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 '^^^>'"^^EXT to his own State the interest of the Amer- 
 ican citizen is centered in the National Capi- 
 ital ; in that city of cities, abont wliich so 
 many associations cluster, and which repre- 
 sents so much to vhis country and the world 
 at large through the transactions of its vari- 
 ^I^^^t^ ous departments — executive, legislative, judicial. 
 Though it is presumed that all are, in a general 
 way, familiar with the Federal City and its attract- 
 ive environments, we trust that a brief sketch of this interesting 
 locality will be appreciated, not only by all who are acquainted 
 with its scenes, but by tliose who have never enjoyed the pleas- 
 ure of a personal visit. 
 
 We, as a Nation, have passed the first centennial of Presi- 
 dential administration — "a government of the people, b}- the 
 people and for the people'' — and, in turn, each Chief Executive 
 lias entered upon the duties of his office with a fixed policy set 
 steadfastly before his view, which it has been his high piirpo.se 
 to carry to a successful issue. How exalted and honorable the 
 position, yet how fraught svith responsibility! 
 
 Glancing backward over the intervening years since the 
 oath of office was administered to the Nation's first Chief Magis- 
 trate, on April 30, 1789, Time's hand has wrought marvelous 
 changes in this land of ours, in the growth and development of 
 its then unknown resources ; but the broad foundations of gov- 
 eninient, laid in tribulation and anxiety, but with honesty of 
 
 IMsi. of Columbia. 1 ~ 
 
"• ""-111 
 
 PRKKACK — DISTRICT OK COI.UMRIA. 
 
 purpo.se and patriotic zeal, have never been sliaken by forcij^Mi 
 assault or civil tumult. 
 
 A brief bioj^raphical sketch of these Representatives of the 
 Nation, which sets forth, in addition to the life, a few iniporluiu 
 facts connected with each administration, will, we trust, be also 
 appreciated. 
 
 Amonjif our readers will be found a larji^e number who arc 
 interested in tlic organization known as the Grand Army of thf 
 Republic, and it has been our pleasure to furnish a brief history 
 of that Order from its inception down to the present time. Tlie 
 sketches of the formation and growth of the Young Men's Chris- 
 tiaii Association, Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Society 
 of Christian Endeavor, Epworth League and Baptist Younjf 
 People's Union of America will also .speak to many interested 
 readers. 
 
 To present to the public, through this medium, late and 
 reliable data, relative to subjects of such general interest as the 
 above-mentioned, has been the purpose of 
 
 The Author. 
 
The ©DistPict® of® Columbia. f^r- % 
 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 «*. 
 
 ESTABIJSHMENT OF A FEDERAL CITY. 
 
 ^, UR direst necessities are often "blessings in 
 l^^ disguise," for the effort to escape from uufor- 
 ' tunate environments may be the "opening 
 wedge" which breaks down the barriers so 
 seemingly impregnable when viewed in the 
 light of timidity and self-distrust. Thus was the con- 
 ception of the Nation's Capital the outgrowth of the 
 .Nation's need, and in almost desperate self-defense was 
 Congress driven to an undertaking which demanded vigorous 
 ])n)sccution, but, in result, was the " consummation devoutly to 
 be wished." 
 
 In these nineteenth centurj' time.s, when the country is 
 rcxeling in prosperity and at peace with all the world, imagina- 
 tion can scarce picture the scenes of those early continental daj'S, 
 wlien there was neither a Union, Seat of government, nor Presi- 
 dent. True, the English yoke had just been cast aside, and 
 donbtless the colonists were sincerelv grateful for even a cessa- 
 tion of hostilities; but the "Confederacy of Thirteen States," 
 which had met a common enemy and accomplished its defeat, was 
 lacking in that unanimity of purpose which governs the com- 
 inonwealths comprising our glorious Nation of to-da}'. Sec- 
 tional interests were arraj'ing these individual sovereignties 
 ai^ainst each other; the treasury was depleted; still more signif- 
 icant to the country was the condition of indebtedness to her 
 defenders, which the war had entailed. 
 
-»m»u,uumtmmitkm„^mm^ 
 
 Till'. WFirri'. CITY 
 
 DISTRICT OF COM'MIIIA. 
 
 It was June 19, 17^3, and Conj/ress was in session at IMiihi. 
 delphia, wlicn a niessenj;jer rushed upon the scene with the 
 annoiT.icenient tliat a company of soldiers, from Lancaster, were 
 advancing under arms to demand of Conj>;rcss their back pay ; 
 these to be followed by Annand's entire legion, with the saiiic 
 object in view. 
 
 When the appeals of Congress to the Executive Council of 
 Pennsylvania for protection were met with the announcement that 
 "even the State militia could not be depended upon," and that 
 "the soldiers must be allowed to enter the city," there was natur- 
 ally much dissatisfaction expressed, and the declaration was niadc 
 by members of the legislature that, " if the city would not support 
 Congress, it was high time to remove to some other place." 
 
 For two days the City Hall was besieged by armed soldiers, 
 whose threatening aspect occasioned the greatest alarm. Finally, 
 a resolution to adjourn to Princeton, New Jersej-, was introduced, 
 and, after several days deliberation, acted upon. The necessity 
 for such a step led to a general discussion of the subject by the 
 legislators, and on October ytli of the same year, Elbridge Gerry, 
 of Massachusetts, introduced a resolution to the effect that 
 " Buildings for the n.se of Congress shctild be erected on or near 
 the banks of the Delaware or Potomac Rivers, provided that a 
 suitable spot could be procured for a Federal Town, and that the 
 right of soil and exclusive jurisdiction should be vested in the 
 United States." 
 
 This became a law, though its life was of short duration, 
 being repealed on April 26, 1 784 ; but the initator}' steps liad 
 been taken, and at the next session of Congress — the followiug 
 October — three commissioners were appointed to "lay out a dis- 
 trict on either .side of the Delaware." This location met with 
 violent opposition from the Southern members, who based tlieir 
 objections largely upon the situation, with reason claiming that 
 the Federal City should be as near to the geographical center as 
 possible, as well as the center of population, — the Delaware filling 
 neither of these conditions. In J *^ nary 1785, while Congress 
 
DISTRICT ()!• fOLl'MHIA — A FKDl'.KAI. I.ITV. 
 
 \\;is ill session in New York, an attempt \vav made to locate the 
 capital on the Potomac, wh'ch met with spirited resistance from 
 iIk' Northern Comnumwealths, they claiminjj;- an injnstice in the 
 rt'hitive position, — nine States beinjj^ sitnated north of tliis h)ca- 
 tion and fonr to the sonth. 
 
 The first definite steps taken toward the acquisition of a 
 permanent Seat of Government was the adoption of the present 
 Coastitiition, in Septeml)er, 17S7, wliicli conclnsively settled the 
 rrA/// of the district. In i 7SH, Maryland, reco^nii/inj;- the ad- 
 vanta}i[e tc a State of the h^cation of the National Capital, made 
 offer of "any district (not exceedinj^ ten miles square) which the 
 Congress may fix upon and accept for the Scat of Government 
 of the United »Statcs." A matter of such importance to the en- 
 tire federation could not be disposed of without deliberation. It 
 was debated at the session of 1789; and, while each section vir- 
 tually agreed to the general proposition that the F^ederal City 
 oiti^lif to be centrally located, it is scarcel}' to be expected that 
 motives of self-interest could be entirely eliminated from di.strict 
 representation. The North and vSonth were pitted against each 
 other on the settlement of this important question ; tlie former 
 favoring the banks of the vSn.squehanna, while the latter de- 
 niaiulcd the Delaware or the Potomac. The cities which had 
 entertained the Legislature at former sessions, as well as a num- 
 ber of other localities, had strong partisan supporters, and the 
 result of the deliberations of Congress pointed significantly to 
 most .serious complications. 
 
 At the session of 1789, Germantown, Pennsylvania, suc- 
 ceeded in securing the prize, lacking only the concurrence of the 
 Senate in a final amendment, which that body decided to post- 
 pone mitil the Congress following. Virginia, as a State, had 
 not been idle, and on December 3, 1789, passed an Act granting 
 to Congress land on the Potomac, and pledges for the erection of 
 suitable buildings, — Maryland to concur in the proposition, and 
 render substantial assistance. 
 
 The question of " funding the public debt" was occupying 
 
 
Till". WIIITK CITY 
 
 ■ DISTRICT OF COI,r>ri'>IA. 
 
 tJie attention of the members, and the Hcnise luid rejected an 
 amendment to the effect that the Gcnvnanent should assume 
 twenty-one million dollars of vState debts. The North was 
 unitedly in favor of assumption, Init opposed to the sitnatioii of 
 the Capital as favored by the Southern States; the South was 
 divided on the former question, but presented a solid phalanx on 
 the location of the Federal City. 
 
 Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, aiu' 
 Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State, realizing the dangers im- 
 pending, proved themselves diplomats, indeed, at this critical 
 juncture, by arranging a compromise between the localities 
 which they respectively represented. A dinner part}-, givci; bv 
 Mr. Jefferson, became herewith an historic event, sucli members 
 heing invited as were necessar}' to carry forward the purposes of 
 the leaders. Hamilton won to his opinion the needed majority 
 of the Northern States, while Jefferson carried l)ie Southern.— 
 the result of which was the passage of the " Assunrjtion Act," 
 and the acceptance by Congress, of the joint offer of X'irginia 
 and Maryland. George Washington, President, issued proclama- 
 tions designating the limits of the District, in January and 
 Alarch, 1791, — the fifteenth year of American independence. 
 
 Geu. Thomas Johnson ai.d Hon. Daniel Carroll, of Mary- 
 land, and Dr. David Stuart, of Virginia, were appointed Com- 
 missioners by the President, and on April 15, 1791, the tirst 
 boundary stone was placed at Jones' Point, adjacent to Alex- 
 andria, Virginia. The name "Columbia" was given to the 
 District, in honor of the discoverer of the continent. 
 
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CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE CITY OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 7^ HE site of the now charming and picturesque City 
 of Washington was, in the early days, a favorite 
 camping-ground of the Anacostian Indians, and 
 their council-fires burned brightl}' upon the lo- 
 cality where the Nation's Capitol now lifts its 
 graceful dome. The first white man credited 
 with the discover}' of these wooded shores was 
 Henry Fleet, an English fur-trader, who plied his skiff on the 
 Potomac River, in 1624, ^i^d» i^^ his joiirnal — recently discovered 
 in the Lambeth Library, London — gives an interesting descrip- 
 tion of the native tribes and their occupation of hunting and 
 fishing, as well as the conditions of soil and climate of the sur- 
 rounding country. 
 
 In 1660, another Englishman, named Pope, purchased ?. 
 tract of land in this locality, to which he gave the name of 
 "Rome," designating a small, adjacent creek "The Tiber," and 
 laying out a city — upon a paper foundation — which should be a 
 counterpart of the famous capital beycnd the sea. 
 
 As early as 1634 Maryland was occupied by Lord Balti- 
 more's Catholic Colony, but it was not until 1695 that a co^ipau}- 
 of Scotch and Irish exiles settled upon the territory now known 
 as the District of Columbia and engaged in farming, giving to 
 tlicir combined possessions the title of " New Scotland." 
 
 The original location selected by President Washington for 
 
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 8 
 
 THE WHITK CITY — DISTRICT OK COLUMHIA. 
 
 the Federal City was taken from Prince George and Mont- 
 gomery Counties, Maryland, and from Fairfax Connty, Virginia, 
 and comprised a district one hundred square miles in extent, 
 which contained three flourishing towns, — Alexandria, in \'ir- 
 ginia; Bladensburg and Georgetown, in Maryland. In 1846 tlic 
 territorj' on the right bank of the Potomac was retroceded to 
 Virginia, and the area of the present District consequently re- 
 duced to fift}' square miles. Its only county is Washington ; its 
 towns, Washington and Georgetown. Andrew EHicott, of Penn- 
 sylvania, was appointend to make the surveys of the District, in 
 the spring of 1791, and negotiations were thereupon entered into 
 with the owners of the property, the four principal ones being 
 Daniel Carroll, David Burns, Samuel Davidson and Notley 
 Young, with whom satisfactor}' terms were finally concluded. 
 
 About fourteen miles above Mt. Vernon, the famous country 
 seat of President Washington, the Eastern Branch unites with 
 the Potomac, leaving, between the streams, a wedge-shaped strip 
 of land which is bordered on one side by the Potomac River for 
 a distance of about three miles. Here, wooded hills rise in 
 majestic beaut}', and form a semi-circle, meeting the Eastern 
 Branch about a mile from its confluence with the Potomac ; and, 
 upon tliis point of land, the President located the Federal City, 
 afterward named Washington, in his honor. 
 
 Pierre Charles L'Enfant, a native of France, was selected to 
 lay out the city, and studied the situation carefully and diligently 
 during the spring and summer of 1791. He had been attracted 
 to America with many of his countrymen, during the Revo- 
 lution, at a time of the Nation's need, and had ably assisted the 
 colonists by his instruction in the planning of fortifications; 
 his services were rewarded by an appointment as Major of 
 Engineers. One splendid feature of his design was its pn)\ ision 
 for the growth of the Nation, recognizing the needs <>f the 
 future, as well as those of his own day and generation ; and, 
 although — owing to an unfortunate temper, which occasioned his 
 dismissal — another completed the labors he had entered into so 
 
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA — CITY OF WASHINGTON. 9 
 
 assiduously, his ideas were largely embodied in the plans of his 
 successor, Andrew ElHcott. 
 
 THK .STREETS OF THK CITY. 
 The streets of Washington are a distinguishing feature of 
 the city. They are somewhat confusing to a stranger, owing to 
 the unusual manner of "doubling" the names, but when 
 once the plan is comprehended, all difficulty in this direction is 
 removed. With "Qapitol Hill " as the center of the S3'steni, the 
 streets running parallel to it, east and west take the letters of 
 the alphabet; those extending north and south are designated by 
 numerals, while the sixteen magnificent avenues running 
 dia.^mnally across the city and named for the States which com- 
 prised the Union in the year 1800, are among the pleasing 
 features of the capital. They are from 130 to 160 feet in width, 
 aud are lined by beautiful trees which give to Washington a 
 most attractive appearance. 
 
CHAPTER in. 
 
 ERECTING THE CAPITOL. 
 
 N July 1793 Stephen L. Hallett was appointed Arch- 
 itect of the Capitol, with James Hoban acting as 
 Supervising Architect, and, on the eighteenth of Sep- 
 tember, the Southeast corner-stone of the building 
 was laid with imposing ceremonies. Mr. Hobaii's 
 design for the President's House was accepted, and 
 both structures were piished forward as rapidly as 
 possible, in order to comply with the stipulation re- 
 quiring that they be ready for occupancy by the year iSoo. No 
 appropriations for these buildings had been provided by Con- 
 gress, and the amounts voted by Maryland and Virginia were 
 soon exhausted, — the former finally furnishing additional funds, 
 on the personal credit of the Commissioners. 
 
 A third term being declined by Washington, John Adams 
 succeeded to the Presidencj^, and, although representing a dis- 
 trict hostile to the location, entered heartily into the plans 
 of his predecessor. The resignation of Mr. Hallett, as well as 
 his successor, appointed by the President, entailed upon Mr. 
 Hoban the duty of carrj-ing the work to completion. The North 
 wing was- finished in 1799, and occupied the following year l)y 
 Congress, as was also the President's House, — Mrs. Adams hold- 
 ing the distinguished position of first mistress of the White 
 House, as it has since been named. 
 
 The members opposed to the accepted localit}^ of the Federal 
 City gave to it, in the early days, many titles significant of their 
 sentiments of disgust, one of which — "The City of Magnificent 
 
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DISTRICT OK COLUMniA — KRKCTINC. THH CAI'ITOI.. 
 
 II 
 
 Distances " — still cliiifrs to it, but not in a sense of disapproba- 
 lloii, at the present time. " Capitol-movers," as they were des- 
 ijriiated, put forth every effort to effect a change in the location of 
 the Federal City, but in vain, though they doubtless retarded 
 not a little the growth of the District. 
 
 During President Madison's administration oc arred the de- 
 struction of the Capitol and other State Buildings, by the Brit- 
 ish, on August 24, 1814. Three years previous to this the 
 South, or House wing, of the edifice had been completed — the 
 Halls being connected by a covered passage way — and thus was 
 afforded to the enemy the opportunity of still greater devasta- 
 tion. The records, valuable papers and plate were saved from 
 destruction by removal, but the library, family stores and furni- 
 ture were consumed, only the blackened walls remaining to cry 
 out against the wrong committed, and to urge the common- 
 wealths to concerted action in rebuilding their Federal City. 
 
 Congress appointed Mr. Benjamin H. Latrobe to supervise 
 the reconstruction of the Capitol, but, in December, 18 17, he was 
 succeeded by Mr. Charles Bulfinch, who carried the work to com- 
 pletion — the foundation of the Central Building being laid 
 March 24, 1818, and the structure made ready for occupancy in 
 the year 1825. What is now designated as the "Old Capitol" is 
 a building which was leased by Congress in 1815, and occupied 
 by them for the succeeding ten years. 
 
CHAPTKR IV 
 
 THI-; Ki'.v: capitol. 
 
 ^"^.^ September 30, 1850, Congress passed an Act 
 for the extension of the Capitol in accordance 
 with the necessities of that Body. Presidciil 
 Fillmore approved of the plan of Mr. Thomas 
 U. Walter, Architect, and placed him in charge 
 ■^M%''^ of its constrnction ; and, on Jnly 4, 1S51, in the sevcnty- 
 ^' sixth j^ear of American Independence, the corner-stone 
 was laid by the President, with appropriate ceremonies. 
 — Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, delivering the oration on 
 that memorable occasion. 
 
 The New Capitol is comprised of the old building (which 
 forms the center of the structure) and the '* Extension," consist- 
 ing of two wings, though it virtuall}' represents three periods of 
 the Nation's histor3^ Its entire length is 751 feet, and depth 
 324 feet inclusive of porticoes and steps, and the .structure covers 
 153,112 square feet exclusive of the courts. The Capitol faces 
 the east, while, contrar}' to the expectation of the projectors, the 
 settlement of the city did not begin in that locality, but to the 
 westward of the edifice. 
 
 The material of the "Extension" is white marble, which 
 was procured in ]\Iassacliusetts, while the columns were quarried 
 in Maryland, the entire superstructure resting upon a basement 
 of rustic stone. 
 
 The three principal entrances are on the east, — the central 
 being the main entran.ce to the Capitol, and is reached through a 
 
 Dist. of Colunibl.v. 
 

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DISTRICT OF COI.UMIUA — THK NKW CAI'lToI.. 
 
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 |)(irtico one lumclrcd unci sixty feet in lenj^tli ; and here has heen 
 wiliicssed the inan^nration of ihc- Presidents of the United 
 States since the completion of the Capitol. 
 
 I'Voni Pennsylvania Avenue — the niile-lonjj^ apj)roach to the 
 cdifue — the effect is strikinjj^ly ^rand, while a near'-*r \ iew takes 
 nothing from its attractiveness, so syinn:etrical are its propor- 
 tions and so harmonions the snrronndin^s. vSpace forbids snch 
 detailed account of both exterior and interior as nvouUI be pleas- 
 ant and profitable, hence we v.-ill simply tontli upon some of the 
 noted features, an\'xtended description of which would occupy a 
 volume. 
 
 The RoTrxDA of the Capitol is reached throuj^li massive 
 doois of bronze, embellished with hij^h-relief fij^ures, the work 
 of the noted American sculptor, Randolph Roj^ers, reprcsentinj^ 
 historical events connected with Cohnubus. The diameter of 
 the Rotunda is ninety-five and one-Half feet, circumference three 
 huiulred, and hcij^iit one hundred and eij^hty feet from base to 
 canop}'. The floor is of sandstone, and the ceiling is the iron- 
 ribbed interior of the great Dome. A frieze, ten feet in width, 
 is frescoed to represent important events in American history, 
 while the paintings, by celebrated artists, set in panels about the 
 walls, are among the most attractive decorations of the Rotunda, 
 representing, as they do, important scenes in the history of the 
 Nation. Thirty-six windows are placed in the ceiling, and " the 
 eye," a small opening at the apex, is surrounded by a canopy, 
 upon which is frescoed the " Apotheosis of Washington." This 
 allegorical painting, the work of Senior C. Brumidi, an Italian 
 artist, covers 4,664 square feet, and represents to the Government 
 au expenditure of $40,000, while, to the American citizen, it is 
 ever a delightful study — an education in Art. 
 
 The domp:, designed by Thomas U. Walter, is one of the 
 surprises of the structure, having the appearance of airiness, 
 but built in so substantial a manner as to resist the severest 
 storm, with only a slight vibration. Four thousand tons of iron 
 entered into its construction, while eight years were spent in the 
 
'*'''''*™'**''-™'"'^afT''iriyiiirr''^''"'~--^ 
 
 14 
 
 THR WHITE CITY DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 erection of this prominent feature of the Capitol. It rises 307 
 feet above the foundation and is surmounted by a figure of Free- 
 dom, designed by Thomas Crawford. The view of fhe cit}- ;uid 
 surrounding country from the Dome is most entrancing, the 
 hills and valleys, as well as the graceful river, presenting a fas- 
 cinating picture to the ej'e; while the magniiicent avenues, 
 reaching out in every direction, give the appearance of a specific 
 object, in all their wanderings, which is in reality, none other 
 than— The Capitol. 
 
 One of the most interesting apartments of the Capitol, asso- 
 ciated as it is with those early days of "trials and triumphs" is 
 the HALL OF STATUARY, re?.ched by the niain corridor, as one 
 passes to the Soiith Extension — the Hall of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives. This semi-circuLir chamber is 95 feet in length with 
 a panelled ceiling 60 feet in height, imitative in its decorations of 
 the Pantheon at Rome. This historic apartment — most truly 
 memorable on account of the " battles of the giants " wl ich were 
 waged so forcefully during the fifty 3'ears of its occiipanc\- as 
 House of Representatives — Congress, in 1S64, wisely set aside as 
 a Hall of Statiiary, and authorized the President to extend an 
 invitation to each State to contribute a bronze or marble statue 
 of two of her noted sons. Rhode Island was the first to comply 
 with the request, and Connecticut, New York, ]\Iassachusetts, \'er- 
 mont, and several other States have also responded. \\'hen 
 each commonweahh of <"he United States shall have placed 
 beneath the arched ceiling of this Pantheon of America's noted 
 men the statues to which she is entitled, the Nation may indeed 
 be proud of such representiition, since neither by inheritance nor 
 the accident of birth came honors, but in faithfulness to prin- 
 ciple, which is its own reward. 
 
 Occupying respectively the North and South Extensions are 
 the Senate Chranber and Hall of the House of Representatives, 
 the former being in size 112x82 feet, and the latter 139x93 feet, 
 in both cases the floor space being largely devoted to the desks 
 and chairs of members. Galleries, extending entirely around 
 
DISTRICT OF COLl'MlilA — THE NKW CAPITOL. 
 
 15 
 
 these auditoriums, are divided into sections for the Diplomatic 
 Corps, for ladies, and for gentlemen, — the Reporters Gallery 
 hm\i; above and behind the presiding officer's chair, in both 
 Houses. 
 
 Tlie decorations of these Chambers are in perfect harmony 
 with the magnificent structure of which they form so important 
 a part. Heating, lighting, and ventilating are thoroughly and 
 systenuitically accomplished, while comfort and convenience are 
 paramount considerations in these legislative halhs — the Senate 
 and House of Representatives. 
 
 From the year 1800 to 1859 the apartment now designated 
 a. the Supreme Court Chamber resounded to the voices of Sen- 
 ators of the United States, as they debated questions of import 
 to the Nation's welfare. With the completion of the extension, 
 the Senate removed to its new location, and the Supreme Court 
 was assigned to the deserted chamber. This semi-circular 
 apartment is one uf magnificent proportions, and the decorations 
 and appointments are in keeping with the legislative halls of the 
 House and Senate. 
 
 Occup3'ing the Capitol's entire Western projection, is the 
 Library, — an elegant apartment (in reality three chambers in 
 one), affording to knowledge-seekers an inspiration for study, 
 througli the companionship of rare and priceless volumes, as 
 well as the latc^t productions of our gifted writers of to-day. 
 
 On April 24, 1800, Congress passed an Act appropriating 
 55,000 for the purchase of a Library, which, however, was de- 
 stroyed in 1814, with the burning of the Capitol by the British. 
 President Jefferson's oifer of his entire library was accepted by 
 the Government, and 7,500 valuable volumes were purchased of 
 him in 1S15. These were at once removed to Washington, and, 
 in 1825, assigned to their permanent location, where they formed 
 the nucleus of the present Library. 
 
 In 1 85 1, 35,000 volumes were destroyed by fire, but the 
 original collection of Mr. Jefferson, for the most part, fortunately 
 escaped. Appropriations M'ere immediately made to replace the 
 
 if 
 
'•****™°— •^'--•- ■itWiiniMMH 
 
 i6 
 
 THE WHITP: city — DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 loss, as well as for a large additional purchase of books ; and, in 
 March, T852, $72,500 was voted, toward repairing the bunitd 
 apartments. As a result, we have the present conimoclious 
 chambers, which are thoroughly fire-proof, and adapted in cnctv 
 way to the requirements of this important department. In 1S66 
 the scientific library of the Sniith.sonian Institute was added to 
 the collection ; and the following year Congress purchased the 
 librar}^ of Air. Peter Force, of Washington. In 1870 the copy- 
 right law (in the transfer of its business from the Patent Oilice to 
 the Library of Congress) provided that two copies of c;icli 
 publication be deposited with the librarian, and tlius the collec- 
 tion has grown to mammoth proportions. 
 
 Of other departments of the Capitol we will refrain iVoih 
 special mention, leaving to the visitor the charm of personal 
 inspection, which ever proves not only a pleasant occupation hut 
 a matter of instntction as well. 
 
 ^^^^^. 
 

 
 Allegorical Picture, National Capitol. 
 
p- 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 ATTRACTIONS OF THE CITY. 
 
 piEXT to the Capitol, the Executive Mansion is 
 ^ and ahA'ays has been an object of interest. It 
 was erected at the same period and suffered 
 equally at the hands of the invading hosts, in 
 1814, but was made ready for occupancy in 
 January, 1818. It is located on Pennsyl- 
 vania Avenue, but at a distance of one mile from 
 1^'^' ' the Legislative Halls, and is surrounded by the 
 State, Treasury, Navy and War Departments. The grounds 
 are spacious and attractive, extending to the Potomac River, on 
 which charming prospect the visitor never tires of gazing. 
 
 The structure is of Virginia sandstone, which is of so por- 
 ous a nature as to require a j-early coat of paint to keep it from 
 crumbling, and, because of this necessity, has received its ap- 
 pellation — The White House. It has a frontage of 170 feet 
 with a depth of 86 feet, and is two stories in height. The main 
 entrance leads from a spacious portico to a central hall, on the 
 left of which is the East Room, occupying that entire portion of 
 the building, and used upon occasions of state. Adjoining this 
 apartment are the Green, Blue and Red Rooms, furnished in 
 these respective colors ; and to the west of the latter are the State 
 Dining Room and a smaller apartment used as such by the 
 President and family, upon ordinary occasions. 
 
 Tlie second story, containing thirteen apartments, is divided 
 into the necessary family rooms, and the suite occupied by the 
 President as ante-chamber, audience-room, private office, library, 
 etc. 
 
 Dist. (if Cnlumbiit. 
 
 IT 
 
r I 
 
 ■■■■ 
 
 i8 
 
 THE WHITE CITY — DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 1 
 
 m 
 
 1 
 
 This home of the Chief Executive of the United States has 
 witnessed both sad and joyous events. Here have been consum- 
 mated marriage vows, and here also have lain in state the mortal 
 remains of the Nation's honored dead. However, the usages of 
 society at the Capital considerably abridge its periods of mourn- 
 ing — save in the hearts of the afflicted — since "men may come 
 and men may go," but receptions, state dinners, balls and fetes 
 must " still go on forever." 
 
 THK DEPARTMENTS. : 
 
 In the Renaissance Building, which adjoins the White 
 House on the wf' ' , are located the State, War and Navy Depart- 
 ments, occup3ang respectively the South, North and East fronts. 
 These are all models in arrangement and decoration, and are a 
 delight to visitors who make the " rounds " of the " Federal City." 
 Any attempt at particular description is futile, however, since 
 one's best effort would but subject him to the criticism that "the 
 half has not been told." 
 
 The State Department which, owing to its position as the 
 medium of communication with foreign powers, as well as its 
 other exacting offices, is one of the most important branches of 
 the Nation's business, and was established in 1 789, with Thomas 
 Jefferson as its first Secretar3^ Three Assistants, a Chief Clerk 
 and six Chiefs of Bureaus share the responsible duties, while 
 an army of clerks execute the purposes of their "superior 
 
 officers." 
 
