Lincoln and His Ohio Friends
By FRANCIS P. WEISENBURGER*
IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE VIEWPOINTS which helped
to mold the political career of Abraham
Lincoln,1 a major
influence was Joshua R. Giddings,
antislavery congressman
(1838-59) from Jefferson, Ohio.2 Over
a period of years
Lincoln and his Springfield, Illinois,
law partner, William
Henry Herndon, read abolitionist
literature together, and
Lincoln became a careful student of
Giddings' speeches.3
Professor Elbert J. Benton has
indicated that Giddings'
"greatest influence upon the
course of American history"
may have been his contribution to the
evolving of Lincoln's
ideas, or, at any rate, to the
preparation of public opinion
for the leadership which Lincoln was to
exercise.4
A second influence in the same
direction was that of
Thomas Corwin, peerless orator, former
governor, and Whig
senator from Lebanon, Ohio.5 In
July 1847 Lincoln made
his first trip to Chicago, where twenty
thousand people gath-
ered for a river and harbor convention,
assembled to protest
against Polk's veto of a rivers and
harbors appropriation
bill and to give endorsement to
government-supported inter-
* Francis P. Weisenburger is professor
of history at Ohio State University.
1 An unusually comprehensive article,
based upon much careful investigation, is
Daniel J. Ryan, "Lincoln and
Ohio," Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quar-
terly, XXXII (1923), 1-281. The present article endeavors,
however, to include
the results of the scholarly research of
the past thirty-six years.
2 For a thoughtful analysis of his
"radicalism," see Robert P. Ludlum, "Joshua
R. Giddings, Radical," Mississippi
Valley Historical Review, XXIII (1936-37),
49-61.
3 Albert J. Beveridge, Abraham
Lincoln, 1809-1858 (Boston, 1928), III, 19n.
4 Dictionary of American Biography. Hereafter cited as D. A. B.
5 See biographical sketch by Homer C.
Hockett in D. A. B.
224
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
nal improvements.6 Corwin
was a featured speaker and
inevitably made a marked impression
upon the young lawyer
from Springfield.
In 1846 Lincoln had been elected to
what was to be his
only term in the national house of
representatives,7 in which
he took his seat in December 1847. The
Lincolns soon estab-
lished themselves at Mrs. Ann Spriggs's
boarding house on
the site of the present main
congressional library building in
Washington. In the intimate circle of
congressional leaders
who resided at Mrs. Spriggs's, Giddings
was the outstanding
leader.8
Since the Whigs had won control of the
house, an early
task was the holding of a party caucus
to decide upon a can-
didate for speaker. After much maneuvering the choice
rested upon Robert C. Winthrop of
Massachusetts. In the
house in this thirtieth congress, among
the Whigs from Ohio
(besides Giddings, who became a Free
Soiler in 1848) were
the experienced Samuel Vinton of
Gallipolis, who had
shunned higher honors for reasons of
health,9 and Robert C.
Schenck of Dayton. Schenck many years
later became min-
ister to Great Britain (1871-75) but
involvement in a mine
promotion scheme left his reputation,
at least for the time
being, badly tarnished.10
6 Beveridge, Lincoln, II, 89-90.
7 Donald W. Riddle, Lincoln Runs for
Congress (New Brunswick, N. J., 1948).
8 Donald W. Riddle, Congressman
Abraham Lincoln (Urbana, Ill., 1957), 6-7.
Glimpses into the daily life of this
boarding house are found in Samuel C. Busey,
Personal Reminiscences (Washington, 1895), passim.
9 Vinton had been a leading member of
congress (1823 to 1837 and then from
1843 to 1851). He was made chairman of
the ways and means committee during
the war with Mexico, after having
declined the nomination for speaker. In
1862 President Lincoln was to appoint
Vinton one of three commissioners to
adjust the claims of slave holders in
the District of Columbia at the time of the
manumission of the slaves. Vinton died
soon thereafter. Madeleine Vinton
Dahlgren, "Samuel Finley
Vinton," Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publica-
tions, IV (1896), 231-262.
10 Schenck allowed his name to be used
to promote a gold mine (the Emma
mine) in Utah. The venture never
materialized as expected, and investors in
Great Britain felt aggrieved at
Schenck's endorsement, and he finally resigned
in the spring of 1875, and subsequently
was censured by congress. See Clark C.
Spence, "Robert C. Schenck and the
Emma Mine Affair," Ohio Historical Quar.
terly, LXVIII (1959), 141-160.
LINCOLN AND HIS OHIO FRIENDS 225
As a "freshman"
representative in the thirtieth congress,
Lincoln very early (on December 22,
1847), introduced his
momentous "spot" resolutions,
which, according to one au-
thority, "so nearly terminated his
political career." These
sought to embarrass President Polk by
raising questions con-
cerning the "spot" on which
American blood had, according
to the president, been shed on American
soil, making the
struggle with Mexico well-nigh
inevitable. The resolutions
were merely read and were never even
brought up for de-
bate.11
In somewhat the same spirit three weeks
later, on January
13, 1848, Lincoln made a speech in the
house that comprised
a full statement of his views on the
Mexican War. In this
speech Lincoln was sharply critical of
Polk.12 Speeches in
the house that opposed Lincoln's
position (as these references
to Lincoln's views were reported in the
press) indicate that
Lincoln had been unrestrained while
delivering his speech
and had used the extreme language
characteristic of "Gid-
dings and Corwin."13 Various
authorities, including Albert
J. Beveridge, have come to the
conclusion that Lincoln left
out "the violent part" when
he wrote out his remarks for the
Congressional Globe.l4
Thus Lincoln seems to have been
definitely influenced in his
criticisms of Polk's war policies by
the Ohioans Giddings and
Corwin. According to his law partner
Herndon, moreover,
these "resolutions and the speech
sealed Lincoln's doom as
Congressman and lost the district to
the Democrats" in
1848.15 Giddings, as he
cultivated Lincoln's friendship at
Mrs. Spriggs's, was apparently hoping
to attach Lincoln "to
his coterie of free-soil associates."16
In this Giddings was
unsuccessful. As the weeks went by,
Lincoln resumed a mod-
erate position on issues both directly
and indirectly concern-
11 Congressional Globe, 30 cong.,
1 sess., 64.
12 Ibid., 154-156.
13 Riddle, Congressman Lincoln, 42-55.
14 Beveridge, Lincoln, II,
133-134.
15 Riddle, Congressman Lincoln, 53.
16 Ibid., 174.
226 THE OHIO
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ing slavery. His votes on slavery in
the District of Columbia
are definitely confusing, for at times
he voted with the pro-
slavery men.17 Thus
Giddings' son-in-law declares that on a
resolution (December 21, 1848) relating
to the District of
Columbia, Lincoln "placed himself
squarely on the side of the
South. He was a moderate Wilmot Proviso
man, but his
anti-slavery education had scarcely
begun."18 Giddings and
Corwin had had a part in the political
education of Lincoln,
but the latter definitely reserved the
right of independent
judgment.
As political trends, in view of
Lincoln's attitude during
the war, were not favorable to his
continued service in con-
gress, Lincoln sought the position of
commissioner of the
general land office. Congressman
Schenck wrote that Lincoln
was "the very man," and
Congressman David Fisher of Wil-
mington, Ohio, wrote in his behalf. The
only senator to do
so was Thomas Corwin.19
Under the new Taylor administration,
the beginning of
which coincided with the end of
Lincoln's congressional term,
the newly created department of the
interior was headed by
Thomas Ewing of Ohio, who eventually
appointed Justin
Butterfield of Chicago to the land
office post. Apparently
when correspondence relating to those
seeking the position
had been presented to President Taylor,
Ewing had "arranged
the documents in Butterfield's
favor" and had called especial
attention to letters "particularly
antagonistic to Lincoln."
Lincoln's sources of information made
him aware that
"Ewing was guilty of
chicanery."20 But Lincoln "valued
party harmony above personal
vindication," and his attitude
toward Ewing gave evidence "of
unstinted magnanimity."21
17 Beveridge, Lincoln, II, 139.
18 George W. Julian, The Life of
Joshua R. Giddings (Chicago, 1892), 261.
Professor James G. Randall expressed the
view that "Lincoln's congressional
term had given him little
distinction." Lincoln the President (New York, 1945-55),
I, 18.
19 Riddle, Congressman Lincoln, 217-218.
20 Ibid., 238.
21 Ibid., 221.
LINCOLN AND HIS OHIO FRIENDS 227
To one or more members of the Taylor
administration it
became evident that Lincoln deserved
recognition from the
party, and at the direct interposition
of Taylor, who had per-
sonally favored Lincoln for the land
office post, Ewing was
compelled to offer Lincoln the
secretaryship of the new Ore-
gon Territory. This office he declined;
whereupon, again at
the direction of the president, Ewing
offered him the gover-
norship of the territory, which
position he also declined, at
least in part for family reasons.22
After Lincoln resumed his law practice
in Springfield in
March 1849, his professional business
occasionally took him
to Ohio. His legal activities in
connection with Ohio courts
began with his participation in a case,
the Steamboat Clipper
v. Linus Logan. At that time Lincoln was not qualified to
practice in Ohio, hence he could not
present the case in per-
son. He journeyed to Cincinnati to take
charge of the inter-
ests of his client, Logan. This led to
correspondence with
Peter Hitchcock, chief judge of the
supreme court of Ohio.23
The case was not one of outstanding
importance, but it did
bring Lincoln into contact with a larger circle of
lawyers and
political leaders.24
Lincoln's longest sojourn in Cincinnati
was during Sep-
tember in 1855, when he was an attorney
in a patent suit
involving the McCormick reaper
interests and those of John
H. Manny, an inventor and manufacturer
of Rockford, Illi-
nois. The case was heard at Cincinnati,
for the convenience
of the presiding judge, John McLean,
and the attorneys.
