The life and public services of Hon. Henry Wilson

Front matter

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Preface

A STATESMAN eminent for patriotism and integrity is a national instructor. The record of his life, his services, and his opinions, is, ta some extent, an exposition of the spirit and progress of the people whom he represents; and the people have the right to claim it, not only as a memorial of the past, but as an inspiration for the present, and a light for times to come.

Pre-eminently may this be asserted in regard to the distinguished man whose biography we now purpose to write.

Holding himself steady to his noble purposes, he has been so prominent an actor in the remarkable events of the last twenty years, he has been so identified with the life of the republic, that an account of his official career becomes, in some respects, the key to the history of the country for that period ; while in the development of the principles of freedom which he makes, in the consistent life he leads, and in the counsel he imparts, we have our hopes in the permanency of popular government brightened, and our steps directed as we rise to national strength and grandeur.

6 PREFACE.

In making a register of his life, the authors have had access to oriorinal sources of information, and have availed themselves of every aid within their reach for the verification of their statements as to matters of fact. They have endeavored to present opinions frankly and fairly, and to render this biography as complete as the allotted time and space would permit.

If this book, in spite of any errors, tends to do justice to the character and course of one of the representative men of the present times, to give dignity to labor, to inspire working-men with confidence in themselves, and stronger love for our country, the end for which it is written will be attained.

COl^TEIJTTS.

Chapter I

The Colbaths. — Farraington People in 1812. — Mr. Winthrop Colbath and •\yife. _ Introduction of Son to Mrs. Guy's Scliool. — Sciiool-Books of thoae Days. — Change of Residence. — Visit to Mrs. Eastman.- Testament.- Hard Times in the Family. —Young Colbath goes to live with Mr. William Knights.- His Labors on the Farm. —Kindness of Mrs. Eastman. — Young Colbath's Love of Books.- His Reading. — Faithfulness to his Employer. — His Frugality. — Freedom. — Compensation . — Change of Name. — Character. — Search for Labor. — Resolves to go to Natlck and become a Shoemaker

Chapter II

Journey to Natick. — Visits Bunker Hill and the Office of " The North-American Review." — The Town of Natick. — Shoeraaking. — Lets himself to learn the Trade. — Makes Forty-seven Pairs and a Half of Shoes without gloep. — Forms a Debating Club. — Improves in Speaking. — Deacon Cooljdge. — Health impaired. — Visits Washington in 1836. — Opposition to Shivery. — Williams's Slave-Pen. — His Own Account of his Visit. — Attends Academies in New Hampshire. — School-Teaching. — Studies. — Attends an Antislavery Convention at Concord, N.H. — Loss of Funds.— Returns to Natick. — Improvements in the Village. — He begins to manufacture Shoes. — Character as a Business-Man. — Amount of Business done.— His Regard to Principle

CHAPTER m.

The Rev. E.D.Moore: his Views, and Regard for Mr. Wilson. — The Rev. Samuel Hunt: his Influence. — Bible-Class. — Presentation of a Watch.— Marriage. — Mrs. Wilson's Character. — Her Influence over her Husband.— Their House and Home. — Birth of a Son. — Mr. Wilson's Regard for Temperance.— Speech.— Candidate for General Court. — Defeated on the Fifteen-gallon Law. —Enters the Harrison Campaign. — General Enthusiasm of Xhe People. — He makes his first Political Speech. — Addresses more than Sixty Audiences. — His Manner. — Elected to General Court. — Story of the Farmer. — His Industry. - His Views of Slavery.— Advocates Repeal of Law against Intermarriage of Blacks and Whites. — Defeated as

8 CONTENTS.

Candidate for Senate. — Elected to that Body the Next Tear, and for 1845.

— Contends for the Right of Colored Cliildren to a Seat in the Public Schools.- Remarks thereon. — Advance in Public Sentiment. — Mr. Wil- 80d'8 Mission 38

Chapter IV

His Military Turn of Mind. — Reading. — Views of War. — Views of the Militia System. — Election as Major, 1843. — Colonel and Brigadier-General, 1846. — Regard for Discipline. — Popularity with Soldiers. — Speech in the Senate. — Peace and War. — Preparations for more Important Duties. — His Regard for Temperance. — Speech at Natick, 1845. — A Citizen at Home. — Appreciated by bis Townsmen 61

CHJVPTER V.

