Madison Township (part 2 of 30)

Mr. Polk's father was a Jeffersonian Republican, and James K. Polk ever adhered to the same political faith. He was a popular public speaker, and was constantly called upon to address the meetings of his party friends. His skill as a speaker was such thai he was popularly called the Napoleon of the stump. He was a man of unblemished morals, genial and courterus in his bearing, and with that sympathetic nature in the joys and griefs of others which ever gave him troops of friends. In 1823, Mr. Polk was elected to the Legislature of Tennessee. Here he gave his strong influence towards the election of his friend, Mr. Jackson, to the Presidency of the United States. - In January, 1824, Mr. Polk married Miss Sarah Childress, of Rutherford Co., Tenn. His bride was altogether worthy of him, - a lady of beauty and culture. In the fall of 1825, Mr. Polk was chosen a member of Congress. The satisfaction which he gave to his constituents may be inferred from the fact, that for fourteen successive years, until 1839, he was continuec'. in that office. He then voluntarily withdrevv, only that he might accept the Gubernatorial chair of Tennessee. In Congress he was a laborious menober, a frequent and a popular speaker. He was always in his seat, always courteous; and whenever he spoke it was always to the point, and without any ambitious rhetorical display.

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

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

On the 4th of March, 1845, Mr. Polk was inaugurated President of the United States. The verdict of the country in favor of the annexation of Texas, exerted its influence upon Congress ; and the last act of the administration of President Tyler was to affix his signature to a joint resolution of Congress, passed on the 3d of March, approving of the annexation of Texas to the American Union. As Mexico still claimed Texas as one of her provinces, the Mexican minister, Almonte, immediately demanded his passports and left tlie country, declaring the act of the annexation to be an act hostile to Mexico.

In his first message. President Polk urged that Texas should immediately, by act of Congress, be received into tlie Union on the same footing with the other States. In the meantime. Gen. Taylor was sent with an army into Texas to hold the country. He was sent first to Nueces, which the Mexicans said was the western boundary of Texas. Then he was sent riearly two hundred miles further west, to the Rio Grande, where he erected batteries which commanded the Mexican city of Matamoras, which was situated on the western banks.

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

'To the victors belong the spoils." Mexico was prostrate before us. Her capital was in our hands. We now consented to peace upon the condition that Mexico should surrender to us, in addition to Texas, all of New Mexico, and all of Upper and Lower California. This new demand embraced, exclusive of Texas, eight hundred thousand square miles. This was an extent of territory equal to nine States of the size of New York. Thus slavery was securing eighteen majestic States to be added to the Union. There were some Americans who thought it all right : there were others who thought it all wrong. In the prosecution of this war, we expended twenty thousand lives and more than a hundred million of dollars. Of this money fifteen millions were paid to Mexico.

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

Twelfth President

ACHARY TAYLOR, twelfth la I'resident of the United States, born on the 24th of Nov., 1784, in Orange Co., Va. His 2^ESIS3^ father, Colonel Taylor, was g^^w^ a Virginian of note, and a dis- V\')^^--i*'|' tinguished patriot and soldier of the Revolution. When Zachary was an infant, his father with his wife and two children, emigrated to Kentucky, where he settled in the pathless wilderness, a few miles from Louisville. In this frontier home, away from civilization and all its refinements, young Zachary could enjoy but few social and educational advantages. When six years of age he attended a common school, and was then regarded as a bright, active boy, rather remarkable for bluntness and decision of character He was strong, fearless and self-reliant, and manifested a strong desire to enter the army to fight the Lidians who were ravaging the frontiers. There is little to l)e recorded of the uneventful years of his childhood on his father's large but lonely plantation. In 1808, his father succeeded in obtaining for him the commission of lieutenant in the United States army ; and he joined the troops which were stationed at New Orleans under Gen. Wilkinson. Soon after this he married Miss Margaret Smith, a young lady from one of the first families of Maryland.

Immediately after the declaration of war with England, in 18 1 2, Capt. Taylor (for he had then been promoted to that rank) was put in command of Fort Harrison, on the Wabash, about fifty miles above Vincennes. This fort had been built in the wilderness by Gen. Harrison, on his march to Tippecanoe. It was one of the first points of attack by the Indians, ^cd by Tecumseh. Its garrison consisted of a broken

Early in the autumn of 181 2, tlie Indians, stealthily, and in large numbers, moved upon the fort. Tlieir approacli was first indicated by the murder of two soldiers just outside of the stockade. Capt. Taylor made every possible preparation to meet the anticipated assault. On the 4th of September, a band of forty painted and plumed savages came to the fort, waving a white flag, and informed Capt. Taylor that in the morning their chief would come to have a talk with him. It was evident that their object was merely to ascertain the state of things at the fort, and Capt. Taylor, well versed in the wiles of the savages, kept them at a distance.

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

Until the close of the war, MajorTaylor was placed in such situations tliat he saw but little more of active service. He was sent far away into the depths of the wilderness, to Fort Crawford, on Fox River, which empties into Green Bay. Here there was but little to be done but to wear away the tedious hours as one best could. There were no books, no society, no in- tellectual stimulus. Thus with him the uneventful years rolled on Gradually he rose to the rank of colonel. In the Black-Hawk war, which resulted in the capture of that renowned chieftain, Col Taylor took a subordinate but a brave and efficient part.

