Columbiana County, Ohio - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 9 of those read), 1879

Political History

For a period of twenty-three years after the erection of Columbiana County there were, strictly speaking, no political parties, no caucuses to lead, no " platforms" to mislead the possessors of the franchise.

ij> Tlioso wishing to know who wero candidates for the several offices, and to whom these lines were meant to apply, are referred to the columns of the Ohio Patriot for Sept. 6, 1877.

The first regular organization of parties in Columbiana County was in 1827. A call was issued Nov. 10th, of that year, requesting the township sub-committees " to meet at John Morrison's hotel, in New Lisbon, on Saturday the 24th inst., for the purpose of appointing delegates to the Jackson convention to be held at Columbus, on the 8th of January, 1828." Col. Jacob Roller, Dr. Samuel Quigley, William Moody, and John Morrison were chosen ;is delegates to the convention.

The Adams - administration - party organized about the same time, and by preamble and resolutions passed at a meeting at New Lisbon, Dec. 3, 1827, favored the re-election of John Quincy Adams to the presidency, and Gov. John Andrew Shultze, of Pennsylvania, to the vice-presidency. George Endly, De Lorrna Brooks, Andrew W. Loomis, Albert G. Richardson, and Isaac Early were chosen as delegates to the Columbus convention of December 28tb.

In 1832 the Anti-Masonic party was formed, and united with the Whig party in the gubernatorial election of that year, but were unsuccessful. The Aurora, edited by John Frost, was the Anti-Masonic organ. The Jackson, or Democratic, party were victorious, electing for the first time their entire county ticket, as follows: Auditor, William D. Lepper; Commissioner, John Smith; Representatives, Fisher A. Blocksom, Robert Forbes, and John Quin ; Congressman, Dr. John Thompson.

The vote of the county, which in 1824 had been divided between Jackson, Adams, and Clay, - whoi'eceived respectively 538, 190, and 173 votes, - gave Jackson, in 1832, a majority of 781 over Clay; and in 183G, with a Whig majority of 8720 in the State, gave Van Buren, Democrat, a majority of 334 over Harrison,* Whig.

Both parties in the county kept abreast of the excitements of the Clay and Harrison times, whose symbols, flaunted in wood-cuts in the papers of the day, and produced in "real life," were tall poles and crowing cocks, coons, cabins, and hard cider. A log cabin was built in 1840, at New Lisbon, and for a considerable time was a rallyingpoint for the Whigs.

* "On the 12th of July, 183S, Gen. Win. II. Har rison arrived in New Lisbon, and was escorted into town by the New Lisbon Guards, commanded by Capt. John McCook, and on the next day partook of a public dinner, tendered him by his political friends, in the warehouse which then stood at the lower end of Market Street, and since burned. The general made a speech, and toasts were drank, etc. I cannot now recollect the president of the meeting, but I know there were several old soldiers present who were under Gen. Harrison in the War of 1812." - Hon. II. II. Gregg, in Ohio Putriot, Sept. 6, 1877..

Anti-Slavery Movement

The agitation which led to the anti-slavery movement in the county of Columbiana, and which in time made the towns of New Lisbon and Salem prominent points connected with that movement in the State, commenced more than fifty years ago.

The active opposers of slavery, for four or five years succeeding their first meeting, Dec. 12, 1826, made the subject of colonization a prominent or principal feature of their organized action, and embraced among their numbers many who, in after-years, did not sustain the doctrine of unqualified abolition ; some, indeed, became bitter opponents of that doctrine.

Colonization. - The first step taken in support of the colonization movement was at New Lisbon, at the date above given, when, at a meeting of citizens, five of their number were chosen, who prepared an address to the people of the county setting forth the moral and political evils of slavery. This appeal was published in the columns of the Ohio Patriot, a Democratic paper, and made the startling announcement that the two millions then held as slaves would become ten millions in the succeeding half-century.

At the next meeting - held at the court-house in New Lisbon, Jan. 6, 1827 - a society was organized and a constitution adopted. In this quarterly meetings were contemplated, but none other was held until the 30th of August ensuing. A later meeting was addressed by a member of the bar of New Lisbon. Enthusiasm waxed earnest, and auxiliary societies were formed in several townships, one of which was at Salem. Throughout this movement was felt the salutary influence of the Society of Friends, early settlers in different parts of the county.

In a speech delivered at the court-house at New Lisbon, in 1828, by Benjamin Lundy, then editor of the Genius of Universal Emancipation, - a paper published at Baltimore, - the project was favored of freeing the slaves and colonizing them in Mexico.

Colonization schemes of whatever kind, whether holding in view the settlement of slaves in Liberia, Hayti, or Mexico, though earnestly presented, made little headway, and the movement in that direction was swallowed up in the succeeding wave of

Unqualified Emancipation. - The thundering denunciations hurled against the institution of slavery by William Lloyd Garrison in time bore fruit in further organized efforts towards its universal, unqualified abolition. The publication of the Liberator was commenced by Mr. Garrison in 1831, and the movement took shape in Columbiana County about three years afterwards. An anti-slavery society was formed at a meeting of citizens held at the school-house in Fairfield township, April 5, 1834, designed to co-operate with similar societies formed elsewhere, and the same year, or a little later, an organization was effected at the town of Salem. The latter was brought about chiefly by the efforts of Abraham Bair, whose previous influence had fully prepared the way.

