riiiifij)li'S. Kni-^y I.^'odors, aiul ''"'Wll(l(l||((j|||||l/||||ir ^'illi bio- 

piuphic-al sketches of James A. Gai-I f% /»#» J "'''''"Hill riH llllll ill III III 'v. 

001 128 437"™ 

This VtT>rk ofnitairis, in attracrrvir ^.^. — , *" ^^ rmaH' -i 

which every intelligeni voter desires lo possess. IX is iuctt^^^ nsi'n.iU 

froTHwhichtictive woj'kers can draw ammuniliou for campaign use. It 
comprise:— 

First.— A brief history of iiie Repuldican Party, with jireliminary chapters 
tracing the career of earlier parties in tliis country since the Revolution. The 
roots of the Kepubliean organization are followed back into the past, its forma- 
tion and growth are described, its great measures cited, and its contests an-' 
victories accurately pictured. It is believed that this is the only work in exist- 
ence which relates the story of the career of this great historic "party in a con- 
nected and compact form. 

Second.— An article on early Republican leaders, by that veteran Republican 
journalist Charles T. Congdon, describes the men who formed the party and the 
work they did for freedom and nationality. 

Third.— The national plarforms of the party are given, beginning with \\'i\ 
and ending with IS'-H), that the reader may study its principles and trace t'l-- 
progress of its ideas. 

Fourtli.— The Electoral and Popular Vote at every Presiilential Election 
since the i>arty was formed is given by States, furnishmg a comiilete recoi-d !• ' 
Republican victories. 

Fifth. — A valuable table is given showing the reductiohs in the Public I;^ 
and Interest, effected by Republican legislation and administration since y. 

Sixth. — The next department of the book comprises biographical ske' 
of the Republican candidates for President and Vice-President and their '• 
of acceptani'e. The life of Garfield, written by E. V. Smalley, forman;t 
the General's personal friend, and familiar with all the circumstancfi' 
career, is verj- full and satisfactorj' in narrating the romantic events <<: 
life, the courageous struggles and achievements of his early ma'.>' 
noble services diu-ing the AVar for the Union, and his not less patriot^' 
able services in Congress since the Rebellion. Numerous extrar<^ 
General's speeclies illustrate his remarkable power as an orator 1 
and profimdity of his scholarship, and his wise statesmanship. A.J' 
of General Arthur, by Edgar A. Murlin, narrates the interest' 
most eventful life, which shows that the candidate for Vice-Prf i' 
of the confidence and the cordial support of the voters of the-T'i 

The volume i.s elegantly l>mnwl in elntli, and is sold for but ^ 
commonly charged for siieli books. Friw .iO Onls ; if hy mail, p<js!, 
tale by the leading bookseller (only one in a place) iu every town, sur' 

American Book Exp 

.r 
JOHN B. ALDEN. Manatrer. Tribur ' 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 






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