REMOVED TO DES MOINES
The practice of law in Van Buren county did not prove very remunerative.
The district court met only twice a year. The business of the term
sometimes occupied only two or three days, seldom beyond one week, and
never beyond two weeks.
During the time I had continued to reside in Van Buren county one of
the most important cases in which I was retained was a contest over the
legality of a will in which the deceased had made a bequest of a small
tract of land to the Methodist Episcopal church, organized out on what
was called "Utica Prairie." The will provided that the land should be
sold by the trustees of the church and a fund created out of which
should be paid so much a year to the missionary cause and so much to
the support of the minister. The remainder should be expended by the
trustees in erecting a house of worship. The trustees of the church had
not been incorporated, and the heirs sought to set aside the will on
the ground that there was no legal capacity in the trustees to receive
the bequest, and on the further ground of the uncertainty of the
beneficiaries under the will. I was retained in the case in behalf of
the trustees, and had them immediately adopt articles of incorporation
and file the same as provided by the statutes of the state. I filed an
answer in the case, setting forth with particularity the character of
the Methodist Episcopal church's organization, with proper averments as
to the certainty of the continued existence of the beneficiaries under
the will. The case was tried upon demurrer to this answer, and upon
appeal to the supreme court of Iowa the will was sustained. The opinion
of the court is fully reported in the case of Johnson et al. vs. Mayne
et al., Trustees, 4th Iowa, 180.
[Illustration: _Charles Clinton Nourse_
From an air brush copy of an old photograph loaned by
D. W. Nourse, Kenton, Ohio.]
I charged and received from the trustees the sum of $200 for my
services in the case, being the largest amount that I received in my
practice from any one case during the seven years I remained in
Keosauqua.
The railroad up the Des Moines valley from Keokuk had been located some
three or four miles north of the town of Keosauqua, and I saw no
immediate prospect of any improvement or growth in the town. Added to
these discouragements, my wife and myself in the fall of 1857 were both
taken down with the fever and the ague. On advice of our physician we
made a visit to Kentucky and also to Ohio to visit our relatives,
hoping by some means to escape or shake off the dreaded disease, but
the more we shook the stronger the ague kept its hold. I had during
that year (1857) been employed by Edwin Manning, the commissioner of
the Des Moines River Improvement, to represent the interest of the
state in certain suits commenced against him by the Des Moines
Navigation & Railroad Company, for the purpose of compelling him to
certify to the company certain lands belonging to the state under the
grant of congress, made for the purpose of aiding in the improvement of
the navigation of the Des Moines river, the company claiming that they
were entitled to certain of these lands at the rate of $1.25 per acre
for moneys expended in the building of locks and dams upon the river,
which expenditure had been certified by the state engineer. The general
assembly of the state of Iowa was to meet for the first time in the
city of Des Moines on the first day of January, 1858, and I went to Des
Moines in company with Mr. Manning at that time for the two-fold
purpose of calling the roll of senators upon the organization of the
senate, that being my duty as the secretary of the past session, and
also to look after the interest of the state in the settlement that was
then to be made between the state and the Des Moines Navigation
Company, the supreme court having decided the suit, to which I have
referred, in our favor. I found Des Moines to be a thriving young city
of something less than five thousand inhabitants, but with great
expectation for the future as the permanent capital of the state of
Iowa. I was introduced after a few days' stay in the city to Judge W.
W. Williamson, an old time lawyer with a good collecting business, who
offered me a full partnership in his business, and I finally
determined, after transacting the business I had in Des Moines, to
return to Keosauqua and dispose of my affairs there and remove to this
city, which I finally did, and on the 6th day of March, 1858, with my
wife and household goods and the ague, we came to Des Moines.
