Ohio History Journal

THE OHIO G. A. R. AND POLITICS FROM 1866 TO 1900.*

 

By EDWARD NOYES

 

The Grand Army of the Republic was founded in Illinois by

Dr. B. F. Stephenson in early April, 1866, and its First National

Encampment was held in Indianapolis in November of the same

year under the direction of the founder. At the first meeting

eleven departments were represented; two years later when the

Second National Encampment was convened in Philadelphia, evi-

dence of growth of the organization was noted in the fact that

twenty-one departments sent delegates.1

The founding of the Ohio Department of the G. A. R. came

shortly after that of the National Encampment. Because depart-

ment records were lost or destroyed while being shipped yearly to

the headquarters and residences of the various commanders, in-

formation concerning the early life of the order is meager. In-

deed, only one organized source outside newspaper accounts is

available for the proceedings of the department encampments held

in Ohio from 1867 up to and including 1880.² Because of the lack

of records, the exact date on which General B. F. Potts was ap-

pointed provisional commander of the Ohio Department is un-

known as are the dates of the formation of the first Ohio posts.

The roster for December, 1867, is said, however, to have assigned

No. 1 to a post at Carrollton and No. 2 to one at Zanesville.³

 

* This article is based upon two chapters from a doctoral dissertation written in

1945 at the Ohio State University and entitled "A History of the Grand Army of the

Republic in Ohio from 1866 to 1900." The emphasis is laid, however, upon the fourth

chapter of the dissertation, "Politics and Preferment."

1 No meeting was held in 1867. See Robert B. Beath, History of the Grand Army

of the Republic (New York, 1888), 36 et passim. Hereafter this work will be cited as

Beath, History of the G. A. R.

2 The work of Comrade T. D. McGillicuddy, Proceedings of the Annual and Semi-

Annual Encampments of the Department of Ohio Grand Army of the Republic for the

First Fourteen Years of Its Existence (Columbus, O., 1912) is the source to which

reference is made, and which will be cited in this article hereafter as McGillicuddy,

Proceedings. Prior to 1880, departmental Proceedings were not printed in permanent

form, and McGillicuddy was forced to rely upon newspaper sources for his compilation.

See The Ohio Soldier (Chillicothe, O.), Sept. 24, 1887, in substantiation of this point.

McGillicuddy also published his work in scattered issues of The Ohio Soldier from Aug.

27, 1887, to Aug. 18, 1888.

3 McGillicuddy, Proceedings, 4; Beath, History of the G. A. R., 501-2: See also let-

ter of R. B. Beath to J. E. Stewart, April 4, 1888, G. A. R. Correspondence, Archives

of Adjutant General, State of Ohio, in the Department of Documents, Ohio State

Archaeological and Historical Society Library. Hereafter material taken from this source

will be cited as G. A. R. Correspondence.

79

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80    OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Nor is an accurate statement of the Ohio membership avail-

able for the early years, although in 1873 it was estimated that

shortly after its founding the order had been 10,000 strong.⁴ By

the spring of 1869, when the Third National Encampment met at

Cincinnati, membership in the Department of Ohio supposedly

stood first in the nation with an estimated 30,000 adherents who

belonged to 303 posts.⁵ Yet almost over night a very serious

decline in membership began, not only in G. A. R. groups in Ohio,

but also in all parts of the United States as well.

This loss of comrades tremendously weakened the Ohio G.

A. R. throughout the seventies. Various reasons for the shrink-

age in numbers were given by those interested. Among the more

important were the following: the introduction in 1869 of a

graded system of membership which created great dissatisfaction

and led to desertion among the comrades; a leadership composed

of ministers and physicians who stressed only the social aspects

of the order; public suspicion toward the G. A. R. as a secret or-

ganization; the undue interest of the order in politics. Less im-

portant reasons for the loss of strength were mentioned as fol-

lows: the veterans' lack of time and money to continue in the

activities of the society; the disappointments, personal or political,

of ambitious members; the failure of officials to discharge their

duties correctly; the lack of information as to the true purposes

of the order.⁶

Whatever the reason for the loss of strength, only about 900

members remained in the Ohio Department by 1870, while three

years later there were only about 800. At this time there were

only nineteen posts left of the once prosperous organization.⁷ By

1875 the order in Ohio was even yet weaker and had come to be

practically non-existent as in that year membership fell to less

than 400, and only eight posts remained.⁸

But brighter days were ahead with regard to the matter of

membership. In 1877 a slight upswing in the number of both posts

 

4 McGillicuddy, Proceedings, 72.

5 Proceedings of the Eighteenth Annual Encampment of the Department of Ohio,

G. A. R. Held at Zanesville, Ohio, January 30 and 31, 1884, 24. Hereafter these works

will be cited as Proceedings of the . . . Encampment.

6 McGillicuddy, Proceedings, 130; Proceedings of the Eighteenth Encampment, 25.

7 McGillicuddy, Proceedings, 4, 72.

8 Ibid., 4; Proceedings of the Eighteenth Encampment, 24.

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OHIO G. A. R. AND POLITICS, 1866-1900          81

 

and comrades was reported.⁹ This recovery of strength gained

gradual momentum until in January, 1880, there were twenty-four

posts in the department with 1,167 comrades in good standing.¹⁰

With the opening of the eighties, a period of marked expansion

and growth began. This lasted until 1890 when a peak figure of

49,011 members in good standing was reached.11 To John S.

Kountz, who became department commander in 1881, was due

much of the credit for inaugurating the great prosperity which the

society enjoyed during the decade. His remarkable achievement

of adding over six thousand members to the Ohio Department in

a single year won him the praise of the Commander-in-Chief of

the National Encampment. On January 18, 1882, that officer

wired Kountz as follows: "Hail to Ohio! The little child has

become a giant. Your comrades of the whole country congratu-

late you."12

The expansion begun under the administration of Com-

mander Kountz continued unfalteringly as the years passed. In

1884, when the Eighteenth Encampment was meeting at Zanes-

ville, it was reported that Grand Army posts had been organized

in all Ohio counties except Guernsey and Noble.¹³ Over seven

hundred were established by 1890, and some posts in the larger

cities such as Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo contained several

hundred members. In 1887, for example, J. C. McCoy Post, No.

1, at Columbus reported 601 members in good standing.14 By

1889, the year in which the Twenty-Third Encampment met at

Toledo, a membership of well over forty-three thousand for the

department was reached, and the Ohio Department of the G. A. R.

assumed the position of largest department in the National En-

campment.15

Several factors contributed to the growth of the Ohio De-

partment during the eighties. The society began to appear as the

spokesman for the pension claims of Union veterans, at the same

 

9 McGillicuddy, Proceedings, 124.

10 Ibid., 156.

11 Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Encampment, 6, 106 (appendix).

12 Proceedings of the Sixteenth Encampment, 46.

13 Proceedings of the Eighteenth Encampment, 31-2.

14 Proceedings of the Twenty-First Encampment, 171.

15 Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Encampment, 27, 199; E. F. Weigel to Josiah

Holbrook, February 25, 1889, G. A. R. Correspondence.

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82    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

time that it made strenuous efforts to care for indigent survivors

of the war and their dependents and for the widows and orphans

of those who had answered the last roll call. The order's slogan

of Fraternity, Charity and Loyalty was not a meaningless formula.

Another very important reason for the expansion of the organiza-

tion lay in the fact that during the early eighties a systematic

scheme was inaugurated to obtain new followers by a program of

education and solicitation among non-member Union veterans re-

siding within the State. Social affairs such as Memorial Day

activities and Grand Army gatherings in general also attracted

members. The convening of the National Encampment in Co-

lumbus in 1888 was probably responsible for a good share of the

gain of almost five thousand comrades for the year because many

joined the order under the spell of enthusiasm engendered by the

anticipated event.¹⁶

After reaching its zenith in 1890, however, the Department of

Ohio began almost at once to lose large numbers of comrades.

