The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1929-06-14
BY ELMO SCOTT WATSON

BY ELMO SCOTT WATSON
rr~|l HE Republican party, Familiarity known
! !. ! ] !.
1lb-AlI as the g. o. p. (becalse its adherents
III III pointing with PRIDE to ITS acnieve
IL ments, among them Fhe Iact tnal AZ
III eighteen Presidential elections since It
| was founded ii has been victorious
IL 81 thirteen times, call II the Grand Old
Party"), celebrated It's seventyn1tn
Id birthday this month. And tnereDy
hangs "a tale Of tWoIcities' or rather
the tale of the rivalry of two cites Tor the nonor
of being known as the birthplace OF the Kepup-
lican party" The two cities are Rlpon' WIS. ana
Jackson, Mich.
In support of its claim residents OF Ripon VIII
take you to little white schoopouse ana sno"
you the tablet beside the door Oh which you may
read, "In this schoolhouse Marcn ~, 1904 was
held the first mass meeting in, tpis country tnat
definitely and positively cut loose from old parues
and advocated a new party under yhe, name Kepub-
lican." In celebration of that 4veht there was
held on the campus of Rpon cpilege, centering
about that historic schOolhOuses recently, pag
cant depicting the growth Of the. kepuDncan par
ty and celebration of the liamORd jubilee OF the
party. The principal speakers atItnis event were
James w. Good, secretary Of war In PRESIDENT
flowers cabinet. and Walter III Kohler, Repub
lican governor of Wisconsin.
Residents of Jackson, Mich, insupport OF their
claim to the honor, will take you TO group OF OAKS
standing at Second and Franklin streets and tell
you that here the Republican patty was born on
July 6, 1854, when the name RepuDhcan was
adopted by convention Of state delegates Wheth-
er the Republican party was born on March ~ or
July G, 1854, and whether its BIRTH lace was Rpon,
Wis, or Jackson, Mich, is relatively unimportant,
compared to the event itself, the Heal era IN our
history during which it took place and the slgnt-
cant aftermath of that event.
The Republican party was bornlat time when
the dispute over slavery was at its neignt at grew
out of the growing opposition to slavery as an IN
stitution especially in the states Wnlch mad oeen
formed from the old Northwest frrltory. In ac-
cordance with the famous ordinPce OF 1857 the
Northwest territory to have M slavery WITHIN
Its boundaries after the year 1901 Inc ordinance
gave to the owners of fugitive slaHes the right TO
recover them even after the runawRys mad escaped
beyond the Ohio but as a matter OF fact the
'.undergrounds railroads. which Aded escaping
slaves to their freedom were ad throughout
this territory. The northerua part territory
. was once known as Michigan a. DuQed the
%present states of Michigan, Wisconsin, MlHQesota
and part of Dakota Wisconsin became state
in 1S4S and from its beginning as commonwealth
was dominated by ardent foes Of slavery.
Two years after Wisconsin became state there
came to the town Of Ripon from New York man
who was to give Ripon its ella to the title or
birthplace of the Republican arty." He was
Alvan Earle Bovay, born in Jefferson county, New
York, July II, 1918, and a lawyef by profession.
Bovay soon became leading citizen in the little
hamlet of Ripon and his best friefh was Jedediah
Bowen, the principal merchant Of the place. There
were only about a hundred voters in Ripon at the
time but they had wide choice II parties Tor 1t
was at time in American histari when the lines
which separated the traditiQ and Demo-
Gratis were breaking dow 1uZs1Ge
constantly being form
Bovay himself was asWnIg
ardent one He was not SO pa
that he recognized his party was
at any time from the discordant
The dispute over slavery was beco ee
all the time. The great leaders night
some way of reconciling the diHt Seen
the North and the South over the aston
were in their graves and the thr I1isunion
and possible civil war was alrea4 ~iooming over
the horizon. II seems that in 1852 Bovay suggested
that strong antisavery party b formed to be
called the Republican party. He hpached the sub
ject while on a visit to New 70 ty to Horace
Greeley. the famous editor of i York Trib-
une. But nothing came of tha ion at that
time.
Two years later matters Sis when
on January %, the famoq SKA Dill
was introduced into coz Me-
DrasKa were 10 Dee
power TO do as they b espite
the fact that the Missouri $40 had
forbidden slaves in any sta es north