Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1866-06-23
OBITUARY.
Denth of Hon. Lewis Cass.

Michigan, on Sunday morning, TIC i''h
inst, aged SO years.
Lewis Cass was born in Exeter, N: H., the
9th day of october, 1852. His father po,o
n commission in the Revolutionary army,
and took part in the battles OF bunNe.s
Hill. Trenton, Princeton, Germantown, @c.
The voung Lewis was educated ut bNeter,
and studied law at Marietta. he was au
mitted to the Bar in 1902, and ipracueea
with success during several years. IN looo
he was elected to the ONO Legislature. De-
inc placed on the committee instituted to
;nS,,;re into the movements of Col Burr,
b;s hand drafted the law which enabled the
local authorities TO arrest the men and boats
engaged in, that enterprise on their passage
down the Ohio. He also drew up the a6-
dress to Mr. Jefferson, embodying the views
of the Ohio Legislature on the subject. In
1907 Mr. Cass was appointed Marshal of the
State, position which he filled until 1918.
In the war of 1919 he volunteered to join
the forces at Dayton under General Hull
and was named Colonel of the Third Ohio
Volunteers. Colonel Cass commanded the
advanced guard when the army crossed from
Detroit into Canada, and drew up the pro-
clamation addressed by the General to the
inhabitants OF that country on their arrival
in it, and commanded also the detachment
which dislodged the British forces posted
at the bridge over the Canards. ..t ...,.e.
Shortly afterward Col Cass was included
in the capitulation which ensued on the
signal defeat of the American army, and
after making his report at Washington, was
appointed to the Twenty seventh Regiment
of Infantry, and, after short interval, pro.
NOTED to the rank of Briga6ier General.
He took part in the pursuit of Gen. Proc
tor, and in the triumph at the Moravian
towns AT the close of the campaign he
was left in command of Michigan, with his
headquarters at Detroit, command he ex-
changed for the post of Civil Governor over
the same State in October, 1918. r.ls..
In 1914 he was associated with Gen. Har
rison in commission to treat with the In
dians, who had been hostile to the United
States during the war. In 1919 he esta-
blished himself permanently with his family
in Michigan. From the year 1919 to 1928
Gen. Cass was the main instrument in the
various treaties concluded during these
years between the United States and differ
eat Indian tribes located along its entire
frontier. In 1928 he was made President Of
an historical society established in Michigan,
and in the following year delivered an in
auguraf address, embodying the early his
tory of the State, and bringing it down to
the period when it became a part of the
Union.
In 1880 he received the degree of LII. D..
from Hamilton College, New York In 1881
he was made Secretary of War by the then
President, Gen. jackson. 1t was during his
tenure of this office that the war of the
Seminole Indians broke out, calamity
which by some has been attributed to his
want of judgement In 1886, the same
President appointed him Minister of the
United States to France, where he published
a book, entitled "France, its King, Court
and Government" in which Louis Philippe
and his supporters are somewhat lavishly
praised .-'' .''.
In 1912, President Tyler having been
placed in power by the death of Gen Harri-
son, Gen. Cass was at his own request, re-
called. From his return to America, many
acts of his public life are felt to be perplex-
ing, not to say irreconcilablc. He now de-
clared himself in favor of high protective
tariff a distribution of the proceeds of the
public lands, and of the constitutionality of
bank of the United States.
These views brought him in close alliance
with Gov. Porter of Penn, and that portion
of the Locofoco party who had a leaning to
those measures. He was afterward elected
he had always held prominent position.
Being now in position of influence he COM
menced bidding for the Presidency.
Accordingly, public meeting in Ken
lucky was got up in 1S43, when he was
recommended as a candidate for the Presi
dency. He next espoused the annexation
OF Texas ana the war with Mexico for addi-
tional territory in order to promote the ex-
tension and propagation of slavery.
But in these, as in some former measures,
he soon became perplexed. Wimot of
Pennsylvania introduced his celebrated pro-
viso against the extension of Slavery in a
free Territory. This was a Democratic
measure, popular in the free States and
odious in the South. The course pursued
by Cass was to make speech for the pro-
viso and to vote against it.
Then came the repeal of the protective
tariff of 1s42 which he had approved and
recommended. This also was Democratic
measure he dealt with it after the same
fashion. He made speech in favor of the
tariff and then voted to repeal it.
Nevertheless, in spite of his drawback.
the General was able to contest the nomina-
ton to the Presidency of the United States
in 1S4S, and, though defeated, to secure the
electoral votes of half the States in the
Union. During the. .Presidents1ip of Gen.
Pierce he was forward speaker on all great
questions, and his appointment by Mr.. Bu-
chanan to the post of Secretary of State
caused great uneasiness IN England, in con
sequence of his aggressive tendencies and
his hostility to that Power during the at
tempts to settle the Oregon dispute. But,
as in the case of Mr.. Buchanan, no antece-
dent expression of opinion was allowed to
overrule public utility after his accession to
power; and although uncomfortable reports
respecting Gen. Cass's bias against England
got abroad during the San Juan difficulty,
tranquility was not disturbed
Gen. Cass has published, during his long
career, several works of ability, among
which we may mention Enquiries respect,
ing the History, Traditions, Language, &C.,
of the Indians living within the United
States, Detroit" &C.; Historical and
Scientific Sketches Of Michigan" &c. The
General was totalabstinence man, having
never, it is said, tasted spurious liquors in
his life .'-