Lincoln was one of the lawyers for
Manny, as were Peter H.
Watson of Washington, George W. Harding
of Philadelphia,
and Edwin M. Stanton. Lincoln had been retained as
counsel
22 Ibid., 222-235. See also Paul I. Miller, "Lincoln and the
Governorship of
Oregon," Mississippi Valley
Historical Review, XXIII (1935-36), 391-394.
23 See letter to Hitchcock, written at
Cincinnati, December 24, 1849, printed in
Ryan, "Lincoln and Ohio,"
13-14.
24 Albert R. Woldman, Lawyer Lincoln (Boston,
1936).
228
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
when the services of an Illinois lawyer
were deemed advis-
able.25
Stanton was far from impressed by
Lincoln's personal
appearance and has been credited with
extremely biting com-
ments regarding it. It soon developed
that the legal proce-
dure had been so arranged that Lincoln
would not participate
personally in the presentation of the
case. During the Cin-
cinnati sojourn Lincoln stayed at the
home of Judge and Mrs.
William M. Dickson, the latter a cousin
of Mary Todd Lin-
coln, and he visited many places of
interest in the vicinity.
Judge McLean entertained at dinner for
the counsel for both
sides at his home at Clifton, near
Cincinnati, but Lincoln
apparently was not deemed important
enough to merit an
invitation.26 Lincoln was
grateful for such hospitality as he
had received, but Stanton's treatment
of him and perhaps the
matter of the McLean dinner caused him
to indicate that he
never expected to visit the city again.27
Yet there is evidence
that Lincoln was so impressed by
Stanton's outstanding pro-
fessional ability, as Stanton presented
the case, that he later
subordinated professional pride to a
recognition of such in-
tellectual power in appointing Stanton
to his cabinet.28
Lincoln returned to politics in earnest
as he became a can-
didate for the United States
senatorship from Illinois, being
nominated by the Republican party in
June 1858. This led
to the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates,
Douglas' success at
the polls, and Lincoln's emergence as a
presidential aspirant.
As early as November 5, 1858, one who
signed himself
"Reporter" had telegraphed
from Mansfield, Ohio, to the
Sandusky Commercial Register of
an "enthusiastic meeting"
25 For a lengthy discussion of the case,
see William T. Hutchinson, Cyrus H.
McCormick (New York, 1930-35), I, 431-452. See also Lincoln to
Watson, July
23, 1855, in Roy P. Basler, ed., The
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (New
Brunswick, N. J., 1953-55), II, 314-315,
and Lincoln to John H. Manny and Co.,
September 1, 1855, in ibid., 325.
26 Harry E. Pratt, Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln (Springfield,
Ill.,
1943), 54-56; Francis P. Weisenburger, The
Life of John McLean (Columbus,
1937), 184-185.
27 Michael G. Heintz, "Cincinnati Reminiscences of Lincoln," in
Historical and
Philosophical Society of Ohio, Bulletin,
IX (1951), 117.
28 Beveridge, Lincoln, II, 286.
LINCOLN AND HIS OHIO FRIENDS 229
that evening in Mansfield in favor of
Lincoln as the next
Republican nominee.29 The
Mansfield paper of the time, the
Herald, was strongly pro-Chase and said that the Lincoln
demonstration was "somewhat
imaginary," the Register hav-
ing "been hoaxed."30 At
any rate, Israel Green, a Findlay,
Ohio, druggist-politician, wrote to the
Cincinnati Gazette
proposing Lincoln for the presidency,
and this was published
in the November 10 issue of that paper.31
Newspapers else-
where then publicized the suggestion.
When the Republican state convention
met in Columbus,
June 2, 1859, the air was charged with
excitement because
Judge Joseph R. Swan, a founder of the
Republican party in
Ohio, as chief justice of the state,
had recently delivered a
memorable decision. In a suit growing
out of the Oberlin-
Wellington Rescue Case, he had
affirmed, as all substantial
precedent demanded, the
constitutionality of the United States
fugitive slave law. Because of this
stand, the convention
dropped him by refusing his
renomination for the judicial
office.32
Lincoln was uncompromisingly opposed to
the extension
of slavery, but as a lawyer he deemed
it necessary to recog-
nize that, regardless of personal
preferences, the fugitive
slave law was based on explicit
constitutional provision. Ac-
cordingly, on June 9, 1859, he wrote
Governor Chase, who
personally was a radical, that the
introduction of a proposition
for the repeal of the fugitive slave
law into the next Republican
national convention would
"explode" the convention.33 Chase
replied that the law was
unconstitutional and ought to be
29 "Reporter"
was David R. Locke, later the noted author of the "Petroleum
V. Nasby" Civil War letters of
humorous satire. William Baringer, Lincoln's
Rise to Power (Boston,
1937), 54. Professor Allan Nevins says that the Mans-
field story "seems to have been a
fiction." The Emergence of Lincoln (New York,
1950), II, 398n.
30 Baringer, Lincoln's Rise to Power,
55-56.
31 Ibid., 56. By January 1, 1859,
Green was writing to Chase, however, asserting
that Chase need only indicate his support of a
protective tariff and secure Penn-
sylvania's vote to obtain the
nomination.
32 Eugene H. Roseboom, The Civil War
Era, 1850-1873 (Carl Wittke, ed., The
History of the State of Ohio, IV, Columbus, 1944), 349-351.
33 In Basler, Collected Works, III,
384.
230
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
repealed, so Lincoln wrote again on
June 20, defending the
law's constitutionality and emphasizing
that the introduction
of a proposal for the repeal of the
fugitive slave law into the
next Republican national convention
would explode not only
the convention but "the
Party" as well.34
During this campaign in Ohio the
struggle took on national
significance, as in a way there were
new Lincoln-Douglas
debates, for both men spoke in Ohio, although
not on the
same platform on the same occasion.
Douglas having been
announced for a speech at Columbus,
September 7, the Re-
publican state committee sought
Lincoln's services.35 Accord-
ingly, Lincoln spoke twice in Columbus
on September 16, and
also made a visit to the county fair.
Lincoln's talks concerned
the inadequacies of the popular
sovereignty solution of slav-
ery extension.36
The next day, at Dayton, while waiting
for the Cincinnati
train, Lincoln again spoke, by previous
arrangement, at the
courthouse.37 En route to
Cincinnati he made a short speech
at Hamilton from the train. In the
evening, it being Satur-
day, he spoke to a large crowd at what
came to be called Gov-
ernment Square.38 Lincoln's
speeches again expressed unal-
terable opposition to slavery
"morally and politically," but he
avoided the excesses of Giddings, Wade,
Seward, and Sumner.
"It was apparent that Lincoln's
arguments were the only
ones upon which could be built an
anti-slavery party; aboli-
tionism as advocated was revolutionary, and
instinctively
rejected by the mass of the Northern
people."39 On his part,
Lincoln had shown moderation not only
in his letters to Chase
but also in a letter he wrote to Samuel Galloway in
July 1859
34 Ibid., 386.
35 Lincoln to Peter Zinn, September
6, 1859, in Basler, Collected Works, III,
400.
36 Ibid., 400-436;
Ryan, "Lincoln and Ohio," 35-63.
37 Basler, Collected Works, III, 436-437; Ryan, "Lincoln and
Ohio," 63-68.
38 Basler, Collected Works, III, 438-463; Ryan, "Lincoln and
Ohio," 69-101. Mr.
and Mrs. Lincoln and son Willie were,
during the visit, guests at the Burnet
House, but spent much time with Judge
and Mrs. William M. Dickson, Mrs.
Lincoln and Mrs. Dickson being cousins.
Heintz, "Cincinnati Reminiscences of
Lincoln," 113-120.
39 Ryan, "Lincoln and Ohio,"
106.
LINCOLN AND HIS OHIO FRIENDS 231
expressing the view that the Republican
state convention in
Ohio had unwisely gone too far in
"the repudiation of Judge
Swan, and the 'plank' for a repeal of
the Fugitive Slave
law."40 In many ways Galloway was a
man after Lincoln's
own heart. Both were basically of
strong religious tempera-
ments and both were strong opponents of
slavery extension,
while eschewing the fanaticism of
extremists. Galloway had
shown his convictions as a founder of
the Republican party in
Ohio in 1855 and as a congressman,
1855-57.41
Lincoln came to be looked upon as a
sound, moderate north-
erner who could rally the opposition to
Douglas' popular sov-
ereignty. Twenty-nine of Lincoln's
friends in Ohio political
circles signed a letter dated Columbus,
December 7, 1859,
thanking him for his services in Ohio
in the recent cam-
paign.42 They also sought
and secured his assistance in pro-
viding them with authentic copies of
his debates and
speeches.43 This led to the
publication of a volume which in-
cluded the Lincoln-Douglas debates of
1858 in Illinois and
speeches delivered at Springfield,
Chicago, and Bloomington,
along with those made at Columbus and
Cincinnati.44 The
publication was brought out in the spring of 1860 and
went
through numerous editions, thirty
thousand copies being
printed and distributed by the
publishers.45
In the meantime, in October 1859, the
Republicans had
elected William Dennison as governor of
Ohio and had se-
40 In Basler, Collected Works, III,
394-395. Lincoln had had previous corre-
spondence with Galloway, especially in
relation to the securing of Lincoln's serv-
ices to collect claims for a Columbus
manufacturer against a Springfield resident.
