Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1878-03-07
Death of Ex-senator BENJAMIN
+. Wade.

/ luo 1Ou. DeDJhLDl0 FRANKLIN WaQo,
formerly United States Senator from
Ohio. died at his home in Jefferson,
Ashtabula county, on Saturday morn
ing, March . after an illness of more
than four weeks, which he bore with
characteristic fOrtitude. Mr.. Wade
was born near Springfield, Mass, Octo-
Der 9th, 1900. His father fought as q
common soldier in the Revolutionary
War. NOue of his family appear to
have been people of distinction. They
were plain, practical, hard-WOrking,
honest New England people. Benz
was the youngest Of ten children.
he GOES WEST. "a
When only eighteen years Of age,
Wade resolved to seek his fortune in
the West and left home with only 81
In his pocket. He walked across the
country, and after most tedious jour-
ney reached Ashtabula county, o.,
where he had a brother. living. The
snow falling, he was persuaded TO wait
untiI spring, and then a cross the lake
to Detroit by boat, and finish his
Journey from there to Chicago on foot.
he hired himself out to chop-wood, at
80 cents per cord, and during the long
winter nights read nearly the whole of
the Bible. by the light of pineknots
piled on the hearth of his rude log
cabin. - = -i--I--,-..- = -.e.... -,
9 FARMER, sCHooLTEAcHER, AND b
taa LisA 1r DRovER. e1f H 'h
In 1921 and 1922, when twenty-five
years OF age, we fad Mr.. Wade still at
Ashtabula, choppfng wood, rolling
e.
school Ia winter He had now given
up going further West, and seriously
thought OF returning to the East. 10
the fall of the next year, 1923, he hired
to drover to assist him in taking a
herd OF rattle to New York. 1t was
Wade's duty to conduct the lead steer,
and he carried his clothes packed in a
bundle and tied behind the ox's horns.
When tired, he would mount the back
of the OK, and ride for short distance.
Six times Mr.. Wade walked from Ohio
to New York, and though he has often
since performed the journey in q
special train, with car all to himself,
il is doubtful IL he ever enjoyed the
trip more than when he led an OK, and
was his own baggage master.
HE WORKS ON THE ERIE CANAL.
; In the fall of 1925, Mr.. Wade having
once more crossed the mountains with
drove of cattle, halted at Albany and
taught school during the winter. The
next sumruer he worked on the Erie
Canal with a shovel and wheelbarrow.
OF this period o! his life Mr.. Seward
said, when addressing the Senate Of
the United States on one occasion: "I
know only one American who labored
on that great improvement, and he sits
here to-day among US, one Oft the most
talented and able members of this
body."n 5Aa- 1r.- 1ss. uay ,.|'
EARLY POLITICAL CAREER IN oHIo.i
On returning to Ashtabula county
he again engaged in farming and
Numbering In the summer seasons and
in teaching country schools winters.
In 1896 he determined to study law
and entered the office of Elisha Whit
tlesey in Jefferson. Two years later
he was admitted to the Ashtabula
county bar. He was then twenty eight
years oil. He always had an am bition
Tor public life, but he made his way
very slowly, and more by sheer iorce
of will and persistency than by any
marked talent. In 1885 he was elect
ed Prosecuting Attorney, and in 1887
he was sent to the State Senate as a
Whig. He was twice reelected. In
1917 the Legislature which, under the
old Constitution of Ohio, chose the
Judges, elected him Common Pleas
Judge of the Third District, which at
that time included the counties of
Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake, Portage,
and Summit.
l ELECTED To THE SENATE.
II was while holding courtin Akron,
in 1851, that he received news of his
election to the United States Senate.
He had not been candidate, and the
news surprised nobody as much as him.
The Wings controlled the Legislature
and their caucus had selected Mr..
Griswold' a prominent Massillon law
yer, for the place, but q few members
refused to vote for him on personal
grounds. A deadlock was threatened,
but VIM Dennison (afterward Cover
nOr) got the party out of the difficulty
by bringing forward the name of Judge
Wade, who had not been in active
politics, and who had no enemies in
the Legislature.
Mr.. Wade went into the Senate as an
Anti Slavery Whig in time to witness
the total wreck of his party, which
followed the Presidential election of
1852. ~ 5a.a naa - @
FIGHTING THE INSTITUTION OF
SLAVERY.
In 1852 he voted with five other
Senators TO repeal the Fugitive Slave
Law. The little. band of six Abolition
lists in the Senate were cordially hated
by the Pro Slavery element, and Mr..
Wade, from the bluntness of his speech
and the aggressiveness of his manner,
was for time the especial object of
their aversion. At first he was exclud-
ed from all committees, and many of
the Senators carried their hostility so
far as to refuse to recognize him. He
was spared from open insult by his
fearless demeanor and his reputation
for great personal bravery. In the
fierce debates over the slavery question
which preceded the war no one struck
such hard and direct blows as he. In
course of time, however, the Southern
Senators were forced to respect him for
his courage and earnestness, and many
of them came to entertain a warm
personal regard for him, Senator
Wade took leading part in the great
debates upon the Kansas Nebraska
Bill in 1854, the IIecompton Constitu-
tion in 1858, and the purchase of Cuba
in 1860.
oRGANIZING THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
The Republican party began 10 take
form in 1858 and in 1854 made its first
State campaign in Michigan. In 1866
it sprang full armed and vigorous into
the National arena. Senator Wade
was one of its earliest champions, and
helped fight its first battles on the
stump in Ohio, and in the Senate
Chamber. He was reelected without
deposition in his own party in 1857.
He resisted all the schemes for COM
promise with the South which were
brought forward in Congress in the