President Lincoln's Cabinet 
 
 by 
 
 HONORABLE JOHN P. USHER 
 
 Secretary of the Interior January 7, 1863 -May 15, 1865 
 
 WITH A 
 
 FOREWORD AND A SKETCH OF THE 
 
 LIFE OF THE AUTHOR BY 
 
 NELSON H. LOOM IS 
 
 General Solicitor Union Pacific Railroad Company 
 
/ ^ 1/ U r >^y)t^^ 
 
 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/presidentlincolnOOushe 
 
President Lincoln's Gabinet 
 
 by 
 HONORABLE JOHN P. USHER 
 
 Secretary of the Interior January 7, 1863 --May 75, 1865 
 
 WITH A 
 
 FOREWORD AND A SKETCH OF THE 
 
 LIFE OF THE AUTHOR BY 
 
 XELSOX H. LOOM IS 
 
 General Solicitor Union Pacific Railroad Company 
 
JOHN PALMER USHER 
 
Compliments of 
 JOHN USHER LOOMIS 
 
 Attorney, 602 Peters Trust Building 
 
 OMAHA, NEBRASKA 
 
 j&S&L Ji^ii yfyfa&L J£4>$ 
 
 
 Foreword 
 
 I was associated with the Honorable John P. Usher for 
 several years just prior to his death and wrote from his dicta- 
 tion his remarks about President Lincoln's Cabinet, and his 
 newspaper interview about the appointment of Ulysses S. 
 Grant as Lieutenant General. His statement in regard to the 
 issuance of Grant's commission as Lieutenant General was 
 made in response to a request from the editor of the St. Louis 
 Globe-Democrat for his recollections of that important event. 
 The request stated in substance that the anniversary of 
 General Grant's appointment as chief of all the Northern 
 Armies would take place within a few days and that, with the 
 exception of General Grant, he was the only survivor of those 
 present on that occasion. Mr. Usher's recollections were 
 thereupon dictated to me, revised by him and afterwards 
 published in the Globe-Democrat. They were never, to my 
 knowledge, placed in a permanent form or given publicity to 
 others than the readers of that paper. 
 
 Mr. Usher's remarks in regard to Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet 
 were first made in a speech delivered at a banquet given by 
 Mr. D. M. Edgerton in honor of Judge D. D. Hoag, in Wyan- 
 dotte, Kansas, on June 20, 1887. The address was impromptu 
 and at the urgent request of those who heard him Mr. Usher, 
 upon the following day, reduced his remarks to writing; and 
 again I was the amanuensis used for the purpose. They were 
 put in pamphlet form and a very limited number distributed 
 among those who were present upon that occasion. 
 
 In view of the interesting character and the importance 
 of many of the facts testified to by Mr. Usher in these state- 
 ments, it has seemed worth while to put them in a permanent 
 form and to give them a wider distribution than has hereto- 
 fore been done ; and while doing so to make known some of the 
 salient facts as to the life and activities of Mr. Usher himself. 
 
 Nelson H. Loomis. 
 Omaha, Nebraska, January 1, 1925. 
 
 3 
 
Copyright 1925 
 
 by 
 
 NELSON H. LOOMIS 
 
John Palmer Usher 
 
 JOHN PALMER USHER was born in Brookfield, Madison 
 county, New York, January 9, 1816. He was a descend- 
 ant of Hezekiah Usher, a bookseller, who was born in 
 England about 1615, and died in Boston, Massachusetts, 
 May 14, 1676. Hezekiah Usher was a citizen of Cambridge 
 in 1639, and established himself in Boston in 1646. He be- 
 came a selectman of the town and as agent for the Society 
 for Propagating the Gospel purchased in England in 1657 
 the press and types used for printing the famous Eliot's 
 Indian Bible. 
 
 John Palmer Usher's great great grandfather, John Usher, 
 was Lieutenant Governor of New Hampshire from 1692 until 
 1697, and was reappointed in 1702. His father was Dr. 
 Nathaniel Usher, and his mother (Lucy) was the daughter of 
 John Palmer of Stonington, Connecticut. 
 
 After passing through the usual home and school training, 
 John Palmer Usher entered upon the study of law in the office 
 of Mr. Henry Bennett of New Berlin, New York, and was 
 admitted to practice in the chancery courts of New York 
 state by Chancellor Walworth on January 17, 1839. He was 
 admitted to practice in the common law courts of that state 
 by Chief Justice Samuel Nelson on the following day. 
 
 During the year 1840 Mr. Usher moved to Rockville, 
 Parke county, Indiana, and shortly thereafter established him- 
 self in Terre Haute, Vigo county, Indiana, where he re- 
 tained his home until his removal to Lawrence, Kansas, in 
 1865. 
 
 In 1844 he was married to Miss Margaret Patterson, 
 daughter of General Arthur Patterson of Indiana, and had 
 four sons — Arthur Patterson, John Palmer, Linton J. and 
 Samuel Chambers. 
 
 Upon locating in Terre Haute, he formed a partnership, 
 for the practice of law, with Mr. William D. Griswold with 
 
whom he was associated for many years. Although the partner- 
 ship was finally dissolved, and Mr. Usher's brother-in-law, 
 Chambers Y. Patterson, took Mr. Griswold's place in the firm, 
 Mr. Griswold and Mr. Usher remained warm personal friends 
 until Mr. Usher's death. It was in Mr. Usher's office that 
 Joseph G. Cannon, Ex-Speaker of the House of Representa- 
 tives, studied law. 
 
 On page 64 of the Bench and Bar of Indiana, published 
 in 1895, there is an interesting sketch of Messrs. Griswold 
 and Usher, as they appeared upon the convening of the 
 Supreme Court of Indiana on the third day of November, 
 1843. It reads as follows: 
 
 "William D. Griswold and John P. Usher were with 
 them. The former, a small, quick man, with bald head and 
 mild and kind expression of countenance, indicative of 
 shrewdness and energy, an excellent lawyer, afterwards 
 President of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad Co. The latter, 
 a man of large frame, with blonde hair, light blue eyes, and 
 the fairest complexion, ruddy with health and hope, a man of 
 much force, ambition, patience and learning, afterwards 
 Secretary of the Interior under Lincoln; a man whose courage, 
 vehemence and pertinacity at the bar, gave him great influ- 
 ence." 
 
 Mr. Usher was prosecuting attorney for the district com- 
 posed of Greene, Vermilion, Parke, Putnam, Vigo, Clay and 
 Sullivan counties, from 1842 to 1844. He was an active mem- 
 ber of the legislature from Vigo county in 1850-1851 . He was 
 the Republican candidate for Congress from his district and 
 made a vigorous campaign in support of his party's principles 
 in 1856. He was appointed attorney general of the state of 
 Indiana on November 10, 1861, and was filling that position 
 when he was appointed Assistant Secret arv of the Interior 
 on March 20, 1862. 
 
 Mr. Usher was a strong and successful practitioner, had 
 a large clientele and tried many important cases, both in 
 Indiana and Illinois. Like Mr. Lincoln he rode the circuit 
 and had a stable of well selected riding and driving horses 
 which were used to carry him between the various county seats 
 of the circuits in which he practiced. While traveling the 
 circuit he came in frequent contact with Abraham Lincoln and 
 
was engaged in law suits with him. He took the stump in 
 Mr. Lincoln's behalf and ardently supported him during the 
 memorable campaign of 1860. 
 
 Mr. Caleb B. Smith, who had been a Member of Congress 
 from Indiana for several terms and was a close personal 
 friend of Mr. Usher's, was appointed Secretary of the Interior 
 in President Lincoln's Cabinet. When the office of Assistant 
 Secretary of the Interior was created in 1862, Mr. Smith 
 induced Mr. Usher to accept the appointment as Assistant 
 Secretary. Mr. Usher was not at the time inclined to take the 
 office, as he had an ambition to be federal judge for the 
 district of Indiana and hoped to receive the appointment 
 when a vacancy occurred. Mr. Smith promised to use his 
 influence to secure Mr. Usher's appointment to that position, 
 but in the meantime urged him to assist in the work of the 
 Interior Department. Mr. Usher finally consented and 
 became Assistant Secretary of the Interior on March 20, 1862. 
 
 In the fall of that year, while Mr. Usher was in Minnesota 
 investigating the Indian outbreak in that state, he learned of 
 the death of Judge Elisha M. Huntington, United States 
 District Judge for the district of Indiana, which occurred 
 on October 26, 1862, and telegraphed to Mr. Caleb Smith 
 reminding him of his promise. Mr. Smith responded that 
 he had concluded to take the position himself, and would 
 resign as Secretary of the Interior in favor of Mr. Usher. 
 
