OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List Issue 51 *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 00 : Issue 51 Today's Topics: #1 Fw: Chapter 43 - Abbot's History o ["Maggie Stewart" that contains in the body of the message the command unsubscribe and no other text. No subject line is necessary, but if your software requires one, just use unsubscribe in the subject, too. ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #1 Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2000 22:18:49 -0500 From: "Maggie Stewart" > To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <0b9e01bf75d1$0bcd93e0$0300a8c0@local.net > Subject: Fw: Chapter 43 - Abbot's History of Ohio Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: Kay L. Mason > Chapter 43 Lives of the Governors - Continued. Hon. Jacob D. Cox In January, 1866, Jacob D. Cox was inaugurated Governor of Ohio. He was born in Montreal, Canada, on the 27th of October, 1828. His parents were residents of New York, but his father had been called temporarily to Montreal, to superintend the carpenter work upon the magnificent Cathedral of Notre Dame, in that city. In 1829 the family returned to New York, where the son passed his childhood and youth. Here he received the rudiments of a good education. In 1846, when but eighteen years of age, he entered the renowned college at Oberlin, Ohio, whose fame had then begun to extend through all the states. Here he remained for about three years, prosecuting his studied with great diligence and great success. Graduating, he married in 1849 a daughter of President Finney, and in 1852 was admitted to the bar in Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio. As was to have been expected of a young man who had distinguished himself at Oberlin, Mr. Cox early espoused and earnestly and untiringly advocated the cause of universal freedom. He believed, and under all circumstances announced his belief, in the brotherhood of man, and that all men should be equally protected by the law. In 1859 he was elected by those who held similar views with himself to represent the Trumbull and Mahoning District in the State Senate. He had then a high reputation for integrity, native talent, and accomplished scholarship. He was especially distinguished for the thoroughness with which he pursued any studies or prosecuted any enterprise in which he might engage. He was alike capable of forming the most comprehensive of plans, and of attending to the minutest details essential for the accomplishment of those plans. This combination of powers is one of the highest attributes of successful genius. Mr. Cox was a fine classical scholar, and also proficient in both the French and German languages. Some one made the very true remark that a person might have a special aptitude for the acquisition of languages, and yet might be very deficient in other mental operations. "For instance," said he, "I doubt very much whether Mr. Cox could master the difficulties of short-hand writing, or phonography." But it was afterwards appeared that Mr. Cox, as one of the amusements of his leisure hours, had become such a proficient in that difficult are that he could rival the most skillful reporters. From an unusual and admirable sketch of the life of Governor Cox, by William H. Busbey, Esq., who was apparently personally acquainted with his career, I make the following valuable extract: "This same quality of mind carried him forward in scientific investigation, in political discussion and inquiry, in the walks of literature, and in the work of his profession. He possessed the rare quality of comprehending great measures without losing sight of necessary details. He had his mental powers so well in hand that they accompanied results always without loss of time. "Mr. Cox took his seat in the Ohio Senate on the first Monday in January, 1860. This session of the Legislature was a notable one. One of the most noteworthy of the legislative struggles was over the effort to repeal the kidnapping law, so-called. "Senator Cox was on the judiciary committee. The other Republicans on the committee were conservatives, and united with the Democrats in a report favoring repeal. Mr. Cox made a minority report, defending the law, and carried the Republicans of the Senate with him against the majority report of the committee. "This law provided for penalties against those who should attempt to carry free blacks out of the state without legan proceedings. It was, like personal liberty bills, a counterbalance to the fugitive slave law. In many other important struggles of the session the personal influence of Senator Cox was felt, and he was extremely popular with the radical wing of his party. "The tremendous questions sprung upon the people by the threatening indications of civil war, found Senator Cox ready to grapple with them. Convinced that the country was in immenent danger, he held that while no unnecessary provocation should be given, there should be no further yielding to slavery; and that if the advocates of slavery made war we should fight it out. He comprehended the necessity for preparation, and assisted in the organization of the state militia. His knowledge of military systems and duties was already very great, and he was made brigadier general." When treason opened its fire upon national flag at Sumter, and sought the demolition of this Republic, founded upon equal rights for all men, that there might be reared upon its ruins another governor whose corner-stone should be slavery, Mr. Cox espoused, with all the inflexible enthusiasm of his nature, the cause of human rights and of the integrity of the Union. Immediately, relinquishing all other engagements, he consecrated his tireless energies day and night to patriotic labors. Very efficiently he aided Governor Dennison and General George B. McClellan in organizing troops. So entire was his consecration to this work that he found time to enter the Senate chamber only to vote upon the most important questions. At this early period he was associated with all the military