Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1903-05-06
CONTINUED from page IL

saloon business in Cincinnati, where he
continued about q year, and then re-
turned to his former homo and set up In
the same business there. One night,
while In his shop, unconscious of dan
ger, an unknown persUc shot him to
death through window, aid, while tho
occurrence was the occasion of much
find out who had fired the fatal shot.
The victim had been such 3 terror and
outlaw that his taking off was not
avenged or much regretted.
The writer had some, but not an inti-
mate acquaintance with Mr.. Vallandig-
ham. He heard him speak at political
meetings and read some of his addresses.
He was o very earnest and forcible
speaker, and an expert in the use of
inyective. Passionate, he was hard
hitter In the oratorical arena, and aimed
to conquer rather than conciliate foe.
Quick at repartee, his retorts were often
like barbed arrows, cutting to the quick,
and leaving ranking wounds behind.
He opposed the civil war, and was an
unsparing critic of Mr.. Lincoln's admin
istration. His theory was that the
seeded States could be restored to their
allegiance by conciliation and compro-
mise, as in former years. Hence, he be-
came mark at which the keenest mis-
siles OF his numerous political foes were
hurled. He was accused of disloyalty
After the battle of fredericksburg, in
which the Union forces were defeated,
Gen. Burnside, who had been in COM
mand, WAS transferred to the West, with
headquarters at Cincinnati. Smarting
under the humiliation of his defeat and
removal from command of the army of
the Potomac, it was said by his critics,
that, in order to recover lost prestige,
he resolved upon intimidating reputed
Southern sympathizers. Vallandigham
had been reported as making disloyal
speeches, and he had him arrested, tried
by court martial, convicted and sentenced
to imprisonment during the continuance
of the war. President Lincoln modified
the sentence by ordering him sent beyond
the Union lines into the Southern Con-
federacy! He came down and soon
passed through, and in short time was
heard from in Canada! The Ohio De-
mocracy in State convention, in the
summer of 1868, nominated him for Gov
ernor. He had large vote, but the
military camp vote at home, and the
army vote in the field, together with the
him in the State, he was defeated by
100000 majority. He soon afterwards
returned to Ohio and was not molested.
though intensely hated by his foes and
as ardently loved by his friends. He
was still in politics and was ambitious
for return to Congress. In 1864 he was
o member Of the National Democratic
Gen. Geo. B. Mcclellan for President
and Geo. Fl. Pendleton for Vice Pres :
dent. He was placed on the Committee
on Platform, and was said to have
written the plank that said, among other
things, that after four years of failure
to restore the Union by the experiment
of war justice, liberty, humanity
ual fa
mediate efforts be made for a cessation of
hOstilities, with a view to convept tion
Of all the States to the end that at
the earliest practicable moment peace
may be restored on the basis of the Fed
eral Union of the States" The result
of the election was that only New Jersey,
Delaware and Kentucky gave majoritics
solid South" in line he would have been
elected. But "the solid South" at that
time was more interested in "bullets"
than "ballots," and thus the Lincoln
administration was continued in power.
In 1857 A. G. Thurman was the Demo-
cratic candidate for Governor of Ohio,
and came within 5000 votes of being
elected. His popularity carried the Leg
islature. and that made him United
States Senator two years later. Mr.
Vallandingham was at the same time an
aspirant for the United States Senate,
but while he had many warm supporters
In the caucus, the desire for harmony
induced him to defer his claims. Once
after this he ran for Congress against
Gen. r. G. Schenck, and was defeated,
the district being at that time heavily
Republican. From that time he resumed
the practice of his profession, in which
he was gradually rising to eminence,
when suddenly, as before noticed, his
professional and natural life both came
to tragic end. At the bar meeting in
Dayton, Vallandingham's home, after
his funeral obsequies, at both of which
the writer was present as a visitor, seve-
raj eulogistic addresses were delivered
by members of the Day ton and Hamilton
bars. Hon. L. d. Campbell, of Hamil-
ton, a former sometimes successful and
sometimes unsuccessful opponent of the
deceased, after describing his eventful
career in fitting terms, closed his eulogy
In the language of Macbeth over the
dead Duncan: He "is in his grave After
life's titful fever, he sleeps WE'LL"