Southern Efforts to annex Texas to the United States. — Mr. Wilson's Amendment to Resolutions against Annexation in the Senate adopted. — Call for a Convention. — Opposed by Whigs. — Held in Faneuil Hall, Jan. 27. — Address to the People. — The True Reformer. — Meeting at Waltham. — Mr. Wilson's Views. — Convention at Concord, 1845. — Mr. Hunt. — Meeting at Cambridge, Oct. 21. — Address of Mr. Wilson. -Persistent Eftbrts. — Curries Petitions to W^ashinglon. — Refuses to take Wine with Mr. Adams.

— State Representative in 1846. — Introduces Resolution on Slavery. — Eloquent Speech thereou. — Mr. Garrison's View of it. — Regard for the Constitution 60

Chapter VI

Regard of the People. — Delegate to the National Convention. — Withdraws from that Body. — Origin of the Free-soil Party. — "Boston Republican."

— Editor of — Its Principles and Influence. — Chairman of Free-soil State Committee. — Member of the House, 18.50. — Mr. Webster's 7th-of-Marcb Speech. — The Coalition. — Election of Mr. Sumner to the United-States Senate, 1851. — Mr. Sumner's Letter. — Mr. Wilson made Chairman of the Senate that Year. — Address on taking the Chair. — A Contrast. — ''The Liberator." — Harvard University. — Thanks of the Senate, and Closing Address. — Delegate to Pittsburg. — Candidate for Congress, 1852. — Chairman of the Senate, 1852. — His Course in the Senate. — Welcome to Kossuth. — Sympathy between them. — His Punctuality. — Gold Watch . . 88

CHAPTER Vn.

A Friend of his Pastor. — Hard Study.— Temperance. — Books and Authors.

— The Source of Civil Liberty. — No " Back-BIows." — Cheerful Spirit.— Home. — Gift to his Minister. — Revision of the State Constitution. — Elected by Natick and Berlin. — Punctuality. — His Course. — How he looked at a Legal Question. — Chairman pro <em. — Speech in Favor of Colored Troops.

— On the Death of Mr. Gourgas of Concord. — On the Course of Harvard College in Respect to I'rof Bo wen. — Address to his Constituents. — Reason

for Defeat of the A mendments. — Cost and Influence of the Convention . 103

Contents

CHAPTER Vin.

Candidate for Governor. — Defeated. — Not disheartened. — Visit to Washington. — His Grand Idea. — Ready to surrender Party for Principle. — Convention at Worcester, 1854. — Again nominated for Governor, and defeated. — State goes into the American Organization. — His Views. — Southern Domination. — Antislavery Sentiment increasing. — Sumner. — Mr. Wilson nominated United-States Senator. — His Firmness. — His Election. — United- States Senate-Chamber. — His Fitness for the Place. — His Personal Appearance. — His First Speech. — Letter from Mr. Ashmun. — Extract from Mr. Parker's Sermon, and Letter from the Same

CHAPTER EX.

Chapter I

INTRODUCTION. -;- MR. WILSOn's FAMILY, BIRTH, BOYHOOD, APPRENTICESHIP, AND EDUCATION.

The Colbaths. — Farmin^on People in 1812. — Mr. Winthrop Colbath and Wife. — Introduction of Son to Mrs. Guy's School. — School-Books of those Days. — Change of Residence. — Visit to Mrs. Eastman. — Testament. — Hard Times in the Family. — Young Colbath goes to live with Mr. William Knights. — His Labors on the Farm. — Kuidness of Mrs. Eastman.— Young Colbath's Love of Books. — His Reading. — Faithfulness to his Employer. — His Frugality. — Freedom. — Compensation. — Change of Name. — Character. — Search for Labor. — Resolves to go to Natick and become a Shoemaker.

ONE of the essential benefits of liberal institutions is the opportunity afforded by them for developing the mental energies of the masses of the population. Freedom is the fostering mother of the intellect and intelligence of the entire people.

The voice of civil liberty, like that of Christianity, is, " Ho ! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters ; and he that hath no money; and whosoever will, let him come." Hence America is the best country in the world for men to make themselves.