This decline continued unchecked throughout the nineties and has

so continued with but little change to the present day. In 1891,

membership was reported at 46,62517 nearly four thousand less

than the all-time high figure reported only a year before. At the

close of 1895, a following of 36,293 was reported;18 by 1900,

membership in good standing had fallen to 27,031.19

As the years passed, the Grand Army comrades in Ohio came

to realize that the organization to which they belonged was no

longer capable of maintaining its strength. Losses by suspen-

sions, disinterest, and death were thinning the ranks, while non-

member veterans eligible for membership were also growing fewer

in number. Formation of posts in small towns and isolated com-

munities was no longer encouraged, and the consolidation of

posts, which were diminishing in size in the larger towns and

cities, was urged throughout the order. Recruiting continued, it

 

16 For statistical comment, see Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Encampment, 33;

Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Encampment, 41. For the enthusiastic attitude toward

the Grand Army and recruiting, see H. L. Curtis to J. W. O'Neall, July 21, 1888; C.

W. Chase to J. W. O'Neall, July 25, 1888; W. C. Cook to J. W. O'Neall, Aug. 2,

1888, G. A. R. Correspondence.

17 Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Encampment, 82.

18 Proceedings of the Thirtieth Encampment, 49.

19 Proceedings of the Thirty-Fourth Encampment, 77.

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OHIO G. A. R. AND POLITICS, 1866-1900                  83

 

is true, but losses were outstripping gains.²⁰ Letters to Depart-

ment Headquarters reflect the sorry condition of affairs existing

in some of the Grand Army posts during this period. "The near-

est I can eome to it is that nobody cares," wrote a comrade in one

letter after stating in another that he was the only man in his post

to pay his dues for the year past.21

It should not be assumed that because members were falling

away from the G. A. R. during the last decade of the nineteenth

century the order in Ohio was defunct or impotent. Quite the

contrary was true. Ohioans of the period still anticipated its

campfires and encampments in scores of communities where life

did not offer social activities on the scale of later times.   Officers

and comrades of the society were feted and eulogized by the cit-

izenry for their part in a war still vivid in the memories of mil-

lions of Americans, and visits of department officials were occa-

sions of no little significance for posts and communities through-

out the State. The passage of time was beginning to tell on the

vitality of the society, however, and by the turn of the century it

was ceasing to be the powerful force it had been a dozen years

earlier.

It was during the height of its prosperity and expansion that

the G. A. R. in Ohio gave greatest evidence of interest and activ-

ity in politics.   Ostensibly, the order was, in accordance with

stipulations laid down in the Grand Army Rules and Regulations,

non-political in character. Article XI, Chapter 5 of the Rules

and Regulations listed specific prohibitions upon the discussion of

partisan questions at any of the meetings of the society, upon the

use of the organization for political purposes, and upon political

activity on the part of the membership.²² To political activities

within the organization, such as those involved in the selection of

department or post officials, these principles did not apply.

 

20 Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Encampment, 10-11; Proceedings of the Twenty-

Seventh Encampment, 55, 56; Proceedings of the Twenty-Eighth Encampment, 62-63,

177; Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Encampment, 47; Proceedings of the Thirtieth

Encampment, 42, 49-50, 62; Proceedings of the Thirty-First Encampment, 59, 64; D. G.

Smith to H. H. Nut [E. E. Nutt], Oct. 4, 1894, G. A. R. Correspondence.

21 W. H. Ray to T. B. Marshall, July 30 and Aug. 2, 1894, G. A. R. Correspond-

ence. For other letters descriptive of the same conditions, see Noah Wehrly to E. E.

Nutt, Dec. 24, 1894; W. F. Flick to T. B. Marshall, Jan. 15, 1895; Edward Lee to E.

E. Nutt, Feb. 15, 1895, ibid.

22 Rules and Regulations of the Grand Army of the Republic . . . (n.p., n.d.), 37.

Robert B. Beath, The Grand Army Blue Book . . . (Philadelphia, 1888), 115. Here-

after this work will be cited as Beath, Blue Book.

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84   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

In many instances, there is no doubt that comrades sought

earnestly to abide by the rulings listed. Many times, during the

course of department gatherings, objections were made when a

question under discussion became related to politics or political

figures. The interest shown, however, by the G. A. R. in such

issues as pension matters or the southern question made it almost

inevitable that the comrades align themselves with the political

party which favored their views. Indirectly related to external

political activity was the intra-departmental political activity.

Candidates whose views upon vital issues coincided with those of

the comrades were more likely to succeed in obtaining depart-

mental offices. Sometimes, the contests for such places were

keen, and more than one member secured places of influence either

in governmental positions or in the Grand Army itself by playing

politics.

Mention has been made of the harmful effect of Grand Army

participation in political activity during the early years of the

society's existence. The question arises as to why the same effects

did not result from later political activities on the part of the

organization. It might be suggested that, in their maturer years,

the comrades adopted more skillful techniques in securing their

objects. For example, the Grand Army Pension Committee was

a permanent body which worked steadily toward a satisfactory

solution of one of the veterans' most urgent needs. Furthermore,

the election of Grand Army members to prominent political po-

sitions helped to attract membership, since it seemed to the aver-

age veteran that with "his men" in office desired objectives would

be more certain of attainment. The restoration of white control

in the South and the political activity of ex-Confederates also

probably strengthened the G. A. R., for the organization seemed

a sort of political bulwark against "rebel rule." In addition, it

was but natural that the middle-aged comrade would show more

interest in public affairs and positions of influence during the

eighties and nineties than did the youthful veteran during the

sixties and seventies. With these suggestions in mind, one can

see why the Grand Army feasted upon politics without injury

during the later period.

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OHIO G. A. R. AND POLITICS, 1866-1900                    85

 

It would be a lengthy task to list the names of Grand Army

members in Ohio who at some time in their lives held either major

or minor positions in governmental affairs of the State or the na-

tion. It would be equally fruitless to list the number of occasions

on which Grand Army leaders in Ohio denied the existence of

political activity on the part of the society or its members in meet-

ings of the organization. At the First Encampment held at Colum-

bus in 1867 such a stand was taken.²³                               In   1900, the same view

was expressed at the Thirty-fourth                        Encampment.²⁴       The cor-

respondence of the Ohio Department also contains much proof

of the order's unwillingness to participate in politics.²⁵     Upon the

election of Harrison to the Presidency in 1888, a suggested visit

of an Ohio G. A. R. delegation to the President-elect resulted in

a flood of letters which went from official to official and which,

for the most part, disapproved of the project. The project was

dropped since it was felt by those involved that such a visit would

bring more criticism upon the Grand Army than that which

already was falling upon it because of its alleged political activ-

ity.²⁶

It was but natural that prominent political leaders such as

Hayes, McKinley and Foraker--to mention only a few--should

be considered by the comrades in Ohio as being their truest

friends.   These men had been soldiers, and it was felt by the

comrades that they regarded issues of interest to the veterans

from the same viewpoint as that of the ordinary comrade. It

must be remembered, however, that such political leaders were

powerful figures who owed much to their Grand Army following

and its influence in vote-getting. Just how many votes the Grand

Army in Ohio could deliver is, for obvious reasons, a matter im-

 

23 McGillicuddy, Proceedings, 9.

24 Proceedings of the Thirty-Fourth Encampment, 131, 183.

²⁵ J. W. Byron to J. W. O'Neall, Jan. 19, 1889; Albert Norris to J. W. O'Neall,

Dec. 24, 1888, and Jan. 1, 1889; W. F. Pearis to Josiah Holbrook, Sept. 18, 1888,

G. A. R. Correspondence. See also Josiah Holbrook to W. F. Pearis, Oct. 4, 1888,

"G.A.R. Letter Book, 1888-1890," 373; J. W. O'Neall to Albert Norris, Jan. 4 and

12, 1889, ibid., 888-889, 982; T. B. Marshall to W. S. Merchant, April 26, 1895, "G.

A.R. Letter Book, 1894-1895," 120-121; E. E. Nutt to W. S. Merchant, ibid., 123.