 The War Department was also organized in 1789, and 
 Gen. Henry Knox, of Massachusetts, was appointed its first Sec- 
 retary. This official has no Assistants other than the Chiefs of 
 the various Bureaus, but through these heads of Departments 
 the business of the Nation is admirably conducted. 
 
 General Knox was also made Secretary of the Navy, in 
 17C9, at which date this Department was created. There are no 
 Assistants, so named, but a Chief Clerk and heads of Bureaus 
 conduct the affairs of this Department, which is one of great 
 magnitude and importance. 
 
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA — ATTRACTIONS. 
 
 19 
 
 The Navy Yard is one of the "features" of the Capital, and 
 attracts marked attention from visitors. It is located on the 
 Anacostia or Eastern Branch of the Potomac, at the foot of 
 Ei.tifhtli Street East, and was established in 1800. It occupies an 
 area of twenty acres, and its grounds have been attractively laid 
 out and handsoniel}' ornamented ; and here are also displa3'ed 
 many relics and trophies, such as cannon, shot and shell, taken 
 in earlier conflicts, as well as during the Civil War. 
 
 The Treasury Department was also organized in 17S9, with 
 ^'cxander Hamilton its first Secretary, since which date many 
 horored names are recorded as its presiding officers. The 
 Building is located on Pennsylvania Avenue at the corner of 
 Fifteenth vStreet West, and, owing to tiie extensions that have 
 been added to the original structure, and which were completed 
 in 1869, is only second in attractiveness to the Capitol. 
 
 The edifice is 465 feet in length by a depth of 266 feet, the 
 extensions being constructed of the finest quality of granite 
 from Dix Island, Maine. Of all the Departments of State, none 
 takes higher rank, in point of architectural beauty or interior ar- 
 rangement and finish, than the Treasury. It is officered, in ad- 
 dition to the Secretary, by two Assistants, a Chief Clerk, two 
 Comptrollers, Commissioner of Customs, six Auditors, Register, 
 Director of the Mint, Solicitor of the Treasury, Commissioner of 
 Internal Revenue, and Chiefs of other important Bureaus con- 
 nected with the Department, which, with the clerical force em- 
 ployed, constitutes a small army of workers, enlisted under the 
 banner of the "Sovereign of the Realm" — in other words, the 
 Treasury of the United States. 
 
 The Department of the Interior was established in 1849, 
 and occupies a marble and granite structure facing F Street, and 
 a portion of the pension office on Judiciary Square. This De- 
 partment has charge of the business relating to Patents, Pen- 
 sions, Public Lands, Indian Affairs, Sui-veys, Census, Education, 
 Railroads and many other public interests. There are two 
 Assistants, as well as Commissioners over each of the Bureaus, 
 
 
 i 
 
I 
 
 20 
 
 THK WHITK CITY — DISTRICT OK COLUMBIA. 
 
 while a large number of clerks dispatch the business of the X;i- 
 tion as represented by the Department of the Interior. 
 
 In 1789 the office of Postman: ter-General was established, 
 and Samuel Osgood, of Massachusetts, was placed at the 
 head of this department, which stands next in importance to the 
 Treasury of the United States. There are three Asssistants, as 
 well as Chiefs of Contract, Finance, Inspection and Appointment, 
 who share with the first ofticer the duties of the Department. 
 This building, about which so man}- interests cluster, and whicli 
 is one of the first to be inspected by the City's guests, covers an 
 entire block, between E and F Streets North, and Seventh and 
 Eighth Streets West, with its main entrance on Seventh Street. 
 It is constructed of white marble, in rectangular form, and is a 
 most imposing structure. The original building was erected in 
 1839, and additions were made thereto in 1855, the entire edifice 
 costing two millions of dollars in round numbers. 
 
 The Department of Justice is of recent creation, being estab- 
 lished in 1870, and is in charge of the Attorney-General, the 
 "law-officer" of the Government. A Solicitor and two Assistant 
 Attorney-Generals share the duties of this office, which is located 
 in a brown stone building on Pennsylvania Avenue, near 
 Fifteenth Street. 
 
 The Department of Agriculture, established in 1862, is 
 located upon a portion of the "Smithsonian Reservation," twenty 
 acres of ground being devoted to its iise. The building, con- 
 structed of pressed brick, is four stories in height and 166x60 
 feet in dimensions, and complete in all its appointments. As 
 in the other Departments, the Bureaus are in charge of Chiefs, 
 to whom are intrusted the control of their respective interests, 
 subject to the Commissioner of Agriculture. 
 
 The Patent Office is a Bureau of the Department of the 
 Interior, and is in charge of a Commissioner. It is located 
 between Seventh and Ninth Streets West, and is bounded by F 
 and G Streets, which it faces on the south and north. The 
 building is 410x275 feet in dimensions, and is constructed of 
 
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA — ATTRACTION'S. 
 
 21 
 
 marble in plain but massive style, and is one of the most at- 
 tractive structures of the city. 
 
 It is simply impossible to attempt a description of this De- 
 partment or its forces at work, since by personal inspection, 
 alone, can any adequate idea be formed of the vastness of the 
 enterpri.se or the interesting objects contained within these walls; 
 hence we leave to the visitor the charm of obser\'ation, and 
 to the historian unrestricted to a brief outline a detailed account 
 of so interesting a Department. 
 
 THK SMITH.SOXIAX INSTITUTION. 
 
 One of the noted structures toward which the ** pilgrim" 
 journeys, and in which the Washingtonian takes especial delight, 
 is the Smithsonian Institution, which occupies a commanding 
 position in what is designated as "The Mall," a fifty acre park 
 extending from Seventh to Twelfth Streets West, and from B 
 Street South to Canal, its northern limit. The structure is 
 447x160 feet in its greatest dimensions, but these figures give 
 little idea of the space comprehended in this magnificent 
 edifice, with its wings, turrets and projections. The material 
 entering into its construction is lilac gray freestone, quarried in 
 the vicinity of Washington, and its style of architecture is the 
 Norman or Romanesque. 
 
 In 1829 James Smithson, an English scientist, died in 
 Genoa, Italy, and bequeatl.ed his estate "to the United States of 
 America to foun4 at Washington, under the name of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion 
 of knowledge among men." The bequest, with a later residuary 
 legacy, was judiciously invested, and, as a result of wise enact- 
 ments, the Smithsonian Institution stands to-day a monument, 
 not only to its founder, but to the counselors who have established 
 it upon the broad foundation contemplated in the gift. 
 
 THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 
 
 To visit Washington is to view "The Monument," both as 
 a matter of desire and also of necessity, since at no locality 
 
22 
 
 'IMII', Wlirri'. CITY — DISTRICT ol- CDl.rMDIA. 
 
 within th.c city or its vicinity can one fail to observe this ardii- 
 tectnral wonder, if his eye is directed toward the Mall. Hall" ;i 
 mile to the south of the Executive Mansion stands this nohk- 
 structure, "the hi}j;l;est artificial elevation in the world"; an 
 obelisk contemplated nearly a century before it stood a finished 
 piece of masonry, the pride of every citizen of the United 
 States. 
 
 In the ori,t^inal plans of L'Enfant there was contemplated an 
 equestrian statue of Washington, as well as an "historic col- 
 umn," to be located "a mile from the Federal House;" and, upon 
 the site designated for the statue, rests this combination of 
 memorials — The Washington Monument. 
 
 Patriotism was not lacking in the earlier days, but, like 
 many praise-worthy undertakings, other interests were allowid 
 to take precedence in the appropriaticms of Congress, and the or- 
 ganization of the Washington National Monument Society was 
 necessary to arouse a "working enthusiasm" in the hearts of 
 members of the Legislature. When $87,000 had been raised 
 by private subscription, the foundation was begun, and on July 
 4, 1S48, the corner-stone was laid, Hon. Robert C. Winthrop 
 being orator of the daj' ; the gavel which had been used by Wa:di- 
 ington at the same ceremony for the Capitol, in 1792, being a 
 feature of the later occasion. Among the notable guests present 
 at this ceremony were Mrs. "Dolly" ]\Iadison, Mrs. John Ouiiicy 
 Adams and Mrs. Alexander Hamilton. 
 
 In 1855 the funds were exhausted, and not until 1884 was 
 the monument completed. On December 6th, of that year, the 
 capstone was placed in position, and, with the lowei'ing of the 
 massive block, a flag was waved from the platform, while the 
 firing of cannon and ringing bells announced the finished work. 
 
 The height of the ]\Ionument from base to tip is 555 feet; 
 its weight 80,000 tons, and the cost of construction $i,200,(X)o. 
 Dedicatory services were conducted on Washington's birtlukiy, 
 1885, at the foot of the Monument, — the orator of the occasion 
 
Supreme Coi'rt Room, Washington. 
 
 I'- 
 
 CoXC,RK.SSIONAI, LiHRARV, WASHINGTON. 
 
 HI 
 
 8 
 
DISTRICT OF COUIMHIA — ATTRACTIONS. 
 
 as 
 
 bcin^i Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, upon whom devolved ii similar 
 service at the layinj:^ of it.s corner-stone thirty-seven years before. 
 
 THE city's CKMKTKRIKS. 
 
 One of the places of interest about Washington is "The 
 Conijfrcssional Cemetery," a beautifully located "City of the 
 Dead" overlookinjif the Anacostia or Eastern Branch of the Poto- 
 mac, in which repose the remains of some of the Nation's hon- 
 ored sons. It takes its name, however, chiefly from the cenotaphs 
 of over one hundred and fifty members of Congress, whom death 
 has claimed while representing their respective commonwealths 
 at the Nation's capital. 
 
 Oak Hill Cemetery situated on Georgetown Heights, also 
 claims its share of respectful interest. Here exquisite t te has 
 supplemented Nature in the adornment of the grounds, in which 
 repose the remains of many whose names in life were spoken with 
 veneration, among whom are General Van Ness and Lorenzo 
 Dow, while John Howard Payne here rests at last, in Native land, 
 no longer au exile from his " Home sweet home." 
 
 THE soldier's HOME. 
 
 Adjoining the National Cemetery is the Soldiers' Home, 
 beautifully located in its five hundred acre plat of ground and 
 with its seven miles of attractive drives. It was established by 
 Cicneral Winfield Scott, as a IMilitary Asylum, but at the close 
 of the Civil War, was converted into a National Home for indi- 
 jijeut soldiers. It is an attractive resort to Washingtonians, as 
 well as one of the feat ^es of interest to the visitor at the Na- 
 tion's Capital. 
 
 THE CORCORAN ART GALLERY. 
 
 To speak of Washington is to recall to mind a number of 
 private enterprises, of which limited space prevents particular 
 mention. We cannot leave unnoticed, however, the Corcoran 
 Gallery of Art, which is an institution of private origin, but de- 
 
^mmmm 
 
 Hi 
 
 24 
 
 THE WHITE CITY- DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 votea to the interest of the public, of which the founder was a 
 benefactor in the broadest sense of the word. For "the perpet- 
 ual establishment and encouragement of Painting, Sculpture 
 and Fine Arts generally," this generous donor, William W. Cor- 
 coran, deeded to the trustees the noble structure which bears his 
 name, the entire benefaction aggregating $1,200,000, conditicjiied 
 on the free admission of students and vis 'tors two days each 
 week, and at other times, "at moderate and reasonable charges." 
 This Institute is located on Pennsylvania Avenue and Sev- 
 enteenth Street, and is an imposing structure, built in the Renais- 
 sance style of architecture. It was designed b}' James Rer [A\, 
 of New York, and was completed in 1871. The best works in 
 Europe and America are here represented, both in statuary and 
 painting, as well is by fine collections of ceramics and bronzes. 
 
 WASHINGTON SUBURBS. 
 
 If it is difficult to do justice to the National Capital in a 
 brief sketch, it is equally so in respect to its suburban attractions, 
 of which no city can boast greater. 
 
 Mount Vernon, situated sixteen miles below the city on the 
 western shore of the Potomac, in Fairfax County, Virginia, is 
 now the property* of the IMount Vernon Association, and was 
 purchased of the estate by popular contribution, in 1S60, for 
 $200,000. The yearly pilgrims to this shrine, sacred to the 
 memory of Washington, are a goodl)- number, and at all times 
 and seasons the picturesque grounds of this popular resort are 
 animated by interested visitors. 
 
 THE N.\TION.\L CEMETERV. 
 
 Georgetown, in Maryland, now i-nown as West Washington, 
 is, in reality, a beautiful suburb of the Federal City. Just bch)\v 
 this interesting locality, the Aqueduct Bridge over the Potomac 
 leads to Arlington Heights, the location of the National Cemetery. 
 
 This historic spot, sold for taxes in 1864, was purchased by 
 the Government for $23,000, and set aside as a National Cem- 
 
DISTRICT OF COLUMI5IA — ATTRACTIONS. 
 
 25 
 
 etery. The property had formerly been the possession of Robert 
 E. Lee, and his son, George W. C. Lee, entered suit to recover 
 the estate, which finally resulted in the establishment of his 
 claim, and later, a conveyance by him to the Government of the 
 two hundred acres now known as Arlington Cemetery, for a con- 
 sideration of $150,000. 
 
 In :yi 'Jtion to the 16,264 soldiers whofie resting places are 
 marked by a simple headstone, is the IMaiisoleum, sacred to the 
 memory of 2,111 "unknown " dead, whose "remains could not be 
 identified, but their names and deaths are recorded in the archives 
 of their Country, and its grateful citizens honor tliem as of their 
 noble army of martyrs." 
 
 RECAPITULATION'. 
 
 We have briefly written of the Nation's Capital, and the 
 trying period which gave it birth ; of the selection of a location, 
 erection of the Capitol, its destruction and re-building; of the 
 "Executive Mansion," the Departments of State, a few of the 
 most important Institutions and interesting Suburbs. We have 
 not entered into the life of the city — its social world; nor fol- 
 IowlJ the fortunes of that ever advancing and receding " wave of 
 hunionity,'' which drifts in and out with each political tide. 
 
 To write "The Story of The Federal City" is to record "be- 
 tween the lines" those names we all revere and love — the Na- 
 tion's honored Sons ; not Washingtonians, alone, but Children 
 of your State and mine. 
 
 Some names arc written — not alone 
 In deep-carved letters on tlii- stone 
 
 Standing above each head ; 
 But, in the Nation's heart, to-day, 
 Their deeds still live, although ive say : 
 
 "This son or that is dead." 
 
 Some names are written — not on stone ; 
 Nor to the past belonjL^s alone 
 
 The Nation's heroes, all. 
 They live within our land to-day, 
 Standing for truth and right ahvay. 
 
 Though •'parties" rise or fall. 
 
 in 
 
THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
imaiiiiiiM 
 
 '^nlHIIIR 
 
 em, 
 
 pec: 
 wer 
 afte 
 
 s 
 
 ii! 
 
 refi 
 
 try- 
 
 of 
 
 his 
 
 win I 
 
 nam 
 
 conn 
 
GcGPge WQsbincjton. 
 
 >«^ 
 
 public. 
 
 N February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, 
 X'irginia, there awoke to conscious existence in 
 the "steep-roofed" home of Augustine and 
 Mary Ball Washington, on Bridge's Creek, a 
 son, of whose early life only the merest outline 
 is obtainable, but whom a nation honors for his nobil- 
 ity of character and the important position which he 
 filled at so critical a period as the birth of the Re- 
 He was a descendant of a vigorous English ancestry, 
 his great-grandfather, John Washington, emigrating to Virginia 
 from Lei :stershire, in 1657, When eleven years of age his fa- 
 ther passed away, leaving his mother with a family of small 
 cliildren, George being the eldest. 
 
 Iwo half-brothers, by his father's former marriage (es- 
 pecially the elder, Laurence, fourteen j^ears the senior of George), 
 were destined to materially influence the unfolding life of their 
 afterward highly distinguished relative. 
 
 Laurence married the daughter of one of Virginia's most 
 refined and wealthy families — the Fairfaxes — and at their coun- 
 try-scat, Belvoir, George passed many happ}- hours in the society 
 of such companions as frequented that hospitable !:onie. From 
 his father, Laurence had inherited property on the Potomac, to 
 wliicli was given the name of Hunting Creek, but afterward re- 
 named Mount Vernon, by its owner, and it was destined to be- 
 come the historic spot on American soil. With his half-brother, 
 Auj^ustine, be also passed considerable time and there enjoyed 
 
 I'ri-Mili'iils. 
 
 37 
 
28 
 
 THK WHITK CITV — I'RKSIDKNTS. 
 
 the opportunities of a somewliat higher education than his earlier 
 surroundings afforded. 
 
 At the age of sixteen an acquaintance and quickly di vel- 
 oped fricndsliip l)et\veen himself 'ad Lord Thomas Fairfax 
 largeh- influenced his future career, the latter entrusting him 
 with a commission to surve}' his vast estates in the Shenandoah 
 Valley. The experiences of such an undertaking and the luird- 
 ships and dangers of the frontier served him a good purpose 
 when hardihood was required in his country's service. 
 
 Physically, George Washington presents to us the type of 
 vigorous manhood. He was of powerful build and delighted in 
 such athletic sports as developed a magnificent plij-sique and per- 
 fect health. He was quiet in demeanor and thoughtful beyond 
 his years, but under the calm and dignified exterior the fires of 
 heroi.'ni were burning, and a strong wiU and a temper more 
 swift in rising than his blue eyes might suggest are not out of 
 harmony with the vigorous prosecution of ever}' enterprise to 
 wliich his efforts were afterward directed. 
 
 Later, when the French and En.glish colonies were strug- 
 gling for supremacy in the Ohio \'alley, his military instinct 
 began to develop ; but about this time cares and sorrows also 
 pressed heavily upon him, owing to the death of his ])r()ther, 
 Laurence, and the responsibilities of his duties as executor of 
 the vast estate. IVIount Vernon now became his home and was 
 never relinquished as such during the years of his life. W'a.'di- 
 ington's part in the contest between the French and English was 
 an important one, and, as a crowning act of the struggle lie, 
 with his advance guard, on November 25, 1758, entered Fort 
 Duquesne and flung to the breeze the English flag. 
 
 His marriage with the beautiful Martha Custis was indeed 
 a "union of hearts" and jccurred at the close of this canipai,t,ni. 
 For sixteen years following, his life seems to have run smoothly, 
 and then came the struggle for American independence, when 
 his was the strong arm upon which to lean, and his words— 
 when speech was needed — glowed with patriotic fire. 
 
I'RHSIDHNTS — WASHINGTON. 
 
 29 
 
 When victory at last crowned the American arms, Wash- 
 ington's was the striking fignre before die eyes of the New 
 \V(irld. He retnrned to IMonnt Vernon to enjoy the tranqnility 
 of domestic life, only to be called to higher responsibilities by a 
 luiaiiinions election as the first President of the United States. 
 
 The sonnd jndgmeut which marked this administration 
 proved that Washington's statesmanship was not inferior to his 
 qualifications as a soldier. For eight years he guided the af- 
 fairs of the youthful Republic courageously and conscientiously, 
 and on March 4, 1797, retiring from public life with almost un- 
 speakable happiness, he repaired to Mount Vernon to enjoy the 
 home made dear by early associations. WHien, however, the 
 French Directory aimed a blow at American commerce, and war 
 threatened, Washington was commissioned Comni; nder-in-chief 
 of the American forces, and entered upon his duties as the 
 patriot and soldier. However, the preparations for war, so vig- 
 orously undertaken, seemed to inspire the French with proper 
 respect for American arms and they retreated from their arro- 
 ,u;ant position., and thus the calamities of war were averted. 
 
 When relieved once more from his official duties, Washing- 
 ton returned to Mount Vernon and entered upon a tranquil but 
 busy life, which was only to be broken in upon by the Invader 
 of all homes — the silent messenger — who came on December 17, 
 1799, when the year was nearing its clo.so, and the eventful cent- 
 ury, in which he had occupied so conspicucus a place, was also 
 Hist hastening away. 
 
iiawiaia ini» 
 
 John Hdams. 
 
 ^=<i\ HE second President of these United States bears 
 the simple cognomen of John Adams, but tliere 
 is something charaiHeristic in the name, quite in 
 keeping with the straightforward, earnes* ihtx-nse 
 nature of this man, who occupies so important a 
 place in the Nation's history. John Adams was 
 born at Braintree, Massachusetts — on the south 
 shore of Boston harbor — October 19, 1735. He 
 was among the descendants of a Puritan family, which settled 
 in Massachusetts in 1630; and of his father it may be said to his 
 great credit that, although not blessed with a superabundance of 
 this world's goods, he realized the advantages of education for 
 his children, and placed his eldest son at Harvard, from which 
 institiition he was graduated in 1775, at the age of twenty years. 
 The records are very meager in regard to the childhood and 
 youth of this distinguished Statesman. On leaving his Ahna 
 Mater, he naturally drifted into a pursuit for M'hich his education 
 had qualified him, and we find him installed in charge of a 
 grammar school, at Worcester, but his ardent nature chafed un- 
 der the circumscribed rules and methods of such a life, and after 
 much deliberation, resulting in the abandonment of an auil)ition 
 for the "pomp and glory " of a soldier's life, he decided in favor 
 of the law; w-as admitted to ihe bar November 6, 1758, and at 
 once began the practice of his profession, in Suffolk County. As 
 showing the high standard of integrity with which he entered 
 upon his career, his own words are fitting in this connection: 
 
 rri'siilc'iit.s. 
 
 30 
 
I'RKSIDHNTS — ADAMS. 
 
 31 
 
 "Bill I set out with firm resolutions, I think, never to commit 
 uin' meanness or injustice in the practice of the law." 
 
 On October 25, 1764, John Adams was married to Miss 
 Abit^ail Smith, a cleri^yman's daughter, who, though a youthful 
 bride, proved a most worthy help-meet through all the years of 
 his eventful life. Owing to the demands of public affairs upon 
 the father, the care and training of the daughter and three sons 
 rested largely upon the devoted wife and mother, but t.here was 
 no faltering in the acceptance of the trust, and her double duties 
 were faithfully performed. . 
 
 In 1765 the passage of the "Stamp Act" awoke the Colo- 
 nies <.o spirited resistance, though, with its repeal, the sentiment 
 of loyalty to tlie Mothei; Country doubtless calmed somewhat 
 the storm of disaffection which had gathered, although it was 
 never again to be lulled into the sleep of restful security. 
 
 John Adam's patriotism has never been questioned. What- 
 ever may be said of those later acts of his which dimmed the 
 luster of his political record, and subjected him to the severest 
 criticism, his love of countr}' stands out as a "bright, particular 
 star," whose guidance may be safely followed in these nineteenth 
 century days. 
 
 With the Boston Port Bill came the rousing of the colonists 
 to positive action, and on June 17, 1774, one of the five Massa- 
 chusetts delegates sent by the Provisional Assembly to the Conti- 
 nental Congress, at Philadelphia, was John Adams, and he was 
 also returned to the Second Assembly the following Ma}-. 
 
 The events of this period are among the most niemofaole in 
 historj'. Almost at the very door of his Braintree home, scenes 
 of conflict were being enacted, while the deliberations of Con- 
 .afress, then in session, were to render immortal the names of 
 several of the Nation's sons. Although to Thomas Jefferson is 
 siven credit for the authorship of the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence, John Adams' presentation before Congress carried his 
 hearers with him, and "his praise was in everybody's mouth. ' 
 
 He was aftenvard appointed Commissioner to the Court 
 
33 
 
 THK WIIITH CITY — I'RICSIDHNTS. 
 
 of France, and in acccptinp^ this important trnst must 
 have realized the dangers which it involved, as his capture upon 
 the seas, by the Enjj^lish Government, would have been liiiilcd 
 with joy by the rnlinjj^ power — George III. Owinjjf to Dr. Knmk- 
 lin's popularity anion ji^ the F'reneh, at the su^jj^estion of Mr. 
 Adams the Commissi(m was ^iven to the former, and he (Adams) 
 returned to America. In 1779 he ajj^ain sailed, under ap])()iiit- 
 ment, as Minister "to treat with Great Britain for peace and 
 commerce." 
 
 At the head of foreign affairs in France, at that time, -vas 
 Conipte de Vergennes, and the relations of these two diplomats 
 were far from agreeable. Mr. Adams lacked tact, and his out- 
 spoken words were doubtless the cause of much disaffection be- 
 tween them. He was also on unfriendly terms with Dr. Frank- 
 lin, which rendered his position the more trying. War between 
 Great Britain and Holland was declared, and Mr. Adams ",vas 
 appointed Minister to the latter province, in place of Laurens, 
 who had been captured by the British and held for supjxiscd 
 irregularities. With the same confidence as was shown in 
 presenting to Congress the name of George Washington as 
 Commander-in-chief of the Army, and the carrying out of his 
 purpose 1)\- the force of his convincing arguments, Mr. Adams 
 demanded of the States-General recognition as the representative 
 of "an independent nation." On April 19, 1782, his demands 
 were acceded to, and he was recognized as "American Mir.'.itcru^ 
 The Hague." 
 
 Mr. Adams afterward secured loans from Holland whic'i 
 were much need<.d in the new country, and also materially 
 strengthened his colleagues in France (Dr. Franklin and Mr. 
 Ja}^ at a most critical moment in their negotiations with Eng- 
 land. 
 
 After the " Treaty of Peace with the United States of Xortli 
 America," Mr. Adams was appointed Minister to Great Britain. 
 on February 24, 1785, but resigned and sailed for Amerira on 
 April 20, 1788. He was elected Vice-President and re-elected 
 
PRKSIDKNTS — ADAMS. 
 
 35 
 
 for lilt' second tenii. Ik'twccn hiniself and Alexander Hamilton 
 had arisen the sharpest 'antajj^onisni, and thon^h Mr. Adams suc- 
 ceeded to the Presidency, it was by a very small majority, and 
 the animosity between these two distinguished statesmen is 
 pointed to as "the most bitter feud in American liistory." 
 
 With the declaration of war with France, Washington left 
 Ml. X'ernon to become Commander-in-chief of the army, but ere 
 long this Foreign power made advances to America for peace. 
 To this Mr. Adams inclined, only to meet the violent opposition 
 of his Cabinet, who desired a permanent rupture with that gov- 
 ernment. Mr. Adams was not elected to a second term and no 
 doubt his defeat was largel}^ due to his implacable foe, Alexan- 
 der Hamilton. 
 
 He has been severely criticised for deserting his place and 
 "violating the etiquette of the occasion" by refusing to be 
 present at the inauguration of his successor, but his nun-tifica- 
 tion was terrible and his disappointmer.t severe. He had served 
 his country with unselfish devotion, and to him her seeming ' i- 
 gratitude was unparalleled. 
 
 John Adams is described as portly, but of well-kr.it frame; 
 a handsome man with resolute lines showing prominently 
 in the clear, strong features. He was simple and dignified in 
 niainicr, and carried himself .vitli quiet self-respect. His be- 
 loved wife passed away in i<Si8, and e'ght years later, on July 4, 
 1826, John Adams answered the ''summons," and the second 
 President of the United States "was no more." 
 
 1^ 
 
JFhomas Jefferson. 
 
 I 
 
 T the "Shadwell homestead," iu Albcnuirle 
 
 County, \'irginia, where lie was boni on 
 
 April 13, 1743, the early life of Thoinas 
 
 Jefferson was passed. His father was 
 
 considered a remarkable man in those 
 
 days, and to such sterling qualities n 
 
 riTfS^ sound judgment and integrity were added intclli- 
 
 ^T- gence and the faithful administration of publii 
 
 <?■'' affairs. His mother was Jane Randolph, of old Virginia 
 
 stock, whose birthplace was a London parish culled 
 
 Shadwell, which name was thus fittingly given to the home upon 
 
 the bunks of the Rivanna. 
 
 Peter Jcjfferson died when his son was fourteen years of age, 
 leaving him the third child, but eldest son, in a rather numerous 
 family. According to his fatlier's expressed wish, Thomas was 
 to receive a thorough education and his first tutor was the Rev. 
 James Maury, with whom lie remained for two years, and thou 
 entered William and Mar}' College, at Williamsburg, the capital 
 of Virginia. 
 
 In personal appearance this future "great man" is described 
 as "tall and slender, with sandj' hair and freckled facj, prom- 
 inent cheek bones and chin, and large hands and feet; but with 
 bright, hazel-gra}' eyes and perfect teeth." He was a great stu- 
 dent, and became a favorite with his classmates. He also there 
 met friends who largely iniluenced his future years, and w hose 
 names were always associated with those earl}- days. The first 
 
 I'rcsiili'iits, 
 
 34 
 
PRI'.SIDHNTS — Ji;rFKRSON. 
 