About a year or more before we left Keosauqua I had traded off the
house I had first purchased in the village for a very beautiful home
that had been built by L. J. Rose. It had about a full block of ground
well planted with young fruit trees and vines and shrubbery and rose
bushes. The house was well located on the hill in the northwest part of
the village, and my wife as well as myself had become fondly attached
to the place. During our five years of residence we had many friends in
the town, and we found it hard to leave them. My wife shed many tears
at the thought of leaving the place, but the largest amount that my
practice had yielded in any one year whilst in Keosauqua was $800, and
I was satisfied that our best interests would be promoted by our new
location. The location of the permanent capital of the state at Des
Moines, and the fact that our supreme and United States courts would be
located there, and that it would necessarily become a railroad center
and build up and become one of the chief cities of the state, had
attracted many other young men of the profession. Within twelve months
before the time I settled in Des Moines probably a dozen well educated,
enterprising young lawyers had preceded me. The result was a fierce
competition and struggle for business, every young man realizing that
it was a question of the survival of the fittest, and that his success
depended upon himself. Before arriving in the city I had secured a
small house of two rooms and a shed kitchen on Sixth street, at a
rental of twenty dollars per month. We moved our goods into this house
on Saturday, and on Sunday morning after a light breakfast both my wife
and myself went to bed with the ague. The chill was succeeded, of
course, by the usual high fever, and in the middle of the afternoon we
were delighted by a call from an old acquaintance, a girl that had been
raised at Keosauqua and who had married Mr. R. L. Tidrick, of Des
Moines. She made us a cup of tea, and we came out of the fever
encouraged and contented.
The first two years of my practice in Des Moines were not remunerative.
In addition to our earnings we spent $1500 in our living, having saved
that amount from the proceeds of the property that we disposed of at
Keosauqua.
In the fall of 1859 I took an active part in the political campaign
that resulted in the election of Samuel J. Kirkwood for Governor and
the defeat of Augustus Ceasar Dodge, former democratic Senator from
Iowa. As I had become interested in and contemplated taking an active
part in the politics of the state and nation, I occupied my leisure
time in more serious and thoughtful consideration of the grave
questions that were soon to confront the nation. I read with great
interest and studied with great care the debates between Stephen A.
Douglas and Abraham Lincoln that had taken place in the state of
Illinois, and the struggle between those parties for a seat in the
United States senate. I also read with some care and great interest the
great questions that had divided those who had framed the constitution
of the United States. I became thoroughly grounded in the theory that
our fathers in forming our national constitution had established a
government with all the essential attributes of sovereignty. Whilst
there is a limitation upon the subjects over which the government
should exercise jurisdiction, yet within the sphere over which it might
exercise any power it was absolutely sovereign and supreme; that the
constitution was not a compact or treaty between sovereign states, but
that it was a government, deriving its powers directly from the people,
with power to make its own laws and through its courts to interpret and
administer its own laws, and through its executive and his appointees
had the power to execute its own laws; that the relation between the
national government and the individual was direct, with power over his
person and his property so far as it was necessary to assert and
maintain its jurisdiction; and that it collected and disbursed its own
revenues, enlisted and maintained its own armies, built and maintained
its own navies, and that its constitution and laws, by the very terms
of its organization, constituted the supreme law of the land. That the
assumption that it was a mere treaty between the sovereign states, from
which any state might at any time secede at its pleasure, was an
erroneous assumption, and inimical to our national existence and
prosperity. I found upon examination of the decisions of the supreme
court of the United States that these views of our national government
and its powers had been fully sustained by the supreme court of the
United States by the most eminent jurists of the land. Particularly I
studied with great care the decisions of the supreme court of the
United States, and the opinions of the Chief Justice Marshall of that
court, delivered in the early history of our government.
The same fall of 1859 I made a trip through Warren, Madison, Dallas,
Guthrie, and Union counties, at the request of the republican state
central committee. They furnished me with a covered buggy and pair of
horses, without any expense to myself, and loaded me down with a lot of
political campaign documents which I undertook to distribute, making
political speeches also at the county seats in each of the above named
counties.
In crossing from Winterset over to Redfield one afternoon I found the
road becoming very obscure, and a smoke arising from some burning
prairie northwest of me so darkened the way that I became apprehensive
of losing my road. There was no settlement in sight and no one from
whom I could inquire the way. While I was seriously pondering upon the
difficulty, a half dozen or more fine short horn cows crossed my path
ahead of my team and I thought the safest way out of the difficulty
would be to follow the cows, as they probably knew better than I where
we were going. I had not followed these cows more than a few hundred
yards before the owner of them appeared. He was a young Quaker about
thirty years of age, named Wilson. I told him who I was and what my
business was and he cordially invited me to go home with him. He lived
in a small board shanty, one large room and an attic, situated under
the hill. After sheltering his cows in a shed-barn covered with hay he
took me to his house. I thought the chances for accommodations rather
meager, but I noticed that he had a small yard fenced in front of his
house, with a path of flagstones from the gate to the door, and on
either side was planted quite a show of flowers and rose bushes. As we
neared the house a very handsome young Quaker woman, his wife, with a
little girl about three years of age, appeared at the door. Inside it
was neat and tidy. The little Quaker wife prepared us a supper of
snow-white biscuits and a plate of beautiful honey. She told me that
they had attended the county fair that day and had taken a premium upon
their honey. I spent a pleasant evening discussing politics with Mr.