 Mr. Usher was not entirely satisfied with the arrange- 
 ment, but there was nothing for him to do but make the best 
 of it and he was installed as Secretary of the Interior on Janu- 
 ary 8, 1863. He continued in the office until May 15, 1865, 
 when he was succeeded by Ex-Senator James Harlan of Iowa. 
 He was at the bedside of President Lincoln at the time of his 
 death and served as Secretary of the Interior for just a month 
 during President Johnson's administration. 
 
 Mr. Caleb Smith evidently did not like the drudgery 
 incident to a departmental position, and Mr. James G. Blaine 
 in his Twenty Years of Congress, has this comment to make 
 in regard to his resignation: "Mr. Caleb B. Smith had been 
 prominent in the House of Representatives when Mr. Lincoln 
 was a member, had been popular as a public speaker in the 
 west, but had no aptitude for so serious a task as the adminis- 
 tration of a great department, and did not long retain his 
 position." 
 
 7 
 
Mr. Usher filled the position as secretary in a most 
 satisfactory manner, and Noah Brooks, a newspaper corres- 
 pondent, resident in Washington during the war, and an old 
 time friend of President Lincoln's, has this comment to make 
 on page 35 of his Washington in Lincoln s Time: 
 
 "Although Caleb B. Smith of Indiana, Secretary of the 
 Interior, was one of the original members of Lincoln's Cabinet 
 his immediate successor, John P. Usher, from the same State, 
 is generally regarded as the representative man in the Interior 
 Department during that administration; he held office from 
 the time of Smith's resignation in the autumn of 1862 to near 
 the end of Lincoln's life. Secretary Usher was a fair, florid, 
 well nourished and comfortable man, an able lawyer, a great 
 worker, and generally accessible to the newspaper men, who 
 for that reason always had a good word for the good natured 
 and kindly disposed Secretary of the Interior." 
 
 As Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Usher had supervision 
 of the public lands including mines, the census, the Indians, 
 pensions, patents, public buildings, education, the custody 
 and distribution of publications, the government hospital for 
 the insane, the Columbia asylum for the deaf and dumb and 
 blind, and the accounts of marshals, clerks, and officers of 
 federal courts. 
 
 The construction of the Capitol building was completed, 
 and the Statue of Freedom surmounting the dome was put 
 in place during his administration. Work on the Washington 
 aqueduct and the Potomac dam was under way while he was 
 Secretary, and received his careful attention. His reports for 
 1863 and 1864 indicate great interest on his part in the im- 
 provement of the streets and public grounds of Washington. 
 Work on the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad was 
 actively begun during his administration and his 1864 report 
 shows that one hundred miles of the road west of Omaha had 
 been permanently located and that forty miles were in process 
 of construction. His report also shows that the first section 
 of forty miles west of Kansas City had been completed and 
 that the tracks had been laid in the second forty mile section. 
 
 At the beginning of the year 1865, being satisfied that 
 the war was soon to end, Mr. Usher became anxious to get 
 out of political life and locate in the west. He wished to 
 engage again in the practice of law and to identify himself 
 
 8 
 
with the development of the country beyond the Missouri 
 river. His trip in early life from New York to Terre Haute 
 was made in an open buggy. His time as a member of the 
 Indiana legislature was devoted to a considerable extent in 
 the consideration of bills providing for the construction of 
 canals and railroads. Some of his professional associates had 
 become the heads of railroad corporations. He, himself, had 
 been closely identified with the act of Congress of July 2, 1864, 
 which extensively amended the act of July 1, 1862, providing 
 for the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, and he 
 became desirous of connecting himself with the building of a 
 transcontinental railroad. It was a great national undertaking, 
 approved by the platforms of Republican and Democratic 
 parties, and the enterprise had a strong attraction for him. 
 
 After his resignation as Secretary of the Interior, he 
 accordingly accepted the appointment of General Solicitor 
 of The Union Pacific Railway — Eastern Division, which was 
 being constructed from Kansas City westward, and became 
 one of the promoters in the building of that road. At the time 
 of his appointment the road was in operation for about 
 seventy-five miles west of Kansas City. While he was its 
 General Solicitor the road was extended from there to Denver, 
 and in order to comply with the terms of the acts of Congress 
 it was connected with the main line of the Union Pacific at 
 Cheyenne by the purchase and use of the line owned by the 
 Denver Pacific Railway & Telegraph Company which ex- 
 tended from Denver to Cheyenne. The Union Pacific Rail- 
 way Company-Eastern Division, afterwards named the Kansas 
 Pacific Railway Company, built, during Mr. Usher's time, a 
 number of branch lines in the state of Kansas. 
 
 During his incumbency of the position of General Solici- 
 tor the road was engaged in a great deal of important litigation 
 involving its land grant and its relations with other railroad 
 companies, and Mr. Usher's name will be found as counsel 
 for this company in many cases reported in early Federal 
 reports and reports of the Supreme Court of the United States. 
 He was also engaged in a large number of cases in the state 
 courts and was an important factor in helping to establish 
 the laws applicable to railroads in the territory served by his 
 company. The Kansas Pacific Railway Company was, on 
 January 26, 1880, consolidated with the main line running 
 
through Nebraska under the name of The Union Pacific Rail- 
 way Company. Mr. Usher was given the title of General 
 Attorney in the new organization, and his jurisdiction included 
 that portion of The Union Pacific Railway which he repre- 
 sented prior to the consolidation. Mr. Usher was also counsel 
 in a number of important land grant cases in which the 
 railroads of Texas and Colorado were involved. His assistant 
 for many years was Mr. Chas. Monroe, now one of the 
 Superior Court judges of Los Angeles, California. 
 
 In 1887 he retired from active work as General Attorney 
 with the title of General Counsel. He died on the 13th day 
 of April, 1889. 
 
 Although he never filled a judicial position, Mr. Usher 
 was known as Judge Usher. He himself preferred the title 
 of Mister, but his friends persisted in calling him Judge. He 
 was easily approached, was very democratic in his manners, 
 was an indefatigable worker and a great story teller. In 
 riding about on trains he invariably sat in the smoking car 
 and engaged in conversation with anybody who seemed 
 willing to talk with him. One of the best stories told on Judge 
 Usher is given in an address delivered by Mr. A. L. Williams 
 before the Kansas Historical Society: 
 
 "One of the brightest young men of the state, whose 
 untimely death we all deplored a few years ago, was the 
 proprietor of a newspaper and a hotel. He got into a contro- 
 versy with the Judge (Usher) and in an editorial denounced 
 him as haughty and fastidious. The Judge wrote him a good 
 natured letter in which, among other things, he said, 'I do 
 not think I am haughty, for I always ride in the smoking car; 
 and I know I am not fastidious, for I once stopped three days 
 at your hotelV' 
 
 10 
 
President Lincoln 9 s Cabinet 
 
 Address by 
 Honorable John P. Usher. 
 
 You ask me to say something about Mr. Lincoln's Cabi- 
 net. It is said by naturalists, I believe, that if you give them 
 the toe of an animal, and possibly a small part of the toe-nail, 
 they can tell you what sort of an animal it belonged to ; so I 
 will give a few anecdotes about the members of Mr. Lincoln's 
 cabinet, so that you may know what manner of men they 
 were. 
 
 The head of Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet was Mr. Seward. 
 The first vote I gave for anybody in my life was for him for 
 governor. After that I came west, and saw no more of him 
 and thought no more about him until the great time came for 
 the nomination in 1860. I am glad that Mr. Lincoln had the 
 sagacity to call him to the head of his Cabinet. When I came 
 to know more of Mr. Seward, and saw the relations existing 
 between him and Mr. Lincoln, I came to love him more than 
 I had ever expected to. He was a man of the very kindest feel- 
 ings. One might have supposed he would feel resentful at his 
 defeat in Chicago and willing to see Mr. Lincoln making, at 
 times, a spectacle of himself; for Mr. Lincoln was not well 
 versed in the amenities of life; but I assure you that whenever 
 foreign ambassadors were to meet Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Seward was 
 careful that he should make no mistakes and should appear 
 to the very best advantage. Was this not a great deal for a 
 rival to do 1 He was as careful about Mr. Lincoln as if he 
 were his own brother. When a foreign minister was to be 
 presented to Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Seward always suggested to 
 him in advance, what he should say, where he should stand, 
 and how he should act. He was a man who would do all that, 
 when the nation was in a manner dissolved. I never saw him 
 show any resentment. When a number of clergymen wrote 
 to him admonishing him of the weighty cares and duties that 
 
 11 
 
rested upon him and begging him to be more temperate in 
 his habits, he wrote a letter in answer to them and made it 
 ready for the mail. At that point he concluded that he would 
 not mail it until the next day ; that he would think of the sub- 
 ject until then. By that time he determined not to send it 
 and took the letter from his drawer and threw it in the fire. 
 Speaking of the circumstances to my informant, an intimate 
 friend of his, he said he believed he had character enough to 
 withstand the calumnies then afloat against him and that he 
 would apologize to no man or set of men for his habits. 
 