26 John T. Raper to J. W. O'Neall, Nov. 19, 1888; H. U. Johnson to J. W.

O'Neall, Nov. 19, 1888; H. P. Lloyd to J. W. O'Neall, Nov. 19, 1888; R. A. Pinn to

J. W. O'Neall, Nov. 20, 1888; M. D. Leggett to James Barnett, Nov. 20, 1888; J. S.

Kountz to J. W. O'Neall, Nov. 20, 1888; J. W. Chapin to J. W. O'Neall, Nov. 21,

1888; P. H. Dowling to J. W. O'Neall, Nov. 25, 1888; A. L. Conger to J. W. O'Neall,

Nov. 26, 1888; J. Warren Keifer to J. W. O'Neall, Nov. 28, 1888; D. M. Barrett to

J. W. O'Neall. Dec. 13, 1888, G. A. R. Correspondence.

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86    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

possible to determine. It is of interest to note, however, that Asa

Bushnell, when he spoke before the Thirtieth Encampment at

Columbus in 1896, gave the comrades of the Ohio Department

the credit for his election to the governorship.²⁷

It is a matter of common knowledge that the Grand Army

iavored the Republican party, the party which had "won the war

and saved the Union."    It stood for things dear to the heart and

mind of the soldier. John Raper, who edited and published The

Ohio Soldier stated that he could not understand how a soldier

could be other than a Republican.²⁸   One authority of the period,

in speaking of the Republican party and the attitude toward it on

the part of so many northerners, says that the party was

an institution like those Emerson speaks of in his essay on Politics, rooted

like oak trees in the center around which men group themselves as best

they can. It was a fundamental and self-evident thing, . . . It was elemental,

. . . It was a synonym for patriotism, another name for the nation. It was

inconceivable that any self-respecting person should be a Democrat.29

It must not be assumed, however, that every comrade in the

Ohio Department-was a Republican. The organization was large,

and many Democrats belonged to it. Yet they were, on the whole,

a definite minority. Seldom was it that a Democrat was elected

to the office of department commander. P. H. Dowling who was

one of these few was mentioned by a Steubenville journal as "a

Democrat of the rock-ribbed sort."³⁰    Occasionally, John Raper

accorded a popular Democratic figure in Ohio a complimentary

remark,³¹ but enough has been said to make it clear that such

occasions were infrequent.

Because the South adhered to the Democratic party, the

Grand Army generally regarded the Democrats in the North in

much the same way as it did the ex-Confederates in the South.

When the campaign of 1876 was under way, it was a common

belief that if the Democracy should win, the South would come

back into power. This view was held by Rutherford B. Hayes,

Republican presidential candidate.³²   The Republicans charged

 

27 Proceedings of the Thirtieth Encampment, 79.

28 August 20, 1887.

29 Brad Whitlock, Forty Years of It (New York, 1914), 27-8.

30 Steubenville Weekly Gazette, May 1, 1891.

31 The Ohio Soldier, Aug. 20, 1887, and July 14, 1888.

32 Clifford H. Moore, "Ohio in National Politics, 1865-1896," Ohio Archaeological

and Historical Society Publications, XXXVII, 304. See also Rutherford B. Hayes to

Carl Schurz, Aug. 9, 1876, Speeches, Correspondence and Political Papers of Carl

Schurz, edited by Frederic Bancroft (New York, 1913), III, 284-285.

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OHIO G. A. R. AND POLITICS, 1866-1900                87

 

during the campaign that southerners and northern Democrats

were still public enemies who should be met at the polls in the

same spirit as they were on the battlefield; that the whites of the

South were bloodthirsty men who delighted in the slaughter of

Negroes, and who should therefore in the interests of humanity

be kept from political power.³3 A student of the period states

with regard to the 1876 campaign:

To vote for Tilden, according to Ohio Republicans, was to repudiate every

northern veteran, to give approval to secession and nullification, and to

applaud a thorough-going villain. The "Bloody Shirt," patriotism, the

G. A. R. and Republicanism allied themselves to defeat the Democratic

party.³⁴

A portion of this statement is, however, open to question. In

1876 the Grand Army was nearly defunct although it did portray

the veterans' views.

Hayes was elected with a clouded title and began to pursue

the moderate and conciliatory policy toward the South for which

he is well remembered. The efforts of the President did much

to restore the South to its former status, but they were not re-

ceived with enthusiasm within Republican ranks in Ohio.³⁵

The attitude of distrust toward the South continued after

Hayes's election. In 1878, General Sherman, who was always

regarded with personal affection by the Ohio comrades, wrote

that he was fearful that

unless the Union men of the North are careful, the Southern Democracy will

govern. . . whilst Mr. Lincoln and those of us who fought will be regarded

and treated as traitors.³⁶

Sherman noted with uneasiness the tendency of ex-Confederates

in Congress to assume a belligerent attitude toward the govern-

ment when speaking of war issues. This, he asserted, was trea-

son.³⁷  Furthermore, the Democratic South was accused by Wil-

liam McKinley in 1880 of conducting its elections unfairly. By

way of contrast, McKinley defended the record of the Repub-

 

33 "The Week," Nation (New York), XXIII (Nov. 9, 1876), 277.

34 Philip D. Jordan, Ohio Comes of Age, 1873-1900, Carl Wittke, ed., The History

of the State of Ohio (Columbus, O., 1941-44), V (1943), 57.

35 Moore, "Ohio in National Politics," 304-5.

36 M. A. DeWolfe Howe, Home Letters of General Sherman (New York, 1909),

387-8, W. T. Sherman to Mrs. Sherman, Aug. 1, 1878. Hereafter this work will be

cited as Howe, Sherman's Home Letters. Sherman was not a member of the Ohio De-

partment.

37 Ibid.

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88    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

lican party in glowing terms although he ignored completely the

scandals of Grant's administration.³⁸

A few years later, upon Cleveland's election in 1884, Gen-

eral Sherman found occasion to express the view that the Repub-

licans had been too liberal with the South by giving the freed

Negroes the ballot on the theory the freedmen would all be Re-

publicans. This action, according to the popular general, simply

increased the southern vote with the result that the former enemy

aided by some Democratic northern states had regained political

control of the nation. Said Sherman, "With Mr. Lincoln disap-

peared the wisdom and shrewdness of the Republicans."³⁹ Gov-

ernor Foraker shared Sherman's view when he asserted that the

pressure of southern whites upon the black vote had elected Cleve-

land fraudulently. Foraker stated that the Republicans asked no

more than that every man should be allowed to vote as he chose,

and in doing so, the party did not wish to "keep alive any of the

hatreds of the war.^"40

Governor Foraker was partly responsible, however, for one

of the most incendiary incidents to occur in the history of the

G. A. R. with respect to politics and the South. The order of

President Cleveland to Adjutant-General R. C. Drum to return

certain Union and Confederate battle flags stored in the base-

ment of the War Department to the various states to which they

belonged, if desired, evoked a storm of protest from the Grand

Army with Governor Foraker sounding the key note.         Foraker

was a keen and bitter critic of the Confederacy and the Demo-

crats.  The battle-flag proposal gave him    a golden opportunity

to assail his political opponents and--those regarded as the ene-

mies of the Grand Army.

Technically, the battle flags in question belonged to the United

States government, and were not subject to disposition of any

sort without legislative action on the part of Congress,41  It has

 

38 Joseph P. Smith, Speeches and Addresses of William McKinley . . . (New York,

1893), 58-61, "Crimes Against the Ballot." Hereafter this work will be cited as Smith,

Speeches of McKinley.

39 Howe, Sherman's Home Letters, 392, letter of W. T. Sherman to Mrs. Sherman,

Nov. 22, 1884.

40 J. B. Foraker, "The Return of the Republican Party," Forum (New York), III

(Aug. 1887), 548.

41 Allan Nevins, Grover Cleveland, A Study in Courage (New York, 1932), 332,

334. Hereafter this work will be cited as Nevins, Cleveland. See also Robert McElroy,

Grover Cleveland, The Man and the Statesman, An Authorized Biography (New York,

1923), I, 202-3, 206. Hereafter this work will be cited as McElroy, Cleveland.

