Sketch of the life, character, and public services of Oliver P. Morton

Front matter

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I

SKETCH

Chapter I. Ancestry And Youth

On the 4th of August, 1823, there was born, in the little village of Saulsbury, Wayne County, Indiana, a child who was destined to act a very conspicuous part in the history of his State and country, and whose name is now familiar as household words throughout the land. This was Oliver Perry Morton. At that time Saulsbury was the county-seat of Wayne County. The village has long since disappeared, and at this time scarcely a trace remains of it, only a slight irregularity in the surface of the earth indicating the former site of the old court-house. Indiana was admitted to the Union in 1816, so that the existence of the State antedates that of her greatest son only seven years, while a large portion of his life, briefly recorded in these pages, was closely identified with the most eventful passages in her history. No other man has ever been so revered or honored in Indiana, and of all those born within her borders none has contributed so largely to the honor and renown of the State as he of whom we write. It is fitting that the record of such a life, so full of inspiration and encouragement for the young, of edification for the old, and of interest for all, should be placed within easy reach of every citizen of the State, so that not only may his memory be sacredly preserved, but others be stirred to emulate his virtues.

Oliver Perry Morton was of English descent on his father's side, and from that race he probably drew some of the most marked traits of his character. Steadiness of purpose, strong convictions and devotion to the right, are commonly supposed to be especially characteristic of the English people, and Oliver P. Morton had all these qualities in a marked degree. His grandfather emigrated from England about the beginning of the Revolutionary War, and settled in New Jersey. The family name was originally Throckmorton, and was so written by the grandfather. It is not known just when this was changed to Morton, nor why, though a sufficient reason would be found in the fact of the latter being much more convenient. But the first syllable of the name has always been preserved in the family as a middle name. Oliver P. Morton's father's middle name was Throck, as is also that of one of his surviving sons. William T. Morton, father of Oliver P., was a native of New Jersey and a man of sterling worth. It is not known that he possessed any brilliant qualities, but he was a man of sound sense, excellent judgment, and strict integrity. While yet a young man

ANCESTRY AND YOUTH. 9

he emigrated to the West, and after a short sojourn in Ohio, finally located in Wayne County, Indiana. He married his first wife, a Miss Miller, at Spring Dale, Ohio, and by her had three children. His second wife was a sister of the first. Her maiden name was Sarah Miller, and this was the mother of Oliver P. Morton. Her ancestry is not known, but that she must have been a woman of amiable disposition and rare force t)f character we can readily believe from the remarkable combination of gentleness and force, of tenderness and strength found in her son. Observation confirms the law of physiology and nature that weak-minded women are rarely the mothers of great men. The same evidence which establishes the theory of hereditary transmission of intellect also proves that in a large majority of cases men who achieve greatness inherit their ruling traits from the mother. Under this law the mother of Oliver P. Morton, though perhaps neither educated nor accomplished, according to the common acceptation of these terms, must have been a woman of very high and noble qualities. She died while Oliver was quite young, so that he scarcely ever knew what it was to have a mother's love or care. The family, though not wealthy, were, for that day, in moderate and comfortable circumstances. The father was at one time engaged in the building of the old Hamilton and Cincinnati Canal, but his contracts proved unsuccessful and he returned to his trade, which was that of a shoemaker. When the county-seat was changed from Saulsbury to Centerville, he removed his shop from the former to the latter place on wheels.

But while the family were in moderately comfortable circumstances for that day, and able to maintain a respectable position, Oliver had none of the adventitious aids of wealth or social position in early life. Perhaps it happens as often as not that these are a positive detriment, and it may be that his strong and rugged character was better developed for the lack of such enervating aid as wealth might have brought. At all events one of the grandest lessons to be drawn from his career is that humble birth and adverse circumstances are no bar to the achievement of the highest distinction and greatest honors under our benign form of government.

