Nebraska advertiser., 1858-10-07
Thomas B. Cunning.

MIR. tURNAS, Chairman or the Select
Committee in the Council, to whom was
referred that portion of the Governors
Message relating to the death of the
Hon. Thomas B. Cunning, late Secretary
of the Treasury, made the following re-
porl:
The Select Committee, to whom was
referred that portion of the Executive
Message relative to the death of OR late
Secretary, Thomas B. Cunning, have had
the same under consideration and ber
leave 10 report:
That Thomas B. Cunning was appoin-
ted Secretary of the territory of Nebras-
ka by Franklin Pierce, President of the
United States, upon the organization of
the territory, and entering at once upon
the discharge Of the duties of his office,
he arrived in the month of September,
1854.
BY the untimely decease of Governor
Burt. he succeeded to the Supreme Ex-
~ecutive and terame cx-Gfficio Governor
of Nebraska. How ably he filled that
office, those now living can testify. In
the organization of our first Legislature,
surrounded as he was ly conflicting ele-
ments, threatened Ly fierce and contend
ing factions, standing in imminent dam
ger of even personal violence, he wavar-
ed not nee in his fealty to the General
Government, nor in his fidelity to the
trust reposed in him.
Throughout the whole duration of those
troublesome times he pursued a policy,
the sagacity of which was proved by lis
success, aid the wisdom of which is EVIL
denced by the present prosperous posi-
ton of the territory which he governed.
Upon the resignation of Gov. lizard,
he again assumed the Executive office,
and from that time until near his death,
maintained it.
He has been identified with the terri
tory ever since It's organization, as n Of
its highest officers. He died with the
mantle of authority still about him: in
the land which he had chosen for his own
in the country which he had so well
ruled. He was buried with his honors
fresh upon him; from the halls where
he wa wont to tread among a people that
delighted to do him reverence. He was
followed to his grave by those who were
his friends, and the soil for which he had
lived and labored received his remains.
His requium was tod by the silence of
those who knew what they had lost and
IF We seek bis monument, look around
you"
Besides being for a long time the first
Executive officer of the territory, be was
in many respeaS, the first man in Ne
braSka: aud Hereafter, when the roll of
the great men of the Territory is called,
and the name of Thomas B. Cunning is
pronounced first upon the list, Il, tie al
swer be as it was with the surviving con-
rades of La Tour D'Auvergnp, first gre
nader of the grand army of France,
DIED ON TUE FIELD OF HoNoR."
The closing moments Of an existence.
~chequered as his had been with worldly
contests, cannot but attract attention. HIS
life wa no holiday but almost every mo
ment of it had been passed in the busy
thoroughfares Of the world, and when
finally Frustrated by disease, the closing
acts of his public life were characterized
by the same energy and decision which
made his character what it was.
Your committee have in this hurried
manner discharged the duty imposed on
them. They are conscious Of their ina
bllity to present a report for your consid-
Grafton commensurate with their esrima-
ton Of the man, and their appreciation
of the worth of Thomas B. Cunning as
an Executive officer.
Your committee would close their re-
port by expressing their earnest hope
that here, in the shadow Of the capitol,
about whose arches the spirit of the de-
ceased may Inger; that here the memo
ry of those sectional disputes, among
which the latter part of his life was un-
avoidably passed, will cause the LegisIa-
ture to avoid them, and unite for the
furtherance of such measures as shall be
for the good of the whole country.
All Of which is respectfully submitted.
R. W. FURNAS,
W. E. MOORE,
G.. W. DOANE.