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Franklin Repository: 11 06, 1867 Go To Page : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

Democracy and Mr. Stevens
(Column 1)

Summary: The editors rebuke their Democratic counterparts for lowering the threshold of acceptable journalism by publishing venomous diatribes against Thad Stevens.

Full Text of Article:

Ill temper in a disputant is evidence of weakness. Whether the cause be bad or the advocate poorly prepared to defend it, want of success is apt to inspire malice and prompt abuse. Accordingly, the present course of Democratic journals, the columns of which teem, North and South, with frantic exclamations and the coarsest invective, must be regarded as the natural result of the circumstances in which their editors find themselves placed. For, we take it, difficulties similar to and equal to theirs have seldom afflicted any class of men. Committed to a cause so inherently weak--so absolutely indefensible on grounds of reason or humanity--conscious to a degree men seldom attain of their want of means and ability to even cover its defects from eyes sharpened by common sense, oppressed by a weight of odium justly incurred for their betrayal of human rights in the interest of a clique, and weighed down by a long, uniform, course of disasters, their perplexities drive them to the employment of the weapons of malignity and despair.

Once before, perhaps, in our brief history as a people has the indecency of our opposition prints been rivaled. After the memorable contest waged and won on the floor of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, by neither party, and after the opening of the first administration under the Constitution, when the workings of the government were plainly seen to be in the direction of the party of stability and order, it speedily became the habit of the Red Republicans of that day to load their columns with the bitterest maledictions and the vilest calumniations of the characters, private and public, of their opponents, and the most odious misrepresentations of their actions. The name of Freneau has descended to our times as that of the most malevolent and foul of those detractors. Though impotently, the scoundrel, persistently, sought to stab the character of Washington. His spirit has been revived and animates the body of more than one of his lineal party descendants. For, if we scan the so-called principles of the Democratic party, to day, it is easy to identify them as in soul the same as those of the men who vexed the beginnings of our constitutional course, after having nearly made impossible any harmonious union at all. The Democrats of to-day are the Red Republicans--the transplanted sans-culottes of the eighteenth century, animated by their impatience of restraint and their contempt for whatever is stable and enduring. How bitterly they resisted the turnings of the colonies towards a union which would make harvestable the fruits of the Revolution; how zealously they strove, when settling the foundations of government, to restrict it from enclosing all of privilege within its limits; how successfully, operating through colonial jealousies, natural dread of monarchical oppression, and vested interests, did they emasculate the powers of government and providently protect class interests and privileges!

We are not of the number of those who are profoundly penetrated with a sense of the general or average superiority of our ancestors over ourselves, in the matter even of statesmanship and sacrificing devotion to an idea. In the light of the flames of our own civil war, whose illumination serves as well to relume [unclear] the periods of past struggles, as to bring into relief and comparison the figures of old time and present leaders, we can, and do, judge intelligent, and possibly severely, of integrity, capacity, dignity and purity. We assert, consequently, that our so much lauded ancestors were very much as we--capable of rising, under the spur of an imminent necessity to the height of the sublimest self-abnegation, as to many of their number, for a brief period and in the matter of a particular and cherished interest, but capable of furnishing, and actually furnishing, side by side with their types of nobility and single-heartedness the representatives, zealous and fierce, of the basest and meanest, or the weakest and most pusillanimous, of half-hearted cowards and traitors. And of all they exhibited for the delight or the reproach of humanity, we can, and do, under similar circumstances, furnish counterparts. the rebel may well match the Tory and surpass him in infamy, as the Copperhead rivals and outshames the cowboy. But we may also proudly place the loyalist of Tennessee as a companion patriot to the barefooted soldier of Trenton of Entaw [unclear] Springs. Such as men were in '76, good and bad, such are they with whom we deal in this generation--no better, perhaps no worse.

