Connecticut western news., 1897-07-01
CANAAN, CONN. THURSDAY, JULY l. 1s97

! been called, and President Lincoln had summoned troops from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia to re- pei the invasion. The Confederates had crossed the Potomac and several small en- agreements had already occurred. On the 1st of July the two great forces-the flower of the Confederate and the Union armies-met in what was to be one of the | greatest battles of modern warfare The world knows the sanguinary glory of Seminary Ridge, Rock Creek Cemetery Ridge, Little Round Top and Oak Ridge, | and the great deeds of Meade, Reynolds, Hancock, Sickles, Howard, Sedgwick, Lee, Longstreet, Hill, Early and others. For three days the country stood aghast and trembling, but when the Fourth dawned Lee was in full retreat back across the Po- | tomac.
 Nor does Gettysburg stand alone in making July 4, 1868, eminent Vicks- burg comes in for share in the distinc- tion. For many long weary months Grant by land and Porter by water had been besieging the strong city on the banks of the Mississippi. From the latter | part of May the investment was complete. The doomed city was bombarded without intermission day and night, and it is esti- mated that 10, 900 shells were thrown in- to it's streets every day. Capitulation | was only question of days or at the most | of weeks, and on the Fourth the wornout army of brave defenders surrendered, and i the triumph of the Union forces was com | plete. General Halleck in speaking of the tactics that secured this victory, declared that "no more brilliant exploit can be found in military history Together, Vicksburg and Gettysburg have made the l Fourth of July one of the most notable days in the military annals of this country. The Great Portland Fire.
 Portland, Me-, has impressive if not agreeable reason to remember the Fourth of July. It was on the evening of that day in 1866 that the city had a display of | fireworks unequaled before or since. | Nearly one-half of the city was destroyed l by fire. A tract l 15 miles long by one | quarter of mile wide was burned over. | The city and county buildings, churches, | banks, wholesale business blocks and pri- | vate residences were destroyed. Over 50 | buildings were blown up to stop the prog ress of the flames, which, however, were | not under control until the afternoon of | the next day. The loss was $10,0 900, and the insurance only half. that amount. l A quarter of the population of the city | was made homeless. This was the most notable event ever recorded in the history l cago and Boston fires followed few years later it stood as the most disastrous con- | flagration ever known in this country.
 | A National Convention.
 Only once has national convention of a great political party been called to as- semble on the Fourth of July. That sin gle exception was the Democratic conven- | tion of 1868 at New York. The country was in disturbed condition. The war had | left it's legacy of passion and of depression, | that always follows civil discord. Presi- | dent Johnson had become separated from | the Republican party that had elected him as Abraham Lincoln's associate, and the | reconstruction measures, the carpetbag | governments of the south and the use of the United States military in the states lately in the rebellion were the burning | questions of the hour. It was felt that 1 the Democratic party had now fair | chance to return to power, and the Fourth ! of July was selected as a fitting day for | the convention to meet, in order to initiate the campaign with eclat. And on the i same day soldiers and sailors conven- tion was also held in New York and in l dorsed the Democratic nominees in ad- vance. The Democratic convention sat for several days and on the twenty first ballot nominated Horatio Seymour for president l George H. Pendleton, Andrew Johnson, l General W. s. Hancock, Sanford E. ! Church and Thomas A. Hendricks were | prominent candidates, and it Is almost | forgotten political history that Chief Jus tice Salmon F. Chase-although Repub- lican-was seriously considered in connec- tion with the nomination. But when cleo. tion day came Grant defeated Seymour.
 The Amnesty Proclamation.
 July 4, 1868, was even more distin- guished by the famous amnesty proclama- tion issued by President Johnson to those who had been ou the Confederate side dur ing the war. Devoid of it's preamble and whereases this is the historical document: "Now, therefore, be it known that I, An drew Johnson, president of the United States, do by virtue of the constitution and in the name of the people of the United | States hereby proclaim and declare un- conditional and without reserve to all and l to every person who directly or indirectly participated in the late insurrection or re- bellion, excepting such person or persons | as may be under presentment or indict- ment in any court of the United States having competent jurisdiction upon a charge of treason or other felony, full pardon and amnesty for all offense or treason against the United States or of ad- neFlDR to Unelr 6ne1n1eS uurlnR the late ciiyl war, with restoration of all rights of property except as to slaves and except also as to any property of which any per son may have been legally divested under the laws of the United States.
 | Deaths of Ex-Presidents.
 Three ex-presidents of the United States have died on the Fourth of July. Two were signers of the great document that is commemorated on that day and both died on it's semiannual anniversary. Thomas Jefferson, who drafted the Decla ration of Independence, died at Monticello, ! Va. in 1926, at the age of 83. He had lived to see the republic firmly esta blished among the nations of the world and him. self abundantly honored by his country men. On the same day in Quincy, Mass, John Adams, who had been Jefferson 6 associate in the stormy days of the repub. lie, passed away at the age of 91. One of the last acts of his life was to send from his sick bed to the Fourth of July cele- bration of the town of Quincy this toast "I give you independence forever His last words were Jefferson still ives,' but Jefferson had already by a few hours preceded Adams to the land of the here
 after.
 Tive years laSer. in 1881. James Mon.
 roe died in New York city on the Fourth
 of July. He was buried in the marble
 cemetery on Second street, east of the
 Bowery, but in 1858 his remains were re
 moved to his native state, Virginia.
 Chief Justice Marshall, who did more
 perhaps than any other person of his time
 to give psrmanepoe and explanation anG
 ;uoicial determination to the constitution , lay on his deathbed on July 4, 1885. H.
 had served as chief justice for 35 years Those about him thought he would expir on that day, but he fingered until July 6 President Zachary Taylor was smittel with mortal disease on July 4, 1850. H i attended the cornerstone ceremonies of tn