The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-01-06
THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL SUNDAY

stances we all agreed that it was best that
Governor Bradford should do as he did.
| The following afternoon, having gone from
Altoona TO Washington for the purpose, we
| presented our address to the President.
I'VE feared at the time. that the bold
stand which we took would cost us one
| election, but subsequent events showed that
we had struck while the iron was hot and
had touched the popular chord. My own
| triumphant reelection the following year
was one evidence of this, and elsewhere
1 the Endorsement of OUr course was July as
| flattering and unmistakable."
Edwin NJ. Stanton, who succeeded Simon
Cameron as Secretary of War despite his
| peculiar fitness for the duties he was called
upon to discharge. was brusque to the point
| of brutality and often tyrannlcal In his
| bearing toward those with whom he came
i'm contact. His intercourse with positive
and hlgh-tempered men IKE governor governor
ers In the spring of 1854 the Governor:
| deeply moved by the sOrr0wlng tales OF
suffering that came from Andersonville and
appealed to him to do something to save
the Northern soldiers who were starving
and dying in the Southern prison pens.
Secretary Stanton refused in an insolent
| manner to discuss the question, and when
| Governor Curtin returned TO Harrisburg
brief telegraphic correspondence followed
| which, if it could be published, would be
! found in its personal references TO be among
| the most emphatic and pointed records of
| the war.
| stanton was singular man." said Gov
| ernOr Curtin when / mentioned this incl
dent to him. ''He was full of cOntradic-
| tiOns. Within two weeks after the occur
most kind and affectionate letter. As Sec
| rotary of War he was for the plaintiff first,
last and all the time. To end the war was
| his only purpose, and in the attainment of
IL III e.
fering as minor Considerations Great as he
/ was, however, there were other men whom
| / would rather have seen in his place.
| Chase, to my thinking was, next to LOncoln,
the grandest figure of the war. The obsta-
| cles he had to overcome were almost insur-
| mOuntabie, and the manner in which he
| triumphed over them was the best proof OF
| his patriotism and genius. He was In
| fnitely greater than the office he filled"
] The absurd charge made by Jefferson
| Davis, a year or so ago, that Governor Cur
| tin had pardOned convict to go South and
| assassinate Davis, has never been dignified
| by the Governor with a denial. An incl
dent which happened during the early days
of the war is the best proof of its falsity,
and, at the same time, striking evidence OF
the humanity which marked every act of
Governor Curtin's official career.
One morning in the latter part of April,
1861, an agent sent by Governor Andrew, of
Massachusetts,, called upon Governor Cur
tin, and requested that d son of John Brown
be given permission to pass through Penn
sylvania with a selected company, gather.
ing recruits as he went, for the purpose of
crossing the border into Virginia to arm the
slaves and incite them to rebel against
their masters. As the full scope of the un-
dertaking was unfOlded to the Governor,
and he saw that helpless women and chill
dren would furnish the greater part of its
Victims he said:
''Such thing would be an Infamous ont
rage. Neither John Browns son nor the
Of fhax hnl n nh
Pennsylvania while / am Governor, upon
such an errand. On the contrary, you can
60 back to those who send you here, and
say to them for me that, so far as am con-
cerned, this war shall be conducted by
humane and civilized methods
This spirited answer to Governor Adj
drew's messenger, by it's contrast, calls to
mind the abOrtive rebel plot to abduct Gov
ernor Curtin. One of the straws at which
the despairing cOnfederates caught in the
last years of war was the chance for making
terms with the North which the capture of
some prominent Union official might pOssib-
Curtin was at Bedford Springs, in Bedford
county, where he had gone, in order to
watch more closely, the operations of the
Southern troops, then making frequent in
yania. Soon after his arrival at Bedford
Springs he was called upon by man
named Washburn, resident of the place,
who advised him to leave at once. as he
was in danger. The Governor passed it off
with laugh and thought no more about it
until Washburn called upon him few
days later and again urged him to return to
Harrisburg with all possible haste. Pressed
for his reasons, he finally said:
Governor, / have sOn-il-law over in
Maryland, and through him have found
out that body of rebel troops are now on
their way here, under command of Colonel
1mboden, to abduct you. They may come
at aAy time"
A trial of the telegraph wires showed that
they had been cut which served, in meas
ure, to confirm the old mans statement.
Fortunately, Thomas A. Scott, who was in
in Hollidaysburg. finding it impossible to
communicate with the Governor, feared
that he was in trouble, and hurrying to
Bedford Springs on a special train, arrived
there soon after Governor Curtin had re-
ceived definite information of the impend,
ing danger. Upon Colonel ScOtt's special
Governor Curtin and family started North
and were soon out of reach of the rebels.
The journey was made by night, and part
of the way, the headlight on the locomotive
being eXtinguished, Colonel Scott sat on
the cOw-catcher with a lantern, to see that
there were no distractions upon the track
One of many illustrations of the fearless
ness of that remarkable man. Meeting Gov.
Curtin one day after the war, Colonel I'm
bOden said:
Had you been an hour later in leaving
Bedford Springs, you would have been my
prisoner. / would have had you, anyway,
If l hadn't lost my way in the darkness.
Two of my men heard the conversation be-
tween you and Washburn when he told
you was coming. So, you see, you had
pretty close call"
At seventy-one Governor Curtin is still a
well-preserved man. His tall form-he is
over six feet--is slim and erect. His large
and shapely head is covered with thick
mass of silver hair, while broad, high
forehead overtOps aRoman nose in full har-
mony with the square, resolute jaws. Eyes
of dark gray complete q strong and strik-
ing face. AS is often the case with men of
positive character who, when aroused, fight
tiercely and ask for no quarter, Governor
Curtin possesses a noble and generous heart
and one of the kindliest natures. The love
and esteem in which he isheld in his mount
ain home are universal, and the poor know
him as their most constant and generous
friend. RUFUS X. WILSON.
About Decades