Madison County, Illinois - Chapter 7: The Anti-Slavery Contest, 1912

Coles, a Knightly Figure - Early Opposed to Slavery - Madison's Private Secretary - Jefferson Also an Abolitionist - Coles Frees His Slaves - "Irrepressible Conflict" in Illinois - Coles "Campaign of Education" - Sued for Freeing Slaves - Leaves Illi¬ nois Forever - Anti-Slavery Work Reviewed - Madison County's Special Part - De¬ cided by Central and Southern Illinois.

What Rev. Thomas Lippincott calls, in his reminiscences, "The Conflict of the Century" was fought to a finish in Illinois in the notable campaign of 1823-4, and Madison county was the storm-center, with Gov. Edward Coles, of Edwardsville. as leader and director of the anti-slavery forces. The election in 1824, the main issue of which was to obtain a public ex¬ pression for or against the calling of a con¬ vention, the object of which was to adopt a new constitution admitting slavery to the state, witnessed the first contest at the polls in the west to resist the aggressions of the slave power and the extension of its dominion. It was the forerunner of the great Kansas- Nebraska contest of 1854-8 to resist the ex¬ tension of slavery into the territories, but, unfortunately, the actors in the earlier contest do not stand out on the hilltops of history as prominently as they deserve ; yet their suc¬ cess made possible the triumph of freedom in the later contest. The story of this great cam¬ paign, one of the most momentous the country has ever known, involves the career of Ed¬ ward Coles as the chief actor therein to such an extent that the story is most understand¬ ing^ told in a sketch of his career. The sketch is an extended one but, as the campaign in which he was the leading actor, was the most important in the history of the State, and involved its destiny for all time, it is worthy the prominence we give it below, especially as the whole contest centered about Madison county.

The long line of Illinois governors, from the admission of the state into the Union in 1818 to the present time, is a galaxy of splen¬ did names. Nearly all of the state's execu¬ tives have been men of exceptional talent, de¬ voted to the service of the people ; but there are two of the early governors whose names shine with special lustre in the retrospect of history and whose works do follow them. They are Edward Coles, of Edwardsville, the second governor, who saved the state from the blight of slavery, and Thomas Ford, the sev¬ enth governor, who rescued it from the almost equally blighting curse of repudiation and dis¬ honor. To both of them, men of opposing policies but both Democrats, the, state of Illi¬ nois owes a debt of perennial gratitude. Other men were linked with Coles and Ford in their great accomplishments, but they were the leaders, the self sacrificing representatives of those issues whose triumph became the vindi¬ cation and the glory of those who championed them in days of stress and turbulence.

made famous by the fruition of his labors, and removed to Philadelphia, where he lies buried, far away from the sunlit prairies he had res¬ cued from the covetous clutches of the slave driver. But before his eyelids closed in death another generation had come upon the stage and he beheld the whole nation delivered from the dominion of slavery by another Illinoisan just as he had saved the Prairie State from the same impending calamity.

The second of these early benefactors, Thomas Ford, after a turbulent career as gov¬ ernor, succumbed to disease and misfortune and died in want and obscurity. He who saved the state from financial disgrace and destruc¬ tion and placed it on the high plane of pros¬ perity and good repute, whose acts as governor were worth untold millions to the state, came to this untoward end. Of late years Illinois, with a faint glimmering of its obligation, has erected a monument over his lowly grave at Peoria, upon which it has squandered the princely sum of twelve hundred dollars. Ford was a resident of Edwardsville for several years, and was married there.

But it is of Governor Coles that I wish to write, and a character more inspiring cannot be found in our western annals. Easily the most knightly and notable figure in the early rec¬ ords of this great commonwealth is that of its second governor. The records of chivalry and philanthropy display nothing more daring or self-sacrificing than his career from early manhood to the culmination of his labors. Like Governor Edwards, but unlike most of the pioneer governors of the state, who had strug¬ gled up from the obscurity and privations of life on the border to honor and distinction - Edward Coles was born to the purple, reared in luxury and refinement in the most exclusive and aristocratic circles of the old Dominion. His father was Col. John Coles, a soldier of the Revolution and a Virginia slave owner, whose wealth for those days was so great that when his estate was divided among several heirs, the portion falling to his son, Edward, was twenty-five slaves and one thousand acres of land.

Edward Coles was born December 15, 1786, on the family estate, called ''Enniscorthy," in Albemarle county, Virginia, which was also the native county of Thomas Jefferson. Young Coles received his boyhood education from private tutors, and later pursued his studies at William and Mary College. But more advantageous and inspiring perhaps than his college course was the intimacy he en¬ joyed with the great Virginia statesmen of that era. Such patriots as Patrick Henry, Jef¬ ferson, Madison, Monroe and other great men of the epoch succeeding the Revolution, were frequent visitors at the family mansion, and intercourse with such notables, at an impress¬ ionable age, doubtless had much to do with forming his character.

A year after young Coles had completed his college course his father died, leaving him owner of a large plantation and a retinue of slaves. Nature had been kind in bestowing on him a handsome personality. To this were added the attractions of liberal culture, courtly address and kindly characteristics. During his college days he had become imbued with the conception or belief, that no man had a legal right to property in his fellow men, and that no such right existed morally. Such opinions, in the atmosphere in which he was brought up, were not only radical but revolu¬ tionary. He studied the question from an in¬ dependent standpoint, and finally came to the decision that he would neither hold slaves nor live in a state which tolerated and protected involuntary servitude. To this conviction he remained steadfast through a storm of oppo¬ sition from those of his own household, and never knew shadow of turning. But to carry his views into practice, in a state where he could not legally free them (and he refused to sell them), was a problem impossible of elucidation in Virginia, but which he solved later in a dramatic manner.

