OHIO
Archaeological and Historical
QUARTERLY.
SEPTEMBER, 1887.
SALMON P. CHASE.
THE careful study of a grand and
successful life like that
of Chief Justice Chase cannot fail to be
interesting, whether
viewed with regard to the position
reached by one who
from a farmer's boy in moderate
circumstances came to be
United States Senator, twice Governor of
Ohio, Secretary of
the Treasury, and finally Chief Justice
of the Supreme
Court of the United States; or whether
it be considered with
regard to the character he developed,
and the good he was
able to accomplish. From either point of
view, the study
of such a life must afford to young men
a great incentive to
effort; it will also serve to indicate
the successive steps that
need to be taken and to fix attention
upon the particular
agencies through which success must be
attained. In the
brief time at our disposal, instead of
attempting to present
an orderly narrative of events in the
life of Mr. Chase, we
may perhaps better secure the object if
we state at once
what appear to have been his leading
characteristics, and
what were the elements of his wonderful
strength and
success.
1 Read before the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society at its
Second Annual Meeting, February 24th,
1887.
112 Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
After a somewhat intimate acquaintance
with Mr. Chase for
a period of thirty-five years, many
months of which we lived
under the same roof, and ate at the same
table, we may
venture to attribute his elevation to
three agencies-ability,
character and opportunity; and we
propose to refer to cir-
cumstances in his life and history which
will show how each
of these contributed; and how their
combination secured
the grand result.
The ability displayed by Mr. Chase may
be attributed
in part to original endowment or
inheritance, and partly to
his own determination and persistent and
careful training.
On his father's side he came from a
family of respectable
English Puritans; on the mother's side,
from an equally
respectable family of Scottish
Covenanters. Of the brothers
of his father, one, the Hon. Dudley
Chase, was U. S. Sen-
ator from New Hampshire; another, the
Rev. Philander
Chase, was Episcopal Bishop of Ohio.
Salmon Portland
Chase, the eighth of eleven children of
Ithamar and Janette
Ralston Chase, was born in Cornish, N.
H., January 13th,
1808. Ithamar Chase was a farmer, and
all his children
had their birth and passed their
childhood upon the
farm. The father's death, which occurred
before several
of the children were grown, compelled
the mother and
family to practice steady industry and
careful economy.
Salmon at an early age went to school,
and made such
progress that his uncle, Bishop Chase,
was prompted
to offer him assistance in obtaining a
better education
than
he could otherwise have
secured. When the
Bishop came to Ohio, Salmon was
permitted to come with
him, and for a couple of years he
studied and worked with
his uncle at Worthington, near Columbus.
After two years,
when Bishop Chase went to Cincinnati to
become President
of Cincinnati College, Salmon was taken
with him, and was
already prepared to enter that college.
After a year the
college was closed and the boy returned
to his New England
home. Soon afterward he entered
Dartmouth College,
where all he could earn in addition to
what the mother could
afford to give him was needed to carry
him through; but by
Salmon P. Chase. 113
steady exertion and diligent
application, he was able to grad-
uate from Dartmouth College in 1826 at
the age of eighteen.
Then desiring to study law he went to
Washington, D. C.,
and as a law student entered the office
of the Hon. Wm.
Wirt. Here he was compelled to resort to
teaching in a
classical school in order to earn money
to defray his neces-
sary expenses. After four years of
teaching and study he
was admitted to the bar; then at the age
of twenty-two he
again started for Cincinnati to seek
practice in his profession.
So far we have shown his application and
perseverance
rather than his ability; a single
additional fact will prove that
he was a successful as well as a diligent
student. In Cincin-
nati, finding but little active
business, he collected and made
a careful compilation of all the
statutes then in force in
Ohio, from those of the first
Territorial Legislature in 1798
to 1833. This work required the
examination of four vol-
umes of Adopted Statutes, three volumes
of Territorial
Enactments, and thirty-one volumes of
General Statutes.