" Sometimes," remarked an intelligent Japanese, " we express our feelings in Japan : opinions we have none."

Here we entertain opinions ; we express them freely ; and, through the clashing of opinions, make advancement. Our destiny is placed in our own hands ; and every man is rated, as he ought to he, according to his worth. There is the goal, the prize : the track is clear, and the best champion wins.

Thus from the bosom of the people came up Washington, Jackson, Clay, and Lincoln ; and thus arose the legislator whose career we now attempt to trace.

Henry Wilson is the son of Winthrop and Abigail Colbath ; and was born in Farmington, N.H., on* the sixteenth day of February, 1812. His father was the son of Winthrop Colbath ; and was born in that town on the seventh day of April, 1787; and died in Natick, Mass., on the tenth day of February, 1860. His m'other was born on the twenty-first day of March, 1785 ; and died on the eighth day of August, 1866. They rest side by side in the cemetery at Natick, where the son has erected marble headstones to their memory.

The Colbath family, originally, as supposed, from Argyleshire in Scotland, emigrated to the north of Ireland in the troublesome times of James the First ; thence to America, and settled at Newington, N.H., early in the eighteenth century.

At the time of Mr. Wilson's birth, his parents were living in a small cottage on the right bank of the Cocheco River, about one mile south^of the "Dock," as the village of Farmington was then called. The site of the cottage is on a gentle eminence commanding a pleasant prospect of the river and surrounding country.

Farmington, which is in Strafford County, and about thirty-five miles north-east from Concord, and seventeen north-west from Dover, contained, at this period, about

DsTTRODUCTION. 15

twelve liundred inhabitants ; and tliej were mostly engaged in agricultural pursuits. They earned their livelihood by the sweat of the brow. They had but slender educational advantages ; and their style of speech, of dress, of building, and of life in general, was plain and unpretending. They generally spun and wove their own garments from wool of their own raising. They stored their barns with hay in summer, their cellars with apples and cider in the autumn. They spent the long winter evenings around the ample fireplace in shelling corn, making brooms, cracking nuts, singing songs, and telling stories of the times gone

by.

Mr. Winthrop Colbatli was a poor day-laborer, engaged for many years in running a saw-mill on the river below his house. He was rather tall, good-looking, agile, brave, and quick at repartee. His wife was handsome, fond of reading, sensible, and industrious. Her eyes were very keen and piercing. For his father and mother Mr. Wilson ever entertained and cherished the most affectionate and kind regard.

Like other indigent and hard-working people of New England, Mr. Wilson's parents saw the value of the public school, and early introduced their bright-eyed son to the tuition of Mistress Guy, who quickly taught him how to read and spell, from Perry's " Spelling-Book " and " The Primer," in the old wooden schoolhouse.

He was a studious and obedient pupil, improving well the opportunities he had for learning in his boyhood.

The school-books at that time in Farmington were Welch's and Adams's " Arithmetics," " The English Reader," " The American Preceptor," and " The Columbian Orator." Over these this hoy spent many an hour in the long seats of the unpainted district schoolhouse ;

16 LIFE OF HENRY WILSOK.

and whatever entered his retentive memory remained as in a vice, — fixed and unchangeable.

When he was about seven years old, his father built a small house in front of an old grove of pines, just where the Cocheco River makes a beautiful bend to the right, and to this place removed his little family. Nothing now remains to indicate the spot except the cellar, and some peach and cherry trees growing in the enclosure.

When he was eight years old (1820), a little incident took place which had some influence upon his future course of life. Mrs. Anstress (Woodbury) Eastman, wife of the Hon. Nehemiah Eastman, and sister of the Hon. Levi Woodbury, seeing him pass her house, called him to her, gave him some clothes of which he was in need, and inquired if he knew how to read. " Yes, pretty well," he answered her. " Come, then, and see me at my house to-morrow," she replied with kindness. Early the next morning he presented himself before the lady ; when she said to him, " I had intended to give a Testament to some good boy that would be likely to make a proper use of it. You tell me you can read : now take this book, and let me hear you." He read a chapter in the Testament. " Now carry the book home with you," said she, " i*ead it entii'ely through, and you shall have it."