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

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

In 1846, Gen. Taylor was sent to guard the land bcilween the Nueces and Rio (irande, the latter river being the boundary of Texas, which was then claimed by the United States. Soon the war with Mexico W£.; brought on, and at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Gen. Taylor won brilliant victories over the ]V[t;xicans. The rank of major-general by brevet was then conferred upon Gen. Taylor, and his name was received with enthusiasm almost everywhere in tliL' Nation. Then came the battles of Monterey and E uena Vista in which he won signal victories over f( irces much larger than he commanded.

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

The tidings of the brilliant victory of Buena Vista sj'read the wildest enthusiasm over the country. The n;ime of Gen. Taylor was on every one's lips. The W hig party decided to take advantage of this wonderfu/ popularity in bringing forward the unpolished, un-

-'?red, honest soldier as their candidate for the Piesidency. Gen. Taylor was astonished at the announcement, and for a time would not listen to it; dechiring that he was not at all qualified for such an oft ice. So little interest had he taken in politics that, foi forty years, he had net cast a vote. It was not wiihout chagrin that several distinguished statesmen v/lio had been long years in the public service found *\:.i\x claims set aside in behalf of one whose name had never been heard of, save in connection with Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey and Buena Vista. It is said that Daniel Webster, in his haste remarked, " It is a nomination not fit to be made."

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

In the midst of all these troubles, Gen. Taylor, after he had occupied the Presidential chair but little over a year, took cold, and after a brief sickness of but little over five days, died on the 9th of July, 1850. His last words were, " I am not afraid to die. I am ready. I have endeavored to do my duty." He died universally respected and beloved. An honest, unpretending man, he had been steadily growing in the affections of the people; and the Nation bitterly lamented his death.

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

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

Thirteenth President

ILLARD FILLMORE, thirteenth President of the United States, was born at Summer Hill, Cayuga Co., N. Y ., on the 7th of January, 1800. His father was a farmer, and owing to misfortune, in humble circumstances. Of his mother, the daughter of Dr. Abiathar Millard, of Pittsfield, Mass., it has been said that she possessed an intellect of very high order, united with much personal loveliness, sweetness of disposition, graceful manners and exquisite sensibilities. She died in 1831 ; having lived to see her son a young man of distinguished promise, though she was not permitted to witness the high dignity which he finally attained.

In consequence of the secluded ho'.ne and limited means of his father, Millard enjoyed but slender advantages for education in his early years. The common schools, wliich he occasionally attended were very imperfect institutions; and books were scarce and expensive. There was nothing then in his character to indicate the brilliant career upon which he was about to enter. He was a plain farmer's boy ; intelligent, good-looking, kind-hearted. The sacred influences of home had taught him to revere the Bible, and had laid ihe foundations of an upright character. When fourteen years of age, his father sent him some hundred miles from home, to the then wilds of Livingston County, to learn the trade of a clothier. Near the mill there was a small villiage, where some enterprising man had commenced the collection of a village library. This jiroved an inestimal)le blessing to young Fillmore. His evenings were spent in reading. Soon every leisure moment was occupied with books. His thirst for knowledge became insatiate and the selections which he made were continually more elevating and instructive. He read history, biography, oratory, and thus gradually there was enkindled in his heart a desire to be something more than a mere worker with his hands; and he was becoming, almost unknown to himself, a well-in form ed^ educated man.

The young clothier had now attained the age of nineteen years, and was of fine personal appearance and of gentlemanly demeanor. It so hap])ened tha', there was a gentleman in the neighborhood of ample pecuniary means and of benevolence, - Judge Walter Wood, - who was struck with the prepossessing appearance of young Fillmore. He made his acquaintance, and was so much impressed with his ability and attainments that he advised him to abandon his trade and devote himself to the study of the law. The young man replied, that he had no means of his own, no friends to help him and that his previous education had been very imperfect. But Judge Wood had so much confidence in him that he kindly offered to take him into his own office, and to loan him such money as he needed. Most gratefully the generous offer was accepted.

There is in many minds a strange delusion about! a collegiate education. A young man is supposed to 1)6 liberally educated if he has graduated at some college. But many a boy loiters through university hall - Hud then enters a law office, who is by no means as well prepared to prosecute his legal studies as was Millard Fillmore when he graduated at the clothingmill at the end of four years of manual labor, during which every leisure moment had been devoted to intense mental culture.

In 1823, when twenty-three years of age, he v/as admitted to the Court of Common Pleas. He then went to the village of Aurora, and commenced the practice of law. In this secluded, peaceful region, his practice of course was limited, and there was no opportunity for a sudden rise in fortune or hi fame. Here, in the year 1826, he married a lady of great moral worth, and one capable of adorning any station she might be called to fill, - Miss Abigail Powers.

His elevation of character, his untiring industry, his legal acquirements, and his skill as an advocate, gradually attracted attention ; and he was invited to enter into partnership under highly advantageous circumstances, with an elder member of the bar in Buffalo. Just before removing to Buffalo, in 1829, he took his seat in the House of Assembly, of the State of New York, as a representative from Erie County. Though he had never taken a very active part in politics, his vote and his sympathies were with the Whig party. The State was then Democratic, and he found himself in a helpless minority in the Legislature , still the testimony comes from all parties, Ihat his courtesy, ability and integrity, won, to a very unusual degne the respect of his associates.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mr. Fillmore had very serious difficulties to contend with, since the opposition had a majority in both Houses. He did everything in his power to conciliate the South ; but the pro-slavery party in the South felt the inadequacy of all measures of transient conciliation. The population of the free States was so rapidly increasing over that of the slave States that it was inevitable that the power of the Government should soon pass into the hands of the free States. The famous compromise measures were adopted under Mr. Fillmore's adminstration, and the Japan Expedition was sent out. On the 4th of March, 1853, Mr. Fillmore, having served one term, retired.