Oliver P. Morton was named after Commodore Oliver H. Perry, the naval hero. The battle of Lake Erie had been fought not many years before, and the fact of his bearing this honored name shows that his father was fully imbued with the patriotic sentiments of that period. Oliver's full name was Oliver Hazard Perry Morton, but the second title was thrown aside just as the first syllable of the family surname had previously been for conveniency, and the name adopted as now well-known to fame. Of young Morton's early life we know but little. After the death of his mother much of his time, perhaps most of his boyhood, was passed with his grand-parents in Ohio and with two widowed aunts in Centerville. In later life he used to refer with reverence and affection to the pious teachings of his grand-parents. His aunts were Presbyterians of the strictest kind, and the early

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impressions received from them gave a coloring to the convictions of his whole life. His father's moderate circumstances allowed him little opportunity for earlyeducation, and it is not known that at this period of his life he gave any evidence of future greatness. When about fourteen years old he was placed by his aunts in the Wayne County Seminary. Professor S. K. Hoshour, who was principal of the school at that time, writes : " He was a timid and rather verdant-looking youth ; " and adds, " His mental manifestations at that time were not equal to those of some of his schoolmates, but his steady demeanor and persistent application to his studies gave him a respectable position in

his classes If some knowing genius had then

suggested to me that the future governor, par excellence, of Indiana was then in the group around me, I should probably have sought him in a more bustling form, with brighter eyes and a more marked head, than Oliver's." But the race is not always to the swift. If Oliver was not the most showy boy in his class he had qualities beneath the surface, as yet undeveloped, which were destined in future years to place him far above his fellows and cause him to be ranked among the great men of his time. He remained at this school a little more than a year and at the age of fifteen was put to work in Centerville with his elder half-brother, William T. Morton, to learn the hatter's trade. It was probably the expectation of his friends that this would be his life pursuit, but Providence had not so ordained. Even at that early age he felt powers and possibilities

L2 LIFE AND SERVICES OF OLIVER P. MORTON.

within him which demanded larger expression and fuller development. During the four years which he devoted to learning the hatter's trade his spare hours were spent in reading, and the information thus acquired begot so great a thirst for knowledge that he finally quit his trade in the beginning of 1843 and entered Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio. He remained at college two years, his vigorous mind eagerly grasping and appropriating all the means of knowledge within his reach. One of his teachers at that time says he was " a diligent, earnest student ; modest, but not timid ; plain, but not verdant ; and more anxious to acquire knowledge than to display it." The latter clause of this statement was characteristic of him through life ; he was always more anxious to understand a subject than to advertise his knowledge, prizing the consciousness of power far above mere display. During his stay at the institution above named he achieved the reputation of being the best debater in college, showing that those powers of analysis and argument which were to make him so celebrated in after life were now receiving their first development. He also became a favorite member of the Beta Theta Pi Society, a college organization whose exclusiveness is sufficient guarantee of the social as well as intellectual status of its members. From all this we infer that Morton stood well at college. After two years of study and hard fare (for he was too poor to pay for any board except what he could provide in his own room) he left college and immediately began the study of law in the office of Hon. John S. Newman,

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at Centerville, Indiana. This was in 1845, Morton being then nearly twenty-two years old. It speaks well for him, and for the record he had made at Centerville, that after an absence of some years he should have chosen to return there where he had passed so large a portion of his youth and begin the study of law among the friends and neighbors who had known him while he was learning the hatter's trade. On the 15th of May, 1845, he married Miss Lucinda M. Burbank, daughter of Isaac Burbank of that place. The marriage proved a very happy one, and the gentle lady with whom he thus became united exercised a most gracious influence over his subsequent life and fortunes. The period of boyhood and youth being thus passed he stands upon the threshold of active life a married man, his profession chosen but not yet acquired, with a fair though not thorough education, but with clear head, stout heart, and steady purpose. This was the capital with which Oliver Perry Morton started in life.

Chapter II. Morton As A Lawyer

At this period of his life it is not probable that Mr. Morton had any political aspirations or indeed any plans beyond acquiring a knowledge of law and taking a proper position at the bar. And in the prosecution of this object he had no time to lose, for having assumed the responsibilities of married life it behooved him to qualify himself as soon as possible to earn a livelihood. But he was not a man who ever lost time about anything he undertook. He was always intensely in earnest, never a trifler, never wasting time nor dallying with duty. Even in the manner of his marriage we seem to discern an evidence of the decision with which he acted in all matters and which was one of his ruling characteristics. Prudential considerations might have suggested the postponement of this event until he had acquired his profession and been admitted to the bar. He chose to take the important step at once, and rely on his future efforts to meet the responsibilities it involved.

