The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1879-08-07

the names of Gems. Ewing and Rice will be
more prominently before the people of the
United States than those of any other states
men of the Democratic party. BY general
consent the Ohio canvass of this summer is
assumed to have u direct and important
bearing upon the Presidential contest Of
1880. Whether its significance in this re-
spect is overestimated or otherwise, it is
certain that the great National issues which
now divide parties in Congress are to be
presented to the voters of Ohio, for their
verdict, and that the advocates of Demo-
cratic principles, in all parts of the Union,
will regard Ewing and Rice as the repre-
sentatives and champions of honest juries,
free and fair elections, and the subordina-
ton Of the military to the civil power.
There are a few illustriious names among
the public men of every country, which no
one can think Of singly. If we were to
mention the name of Adams or Bayard,
memory at once throws open the vista OF
buried years, the Adamses and Bayards of
the past re-appear, and we are soon lost in
contemplation of the great historic events
In which they bore conspicuous and honor
able parts. So the name Of Ewing newt
ably reca..i.s that of his honored father, than
whom they are few brighter or more de-
serving Of veneration in the history of the
Republic The early life of Gen. Ewing 5
father was hard struggle with poverty
not fashionable poverty-not ease and idle
ness at the expense of others, but manly
toll, hard labor for daily bread and for the
means of obtaining an education. To ac-
complish this dominant ambition of his
youth he worked as a common laborer in
the salt works of the Kanawha river. Alb
solutely free from vice of every kind, in
spired with an Unsuitable thirst for known
ledge, strong, brave, self-reliant, he climbed
step by step until he became a man of rare
and varied learning, and so profoundly
yersed in the law that many of the ablest
jurists regarded hm as the leading lawyer
in America. Entering the United States
Senate at the comparatively early age of
forty-one, he became'at once a leader, tax
ing rank with Webster and CLAW and their
great compatriots- At the bar, In the SEN
ate and in the Cabinet, his learning, his
consummate mastery of logic, and his innate
nobility and strength of character made him
one of the most prominent figures In the
history of his time. As a great example of
patriotic virtue, as an illustration of the
career that is possible to the poor boy who
possesses intellectual strength, moral purity,
and courage enough to work upward and
onward, there are few lives that can be
more proftably studied than that of the
father of Gen. Tom Ewing, of Ohio. .,
On the 7th Of August, 1929, Gen. Thos.
Ewing was born in the paternal residence
at Lancaster, O.. He was the third son of
the great statesman, and was not destined,
like his father, to struggle with adverse
fortune Inheriting his fathers ambition
for the requirement of knowledge, the
means of qualification were within his reach.
After a thorough preparatory course, he en-
tered Brown Univermty under the presidency
of DR.. Francis Wayland, and graduated in
1854. He was popular at college with both
faculty and students; with the former be-
cause of his manly department and good
standing in his studies, with the latter be-
cause OF his genial temper, which rendered
him always approachable and campanion-
able. The writer of this sketch recalls
with pleasure the Tom Ewing of a
quarter of century ago, with his splel-
did physique, his Intellectual, frank.
almost transparent face, his ever-ready wit,
his pleasant smile. his chivalrous regard for
the feelings of all his associates, his lively
interest in public affairs, his keen sympa-
thy with the poor and oppressed, his hatred
Of injustice in every shape, and recalling
this pleasant picture experiences peculiar
delight in finding the fulfllment of the
bright promise of his early manhood in the
Gen. Ewing of to-day, whose sympathies
are still with the weak as against the
strong. with right against wrong, with the
struggling masses against oppression ofcon-
solidated cash and centralized despotism.
In 1855, young Ewing graduated at the
Cincinnati Law School, whe.e he was re-
garded as worthy son of his distinguished
father, because he possessed many of those
peculiar traits that had made the elder
Ewing giant in the legal profession. The
next year he removed to Kansas and entered
upon the practice of law at Leavenworth.
He achieved success from the outset, and
soon became the head of his profession in
that State. Taking an active part in politics,
he became prominent among the leading
Republicans of ante-bellum times, and
was chosen Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court of Kansas, a position which he filed
with much credit for two years.
Prior to this, In 1856, Mr.. Ewing was
married to daughter of the Rev. William
Cox. of Ohio, a distinguished minister of
the Presbyterian chuych, in which faith his
children have been reared.
Gen. Ewing first appears in the history
of the war of the rebellion as the colonel Of
the Eleventh regiment of Kansas volunteer
infantry, recruited and organized by him in
the autumn of 1862 He led his command
gallantly in several engagements soon after
It entered the field, and was promoted to
be brigadier-general on the 11th Of
March, 1868. He was soon assigned to the
command of the district Of the border, com
prising the State of Kansas and the west
ern portion of Missouri, IN which position
he won the approval Of his superiors at
Washington. We have not space for a de-
tailed account OF Gen. Ewing's military
services. Among the most important was
the stubborn and sanguinary conflict a.
Pilot Knob, on the 9th Of September,
1854, in whica he achieved brilliant
victory at the sacrifice of one-fourth Of his
available force. From the beginning tC
the end of his service in the Union army
Gen. Ewing was popular with his surbor-
dinates and respected by his superiors. He
attained the rank of brevet major.general
and would have been made full major.
general had not the redundant list been st
filed that scarcely any degree of merit
could insure further admissions.
Since the war Gen: Ewing has been con
spicuous in Ohio and in National politics
He was member of the Ohio Constitu
tional Convention Of 1894, where hi.
legal attamments and oratorical power
gave him deserved prominence. As mem
Der of the Democratic majority in tn,
Fory-ffth Congress, he gallantly led th'
movement for the reconciliation of silver
and splendidly fulfilled the predictions of hi.
friends by the zeal and ability with whiei
he chanlpioned the cause of the masses