Edwin D. Morgan 1811–1883: Merchant in Politics 9780231881449

Table of contents :
Preface
Contents
Illustrations
I. New England and New York
II. Merchant in Politics
III. An Excursion by Rail
IV. Journey's End
V. The Birth of The Republican Party
VI. The Campaign of 1886
VII. A Rising Tide of Republicanism
VIII. Governor of The Empire State
IX. The Campaign of 1860
X. Cloud Over The Nation
XI. The Struggle for Authority
XII. Raising an Army
XIII. The Second Year of The War
XIV. Civil War Politics
XV. On Capitol Hill
XVI. Senator Morgan and The Radicals
XVII. Business and Politics, 1868-1872
XVIII. Reform
XIX. Grand Old Man
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Citation preview

EDWIN

D.

MORGAN

1811-1883

Merchant in Politics

NUMBER

582

Columbia Studie» in the Social EDITED THE

FACULTY OF

BY

OF POLITICAL

COLUMBIA

Science»

SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY

E D W I N D.

MORGAN

1811-1883

Merchant in Politics By JAMES

COLUMBIA

A.

RAWLEY

UNIVERSITY

New York

1955

PRESS

The Colombia Studies in the Social Sciences (formerly the Studies in History, Economics and Public Law) is a series edited by the Faculty of Political Science of Columbia University and published by Columbia University Press for the purpose of making available scholarly studies produced within the Faculty.

coPTmioHT PUBLISHED BY

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1955

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For My Mother and Father

PREFACE has been neglected by historians owing to the inaccessibility of his papers and his granite New England character. Thus biographies of Civil War governors of Massachusetts and Indiana appeared half a century ago, and standard histories dismiss New York's governor with casual attention. Morgan's papers became available only a dozen years ago. Added to in the course of this study, they constitute a rich vein of materials for mid-nineteenth century American history. The writer has incurred a vast debt to Professor Allan Nevins, who suggested the appropriateness of a Morgan biography and has freely given his time, scholarship, and criticism to the work. Professors Dumas Malone, David Donald, and Henry Steele Commager have given the author the benefit of their criticism. Special thanks are owed to the late Mrs. E. D. Morgan, who without restriction turned over to the writer an unexploited store of 4,000 or more Morgan papers. Miss Edna Jacobsen and her staff of the New York State Library extended their hospitality during a summer in Albany. The staffs of the New York Historical Society, Columbia University Library, New York University Library, New York Public Library, Library of Congress, National Archives, Rush Rhees Library of the University of Rochester, and the Huntington Library all gave generous aid. The Misses Morgan of Windsor, Connecticut entrusted the writer with family papers. Finally, the labor and assistance of my wife have reduced the years of writing by one half and have immeasurably improved the manuscript. E D W I N D . MORGAN

CONTENTS I NEW ENGLAND AND NEW YORK

8

II MERCHANT IN POLITICS

14

I I I AN EXCURSION BY RAIL

28

IV JOURNEY'S END

88

V T H E BIRTH OF T H E REPUBLICAN PARTY VI T H E CAMPAIGN OF 1886

45 60

VII A RISING T I D E OF REPUBLICANISM

72

V I I I GOVERNOR OF T H E EMPIRE STATE

84

IX T H E CAMPAIGN OF 1860 X CLOUD OVER T H E NATION XI T H E STRUGGLE FOR AUTHORITY XII RAISING AN ARMY

108 120 183 103

X I I I T H E SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR

171

XIV CIVIL WAR POLITICS

186

XV ON CAPITOL HILL XVI SENATOR MORGAN AND T H E RADICALS XVII BUSINESS AND POLITICS, 1868-1872 XVIII REFORM XIX GRAND OLD MAN

203 212 231 246 259

NOTES

271

BIBLIOGRAPHY

309

INDEX

319

ILLUSTRATIONS P O R T R A I T OF E D W I N D. MORGAN Reproduced from HarperWeekly,

FrotUitpUce November 6, 1888

From a photograph by Mathew Brady

R A I L R O A D S OF NEW YORK S T A T E IN T H E 1850 s Map by Daniel Brownstein

Page 29

EDWIN

D.

MORGAN

1811-1883 Merchant

in

Politics

Chapter I NEW

ENGLAND NEW

AND

YORK

IN mid-nineteenth century America cholera took its toll of seaport residents every summer. When the New York newspapers reported an outbreak in May, 1849, thousands of citizens fled the city. Within three weeks the daily mortality rate had risen to twenty-five. The Mayor appointed a Sanitary Committee, formed from the Board of Aldermen. The Sanitary Committee, over strong public resistance, commandeered the school buildings as emergency hospitals, put a drug shop and two physicians in each hospital, and began to purify the city. The chairman of the Committee was a prosperous young merchant, E. D. Morgan, newly elected an assistant alderman. Throwing into the public health emergency the energy that had made his commission business a success, Morgan labored for five and a half months to check the fearful scourge. He and his Committee became known as the minute men. Morgan's reputation as a public-spirited citizen spread beyond the beleaguered city. At the end of the year, with the crisis ended (and at a small cost to taxpayers), Morgan's political fortunes had benefited from his courageous service. About to go to Albany as State Senator, he was known to Governor Hamilton Fish and Whig political boss Thurlow Weed. The influential New York politician James Kelley wrote Fish: "I would also commend my friend E. D. Morgan, Esq. to your . . . especial regard. I can only say of him that he is in every respect a man. His word is Truth." 1

4

New England and New

York

Morgan belonged to old American stock. The first Morgans, the brothers James, John, and Miles, had come to Boston from Wales in 1636. E. D. Morgan descended from James; his contemporaries Junius S. and J. P. Morgan from Miles. James received a patent to land in Groton, Connecticut, "the old hive of our family," where on January 3, 1783, Jasper Morgan, father of the merchant, was born.2 Jasper grew up to be a strapping man, six feet two inches tall, erect, vigorous, with piercing eyes, the ample Morgan nose, and a grimly determined mouth. H e married on July 8, 1805, Catherine Copp Avery, a "very beautiful woman with light hair & blue eyes, a devoted mother, a self-sacrificing wife." 3 Four years after their marriage the Morgans moved to a Berkshire village, Washington, Massachusetts; here on February 8,1811, Catherine gave birth to her second son, Edwin Denison. After a decade in the stony Berkshires, Jasper Morgan and his family returned to Connecticut. Family tradition has it that nine-year-old Edwin walked the fifty miles, driving the family cow. In a two-story clapboard farmhouse that still stands outside Windsor, the Morgans settled down. Edwin did his share of the farm chores: hoeing potatoes, raking hay, tending cattle. At twelve he entered the local free academy, which offered Latin, belles-lettres, arithmetic, reading and writing. H e completed his formal education with a term at Bacon Academy in Colchester, Connecticut, where he spent the winter of 1826 with his Uncle Avery. Besides this academic training he learned from his father, who was "by precept and practice faithfully instilling into my youthful mind those invaluable lessons of economy and continued personal application to business." 4 When he had just turned seventeen, Edwin set off on foot for Hartford, "to commence life," as he later recalled, "on my own account, with but two shillings three pence in my pocket." 5 H e went to work as a general clerk in his Uncle Nathan's general store. Nathan Morgan agreed to pay his nephew-apprentice $40 the first year, $50 the second

