The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-04-16

states and driving the slaves toward
the Gulf. He enlisted the services ol
James Gordon Bennett Of the New
York Herald and William Cullen Bry-
ant of the New York Evening Post IN
his project. He went South at the heau
of the colonists and founded the Town
of Ceredo in Virginia, and large num-
her of emigrants went thither and set
tied in the colony. The town is stlll ID
existence today and has population OF
about 300 people.
At the time he was charged by the
Southerners with coming down into the
South to interfere with slavery, but ne
and his colonists disclaimed any such
purpose, saying that he neither lntenu-
ed to interfere or have any part IN the
slavery movement. He said turthef
| that he could support the negro power
and a steam engine for $40 year, Whlle
| IL was costing the southern slave
| holders $3.50 year. and that at the time
he came into Virginia land was worth
but 50 cents to $3.50 an acre, but that
his free settlement had made 1t worth
| $50 an acre.
man named Jenkins, afterwards a
! rebel officer, appealed to Gov Henry, A
| Wise to exterminate this colony OF apo
! litionists, but the governor said that
: they came into the state in peaceful
way and that anything which tended 10
| increase the wealth should be protected.
| Considerable progress with the coloniz-
alton scheme was made in other states,
| especially in North Carolina, put the
| John Brown raid and the opening OF the
rebellion brought the enterprise to an
| end. After the war Charles b. Hoard,
a member of Congress WIN Mr. Thayer,
came into possession of the property at
| Ceredo. The project caused Mr. Thayer
! a loss of $11S000.
! Mr. Thayer was appointed a special
and confidential agent of the treasury
| department and served as such In 1851
! g. In 1862 he proposed to Secretary
| Stanton a plan for the military coioniz-
alton of Florida, which was approved
bv President Lincoln, all of the mem
bers of the presidents cabinet except
| ing Seward, and by nearly every Re-
publican member of Congress, as well
as by Gems Hunter, Hooker and Gar
field. According to the plan Mr. Thayer
was to go as military governor and Gen
| Garfield as commander of the forces.
/ This plan was under consideration for
several months by the presidents cab
! met and was sustained by great meet
/ ings in New York city and Brooklyn,
\ by such speakers as William Cullen
Il BRYANT and Cassus NJ. Clay and others
of equal note. Capitalists came for
ward with offers of steamships and
j other means and regiments We're OHered
form several Of the states, but, like
other notable plans which were never
\ carried out, this plan was prevented
from being put into operation by ext
Il gencies of the times.
h He remained with the republican par
ty until the impeachment of President
/ johnson. He was a democratic candi-
I date for congress in this district in 1874
4 and also later, in the first instance
J nearly defeating Senator George F.
Hoar, reducing the republican mapority
from 1000 to 300.
Il He was interested in the solution of
the polygamy question in Utah, and in
/ recent years, in connection with such
/ men as Amos A. Lawrence, Edward
J Everett Hale and other members of the
old Emigrant Aid society was con-
/ cerned with plans for the elimination
of the evil by the principle formerly put
/ into force in Kansas. In recent years
he has written much of history illus
trating his life work and the principles
/ which have governed his actions in po-
/ litical and philanthropic work He was
a man who kept fully abreast of the
| times, with a keen interest in current