Accepting this judgment while it, upon the whole, will repress any undue complacency with which we may be filled, who have toiled and suffered for a great cud, and have now the happiness of beholding it partly accomplished and with reach of consummation, it will serve to moderate our surprise that party rancor should assume even its present vindictive phase. Yet, it is true, that the Democratic sheets of yesterday and last week are only to be approached in transcendent dirtiness by those the same Editors will issue to-morrow, and from Brick Pomeroy down, by steps of varying height, to the Editor of the Age and the Memphis Avalanche, it will go hard with even the man who vilified the Father of his country "as a pickpocket," but that they will win the palm of vituperation. Even our country sheets, uttered for the information and guidance of a rural and placid people catch the evil inspiration. Our neighbor of the Spirit takes to calling names with the earnestness and vigor of a drab. It opens a studied leader with a wanton characterizing of Pennsylvania's most cherished statesman as a "villain," and ascribes to him, in the compass of an article, every attribute, which, in a free country, unfits a man to be either the peer of the representative of his fellows. Why does it do this? Its ill temper is certainly due to either the repugnance, which, in its virtuous rage at wrong doing, it feels towards Mr. Stevens' actions, or it springs from its consciousness of the party's past misfortunes being attributable to the badness of their cause or their own want of ability to support and defend it.

Who, that knows the history of the Democratic party, will, even in charity, deems its anger to arise from outraged public virtue? The party which, for forty years, debased itself at the feet of an ebony god and joyfully obeyed biddings of its priesthood for the sake of a share of the offerings at its shrine, as those calculating priests might deign to bestow them, and who did this not only without the pretence that their fathers were idolaters and they knew no better, but with blatant professions of their hatred of any idolatry, can have no claim to manliness or sincerity. Since 1820, when Missouri opened to slavery and Whitney invented the cotton-gin, the Democracy have been the willing slaves of slavery. Thrift followed their fawning. For its aid they sold their manhood; in its behalf they surrendered their truth; and when they vent their spleen on hostile pens and thinkers, the motive must be sought for in chagrin occasioned by other reasons than excited virtue. It is noticeable, in nature, that bane and antidote usually grow in the same forest, that the victim of the one may find relief in the other, and it happens that as ink and type give forth to the world the venom of the disappointed and hence slanderous politicians, that the alembic of thought distills the stimulus of truth which will counteract it. Hence the timeous [unclear] publication of the calm reflections of the sage of Lancaster. They set at rest the minds disturbed by the Spirit's loud outcry of "villain." Few will believe, after they read and ponder over the old man's faithful portraiture of things as they were, of things as they are, and as they may and must be, and who feel, as they read, that the imagination, which guided the pencil in these depictings, is that of genius inspired by the love of humanity, that the artist is obnoxious to censure of his work to condemnation. He sees, with, the breadth of vision which an election-jobbing politician's eyes cannot compass, how that again, as to our founders, it is given to us and under better auspices to widen and extend the foundations of constitutional liberty; how it is possible, profiting by the experience of peace and the blunders and dangers of war, to rectify the mistakes and make up the shortcomings of our ancestors. We are rid of the great evil of our life freed from the only incubus which disturbed our repose Unhampered by any restrictions it haply our perverseness we do not create them we are freer to build than our fathers of '87, freer to act than in the good times of Monroe. And why shall we not? Why shall not the lessons of ninety years--the lessons of an ideal mutilated by interest and passion; of growing greed and extortion fostered by opportunity and natural depravity; of perverted policy crippling or stifling the general weal in behalf of a sectional institution; of rapidly rising danger to the general freedom from the debauching of a partial wrong; of a horrid, baleful, war spitefully waged to turn back the advancing power of truth, of a bitter, vengeful, resolve to undo the work which sacrifice alone was able to achieve why shall not these lessons be incorporated in sculptured stone in the temple of freedom which, as architects, we are constrained to alter and improve? There seems to be no reason save the opposition of them who occupying it hitherto only to defile and desecrate it, clamor for the retention of the gloomy crypts in which, save from observation, they practised their juggleries, rehearsed their ceremonies and perpetrated their crimes. The Constitution of the past is inadequate to the necessities of the present, and we must either amend it at the suggestions of prudence or at the biddings of a future necessity. Democrats may rave, but new articles must grow as columns to the temple. Let them, indeed, be added with care and with understanding, but, where wisdom points, let them be added. The result will vindicate the skill of the framers. If well done, if incorporated in accordance with the law of the work, with the grand conception of its original framers and the plan of our Michael Angelo, the restorer, we will have, as our boast, a temple whose dome will be co-extensive with the land, whose pillars will last while time endures, and, blessing with a pure worship the nation which assembles in its courts, will dwarf into littleness and shame into silence the bigots or zealots who resisted its completion and maligned its builders.