New England

and New

York

5

and $60 the third, and apparently gave board and lodging. Edwin started a working day early, sweeping out the store, rolling heavy barrels uphill from the dock, shoveling salt; he waited behind the counter through the day and kept the books. H e was about to despair of his hard lot when a decisive episode occurred. Nathan went to New York, leaving Edwin in charge of the store. The cargo arrived before Nathan returned, and Edwin sold it all at a good profit. Impressed by the opportunities to make money, the clerk agreed to remain in the store. At the year's end, Nathan gave Edwin a bonus and doubled his salary. When the apprentice was twenty, Nathan sent him to New York to purchase stock, including some corn. On the young man's return Nathan asked, "What about the corn?" Edwin astounded his employer by saying he had bought three shiploads. "Goodness, what can we ever possibly do with three shiploads of corn?" exclaimed the veteran merchant. "Well," replied Edwin, "they are sold already." On his way home he had sold the corn at a nice profit. Nathan Morgan immediately took his apprentice into partnership, lending him . the water level route came into its own.30 By that time Morgan's career found him amidst duties for which he was more congenially adapted.

Chapter THE

BIRTH

REPUBLICAN

V OF

THE

PARTY

"Ox T H E WHOLK our affairs are much disorder'd, and it requires skillful pilots of the Whig Party to keep our good old ship right side up," 1 Morgan told Hamilton Fish in May of 1854. The Whig ship had listed dangerously in 1852 when presidential candidate Winfield Scott had carried only four states. The Seward-Fillmore feud in the North and the lack of support in the cotton-growing South had weakened and sectionalized the party. Heavier seas rolled over the Whig ship early in 1854 when Stephen A. Douglas introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. It destroyed the peace achieved in 1850, and reaching back a full generation repealed the Missouri Compromise. Squatter sovereignty rather than Congressional fiat would decide the slavery issue in the territories. The Douglas measure provoked a turbulent response, from wrathful Whigs, independent Democrats, and persons with minority party predilections. Local parties calling themselves Republican and antiNebraska presented tickets in the autumn elections in 1854. Morgan, adhering to the Whig faith, as chairman of the State Central Committee, published a call for a convention at Syracuse. Meanwhile anti-Nebraska forces, including John A. King, Horace Greeley, Henry J. Raymond, and Moses Grinnell, met at Saratoga. " W h a t will the Saratoga Convention do?" Morgan wonderingly wrote Weed. The Convention's work contained small threat, for the anti-Nebraskans failed to organize a

46

Birth of the Republican

Party

new party and adjourned to see what the Whigs did. Many anti-Nebraska men, including Greeley and Raymond, appeared at the Syracuse convention.2 New York politics were a kaleidoscope in 1854. The Democracy was divided into Hard and Soft factions, the Whigs were threatened with a rupture, Native Americans were asserting their strength, and the temperance issue cut across political lines. A measure of this flux was the Whig nomination of Myron Clark, a Whig with Native American sympathies and a strong advocate of the Maine liquor law. Anti-Nebraskans endorsed the Whig ticket, as did a temperance convention and Free Democrats. The inevitable result was a Whig, or more properly, fusion victory. Throughout the nation that fateful autumn the weakness of the old parties and the strength of anti-Nebraska, NativeAmerican, and fusion forces were demonstrated. From Maine to Iowa the breaking of traditional ties could be seen. Lurid events in Kansas the next several months impelled men to forsake old affiliations and find new. Election of a territorial legislature late in March was made fraudulent by "border ruffian" voters from Missouri, a slave state. To the horror of many Northerners the fraud was compounded with violence and followed by the passage of proslavery laws. Territorial Governor Andrew Reeder's vetoes blocked this legislation. When President Pierce dismissed Reeder because of illegal land speculations, the antiadministration press angrily brushed aside this explanation and charged Pierce with getting rid of an antislavery governor.3 The Kansas turmoil strengthened fusion everywhere; in New York Whigs and Republicans issued calls for simultaneous conventions at Syracuse. Chairman Morgan brought to order the Whig meeting September 26. That night he met with representatives from the Republican convention; together committees from the two parties agreed on common resolutions and a slate. Nominees included a former Democratic antislavery Congressman, a Whig, and a Soft Demo-

Birth of the Republican

Party

47

crat. The platform called upon Congress to prohibit slavery in the territories and denounced the Native Americans. The next morning in the Whig convention, John A. King presiding, Grinnell read the slate and Morgan the platform. Following notification of the Republicans that the slate and platform had been adopted, the Whigs marched to Wieting Hall where they completed fusion with the Republicans. The Joint Committee named E. D. Morgan chairman of the State Committee.4 What had taken place in New York was happening in other Northern states. In the fall elections the Republican movement contested with the Native Americans for succession to the Whigs as the second major party in a two-party system. Until this time a gambler might well have wagered on the Native Americans, for in 1854 they had polled strong support in Pennsylvania, won the legislature in Massachusetts, and had found friends in other states where foreigners and Catholics were numerous. Yet at their national convention in June, 1854, delegates split asunder on the Nebraska issue. A Northern minority hostile to the act walked out. Intolerance had proved too weak a foundation for a major party; the haven many bewildered voters had found in Native Americanism soon would be afforded in Republicanism. But the outcome of the 1855 elections was a heavy Native American vote, making clear that the party would figure in political calculations next year. New York was inundated by the Native American tide, as were Maryland and California. The Republicans of Ohio, on the other hand, elected Salmon P. Chase governor. The three months following the elections witnessed events that fostered Republican growth. The Wakarusa War in Kansas engaged border ruffians and free-soilers. The House of Representatives struggled from December to February over the speakership. The eventual choice of N. P. Banks, a former Massachusetts Know-Nothing now in Republican ranks, augured happily for Republican ascendancy. And during the Congressional deadlock, debate raged over admis-

48

Birth of the Republican

Party

sion of Kansas under the free-soil constitution drafted at Topeka. 5 Sober men were meanwhile planning to win the government for the free-soil cause. A meeting at the Silver Spring estate of Francis Blair, attended by N. P . Banks, Preston King, S. P . Chase, Charles Sumner and others, laid plans for a national party. A rival Native-American meeting scheduled in February prompted a decision to issue an early call for a national organizational convention.6 On January 17, 1856, a call "to the Republicans of the United States" went out from Washington over the signatures of state chairmen from Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin. I t bid attendance at Pittsburgh on February 22,1856 "for the purpose of perfecting the National Organization and providing for a National Delegate Convention of the Republican Party." 7 New Yorkers did not lag in this movement to nationalize the new party. Late in January the State Republican Committee met at the Astor House, where it named two delegates from each Congressional district, "as near as could be one from each of the Whig & Democratic parties as formerly understood." Himself a delegate, Morgan described his idea of the assembly's purposes: " I suppose the Chief duty of the Pittsburgh Convention will be to prepare for choosing a delegate convention, to decide as to holding a National Convention and to fix upon the time for it." 8 On Washington's birthday at Pittsburgh, fairly midway between the Northeast and the Northwest, the party founders gathered. The same elements of disbanded Whigs, dissatisfied Democrats, and rootless Free-Soilers which had fused in New York now combined on a nearly national scale. All of the sixteen northern states and eight southern states were represented. When the convention opened the power of New York was immediately made plain. John A . King presided as temporary chairman, and E . D. Morgan was named one of eighteen vice presidents. On the same day the American Party met in Philadel-