 After Mr. Lincoln was assassinated and after Mr. Seward 
 returned to the Department of State, I called upon him, and 
 he said that if he had been able to be out (he had been thrown 
 from a carriage and was confined to his room) Mr. Lincoln 
 would not have gone to the theatre that night. It seems that 
 he knew of or anticipated some design or plot against the 
 President. 
 
 I could say a great deal more about Mr. Seward but I 
 have not time. You can form some idea of his character from 
 what I have told you. I consider that he was one of the wisest 
 statesmen we have ever had, and Mr. Lincoln, while he was a 
 great and good man, would have had infinite trouble without 
 him. The utmost confidence and kindly feeling existed be- 
 tween these two men. The people do not know and would 
 hardly believe me if I told them their kindly feeling for each 
 other, and the obligation of this nation to these men for their 
 great labors for the preservation of the Union. 
 
 During all these days of anxiety and care there were 
 occasionally ludicrous instances, which for a time lightened the 
 gloom. There was a Swiss, Mr. John Hitz, living in Washing- 
 ton who kept a feed store and green grocery, upon the Avenue, 
 south of the capital grounds. He was Consul General of the 
 Republic of Switzerland. Occasionally a countryman of his 
 would enter the army, and finding the service uncomfortable, 
 would apply to Hitz to get him discharged. Hitz would make 
 the appeal, but generally concluded by saying that if the 
 ground stated by him did not compel the discharge of the 
 soldier, he wanted him to stay and fight — that the Swiss were 
 a liberty loving people and could never be better employed 
 than fighting for it. It is history that the Government of 
 Great Britian was in active sympathy with the rebellion. 
 
 12 
 
This sympathy was manifested in a great many ways, not 
 only by that Government but by a large majority of the 
 people of England. The Government affected a desire to have 
 the war ended. The end wanted, however, was an acknowl- 
 edgment of the southern confederacy. Lord Lyons, then 
 British Minister to Washington, was directed to propose to 
 Mr. Seward an arbitration for the settlement of the controver- 
 sy. He advised Mr. Seward of the desire of his Government. 
 Mr. Seward replied that the proposition seemed to emanate 
 from a humane and proper spirit and he would consider it. 
 He told Lord Lyons that the United States had a Republican 
 form of Government, that the insurgents who sought to over- 
 throw that form of Government also claimed to have a Repub- 
 lican form of Government; that it would be unseemly and 
 could not be expected, that the United States would consent 
 to submit the question of its existence to a crowned-head, 
 since all Monarchies were radically opposed to Republics; 
 that Switzerland was a Republic and had an able representa- 
 tion at Washington, Mr. John Hitz, Consul General, who kept 
 a feed store and green grocery upon the Avenue, and suggested 
 that the whole matter be left to him. I suppose that Lord 
 Lyons thought by that time that Mr. Seward was making 
 sport of him, and so this matter of arbitrament ended. 
 
 Mr. Chase was a Dartmouth College man. He was an 
 able man in every way, but he was selfish and ambitious. 
 He wanted above all things to be President, and I think that 
 if he saw r or believed that Mr. Lincoln was about to make a 
 mistake of any sort which would diminish him in popular 
 favor it would have afforded him pleasure ; that he would be 
 far from doing or saying anything to prevent the act from 
 being done, or to extricate Mr. Lincoln if it was done. Senator 
 Pomeroy, of Kansas, put out a circular saying that Mr. Lin- 
 coln was not qualified to manage the affairs of this country 
 and to successfully conduct the war then raging. It was 
 signed by Kansas men with others. It was sent broadcast 
 all over the country under the frank of the Treasury Depart- 
 ment; this privilege being used by the bureau officers, one or 
 more, of the Treasury Department. Many of the circulars 
 were returned directly to President Lincoln. Mr. Chase 
 hearing of it, immediately repaired to the White House and 
 protested to the President that he knew nothing of it and had 
 nothing to do with it. Mr. Lincoln replied to him, as he told 
 
 13 
 
me, that he believed him, for he thought it impossible for him 
 (Mr. Chase) to have done such a thing. This episode closed 
 out the candidacy of Mr. Chase for President in 1864. But 
 he did not abandon his ambitious hopes to become President. 
 General Jackson had popularity in being called Old Hickory, 
 General Taylor in being called Old Rough and Ready, and the 
 admirers of Mr. Lincoln were prone to call him Honest Old 
 Abe. Mr. Chase evidently thought that the soubriquet Old 
 Greenbacks would advance him in popular favor. There were 
 about Washington, here and there, men who had been Aboli- 
 tionists, and their philosophy led them to pretty much ignore 
 all other political principles and theories. They were all ad- 
 mirers of Mr. Chase and were wont to call him Old Green- 
 backs, apparently with the object of getting the populace to 
 so call him. He was a remarkably handsome man, and his 
 portrait, in its best form, was printed upon the One Dollar 
 Greenback notes, where the greatest number would be most 
 likely to see and become familiar with his face. During the 
 canvass of 1864, he made a speech in Cincinnati to an immense 
 multitude. He was popular in that city. Upon his return, 
 in describing the scenes to the President he said he could 
 occasionally hear voices all through the crowd applauding 
 and calling him Old Greenbacks. When, however, he was 
 advanced by Mr. Lincoln to the position of Chief Justice of 
 the Supreme Court, and rigorous times came on, the army 
 disbanded with greenbacks for their pay, the creditor class, 
 as it always has and always will do, began looking about to 
 see how they could get the most of their credits by diminishing 
 the paying abilities of their debtors, Government as well as 
 individual, and set up the unfounded claim that the principal 
 of the bonds of the Government was payable in gold coin and 
 that the debt of individuals was payable in like gold or silver 
 coin, and that greenbacks were not a legal tender, and this 
 because, as they alleged, the act of Congress making them 
 legal tender was unconstitutional. Mr. Chase, then Chief 
 Justice, affirmed all these monstrous claims. The debtor 
 class was amazed and I imagine the holders of the dollar notes 
 with the face of Mr. Chase upon them were a good deal puz- 
 zled to know what it meant, and wondered if he could have 
 been of the same opinion when he was Secretary and directed 
 his face to be put upon the notes, as he was when Chief Justice 
 and decided they were not legal tender. 
 
 14 
 
In Mr. Benton's time, when the war was made upon the 
 banking system of the country, he spoke of the beauty of gold 
 and silver coin shining between the interstices of the silken 
 purse ; that nothing else was money. This received the popular 
 applause. I won't say that Mr. Chase supposed that the time 
 was at hand when the people were ready to regard nothing as 
 money except gold and silver coin. It cannot be denied, 
 however, that his opinions as a jurist were opposite his views 
 as a statesman. 
 
 After he was appointed Chief Justice, he was provided 
 with a revenue cutter, in which he made a voyage to New 
 Orleans. At New Orleans and Charleston, and may be at 
 other ports, he addressed the blacks. He was than supposed 
 to be their especial and unvarying friend. Yet in 1868, his 
 friends for him strove in the Democratic convention in New 
 York for his nomination to the presidency by that party — 
 the party as such, of undying and unwavering hostility to 
 the welfare of the colored people. If he had received the 
 nomination, did he expect to change the Democratic party 
 to his views, or was he willing to carry out theirs? In the 
 sacred scriptures, the question is asked, "Can the Ethiopian 
 change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" So we are prone 
 to ask, did he have reason to believe that the Democratic 
 party could be induced to give fair play or grant even justice 
 to the colored people? It taxes our credulity that he ventured 
 to think so. 
 