 35 
 
 niiiiance of his life came to him within those collej^e walls, hut 
 the disappointment .it the rejection of his suit, hy the beautiful 
 Rcli'.'cca Hurwell, diil not shut out all the bri}j[htness of his future 
 career, nor render him oblivious to its sacred duties and trusts. 
 
 Between himself and one of his classnuites, Dabncy Carr, 
 —later the husband of Martha Jefterson — the closest friendship 
 existed, and their favorite retreat — a noble oak part way toward 
 the summit of the afterward famous Monticello — became to each 
 a sacred place. By covenant between these two, the one whose 
 death should first occur v.as to find a resting place beneath the 
 sprcadiujj^ branches of the oak, and Jefferson performed for his 
 friend his solemn obligation, and, in later years, was laid to rest 
 beside that much-loved comrade of his youth. 
 
 In 1767 Thonuis Jefferson was admitted lo the bar. Two 
 years previous to this, while a law-student, he was permitted to 
 listen ■ to the famous words of his old college friend, Patrick 
 Henry, when, as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, 
 lie made his memorable speech against the taxing of her Colo- 
 nies by Great Britain, and, with the utterance of those thrilling 
 words, the heart oC the young student had received its in- 
 spiration. 
 
 In 1768 Jefferson served as a member of the First Virginia 
 Let^islature, and at the Raleigh tavern eighty-eight members of 
 the Hou.se of Burgesses signed the " Non-Importation Agree- 
 ment," and were loyally supported by the State. This was the 
 bet,nnning of a public life wh'oh was to coutiiiue uuinterruptedly 
 for forty 3'ears. 
 
 On January i, 1772, in New York, Thomas Jefferson was 
 inaurien to Martha Skelton, and their wedding journey was un- 
 dertaken in a "two-horse chaise," to the home at ]\Ionticello, 
 ''more than a hundred miles away." Nothing but harmony 
 rei.o^ned in this charming household, where hospitality sat en- 
 throned. Of the six children which came to the worthy couple 
 —five daughters and one son — but one, the eldest, survived the 
 ftitiier. To his own family, however, was added that of his 
 
 ;l 
 
36 
 
 THK WmTK CITY — PRKvSIDKNTS. 
 
 brother-inlaw, Dabuey Carr, whose death, in 1773, left six little 
 children fatherless. Thus did h'^ truly prove faithful in a sub- 
 stantial numncr to the friend of his 3'outh, 
 
 On the burning of the Ciaspci\ by the Rhode Islanders, a 
 sentiment of sympathy for the desperate colonists was aroused 
 in \'irginia, and a "Committee of correspondence" was organ- 
 ized, and afterward the Continental Congress. The teuipcra- 
 nient of Jefferson was mild and peace-loving, and he addressed a 
 petition to the King, setting forth the wrongs endured by tlie 
 Colonists, which, however, was met by that personage, with 
 silent contempt. The immortal document, the Declaration of 
 Independence, was prepared by Mr. Jefferson during the sunnner 
 of 1776, and on July 4th, "the most famous State-paper in the 
 world " was signed by all the members of Congress. 
 
 On June i, 1779, Thomas Jefferson was made Governor of 
 Virginia. On the important part which he played during the 
 closing years of the Revolution, or the dangers which menaced 
 the Legislature and its members from British invasion, it is im- 
 possible to dwell. When, at the close of the war, Jefferson re- 
 turned to his home, it was to soon realize the greatest sorrow of 
 his life — the death of his beloved wife, the mistress of Montieeilo, 
 which occurred Sept. 6, 1782. 
 
 The following iMay he accepted the appointment of Con- 
 gress as envoy to France, and sailed from Boston, July 5, ij'^j, 
 taking his eldest daughter with him. For five years he repre- 
 sented his country at the Coi^rt of France, but was always the 
 American patriot. He witnessed the opening scenes of the 
 French Revolution and the fall of the Bastile. The occasion of 
 his daughter's engagement to her cousin, Thomas Mann K-an- 
 dolph, which took him away from the French Capital at tliis 
 eventful period, in all probabilit}' saved the life of America's 
 future President. He was greeted upon his arrival by the an- 
 nouncement that President Washington had appointed him Sec- 
 retay of State, which trying position he reluctantlj' accepted. 
 
 Alexander Hamilton was at this time Secretary ol the 
 
I'RKSIDEXTS — JEKPKRSON. 
 
 il 
 
 Treasury, and these two brilliant statesmen soon became bitter 
 opponents, and the leaders of two political parties — the Federal- 
 ist and Republican. On January i, 1794, Secretary Jefferson 
 /csi.D^ned his position in the Cabinet, and retired to IMonticello, 
 but could not long remain the quiet home-loving citizen, being 
 elected Vice-President in ijQb. 
 
 Here as before, he was brought into ccmflict with Hamilton, 
 whose views were in direct opposition to his own, and whose 
 party, the Federalist, was diminishing, while the Republican — 
 "the party of the people''- — was gaining strength, as was its 
 leader, Jefferson. Pie was made third President of the United 
 States in 1801, and was inaugurated o\\ March 4th, with what 
 has since been fittingly designated *' true democratic simplicity," 
 and, if he carried his convictions for an absence of displa}- to ex- 
 tr"iue limits, he no doubt erred on the side of good judgment. 
 
 Jefferson's first term was a happy and prosperous one, and 
 the purchase of Louisiana was an important event of this ad- 
 ministration. His second term was somewhat clouded by the 
 discovery of the deficiency of his salary to meet the demands 
 upon his income. This was made good out of his private re- 
 sources, however, and on March 4, 1809, he surrendered the 
 reins of government to his successor, James Madison, and re- 
 tired to the " dearest spot on earth " — Monticello, whose walls 
 resounded with the patter of youthful feet and the glad voices of 
 children's children. 
 
 One event of these later days must have greatly rejoiced his 
 heart — it was the meeting with LaFayette which occurred in 
 Oct /bcr 1824, after a separation of thirt3'-six years, during which 
 time many startling everts had transpired in the experiences of 
 each. 
 
 The sentiments he expressed at his death were significant 
 of his nobility of character and were, in effect, that: "His 
 cahnnniators, he had never thought, M-ere assailing him, but a 
 bein^r non-existent, of their own imagining, to Avliom they had 
 sivc 11 the name of Thomas Jefferson." 
 
 ; X 
 
 'v 
 
 
 i- 
 
38 
 
 THE WHITp; CIT^ — PRESIDENTS. 
 
 His desire to live until the anniversary of the Declaration of 
 Independence was granted, and with the closing of that cvor- 
 memorable da}-, July 4th, of the year 1S26, the third President of 
 the United States "slept with his fathers," leaving a name to be 
 revered throughout all generations. 
 
James ffladisei^. 
 
 grr^ISTORY funiislies but dim outlines of the early 
 
 life of James Madison, fourth President of the 
 
 United States. He M-as the eldest son of an old 
 
 Virginia family, and was born at King George 
 
 (afterward known as Montpelier), in Orange 
 
 ■i'^-i.i' County, Virginia, March i6, 1751. From his 
 
 refined and hospitable home, in the Blue Ridge country, 
 
 //.%'' after acquiring, under a private tutor, a better prepara- 
 
 ^ ; tion for college than was usual in those days of limited 
 
 school privileges, James Madison entered Princeton College, in 
 
 his nineteenth j'ear, and at once atti'acted attention as a tireless 
 
 student and an indefatigable intellectual worker. 
 
 It was said of his assiduity in the pursuit of knowledge, 
 tliat he only allowed himself three hours rest out of the twenty- 
 four; he was certainly happy in this energetic endeavor for an 
 education, and, while it is claimed that his unremitting labors 
 sapped the fountain of physical strengtli, he reached the rather 
 advanced age of eighty-five, and while he lived, lived well. 
 
 After graduating, in 1771, he continued his studies, for a 
 time, under Princeton's President, Dr. Witherspoon, and then 
 returned to his home to take up the stud}- of the law and the 
 instruction of the younger members of his family. 
 
 \\'hen but twenty-five years of age, James Madison entered 
 upon his public career, though at first largely through his pen 
 and by debate. In 1777 he was nominated for the General As- 
 sembly, but, owing to his strong convictions on the subject of 
 
 I'risUlHiitH. 
 
 :■# 
 
40 
 
 THK WHITP: CITV — I'RHSIDENTS. 
 
 temperance, lost his election by refusing to "treat the voters with 
 whiskey." This was onl}- a seeming defeat, however, as lie 
 gained a position of greater respect for standing by his com Ac- 
 tions, and he socm thereafter received an appointment to the 
 council of the Governor. 
 
 Madison, in 1780, was elected to the Continental Congress, 
 and, while serving his country in this capacity, the war of the 
 Revolution drew to a close, and the Treaty of Peace was signed 
 between England, France and the ^-outhful Republic — America. 
 Four years later he left the National Legislature and took up tlie 
 burden of State affairs in Virginia, and, in the revision of its 
 statutes, found opportunities for the exercise of the knowledge 
 which he had acquired in the Co itinental Congress. 
 
 • While independence had been gained, still the aifairs of the 
 Nation were in an unsettled condition. After the t3'raniiical 
 bondage of George III., any attempt at strengthening a Central 
 Government was looked upon by those who had participated in 
 the defense of the colonies as a drifting toward Monarcli}-, and 
 while this youthful but studious leader, James Madison, recog- 
 nized the necessities for an alliance of the ''thirteen States' in 
 a powerful National Government, it was no easy task to com ert 
 his countrymen to his own decidedl}' radical convictions. His 
 first effort to bring the subject to the general attention was 
 through the Legislature of Virginia, in an invitation to the sev- 
 eral States to assemble at Annapolis for the purpose of discuss- 
 ing "Pleasures for the formation of a more efficient Federal 
 Government." Out of the thirteen States, five responded to the 
 call, but, during this assembl}', the date was fixed upon fur a 
 convention to be held at Philadelphia, "to draft a Constitntiou 
 for the L'nited States," thus virtualh' admitting the defects o[ the 
 League in which the States were united in alliance. 
 
 This was a memorable summer^ indeed. With the cldsiiig 
 of the Convention the step had been taken, but there was yet 
 the arduous task of securing the acceptance of the New Consti- 
 tution by the States which opposed the measure. Here ii uas 
 
PRKSIDKXTS — MADISOX. 
 
 41 
 
 tluu Madison's qualifications were truly disclosed in the remark- 
 able papers contriI)uted to the Federalist^ setting forth the issues 
 at stake, and, with his compatriots, Hamilton and Jay, the strug- 
 gle was undertaken. Later, when this peiiod of anxiety for the 
 life of the Republic had given place to one of more confidence, 
 the striking differences in the measures of Madison and Hamil- 
 ton were brought prominently to light, and, as the leaders of two 
 political parties, these remarkable men were pitted against each 
 nt^her; the former being the acknowledged leader of the Repub- 
 Ucan, and the latter marshalling the Federalist forces, of which 
 party he was the inspirer. 
 
 Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, in turn Governors of 
 Virginia, were the staunch friends of James IVIadison, and es- 
 pecially with the latter was this friendship a life-long bond. 
 
 At the age of thirty-two, James Madison opened the history 
 (/ his life at a new chapter, and on each page was written — 
 "L«)ve.'' Inclined to look seriously upon every purpose of life, 
 the fickleness of the object of his regard would naturally wound 
 one of his thoughtful and sensitive nature, and yet, when the 
 test came, he accepted the statement of his friend Jefferson, to 
 whom he had confided his sorrow, that '' Firmness of mind and 
 uniutermittiug occupation will not long leave 3-ou in pain." 
 Eleven years afterward, when he met the one who was to bless 
 and crown his days — Dorothy Todd, or D0II3' Madison as she 
 was later known, — the romance of those earlier years had gone 
 nut from his consciousness, and left no wound or scar. 
 
 The charms of this young Quaker widow lia\e been written 
 and sung until it is mere repetition to dwell upon the portraj^al 
 if her lovely personality or character ; still to mention James 
 Madison is to recall to mind the gracious mistress of the White 
 House, whose trjang duties as " first lady of the land " con- 
 tinued during the unprecedented period of sixteen j^ears (fi)r 
 eii^lit years as the wife of the Secretarj- of State, under President 
 Jefferson, who was a widower), and of whom it was said that " she 
 never forgot a name or a face.'' She was also a born diplomat, 
 
wmm 
 
 1^ 
 
 
 43 
 
 THK WHITE CITY — PRKSIDKXTS. 
 
 wlien used in that word's kindliest sense, since it was her hi,t>]iest 
 pleasure to bring people to recognize the best there was in each 
 other, and to disarm jealousy and petty strife by a tact as 10- 
 niarkable as rare. • 
 
 With the 3'car 1801, under President Jefferson, James Madi- 
 is(m was made Secretary of State, and was identified with that 
 leader's policy and party — the Republican — and at the close of 
 his second term, this " great little man," as Aaron Burr chose to 
 call him, succeeded to that most honorable position — President of 
 the United States. This admir.istration has its important liis- 
 torical epoch in the declaration of war with Great Britain, whicli 
 act of Congress was approved by Madison on June 8, 181 2. 
 
 We will not linger upon these thrilling events. During 
 this time, which "tried men's souls," Dolly Madisor. proved her- 
 self as brave as she was lovely, and, though in imminent daiit^cr 
 of capture by the " Redcoats," stood at her post until she had se- 
 cured the valuable State and private papers and the portrait of 
 General Washington, and then entered her carriage to seek 
 safety in flight. Madison's life was also in great peril, but, with 
 the dawn of the morning following the most eventful of those 
 tr3'ing da3's, the British had retreated, the President was un- 
 harmed, but the White House la}' in ruins. 
 
 Two years after the close of the war, James Madison was 
 again a private citizen and retired to the enjoyment of his 
 lovely Montpelier home. Once afterward, in 1829, he was called 
 by his State, from the quiet of his home, to take part in her 
 affairs, as a member of the Convention to revise the Constitution, 
 and his words were listened to with marked attention. Like 
 Washington and Jefferson he was opposed to the institution ot 
 slaver}', and expressed his opinions upon the subject in no un- 
 certain terms. 
 
 Though at all times of delicate health and enfeebled 
 physique, the mind of the fourth President of the United States 
 was clear and undimmed. He had endured much discomfort in 
 the sufferings of the mortal body, but he had also experienced 
 
PRESIDENTS — MADISON. 
 
 43 
 
 iiincli pleasure through the iniiul which was that body's seat of 
 happiness. 
 
 James Madison passed awa}' on June 2iS, 1836, and his 
 widow survi\ed liini thirteen years. His life forms an impor- 
 tant chapter in the History of the Nation, both from the events 
 of that period and his connection with the great men of his time; 
 and to his name — as to those of his predecessors in the Presi- 
 dential chair — should be added, in letters of undying light — 
 Patriot. 
 
 .-M^-^.^^, 
 
 
Jarr?es fflonpoe. 
 
 J-<t\ HE family of James Monroe immigrated to Amer- 
 ica and established themselves in Mrginia in 
 1652. His father was a planter, and his estate in 
 Westmoreland County was near the head of the 
 creek which bears his name, and which empties 
 into the Potomac River. At the date of the birtli 
 of this son, April 28, 1758, the tobacco plantation 
 of the Alonroe family was yielding a large income, 
 and in this prosperous home the childhood of the future Presi- 
 dent was happily passed. The.se comfortable surroundings, how- 
 ever, did not engender a spirit of apathy toward the condition 
 of the Commonwealth, for the son seems to have remembered 
 to a good purpose the burning words which must have entered 
 largel}- into the daily conversation of that liberty-loving family. 
 The means at command provided for him the best educa- 
 tional advantages, and young Monroe, after attending a "classical 
 school," entered William and Mary College, at the age of six- 
 teen, where he remained for two years. 
 
 W^ith the Declaration of Independence the youthfid patriot 
 could no longer be restrained within college walls, and he has- 
 tened to New York and "enrolled himself as a cadet in the 
 army." He soon proved the mettle of which he was made, and, 
 from the rank of Captain, gained at Trenton, was advanced to 
 that of Major; this last promotion, however, "lost him his 
 place in the Continental line," owing to his ability being recog- 
 nized by Washington, who commissioned him to raise a new 
 
 I'rfsiOcHts. 
 
 44 
 
PRKSIDENTS — MONROK. 
 
 45 
 
 regiment in his own State; bnt as the younjj^ men of Virginia 
 had already so nobly responded to the call and entered the 
 Nortliern army, his effort proved a failnre. 
 
 Chagrined at what mnst have appeared to this yonthful 
 patriot as a signal defeat, he was, for a time, painfnlly despon- 
 dent, but finally yielded to the voice of better judgment and re- 
 turned to the pursuit of his studies, taking up the law, under 
 Thonuis Jefferson, then Governor of Virginia. 
 
 The public career of James Monroe began at the earl' age 
 of twenty-three, when he was elected to the Virginia Assembly 
 and was made a member of the Executive Council. Additional 
 honors came to him when, the following year, he was chosen a 
 delegate to the Continental Congress for a term of three years, 
 and participated at its sessions in Annapolis, Trenton and New 
 York. While in the latter cit}' he formed the acqitaintance of 
 Miss Elizabeth Kortright, the accomplished daughter of Lauituce 
 Kortright, and their marriage occurred in 17.S6. This was in 
 the midst of troublous times. The Constitution had been framed, 
 and its supporters were activel}- advocating its acceptance. In- 
 spired by an equally patriotic sentiment, but with eyes which 
 saw only danger in a Coristitution investing a Central Govern- 
 ment with such large powers, and taking alarm at the audacious 
 measures of Alexander Hamilton, who was carr3'ing forward his 
 brilliant purposes, Monioe "opposed the ratification of the Con- 
 stituticm by the States." 
 
 Wh le the French people were still trembling with the 
 horrors of the Revolution, Washington commissioned Monroe 
 to represent the United States as IMinister to that Nation. On his 
 arrival, he waited some days for recognition from the French 
 National Convention, and then addressed a letter to its President. 
 This accomplished the desired purpose and he was given a more 
 than cordial welcome. In fact, it is said of his responsive speech, 
 that, carried away by emotions inspired bj' the cordiality of his re- 
 ception, he "committed his country too far to the side of France." 
 England was watching with suspicious eyes, and the Federalist 
 
IHi 
 
 46 
 
 TUl'. WlIITl'. CITV — I'Kl'.SIDr.NTS. 
 
 party, in America, cinpliatically resented his liberty of spteoli. 
 This mission was not without its mistakes. Monroe's evidnii 
 leaninjj^ toward the French Nation, his lack of tact in neutrali/.- 
 inj4 the grievances of so important a power as England, and 
 overlooking the "authorities at home," brought him more and 
 more into disfavor, until he was recalled by his government, in 
 1796. He was soon afterward elected Governor of \'irginia for 
 the term of three years. 
 
 In the early part of the century Jefferson saw the opjjor- 
 tunity to secure for the United States the vast territory named 
 Louisiana, then in possession of the French Nation. Napoleon 
 Bonaparte needed increased revenues to carry out his cherished 
 purposes; the United States wanted Louisiana. Monroe was 
 commissioned by Jefferson to consummate the purchase; this lie 
 did, paying for the coveted territory $15,000,000, and regardinjL^ 
 the act ever afterward as his most important service to the 
 Country. 
 
 A part of his mission abroad, at this time, was with tlie 
 English Government, but his treat}' with that nation failed to 
 meet the approval of the President, much to the disappointment 
 of the Alinister. He was not without honors, however, for in 
 181 1 he was again elected Governor of Virginia, and during his 
 administration of the affairs of State was called to a Cabinet 
 position, being made Secretary of State, to which were afterward 
 added the arduous duties of Secretary of War. 
 
 He was "the master-spirit of the hour" at the dark and 
 trying period of the burning of the city '^f Washington, and 
 proved, indeed, a power for good to the Nation, by the inspira- 
 tion of his patriotism and sacrifice. When the treasury w as ex- 
 hausted, he it was who stepped forward and "pledged his private 
 fortune to supply the country's pressing needs." The Repnbkc 
 nnist be victorious, and Monroe, though recognizing his cirtain 
 defeat for the Presidency in so unpopular a measure, was read\ 
 to sacrifice himself for the good of the cause, by issuing a call 
 for a hundred thousand men. The demand was not necessary, 
 
PRKSir)KNTS — MONRO!". 
 
 47 
 
 however, and soon thereafter the "Treaty of (ihetit" was sij^ncd. 
 
 Jiinics Monroe was made President in 1S17, and his admin- 
 istration was far more peacefnl than any previons one ; in fact, it 
 has lieen spoken of as "the era of j^ood feeling." He was re- 
 elected for a .second term with bnt one dissenting voice, showing 
 the pnpularit\' of his official career. 
 
 .Vinong the most important affairs engaging the attention of 
 President Monroe dnring his donble term were: "the defense of 
 the Atlantic Sea-board, the promotion of internal improvements, 
 the Seminole War, the acqnisition of Florida, the Missonri com- 
 promise, and resistance to foreign interference with American 
 affairs." 
 
 In his message of Dec. 2, 1S23, he proclaimed a platform 
 known as the " Monroe Doctrine," "promnlgating the policy of 
 neither entangling the United States in the broils of Europe, 
 nor suffering the powers of the Old \V(ndd to interfere with the 
 affairs of the New;" and this policy has met the approval of 
 P'-oniinent .statesmen fror.i its inception down to the present time. 
 
 James Monroe retired to his lovely home at Oak Hill, 
 Loudon County, Virginia, at the cloi^^ of his administration, and 
 enjoyed in a quiet, simple way its grateful rest. The death of 
 his wife, in 1830, was a severe blow, and such reverses of fortune 
 visited him as compelled him to relinquish his charming home. 
 The friend of his early years, LaFayette, whom he had be- 
 friended in the days of darkest trial and danger, now proffered 
 generous assistance, but the statesman did not sec fit to accept 
 the offer .so delicately tendered. 
 
 Monroe's closing days were passed with liis daughter in 
 New York, and on the anniversar}' of a day made memorable by 
 events both stirring and sad — July 4th, of the }'ear 1.S31 — the 
 tifth President of the United States passed peacefully away. 
 
II 
 
 John Quincv Jlclams. 
 
 OHN gUINCY, the eldest son of John and Ai.i.trail 
 Adams, was born Jnly ii, 1767, at Nortli Hraiu- 
 tree, Massachusetts, and was destined in the curly 
 years of his life to be a witness of such stining 
 scenes as have embellished the pages of American his. 
 tory with its most tragic pictures. At the age of ci^iit 
 years he beheld, from the summit of one of the hills 
 of his native parish, the destruction of Charlcstown, 
 which carried dismay to the anxious hearts of the waiting Amer- 
 ican Colonists, but resulted in the Battle of Bunker Hill, that 
 "day of days," June 17, 1775, wl: 1 '' Massachusetts had seen 
 the darkest, most glorious day in her history.'' 
 
 To one of his thoughtful temperament, the thrilling scenes 
 of these eventful days were the unfolding of a maturer t]i()u;<lit 
 than such early years would usually disclose, and the influences 
 about him were also favorable to patriotic sentiment, as well as 
 the development of a high moral and intellectual growth. In his 
 eleventh year, his father received the appointment of envoy to 
 France, and it Avas decided that this — hi:: eldest — son sliould 
 accompany him. He was placed at school in the French capital 
 and rapidly acquired the language of that country, returning to 
 America with his father a year and a half later, but agairi ac- 
 companied him to Europe, after a brief home visit, John Adaiiis 
 liaving received an appointment taking him to Hollancl. The 
 son then pursued his studies for a time at Amsterdam, Leydeii 
 and Paris, when he received the appointment of private secretary 
 
 PTet'idents. 
 
 48 
 
I'kKSIPHNTS — ADAMS. 
 
 49 
 
 to I'Vancis Dana, envoy from the United States to Russia, and 
 thus entered the dij)h)niatic service at the aj^e of fourteen years. 
 Later, he joined his father in Paris, and hecanie liis secretary 
 when nejj^otiations were pendinjjf for a treaty of jjcace between 
 Gn at Hritain and her American coh)nies. 
 
 In 1785 an imijortaut decision was made which indicated the 
 mettle of the j'outhful (liph)mat. His father had received the 
 appointment of Minister to St. James, and the son would thence- 
 forth find every avenue to cultivated .society and court life open- 
 \n]f before him. In the face of these brilliant prospects, however, 
 he decided upon a ctmrse of study at Harvard, and, returning to 
 liis native land, entered the junior class and was jj^raduated in 
 17S7. Later he studied law, and was admitted to the bar at the 
 ajije of twenty-three, enterinjj^ immediately upon the practice of 
 his professi(.n in Boston. In his twenty-.seventh year he was 
 c'linunissioncd Minister to The Hague, where he arrived October 
 31, 1794. The condition of forcij^n affairs, at this time, made his 
 position one requiring much di.scretion in its management, but 
 he is credited with successfully meeting the difficulties of the 
 position, and by diplomacy avoiding the pitfalls which would 
 have engulfed unwary feet. 
 
 In London he met Miss Louise Catherine Johnson, daughter 
 of the American Consul, and on July 26, 1797, their marriage 
 was consummated, and proved a happy and congenial union 
 through the half century of wedded life which succeeded. 
 
 Just following an appointment as Minister to Portugal, came 
 tlic announcement of his father's succession to the Presidency of 
 the United States, and, with his characteristic good judgment, 
 the son signified his decision to resign. Washington did not 
 concur in this >new^ of the situation, and insisted that his father 
 should retain him in a position for which he was so well qualified. 
 He was appointed Minister to Berlin and finally .secured a treaty 
 of "Amity and Commerce" between the United States and 
 Prussia. He then asked for his recall, which came with the 
 closing of his father's administration. 
 
^•'^Kmmm 
 
 50 
 
 thp: whith citv — rKHsiDKX'rs. 
 
 'Mii 
 
 111 1802 John Quincy Adams was elected by the Federal party 
 to the vState Senate, and the followiiiij^ year, was chosen United 
 States Senator. Here his position was made extremely unpleas- 
 ant by the opposition of the Republicans, then in power, and als > 
 b}- the Federalists, who attributed their defeat to the elder 
 Adams, while the son was made the object of the rancorous sen- 
 timents of both parties for the four succeeding 3'cars. 
 
 Then came issues of great moment to the United States, 
 among them the purchase of Louisiana, in which John Quincy 
 Adams favored the policy of Jefferson, and brought down u])()n 
 himself the disapproval of the Federalists, who were English 
 sympathizers in matters of policy. He supported the Presi- 
 dent's ''non-importation act," and resented the blows aimed 
 by the English at American commerce. The act of "Britisli 
 impressment" was the crowning injury which he set himself 
 steadfastly against, and, not as fully covering the ground, but as 
 a "step in the right direcLion," voted for the bill establishing an 
 embargo against England; this act roused his party to such 
 frenzy against him that they nominated his successor. 
 
 In 1809, under President Madison, John Quincy Adams was 
 appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia, and spent the 
 four and a half years following at the Court of the Romanoffs. 
 He was also one of the Commissioners who took part in the cel- 
 ebrated "Treaty of Ghent," in 1814, which event was hailed with 
 much rejoicing b}' America, and accepted by England as the 
 lesser of threatened ills. 
 
 The following May, Mr. Adams was appointed Envoy 
 Extraordinar}- and Minister Plcnipotentiar\' to England, and re- 
 iiKiined two years at the Court of St. James, returning to his 
 native land on June 15, 181 7, where he accepted new duties as 
 Secretary of State under President Monroe. 
 
 In spite of the bitter opposition of political rivals, John 
 Quincy Adams v»'as inaugurated President, March 4, 1825; !>ut. 
 though a faithful worker in the interest of the Nation, he seemed 
 lacking in <"he qualities which would win him a faithful follo^ving. 
 
i'ki-,sii)i-:N"rs — a dams. 
 
 He was unwilling' to bend to popular opinion, and was often 
 misunderstood, although greatly admired and respected by those 
 wlio were in position to appreciate his sterling qualities of heart 
 and mind. 
 
 He was succeeded in the Presidential Chair b}' Andrew 
 Jackson, and retired to his home at Oninc}^ but not to remain 
 loiiijthe private citizen, for the " National Republicans " (later 
 known as "Whigs") elected him to Congress, where he took his 
 sent in December, 1831. If it seemed to many a "descent in 
 ofiiciai life" that the ex-President should consent to serve his 
 constituency in this capacity, it was at no time so regarded by 
 Mr. Adama, whose own words emphatically declare his senti- 
 ments: "No person could be degraded by serving the people in 
 Con.y^ress. Nor, in my opinion, would an ex-President of the 
 United States be degraded by serving as a Selectman of his 
 town, if thereto elected." 
 
 In Congress Mr. Adams at all times stood for the principles 
 he advocated, regardless of the frown or favor of his colleagues. 
 He was not an orator, nor did he possess an attractive person- 
 ality, and age was now adding the touches which are never 
 pleasing to the e3'e, but there was no lack of interest in his 
 words, which were the powerful expressions of earnest convic- 
 tion and the result of profound thought and varied experience. 
 