The compilation occupied much of his
time for three or four
years. When published it was familiarly
known as Chase's
Statutes, and immediately proved of
great service to the
legal profession of Ohio. It secured for
the author the high
commendation of such jurists as Judge
Story and Chancellor
Kent; the latter of whom, in
acknowledging the receipt of a
copy of the work, uses the following
language: "Your
edition of the Statutes of Ohio is a
great work, and does
credit to your enterprise, industry and
accuracy. Your
sketch of the history of Ohio prefixed
to the first volume is
admirable, and is written with
impartiality, truth and
eloquence. "
That character has much to do with
success in life, will be
made apparent by reference to events in
the life of Mr.
Chase. As we have said of ability, so it
may be said of
character: it is partly a matter of
inheritance, while in part
it is the result of force of individual
will. By the descend-
ants of the Puritans and equally by
those of the Covenanters
subjects are apt to be first considered
in their moral bearings.
With persons so descended the first
question in regard to
114 Ohio Archaeological and Historical
Quarterly.
any proposition will probably be,
"Is it right?" With
some other people the question is more
likely to be, "Will
it pay?" and perhaps with others,
" What will Mrs. Grundy
say?" Mr. Chase was doubtless fortunate in his Puritan
and Covenanter ancestry, but whatever
influence that may
have had, it is certain that he early
acquired the habit of
looking at all questions in their moral
aspects, and this all
through his life was a marked
characteristic.
Passing by his earlier years, of which
many pleasant
things are upon record in a charming
little book for boys
called "The Ferry Boy, and the
Financier," we come to
what may be regarded as his first public
act. In 1827, while
he was a law student, a free colored
citizen of New York,
who was in Washington on business, was
seized and impris-
oned on suspicion of being a runaway
slave. This occur-
rence led to much earnest discussion
both in and out of
Congress, and prompted Mr. Chase with
others to draw up
and obtain signatures to a petition to
Congress praying for
the abolition of slavery and the
slave-trade in the District of
Columbia.
In 1833 James G. Birney, a slave-holder
living in Ala-
bama, became convinced of the manifold
wrongs and evil
results of slavery, and because he was
not allowed under the
laws of that State to emancipate his
slaves, he removed with
them to Cincinnati. The slaves were
there set free and then
assisted to make for themselves a
living. Mr. Birney from
that time devoted his energies to the
anti-slavery cause. In
1836 he established in Cincinnati an
anti-slavery paper called
The Philanthropist, which, although eminently temperate in
tone and spirit, gave great offense to
the business men of
Cincinnati, who evidently feared that
the publication of such
a paper would have the effect to drive
Southern trade from
the city. This feeling grew stronger
from day to day, until
it culminated in a disgraceful mob which
scattered the types
of The Philanthropist about the
streets and threw the press
into the Ohio River. Mr. Chase, who was
well-known to be
utterly opposed to such lawlessness, was
immediately
engaged as attorney for Mr. Birney, and
with rare courage
Salmon P. Chase. 115
he did all in his power to bring the
offenders to justice, and
to maintain for Cincinnati and Ohio the
freedom of speech
and of the press-rights at that time
appreciated by but
very few.
About the same time miscreants in or
about Cincinnati
made a business of capturing slaves who
had escaped from
the South, and of returning them to
their masters for offered
rewards. Colored people not slaves were
frequently kid-
naped and, with or without legal
process, carried across the
river into slavery. Slaveholders often
traveled with their
slaves by boat upon the Ohio River, and
if the boats stopped
upon the Ohio side, the slaves sometimes
took the oppor-
tunity to escape. In one of these
instances, subsequently
known as the Matilda case, where a
master had brought a
slave-girl to Cincinnati, and afterwards
endeavored to take
her back into slavery, Mr. Chase
appeared in her behalf, as
he frequently did in similar cases,
without expectation of
pecuniary reward. After the hearing of
this case, a gentle-
man of note who had been present,
referring to Mr. Chase,
said, "There goes a promising young
lawyer who has just
ruined himself." That gentleman
knew how unpopular in
those days was the defense of the
enslaved and friendless.