 Notwithstanding, he was a great man as a statesman in 
 the Senate or in the Cabinet. He expressed himself with 
 clearness and force. On the bench he had no superior in 
 expounding the Constitution and the law except, as I feel, 
 and believe I ought, his decision on the Legal Tender act. 
 Respecting that act and all the financial measures of the Gov- 
 ernment during the time that he was Secretary, they were 
 adopted as a necessity. I do not think there was much fore- 
 thought in respect to them by the Secretary or anyone else, 
 until the action was had upon the emergency as it occurred. 
 It was impossible to support the army and carry on the war 
 by paying the expenses of the Government in coin. The 
 issuing of paper was a necessity. When it was found that 
 paper must be issued, the purpose of all who wished to preserve 
 the Government by force of arms, was to make that paper as 
 valuable as possible, and the chief element of its value was 
 
 15 
 
believed to be in making it a legal tender for debts. When 
 this paper was likely to become so abundant as to greatly 
 diminish its value, it was found desirable to retire it, and so 
 Congress provided for that by taxing all state bank issues 
 and the issue of bonds, with interest payable in gold at six 
 per cent., into which this legal tender money might be funded. 
 All these measures were successful. As I remember, they all 
 originated in Congress and met with the favor of the President, 
 and he approved them. 
 
 I am not able to say much about the Secretary of the 
 Navy, Mr. Welles. I do not think he ever missed attending 
 upon the President on Cabinet days. I have no recollection 
 of ever hearing him express himself on public affairs, or indeed 
 about anything. He was appointed by the President at the 
 instance of Mr. Hamlin, the Vice-President. I heard it said 
 in those times that there was a usage for the President to 
 allow the Vice-President to name one member of the Cabinet, 
 and by that usage Mr. Welles came to be Secretary of the 
 Navy. I witnessed a sharp controversy between him and Mr. 
 Bates, the Attorney General, upon some question of maritime 
 law; what the question was I have forgotten; but 1 observed 
 that Mr. Welles was tenacious of his opinion and refused to 
 yield to Mr. Bates. 
 
 The official papers of Mr. Welles will compare favorably 
 with those of any of the Secretaries of Mr. Lincoln or indeed 
 of any of his predecessors or successors. I remember to have 
 been struck with the clearness and conciseness of his state- 
 ments in his official papers. His official letters and report of 
 the capture of the Alabama by the Kearsage are models of 
 conciseness and clearness of statement. He did not appear 
 to have any intimacy with the President or any member of the 
 Cabinet, and so far as I discovered, or knew, with any other 
 person. He neither said nor did anything to antagonize the 
 views of the President or anyone who might be supposed able 
 to influence the President to his (Welles') prejudice. 
 
 When the President, with the knowledge and advice of 
 Mr. Seward, sent the naval expedition to Pensacola without 
 the knowledge of Mr. Welles or Mr. Cameron, Mr. Welles 
 never complained of the indignity. He was true and faithful 
 to the powers that were over him. The last time I met him 
 was when President Johnson was making his famous journey, 
 
 16 
 
called at the time "swinging around the circle," Mr. Welles 
 being one of the party. After the usual salutations, Mr. 
 Welles asked me how many stars I had in my flag, whether 
 thirteen or thirty-six; I told him thirty-six and with that he 
 seemed pleased. I think Mr. Johnson was quite as much 
 to his liking as Mr. Lincoln was; yet you will remember that 
 when Mr. Charles Francis Adams, in his eulogy upon Mr. 
 Seward, spoke slightingly of Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Welles became 
 indignant and made a vigorous protest against the insinuations 
 prejudicial to the fame of Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Welles had an 
 able support in Mr. Fox, his assistant, but no evidence exists 
 that Mr. Fox indited any of his official papers. 
 
 Then there was Mr. Caleb Smith, Secretary of the 
 Interior, whom I succeeded early in January, 1863 — remain- 
 ing in office until May, 1865. I knew him well. He was a 
 true orator. He was a man who, from the rostrum, would 
 talk to you until you would feel the blood tingling through 
 your veins to your finger ends and all the way up your spine. 
 When you meet a man who can do that, argument is at an 
 end; you are carried away by the irresistable power of elo- 
 quence. Caleb Smith was not an Abolitionist. He said to 
 me one day when I was Assistant Secretary, "What do you 
 think of the President issuing a proclamation abolishing 
 slavery 1 " I said, "I do not think well of it at this time/' 
 He said, "If he does I will resign and go home and attack the 
 administration." I suppose the propriety of the first emanci- 
 pation proclamation had been discussed. Mr. Smith having 
 just returned from the Cabinet meeting. You see what trouble 
 Mr. Lincoln had. Mr. Smith was a man so conservative in 
 his ideas that he felt that he could not at that time approve 
 of a proposition to emancipate the slaves in aid of the suppres- 
 sion of the rebellion, though when the first proclamation was 
 issued Mr. Smith had changed his views and favored it. 
 
 Mr. Smith was born in Boston and educated in Ohio but 
 his manhood was spent in Indiana. He was ever opposed to 
 the Democratic party in all its forms and organizations. He 
 was a Republican, but not of the order of Mr. Julian. They 
 were the antipodes of each other. Yet he for nearly a year 
 indulged the hope that the rebellion could be suppressed 
 without emancipating the slaves ; not that he favored slavery 
 but because he shrank from interfering with the right of 
 property in slaves. In that respect he came to be in accord 
 with the Unionists in the slave states. 
 
 17 
 
Mr. Smith was an able lawyer and administered the 
 duties of his office with fidelity and ability. 
 
 Now I want to speak a few words about Simon Cameron. 
 I am glad to have this opportunity to speak of him, because so 
 much, at one time and another, has been said to his prejudice. 
 I think that he was, and is, about as good a specimen of 
 humanity, of fairness and honesty and justice as we ever had, 
 however good. Mr. Lincoln made him Secretary of War. I 
 will tell you an anecdote or circumstance which occurred to 
 illustrate what I am going to say about him. I think it was 
 in the early part of 1865, along in the winter — maybe in 
 March — John Covode of Pennsylvania, whom we all delighted 
 to call Honest John, who had not the advantages of a college 
 education, or indeed, of scarcely any education in his youthful 
 days, came to the Department one day. We were great 
 friends. I do not know why, but he had taken a liking to 
 me and I to him. He said, "Come down to the Avenue 
 House tonight to meet some of my friends/' I went down. 
 I found in the dining-room the table spread along its whole 
 length with a cold collation and about forty seats at the table, 
 all filled by Pennsylvanians, and I was seated at the table by 
 the side of Mr. Cameron who had lately returned from St. 
 Petersburg where he had been sent as Minister. There was 
 plenty of wine and we helped ourselves to both food and wine. 
 By and by Mr. Covode, sitting at the end of the table, reached 
 behind him and took up a sword about three and a half feet 
 long standing there and unsheathed it. The sword was so 
 long that it required him to stretch his arms to the utmost. 
 "Now," said he, "this sword was made and sent to me by 
 my chum. He was an apprentice with me in Massachusetts, 
 to the blacksmith trade. When we became older, my chum 
 remained in Massachusetts and followed the trade he had 
 learned. You know what has become of me and what I have 
 done. My old chum has amassed wealth and is a true Union 
 man. He has forged out this sword and sent it to me as a token 
 of his patriotism and respect for what I have tried to do." 
 After this and some other remarks, speeches were called for. 
 One after another spoke, but no notice was taken of Mr. 
 Cameron or allusion made to him. At length Covode called 
 on Cameron to speak, saying, "Now we want to hear from 
 Simon Cameron, our old war horse." He quickly arose at the 
 call and began by speaking of the Republican party and its 
 achievements. He said it had suppressed a great rebellion; 
 
 18 
 
it had emancipated millions of slaves; but its great work was 
 not yet done; that much remained to do; the freedom of the 
 slaves emancipated was yet to be secured and ample provision 
 made for their protection and for securing to them equal rights 
 with all the citizens of the nation. "But what are we to think 
 of a party/' he said, "that, within sixty days after going into 
 power, appoints a committee to investigate the frauds of its 
 own members? They even had the audacity to accuse me 
 of corruption in office — of making corrupt contracts. I, who 
 during all the time that I was Secretary of War, never made 
 any contract whatever." During the time he was speaking 
 he raised himself to his utmost heighth, his shoulders flew 
 back until his coat swung clear of his body. His speech was 
 vehement and his auditors, who it appeared to me, were 
 jealous of his fame and power, sat silent while he spoke. I 
 was somewhat surprised at his declaration that he never made 
 any contracts while he was Secretary of War, and after he sat 
 down I fell into a conversation with him about it. He said all 
 contracts were made in the Quartermaster and Commissary 
 Departments; that this thing of accusing him of making cor- 
 rupt contracts was the most preposterous and absurd thing 
 of all. "For," he said, "if I have any ability whatever, it is 
 an ability to make money. I do not have to steal it. I can 
 go into the street any day, and as the world goes, make all 
 the money I want. It was so absurd to accuse me of that. 
 When the war broke out I knew that this railroad from Balti- 
 more to Harrisburg, the Northern Central of Pennsylvania, 
 was bound to be good property; the soldiers and people de- 
 voted to the preservation of the Union traveling to Washington 
 would necessarily be transported over it. The stock was then 
 worth but a few cents on the dollar. I knew that from the 
 very necessity of the case it would advance in value to par 
 or nearly so. I bought large blocks of this stock, and told 
 Mr. Lincoln if he would give me ten thousand dollars I would 
 make him all the money he wanted." I asked him if Mr. 
 Lincoln was inclined to do it. He said no; that there was 
 his mistake; that the investment would have been perfectly 
 legitimate and that he might as well have made a large sum 
 of money as not. 
 