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OHIO G. A. R. AND POLITICS, 1866-1900                      89

 

been asserted that the order applied also to captured Confederate

flags in the custody of loyal states. At least Foraker declared

that Washington newspapers so interpreted it.⁴² Cleveland's let-

ter of revocation of the order to return the flags, however, men-

tions only those flags which were in the basement of the War

Department.⁴3     Mrs. Foraker also asserts that the order applied

only to those flags mentioned by the President.⁴⁴

Nevertheless, feeling ran high in Ohio. Comrades seemed

to think that the Confederate battle flags stored in the State

House at Columbus were to be returned to the southern states

to which they belonged. On June 15, 1887, Comrade Erskine

Carson of Hillsboro, Ohio, sent the following telegram to Gov-

ernor Foraker: "The old soldiers at Hillsboro hope you will not

give up any captured rebel flags in the State House at Columbus.

Intense feeling here among the boys who wore the blue." Foraker

replied: "No Rebel flags will be surrendered while I am Gov-

ernor."⁴⁵

At once, Ohio Grand Army posts sprang to the support of

Foraker's message,⁴⁶ which earned          for him   the title of "Fire-

Alarm    Foraker."⁴⁷    Many Ohio comrades penned their approval

of his stand. One such member wrote that Cleveland "can't send

the Rebel Flag I help'd capture at Shilo back,"⁴⁸ while another,

likening Foraker's action to a storm which broke up a baseball

game concluded by stating, "I guess he (Grover) won't play with

the 'Dirty Rags' any more."⁴⁹ Hardly a member objected to the

governor's stand.⁵⁰

 

42 Earl Ray Beck, "The Political Career of Joseph Benson Foraker," Ph.D. Thesis,

Ohio State University, 1942, 71. Hereafter this work will be cited as Beck, "Foraker."

See also Foraker, Notes of a Busy Life (Cincinnati, 1917), I, 240. Hereafter this work

will be cited as Foraker, Notes.

43 McElroy, Cleveland, I, 207, letter of Grover Cleveland to the Secretary of War,

June 15, 1887.

44 Julia B. Foraker, I Would Live It Again (New York, 1932), 102.

45 Foraker, Notes, I, 242 and opposite.

46 Resolutions of Eugene Reynolds Post at Bellefontaine, Ohio, undated; Resolu-

tion of Middleport Post, No. 125, to D. C. Putnam, June 27, 1887; Resolutions of

Trescott Post, No. 10, in undated clipping of Salem Republican attached to letter of

Philo Huxley to D. C. Putnam, June 24, 1887, G. A. R. Correspondence.

47 Arthur Wallace Dunn, From Harrison to Harding, A Personal Narrative, Cover-

ing a Third of a Century, 1888-1921 (New York, 1922), 8. Hereafter this work will

be cited as Dunn, Harrison to Harding.

48 William Sullivant to D. C. Putnam, June 20, 1887, G. A. R. Correspondence.

49 T. W. Blake to J. E. Stewart, June 27, 1887.

50 Ezra Fowler to D. C. Putnam, July 11, 1887, G.A.R. Correspondence. Of the

many letters dealing with the flag episode, this one is the only one which in any way

mentions an unfavorable attitude toward Foraker's action which the writer found in the

source cited. As late as 1898 John Raper objected to the return of the flags. See The

Ohio Soldier, May 21, 1898.

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90    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

It should be borne in mind that Foraker's telegram, "No

Rebel flags will be surrendered while I am Governor," was sent

to an Ohio comrade as stated, not, as a recent student of the period

asserts, to President Cleveland.⁵¹ Copies of a lithograph made

for sale by Carson appear in easily available sources and will sub-

stantiate the point made.⁵²

Carson's pictures of the telegrams with the American flag

and the Grand Army emblem in the background sold for ten cents

each with "liberal discounts" on orders of one hundred or more.

"It is a souvenir of the second great uprising of the patriotic

people of this country . . . ," said Carson.⁵³    The lithographs fig-

ured as a popular feature of the 1887 campaign in Ohio when

Foraker was a candidate for reelection.⁵⁴

The Republicans gained much in the way of political profits

from   Foraker's doughty     stand on    the flag issue.⁵⁵   President

Cleveland, who had discovered meanwhile that the flags really

were subject to legislative action, recalled his order returning

them to the several states on June 16, 1887.56 It seemed to many,

however, that the President's action came as a result of the storm

raised by Foraker and other Grand Army figures. Indeed For-

aker claimed Cleveland "quailed like a whipped spaniel" when the

order was revoked.⁵⁷ As far as Foraker's inflammatory telegram

of June 15, 1887, is concerned, it can readily be seen that it is

extremely doubtful that any relationship could possibly exist be-

tween this document and Cleveland's letter of revocation of the

return order since each was written at so nearly the same time.

The relations between Cleveland and Foraker as well as

between Cleveland and the Grand Army in Ohio (and everywhere

else in the United States, for that matter) were further strained

 

51 Jordan, Ohio Comes of Age, 1873-1900, 297.

52 Foraker, Notes, I, opposite 242; The Ohio Soldier, Sept. 17, 1887.

53 Announcement of Erskine Carson, undated, G. A. R. Correspondence.

54 Foraker, Notes, I, 242.

⁵⁵ Beck, "Foraker," 72.

56 McElroy, Cleveland, 207. See also Ellis Paxon Oberholtzer, A History of the

United States since the Civil War (New York, 1931), IV, 467, and Allan Nevins, ed.,

Letters of Grover Cleveland, 1850-1908 (New York, 1933), 142. McElroy states the

return letter was written by Cleveland on June 15, 1887. Nevins and Oberholtzer say

the 16th.

57 Joseph B. Foraker, Speeches . . ., 1869-1893 (n.p., n.d.), I, 97-99, "Speech of

Acceptance of Governor Foraker, July 28, 1887." See also Nevins, Cleveland, 334.

See also Foraker's Speeches, 1869-1893, I, 129-130, "People of Ohio, ' for a reiteration

of this position.

• 12
 

OHIO G. A. R. AND POLITICS, 1866-1900          91

 

by events more or less closely related to the battle flag incident.

While attending the celebration in Philadelphia on the centennial

of the drafting of the Constitution, Governor and Mrs. Foraker

were allegedly "snubbed" by the youthful wife of the President.

The story ran to the effect that Mrs. Cleveland, whom General

Sherman referred to as a "well-bred" person without a "false

pride of official position,"⁵⁸ did not greet the Ohio governor and

his wife. It was thought by many that the President's wife acted

as she did because of the part played by Foraker in the battle

flags trouble a few months before.⁵⁹  Mrs. Foraker claims that

the unfriendly attitude of Mrs. Cleveland cost her husband many

votes when he ran for reelection the next year.⁶⁰ Foraker him-

self merely refers to the incident as a matter of newspaper gos-

sip.⁶¹ In Ohio, a Democratic organ of Pike County said of the

matter:

Republicans are raising a great howl because their cranky governor took

his wife to Philadelphia to have her insulted by the President's wife and she

got just what she went after, a good old fasioned [sic] Democratic snub.62

In August, 1887, another event occurred which further em-

broiled the Chief Executive and Ohio Grand Army figures. A

reunion of the Army of West Virginia composed of troops from

that state and Ohio and Pennsylvania was held at Wheeling.

When marching columns of the old soldiers reached a banner

flung across the route of the parade and inscribed "God Bless

Our President, Commander-in-Chief of our Army and Navy,"

Grand Army posts in attendance folded or trailed their colors

and marched around the banner. The final upshot of this action

was a violent political quarrel between Governor Foraker of Ohio

and Governor Wilson of West Virginia. William H. Gibson, the

popular Grand Army orator, also contributed some remarks.

Foraker, according to a journalistic account, made the "fur fly."

When Governor Wilson of West Virginia stated that he was too

young to enlist in the war Foraker reminded the crowd that the

West Virginian was four years older than he and could have

 

58 W. T. Sherman to Mrs. Sherman, June 5, 1887. Howe, Sherman's Home Let-

ters, 395.