In 1809, when young Coles was a man of twenty-three, President Madison appointed him his private secretary, which position he accepted and filled with great credit for six years, during which period occurred the war of 1812. It is interesting to note in this con¬ nection that his elder brother, Col. Isaac Coles, filled the same office a few years pre¬ viously, as private secretary to President Jef¬ ferson, and was known as "the most perfect gentleman in America." His position at Wash¬ ington brought young Coles in contact with the great men of the nation. He acquired there the knowledge of public affairs, the tact and diplomacy which so greatly distinguished his later career. But the subject of slavery was ever uppermost in his thoughts and in 1814 he opened the correspondence with Ex- President Jefferson, on that topic, which be¬ came famous in history, Jefferson, though a slave owner himself by force of circumstances, being a bitter enemy of the institution. In his first letter Mr. Coles urged the "Sage of Monticello" to' take the lead in the cause of eman¬ cipation, but Jefferson, in his reply, which ex¬ pressed the fullest sympathy with his corre¬ spondent's views and recounted his own early efforts in behalf of the abolition of slavery, argued that in his advanced years (he was then seventy-one) prevented his undertaking the task, but urged his young friend to assume the leadership as one fitted therefor by his tal¬ ents, his position and his enthusiasm.

This put Jefferson on record as a conscien¬ tious abolitionist - not of the anarchistic, revo¬ lutionary brand, but an advocate of abolition by peaceful and educational means, just such an Abolitionist as Lincoln was at the date of delivering his second inaugural mes¬ sage in which he advocated compensated emancipation. After the cession of the socalled Northwest territory by Virginia to the national government in 1784, Jefferson then a delegate in congress, introduced a bill provid¬ ing for the organization and government of the new territory. One of its provisions was that neither slaves, nor involuntary servitude should exist in the territory after 1800, except in punishment for crime. This bill did not be¬ come a law until 1787 and then in a modified form. The anti-slavery provision, however, was not only retained, but made effective on the passage of the bill, instead of in 1800, in exchange for which concession it was provided that fugitive slaves, escaping into the new territory should be returned to their mas¬ ters.

No more notable letters than those passed between Jefferson and Coles exist in the ar¬ chives of anti-slavery literature. They re¬ vealed the mutual adherence of the writers to principles which, even at that time, had forced Coles to exile himself, for conscience's sake, from his native state, and sever the ties of home and kindred.

After the conclusion of the war of 1812 Mr. Coles thought he saw his way clear to liberate his slaves by removing them from the state. Accordingly he determined to make a tour of the new Northwest territory, which, under the "Ordinance of 1787," had been dedicated to freedom, for the purpose of finding a suitable location. He resigned his position in Wash¬ ington and traveled through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, reaching St. Louis by way of Kaskaskia and Shawneetown ; thence by river to New Orleans; by sea to Savannah and back to Virginia.

sia which made it necessary to send a special envoy, with dispatches to St. Petersburg, and President Madison induced his young secre¬ tary to undertake the delicate mission. To give emphasis to the mission and dignity to the official envoy Coles was dispatched on a manof-war, the "Prometheus." After various de¬ lays Mr. Coles concluded his negotiations with the czar in a manner which proved highly sat¬ isfactory to President Madison and the state department. Leaving St. Petersburg he made the tour of Europe, visiting all the leading capitals, his credentials as the special envoy of the United States being the "open sesame" to the chancelries of the old world. In Paris he was received with special distinction, and was the guest at times of the Marquis La Fayette, little dreaming that a few years later, as gov¬ ernor of a sovereign state, he would have the honor of welcoming the renowned soldier to the soil of Illinois. After a stay of three months in Paris he visited Great Britain and Ireland, thus returning home.

But his prolonged absence in foreign lands had not shaken the young diplomat's purpose to liberate his slaves. In furtherance of this object, he made the exploration trip to the western country, spoken of heretofore, and de¬ cided upon Illinois as his future home and Edwardsville as the place where he would locate with his slaves. Returning to Virginia, he made the necessary preparations for removal, and in the spring of 1819, gathering all his slaves together, he started on the long jour¬ ney. The trip was made from Albemarle county in emigrant wagons to the Ohio river. There he purchased two flat boats and loaded the whole party thereon. The slaves knew nothing of their master's intentions - only that they were removing to a new country - but when the boats were below Pittsburg Mr. Coles called the company together and made them a short address, in which he announced his sentiments in regard to slavery, and then declared them all unconditionally free - at lib¬ erty to proceed with him or go ashore as they pleased.

The scene which followed was indescribable. The slaves from whom the shackles had thus suddenly fallen were hysterical in their happi¬ ness and their expressions of gratitude were so heartfelt and profuse that no portrayal thereof would be adequate. With tearful eyes and tremulous voices they implored Heaven's blessings on their benefactor. All elected to stay with their old master until he was "fixed" in his new abode. But this Mr. Coles would not agree to; they were free to work for themselves and make the most out of their lives. Still, he assured them, they would always remain under his friendly care and protection. This scene of emancipation is fittingly portrayed in a magnificent historical painting at the head of the main stairway in the state capitol at Springfield. Arrived be¬ low Louisville the emigrants disembarked and proceeded overland in wagons to Edwardsville.