While Mr. Chase doubtless lost in social
position and profes-
sional popularity by these efforts, his
ability and genuine
humanity came to be recognized both by
his associates and
by opponents. By this course he became
familiar with, and
thoroughly understood, the legal
questions involved in
slavery, and thus fitted himself to
become the defender of
right and justice not only in the courts
of Cincinnati, but
afterwards in the Senate of the United
States, and finally
upon the Supreme Bench.
These efforts in behalf of the oppressed
and for the free-
dom of speech and of the press, all of
which are fairly
stated in Shucker's "Life of
Chase," illustrate the character
of Mr. Chase but in part. They indeed
show his courage
and independence, and his unselfish
devotion to the interests
of humanity; but the purity of his life,
and his absolute
conscientiousness cannot be better told
than in the words of
116 Ohio
Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
Governor Hoadly, spoken at the time the
remains of Mr.
Chase found their final resting place in
Spring Grove Ceme-
tery. In an address for which all the
friends of Mr. Chase
will heartily thank Governor Hoadly, and
the truth of which
they will fully endorse, the speaker
said:
"What helped him -yes, what made
him, was this: He 'walked with
God.' The predominant element of his
life, that which gave tone and color
to his thoughts, and determined the
direction of all he did was his striving
after righteousness. I do not refer to
his theology, his theory of the Divine
Nature; he could as easily work with a
Unitarian, or Quaker, or Free-
thinker, as with a member of his own
church. The right of free thought
upon the greatest of topics which he
claimed for himself he conceded to all,
never pressing his influence in such
matters upon the youngest and most im-
mature of his associates. He was alike
the friend of Theodore Parker
and Chas. P. McIlvaine; he was a
communicant and attached member of
the Protestant Episcopal Church, of
which his Uncle Philander, in whose
family and under whose tutelage he
passed a part of his boyhood at Worth-
ington, in Ohio, was not only a Bishop
but a strong Bishop. But I refer tog-
the personal relations which he believed
himself to occupy toward the
Divine Power. To him God was not simply
a name, but a living presence;
not the author of a machine set in
motion, and then abandoned, but his
companion and guide, ready to draw near
when sought in prayer, in medi-
tation, in self-sacrifice, in good
works, and right life. His God was his
Master, daily and hourly bidding him be
up and at his work, trusting to him
talents and opportunities not for
self-gratification, but for use in the Divine
warfare, the royal battle against
temptation within and wrong without.
Behind the dusky face of every black man
he saw his Savior, the Divine
man, also scourged, also in prison, at
last crucified. This is what made him
what he was. To this habit of referring
to Divine guidance every act of his
life, we owe the closing words of the
Proclamation of Emancipation, which
Mr. Lincoln added from Chase's pen, as
follows: 'and upon this act, sin-
cerely believed to be an act of justice
warranted by the Constitution upon
military necessity, I invoke the
considerate judgment of all mankind, and
the gracious favor of Almighty God.' He
had dainty tastes, disliked the
unclean in word or person; but he put
his pleasure under his feet when
duty led him to the rescue of the lowly.
He had a large frame and mighty
passions, but they were under absolute
control."
A man of ability and character may for a
time be left in
the shade, but opportunity for effective
action is sure to
come to him who earnestly works and
patiently waits. Mr.
Chase had abundant opportunity to
demonstrate his ability,
and to prove his courage in the face of
mobs, and to show
his self-sacrificing devotion to truth
and right while he was
the voluntary defender of the enslaved
race without expecta-
Salmon P. Chase. 117
tion of fee or reward. Finally the
opportunity came to
display the same ability, courage and
devotion upon more
conspicuous fields.