59 Nevins, Cleveland, 334.

60 Julia B. Foraker, I Would Live It Again, 102.

61 Foraker, Notes, I, 247-8.

62 Waverly Watchman, Sept. 29, 1887.

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92    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

taken part in thirteen battles of the war before he had reached

nineteen.63

The effect of such remarks upon an excited audience was

naturally tremendous. Foraker, beyond the shadow of a doubt

further endeared himself to the veterans and the Republicans,

but not so to the Democrats. John Jones, editor of the Waverly

Watchman said of him, "Let the lunatic rant."   Gibson, who had

taken a part in the debate as previously mentioned, was spoken

of as "that rampant radical howler... (who in 1855 narrowly

escaped being SENT TO THE PENITENTIARY, for complic-

ity in robbing the State Treasury of Ohio of Half-a-Million Dol-

lars).^"64  Gibson was no lover of Grover Cleveland.       At his

funeral obsequies, testimonial was given to Gibson's optimistic

spirit by the speaker who quoted one of the general's remarks to the

effect that "man, from Adam to Grover Cleveland, was ever get-

ting better."⁶⁵

In September, 1887, the National Encampment of the Grand

Army was to be held in St. Louis. President Cleveland had been

invited to attend the meeting, but according to one authority, he

deemed it wise to withdraw his letter of acceptance after the

Wheeling episode owing to the fact that he feared the dignity of

the presidential office might be impaired by some untoward inci-

dent.⁶⁶ At least one Ohio comrade defended the President and

declared his intention to Department Headquarters of not attend-

ing the gathering because of the attacks on Cleveland.⁶⁷    For-

aker, on the other hand, was advised by prominent Ohio comrades

of the Grand Army not to attend the St. Louis meeting because

they felt that it was possible that Democrats and "cranks" who

might be in attendance would embarrass him there.⁶⁸

A further unpleasant turn occurred in the relationship be-

tween Foraker and the President with the Grand Army in the

 

63 Foraker, Notes, I, 272-277, quoting Cadiz (Ohio) Republican. See also Nevins,

Cleveland, 337.

64 Waverly Watchman, Sept. 1 and 8, 1887. For a discussion of Gibson's difficul-

ties mentioned by Editor Jones see David Dwight Bigger, Ohio's Silver-Tongued Orator.

Life and Speeches of General William H. Gibson (Dayton, O., 1901), 274-283. Here-

after this work will be cited as Bigger, Gibson.

65 Bigger, Gibson, 472.

66 Nevins, Cleveland, 337-8.

67 Letter of G. L. Utter to D. C. Putnam, Aug: 3, 1887, G. A. R. Correspondence.

68 Letter of S. H. Hurst to J. E. Stewart, Aug. 22, 1887, ibid.

• 14
 

OHIO G. A. R. AND POLITICS, 1866-1900             93

background, when the Ohio governor asserted that his invitation

to Cleveland to stop off in Ohio while en route to the St. Louis

encampment had been "snubbed." The reason given for this

was that it was alleged Foraker had called Cleveland a dog. Said

Foraker of this charge:

I never said any such a thing. I never thought of calling him a dog.

. . . The truth of the matter is, I never had an idea he was a dog (laughter),

and notwithstanding all that has been said, I don't believe even yet that he

is a dog. (Laughter and applause.)69

Foraker also found occasion to criticize Cleveland's failure

to speak at a Gettysburg celebration, and his going fishing on

Memorial Day in 1887. Cleveland's personal courage was

maligned, too, and his friendship for "old Jake Thompson," a

political figure of bygone years who planned during the Civil War

to scatter clothing worn by victims of yellow fever among north-

erners, was excoriated.⁷⁰ As an indication of the frenzied feel-

ing aroused by Foraker, Brand Whitlock states that during this

period a newspaper acquaintance would end an account of one

of Foraker's speeches with the comment: "Then the audience

rushed out to get the latest news of the battle of Gettysburg."⁷1

Cleveland and Foraker each received a considerable amount

of attention from newspapers in Ohio. When Cleveland did not

attend the National Encampment held at Columbus in 1888, a

Cincinnati organ circulated the story that someone, upon the

notification of the President's absence, asked, "Why didn't he

send a substitute?" The reference was, of course, to Cleveland's

having hired a substitute to serve in his stead during the Civil

War.⁷²   The official publication of the Ohio Department asserted

that Cleveland and his wife would not attend a Cincinnati cen-

tennial celebration in 1888 because Foraker was one of the di-

rectors of the event. At Chillicothe, John Raper penned this

comment, "Grover is afraid of our Ben, and Frankie [Mrs.

Cleveland] is mad at him. They do not slide on the same cellar

door."⁷³  Raper also accused Cleveland of "snubbing" General

 

69 "People of Ohio," Foraker, Speeches, 1869-1893, I, 139-41.

70 Ibid.

71 Whitlock, Forty Years of It, 47.

72 Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, Sept. 13, 1888.

73 The Ohio Soldier, June 9, 1888; Raper was just as unfriendly to Cleveland

during the 1892 campaign. See ibid., Oct. 8, Oct. 22, and Nov. 19, 1892.

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94    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Lucius Fairchild while visiting Madison, Wisconsin.⁷⁴  Fairchild

had participated in the battle flags incident by issuing an inflam-

matory statement for which he had become known as "Fairchild

of the three palsies."⁷⁵ Furthermore, Raper continued to attack

Cleveland's attitude toward pensions and other emoluments for

the old soldiers by offering remarks to the effect that the Presi-

dent had kept the veterans out of places of profit and that the

old soldiers could expect only what Cleveland might be "con-

strained to yield as a matter of selfish policy."⁷⁶

On the other hand, Foraker had his detractors. The Wa-

verly Watchman indulged in what today would be considered an

extremely vicious attack on the governor, the Republicans and

the Grand Army. Foraker was spoken of by the editor as a boy

who "wanted to get up a racket with somebody so as to . . . blow

his bazoo and empty himself of a little more filth."⁷⁷   It was

charged further that "his littleness, j. b. foraker,"⁷⁸ might be a

success as a dairy maid "if he could resist the temptation to keep

his foot out of the milk."⁷⁹ A low point in the depths of this

execration was reached with this statement:

In November they intend to skin Foraker and to stuff him with oats and

place him in the State House yard as a standing monument of what may be

accomplished in this world by a monumental liar and a brass mounted dema-

gogue.⁸⁰

Furthermore, the editor of the Pike County journal spoke

very unfavorably of Foraker's article, "The Return of the Re-

publican Party," published in the Forum, which expounded the

virtues of the party and outlined what the governor considered a

safe policy to be pursued toward the South. Jones stated the

article resembled a "rambling stump" speech which would have

been pitched into the waste basket had it been contributed by a

private citizen.⁸¹

Raper and Jones also engaged in a journalistic struggle con-

cerning the Grand Army and politics.   Since Waverly and Chilli-

 

74 Ibid., Oct. 20, 1887.

75 Nevins, Cleveland, 333.

76 The Ohio Soldier, Oct. 20, 1887; ibid., Oct. 6, 1888.

77 Waverly Watchman, Sept. 15, 1887.

78 Ibid., Aug. 16, 1887.

79 Ibid., Sept. 29, 1887.

80 Ibid., Aug. 16, 1887.

81 Ibid., Aug. 4, 1887.

• 16
 

OHIO G. A. R. AND POLITICS, 1866-1900            95

cothe, the places where the two organs were published, are less

than twenty miles apart, the journalists were able to fire their

guns at close range. Raper was forced to deny Jones's charges

that the Grand Army had been turned into a political machine for

the use of the Republican party and that the systematic way in

which the President was held up to the comrades as a "rebel in

disguise" showed clearly that the Grand Army was to be the tool

of the Republicans in the presidential campaign of 1888.82  When

Raper stated that his paper was not political in character,83 Jones

accused him of insincerity. Said the Pike Countian of Raper:

