Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1895-12-20
Allen G. Thurman Passed Awav
After a Useful Career.
WAS M0URNED BY THE NATION
Irres psctive of Party the Great Men
of This Decade Were His.
Admirers.

and useful career of Judge Allen G.
Thurman came to a close this afternoon
at lis o'clock. The end was peaceful in
the extreme. and the soul Of the great
man left its earthly habitation without
a sign of physical distress. At the in
slant of dissolution and for some hours
before Judge Thurman had been lying
in an unconscious condition. He passed
merely from sleep temporal to sleep
eternal, and the change was hardly no.
ticeable. even to the loved ones who
surrounded his bedside.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.
Allen Granbery Thurman was born in
lynchburg. Va, November 10, 1913. His
father was the Rev. Pleasant Thurman
minister of the Methodist church, and
his mother the only daughter Of Colonel
Nathaniel Allen. nephew and adopted son
Of Joseph Hewes, one of the signers of
the Declaration of independence.
His parents move to Chillocothe in 1919,
and he made that place his home until he
settled in Columbus In 1853 where he has
since resided. His education was in the
Chillocothe academy and at the hands of
his mother. At the age of 10 he assisted
in land surveying and at q he was pri-
vate secretary to Governor Lucas. He
studied law with his uncle, Governor Will
liam Allen, afterward was admitted to the
Tar in 1885. and In a few years was en-
rloyed in almost every Irrigated case in
Ross county.
In 1874 he was elected by the democrats
10 congress, and he entered that body on
December ], 1916, as its youngest MEM
ter. Preferring the practice of law, he
declined a denomination to congress and
remained at the bar unit, 1851. when he
Un a1 A6 n Ia hnp In,
| Ohio. From December, 1854, till February,
| 1856. he served as chief Justice, and on the
expiration OF his term he refused re-
nomination. His opinions, contained In
| the first five volumes of the state reports,
| are remarkable for the clear and forcible
| expression of his views and the accuracy
| of his statements of the law.
In 1867 he was the choice of his party
| for governor of Ohio. Rutherford B.
| Hayes, his opponent, was elected by a
| majority of fewer than 5000 votes, though
the republican majority In 1866 was more
| than 1900.
| Mr.. Thurman was then elected to the
| senate to succeed Benjamin +. Wade
| lie took his seat March 4, 1869. and from
| the first was recognized as the leader of
| the democratic minority. He was a men,
| Der of the committee on the judiciary, and
on the accession of his party to power
| in the 10Th congress, he was made its
chairman and was also chosen president
pro tenn of the senate owing to the illness
| Of Vice President Wheeler. In 1874 he was
| elected to the senate for a second term,
| and his IL years of service, ending March
1. 1881, he won reputation for judicial
| fairness and readiness, dignity and power
in debate, especially upon Questions of
| constitutional law. Besides his labor in
the judiciary committee he rendered val
liable service in the committee on pri-
vate land claims He was the author of
the act to compel the Pacific railroad cor
| porations to fulfill their obligations to
the government, since known as the Thur
man act, the passage of which he forced
in spite of the combined influence of these
| companies
His arguments against the constitution
ality of the civil rights bills have since
| been sustained by the United States SUI
preme court in language that is almost
Identical with that of his speeches. Efforts
to secure for the rebellious states the
most favorable reconstruction legislation,
in which he vigorously persisted while
in the senate, led to the charge that he
had disapproved the war for the integrity
of the union. His true position he thus
defined in a letter to friend: II did all
could to help to preserve the union
| without a war, but after 1t began I
| thought there was but one thing to do,
| and that was to fight 1t out. therefore
sustained all the constitutional measures
|
the rebellion. l never believed in the doc
| trine of secession"
Mr.. Thurman retired from the senate
| not alone with the respect of his party
| associates, but also with that of senators
Of opposite political views, one Of whom,
| James G. Blaine, with whom he often
| contended in debate, says In his Twenty
| Years of Congress-" "Mr. Thurman's
| rank in the senate was established from
| the day he took his seat, and was never
lowered during the period of his service
| He was an admirably disciplined debater
was fair in his method of statement, log
| ical In his argument, honest In his con-
illusions. He had no tricks In discussion
no catch phrases to secure attention, hui
was always direct and manly. His
retirement from the senate was a serious
loss to his party-a loss, indeed. to the
whole body"
General Garfield before his election to
the presidency, had been chosen to sue.
coed Mr.. Thurman in the senate; but the
contest had not interrupted friendly rela.
tons of many years standing, and, as q
mark of his regard, the new presiden,
soon after his inauguration associated
Mr. Thurman with william NJ Eyarts
of New York and Timothy O. Howe OF
Wisconsin on the commission to the in
ternational monetary conference to be
held in Paris.
In the democratic national convention
Of 1876 Mr.. Thurman received some votes
as presidential candidate. In 1880 the
first ballot gave him the entire vote OF
the Ohio delegation, with considerable
support from other states. In 1884 he was
delegate at large to the national con-
vention, was again put in nomination for
the presidency, and stood next to Cleve-
land and Bayard on the first ballot. Ir
the convention of 1888 he was nominated
for vice president by reclamation.