In the winter of 1837, or fifty years
ago, at the trial of the
Matilda case, already mentioned, a
medical student, then
attending lectures at the Cincinnati
Medical College, was
present and attentively listened to all
the proceedings. Being
an earnest abolitionist, he was deeply
moved by the unhappy
position of the poor slave girl, and was
especially indignant
at what he regarded as the specious
argument and bold
assumptions of the attorney for the
claimant. The defense
for the slave-girl was conducted by a
young attorney whose
evident sympathy, sincerity and masterly
ability, however it
may have failed to affect the Court,
filled the mind of that
medical student with the highest
admiration. Although old
enough to have voted at one or two
previous elections, he
had refused to support the candidates of
either of what he
regarded as pro-slavery parties; but
after hearing the argu-
ment of the young attorney and learning
his name, he said,
"There is a man I can and will vote
for whenever I have the
opportunity." That young attorney,
I scarcely need to say,
was S. P. Chase; that medical student
was the writer of this
paper. Before the opportunity came to
vote for Mr. Chase
he had met that gentlemen several times
at anti-slavery
conventions, particularly at one held in
Columbus in Decem-
ber, 1841, at which the Liberty Party of
Ohio was organ-
ized, and again at the Free Soil
Convention at Buffalo
in 1848.
How the opportunity to vote for Mr.
Chase finally
came will be briefly stated. In 1848,
after that student had
become a physician and surgeon in busy
practice, he was
nominated and elected to the lower
branch of the General
Assembly of Ohio by the Free Soil men of
Lorain County,
and by them instructed as their
Representative, when in the
Legislature, "to act with any
party, or against any party, as
in his judgment the cause of freedom
should require."
When the time arrived for the
Legislature to meet, it was
found that the House could not organize,
on account of a
118
Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
difference between the Whig and
Democratic parties-grow-
ing out of a division of Hamilton County
for election
purposes, which the Whig party, being in
a majority in
a previous Legislature, had made-both
parties having
claimants for two seats. There were also
other contested
seats in the House, and besides these
the election for Gover-
nor had not yet been decided. After a
long struggle, when
both branches of the General Assembly
were finally organ-
ized, this was found to be their
political complexion: In the
Senate the Whigs and Democrats were a
tie--Senator
Randall, a Free Soil Whig, was elected
Speaker. In the
House the Democrats lacked one of having
half the mem-
bers; the Whigs adding several Free Soil
men who had been
elected by the aid of Whig votes, also
lacked one of having
half the members. Besides the Democrats,
Whigs and Free
Soilers already mentioned, there were
two Free Soil mem-
bers-Col. John F. Morse, of Lake County,
and Dr. N. S.
Townshend, of Lorain County-who had been
elected in
opposition to candidates of both Whig
and Democratic
parties, and were therefore independent
of both. Before
the House was organized all the anti-slavery
members came
together for a conference or caucus. A
gentleman of large
political influence, though not a member
of either branch,
had been invited to be present and give
to the conference
the benefit of his counsel. He urged
upon the members of
the conference the importance of perfect
agreement among
themselves as affording the only hope of
securing any anti-
slavery legislation, or the election of
any anti-slavery man
to the United States Senate. A resolution was then
introduced pledging each member of the
conference to vote
upon all occasions as a majority of the
conference should
direct. To this obligation most of those
present agreed.
Dr. Townshend refused to give the
requisite pledge, because
eleven of the thirteen Free Soil members
present were, to a
greater or less extent, under
obligations to the Whig party,
and it appeared evident to him that such
a pledge would
compel him to act only with the Whig
party, and contrary to
the instructions of his constituents.
Col. Morse took a
Salmon P. Chase. 119
similar view of the situation, and also
declined to give any
pledge, believing, with his Free Soil
colleague, that if the
Whig party could not be induced to
support anti-slavery
men or measures, there might be a
possibility of obtaining
aid from the Democratic party. It should
be understood
that an anti-slavery and progressive
spirit had begun to be
manifest among some of the members of
that party. In the
State of New York this was still more
apparent, anti-slavery
Democrats being there known as
Barn-burners, in distinction
from the unprogressive wing of the party
who were known
as Hunkers. In Ohio many young Democrats
were partici-
pating in anti-slavery movements under
the name of the
Free Democracy. At the close of the
conference referred
to a resolution was introduced to
exclude Morse and Town-
shend from future consultations. This
served to convince
those gentlemen that they occupied a
common position, and
must in future act together and
independently of others.