Birth of the Republican Party

49

phia. The anti-Nebraska faction, calling themselves "North Americans," broke with their colleagues, and telegraphed the Republicans: "The Americans are no longer united. Raise the Republican banner! Let there be no further expansion of Slavery. The Americans are with you." The dispatch of course stimulated Republican zeal. Meanwhile the "South Americans" in Philadelphia nominated ex-President Millard Fillmore. The work of the Republican convention was threefold. A set of resolutions written by Henry J. Raymond committed the party to the repeal of laws permitting slavery in the territories, to the admission of Kansas as a free State, and to the overthrow of the Democratic administration. The convention secondly achieved national consolidation through a Committee on Organization. This group named the National Executive Committee and made E. D. Morgan its chairman. The selection of Morgan was doubtless a recognition of New York's strength, as well as of a rising political leader. For New York was the financial capital of the Union; here campaign funds must be raised from bankers and merchants among whom Morgan stood to the fore. New York was the most populous State in the nation, and it was the home of the Seward-Weed machine. Such factors thrust the New York State chairman into national prominence in 1856. The convention ended its work by fixing a date for a national nominating convention. It chose the anniversary of Bunker Hill, June 17; the nation's second capital, Philadelphia, would be the scene; and delegations would have twice the number of representatives in Congress. The National Committee was instructed to add one delegate from each State, and to begin organizing grass roots Republicanism in every town and township in the land.9 The National Committee undertook as its first task the drafting of a call for the Philadelphia Convention. Morgan met with committeemen and interested Congressmen at Willard's Hotel on March 26. The call drafted by F. P. Blair read:

50

Birth of the Republican

Party

The people of the United States, without regard to past political differences or division, who are opposed to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, to the policy of the present Administration, to the extension of Slavery into the Territories, in favor of the admission of Kansas as a free State and of restoring the action of the Federal Government to the principles of Washington and Jefferson, are invited by the National Committee, appointed by the Pittsburgh Convention of the 22nd of February, 1856, to send from each State three Delegates from every Congressional District, and six Delegates at large, to meet in P H I L A D E L P H I A , on the teventeenth day of June next, for the purpose of recommending candidates to be supported for the offices of President and Vice-President of the United States. 1 0

The phraseology used here aimed to win over reluctant Congressmen, Morgan later disclosed: "The call at Washington was broad to meet the views of many of the members who voted for Banks but who are not yet enrolled as Republicans." Morgan believed the call elicited a favorable response, "so far as I have been able to judge." 11 For the next two months Morgan labored to forward party organization. His guiding principle had been adumbrated by the Washington conference: to coalesce factions reluctant to take up an untried political instrument. Attraction of such groups involved respect for local feelings, reliance upon local leaders, avoidance of divisive secondary issues. In short, the national chairman's job was to achieve a league of voters, a confederation founded upon State's rights, rather than a rigidly organized, nationally dominated party. Free Kansas and the halt of slavery's march came first. "We have every reason to suppose the Administration is to make an approval of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise a test of Democracy, and are to do what lies in their power to favor a Slave state. This is the issue that the Republicans have to meet. Are we prepared for it? I think we are." 12 The sincerity of this stand upon slavery exclusion can not be called into question. Morgan told William M. Chace, Rhode Island chairman: "I would give the naming of them all [Rhode Island's delegates] to the Americans sooner than

Birth of the Republican Party

51

have any question as to their being in favor of the Slave Democracy." Reliance upon local feeling included referral of the manner of choosing delegates for the national convention to local action, as Morgan explained to Bunce in Hartford: I counselled with a few friends last evening who thought the suggestion made by me to you was right, and that each State should decide the manner of choosing its Delegates to the Republican Convention in Philadelphia. The Washington Call was made to the People, instead of to the Republicans of the United States in order to afford an opportunity for all to join us who stood on the platform, tho' not yet enrolled in our party.

The wisdom of this action was substantiated four days later when Weed advised: "There are differences of opinion about the mode of selecting Delegates." 18 This deliberate looseness of organization applied equally to the choosing of a candidate. "Success will depend," prophesied Morgan, "entirely upon the patriotism of the people, and upon their capacity to make a combination. If they forego all personal preference and go into the Convention with determination to construct all their proceedings with a view to success in this campaign, I think our chances good If the subordination of personal preference was fundamental to success, so was the winning of the keystone State— Pennsylvania. "The skies are brightening," Morgan optimistically declared, "and if we can find a candidate for the Presidency who can carry the State of Penn'a we have good reason to believe we can get possession of the Government."14 While this national policy of respecting local differences and emphasizing only a carefully defined common ground was being promoted, Morgan was simultaneously discharging his duties as State Chairman. Particular attention was directed toward New York City, traditionally pivotal in the politics of the State. "New York you are aware," Morgan advised John Niles of Hartford, "is a very badsoil for free soil. But we shall do something even in this city of trading men." 15 The strong commercial ties between New York and

52

Birth of the Republican

Party

the slaveholding South were indeed a thorny problem. Before the March conference in Washington a committee of arrangements for the organization of the Republican party in N e w York was named by Morgan who included himself among the number. Others were William M. Evarts, John Bigelow, Anthony Bleecker, and a Mr. Leigh. The first fruit of the committee was a mass meeting, attended by 3,000 persons, at the Broadway Tabernacle on the night of April 28. Called to order by the State Chairman, the audience sustained the Pittsburgh proceedings, listened to the oratory of Evarts, B. F. Butler, W . Curtis Noyes, and others, and finally made arrangements for the Republican State Convention scheduled to meet at Syracuse on May 28. A few days later Morgan estimated the response to the Tabernacle gathering and disclosed its purpose. "We had a good meeting. The influence will be felt. It is felt already, and we are well satisfied with the result, being pretty sure of its accomplishing what was intended, which was to awaken attention, and satisfy distant friends that the movement was an earnest one, as well as to open the call in our city." 16 The State Committee, named by the State Convention in 1855, had met at Albany on April 22. Exercising its local option it decided to have a State convention meet at Syracuse on May 28 to choose delegates to the Philadelphia nominating convention. A t Syracuse, E. D . Morgan performed his now familiar role of bringing to order the Republican delegates. Nearly all the counties in the State were represented. Delegates to the convention were selected; and Horace Greeley reported for the Committee on Resolutions, the chief event of the convention, according to his own paper." The month of May was attended by exciting events on the national scene, which accelerated the growth of Republicanism. Kansas again captured the attention of all Americans, when a sheriff's posse of pro-slavery men sacked Lawrence. John Brown, of tainted mind and curiously sainted memory, encrimsoned Pottawatomie by cold-blooded