Wilson and supplying him with political speeches and documents, which I
urged upon him to distribute among his neighbors. When bed-time came I
climbed a ladder to the attic in which there was just room enough under
the shingles for a clean sweet bed where I had a delightful night's
rest. After a good breakfast in the morning, Wilson accompanied me on
my way. We soon came to a well-beaten road and I found I was on what
was called "The Quaker Divide." Near a large Quaker meeting house we
met one of Mr. Wilson's relatives, a fine looking old fashioned Quaker
gentleman, to whom he introduced me, and I stated my business. I had an
interesting interview with the old Quaker and also supplied him with a
number of congressional speeches, and before I left him he looked at me
very earnestly and asked, how much pay I received for the work I was
doing. I told him nothing for my own services, but my team and buggy
were furnished by the state central committee free of charge to myself.
At first he appeared a little incredulous that I should be working for
nothing and traveling at my own expense, but after further talk with
him he seemed to have every confidence in me and remarked very
earnestly, "Thee must be a very good man to do this work without pay."
I told him we must all "cast our bread upon the waters," and possibly
it might return to us after many days; that this would indeed be a poor
world if none of us were willing to make some sacrifices for the good
of the country. I bid the two Quakers an affectionate good-bye and went
on my way much gratified. The prairie was dotted here and there with
comfortable, well kept homes. It was a beautiful October morning, what
we then and always called in Iowa "Indian Summer." A slight haze rested
upon the horizon, and here and there the ripening corn gave a glow and
variety to the landscape. I was deeply impressed with the beauty and
glory of my adopted state of Iowa, and I thought then, as I afterwards
expressed the thought in my centennial address at Philadelphia. "When
in the plentitude of His goodness the Divine Hand formed the great
meadow between the Mississippi and Missouri, and the finger of Divine
Love traced the streamlets and rivers that drain and fertilize its
almost every acre, He designated it not for the place of strife, but
for the home of peace and plenty, and intended that the ploughshare and
pruning hook should here achieve their greatest triumphs."
In the fall of the year 1859, I bought from Dr. William P. Davis a
quarter acre of ground just north of Bird's Addition in the city of Des
Moines, having upon it an old square frame house without foundation or
cellar, which I afterwards repaired and moved into with my family. My
wife's sister Julia had been with us during the summer and became
engaged to be married to Mr. John Alexander Woodard, a bachelor who had
been engaged in the mercantile business and failed in the hard times of
1856. He was then clerking and selling goods for Mr. Reuben Sypher. I
thought it prudent and made condition with Mr. Woodard that he should
make it a part of the marriage contract with my sister-in-law that he
would purchase from Mr. Sypher in part payment of his wages the lot on
the corner of Fourth street and Crocker, and build them a house
thereon. He readily agreed with this proposition, and the deed was made
to Julia E. McMeekin, and the marriage took place on the first of
December following, and a house was built on the lot the ensuing
summer, where they had their home for many years free from any
annoyance from his creditors. When the bankrupt law took effect after
that, I obtained for him a discharge in bankruptcy from his old debts.
In 1860 I was chosen by the republican state convention of Iowa one of
the thirty-two delegates that represented our state in the great
national convention that met at Chicago and nominated Abraham Lincoln
as its candidate for President. I attended that convention and had the
honor of being one of the eight original Lincoln men of the delegation,
and voted for Mr. Lincoln on every ballot. That convention was perhaps
the greatest and most important that was ever convened in the history
of our nation. The entire New York delegation was urging the nomination
of William H. Seward. I was opposed to Mr. Seward's nomination, first,
because I preferred Mr. Lincoln and had the most unbounded confidence
in his honesty and patriotism, and secondly, because I disliked many of
the men who were urging Mr. Seward's nomination. The reputation of
Thurlow Weed and that class of New York politicians created in my mind
a distrust, and I felt that we had arrived at a crisis in our national
history where we should take no chances.