In 1856, Mr. Fillmore was nominated for the Presidency by the " Know Nothing " party, but was beaten by Mr. Buchanan. After that Mr. Fillmore lived in retirement. During the terrible conflict of civil war, he was mostly silent. It was generally supposed that his sympathies were rather with those who were endeavoring to overthrow our institutions. President Fillmore kept aloof from the conflict, without any cordial words of cheer to the one party or the other. He was thus forgotten by both. He lived to a ripe old age, and died in Buffalo. N. Y., March 8, 1874,

Fo Ur Tee Nth President

RANKLIN PIERCE, the ibarteenth President of the United States, was born in Hillsborough, N. H., Nov. 23, 1804. His father was a Revolutionary soldier, who, with his own strong arm, hewed out a home in the wilderness. He was a man of inflexible integrity; of strong, though uncultivated mind, and an uncompromising Democrat. The mother of Franklin Pierce was all that a son could desire, - an intelligent, prudent, affectionate, Christian woman. Franklin was the sixth of eight children.

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

When sixteen years of age, in the year 1820, he entered Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Me He was one of the most popular young men in the college. The purity of his moral character, the unvarying courtesy of his demeanor, his rank as a scholar, and genial nature, rendered him a universal favorite. There was something very peculiarly winning in his address, and it was evidently not in the slightest degree studied : it was the simple outgushing of his own magnanimous and loving nature.

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

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

In 1837, being then but thirty-three years of age, he was elected to the Senate of the United States; taking his seat just as Mr. Van Buren commenced his administration. He was the youngest member in the Senate. In the year 1834, he married Miss Jane Means Appleton, a lady of rare beauty and accomplishments, and one admirably fitted to adorn ever)' station with wliich her husband was honoied, Of the

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

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

On the i2th of June, 1852, the Democratic convention met in Baltimore to nominate a candidate for the Presidency. For four days they continued in session, ctnd in thirty-five ballotings no one had obtained a two-thirds vote. Not a vote thus far had been thrown for Gen. Pierce. Then the Virginia delegation brought forward his name. There were fourteen more ballotings, during which Gen. Pierce constantly gained strength, until, at the forty-ninth ballot, he received two hundred and eighty-two votes, and all other candidates eleven. Gen. Winfield Scott was the Whig candidate. Gen. Pierce was chosen with great unanimity. Only four States - Vermont, Massachusetts, Kentucky and Tennessee - cast their electoral votes against him Gen. Franklin Pierce was therefore inaugurated President of the United States on tlie 4th of March, 1853.

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

Such was the condition of affairs when President Pierce approached the close of his four-years' term of office. The North had become thoroughly alienated from him. The anti-slavery sentiment, goaded by great outrages, had been rapidly increasing; all the intellectual ability and social worth of President Pierce were forgotten in deep reprehension of his administrative acts. The slaveholders of the South, also, unmindful of the fidelity with which he had advo- cated those measures of Government which they approved, and perhaps, also, feeling that he had rendered himself so unpopular as no longer to be able acceptably to serve them, ungratefully dropped him, and nominated James Buchanan to succeed him.

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

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

AMES BUCHANAN, the fif- .teenth President of the United States, was born in a small frontier town, at the foot of the eastern ridge of the Alleghanies, in Franklin Co., Penn.,on the 23d of April, 1791. The place where the humble cabin of his father stood was called Stony Batter. It was a wild and romantic spot in a gorge of the mountains, with towering summits rising grandly all around. His father was a native of the north of Ireland ; a poor man, who had emigrated in I lySj) with little property save his own strong arms. Five years afterwards he married Elizabeth Spear, the daughter of a respectable farmer, and, with his young bride, plunged into the wilderness, staked his claim, reared his log-hut, opened a clearing with his axe, and settled down there to perform his obscure part in the d^rama of life. In this secluded home, where James was born, he remained for eight years, enjoying but few social or intellectual advantages. When James was eight years of age, his father removed to the village of Mercersburg, where his son was placed at school, and commenced a course of study in English, Latin and Greek. His progress was rapid, and at the age of fourteen, he entered Dickinson College, at Carlisle. Here he developed remarkable talent, and took his stand among the first scholars in the institution. His application t;o study was intense, and yet his native powers enabled him to master the most abstnise subjects wi '- facility.

In the year 1809, he graduated with the highest honors of his clast.'. He was then eighteen years of age; tall and graceful, vigorous in health, fond of athletic sport, an unerring shot, and enlivened with an exuberant flow of animal spirits. He immediately commenced the study of law in the city of Lancaster, and was admitted to the bar in 1812, when he was but twenty-one years of age. Very rapidly he rose in his profession, and at once took undisputed stand with the ablest lawyers of the State. When but twenty-six years of age, unaided by counsel, he successfully defended before the State Senate ore of the judges of the State, who was tried upon articles 01 impeachment. At the age of thirty it was generall) admitted that he stood at the head of the bar; and there was no lawyer in the State who had a more hicrative practice.

In 1820, he reluctantly consented to run as a candidate for Congress. He was elected, and foi ten years he remained a member of the Lower House During the vacations of Congress, he occasionally tried some important case. In 1831, he retired altogether from the toils of his profession, having acquired an ample fortune.