 When the cause of slavery became a prominent subject of 
 consideration in Congress, the stand of John Quincy Adams, as 
 a leader of that '* forlorn hope," brought upon him bitterest 
 invective and unbounded opposition, but instead of yielding to 
 the demand of popular sentiment, he was not to be moved from 
 the position which he had taken, when lie believed that his 
 opinions were based upon a principle to be maintained. 
 
 The final summons came to Mr. Adams while at his pust of 
 duty, when he rose to address Congress, on February 21, 184S. 
 He lingered until the evening of the 23d, however, declaring in 
 his latest conscious moment: "This is the end of earth. I am 
 content." 
 
'•oMMSe 
 
 '^■lMlliiaiilittt0umii ■ 
 
 ""m 
 
 ll; 
 
 Andpcw Jackson. 
 
 ^^ XDREW JACKSON, the subject of this sketch, 
 was born in the Waxhaw settlement, Union 
 Count}', North Carolina, on ]\Iarch 15, 1767, 
 and under conditions as discouraging and in- 
 auspicious as could well be imagined. His 
 parents (who were of Scotch descent) had 
 emigrated from the north of Ireland with their two sons, 
 Hugh and Robert, two years previous, not as well-to-do people, 
 but as honest and earnest seekers for a betterment of fortune. 
 When Andrew Jack.sou opened his eyes upon this ''theater of 
 action" in which he was to play so important a part, it was to 
 realize a mother's love only, for his father's death had come as a 
 crushing blow upon the little household a short time previous to 
 his birth. 
 
 His early years were passed in the famil}^ of an uncle, and 
 the rudiments of an education were gained by attending the 
 schools in the neighborhood, but he is not credited with an un- 
 usual eartiestness in the pursuit of book-lore, his dis])ositioii 
 directing his energies in tl;e line of greater activity. 
 
 During the War of the Revolution the Carolinas were the 
 scenes of terrible carnage and devastation, and, though still in 
 his "teens," the boy's earnest nature was stirred to bitterest re- 
 sentment by the indignities sustained at the hands ot the 
 British. The oldest brother, Hugh Jackson, had joined the 
 militia, and lost his life in the service of his country, i.ntcr, 
 Andrew and his brother Robert were taken prisoners of wnr and 
 
 I'ri'siUciils. 
 
 W 
 
PRESIDENTS — JACKSON. 
 
 53 
 
 both were wounded by au officer of the dragoons whose treat- 
 ment they had dared to resent. After suffering the greatest 
 hardships, the entreaties of Mrs. Jackson secured an exchange 
 of prisoners of war and she started with her two sons for the 
 home at Waxhaw, but, before the weary journey was ended, 
 Robert liad closed his e3'es upon the scenes of mortal existence, 
 and Andrew was battling with the "grim destroyer." 
 
 The sufferings of her beloved children fired the heart of this 
 noble mother in behalf of other sons, and, in 17S1, Mrs. Jackson 
 undertook the mission of ministering to the needs of the inmates 
 of the prison-ships at Charleston ; but when Andrew^ Jackson 
 had reached his fifteenth year, he was an orphan, for the mother's 
 life had been sacrificed at the post of duty, as she no doubt re- 
 garded the labor she had undertaken. 
 
 The ensuing j^ears are eventful ones in the life of Andrew 
 Jackson, whose strong w'ill and imperious temper, did not add 
 to his popularity either among his relatives or companions. He 
 became dissipated, and, for a time, followed the bent of his wild 
 arid wayward nature, but when he came to a realization of the 
 ine\ itable result of such living, his reform was as genuine as his 
 dissipation had been reckless. 
 
 He undertook the study of the law, at Salisbur3% and was ad- 
 mitted to the bar two ye;irs later. Receiving the appointment of 
 Solicitor for Washingtoi County (now State of Tennessee), in 
 this wild region, where a uost every known danger must be 
 encountered, his energies found ample exercise, and the sterling 
 ([ludities of his character were acknowledged b}- friends and 
 enemies alike. 
 
 In personal appearance he is described as liardlj' "prepo.s- 
 sessing," being " thin-faced, reddish-haired, tall and angular," 
 but his blue eyes were ablaze with excitement at the slightest 
 pro\()cation, and his earnestness, together with a certain magnet- 
 ism of personality, commanded consideration and respect. 
 
 In 1791 young Jackson was married to Mrs. Rachel Robards, 
 a lady of noble qualities, but whose previous marriage had 
 
54 
 
 THK WHITH CITV — I'RKSIDKNTS. 
 
 proven so intolerable as to compel the annnllinj^ of those ties. 
 The new relations, thongh assnmed nnder these trying circiuu- 
 stanccs, were most happy to both parties. 
 
 In 179^ Andrew Jackson was elected to Congress, as Rep- 
 resentative of the new State of Tennessee, aiid was sent to the 
 Senate the following year. He was also chosen Jndge of the 
 Snpreme Conrt, and thns enjo3-ed snch honors as ha\e fallen to 
 the lot of few men at the age of thirtj'-two 3'ears. 
 
 Abont this time he engaged in mercantile pnrsnits, whieli 
 he followed in connection with his official dnties, and in tlie 
 ventnres met with considerable success until the Bank of Hiii,^- 
 land snspended payment, in 1797, when, throngh the business 
 failure of a friend, whose notes he had endorsed, he found him- 
 self in the trying position of a heav}- debtor. To free himself 
 from this embarassment was his immediate purpose, so he re- 
 signed his Judgeship, sold his plantation, paid his debts and ''.set 
 up business" at "Clover Bottom," near Nashville, where he 
 proved himself a successful financier. 
 
 When war with England was declared, in 1812, the services 
 of Mr. Jackson (who had received the appointment of Major- 
 Gcneral of the Tennessee Militia) were accepted, and, with 
 twenty-five hundred volunteers, he set out for Natchez, only to 
 receive an order to disband the troops on his arrival at that 
 point. Contrary to instructions, however, he resolved to under- 
 take the return march with the little company who had shared 
 with him the hardships of the journe}-, since the}- were "without 
 pay, without means of transportation, without provision for the 
 sick." It was during this disheartening march that he was ^iveii 
 the appellation of "Old Hickory," which clung to him so te- 
 naciously during all his after life. This journey, so fraught with 
 trials and suffering, likewise drew to him a faithful following, and 
 won the highest regard of the soldiery, by whom he had hitherto 
 been misunderstood and feared. 
 
 The stirring events of this period would be of particular 
 and fascinating interest, but it is impossible to enter into Uieir 
 
PRKSIDKXTS — JACKSOX. 
 
 55 
 
 det.iiled record. Andrew Jackson's generalship sttaids cnit most 
 prominently in the defense of New Orleans, in December, 1S14, 
 against which cit}'^ the British troops were marching with the 
 firm belief that the}- were "invincible," and that the enenu' mnst 
 spetdily snrrender. 
 
 Jaiinar\- 8, 1815, is regarded as General Jackson's "day of 
 days," when the British troops were so signally defeated at New 
 Orleans, and the battle-plain strewn with their dead and dying. 
 It was a sharp and decisive encoiinter, lasting less than a half 
 hour, but the militia of the frontier were splendid marksmen, 
 and met the advance of the veteran.': wrch so nnexpected a re- 
 sistance, and with such devastating fire, that the astonished 
 British troops were nnable to stand before the foe. This was the 
 closing chapter of hostilities, and the central fignre was General 
 .\ndrcw Jackson, the hero of that memorable da}'. 
 
 During the Seminole War, Jackson was an important figure, 
 and the course he took during this campaign was both applauded 
 and criticised. In 1821 he was made Governor of Florida, but 
 resigned the office in a few months and returned to his home — 
 The Hermitage. 
 
 Three years later when his name was proposed b}- the Leg- 
 islature of his State, for President, it was not favorably regarded 
 by his party leaders throughout the country. That he had a 
 "genius for fighting," Mas admitted by all, but that he should 
 succeed men of such scholarly attainments, as were his prede- 
 cessors, was not so readily conceded. He v\as sent to the United 
 States Senate, however, in 1823-4, and before the close of the 
 latter 3'ear, having received the nomination to the Presidenc}', 
 proved that his name was so popular wi^ii the masses that he 
 was defeated by a very small vote, John Quincy Adams being 
 his successful rival. 
 
 The next attempt of his friends to place Mr. Jackson in 
 the Presidential chair was successful, but his triumph was m- 
 terniingled with trials — his beloved wife dying at this memorable 
 period of his career. He went to the White House a saddened 
 
«««Hai 
 
 56 
 
 THH WHITH crrv — PRKSIDHNTS. 
 
 man, only contemplating one term; and his re-election by an 
 overwhelming majority over his opponent proved the popularity 
 of his administration. 
 
 On retiring to the Hermitage, it was to take up a home life 
 which forms a picture in strange contrast to many of the scein.-, 
 of his earlier days. An adopted son and his wife with tlicir 
 happy family were his household, to which should be added tin: 
 small army of slaves on the plantation, whom he treated with 
 the grv-'atest consideration and indulgence, though always main- 
 taining, however, the right and justice of the "institution." 
 
 Andrew Jackson's death, on June 8, 1845, was deeply 
 mourned. His nature was, in .some respects, a dual one, with 
 fierce temper and viudictiveness on the one hand, but with ;i 
 heart as tender as a woman's, on the other. 
 
 He was buried b}- the side of his wife, whose memory he so 
 fondly cherished, and, with the ''dust to dust," the curtain falls 
 upon one whose life was a succession of stirring events from the 
 cradle to the grave. 
 
 is 
 
MQPtin Van Bupcn. 
 
 ROM Wasliiugton to Jackson, the Presidents of 
 the Un'ted States had been sons of the Revo- 
 lution. But now, into the arena of public life, 
 there came a new generation, and 3'ounger 
 hands must direct the ship of State through the 
 great river of Time. Of this new school Martin 
 Van Buren was the first to occup}- the chair of 
 Chief Magistrate. Mr. Van Buren's ancestors 
 were among the early emigrants from Holland, who set- 
 tled in the ancient town of Kinderhook, New York. His father 
 was a farmer, of moderate means, beloved and respected by all 
 wh'i knew him, and here Martin Van Buren was born, December 
 
 He attended the village school and in due time was sent to 
 the Kinderhook Academy, where he pro'-ed to be a ver}- diligent 
 student and made good progress in his studies. At an earl}' age 
 \'au Buren displa\'ed a decided passion for composition and ex- 
 tempore speaking, and was a close student of human nature. 
 
 At the age of fourteen Van Buren entered the law office of 
 Francis Sylvestor, in his native town, nud while here evinced 
 much interest in the polic}- of government and the claims of the 
 K'reat political parties of his day. The last year of his prepara- 
 tory law stud}- was passed in the office of William P. Van Ness, 
 in the city of New York. In 1803 Van Buren was admitted to 
 the l)ar and at once returned to his native village where he began 
 
 I'ri'^iili'iils. 
 
 w 
 
mmm 
 
 ^S 
 
 Tin-. WHITK CITY — PRKSIDKNTS. 
 
 tlie practice of his profession in partnership with his half 
 brother, James I. Van Allen. 
 
 As a lawyer Mr. Van Biircn was so snccessful that, aiiioii}^ 
 all the brilliant and learned lawyers of his day, lie was, in iSit;, 
 ap]:)ointcd Attorney-General of the State. He had previousl}', 
 in 1812, been elected to the New York State Senate where ho 
 served with distinguished honor. 
 
 ;Mr. Van Bnren was married in 1806 to Miss Hannah Hoes, 
 a most estimable lad3% who died in 1818, of consumption. 
 
 In 182 1 Mr. Van Bureii entered the United States Senate 
 and was re-elected in 1827, but resigned his seat in 1828 and was 
 elected Governor of the Empire State. When President Jackson 
 formed his cabinet, in 1829, he offered the portfolio of State to 
 Mr. Van Buren, Avhich was accepted. He served as Secretary of 
 State until 183 1, when he was appointed minister to the Court 
 of St. James, but, in the succeeding year, was elected \'ice- 
 Presidcnt on the same ticket with General Jackson. On the 
 fourth of ]\Iarch, 1837, ^^^- ^'^^^ Buren was inaugurated eighth 
 President of the I'^nited States. His administration was begun 
 under much financial depression. The country was flooded with 
 bank notes Avhich gave a fictitious value to almost every article 
 of merchandise, and speculation in the public lands became 
 enormous. President Jack.son, in order to restrain this undue 
 sale of lands, issued an order requiring the collectors, at the 
 varous Land Offices, to receive only gold and silver in payment 
 for land; and, shortl}- after, Congr(?ss passed an act distributing 
 the Government funds on deposit in the banks, among the vStatcs. 
 These two acts of the Executive and Congress, during the last 
 administration, precipitated a financial panic and unparalleled 
 embarrassments were experienced in monetary circles. The 
 whole business of the country was prostrated. In a short time 
 the banks of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and many other 
 cities suspended specie peayments. A special session of Coni^ress 
 was called, which continued in session over forty days, but as the 
 majority were opposed to the policy of the President, the nieas- 
 
PRESIDENTS — VAN ni'REN. 
 
 59 
 
 urcs proposed by the administration were defeated. Many of the 
 States issned vState bonds in order to secnre loans for internal im- 
 provements and eij^ht of the vStates failed to pay the interest on 
 these loans. Thej^ all rallied in time and paid their obligations 
 except two — Mississippi and the territory of Florida. These 
 stocks were mainly held by English capitalists and great indig- 
 nation was felt thronghont Enrope at the failnre of the vStates to 
 pay their obligation. 
 
 In 1840 Mr. Van Bnren was again the nominee of his 
 part}' for the office of President, bnt was defeated by General 
 Harrison. , , 
 
 In appearance Mr. Van Bnren was of abont medinm size, 
 
 with an erect form, light hair and eyes, and a broad, high 
 
 forehead. 
 
 At the close of his administration, Mr. Van Bnren retired 
 
 to his home at Kinderhook, where he resided at his death, which 
 
 occurred in Jnly, 1862. 
 
■HI 
 
 Williarr? nenpv RaPPison. 
 
 ■— Li?- 
 
 ^ N the little town of Berkeley, Charles City County, 
 Virginia, William Henry Harrison was born, on the 
 ninth clay of Febrnary, 1773. His aneestry were 
 among the early settlers of the *'Okl Dominion," ;uk1 
 their name has always bet the synonym for integ- 
 rity, honesty and patriotism. His father, Benjiuuiu 
 Harrison, was a prominent member of the Continental 
 Congress dnring the years 1774-5-6, and was one of 
 the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He 
 was elected Governor of \'irginia in 1782, and was one of the 
 most efficient officers that ever occupied that responsible position. 
 Young Harrison graduated from Hampton Sidney College, 
 and began the study of medicine; but the atrocities of the In- 
 dians upon the western frontiers so stirred the spirit within liini, 
 that he resolved on joining the army. He communicated his 
 desire to General Washington and received from him an Ensign's 
 commission in the First regiment of United States Artillery. 
 He joined his regiment at Fort Washington, on the Ohio Ri^'er, 
 near the present site of Cincinnati, in 1791. In the following 
 year he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, and participated 
 in the battle of the ''Fallen Timbers," where his gallant and 
 faithful services won for him the hearty commendation c^f (kii- 
 eral W^ayne. Harrison, at this time little more than a b(>\ , was 
 slender in build and almost effisminate in appearance. Que of his 
 old soldiers in speaking of him, said: "I would as soon have 
 thought of putting my wife in the service as this boy; ''nt I 
 
 I'ri'suliiits. 
 
 60 
 
PRKSIOKNTS — HARRISON. 
 
 6l 
 
 have been out with him, imd I find those smooth cheeks are on 
 a wise head, and that slight frame is almost as tough as my own 
 weather-beaten carcass." 
 
 When this campaign came to a close Lieutenant Harrison 
 was proUKited to the rank of Captain, and assigned to the coni- 
 iiiatid of Fort Wasliington. While stationed at this fort he was 
 married to the daughter of John Cleves Symnies, who founded 
 the Miami settlements. In 179S Captain Harrison was ap- 
 pointed Secretary of the Northwestern Territory, to succeed 
 Wiuthrop Sargent, and the following year was chosen its first 
 Congressional delegate. When Mr. Harrison entered Congress 
 the jMiblic lands of the United States could not be purcha.sed in 
 less amount than four thousand acres; this made it impossible 
 for men of small means to acquire a free-hold, and capitalists 
 and land-agents secured large tracts of land and compelled the 
 poor man to pay enormous rentals, or nnich more than their 
 value if divided into smaller parcels. Mr. Harrison succeeded 
 in amending this obnoxious law, although he was strenuously 
 opposed b}' the speculators. 
 
 About this time the Northwestern Territory was divided, 
 Ohio being set off by itself, and the remaining territor}', com- 
 prising all the country beyond the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, 
 received the name of Indiana, over which Mr. Harrison was ap- 
 pointed Governor. He was also Indian Commissioner at this 
 time and secured for the government millions of acres of the 
 richest country in the We t by treaty with the Aborigines. In 
 iSio the Indian tribes, who had from time to time ceded their 
 lands to the settlers and moved westward, became jealous and 
 rebellious; their hunting grounds Avere broken up, and the white 
 man continually advanced upon their settlements. Under the 
 leadership of the celebrated Shawnee chief, Tecumseh, and his 
 twin brother, Elskwatawa, the Prophet, the Indians became more 
 and more aggressive until hostilities were commenced at a town 
 at the junction of the Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers, where the 
 prophet had established him.self. Governor Harrison had become 
 
■•■MMaiMMi 
 
 62 
 
 Till-; WIIITI'. CITY — I'Kl'.SIUHNTS. 
 
 fearful that the IiuHans would hcj^iu a war, and niarclu-d liis 
 troops to this place to try and prevent bloodshed if possible. 
 About four o'clock on the niorninjf of the fourth of November. 
 181 1, the Indians bcji^an the attack, but by the excellent j^eut nil- 
 ship and undaunted courajj^e of Harrison they were repelled and 
 the battle of Tippecanoe was won. The Indians now joined tin- 
 British forces in what is known as the war of 181 2. In 1S13 
 Governor Harrison was appointed to the command of that por- 
 tion of the army at the head of Lake Krie, with the conunissiou 
 of Major-General. His distinjj^uished services in this war won 
 for him hearty recoj^nition from the people, with whom he was :i 
 great favorite, and Congress voted him a gold medal for ''gallant 
 and good .services." 
 
 In 1816 General Harrison was elected to the Natitmal IIou.sc 
 of Representatives, and re-elected for the following term. In 
 1819 he was chosen to the Ohio State Senate and in 1S24 was 
 sent by that State to the United States Senate. In 1828 he was 
 appointed United States Minister to the Republic of Columbia, 
 from which he was recalled by President Jackson. 
 
 General Harrison received the nomination for President of 
 the United States, by the Whig party, in 1840. The campais^n 
 was one of the most spirited the Republic has ever known. 
 There were public meetings and processions and barbecues, in 
 which log cabins, coons and hard cider figured conspicuously, 
 and in which the crj^ "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" became hou.se- 
 hold words. It resulted in the election of Harrison, and he was 
 inaugurated on the fourth of March, 1841, with great enthusi- 
 asm. In his cabinet were such well-known men as Daniel Web- 
 ster, Thomas Ewing, John Bell and John J. Crittenden, and 
 nnich was expected of this administration. 
 
 But death stood at the nation's door and, in one month after 
 his inauguration, President Harrison passed beyond the vale 
 into the great bej-ond. His death occurred on the twenty- 
 seventh of March, 1841. He was the first President to dit in 
 office and was sincerely mourned by the whole people. 
 
John Tvlcp. 
 
 OHX TYLER, tlic ttiUli President of the United 
 . State, was born in Charles City Connty, \'irginia, 
 March 29, 1S90, The ''Old Dominion " had already 
 }^iven the Repnhlic five Chief Magistrates, viz.: 
 Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and Har- 
 rison, and was well entitled to the aj^pellation she 
 had received as the ''Mother of Presidents;'' hnt 
 V- she now adds a sixth to the illnstrions list, 
 
 proving that she still had more "such seed within her breast." 
 
 The ancestors of John Tyler were among the early Ivnglish 
 settlers of Virginia; his grandfather, John Tyler, was marshal 
 of the colon}' luuler the English government ; and his father, 
 also named John, was a distinguished jiatriot, occupying the im- 
 portant offices of Governor, and Justice of the Supreme Court. 
 
 Unlike many of his illustrious successors in office, Mr. Ty- 
 ler was the sou of M-ealthy parents, and every adxantage which 
 wealth could procure was his. At the age of seventeen he grad- 
 uated from William and Mary College, and, two years later, was 
 admitted to the bar and began the practice of law. His success 
 as a lawyer was phenomenal, for one so young, and, when only 
 twenty-one, he was elected a member of the State Legislature, re- 
 taining his seat for six consecutive years. There are few men 
 whose political advancement has been so rapid and so constant as 
 was that of Mr. Tyler. In 18 16 he was elected a member of 
 Congress, re-elected in 181S, and again in 1820. In 1825 he was 
 chosen Governor of the State of Virginia, and re-elected in 1826. 
 
 l'ri>iil<'iils. 
 
 n 
 
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 TiTwiifi iKirrrmnnMniiii 
 
 64 
 
 THE WHITE CITY — PRESIDENTS. 
 
 In 1827 w^ fi^^^ him a Senator of the United States. In 1840 he 
 was chosen Vice-President, and, in one month after his inaugu- 
 ration, succeeded to the Presidency, through the untimely death 
 of President William Henry Harrison. 
 
 President Tyler was not long in finding himself in stidiig 
 opposition to the Whig party, which elected him. This rupture 
 was caused by the President's veto of the Bill establishing a 
 United States Bank, a measure to which the Whigs were com- 
 mitted, and this action was denounced by them in strong tenus. 
 The entire cabinet, except Mr. Webster, resigned, in September, 
 1841, declaring that all confidence between the President and 
 themselves was gone. 
 
 Some of the more important events of the administratioi: of 
 \ President Tyler were the annexation of Iowa and Florida, the 
 *. bills for which he signed on the last day of his term of office ; 
 the completion of the Bunker Hill monument; the establish- 
 ment of the electric telegraph, and the banishment of the Mor- 
 mons from the territory east of the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 President Tyler retired from office without the regret of 
 ^'ther political party. He was freely accused by the Wliigs uot 
 only of a want of judgment, but of a want of good faith. 
 
 Personally Mr. Tyler was tall and slim, with a light com- 
 plexion, blue e3'es, high forehead, and a prominent nose. He was 
 married to Miss Letitia Christian, in 181 3, who died in 1842. In 
 1844 he married Miss Julia Gardner, a 3'oung and beautiful lady 
 of New York. 
 
 Mr. Tyler was a member of the Confederate C'-ugress, and 
 died at Richmond, Virginia, January 18, 1862. 
 
JanQcs K. PolK. 
 
 N the earlier history of the Republic men were se- 
 lected for the Presidential office who had been long 
 and prominently connected with public affairs, and 
 who were well known, by reputation at least, to the 
 great body politic. But there came a time, later on, 
 when principles and policy of government overshad- 
 owed the genius of the man, and the public learned 
 that what shall be done is of more consequence than 
 who shall do it. 
 The nomination of James K. Polk was among the earlier 
 selections of a candidate for the office of Chief Executive of the 
 United States who represented principles of goxcrnment rather 
 than mere personality. Although his political opponents took 
 delight in the inquiry, "Who is Polk? " still the election proved 
 that the people were awake to the principles of good govern- 
 ment, and that his party could rally to their support, even 
 though their standard-bearer might be comparatively unknown. 
 The original name Polk is undoubtedly a contraction of 
 Pollock. The family is of Scotch origin, but the ancestors of 
 that branch of the family to which the subject of this sketch 
 belongs, were residents of Ireland, and emigrated to this countr}', 
 settling first in Maryland, about 1738. Samuel Polk, father of 
 James K., was a re^'dent of Mechlenburg County, North Caro- 
 iMia, and there James K. Polk was born, November 2, 1795. His 
 mother was a daughter of James Knox, an ofPcer in the Revolu- 
 tionary war, and it was for liim that 5oung Polk was named. 
 
66 
 
 THE WHITK CITY — PRESIDENTS. 
 
 The boyhood of the eleventh President of the United States 
 was passed on his father's farm, where he assisted in its nuuiage- 
 ment and where was laid the foundation of that industrious, 
 honest and virtuous life which characterized his niaturer years. 
 He early evinced a strong desire for an education and was always 
 an earnest student. About the year 1S13 he was sent to an 
 Academy at Murfreesboi-ough, Tennessee, and in the fall of ].Si5 
 entered the University of North Carolina, where he graduated, 
 with the highest honors, in 1818, delivering the Latin Salutatory 
 Oration. In 1847 his Alma Alater conferred upon him the hon- 
 orary degree of Doctor of Laws. 
 
 The year following his graduation he entered the law oinL-e 
 of Felix Grundy, at Nashville, Tennessee, and in 1820 was ad- 
 mitted to the bar. While a law student in Alr^ Grundy's office, 
 he met Andrew Jackson, whose friendship he won and eve- 
 after retained. 
 
 As a law3^er, ]\Ir. Polk was a close reusoner and a brilliant 
 speaker, and he soon stood in the front rank of his chosen pro- 
 fession. He entered public life as Clerk of the House of Rep- 
 resentatives of Tennessee, became a member of that body in 
 1823 and again in 1824, and was regarded as one of its most 
 talented and promising members. 
 
 On New Year's day, 1824, ^^^- Polk was united in marriage 
 to Miss Sarah Childress, daughter of Joel Childress, a prominent 
 merchant of Rivherford Count}', Tennessee. To a remarkable 
 beauty of person, Mrs. Polk united the charms of a high order 
 of intellectual accomplishment and a sweetness of disposition 
 tha'; rendered her well fitted to adorn the high station in life'sbe 
 was called upon to fill. 
 
 In 182 s Mr. Polk w'as elected a lUcmber of the lower House 
 of Congress, which position he retained for fourteen years, the 
 last two 3-'ears of which he was Speaker, and was then i.du ted 
 Governor of Tennessee by an overwhelming majority. 
 
 In 1844 Mr. Polk was elected President of the liiiled 
 States. The most important event of his administration was 
 
PRESIDENTS — POLK. 
 
 67 
 
 the annexation of Texas, which precipitated the Mexican war. 
 Other incidents of national significance was the discovery of 
 gold in California; the establislinient of the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tute at Washington ; the admission of Wisconsin into the Union, 
 and the organization of the Department of the Interior, or, as it 
 was ;it first called, the Home Department. 
 His deatli occun-ed June 15, 1849. 
 
 ^•^ 
 
Zachapv ^avIoR 
 
 '"T-^HE assertion has been made that modest}-, thou,i;h 
 coupled with real merit, always fails in coni])eti- 
 tion with audacity ; but we believe that the real 
 facts prove quite the contrary. True, modesty 
 may, for a season, obscure the merit of a iiuui, 
 but time, the great revealer, as well as leveler, 
 of the race, will shortly discover the genuine and 
 unmask the counterfeit. The race to-day cast the crown of their 
 highest regard before those truly commendable virtues — integrity 
 and intelligence; it was for these estimable characteristics tliat 
 Zachary Taylor became the chief Executivf- of this great 
 Nation. 
 
 Colonel Richard Taylor, father of the subject of this sketch, 
 was a descendant of the earliest settlers of the ''Old Dominion," 
 whose home was in Orange County, Virginia; it was here that 
 Zachary was born, on the twenty-fourth of November, 17S4. He 
 inherited from his father a sturd}' and courageous disposition 
 which marked his career from childhood to the grave. When 
 young Taylor was a mere lad the family moved to Kentucky and 
 settled near Louisville. Kentucky in that day was sparsely popu- 
 lated, and the advantages for securing an education were exceed- 
 ingly limited. At an early age, in company with his brotiier, 
 Zachary was placed under the care of a private tutor, Mr. ^''' ''.-? 
 Ayres. of Connecticut, who seems to have been pecun.u r,' uc'l 
 iitttd to tmdertake the education of youth. He describe m 
 illustrious pupil as a boy of good natural abi'.ties, sti • !s, 
 
 k'rcsiiicii'.s. 
 
 tW 
 
PRESI DENTS — TAYLOR. 
 
 69 
 
 persevering, and of an ardent temperament. Even from child- 
 liood young Taylor looked forward to the army as the arena of 
 his future labors. When only eighteen, his father secured him 
 a commission as lieutenant in the Seventh regiment of United 
 States Infantry, and he was under the command of General 
 Will^inson, at New Orleans. 
 