Arrived at their destination Mr. Coles pur¬ chased a large tract of land and deeded to each head of a family, or adult of twenty-four years, one hundred and sixty acres of land, and saw that others obtained employment suited to their capacities. It should be pre¬ mised here that this seemingly Utopian ex¬ periment succeeded, the negroes developing into industrious citizens. In addition to the general certificate of freedom given them, be¬ fore reaching Illinois, Mr. Coles, on arriving at Edwardsville, found that, in order to make them secure in their freedom, it would be nec¬ essary to comply with certain provisions of the barbarous black laws of the state. This he did, and issued a certificate of emancipa¬ tion to each individual and had it recorded at Edwardsville. These freedom papers were issued July 4th, 1819. The instrument recited, in preamble, that his father had bequeathed to him certain negro slaves, and added that "not believing that man can have of right property in his fellow man, but that, on the contrary, all mankind are endowed by nature with equal rights, I do, therefore, by these presents, re¬ store to (naming the party) that inalienable liberty of which he (or she) has been de¬ prived."

The greatness of this chivalric act on the part of Mr. Coles, in that age, can hardly be fittingly appreciated. For the sake of the principle above enunciated he deliberately stripped himself of wealth, and violated all the traditions of his family and the society in which he had been brought up. He gave up his ancestral home ; severed the ties of kin¬ ship ; gave up a life of luxury and the assur¬ ance of a brilliant career in his native state, and, in brief, sacrificed to his conscience all that a young man looks forward to as repre¬ sented by ambition, wealth or fame. How different the record of this practical anti-slav¬ ery man to that of many ranting abolitionists of a later age who were anxious to abolish slavery at some one else's expense. Mr. Coles abolished slavery, as far as he was concerned, at his own material cost and at the sacrifice of all that he held dear.

Mr. Coles had been appointed by his friend, President Monroe, register of the Govern¬ ment Land Office at Edwardsville, a position at that time of importance, which, in connec¬ tion with his previous public career, brought him at once into prominence in his adopted state. He had, also, on his previous visit in 1818, borne letters of introduction from the president to Gov. Ninian Edwards, then United States senator, which opened to him the doors of private and official hospitality. All these influences combined to give him, al¬ most at once, a wide acquaintance, not only with the prominent people of the state, but with the humblest settlers in search of a new home by the entry of government lands. All who met the new register felt the charm of his rare personality. So rapid was the popu¬ larity he acquired that three years after his arrival in the state (1822) he was brought forward by those sympathizing with his views as a candidate for governor. The opposing candidates were Chief Justice Joseph Phillips, Judge Thomas C. Browne and Gen. James B. Moore. While the slavery question did not figure as a direct issue in the campaign the sentiments of the candidates were well known. Phillips and Browne were strongly pro¬ slavery, while Coles' record was as strongly anti-slavery. Moore was also classed as mildly opposed to slavery.

At the election Coles received 2,854 votes ; Phillips, 2,687; Browne 2,443, and Moore 662 - Coles thus receiving a bare plurality of 167, a close margin ; but upon which hung events of transcendent moment. The result was a surprise, it being supposed that the election lay between Phillips and Browne. But while Coles was elected by a small plurality the pro¬ slavery vote, as represented by Phillips and Browne, cast 5,130 votes, while the opposition, as represented by Coles and Moore, cast only 3,476 votes, a pro-slavery majority of 1,654. The legislature elected at the same time re¬ turned a pro-slavery majority, a premonition, at once, of trouble for the new governor.

As regards the right to hold slaves in Illi¬ nois there was room for difference of opinion. Slavery already existed to a limited extent among the old French residents. In 1720 Philip Renault, manager of "the company of St. Phillips" holding a grant from the king of France to- the mines of gold and silver in the Illinois country, brought to Illinois five hun¬ dred African slaves bought in St. Domingo, with whom to work the mines supposed to ex¬ ist in Illinois. He founded the village of St. Phillips, in what is now Monroe county, and proceeded to develop the country. After a long and desperate struggle his schemes of ex- ploitation collapsed, and he returned to France, in 1744, after selling his slaves to the French residents. When the Illinois country was ceded by France to England, in 1763, the French inhabitants were confirmed in their property rights by treaty. In 1784 the North¬ west territory (which had been a county of Virginia since its conquest by Gen. George Rogers Clark in 1778) was ceded by Virginia to the national government, under a similar guarantee of the rights of property. In 1787, when congress adopted the ordinance for the government of the territory, the sixth article, heretofore referred to, read : "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in said territory otherwise than in punishment for crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."

Illinois was admitted to the Union in 1818 as a free state, under the provisions of the or¬ dinance of 1787, but there was a strong ele¬ ment in the state which contended that said ordinance could not abrogate the rights of property guaranteed by the treaty in 1763, and by the Virginia cession of 1784, and that "property" included the slaves. Of course this contention put the power of the state above that of the national government and the claim was ignored by congress when the state was admitted. The pro-slavery adherents being thus balked now changed their tactics and con¬ tended that while the constitution of 1818 might not permit slavery still it was within the province of the people to adopt a new consti¬ tution and admit slavery. Their scheme, therefore, was to have the legislature provide for submitting to the electors at the next elec¬ tion a proposition for or against a convention to revise the constitution.