To the study of law Mr. Morton brought the same energy of purpose and conscientious effort which had now become a recognized trait of his character. His two years of college experience, while they had not by any means given him a finished education, had taught him how to study, and he grappled with the intricacies of the law like one who both intended to master them and was conscious of his ability to do so. Judge Newman, his preceptor, says he was laborious in his studies, strictly temperate in his habits, and genial in his manners. As in college he had developed solid rather than brilliant qualities, so in the study of law he had the reputation of being a close and thorough student rather than a showy one. His preceptor is our authority again for the statement that "he was a very thorough reader and possessed in a remarkable degree the power of thinking at all times and in every place." He was admitted to the bar in 1847. At that time the bar of Wayne and adjacent counties embraced a number of the best lawyers in the State, among whom might be mentioned John S. Newman, Caleb B. Smith, Samuel W. Parker, Jehu T. Elliott, James Rariden, Charles H. Test, and others whose names are still well remembered throughout eastern Indiana. Thus, at the very outset of his career, Mr. Morton found himself brought into professional contact with some of the ablest and most cultivated men who have ever graced the profession in Indiana. It was a good school for a young lawyer and well calculated to put him to his best efforts and bring out all there was in him. Though he did not leap at once to fame, as indeed few lawyers in this or any other country have ever done, his success was assured from the beginning, and he soon came to be recognized as one of the soundest lawyers on that circuit.

Surviving members of the bar who met him on the circuit speak in terms of high respect of his ability and attainments as a lawyer. A friend who knew him well at that time says : " At the bar he soon became known all over eastern Indiana, and friends and business multiplied rapidly everywhere." It is the testimony of all who knew him at this period of his life, members of the legal profession and others, that he possessed a remarkable faculty of grasping the salient points of a case and getting at the heart of a legal question. He was never a man of many words, but what he said went to the core of things. His mind was massive and logical. He had, in a remarkable degree, the faculty of applying great legal principles to given cases, of discarding nonessentials and getting at decisive points. He advanced steadily in the practice, and soon came to be regarded as a rising lawyer. So successful was he that in five years after his admission to the bar he was appointed by the Governor circuit judge to fill an existing vacancy on the bench. Considering the circuit and the character of the lawyers who then practiced there, this was a high distinction, and was justly regarded as a handsome recognition of Mr. Morton's personal and professional merit. At this time he was only twenty-nine years old. He filled this position with credit to himself and with entire satisfaction to the profession and the public. During the summer of 1852 he exchanged with the judge of the Indianapolis circuit (the latter having been counsel in some of the cases pending in his court) and held court at the capital of the State for several 'days, strongly impressing the bar by his mastery of legal principles and by the clearness and force of his decisions.

Some of Mr. Morton's unfriendly critics have asserted that he was not a good lawyer. This assumption is founded either in prejudice or in misinformation. The rapidity with which he advanced to a successful practice in a circuit which embraced some of the best lawyers in the State would be a sufficient answer to this untruthful criticism, but we are permitted to add to this the uniform testimony of all those surviving members of the profession who remember him either at the bar or on the bench. If Mr. Morton had not been a great statesman he would have been a great lawyer. The memorial unanimously adopted by the bar of Indianapolis after his death, drafted by a committee composed of some of its ablest members, said : " Having chosen his profession, Senator Morton's place in it, by natural right, was the front rank, and without a struggle he was conspicuous there by force of character, generous stores of learning, and eminent ability. He was a judge remarkable for the wise, speedy, and impartial administration of justice, on an important circuit, at an age when most men are making their first steps in professional life." At the meeting at which this memorial was adopted Governor Hendricks said : " I never met Governor Morton in court, and had no knowledge of his habits in the management of causes. I have heard

I from others, however, that which convinced me that he was very able, and I know that he must have been so, because he possessed every qualification for eminence in our profession." One who had met him on the circuit, said : " His great characteristic was that he studied up his cases, and he never came into court without giving evidence of careful preparation. He was an impressive talker, as every lawyer will testify I

distinctly remember that in the four years before he was called into the service of the State, he literally annihilated everybody connected with the bar of Wayne County, and walked rough-shod over all the other lawyers of the circuit There are probably few men

who have at the same age surpassed him in ability and success." Another gentleman, an eminent member of the Indianapolis bar, said : " I have seen Governor Morton at the bar and remember the talent he displayed in

the conduct of an important cause He was a

great lawyer." Another, prominent at the Indianapolis bar, and known throughout the State, writes : " I saw him (Mr. Morton) but once in the exercise of the functions of judge. It was in the summer of 1852, in the

