Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1869-12-10
John Brown Of OssaWattomie.

Ten years ago last Thursday,
says the Cleveland Leader, Of last
Saturday, at eleven o'clock in the
forenoon, the soul Of John Brown
of Ossawattomie, the staunch cham
pion of freedom in Kansas, the
brave but mis- calculating raider
against slavery in Virginia, man
like Bayard without fear and with
out reproach, went from the scaf
fold at Charleston to enter the pres
ence Of the great Judge Of all men.
Ten years ago! The events of that
startling attack upon slavery its
plans for immediate success, but yet
mighty enough to shake the slave
power with alarm from center to
circumference, are within the mem
ory even Of the youngest of those
who have arrived at maturity: and
yet into the short decade which has
since elapsed are crowded changes
and revolutions enough for the his
tory Of century. Ten years ago!
| All of US can remember the thrilling
news which came to US over the
wires of the outbreak, of the fail
ure, Of the trial, of the execution
And yet the whole story, as we re
call it's details. seems like a dream,
so utter are the changes of politics
and of leaders which time has
brought about in this brief period.
Let us try to make real to our
selves this magic, and, as it seems
to the retrospective glance, almost
kaleidoscope transformation. Let
US remember that at the time Of
John Browns raid, James Buchan-
an was President of the United
States; that John G. Breckenridge
was Vice President; that Roger B.
Tauey was Chief Justice of the
United States that Winfield Scott
, was the General cf the Aamy; that
) Lewis Cass and John B. Floyd and
Howell Cobb and Jacob Thompson
sat in the Cabinet; that Henry A.
Wise was Governor of Virginia );
that there was a large Democratic
majority in the United States Sen
3 ate, with Stephen A. Douglas lead
ing the Northern wing, 8 Mason,
) Toombs, JEFF Davis, Slidell, Benja-
: min and Wigfall, the Southern that
the House Of Representatives was
at dead lock between Republicans
and Democrats, with Corwin, Thad-
, deus Stevens, John Sherman, Schuy-
ler Colfax, CHARLES F. Adams, Owen
Lovejoy and Anson Burlingame
leading on one side, and Roger A.
, Pryor, Millson, Bocock, McRea,
Phelps and Vallandigham on the
; other. How utterly the dramatis
: personae of politics has changed
since then! Buchanan, Toucey,
Cass, Floyd, Douglas, Thompson,
Corwin, Thad. Stevens and others
are dead; Breckenridge, Davis, Ma
son, Toombs, Wigfall, Benjamin,
Slidell and other men then high in
5 position have attainted themselves
with treason, and owe their lives
to the mercy of the government
Of the thirty nine Democrat then in
; the United States Senate, not one
now holds seat in that body, and
but one now at all prominent in pol
itics- the irrepressible Andrew
johnson. A revolution has come
, since those days, land has swept away
this former generation of polite
ians so utterly that there is no
trace or vestige Of them left.
The marvellous development of
the decade can be illustrated even
more forcibly in another way.
When John Brown was hung, the
present President of the United
States was of the firm of Boggs &
Grant, real estate dealers in ST.
Louis, and an unsuccessful appli
cant for the position of county sur
veyor. The Vice President was a
member of the lower house of Con-
gress. The General of the Army
was teaching in military academy
in Louisiana Phil. Sheridan was
a second lieutenant. The Chief
Justice of the United States was
Governor of Ohio. General George
H. Thomas was major of cavalry
in the regiment commanded by AL
bert Sidney Johnston, with Robert
E. Lee and William j. Hardee as
his senior officers. General Nc
Clellan, who has in this short space
become famous and then become
! forgotten, was at work as chief en-
| gineer on the Illinois Central rail
road. Abraham Lincoln, whose
name will never be forgotten, and is
perhaps the noblest and greatest of
this hioh period, was country