See Lincoln to Galloway, July 27, 1859,
in ibid., 393-394.
41 Washington
Gladden, "Samuel Galloway," Ohio Archaeological and Historical
Publications, IV (1896), 263-278.
42 Ryan,
"Lincoln and Ohio," 107-109.
43 Lincoln
to George M. Parsons and others, December 19, 1859, in Basler,
Collected Works, III, 510. Light on Galloway's agency in the
transmission of
the material is brought out in a letter
from Lincoln to Galloway, December 19,
1859. Copy in Galloway Collection, Ohio
Historical Society.
44 By Follett, Foster, and Company of Columbus.
The location of this firm
has sometimes been erroneously given as
Cincinnati, as in Nevins, Emergence of
Lincoln, I, 394n.
45 For
an account of the publication of the debates, see Robert S. Harper,
"New Light from a Lincoln Letter on
the Story of the Publication of the Lincoln-
Douglas Debates," Ohio
Historical Quarterly, LXVIII (1959), 177-187.
232
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
cured control of the legislature.
Lincoln deemed this "indeed,
glorious" though he regretted that
the party had failed to
carry Cincinnati and that the husband
of Mrs. Lincoln's
cousin had thereby lost his judgeship.46
As events were leading toward the
Republican national con-
vention of 1860 in Chicago, the five
leading candidates in-
cluded one Ohioan, Salmon P. Chase, as
well as Seward of
New York, Cameron of Pennsylvania,
Bates of Missouri, and
Lincoln of Illinois. Chase, a native of
New Hampshire, had
located in Cincinnati in 1830 and had
early become a devotee
of the antislavery cause.47 As
such, he had left the Whigs
for the feeble Liberty Party in 1841,
and had then moved
into the Free Soil organization in
1848.48 Something of an
opportunist, with a passionate concern
for his own political
future, he had joined the regular
Democrats in 1851, and then
had been instrumental in organizing the
Anti-Nebraska move-
ment of 1854 in Ohio.49 Soon
he was leading his followers
(with an understanding that he himself
would be the guber-
natorial candidate) into the new
Republican party in 1855.50
As he had been chosen governor in that
year, his presidential
ambitions had flowered in 1856 but had
soon been blighted
by strong opposition, even in his home
state.51 Chase was "a
man of intellectual vigor, spotless
character, and commanding
physique," and was cultivated,
determined, and driven by
both duty and ambition. Yet he had no influential
party man-
agers, important editors, or
influential congressional friends
to give substance to his hopes, and
history has judged that
his opportunistic selfishness
effectively stymied any strong
movement in his favor.52
46 Lincoln to William M. Dickson,
October 17, 1859, in Basler, Collected Works,
III, 490-491.
47 The life of Chase has been ably
summarized by James G. Randall in D. A. B.
See also Robert B. Warden, Account of
the Private Life and Public Services of
Salmon P. Chase (Cincinnati,
1874), and J. W. Schuckers, Life and Public Serv-
ices of Salmon Portland Chase (New York, 1874).
48 See
Edgar A. Holt, Party Politics in Ohio, 1840-1850 (Columbus, 1930).
49 Roseboom, Civil War Era, 280-298.
50 Ibid., 298-312.
51 Weisenburger, John McLean, 146-150.
52 Nevins, Emergence of Lincoln, II, 236-237.
LINCOLN AND HIS OHIO FRIENDS 233
In 1860 Lincoln remembered Chase's
sympathy "when
scarcely any other distinguished
man" had acted similarly at
the time of the Lincoln-Douglas
encounters, so he asked that
"no ungenerous thing" be done
to him.53 He had not met
Chase when he had visited Ohio in 1859,
but expressed satis-
faction that Chase, campaigning in
crucial Ohio counties,
had been "at work in the cause, and that, after
all was bet-
ter."54 Chase's ambition was
relentless, and he carried on an
extensive correspondence to further
what he believed was "a
very general disposition in Ohio and
several other States to
press" his presidential prospects
"as a Western man and on
the whole the most available
candidate."55 Yet he enjoyed
little more than a complimentary vote,
even from his home
state of Ohio, where the less urbane
but equally ambitious
Benjamin F. Wade opposed him bitterly.
Wade, however,
was far too irascible to be genuinely
popular.56
A third possibility from Ohio was the
aging and conserva-
tive United States Associate Justice
John McLean, whom
Lincoln had known well when the justice
had presided over
the circuit court in the Illinois area,
and whom Lincoln had
supported for the Republican nomination
in 1856.57 Lincoln
expressed the view that if he were ten
years younger McLean
would be the best Republican candidate.58
In another letter
Lincoln declared his belief that McLean
would be stronger
than Seward or Chase in Illinois, if he
were "fifteen or even
ten years younger," but that a
recollection of the deaths of
Harrison and Taylor militated
unanswerably against the pros-
pects of such an aging personality.59
Even more pointedly,
Professor Nevins has summarized the
widespread impression
of McLean's contemporaries in 1860 that
he was "a legalistic
53 Lincoln to Samuel Galloway, March 24, 1860, in Basler, Collected
Works,
IV, 33-34.
54 Lincoln to Chase, September 21, 1859,
in ibid., III, 470-471.
55 See various letters in Diary and
Correspondence of Salmon P. Chase in
American Historical Association, Annual
Report, 1902 (Washington, 1903), 280 ff.
56 For a summary of the efforts of the
Wade men, see Roseboom, Civil War
Era, 360, 362-363.
57 Weisenburger, John McLean, 148.
58 To Lyman Trumbull, April 7, 1860, in Basler, Collected Works, IV,
40-41.
59 Lincoln to Richard M. Corwine of Cincinnati, April 6, 1860, in ibid.,
36
234
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
old fogy . . . obviously standing on
the edge of his grave."60
As there were obvious objections to all
of the other leading
candidates, Lincoln cautiously sought
to encourage support,
and his efforts reached into Ohio. As
early as the fall of
1858, as we have seen, there were the
beginnings of a move-
ment for Lincoln in Ohio. An early
enthusiast for Lincoln
was Samuel Galloway, who reported to
Lincoln that there
were those in the Buckeye state who
exhibited toward him the
highest evidence of their friendship
and confidence.61 Gallo-
way believed that Lincoln was an
"available man of sound
principles" upon whom "all
elements of the opposition could
be more fully united."62 Edwin
A. Parrott of Dayton, a mem-
ber of the Ohio legislature, who had
met Lincoln in Dayton
in 1859, wrote Lincoln to the same
effect.63
By March, Richard M. Corwine, a
prominent Cincinnati
lawyer, sought Lincoln's views as to
whether Illinois would
support McLean, Bates, or Seward.64
Lincoln, in answering,
gave rather guarded comments. As to his
own chances Lin-
coln cautiously replied, "I feel
myself disqualified to speak of
myself in this matter."65 Soon,
in reply to a request for
names of those friendly to his
political advancement, Lincoln,
in a list of eleven persons, mentioned
Galloway and Schenck
of Ohio.66 By the end of
April, Corwine had avowed a positive
preference for Lincoln, as he believed
that no "extreme men"
could be elected. Early in May, Lincoln
in reply expressed
the view that outside of Illinois no
other delegation would
apparently be unanimous for him from
the start but that he
might receive support from those unable
to secure a majority
for their first choice. In Ohio--as
elsewhere--he believed
that there was no "positive
objection" to him.67
60 Nevins, Emergence of Lincoln, II, 237. For forces favorable to
McLean,
see Weisenburger, John McLean, 211-214.
61 Lincoln
to Galloway, March 24, 1860, in Basler, Collected Works, IV, 33-34.
62 Nevins,
Emergence of Lincoln, II, 243-244.
63 Lincoln
to Galloway, March 24, 1860, in Basler, Collected Works, IV, 34.
64 Lincoln
to Corwine, April 6, 1860, in ibid., 36, 36n.
65 Ibid., 36.
66 Lincoln
to James F. Babcock, April 14, 1860, in ibid., 43.
67 Lincoln
to Corwine, May 2, 1860, in ibid., 47-48, 48n.
LINCOLN AND HIS OHIO FRIENDS 235
And this analysis proved to be correct,
as events took their
course. When the national convention
met in Chicago, May
16, 1860, Seward was obviously the
leading candidate, but he
had many enemies, and Lincoln seemed
the second choice of
a large majority. Among the Ohio
delegation, Chase had no
united support, and the divided
counsels drastically weakened
the influence of the Ohioans.68 When
nominations were made,
it was even an Ohioan, Columbus Delano,
who seconded Lin-
coln's nomination.69 On the
fourth ballot, when Lincoln
lacked only one and a half votes
necessary for a nomination,
Joseph Medill of the Chicago
Tribune, it is said, whispered
to David Cartter, leader of the Ohio delegation,
"If you can
throw the Ohio delegation to Lincoln,
Chase can have any-
thing he wants."70 At
any rate, Cartter arose and announced
a change of four Ohio votes to Lincoln,
and the man from
Illinois was nominated, a "triumph
of availability."71
Lincoln's friends, of course, were now
in a congratulatory
mood. Judge Dickson at once sent a
telegram, followed by a
letter and an appended note from his
wife. In the letter
Dickson warned Lincoln to beware of
Ohio politicians.72
Chase hastened to send a letter of
congratulations.73 In a
somewhat different recognition of
Lincoln's success, the Bur-
net House of Cincinnati sent him a bill
for $53.50 for ex-
penses of his sojourn in Cincinnati in
September 1859.74
Lincoln had been told that the bill had
been "settled," so he
referred the matter to Judge Dickson,
who paid it, indicating
that he would see that Cincinnati
Republicans shared in the
expenses of the hospitality.75
68 Joseph P. Smith, History of the
Republican Party in Ohio (Chicago, 1898),
I, 104-121.