 In 1810 he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Smith, 
 of Maryland, a most worthy and beautiful woman. 
 
 Having been promoted to the rank of Captain, soon after his 
 marriage, in 181 2, he was given command of Fort Harrison, a 
 militar}^ post on the Wabash River, fifty miles beyond the fron- 
 tier settlements ; this was an important trust for a young man of 
 twenty-eight, but subsequent events proved the worth of the 
 young commander. This fort was nothing but a rude stockade 
 which had been hastily built by General Harrison, in 181 1, 
 while on his march to Tippecanoe. During the night of Septem- 
 ber 3, 181 2, this fort was attacked by a large body of Indians, 
 and set on fire, but Captain Taylor, by the most heroic efforts, de- 
 fended it and drove off the Indians, with the loss of only one 
 man, while that of the Indians was heavy. For his valiant 
 defense of Fort Harrison, he was promoted to the rank of brevet 
 Major. 
 
 From this time until the Indian war in Florida, Major Tay- 
 lor continued in command of various western posts. In 1832 he 
 was promoted to the rank of Colonel, and was in command at the 
 terribL battle of the Wisconsin, where Black Hawk was captured 
 and the war was terminated. 
 
 Colonel Taylor was ordered to Florida in 1S36, where the 
 Seminole, and other tribes of southern Indians, were making war 
 on the United States. This Indian war in Florida was the most 
 tToublesome and protracted of any of the Indian wars in which 
 the government has been engaged. On the twenty-third of De- 
 cember, 1837, he fought the famous battle of Okachobee, which 
 practically finished this war. In recognition of his services he 
 was j>ronioted to the brevet rank of Brigadier-General, and given 
 
70 
 
 THK WHITH CITY — PRKSIDHNTS. 
 
 the command of the Florida forces, a position he retained until 
 1S40, when he was relieved, at his own request, and transferred to 
 the command of the army in the States of Louisiana, Missis- 
 sippi, Alabama and Georgia. The ^Mexican question, having, in 
 1845, reached a crisis. General Ta3-lor was ordered to march into 
 Texas and to repel any invasion which might be made upon the 
 territory by Mexican forces. He established headquarters at 
 Corpus Christi, but early in 1846 advanced his army, which now 
 numbered about five thousand, to the Rio Grande, upon the 
 opposite side of which was the Mexican Army under the com- 
 mand of General Ampudia. Then followed the battles of Palo 
 Alto, and Reseca de h; 1 aln. ;, in whivh General Taylor dis- 
 tinguished himself by his splendid generalship and undaunted 
 courage, which gave the victory, in the^je remarkable engage- 
 ments, to the United States forces, and the enemy were driven 
 across the Rio Grande. 
 
 In February, 1S47, with an army of but six thousand men, 
 he met General vSanta Ana, with an army of twenty thousand, 
 at Buena \'ista, and, after a terrific struggle, won one of the most 
 brilliant victories in the hi'^tory of the United States. This was 
 General Ta^dor's last battle. While yet in the field he was 
 nominated for the Presideuc}-, and was elected to that high oflioe 
 in Novemlicr, 1848. The application of California for admission 
 into the Union, early in President Taylor's administration, was 
 the origin of a prolonged and bitter controversy in Congress on 
 the question of slavery. At this time, and for many j-ears pre- 
 vious, the slave-holding and uon-slave-holding States, possessed 
 an equal representation in the United States Senate. If Cali- 
 fornia was admitted as a free State, it was claimed by the Sontli, 
 that this equilibrium woiild be destroyed and the rights and 
 interests of the South placed in the hands of the North. The 
 controversy waxed warm and furious, the debates growing more 
 and more exciting, until, at their height, the illustrious Henry 
 Clay introduced his famous compromise scheme, which was 
 sneeringly termed, by tho.se who oppo.sed it, the "Omnibus Bill." 
 
PRESIDENTS — TAYLOR. 
 
 71 
 
 Seven months were passed in discussing the slavery question, 
 and it was during this time that President Taylor's death took 
 place, on the ninth of July, 1S50. His last words were : "I am 
 ready to die. I have always done my duty; ni}- only regret is 
 for the friends I leave behind me." In the eulogy pronounced 
 in the House by Humphrey Marshall, appear these words: 
 
 '* Great, without pride; cautious, without fear; brave, with- 
 out rashness; stern, without harshness; modest, without bash- 
 fulness ; sagacious, withoiit cunning ; benevolent, without osten- 
 tation ; sincere and honest as the sun, the ' noble old Roman ' has 
 at last laid down his earthly harness — his task is done. He has 
 fallen as falls the summer tree in the bloom of its honors, ere the 
 blight f)f autumn has seared a leaf that adorns it." 
 
Millar?d Fillmope. 
 
 ^==^HE life of Millard Fillmore, the thirteenth Presi- 
 dent of the United States, is one filled with lessons 
 of profit to every yonng American ; teaching, as 
 it does, the power of resolution and energy over 
 opposing circumstances. His ancestors, for four 
 generations, were forest pioneers, whose lives of 
 honesty and stnrdy manhood were a magnificent 
 inheritance for their descendants. His father, 
 Nathaniel Fillmore, who participated in the battle of Bennington, 
 early in life removed from his Vermont home to Summer Hill, 
 Cayuga County, New York, where Millard was born, January 7, 
 1800. Young Fillmore's early education was acquired in the 
 common schools of the neighborhood, and, at the age of fifteen, 
 he went to Livingston County to learn the fuller's trade. A 
 small village library furnished his only means for acquiring a 
 knowledge of books, and the young man improved every moment 
 of his spare time in reading the works thus placed within his 
 reach. Four 3'earswere thus passed. At the age of nineteen he 
 entered the law office of Judge Walter Wood, where he renmined 
 two years, closely applying himself to his studies, and teaching 
 school during the winter to assist in paying his expenses. In 
 the fall of 182 1 he removed to Erie County, and, in the spring 
 of 1822, entered a law office in Buffalo, where he remained one 
 year. At the expiration of this time he was admitted to the 
 Court of Common Pleas, and opened an office in the village of 
 
 HresidenU. ^ 
 
PRESIDENT.S — FI LLMORE. 
 
 73 
 
 Aurora, where he remained until 1S30, when he returned to 
 Buffalo, w^hich remained his home until his death. 
 
 While residing in Aurora, he met a daughter of the Rev. 
 Lemuel Powers, who was a lady of rare intelligence and moral 
 worth. A tender attachment sprang up between the two and 
 the vere married in 1S26. 
 
 Mr. Fillmore's entry into public life was made in January, 
 1829, when he entered the New York Legislature as a Repre- 
 sentative from Erie County. He soon won the confidence and 
 esteem of his associates and was re-elected the two succeeding 
 years. He was elected to Congress in 1832 and was re-elected 
 in 1836-38-40. The Twenty-seventh Congress was a memor- 
 able one, and no political revolution in the history of the nation, 
 from its birth up to that of i860, was more overwhelming than 
 that <if 1S40. The minority, with which party Mr. Fillmore had 
 allied himself, now became the majority, and he was made Chair- 
 man of the Committee of Ways and Means. Mr. Fillmore was 
 the author of the tariff of 1842, which became so popular that 
 few, even of his political opponents, were able to find fault 
 with it. 
 
 We quote, from a New York paper, the following description 
 of Mr. Fillmore, at this time: 
 
 " Mr. Fillmore, in person, is stout and finely formed. He 
 has an erect and easy walk, a well-developed chest, light com- 
 plexion, lively blue eyes, a smooth forehead, marked by breadth 
 rather than height, and thin grayish hair. His face is broad 
 and regular in its outlines; he has a small nose, a handsome 
 Grecian mouth, and white teeth. In or out of Congress there 
 are few better-looking men. His appearance would attract atten- 
 tion anj'where, and his abilities qualify him for any station." 
 
 In 1847 ^^^- Fillmore was chosen to the important office of 
 Comptroller of the State of New^ York, a position which he was 
 abundantly qualified to fill by reason of his connection with the 
 fniancial affairs of the nation during his service in Congress. 
 While filling this office, he Avas nominated by the Whig National 
 
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 i 
 
 i^lTW^. W 
 
 74 
 
 THI-: WHITI': .ITV 
 
 •PKI'.SIDHNTS. 
 
 Convention as a candidate for the Vice-Presidency, and, in the 
 followinjj; November was elected, Zacliary Taylor being at the 
 head of the ticket. 
 
 President Taylor s c'eath occnrred on the ninth of July. 
 1850, and Mr. Fillnu^re succeeded to the office of President. 
 The administration of President Fillmore demanded great wis- 
 dom and calm judgment. The North was agitating the anti- 
 slavery question, and the South threatened secession. California 
 was impatient to be admitted into the Union, and war was im- 
 minent between Texas and New ^Mexico. President Fillmore 
 urged upon Congress the necessity for immediate action regard- 
 ing these important issues, and renewed efforts were made to 
 settle these vexing questions. California was admitted into the 
 Union; the boundary line of Texas and New Mexico was estab- 
 lished; the slave trade in the District of Columbia was abolished, 
 and Congress passed an act making more effectual provisions for 
 the apprehension of fugitive slaves. All these, except the la.st, 
 received the President's approval. Concerning this latter, he 
 asked the opinion of the Attorney-General whether it would not 
 conflict with the Constitution relating to the writ of habeas cor- 
 pus; the Attorne^'-General rendered an opioion that it would not, 
 and President Fillmore signed the bill. The signing of this bill 
 precipitated the hostility of the anti-slavery party of the North, 
 and all the attacks upon the character of President Fillmore date 
 from this time forward. 
 
 Among the more important events which occurred during 
 Mr. Fillmore's administration, ma}' be mentioned the .serious 
 trouble between the United States and Great Britain regarding 
 tlie coast fisheries off the Banks of New Foundlaud, which, 
 however, was settled by England conceding the rights chuuied 
 by the United States; the completion of the New York and 
 Erie Railroad; the laj-ing of the corner-stone of the enlarge- 
 ment to the new Capitol building, and the Cuban expedition. 
 
 During this administration, begun by President Taylor and 
 completed by President Filluiore, a number of distinguished 
 
TRFSinKNTS — FILI MORE. 
 
 75 
 
 men passed away, among whom may he named John C. Calhoun, 
 Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. 
 
 At the expiration of his term of office, Mr. Fillmore retired 
 to his home in Buffalo, New York, where, March 8, 1874, he 
 passed out into " that undiscovered country, from whose bourn 
 no traveller e'er returns." 
 
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 .HE fourteenth President of the United States, 
 Franklin Pierce, was the son of Gen. Benjamin 
 Pierce, a distingnished soldier of the Revolu- 
 tion, and snbsequently Governor of New Hamp- 
 shire. Franklin, the sixth of a family of 
 eight children, was born at Hillsborough, New 
 Hampshire, November 23, 1804. He attended school at 
 Hancock Academy, and prepared for college at Francetowii ; 
 entered Bowdoin College in 1820, when only sixteen years old, 
 and graduated in 1824. His warm, personal friend, Nathaniel 
 Hawthorne, writes of him: "At this early period of his life, he 
 was distinguished b}/ the same fascination of manner that has 
 since proved so magical in winning him an unbounded pcrscmal 
 popularity. It is wronging him, however, to call this peculiarity 
 a mere effect of manner; its source lies deep in the kindliness 
 of his nature, and in the liberal, generous, catholic S3-nipathy 
 that embraces all who are worthy of it. Few men possess anj'- 
 thing HI' e it." 
 
 Young Pierce oegan the stndy of law ni the office of Judge 
 Woodbur3% at Portsmouth, spending the last two years of law- 
 study at the Northampton, Massachusetts, law school, and in the 
 office of Judge Parker, at Amherst. In 1827 he was admitted to 
 the bar, and began the practice of his profession at Hillsborough, 
 his native town. Although his early practi-^e was far from being 
 successful, still the young man persistently pushed forward, de- 
 termined to win. In 1829, at the age of twenty-five, Mr. Pierce 
 
 Pri'sidi'iits. 
 
PRESIDENTS — PIERCE. 
 
 n 
 
 ■d States, 
 Benjamin 
 : Revolu- 
 ;\v Hanip- 
 faniily of 
 lUgh, New 
 1 school at 
 aiicctown ; 
 years old, 
 Nathaniel 
 ins life, he 
 that has 
 personal 
 peculiarity 
 kindliness 
 sympathy 
 issess any- 
 
 j of Judge 
 ars of law 
 and in the 
 Klmitted to 
 Isborongh, 
 from being 
 rward, de- 
 ]\Ir. Pierce 
 
 was elected to represent his district in the State Legislature. He 
 served in this body four years, the last two of which he was 
 speaker of the House. At the age of twenty-nine, he was elected 
 to Congress, where he served faithfully for years, at the end of 
 wliich time he entered the senate of the United State.'^, its 
 youngest member. Here he found himself in the company cf 
 those eminent statesmen, John C. Calhoun, Daniel Webster, 
 Henry Clay, Silas Wright, James Buchanan, and many others, 
 whose names are written on the scroll of famous Americans. In 
 1842 Mr. Pierce retired from the United States Senate and re- 
 sumed his law practice at Concord, the capital city of his native 
 State. Notwithstanding his early failures in the legal profession, 
 he now rapidly acquired fame and distinction and soon was the 
 leading member of the New Hampshire 1)ar. 
 
 Mr. Pierce was married, in 1834, to Miss Jane, daughter 
 of Rev. Dr. Appleton, ex-president of Bowdoin College, and 
 three children, all sons, were the fruit of thin union. 
 
 In 1846 iJr. Pierce declined the offer of the United States 
 Senatorship, also the position of Attorney-General of the United 
 States which was tendered him by President Polk. He also de- 
 clined the nomination of the Democratic State Convention for 
 Governor. Mr. Pierce seemed unwilling to receive public politi- 
 cal honors, but when the Mexican war broke out, in 1846, he 
 was the first volunteer in Concord and raised a company of men 
 for his country's service. He was early commissioned Colonel of 
 the Ninth Regiment and in March, 1847, was made Brigadier- 
 Gericral. He rendered liis country most efficient service and, at 
 the close of the war, returned to Concord and resumed his law prac- 
 tice. In 1850 General Pierce was made president of a convention 
 called to revise the Constitution of the State, in the deliberations 
 of which he exercised great influence. 
 
 At the National Democratic Convention held in Baltimore, 
 in June, 1852, General Pierce, though not a candidate, received 
 an almost unanimous nomination to the office of President of the 
 Tnited States, and defeated General Winfield Scott, nominee of 
 
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 m 
 
 II 
 
 1 
 
 78 
 
 THE WHITE CITY — PRESIBEXTS. 
 
 the Wliig party, by an unprecedented majority. On the fourth of 
 March, 1853, he was inaugurated fourteenth President of this 
 Republic. 
 
 Among the important events which occurred during the ;id- 
 ministration of President Pierce was the beginning of the Pacific 
 Railroad ; the settlement of the disputed boundar}- between New 
 Mexico and Chahuahua, and the commercial treat} with Japan. 
 In January, 1854, Senator Stephen A. Douglas introduced his 
 famous Kansas-Nebraskti Bill, which proposed the organization 
 of these two territories, and contained a provision that the new- 
 States, which should be formed from them, should decide for 
 themselves whether they should be slaveholding or not. As 
 both these Territories were north, of the parallel of thirty-six de- 
 grees and thirty minutes, the passage of this bill practically 
 repealed the Missouri Compromise, by virtue of which the old 
 slavery question had been settled. 
 
 For nearly four months this bill was the subject of the 
 most impassioned debate in Congress, but on March 3, 1854, the 
 bill passed the Senate, on the twenty-fourth of the following 
 May it passed the House, and on the thirtieth of May it 
 received the signature of President Pierce and thus became 
 the law. The result of this legislation was the destruction 
 of the Whig party; the division of the Democrat party into 
 sectious, North and South; and the formation of the Repub- 
 lican party, with anti-slaver}'^ as the principal plank of its plat- 
 form. Kansas, after an exciting struggle, was carried by the 
 pt -s>avery party and this was followed by a civil strife wliicli 
 continued for nearl}' a year. Finally peace was restored in Kan- 
 sas, but the agitation of the slavery question had become a 
 national issue and continued to be the central subject of discus- 
 sion, throughout the administration of President Buchanan, and 
 until its culmination in civil war, in 1861. 
 
 At the expiration of his term of office, Mr. Pierce returned 
 to his home at Concord, New Hampshire, where he answered 
 the summons of the death angel, October 8, 1869. 
 
JarrjGS Buchanan. 
 
 " AMES BUCHANAN was born in a wild, romantic 
 valley, surrounded by the towering peaks of the 
 T Alleghany Mountains, in the town of Stony Batter, 
 Franklin County, Pennsylvania; he used to say: 
 "I lacked but a broad limestone valley of being 
 born in Maryland." The date of his birth was April 
 23, 1791. His father was a native of County Don- 
 egal, Ireland, and came to this country in 1783, 
 where he married an estimable Pennsylvania girl, and the young- 
 couple were among the pioneer settlers of the section where their 
 son James was born. 
 
 The family removed to Mercersburg in 1798, where James 
 was sent to school, and proved a bright and industrious student. 
 At the early age of fourteen he entered Dickson College, at 
 Carlisle, where he was graduated with the highest honors at the 
 age of eighteen. He soon began the study of law, and was 
 admitted to the bar in 1812; rising rapidly in his profession, he 
 soon became one of the most distinguished lawyers of the State, 
 and his name appears more frequently in the Pennsylvania Re- 
 ports than that of any other lawyer of his day. 
 
 In October, 1814, he was elected a member of the lower 
 House of the Legislature of his native State, and was re-elected 
 in 1815. When only twenty-nine years of age, in 1820, he was 
 elected to the House of Representatives, where he soon acquired 
 prominence as an impressive speaker and a clear and vigorous 
 reasoner. He remained a member of Congress for ten consecu- 
 
 I'r. ^Ulonts. 
 
 7» 
 
8o 
 
 THK WHITK CITY — rRIlSIDHNTS. 
 
 tive years, at the expiration of which time he was charged hy 
 President Jackson with the dnty of negotiating a commercial 
 treaty with Rnssia; he was snccessfnl in his efforts and rctuniid 
 to the United States in 1833. The following year he was 
 chosen, by the Legislatnre of Pennsylvania, United States Sena- 
 tor. Perhaps the most important snbject which came before tliu 
 Senate at this time v,as the slavery qnestion. While Mr. 
 Buchanan was heartily opposed to slavery in the abstract, lie 
 strongly defended the Southern States in the rights which the 
 Constitution accorded them. 
 
 In 1845 he resigned the Senatorship of Pennsylvania, which 
 position he had held for tei: years, and accepted the office of Sec- 
 retary of State in the cabinet of President Polk. From 1853 to 
 1856, under the administration of President Pierce, Mr. Buch- 
 anan ably represented the United States at the Court of St. 
 James. Soon after his return from England he was nominated 
 by the National Democratic Convention as their candidate for the 
 Presidency. In this election the Republican party entered the 
 field for the first time, with any apparent show of success, 
 with Gen. John C. Fremont as its candidate. The issue between 
 these two political parties was the question of Slavery in the 
 Territories. The election resulted in the choice of Mr. Bnch- 
 anan, which was accomplished by the votes of California, Ind- 
 iana, Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, united with those of 
 the slave-holding States. 
 
 Beside the vexa':ious questions connected with the extension 
 of slaver}', was the disturbed relations with Great Britain. The 
 British had flagrantly violated the conditions of the Monroe 
 Doctrine, and had not relinquished the right of search, which 
 hrd caused the war of 181 2. President Buchanan resolved to 
 deal peremptorilj' with this matter, and England awoke to the 
 truth that the United States was not to be trifled with. Repre- 
 sentatives of the two governments met and the demands ot this 
 Nation were accorded her. 
 
 The laying of the first Atlantic Cable, and the quelling of 
 
PRF.SIDF.XTS — I'.rCMAXAN. 
 
 8i 
 
 the Mormon rebellion -.verc amonjj^ the chief events, not con- 
 riccted with the Slavery qnestion, which distinguished the ad- 
 ministration of President Buchanan. 
 
 In 1859 occurred John Brown's famous raid at Harper's 
 Ferry. This was the climax of the Kansas warfare, the Dred- 
 Scott Decision, and the suspected plot of insurrection among the 
 .slaves, and while its success was an impossibility from the start, 
 still its influence was important. The closing year of President 
 Buchanan's administration was one of intense political excite- 
 ment. The breach between the North and the South was con- 
 stantly widening, and it was evident that the countr}' was fast 
 approaching a critical period in its history. The question of 
 slavery divided the Democratic party and the work of secession 
 began in South Carolina in December, i860, after the election of 
 Lincoln, and spread so rapidly that by the first of Februar}', 
 1861, the States of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Miss- 
 issippi and Texas had all passed resolutions of secession and de- 
 clared themselves out of the Union. A convention of these 
 States, held at Montgomery, Alabama, Februar}- 4, 1861, formed 
 the Confederate States of America, and selected Jefferson Davis, 
 of IMississippi, as President, and Alexander H. Stephens, of 
 G:'orgia, as Mce-PresMent. Such was the condition of affairs 
 when Mr. Buchanan retired from the office of President. 
 
 After the inauguration of his successor, Mr. Buchanan re- 
 turned to his home in Wheatland, Pennsylvania, where he died 
 jime I, 1868. 
 
Pbpaham Uincoln. 
 
 F--^HE life of this great and good man is a true type 
 of American manhood. Born in obscurity, start- 
 ing life with nothing, but utilizing everj' oppor- 
 tunity within his reach, he honestly earned the 
 right to live forever enshrined in the hearts of his 
 countrymen. In a rough log cabin on the l)anks 
 of Nolin Creek, in Larue County, Kentucky, on 
 the twelfth of February, 1808, Abraham Lincoln 
 was born. His father, Thomas Lincoln, born and reared in the 
 wilds of Kentucky, where, at that early period, there were no 
 schools, was an uneducated but strictly honest man, who was not 
 able even to read when he was married. His mother, Nancy 
 Lincoln, nee Hanks, was a loving, gentle woman, almost wor- 
 shipped by her children. Speaking of his early life, on an 
 occasion when fame and success had laid their crowns at his feet, 
 Mr. Lincoln said, while tears filled his eyes: "All that I am, or 
 hope to be, I owe to my angel mother; blessings on her 
 memory." 
 
 In 1 81 6 the family removed to Indiana and settled in the 
 forest, about eighteen miles from Thompson's Ferr}'. A rude 
 cabin, one side open to the elements, except as it was sheltered 
 by the hides of the animals that were killed for food, constituted 
 their home during the first winter. Thorns took the place of 
 pins ; bits of bone, covered with cloth, were their buttons; wliile 
 burned rye bread served as coffee, and dried herb leaves as tea. 
 Stricken down by hard work, exposure and anxiety, the mother 
 
 F'rosideiits. 
 
 83 
 
PRESIDENTS — UNCOLN. 
 
 83 
 
 (liLtl before the first year of their life in Indiana came to a close. 
 This was a sad daj- for the father and children ; they were there 
 ulone with their dead. With bitter anjjjnish they buried her 
 away out of sight, without even the consolation of a fvneral ser- 
 vice, for there was no one there who could conduct such a 
 ceremony. 
 
 Young Lincoln succeeded in acquiring a superficial knowl- 
 edj^e of reading, writing and arithmetic, but it may be confidently 
 affirmed that his entire school education did not exceed one year. 
 In 1S30 the family moved to Illinois and settled near De- 
 catur, on the banks of the Sangamon River. Lincoln was now 
 twenty-one years of age and felt that it was time for him to shift 
 for himself. He engaged with a party to take a ^^at-boat, loaded 
 with produce, to New Orleans, and succeeded so well with his 
 cargo, that his employer entrusted him with the care of a store at 
 New Salem, Illinois. It was while in this store that he began 
 the study of English grammar, and it was also at this place that 
 he acquired the soubriquet^ which ever thereafter clung to him, 
 of "Honest Abe." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln raised a company of men, of wliich he was 
 Captain, and assisted in suppressing the Black Hawk insurrec- 
 tion, after Mhich, returning to New Salem, he began the study 
 of law, borrowing books wherever possible for that purpose. In 
 1835 he was appointed postmaster at his home and, as the saying 
 ran, "carried the post-office in his hat." 
 
 A friend, who knew him well, said of him at this time: 
 "Lincoln has nothing, only plenty of friends." He was a man 
 of strong religious convictions, who had an abiding faith iu 
 Divine Providence and sincerel}' believed he was imder the 
 guidance of a Supreme Being. He always meant just what he 
 said, and was just what he appeared to be. He Mas without vices 
 and passions and was as modest as he was honest. 
 
 In 1834 he was elected a member of the State Legislature 
 and here first met Stephen A. Douglas, against whom he was 
 frequently pitted in political contests, culminating in the race for 
 
84 
 
 TIIK WIHTH CITY — I'RESIDKNTS 
 
 the Presidency in iS6o. The shivery question was at this time 
 just he^^inning to bo ajj^itatcd, and Mr. Lincoln's anti-sla\ en- 
 record bej^ins -with this session of the Lcgishiture where ho 
 caused his protest against an extreme pro-shivery resolution to 
 be recorded in the journal of the House. 
 
 In 1836 Mr. Lincoln was admitted t;) the l):ir and in ilic 
 autumn of that year went to vSpringfield, and opened a law office. 
 Concerning this venture, a friend w.ites: '* He rode into town 
 on a borrowed horse, all his earthly possessions packed ia a pair 
 of saddle-bags fastened to the crupper of his saddle. He wanted 
 to hire a room and furnish it with the barest necessities, but found 
 that the aggregate cost of these was seventeen dollars. To tlic 
 storekeeper Mr. Lincoln said sadly, 'It is cheap enoujjh, hut, 
 cheap as it is, I have not the money to pay for it. If you will 
 give me credit until Christmas, and ni}' experiment here is a 
 success, I will pay }-ou then ; if 1 fail, I shall probabl}- never he 
 able to pay you.'" His request was granted, and in April, 1.S37, 
 he formed a partnership with Maj. John T. Stuart .\hich cuu- 
 tinued four 3'ears. In 1S43 he became associated with Williaui 
 H. Herndon, and the co-partnership ended onl}'- with the death of 
 Lincoln, in 1865. 
 
 As a lawyer, Mr. Lincoln soon won distinction and was re- 
 tained in nearly ever}' important case in his circuit, but lie 
 was so thoroughly conscientious that he positivcl}' refused to 
 take any case unless convinced that his client was in the ri,s;lit, 
 and once, when he learned that, in a case which he. had won, his 
 client was in the wrong, he refused to accept a fee for liis 
 sei'vices. 
 
 In 1838 he was re-elected to the Legislature. During a de- 
 bate, in which some of the most noted men of the time were ' u- 
 gaged, one of his opponents sneeringl}' referred to the few who 
 supported the other side, and the hopelessness of the cause they 
 were defending. Mr. Lincoln said, in repl}': "Address that 
 argument to cowards and knaves. It may be true, if it must, 
 let it. ]\Iany free countries have lost their liberty, and ours may 
 
rRKSIDKNTS — MN'COI.N. 
 
 85 
 
 lose liers. liUt if she shall, let it be my proudest plume, uot 
 thai I was the last to desert her, but that I never deserted her." 
 
 Mr. Lineolu was married to Miss Mary Todd, dauj;hter of 
 lion. Robert S. Todd, of Lexington, Kentucky, in i<S42, and 
 they took lodji^iujjfs at the Globe Tavern, a modest boarding- 
 house near the vState House. 
 
 In 1846 Lincoln was elected a Member of the House of 
 Representatives, and took his seat December 6, 1S47, the only 
 Wlii,:^ member from Illinois. At the expiration of his term of 
 office he came back to h.is home in Illinois and did not return 
 ai2:ain to \Vashin,uton until he went to emancipate the slave in all 
 the leuij^th and breadth of the Union. He now became actively en- 
 ji;at(ed in political discussions, notalil}' in joint debates with 
 Stephen A. Doujj^las, upon the Drcd-Scott decision and the Kan- 
 sas-Nebraska bill. Of their debate in vSpringfield, on the latter 
 question, the Springfield Joiinin/ speaks of Mr. Lincoln's argu- 
 ment as follows: "He quivered with feeling and emotion; the 
 whole house was as still as death. He attacked the bill (Kansas- 
 Nebraska) with unusual warmth and energy, and all felt that a 
 man of strength was its enemy, and that he intended to blast it 
 if he could by strong and manly efforts. He was most success- 
 ful, and the long continued huzjcas of the house approved the 
 JL^lorious triumph of truth. Women waved their handkerchiefs 
 iu token of woman's silent but heartfelt consent. At the con- 
 clusion of the speech every man felt that it was unanswerable; 
 that no human power could overthrow it or trample it under foot, 
 and every mind present did homage to the man who took captive 
 the heart, and broke like a sun over the understanding." 
 