measures adopted by the state to rescue our country from impending perils. A large number of troops in the service of the general government were rendezvoused at Columbus, Ohio. General Cox was placed in command of them, at what was called Camp Jackson, on the 23d of April, 1861. Immediately after this he was commissioned by President Lincol Brigadier General of United States Volunteers. With the assistance of General Rosecrans, an engineer, he laid out Camp Dennison, and remained in command of the gathering forces there until the 6th of July, when, by orders of General McClellan, he took position with his troops at the mouth of the Grand Kanawha, in Virginia. The upper portion of this valley was held by the rebels, under General Henry A. Wise. With prompt and vigorous movements, the details of which we have not space here to give, General Cox drove his opponents from the valley. He sounded no trumpet to proclaim his achievements, but those best qualified to judge declare that much military ability was displayed in his strategy and his tactics. Marching triumphantly into the interior, he took possession of the city of Charleston, from which the rebels had fled, and ascended the valley some forty miles farther, established a fortified camp at the mouth of the Gauley River. From this point he successfully carried on operations against the foe during the whole Summer. Though the rebel troops outnumbered the patriots three or four to one, and though General Cox was in the very heart of the enemy's country, they were unable to obtain any foothold in the valley, or to cut off his communications with the Ohio. We must glide over many adventures in which he took part, while participating in movements against Wise, Floyd and Lee. When General Reno fell at the battle of South Mountain, General Cox succeeded him in command of the North Corps. In this battle and in the subsequent bloody conflict at Antietam, of Major General, to date from October 7, 1862. The District of West Virginia, and soon after the District of Ohio, were entrusted to his protection. In December, 1863, he was placed in command of the Twenty-third Corps, with his headquarters at Knoxville, Tennessee. In the Atlanta campaign General Cox led the third division of that corps. But he commanded the entire corps in the engagement at Columbia, and in the sanguinary battle of Franklin, on the 30th of November, 1864. In this engagement he signalized himself for coolness and courage. In the desparate engagement at Nashville, General Cox took a prominent part. In 1865 there was an important movement of the patriot army against the rebels at Wilmington. General Cox took part in this movement. His entire force was engaged in the battle of Kingston, on the 5th of March of that year. Being placed permanently in command of the Twenty-third Army Corps, he advanced with his well-trained band upon Raleigh. Then he was entrusted with the protection of the western half of North Carolina, and superintended the parole of Johnson's troops at Greensboro. In July, 1865, he was again placed in command of the District of Ohio, and superintended the mustering out and discharge of the Ohio soldiers. Mr. Busbey writes, in his interesting biographical sketch: "While still in active service, he was brought forward as the soldiers' candidate for governor of the state. In June, 1865, he was nominated by acclamation as the candidate of the Union Republican party. The political campaign which succeeded was peculiar on account of the after-war issues involved, and the sensitiveness of the different factions of the Republican party. Conscious that he was entering the political field at a critical period, General Cox defined himself, both in letters and speeches, with great distinction. He did not hestitate to express his views on any subject presented by the people. Having carried the state by a handsome majority, he was inaugurated in January, 1866. "In his first message, and in subsequent ones he discussed the state financial system, the common school system, and questions bearing on reform in charitable and reformatory institutions. In all departments he made recommendations which formed the basis of subsequent legislative action. His discussion of the proposed constitutional amendments attracted very general attention, and had much influence. His culture, his dignified bearing, his strong individuality, his freedom from any feeling of petty partisanship, his ability to grapple with questions as soon as presented, and his good judgement in settling them, made his administration very popular." At the close of his term of two years he declined a re-nomination and resumed the practice of law in Cincinnati. In 1869, President Grant chose him as Secretary of the Interior. The appointment was received with universal approval. The position was environed with difficulties. The reforms he urged met with opposition. He was unwilling to surrender points which seemed to him important, and, after a few months, tendered his resignation, and retiring from the Cabinet, returned to his law office in Cincinnati. Since that time, he has vigorously engaged in all those civil duties which can promote the welfare of his fellow men. In 1873, being intrusted with the responsible office of President of the Toledo, Wabash and Western Railway, he removed to the city of Toledo, where at the present writing, he resides. I cannot close this brief sketch more satifactorily than in the words of Mr. William H. Busbey, who, from his personal acquaintance with the governor, is entitled to speak upon his moral, social, and intellectual traits: "Ex-Governor Cox is a man of fine culture and great strength of character. In person he is tall and commanding; in manner the personification of gentlemanly dignity. As has been intimated, he is a genius in mastering details and in concentrating his powers of mind for immediate and determined action. He is thorough in everything he undertakes, and however brilliant or worthy any special act of his may appear at first glance, it is sure to be more brilliant or