69 For a convenient summary of developments in the convention, see
Reinhard
H. Luthin, The First Lincoln Campaign
(Cambridge, Mass., 1944), 161-167.
70 Baringer, Lincoln's Rise to Power, 287. Doubt has been thrown, however, on
the Medill story.
71 Ruth G. Curran, "David
Kellogg Cartter," Ohio Archaeological and His-
torical Quarterly, XLII (1933), 105-115.
72 Lincoln to Dickson, June 7, 1860, in Basler, Collected Works, IV,
72-73, 73n.
73 Lincoln to Chase, May 26, 1860, in ibid., 53.
74 Lincoln to Dickson, June 7, 1860, in ibid., 72.
75 Lincoln to Dickson, June
15, 1860, in ibid., 76-77, 77n.
236
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Ohio had given its electoral vote for
Fremont in 1856, and
apparently would be safe in the
Republican fold in 1860, for
Lincoln satisfied party factions in
Ohio, as no one else could
have done readily. Chase's radical
supporters found Lincoln
more acceptable than Chase's principal
rival, Seward, would
have been.76 Lincoln
tactfully sought Chase's whole-hearted
support, and the latter came to blame
Wade, not Lincoln, for
his defeat at Chicago.77 Even
Wade indicated that he would
campaign for Lincoln.78
McLean's conservative following
preferred Lincoln to an
ultra-radical. Oran Follett, newspaper
editor and publisher
of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, wrote
from Sandusky to
warn Lincoln of the way in which Seward
had customarily
been surrounded by friends who used
politics to secure finan-
cial advantages for themselves.79 Samuel
Galloway planned
seven speaking engagements for Lincoln
in Illinois in Octo-
ber.80 Robert C. Schenck of
Dayton also offered to speak in
Illinois, and Lincoln indicated that he
wanted him "in this
old Whig region" around
Springfield.81
In the campaign in Ohio, Lincoln was
presented as a mod-
erate, and even the old-time leader
Thomas Ewing, "the last
of the Whigs," was secured to make
an election speech at
Chillicothe for Lincoln, "the
Whig." In that speech Ewing
declared that the "conservative
element" had nominated Lin-
coln and would elect him.82
Indeed, after Lincoln's election in
November 1860--with
a clear-cut victory for him in Ohio 83--many
radical Repub-
licans feared that Lincoln would be
dominated by conserva-
tives like Thomas Corwin, Thomas Ewing,
Edwin M. Stan-
76 See
attitude of Chase himself in Donnal V. Smith, Chase and Civil War
Politics (Columbus,
1931), 23.
77 Luthin, First Lincoln Campaign, 181.
78 Basler, Collected Works, IV,
71n.
79 Ibid., 78n.
80 Galloway
narrowly lost his own campaign for congress in Ohio.
81 Lincoln
to Schenck, August 23, 1860, in Basler, Collected Works, IV, 99-100,
100n.
82 Roseboom, Civil War Era, 369-370.
83 Smith, Republican Party in
Ohio, I, 128-129.
LINCOLN AND HIS OHIO FRIENDS 237
ton, and Robert C. Schenck of Ohio.84
All along, however,
the archradical from Ohio, Joshua R.
Giddings, who jour-
neyed to Springfield to see Lincoln in
December 1860, had
held that Lincoln was as sound on the
slavery issue as Chase
or Seward.85 He believed,
moreover, that Lincoln had been
nominated because of his honesty and
freedom from corrupt
men.86 Chase, on his part,
believed that Lincoln would never
"surrender our principles."87
Lincoln's election, of course, had set
off the movement
toward secession, and Lincoln's Ohio
friends were among
those uncertain of the proper course.
Richard M. Corwine
wrote a long letter to him, December
14, 1860, elaborating
on the opinion that the South would
quiet down if handled
firmly.88 Some of Chase's
Republican correspondents in Ohio,
moreover, deemed the secession threat
merely a "bubbling
over of disappointed ambition"
which would soon be brought
to an end.89 Lincoln and his
friends, including those in Ohio,
were naturally interested in the
various proposals, both within
and outside the halls of congress, to
achieve conciliation be-
tween the sections.90 Yet
Lincoln, even before his inaugura-
tion, was in correspondence with men
like Thomas Corwin of
Ohio as he began to marshal his party
against any compro-
mise on the extension of slavery.91
Corwin himself was one
of the house committee seeking to find
a moderate compro-
mise solution, and Lincoln in his
inaugural address was to
give explicit endorsement to Corwin's proposed
constitutional
amendment that slavery should never be
interfered with by
the federal government in the states
where it existed.92
84 William E. Baringer, A House
Dividing (Springfield, Ill., 1945), 63-64.
85 David M. Potter, Lincoln and His
Party in the Secession Crisis (New
Haven, Conn., 1942), 39; T. Harry
Williams, Lincoln and the Radicals (Madison,
Wis., 1941), passim.
86 Basler, Collected Works, IV,
52n.
87 Potter,
Lincoln and His Party, 39.
88 Basler, Collected Works, IV,
151n.
89 Potter, Lincoln and His Party, 79,
194, 237.
90 George H. Porter, Ohio Politics
During the Civil War Period (New York,
1911), 49-71.
91 Corwin had written Lincoln on December 11, 1860. See Basler, Collected
Works, IV, 153n.
92 See text in ibid., 262-271.
238
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
In the meantime, Lincoln, journeying
from Springfield to
Washington, faced the ordeal of an endless round of
speeches,
receptions, and parades. Early in
February, in reply to a
letter from Governor Dennison on behalf of the Ohio
legis-
lature inviting him to visit Columbus on his way to
the
national capital, Lincoln accepted but
asked Dennison to "ar-
range no ceremonies which will waste
time."93 Other invita-
tions came, including ones from Dayton
and Cleveland.94
When he arrived at Cincinnati, February
12, an immense
throng gathered at the station, where
he made a few re-
marks.95 Later he spoke at
length from the balcony of the
Burnet House.96 Subsequently
he addressed a gathering of
the Germans of Cincinnati.97 Remarks
were called for at
various railroad stops between
Cincinnati and Columbus, one
being at London, Ohio.98
At Columbus thousands of people met him
at the depot
with tumultuous applause. At length,
through a great crowd,
Lincoln was taken to the state capitol,
where he addressed
both houses of the legislature.99 Then
he addressed a great
concourse of people who were massed
before the west front
of the capitol.100 It was
expected that he would return to the
rotunda of the capitol to shake hands
with all who wished to
meet him. This he endeavored to do
until he was forced to
retire "to the staircase in
exhaustion," as he "contented him-
self with looking at the crowd as it
swept before him."101 But
this was not all. After a rest at the
governor's residence,
there in the evening he met the state
officers, the members
of the legislature, and the city
council. This was followed
by another reception at the State
House, where he once more
93 Ibid., 186-187.
94 Letters of reply, February 7, 8,
1861, in ibid., 187-188.
95 Ibid., 197.
96 Ibid., 197-200.
97 Ibid., 201-203.
98 Ibid., 203-204.
99 Ibid., 204-205.
100 Ibid., 205-206.
101 William T. Coggeshall, The
Journeys of Lincoln, cited in Ryan, "Lincoln and
Ohio," 151-152.
LINCOLN AND HIS OHIO FRIENDS 239
received the general public.102 An
early departure from Co-
lumbus was necessary the next morning, and as the
train
moved toward Pittsburgh, he was greeted
in the pouring rain
by large crowds at Newark, Dresden,
Coshocton, Newcom-
erstown, and Uhrichsville. He made a
few remarks from the
train at Newark and at Cadiz Junction,
where he had dinner
at the Parks House.103 At
Steubenville he made a short
speech in response to formal greetings
from the city authori-
ties, and later he made some rather
jocular remarks at Wells-
ville.104 After reaching Pittsburgh and
attending a reception
there, the Lincoln party made ready to
return to Ohio, as they
started for Cleveland. En route, at Alliance
an elegant din-
ner was furnished by the Cleveland and
Pittsburgh Railroad
Company, the crowd being so large that
with difficulty the
uniformed Canton Zouaves cleared a
passage for the party.105
Brief remarks were made here, at
Ravenna, and at Hudson.106
Late in the afternoon the party arrived
at Cleveland, where
they were greeted by the booming of
artillery and the enthu-
siasm of immense throngs. A procession
of dignitaries and
uniformed military companies escorted
the president-elect to
the Weddell House, illuminated with
colored lanterns.107 There
Lincoln received official greetings and
again responded with
a speech.108 That evening
there was a crushing, informal re-
ception at the hotel, but Lincoln was
fatigued and merely
looked on. Later, with Mrs. Lincoln, he
met a few friends
in another part of the hotel.
Again it was necessary to make an early
departure the next
morning by rail for the East.