Gladly he accepted the condition ; for a book he had never owned, and to him it was a golden treasure. He hurried home to read it, After seven days he called again at Mrs. Eastman's house, and said to her that he had read the book from beginning to end.

" It cannot be ! " said Mrs. Eastman with surprise. " But lot me try you." So, calling him to her side, she carefully examined him till she was fully satisfied that he had read the Testament entirely through, and fairly won the prize he coveted.

INTEODUCTION. 17

Mr. Wilson has publicly declared that the reading of this Testament, which he still keeps, together with the subsequent examination, was the starting-point in his intellectual life. .

The times, especially for the working-men, were very gloomy at this period. The war with England had impoverisiied the country. Money was scarce ; wages were low. Want and sickness entered the Colbath family. Three of the little children died, and were buried in the field opposite the house. In reference to these days of trial, Mr. Wilson once, in public, said, " I was born in poverty : Want sat by my cradle. I know what it is to ask a mother for bread when she has none to give."

So, in his reply to Mr. Hammond, who had characterized working-men as " the mud-sills of society," he thus touchingly alluded to these early days of trial : —

" Poverty cast her dark and chilling shadow over the home of my childhood, and Want was there sometimes an unbidden guest. At the age of ten years, to aid him who gave me being in keeping the gaunt spectre from the hearth of the mother who bore me, I left the home of my boyhood, and went to earn my bread by ' daily labor.' "

This active boy, nurtured in adversity, had a vigorous constitution : above all, he had an inspiration ; and a boy with an inspiration is far better than a boy with a great fortune.

In the summer of 1822 he was bound by indenture to a hard-working farmer of the neighborhood to serve him on his farm until the age of twenty-one. By the terms of the indenture, he was to have one month's schooling in the winter, food and raiment, with six sheep and a yoke of oxen to be delivered to him at the expiration of his time of sei'vice. He went to live with Mr. Knight upon the

18 LIFE' OF HENHY WILSON.

seventh day of August, being then a little more than ten years old, and began at once the hard work of the farm. As he increased in age, his toil became more steady and severe. In summer he swung the scythe, or handled the sickle, till the evening stars appeared : in winter he cut timber in the forest.

But while thus laboring uncomplainingly, and developing by incessant toil his physical system, he was also turning every moment he could save from house and iarm work to the improvement of his mind. He read with intense avidity whatever books came in his way ; and he remembered what he read.

" I believe," says Walter Scott, " one reason why such numerous instances of erudition occur among the lower ranks is, that, with the same powers of mind, the poor student is limited to a narrow circle for indulging his passion for books, and must necessarily make himself master of the few he possesses ere he can acquire more."

This poor boy had, at first, no books except his Testament and the text-books of the district school. He read them over and over again, committed many parts of them to memory, and longed for more. Mrs. Eastman, as a kind of guardian angel, still watched over him. She noticed his regard for books : she kindly made selections for him from her husband's library, and lent him volume after volume. This was a godsend to him. Every moment he could now steal from toil was spent in reading. This was his pastime and his recreation. Some of the happiest moments of his life were spent in running, when work was over, to the dwelling of his benefactress for another book. By the light of the kitchen-fire — for he had no money to purchase oil — he went through volume after volume ; sometimes reading on, unconscious of the

INTRODUCTION. 19

flight of time, until the morning broke. In this way he perused the leading works of the British and American statesmen and historians, the fascinating pages of Irving, Cooper, and Scott, all the then published numbers of " The North-American Review," and many other current publications of the day.

Judge Whitehouse of Farmington also lent him many books, and directed him in his course of reading. It was fortunate that he met with such intelligent guides, and that the best works in English and American literature thus fell into his hands ; for it is the quality rather than the quantity of the material received into the mind that yields valuable increase.

So industriously had this hard-working boy availed himself of these means of culture, that, at the expiration of his time of service (February, 1833), he had read, and then held in mind, nearly a thousand volumes of history, biography, philosophy, and general literature. Thus he bore away from that hard farm more solid information, and a heart better prepared to toil and to achieve, than many bear away with the diploma from the university.

To the interests of his employer he was ever faithful. His eye was quick, his judgment clear ; his health was good; his habits were correct; and hence his services were valuable.

