The Project Gutenberg eBook, Something of Men I Have Known, by Adlai E. Stevenson

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Title: Something of Men I Have Known With Some Papers of a General Nature, Political, Historical, and Retrospective

Author: Adlai E. Stevenson

Release Date: November 9, 2006 [eBook #19745] [Last updated on May 30, 2007]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOMETHING OF MEN I HAVE KNOWN***

E-text prepared by an anonymous volunteer

Transcriber's notes:

The diaeresis is transcribed by a following hyphen.

The contraction "n't" appears both as a separate word and as a suffix in the text. Since this seems to be the choice of the Linotype operator, not the author, it has been changed to modern usage. Differing spellings of "Lafayette" and "judgment" have been standardized. The author's spelling of "Pittsburg", "Alleghanies", "Tombs", "McDougall", and "Breckenridge" has been retained.

Hyphenations at the end of lines have been eliminated wherever possible. Those remaining are words that are hyphenated elsewhere in the text, or in general usage.

   A few corrections of punctuation and of single letters have
   been made.

   This transcription was typed into MS-DOS Editor under Windows
   XP, spell-checked in Word Perfect, and examined with Gutcheck.

SOMETHING OF MEN I HAVE KNOWN

With Some Papers of a General Nature, Political, Historical, and
Retrospective

by

ADLAI E. STEVENSON

Fully Illustrated

Second Edition

[Frontispiece]

[Publisher's logo]

Chicago A. C. McClurg & Co. 1909

Copyright
A. C. McClurg & Co.
1909
Published October, 1909
Second Edition, December 17, 1909
The Lakeside Press
R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company
Chicago

TO MY WIFE
Letitia Green Stevenson
THE PATIENT LISTENER TO THESE
"TWICE-TOLD TALES"

FOREWORD

To write in the spirit of candor of men he has known, and of great events in which he has himself borne no inconspicuous part, has been thought not an unworthy task for the closing years of more than one of the most eminent of our public men. It may be that the labor thus imposed has oftentimes enabled the once active participant in great affairs submissively "to entertain the lag end of his life with quiet hours."

Following the example of such at a great distance and along a humbler path, I have attempted to write something of events of which I have been a witness, and of some of the principal actors therein during the last third of a century.

My book in the main is something of men I have personally known; the occasional mention of statesmen of the past seems justified by matters at the time under discussion.

With the hope that it may not be wholly without interest to some into whose hands it may fall, I now submit this slight contribution to the political literature of these passing days.

A. E. S. BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS, August 1, 1909.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I. ON THE CIRCUIT II. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES III. AGAIN IN CONGRESS IV. THE VICE-PRESIDENT V. THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES VI. A TRIBUTE TO LINCOLN VII. STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS VIII. THE FIRST POLITICAL TELEGRAM IX. ALONG THE BYPATHS OF HISTORY X. THE CODE OF HONOR XI. A PRINCELY GIFT XII. THE OLD RANGER XIII. THE MORMON EXODUS FROM ILLINOIS XIV. A KENTUCKY COLONEL XV. FORGOTTEN EVENTS OF THE LONG AGO XVI. ROBERT G. INGERSOLL XVII. A CAMP-MEETING ORATOR XVIII. CLEVELAND AS I KNEW HIM XIX. THE UNANIMOUS CHOICE FOR SPEAKER XX. A LAWYER OF THE OLD SCHOOL XXI. HIGH DEBATE IN THE MOUNTAINS XXII. THE SAGE OF THE BAR XXIII. "THE GENTLEMAN FROM MISSISSIPPI" XXIV. AN OLD-TIME COUNTRY DOCTOR XXV. A QUESTION OF AVAILABILITY XXVI. A STATESMAN OF A PAST ERA XXVII. NOT GUILTY OF PREACHING THE GOSPEL XXVIII. AMONG THE ACTORS XXIX. THE LOST ART OF ORATORY XXX. THE COLONELS XXXI. REMINISCENCES XXXII. A TRIBUTE TO IRELAND XXXIII. THE BLIND CHAPLAIN XXXIV. A MEMORABLE CENTENNIAL XXXV. COLUMBUS MONUMENT IN CENTRAL PARK XXXVI. A PLATFORM NOT DANGEROUS TO STAND UPON XXXVII. ANECDOTES OF GOVERNOR OGLESBY XXXVIII. THE ONE ENEMY XXXIX. CONTRASTS OF TIMES XL. ENDORSING THE ADMINISTRATION XLI. ANECDOTES ABOUT LINCOLN XLII. FIRST LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY IN AMERICA XLIII. A NEW DAY ADDED TO THE CALENDAR XLIV. A MOUNTAIN COLLEGE XLV. DEDICATION OF A NATIONAL PARK XLVI. A BAR MEETING STILL IN SESSION XLVII. THE HAYNE-WEBSTER DEBATE RECALLED XLVIII. IN THE HIGHLANDS XLIX. ANECDOTES OF LAWYERS L. OUR NOBLE CALLING LI. THE "HOME-COMING" AT BLOOMINGTON

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

                        [facing] PAGE
   ADLAI E. STEVENSON Frontispiece
   ADLAI E. STEVENSON AT 30 8
   JAMES S. EWING 9
   GEORGE F. HOAR 12
   SAMUEL J. TILDEN 13
   JAMES G. BLAINE 18
   ROBERT E. WILLIAMS 19
   JAMES A. GARFIELD 22
   NATH. P. BANKS 23
   WILLIAM R. MORRISON 26
   WILLIAM M. SPRINGER 27
   SAMUEL J. RANDALL 30
   ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS 30
   LUCIUS Q. C. LAMAR 30
   JAMES B. BECK 30
   DAVID DUDLEY FIELD 31
   HENRY WATTERSON 33
   SAMUEL S. COX 34
   LEVI P. MORTON 48
   JAMES A. McKENZIE 49
   WILLIAM McKINLEY 56
   SENATE TESTIMONIAL TO MR. STEVENSON AS PRESIDENT
     OF SENATE 57
   ABRAHAM LINCOLN 82
   ANDREW JOHNSON 83
   ULYSSES S. GRANT 100
   HORATIO SEYMOUR 101
   STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS 126
   SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 127
   WILLIAM M. GWIN 170
   JAMES SHIELDS 171
   JAMES SMITHSON 174
   JOSEPH HENRY 175
   JOHN REYNOLDS 196
   JOSEPH SMITH 197
   R. G. INGERSOLL 226
   PETER CARTWRIGHT 227
   CLEVELAND AND STEVENSON 240
   WILLIAM FREEMAN VILAS 241
   WILLIAM M. EVARTS 262
   JOE WHEELER 263