Enthusiastic crowds greeted
the president-elect at Willoughby,
Painesville, Madison,
102
Ryan, "Lincoln and Ohio," 152.
103 Basler, Collected Works, IV, 206.
104 Ibid., 206-208.
105 Ryan, "Lincoln and Ohio,"
153.
106 For the remarks at these places see
Basler, Collected Works, IV, 215-218.
See also John H. Cramer, "Lincoln
in Ohio: A President-Elect Visits Hudson
and Alliance," Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, LIV (1945),
161-169.
107 Ryan, "Lincoln and Ohio," 154-155.
108
Basler, Collected Works, IV, 215-216.
240
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Geneva, Ashtabula, and Conneaut. At
Geneva banners were
displayed, one bearing the inscription
"The Lord is God; let
all the people praise Him."109
At Painesville, Ashtabula, and
Conneaut he made brief remarks.110
Lincoln had been en-
thusiastically received in Ohio, but in
Cincinnati, Columbus,
and Cleveland there was widespread
concern, for his attitude
of serenity and confidence seemed
oblivious of the dangerous
situation in which the country found
itself, and many thought-
ful people wondered at the apparent
nonchalant indecisiveness
of the one who would soon be chief
executive.111 Lincoln, of
course, was shrewdly refraining from
decisive statements
while he was not yet the official head
of the nation, though as
later occasion demanded it, his
forceful, effective actions were
indeed evident.
During this period Lincoln was facing
not only the travail
of the secession crisis but the trying
ordeal of attempting to
satisfy discordant political elements
(in a party which in-
cluded diverse backgrounds), among them
Free Soilers, Anti-
Nebraska Democrats, Know-Nothings,
Whigs, and German
radicals.112 It was the
first national triumph of the party, and
that meant that demands for patronage
were especially vigo-
rous. Mention was made of both John
McLean and Salmon
P. Chase for important posts. Two weeks
after the election a
writer in the New York Herald published
his prediction of a
new cabinet, in which McLean would be secretary
of state.113
McLean, however, was nearing the end of
his days and died
about a month after Lincoln's
inauguration.114
An appointment for Chase was not
without its difficulties.
Friends of Seward were vehemently
opposed, as were those
of Wade, to a cabinet post for
Chase.115 Lincoln, however,
109 Ryan, "Lincoln and Ohio," 158.
110 Basler, Collected Works, IV, 218-219.
111 Ryan, "Lincoln and Ohio,"
159-160.
112 Luthin,
First Lincoln Campaign, 36-50, 136-137.
113 Issue of November 17, 1860, quoted in Randall, Lincoln the
President, I, 256.
114 Weisenburger,
John McLean, 216.
115 Harry J.
Carman and Reinhard H. Luthin, Lincoln and the Patronage (New
York, 1943), 49-50.
LINCOLN AND HIS OHIO FRIENDS 241
recognized the political strength and
ability of Chase and early
decided that he must be included in the
cabinet.
At Lincoln's invitation Chase made a
trip to Springfield
early in January 1861.116 Up to that
time Lincoln had never
met Chase personally.117 On
January 5 Lincoln called upon
Chase at his hotel in Springfield. Some
days later Chase wrote
to Charles Sumner saying that nothing
had been decided as
to his taking a cabinet post. Chase had
just been elected to
the senate and indicated that his
reluctance to enter the cab-
inet was "extreme."118 Yet
Chase was a highly ambitious man
and felt a strong compulsion to enter
the cabinet if for no
other reason than to check Seward's
influence. When Lincoln
went to Washington to assume office,
the Ohioan (a senator-
elect) took quarters before the
inauguration on the same floor
with Lincoln at Willard's Hotel.119
Shortly after Lincoln's
inauguration, Chase's nomination for
secretary of the treas-
ury was made and unanimously confirmed
by the senate.120
Aside from his own ambition, "the
pressure on Chase to ac-
cept a Cabinet appointment, if offered
by Lincoln," had been
"terrific." Horace Greeley
now could write, "Governor Chase,
the ablest Republican living, . . .
indispensable to the treasury,
got it at last."121
Chase saw that other Ohioans were
rewarded. An excellent
appointment was that of Elisha
Whittlesey, former congress-
man and Whig leader, as first
comptroller of the treasury.122
Yet Chase lost out in his support of
Timothy C. Day for the
postmastership at Cincinnati.123 There, John
C. Baum, pressed
forward by Congressman John A. Gurley,
received the place,
116 Lincoln to Chase, December 31, 1860,
in Basler, Collected Works, IV, 168,
168n.
117 Lincoln to Henry J. Raymond, December 18, 1860, in ibid.,
156.
118 Chase
to Sumner, January 23, 1861, quoted in Carman and Luthin, Lincoln
and the Patronage, 34.
119 Nevins, Emergence of Lincoln, II, 452.
120 Thomas Graham Belden and Marva R. Belden, So Fell the Angels (Boston,
1956), 24-25.
121 Carman
and Luthin, Lincoln and the Patronage, 38, 49.
122 Basler, Collected Works, IV, 384n.
123 Carman and Luthin, Lincoln and
the Patronage, 71. Day had been a propri-
etor of the Cincinnati Enquirer and
was a Republican congressman, 1855-57.
242
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
and Adolphus Carnes that of collector.124
Chase was able to
secure a right of consultation on Ohio
choices for diplomatic
positions and consular appointments
even though they were
under Seward's jurisdiction.125 Thus
Chase successfully
brought pressure upon Seward to secure
the appointment of
an ardent follower and personal friend,
Richard C. Parsons,
speaker of the Ohio assembly, as consul
in Brazil.126 Later,
upon his return to the United States,
Parsons became a treas-
ury department official in Cleveland
and reported often to
Chase as to middlewestern political
trends.127
Similarly, John Hopley, of a prominent
Bucyrus family,
secured a position in Washington
through Chase's influence,
as did Victor Smith of the Cincinnati
Commercial as special
treasury agent and collector of customs
at Puget Sound.128
Later Smith fell under suspicion of
dishonesty and failed to
retain the confidence of the people of
the Pacific Coast. Lin-
coln and Chase had a sharp exchange of
words over the
matter, and Lincoln removed Smith
during Chase's absence.
Chase was hurt, became sulky, and
offered to resign, even
though Lincoln proposed to find another
post for Smith.129
The wishes of Senator Wade were
considered in the ap-
pointment of Edwin Cowles, editor of
the Cleveland Leader,
as postmaster at Cleveland.130 This
was likewise the case in
the appointment of James H. Anderson of
Marion, Ohio, as
consul at Hamburg, Germany, and of
Robert F. Paine of
Cleveland as district attorney for the
northern district of
Ohio.131 A former senator, the able
Thomas Corwin, who
had early been a definite influence in
Lincoln's political life
and who during the campaign of 1860 had
strengthened Lin-
coln's support in the old-time Whig
territory of southern
124 Basler, Collected Works, IV,
310.
125 Carman and Luthin, Lincoln and
the Patronage, 113.
126 Ibid., 106.
127 Smith, Chase and Civil War Politics, 54.
128 Carman and Luthin, Lincoln and the Patronage, 127.
129 Ibid., 230; Smith, Chase and Civil War Politics, 89-90.
See also Lincoln to
Chase, May 8, 1863, in Basler, Collected
Works, VI, 202, and 209n.
130 Carman and Luthin, Lincoln and
the Patronage, 71-72; Lincoln to Mont-
gomery Blair, March 12, 1861, in Basler,
Collected Works, 282.
131 Basler, Collected Works, IV, 278, 279n.
LINCOLN AND HIS OHIO FRIENDS 243
Ohio, was made minister to Mexico.132
A son, William H.
Corwin, was made secretary of the
legation at Mexico City,
and another son, Walter, was favored
with a clerkship in the
interior department.133 David
K. Cartter of Cleveland, who
had been chairman of the Ohio
delegation and had turned the
deciding votes to Lincoln at the
Republican national conven-
tion in 1860, had naturally expected
preferment. In Novem-
ber 1860, he, along with Robert C.
Schenck and Donn Piatt
of Ohio, had been invited to tea at
Lincoln's Springfield home,
for they were being considered as
possible cabinet appoint-
ments if Chase did not take such a
post.134 It was said that
at one time Cartter was promised the
governorship of Ne-
braska, but he accepted the position of
minister resident to
Bolivia. There he seems to have enjoyed
travel excursions
and to have neglected his duties. At
length, in 1863, he was
appointed chief justice of the supreme
court of the District
of Columbia.135
Lincoln summoned his old friend Samuel
Galloway of Co-
lumbus to Washington and, it is
understood, offered him
responsible positions at home and
abroad, but Galloway de-
clined them all. Finally, Lincoln
remarked, "Well, what will
you take? Here are thousands crowding
upon me for places;
it is a pity that I cannot give
something to a man like you."
Eventually Galloway accepted a minor
post at Columbus,
serving as judge advocate at Camp
Chase, where prisoners
from the South were confined.l36
The president urged upon Seward an
appointment for
Friedrich Hassaurek, editor of the
Cincinnati Hochwachter,
whom he deemed "one of our best
German Republican workers
in America."137 Hassaurek
was made minister resident to
132
Carman and Luthin, Lincoln and the
Patronage, 85.
133 Ibid., 57, 97.
134 Lincoln
to John G. Nicolay, November 3, 1860, in Basler, Collected Works,
IV, 136, 136n.