This was the situation which confronted Governor Coles on his inauguration December 5, 1822. He found himself opposed by a strong and bitter majority of the legislature, which took emphatic exception to his appeal, in his inaugural address, for the abolition of the "black laws" passed by the first legislature and for wiping out the remnants of slavery which still existed in the state in defiance of the "ordinance of 1787." This address marked the line of demarcation between the execu¬ tive and the pro-slavery element and there¬ after to the end of his term the war waged against him was fierce and unrelenting. But the man who had sacrificed all he held dear for the sake of principle was not to be intimi¬ dated by threats. And "the irrepressible con¬ flict" was on in Illinois.

The resolution introduced in the legislature providing for submitting the question of call¬ ing a constitutional convention to a vote of the people, required a two-thirds vote of the as¬ sembly, and upon lining up their forces the pro-slavery men found that while they had the requisite two-thirds vote in the senate they lacked one vote of two-thirds in the house. How to obtain the additional vote was the question. The anti-slavery minority was firm and determined, there was not a break in the ranks - but it happened that there was a contested election case at the opening of the session, and it was discovered that the con¬ testant, who had been seated, Gen. N. Hansen, of Pike county, was opposed to the conven¬ tion. The pro-slavery majority thereupon conceived a scheme to obtain an additional member by reconsidering their previous action in seating Hansen, and passed a resolution de¬ claring the other contestant, John Shaw, who was known to favor the convention, to be en¬ titled to the seat. By thus unseating Hansen and admitting Shaw, in violation of their own record, they obtained the necessary two-thirds majority and the resolution submitting the question of a convention to a popular vote was passed.

The contest in the legislature was pro¬ longed ; excitement rose to fever heat through¬ out the state. After the agreement for the ex¬ pulsion of Hansen had been made, but the night before the final passage of the resolu- tion, the wildest demonstrations of delight were indulged in by the pro-slavery element. A riotous procession paraded the streets of Vandalia, then the capital, and halted before the residence of Governor Coles and other anti-slavery leaders, and heaped upon them vituperation and insults. Governor Reynolds, a pro-slavery man, in his history, "My Own Times," holds that the illegal unseating of Hansen was an outrage and that "the saturn¬ alia of indecent rejoicing which followed gave the death blow to the convention." No doubt they weakened the pro-slavery cause in the minds of conscientious men.

The heavy combined majority cast for the two pro-slavery candidates for governor, at the state election, and the subsequent action of the legislature cast a gloom over the anti¬ slavery element in the state. Their cause seemed hopeless and the adoption of a pro¬ slavery constitution a foregone conclusion, but Governor Coles neither quailed nor faltered, but faced the issue with wisdom and courage. - determined, although he represented a min¬ ority of the voters, to convert that minority into a majority and defeat the proposed con¬ vention. It will naturally be asked why the governor did not interpose his veto to the ac¬ tion of the legislature, and the answer is that he had no such power, the existing constitution providing that a new convention, to revise the constitution, could be called at any time that two-thirds of the legislature decided to submit the question to a vote of the people. In this matter then the governor had no veto power.

The campaign that followed was the most bitter and vituperative in the history of the state. Families were separated, brothers op¬ posed brothers, churches were divided - the opposing leaders went armed on the hustings. Personal encounters were frequent. The in¬ tensity of feeling developed came perilously near to civil war. Three-fourths of the inhab¬ itants of Illinois at that time were from slave states, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and the Carolinas. Some had moved to Illinois be¬ cause opposed to slavery on moral grounds ; some because not being able to own slaves they could not compete with slave labor, on its own ground, in the struggle for a livelihood ; but the majority were pro-slavery by heredity and choice, and dreamed of ease and luxury for themselves while negroes tilled the fertile soil of Illinois and enriched their masters with the fruits of unrequited toil.

Although the convention men were arrogant and confident of victory and included nearly all the leading statesmen, they were opposed by a band of heroic men headed by Governor Coles, who conducted a campaign of education.

Hon. E. B.Washburne, in his life of Gov¬ ernor Coles, says : "As soon as the legislature adjourned Governor Coles invited all the prin¬ cipal anti-convention men of the state to meet with him in Vandalia, to consult upon the course to be adopted in view of the action of the legislature. Fully appreciating the su¬ preme importance of the question thrust upon them, they determined upon an immediate or¬ ganization and to resist at the very threshold the conspiracy to make Illinois a slave state. The first thing was to have the members of the legislature, who voted against the convention, issue an address to the people. This appeal, undoubtedly drawn by Governor Coles, un¬ masked the purpose of the conspirators to make a slave constitution, and exposed all the nefarious means employed to accomplish the purpose."

After dwelling on the moral aspects of slavery, the address argued against its intro¬ duction on the grounds of economic expe¬ diency, and closed with this eloquent appeal : "In the name of unborn millions who will rise up after us, and call us blessed or accursed ac¬ cording to our deeds - in the name of the in- jured sons of Africa, whose claims to equal rights with their fellow men will place their own cause against these usurpers before the tribunal of eternal justice, we conjure you, fellow citizens, to ponder upon these things."