worthy on investigation. The power to meet emergencies, to master things, and the disposition to grapple with questions of all kinds, are distinguishing characteristics. He examines carefully, decides quickly, acts unhesitatingly. He entered the Ohio Senate without legislative experience, and yet his qualifications were those of a leader. He entered the army with complete knowledge as to a soldier's duties - as far as the opportunities of civil life would allow. He could excel any of his subordinates in executing all the minutia of the manual and drill, and surprised old officers by the fact that he fenced well. He planned a campaign or conducted a battle with a full sense of the emergency to be met, and a full knowledge of plans to meet it. As a soldier, he was without parade or flourish, a man of unfailing resources, and in all his careeer there is the record of no blunder in the management of a department or the conduct of a battle. Where others learned by mistakes, he avoided mistakes by the application of principles. "He plunged into the first complications of the war, ready to meet the difficulties and competent to act. At the close of the war, he entered a critical political campaign, as ready to meet the issues presented, and more fearless than his party cared to have him, in grappling with vital questions over which the people were puzzling. "Imperious and earnest in carrying out measures which meet his approval, he is frank and determined in opposing measures that he cannot approve. But he always leaves with his opponents a clear conviction of his honesty of purpose, a respect for his integrity, and a consciousness of his ability." Hon. Rutherford B. Hayes The parents of Rutherford Birchard Hayes emigrated from Windham County, Vermont, to Delaware, Ohio, in the year 1817. Delaware then, half a century ago, in the center of the state, was a small but unusually pleasant village of four or five hundred inhabitants. Here Gen. Hayes was born, Oct. 4, 1822. At the age of twenty he graduated at Kenyon College, Ohio, and commenced the study of law at Columbus. After three years of study, having attended a course of lectures at the celebrated law school of Harvard University, Mass., he was admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of his profession at Fremong. After remaining here four years, he removed in 1849 to Cincinnati. In 1852 he married Miss Lucy Ware Webb, of Chilicothe, and was thus fairly embarked upon that ocean of life which is ever swept by storms. A few years passed peacefully away when the bugle blasts of civil war called him to the horrid scenes of the battle-field. Heroically he performed his part on many a bloody field. Mr. Reid, in his excellent history of Ohio during the war, writes: "In October, 1864, Colonel Hayes was appointed Brigadier General 'for gallant and meritorious services at the battles of Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek.' In the Spring of 1865, he was given command of an expedition against Lynchburg, by way of the mountains of West Virginia, and was engaged in preparations for that campaign when the war closed." He was then in honor of his distinguished services breveted Major General. The following incident is related by General Comly, in his account of Sheridan's victory of Winchester: "After the usual amount of marching and counter-marching, from the 4th to the 18th of September, the battle of Winchester was fought on the 19th. General Crook's command was in reserve, but was very soon brought into action and sent to the extreme right of the line to make a flank attack. Hayes' brigade had the extreme right of the infantry. The position was reached under cover of an almost impenetrable growth of cedar crossing a swampy stream. Here the division was halted and formed: First brigade (Hayes') in front, and the second (Johnson's) in the rear. Throwing out a light line of skirmishers, the brigade advanced rapidly to the front, driving the enemy's cavalry. The national cavalry at the same time advanced out of the woods on the right. After advancing in this way across two or three open fields, under a scattering fire, the crest of a slight elevation was reached, when the enemy's infantry line came into view, off diagonally to the left front, and he opened a brisk artillery fire. Moving forward double-quick under this fire, the brigade reached a thick fringe of underbrush, dashing through which it came upon a steep slough, forty or fifty yards wide and nearly waist deep, with soft sand at the bottom, overgrown with a thick bed of moss, nearly strong enough to bear the weight of a man. "It seemed impossible to get through it, and the whole line was staggered for a moment. Just then Colonel Hayes plunged in with his horse, and under a shower of bullets and shells, crossed over. When he was about half the way over, his horse mired down. His dismounted and waded, and pushed his way through - the first man over. The Twenty-third was immediately ordered by the right flank and crossed over the slough at the same place. In floundering through this morass men were suffocated and drowned; still the regiment plunged through, and, after a pause long enough partially to reform the line, charged forward again, yelling and driving the enemy. Sheridan's old cavalry kept close upon the right, having passed around the slough, and every time the enemy was driven from cover, charged and captured a large number of prisoners. This plan was followed throughout the battle; by which the cavalry was rendered very effective. In one of these charges, Colonel Duvall, the division commander, was wounded and carried from the field, leaving Colonel Hayes in command. He was everywhere exposing himself recklessly as usual. He was the first over the slough, and he was in advance of the line half the time afterward. His adjutant general was severely wounded, and men were dropping all around him, but he rode through it all as it he had a charmed life." He was wounded four times, once very severely. Just before the termination of this dreadful strife, he was elected