The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1878-03-05
DEATH OF HON. B. r. WADE.

TUESDAY. MARCH S, 1873.
DEATH OF HON. B. r. WADE
Our telegraph dispatches inform % thai
Hon. B. F. Wade died 1t his home in Ohio
1t $50 yesterday morning.
BENJAMIN Franklin Wade was native
of Springfield, Massachusetts,, where he Va,
born on the 9Th Of October, 1900, and con.
sequendy ne was in his 18th year. He VA
. self-made man, rising from the humble
sphere of . lsborer. In his youth he
taught school in The winter, and in 1895 be
began the study of law in Ohio. In 1928
he was admitted to practice 1t the bar in
Ashtabuls county, Ohio, and has ever
since resided there.
In 1885 be wss elected prosecuting At
tosney of that county, and in 1887 70 the
state senate, to which he was twice reelect-
ed. In 1S47 he vas chosen presiding judge
of the third judicial district Of the state.
In 1851 be was elected United States sena-
tor, and reelected in 1857 and 1868. In
the senate Mr.. Wade vas steady opponent
of eli measures fsvoring slavery. In 1852
he voted, with only Eve other senators, to
repeal the fugitive slave Law he also spoke
and voted against the bill to abrogate the
the Missouri compromise, against the
Lecompton constitution Tor Kansas in 1855
against appropriating $50, Ooo. 900 for the
acquisition of Cuba, and against all the
compromises between the north and south
proposed after Mr.. Lincolns election in
1850. The homestead bill he advocated
for years, and it Was in his charge when it
vas finally passed by the senate in 1862.
From the outbreak of the civil war in 1861
NJ. Wade labored necessarily for 4 more
vigorous policy; was chairman Of the joint
committee on the conduct of the war, and
urged the enactment Of law to con6scate
all the property of leading secessionists and
emancipate their slaves. A chairman of
the territorial committee, he reported bill
in 1862 abolishing slavery in all the terri.
tories of the government, and prohibiting it
in any that might afterward be acquired.
After the assassination of President Lincoln
in 1866 he became president pro tcnpore OF
the senate, and acting vice president of the
United States; and in March, 1867, he was
elected president of the senate. In 1871 he
was one Of the commiasion sent to Santo
Domingo to report upon its proposed an
nexatioa to the United States, . scheme of
which he approved.
Mr.. Wade's illness and its causes can, it
IL thought, Be traced back - far as the time
of the Cincinnati Presidential Convention
Of 1876. Previous to that period he had
always enjoyed the best of health. Over
exertion and anxiety to secure the nomina-
ton Of his candidate, Mr.. Hayes, together
With the infrmities Of age. were probably
what obliged even his iron will to succumb
and he vas assisted to his hotel apartment
By friend. The labor and excitement of
the campaign followed, then came the trou-
bic and anxiety consequent on the eloseneas
of the election, and finally bitter disap-
pointnent on the part of Mr.. Wade in the
President's Southern policy, civil service
views, and other acts.
Said Dr.. F. A. Tuttle of Jefferson, who
has been his family physician for twelve
ysan. ''d you and I had felt - Senator
Wade did for ten days previous to the time
when be Wa Obliged to retire tobed-about
four weeks ago-we would have given up
and been sick Immediately. But Mr..
Wade kept about for ten days with fever in
his body. His indomitable will would not
permit him to give way until be was actu-
ally compelled to.
The fever was Low type OF typhoid,
without any complications worthy Of note.
The tongue of Mr.. Wade was partially par
alysed, but it remained 90 for only brief
period. His appetite was very moderate and
he gradually grew emaciated. His mind
vas perfectly unclouded during his illness
and he took pleasure in seeing his wife and
. few intimate friends BY his bedside, but
did not wish to cause any one the slightest
trouble, seeming to think it wholly nnneces-
sary even for . watcher to remain near him
ut night
His quaint humor has had several Illus
trations during his illness, proving him to
be the same Ben Wade as of yore, although
. little "under the weather" Recently he
was given IN deliberately figured dressing
gown to wear. After he had been robed in
the elegant garment be eyed himself from
head to foot in acritical manner, and apro-
pos of the Pope's death, which had been
announced in the papen of that morning.
remarked, with . slisht laugh, "Well, 1
sveari If they have got . vacancy in the
Roman Catholic Church, I believe Pn
ready now to step in"
A short time before his serious illness
the ex-senator underwent considerable pain
in having several teeth extracted.
A visitor from Cincinnati, describing his
interview with him, said:
An instant later stood In the darkened
room, grasping the extended hand of the
''old war horse" His face was psle and
attenuated, but the growing beard did not
conceal the powerful outlines which the |
wasting of the flesh served only to make
more prominent The eye Was piercing |
bright, almost lighting the darkened room
it seemed - If all the intense vitality for |
which the man had been % famed, was |
there, speaking Of . courage
and Will - dauntles - Of old. Slowly, |
and painfully, and with long pauses between
the sentences, he said:
my mouth l. very dry. I cannot sneak /