Birth of the Republican

Party

53

murders. The Republican newspapers made much of Lawrence and something less of Brown at this time. Republican leaders in the East had evinced their concern for Kansas by financial contributions to the free-state movement. In March the Thirty-fourth Congress by a vote of 101 to 93 had designated a Kansas Commission headed by W. A. Howard to investigate the election. This governmental commission drew upon the Republican national chairman for $10,000. The repayment of this sum occasioned a note from Morgan to his cousin, Edwin B. Morgan, Representative from Aurora: "Your favor of the 30th instant is at hand this morning with draft Ten Thousand Dollars, as stated, the same being for Hon. W . A. Howards 'drafts' for expenses of Kansas Comission. Do accept my thanks for the prompt attention you have given this matter . . . " The Howard report was highly favorable to the Republican cause, for it held that no valid law governed the elections and that disorder in Kansas was such as to require Federal troops for a fair election.18 Material assistance was rendered also to Eli Thayer's Emigrant Aid Company. This group had for two years been underwriting the expenses of emigrants with free-soil proclivities who wished to live in Kansas. In May, 1856, Thayer repaired to New York in quest of editorial and financial support. The first he received from Horace Greeley, the second from a host of eminent New Yorkers, including Moses Grinnell, R. M. Blatchford, D. D. Field, John Bigelow, Simeon Draper, W . C. Noyes, Lucius Robinson, and E. D. Morgan. A receipt in Morgan's private papers reveals that Morgan contributed $1,000 on February 11, 1856. The holder of 50 shares, he was a director of the Company as of June 26, 1856.19 Affairs in Kansas in May promoted the spread of Republicanism. A related historical event had a similar outcome. The scholarly Massachusetts Senator, Charles Sumner, delivered his famous two day diatribe, "The Crime

54

Birth of the Republican

Party

Against Kansas," on May 19-20. Toward the close of the second day, while few persons were in the Senate, the Southerner Preston Brooks caned the defenseless Senator into unconsciousness. This vicious letting of blood on the very floor of the upper chamber awakened indignation throughout the North. New York Republicans lost no time in capitalizing on the unhappy episode. "The changes now taking place in our city are very great. The Sumner meeting on Friday night was glorious," exulted Morgan to Bigelow. 20 While New York and the North, abetted by the nation's turmoil, moved toward the banner raised at Pittsburgh, party leaders kept a cautious watch on the North Americans. This rump group, product of the February split, antiforeign and antislave, had scheduled their nominating convention on June 12 in New York City. This date, a strategic few days before the Republican convention in not too far distant Philadelphia, gave the North Americans an opportunity to strike a bargain with the Republicans. For the North Americans were in a position to anticipate the Republicans in the choice of a presidential nominee and thus cause the Philadelphia convention to follow their lead, or to yield the presidential nomination to the Republicans as the price of the joint nomination of a North-American vice-presidential candidate.21 A month before the New York convention, Morgan discussed the problem in a letter to Bunce: The anti-Fillmore and Donelson Convention is to meet in N e w York June 12' instead of the 10' as suggested in your letter. There cannot be any arrangements with that Convention by the Republicans. I f by that time (the Cincinnati Convention having made their nominations) the Republican Candidate being known and the Anti-Fillmore 12th June Convention adopt our candidate who by that time will I trust get nominations in many places from the people, I should not think it would be advisable to oppose their doing so . . , 2 2

As convention time drew near, speculation upon nominees grew rife. For a number of years, since his "higher law" speech of 1850 at least, William H . Seward, the small

Birth of the Republican

Party

55

lithe Auburn lawyer, had stood to the fore in the anti-slavery movement. More recently S. P. Chase, that Independent Democrat turned Republican, commanded attention as a result of his capture of the Ohio governorship. Justice McLean of the Supreme Court, a Jackson appointee, entertained aspirations which were looked upon favorably by conservative groups. Each of these persons had his disqualifications. Seward, the foe of slavery in the District of Columbia and of the Fugitive Slave Law, was still too "ultra" for many tastes. The shrewd Weed counselled that Seward's true policy was to wait. Victory in 1860 seemed more sure than victory by a new party in 1856. Chase, whose views were like the New Yorker's, labored under a similar handicap. Availability in 1856 was defined in terms of alienating as few votes as possible. Judge McLean, in the right wing of the party, thus was handicapped. His age and drab personality likewise militated against his candidacy. The field was opening to John C. Fremont, the choice of a midwinter New York caucus. On May 9 Morgan informed Bunce: "From present appearances our candidate is quite likely to be either McLean or Freemont the former will be urged by the Conservative Class and the latter by Young America. Something may happen at Cincinnati to put them aside, but which cannot be known till after the action of the Administration Convention there." 28 As the Fremont star rose on the political horizon, the Fremont proponents experienced a mounting anxiety about the North-American convention. A recent student of the campaign of 1856 has explained the fix which the Fremont men were in. If the North-Americans did not nominate Fremont and the Republicans endorsed the North-American choice, Fremont would of course be lost. If the North Americans did not nominate Fremont and the Republicans did, two antislavery tickets would be in the field and Fremont's chances would be diminished. If the North Americans nominated Fremont and the Republicans did too, Fremont, shorn of

56

Birth of the Republican

Party

immigrant and Catholic support, probably would be defeated.24 Under a cloud of fear the Fremont men gathered in New York on the eve of the North-American convention. "Free and earnest conferences between the 'Republicans' and the 'North Americans' now gathered in our city" took place. Rumor had it that $50,000 passed from Republican palms into North-American.25 The convention sat on Thursday, June 12. The Fremont Republicans who had differed among themselves as to strategy were active in promoting delay. At length they seem to have found agreement in the strategy of inducing the North Americans to name N. P. Banks, the Republican Speaker of Know Nothing antecedents, for the presidency, and a Whig, preferably ex-governor Johnston of Pennsylvania, for the vice-presidency. Upon the nomination of Fremont in Philadelphia, the pliant Banks would withdraw and the North-Americans could choose the vice-presidential candidate. In this manner each party would have a nominee and Fremont would be relieved of the odium of Nativist dictation.26 "In common with many other Republicans," Morgan later declared, "I did think it wise to have a candidate for the vice Presidency nominated at our Republican Convention that would have been satisfactory to the Americans . . . . prior to the action of our convention, and to that extent only, have I made exertions." 27 Under the date of June 13, Morgan dispatched a letter to the president of the North-American Convention, Robert Conrad. H e cited at length the conciliatory and moderate circular sent out from Washington March 28. In the most oblique language he solicited the shift of the North Americans to the "People's Party." "I have deemed it proper, at the earliest moment after its organization, to invite the attention of the American Convention to the sentiments and objects of the National Committee as expressed in their circular at the period of their