Gen. Jackson, upon his elevation to the Presidency, appointed Mr. Buchanan minister to Russia. The duties of his mission he performed with ability, which gave satisfaction to all parties. Upon his return, ir, 1833, he was elected to a seat in the United States Senate. He there met, as his associates, V/ebsier, Clay, Wright and Calhoun. He advocated the measures proposed by President Jackson, of mib/ng repn- sals against France, to enforce the payment of our claims against that country ; and defended the course of the President in his unprecedented and wholesale removal from office of those who were not the supporters of his administration. Upon this question he was brought into direct collision with Henry Clay. He also, with voice and vote, advocated expunging from tlie journal of the Senate the vote of censure against Gen. Jackson for removing the deposits. Earnestly he opposed the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and urged the prohibition of the circulation of anti-slavery documents by the United States mails.

As to petitions on the subject of slavery, he advocated that they should be respectfully received; and that the reply should be returned, that Congress had no power to legislate upon the subject. " Congress," Sfciid he, " might as well undertake to interfere with slavery under a foreign government as in any of the States where it now exists."

Upon Mr. Polk's accession to the Presidency, Mr. Buchanan became Secretary of State, and as such, took his share of the responsibility in the conduct of the Mexican War. Mr. Polk assumed that crossing the Nueces by the American troops into the disputed territory was not wrong, but for the Mexicans to cross the Rio Grande into that territory was a declaration of war. No candid man can read with pleasure the account of the course our Government pursued in that movement.

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

In the year 1856, a national Democratic convention nominated Mr. Buchanan for the Presidency. The political conflict was one of the most severe in which our country has ever engaged. All the friends of slavery were on one side; all the advocates of its restriction and final abolition, on the other. Mr. Fremont, the candidate of the enemies of slavery, received 114 electoral votes. Mr. Buchanan received 174, and was elected. The popular vote stood 1,340,618, for Fremont, 1,224,750 for Buchanan. On March 4th, 1857, Mr. Buchanan was inaugurated.

Mr. Buchanan was far advanced in life. Only four vears were wanting to fill up his threescore years and ten. His own friends, those with whom he had been allied in political principles and action for years, were seeking the destruction of the Government, that they might rear upon the ruins of our free institutions a nation whose corner-stone should be human slavery. In this emergency, Mr. Buchanan was hopelessly bewildered He could not, with his long-avowed principles, consistently oppose the State-rights party in their assumptions. As President of the United States, bound by his oath faithfully to administer the laws. he could not, without perjury of the grossest kind, unite with those endeavoring to overthrow the republic. He therefore did nothing.

The opponents of Mr. Buchanan's administration nominated Abraham Lmcoln as their standard bearer in the next Presidential canvass. The pro-slavery party declared, that if he were elected, and Ihe control of the Government were thus taken from their hands, they would secede from the Union, taking with them, as they retired, the National Capitol at Washington, and the lion's share of the territory of the United States.

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

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

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

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

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

Braham Lincoln

sixteenth President of fnited States, was born Hardin Co., Ky., Feb. 1809. About the year 1 7 So, a man by the name of Abraham Lincobi left Virginia with his family and moved into the tlien wilds of Kentucky. Only two 3ears after this emigration, still a young man, while working one day in a field, was stealthily approached by an Indian and shot dead. His widow was left in extreme poverty with five little children, three boys and two girls. Thomas, the youngest of the boys, was four years of age at his father's death. This Thomas was the father of Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United States whose name must henceforth fo'^ever be enrolled with the most prominent in the annals of our world. Of course no record has been kept of the life of one so lowly as Thomas Lincoln. He was among the poorest of the poor. His home was a wretched log-cabin; his food the coarsest and the meanest. Education he had none; he could never either read or write. As soon as he was able to do anything for himself, he was compelled to leave the cabin of his starving mother, and push out into the world, a friendless, wandering boy, seeking work. He hired himself out, and thus spent the whole of his youth as a liborer in the fields of others.

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

Abraham soon became'the scrii)e of the uneducated community around him. He could not have had a better school than this to teach him to put thoughts into words. He also became an eager reader. 'The books he could obtain were few ; but these he vead and re-read until they were almost committt'H (0 memory.

As the years rolled on, the lot of this lowly family was the usual lot of humanity. Thi^re were joys and griefs, weddings and funerals. Abraham's sistcv Sarah, to whom he was tenderly attached, was mai ried when a child of but fourteen years of age, an(? soon died. The family was gradually scattered. Mr Thomas Lincoln sold out his squatter's claim in 1S30 and emigrated to Macon Co., 111.

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

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

Abraham Lincoln

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

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

The great Republican Convention met at Chicago on the i6th of June, i860. The delegates and strangers w^ho crowded the city amounted to twentyfive thousand. An immense building called "The Wigwam," was reared to accommodate the Convention. There were eleven candidates for whom votes were thrown. William H. Seward, a man whose fame as a statesman had long filled the land, was the most orominent. It was generally supposed he would be the nominee, Abraham Lincoln, however, received the nomination on the third ballot. Little did he then dream of the weary years of toil and care, and the bloody death, to which that nomination doomed him : and as little did he dream that he was to render services to his country, which would fix upon him the eyes of the whole civilized world, and which would give him a place in the aff"ections of his countrymen, second cnly, if second, to that of Washington.