Marion Circuit Court His decision was a clear

and forcible enunciation of the law, that left no doubt in the' minds of those who heard it of its correctness. His manner during the argument and in rendering his judgment was dignified, judicial, and becoming in an eminent degree." The Hon. John Caven, present mayor of Indianapolis, said : " My first address after I. commenced the practice of law was made before him as presiding judge, and I remember to have been greatly impressed at the time with the ability he manifested in summing up "the case." Judge Jacob B. Julian, who knew Mr. Morton almost from boyhood, said : " With surprising speed he mastered the elementary principles of the law, and was admitted to the bar. Entering into the practice, his growth as a lawyer was rapid, and his professional success assured. I practiced in the same court with him for fifteen years. He was an able associate, and a formidable competitor. He was polite and gentlemanly in his intercourse with his professional brethren, — in every respect he was a high-toned, honorable gentleman. He bid fair to become one of the foremost lawyers of the United States, and doubtless would have been if he had not been called into political life." Evidence might be multiplied to prove Mr. Morton's ability as a lawyer, but the foregoing must suffice. It is sufficient answer to those who have, either in ignorance or malice, denied the fact.

Mr. Morton served as judge about a year, but the position was not altogether to his taste, and when his term expired by the adoption of the new constitution in 1852, he willingly relinquished the judgeship to resume the practice of law. Being naturally of a controversial cast of mind, he preferred the bar to the bench and professional combat to judicial service. And here we have to record a somewhat singular circumstance. After leaving the bench, and before resuming the active practice of law, Mr. Morton went to Cincinnati and took a six months' course in the law school of that city. Few lawyers would have done this, and, considering his previous years of study and practice, it may be doubted whether there was much necessity for it in his case. The fact that he did so, however, was altogether creditable to him as evincing a desire to correct whatever deficiencies might exist in his early education and to perfect himself in the law. A prominent member of the Cincinnati bar, commenting on this fact, says : " I have always regarded it as much to his credit that before returning to legal practice he took this term of six months for systematic study." This was in keeping with his whole character. He always mastered whatever he undertook and was not a man to be deterred by false pride from going back to acquire knowledge in which he might have felt or imagined himself to be deficient. This is probably the only case on record of a man going to law school after five years of practice and a highly creditable service on the bench. During a portion of this time he had for a room-mate Mr. Murat Halstead, then recently from college, and now editor of " The Cincinnati Commercial." This gentleman has kindly furnished some personal recollections of Mr. Morton at this period. He says : " I was much interested in Morton at the time, and have a very clear recollection of his appearance and movements. It is possible this is vivified by his subsequent celebrity, but I was not surprised when he became a distinguished man. I remember that some one said Morton wore the largest hat and the largest boots in the house. This was true as to the boots, I know.

He was intently studious, and exerted himself to the utmost to remedy the deficiencies of his early education. Time was very precious to him, and he gave his strength to the work. He talked and walked a littie in his sleep, the result of the strain on his mind. Physically he was not a giant, but he had remarkable power. He was not, however, as tough as he was vigorous; his muscles were formidable, and yet he had delicacy of organization. His smile was winning and his ways persuasive. He had the amiabilities that became a strong man. After our experience as roommates we did not meet for several years, and I have no recollection that we exchanged letters, but I heard of him through others." After six months of close study he returned to his profession and devoted himself to the practice with an assiduity and zeal that won new success and adequate reward. This was the period in which he was best known as a lawyer. During the next few years he laid the foundation of a modest competence, the bulk of the moderate fortune which he left behind him having been acquired during these years of hard work. Between 1852 and 1860 nearly all of his time and energy were given to the law, with the exception of some digressions into politics to be noted hereafter. Events were now shaping themselves which were destined to change the whole course of his life and in a most remarkable manner develop the latent forces of his character ; but before treating of these events in detail it will be proper to speak of Mr. Morton's politics and of the condition of political parties at that time.