Birth of the Republican

Party

57

calling a People's Convention, the wisdom and importance of which are in no sense diminished at this time." Morgan's letter had a mixed reception. "Mr Jones of New Jersey said that when he came here, he supposed it was to sit in an American Convention (Applause)." "Chauncey Schaeffer made an effective speech for Free Kansas . . . He was in favor of a union with the Republican party, now that they had asked for it, and if they did they would triumph." Strongest support came from ex-Governor Ford of Ohio: " . . . I am for Free Speech, for Free Territory, for Free Men, and, I guess I may venture to say, for Fremont." 28 Balloting commenced this Saturday, without result; adjournment was taken over the week-end until Monday. By the time of re-convening, some North-Americans had grown suspicious of Republican tactics. About a dozen persons withdrew from the convention, and independently named Commodore Stockton and Kenneth Raynor. The majority group chose Banks and Johnston, designated a committee to confer with the Republicans in Philadelphia, and thereupon adjourned until June 19.29 "The Committee of the American Convention will be at the Franklin House Phila. Tuesday evening by two o'clock train," George Law telegraphed Morgan, who was now in Philadelphia.30 On Tuesday morning at 11:30 E . D. Morgan called to order the 2000 persons massed in the Musical Fund Hall. He spoke briefly: You are here today to give direction to a movement which is to decide whether the people of the United States are to be hereafter and forever chained to the present national policy of the extension of human Slavery. Not whether the South is to rule, or the North do the same thing; but whether the broad, national policy our fathers established, cherished and forever maintained, is to be permitted to descend to her sons, to be the watchword, the text and guiding star of all her people. Such is the magnitude of the question submitted. In its consideration let us avoid all extremes—plant ourselves firmly on the platform of the Constitution and the Union, taking no position which does not commend itself to the judgment of our consciences, our country, and of mankind. Of the wisdom of

58

Birth of the Republican

Party

such a policy there need be no doubt: against which there can be no successful resistance. I now propose to nominate for temporary Chairman of this Convention . . . . the Hon. Robert Emmet. 31

The nomination of Fremont by the Republicans with North-American concurrence was foregone. Morgan and Thomas Scott of Indiana acted as tellers for the vote which on the first formal ballot gave Fremont 520 votes as opposed to 37 votes for McLean. The Committee on Conference, composed of North-Americans and Republicans, encountered difficulty over the vice-presidency. Speaker Banks did not want the second position. William F. Johnston of Pennsylvania was proposed as a compromise candidate. There was logic to this, for at Cincinnati the Democrats had chosen as their presidential standard bearer a Pennsylvanian, James Buchanan. Since the importance of Pennsylvania was appreciated, some Republicans were disposed to balance one "native son" with another. But the Pennsylvania Republicans objected that Johnston was not the man; he would weaken the anti-Nebraska forces in the State. Then Governor Ford, the North-American leader from Ohio, was suggested, but Ohio Republicans rejected him. The outcome was no choice at all by the Committee of Conference. The North-Americans withdrew with the request that the Republicans name a vice-president acceptable to them. But the Republicans, heedless of the wishes of Morgan, Weed, and Fremont, named William Dayton of New Jersey "without any regard to the wishes and views of the American Party." 32 Back in New York, the incensed North-Americans reconvened. Banks withdrew from the race. The convention nominated Fremont, and held to Johnston for the vice-presidency. This created an embroglio for the managers of the coming campaign.33 In Philadelphia the Republicans adopted a brief, simple platform, consistent with their principle of alienating few and attracting many. The platform affirmed the principles of the Declaration of Independence, the power of Congress

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over the territories, resolved in favor of the immediate admission of Kansas as a free State, denounced the Ostend circular, advocated a railroad to the Pacific and river and harbor improvements, and concluded with an invitation to "men of all parties. " Following the convention, the members of the national committee, designated to serve for the next four years, met and continued in office as national chairman Edwin D . Morgan.34 Thus by the end of June there were three tickets in the field, excluding the tangled North-American affair. In September the declining Whig party assembled in Baltimore. Fillmore and Donelson, the nominees of the South Americans, were endorsed by resolution.

Chapter THE

VI

CAMPAIGN

OF

1856

THE Philadelphia convention had placed Morgan in charge of a canvass destined to be the most spirited of his lifetime. The fervor of a crusade, the hazard of new political fortunes, the complications of the contest—all lent an animation not perceptible in later campaigns. "Ours is the true Democratic Party," 1 avowed the chairman as the campaign gathered momentum. Morgan brought the virtues of the business man to the task of steering Fremont to the Executive Mansion: indefatigable energy, efficiency, ability to act quickly in emergency, a high sense of duty, the gift of cooperation, and a shrewd discernment of cardinal problems. Moreover he was imbued with an idealistic sense of the crusade now being launched. To the success of the mission he was willing to give his time—already divided among his business, the Board of Emigration, and State politics. Nor was his purse withheld when that seemed the way to fashion the desired end. Though he could act forthwith when required, he consulted with party leaders on long-range policies, proceeding with tact and conciliation, alive to the coalition being achieved. The choice of a candidate was none of his doing; nor was drafting the platform. I t was his bent for administration, his early and unflagging loyalty to the cause, the prestige of his name (especially among the merchants) that appear to have been his personal recommendations for the part. Morgan established national headquarters in the Trinity Building, New York. He could get administrative help only sporadically, though William M. Chace of Connecticut

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reenforced him rather regularly. As the needs of the campaign dictated, Morgan invoked additional aid from Gideon Welles and others.2 Prospects of success were thrice beclouded by the vicepresidential embroglio, the party's doubtful ability to carry the pivotal states of Pennsylvania and Indiana and its unproved capacity to raise funds. Minor questions included Fremont's alleged Catholicism and the influence of the German vote. These constituted a partial outline of Morgan's responsibilities. To complete the outline there must be included: conducting a correspondence with State chairmen and local leaders, making arrangements for speakers, and dissemination of campaign literature. These last duties suggest an important phase of his work, for national headquarters was a clearing house rather than a seat of authority, a bond rather than bondage. Party organization in 1856 was for all parties, particularly the Republican, far more simple than it became in later generations. Nearly all direction of the canvass was left with local politicians. Not only were policies locally shaped, but funds, speakers, and literature were so provided. The national committee advised rather than supervised; its services were rendered to doubtful States, from which special appeals came for money, speakers, and documents.3 To perform these functions it was admirably located in the money and publishing center of the nation, athwart New England and the Old Northwest. Morgan's peculiar province was the campaign chest. His greatest exertions were in raising money, no easy task in New York City which, as he had said, was bad soil for freesoil. Others in the party wished to manage the funds, yet as wise Gideon Welles pointed out: " Y o u have and must hold the pursestrings, for on you is the pecuniary responsibility." * Just after the convention the vice-presidential tangle distressed Morgan most. "Wisdom would have dictated,"