Had they submitted to the demands of the
caucus, the Whig
party would at once have secured the
ascendancy, and prob-
ably little or no anti-slavery progress
would have been made.
Some time after this Mr. Chase came to
Columbus to argue
a case before the Supreme Court. He was
waited upon by
Morse and Townshend, and requested to
draft a bill for the
repeal of the Black Laws. This he did,
and the bill was
promptly introduced in the House by Col.
Morse. The
Black Laws, very properly so called,
prohibited the settle-
ment of black or mulatto persons in Ohio
unless they could
show a certificate of their freedom, and
obtain two free-
holders to give security for their good
behavior and main-
tenance in the event of their becoming a
public charge.
And unless this certificate of freedom
was duly recorded and
produced, it was made a penal offense
for any white person
to give employment to a black or
mulatto. The common
school system of Ohio made provision for
white children
only, and the children of black or
mulatto persons were ex-
cluded from all the common schools.
Worst of all, no black
or mulatto person could be sworn or
allowed to testify before
any Court in the State in any case where
a white person was
120 Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
a party. This exposed colored people to
all sorts of wrongs,
and left them without legal protection.
The arrangement by which these Black
Laws were
repealed and Mr. Chase elected to the
Senate of the United
States was as follows: Wm. Allen was the
choice of the
Democrats for Senator, while Thomas
Ewing was the choice
of the Whigs. Most of the Free Soil
members, with Col.
Morse, preferred Joshua R. Giddings,
then Representative
in Congress from Morse's district, and
Townshend preferred
Mr. Chase, but both of these Independent
Free Soilers
cared more for the election to the
Senate of some reliable
and strong anti-slavery man, than for
that of any particular
individual. Col. Morse was therefore
authorized by Town-
shend to propose to Whig members that if
they would first
aid in the repeal of the Black Laws and
then in the election
of Mr. Giddings to the Senate, he and
his colleague would
vote for the Whig candidates for the
Supreme Bench, who
at that time were chosen by the General
Assembly. Dr.
Townshend was authorized by Col. Morse
to make an
equivalent proposition to Democrats, to
the effect that if
they would first aid in the repeal of
the Black Laws and in
the election of Mr. Chase to the Senate,
then the two Inde-
pendent Free Soil members would aid in
electing the
Democratic nominees for the Supreme
Bench. Both
political parties were especially
solicitous to secure a majority
of the Supreme Court, because it was
thought probable that
questions growing out of the division of
Hamilton County
might come before that Court for final
adjudication. A
large majority of the Whig members were
willing to accept
the proposition made to them by Col.
Morse; a few mem-
bers, understood to be only four,
knowing the hostility of
their constituents to the anti-slavery
views of Mr. Giddings,
or for other reasons, refused their
assent to the arrangement.
The proposition made by Dr. Townshend to
the Democratic
members was accepted; Col. Morse's bill
to provide schools
for colored children, and to repeal all
previous acts or parts
of acts making distinctions on account
of color, passed the
House as drafted. The Senate made two or
three changes in
Salmon P. Chase. 112
the bill which were not amendments. When the Senate
and House came together in joint
convention, Mr. Chase was
elected Senator on the fourth ballot,
and two of the Demo-
cratic candidates for the Supreme Bench
were afterwards
elected. Fortunately for anti-slavery
progress, the Demo-
cratic party had at that time several
popular candidates for
the two judgeships, and to avoid
controversy between their
friends the two Free Soilers were
allowed their choice from
the number. Whatever of praise or of
blame attached to
the agreement, coalition or bargain, by
which the Black
Laws were repealed and Mr. Chase elected
to the Senate,
the entire responsibility rests with
Morse and Townshend.
