Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1906-03-29

received an order from a general Off.
Ger TO have my camp searched for o
runaway slave and to return him II
found to his master who brought the
order. There was an issue for me.
said to the slave.hunter: You shall
not take this man back to bondage, and
| give you five minutes to get outside
my lines He did not hesitate about
going. | kept the slave at headquar.
tiers that night, and next morning
loaded him with supplies and sent him
rejoicing on his way to freedom" And
that was not the first nor the last
time he took the bull by the horns.
Saved Lives Of Soldiers.
An incident worthy of mention in
his career occurred when his regiment
was stationed at Leavenworth. News
came from independence, Mo-, that
four union soldiers had been captured
by the rebels and were held as spies,
awaiting death. General Thayer de-
termined to save them and accordingly
boarded the boat and went down the
river to independence with his COM
pany. They proceeded at once to the
jail and demanded the release of the
four union soldiers which was given
them. General Thayer took them to
Fort Leavenworth and gave them their
liberty.
After the War;
At the close of the war he returned
to Nebraska and became member of
the first constitutional convention in
1866 He took leading part in secur-
ing the admission of the new state.
and was chosen one of its first senators
in congress. In this high Office he
served four years (1S67-7D, including
the stormy session of Andrew John
sons impeachment and the earlier part
of Grants first term. After leaving
the senate he was appointed by his
old commander to be governor of
wyoming territory and held that Of
flee some four years (1S75-9). In 1886
he was elected governor of Nebraska,
and in 1888 was reelected, and, al
though not candidate at the follow
ing election, he became, in fact, the
first and only third-term governor in
the history of the state. 1t came about
in this WISE James E. Boyd, who car
ried the state in 1890, was not only a
democrat, but a born Irishman. He
had come to Nebraska as a minor with
his father, and neither of them had
ever taken out naturalization papers,
though the son had always been an
-
mayor Of Omaha.
Leaves Governors Chair.
Governor Thayer declined to turn
over the Office to him, and claimed to
be governor de facto and de jure until
a successor should be elected and duly
writ of custer before the state SUI
preme court. and the governors con-
tention was sustained. but. on appeal
to the federal supreme court, that tri-
bunal, by majority of one reversed
the decision and seated Mr.. Boyd
some of the justices claiming that the
enabling act made all residents citizens
of the new state, while Chief Justice
Fuller held that Boyd was de facto a
citizen, inasmuch as he had been vot-
ing and occasionally holding office
ever since the admission of the state
into the union. In accordance with
this decision Governor Thayer turned
the office over to Mr.. Boyd shortly be-
fore the expiration of his unsought
third term. in 1892.
His Domestic Life.
Gen. Thayer was prominently iden-
titled with the Grand Army of the Re-
public and John M. Thayer post is
named in his honor General Thayer
was commander of the state depart
ment of the Grand Army of the Repub-
lie in 1879.
The domestic life of the great Ne
braskan was an exceedingly happy
one. His wife, to whom he was mar
ried in 1S43. died in 1892.
During his long and eventful public
career he always had been a republican
and advocated republican principles.
Since his retirement from public
life he was frequent and welcome
visitor at the state capitol and his
words of wisdom frequently have been
heard in the administrative counsels.
A Spirit of Reconciliation.
LINCOLN-The visit of G. H. Diet
rich of Hastings, ex-senator and ex-
governor, recalls one of the interesting
episodes in the life of the late Cen
eral John M. Thayer. Because of
doubt concerning the citizenship Of
Governor-elect James e. Boyd in 1891,
Governor Thayer refused to turn over
the office until the supreme court
should say whether Boyd had been
properly naturalized or not. The feud
became bitter and when final decision
had been reached and Boyd declared
eligible for the position, the two men
had become the most irreconcilible
enemies. They refused TO speak and
the common courtesies between men
were forgotten.
In 1901, when Governor Dietrich was
living in the governors mansion, he
invited all the living ex-governors to