There were fifteen members of the legis¬ lature, brave and noble men who signed this eloquent appeal to the people. They were: Risdon Moore, William Lowery, William Kinkade, James Sims, George Cadwell, Daniel -Parker, Andrew Bankson, George Churchill, Jacob Ogle, Gilbert T. Pell, Curtis Blakeman, David McGahey, Abraham Cairnes, Stephen Stilman and Thos. Mather. Three other mem¬ bers voted against the convention - Robert Frazier, Raphael Weden and J. H. Pugh - but for some reason their names are not attached to the appeal. Churchill and Blakeman were from Madison county. The convention men likewise called a meeting at Vandalia and is¬ sued an address to the people prepared by some of their ablest men, such as John McLean, af¬ terwards United States senator ; Theophilus W. Smith, Emanuel J. West; Thomas Rey¬ nolds, afterwards governor of Missouri ; Wil¬ liam Kinney, Col. A. P. Field and Jas. A. Beaird. This address, in advocacy of a con¬ vention to alter the constitution, was weak and sophistical, unworthy of men of their ability.

Governor Coles as the leader of the anti¬ convention forces threw himself into the con¬ test heart and soul. There were eighteen months before the election, time enough, the Governor thought, to effect a revolution. Nec¬ essarily it must be a campaign of information and enlightenment, and that was what he inau¬ gurated. His chief lieutenant on the stump was Hon. Daniel P. Cook, son-in-law of Sen¬ ator Ninian Edwards, who, in congress, voted against the admission of Missouri as a slave state, while his father-in-law, Senator Ed¬ wards, voted for it. In the literary field his chief of staff was Morris Birbeck, an English scholar and philanthropist residing in Edwards

In the ecclesiastical field the greatest good was accomplished by Rev. John M. Peck, the famous Baptist preacher and author, who or¬ ganized the religious element of all denomina¬ tions against the convention with all the skill of an adroit politician.

There were five newspapers published in the state at that time : The Illinois Intelligencer at Vandalia, of which Governor Coles obtained control; the Spectator at Edwardsville, edited by Hooper Warren, both anti-convention; the Republican-Advocate at Ivaskaskia, the Illi¬ nois Gazette at Shawneetown and the Repub¬ lican at Edwardsville, which were strongly pro-slavery and favored the convention.

Under Governor Cole's inspiring direction all elements of opposition to slavery, political, moral, social and economic were combined throughout the state into a solid phalanx. The Governor not only gave himself unreservedly to the cause, but devoted to its extension his entire salary for the four years and much of his private fortune. In addition to the lieu¬ tenants named above, he had able assistants in the persons of such men as David Blackwell, Judge S. D. Lockwood, Hooper Warren, J. H. Pugh, George Forquer, Thomas Lippincott, George Churchill, Curtis Blakeman, Thomas Mather, Jeremiah Abbott and others. The Governor's energy and zeal were untiring. In speeches, messages, pamphlets and newspaper articles he was unceasingly busy in educating the public mind. Not content with the help he was receiving at home he enlisted the sym¬ pathy of such friends as Richard Vaux and Nicholas Biddle of Philadelphia, who either from their own pens or those or prominent writers supplied the Governor with tracts, pamphlets, addresses, etc., which he scattered broadcast over the state. As the canvass prog¬ ressed it was evident that the anti-convention party was gaining ground, but the pro-conventionites were not idle, for, outside of Governor Coles and Congressman Cook, the ablest poli¬ ticians in the state championed the convention cause, among them being six leaders who after¬ wards became United States* senators, two or three justices of the supreme court and one subsequent governor.

Thus the campaign developed until the elec¬ tion on the first Monday of August, 1824. The election passed off with unexpected quietness, but the vote polled was twice as large as at the election of 1822. The vote stood, against con¬ vention 6,822; for convention, 4,950; majority against convention, 1,872. Thus Gov. Coles and the cause of freedom triumphed over what, two years previous, seemed unsurmountable obstacles.

But while the anti-slavery advocates were victorious on the one great issue of freedom or slavery for Illinois, they were unsuccessful in carrying the legislature. It was a pres¬ idential year and while the anti-convention men were divided between Adams, Clay and Crawford, the convention men were solid for Jackson. And the latter element obtained a majority in the legislature which elected two pro-slavery United States senators, Kane and McLean.

Thus Governor Coles found himself again confronted by a hostile legislature and, in ad¬ dition, an unfriendly judiciary and adverse representatives at Washington. His success in carrying the state against the convention had embittered all opposing elements against him. He stood alone, but while many of his projects tor the improvement of the state's financial condition, for internal improvements, such as the canal from Lake Michigan to the Illinois river, and other economic and upbuilding pro¬ jects were blocked by a hostile legislature, still his wise, humane and far-sighted suggestions profoundly impressed and directed public senti¬

But the malice of the enemies of Governor Coles knew no bounds. The persecutions and insults to which he was subjected were innu¬ merable. He was even sued in the Madison Circuit Court by his opponents for $2,000 damages for emancipating his slaves in the state without giving bond that they should not become a public charge. The suit was brought under a law which had not been published when he came into the state and of which he had not been informed. This malicious suit caused him great expense and annoyance. He was made the victim of the prejudices of knavish judges and it was not until the legisla¬ ture intervened and his case reached the su¬ preme court that he was vindicated. Other malevolent suits on similar grounds, were brought against him, but he rose superior to his enemies.

Governor Coles' closing message to the legis¬ lature ranks as the most masterly, statesman¬ like and far-seeing paper ever issued by an Illinois executive. It has never been sur¬ passed.

One pleasant episode breaks the monotonous turbulence of his stormy career as governor, and that was the visit of his old friend, Gen. La Fayette to Illinois. As chief executive of the state Governor Coles, accompanied by a delegation from Edwardsville welcomed the distinguished guest of the nation at Kaskaskia in an admirable address and the reunion of the two great men was to them a delightful inci¬ dent, both personally and officially.