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he told Russell Sage, "the taking a man for that office that would be acceptable to the American Convention which assembled in this city, and although I labor [ed] for it, as did Mr. Weed, the Convention could not be made to feel its importance." 8 An overture "to open the way . . . for the removal of whatever obstacles may yet be in the way of perfect harmony of action" had been addressed to Morgan by Francis Ruggles, American National Executive Committee chairman. Morgan did not reply and Ruggles then delivered an ultimatum that Dayton be withdrawn before the Americans convened the next day in Massachusetts. He presented this abrupt demand, claiming assurances had been given "by numerous and prominent leaders of the Republicans" that in exchange for American endorsement of Fremont, Dayton would be induced to withdraw "in favor of the American Candidate for the Vice-Presidency." 6 Morgan again made no reply, for a reason he explained to Welles in one of his characteristically awkward letters: . . . . any answer would have been unsatisfactory, where so much o f — incorrectness had been assumed. I accordingly omitted to reply at all. I enclose the letter for your perusal only remarking that no promise of any kind has been made to them by me or by any other person so far as I know. If I had written at all I should have been compelled to have written to that effect, which would have been unpleasant to be by them read or told to the Springfield Convention . . .T

In the interval the Americans had met with two factions in attendance: those who wished to endorse the Fremont candidacy and those who wished to adhere to Fillmore. After nearly 100 Fillmore men bolted the convention, the Fremont majority named for the vice-presidency William F. Johnston.8 The Massachusetts action was ominous, for a month later the Americans were to meet in Connecticut. A similar conflict would imperil the Republican cause in New England, a bloc essential to success. Further, there were unpleasant implications for Johnston's and Buchanan's State, Pennsyl-

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vania, not to speak of Dayton's New Jersey. Morgan forwarded to Dayton a letter by Gideon Welles outlining difficulties in Eastern States. Dayton retorted "he did not propose to take any steps himself as to getting out of the way as he had taken none toward getting into the position." 9 Morgan's refusal to answer the ultimatum irritated American leaders and worried Weed. Early in August these leaders conferred in Washington with Johnston and resolved to get before the people. Weed urged Morgan to "say something in reply"—a polite expression of hope that "this one obstacle to our success" might be adjusted.10 The Washington conference sent a new proposal to the Republican chairman, "asking for a new Convention to be called to nominate a Vice President." Unlike the earlier manifestoes this, Morgan felt, must be answered, and in a "confidential" note he sent the proposal to Johnston. "Perhaps you can point some mode in which it [removal of the embarrassment] can be done . . . I am ready to speak to you or to your friends frankly so far as I may possess influence." A t the same time he followed a more forthright course, as he explained to Dayton: I at once went to the place of business of Mr. Ruggles, also of Mr. Day, another member of their Committee;—told him of the communication from their Committee;—said it would be answered as soon as our Ex. Committee could be called together;—Stated that very probably it would do harm, but since they pressed it, our Committee would answer it. Mr. Howard begged me not to answer it for a few days; or till he could have another interview &c &c with Mr. Ruggles. I then requested Mr Chace to procure printed copies of the letter of the North Americans, having them in that form for the purpose of sending one copy to each member of our Committee and intending to ask an expression of opinion from such, if any, as could not attend our meeting at an early day. This morning M r Chace returned with a message from Mr Ruggles, requesting the letter to be returned, saying it was all wrong that it had been sent;—wished me not to answer it or take any notice of it;—that though printed in circular form, they had called them in. M r . Howard also called, and made the same statement as coming from their Chairman, Mr Ruggles. I then recalled my order for a meeting of our National Committee, and told them they had done a sensible thing. 1 1

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Morgan's bluff-calling led to the assumption of a new tone by the North-American leaders. The first sign appeared at the North-American convention in Connecticut, August 6, where the Republicans simultaneously met. A "cordial union of all the opponents to the present Nat. Adm." was effected in a single ticket for Presidential electors. Exultantly reporting this outcome J . W . Bunce announced, "you may I think safely take Conn't out of your list of doubtful States." 12 Johnston himself remained adamant for a time. His "Private & Confidential" reply to Morgan said: " I do not know any better policy to settle the question, than its submission to a new Convention . . ." However before the month's end he and Fremont conferred. "The Col. said in case of his Election he would give all his friends who participated in his election, fair play . . ." Morgan told Welles. Johnston withdrew his candidacy. Soon after this happy sequel a union ticket was arranged in Massachusetts. It provided that each party nominate an elector at large and that the eleven districts of the State be apportioned between the parties, five Republicans, five American, and one elector, J . S. C. Knowlton, being specifically named.13 New England was safe for Republicanism. All the while other States were engaging the attention of the National Chairman. Of these, the pivotal States were his first concern. Witnessing the disintegration of old alignments in New York, whose 35 electoral votes were his double responsibility, he declared: "The changes from the soft division of the late Democratic Party in this State in Favor of Fremont, and of prominent men are very numerous making our position eminently safe here." Unable to attend a meeting of the Republican State Committee because of his mother-in-law's death, he supported its decision to hold the State convention in Syracuse on September 1, with two delegates representing each Assembly district.14 As the Democratic State convention approached Morgan retained confidence in a New York victory. He informed

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an Ohio correspondent: "The Democratic Party in this State is nearly as badly broken to pieces as the Whig party. They will patch up a Union at Syracuse on the 30th inst., which will avail them nothing." 15 His prediction was fulfilled; Hard and Soft factions of the Democracy found reconciliation in Market Hall, Syracuse, where they chose Amasa J. Parker as gubernatorial candidate. A "marriage of convenience," cried the Evening Post of "the Syracuse Buchanier Convention." 16 During the six week interval before the Republican convention, possible gubernatorial nominees were discussed. A single term tradition and his ardent temperance views militated against re-nomination of Governor Clark. Morgan's name was mentioned, along with those of other New York merchants. But the convention settled upon John A. King, an "early and constant adversary of the extension of slavery," the temporary chairman of the Pittsburgh convention.17 Having named a former Whig to head the ticket, the convention chose Henry R. Selden as King's running mate, finding "it advisable to put on a Democrat in antecedent for Lieut Gov." The wider significance of the action is suggested in Morgan's statement: "I endorse the sentiment that none but friends known and reliable to Gov. Seward should be placed on the ticket." 18 The Fillmore Americans met simultaneously in Syracuse. They named for governor Erastus Brooks, younger of a pair of brothers characterized by aggressiveness and intolerance in politics and journalism, responsible for the New York Express.19 The writing of a slate designed to attract former Democrats as well as Whigs gave the Republicans strength. The weak point, as Morgan had said, was New York City, where the chairman spent most of the months of the campaign. The decision of the conservative Whig Senator Hamilton Fish to become a Republican in mid-September heartened Morgan, who ordered printed 2,000 copies of Fish's public letter announcing his conversion.20 Looking to another con-