to Congress from the Second Cincinnati District, and re-elected in 1866. He was ever an able and highly valuable supporter of the principles of the Republican party. In 1867, this party, in Ohio, by general acclaim, nominated him for the governorship of the state. There were many complications in this election; the community being greatly agitated and divided by the "negro suffrage" question. General Hayes, who had won much esteem by his dignified bearing during the conflict, was elected by about three thousand majority, and in 1869 he was re-elected by an increased majority. Governor Hayes' administration was illustrious in the benefits it conferred upon the state. A home for the orphan children of soldiers was provided. A reform school was established. Great improvements were introduced in the treatment of the insane. The penitentiary was enlarged, and vigorous measures of improved prison discipline adopted. Additional authority was given to the Board of State Charities to investigate and bring to light all abuses in the penal and charitable legislation of the state. An Agricultural College was founded. A geological survey of the state was undertaken. New efforts were adopted to protect all important historical documents. Portraits of the governors and other distinguished citizens were secured. Casts of the pottery of the mound-builders were obtained and carefully preserved. A Lincoln and soldiers' monument was erected in the rotunda of the State House. And last, but by no means least, the true democratic doctrine of extending the right of suffrage to colored citizens was adopted. Governor Hayes still lives. One who knows him well has paid the following fine tribute to his character: "General Hayes is one of the few men capable of accomplishing much without any egotistical assertion of self. As a soldier in the army, an advocate at the bar, or an earnest supporter of radical measures he has been content to do his duty with an unpretending, noiseless energy that makes him a marked man. The people will find his utterances full of sound thought, and his deportment modest, dignified and unassuming. He proved himself not only a gallant soldier, but a model officer. We had opportunities of close observation while serving with him in Virginia, and found him cool, self-possessed, and as thorough in the discharge of his duties as he was gallant in action." It is also pleasant to give the following still more decisive testimony to the merits of Governor Hayes from one of the leading papers of the state. This testimony was repeated by many other public journeys, without, so far as we know, any dissentient voices: "That the gubernatorial chair of Ohio has never been filled by a man more personally and specially esteemed by the people than Governor Hayes, is a fact admitted by everybody of all parties. He is recognized as a most efficient, discreet, practical executive officer. His messages, proclamations, etc., have been universally complimented by the press for their brevity, directness, and good common sense. Editors and reporters have never been obliged to trouble themselves about condensing any state paper he issued - it was always couched in the fewest words possible, clear and forcible. He retires with a splendid record, high in the confidence of the people of our noble state." Hon. Edward F. Noyes Edward Follensbee Noyes was born at Haverhill, Mass, October 3, 1832. His parents were Theodore and Hannah Noyes, both of whom died before he was three years of age, leaving the little orphan child with the world before him, in which his battle was to be fought single-handedly and alone. He was taken in charge by maternal grandparents, Edward and Hannah Stevens, who resided at East Kingston, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. At twelve years of age, his grandfather having died, he went to live with his guardian, Joseph Hoyt, of Newton, New Hampshire. To New Hampshire boys life is not altogether playtime. At thirteen the youth took care of twenty head of cattel, worked on the farm in Summer, and in Winter made a daily pilgrimage of four miles and cut and piled his half cord of swamp maples - certainly a fair day's work for a youngster in the beginning of his teens. But here was laid the foundation of robust, vigorous health, that stood him well in hand in times of after trial, when less hearty strength would have succumbed. At forty-two years of age Governor Noyes is of a hale, cheery temperament. His good nature is infectious. His vivacity is inspiring, and his intellect is clear and incisive. He is not put down by adverse circumstances, but attacks difficulties and overcomes them by persistency, or if vanquished in turn, bears ill-success with equanimity. How much of character, of energy and of mental faculty depend upon the simple fact of good health is not generally appreciated. A sound mind cannot flourish in an unwholesome body; and to the complete and perfect exercise of such powers as have been given to men, the first and most essential requisite is unimpaired physical condition. It does not exceed the truth to say that Governor Noyes is one of the foremost political orators in the West; and those who have been moved by the power of his pathos until their eyes became misty - who have been excited to boisterous laughter by the overflowing humor of his happy nature or exalted by his eloquence - are not perhaps aware of how much of the sublime influence is owing to the twenty head of cattle, the maple cord-wood, and that early life which gave to an active mind an entirely healthful body. At fourteen young Noyes was apprenticed as a printer in the office of the Morning Star, the organ of the Free Will Baptist denomination, published at Dover, New Hampshire, and boarded in the family of the editor, Wm. Burr, a kind-hearted and good man, where he remained for four years. By the necessary indentures the future governor of Ohio was a "bound boy," whose term of service was to last until he reached the age of twenty-one. Mr. Burr was well pleased with his youthful charge, who was smart