Mr. Chase neither suggested nor directed
the arrangement.
While he expressed hearty approval of
what related to Mr.
Giddings, he certainly used no
dishonorable or even ques-
tionable means to secure the actual
result. That this was
well understood at the time may be
inferred from the fact
that after serving the State for six
years in the Senate, he
was twice elected for Governor by the
people, and then a
second time elected by the Legislature
to the United States
Senate.
In the Senate, from 1849 to 1855, Mr.
Chase vigorously
opposed the repeal of what was known as
the Missouri Com-
promise of 1820, which entitled the Free
States to insist
that all territory north of 36°
30' should forever remain free
from slavery. He also insisted that slavery, which was
exclusively a State institution, should
be excluded from all
National territory. This was the
question in controversy
when Kansas was settled, where the
battle for freedom was
fought by plucky emigrants from Ohio and
other free States;
and it was fought with equal courage by
Chase, and Sum-
ner, and Hale, and Wade in the Senate.
Mr. Chase opposed
the Fugitive Law with equal earnestness.
This villainous
enactment not only made of the free
States a hunting
ground for runaways, but appointed
official miscreants to aid
in their capture, and bribed them to
enslave free persons by
allowing twice as much in fees for those
consigned to slavery
as for those that could not be so
disposed of. Mr. Chase
122
Ohio Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly.
made the best of the opportunity thus
afforded to do battle
for the right. He disregarded alike the
suggestions of self-
interest and of personal danger, and
evidently endeavored to
live up to the rule, "
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,
do it with thy might."
Before Mr. Chase's Senatorial term had
expired, he was
elected Governor of Ohio. Soon after
assuming the duties
of that office he was compelled to give
attention to several
fugitive slave cases. Both legal ability
and firmness were
necessary in his attempts to secure
justice for the fugitives,
and to fulfill the constitutional
obligations of Ohio to other
States. The defalcation of Breslin, a
former State Treasurer,
which came to light during Mr. Chase's
administration,
required prompt action on the part of
the Governor, who
was found equal to the occasion, which
gave him an oppor-
tunity to show that he had no tolerance
for official rascality.
Before his term of office had expired,
he was renominated
and again elected Governor. During his
second term of
office he gave earnest attention to an
important measure
which had much to do with the part Ohio
was able to take
in suppressing the slaveholders'
rebellion. Anticipating the
final struggle, as many anti-slavery men
did, he saw the
importance of having the militia of the
State in an effective
condition. At his earnest
recommendation, in 1857, an act
was passed by the General Assembly of
Ohio which at once
had the effect to put the militia upon a
better footing. In
the summer of 1858 Mr. Chase ordered a
review of all the
State militia, and many companies of
infantry and artillery
were brought together at Columbus. A
volume of military
regulations and tactics was also ordered
to be published. The
anti-slavery agitation was gradually
becoming more and more
intense. John Brown made his attack upon
Harper's Ferry,
and following this, Governor Wise, of
Virginia, expressed
by letter to Mr. Chase his determination
to pursue any such
organizations if necessary into
neighboring States, and to
punish their abettors where he could
find them. To this
communication Mr. Chase replied that
Ohio would fulfil her
obligations to other States, but would
not permit the invasion
Salmon P. Chase. 123
of her territory by bodies of armed men
from other States
under any pretense whatever. Near the
expiration of his
second term as Governor, he was, on the
second of Febru-
ary, 1860, re-elected to the Senate of
the United States.
In 1861, when several of the Southern
States had signified
their intention of seceding from the
Union unless allowed to
extend slavery into the territories
recently acquired from
Mexico, the Legislature of Virginia
invited the authorities of
other States to appoint commissioners to
meet at Washing-
ton and attempt to adjust the unhappy
differences in a spirit
of compromise. Seven slave States and
fourteen free
States responded to the invitation, Mr. Dennison,
then
Governor, appointing Mr. Chase and six
able associates on
behalf of Ohio. At the conference it was
soon seen that
the commissioners from the slave States
would expect
inadmissible concessions. Mr. Chase and
his associates
therefore proposed to refer all matters
of difference to a con-
vention of all the States. In an address
to the conference
he warned the commissioners from the
Slave states that
"on the coming fourth of March Mr.
