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Franklin Repository: June 12, 1867 Go To Page : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

Drifting
(Column 1)

Summary: The editors chastise Horace McGreeley for vacillating on the question of how to deal with the former rebels, particularly Jeff Davis and the leaders of the Confederacy, and caution against leniency in the name of reunification.

[No Title]
(Column 3)

Summary: The article praises Gen. Sheridan for his unflinching antipathy toward the rebels, in spite of the complaints of the "unreconstructed." Proof of his sentiments, the piece notes, is provided by the general's decision to remove several high-profile politicians in Louisiana, including the governor and the mayor of New Orleans, from their offices.

[No Title]
(Column 3)

Summary: The editors urge readers to be honest when furnishing the Assessors with estimates for the losses they suffered during the war.

[No Title]
(Column 3)

Summary: In their letters, Hunt and McClure stress the need for protection from Indian "depredations" on the "western and eastern borders," and advocate a military solution to the current predicament.

Origin of Article: Rocky Mountain News

Editorial Comment: "The true condition of affaris in the Indian country is disclosed in the following dispatches from Gov. Hunt and Mr. McClure ot the Secretary of War, and the instructions isued by the Express Company to its agents. We clip them from the Rocky Mountain News of the 28th:"

Far Off Chats With Old Friends
(Column 4)

Summary: Lamenting the fact that he is 1,000 miles away from where he had expected to be by this time, McClure blames his slow progress on the persistent threat of Indian attacks and the unpredictable weather of the Rocky Mountains, the "'Switzerland of America.'" McClure offers a rather critical assessment of the military commanders, who, charged with protecting the overland route to the west, have allowed the Indians to retain the upper hand. "The history of the settlement of the United States by the whites is but a continuous history of the mastery of the pale faces over the red man," McClure writes, "and yet we have eminent commanders who act as if the history of the world taught nothing relative to Indian wars."

Letters From Jane G. Swisshelm
(Column 5)

Summary: Swisshelm commends A. K. McClure for his pronouncements on the "Indian question," which, she suggests, are "opening the eyes of the American public to monstrous absurdity of our Indian policy." Contending that no nation can have "a foreign power in her midst," Swisshelm insists that, like the slaveholder, the Indians are the "scourges of this nation" and, as a "class," must therefore be "exterminated." It is not necessary to "kill" all of them, she explains, but they must be forced to adopt a western lifestyle.

Full Text of Article:

Correspondence of the Franklin Repository.

NO. XXVIII., PITTSBURG, June 6, 1867.

It is a matter of sincere congratulation, that Col. McClure has gone to the far west, and is carrying his common sense with him. His letters are having extensive influence, in opening the eyes of the American people to the monstrous absurdity of our Indian policy. No nation can afford to have a foreign power in her midst; but the Republic of America has dozens such. Every separate tribe is a separate nation, independent in its action, and owing no obedience to our laws. If one Indian comes upon our territory and commits a murder, our laws in theory, hold him responsible; but if any considerable number combine and commit any number of murders, they are at once recognized as belligerents. Those religious people who are most zealous for the enforcement of the law "Who so sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed," are foremost to denounce as barbarians, all who would apply this law to Indians. No number, or atrocity, of murders can bring the red man under the penalty; and the reason given is that he has been wronged. Is it not generally admitted that a vast majority of all criminals have been wronged, and that their crimes are, more or less, the result of that wrong, but who, on that account, advocates immunity in crime? The Slave was certainly as cruelly wronged as ever has been any great class of the human family, but even the most fanatical Abolitionist never gave this as a reason why he should avenge his wrongs by murdering the innocent; or that if he had attempted to do so, the course of Justice should be suspended on account of his wrongs. The true state of the case is that Slaveholders and Indians have so compelled the respect of the working masses, by their sovereign contempt of labor, that they have been our American aristocracy, and we have regarded them much as the peasantry of England do their Earls and Dukes. They are our privileged classes. A Slaveholder could hiss into the faces of the working men of the North, his contempt. "Would you have us black our own boots, and cut our own firewood, and our wives and daughters work in the kitchen?" He could do this, and afterwards command their votes by the hundreds of thousands. An Indian can shoot white men to express his contempt for their meanness in hoeing corn, and white laboring men unite in the cry of "Poor Indian" to shelter him from the punishment of his crime. We have been so impressed with the magnificence of
"The master who waves
His whip of dominion o'er hundreds of Slaves,"
and the wild independence of our poker-playing-lazy Indian, that we forget the meanness of stealing the wages of the poor; and the filth and crawling creatures which infest the persons of one class of our aristocrats. Honest industry has bowed before the savagery and crime of idleness and pride. The Slaveholder and the Indian have been pampered and pitied, and made the scourges of this nation.