and active, and did his work intelligently and well, and was surprised one day when the boy went to his room, and with a form of statement at once precise and emphatic said, "Mr. Burr, I want to quit your office." The good editor inquired the reason, and was informed by the lad that he had no cause for dissatisfaction or complaint, that he had been always treated with consideration that a father might show to a son, "but I feel that there is something more in me than a journeyman printer"; he added, "I want to go home and go to school." The old gentleman pondered a moment, and then said, "Yes, Edward, you can go; and if ever I can be of assistance to you, call upon me freely." So they parted. Mr. Burr lived long enough to see his bound boy successful in life, but not long enough to see him as he afterwards became - a leading man in Ohio. Young Noyes prepared for college at the academy in Kingston, New Hampshire, under the tutelage of Professor Joseph Eastman; entered Dartmouth College in 1853, graduating in 1857, one of the most foremost scholars in his class. Even then were recognized in him brilliant possibilities for the future. He was at that time considered the best speaker in his class; and whenever he had occasion to appear upon the rostrum he always commanded the attention of his fellows to a degree that foreshadowed the power of after years. Upon commencement day he was requested by the Faculty to deliver a poem, and it is suggestive that the theme assigned him was "Eloquence." In the Winter of his senior year Noyes commenced the study of law in the office of Stickney & Tuck, at Exeter, New Hampshire. This was Amos Tuck, for many years a member of Congress, and a man of considerable note in those days. Before leaving the halls of his Alma Mater the collegiate had imbibed from such men as Amos Tuck, John P. Hale, Henry Wilson, Charles Sumner ideas which made him an old school Liberty man, a Free Soiler, an Independent Democrat and Republican - following the party that opposed slavery through all its changes of name and vicissitudes of fortune. In 1856, at the request of state for John C. Fremont, much to the disgust, as one of his class-mates tells us, of the theological professor of old Dartmouth. In 1857 Governor Noyes went to Ohio, rather by accident than otherwise, to visit a college classmate, never for a moment dreaming that it was to be his future home. Some people would call it luck; others, more thoughtful, might ascribe it to Providence; but whatever the fact, the young New Englander was not long in discovering that the West was the field for self-reliant energy. It is not an exaggeration to say that his career thus far in the State of Ohio has been exceptionally brilliant. He went there a poor boy, without a dollar in his pocket, or at his command, a perfect stranger outside the family in whose household he visited, yet within fourteen years he was governor of that great commonwealth, and perhaps as widely and favorably known as any of her distinguished public men now on the stage of action. The visit to Cincinnati was altogether a pleasant one, and the new-comer was welcomed to a hospitable society. Being one of those who easily make friends, his circle of acquaintance was soon enlarged, and not lacking in qualities of address that impress themselves favorably upon others, those who knew him soon like him. As he pondered upon the proposition of returning to his native hills, he could not avoid an involuntary contrast between the staid, sober, plodding ways of his old home, and the dash, energy, and vivacious pluck of the West. Without yet any definite plan of action, he resumed the study of law in the office of Tilden, Rairden & Curwen, attending the lectures of the Cincinnati Law School, in the Winter of 1857-58. In Mr. M. E. Curwen, then Professor in the Law School, and a lawyer of high standing and character, Mr. Noyes found a faithful friend and most conscientious mentor. To this preceptor, whose wise judgment and perfect integrity of life may now be spoken of, as it is worthy to record the virtues of the dead, the pupil acknowledges the debt of gratitude for the advice and friendly conduct which induced him to make Cincinnati his home. An office was opened in Cincinnati in 1858. Business began to come, and came quite rapidly, and the way to success seemed opening, when the tocsin of war sounded in 1861. Those who had studied the political history of the country with any reasonably degree of appreciation, foresaw that the struggle was to be for life or death, and the young lawyer did not believe that the impending contest was such as could be determined by the three months' volunteers. He turned his thoughts towards the army. He knew nothing about war, but in this he was not different from the thousands and thousands of others who, in the end, composed the victorious cohorts, whose heavy tread shook from its throne the fearful power that had ruled the Republic from the beginning, and now sought to ruin it. Perhaps, as he was considering the gravity of the occasion, some vision of military glory may have flitted across his brain. It was natural to years that were few, and ambition that was strong, but he knew that the picture had its reverse side, and deliberately weighing the future, he concluded that whatever might happen, there was a duty owing which could not be postponed or shirked. On the 8th of July, 1861, a notice was published in the Cincinnati papers calling upon officers representing company organizations, and desiring to enlist for the war, to report at the law office of E. F. Noyes - then Stephenson & Noyes - without delay. On the 20th of August a full regiment, the 39th Ohio Infantry, took the field, with John Groesbeck as colonel, A.W. Gilbert as lieutenant colonel, and Edward F. Noyes as major. It was believed by these officers that the most brilliant campaign of the war would be in opening up the Mississippi River to the commerce of the West, and in breaking through the center of the Rebellion. So, by request, this regiment, with the 27th Ohio