135 Curran,
"David Kellogg Cartter," 110. Another delegate to the Chicago con-
vention of 1860, Earl Bill of Tiffin,
Ohio, became marshal for northern Ohio.
Lincoln to Edward Bates, April 12, 1861,
in Basler, Collected Works, IV, 329.
136 Gladden, "Samuel
Galloway," 270-271.
137 Lincoln to Seward, March 14, 1861,
in Basler, Collected Works, IV, 283.
244
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Ecuador.138 Joshua R.
Giddings was made consul general for
British North America at Montreal.139
Francis J. Klauser,
Wurttemberg-born Ohioan, was made
consul at Amster-
dam,140 while William Dean
Howells, assistant editor of the
Ohio State Journal at Columbus, who had written a campaign
biography of Lincoln, secured the
consulate at Venice.141
Richard P. L. Baber of Columbus, who
had helped organize
the Republican party in the state, had
assisted in publishing
the Lincoln-Douglas debates, and had
aided in turning the
vote of the Ohio delegation at the
Chicago convention, was
a rather erratic person. Offered the
consulate at Matanzas,
Cuba, he declined the post, but in the
fall of 1861 accepted a
place as paymaster in the army.142
Both Chase and Lincoln
wished to "get something" for
Frank E. Foster of Columbus,
whose publishing firm had issued the
Lincoln-Douglas de-
bates, but no appointment seems to have
materialized.143 John
Greiner, long editor of the Columbus
Gazette, was appointed
in 1861 receiver of public monies for
New Mexico Territory,
and remained in that position
throughout Lincoln's presi-
dency.144
Judicial appointments included the
chief justiceship of
Nevada Territory, which went to George
Turner of Hancock
County, who had been an active
Republican campaigner in
Ohio,145 and the chief
justiceship of Dakota Territory, which
went to Philemon Bliss, former
congressman (1855-59) from
Elyria.l46
138 Ibid., 283n.; Carman and
Luthin, Lincoln and the Patronage, 95. For further
details concerning this appointment, see
Carl Wittke, "Friedrich Hassaurek: Cin-
cinnati's Leading Forty-Eighter," Ohio
Historical Quarterly, LXVIII (1959), 9-12.
139 Carman and Luthin, Lincoln and
the Patronage, 99.
140 Ibid., 104.
141 William Dean Howells, Years of My
Youth (New York, 1916), 202-203.
142 Lincoln
to Simon Cameron, August 10, 1861, in Basler, Collected Works,
IV, 480, 480n. For biographical sketch
of Baber, see Duane Mowry, "Richard
Plantaganet Llewellyn Baber," Ohio
Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
XIX (1910), 370-381.
143 Basler, Collected Works, IV,
556.
144 Ibid., VIII, 157n; Earl W. Wiley, "'Governor' John
Greiner and Chase's
Bid for the Presidency in 1860," Ohio
State Archaeological and Historical Quar
terly, LVIII (1949), 245-273.
145
Carman and Luthin, Lincoln and the Patronage, 169.
146 Basler, Collected Works, IV, 294-295.
LINCOLN AND HIS OHIO FRIENDS 245
Especially important was the
appointment of a Columbus
lawyer, Noah H. Swayne, in 1861 to fill
the place vacated
because of the death of Justice John
McLean of the United
States Supreme Court. Swayne eagerly
sought the support
of Secretary Chase and of Senator Wade
and Senator John
Sherman as well as that of Governor
Dennison.147 There is
some evidence that Swayne had helped
finance the publication
of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, and
Senator Wade was espe-
cially vigorous in his behalf, at the
very time when Swayne
was strenuously aiding Wade in his
difficult but successful
fight to secure reelection to the
United States Senate. Swayne
was appointed in January 1862.148
A major appointment change resulted
from bitter charges
against Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania,
whose financial
activities as secretary of war led to
his loss of that post.149
The place went to Edwin M. Stanton, who
has been consid-
ered an Ohioan, for he was born in
Steubenville and was a
graduate of Kenyon College, although he
had lived for some
years in Pennsylvania and in
Washington, D. C. He had
been a lifelong Democrat and a member
of Buchanan's cab-
inet. Now, conservatives like Seward in
the cabinet and mod-
erate Republicans alike urged his
appointment.150 Stanton's
fright on the eve of the Civil War and
the bitter words which
he had used against Lincoln were not
then generally known,
and stress was laid on his intellectual
powers. In view of
the treatment which Stanton had
accorded Lincoln at the
time of the McCormick-Manny case,
Lincoln's acceptance of
him was an indication of the president's amazing
magna-
nimity.l15
Indeed Lincoln's gift for suffering the
insufferable arro-
147
Carman and Luthin, Lincoln and the Patronage, 173-177.
148 "There
seems to be no basis for the persistent tradition that Lincoln confused
Swayne's name with that of Joseph R.
Swan, Swayne's more brilliant fellow
lawyer, also of Columbus, and really meant to appoint
Swan to the Court." Ibid.,
177. See also biographical sketch of Swayne by Alonzo
H. Tuttle in D.A.B.
149 He was then made minister to Russia.
See Lincoln to Cameron, January 11,
1862, in Basler, Collected Works, V,
96, 96n.
150 Williams, Lincoln and the
Radicals, 91.
151
Randall, Lincoln the President, I,
38-39.
246
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
gance of some of the extremely able men
about him was a
substantial element in his greatness.
Thus, he was consid-
erate of Chase, who became the focal
point for a radical drive
to displace him as president.152 He
was likewise considerate
of Stanton, who was described by
contemporaries as "unre-
liable," "dictatorial,"
and "disrespectful" to his chief, and
one with whom it was well-nigh
impossible to deal.153
In the meantime, rivalry among factions
in the party in
Washington, and in Ohio as well, made
Lincoln's task an
incredibly difficult one. In Ohio,
radically inclined Repub-
licans divided in their allegiance to
Chase and to Ben Wade,
and neither faction was really friendly
to Lincoln. John Hay
referred to Whitelaw Reid, a rising
Ohio Republican from
Xenia, as "outrageously unfair to
the President and . . .
servilely devoted to Mr. Chase."154
Wade, as a partisan, had favored an
endorsement of the
state and national administrations by
the Union party in
Ohio in 1861.155 Yet he was often a
thorn in Lincoln's side.
He had been bitterly disappointed in
not receiving the nomina-
tion in 1860. He was not without some
exemplary qualities
and a certain degree of cultivation,
but, as Professor Nevins
says, "his powerful frame, strong,
dark face, deep raucous
voice, defiant laugh, and gift for
vituperative speech, all
stamped him as a man of coarse fibre
and brute strength."156
The factionalism thus indicated,
combined with military
reverses, high taxes and restrictions
on normal living, revela-
tions of unsavory contracts, and a
weariness of war, resulted
in a political reaction against the
Lincoln administration in
the congressional elections of 1862 in
Ohio.157 One authority
152 Ibid., III, 408-409. For
further details of this, see David Donald, ed., Inside
Lincoln's Cabinet: The Civil War
Diaries of Salmon P. Chase (New York,
1954).
153 Randall,
Lincoln the President, III, 408-409.
154 Ibid., II, 222. Reid was Washington correspondent of the Cincinnati
Gazette
and of the Western Associated Press.
155 Roseboom, Civil War Era, 392.
156 Allan Nevins, Ordeal of the Union
(New York, 1947), I, 394-395. Professor
Randall says that Wade and Zachariah Chandler
(of Michigan) "were alike in
their insolence, coarseness of method,
and vulgarity." Lincoln the President, II, 209.
157
Porter, Ohio Politics, 100-109.
LINCOLN AND HIS OHIO FRIENDS 247
has summarized the attitude of the
whole Older Middle West
by saying that "taken as a whole
it had repudiated its own
greatest man, Abraham Lincoln, and his administration
at
the polls."158 Prominent
Republican congressmen like John
A. Bingham of Cadiz and John A. Gurley
of Cincinnati lost
their seats, but Lincoln was a faithful
friend and endeavored
to bring solace to them in the form of
appointment to federal
posts. To Bingham he offered a federal
judgeship at Key
West, Florida.159 But it was
necessary to fill the post at
once,160 and Bingham found
it impossible to accept under the
circumstances.161 The post of governor
of Arizona was se-
cured for Gurley, but he died in Ohio
in August 1863, before
making his departure to assume his
duties.162
The next year brought a more serious
threat from Ohio
when the arch-Copperhead, Clement L.
Vallandigham, in
Canadian exile for alleged sedition,
ran on the Democratic
ticket. David Tod, energetic Unionist
governor, lost renom-
ination to John Brough by a narrow
vote. Tod telegraphed
that "personal
considerations," not his "advocacy of the lead-
ing measures" of the Lincoln
administration, had deprived
him of the nomination. He promised that
no man would do
more than he "to secure the
triumphant election of the ticket
nominated."163 Lincoln
replied: "I deeply regret that you
were not renominated-not that I have
ought against Mr.
Brough. On the contrary, like yourself,
I say, hurrah, for
him."164 In the
meantime, Lincoln was much concerned that
Vallandigham should not be considered a
martyr to constitu-
tional liberties.165 Naturally
he was much concerned on elec-
tion day in Ohio, October 13, and
stayed up during the night
158 H.
Clyde Hubbart, The Older Middle West, 1840-1880 (New York, 1936),
190.
159
Lincoln to Edward Bates, June 3, 1863, in
Basler, Collected Works, VI, 245.
160 Lincoln to Bingham, August 4,
1863, in ibid., 363.