To remedy this evil these classes, as classes, must be exterminated. It is not necessary to kill all the people; but we are rapidly exterminating Slaveholders, by taking away their power to live without labor, and we must do as much for the Indian. We must take away his treaty right to commit murder; Stop the whole treaty business, treat them as subjects of our Government, amenable to its laws, and entitled to its protection, give each head of a family an inalienable fee simple title to 160 acres of land, whenever he chooses to select it, compel him to work on public roads and other necessary improvements, tax him, and make him work out his taxes. When he works protect him in holding the proceeds of his industry; make him send his children to school; if he steals imprison him; if he commits murder, hang him; if he loafs, let him starve. Why should white men toil and pay taxes to feed Indians, and support them in their haughty contempt of labor? Why should our now enormous taxes be swelled by millions, spent in mischievous military parades, called expeditions against Indians. Indians regard these expeditions with even more contempt than Lee did M'Lellan's Washington dress parades. They go around our military like a hawk around a barnyard hen, and fighting them by the rules of civilized warfare is simply a contrivance for furnishing salaries and fat contracts to officers and contractors. It is impossible they should do anything effectual in preventing Indian outrages. JANE G. SWISSHELM.

Harrisburg
(Column 5)

Summary: From the state capital, "Horace" reports on the "first fruits of the reform movement," which are "now ripening into results worthy of special mention." Influenced by a series of county conventions held during the past week in the western section of the state, the movement to "purify" the Republican party is now growing.

Trailer: Horace

Judge Williams
(Column 7)

Summary: The letter endorses Judge Williams as the nominee for the Republicans in the upcoming contest for state supreme court.

Local Items--Distressing Case
(Column 1)

Summary: Relates that a young woman from Mercersburg named Mullenix has suffered a series of "violent" seizures over the past few days.
(Names in announcement: Mullenix)

Origin of Article: Mercersburg Journal

Local Items--Nickel Cents Called In
(Column 1)

Summary: In an attempt to reduce the quantity of cents in circulation, says the article, the Secretary of the Treasury has issued a communique directing those individuals in possession of nickels to send them to the Treasury Department so that they may be reimbursed with the appropriate sum.

Local Items--Call Accepted
(Column 1)

Summary: Rev. John R. Warner, formerly pastor of the United Presbyterian Church of Chambersburg, has accepted the call to lead the Presbyterian Church at Kirkwood, near St. Louis, Missouri. He expects to take charge of the congregation in July.
(Names in announcement: Rev. John R. Warner)

Local Items--Fireman's Elections
(Column 2)

Summary: Officers were selected at the respective meetings of the Hope Fire Company and Friendship companies.
(Names in announcement: James Aughinbaugh, George W. Smith, Solomon Barnes, J. Frank Snider, A. C. McGrath, Frank Gilmore, Fred Householder, Alex Flack, Henry Clipper, Theodore Stratton, Philip Beach, James Long, Peter Rossman, Samuel Stratton, Godfrey Greenawalt, Peter Goetman, Charles Wright, George Nitterhouse, John Elser, Peter Helfrick, J. Newton Shilito, John L. Black, William Tolbert, Adam Kissecker, Philip Loudenslager, George Heart, William Evans, William Smith, J.W. Michaels, Henry Ludwig, George Hoffman, George Shireman, William Seibert, W. Hock, John L. Black, George Remp, William Smith, John Garwick, John Lutz, J. N. Shilito, W. F. Smith, C. Henneberger, Adam Smith, D. L. Hoffman, Peter Myers, C. Henneberger)