Infantry, was transferred from the eastern to the western army, and sent to Missouri, where General John C. Fremont was in command. After marching fifteen hundred miles in the State of Missouri, dispersing guerilla bands under Sterling Price and Martin Green, the regiment, early in 1862, joined the expedition of Major General John Pope, forming part of the old Army of the Mississippi. Under this distinguished commander, Major Noyes took part with his regiment in the capture of New Madrid and Island No. 10, and was then detailed to General Pope's staff, where he remained until that officer was transferred to the Army of Northern Virginia. Colonels Groesbeck and Gilbert having left the service, and General Pope having gone to Virginia, Noyes was commissioned colonel and took command of his regiment in October, 1862. He took active part in the battles of Iuka and Corinth under General Rosecrans, and under General G. M. Dodge in all the operations against the commands of General Forest and other rebel generals in the Tuscumbia Valley. In 1864, the Thirty-ninth Ohio Infantry formed a part of the First Division of the Seventeenth Army Corps, and in the army of General Sherman took part in the famous Atlanta campaign. On the fourth of July, 1864, Colonel Noyes, while leading an assault upon the enemy's works at Ruff's Mills, Nicojack Creek, Georgia, was severely wounded, and suffered the amputation of a limb upon the field. Five weeks later he endured a second operation at Cincinnati, having in the mean time been brought from Marietta, Georgia, to Louisville in a cattle car, and from Louisville to Cincinnati by boat. This second amputation nearly cost him his life, but a vigorous constitution and a frame hardened by healthy labor and temperate habits, carried him through the great suffering he endured. In October, 1864, while still on crutches, he reported for duty to Major-General Joseph Hooker, and was assigned to the command of Camp Dennison. While in the discharge of his military duty there, and without solicitation on his part, he was elected to the important office of City Solicitor for Cincinnati, to accept which position he resigned his commission in the army. Having been recommended, before he was wounded, for promotion to the full rank of brigadier-general, he was breveted after the loss of his limb. Of General Noyes as a soldier, General J. W. Sprague says: "I observed the conduct and bearing of Colonel Noyes at Iuka, Corinth, New Madrid, Resaca, Dallas, and all the affairs in which his regiment was engaged during the campaign against Atlanta, up to the time of his being disabled by wounds. He was ever and always distinguished for his gallantry, zeal and constant devotion to his command." General D. S. Stanley says: "He was intrepid, bright and untiring officer, having an aptness for military life." General Pope speaks of him as "conspicuous for gallantry, military ability and zeal; an educated gentleman and an accomplished soldier, eminently qualified for promotion, which he has fairly earned by long and distinguished service in the field." Rosecrans commends him "for bravery, efficiency and intelligence," and General G. M. Dodge, in whose command he was for nearly two years and up to the time of his being wounded, says, in a very complimentary letter, he knows "of none among all the gallant officers of his command, more brave, earnest and patriotic." General Sherman endorsed a recommendation for promotion by brevet as follows: "HEADQUARTERS, MIL. DIV., Aug. 23, 1865. "I take special pleasure in endorsing this recommendation that Colonel Noyes be breveted brigadier-general, to date from July 4th, 1864. I was close by when Colonel Noyes was shot. We were pressing Johnson's army back from Marietta to the Chattahoochie, when he made a stand at Smyrna Camp-ground, and I ordered his position to be attacked. It was done successfully at some loss, and Colonel Noyes lost his leg. He fully merits this honorable title. (Signed) "W.T. SHERMAN, "Maj. Gen'l Com'dg." Before General Noyes' term as City Solicitor had expired, he was elected Probate Judge of Hamilton County, one of the most lucrative offices at that time in Ohio. He served the usual term of three years, and in the Fall of 1871 resumed the practice of law. For a second time his prospects for success in the profession were flattering, when he was tendered the nomination for governor by the Republican party. Although loth to abandon his law office, he did not feel at liberty to decline an honor tendered with entire unanimity. After a brilliant campaign, he was elected by over twenty thousand majority. Two years later, having been again nominated by acclamation, he was defeated by Governor Allen by a majority of about 800 in a vote of 448,000. After this he received the unanimous vote of his party in the Legislature for the place of United States Senator. The administration of Governor Noyes was eminently conservative and nonpartisan, his treatment of political opponents generous, and his published speeches breathe the spirit of conciliation. He was among the first of our public men to advocate general amnesty for southern rebels, while at the same time he demanded civil and political rights for the colored race. Early in 1863 Colonel Noyes received leave of absence from the army for two weeks, and was married at Kingston, New Hampshire, Feb. 15 of that year, to Margaret Wilson Proctor, of that place. Governor Noyes now practicing law in the City of Cincinnati. Hon. William Allen. William Allen, the present Governor of Ohio, was born in Edenton, Chowan County, North Carolina, in the year 1807. He was, by the death of both father and mother, left an orphan in his infancy. His parents were poor. In his boyhood days there were no common schools in North Carolina, nor in Virginia, whither he early removed; and he never attended any school of any kind, except a private infant school for a short time, until he came, at the age of sixteen, to Chilicothe, Ohio. He, however, early managed to acquire the rudiments of learning; and that was the golden age