161 Ibid., 363n. The U. S.
Official Register, 1863, lists William W. Lawrence of
Ohio as judge at Key West. Ibid. See
also Lincoln to Chase, October 16, 1863, in
ibid., 517, 518n.
162 Lincoln
to Stanton, March 19, 1863, in ibid., 141, 141n.
163
Telegram of June 18, quoted in ibid., 287n.
164
Lincoln to Tod, June 18, 1863, in ibid.,
287.
165 Ibid., 215-216,
235n, 237, 248n, 266-269, 300-306.
248 THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
to receive telegraphic reports. He
wired Brough in Cleveland
during the early hours past midnight,
and at length at five
o'clock in the morning Brough reported
that his majority
would be over 100,000.166 Lincoln then
wired back his
famous answer, "Glory to God in
the Highest, Ohio has saved
the Nation."167
In the meantime, Chase's ambition and
his radical views
were marching on apace. After entering
Lincoln's cabinet,
Seward's strong personal ambitions had
eventually been sub-
merged in his strenuous efforts to give
his best abilities to the
secretaryship of state. But it was
otherwise with Chase. The
radicals had lost confidence in Seward
as one who would do
their will and tried to unseat Seward
while exalting Chase.
Letters from Ohio, as elsewhere, began
to tell Chase that he
was indispensable.168 At the
same time, Chase's activity in ap-
pointing to positions necessitated by
the war (those of "spe-
cial treasury agents") such men
(many of them from Ohio)
as were sympathetic to his candidacy
inevitably accelerated
the flow of such fulsome praise.169
This factionalism had led
to the presentation of Seward's
resignation, followed by that
of Chase, in December 1862, but Lincoln
had sagaciously
refused to accept either one.170
At the same time, the radicals pressed
for emancipation, and
time after time during the summer of
1862 Chase expressed
demands in this direction. Many Ohio
Republicans probably
shared the view of Alphonso Taft of
Cincinnati, who wrote
to Chase, August 26, saying it appeared
that if Lincoln re-
tained slavery, not only would he have
failed genuinely to have
saved the Union but he would be
"ruined and forever dis-
graced."171
166
A few hours earlier Brough had wired
Lincoln that he believed his majority
to be "about 50,000." Governor
Tod also telegraphed, "God be praised our majority
on the home vote cannot be less than
30,000." Ibid., 515n.
167
Ryan, "Lincoln and Ohio," 212.
The whole story of the Copperhead move-
ment in Ohio has been analyzed in detail
in Porter, Ohio Politics, 128-200. See
also Wood Gray, The Hidden Civil War (New
York, 1942), 168.
168 Carman and
Luthin, Lincoln and the Patronage, 231.
169 Ibid., 231.
170 Randall,
Lincoln the President, II, 246-248.
171 Ibid., 152.
LINCOLN AND HIS OHIO FRIENDS 249
Lincoln, the master politician,
however, was cautiously
watching the trend of political and
especially military develop-
ments. In July he had brought up the
matter of an eman-
cipation proclamation, to which Chase
gave his "entire sup-
port," but he sagely followed
Seward's advice to wait for the
wave of military defeats to pass before
issuing his prelim-
inary emancipation proclamation. This
he felt able to pro-
mulgate in September, following the
victory at Antietam. A
number of antislavery leaders took the
credit for this turn
of events, but Chase especially
received acclaim as one who
had prompted the president to follow
his views.172
At about this time Lincoln summoned
Governor Tod and
Samuel Galloway to Washington for
advice. It was reported
that when Galloway entered the room,
the president wrapped
Galloway in his arms, exclaiming,
"God bless you, Sam." Tod
agreed with Lincoln that the
emancipation proclamation would
have a devastating effect on the
strength of the Confederacy,
while Galloway and Secretary Stanton
were more skeptical.173
Chase's inordinate ambitions now became
more and more
evident.174 Among those in
Ohio who were believed uncom-
mitted to Lincoln's reelection and
friendly to Chase were
General Robert C. Schenck and Rufus P.
Spalding, who
were on Chase's advisory committee.175
Galloway wrote of
the notorious way in which Chase was
using the treasury
department to advance his ambitions.176
As late as February
5, 1864, Lincoln apparently did not
have the definite support
of the majority of the Union members of
the Ohio legislature,
but the issuing of the "Pomeroy
Circular," a scurrilous attack
on Lincoln, turned the tide in his
favor.177
By late February, however, Union
members of the Ohio
172 Ibid., 172.
173 Gladden, "Samuel
Galloway," 271-272.
174 For
details of the developing movement, see Charles R. Wilson, ed., "The
Original Chase Organization Movement and
The Next Presidential Election,"
Mississippi Valley Historical Review, XXIII (1936-37), 61-79.
175
Randall, Lincoln the President, IV,
96.
176 Ibid., 104. W. H. West, law
partner of Assessor James Walker, was espe-
cially active.
177 William F. Zornow, "Lincoln,
Chase and the Ohio Radicals in 1864," in
Historical and Philosophical Society of
Ohio, Bulletin, IX (1951), 3-32.
250
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
legislature, aided by federal
officeholders in the state, unani-
mously endorsed Lincoln for a second
term. To Chase this
was a startling and severe blow to his
hopes. Soon, upon the
advice of friends like James A.
Garfield, Chase withdrew his
name, though he still hoped that this
action was a merely
temporary expedient.178
Chase's activities had been attacked
during February by
Frank Blair, Jr., in speeches in the
house. Chase once again
thought of resigning but was induced by
Albert G. Riddle
not to do so.179 Lincoln's
attitude was friendly enough
toward the Blairs that in April, Chase,
thoroughly infuriated,
still again threatened to resign and to
go to Ohio to rally
opinion against Lincoln and the Blairs.
He was, however,
persuaded by Governor John Brough of
Ohio to withhold
his resignation.180 By June,
Chase, irked by difficulties over
a New York treasury appointment, again
submitted his resig-
nation. Governor Brough was in Washington
at the time and
told Lincoln that he believed that he
could work with Ohio
congressmen to persuade Chase to
withdraw it. Lincoln,
thoroughly vexed by Chase's egoistic
threats, replied, "But
this is the third time he has thrown it
at me, and I don't think
I am called on to continue to beg him
to take it back, espe-
cially when the country would not go to
destruction in con-
sequence."181 Accordingly, on June
30, Lincoln wrote Chase,
once again commending his "ability
and fidelity" but accept-
ing his resignation because of the
"mutual embarrassment" in
their official relations.182
At first, in securing a successor to
Chase, Lincoln appeared
to be most concerned about appeasing
the Republican organ-
ization in Ohio rather than congress or
Wall Street. Imme-
diately he thought of David Tod,
remarking to John Hay,
"David Tod. He is my friend, with
a big head full of brains."
178 Carman
and Luthin, Lincoln and the Patronage, 243.
179 Randall, Lincoln the President, IV, 102.
180 Ibid., 181.
181 William Henry Smith, A Political
History of Slavery (New York, 1903),
II, 183-184n.
182
In Basler, Collected Works, VII,
419.
LINCOLN AND HIS OHIO FRIENDS 251
Though lacking experience in government
finance, Lincoln
went on to say, "he made a good
Governor, and he has made
a fortune for himself. I am willing to
trust him." The senate
finance committee, however, deemed Tod
too inexperienced in
finance. Lincoln refused to withdraw
the nomination, but
Tod was not in excellent health and did
not wish to assume a
position for which he was not
qualified.183 He, a hard money
man, declined, and the appointment went
to William P. Fes-
senden of Maine.184
By this time, of course, Lincoln had
definitely secured the
Republican nomination for a second
term. In Chase's home
state the Ohio Republican convention in
May had been in the
hands of Lincoln's friends. It had been
called to order by
former Governor Dennison and had been
strongly influenced
by John A. Bingham, who, following the
loss of his congres-
sional seat in 1862, had been the
object of Lincoln's solicitude.
Having rejected a judgeship at Key
West, Bingham had
accepted an appointment as judge
advocate (with the rank of
major) for the department of the
Susquehanna.185 At the
Ohio convention Lincoln was
specifically endorsed for a sec-
ond term, but Chase's services in the
cabinet were covered in
a resolution which avoided mention of
his name. This con-
vention was a prelude to the meeting of
the Union national
convention in Baltimore, June 7-8, when
Lincoln received the
unanimous vote of every state
delegation except that of Mis-
souri.186 Dennison was
president of the convention and chair-
man of the notification committee.187
On the evening of June
9 the Ohio delegation in Washington,
accompanied by a brass
183
Lincoln to Tod, June 30, 1864, in ibid.,
420, 420n. See also Delmer J. Trester,
"The Political Career of David
Tod" (unpublished Ph.D dissertation, Ohio State
University, 1950).
184 Basler,
Collected Works, VII, 420n. Fessenden supported Chase's greenback
policies. See also Randall, Lincoln
the President, IV, 185.
185 In the summer of 1864 Lincoln
appointed him United States Solicitor in the
court of claims, but he declined the
post and was again elected to congress, where
he served once more until 1873. From
1873 to 1885 he was to be minister to
Japan. Lincoln to Bingham, July 30,
1864, in Basler, Collected Works, VII, 472,
472n; D. A. B.
186 Carman
and Luthin, Lincoln and the Patronage, 260-261.
187 For the communications exchanged between Lincoln and
the notification
committee, see Basler, Collected
Works, VII, 380-383, 411-412.