After the expiration of his term as governor, in which office he was succeeded by Senator Ninian Edwards, Governor Coles retired to his farm near Edwardsville, although he spent much time in eastern cities, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He organized the first State Agricultural Society in Illinois. In 1831 he made his last appearance in politics in the state, being induced to become a candidate for congress in opposition to Sidney Breese and Joseph Duncan. But the Jackson sentiment was overwhelmingly strong in the state and Duncan was elected. As is often the case after a period of intense political excitement, there had come a slump in public sentiment on the questions at issue which had been successful ; and the change in Illinois was an illustration thereof. The victory being won, interest in the anti-slavery cause declined. Men who had voted against introducing slavery in Illinois be¬ came indifferent to its existence elsewhere, and ceased aggressive opposition. The gover¬ nor was aware of this change and after his un¬ successful campaign for congress seems to have concluded that his work in Illinois was done. It had been glorious and sucessful - perhaps beyond his hopes - and had saved Illi¬ nois to freedom, but in that attainment had reached its culmination.

In the fall of 1832 Governor Coles closed up his affairs and took his departure for the east. He was a bachelor and then forty-seven years of age - having resided in Illinois thirteen years. In November of the year 1833 he was married to Miss Sallie Logan Roberts, of Philadelphia, and made that city his future home - never returning to Illinois to reside.

Of Governor Coles' life in Philadelphia little is known in Illinois. He had ample means and probably engaged in no special avo¬ cation. He was an invalid the last eight or ten years of his life, suffering from chronic neu¬ ralgia, but lived until 1868, when he passed away at the age of eighty-two years. Of his immediate family a daughter, Miss Mary Coles, and two granddaughters, were still liv¬ ing in Philadelphia in 1911. He lost one son, some years before his own death. His re¬ maining son, Edward Coles, Jr., was killed at Bar Harbor, Maine, in the summer of 1906, in a runaway accident.

In 1856 Governor Coles read an elaborate paper on the "History of the Ordinance of 1787" before the Pennsylvania Historical Society in which occurred this pregnant re¬ trospection : "I trust I shall meet with indul¬ gence from the zeal I have always felt in the cause, for adding that it has ever since afforded me the most delightful and consoling reflec¬ tions that the abuse I endured, the labor I per¬ formed, the anxiety, I felt, were not without their reward : and to have it conceded by op¬ ponents, as well as supporters, that I was chiefly instrumental in preventing a call of a convention, and in making Illinois a non-slave holding state."

The last known deliverance on this subject by Governor Coles, was a letter addressed to Rev. Thos. Lippincott, about September, i860, in reply to a statement published by Mr. Lip¬ pincott to the effect that when the first consti¬ tution was adopted, in 1818, the subject of slavery was not prominent. Mr. Lippincott was secretary of the state senate in 1823 when it passed the resolution submitting the con¬ vention question to a vote of the people, and was an active worker against it in the suc¬ ceeding campaign. The letter addressed to Mr. Lippincott reads :

"You are mistaken in supposing that the subject of slavery had not been a prominent topic in the political discussions of Illinois previous to its becoming a state. On the contrary at a very early period of the settlement of Illinois the question was warmly agi¬ tated by zealous advocates and opponents of slavery. This state of things was increased by the country having been made the abode of the white and black races, in the relation of masters and slaves, from its first settlement by Christians to 1787, when slavery was prohibited by law, but tolerated by custom, aided by ignorance. Before the separation of Illinois from

Indiana congress was petitioned by the territorial legislature to repeal the "ordinance of 1787.' It was on a petition of this kind that the celebrated John Randolph of Virginia, as chairman of a committee of congress, made his memorable report adverse to the prayer for the repeal of the ordinance and the tolera¬ tion of slavery. The report was adopted by congress with little or no opposition. Finding from this and other indications that there was no prospect of con¬ gress repealing this fundamental law, the advocates of slavery had to content themselves with retaining in servitude, in violation of the ordinance, what were called 'French slaves,' and in extending bondage to a limited extent to other negroes under the denomina¬ tion of 'indentures.' During the existence of this state of things the slavery agitation was lulled but not extinguished, as was seen by its mingling itself so actively both in the election and conduct of the members of the convention which made the constitu¬ tion in 1818. I am the more conversant with the character of that convention from having attended it during my visit to Illinois, and made the acquaint¬ ance and learned the opinions, views and wishes of its prominent members. Many, but not a majority of its members, were in favor of making Illinois a slave state."

J homas Lippincott, to whom the writer has previously referred. This gentleman, in his old age, published in one or two papers of lim¬ ited circulation his reminiscences of the con¬ test of 1824, under the title of the "Conflict of the Century," to which the author has had access, and from which he makes the follow¬ ing extracts in regard to Gov. Coles :