Election day came and Mr. Lincoln received 180 electoral votes out of 203 cast, and was, therefore, constitutionally elected President of the United States. The tirade of abuse that was poured upon this good and merciful man, especially by the slaveholders, was greater than upon any other man ever elected to this high position. In February, 1861, Mr. Lincoln started for Washington, stopping in all the large cities on his way making speeches. The whole journey was frought with much danger. Many of the Southern States had already seceded, and several attempts at assassination were afterwards brought to light. A gang in Baltimore had arranged, upon his arrival to" get up a row," and in the confusion to make sure of his death with revolvers and hand-grenades. A detective unravelled the plot. A secret and special train was provided to take him from Harrisburg, through Baltimore, at an unexpected hour of the night. The train started at half-past ten ; and to prevent any possible communication on the part ot the Secessionists with their Confederate gang in Baltimore, as soon as the train hac started the telegraph-wires were cut. Mr. Lincoln reached Washington in safety and was inaugurated, although great anxiety was felt by all loyal people

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

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

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

Seventeenth President

NDREW JOHNSON, seventeenth President of the United States. The early life of Andrew Johnson contains but the record of poverty, destitution and friendlessness. He was born December 29, 1808, in Raleigh, N. C. His parents, belonging to the class of the " iX)or whites " of the South, -were in such circumstances, that they could not onifjr :;.'eri the slightest advantages of education uix)n their child. When Andrew was five years of age, his father accidentally lost his life while herorically endeavoring to save a friend from drowning, ^''ntii ten years of age, Andrew was a ragged boy about" the streets, supported by the labor of his mother, who obtained her living with her own hands.

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

He accordingly applied himself to the alphabet, and with the assistance of some of his fellow-workmen, yearned his letters. He then called upon the gentleman to borrow the book of si^eeches. The owner, pleased with his zeal, not only gave him the boo^c but assisted him in learning to combine the letters into words. Under such difficulties he pressed oiward laboriously, spending usually ten or twelve hours at work in the shop, and then robbing himself of rest and recreatiop to devote such time as he could to reading.

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

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

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

Andre W Johnson

Years before, in 1S45, he had warmly advocated the annexation of Texas, stating however, as his reason, that he thought this annexation would probably prove " to be the gateway out of which the sable 50ns of Africa are to pass from bondage to freedom, [ind become merged in a population congenial to themselves," In 1850, he also supported the compromise measures, the two essential features of which were, that the white people of the Territories should be permitted to decide for themselves whether they would enslave the colored people or not, and that the *"ree States of the North should return to the 3oui.h persons who attempted to escape from slavery.

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

In the Charleston- Baltimore convention of iSu;, ne was the choice of the Tennessee Democrats for the "Presidency. In 1861, when the purpose of the Southirn Democracy became apparent, he took a decided stand in favor of the Union, and held that " slavery must be held subordinate to the Union at whatever cost." He returned to Tennessee, and repeatedly imperiled his own life to protect the Unionists of Tennesee. Tennessee having seceded from the Union, President Lincoln, on March 4th, 1862, appointed him Military Governor of the State, and he established the most stringent military rule. His numerous proclamations attracted wide attention. In

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

In his loose policy of reconstruction and general amnesty, he was opposed by Congress ; and he characterized Congress as a new rebellion, and Jawlessly defied it, in everything possible, to the utmost. In the beginning of 1868, on account of "high crimes and misdemeanors," the principal of which was the removal of Secretary Stanton, in violation of the Tenure of Office Act, articles of impeachment were preferred against him, and the trial began March 23.

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

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

Eighteenth President

LYSSES S. GRANT, the eighteenth President of the l^'"' United States, was born on the 29th of April, 1822, of Christian parents, in a humble home, at Point Pleasant, on the banks of the Ohio. Shortly after his father moved to Georgetown, Brown Co., O. In this remote frontier hamlet, Ulysses received a common-school education. At the age of seventeen, in the year 1839, he entered the Military Academy at West Point. Here he was regarded as a solid, sensible young man of fair abilities, and of sturdy, honest character. He took respectable rank as a scholar. In June, 1843, he graduated, about the middle in his class, and was sent as lieutenant of infantry to one of the distant military posts in the Missouri Territory. Two years he past in these dreary solitudes, watching the vagabond and exasperating Indians.

The war with Mexico came. Lieut. Grant was .5ent with his regiment to Corpus Christi, His first battle was at Palo Alto. There was no chance here for the exhibition of either skill or heroism, nor at Resaca de la Palma, his second battle. At the battle of Monterey, his third engagement, it is said that he performed a signal service of daring and skillful horsemanship. His brigade had exhausted its ammunition. A messenger must be sent for more, along a route exposed to the bullets of the foe. Lieut. Grant, adopting an expedient learned of the Indians, grasped the mane of his horse, and hanging upon one side of the anin^^l, ran the gauntlet in entire safety.

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

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

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

Ulysses S. Grant

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

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

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

Gen. Grant was next ordered to co-operate with Gen. Banks in a movement upon Texas, and proceeded to New Orleans, where he was thrown from his horse, and received severe injuries, from which he was laid up for months. He then rushed to the aid of Gens. Rosecrans and Thomas at Chattanooga, and by a wonderful series of strategic and technical measures put the Union Army infighting condition. Then followed the bloody battles at Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, in which the rebels were routed with great loss. This won for him unbounded praise in the North. On the 4th of February, 1864, Congress revived the grade of lieutenantgeneral, and the rank was conferred on Gen. Grant. He repaired to Washington to receive his credentials ;::id enter upon i\\e^ duties of his new office

Gen. Grant decided as soon as he took charge of ihe army to concentrate the widely-dispersed National troops for an attack upon Richmond, the nominal capital of the Rebellion, and endeavor there to destroy the rebel armies which would be promptly assembled from all quarters for its defence. The whole continent seemed to tremble under the tramp of these majestic armies, rushing to the decisive battle fi.eld. Steamers were crowded with troops. Railway trains were burdened with closely packed thousands. His plans were comprehensive and involved a series of campaigns, which were executed with remarkable energy and ability, and were consummated at the surrender of Lee, April 9, 1865.