It seems his unbounded love and admiration for the g.o.p. would not

permit him to remain silent in regard to the important fact that he was a

Republican and he could not see how any Union soldier co'd well be any-

thing else.⁸⁴

Jones asserted also that because Democrats were leaving the

Grand Army "by thousands" the society was becoming in name

what it had always been in fact, an annex to the Republican

party.⁸⁵

The Watchman was wrong, however, about the loss of mem-

bership. The Ohio Department at this time was increasing, not

decreasing, in size. A comrade writing from Barnesville to De-

partment Commander O'Neall ridiculed the assertion that Demo-

crats were leaving the society. Said he, "Those small creatures

who never possessed the nerve to shoulder a musket," might

spread such reports but they were nevertheless untrue.⁸⁶

Such was the state of affairs with regard to the Grand Army

in Ohio and politics prior to the election of Benjamin Harrison

to the Presidency in 1888. One authority, in speaking of the

political activities of Ohio's Foraker, states that the period was

colored by events and actions that fired "a blazing spirit of pa-

triotism and Republicanism that filled the minds of the people

who listened and then voted."⁸⁷ It is of interest to note, how-

ever, that at least one leading Republican of the times did not

 

82 The Ohio Soldier, Aug. 27, 1887, quoting Watchman.

83 The Ohio Soldier, Aug. 20, 1887.

84 Waverly Watchman, Aug. 25, 1887.

85 Ibid., July 28, 1887.

86 J. R. Lane to J. W. O'Neall, Nov. 30, 1888, G. A. R. Correspondence.

87 Moore, "Ohio in National Politics," 365.

• 17
 

96    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

approve entirely of the governor's course. Foraker was very

much surprised to learn after Hayes's death that the former

President of the United States regarded him as a party boss and

an unscrupulous one besides.⁸⁸ On the other hand, Hayes

thought well of Cleveland.⁸⁹

While the presidential campaign of 1888 was in progress, the

National Encampment of the Grand Army met in Columbus in

September.   At this gathering    an  incident occurred   which

showed clearly the attitude of the Grand Army toward politics

and political parties. At the same time it was demonstrated that

the Grand Army did not take too seriously Article XI, Chapter 5

of the Rules and Regulations when its own interests were in-

volved.

During the course of the parade of the comrades, many fans

were to be seen in the march carrying the picture of Harrison.

Among the party reviewing the parade was former Senator Allen

G. Thurman of Ohio, the vice-presidential candidate on the

Democratic ticket. Thurman, upon seeing the great numbers

of fans bearing the picture of the Republican presidential candi-

date, became incensed and left the stand with the statement that

the encampment was nothing "but a damned Republican mass

meeting." Because of this unpleasant turn of events, William H.

Gibson afterwards spoke to the comrades and cautioned them to

leave their politics at home. "But, my comrades," said Gibson,

"if on such an occasion as this you should happen so far to forget

yourselves as to 'holler' for anybody, be sure that you 'holler' for

Harrison."⁹⁰ Gibson's remarks, of course, detracted not a whit

from Harrison's support. Indeed, it may be presumed that the

reverse was true. It might be of interest to mention that several

years later Asa Bushnell used Gibson's quip in connection with

McKinley's campaign in May, 1896.91

 

88 Foraker, Notes, I, 422 et seq. See also, Charles Richard Williams, ed., Diary

and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Nineteenth President of the United States

(Columbus, 1924), IV, 521; V, 90. Hereafter this work will be cited as Williams,

Diary and Letters of Hayes.

89 Ibid., IV, 231.

90 Julia B. Foraker, I Would Live It Again, 118-119; Foraker, Notes, I, 309-312.

91 Proceedings of the Thirtieth Encampment, 168.

• 18
 

OHIO G. A. R. AND POLITICS, 1866-1900           97

 

The presidential election of 1888 was marked by an extreme

interest on the part of the Grand Army in pensions. Cleveland

had defeated the hopes of the veterans by his disapproval of the

Disability Act and many of the veterans were antagonistic

toward him because of his vetoes of private pension bills. Cleve-

land's stand with regard to observance of strictest honesty in

granting pensions was applauded by some, deprecated by others.

John Raper, in his Grand Army publication, presented the pen-

sion planks of the Democratic party in 1888 as follows:

 

0 0 ooo                                          0 0 0 ooo                                                    0 0 0 0 o

o   0 o                              0   0    0   0   0                 0   0   0    0

o 0                      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0            0    0   0   0    0   0   0

0 0 0 0 0 0

0   0                    0   0

0            092

Sounding the pension note, the Grand Army editor hailed Harri-

son on the other hand as "a great hearted, liberal comrade," on

whose election depended "the fate of thousands of poor people

not rewarded by the government."⁹³

A Harrison victory was regarded by most of the Ohio com-

rades as something which would bring personal satisfaction not

only with regard to pensions, but also by sweeping from office a

group of men who were regarded as champions of the Confed-

eracy. When Harrison was elected, a spirit of jubilation swept

through the ranks of the Ohio G. A. R. Letters written to De-

partment Headquarters show clearly this spirit. For example, in

a letter concerning the extension of Department Commander

O'Neall's railroad pass, the correspondent ended with, "Hurrah

for Harrison."⁹⁴  Another comrade wrote:

I suppose every loyal citizen has a heart full and running over with joy, the

victory is grand. the country is safe, and the old vets have a friend to

ocupie [sic] the chair of the nation. Glory be to God on high. peace and

good will to the Republican party.⁹⁵

92 The Ohio Soldier, June 16, 1888.

93 Ibid., June 30, 1888.

94 D. S. Wilder to J. W. O'Neall, Nov. 9, 1888, G. A. R. Correspondence.

95 M. B. Wells to J. W. O'Neall, Nov. 9, 1888, ibid.

• 19
 

98   OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

From a Grand Army comrade in far away Texas came a let-

ter to Ohio which expressed satisfaction over the election of

Harrison as "the grandest victory ever achieved since the late

war . . .  . . . hurrah again & again for the Solid North, and a

broken South."96

Upon Harrison's election a deluge of appeals for letters of

recommendation from job hunters all over the country descended

upon the officials of the Department of Ohio. Department Com-

mander J. W. O'Neall was, of course, the most sought after.

Some of the letters contained long lists of other persons who had

offered testimonial to the ability of the office-seeker. Others

stressed the friendship held by the writers with prominent public

figures as an inducement for the department official whose rec-

ommendation was sought. Many of the applicants were quite

particular as to the kind of position acceptable. Most of these

requests for recommendations from the pen of the department

commander or some other high-ranking department official em-

phasized war records, Grand Army service, political leanings and

the lack of these qualities on the part of competitors.

In a circular letter addressed to the commander of the Ohio

Department, an applicant for an appointment as Superintendent

of the Railway Mail Service for the division embracing the states

of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, requested recom-

mendations.  Stating that he was removed from    the Railway

Mail Service in November of 1888 for using his "voice and vote"

for Harrison, the correspondent listed an entire page of refer-

ences in support of his case.⁹⁷ A  former commander of the

Kentucky Department of the G. A. R. requested a letter of rec-

ommendation for a diplomatic post in one of the South American

countries.⁹⁸ A well known comrade in the Ohio Department, in

speaking of his personal ambitions, said, "I will have nothing but

a Judgeship. There is a movement to give me the nomination in

the Spring for the Sup. Ct. I am    awaiting developments."⁹⁹

 

96 D. A. Brown to Commander, G. A. R. Post, Columbus, Ohio, undated, ibid.

97 Circular letter of J. E. White to J. W. O'Neall, Feb. 15, 1889, ibid.

98 William Bowman to J. W. O'Neall, Dec. 15, 1888, ibid.

99 A. M. Warner to J. W. O'Neall, Nov. 30, 1888, ibid.

• 20
 

OHIO G. A. R. AND POLITICS, 1866-1900                     99

Another popular Grand Army figure even wrote to the depart-

ment commander that he wanted a recommendation for the posi-

tion of Grand Prelate of the Knights of Pythias lodge in Ohio.