Local Items--Drowned
(Column 2)

Summary: Peter McGaffigan, "an old citizen" of Chambersburg," drowned last week after he fell off the bridge near the Presbyterian church. His body was found in the Falling Spring, behind William Reed's garden. When last seen, McGaffigan was "under the influence of liquor."
(Names in announcement: Peter McGaffigan, William Reed)

Local Items--Southern Relief
(Column 2)

Summary: At the last meeting of the Southern Relief Committee, held on the June 5th, John B. McLanahan was elected President and C. M. Duncan, Secretary of the organization.
(Names in announcement: C. M. Duncan, John B. McLanahan)

Local Items--The Caledonia Railroad
(Column 2)

Summary: When the Commissioners of the Caledonia Railroad Company met at the Caledonia Iron Works several weeks ago, they selected officers for the organization. The company's charter calls for the construction of a road to connect New Cumberland, Cumberland county, through the upper end of York county, to the Caledonia Iron Work, which is located in Franklin county.
(Names in announcement: Levi Kauffman, Daniel Ahl, Gen. J. W. Fisher)

Local Items--Death of N. Buckmaster, Esq.
(Column 2)

Summary: The piece sadly notes the passing of N. Buckmaster, a former resident of Chambersburg, who lived his last years in Allegheny where he served as an alderman and was a member of the local bar.
(Names in announcement: N. Buckmaster)

Local Items--Gone to Virginia
(Column 2)

Summary: Reports that F. M. Kimmell, W. S. Stenger, C. M. Duncan, and B. Y. Hummelbaugh departed Chambersburg last Monday "on a pleasure trip" through the Shenandoah Valley, to Staunton, Va.
(Names in announcement: F. M. Kimmell, W. S. Stenger, C. M. Duncan, B. Y. Hummelbaugh)

Local Items--Appointment
(Column 2)

Summary: The Town Council appointed John Dittman as the Wood Inspector for the South Ward, informs the article.
(Names in announcement: John Dittman)

Local Items--Pastor Called
(Column 2)

Summary: The Lutheran Congregation of Newville has decided unanimously in favor of hiring Rev. Harvey W. McKnight, formerly of Chambersburg.
(Names in announcement: Rev. Harvey W. McKnight)

Married
(Column 3)

Summary: On June 5th, Henry Harrison Hopkins, of Maryland, and Annie C., eldest daughter of Dr. J. C. Richards, were married by Rev. J. A. Crawford.
(Names in announcement: Henry Harrison Hopkins, Annie C. Richards, Dr. J. C. Richards, Rev. J. A. Crawford)

Married
(Column 3)

Summary: On June 4th, Charles T. Welsh and Mollie E. Morton were married by Rev. J. Dickson.
(Names in announcement: Charles T. Welsh, Mollie E. Morton, Rev. J. Dickson)

Died
(Column 3)

Summary: On May 25th, Thomas P. Graham, 27, died at the residence of his father-in-law in Berkley county, W. Virginia.
(Names in announcement: Thomas P. Graham)

Died
(Column 3)

Summary: On June 5th, Sarah, relict of the late Jacob Heart, died in Chambersburg. She was 76 years old.
(Names in announcement: Sarah Heart, Jacob Heart)

Died
(Column 3)

Summary: On May 6th, Elizabeth Dickey, wife of James Dickey, dec'd, died near Mercersburg. She was 68 years old.
(Names in announcement: Elizabeth Dickey, James Dickey)