The subject of emancipation was warmly advocated in the local papers, prominent among which was the Aurora, published at New Lisbon, distinguished citizens of the county - physicians, teachers, and others - contributing ably

It was in these troublous days that the discussion of the slavery question among the students was interdicted by the Faculty of Lane Seminary, Cincinnati, of which Lyman Beecher then was president. Many left its halls and became powerful instruments in aid of the anti-slavery cause. Augustus Wattles and James A. Thorne, two of the students, appeared in support of the cause before audiences at New Lisbon, in March, 1836. After their second meeting they were bidden not to use the court-house for such discussions, and resorted to the Friends' meeting-house, which was freely placed at their disposal. Their efforts extended through the week, and resulted in the formation of a local anti-slavery society for New Lisbon.

Other auxiliary societies soon sprang into life in the county, and their meetings elicited the extremes of opinion, not only, but all the delicate shades between. There were virulent opponents of the movement, which was characterized from the high places of authority, whether ecclesiastical or political, as " anti-Christian and treasonable."

The year 1840, when it was proposed to make the antislavery movement a power at the ballot-box, the Liberty party was formed for that purpose. From that time there existed two distinct organizations, - the Liberty party and the Disunion Abolitionists, tbe latter under the lead of Mr. Garrison, - but they worked in unison until 1845. The breach was made broad and deep in Columbiana County when, at an .anniversary meeting of the Western Anti- Slavery Society, held in the Disciples' Church, New Lisbon, June 5, in that year, Miss Abby Kelly appeared upon the scene, in her most aggressive attitude. There was a large attendance, and at the meetings, which continued through three days, " radical resolutions were proposed, discussed, and adopted, notwithstanding strenuous opposition on the part of some present." These resolutions embodied the phrase " no union with slaveholders," and denounced the constitution of the United States as "a covenant with death and an agreement with hell." Miss Kelly afterwards addressed meetings at Salem, Unionville, New Garden, Salineville, and other places in the county.

Until 1840, little other force than moral suasion had been applied by the friends of emancipation to accomplish their object. In that year, the Liberty candidates for President and Vice-President, Birney and Earle, received a few votes in the county.

The Liberty party, in 1848, experienced a change of name, and became the Free-Soil party by action of the Buffalo Convention, which nominated Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams, and was finally merged into the Republican party in 1854, a few for a time dissenting. The history of the latter party is familiar to all readers of the present day.

While the political horizon was all aflame with the red and white heat of forensic pyrotechnics, many a fugitive turned his face northward, screened by the accompanying clouds of smoke.

" Columbiana County bad, in the days of slave-holding ascendency, not a few stations on what was called the underground railroad, - that is, places of safety where fugitives fleeing from oppression were concealed and protected from their pursuers, and who were aided on their journey toward the north star and freedom, in the British dominions of Canada. Many an escaped slave realized the beneficence of those good Samaritans at private houses, some of which were known by a sort of spiritual telegraph to the slaves within the borders of oppression, and especially to those who had reached the Canaan of Liberty. The records of these friends of liberty, if gathered and put in a volume, would tell many a thrilling tale, and thus form a most interesting link in the chain of anti-slavery history. The complete list would be a long one, of those who risked their liberty and their all in befriending the fugitive."

To mention all the citizens of Columbiana who were diligent or even prominent in promoting the cause of abolition, is not the aim of this article ; to name the few more brilliant of the galaxy would seem invidious. The ardor of many is perhaps best described in the words of Mr. Frost: " In the early days of the anti-slavery cause it was regarded no hardship for some of the veterans to walk ten, fifteen, and twenty miles to be present at even small meetings ; and as far back as 1840 and 1844, when State conventions were held at Massillon, quite a number of persons in our county traveled on Shanks' mare more than forty miles to that place. Such facts indicate the self-sacrificing spirit of those who early enlisted in this then unpopular cause."

Not alone did the white brethren give voice to the demands for universal freedom. The escaped slave himself joined in the mighty anthem whose quickening burden, swelling to amplest volume, rolled from sea to sea. Amongtbe fugitives were William W. Brown - called William Box Brown, from having once escaped from slavery concealed in a box - and Jo Mason, who cheered on the cause with vigorous songs, adapted from plantation melodies, but not weighted with plantation sentiments. The following, with additional verses, as sung by Brown, was a favorite:

The newspapers of the county which, to a greater or less extent, were identified with the cause, were the Aurora, of New Lisbon, from about 1834 ; the Village Register, by B. B. Davis, established in 1838 or '39 ; the Homestead Journal, by Aaron Hinchman, of later date; and the Anti-Slavery Bugle, founded in 1845. The last-named paper was first edited and conducted by a committee, - of which James Burnaby was chief, - appointed by the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society .f

An Exciting Incident

At the New Lisbon meeting - Cyrus McNeeley presiding - were five or six able speakers from the East, Miss Kelly occupying the long box pulpit. The attendance was large, and the interest through the three days unabated. Miss Kelly charged that " Washington and Jefferson were slave-holding thieves, living by the unpaid labor of robbed stand, said, " This is a slander upon Jefferson. I tremble for my country when I remember that God is just, and His justice cannot sleep forever !" At once, almost crowding off the speaker, she replied, " Ah ! devils fear and tremble when the Almighty is thundering out his wrath upon them, - but are they any the less devils?"

At this point, a prominent Democrat excitedly exclaimed, " She is proving it all ; but it will lead to war and bloodshed !" Just at this period of wild excitement burst forth the song, -

The following gives the votes in Columbiana County cast for the principal candidates for the office of governor of Ohio, from 1805 to 1859. The names of the successful candidates are in italics :