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servative quarter, the merchants, Morgan held a private meeting in his home where plans were formulated to have an invitation, subscribed by conservatives, extended to N. P. Banks, Speaker of the House, to address the New York merchants. The invitation was signed by fifty or more merchants, including conservatives not previously identified as Republicans. Before an audience of 20,000 Banks stressed the superiority of his party for commercial men. The Banks speech provoked both Whig and Democratic replies, as the parties wooed the merchant vote.21 The Republicans appealed to another special group in the great city. Frederick Hecker, a German speaker, exhorted 7,000 German-Americans at a meeting Morgan described as "tremendous." The 7,000 were "nearly all voters," he rejoiced.22 So the battle for New York continued; a week before the election he reported a new development. "They are coalescing in this State on local officers and on members of Congress where that is necessary. But they can hardly make it work on the electoral. Buchanan will break Fillmore . . . and Fremont will beat Buchanan." H e bolstered this optimism concretely; to the up-state counties he remitted money ranging from $50 a county to $600 for Albany. H e allotted $1,500 to New York County and $250 to Kings. B y October 29 he had collected $3,359.50 for the State campaign fund. 23 Morgan was also giving attention to the needs of other States. The national headquarters sent two speakers, "both good stumpers," to harangue the electorate in Iowa before the State elections scheduled August 4. When Iowa again embraced freedom, as it had in 1854, Weed cried, "Truly glorious." 24 Maine, proverbial harbinger of the November outcome, was subsidized with funds advanced by Morgan, "trusting to our luck for collections." 25 Victory justified a $2,700 expenditure; "All Hail Maine," cried the ordinarily solemn Morgan. 28 In order to be of service to States in the doubtful column,

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Morgan was obliged to launch a drive for funds, prepare a roster of speakers, maintain an informative and optimistic correspondence with State leaders, and distribute campaign documents where these were most needed. Little enough fund-raising could be done in the summer. Morgan called a National Committee meeting for August 20 at the Astor to raise $50,000 for Pennsylvania "and as much more as is necessary for any western State or States." 27 But by September 2 he had collected only $3,485. The new party's pecuniary embarrassment was aggravated by the failure of the two Washington committees to render aid. The Republican Association of Washington, D. C., formed in 1855, to forward the cause from the capital, soon confessed its inadequacy. The Republican Congressional Executive Committee, whose services included franking documents, was without funds and borrowed so far as it could from the Association.28 So it was that Morgan's task became twice as difficult, as the party's financial prospects narrowed to two cities. "We, in New York should be responsible for whatever is deemed right for New York to do," affirmed Morgan, "and the balance should be agreed for by the Boston & other representatives." 29 But New York was the battleground of a bitter struggle in which a large share of the wealth opposed the Republican coalition; and Boston Republicans, as we shall see, had an independent turn of mind. Not until late September was an intensive fund-raising campaign commenced. On the 29th Morgan entertained a group of wealthy men in his Lafayette Place mansion; an emissary from Pennsylvania explained his State's plight. The next day Morgan recounted: "It rained hard last night and yet I succeeded in getting 30 to 40. pretty good men and got subscribed $8,000." 30 His next step was to assess candidates and officeholders. Senator Fish, a very recent convert to Republicanism, paid a levy of $1,000. The candidate for adjutant-general, R. H . Pruyn, was tapped for $250, and other aspirants in pro-

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portion to anticipated salaries. John A. King, who hoped for a two year gubernatorial term at $4,000 a year, donated $5,000, "one half for Penna, and one half for N. York." 31 Politicians were more ready to speak than they were to give money. Morgan relied on an impressive roster: N . P. Banks, General Nye, Horace Greeley, S. P. Chase, William M. Evarts, Schuyler Colfax, and George W . Curtis. Three German language speakers offered their oratory to GermanAmericans, lovers of liberty and land.32 The distribution of campaign literature was a responsibility Morgan shared with Clephane and others. A partial list of campaign documents shows the emphasis upon affairs in Kansas: "Border Ruffian Code in Kansas," "James Buchanan—His Doctrine & Policy," "Schuyler Colfax Speech on the Laws in Kansas," "Republican Kansas Investigating Committee Report," "Sumner's Speech," and "Seward's Speech on Admission of Kansas." The mighty torrent of political literature required little guidance. Northern newspaper editors of strong convictions needed no urging to swell the flood. Congressmen made liberal use of their franking privilege to disseminate their own speeches and other proselytizing prolixness. Emerson, Longfellow, Bryant, Whittier, and Harriet Beecher Stowe participated by word and pen.83 The struggle for Kansas persevered as the background of the campaign. Bloodshed, violence, and armed bands beyond the law filled the days from June to early September, when a new governor, John W . Geary, restored law and order. During the disorder Morgan coupled a free Kansas with a Republican victory, "the question of whether Kansas shall be a free State or not, depends upon the Election of Fremont." 34 Republican spokesmen made capital of the rehearsal for civil war in Kansas; the lawlessness could not have been more efficacious if contrived by the campaign managers. A s the State elections in Indiana and Pennsylvania drew near, Morgan focused most of his energy upon these States,

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especially Pennsylvania. Several factors made it pivotal. It was Buchanan's home State; it held a heterogeneous population, including many Germans and Catholics; it was in transition between agriculture and industry; and finally, like New York, it was sharply divided between its urban and rural constituencies. As early as July the national committee began to shuttle speakers into the State; between the 20th of September and the 3rd of October it "sent to Penna a large number of speakers." The Pennsylvania State chairman persuaded "an efficient & influential Press, the Times, to come boldly out in favor of the movement of the People." 85 During the last week before the October elections, Morgan was confronted with a crisis when ex-Governor Ford of Ohio exceeded the authority given him to subsidize Pennsylvania newspapers. Ford secured the support of twentythree sheets at a cost of $9,050. This sum was more than Morgan had funds for; he appealed to Boston for aid, but the Bostonians adhered to an independent course, sending their money directly to Pennsylvania and ignoring Morgan and Weed, who was in Pennsylvania. The states' rights attitude of the Massachusetts managers at last yielded before a barrage of letters and telegrams from Morgan.36 The incident illustrates the weakness of the central organization, and the federal structure of the Republican Party in 1856. If the Republicans were active in soliciting Pennsylvania votes, the Democrats were far more so. Crying "the Union can not and ought not to be preserved," Senator Slidell told a gathering in New York City that "New York must raise $50,000 at once, or Pennsylvania was irrevocably Republicanized." 37 A monster rally was held in Philadelphia, September 17th, Ratification Day. 88 Foreign born were seasonably naturalized just before the election.39 The outcome of this unequal struggle between a strongly organized, powerfully financed and long established party and the infant Republican coalition was Democratic victory on October 14 in Pennsylvania and Indiana as well. These