Lincoln will be
inaugurated, and will take an oath to
support and defend the
Constitution of the United States-of all
the United States,
and that oath will bind him to take care
that the laws are
faithfully executed throughout the
United States. Will
secession absolve him from that oath? If
the President does
his duty, and secession or revolution
result, what then?
Civil war! Let us not plunge headlong
into that unfathom-
able gulf," etc. Such faithful
words had little effect, and the
conference was ended without apparent
beneficial result.
Two days after Mr. Lincoln's
inauguration, Mr. Chase was
nominated for Secretary of the Treasury.
He had no aspi-
rations for such a position, but his
sense of duty to the
country would not allow him to decline
the appointment.
Few persons can know the anxiety and
labor which the office
at that time involved. The whole country
now seems to be
agreed in regard to the ability, the
absolute integrity, and
the success with which its important
duties were discharged.
On this point an item of testimony from
an unprejudiced
124 Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
source may possibly be of interest. Upon
the only occasion
when the writer of this paper was under
the necessity of
taking command of an armed steamer, a
Confederate battery
was captured, and, with other officers
and men, a rebel pay-
master. This occurred upon the
Mississippi River toward
the close of 1863. The paymaster had
already become dis-
couraged at the prospects of the
Confederacy; for, while he
claimed that the Confederates had far
better officers and
equally as good soldiers, he said that
the result of this con-
flict would not depend alone upon the
fighting qualities of
the combatants. "The
Federals," he said, "have for their
Secretary of the Treasury, S. P. Chase, a
man who has the
public confidence to such an extent that
not only are the
present resources of the whole North at
his command, but
he can borrow all the money he needs
upon favorable terms.
The Confederacy has in a corresponding
position an officer
who inspires no such confidence, and who
can scarcely bor-
row a dollar even at the most ruinous
rates. If the conflict
could be decided at once, and by bullets
alone, the Confed-
erates would have a fair prospect of
success, but it is plain
enough that it will not be so decided;
but that the govern-
ment which can longest feed, and clothe,
and equip its men
is certain to succeed, and therefore the
Confederacy has no
possible chance."
In consequence of want of agreement
between himself and
the President in regard to the
appointment of his assistants,
in June, 1864, Mr. Chase resigned the
Secretaryship of the
Treasury. In December of the same year
he was nominated
by Mr. Lincoln to be Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court.
His confirmation by the Senate was
immediate, and without
the usual formality of a reference. If
this position had been
at any time the object of his ambition,
it finally came to him
without personal seeking. That he was
eminently fitted for
the place few doubted; and that he
honored the office as
much as he was honored by it was
generally believed. This
responsible position he held until his
death, on the seventh of
May, 1873, at the age of sixty-five
years.
Salmon P. Chase. 125
That Mr. Chase aspired to the Presidency
in 1860, and
again in 1864, is believed, and that
many of his friends who
knew him best earnestly desired to see
him in that position
is certainly true. They believed that he
had the legal
knowledge, the good judgment, and the
courage to do his
whole duty in any emergency. Many of the
early anti-
slavery men were dissatisfied with what
they regarded as the
extreme caution of Mr. Lincoln. With
this feeling Mr.
Chase probably sympathized; that he
would have acted much
more promptly than Mr. Lincoln did on
many occasions may
be regarded as certain. What the final
result of such a
course might have been none can tell.
Referring to these
aspirations, Mr. Justice Mathews, on the
occasion already
referred to, when the remains of Mr.
Chase were taken to
Spring Grove Cemetery, said: "Mr.