Assuring the commander that he considered a recommendation

from   the highest official in the Grand Army in Ohio as most in-

fluential, the comrade closed with the furtive note, "Don't say I

wrote to you."¹⁰⁰

Other such requests dealt with places and positions related

to all possible kinds of work. Among these were positions in

pension work,¹⁰¹ postal appointments,¹⁰² charitable work,¹⁰³ cus-

toms service employment104 and others of a diverse character.¹⁰⁵

"Please speak of my ability to Superintend such a school [one

with eight teachers]," wrote one comrade,¹⁰⁶ while another

asserted, when asking for a letter of recommendation, that he

would rather "eat dirt" than work for the Democrats.¹⁰⁷ Al-

though the frenzied scramble for places of profit or influence was

most pronounced under O'Neall's administration, judging from

sources available, occasional instances of such favor seeking

cropped up at other times in the history of the Grand Army in

Ohio.¹⁰⁸

It has been mentioned that requests for letters of recom-

mendation were refused by department officials occasionally on

the ground that politics was involved. It is the writer's surmise,

however, that such action may have been taken by department

officials in cases where refusal was easy. Commander O'Neall

of the Ohio Department was, for example, willing to refuse such

 

100 L. H. Williams to J. W. O'Neall, Nov. 22, 1888, ibid. In a later letter, Wil-

liams announced that he obtained the position sought. See L. H. Williams to Josiah

Holbrook, Jan. 7, 1889, ibid.

101 R. J. Hill to J. W. O'Neall, March 7, 1889; A. H. Thompson to Josiah Hol-

brook, March 27, 1889; W. S. B. Randall to J. W. O'Neall, Feb. (undated), 1889, ibid.

102 N. A. Fulton to J. W. O'Neall, Nov. 10, 1888; F. A. Conrad to J. W. O'Neall,

Nov. 13, 1888; Mrs. Louie Vincent to J. W. O'Neall, Nov. 21, 1888; and Jan. 25,

1889; C. H. Williams to J. W. O'Neall, Dec. 1, 1888; John McGowan to J. W.

O'Neall, Dec. 9, 1888; Horace Greenwood to J. W. O'Neall, Jan. 27, 1889; J. W.

Gaskill to J. W. O'Neall and Josiah Holbrook, March 3, 1889, ibid.

103 Kate K. Baker to J. W. O'Neall, March 12, 1889; C. C. Royce to J. W. O'Neall,

Aug. 2, 1888, ibid.

104 M. B. Garey to J. W. O'Neall, March 21, 1889, ibid.

105 C. T. Clark to J. W. O'Neall, Feb. 23, 1889; Calvin Pollock to J. W. O'Neall,

March 3, 1889; J. S. Mason to J. W. O'Neall, March 14, 1889, ibid.

106 Ben Russel to Josiah Holbrook, Feb. 6, 1889, ibid.

107 H. B. Neall to J. W. O'Neall, Feb. 25, 1889, ibid.

108 P. Folkerth to E. E. Nutt, March 26 and 30, 1895; J. L. Geyer to E. E. Nutt,

May 2, 1895, ibid.

• 21
 

100 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

recommendations in cases of a minor nature. In one of these

the applicant had been a prisoner of the Confederates during the

war and was a victim of the Sultana explosion. On the other

hand, O'Neall expressed himself to a close friend as being willing

to give assistance in a case involving an army officer who wanted

a promotion.    O'Neall did not even know the officer.109

The Ohio G. A. R. also supported a policy which favored

giving preferment to veterans in public services when they were

equally qualified with other applicants. Resolutions favoring

such partiality were frequently found in the Proceedings of the

various encampments during the period under discussion.¹¹⁰ A

bill favoring the veterans became a law in Ohio in 1888,111 but

the comrades frequently asserted that the measure was being

evaded.¹¹²   Resolutions were occasionally adopted by department

gatherings for the purpose of investigating cases wherein veter-

ans were discharged from State jobs.113 In one such case, a

comrade of Losure Post, No. 35, was dismissed from a position

he held in an insane asylum. The post, in a resolution it adopted,

favored a hearing for all Grand Army comrades holding such po-

sitions and discharged therefrom.¹¹⁴

The G. A. R. also showed an interest in the conditions of

employment for veterans in federal positions. In a typical case,

the Fifteenth Encampment urged that the incumbent of the post-

mastership at Youngstown, who did not have a military record,

be replaced, through the influence of Congressman William

McKinley, by George J. Williams, a one-legged comrade."115     At

 

109 Cf. footnote 5, letters of Albert Norris. Norris was a victim of the Sultana ex-

plosion between Cairo and Memphis on the Mississippi in 1865. See Norris's account

of his experience in Chester D. Berry, Loss of the Sultana and Reminiscenses of Sur-

vivors . . . (Lansing, Mich., 1892), 265-7. See also J. W. O'Neall to Loren Benn,

Esq., Jan. 8, 1889, "G. A. R. Letter Book, 1888-1890," 918. For the case of the army

officer mentioned above in the text see J. W. O'Neall to L. H. Williams, Dec. 27,

1888, ibid., 810.

110 Proceedings of the Fifteenth Encampment, 43; Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth

Encampment, 27; Proceedings of the Thirtieth Encampment, 210; Proceedings of the

Thirty-Fourth Encampment, 141. See also J. J. Huston to J. W. O'Neall, April 1, 1889,

G. A. R. Correspondence.

111 Ohio Laws, LXXX, 149.

112 Proceedings of the Thirtieth Encampment, 148; Proceedings of the Twenty-

Ninth Encampment, 181.

113 Proceedings of the Thirtieth Encampment, 149; Proceedings of the Thirty-First

Encampment, 176.

114 Resolution of Losure Post, No. 35, to E. E. Nutt, Feb. 11, 1895, G. A. R. Corre

spondence.

115 Proceedings of the Fifteenth Encampment, 44.

• 22
 

OHIO G. A. R. AND POLITICS, 1866-1900                 1O1

 

other times, efforts were made to secure better treatment for vet-

erans under the Civil Service employment regulations."¹¹⁶ It is

a question as to how effective such efforts were.

Although problems such as veterans' employment or soldiers'

pensions or the southern question demanded the greater share of

the Grand Army's attention, consideration was given by the com-

rades to other matters not so intimately related to the order as

those mentioned. Labor problems of the day were among these,

and in their solution the attitude of Ohio Grand Army leaders

was not at all friendly to those who advocated radical action.117

In 1894, when a post commander at Logan, Ohio, wrote to De-

partment Headquarters of labor troubles there, he mentioned the

fact that so strongly did he rebuke post members who objected

to the deputization of some of the comrades to protect railroad

property--and thereby uphold the laws of the country--that they

withdrew   from   the post.11⁸  At the same time, political expres-

sions of an unfriendly nature toward foreign countries, particu-

larly England, were made in many gatherings of the Ohio Depart-

ment.119 When the difficulties with Spain began over the Cuban

question during the late nineties, the Ohio Department sprang

loyally to the support of the American government by voicing

sympathy for the Cubans and execrations for the Spaniards.¹²⁰

The Ohio Department itself was subjected to much internal

political activity on the part of its comrades and officers.    In this

important field of activity members were trying constantly to

obtain official positions for themselves within the society or were

helping others to do so.121     It is too lengthy a task to cite the

almost countless instances wherein comrades sought to boost the

candidacy of themselves, a friend, or a friend's friend for depart-

 

116 Proceedings of the Sixteenth Encampment, 23; Resolution of Geo. H. Thomas

Post, No. 13 to A. M. Warner, undated, G. A. R. Correspondence.

117 Proceedings of the Twenty-Eighth Encampment, 176; Proceedings of the Twenty-

Ninth Encampment, 46. See also Summit County Beacon, Feb. 11, 1885.

118 Maynard Pond to E. E. Nutt, July 16, 1894, G. A. R. Correspondence.

119 Proceedings of the Fifteenth Encampment, 54-55; Proceedings of the Twenty-

Fifth Encampment, 72; Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Encampment, 163; Proceed-

ings of the Thirty-First Encampment, 131.

120 Proceedings of the Thirtieth Encampment, 148; Proceedings of the Thirty-First

Encampment, 84-87, 123-124, 127; Columbus Ohio State Journal, June 16, 1897. E.

W. Currigan to J. E. Stewart, Dec. 8, 1887, G. A. R. Correspondence.

121 I. S. Bangs to J. W. O'Neall, Aug. 28, 1888; Garrison Coale to L. H. Williams,

Jan. 25, 1894; G. B. Smith to E. E. Nutt, June 25, 1894, ibid.