 After one of the most exciting political contests ever known, 
 Mr. Lincoln was elected President of tlie United States, in No- 
 vember i(S6o, and was inaugurated on the fourth of the followin^^; 
 March, and the affairs of government were turned over to Repub- 
 Hcan administration by the Democratic hands which had so long 
 controlled it, together with the momentous questions which at 
 this critical period agitated the Nation as never before. 
 
 
H6 
 
 TMK WIIITH CITY — I'RKSH/KNTS. 
 
 Then followed the call for troops, and the terrible issues of 
 civil war were joined. Mr. Lincoln was re-elected President in 
 1.S64, and closely followinj^ upon his second inanjj^ural came die 
 surrender of Lee and the fall of Richmond. Tiie North was in 
 a tunnilt of rejoicing. The war was over; white-robed peace 
 again reigned triumphant, and every heart sang the praises 
 of Abraham Lincoln. Hut in the midst of these scenes of re- 
 joicing came that terrible assassination at the hands of John 
 Wilkes Booth, and, on the fifteenth of April, 1865, the great soul 
 of Lincoln went back to God v.ho gave it, and the earthly career 
 of one of earth's greatest and noblest men was ended. Livinjf, 
 he was loved as man is rarely loved; d3nng, he bequeathed to this 
 Nation a legacy- of patriotic devotion which will last as long as 
 time shall endure. 
 
flndpcw Johnson. 
 
 ^HE early life of this man, so suddenly called upon 
 to fill the office of chief niajj;istrate of the United 
 States, in the overwhelming^ Rnef which bore the 
 nation to the cartli in the sad death of Abraham 
 Lincoln, was one of poverty and friendlessncss. 
 He was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, Decem- 
 ber 29, 1S08. His parents, who were among the 
 "poor whites" of the South, were unable to give the boy the 
 slightest advantages of an education, and, until the age of ten 
 years, he was a ragged urchin about the streets of his native 
 city, unable either to read or write. He was at this age appren- 
 ticed to a tailor and while he was learning his trade he learned to 
 read, but he never attended school a daj- in his life. In i<S26 he 
 removed to Greenville, Tennessee, where he was married to a 
 young lady of estimable character who became his teacher in 
 the common English branches, reading to him while he worked 
 at his trade of tailor, and teaching him in the evening. In 1828 
 he was elected one of the akbrmen of Greenville, by the labor- 
 ing classes, among whom he was a recognized leader, and in 
 i8u) was made Mavor. 
 
 Mr. Johnson now became thoroughly identified with polit- 
 ical life, being a Jacksonian Democrat, and as such, was elected 
 to the State Legislature in 1835, and again in 1839. In 1841 
 Mr. Johnson was elected a State Senator, and in 1843 represented 
 his district in the lower house of Congress, which latter position 
 he retained for ten j^ears. At the expiration of this period, in 
 
 Presidents, 
 
 87 
 
'"WttfaMDa 
 
 88 
 
 THK WHITK CITY 
 
 rRKSinHNTS. 
 
 1853, he M-as elected Governor of Tennessee, rind re-elected in 
 1855. In the gnbernatorial office, as in those positions of trust 
 with which he had been heretofc^rc lionored, Mr. Johnson was n. 
 zealons defender of the rights of the sons of toil, and an active 
 champion of their wants. 
 
 In 1857 Mr. Johnson was elected United States Senator for 
 the term of six j'ears, and here, as he had done in the House, 
 he adopted, in general, the Democratic policy, which opposed a 
 protective tariff, the United States Bank, and all plans for in- 
 ternal improvement by the National Government. 
 
 Mr. Johnson was born of the people, and grew np among 
 the people; he never permitted a sneer at the workingman to 
 pass nnrebnked. Replying to one of the finest speakers in the 
 United States Senate he said: "I do not forget that I am a me- 
 chanic; nor do I forget that Adam was a tailor and sewed fig- 
 leaves, and that onr Savionr was the son of a carpenter." ua 
 the qnestion of slavery Mr. Johnson defined his position in the 
 following words: '*My position is, that Congress lias no power 
 to interfere with the snbject of slaver}-; that it is an institution 
 local in its character, and pecnliar to the States where it e:>;ists, 
 and no other power has the right to control it." He was a 
 staunch Union man and opposed the ideas of secession in strong- 
 est terms. So pronounced was his opposition to the position 
 taken by nearh- every Southern Senator and Representative, 
 that they finally denounced him as a traitor to the South. So 
 bitter was the feeling against him that in 1861 he was burned iri 
 effigy in Memphis, Tennessee, and subsequently hooted at by 
 the mobs, and even threatened with lynching. His home was 
 invaded, his sick wife, with hei child in her arms, was ruthlessly 
 driven into the street, his slaves confiscated, and his house turned 
 ii.o a hospital and barracks by the Confederates. 
 
 In February, 1S62, Mr. Johnson Avas appointed, by Pres- 
 ident Lincoln, Military Governor of Tennessee and, in the 
 month following, he entered upon the diities of his office with 
 headquarters at ivlashville. 
 
PRF.SIDENTS — JOHNSON'. 
 
 89 
 
 One of the first official acts, when the Mayor and city coun- 
 cil of Nashville refused to obey his order to take the oath of al- 
 lej^^iance to the United States government, wr.s to send them all 
 to the penitentiary ; and the editor of the Nashville Banner^ for 
 uttering treasonable sentiments, was sent to keep them company, 
 and his paper suppressed. He imprisoned five clergymen for 
 preaching treason fron' their pulpits. 
 
 Shortly after the Confedera<-e armies placed Nashville in a 
 state of siege and General Buell, who was in command, deter- 
 mined to evacuate the city, IMr. Johnson said: "I am not a 
 religious man, and have never pretended to be religious; but 
 there is one thing about it, I do believe in Almight}^ God, and I 
 
 believe also in the Bible, but I .say d n me if Nashville shall 
 
 be surrendered." 
 
 The circumstances surrounding Mr. Johnson seem to have 
 led him into sympathy with the Republican party, and he was 
 elected Vice-President of the United States in November, 1864, 
 with Abraham Lincoln as President. They were inaugurated 
 on tlie fourth of March following, and soon the clouds of gloom 
 which had so long hung over the land began to break, and on 
 the ninth of April, 1865, the Rebel army, under General Lee, 
 surrendered and joy reigned in the nation's heart. Five days 
 later the bullet of the assassin ended the earthly life of Pres- 
 ident Lincoln, and in less than three hours after his death An- 
 drew Johnson became President of the Ignited States. 
 
 Very soon after the accession of Mr. Johnson to the Presi- 
 dency it became apparent that the Executive and Congress were 
 decidedly an+^^agouistic on the question of the reorganization of 
 the Southern States. The President held that the seceding 
 States had never been out of the Union, and tha<^^ their acts of 
 secession were absolutely void, while Congress maintained that, 
 while the acts of secession v.ere unconstitutional, yet these 
 States had actually been out of the Union, and that to enable 
 them to again resume their former status would require special 
 legih-lation. \"arious other subjects arose from time to time 
 
li 
 
 III 
 
 r 
 
 90 
 
 THE WHITE CITY — PRESIDENTS. 
 
 which served to increase the spirit of discord between the Presi- 
 dent and Congress, until the impeachment of the President was 
 decided upon. The trial continued over two months and finally 
 resulted in the President's acquittal, it requiring a two-thirds 
 vote to convict and the vote standing thirty-four for impeach- 
 ment and nineteen against. 
 
 His death occurred at the residence of his daughter, at Car- 
 ter Station, Tennessee, July 27, 1S75. 
 
 S?f^ 
 
Ulvsscs S Gpant. 
 
 "^T-^HE life of Ulysses vS. Grant is cue of develop- 
 ment, rather than of original prominence or 
 promise. He was an energetic, honest, modest 
 boy whose latent virtnes and heroism the war de- 
 veloped. Point Pleasant, Ohio, was his birth- 
 place, on April 29, 1822. He received a common 
 school education at Georgetown, and at the age of 
 seventeen entered the Military Academy, at West 
 Point, where he was graduated in 1843. He then spent two 
 years as a Lieutenant of Infantry at a military post in ]\Iissouri ; 
 afterwards participating in the Mexican war, where he earned the 
 connnission of Captain. In 1854 Captain Grant resigned his 
 commission, married, and settled on a small farm near St. Louis, 
 Missouri. In 1859 he entered into a partnership with his father 
 in the leather business, which proved a paying venture. 
 
 When the Civil War broke out Captain Grant said to those 
 about him in his home: "Uncle Sam educated me for the army; 
 and though I have served him through one war, I do not feel 
 that I have yet repaid the debt. I am still ready to discharge 
 my obligations; I shall buckle on the sword, and see Uncle Sam 
 through this war too." Ten days after the fall of Sumter he 
 presented himself to Governor Yates at the head of a company 
 of volunteers whicl: he had organized. June 15, 186 1, he re- 
 ceived a commission as Colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment of 
 Illinois Volunteers. In August, 1861, he was promoted b}- Presi- 
 dent Lincoln to the rank of Brigadier-General, and assigned to 
 
 I'ri'siiJonts. 
 
 91 
 
I» 
 
 El 
 
 92 
 
 THK WHITE CITY — PRKSIDENT.S. 
 
 the command of the district of Southeaster); Missouri, with head- 
 quarters at Cairo. In February, 1S62, while General Grant was 
 preparing to storm the intrenchments at Fort Donaldson, Gen- 
 eral Buckncr, who was in command of the Rebel forces, sent a 
 note asking for terms of surrender. General Grant's rcpl}- was 
 characteristic : "No terms can be accepted but unconditional sur- 
 render. I propose to move immediately iipon your works." 
 Stringent as they were the terms were accepted and fifteen 
 thousand men, seventy-five guns and a large amount of military 
 stores fell into the victor's hands. 
 
 General Grant had introduced a new feature of persistent 
 and aggressive action on the part of the army under his leader- 
 ship, the results of which were manifest at Fort Donaldson, and 
 that brilliant victor}-, which was really the first important success 
 the Northern armies had achieved, aroused the Nation, and Sec- 
 retary Stanton recommended General Grant as Maj or-General of 
 Volunteers. President Lincoln immediately sent the nomination 
 to the Senate where it was at once confirmed. General Grant 
 thus won for himself a National reputation ; he was now given 
 command of the military district of Tennessee. 
 
 Following this the battle of Shiloh was fought and General 
 Grant again won an important victory. Then came the fanions 
 siege of \'icksburg, where, for weeks and even months, there was 
 almost continual fighting. Some one asked General Grant if lie 
 really expected to take Vicksburg. "Certainly," he replied, "I 
 cannot tell exactly when I shall take the town, but I mean to 
 stay here tmtil I do, if it takes me thirty years." At length on 
 the fourth of July, 1863, the white flags along the Rebel lines an- 
 nounced the unconditional surrender of Vicksburg. It was one 
 of the most notable conquests of the war ; nearly forty thousand 
 prisoners were taken and the Mississippi River was opened to 
 the Gulf of Mexico. On the twenty-fifth of October, 1863, 
 occurred the memorable battle of Chattanooga, which pierced 
 the heart of the Rebellion, saved Kentucky and Tennessee, and 
 opened the door for that wonderful march to the sea. Congress 
 
PRESI DENTS — GRANT. 
 
 9j 
 
 now ordered u gold medal, \yith appropriate emblems, to be pre- 
 sented to General Grant, together with a vote of thanks, in which 
 several of the States joined. 
 
 Wherever he went he was received with the warmest en- 
 thusiam; bnt nothing conld flatter, persnade nor provoke him 
 into making a speech, with one single exception. One evening 
 it was learned that Grant was stopping at a certain hotel in St. 
 Louis. An immense crowd gathered and commenced shonting 
 for a speech. After a long delay he appeared upon the balcony 
 and said, slowly and deliberately, to the breathless audience : 
 "Gentlemen, making speeches is not my business; I never did 
 it in my life, and I never will. I thank you, however, for your 
 attendance here." 
 
 In February, 1S64, Congress conferred upon General Grant 
 the distinguished rank of Lieutenant-General and in March fol- 
 lowing he was summoned to Washington to receive his creden- 
 tials. Crowds gathered at every station, eager to catch a glimpse 
 of his face. He reached W^ashington and, going to Willard's 
 Hotel, slipped into the dining room and secured a seat at the 
 table without being recognized. While 'at the table some one 
 entered the room who knew the General, and at once said to the 
 guests, "Gen. Ulysses S. Grant is present." Instantly the en- 
 tire company arose to its feet and ciieer after cheer echoed 
 through Ihe room. A brilliant reception was given the same 
 evening in his honor, by President Lincoln, but General Grant 
 had no taste for public parade and populai applause and said to 
 a friend that night: "I hope to get away from Washington as 
 soon as possible, for I am tired of this show business already." 
 General Grant now gave himself unreservedly to the one 
 purpose of bringing the war to a close. The only means he be- 
 lieved possible was a destruction of the Rebel forces, and to this 
 end he labored. At length on the ninth of April, 1865, General 
 Lee surrendered and the War of the Rebellion was over. 
 
 General Grant was elected President of the United States 
 in November, 1868, and entered upon the duties of his new 
 
mill 
 
 94 
 
 THK WHITK CITY — PRESIDENTS. 
 
 office in March following. The Southern States were in a sadly 
 chaotic condition, and he was called npon to deal with many per- 
 plexing political problems. Dnring this term of office the Fif- 
 teenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified by the 
 requisite number of States; government bonds reached a par 
 value; a new Indian policy was adopted, and the question of the 
 Alabama claims was settled by a treaty with Great Britain. He 
 was re-elected President in 1872. During this term occurred the 
 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, which was opened by 
 the President. 
 
 At the conclusion of his second term he made that memor- 
 able tour of the world, and was the recipient of more unbounded 
 honor than has ever been accorded any other American citizen, 
 every nation vieing with its neighbor to do him homage 
 
 After an extended illness, he died, at Mount McGregor. 
 New York, July 23, 1885, and his remains lie in Riverside Park 
 on the banks of the Hudson River, in New York City. 
 
I a sadly 
 any pcr- 
 thc Fif- 
 by the 
 id a par 
 on of the 
 am. He 
 ;urrccl the 
 peiiecl by 
 
 .t menior- 
 nbouuded 
 in citizen, 
 ;e 
 
 VIcGregor, 
 rside Park 
 
 >^ 
 
 .^ 
 
 
 ^^>, 
 
 Rutbopfopd B. HavoS. 
 
 IIE subject of this sketch was born in the town 
 of Delaware, Ohio, October 4, 1S22. His edu- 
 cation began in the common schools of his 
 native town, Snbseqiiently he attended the 
 academy at Norwalk, Ohio, and entered Ken- 
 yon College, at Gambier, Ohio, in 1838, gradn- 
 ting therefrom, in 1832, as \aledictorian of his class. 
 He at once began the stndy^ of law in the office of Thomas Spar- 
 row, at Columbns, and was admitted to the bar in 1845. In 1850 
 he opened a law office in Cincinnati, where, in 1854, he formed 
 a partnership with R. W. Corwine and W. K. Rogers, nnder 
 the firm name of Corwine, Hayes & Rogers. 
 
 He was married to Miss Lucy W. Webb, daughter of Dr. 
 James Webb, of Chillicothe, Ohio, December 30, 1852. 
 
 Directly after the bombardment of Fort Sumter, Mr. Hayes 
 entered the United States service and was commissioned Major 
 of the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry\ Of this regi- 
 ment W. S. Rosecrans was Colonel, and Stanley Matthews 
 Lieutenant-Colonel. Major Hayes was promoted to the rank of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel, September 19,1861, and was raised to the 
 rank of Colonel, October 24, 1862. At the battle of Cedar 
 Creek, so great was the gallantry^ of Colonel Hayes, that Gen- 
 eral Sheridan graped his hand on the battlefield and said: 
 "Colonel, from this day forward you will be a Brigadier-Gen- 
 eral!" March 13, 1865, he was (ommissioned brevet Major-Gen- 
 eral for distinguished services during the campaign in West 
 Virginia. 
 
 I'ri'>i(li'iits 
 
 8B 
 
96 
 
 THK WHITK CITY — I'REvSIDKNTS. 
 
 
 i 
 
 '■mill 
 
 1 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 •J 
 i. 
 
 In December, 1865, General Hayes took his seat as a Mem- 
 ber of the House of Representatives of the Thirty-Ninth Con- 
 gress, and was re-elected in 1S66. He was elected Governor of 
 Ohio in 1867, and again in 1869. In 187 1 he declined a re-tioni- 
 ination, but in 1875, was a third time elected to the guberna- 
 torial office of that State. 
 
 In 1876, occurred the memorable struggle for the Presi- 
 dency, Mr. Hayes being the nominee of the Republican party 
 and Samuel J. Tilden, of the Democrat. After a vigorous cam- 
 paign, which was ably conducted on both sides, the result of the 
 election was in doubt. Both parties claimed to have carried the 
 States of South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana. The anxiety 
 and excitement throughout the country was intense. Concern- 
 ing the grave questions of counting the electoral votes and the 
 settlement of the contests in the disputed States, Congresr, held 
 protracted and anxious sessions without reaching a satisfactory 
 conclusion. At last both agreed to refer the question to a com- 
 mission, known as the Electoral Commission, which was com- 
 posed of fifteen members, five from the House of Representatives, 
 five from the Senate, and the remaining five were Judges of the 
 Supreme Court of the United States. The Commission was as 
 follows: 
 
 From the Senate, George F. Edmonds, of Vermont; Oliver 
 P. Morton, of Indiana, and Fredrick T. Frelinghuysen, of New 
 Jersey, Republicans; and Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio, and 
 Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware, Democrats. 
 
 From the House, Henry W. Paine, of Ohio; Josiah B. Abbot, 
 of Massachusetts, and Eppa Hunton, of Virginia, Democrats; 
 and George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts, and James A. Garfield, 
 of Ohio, Republicans. 
 
 From the United States Supreme Court, William Strong, of 
 Pennsylvania, and Samuel F. Miller, of Iowa, Republicans; and 
 Nathan Clifford, of Maine, and S. J. Field, of California, Demo- 
 crats. These four Judges were to select the fifth. Their choice 
 fell upon Judge Joseph P. Bradley, of New Jersey, who was a 
 
PRKvSIDKN'TS — HAVKS. 
 
 97 
 
 Ripublican, and as the Republicans thus had a majority of one 
 ill the Commission; this seated Mr. Hayes in the Presidential 
 chair. > 
 
 He gave the country a conservative and dignified administra- 
 tion, notwithstanding the criticisms that were made by his politi- 
 cal opponents, and even b}- members of his own party, that he 
 was not eh ted to the office. 
 
 Air. Hayes died at his home in Fremont, Ohio, January 
 
 i7> ^^9i' ■ 
 
 on was as 
 
m 
 
 James fl. Gapficld. 
 
 AxMHvS A. (iARFIKIJ), youngest son of Abram uiul 
 . Hli/a Ballon Garfield, was born in Bedford, Orauj^e 
 Township, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, November ly, 
 183 1. His father died when James was milv 
 eighteen months old, and the care of the farm and 
 the four children devolved on the mother. As soon 
 as the lad could handle a hoe or hold a plow he was 
 called into service, and as he grew older he shoul- 
 dered his full share of the farm labor. When about sixteen 
 years of age he obtained a position on the canal boat "Eveuini( 
 Star," as driver at twelve dollars a month. One dark, stormy 
 night he accidently fell overboard and was rescued by, what 
 seemed to him, little less than a miracle. This proved to be an 
 important event in the life, of Garfield, and arguing that, since 
 Providence thought his life worth saving, he would not throw it 
 away on a canal boat, he resolved to return home, .secure an 
 education and become a man. He at once acted upon this reso- 
 lution and went home, where he attended school and fitted liini- 
 self for teaching. In the spring of 1850 he began to prepare 
 himself for college. In March of this year he joined the Church 
 of the Disciples. Three yeai-s later he entered the junior class 
 at Williams College. In the winter of 1855, during a vacation, 
 he taught a writing class at North Pownal, Vermont, in the same 
 school-house where, a year before, Chester A. Arthur was princi- 
 pal. He graduated from Williams College with high honors in 
 1856, and entered Hiram College as a teacher of ancient hui- 
 
 PresiJcnts. 
 
 98 
 
 w 
 
PRKSIOKNTS — OARFIKF.D. 
 
 99 
 
 (Tn:i,c:es and literature. The next year he became president of 
 Hiram College, which position he held until iS6i, when he re- 
 signed to enter the army. 
 
 While Garfield was preparing for college he became ac- 
 quainted with Miss Lucretia Rudolph, who was also a student at 
 tile academy. They became engaged and in 185S, when he be- 
 came president of Hiram College, they were married. 
 
 Mr. Garfield now began to interest himself in politics and 
 espoused the cause of the Republican party. In 1859 he was 
 elected to the Ohio Senate, and at (mce took high rank, and 
 proved to be an eloquent and powerful debator. 
 
 When the war broke out Mr. Garfield dedicated his life to 
 liis country. Addressing a friend, he writes: "I regard my life 
 as given to my country. I am only anxious to make as much 
 of it as possible before the mortgage on it is foreclosed." He 
 entered the service as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Forty-second 
 Ohio regiment and soon became its Colonel. He was made a 
 Brigadier-General in January, 1862, and a Major-General iu 
 1863, resigning his commission in December of that year to 
 enter Congress, where he served with distinguished honor until 
 1880, when he was elected United States Senator from Ohio. 
 
 The following incident will illustrate the rare oratorical 
 power of General Garfield : 
 
 The day after the assassination of President Lincoln 50,000 
 people were assembled around the Exchange building in New 
 York City. The cry of this vast crowd was Vengeance! Two 
 men, one dead, and the other dying, lay on the pavement of one 
 of the side streets, who, a moment before, had said that Lincoln 
 ought to have been shot long ago. It was a critical moment. 
 There was no telling what that crowd of excited men would 
 do. Just then a man stepped forward on the balcony of the Ex- 
 change building, waving a small flag and beckoning to the crowd. 
 There was a momentary silence as every eye was turned toward 
 him. Raising his right arm heavenward, and in a clear, steady 
 voice he said: "Fellow citizens: Clouds and darkness are round 
 
m 
 
 lOO 
 
 TIIK WHIPK CITY — rkl-KIDKN'TS. 
 
 about Him ! His pavilion is dark waters and thick clouds of the 
 skies! Justice and judjj^nient are the establishnieut of His 
 throne! Mercy and truth shall j^o before His face! Fellow citi- 
 zens, Ood reij^Mis and the Government at Washington still 
 lives!" 
 
 As if by magic the fierce passions of that angry host were 
 quelled, and those men stood as though rooted to the ground, 
 gazing with awe into the face of that inspired num. It was a 
 triumph of eloquence unsurpassed in the annals of American 
 history. The crisis was passed, and the hero of that wonderful 
 hour stood there in the person of James A. Garfield. 
 
 After a most vigorous campaign, General Garfield was 
 elected President of the United States in November 1880, and 
 inaugurated on the fourth of March following. The military dis- 
 play on that occasion was one of the nu)st imposing ever wit- 
 nessed in Washington, upon any similar occasion. 
 
 July 2, 1 88 1, will be memorable in the histor}' of the Na- 
 tion as the day when President Garfield was stricken down by 
 the bullet of the assassin, Charles J. Giteau. For eighty days 
 hope and fear struggled in the Nation's heart. Would tlic 
 President recover? Almost the first question that was asked, as 
 morning after morning came, was: "How is the President?" 
 and hopes rose or fell with the answer. At last, on the 
 nineteenth of September, death claimed him for its own and the 
 brave heart of Garfield ceased to beat — the mortgage was fore- 
 closed and his country's service was finished. In twenty-four 
 hours the President's death was known all over the civilized 
 world, and from every hamlet and village in this great land there 
 arose such a crj' of sorrow as heaven's arches have rarely echoed. 
 
 "The stars on our banners jrrow suddenly dim ; 
 Let us weep in our sadness, but weep not for him — 
 - - -, Not for him who, in dyinj{. left miUions in tears; 
 
 Not for him who has died full of honors and years; 
 Not for him who ascended fame's ladder so hijlh, 
 From the round at the top he has stepped to the sky.'' 
 
' Chester .R. HPthuP. 
 
 IPJ^^HE twenty-first President of the United States 
 was born at Fairfield, Franklin Connty, Vermont, 
 October 5, 1S30. He was the elder of the two 
 sons of Rev. Dr. William Artluir, a Baptist cler- 
 gyman, and a man of fine literary attainments. 
 Attending school, first at Union \'illage, Wash- 
 ington Connty, New York, and later at Schenec- 
 tady, he entered Union College in i<S4;j, and 
 j,niulnated with distinction in 1848. He then attended a law 
 school at Ballston Springs, for a time, and in 185 1, became prin- 
 cipal of the North Pownal, \^ermont, academy. 
 
 In 1853 Mr. Arthur removed to the city of New York and 
 entered the law ofiice of E. D. Culver as a student. In the suc- 
 ceeding year he was admitted to practice and became a member 
 of the firm of Culver, Parker & Arthur. His ability as a law- 
 yer was early developed, and his personal interest in the coming 
 struggle over slavery was indicated by his successful manage- 
 ment of the now celebrated Lemmon slave case. 
 
 In 1852 Jonathan Lemmon, a Virginia slaveholder, brought 
 eight slaves from Norfolk to New York, intending to ship them 
 to Texas. A writ of habeas corpus was issued by Justice Paine, 
 of the Superior Court of New York, commanding the persons 
 having the slaves in charge to bring them into court. After ex- 
 llausti^'e arguments by the counsel on both sides. Justice Paine 
 ordered the slaves to be released, upon the ground that the fugi- 
 
 Presldetits. 
 
 101 
 
I02 
 
 THK WHITE CITY — I'RKSIDENTS. 
 
 11 
 
 tive slave law did not apply to them, and that, under none other 
 than that National law could any human creature be held in 
 bondage in the Empire State. 
 
 Judge Paine's decision created intense excitement in the 
 slave States, affirming, as it practically did, that every slave, not 
 a fugitive, being brought by his master into a free St;'.te, was 
 thereby made free. This decision was susta'ued by the Suprcim.' 
 Court of New York, where Mr. Arthur appeared as State's At- 
 torney, and later by the Court of Appeals. 
 
 Mr. Arthur took an active interest in politics at a very early 
 age, but it was not until 1865 that he became prominently con- 
 nected with politics in New York City. 
 
 The day following the bombardment of Fort Sumter, Mr. 
 Arthur was appointed Quartermaster-General at New York, and 
 at once began the Herculean task of quartering, uniforming, 
 equipping and arming the soldiers of New York for the war. 
 This was a task of enormous proportions, but General Arthur 
 was equal to the occasion, and had the satisfaction of forwarding 
 nearly 700,000 men, whom he had equipped with uniforms and 
 muskets. This great force constituted nearly one-fifth of tlie 
 Northern army. 
 
 At the close of the war General Arthur resumed his law 
 practice, being now the senior member of the well-known firm of 
 Arthur, Phelps, Knevrls & Ransom. In November, 187 1, he 
 was appointed, by President Grant, Collector of the Port of New 
 York, and re-appointed in 1875, being the first Collector of the 
 Port ever receiving a re-appointment. 
 
 In 1859 General Arthur was married to Ellen L. Herndon, 
 daughter of Capt. William L. Herndoii, of Fredericksburg, 
 Virginia. Mrs. Arthur died suddenly, in January, 1880, leaving 
 a son and daughter. 
 
 General Arthur was elected Vice-President of the United 
 States, in November, 1880, General Garfield being President. 
 
 When those terrible days of suffering were over, and the 
 spirit of the assassinated Garfield passed into the great beyo^d^ 
 
PRESIDENTS — ARTHUR. 
 
 103 
 
 G'nieral Arthur took the oath of office and became the fourth of 
 our Nation's Executives who were called to the chair of State by 
 tlic death of their predecessors, rather than by the suffrages of 
 the people. ■'; , . 
 
 President Arthur's administration was uniformly able, digni- 
 fied and excellent. During his term of office occurred the 
 dedication of that greatest scientific achievement and most 
 marvellous triumph of engineering skill, of this or any other 
 century, the New York and Brooklyn Bridge; designed by 
 American genius, made in American workshops, and built by 
 American skill. 
 
 November 29, 18P3, occurred the centennial celebration of 
 the evacuation of the city of New York by the British. At the 
 date of the evacuation, in 1783, New York had a population of 
 twenty-three thousand, but on this centennial day its population 
 exceeded one million two hundred thousand; on this day also 
 was unveiled the bronze statue of Washington, in front of the 
 Sub-Treasury building on Wall Street. 
 