After the nomination of Mr. Lincoln at Chicago the republican state
convention met at Iowa City. I was a candidate before the convention
for nomination for the office of Attorney General of the state. Only
three of the delegates from my own county voted for me in that contest.
My principal opponent was John A. Kasson of Des Moines. He had been
chairman of the republican central committee of the state for the
current year, and without my knowledge had been secretly corresponding
with various republicans of the state, soliciting their support for the
nomination, and secretly hiding the fact from me, and professing to be
my friend and in favor of my nomination. Mr. H. M. Hoxie, also one of
the delegates of that convention from Polk county, had been a secretary
of the state committee and was also secretly working for and with Mr.
Kasson for my defeat. I had many warm friends and supporters in the
convention, particularly from Lee and Van Buren counties and the
southern part of the state, and many from other parts of the state with
whom I had formed a personal acquaintance whilst filling the offices
respectively of clerk of the house and secretary of the senate. There
were three other candidates for the nomination besides Mr. Kasson and
myself, and I received the nomination on the third ballot.
After my return home I arranged my affairs so as to make an extensive
canvass of the state. I exchanged a small tract of land I had in the
western part of Van Buren county with Mr. Manning for a covered buggy
and harness and a pair of horses, and in the latter part of September
arranged a series of appointments, the first of which was at Newton, in
Jasper county. As my team was somewhat unaccustomed to the road I
started one Sunday afternoon and drove east as far as Mitchellville,
and stayed all night with my friend Thomas Mitchell of that place. On
Monday morning I started early for Newton. I filled my satchel with
political documents and occupied my time during the drive in trying to
arrange my speech. I never wrote out my speeches or attempted to commit
anything to memory. My plan was to study the subject thoroughly that I
proposed discussing, and simply arrange the order of its presentation.
While absorbed in this work I reached Skunk river, drove up on the
causeway to the bridge, which at the entrance of the bridge was about
six feet above the level of the surface of the ground. As my off horse
put his foot upon the first plank of the bridge it proved to be loose
and the plank flew up, striking the shin of the other horse. At this my
team became frightened and commenced backing to the south of the
causeway, and for a moment I apprehended that I should be precipitated
over the causeway with the horses and buggy falling upon me. I
collected the reins hastily in my left hand, seized the whip, yelled to
the horses, struck the off horse violently with the whip, using my left
hand at the same time to draw them around onto the road so that they
would not take me over to the other side of the causeway. I felt the
near hind wheel of the buggy falling over the embankment, but the
horses sprang forward, unfortunately breaking the axle, and as I
brought them around into the road I stepped out of the buggy, threw the
lines onto the wheel, and let them run. They did not run more than one
or two hundred yards before the lines, which had caught in the wheel,
wound them up, and the lines being strong it stopped them. I followed
hastily, detaching the horses from the buggy, tied them to the trees,
then walked about two miles to a farm house where I engaged a farmer
with his farm wagon to take my buggy to Newton and to lend me a saddle
upon which I rode one horse and led the other. In this way I reached
Newton for late dinner, and taking my broken buggy to a blacksmith
engaged for its immediate repair, as it was necessary for me to take
the road again early next morning to meet my next appointment, which
was at Grinnell, in Poweshiek county. I had a small audience that
afternoon at two o'clock in the court house, and made them a short
speech, appointing another meeting for 7:30 that night.
The next morning my vehicle was in good order and I took the road,
reaching Grinnell in good time for my meeting, which was at night.
In arranging my appointments I reached the Mississippi river at
Clinton. Crossing the river I drove over to Mt. Carroll, Illinois, for
the purpose of a day's rest and to visit my relatives at that place. I
found there my aunt, Ann Austin, and her two boys, also her oldest
daughter, married to a man by the name of William Brotherton. Mr.
Brotherton and the two boys were ardent republicans, and being advised
of my coming, they had advertised me for a speech on Saturday night. I
spoke to a crowded house for nearly three hours amid great enthusiasm.
The next day, Sunday, the county central committee waited on me and
insisted that I should arrange a week with them and speak at various
points in their county, which I necessarily declined to do.