There were those who wrote more in the news¬ papers, but there was no one .more indefatigably nor more disinterestedly engaged in the effort to keep out the curse of slavery than Edward Coles, then gov¬ ernor of the state. He had been rich, was still pos¬ sessed of a competence, perhaps considerable wealth, but he had diminished this wealth whatever it was, by the voluntary emancipation of the slaves that fell to him by heirship and this he had done against the earnest protest of his family, who proposed to pur¬ chase the slaves by giving him an equivalent in other property. Instead of this he brought them to Illinois, emancipated them and settled them on land he pur¬ chased for them as theirs. When the effort was put forth to make Illinois a slave-holding state, he united with its opponents with a zeal worthy of a noblehearted Virginia gentleman. His home since has not been in Illinois, and his associates in that great con¬ test have not seen him in many years. His head has, doubtless, become whiter, as well as that of him whose unsteady hand traces these recollections ; but the heart of the writer must cease to throb before it will cease to feel grateful to Edward Coles for his ef¬ ficient agency in procuring that decision which has brought Illinois, within her first half century to rank as the third or fourth state of this great Unoin. His chief efficiency was perhaps, in procuring and circu¬ lating, in pamphlet form mainly, any popular work on slavery that could be got by an extensive correspon¬ dence. His daily counsels and hints, however, to a little band of men in Edwardsville suggested and en¬ couraged many an article which he saw not and knew not of until he saw it in print. * * * The elec¬ tion was a hot time. The weather was warm enough being early in August, and the people were heated with excitement. Yet it is believed that as few ex¬ cesses occurred on that day as on any general elec¬ tion since, in which there was special interest. And when the votes were counted and it was ascertained that the people had decided not to call a convention for the purpose of opening our state to slavery, there was a great calm. The defeated party submitted quietly; the triumphant party rejoiced without noise or show. The only demonstration I remember was a day of religious thanksgiving, held by a few of those who had been most actively engaged in which an ad¬ dress was delivered, and praise and prayer to God were the prominent exercises. The joy was too. deep for noisy clamor. The strife had been too moment¬ ous, the triumph too sacred for mirth or levity."

The above reminiscence was written by Mr. Lippincott in 1858, but did not come under the notice of Governor Coles until later, when it was sent to him by Mr. Lippincott and the Governor made the following rejoinder from Philadelphia :

"I gladly avail myself of this occasion to express my obligations to you for the kind and gratifying no¬ tice you take of me in your publication. At the same time allow me to add, if you had been aware of the extent of the labors of my pen you would not have said I had not written much. The hostility imbibed by Mr. Warren against me, prevented my contribut¬ ing to his paper (the Edwardsville Spectator) but I contributed to other papers, over various signatures, and published several pamphlets, and caused many to be published, several of which I assisted in circulating, particularly those you allude to from the enlight¬ ened and philanthropic pen of my friend, Roberts Vaux of this city (Philadelphia). My labor in the cause was so great that during the several months which passed between my purchasing the Illinois In¬ telligencer, there were but few numbers of that paper which did not contain some article from my pen, either original essays - the most methodical and lengthy of which were contained in nine numbers over the signature of 'One of Many' - or numerous ex¬ tracts from the writings and speeches of the most celebrated men of America and Europe, many of which were published under the title of 'The Voice of Virtue,' Wisdom and Experience on the Subject of Negro Slavery.' "

To this letter Mr. Lippincott appended this note: "Of the manifold labors of Governor Coles in other respects I was aware and have endeavored to do him justice in regard to them. But I confess I was not aware of the amount of writing for the papers on the sub¬ ject which he performed. In addition to what I did know it must be called immense."

The late Judge Joseph Gillespie of Edwardsville was a friend and associate of Gov¬ ernor Coles in his early manhood and of Ab¬ raham Lincoln throughout the latter's public career and this mutual association links, through him, the lives of the two great emanci¬ pators together in our local annals. The fol¬ lowing letter from Judge Gillespie to Hon. E. B. Washburne was published in the latter's history under date February 28, 1881 : "I knew Governor Coles well. He lived in this place (Edwardsville) while a citizen of Illi¬ nois. He was a remarkable man, and devoted himself to the propagation of the sentiments of freedom. He was the most unrelenting foe of slavery I ever knew. His time, money, everything belonging to him, was expended in the cause so dear to his heart. He brought his slaves here from Virginia and liberated them, and gave to each head of family a tract of land within four miles of this place where they settled and lived for many years. He was unmarried while he lived in Illinois, and when in Edwardsville boarded in the family of James Mason. His character was without spot or blemish in all the walks of life."

With this tribute from Judge Gillespie is closed this inadequate sketch of one of Illi¬ nois greatest statesmen and noblest of philan¬ thropists. Unappreciated during his tem¬ pestuous career, like most reformers who la¬ bor ahead of their generation, history will do him justice, though it has not yet risen to its opportunity.

And now as to Madison county's direct part in this great contest. She had at that time, as members in the general assembly, Theophilus W. Smith in the senate and Curtiss Blakeman, George Churchill and Emanuel J. West in the house. Two of these voted against the convention and signed the stirring appeal noted above - they were Blakeman and Churchill. Another member, who voted with them and also signed the appeal was George Cadwell, who served in the first and second assemblies as senator from Madison, and in the third as senator from Greene and Pike, which had been set ofif from Madison. He was a physician and a native of Connecticut. He came to Illinois in 1802 and settled near Fort Chartres, later moving to the American Bot¬ tom, near where Granite City now stands, where he practiced medicine for some years, ultimately removing into what was later a part of either Greene or Pike county.

Dr. Cadwell, while a member of the state senate in 1823, secured the passage of a bill for the establishment of medical societies, which provided for the division of the state into four medical districts, making the physi¬ cians in each district a body corporate, and making it their duty to meet at stated inter¬ vals to examine students and grant diplomas to such as were qualified to practice medicine. The act also provided that no one could prac- tice except those possessed of a diploma from one of these societies, or from some respect¬ able university of the United States. The act also required physicians to keep a record of all births and deaths. Section 2 provided that the board might examine all physicians' bills which any patient considered exorbitant, and make such deductions as to the board seemed reasonable; that the physician could not col¬ lect the exeess and was required to refund the money if it had been paid.