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were smarting blows to Morgan, Weed and Fremont: "This is a trying moment for those of us who are here in the midst of the Buchanan rejoicing . . . . and there is on my part disappointment but not despondency,"40 declared Morgan. Few men of realistic mind could now anticipate Republican victory in November; Pennsylvania and Indiana were indispensable to success. Predicting a "regular hand to hand contest," Morgan addressed himself to raising funds for Pennsylvania.41 But "our friends" were now wary of the national election and he could collect little in cash. H e did create a contingent fund of $80,000, to be used in case of Fremont's election. $25,000 of this was pledged by Morgan himself, who had already donated $2,000 in cash to the party till. By November 4, the election date, Morgan had sent an estimated $30,635 in all to Pennsylvania; the Democratic treasurer for the State testified in 1860 that he had disbursed "over $70,000." In the campaign of 1856 the Republican National Committee raised only $45,966.32. The Democratic figure can not be given as precisely, but it seems to have approached $100,000. Almost all of the Republican money came from New York; Massachusetts and Pennsylvania made small contributions.42 Not yet the party of money, the Republicans were outmatched by their rivals. The fourth of November was an anticlimax to the fourteenth of October. Pennsylvania voted for her native son and Indiana remained Democratic. The electoral totals stood: Buchanan 174, Fremont 114, Fillmore 8. The hopes, however presumptuous in so new a party, for a free Kansas and a Republican president were blasted. The margin of defeat in the Keystone State had been small; about 3,000. Weed later explained the defeat, "simply because Messrs. Wendell, Forney, and Belmont, raised $50,000 more money, to be expended in Pennsylvania, than William A. Hall, Truman Smith and the writer of this article, could procure for the same object." 48

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Weed exempted Morgan from his list of fund-raisers perhaps because at the time of writing Morgan was holding high public office. On the eve of defeat Weed praised the chairman: "No man, since the Pittsburg Convention, has labored so efficiently as yourself; and . . . such devotion will be remembered and appreciated by a great, tho' perhaps beaten Party . . ** In defeat Morgan was undaunted. New York had been faithful to the new party. The 34th Congress would find 108 Republicans as opposed to 83 Democrats in the House; 15 Republicans would sit in the Senate. " W e have laid the foundations for a party that will defeat his [Buchanan's] re-election or the election of anybody like him," Morgan proclaimed.48

Chapter A

RISING

VII TIDE

OF

REPUBLICANISM "I A M C O N T E N T to be a merchant," Morgan avowed in August, 1857, as the State convention drew near.1 As the duties of the chairmanship dwindled he resumed the life of a merchant. His year was marked by business routine until in August the great panic of 1857 straitened economic enterprise. Through it all the Morgan firm adhered to a steady course. "Our business is large, but we have no fear for ourselves," Edwin wrote his sister Catherine. "We shall not escape losses by failure of others, but our position is strong." 2 At the year's end the firm reorganized under new articles of partnership. The two Morgans, Edwin and George, John T. Terry and Solon Humphreys were described as partners. Each of the Morgans invested $100,000 in the partnership, Terry and Humphreys each $60,000. Their capital was to yield the investors 7 per cent interest per annum. The articles significantly read that E. D. Morgan need "devote no more time to the said business than he may find convenient and agreeable." 3 Morgan was apparently leaving himself free to seek his political fortune. It is clear that at the age of 46 he was showing a measure of interest in politics equal to if not greater than business. H e had remained at the head of the Republican party in the nation and State. Though there had been talk of running Morgan on the minor slate in 1857 he had fended that off, saying, "I am not a candidate for any office on the state ticket." *

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But Morgan went to the State Convention as a delegate from the first district. H e was heartened to hear the cheers when his name was mentioned. When the convention was over he set about the now familiar task of raising funds, though, "It is unpromising to raise money at this time for any purpose . . . . I think nothing can be raised for Kansas among those I am in the habit of seeing." 6 H i s assessment of nominees did not produce much. "We are not flush," 6 he told the candidate for Secretary of State. Whereas national events had contributed to Republican strength in 1856, they did not in 1857. Interest in Kansas had for the moment waned. The Republicans failed to carry the State in the off-year election. A month after the election the Kansas issue revived when a proslavery convention in Lecompton adopted a constitution protecting slavery and allowed the voters a choice only on the question whether more slaves might be brought in. Popular sovereignty's champion, Stephen Douglas, broke with Buchanan over acceptance of the Lecompton constitution. The House of Representatives refused to pass the Kansas bill until a compromise provided for resubmission of the entire Lecompton constitution to the Kansas electorate. The struggle for Kansas was followed with keenest attention by Republicans everywhere and Morgan in N e w York. Douglas's breach with the administration moved Morgan to join those Republicans who wanted to take up the Illinois Senator. "I think it is wise in this city to get Douglass [sic] Democrats to take part in an anti-Lecompton meeting," counselled the National Chairman.7 Seward's speech on Kansas incited him to spend two hundred and fifty dollars for 50,000 copies for immediate distribution. 8 Morgan believed his party should send agents into Kansas before the balloting on the resubmitted constitution. "I believe it is our duty as a party, to give aid and comfort to our friends in Kansas, by sending persons empowered to express the sentiment of the Country in opposition to the Administration," he wrote Weed. 9 Perhaps an outcome of this counsel

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was the dispatch of George W . Patterson, a former Lieutenant-Governor, "to look after the election, to watch the 'Shams,' and to keep us advised." Upon his return Patterson reported to Morgan who had given him $500: I saw all the men of influence, except Conway, in the places visited, and I met men from distant parts of the Territory, and they all agree that the thing is perfectly safe if the voters go to the polls. In some places where the population is sparse, it was deemed necessary by me to have the wheels greased a little, in order to get a fall vote, and I used the kind of argument that will be effective (in my opinion) Amt reed 500.00 Expenses, ordinary & extraordinary 862.68 Balance

147.32 1 0

The popular vote in Kansas vindicated Patterson's prediction, in which Morgan had concurred. The Lecompton constitution was decisively defeated and the future of Kansas as a free state was no longer in doubt. The forthcoming elections of 1858 would provide a test of the new party as its nominees stood for Congress and as New York and other States chose State officers. A t Morgan's bidding the State Committee met in Albany on J u l y 8 and completed arrangements to call a State convention at Syracuse, September 8.11 The largest electoral plum was the governorship, already held by a Republican. But John A. King, the incumbent, labored under the handicaps of a single term tradition, the rivalry of younger men, and strife between pro-Weed and anti-Weed factions. Among possible successors mentioned were James M. Cook, who had occupied various State posts, James S. Wadsworth, a former anti-slavery Democrat, and Timothy Jenkins, an ex-Congressman with temperance and Know-Nothing backing.12 Early in June the question of Morgan's candidacy was raised by a correspondent. Morgan's "confidential" reply, however politic, revealed he was not averse to suggestion: Permit me to say that I do not announce myself to be a candidate—nor do I profess to be one. As however, many persons have spoken and

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written to me on the subject, asking me to become a Candidate, I begin to think I am, to some extent, so regarded by others; and if this is to continue, so as to be deemed an indication of the wishes of a large number of our judicious and reliable Republicans throughout the State; it will then become my duty, both to decide promptly and to give my friends timely notice of my decision. 13

Morgan was willing to run should circumstances favor his nomination and election. Weed's endorsement, American Party support and a cessation of factional conflict were important contingencies. Russell Sage, that staunch Trojan friend of the railroad years, was active in Morgan's cause; his letter of August 6 revealed the drift of affairs: I have seen Schoolcraft [of the State Executive Committee] twice since I was in N. Y. He talks friendly for you in the end, but says Weed & himself back King, which you and I understand. Cook is to have more strength than I thought he would at first, but I do not think it will be enough to be formidable. Unless their [»»