 Now that is Mr. Cameron, and you will find that there 
 is no evidence that Simon Cameron was a corrupt man. He 
 was ever faithful to the cause. 
 
 19 
 
I was coming down from Denver one day and met Major 
 Ed. Smith. We were coming along together. Upon the way 
 he related the following incident concerning Mr. Cameron: 
 He said he was at the court house, at Reading, the day after 
 Sumpter was fired on; the drums were beating in the street 
 and he went home and told his father he was going to the war. 
 Directly he went to Washington with his comrades, and went 
 into camp near the arsenal. He was not very well pleased 
 with the position as private and wanted to see if he could not 
 do a little better. He went to see Mr. Cameron, whom he 
 knew very well, but could not manage to see him. The whole 
 War Department was filled and surrounded by people waiting 
 to see Mr. Cameron, and it was impossible for Smith to get in. 
 So he wrote Mr. Cameron a note and told him he was camped 
 down near the arsenal ; that he wanted to see him, but could 
 not for the crowd surrounding the Department. Mr. Cameron 
 had no more than got the note than he sent an orderly to 
 Smith, directing him to come to the Department. Smith 
 went and Mr. Cameron asked him how long he had been in 
 Washington. He answered he had been there some days and 
 had tried to see him, but could not for the crowd. "What 
 do you want?" said Mr. Cameron. "I want you to make 
 me a lieutenant or captain in the regular army," Smith 
 replied. Cameron said ' 'Oh, that won't do, you shall be a major ; 
 no relation of George Smith who voted for me for the Senate 
 twenty-five or thirty years ago, shall be around here with 
 such a commission as that." That was his feeling towards 
 his friends. When George Smith died, Mr. Cameron went 
 over to Reading and stayed until he was buried. People 
 talked about him and accused him of corruption in office, 
 because he had such friends outside of his party. They said 
 he must have bought them. Don't you believe a word of it. 
 He did no such thing. He was faithful and true. In close 
 elections, he received votes from the opposing party, because 
 they were his friends and grateful for favors long before 
 bestowed. 
 
 In this connection there is another incident in which 
 Mr. Cameron figures, which may be interesting : At a meeting 
 of the Cabinet, the chief topic of discussion was the organiza- 
 tion of the armies and putting them in the field, and after 
 talking a while they came to the conclusion that they didn't 
 know anything about the subject — knew but little about it, 
 
 20 
 
and would want to inquire how this or that would do, and what 
 ought to be done, and the different members would say. "Well, 
 we don't know;" (this is the way Lincoln told it to me) "we 
 will go and see General Scott and see what he says about it." 
 So one bleak, rainy day they went over to his quarters. His 
 room was bare of furniture. Gen. Scott was so infirm that 
 he could not come to the White House, or remain in the 
 War Department and he had taken a room for his quarters 
 across the street, near the War Department. When they 
 went in he had a stick or two upon the fire burning brightly, 
 and they all took seats around the fire. Gen. Scott was lying 
 on a low and broad lounge in one corner of the room ; he had 
 a strap attached to a ring in the ceiling, and another ring at 
 the end, reaching down over him a little below his breast, 
 which he was accustomed to take hold of and pull himself 
 up with. He was very large and plethoric. After they sat 
 down he got hold of that ring and with some trouble pulled 
 himself to an upright position and swung his feet off the lounge 
 upon the floor. Before they said anything they sat there 
 looking at him, and he commenced his speech to the President. 
 He said, "I am an old man. I have served my country faith- 
 fully, I think, during a long life. I have been in two great 
 wars and fought them through, and now another great war 
 is impending and I am nominally at the head of the army, but 
 I don't know how many men are in the field, where they are, 
 how they are armed, how they are equipped or what they are 
 capable of doing or what reasonably ought to be expected of 
 them. Nobody comes to tell me and 1 am in ignorance about 
 it, and can form no opinion respecting it. I think under all 
 the circumstances I had better be relieved from further serv- 
 ice to my country." It was a very pathetic speech. They all 
 sat silent and made no reply. At length Seward said in rather 
 a cheerful tone, hitching himself in his chair in his usual way, 
 "I think I see a way out of this." Cameron — it was not long 
 after the Pensacola affair — flew into a passion at once and said, 
 addressing Seward, "I suppose you do! You are always med- 
 dling with that which don't concern you!" This little ebulli- 
 tion set them all laughing and so they directly got up and 
 bade the General good-by and went off. The point of it was 
 that it amused Lincoln so to see Cameron turning on Seward 
 and saying that he was always meddling with that which 
 didn't concern him. Said Lincoln to me, "I suppose he refer- 
 red to the Pensacola affair." So you see Mr. Cameron was 
 
 21 
 
smarting under the action of the President and Mr. Seward 
 in sending out the Pensacola expedition without his knowledge. 
 
 Now I have to speak of Mr. Stanton, and one of the 
 troubles with him was that he was a dyspeptic and because of 
 that his temper was irascible and unequable. I was with him 
 one day in the Cabinet and his speech to me was rude and 
 offensive. I determined I would never speak to him again. 
 Relating the circumstance to a friend he said, "You do not 
 know what a man will do who is a dyspeptic/' I said he was 
 no dyspeptic. He replied that he was and the worst afflicted 
 man he ever saw. I said I hardly thought so. At the next 
 Cabinet meeting he came in as cheery as could be. He said, 
 "Does any member of the Cabinet want to name some one 
 for appointment in the Quartermaster or Commissary service?" 
 — that there were half a dozen or more to be appointed. I 
 promptly said, "Yes, I do." A few years before I had 
 defended a youth against an accusation involving life and 
 liberty. He had gone to Iowa, grown to manhood, and 
 joined a regiment of cavalry in that state. He was a warrant 
 officer in the regiment and was charged with duties which 
 belonged to the Quartermaster's Department. The superior 
 officer concluded that it would be to the advantage of the 
 service if he could be appointed to a position in the Quarter- 
 master's Department. So he came to Washington and 
 naturally came to me to secure the appointment for him. 
 Because of my interview with Stanton a few days before, I 
 informed him that it was impossible for me to help him ; that 
 it would avail nothing for me to make the application. He 
 informed me that he would leave by the afternoon train for 
 his regiment. But how soon the whole thing changed! I 
 was able to convey to him his good fortune at the depot as 
 he was about to take the train. So I concluded that it was 
 my duty to forgive Mr. Stanton. His career was marked by 
 similar incidents. Mr. Stanton had able and devoted friends 
 and admirers. Mr. Moorehead, an iron master of Pittsburg, 
 then a member of Congress, was an especial friend and 
 admirer of his. One day Mr. Moorehead was in Stanton's 
 office and a commissioned officer of inferior rank came in 
 wearing his uniform. Stanton immediately commenced upon 
 him in the rudest possible manner and without giving him 
 any opportunity to explain, wanted to know why he was there, 
 and why he was not in the field with his regiment, and so he 
 
 22 
 
went on. The officer turned upon his heel and left at once. 
 Mr. Moorehead immediately remarked. "Why did you treat 
 that man so?" Mr. Stanton replied, "I did not mistreat him." 
 He was answered, "Yes you did, and very deeply insulted 
 him. He has gone away justly angry and will not soon forget 
 this." Mr. Stanton called his door-keeper and directed him 
 to run after the man and bring him back. He was soon again 
 in his presence and Stanton said, "Mr. Moorehead here says 
 I insulted you." The officer replied, "Yes you did, in a most 
 offensive manner. I have been in the field with my regiment 
 without any leave of absence for two years or more, I got leave 
 to come here, my object principally being to see you and 
 pay you my personal respects, and this is the way I have been 
 received and treated." Stanton immediately made the most 
 ample apology and protested that he intended no offense. 
 