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

At the Republican Convention held at Chicago. May 21, 1868, he was unanimously nominated for the Presidency, and at the autumn election received a majority of the popular vote, and 214 out of 294 electoral votes.

The National Convention of the Republican party which met at Philadelphia on the 5th of June, 1872, placed Gen. Grant in nomination for a second term by a unanimous vote. The selection was emphatically indorsed by the people five months later, 292 electoral votes being cast for him.

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

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

Utherford B. Hayes

UTHERFORD B. HAYES, the nineteenth President of ^^ the United States, was born in Delaware, O., Oct. 4, 1822, almost three months after the death of his father, Rutherford Hayes. His ancestry on both the paternal and maternal sides, was of the most honorable character. It can be traced, it is said, as far back as 1280, when Hayes and Rutherford were two Scottish chieftains, fighting side by side with Baliol, William Wallace and Robert Bruce. Both families belonged to the nobility, owned extensive estates, and had a large following. Misforcane ovttiraking the family, George Hayes left Scot- >nd in 1680, and settled in Windsor, Conn. His son George way born in Windsor, and remained there during his life. Daniel Hayes, son of the latter, married Sarah Lee, and lived from the time of his marriage until hJs death in Simsbury, Conn. Ezekiel, son of Daniel, was born in 1724, and was a manufacturer of scythes at Bradford, Conn. Rutherford Hayes, son of Ezekiel awd grandfather of President Hayes, was born in New Haven, in August, 1756. He was a farmer, blacksmith and tavern-keeper. He emigrated to Vermont at an ut(known date, settling in Brattleboro, where he established a hotel. Here his son Rutherford Hayes the father of President Hayes, was born. He was married, in September, 18 13, to Sophia Birchard, of Wilmiagton, Vt., whose ancestors emigrated thither from Connecticut, tiiey having been among the wealthiest and best famlies of Norwich. Her ancestry on the male side are traced back to 1635, to John Birchard, one of the principal founders of Norwich. Both of her grandfathers were soldiers in the Revolutionary War.

The father of President Hayes was an industrious, frugal and opened-hearted man. He was of a mechanical turn, and could mend a plow, knit a stocking, or do almost anything else that he choose to undertake. He was a member of the Church, active in all the benevolent enter[)rises of the town, and conducted his business on Christian principles. After the close of the war of 181 2, for reasons inexplicable to his neighbors, he resolved to emigrate to Ohio.

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

Rutherford B. Hayes

subject of this sketch was so feeble at birth that he was not expected to live beyond a month or two at most. As the months went by he grew weaker and weaker, so that the neighbors were in the habit of inquiring from time to time " if Mrs. Hayes' baby died last night." On one occasion a neighbor, who was on familiar terms with the family, after alluding to the boy's big head, and the mother's assiduous care of him, said in a bantering way, " That's right! Stick to him. You have got him along so far, and I shouldn't wonder if he would really come to something yet."

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

The boy was seven years old before he went to school. His education, however, was not neglected. He probably learned as much from his mother and fister as he would have done at school. His sports were almost wholly within doors, his playmates being his sister and her associates. These circumstances tended, no doubt, to foster that gentleness of disposition, and that delicate consideration for the feelings of others, which are marked traits of his character. His uncle Sardis Birchard took the deepest interest ,in his education ; and as the boy's health had im- 'proved, and he was making good progress in his 'studies, he proposed to send him to college. His preparation commenced with a tutor at home; but he was afterwards sent for one year to a professor in the Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Conn. He entered Kenyon College in 1838, at the age of sixteen, and was graduated at the head of his class in 1842. Innnediately after his graduation he began the study of law in the office of Thomas Sparrow, Esq., in Columbus. Finding his opportunities for study in Columbus somewhat limited, he determined to enter the Law School at Cambridge, Mass., where he remained two years.

In 1845, after graduatmg at the Law School, he was admitted to the bar at Marietta, Ohio, and shortly afterward went into practice as an attorney-at-law with Ralph P. Buckland, of Fremont. Here he remained three years, acquiring but a limited practice, and apparently unambitious of distinction in his pro- Cession.

^1 1 849 he moved to Cincinnati, where his ambition found a new stimulus. For several years,_ however, his progress was slow. Two events, occurring at this period, had a powerful influence upon his subsequent'ife. One of these was his marrage with Miss Lucy Ware Webb, daughter of Dr. James Webb, of Chilicothe; the other was his introduction to the Cincinnati Literary Club, a body embracing among its aiembersf such men as^hief Justice Salmon P. Chase,

Gen. John Pope, Gov. Edward F. Noyes, and many others hardly less distinguished in after life. The marriage was a fortunate one in every respect, as everybody knows. Not one of all the wives of our Presidents was more universally admired, reverenced and beloved than was Mrs. Hayes, and no one did more than she to reflect honor upon American woman, hood. The Literary Club brought Mr. Hayes into constant association with young men of high character and noble aims, and lured him to display the qualities so long hidden by his bashfulness and modesty.

In 1856 he was nominated to the office of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas ; but he declined to ac. cept the nomination. Two years later, the office ok city solicitor becoming vacant, the City Council elected him for the unexpired term.