On closing them he received the promised compensation, six sheep and a yoke of oxen, all of which he sold immediately for the sum of eighty-four dollars cash. So poor had he been up to this period, that he had never possessed two dollars ; and a single dollar would cover every i^enny he had ever spent.

Having now arrived at the age of twenty-one, he, by an act of the legislature, had his name changed from Jeremiah

Jones Colbath to Henry Wilson. This was done by the advice of the family he had lived with, and with the approval of his parents.

The question now before Mr. Wilson was, " How shall I obtain a livelihood, and assist my father and his family ? " He set himself at once to seek employment ; and the struggles which it cost him to obtain it will forever keep alive his sympathies for the working-people.

He hired himself for several months in Farmington ; but the compensation was so trivial, that he soon resolved to leave his native town, and find work elsewhere. He packed up his clothes and visited several places, seeking for it, but in vain. He himself shall tell the story. Addressing the citizens of Great Falls last February, he said, —

" I know what it is to travel weary miles, and ask my fellow-men to give me leave to toil. I remember, that, in 1833, I walked into your village from my native town, and went through your mills, seeking employment. If anybody had offered me eight or nine dollars a month, I should have accepted it gladly. I went down to Salmon Falls, I went to Dover, I went to Newmarket, and tried to get work, without success ; and I returned home weary, but not discouraged, and put my pack on my back, walked to the town where I now live, and learned a mechanic's trade. I know the hard lot that toiling men have to endure in this world ; and every pulsation of my heart, every conviction of my judgment, puts me on the side of the toiling men of my country, — ay, of all countries. I am glad the working-men in Europe are getting discontenteil and want better wages. I thank God that a man in the United States to-day can earn from three to four dollars in ten hours' work easier than he could, forty

INTRODUCTION. 21

years ago, earn one dollar, working from twelve to fifteen hours. The first month I worked after I was twenty-one years of age, I went into the woods, drove team, cut milllogs, rose in the morning before daylight, and worked hard until after dark at night ; and I received for it the magnificent sum of six dollars ! — and, when I got the money, those dollars looked as large to me as the moon looks to-night."

Unsuccessful in obtaining employment in New Hamj)- shire, Mr. Wilson finally determined to seek his fortune in the State of Massachusetts. He had heard of the prices paid for making shoes in the enterprising town of Natick : hence he resolved to go there, and to try a new vocation. He had learned to endure hardship without murmuring. His hand and eye were well trained ; his head was clear ; his heart was honest ; his store of knowledge large ; he had a sound mind in a sound body. His purpose was to work : what, then, could be expected of him but success ?

CHAPTER ri.

MR. WILSON LEAVES NEW HAMPSHIRE. HARD WORK AT

NATICK. DEBATING SOCIETY. VISIT TO WASHING- TON. STRUGGLES FOR AN EDUCATION. MR.

WILSON AS A MANUFACTURER.

Journey to Natick. — Visits Bunker Hill and the Office of " The North -American Review." — The Town of Natick. — Shoemakiiig — Lets himself to learn the Trade. — Mikes Forty-seven Pairs and a Half of Shoes without Sleep. — Forms a Debating Club. — Improves in Speaking. — Deacon Coolidge. — Health impaired. — Visits Washington in 1836. — Opposition to Slavery. — Williams's Slave-Pen. — His Own Account of his Visit. — Attends Academies in New Hampshire. — School-Teaching. — Studie?. — Attends an Antislavery Convention at Concord, N.H. — Loss of Funds. — Returns to Natick. — Improvements in the Village. — He begins to manufacture Shoes. — Character as a Business-Man. — Amount of Business done. — His Re_.;ard to Principle.

IN December, 1833, Mr. Wilson packed up his slender wardrobe, bade his friends farewell, and set out on foot for the town of Natick. He had but little money in his pocket ; and he resolved to make the journey with as little expense as possible. On the first day he travelled as far as Durham, where he obtained lodo;ing with a farmer; the next night he reached Salisbury, on the Merrimack River ; and in the morning following visited Newburyport, where, to ease his blistered feet, he purchased for twenty-five cents a pair of slip|)ers, in which he more comfortably pursued his way. Arriving at night at Saugus, he found entertainment iu

MR. WILSON LEAVES NEW HASIPSHLEE. 23

a private family ; and his waking dreams were of the famous city of Boston, whicii he was to see, for the first time, on the morrow. The two points of special interest to him were Bunker Hill, whose story had so often thrilled his imagination ; and the office of " The North- American Review," which had sent forth so many learned articles to instruct him, and to lighten the burden of his toil at Farmington.