 One day in a conversation with an ex-member of Congress 
 from Philadelphia, whose habits had been to his great dis- 
 advantage, in discussing Mr. Stanton and his character, and 
 speaking of his rude and offensive manners, he told me that on 
 one occasion several years before, he was in Pittsburg and in 
 want of money. Stanton was practicing law there and he 
 applied to him for a loan and was rudely repulsed. Upon 
 going to his room some hours after he found twenty dollars 
 between the leaves of a book with a note from Stanton that 
 he had left the money for him and if he needed more to apply 
 to him. After Stanton removed to Washington this gentleman 
 had the management of an important suit with a fee condition- 
 al. He employed Mr. Stanton to assist him. The suit was 
 determined in his favor and he received the stipulated com- 
 pensation, amounting to several thousand dollars. He took 
 the money to Mr. Stanton, told him what he had, and pro- 
 ceeded to divide the money into equal parts, and handed the 
 one-half to Mr. Stanton for his compensation. Stanton took 
 it and counted out a part and handed the major portion to 
 this gentleman. He at once said, "It is not mine, it is fairly 
 yours, and I want you to keep it." Stanton replied, "Take it 
 or I will put it in the stove, it is not mine, I have got all I am 
 entitled to." You will see from this his remarkable peculiari- 
 ties. He had an only son. He had taken care to give him a 
 superior education at Kenyon College. This son was possessed 
 of a most lovable character. He grew to manhood and sur- 
 vived his father a few years. He was a lawyer of note and 
 
 23 
 
good promise. One would suppose that Stanton would have 
 at least, in the making of his will, bestowed upon him his 
 library, but when his will came to be published it was found 
 that he had not given him a cent or a scrap of any kind, book 
 or anything else. Yet Mr. Stanton was possessed of a consid- 
 erable fortune, his estate amounting to nearly one hundred 
 thousand dollars. How will you account for all this? His 
 son gathered up all his father's loose property, books and 
 everything else and submitted it to sale without a word of 
 complaint. 
 
 From the circumstances which I have related you can 
 form some judgment of the character of this extraordinary 
 man. He was a man of immense mental power. Upon occa- 
 sions I have heard him express himself in speaking of the men 
 who plunged this country into war in almost paralyzing terms. 
 He was devoted to the cause he was striving to serve and gave 
 all his energies to it. Night after night he remained in his 
 office until a late hour and sometimes until daylight; not 
 unfrequently would his carriage be found standing at the door 
 waiting for him when daylight came. No enemy of his ever 
 had the audacity to charge him with corruption in office. Mr. 
 Seward appreciated and respected him. Sometimes he used 
 to call him the Carnot of the war, because of his devotion, 
 his ability and his faithfulness. He enjoyed the confidence 
 and unfaltering friendship of the President. His foibles and 
 his irascibilities were overlooked and unconsidered by the 
 President. Mr. Lincoln appreciated his loyalty, his devotion 
 and his ability. Upon one or more occasions he was known to 
 have taken the written requests of the President and to have 
 torn them into fragments and stamped them beneath his 
 feet. This conduct being reported to the President he simply 
 said, "Well I have not much influence with this Administra- 
 tion but expect to have more with the next." The truth was 
 that Mr. Lincoln had told Mr. Stanton that if he made 
 requests of him which would injure the public service if 
 granted, he was at liberty to disregard them. Yet it seems that 
 Stanton was hardly justified in tearing these requests in pieces 
 in the presence of strangers. 
 
 Mr. Stanton was a profound lawyer and a great orator. 
 After he was Secretary he delivered one or more addresses 
 advocating the election of General Grant for the presidency, 
 which were unsurpassed. He had enemies — always had them, 
 
 24 
 
but do or say what they could they were unable to supplant 
 him in the public estimation. Had he lived he would have 
 acquired great fame in the judicial position to which General 
 Grant had appointed him. It may justly be said that he gave 
 his life a sacrifice to the welfare and the saving of the Nation, 
 and his memory should ever be held dear. 
 
 Edward Bates, from Missouri was the Attorney General, 
 first appointed by Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Bates was named for the 
 office of President in the convention which finally selected 
 Mr. Lincoln for the candidate of the Republican party. So 
 was Mr. Seward, Mr. Cameron and Mr. Chase. Thus you 
 see that Mr. Lincoln in the selection of his cabinet officers, 
 named all his rival candidates in the convention. Mr. Bates 
 had a very considerable following. He was a man of unosten- 
 tatious manners, easily approached by all who wished to see 
 him and highly respected by all. He was born in Virginia, 
 but emigrated to St. Louis while he was yet a young man. 
 He became, and was an eminent lawyer and had great success 
 in his profession without acquiring much fortune. While he 
 was Attorney General he rendered important service to the 
 Government. Early in the Administration he was called 
 upon for an opinion touching the alleged non-citizenship of 
 people of African descent. By the decision of the Supreme 
 Court in Dred Scott's case it was claimed that negroes were 
 not citizens, and it was accordingly said by many that that 
 decision held that the colored people had no rights which white 
 men were bound to respect. Mr. Bates in a very able opinion 
 declared that persons of African blood, of whatever degree, 
 born in the United States were citizens of the United States, 
 and his opinion upon that subject was followed and became 
 the law of the Administration. The Dred Scott decision was 
 no more heard in Israel. Mr. Bates was shrewd. He avoided 
 antagonizing others whenever he could, but when he was 
 driven to it he was firm and unmovable. I remember one 
 occasion when I was greatly benefited by his shrewdness. 
 By the Oregon organic act, it is provided that certain mission- 
 ary stations with one section of land should be, and were 
 granted to the missionary societies occupying said stations. 
 The Methodists, conceiving themselves entitled to the station 
 which was near The Dalles upon the Columbia river, proceeded 
 to mark out irregular lines around an area of land amounting 
 to six hundred and forty acres, within which lines there was 
 
 25 
 
a population of some four hundred people whose possession 
 was adverse to the claim, and insisted that there should be a 
 patent issued for this irregular tract of land. I was beseeched 
 by the leading members of that denomination to direct the 
 issue of a patent, but I was not satisfied that it could be 
 legally done. I was reminded that that denomination of 
 people had with great unanimity supported the President and 
 the war, which I well knew. The pressure brought to bear 
 upon me was persistent and I was very much perplexed as to 
 what I should do. If I issued the patent the effect might be 
 very injurious to the people living upon the land — if I refused 
 to issue it, I would greatly offend a large and influential 
 following of the Administration. One day I received a note 
 from Henry S. Lane, then a Senator from Indiana, and a 
 member of the Methodist church, requesting me to come to 
 the Capitol. I went up and found an assembly in the marble 
 room of the Senate chamber, consisting of several of the 
 Methodist bishops and a great many members of Congress of 
 both houses. I at once suspected why my presence was de- 
 sired, but I did not have to wait long for I was soon advised 
 of what was wanted — that I should direct the Commissioner 
 of the Land Office to prepare a patent for this land near The 
 Dalles. I said it was a very intricate question and one which 
 I had not decided and was not yet prepared to decide — but 
 that I was then engaged in an examination of the question, 
 and would devote my attention to it without delay. Mr. Lane, 
 among his many other good qualities, was celebrated for his 
 sense of justice and propriety. He at once spoke out and 
 said, "You are quite right, it cannot be expected that you will 
 direct a patent to be issued unless you are satisfied that the 
 act of Congress will justify you in doing so." I bowed my 
 acknowledgments straightway and left the room. In my per- 
 plexity I thought of Mr. Bates, and soon thereafter meeting 
 him I explained to him my trouble and told him I contem- 
 plated asking him his official opinion upon the subject. He 
 said he had in his time settled a great many controversies with 
 religious organizations, that he made it a point never to an- 
 tagonize them, and that with gentleness and kind words there 
 was no difficulty in making peace among them. So I sent 
 the case to him and in a few days he returned a brief answer 
 advising that I should refrain from considering the subject 
 any further since the patent would be of no value to the 
 church because if the right existed by virtue of the act of 
 
 26 
 
Congress it would not be strengthened a particle by the patent, 
 if I decided to advise the issuing of a patent. On the other 
 hand if I reached the conclusion that the lands were not 
 granted to the church, and upon that ground refused to 
 advise the issuing of the patent, it might embarrass the church 
 in the litigation advised by him. His opinion was submitted 
 to the Bishops and they appeared to be satisfied with it. So 
 a settlement was reached of a controversy which might have 
 become extremely troublesome, for if a patent had been is- 
 sued to the church the three or four hundred settlers at The 
 Dalles would have clamored against it; and if the decision 
 had been against the issuing of the patent, ugly complaint 
 would have come up from the church. Out of this difficulty 
 the Department was extricated by the act of Mr. Bates. 
 