Hon. Joseph Gillespie contributed to Mr. Washburne's biography of Governor Coles the following sketches of the other four members of the assembly who took such leading parts in this contest in the legislature: "Capt. Cur¬ tiss Blakeman migrated from New York in 1817, and, along with several other sea cap¬ tains, made a settlement in Madison county, to which they gave the name of Marine. They displayed great taste in the selection of a location. It is my deliberate opinion that for beauty of scenery and fertility of soil it has no equal. Captain Blakeman was always an outspoken abolitionist and became a mem¬ ber of a society that was formed at Edwardsville as early as 1820 in aid of the anti-slavery cause. Opposition to slavery was his ruling passion, and he felt it his duty to strike at it whenever it showed its head. He took no part in politics except for the purpose of fight¬ ing slavery. He commanded the ship that took General Moran back to Europe, in 1813, when that great commander returned, after his exile in America, to join the allied armies against Napoleon. He said he took the liberty to ask the officer who was the greatest General in Europe, and Moran answered that 'Na¬ poleon was the greatest general that ever lived.' In August of the same year Morran was mortally wounded at the battle of Dres¬ den." an eastern state. By profession he was a printer and was connected with the first pa¬ per published in St. Louis. Coming to Illi¬ nois he carried on farming the rest of his life. He was frequently elected to the Legislature and was accounted the best working member we ever had. (He served sixteen years as representative and senator). He toiled like a dray horse, but never made a speech of more than five minutes' length, but that contained all that needed to be said. He entered into no rings or cliques, and was never out of his seat when he ought to be in it. He was never a candidate and never wanted office. If elected he would serve, and that was all there was about it. He was a perfect encyclopedia of political knowledge. He was never mar¬ ried. In person he was badly formed and un¬ prepossessing in appearance; his complexion was sallow, his eyes lustreless and expression dull ; but he possessed great knowledge and sense."

"Theophilus W. Smith was senator from Madison and favored the calling of a conven¬ tion. He was an able lawyer and soon ob¬ tained a seat upon the bench of the supreme court of Illinois, where he would have figured preeminently if he had kept aloof from poli¬ tics ; but this he would not. He was up to his eyes in every political intrigue of the day. He was from the city of New York, got his political education in Tammany Hall, and must have been an adept in the trickery for which that institution was famed even in that early day. Everything done in our political affairs that was rash, reckless and unprece¬ dented was laid to Judge Smith's charge.

"Judge Smith was one of the most vocif¬ erous of the pro-slavery leaders in the cam¬ paign of 1824, although from a free state. He figured discreditably on the circuit bench, in the suit brought at Edwardsville against Gov¬ ernor Coles for emancipating his slaves with¬ out giving bond for their support - as related elsewhere."

"Emanuel J. West," writes Judge Gillespie, "was something of a character. He was a Democrat and in favor of slavery. He was a splendid conversationalist and possessed of fine manners, and to these qualities he owed his election at that time when public opinion ran. so strongly in opposition to his political professions. West was born, I think, in Dela¬ ware, but went to the island of Teneriffe. He reached Illinois about 1818 and settled on a beautiful farm about seven miles northwest of Edwardsville, which he christened 'Glorietta.' He was appointed minister to Mexico by Gen¬ eral Jackson, but died before reaching his post. He was passionately fond of politics, and was, consequently, not a success as a farmer. Mr. West had few superiors in con¬ versation. He was absolutely charming in that line. If he had lived he could have fig¬ ured in public life. I think the department of diplomacy suited him."

At the time of the campaign of 1824 there were thirty organized counties in the state. Of these Madison county cast 914 votes - 351 for the convention and 563 against; a majority against of 212. St. Clair cast 427 votes for the convention and 543 against; majority against, 569. But Sangamon then extended north as far as what is now Putnam county and west to the Illinois river, a vast territory ; while Madison and St. Clair were confined, practically, to their present boundaries. These were the largest three counties in the state in point of population. Central and southern

Illinois decided the slavery conflict in the state. The northern counties were then unorganized and had nothing to do with the contest beyond a few scattering votes. It has been claimed that to northern Illinois, settled by eastern men, belongs the honor of winning this con¬ test in favor of freedom, but this is erroneous. The immigration into northern Illinois did not take place until after the question was set¬ tled, in fact, not until after the Black Hawk war of 1832. The southern and central coun¬ ties of Illinois, settled mainly (exclusive of the French), by emigrants from Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and the Carolinas, decided the contest against slavery. Further, of the eighteen members of the legislature who voted against the convention resolution in the gen¬ eral assembly, ten were from slave states, one from Holland, and seven from free states; and the leader of the opposition was Governor Coles, a Virginian. Those citizens of Madi¬ son county most prominent in opposition to the convention were Judge Samuel D. Lockwood, later of the supreme court ; Hooker Warren, Curtis Blakeman, Thomas Lippincott and George Churchill. The controversy over the convention between the two Edwardsville papers - the Spectator, edited by Hooper War¬ ren, and the Republican, managed by Judge T. W. Smith, E. J. West and Judge Samuel W. Roberts (afterwards United States senator), was exceedingly bitter. "At one time," says Mr. Washburne, "Judge Smith undertook to cowhide Warren. Failing in this, he drew a dirk on him. Warren then drew a pistol, when the combatants were separated, and no¬ body hurt."