In 1 86 1, when the Rebellion broke out, he was at the zenith of his professional li5,. His rank at the bar was among the the first. But the news of the attack on Fort Sumpter found him eager to take uo arms for the defense of his country.

His military record was bright and illustrious. In October, 186 1, he was made Lieutenant-Colonel, and in August, 1862, promoted Colonel of the 79th Ohio regiment, but he refused to leave his old comrades and go among strangers. Subsequently, however, he was made Colonel of his old regiment. At the battle of South Mountain he received a wound, and while faint and bleeding displayed courage and fortitude that won admiration from all.

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

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

In 1867, Gen Hayes was elected Governor of Ohio, over Hon. Allen G. Thunnan, a popular Democrat. In 1869 was re-elected over George H, Pendleton. He was elected Governor for the third term in 1875.

In 1876 he was the standard bearer of the Republican Party in the Presidential contest, and after a hard long contest was chosen President, and was in augurated Monday, March 5, 1875. He served his full term, not, hcwever, with satisfaction to his party, but his admiiristration was an average oris

Tiventieth President

AMES A. GARFIELD, twentieth President of the United States, was born Nov. 19, 1831, in the woods of Orange, Cuyahoga Co., O His parents were Abram and Eliza (Ballou) Garfield, both of New England ancestry and from families well known in the early his- \t, tory of that section of our country, but had moved to the Western Reserve, in Ohio, early in its settlement.

The house in which James A. was born was not unlike the houses of poor Ohio farmers of that day. It about 20x30 feet, built of logs, with the spaces between the logs filled with clay. His father was a nard working farmer, and he soon had his fields cleared, an orchard planted, and a log barn built. The household comprised the father and mother and their four children - Mehetabel, Thomas, Mary and Tames. In May, 1823^ the father, from a cold contracted in helping to put out a forest fire, died. At this time James was about eighteen months old, and Thomas about ten years old. No one, perhaps, can cell how much James was indebted to his brother's toil and self-sacrifice during the twenty years succeeding his father's death, but undoubtedly very much. He now lives in Michigan, and the two sisvers live in Solon, O., near their birthplace.

The early educational advantages young Garfield enjoyed were very limited, yet he made the most of them. He labored at farm work for others, did carpenter work, chopped wood, or did anything that would bring in a few dollars to aid his widowed mother in he-- struggles to keep the little family together. Nor was Gen. Garfield ever ashamed of his origin, and he never forgot the friends of his struggling childhood, youth and manhood, neither did they ever forget him. When in the liighest seats of honor, the humblest fiiend of his boyhood was as kindly greeted as ever. The poorest laborer was sure of the sympathy of one who had known all the bitterness of want and the sweetness of bread earned [)y the sweat of the brow. He was ever the simple, plain, modest gentleman.

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

James A. Garfield

" President Garfield was more than a man of strong moral and religious convictions. His whole history, from boyhood to the last, shows that duty to man and to God, and devotion to Christ and life and faith and spiritual commission were controlling springs of his being, and to a more than usual degree. In my judgment there is no more interesting feature of his character than his loyal allegiance to the body of Christians in which he was trained, and the fervent sympathy which he ever showed in their Christian communion. Not many of the few 'wise and mighty and noble who are called' show a similar loyalty to the less stately and cultured Christian comnmnions in which they have been reared. Too often it is true that as they step upward in social and political significance they step upward from one degree to another in some of the many types of fashionable Christianity. President Garfield adhered to the ::hurcli of his mother, the church in which he was trained, and in which he served as a pillar and an evangelist, and yet with the largest and most unsectarian charity for all 'who love our Lord in sincerity.'"

Mr. Garfield was united in marriage with Miss Lucretia Rudolph, Nov. 1 1, 1858, who proved herself worthy as the wife of one whom all the world loved and mourned. To them were born seven children, five of whom are still living, four boys and one girl.

Mr. Garfieldmade his first political speeches in 1856, m Hiram and the neighboring villages, and three years later he began to speak at county mass-meetings, and became the favorite speaker wherever he was. During this year he was elected to the Ohio Senate. He also began to study law at Cleveland, and in i86r was admitted to the bar. The great Rebellion broke out in the early part of this year, and Mr. Garfield at once resolved to fight as he had talked, and enlisted to. defend the old flag. He received his commission as Lieut. -Colonel of the Fortysecond Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Lifantry, Aug. 14, 1 86 1. He was immediately put into active service, and before he had ever seen a gun fired inaction, was placed in command of four regiments of infantry and eight companies of cavalry, charged with the work of driving out of his native State the officer 'Humphrey Marsliall) reputed to be the ablest of those, not educated to war whom Kentucky had given to the Rebellion. This work was bravely and speedily accomplished, although against great odds. President Lincoln, on his success commissioned him Brigadier-General, Jan. 10, 1862; and as "he had been the youngest man in the Ohio Senate two years before, so now he was the youngest General in the army." He was with Gen. Buell's army at Shiloh, in its operations around Corinth and its march through Alabama. He was then detailed as a member of the General Court-Martial for the trial of Gen. Fitz-John Porter. He was then ordered to report to Gen. Rosecrans, and was assigned to the " Chief of Staff."