On Sunday afternoon I drove north to a little mining village called
Elizabeth where my aunt, Sarah Nourse, a maiden sister of my father,
was then living and teaching school. I stayed all night at this town of
Elizabeth, and my aunt entertained me during the evening until nearly
eleven o'clock with an account of the various propositions of marriage
she had had from some half dozen bachelors and widowers, all of which
she had declined, giving as an all-sufficient reason for it that her
suitors were not men of education and sufficient intelligence to make
companions for her, and she suspected them of wanting what little money
and property she had.
The next day, Monday afternoon, I drove to Galena where I remained all
night and heard the cheering news of the result of the state elections
of Ohio and Indiana, both states giving handsome republican majorities.
This really assured the success of Mr. Lincoln at the approaching
November election.
The next morning, Tuesday, I crossed the Mississippi river at Dubuque,
having had an appointment to speak in Dubuque that day. It so happened
that the democrats had prepared for a grand democratic rally that day,
at which Mr. Douglas, their candidate for President, expected to be
present. At the suggestion of my friends I stayed over until the next
day. I was anxious to hear Mr. Douglas, and attended his meeting, which
was well attended by his followers and friends. I could not but feel
sorry for and have some sympathy with the man when he came upon the
platform to speak. He had of course heard the news of the result of the
elections in Ohio and Indiana, and knew that the hopes and aspirations
of his life were forever blighted. Douglas was called "the little
giant," and he truly was a brave man. He stood before the audience,
knowing that his fate as a candidate for the presidency was forever
sealed, but he never flinched or gave any evidence whatever of his
disappointment. I wished to hear Mr. Douglas, not because I expected to
hear anything new, for I had studied well his speeches and knew his
views upon the subjects about which he was to talk, but I wished to
study his method and manner, for I knew he was an experienced man upon
the platform. He never spoke a sentence without first inhaling a full
breath. He made his sentences short and never uttered a word when his
lungs were exhausted. He always expressed himself in clear and concise
language, and I think never changed the construction of his sentences
or attempted their construction after he had commenced their utterance;
hence there was no confusion, no hesitancy, and no exertion of the
voice beyond what he anticipated when he began his utterances. I
learned much from his manner of speaking, and after that tried to
practice his art and skill in the management of my voice, and I think
with some success, for during that canvass I frequently met our
republican speakers with their throats inflamed and bandaged and so
hoarse that they scarcely could be heard, whilst during the seven weeks
that I was engaged in speaking, I spoke on an average once or twice a
day without any difficulty or hoarseness or inflammation in my throat.
I frequently relieved my voice by dropping into a conversational tone,
finding this much easier for myself and much more agreeable to my
hearers. I indulged frequently in anecdotes and amusing illustrations,
and endeavored not only to convince the people by arguments but at the
same time to entertain them.
I remained at Dubuque and spoke in the German theater on Wednesday
night. The republicans, of course, were enthusiastic and joyous. The
result of the elections in Ohio and Indiana had aroused and confirmed
their hopes of success. I spoke from the stage of the theater for three
long hours. I interspersed my remarks with frequent anecdotes that were
received by the audience with shouts of applause. At one time after the
general applause had partially subsided, some gentleman near the
orchestra box was seized with a second paroxysm of laughter, and
actually rolled off his seat to the floor shouting and screaming with
delight. The entire audience arose to their feet, looking over the
heads of those in front to see what had happened. I beckoned to them to
please be seated, that it was only one of the new converts that was
shoutingly happy. This awakened another round of laughter and applause,
and I think everyone, unless it might have been some disappointed
democrat present, was uproariously happy.
It would not be profitable to undertake to give an account of my many
meetings during that canvass. I traveled about fifteen hundred miles,
spoke in more than fifty counties of the state, continuing my labors up
to the night before the November election.