 Mr. Bates often said to me that all there was left of a 
 man after arriving at the age of seventy were the patches 
 and shreds that he had saved up as he went along. When he 
 arrived at the age of seventy he resigned and returned to 
 St. Louis, where he resided for several years thereafter in 
 quiet repose, loved by many friends and venerated by all. 
 A beautiful statue has been erected in one of the parks in 
 St. Louis to his memory. 
 
 Mr. Montgomery Blair was the first Postmaster General 
 under Mr. Lincoln. He was one of the organizers of the 
 Republican party. He was faithful and devoted to the de- 
 clared principles of that party. It cannot be truly said that 
 he ever swerved from them. He abhorred secession and re- 
 bellion. He cordially approved of the emancipation procla- 
 mations, but he did not approve of the reconstruction plan 
 finally adopted. 
 
 During his incumbency of the office of Postmaster 
 General many reforms and changes for the benefit of the 
 service were made, to its great advantage. The patronage 
 of his office was then immense, but very much greater now. 
 In his appointment to office and recommendations of appoint- 
 ment, he applied the Jeffersonian test, "Is he capable and is 
 he honest?" His great care was not to appoint any one to 
 office who was indifferent to the success of the Union arms. 
 That was made the test. Indeed that was the test in all the 
 Departments. That a man had been, or was a Democrat 
 was no objection to his appointment to office. Applying this 
 
 27 
 
test, it is true, there were not very many Democrats appointed, 
 though we did not regard any man a Democrat enough to 
 hurt, if he was honestly in favor of maintaining the Govern- 
 ment. This rule was applied in the appointment to office in 
 the army and in promotions. Whoever will carefully read 
 and consider the history of those times will be satisfied of the 
 truth of this statement. It is to Mr. Blair's credit that his 
 lofty character exempted him from any accusation of misuse 
 of his power or of his office. 
 
 Before the end of Mr. Lincoln's first term Mr. Blair 
 resigned and Governor William Dennison, of Ohio, was 
 appointed his successor. Mr. Dennison was Ohio's war gov- 
 ernor. He supposed that it was his duty to attend to the 
 expressed wishes of persons who arrogated to themselves the 
 claim of being genuine and Simon pure Republicans. There 
 were great numbers of that particular class of people sojourn- 
 ing in and about Washington, claiming the right in a greater 
 or less degree to dictate as to who should have office. An 
 aged gentleman by the name of Allison was postmaster at 
 Georgetown, at the time. He was an old citizen of the Dis- 
 trict, Mayor of Georgetown, and respected by all but these 
 new comers. They conceived the idea of having Mr. Allison 
 removed, and accordingly lodged with Mr. Dennison a 
 ponderous petition, praying for his removal. The Governor 
 brought it with him to the Cabinet meeting and apparently 
 was about to submit it for consideration. He explained what 
 it was and expressed his ignorance of the usual course of pre- 
 senting such matters. Thereupon, Mr. Seward said, "Well 
 I know Mr. Allison very well. When I came here as a Senator 
 from New York, I wanted a seat in the Episcopal church. The 
 people here considered me an Abolitionist and determined 
 among themselves that I should not have a seat in the church. 
 This coming to the knowledge of Mr. Allison, he came to me 
 and said he owned a pew in the church and that it was at 
 my service; that I should sit there no matter who objected, 
 and I did." By this time a broad grin came over the faces 
 of the President and all of us and Mr. Lincoln said, "Oh, I 
 know Mr. Allison," and Governor Dennison folded up the 
 papers and that is the last we heard of it. So things went 
 with him as Postmaster General the same as they had when 
 Mr. Blair occupied that position. Whoever sympathized 
 with the rebels were considered as "offensive partisans" and 
 were relieved of office. 
 
 28 
 
Governor Dennison was a man of remarkably delightful 
 manners, of good address, faithful and devoted in maintaining 
 the cause of the Union and was respected by everybody who 
 knew him. Mr. Dennison was in the Cabinet when Mr. 
 Lincoln was assassinated and remained several months after 
 Mr. Johnson was inaugurated. 
 
 James Speed, of Louisville, Kentucky, succeeded Mr. 
 Bates as Attorney General. I suppose his appointment arose 
 from the fact that Mr. Lincoln was desirous of making some 
 special recognition of the Speeds, of Kentucky, growing out 
 of the fact that Joshua Speed, the father of James, had in 
 years gone by, been the intimate friend and associate of Mr. 
 Lincoln, at Springfield. Joshua Speed had returned to Ken- 
 tucky and was enjoying a life of ease and comfort. He was 
 a devoted Union man and did not want office, or special 
 recognition. He was only anxious for the success of his 
 friend, the President. The name of James Speed was sent 
 to the Senate for confirmation at or about the time that Mr. 
 Chase was nominated for Chief Justice. The Senate promptly 
 confirmed the nomination of Mr. Chase but omitted to confirm 
 or pass upon the nomination of Mr. Speed. Mr. Lincoln ob- 
 serving this, was quite annoyed. Although Mr. Chase was 
 confirmed his commission was not signed. Some of his friends 
 inquiring of the President why the commission was not de- 
 livered, he quaintly remarked, 'The Senate has not acted 
 upon my nomination of Mr. Speed; when that is done I will 
 consider whether I will deliver the commission to Mr. Chase 
 or not." It was not long after this remark before the Senate 
 confirmed the nomination of Mr. Speed. Mr. Speed was not 
 widely known as a lawyer, but he had eminence in his own 
 state, and my understanding was that he stood at the head of 
 the bar in Louisville. His learning and ability, well qualified 
 him for the office. He lately passed away without a stain or 
 blemish upon his name or fame. 
 
 After Mr. Chase resigned his office as Secretary of the 
 Treasury, Mr. Wm. Pitt Fessenden, of Maine, was appointed 
 his successor. He had been a Senator for many years and 
 Chairman of the Finance Committee. He was justly regarded 
 as a leader in the Senate. His abilities and integrity were 
 never questioned nor criticised. He was Secretary but a few 
 months when he retired from the Treasury. 
 
 29 
 
Hugh McCullough, of Indiana, succeeded him. He was 
 at the time of his appointment Comptroller of the Currency. 
 He was a native of Maine, I believe, educated to the law and 
 at one time Probate Judge of Allen county, Indiana. Until 
 he came to Washington to discharge the duties of Comptroller 
 of the Currency he had been a bank officer for twenty-five 
 or thirty years. He was appointed to the office one or two 
 months before Mr. Lincoln was assassinated and remained 
 Secretary during the Administration of Mr. Johnson. His 
 career as an officer of the bank seemed to have impressed upon 
 him the sense of obligation to the creditor class, to take care 
 and see that the paper discounted by the bank was made 
 perfectly secure. In his time the bank adopted a plan by 
 which the names of the debtor and his sureties should be signed 
 upon the face of the note instead of accepting the names of 
 the sureties in the form of indorsements upon the back of the 
 note and thus avoid the necessity of protest. That was about 
 all the improvements in the way of banking that I am aware 
 of during his time as cashier and president of banks. It was 
 a good thing for the banks and likely to save much inconven- 
 ience and trouble. When he came to be Secretary, it appeared 
 to many that he was not conscious that his position was 
 changed; that he was no longer acting for the creditor class, 
 but for the people; that his effort seemed to be to make the 
 creditors of the Government more secure and their credits 
 more valuable, though it might be opposed to the interests 
 of the tax payers who had the debt to pay. Many thought 
 that he was upon the wrong side of the counter — that he ought 
 to have taken his place with the tax payers instead of the bond 
 and note holders; that it was unwise for him in behalf of 
 the Government to insist upon giving the note and bond of 
 the Government with interest, when the creditor was willing 
 to hold the note or greenback of the Government without 
 interest; that it was not good financiering to advocate the 
 giving of a Government bond with interest for paper which 
 bore no interest, or less interest than the bond. John Cavode 
 of whom I have already spoken, then a Member of Congress, 
 believing with others that the funding process was injurious 
 to the tax payers offered and secured the passage of a resolu- 
 tion through the House disapproving of the further funding 
 of greenbacks and non-interest paper; and afterwards, Cavode 
 being at the Treasury Department, the Secretary called Mr. 
 Cavode's attention to the resolution and told him that he 
 
 30 
 
was injuring the credit of the Government. Cavode replied 
 by asking him if the Government was in the market seeking 
 to borrow money, or whether it was trying to pay its debts. 
 Upon being answered that the Government was not seeking 
 to borrow any money, Cavode replied, 'Then I am not so 
 very solicitous about the credit of the Government; it can 
 pay its debts more easily if the holders of its paper do not 
 consider it equal to gold." Was that not a more common 
 sense view to take of the subject ? About his policy and whe- 
 ther it brought upon the country the hard times we experienc- 
 ed, men differed in opinion. There were however, but few, 
 embarrassed with debt, that approved of his policy; and today 
 there is scarcely one to be found in favor of taking up by 
 payment in coin or otherwise, the legal tender notes of the 
 Government now outstanding. 
 