Chase was ambitious in
this sense alone: that there was, as he
believed, a work for
him to do that he was called to perform,
and that he could
do that work better than any man he
knew. It was an honest
ambition; it was a noble ambition; it
was, as has been said
to his credit, a God-fearing ambition;
for every purpose of
his life, every object set before
himself for achievement, was
taken and prosecuted under the most
solemn sense of his
responsibility to Him whom alone he
acknowledged as the
Master of Man."
Of Mr. Chase's beautiful, though
sorrowful, family life the
writer of this paper can say but little.
In 1834 Mr. Chase
was married to Miss Garniss, and in 1835
he was left a wid-
ower. In 1839 he was married to Miss
Smith, and in 1845
he was again a widower. He was a third
time married, in
1846, to Miss Ludlow, and in 1852 he was
called to mourn
her loss. Of six children, only two
accomplished and beau-
tiful daughters were left to grace his
home.
In many respects the life of Mr. Chase
illustrates what is
true in the life of nearly every great
and good man. In the
first place, as we have seen, he had
ability; and we may pause
a moment to inquire whether that ability
was a natural gift
or the result of laborious, persistent
training. While believ-
ing that there are original differences,
and that some may
126 Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
achieve a success for which others would
strive in vain, stil
it is true that every man is largely the
maker of himself. If
we ask how this is done, the life of Mr.
Chase supplies the
answer - only by well - directed and
persistent work. Then
ability alone, without character, will
be likely to prove a dis-
appointment or a snare. A man must have
character; he
must be true, and pure, and good; true
to himself, to his
own ideal, or he cannot respect himself,
and will not be likely
to secure the respect of others; his
life must be pure or he
cannot trust himself, nor can others
trust him; and he must
be good or considerate of the rights and
happiness of others,
and kindly sympathetic and helpful. Such
a character will
rarely fail to win what it secured for
Mr. Chase - the perfect
confidence and highest esteem of all who
thoroughly knew
him. The possession of ability and
character is almost cer-
tain to be recognized and in demand for
important service;
for, bad as the world sometimes appears
to be, it rarely fails
to see that goodness is more trustworthy
than its opposite;
so that a man with ability and character
is sure to find oppor-
tunity to do good, if not in the field
he prefers, yet in some
field where he may work with pleasure
and success. How
strikingly was this illustrated in the
life of Mr. Chase? He
worked and patiently waited until
opportunity came. Had
he sat still and waited, probably the
opportunity would never
have come; but, when he became known,
high and respon-
sible duties were almost thrust upon
him.
In closing, we will again use the
language of Justice
Mathews: "The character and life,
and public and private
history of Mr. Chase are worthy the
study of every young
American, that he may imitate the
example of his private
conduct, and seek to emulate his public
career; for there is
nothing more astonishing than a
contemplation of the inter-
esting and important public events which
constitute the his-
tory of our people and Nation from the
period when Mr.
Chase first became known in Cincinnati,
the city of his
adoption."
N. S. TOWNSHEND.
OHIO
Archaeological and Historical
QUARTERLY.
SEPTEMBER, 1887.
SALMON P. CHASE.
THE careful study of a grand and
successful life like that
of Chief Justice Chase cannot fail to be
interesting, whether
viewed with regard to the position
reached by one who
from a farmer's boy in moderate
circumstances came to be
United States Senator, twice Governor of
Ohio, Secretary of
the Treasury, and finally Chief Justice
of the Supreme
Court of the United States; or whether
it be considered with
regard to the character he developed,
and the good he was
able to accomplish. From either point of
view, the study
of such a life must afford to young men
a great incentive to
effort; it will also serve to indicate
the successive steps that
need to be taken and to fix attention
upon the particular
agencies through which success must be
attained. In the
brief time at our disposal, instead of
attempting to present
an orderly narrative of events in the
life of Mr. Chase, we
may perhaps better secure the object if
we state at once
what appear to have been his leading
characteristics, and
what were the elements of his wonderful
strength and
success.
1 Read before the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society at its
Second Annual Meeting, February 24th,
1887.