One incident I recall that probably is worth recording: I spoke at
Glenwood, in Mills county, to a large audience of ladies and gentlemen,
and after discussing the political issues of the day I told them that
there was a matter of a personal nature that I had not yet mentioned
and that I would communicate to them in confidence: that I had been
nominated by the republican state convention as their candidate for
Attorney General of the state, that after my nomination I was somewhat
doubtful as to the course I ought to pursue, whether or not it would be
best to stay at home and trust to the strength of my party, or whether
I ought to go over the state and discuss the political questions of the
day and let the people know and hear for themselves what manner of man
I was, that they might judge for themselves as to my competency to fill
the important office for which I was a candidate. That in all cases of
doubt or difficulty I had made it a rule to consult my wife, and I laid
the matter before her, asking her advice as to what she thought it was
best for me to do; that she immediately decided that I must go and
speak to the people and let them see and hear me, adding that I could
trust the people, that the people of Iowa beyond question knew and
appreciated a good man when they could see and hear him. The audience
shouted their applause at this conclusion of my address, and when I
came down from the platform many friends came and shook hands with me,
and especially the ladies, assuring me that the decision of my wife was
correct.
The result of the election is a matter of history. Mr. Lincoln received
the electoral vote of Iowa by some fifteen thousand majority, as did
also every candidate on the republican ticket, including myself. At the
close of my first term I was renominated and re-elected without
opposition.
The duties of my office as Attorney General of the state consisted in
advising the Governor and state officers when called upon by either of
them for my opinion, and also when requested by that body to give my
opinion to the general assembly, also to represent the state in all
criminal cases appealed to the supreme court of the state. Our supreme
court at that time met twice a year; to-wit, in April and October, in
the city of Davenport, Iowa, and my duties required me to attend there
during the sessions of the court. The judges of the court, a reporter,
and myself, and most of the attorneys visiting the court from time to
time, boarded at the Burtis House, an excellent hotel kept by Dr.
Burtis at that time. It made up a pleasant party, and it was rather a
pleasant episode in my professional life. The only important opinion I
was called upon to give to the general assembly was as to the
constitutionality of the proposed law providing for the soldiers' vote.
The supreme court of Pennsylvania had held a similar statute under
their constitution to be unconstitutional and void. I examined the
question carefully, because it was one of great importance. So many of
our loyal voters in the state were absent from the state as soldiers in
the Civil War, and there was a great danger that those who sought to
embarrass the prosecution of the war might place in control of our
state affairs men inimical to the cause of the Union and nation. I gave
an opinion to the legislature that the proposed law was constitutional.
It was passed and afterwards sustained by the unanimous opinion of the
judges of our supreme court, and from that time forward there was no
question about the political status and conduct either of our state
legislatures or our representatives in the national congress.
Soon after the opening of the Civil War the legislature of Iowa was
called together in extra session, and enacted a law providing for the
issuing of $800,000 of war defense bonds to be sold for the purpose of
providing means to equip and muster into service the troops to be
furnished by Iowa for the national cause. It also provided for three
state commissioners with authority to put these bonds upon the market
and sell the same at the best rate they could obtain. A number of other
states in the Union had also provided for the issuing of bonds and the
raising of means to arm and equip their soldiers. Hence when these
commissioners went to New York for the purpose of putting our bonds
upon the market, no desirable bids could be obtained. Our Secretary of
State, Elijah Sells, had been ordered or requested by Governor Kirkwood
to take these bonds to New York in order that they might be ready for
delivery in case of sale. There was danger to be apprehended that the
commissioners might attempt to hypothecate these bonds, or pledge them
for a loan of money. The bonds bore eight per cent interest per annum,
and they would constitute a great prize if the money sharks could get
hold of them and sell them at any price they might bring in a money
market then flooded with similar paper. Being advised of the situation,
I accompanied the Secretary of State to New York, at my own instance
and expense, for the purpose of advising the Governor and commissioners
that under the law they had no authority to pledge or hypothecate these
bonds, but could only sell them in the manner expressly provided by the
statute. I had an opportunity of giving this advice, which I did very
readily in New York, and I had the satisfaction of seeing the bonds
brought back to our state and sold at a fair price to our own people.
My salary as Attorney General was one thousand dollars a year and a
contingent fund of four hundred dollars additional each year. My
official duties occupied about one-half of my time, and I continued in
the general practice, except as to criminal cases, which yielded me
about fourteen hundred dollars additional, making my income during
these four years about twenty-eight hundred dollars which was rather
more than any state officer or even judge of the supreme court received
at that time.
Upon the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln in 1860 John A. Kasson, the man
whom I had defeated for the nomination of Attorney General of the
state, went to Washington City and secured the appointment as Second
Assistant Postmaster General, which position he held until the fall of
the year 1862, when he secured the nomination for congress from the
republican congressional convention of this, the then fifth
congressional district.