of public speaking, and the era of oratory and orators in this country. He was enthused and carried away with a passion for listening to public addresses upon every occasion and upon any subject, marking the manner and treasuring up the words of the various speakers he listened to - and he would go far to get the opportunity to hear. He soon secured a prize, to him more precious than silver and gold - a pocket copy of Walker's Dictionary, which he consulted for the pronunciation and meaning of every word that he heard and did not understand. This companion always accompanied him to public meetings, all of which he sought and attended as a deeply interested hearer. Several of the years of his boyhood life were spent at Lynchburg, Virginia, where he supported himself working as a saddler's apprentice. When he was sixteen years ofl, he collected together his worldly goods, tied them in a handkerchief, and set out on foot, walking every step of the way from Lynchburg, Virginia, to Chilicothe, Ohio, where he found his sister, Mrs. Pleasant Thurman, the mother of Hon. Allen G. Thurman, who was then a small boy whom he had never seen before. After taking up residence at Chilicothe, which has ever since been his home, young Allen was by his sister placed in the old Chilicothe Academy, where he received his only real instruction from a teacher. She herself selected and supervised his general reading. In this he considers that he derived the greatest advantage. The books she placed in his hands were the works of the best and most advanced writers and thinkers, by the aid of which his thoughts were impelled in the right direction, and his mental development became true and comprehensive. Struggling on and maintaining himself as best he could, Allen entered as law student the office of Edward King, father of Hon. Rufus King (President of the late Ohio Constitutional Convention), and the most gifted son of the great Rufus King, of Revolutionary memory and fame. When he came to the bar, and while he continued to practice, forensic power - the ability and art of addressing a jury successfully - was indispensible to the lawyer's success. This Allen possessed and assiduously cultivated, rather than the learning of cases and technical rules and pure legal habit of thought and statement, which make a counselor influential with the court. Political activity, a wide-spread reputation as a legal power in the judicial forum before a jury, and a fine military figure and bearing, joined to a voice of marvelous force and excellence, fixed him in the public eye as one deserving of political promotion. He had not long to wait. His congressionaly district was strongly Whig. William Key Bond and Richard Douglas so hotly contested for the position of congressman in that party that a "split" was produced, to heal which Governor Duncan McArthur was induced to decline a gubernatorial reelection and become the candidate - they both withdrawing in his favor. Against his William Allen was put in nomination by the Democracy, to make what was deemed a hopeless race. With a determination to succeed, such as he manifested in the late gubernatorial canvass, he spoke everywhere most ably and effectively, mapped out every road and by-road in the district, and visited nearly every voter at his home, thus insuring the full vote of his party at the polls and the accession of many converts. During this campaign, he met and overcame in debate William Sumter Murphy, the grandson of the Revolutionary General Sumter, and at that time recognized as the first orator in Ohio, who had been put forward as another Democratic candidate to divide with Allen the Democratic vote. The power he displayed in this canvass was fully exemplified in Allen at a later period, when he accepted the challenge of the Whigs to debate with Thomas Ewing. In the very first debate, Allen, in the opinion of the audience, had much the best of it, and so firm did this conviction become, that Ewing was withdrawn after the second joint discussion. At the end of that memorable contest for a seat in Congress, William Allen was declared elected by one vote, when he had scarce attained the constitutional age to occupy it. Five hundred men are yet living who claim the honor of having, by lucky accident, cast that vote. Although the youngest member, he at once took rank among the foremost men in the House of the Twenty-third Congress, and took a leading part in its most important discussions. An election for United States Senator was soon to occur, and the two parties struggled for a majority in the General Assembly. Ross County was Whig, but the Democrats nominated a strong man for representative. Allen labored for his success, and he was elected by one vote, which give the Democrats a small majority in the Legislature. There were a number of candidates of senator. An eight of January supper, with speeches, came off, at which all the candidates were present and delivered addresses. That of William Allen took the Assembly by storm, and he was nominated and elected over Thomas Ewing, who was in the Senate at the time. He reached Washington City on the evening of the 3d of March, 1837, to witness the inauguration of President Van Buren, and to take his seat in the Senate the next day. Late at night, he went to the White House, where he was cordially welcomed, and congratulated by Andrew Jackson, the retiring President, who was his friend and admirer. Before the end of his first term, he was reelected by a handsome majority; and he remained in the United States Senate until the 4th of March, 1849, being then at his retirement one of the youngest members of that body. During the twelve eventful years that he represented the State of Ohio in the Senate of the United States, he took a prominent and leading part in all the discussions upon the great questions that Congress had to deal with. Most of the time, and until he voluntarily retired, he was Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, being entitled to that position on account of his eminent abilities. He had just reached