Chapter III. Entrance Into Politics

During the first ten years of his adult life Mr. Morton was a Democrat. The early traditions of that party exercised a peculiar power over the minds of ambitious young men, and the public conscience was not yet fully aroused as to its corrupt and dangerous tendencies. Mr. Morton was reared to believe in Democratic doctrines, and when he became a voter (1844) slavery was still generally regarded as a sacred institution, upon the protection of which depended the perpetuity of the Union. This idea had been so long inculcated by Southern Democrats, and so submissively accepted by those of the North, that it had become firmly imbedded in the politics of the country, and for any member of the party to question its justice or soundness was to court political excommunication. The dangerous and aggressive character of slavery, asserting itself through the Democratic party, was but just beginning to be understood, and though a public sentiment was forming which was destined to sweep them both out of existence, it was as yet unorganized and undefined. It was hardly respectable to be an antislavery man, and the term abolitionist was a badge of political disgrace

The Democratic party had controlled the general government with but little interruption since the beginning of the century, and was never more autocratic or apparently more powerful than during the administration of James K. Polk from 1844 to 1849. If it contained the seeds of dissolution they had not yet begun to germinate. Mr. Morton's first vote was cast for Polk, and for nearly ten years after that he continued to act with the Democracy, but to his honor be it said he was among the first to discern the dangerous tendencies of his party and to rebel against the haughty dictation of the slave power. Without tracing the course of events during this period, it is enough to say that in 1854 the Democratic party repealed the Missouri Compromise and passed the Kansas-Nebraska bill. This crowning act of infamy at once betrayed the whole purpose of the slave power, and opened the way for those to leave the party who had already become convinced of its faithlessness and treachery. Among this number was Oliver P. Morton. Though he had up to this time been a Democrat in good standing, tolerating slavery as a necessary evil and as belonging to the traditional policy of his party, he had always been opposed to its extension. Therefore when slavery extension was made the touchstone of party fealty he was not slow in deciding what course to pursue. He left the Democracy, and from that time forth acted with the friends of liberty and progress, who subsequently came together under the name of the Republican party.

Mr. Morton has been charged with being a self-seeking politician. Surely there was nothing of this evinced in the time and manner of his leaving the Democratic party. It was then in the full flush of its power, and to all appearances might be expected to control the government for manyyears to come. Indiana was a strong Democratic State. He was young, able, popular, and regarded on all hands as a rising man. There was hardly any position within the gift of his party in this State that he might not reasonably have hoped to attain in a very short time. Yet he chose to sacrifice these prospects for principle's sake, and to identify himself with a movement and a party which, so far as human foresight could judge at the time, had no earthly hope of success. Thus the first political act of his life of which we have any record was based upon principle, and actuated by conviction. For many years after this his former political associates were accustomed to charge him with inconsistency and a betrayal of his party because he failed to support its policy on the slavery question. It needs no argument now to refute this charge. The policy of the party in this regard was such that no Northern Democrat of principle or with a proper sense of manhood could indorse it. Mr. Morton was among the earliest in Indiana to repudiate it. His moral sense revolted against lending his influence or vote to the extension of slavery, while his manhood rebelled against the servile submission to Southern dictation. In this situation he could do nothing but leave the party, and could go nowhere except into the new Republican organization. At this time the central idea of the Repub-

ENTEANCE INTO POLITICS. 25

lican party was opposition to the extension of slavery. It was a party of resistance rather than of aggression. It did not advocate the abolition of slavery, although many individual members of the party were abolitionists. Several years elapsed before this policy came to be recognized as a political duty and part of the inevitable. Even as late as March, 1860, in a speech delivered at Terre Haute, Mr. Morton said : " I see that several of the Democratic newspapers have revived against me the cheap and worn-out allegation that I

am an abolitionist If the persons making this

charge know me to be an abolitionist they can undoubtedly state some political act or declaration of opinion on my part in proof. If they were asked what constitutes an abolitionist they could answer, if they have any clear ideas on the subject, that he is one who is in favor of abolishing slavery where it now exists, and who claims that it is the right and duty of the State in which he lives, or of the general government, to perform the act. I am opposed to the diffusion of slavery. I am in favor of preserving the Territories to freedom, of encouraging, elevating, and protecting free labor, at the same time conscientiously believing that with slavery in the several States we have nothing to do and no right to interfere. If this makes an abolitionist then I am one, and my political enemies may make the most of it. The vague and senseless epithet has lost its terrors. A long, indiscriminate application of it by Democratic politicians to all who oppose them has stripped it of all title to consideration whatever." Thus, even as late as 1860, a leading Republican like Mr. Morton was rather restive under the epithet of abolitionist. The fact is that opposition to the extension of slavery, not abolition of it, was the central idea of the Republican party during the early years of its existence. The Democratic party, under Providence, made the abolition of slavery necessary and possible. But we are somewhat anticipating the course of this narrative.