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102 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

ment positions. Many times the comrades of the Ohio Depart-

ment were asked to support the candidacy of an Ohio veteran or

that of a member of another department for an office in the Na-

tional Encampment. Almost every year the Ohio Department

was requested or instructed to support someone's efforts to gain

a national office.¹²²  The backing of the Ohio delegation to a Na-

tional Encampment was quite important. The department, it will

be recalled, stood for a time at the head of the list with regard to

numbers, and was always one of the larger organizations.¹²³

The selection of department officials was a matter of keen

interest to those active in Grand Army work. The election of

officers occupied a considerable portion of an encampment's time,

particularly if complications occurred in balloting or if unlimited

nomination speeches were permitted. Usually, speeches which

presented the name of a comrade before an encampment empha-

sized such points as the comrade's war record, his activity in

battle, his stand on pensions, his attitude toward the South, or

his interest in Grand Army work. Sometimes a remark in a

nomination speech such as, "he is not only as true as steel, but. . .

is corn-fed beef to his heels,"¹²⁴ would not only bring cheers from

the comrades but also materially aid in securing an office.

In the contest for departmental offices, newspapers in towns

where encampments met frequently discussed the opportunities

of those known to be interested in obtaining official positions,¹25

or complimented the men chosen.¹²⁶ Sometimes rules were sus-

pended in order to elect a popular figure by acclamation. Charles

Townsend of Athens was chosen department commander in this

manner when no other candidate's name was placed before the

encampment.¹²⁷ Usually, competition was much keener.        Some-

times, too, friendly relations among comrades were disturbed in

122 Proceedings of the Sixteenth Encampment, 67; Proceedings of the Twentieth

Encampment, 118; Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Encampment, 73; Proceedings of

the Twenty-Fifth Encampment, 131-132; Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Encamp-

ment, 111; Proceedings of the Twenty-Eighth Encampment, 104-106; Proceedings of

the Twenty-Ninth Encampment, 99; Proceedings of the Thirty-First Encampment, 83;

Proceedings of the Thirty-Second Encampment, 134-139.

123 John Palmer to I. F. Mack, Aug. 31, 1892, G. A. R Correspondence.

124 Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Encampment, 88.

125 Toledo Bee, May 8, 1900; Dayton Daily Democrat, April 25, 1889; Cincinnati

Enquirer, April 29, 1890.

126 Ohio State Journal, June 15, 1895.

127 Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Encampment, 110.

• 24
 

OHIO G. A. R. AND POLITICS, 1866-1900          1O3

the race for offices. One comrade was very much piqued to find

that in his efforts to gain the department commandership a good

friend was working against him.1²⁸ A popular figure with the

comrades naturally stood a better chance of being elected than

one who was not. For example, it was said of W. H. Gibson on

one occasion that if he wanted the commandership for a coming

encampment, it was "goodbye" for the rest of the candidates.¹²⁹

Gibson's son-in-law, Dallas P. Dildine, basked in the warmth of

the popular general's influence. In a letter to a department of-

ficial inwhich he acknowledged the receipt of a commission as

aide-de-camp, Dildine affixed his signature as follows: "Dallas

P. Dildine A. D. C. and Son in law of Genl. W. H. Gibson."130

Disturbances within the minds of the comrades or within

the membership of the Grand Army posts because of political

activity within the department were not at all uncommon. In a

typical case, W. I. Squire of Toledo complained in a letter to the

department commander in 1892 of a political situation which he

asserted had been in existence for twenty-five years in north-

western Ohio where the "Kountz crowd" had been "running"

Grand Army politics.¹³¹ Squire complained, too, that the rank

and file of the Grand Army was used as "mop rags, . . . , for

some fellow to climb over."¹³²  His position may be considered as

somewhat extreme; he himself was not reticent in informing

Department Commander Warner in 1891 that before any appoint-

ments were made by Warner in the neighborhood of Toledo, he

had a few suggestions to offer.¹³³

Squire was not the only member to take issue with depart-

ment officials because of internal political problems. One com-

rade who was carrying on an argument with Department Head-

quarters because he had not received a desired appointment was

informed by the commander that drunkenness was the reason.

The comrade replied that he must indeed have been under the

influence of intoxicants while "peddling votes" for his detractor

 

128 P. H. Dowling to J. W. O'Neall, Feb. 12, 1889; L. H. Williams to J. W.

O'Neall, March 14, 1889, G. A. R. Correspondence.

129 C. M. Hassler to Charles Reed, Jan. 13, 1891, ibid.

130 Dallas P. Dildine to Josiah Holbrook, Sept. 4, 1888, ibid.

131 W. I. Squire to I. F. Mack, Nov. 15, 1892, ibid.

132 W. I. Squire to I. F. Mack, June 24, 1892, ibid.

133 W. I. Squire to A. M. Warner, May 26, 1891, ibid.

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104 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

at Toledo in 1888.¹³⁴  A  considerable stir was created at the

Thirty-Fourth Encampment when a comrade was accused of

offering another two hundred votes he controlled in the encamp-

ment, and which he had denied to the intended recipient the year

before.¹³⁵ Occasionally, too, the problem of illegal balloting pre-

sented itself to the members.136

Other difficulties occurred, too, in the relations of Grand

Army posts and members because of outside political problems.

At Newark, it was asserted by a correspondent to State Head-

quarters that because of troubles with local Democrats a branch

of a rival military group had been founded.¹³⁷       At Camden, a

successful politician complained to Department Headquarters that

his defeated opponent was trying to cause him trouble with the

G. A. R.¹³⁸ The Republican-Democratic problem was men-

tioned as the cause of trouble in a post at Ridgeway, Ohio. A

correspondent to Department Headquarters wrote:

Politics is the Rock on which they split. The majority in their Post are

Democrats, and at the last Election they held nearly all theri [sic] officers

elected were Democrats, and the Republicans kicked.¹³⁹

Judging from the foregoing, one can hardly agree with H. U.

Johnson's assertion, "There are neither POLITICS nor DIS-

RUPTION in the Grand Army."¹⁴⁰

During the last decade of the period under discussion, that

is from 1890 to 1900, the expression of political sentiments in

the Proceedings of the encampments and in the department cor-

respondence available does not occur nearly so frequently as

during the eighties. Feeling ran high during the first term

Cleveland was in office over the pension issue, and while Foraker

was blasting at the Democrats and the Confederacy for their al-

leged misdeeds. When Harrison came into office, however, the

Grand Army had a champion under whom more satisfactory

pension legislation was to be obtained, so that after 1890 the pen-

 

134 J. W. O'Neall to J. S. Windsor, Aug. 23, 1888, "G.A.R. Letter Book, 1888-

1890," 212-4; J. S. Windsor to J. W. O'Neall, Aug. 28, 1888, G. A. R. Correspondence.

135 Proceedings of the Thirty-Fourth Encampment, 116-8.

136 Proceedings of the Twenty-Eighth Encampment, 149-51; Proceedings of the

Thirty-Fourth Encampment, 153.

137 Letter of G. W. Chase to J. W. O'Neall, Jan. 6, 1889, G. A. R. Correspondence.

138 P. Folkerth to J. E. Stewart, Jan. 24, 1887, ibid.

139 W. W. Snodgrass to Josiah Holbrook, Nov. 27, 1888, ibid.

140 Editorial, The Ohio Historian (Ashtabula, O.), I, Dec. 15, 1888.

• 26
 

OHIO G. A. R. AND POLITICS, 1866-1900         10₅

 

sion issue subsided noticeably. Furthermore, new economic and

industrial issues appeared to obscure some of the older political

questions. Party lines were criss-crossed by such problems as

the tariff, the trusts and financial matters so that the old political

issues of secession, "rebel rule" and treason were somewhat ob-

scured. In addition, the growing interest of the country in the

Cuban trouble and the willing participation of the South in the

Spanish-American War helped to alter the political scene for the

Grand Army comrade. Internal politics in the organization, of

course, still persisted.

• 27