 On Saturday, February 21, 1885 (the 22nd falling on Sun- , 
 day), occurred the celebration of the dedication of the Memorial 
 Monument to George W^ashington. Robert C. Winthrop deliv- 
 ered the oration, and the formal delivery of the monument to the 
 President of the United States was by Col. Thomas L. Casey, to 
 which the closing sentence of President Arthur's reply was as 
 follows : 
 
 " Other and more eloquent lips tlian mine will to-day re- , 
 hearse to you the story of his noble life and its glorious achieve- 
 ments. To myself has been assigned a simpler and more formal 
 duty, in fulfillment of which I do now, as President of the 
 United States, and in behalf of the people, receive this monu- 
 ment from the hands of its builder, and declare it dedicated from 
 this time to the immortal name and memory of George Wash- 
 ington." 
 
 l\Ir. Arthur's death occurred in the city of New York, 
 November 18, 1886. 
 
mrmmm 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 !l , : -: 
 
 )jg/llggfftam^*' 
 
 Bpovqp Clcreland. 
 
 LTHOUGH distinctively American, the 
 Clevelands are of English origin, having 
 '■■ first settled in Connectient more than two 
 centnries ago. Richard Falley Clevelrnd, 
 father of Grover Cleveland, was born at 
 Norwich, Conn., in 1804. The elder Mr. 
 Cleveland and his cousin, the late William E. Dodge, 
 were factory boys together. He graduated from 
 T- Yale College in 1824; from thence he went to Princeton 
 Theological Seminary, and after his theological course, became 
 a Presbyterian clergyman. In 1839 he married I^Iiss Anna Neal, 
 of Baltimore. His third charge was at Caldwell, New Jersey, 
 where Grover Cleveland was born, March i8, 1837. Young 
 Cleveland was named in honor of his father's predecessor in the 
 pastorate of the church at Caldwell, Stephen Grover; but from 
 childhood he has been called Grover, and has always written his 
 name simpl}'' Grover Cleveland. In 1840 the family removed to 
 Fayetteville, near Syracuse, New York, where his father had re- 
 ceived a call to preach, and in 1851 they settled at Clinton, 
 Oneida County, New York. Here young Grover prepared him- 
 self for college; but his father's death, in 1853, caused a great 
 change in his life-plans. For a time he abandoned all hope of a 
 college education, and set to work to assist in supporting the 
 family. In the spring of 1855, in company with a friend, he 
 started for Cleveland, Ohio, then a rising city, to seek his fortune. 
 He stopped at Buffalo to visit an uncle — Mr. Lewis F. Allen, — 
 
 Pri'siUonls. 
 
 104 
 
PRESIDENTS — CLP:VELAXD. 
 
 105 
 
 who, finding him desirous of becoming a lawyer, proposed to him 
 to remain with him for a time, and endeavor to secure a place in 
 some law office in Buffalo. This offer was accepted and, in 
 a few months, through the influence of his uncle, he entered the 
 law office of Messrs. Rogers, Bowen & Rogers. He was admit- 
 ted to the bar in 1859, and in 1S63 received the appointment of 
 Assistant District Attorney for Erie County. In 1866 he entered 
 into partnership with the late I. K. Vanderpoel, and was after- 
 wards associated with the late A. P. Lansing, and the late Oscar 
 Folsom. He was elected sheriff" of Erie Count}' in 1870, and in 
 1874 resumed the practice of law, forming a partnership with W. 
 S. Bissell ; the firm remaining Cleveland & Bissell until George 
 J. Sicard joined the partnership in 1881. 
 
 Mr. Cleveland was a successful lawyer, and a fluent and forci- 
 ble speaker. He had a clear apprehension of legal principles 
 and was terse and logical in his statement of them. Personally 
 Mr. Cleveland is genial and unassuming; always self-possessed, 
 rarely demonstrative and never loses his head under excitement. 
 A very intimate friend of Mr. Cleveland wrote, just after his first 
 nomination for the presidency: "He is very deli^_iate, even 
 somewhat slow in forming decisions, but after he has settled a 
 matter nobody in the world can change him. He has taken 
 many positions that his friends thought wrong and sometimes 
 ruinous, but we were never able to change him, and it has often 
 turned oiit that he was right. " The subsequent official life of 
 Mr. Cleveland has demonstrated the accuracy of his friend's esti- 
 mate. 
 
 Mr. Cleveland was elected Mayor of Buffalo, New York, in 
 1 88 1, and is said to have saved the city nearly $1,000,000 in con- 
 siderably less than a year by vetoing the resolutions of the Com- 
 mon Council in awarding contracts for street cleaning, etc. 
 
 In 1882 Mr. Cleveland w-as elected Governor of the State of 
 New York by the largest majority ever received by anybody in 
 any State of the Union, viz., 192,854. The issue was one of re- 
 form and, while this vote was flattering in its indications of the 
 
io6 
 
 THK WHITE CITY — PRESIDENTS. 
 
 great confidence the people placed in liini, still it was well calcu- 
 lated to increase his sense of responsibility, because it clearly 
 showed that high expectations had been formed as to what he 
 would do. 
 
 On the day before his inauguration as Governor he came to 
 Albany and spent the night at the executive mansion, and the 
 following day walked through the throngs of people in the streets 
 to the Capitol and entered the building unrecognized. As .soon 
 as the simple ceremony of inauguration was over he entered the 
 office of the executive and went quietly to work. Here may be 
 seen both his dislike for public ostentation and his simple, in- 
 dustrious habits. His management of the executive office so 
 commended him to the people of the State and Nation that a 
 movement to place him in nomination for the Presidency was a 
 natural consequence. 
 
 He was inaugurated Piesident on the fourth of March, 18S5. 
 His administration was marked by those independent qualities 
 which distinguish the man. On the second of June, 1886, Presi- 
 dent Cleveland was married to Miss Frances Folsom, daugliter 
 of his friend and former partner, Oscar Folsom. Mrs. Cleveland 
 possesses many personal attractions and is sincerely beloved by 
 all who know her. 
 
 Mr. Cleveland was nominated for a second term in June 
 1888, but was defeated by Benjamin Harrison, the nominee of 
 the Republican party ; he then resumed the practice of his profes- 
 sion in the city of New York. Again in 1892, Mr. Cleveland was 
 honored by the nomination of his party for the presidency, again 
 running against Mr. Harrison, whom he defeated, and was a 
 second time inaugurated, March 4, 1893. 
 
Ber?iaiT?in RappisoR. 
 
 ■'\' 
 
 OR the second time witliin the century the office 
 / of Chief Magistrate of this great Republic has 
 been given, by the suffrages of the people, to 
 members of the same family. Shortly after 
 the subject of this sketch first saw the light, his 
 grandfather, beneath whose roof the lad was born, 
 became the ninth President of the United States, 
 and in the year of grace 1888 Benjamin Harrison 
 was elected to that distinguished position. 
 The Harrisons were a staunch and sturdy race, whose .m- 
 cestors were among the early settlers of Virginia, and the name 
 figures prominently among the heroes of the Revolution. Ben- 
 jamin was born on the old Harrison farm at North Bend, Ohio, 
 August 20, 1833. He was named for his great-grandfather, who 
 was a signer of the Declaration of American Independence, and, 
 at one time, Governor of Virginia. His father, John Scott Har- 
 rison, although twice a member of Congress, was a domestic man 
 who loved his home and his simple farm life far better than the 
 fleeting honors of political life and, as has been well said, 
 "will always stand a quiet, unpretentious figure between his 
 famous father and his distinguished son." His mother was a 
 devoted, Christian woman, and much of President Harrison's 
 reverence for religion is undoubtedly due to the early influences 
 of this noble mother. His rudimentary education was received 
 in a log school house, near his early home. He afterward at- 
 tended Farmer's College, which was located a short distance 
 
 iU 
 
 I'r.M.li'iit.s. 
 
 107 
 
■Wi 
 
 108 
 
 TriF. WHITE CITY — I'RKSIOKNTS. 
 
 from Cincinnati, for a period of two years, and then entered 
 Miami University from which he was graduated in 1851, stand- 
 ing fourth in his class. 
 
 When the young man left college he found himself face to 
 face with his own fortune. His father had been unfortunate in 
 financial matters and lost everything he was worth except the 
 farm, which he managed to retain through the assistance of some 
 friends. Without any repining or time spent in mourning over 
 his hard lot, the young man secured a place in a law-office in the 
 city of Cincinnati, and with an earnestness which has been a 
 distinguishing characteristic of his life, began to prepare for the 
 legal profession. 
 
 In 1853, a year before reaching his majority, he was married 
 to Miss Caroline W. Scott, a beautiful and intelligent young lady 
 whose life so sadly ended at the White House. Sincere love and 
 true courage sustained this young couple in the battle with iron- 
 handed fortune. They removed to Indianapolis and there Mr. 
 Harrison began the practice of his profession. The battle was a 
 severe one ; there were no influential friends to send the young 
 lawyer wealthy clients ; there were no wealthy relatives to pro- 
 vide the money necessary for the purchase of a home and the 
 comforts of life ; but there was a manly purpose, there was a clear 
 mind and an honest heart in that slender young lawyer and he 
 toiled on, unwavering, undaunted until the victory was won and 
 success perched upon his banners. 
 
 In i860 he was elected Supreme Court Reporter and per- 
 formed the duties of that office with marked ability. He was 
 onl}^ twenty-seven years old when the war of the Rebellion broke 
 out, but he believed that his country had a claim superior to all 
 others and began raising a company of men for the war. He 
 was shortly commissioned Colonel of the Seventieth Regiment, 
 Indiana Volunteers, and remained with this regiment until it 
 • was mustered out of the service after the fall of Richmond. 
 
 Colonel Harrison's military service was as 'earnest and active 
 as had been his strife with poverty and fame, and in every place. 
 
PRESIDENTS — HARRISON. 
 
 109 
 
 aniDiig the many trying scenes through which he passed, he 
 proved himself the true soldier, commander, man. At the close 
 of the war he returned to his home a brevet Brigadier-General. 
 General Harrison now resumed his law practice which soon 
 became very extensive. He espoused the cause of Republican- 
 ism and was a staunch supporter of President Grant in both his 
 campaigns, and also gave hearty assistance in the election of 
 President Garfield, who offered him a cabinet portfolio, but this 
 Harrison declined, to occupy a seat in the United States Senate, 
 where he served with conspicuous ability for six years. In 1888 
 he was elected President of the United States and inaugu- 
 rated March 4, 1889. His administration was an able and 
 honest one, and in 1892 he was again nominated as the standard 
 bearer of his party, but was defeated by Grover Cleveland. At 
 the close of his term of office Mr. Harrison retired to his home 
 at Indianapolis, Indiana, where he now resides loved and 
 respected by all who know him. 
 
SoGieties. 
 
 ^mMtt ra^- 
 
 GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. 
 
 ■E, as a Nation, still continue to mark 
 periods of time as antedating or follow- 
 ing that historic struggle known as the 
 "War of the Rebellion" or the "Civil 
 War;" and yet so many years have in- 
 tervened that there is now less distinct- 
 ness in the outline of that event which, for a time 
 so completely separated the present from the nearer 
 or more remote past. As the years go by "before 
 the war" is heard with less and less frequency, and silver hairs 
 now crown the head of him who relates personal experiences of 
 that fast receding period. 
 
 The story of the Civil strife is not unfamiliar to the citizen 
 of to-day. It has been handed down from father to son, and the 
 details of its hardships, its defeats and glorious achievements, 
 have been made the theme of earnest recital. It has been written 
 on the pages of history, and children have traced with eager 
 fingers the battle-plains made sacred by the sacrificed lives of 
 father and brother. It has been pictured in realistic detail, vividly 
 setting forth scenes that are already indelibly stamped upon the 
 canvas of the mind. 
 
 The period of the War dates from the firing on Fort Sumter, 
 April 12, iS6i, during which year 156 engagements took place; 
 it may be said to have closed with the thrilling scenes at Appo- 
 mattox when General Lee surrendered to the Union forces 011 
 
 SdCic'Ues. 
 
 no 
 
SOCIETIES — C. A. R. 
 
 Ill 
 
 April 9, 1865; duriiijif the intervening years 2,257 engagements 
 had taken place, and tliousands upon thousands of the Nation's 
 sons had fallen in battle or 3'ielded to a tardier fate. Four years 
 of hardships, of sacrifices, of anxiety; four years of marching 
 to martial music,of scanty rations, of "bivouacing" on silent fields; 
 four years of listening for the echo of that voice which should 
 speak "peace" to the Nation, but not at the sacrifice of a single star 
 from the "banner of the free; " this was the period of "the War." 
 
 Is it then to be wondered at that such a bond of sympathy as 
 must naturally exist between comrades of a common cause, 
 should seek perpetuity? Was it not rather the natural sequence 
 of the home-coming that those ties of fraternity should be 
 strengthened and made permanent ? 
 
 The year following the close of the war, the Grand Army of 
 the Republic was organized, in the State of Illinois, at Decatur, 
 the county seat of Macon County, Dr. Benjamin F. Stephenson, 
 of Springfield — who had served his country as surgeon of the 
 Fourteenth Illinois Infantr}- — being the originator. After con- 
 ceiving this project, a number of weeks were spent in elaborating 
 the plan, in order that it might meet the hearty co-operation of 
 his comrades. The draft of the ritual was finally entrusted to 
 Capt. John S. Phelps, of Decatur, and at the printing-office of 
 Messrs. Coltrin & Prior (two veterans of the War) it was placed 
 in type, the employes obligating themselves to secrecy. 
 
 Comrades in Decatur took immediate steps to secure a char- 
 ter, and although Springfield was actively working for a similar 
 object, to the former city belongs the credit of the first organiza- 
 tion, Dr. B. F. Stephenson mustering Post No. i, on April 
 6, 1866 ; with Gen. Isaac C. Pugh, as first Post Commander. On 
 that occasion the title, "The Grand Army of the Republic, 
 U. S." was formally adopted. 
 
 During the following summer other Posts were organized in 
 Illinois and adjoining States, much assistance being rendered Dr. 
 Stephenson, by Capt. M. F. Kanan, Adjutant of Post No. 
 1; Gen. Jules C. Webber, Col. J. M. Snyder, Maj. A. A. North, 
 
112 
 
 THK WHITK CITY — SOCIKTIHS. 
 
 B 
 
 Maj. R. M. Woods, J. T. Bishop and John vS. Phelps. Later, in 
 the Eastern States, Philadelphia took the lead in the establish- 
 ment of Posts No. I and No. 2, Pittsbnrjj; following soon after. 
 
 The first Department Convention was held at SpringfKkl, 
 Illinois, Jnly 12, 1S66, Gen. John W. Palmer being elected first 
 Department Commander. Resolutions were at this time adopted, 
 in recognition of the services of Dr. Stephenson, and were as 
 follows : 
 
 " IF/icrcas^ The members of the Grand Army of the Rei)ub- 
 lic recognize in Maj. B F. Stephenson, of Springfield, Illinois, 
 till' head and front of this organization, be it therefore, 
 
 ''''Resolved^ That for energy, loyalty and perseverance mani- 
 fested in organizing the Grand Army of the Republic, he is 
 entitled to the gratitude of all loyal men ; and we, as soldiers, 
 tender him our thanks, and pledge him our friendship at all 
 times and under all circumstances." 
 
 The interest manifested in the organization showed no 
 abatement when six months of its existence had passed away. 
 It was a child of vigorous growth, ^md Lad been formally 
 adopted in many of the States. At the date of the first National 
 Convention, held at Indianapolis, Indiana, November 20, 1.S66, 
 Posts from the following States were represented : Illinois, Iowa, 
 Kentucky, Kansas, New York, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 
 Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. Gen. John W. 
 Palmer presided at this assembly, and Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut, 
 of Illinois, was elected Commander-in-Chief. 
 
 Briefly stated, the Objects of the Order are comprehended in 
 the following regulations : 
 
 First. — To preser.'e and strengthen those kind and frater- 
 nal feelings which bind together the soldiers, sailors and mariners 
 who united to suppress the late Rebellion, and to perpetuate the 
 memory and history of the dead. -.-=-'--,-----—> 
 
 Second. — To assist such lormer comrades in arms as need 
 help and protection, and to extend neeedful aid to the wic'ows 
 and orphans of those who have fallen. 
 
SOCIKTIHS — c;. A. R. 
 
 "3 
 
 Third. — T(» maintaiti true allegiance to the United States of 
 America, based npon a jiaranioiint respect for, and fidelity to, its 
 Coiistitntion and laws; to disconntenance whatever tends to 
 weaken loyalty, incites to iiisum-ction, f reason or rrhr/lioii or in 
 any manner impairs the efficiency and permanency of our free 
 institutions; and to encourage the spread of universal libertj', 
 equal rights and justice to all men. 
 
 A preamble, twenty-three articles, and a ritual originally 
 constituted the "rules and regulations" of the Order. These 
 have been changed from time to time in compliance with the 
 necessities of the organization, although its spirit has been faith- 
 fully maintained — qualifications for membership being service in 
 the Civil War, included between the dates, April 12, 1861, and 
 April 29, 1865, and an honorable discharge therefrom, at the 
 close of such service ; while it debars from membership any per- 
 son "who has at any time borne arms against the United States." 
 
 Independence Hall, Philadelphia, was the scene of the sec- 
 ond National Encampment, which was held on January 15, 
 1S68, and was a distinctively important occasion in the history of 
 the organization. Twenty-one departments were here repre- 
 sented, and its National scope proven beyond the shadow of a 
 doubt; while a comparison of views of delegates from the sev- 
 eral localities aided in strengthening the Order. Headquarters 
 of the Grand Army was at this time established at Washington 
 City, and a resolution also adopted in reference to the title bj' 
 which members shou^ ' be addressed, when in attendance npon 
 Post meetings or in ofricial reports — the appelation "Comrade" 
 being selected, with the exception of officers, to whom were 
 accorded their Grand Army titles. 
 
 Gen. John A. Logan, of Illinois, was elected Commander-in- 
 Chief, and, owing to superior qualifications as an organizer, as 
 well as zeal and earnestness in a cause so dear to his heart, 
 carried into execution such regulations as proved of lasting 
 benefit to the Grand Army. His order "Number 11," issued, 
 May 5, 1868, was characteristic of the patriotic spirit which 
 
^' Wi'^ 
 
 ■imm 
 
 Skw 
 
 
 114 
 
 THK WHITK C^TY — SOCIKTIKS. 
 
 animated this noble citizen and soldier, in desipnatinjj: tlic 
 thirtieth day of May, 1868, for strewing flowers and otherwise 
 decorating the jj^raves of comrades who died in defense of the 
 Nation dnrinj^-- the War of the Rebellion. 
 
 The third National Encampment was held at Cincinnati, 
 May 12, 1869, and (Jeneral Loji^an re-elected Commander-in- 
 Chief. Some serions complications had arisen, owinj^ to inis- 
 nnderstandinji: of the natnre of tlie Order, some regarding' it as 
 a " Secret political parij," and steps were taken at this meeting 
 to dissipate this illusion. A new plan of "ranking" the nieni- 
 bers was adopted, bnt, proving nnsatisfactory, was abandoned 
 after a two years' trial. 
 
 The fonrtli National Encampment convened at Washington 
 City, on May 11, 1870, and re-elected General Logan as Com- 
 mander-in-Chief. One of the important matters of business 
 transacted at this meeting was the amendment of rules gov- 
 erning the design of a membership badge, which had been 
 selected at a special session October 27, 1869, at New York City. 
 The Convention also adopted an Article, as a part of its regula- 
 tions, establishing May 30th as the day to be set apart for 
 annually commemorating the deeds of fallen heroes of the War. 
 
 Boston was selected as the rendezvous for the fifth annual 
 Encampment, commencing May 10, 1871, and Gen. Ambrose E. 
 Burnside, of Rhode Island, was chosen Commander-in-Chief, 
 and re-elected at the sixth Encampment, held at Cleveland, Ma}' 
 8, 1872. 
 
 It would be a pleasure to follow these National gatherings, 
 and note the growth of the organization from year to year, but 
 space forl^ids more than a mention of the simplest data .onnected 
 therewith. 
 
 At New Haven, Connecticut, the seventh Encampment was 
 held on May 14, 1873, and Gen. Charles Devens, of Massa- 
 chusetts, elected to the chief office of the Order, who succeeded 
 himself at the eight Encampment convening at Harris1)urg, 
 Pennsylvania, the following year. 
 
SOCIKTII'S— C. A. K. 
 
 "5 
 
 The ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth Encampments were 
 lu-ld respectively :it Chicax", <>n Miiy I2, 1H75; Philadclpiiia, 
 June 30, 1876; Providence, Rhode Island, June 26, 1.S77; Spring- 
 field, Massachusetts, June 4, 1S7.S; (^en. John I'. Hartranft of 
 Pennsylvania, holdiuj^ the office of Coniander-in-Chief durinjf the 
 years 1S75 and 1S76, to be succeeded by Gen. John C. Robinson, 
 of New York, for the two following 3-ears. 
 
 The organization known as The Grand Army of the Repnl)- 
 lic hf'.d long since grown to important proportions, and all the 
 cities honored by the National Kncampments, were now vieing 
 with each other to do honor to the asseiubly. Albau}-, New York, 
 entertained the thirteenth Encampment, June 17, 1S79, which 
 elected William Earnshaw, Commander-in-Chief. He was sue- 
 cee.led June 8, 1880, by Gen. Louis Wagner, who was the choice 
 of the fourteenth Encampment, which convened a*- Dayton, Ohio; 
 he, in turn, being followed by Maj. George S. Merrill, of Massa- 
 chusetls, who was elected Commander-in-Chief by the fifteenth 
 Encampment, held at Indianapolis, Indiana, June 15, 1881. 
 
 When Baltimore, Marjdand, invited the Comrades to the hos- 
 pitalities of her beautiful city, -on June 16, 1882, President Arthur 
 and General Sherman reviewed the procession. Paul Van Der 
 Voort was elected Commander-in-Chief; and at this meeting was 
 inaugurated a movement toward the organization of the Woman's 
 Relief Corps. 
 
 On July 23, 1883, Denver extended a hearty welcome to the 
 veterans, the Legislature having appropriated $21,000 toward 
 their entertainment, which was largely augmented by pri- 
 vate contributions. A camp to accommodate 15,000 men was 
 provided, while numerous excursions to places of note in the 
 vicinity of the city afforded a treat of the most enjoyable charac- 
 ter. At this encampment. Col. Robert B. Beath, of Pennsylvania, 
 was elected Commander-in-Chief, and the organization of the 
 Woman's Relief Corps — auxiliar}- to the G. A. R. — completed. 
 
 The following year, on July 23, 1884, Minneapolis enter- 
 tained the delegates with free-handed hospitality, and John S. 
 
ii6 
 
 THE WHITE CITY — SOCIETIES. 
 
 Koiintz, of Ohio, was elected Commander-in-Chief. At this 
 meeting, the total membership of the organization was shown to 
 be 253,895, with Posts, to date, 4,325. 
 
 On June 24, 1S85, Portland, Maine, welcomed the comrades, 
 the State appropriating $10,000, the city, $5,000 and citi:<ens con- 
 tributing $5,000 more," to entertain the honored guests. Over 
 30,000 veterans were present and the occasion was made memor- 
 able by marked features of the parade, among them bein^^ a 
 throng of more than a thousand little children, whose voices 
 blended in song as the comrades proceeded on their way. 
 Samuel S. Burdett, of Washington City, was elected Coiiunan- 
 der-in-Chief. , 
 
 San F-ancisco, California, next became the hostess of the 
 Grand Arm}', which partook of her generous hospitality, begin- 
 ning August 4, 1886. Here entertainer and entertained entered 
 into the enjoyment of the occasion with sincere good-feeling, and 
 when the adieus were spoken, a wave of sadness mingled with 
 the heartiness of the "God bless you all." The city was dressed 
 in gala attire. Flowers, flags and sumptuous decorations of 
 every kind greeted the "boys in blue." The procession of 
 August 3d, was one not soon to be forgotten, while the reception 
 at the Mechanic's Pavilion, during the evening of the same day, 
 was marked by enthusiastic demanstrt;tions from both citizens 
 and guests, which reached its climax at the appearance of such 
 honored veterans of the War as Generals Logan and Shernian. 
 Ex-Gov. Lucius Fairchild was declared the choice of the Grand 
 Army for the office of Commander-in-Chief. 
 
 The Twenty-first National Encampment convened at St. 
 Louis, Missouri, September 28, 1887, and transacted business of 
 much importance to the Order. The Adj utant-General reported 
 membership in good standing on Marc i 31, 1887, 320,946; net 
 gain of Posts during the year, 540; amount dispensed for charity 
 by Posts, $253,934.43. The encampment unanimously adopts'. 
 resolutions of respect, deploring the death of their former 
 comrade, leader and Commander-in Chief, Maj. Gen. John A. 
 
SOCIETIES — G. A. R. 
 
 117 
 
 At this 
 .s shown to 
 
 ; comrades, 
 litixenscon- 
 ssts. Over 
 ade uieinor- 
 ;m beiiiij; a 
 hose voices 
 their way. 
 d Coiiijiian- 
 
 stess of the 
 ality, begin- 
 ined entered 
 -feeling, and 
 lingled with 
 ' was dressed 
 corations of 
 rocession of 
 
 le reception 
 le same day, 
 Doth citizens 
 mce of such 
 
 d Sherman. 
 
 f the Grand 
 
 vened at St. 
 1 bnsiness of 
 eral reported 
 320,946; net 
 d for charity 
 iisly adopts '. 
 their former 
 en. John A. 
 
 Logan, which was one of the sad events of the year, and plans 
 were discussed and resolutions adopted for a monument to be 
 erected to his memory at Washington, D. C. 
 
 The entertainment provided for the Grand Army, at this 
 assembly, was one of unsurpassed liberality , and the illumina- 
 tions, decorations, etc., were on a scale of magnificence never 
 before approached, $100,000 being contributed by the business 
 men of the city for the purpose. For the most part the excur- 
 sions planned for this occasion were abandoned, owing to unusu- 
 ally unfavorable weather, but Lincoln's tomb, at Springfield, was 
 visited, and banquets and other entertainments were made mem- 
 orable features of the evenr. John P. Rea, of Minneapolis, Min- 
 nesota, was elected Connnander-in-Chief for the ensuing year, 
 and Columbus, Ohio, chosen as the rendezvous for the Twenty- 
 second National Encampment. : :. 
 
 This meeting occurred on September 12, 1888, and the 
 Departments were represented in great numbers. The parade 
 was by far the largest which had been witnessed since the Grand 
 Review at Washington, in 1865, occupying nearl}^ five hours in ■ 
 passing a given point, and was witnessed by General Sherman, 
 Ex-President Rutherford B. Hayes and other prominent mem- 
 bers of the Grand Army of the Republic. Maj. William War- 
 ner, of Kansas City, Missouri, was elected Commander-in-Chief, 
 by a unanimous vote, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, selected for the 
 National Encampment of 1889. Here the "boys in blue" were 
 royally entertained by the citizens, as well as comrades. Every 
 possible attention was lavished upon the visitors and the event 
 was a most memorable one among the yearly gatherings of the 
 Order. Gen. Russell A. Alger, of Michigan, was elected Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, and Boston, Massachusetts, chosen for the 
 Twenty-fourth Encampment. 
 
 On August 13, 1890, the Massachusetts veterans welcomed 
 their comrades to the hospitalities of Boston, and nothing was 
 lacking in cordiality or attention to the comfort and pleasure of 
 their guests. Col. Wheelock G. Veazey, of Rutland, Vermont, 
 

 ii|i 
 
 ii8 
 
 THK WHITp; CITY — SOCIETIES. 
 
 was chosen Commander-in-Chief, and Detroit, Alichigan, selected 
 as the meeting place of the Twenty-fifth National Encampment. 
 To this beautifnl city the veterans repaired in August, 1891, 
 and enjoyed a most harmonious reunion, interspersed with 
 excursions and other attentions which were thoroughly appreci- 
 ated. John Palmer, of Albany, New York, was elected Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, and Washington, D. C, selected for the 
 Twenty-sixth National Encampment, which convened Septem- 
 ber zi, 1892. The members of the Grand Army of the Republic 
 in good standing, as reported at this assembly, up to December 
 31, 1891, were 407,781; iinmber of Posts at rame date, 7,568; 
 amount expended in f.':un ., as reported, from July i, 1871 to 
 December 31, 1891, $2,317,715.38, although these figures are 
 regarded as far short of the actual assistance rendered. 
 
 The parade of September 20th, was one of unusual magni- 
 tude, but every effort was made to relieve the veterans of all 
 possible fatigue, while the entire occasion was regarded as a most 
 memorable one to all who partook of the hospitality of the 
 Nation's Capital. 
 