252
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
band, "waited on the President and
tendered him a sere-
nade."188
Chase's retirement from the cabinet had
infuriated the
radical Republicans, who were further
incensed by Lincoln's
pocket veto of the Wade-Davis bill in
July and resorted in
August to the Wade-Davis manifesto,
which condemned the
president's "executive
usurpation" and insisted on congres-
sional power over reconstruction.189
The political future of
Lincoln seemed in jeopardy, though the
rival nomination of
John C. Fremont by radicals in May had
failed to arouse en-
thusiasm.190 To remedy the
situation Zachariah Chandler made
a trip to Ashtabula, Ohio, and
interviewed Senator Wade.
Wade and later other radical leaders agreed
to withdraw oppo-
sition to Lincoln's reelection if
Montgomery Blair were re-
moved as postmaster general. Chandler was also able to
secure the eventual withdrawal of
Fremont from the race.191
Lincoln, accordingly, secured Blair's
resignation.192 He then
appointed Dennison, who was at the time
campaigning for
Lincoln in southeastern Ohio, out of
telegraphic communica-
tion, but who accepted on September
27.193 Dennison had
been friendly to Chase and was of
radical views, so in a way
his appointment compensated Ohio
Republicans for the de-
parture of Chase from the cabinet, but
he was definitely
loyal to Lincoln.194
Congressman James A. Garfield was one
of the members of
a Union executive congressional
committee to raise money for
the campaign,195 which ended
with an easy victory for Lincoln
in Ohio and in the nation. In the
meantime, Ohio delegates
to the convention which had nominated
Lincoln had not been
forgotten. William Dennison, the
presiding officer, as we
188 Ibid., 384.
189 Randall,
Lincoln the President, III, 136-137.
190 Ibid., IV,
263.
191 Ibid., 276.
192
Lincoln to Blair, September 23, 1864, in
Basler, Collected Works, VII,
18-19.
193 Lincoln to Dennison, September 24, 27, 1864, in ibid., 20, 20n,
25.
194 Carman and Luthin, Lincoln and
the Patronage, 276.
195 Ibid., 292-293.
LINCOLN AND HIS OHIO FRIENDS 253
have seen, had been made postmaster
general. E. P. Fyffe,
Chambers Baird, and John A. Hunter
received positions of
a noncombatant nature in the army,
Fyffe as a colonel in the
reserve corps, the others as
paymasters.196
The aged Roger B. Taney, chief justice
of the United
States, died in October 1864. During
one of Taney's illnesses
Lincoln had determined to make Chase
the next chief justice,
and his mind was not changed by Chase's
departure from the
cabinet in the summer of 1864. C.
Volney Dorsey, Ohio state
Republican chairman, and other Ohioans
were of one mind
with senate radicals in support of
Chase.197 But strong oppo-
sition, including that of Mary Todd
Lincoln, developed toward
Chase. Mrs. Edwin M. Stanton sought the
place for her
husband, and Justice Noah H. Swayne
desired the promo-
tion.198 Lincoln, however,
though disturbed by Chase's over-
whelming ambition, made the appointment
in December.199
Radical Republicans, accordingly, could
exult in a victory for
their views.
As the war was drawing to a close,
Lincoln's time con-
tinued to be devoted in considerable
part to a consideration of
the wishes of many politically active
personalities. Thomas
Ewing, an elder statesman from Ohio, as
one of the defense
attorneys for Rear Admiral Charles
Wilkes, who had been
court-martialed and found guilty of
insubordination, was per-
sistent in efforts to see Lincoln about
a modification of the
sentence.200 In May 1864
Lincoln had written Ewing that
he was not ready to make a decision,
hence he did not wish
for Ewing to come in and "scold
about it."201 But by Decem-
ber, Lincoln was ready to sanction the
remission of the unex-
ecuted part of the sentence--suspension
from duty.202
He also remembered the services of
Friedrich Hassaurek,
one of the Republican electors in Ohio
in 1860, not only by
196 Ibid., 251.
197 Ibid.,
318.
198
Randall, Lincoln the President, IV,
272-275.
199 Basler, Collected
Works, VIII, 154.
200 Ibid., VII, 343n.
201 Ibid., 343.
202 Ibid., VIII,
182.
254
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
an appointment as minister to Ecuador,
as we have seen, but
in securing the release of his half
brother from Libby Prison
in January 1865.203
Richard M. Corwine, another elector of
1860, had been
shown political preferment, but Lincoln
endeavored to resist
pressure which Corwine was exerting in behalf of a
client
upon whom a heavy court-martial fine
had been assessed.204
Lincoln tried to satisfy Ohio friends,
including Joseph M.
Root, who had been a fellow congressman
in 1847-49 and an
elector on the Republican ticket of
1860, by appointing John
C. Grannis as collector of customs at
Cleveland in 1865,205
while satisfying Root by the appointment of Thomas M.
Root
as district attorney for northern Ohio.206 He
even endeavored
to secure "moderate sized
consulates" which would "facili-
tate artists" in their profession
by appointments for Thomas
D. Jones, the sculptor, and John J.
Piatt, the poet, but noth-
ing was forthcoming at the time.207
In the strictly military aspects of the
war, both Lincoln and
numerous Ohioans had played a highly
consequential part.208
Grant and Sherman had been born in
Ohio. Other Ohioans
by nativity or residence who became
important military lead-
ers were Philip H. Sheridan, Irvin
McDowell, William S.
Rosecrans, Don Carlos Buell, Quincy A.
Gilmore, James B.
McPherson, Ormsby M. Mitchel, George A.
Custer, Jacob
D. Cox, James A. Garfield, and Robert
C. Schenck.209 George
B. McClellan has often been included,
for he was residing in
Cincinnati at the time of his
appointment to lead Ohio's vol-
203 Lincoln
to Ethan A. Hitchcock, September 19, 1864, Lincoln to Hassaurek
February 6, 1865, in ibid., 10,
10n, 263, 264n.
204 Lincoln to Dennison, February 28,
1865, in ibid., 323, 323n.
205 Ibid., 346,
347n, 337.
206 Ibid., 324,
325n.
207 Lincoln
to Seward, March 6, 1865, in ibid., 337, 337n. Piatt was a clerk in the
treasury department, 1861-67, and later
(1882-92) became consul at Cork, Ireland
208 T. Harry Williams in Lincoln and
His Generals (New York, 1954) picture??
Lincoln as the dominant figure--"a
great natural strategist, a better one than an
of his generals." Ohio's
contributions were chronicled in detail in Whitelaw Rei??
Ohio in the War (Columbus, 1893).
209 Roseboom,
Civil War Era, 440.
LINCOLN AND HIS OHIO FRIENDS 255
unteers.210 The story of
Lincoln's patience, as he sought a
general who could press the war to a
successful conclusion,
has frequently been told.211
McClellan had been appointed
commander of the army in November 1861,
and the circum-
stances which led to his
"demotion" and then to his replace-
ment, need not be repeated here.212 Lincoln
often astutely
used military appointments as a means of solidifying
political
support.213 He had particularly
numerous communications
with Major General Robert C. Schenck, who was in
command
in nearby Maryland.214 Not
infrequently he paid personal
respects in a speech to an Ohio
regiment on its way to active
service or on its return home from
active service.215 On his
own account he exercised wide discretion in granting
pardons
when circumstances seemed to demand,
and he proved defi-
nitely considerate of Governor Brough's
pleas for unfortu-
nate soldiers from Ohio who had run
afoul of military dis-
cipline.216
As the war moved on toward its end,
Lincoln was espe-
cially pleased with the contributions
of two natives of Ohio,
Sherman and Grant. On the day after
Christmas, 1864, he
wrote to General Sherman, "Many,
many, thanks for your
Christmas-gift--the capture of
Savannah."217 In the mean-
time, Grant--a native of Point
Pleasant, Ohio--was engaged
in the campaign in Virginia which led
to Lee's surrender at
Appomattox in April.
But Lincoln was not spared to enjoy the
fruits and face
the problems of victory. After his
death on April 15, 1865,
210 The story of McClellan's career has been recently
summarized in Warren
W. Hassler, George B. McClellan,
Shield of the Union (Baton Rouge, La., 1957).
211 See,
for example, Kenneth P. Williams, Lincoln Finds a General (New
York, 1949-56).
212 Professor Randall has a chapter on
"The Breaking of McClellan" in Lin-
coln the President, II, 108-125. For Ohio's pride in McClellan, see William
B.
Hesseltine, Lincoln and the War
Governors (New York, 1948), 258.
213
See, for example, Basler, Collected
Works, IV, 451, 462, 463.
214
See, for example, Lincoln to Schenck,
September 25, 1863, in ibid., VI, 482.
215 Ibid., VII, 388, 504, 512, 528-529.
216 Ibid., VII, 175, 196.
217 Ibid., VIII,
181-182.
256 THE OHIO HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
and the subsequent appropriate services
in Washington, the
funeral train made its way to Illinois.
En route there were
elaborate ceremonies at Cleveland on
April 28, and at Colum-
bus on April 29, as tens of thousands of persons in
each city
viewed the body. At many smaller places
huge bonfires
lighted up the atmosphere, and crowds waited patiently
for
hours to catch a glimpse of the funeral
train. Depots were
draped in black, and at every stop some
effort was made to
express the sense of grief and sadness.
Thus, Lincoln's Ohio
friends--illustrious and unknown--paid
their last respects to
the great war leader.218
218
Ryan, "Lincoln and Ohio,"
223-281.