Upon the election of Mr. Lincoln in 1865 for his second term, I became
an applicant for the position of United States District Attorney,
putting my application in the hands of Senator Harlan. I also had
letters from all of our members of congress and from Senator Grimes
favoring my appointment. Mr. Kasson claimed that the appointment fell
in his congressional district and he was entitled by courtesy to
nominate the person who should receive it. Mr. Withrow, who was still a
personal and political friend of Mr. Kasson, came to me personally and
stated that if I would write to Mr. Kasson and signify my willingness
to receive the appointment as coming through him, that Mr. Kasson would
have the appointment made. I accordingly wrote to Mr. Kasson, stating
that if he was disposed to recommend my appointment upon considerations
of my fitness for the office and without reference to any supposed
personal obligations to favor his political aspirations for the future,
that I would be willing so to receive it. Upon receiving this letter,
Mr. Kasson immediately went to the President and presented to him the
name of Caleb Baldwin, of Council Bluffs, stating that Senator Harlan
had been consulted and had agreed to Mr. Baldwin's appointment. Mr.
Harlan, upon being advised of what Mr. Kasson had done, immediately
went to the President, and at his request the appointment was
suspended. On the 14th day of April ensuing, Mr. Lincoln was
assassinated and Andrew Johnson, the Vice President, succeeded to the
presidency. I immediately requested Mr. Harlan to pursue the subject of
my appointment to the office no farther, and there the controversy
dropped. I have regarded my disappointment in this matter as rather
fortunate than otherwise, as I was not in harmony with the
administration of Andrew Johnson and should not have cared to have held
office under his administration.
Pending the presidential election the people of Iowa were fully advised
as to the threats that were made that in case of Mr. Lincoln's election
the southern states would secede from the Union. They were also fully
aware of the fact that the then national administration was doing all
it could to encourage the southern politicians who were uttering these
threats. The position of Mr. Buchanan's administration was that the
constitution of the United States conferred on the National Government
no power to coerce a state, or, in plain terms, to preserve the nation
and prevent its disintegration. The fact that civil war might be
inaugurated and was threatened in case Mr. Lincoln was elected was well
understood and duly considered. The people of Iowa indulged in no
feelings of hatred toward the people of any state or section of the
Union. There was, however, on the part of the majority a cool
determination to consider and decide upon our national relations to the
institution of slavery, uninfluenced by any threat of violence or civil
war.
After the election of Mr. Lincoln and the call for troops to aid in
putting down the rebellion, I visited Washington City for the first
time in my life. The rebel troops occupied the entire country between
Richmond and Manassas and menaced the national capital. On the Saturday
before the battle of Bull Run, so-called, I went in company with some
friends in a carriage as far as Fairfax Court House. I saw there a
number of Union soldiers that had been wounded the day before in the
artillery engagement with the rebel general, Beauregard. I returned to
Washington Saturday night and arranged with General Curtis, then our
member of congress from Iowa, to go out in the morning by rail to the
place of the anticipated battle. I remained at Alexandria until after
noon on Sunday with the hope of getting transportation on the railway.
We could hear the booming of the cannon during the afternoon. I
remained in Alexandria till about two o'clock. On finding the expected
transportation on the railway delayed and doubtful, I returned to
Washington. About midnight we received news of the disastrous results
of the engagement that day. The next morning, Monday, I started home on
an early train, as my professional engagements that week required my
presence in Des Moines. During the great struggle that followed for the
preservation of our nation I spent much of my time and all of my income
in traveling over the state and attending public meetings, and made
frequent addresses in behalf of the Union cause. I did not enter the
volunteer service as a soldier or officer of the Union army for the
reason that I was satisfied I could do more good to the cause in the
position I then occupied as Attorney General of the state. I did at one
time apply to Governor Kirkwood for a military appointment as a major
in the Third Iowa Cavalry. He very bluntly told me that he did not
think he could spare me from the place that I then filled, and he did
not think it good policy to spoil a good lawyer for the sake of making
a poor soldier. I had no military education and no knowledge of
military affairs, and my health was such that I could not have been of
any use to the service except in a position where I could take better
care of myself than was possible as a soldier in the ranks.