Without an effort on his part Gei? Garfield was elected to Congress in the fall of 1862 from the Nineteenth District of Ohio. This section of Ohio had been represented in Congress for sixty year* mainly by two men - Elisha Whittlesey and Joshuv R. Giddings. It was not without a struggle that he resigned his place in the army. At the time he entered Congress he was the youngest member in that body. Ther^ he remained by successive reelections until he was elected President in 1880. Of his labors in Congress Senator Hoar says : " Sinct the year 1864 you cannot think of a question whicii has been debated in Congress, or discussed before & tribunel of the American people, in regard to whict you will not find, if you wish instruction, the argument on one side stated, in almost every instance better than by anybody else, in some speech made in the House of Representatives or on the hustings by Mr. Garfield."

Uix)n Jan. 14, 1880, Gen. Garfield was elected to the U. S. Senate, and on the eighth of June, of the same year, was nominated as the candidate of his party for President at the great Chicago Convention. He was elected in the following November, and on March 4, 1881, was inaugurated. Probably no administration ever opened its existence under brighter auspices' than that of President Garfield, and every day it grew in favor with the people, and by the first of July he had completed all the initiatory and preliminary work of his administration and was preparing to leave the city to meet his friends at Williams College. While on his way and at the depot, in company with Secretary Blaine, a man stepped behind him, drew a revolver, and fired directly at his back. The President tottered and fell, and as he did so the assassin fired a second shot, the bullet cutting the left coat sleeve of his victim, but inflicting no further injury. It has been very truthfully said that this was " the shot that was heard round the world " Never before in the history of the Nation had anything occurred which so nearly froze the blood of the peop'"? for the moment, as this awful deed. He was smitten on the brightest, gladdest day of all his life, and was at the summit of his power and hope. For eighty days, all during the hot months of July and August, he lingered and suffered. He, however, remained master of himself till the last, and by his magnificent bearing was teaching the country and the world the noblest of human lessons - how to live grandly in the very clutch of death. Great in life, he was surpassingly great in death. He passed serenely away Sept. 19, 1883, at Elberon, N. J., on the very bank of the ocean, where he had been taken shortly previous. The world wept at his death, as it never had done on the death of any other man who had ever lived upon it. The murderer was duly tried, found guilty and executed, in one year after he committed tVie foul deed.

T I Ven T Y.Firs T President Hester A. Arthur

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

Herndon, of the United States Navy, who was lost at sea. Congress voted a gold medal to his widow in recognition of the bravery he displayed on that occasion. Mrs. Arthur died shortly before Mr. Arthur's nomination to the Vice Presidency, leaving two children.

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

Another great service was rendered by General Arthur in the same cause in 1856. Lizzie Jennings, a respectable colored woman, was put off a Fourth Avenue car with violence after she had paid her fare. General Arthur sued on her behalf, and secured a verdict of $500 damages. The next day the company issued an order to admit colored persons to ride on their cars, and the other car companies quickly followed their example. Before that the Sixth Avenue Company ran a few special cars for colored persons and the other lines refused to let them ride at all.

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

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

Mr. Arthur was nominated on the Presidential ticket, with Gen. James A. Garfield, at the famous National Republican Convention held at Chicago in June, 1880. This was perhaps the greatest political convention that ever assembled on the continent. It was composed of the leading politicians of the Republican party, all able men, and each stood firm and fought vigorously and with signal tenacity for their respective candidates that were before the convention for the nomination. Finally Gen. Garfield received the nomination for President and Gen. Arthur for Vice-President. The campaign which followed was one of the most animated known in the history of our country. Gen. Hancock, the standard-bearer of the Democratic party, was a popular man, and his party made a valiant fight for his election.

Finally the election came and the country's choice vvas Garfield and Arthur. They were inaugurated March 4, 1881, as President and Vice-President. K few months only had passed ere the newly chosen President was the victim of the assassin's bullet. Then came terrible weeks of suffering, - those moments of anxious suspense, when the hearts of all civilized nations were throbbing in unison, longing for the re covery of the noble, the good President. The remarkable patience that he manifested during those hours and weeks, and even months, of the most terrible suffering man has often been called upon to endure, was seemingly more than human. It was certainly Godlike. During all this period of deepest anxiety Mr, Arthur's every move was watched, and be it said to hi? credit that his every action displayed only an earnest desire that the suffering Garfield might recovt;r, u serve the remainder of the term he had so auspi ciously begun. Not a selfish feeling was manifesteC in deed or look of this man, even though the most honored position in the world was at any momen'J likely to fall to him.

At last God in his mercy relieved President Garfield from further suffering, and the world, as nevei before in its history over the death of any othei man, wept at his bier. Then it became the duty o^ the Vice President to c^ssume the responsibilities oi the high office, and he took the oath in New York. Sept. 20, i88r. The position was an embarrassing one to him, made doubly so from the facts that all eyes were, on him, anxious to know what he would do, what policy he would pursue, and who he would select as advisers. The duties of the office had been greatly neglected during the President's long illness, and many important measures were to be immediately decided by him ; and still farther to embarrass him he did not fail to realize under what circumstances he became President, and knew the feelings of many on this point. Under these trying circumstances President Arthur took the reins of the Government in his owr hands; and, as embarrassing as were the condition o^ affairs, he happily surprised the nation, acting so wisely !hat but few criticised his administration. He served the nation well and faithfully, until the close of his administration, March 4, 1885, and was a popular candidate before his party for a second term. His name was ably presented before the convention at Chicago, and was received with great favor, and doubtless but for the personal popularity of one of the opposing candidatesj he would have been selected as the standard-bearer of his party for another campaign. He retired to private life carrying with him the best wishes of the American people, whom he had served in a manner satisfactory to them and with credit to himself.

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