 Of the officers whom we have mentioned as Past Commanders- 
 in-Chief of the National Encampment, several have responded 
 to th<i "final summons." They .. ■ B. F. Stephenson, died 
 August 30, 1871; S. A. Hurlbu . ...rch 27, 1882; John A. 
 Logan, December 26, 1886; Ambm '. J, Buruside, September 
 13, 1881; Charles Devens, January 7, ic.91 ; John F. Hartranft, 
 October 17, 1889; and William Earnshaw, July 17, 1885. 
 
 woman'vS relief corps. 
 
 The first organization of the Woman's Relief Corps was 
 formed in 1869, at Portland, A^aine, and was entitled the Bos- 
 worth Relief Corps, Auxiliary to Bosworth Post. The first 
 
 State organization was perfected at Fitchburg, Massachusetts, iu 
 April, 1879. ■■ ,- -^^-,..--, ,.,-^.-.^.- _ 
 
 In 1 88 1, the National Encampment adopted a resolution, 
 approving the work of the W'oman's Relief Corps, and antlior- 
 
SOCIETIES — women's RELIEF CORPS. 
 
 119 
 
 iziiig it to add to its title " Auxiliary to the Grand Armj' of the 
 Republic." In 1883, all the Auxiliaries were invited to send 
 representatives to Denver, whic'i invitation was accepted, and the 
 work accomplished by the Order was approved by the National 
 Eucampnient, which adopted the following resolution: 
 
 ^' Rcwlvcd^ That we cordially hail the organization of the 
 Woman's Relief Corps and extend our greeting to them. We 
 return our warmest thanks to the loyal women of the land for 
 tli'^ir earnest work, support and encouragement, and bid them 
 God speed in their patriotic work." 
 
 The plan of organization of the Grand Army was followed 
 in constituting the Woman's Relief Corps. Local associations 
 were designated Corps ; State associations were called Depart- 
 ments; and th^ National Organization entitled the "National 
 Convention, Woman's Relief Corps, Auxiliary to the Grand 
 Army of the Republic." 
 
 The objects of this Order are: 
 
 ''To specially aid and assist the Grand Arm}' of the Repub- 
 lic and to perpetuate the memory of their heroic dead. To 
 assist such Union veterans as need our help and protection, and 
 to extend needful aid to their widows aird orphans. To find 
 them homes and emplo3anent, and assure them of sympathy and 
 friends. To cherish and emulate the deeds of our army nurses, 
 and of all loyal women who rendered loving service to their 
 country in Ker hour of peril. To inculcate lessons of patriotism 
 and love of country among our children, and in tht communities 
 in which we live. To maintain true allegiance to the United 
 States of America. To discoutenance whatever tends to weaken 
 loyalty and to encourage the spread of universal libert}- and 
 equal rights to all men." . 
 
 The growth of thii' organization has been remarkable, ar^d 
 the work accomplished, something phenomenal. Though a silent 
 inin.ster, unheralded by the sound of trumpets, its benefactions 
 have been wide-spread, reaching where its co-laborer, the Grand 
 
I ' 
 
 1 20 
 
 THE WHITE CITY — SOCIETIES. 
 
 
 
 Army of the Republic, might often have failed to accomplish 
 desired results. 
 
 All honor to the noble women whose names are enrolled 
 upon the Roster of the Woman's Relief Corps. 
 
 THE SONS OF VETERANS OK THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 This Order dates from the year 1878, and to Post No. 94, 
 Grand Army of the Republic, Philadelphia, belongs the honor 
 of taking initiatory steps in its organization; the records of 
 August 27, 1878, showing that "on motion of Com. James P. 
 Holt, a committee of five was appointed to devise means of form- 
 ing a G. A. R. Cadet Corps, to be attached to that Post." 
 
 On September 29, 1878, Anna M. Ross, Corps Number i, 
 of Philadelphia, Order uf Sons of Veterans, was organized. 
 Later, other Posts of the State followed, and the Order spread 
 into New York, New Jersey and Delaware. Maj. A. P. Davis, of 
 Pittsburgh, formed an organization in that city, November 12, 
 1881, giving it the title of " SoiiS of Veterans of the United 
 States of America." He prepared a Constitution, Rules and 
 Ritual, and arranged for local and State Associations and a 
 National organization. Permanent organization for Pennsyl- 
 vania was effected February 23, 1882. 
 
 This Order has been one of rapid growth and numbers over 
 sixty thousand niembers, with Camps in nearly all the States and 
 Territories. 
 
 The objects of the Order are as follows: 
 
 "To keep green the memories of our fathers and their sacri- 
 fices for the maintenance of the Union, 
 
 "To aid the members of the Grand Army of the Republic in 
 caring for their helpless and disabled veterans ; to extend aid and 
 protection to the widows and orphans ; to perpetuate the memory 
 and history of their heroic dead, and the proper observation of 
 Memorial Day. ^^ .^ . _ . ;. _ 
 
 "To aid and assist worthy and needy members of the Order. 
 
 "To inculcate patriotism and love of country, not alone among 
 
SOCIETIES — SONS OF VETERANS. 
 
 121 
 
 our membership, but among all the people of our land, and to 
 spread and sustain the doctrine of equal rights, universal libert}' 
 and justice to all." 
 
 The Order consists of: Local organizations, called Camps; 
 State organizations, known as Divisions; the National Organiza- 
 tion, called the Commandery-in-Chief. It is military in character 
 and work, and officered according to army regulations, — Camps 
 corresponding with companies. Divisions with regiments and the 
 Commanderj^-in-Chief with the army. 
 
 The Twenty-second National Encampment passed the follow- 
 ing resolutions : 
 
 ^^ Resolved^ That this Encampment endorses the objects and 
 purposes of the Order of the Sons of Veterans, U. 3. A., and 
 hereby gives to the Order the official recognition of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic, and recommends that it aid and encour- 
 age the institution of Camps of the Sons of Veterans, U. S. A." 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF '7ETERANS. 
 
 The organization known as the Daughters of Veterans 
 stands in the same relation to the Woman's Relief Corps as the 
 Sons of Veterans does to the Grand Army of the Republic. It 
 is a flourishing Order, composed of noble young women, wfio 
 woulc^keep alive the fires of patriotism that burned so brightly 
 in the breasts of their honored fathers and brothers, realizing- 
 that in the home are inculcated those principles which make the 
 heroes and martyrs of the world. May their camp fires never 
 burn less brightly than now.* 
 
 YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. 
 
 The origin of the present movement dates back to 1841 
 when George Williams, a young apprentice of Bridgwater, Eng- 
 land, removed to London, and entered the dry goods establish- 
 ment of Hitchcock & Co., St. Paul's Church-yard, as junior 
 assistant. »' • - 
 
 A few fellow clerks, who were likewise zealous in the cause 
 
I^^Ha 
 
 ■ 
 
 »■ 
 
 taa 
 
 the; white city — societies. 
 
 of Christ, here gathered, when the day was over, ii>. one of the 
 sleeping apartments with which business houses were provided in 
 those daj's for the accommodation of their employes, and lield 
 meetings for Bible study and prayer. One by one their indiffer- 
 ent and, in many cases, profligate comrades were induced to join 
 them in these meetings, and it was not long before the necessity 
 arose for larger quarters to accommodate the many who desired 
 to be present. ■ 
 
 It was with some trepidation that the young men appealed 
 to their principal — whose acquiescence was needed in order to 
 secure a quiet and more commodious location —but the improve- 
 ment was already so apparent to the employer, that he not only 
 extended his sympathy with the movement and provided the 
 desired apartment, but from that time inaugurated reforms in his 
 establishment looking to the highest welfare as well as the per- 
 sonal comfort of his employes. 
 
 On June 6, 1844, it was decided to organize a *' Young Men's 
 Christian Association," the object contemplated being "to 
 improve the spiritual condition of young men engaged in the 
 d'/apery and other trades." In 1845 T. H. Tarleton was em- 
 pldj'ed as secretary and missionary of the Society, and in 1851 
 Wm. Edwyn Shipton was chosen corresponding secretary, who, 
 during his service of twenty-eight years, was able to greatly aid 
 the cause both in Europe and America. Mr. Williams was made 
 President of the London Association, in 1885, on the death of 
 the Earl of Shaftsbury. 
 
 An attempt was made in 1849 ^'^ carry out the plans of 
 the London Association, at Lowell, Massachusetts, but the first 
 organization on the London basis was effected at Montreal, 
 December 9, 1851, and the first in the United States was organ- 
 ized on December 29th of the same year. During the next two 
 years, twenty-six Societies had been formed, and to Wni. 
 Chauncey Langdon, of Washington, D. C, is due much credit 
 for bringing into existence a general organization, the first As- 
 sociation of all lands convening at Paris, August 19-24, 1855. 
 
SOCIKTIES- 
 
 ■Y. M. C. A. 
 
 123 
 
 The first international conference of the Association was 
 held at Bnfialo, New YorV, June 7, 1854, and j-earl}- niectinti^s 
 followed thereafter until 1861, the breaking out of the Civil War, 
 atndiich time 203 Associations were in existence in America. 
 
 The New York Association took tlie initiatory in the work of 
 relief at this trying period, and, in October 1861, called a Con- 
 vention of the Associations of the North, which met November 
 14th and formed the United States Christian Commission, which 
 co-operated with the Sanitary Commission, and, during the years 
 of the War, sent about 5,000 Christian men and women as help- 
 ers, and distributed nearly $3,000,000 of store and $2,500,000 in 
 money to those in need of assistance; while the Associations in 
 the South also did good service among the Confederate soldiers, 
 although not generally organized. At the close of the War, 
 home work was resum^^d, yearly conventions being held in the 
 larger cities of the Union. 
 
 The Young Men's Christian Association is loyal to the 
 Church, though entirely unrestricted by denominational lines, 
 and is a power for good which is everywhere recognized, its 
 benefits being felt throughout the length and breadth of the land. 
 
 
 I': 
 
 t 
 
 WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION. 
 
 The officers of the National Woman's Christian Temperance 
 Union are: President, Frances E. W^illard, Evanston, Illinois; 
 Corresponding Secretary, Caroline Buell, Woman's Christian 
 Union Temple, Chicago, Illinois; Recording Secretary, Mar}' A. 
 Woodbridge, Ravenna, Ohio; Treasurer, Esther Pugh, Woman's 
 Christian Temperance Union Temple, Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 Officers of the World's Woman's Christian Temperance 
 Union: President, Frances E. Willard, Evanston, Illinois; Vice- 
 President-at-Large, Lady Henry Somerset, London, England; 
 Secretiry, Mary A. Woodbridge, Ravenna, Ohio; Assistant Sec- 
 retary, Anna A. Gordon, Evanston, Illinois. 
 
 The object of the organization is to unify throughout the 
 
 til 
 [■i 
 
124 
 
 THE WIIITK CITY — SOCIETIKS. 
 
 •Bi|i!i 
 
 world the work of women in temperance and social reform, and 
 to circnlato a petition addressed to all the Governments of the 
 world for the overthrow of the alcohol and opium trades. Its 
 methods are Preventive, Educational, Evangelistic, Social and 
 Legal. Time of prayer : Noontide. Badge : A knot of white 
 ribbon. Watchwords: Aguatc! Organize! Motto : For God and 
 Home and Every Land. 
 
 The National Woman's Christian Temperance Union was 
 organized in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1874, and is the sober second 
 thought of the great Women's Crusade. It is now regularly 
 organized in the forty-four States of the Union and in every 
 Territory except Alaska. Its headquarters are in Chicago, where 
 it has a Woman's Temperance Publishing House that sends out 
 about 135,000,000 pages annually, and has seven editors and one 
 hundred and fifty employes. This publishing house is a stock 
 company and all its directors and stock-holders are women, as is 
 its business manager. The Union Signal is the organ of the 
 Society and has an average circulation of So,ooo. The cash re- 
 ceipts of the publishing house in 1891-2 were,, in round numbers, 
 $230,000. 
 
 The Woman's Lecture Bureau sends speakers to all parts 
 of this country and Canada. The Woman's National Temper- 
 ance Hospital demouotrates the value of non-alcoholic medication. 
 The Woman's Temperance Temple, costing over $1,000,000, has 
 been built in Chicago. 
 
 There are about 10,000 local unions with a membership and 
 following, including the Children's Societies, of about half a mil- 
 lion. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union has forty-four 
 distinct departments of work presided over by as many women 
 experts in the National Society, and in nearly every State. All 
 the States in the Republic, except eight, have laws requiring the 
 study of scientific temperance in the public schools, and all diese 
 laws were secured by the Woman's Christian Temperance Union; 
 also the laws forbidding the sale of tobacco to minors. Most of 
 the Industrial Homes for Girls, established in the various States, 
 
•eform, and 
 Mits of the 
 Hides. Its 
 Social and 
 )t of wliite 
 or God and 
 
 Union was 
 ber second 
 ■ regularly 
 d in every 
 :ago, wlicre 
 t sends ont 
 ors and one 
 : is a stock 
 )men, as is 
 gan of the 
 he cash re- 
 d numbers, 
 
 ;o all parts 
 al Temper- 
 medication. 
 00,000, has 
 
 jership and 
 half a mil- 
 ,s forty-fonr 
 any women 
 State. All 
 quiring tlie 
 id all diese 
 nee Union ; 
 s. Most, of 
 ious States, 
 
 *i 
 
 FKA.VCKS K. WILLAKD. 
 
;1)ilH 
 
S()cii;tiI';s — w. c. t. u. 
 
 "5 
 
 were secured throujj;!! the efforts of this society, as were the 
 Refuges for Erring Women. Laws raising the age of consent 
 and providing for better protection for wonier. and girls have 
 been enacted by many legishitures through the influence of the 
 Department for the Promotion of vSocial Purity, of which the 
 president of the society has, until the present year, been super- 
 intendent. ' 
 
 The World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union was 
 founded through the influence of the Natior.al Society in 1883, 
 and already has auxiliaries in more than forty countries and 
 provinces. The White Ribbon is the badge of all the Woman's 
 Christian Temperance Union riembers and is now a familiar em- 
 blem in every civilized country. A great petition is being cir- 
 culated in all parts of the world against legalizing the sale of 
 opium and alcoholics. When two millions of names have 
 been secured this petition is to be presented to all the Govern- 
 ments of the world by a committee of women appointed for that 
 purpose. 
 
 FRANCEvS K. WILLARD. 
 
 Miss Fn.nces E. Willard, founder, and fo*- five years presi- 
 dent, of theWvorld's Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and 
 now for thirteen years president of the National Woman's 
 Christian Temperance Union, was born September 28, 1839, at 
 Churchville, New York. She is a graduate of the Northwestern 
 University of Chicago. She took the degree of A. M. from Syra- 
 cuse University. In 1862 she was professor of natural science 
 in the Northwestern Female College, Evanston, Illinois; 1864, 
 professor of Belles-lettres in Pittsburgh Female College; 1866-7, 
 she was preceptress of the Wesleyan Seminary, Lima, New York; 
 1868-70, she traveled abroad, studying French, German, Italian 
 and the history of the fine arts — visited nearly every European 
 Capital, and went to Greece, Egypt and Palestine; in 1871 she 
 was president of the Woman's College of Northwestern Univer- 
 sity, and professor of aesthetics; in 1874, Corresponding Secre- 
 
126 
 
 THK WIIITI-; CITV — SOCIHTII'S. 
 
 tary of the National Wor. all's Christian Temperance Union; in 
 1877 was associated with I). L. Moody in revival work in Hostoii; 
 in 187S, President of the Illinois Woman's Christian 'IVm- 
 perance Union, and editor of the Chicai^o Daily /hsf \ in 1.S79 
 (and since), President of the National Woman's Christian 
 Temperance Union. 
 
 Miss Willard is an anthor of considerable distinction, and 
 has written Miany books ; is associate editor of Our Daw and 
 has, in the past year, been made editor-in-chief of '/'/ir Union 
 Sii^iia/y the or^an of the Woman's Cliristian Temperance Union, 
 
 SOCIKTY OK CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR. 
 
 One of the organizations connected with Christian denonii- 
 nations which is of coir -iratively recent origin, bnt a power for 
 good among the yoiin ople of the churches, is the Society of 
 
 Christian Endeavor, winch dates from the winter of 1880-81, and 
 followed a revival season which visited the Willistvni Chnrcli of 
 Portland, Elaine, at which time and place a iinmber of young 
 people were converted to Christ. 
 
 The pastor. Rev. Francis E. Clark, together with many of 
 
 the older chnrch members, realizing the necessity for great 
 
 wisdom in gniding the yonng converts throngh the most critical 
 
 period of their discipleship, gave much thonght to the snbject of 
 
 their spiritnal welfare and, as an ontcoiiie of these deliberations, 
 
 the pastor invited the young church members to his home on 
 
 Febrnar}' 2, 188 1, and presented a constitution of the " Williston 
 
 Young Peoples' Society of Christian Endeavor," which is, in all 
 
 essential points, the one adopted by the majority of Societies of 
 
 the present day. 
 
 ,^11 article published in a religious paper of Boston, in iS.Si, 
 
 entitled, "How one church cares for its young people." brought 
 many letters to the pastor, from Christian ministers and others 
 interested in the work. The second society established was in 
 Newburyport, Massachusetts, and closely followed the first organ- 
 ization. 
 
.socii;tii-;s — christian' icndi'.avok. 
 
 127 
 
 The first president of the United vSc»ciety wus Mr. W. J. 
 Van Patten, of Hnrlinj^ton, W'rniont, whose snj^^estions and 
 phins for growth and advancement have proven of great ben- 
 efit to th(! organization. The first signatnre to the original 
 constitution was tluit of \V. H. Pennell, a teacher of a clu.ss of 
 young men in the Williston Sunday school, and whose earnest 
 support has been given to tiie cause from the Ix-ginning. He 
 was chosen, for three successive years, president of the National 
 Ccmvention. 
 
 Otlier sources have been credited with the inception of the 
 organization known as the Societ}' of Christian Endeavor, but 
 the distinctive features, such as the strict prayer-meeting pledge, 
 the consecration meeting, roll-call, duties of connnittees, etc., 
 origir ited with the pastor of the Williston Church, and was the 
 outgrowth of the meeting of Feb/uay 2, 18S1. 
 
 The first conference was held June 2, 1SS2, in Portland, 
 Maine, and was one of great enthusiasm. Six Societies were 
 represented, with a membership aggregating 481, the Williston 
 Society leading all others with 168 signers to the constitution. 
 On June 7, 1883, the conference again assembled at Portland, and 
 reported an organization of fift3'-tliree societies with 2,630 mem- 
 bers. The next convention was held at Lowell, Massachusetts, 
 on October 22, 1884, and 151 societies, of 6,414 members, were 
 represented by their delegates. On July 9, 1885, at Ocean Park, 
 near Old Orchard Beach, the "United Society of Christian En- 
 deavor" was founded and incorporated under the laws of Maine. 
 Societies, numbering 253, with an aggregate membership of 
 14,892, w-ere now established in all parts of the United States, 
 and several foreign Nations reported flourishing organ i'^ations. 
 \t this meeting, headquarters of the United Society were located 
 in Boston. The Fifth and Sixth Conventions assembled at 
 Saratoga, and at the latter, in 1887, Rev. F. E. Clark was chosen 
 president of the United Society and editor of Christian En- 
 deavor literature, resigning his pastorate in order to undertake 
 the duties of the. position. 
 
128 
 
 THE WHITK CITY — SOCIETIES. 
 
 The Seventh Annual Convention was held at Chicago, July 
 5, 1888; the Eighth, at Phii:)delphia, July 9, 1889; the Ninth, 
 at St. Louis, June 12, 1890, and the Tenth at Minneapolis, July 
 9, 1 89 1, at Avliich meeting over fourteen thousand delegates were 
 in attendance from nearh' every State and Territorj' in the 
 Union. The Convention of 1892 was held in New York, and 
 was a most harmonious and entl'usiastic gathering. 
 
 State Unions have become a prominent feature of recent 
 years, Connecticut leading all others in State organization. 
 The official organ of the Societies is The Ctoldcn Riilc^ a weekly 
 religious paper, carefully edited and replete with valuable infor- 
 mation. 
 
 At the beginning of th? present year (1893) there were recor- 
 ded 18,500 Societies of Christian Endeavor, with 1,100,000 mem- 
 bers. Thirty evangelical denominations are represented, the 
 Presb3'terians leading with 4, 500 Societies, the Congregational- 
 ists. Baptists, jMethodists and Christians being next in numbers, 
 in the order named. 
 
 "Junior Unions" are being formed everywhere, and their 
 organizations are earnestl}' promulgating the good work anionr 
 the children of the land. 
 
 "Christian Endeavor Day," February 2d (or as near that 
 date as possible), is generally observed, man}' societies making it 
 the occasion for replenishing the missionary treasury by a free- 
 will offering to a cause which is near to the heart of every 
 "Christian Endeavorer." 
 
 THE EPWORTH LEAGUE. 
 
 Among Christian people are a number of organizations, 
 some of which have become household words owing to our 
 familiarity with their objects or the length of time they have 
 occupied their various fields. Some are general in their nature, 
 and not encompassed by denominational lines ; others are work- 
 
SOCIETIKvS— KI'WORTH LEAGUK. 
 
 1^9 
 
 int; in special channels, and, being of comparatively recent de- 
 velopment, are possibly not as familiar to the general public as 
 their most worthy work deserves. 
 
 Of these may be mentioned the Epworth League, which is 
 an organization subordinate to the Quarterly Conference of the 
 Methodist P)piscopal Church, and was constituted at Cleveland, 
 Ohio, May 15, 18S9. Its central office is in Chicago, Illinois, 
 and its General Officers are as follows: President, Bishop James 
 N. Fitzgerald, New Orleans, Louisiana ; First \'ice-President, 
 Willis \V. Cooper, St. Joseph, Michigan ; Second \'ice-President, 
 Rev. W. I. Haven, Boston, Massachusetts; Third Vice-Presi- 
 dent, R. R. Doherty, Ph. D., New York City, New York; 
 Fourth Vice-President, Rev. H. C. Jennings, Red Wing, Minne- 
 sota ; Corresponding Secretar}', Rev. Edwin A. Schell, Chicago ; 
 Treasurer, Chas. E. Piper, Chicago ; German Assistant Secretary, 
 Rev. Henry Leibhart, D. D.; Editor Epivorth Herald ^ Rev. F. 
 Berry, D. D. 
 
 The object of this organization is "to promote intelligent 
 and vital piety among the 3- oung people of our churches and con- 
 gregations, and to train them in works c{ merc}^ and help." 
 Tlie State Leagues are composed of Local Chapters, their officers 
 corresponding with those of the General League. The work of 
 the Chapters is distributed under Departments of Spiritual 
 Work, Mercy and Help, Literary Work, Social Work, Corres- 
 Dondence and Finance. 
 
 The League Covenant to which its members subscribe is as 
 follows : 
 
 " I will earnesth'' seek for myself and do what I can to help 
 others attain the highest New Testament standard of experience 
 and life. I will abstain from all those forms of worldly amuse- 
 ment forbidden by the Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Chnrch. I M'ill attend, so far as possible, the religious meetings 
 of the Chapter and the Church, and take some active part in 
 them." 
 
 Since the organization of this Society, its membership has 
 
I30 
 
 THE WHITI-; CITY — SUCIKTIKS. 
 
 grown with wonderful rapidity. Each Chapter is under the con- 
 trol of the Quarterly Conference and Pastor, whose duty it shall 
 be "to organize, if possible, and to maintain, if practical)]c, 
 Chapters of the Kpworth League." The President of a Chapter 
 must be a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and shall 
 be elected bj- the Chapter and confirmed by the Quarterly Con- 
 ference, of which body he then becomes a member. Members 
 are constituted by election of the Chapter, on nomination of tiie 
 President, after approval by the Cabinet. 
 
 The Junior Epworth League is an organization, carried on 
 under the same general plan, but composed of boys and girls nii- 
 der fourteen years of age. This awakens an interest in the 
 Church in early 3'ears, and builds about the lives of the mem- 
 bers a defense of strength by which, they ma}' resist later attacks 
 of the "wily adversary." 
 
 The motto of the League Badge, " Look up — Lift up," is 
 most suggestive of the object of the organization, and when 
 made the purpose of the daily life must be a power for good felt 
 through the ages of eternitj'. 
 
 BAPTIST YOUNG PEOPLE'S UNION OF AMERICA. 
 
 In 1S91 a call was issued for a convention of the }()nng 
 people of the Baptist church in America to meet in Chicago for 
 the purpose of forming an international organization. The call 
 was responded to by 2,900 Christian workers of that denomina- 
 tion and an organization was formed under the name of the Bap- 
 tist Young People's Union of America. 
 
 A second convention was held at Detroit, in 1892, where 
 there was an attendance of over 4,100, and the plans for work 
 were broadened and elaborated. 
 
 The third international convention was held in Indianapolis 
 in July, 1S93, where the attendance was fully equal to the meet- 
 ing of the previous year at Detroit, and the reports of the Board 
 of Managers and officers showed a year of successful work. 
 
SOCIETIKS — BAPTIST VOU>,G PKIOPLK'S UNION. 
 
 131 
 
 As stated in the International Constitntion, the object of the 
 org^anization is ''for the nnification of Baptist j'onng people; 
 their increased spirituality; their stimulation in Christian service; 
 their edification in Scripture knowledge; their instruction in 
 Baptist doctrine and history, and their enlistment in all mission- 
 ary activity through existing denominational organizations." 
 
 The membership of the Union consists of accredited dele- 
 gates from Young People's Societies in Baptist churches, and 
 from Baptist churches having no Young People's organization. 
 The officers consist of a President, three Vice-Presidents, a Re- 
 cording Secretary, and a Treasurer. The Board of Managers is 
 made up of the officers of the Union and one additional member 
 for each State, Province, Territory and country represented in 
 the annual meeting. 
 
 Beside the International Organization, the States, Provinces, 
 Territories, etc., are organized, and these, in turn, are supple- 
 mented by Associational organizations to which the Local organi- 
 zations or Unions are tributary. The plan is representative and 
 has proved an abundant success. 
 
 Of course the local Unions are where the work is done. 
 These are thoroughly systematic and labor largel}' through com- 
 mittees, though individual christian work is not neglected. 
 They provide for eight distinct lines of work, each being in 
 charge of a committee. These are as follows : Committee on 
 Alembership, who has charge of the distribution of invitation 
 cards ; bringing in new members, and encouraging and interest- 
 ing them in the work. Devotional Committee, which arranges for 
 devotional meetings ; provides topics, singing books, leaders and 
 organist, and seeks to promote the interest of thjse meetings ; 
 the Committee on Instruction, which is charged with the ar- 
 rangement of Bible study, lectures on religious topics, and 
 courses of general, denominational, and missionary reading and 
 instruction. Social Committee, whose duties are to call upon 
 and welcome strangers; provide for sociables, and extend the 
 acquaintance of the membership. The committee on Tracts and 
 
i:.2 
 
 THE WHITE CITV — SOCIETIES. 
 
 IIBI 
 
 liHbj! 
 
 11 
 
 Publications provides for the circulation of the Scriptures, tracts 
 and other current denominational literature. The Missionary 
 Committee divides the territory of the church into districts ; se- 
 cures visitors; seeks new scholars for the Sunday school ; visits 
 absent scholars ; assists the pastor in securing contributions for 
 missions and other objects, and seeks to inspire the young with 
 a true christian spirit. The Committee on Temperance, distrib- 
 utes literature on the subject; arranges for meetings, and seeks 
 to diffuse a spirit of temperance in the community". The Ex- 
 ecutive Committee, consisting of ihe pastor and officers of the 
 Union, considers all matters of business and reports to the church 
 the progress of the work. 
 
 There is a course of Daily Bible Reading prescribed and a 
 Weekly Bible Study. The meetings of the Unions comprise the 
 Prayer Meeting, the Conquest fleeting and the Monthly Sym- 
 posium. 
 
 Different portions of the country are designated by different 
 colors: The Convention color is White; the color for Canada 
 is Scarlet; for the Northern States, east of the Mississippi, Gold; 
 for the Northern States, west of the Mississippi, Blue; and for 
 the Southern States, Olive Green. 
 
 While the Union is only two years old, it has now not less 
 than 4,500 local Unions, in thirty diiferent States and Provinces. 
 and about 300 Associate Unions. 
 
 An official organ called the Young People's Union is a bright, 
 newsy paper published at Chicago. 
 
ires, tracts 
 Vlissionary 
 Jtricts ; se- 
 ool; visits 
 )utious for 
 ouiig with 
 ce, distrib- 
 aiid seeks 
 The Ex- 
 ;ers of the 
 the church 
 
 ibed and a 
 mprise the 
 thly Sym- 
 
 )y different 
 "or Canada 
 lippi, Gold; 
 .e; and for 
 
 D\v not less 
 Provinces, 
 
 is a bright,