the meridian of his splendid powers; tall, of a majestic and commanding figure, with a magnificent voice, an opulence of diction seldom equaled, a vigorous and bold imagination, with much fervor of feeling, and graceful and dignified action withal, he combined all the qualities of a great orator in that memorable era when the Senate was full of great orators - in the day of its greatest intellectual magnificence. And in all the years he was there he never uttered a word or gave a vote that he would now recall or change. While William Allen was a member of the Senate, he married Mrs. Effie McArthur Coons, the beautiful and accomplished daughter of General Duncan McArthur - his early, true, and only love. She chose him from among a host of distinguished suitors from several States. She inherited the old homestead and farm, where Allen, having added many acres to the latter, still - with his daughter, Mrs. Scott, her husband, and their children and his grandchildren - resides. Prior to her first marriage, she and Allen were devoted to each other; and while her father, General McArthur, was not personally unfriendly to him, yet their opposition in politics and strong positive qualities caused him to think that their marriage would cause them to antagonize and untimately to produce discord between them, and he, therefore, disapproved of their union. Mrs. Allen died shortly after the birth of their daughter and only child, Mrs. Scott. In health and in sickness, William Allen was a most devoted, affectionate and exemplary husband; and after the death of his wife, he rode on horseback, with the remains, from Washington to Chilicothe. He has never thought of remarrying again, and it is almost certain that if he had not married her, his only love, he never would have married at all. Governor Allen has always possessed unyielding integrity, and has ever strongly set his face against corruption and extravagance in every form. When he entered public life, he had the Postmaster General certify in miles the shortest mail route between Chilicothe and Washington City; and he always drew pay for milage according to that certificate. He refused constructive milage; and after his retirement from the Senate, the Whig Congressman from his district offered to procure and forward to him $6,000 due him on that score; but he would receive none of it. William Allen and John A. Dix alone refused it. No man was ever more true and faithful in his friendships than William Allen; and few public men have gone as far as he to maintain a straightforward consistency in this respect. He virtually declined the Presidency of the United States rather than seem to be untrue and unfaithful to an illustrious statesman who he loved and supported. Since his retirement from public life at Washington, he has greatly improved by study. He is a more profound man than he was at any time during his career in the Senate. He is a great historian, is deeply versed in philosophy and the sciences, and is better acquainted with rare books than almost any scholar one can meet. His home is the home of hospitality, and to visit him there is to receive a hearty welcome and a rare intellectual treat. His farm is not surpassed by any other farm in the magnificent Valley of the Scioto; and as a thrify and successful farmer, no man in the State is his superior. Younger by several years than the great statesman and generals who to-day shape and control the destiny of the Old World, his most illustrious public services will undoubtedly crown the years that are to come of his noble and useful life. In August, 1873, William Allen consented to take the Democratic nomination for Governor of Ohio. He became satisfied that it was a duty he owed his party, and the people without distinction of party; and when it became a public duty, he promptly accepted the situation, and came forth from his retirement to make what everybody (but himself and the writer and compiler of this sketch) deemed a hopeless race. He made an able and effective canvass, and was elected by nearly one thousand majority, being the only candidate on his ticket who was successful. His inauguration occurred on the 12th of January, 1874, in the presence of the largest assemblage of people that was ever before at the Capitol of Ohio. His inaugural address was everywhere regarded at a magnificent State paper. The New York Tribune pronounced it "a very model of a public document for compactness and brevity, devoted to a single topic - the necessity for reducing taxes and enforcing the most rigid economy in all matters of State expenditures." Upon this point the Governor said: "I do not mean that vague and mere verbal economy which public men are so ready to profess with regard to public expenditures; I mean that earnest and inexorable economy which proclaims its existance by accomplished facts." His appointments, and all the other acts of his administration, so far, give general satisfaction, and are commended by the people without distinction of party. His inauguration was the herald of a new era - "the era of good feeling" in Ohio. Colonel John W. Forney, in his Philadelphia Press, but states a universally recognized truth, when he says: "Governor Allen, of Ohio, is winning golden opinions from all parties by the excellence of his administration of the affairs of the State." The general and spontaneous uprising of the people to do honor to this illustrious statesman is a hopeful indication for the republic. He is the embodiment and representative of purity, honesty, and fidelity in public affairs, as in private life. The invitations that daily pour in upon him from all parts of the country, to be present at public and private assemblages of the people, to deliver addresses and orations before them, are among the grand manifestations of his great popularity; and wherever he goes, he is enthusiastically received with expressions of popular homage, and is attended by magnificent ovations. -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V00 Issue #51 ******************************************