Rising early, and paying twenty-five cents for his lodging, he recommenced his journey, and in a few hours stood upon the celebrated spot- where Warren fell. His quick eye swept over the whole scene ; his imagination pictured forth the first grand action on behalf of freedom in America. It was to him an inspiration.

On leaving this memorable spot, he inquu'ed the way to the office of " The North-American Review," which he found to be at 141 Washington Street, and something less than he anticipated. " Can so much good," thought he, "■come out of Nazareth ?" and so, having seen what he considered worthy of consideration in the city, he inquired the way to Natick. Some one misdirected him, and sent him, by a detour of several miles, through the town of Dedham. On arriving about midnight at his point of destination, he stopped at the old tavern on the turnpike in the western part of the village, and found, on examining his exchequer, that he had spent just a dollar and five cents in travelling the whole distance of about a liundred miles from Farmington to Natick. Such Spartan- • like endurance and economy were no mean elements in the training of the future statesman.

Natick, which in the Nipmuck language signifies " a place of hills," is seventeen miles south-west of Boston, and, as the name would indicate, has its full share of

24 LIFE OF nENRY WILSON.

scenic beauty. From the suininits of Fiske and Pegan Hills the eye enjoys encliaiiting prospects, sweei)ing from Fiske Hill over the waters of Cochituate Lake and the handsome buildings of the village ; while from Pegan it follows the meanderings of Charles River through the valleys of Needham and of Dedham, and rests upon the distant spires of Boston and the monument on Bunker Hill.

• In passing through the southern section- of the town, Washington once remarked, " Nature seems to have been lavish of her beauties here." It was at the point where the celebrated John Eliot had an Indian church, and taught, beneath the shade of an outspi'eading oak, the principles of the gospel to the aborigines.

At the time of Mr. Wilson's arrival, the town contained about a thousand people, mostly farmers ; and at the central village there was a Congregational church, of which the Rev. Erasmus D. Moore, who became an earnest friend and counsellor of Mr. Wilson, was the pastor. TJiere was then no lawyer in the place, nor any need of one. There was but little culture, enterprise, or aspiration. Less than eight hundred dollars annually were appropriated to the support of public schools; and the buildings in which they were taught were rude and comfortless.

But that branch of industry for which this town has since become so celebrated had already gained a foothold here. A few enterprising men had begun to manufacture siioes, yet on a very limited scale and capital, for the Southern market. Division of labor, machinery, and those various arts and appliances which render this business at the present day so lucrative, had found no entrance into the workshop.

Then, instead of working on a single part, each work-

HARD WORK AT NATICK. 25

man made the entire shoe. It was called a " broo;an," and was sold by wholesale at the rate of about a dollar per pair. The process of making was slow ; the teaming to Boston was expensive ; and hence the business was not specially remunerative nor inviting. Mr. Wilson was, howevei', glad to find employment. Any thing was better than the exhausting drudgery of the fiirm he left, which afforded hiin very little leisure either for recreation of the body, or cultivation of the mind. He hired himself at once to Mr. William P. Legro, who agreed, for the consideration of five months' labor, to teach him the art of making shoes. With his knife and hammer he set to work with several laborers in a little shop in the western part of the town to learn his trade ; but, ere many days had passed, perceived that he had bargained away his time incautiously; and therefore he agreed with his employer, for the consideration of the sum of fifteen dollars, to release him from his obligation. At the end of seven weeks, he began working for himself. Anxious to obtain money for an education, he now applied himself to shoemaking with unflinching assiduity. The very first day afcer leaving Mr. Legro, he made eight pairs of shoes ; and very soon otitsped the fastest workman in rapidity of execution, making sometimes two shoes to his one. He used to labor sixteen hours a day ; and " not unfrequently," says one of his companions, " he worked all night and two days in succession without sleep."