 Mr. McCullough was a man of great integrity, who 
 undoubtedly believed that his policy was correct. Whether 
 it was for the best or otherwise cannot be demonstrated. The 
 Nation has lived through it, many years have gone by since 
 the financial affairs of the Government have been placed 
 upon solid ground and the value of its paper established, 
 equal to its coin. 
 
 Appointment of Ulysses S. Grant 
 as Lieutenant General. 
 
 When the President delivered the commission of Lieuten- 
 ant General to General Grant, the members of the Cabinet 
 were Mr. Seward, Secretary of State; Mr. Chase, Secretary 
 of the Treasury; Mr. Stanton (successor to Mr. Cameron), 
 Secretary of War ; Mr. Welles, Secretary of the Navy ; Mr. Blair, 
 Postmaster General; Mr. Bates, Attorney General; and my- 
 self, Secretary of the Interior. Of these and all present upon 
 that occasion, with the exception of General Grant, I am the 
 sole survivor. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln thought it fit and proper to convene the 
 Cabinet to witness the ceremony. Upon my entering the 
 room of the President all of the Cabinet were present with 
 the exception of Mr. Stanton. Soon after I inquired of the 
 President why we were summoned; he made no direct answer. 
 Whether the other members present knew why they were 
 
 31 
 
called I do not know. The President seemed to be in good 
 spirits, which made me wonder the more why we were there; 
 but I supposed in due time I would find out, and listened to 
 the conversations going on. The President had not much 
 order in the arranging and keeping of his papers; his table 
 was generally filled up with papers as long as they would 
 lie on it. He did not seem to have any difficulty in finding 
 any paper that he wanted amongst the huge mass thrown 
 promiscuously there. Presently Mr. Stanton, General Hal- 
 leck and General Grant entered the room. Without accosting 
 the President or any one present, they moved rapidly to the 
 far side of this table and stopped facing the table, with 
 General Grant between General Halleck and Mr. Stanton. 
 The President was on the opposite side. As they stopped 
 and were in the position described, the President arose and 
 took from the table a scroll tin case, opened it and took out 
 the parchment commission. He then took from the pile of 
 papers upon the table what soon proved to be his address to 
 General Grant, the precise words of which I cannot remember, 
 neither have I a copy. As well as I can remember, it ran nearly 
 in these words: 
 
 "General Grant — The Congress of the United States 
 recently passed a law creating the office of Lieutenant General. 
 It seemed to be the will of Congress, as well as of the people, 
 in which I heartily concur, that the office should be conferred 
 upon you. You were nominated to the Senate for the office 
 and the nomination was confirmed. I now present you your 
 commission.' ' As he said that he handed to General Grant 
 the commission, and then concluded: 'The loyal people of 
 the Nation look to you, under the providence of God, to lead 
 their armies to victory." 
 
 After the lapse of twenty-one years, it cannot be expected 
 that any one could remember the precise words of the Presi- 
 dent, though I believe I have given them quite accurately. 
 Then General Grant took from his vest pocket a paper con- 
 taining the response to the President. The substance of it 
 I cannot recollect; I do not now remember a single sentence 
 or phrase in it. But I do remember that the paper upon which 
 it was written was probably less than a quarter of a sheet; 
 that he held the paper in his right hand and commenced 
 reading it, and read probably half of it, when his voice gave 
 out. Evidently he had not contemplated the effort of reading, 
 
 32 
 
and had commenced without inflating his lungs. When Gen- 
 eral Grant commenced reading he was standing most awk- 
 wardly, what in common parlance would be called "hip shot." 
 When his voice failed he straightened himself up in his fullest 
 and best form, threw his shoulders back, took the paper in 
 both hands, one at each end, and drew the paper up within 
 proper reading distance and commenced again at the begin- 
 ning and read it through in a full strong voice. As he straight- 
 ened himself up and took the paper in his hands it seemed 
 to me that he was thinking to himself "I can read this paper 
 without faltering, and I am going to do it". And he did. 
 After it was read, the members of the Cabinet were introduced 
 to General Grant. I had never before seen him, neither do I 
 think any other member of the Cabinet had seen him. Mr. 
 Lincoln directly said to General Grant, "I have never met you 
 before". Grant replied, "Yes, you have; I heard you in your 
 debate with Douglas at Freeport, and was there introduced 
 to you. Of course, I could not forget you, neither could I 
 expect you to remember me, because multitudes were intro- 
 duced to you on that occasion". Mr. Lincoln replied, "That 
 is so, and I do not think I could be expected to remember all". 
 It seemed then, as it seems today, to be a remarkable fact that 
 neither the President nor any member of his Cabinet, up to 
 that time, had any personal acquaintance with General Grant. 
 None of us had, to our knowledge, ever seen him. We had 
 heard of him. From the battle of Pittsburg Landing to the 
 battle of Iuka and Corinth the reports were as often disparag- 
 ing as they were favorable. General Grant never sent anyone 
 to propitiate or make favor with the President. After the 
 battle of Corinth, Judge Dickey, now of the Supreme Court 
 of Illinois, and a personal friend of Mr. Lincoln, came to 
 Washington from Grant's camp and gave such a favorable 
 account of him as, I believe, gained from Mr. Lincoln his 
 fullest confidence in Grant's abilities, and this confidence was 
 never broken, nor in the least abated. I heard Mr. Lincoln 
 say, on one occasion, "General Grant is the most extraordi- 
 nary man in command that I know of." He said: "I heard 
 nothing direct from him, and wrote to him to know why, 
 and whether I could do anything to promote his success, and 
 Grant replied that he had tried to do the best he could with 
 what he had; that he believed if he had more men and arms 
 he could use them to good advantage and do more than he 
 had done, but he supposed I had done and was doing all I 
 
 33 
 
could; that if I could do more he felt that I would do it." 
 Lincoln said that Grant's conduct was so different from other 
 generals in command that he could scarcely comprehend it. 
 
 It was not until after the capture of Vicksburg that 
 Grant sent anyone to the President direct from his army. 
 Then he sent General Rawlins. I met him at the White 
 House and was introduced to him by the President. Evidently 
 Rawlins knew more of the field than of the court. He was 
 browned and sun-burned ; he sat close in the corner of the fire- 
 place and appeared embarrassed to know what to do with his 
 hands. He had provided himself with a new military suit of 
 blue which hung loose upon his emaciated limbs. He was 
 free to answer questions when asked, but showed no disposi- 
 tion to enlarge his speech beyond the appropriate answer. He 
 was modest, and it was plain that he was neither carpet knight 
 nor courtier. He did not come to ask for anything, but the 
 time of his coming and his manner naturally led to the im- 
 pression that Grant concluded that, after nearly three years 
 of successful war, he might, without being charged with 
 vanity, send his chief of staff to the President and Secretary 
 of War to relate to them, if they wanted to know, incidents 
 of his conflicts which might not be embraced in his reports. 
 And well he might. In the language of John A. Logan, his 
 army had with their swords hewn their way to the sea. But 
 I digress. I was prompted to write in order to relate, as far 
 as I could remember, what took place when Mr. Lincoln 
 delivered General Grant his commission. His address to 
 Grant and Grant's reply doubtless may be found published 
 in the press of that time. I hope they may be found and 
 published. Mr. Lincoln thought the occasion of sufficient 
 moment to summon the Cabinet. There now remain none 
 but General Grant and myself who were present on that 
 interesting occasion, and it can hardly be expected that he 
 will find time in the midst of his sufferings to describe it. 
 Perchance he may have described the scene in his writings, 
 and it is quite probable that Messrs. Hay and Nicolay, who 
 are preparing a biography of Mr. Lincoln, may have the ori- 
 ginals. 
 
 34