Italy Reconstructed
(Column 2)

Summary: The article recounts recent events in Italy, where Garibaldi and his "'party of action'" are close to defeating the Pope's forces and establishing control over the peninsula, and welcomes the changes as a step "in the right direction."

The Golden Age
(Column 3)

Summary: The editors decry the tendency to romanticize the past and disparage the present; no period of time, they contend, "has produced fruit more golden than that in which we live."

Full Text of Article:

There is a tendency in these of the "living present" to look back with fond regret to the "good old times." The early Romans mourned the prosperous reign of Anens Martius [unclear], and wished that they might see their like again; a century later they panegyrized the classic age of Augustus. Frenchmen love to remember the gallantry and popular sympathies which characterized the age of their Fourth Henry, and Englishmen sing of the days of "good Queen Bess." Old men talk of the better times in their youthful days, and moral essays are written upon the growing depravity of these latter days. How stands the matter? Does the age of gold belong to the dead past, the present, or shall we expect it in the time to come? What period of time has produced fruit more golden than that in which we live? In the arts and sciences we have made rapid strides; true religion and morality are not less generally practised, and political liberty has greatly progressed. Six years ago many millions of human beings that are now free suffered in bondage. Four millions in the United States; nine or ten millions of serfs in Russia, and millions of slaves in Brazil are clothed with many in the United States with all the rights belonging to citizenship. This itself gives the period a golden tinge that no former age has equalled. But this is not all, for this was but the result of a purer religion and a better public sentiment.

Killing Negroes For Fun
(Column 6)

Summary: The article recounts the details surrounding the murder of a black man named Jake Thompson, who was killed by a white man named Poindexter, for no other reason than his race. In the past, Poindexter had apparently articulated his desire to kill all the blacks he could, and had acted on this sentiment several months prior, though his actions had not resulted in any type of serious investigation by the authorities.

Origin of Article: Memphis Post

Editorial Comment: "The Memphis Post chronicles the doings of a scoundrel in Tipton county, Tenn., named Poindexter, who has been amusing himself by killing negroes whenever he had a chance, without any other motive than a desire to murder black men. His last crime is thus described:"

A Woman Marries A Woman
(Column 7)

Summary: The piece reports on the marriage of two women in Syracuse, one of whom is a cross-dresser who, after arriving from England, apparently drew the interest of several local young women. Three weeks after the marriage ceremony was performed, the subterfuge was discovered by the bride's father and the English woman arrested. Despite that the "bride still clings to her woman husband, and claims that the arrest is a conspiracy against them."

Reconstruction of the South
(Column 8)

Summary: As a result of the outcome of the late elections in the South, says the article, constitutional conventions will be held across the region and the overwhelming majority of the delegates will be "advocates of the Congressional plan of reconstruction."

Full Text of Article:

One result of the elections at the South is clear. Conventions will be held in most or all of the States, and an overwhelming majority of the delegates thereto will be advocates of the Congressional plan of reconstruction. This is the great lesson of the hour. Local politics at the North, party machinations, impeachment, agrarianism, gains here and loses there--all petty partisan phenomena are but the surface ripples, at best the chopwaves, on the political sea, while the great ground-swell is to be found in that steady and resistless flood-tide of public sentiment at the South which flows on to reconstruction.

We at the North have been liable to forget, of late, that the political squabbles, which are as common to the most stagnant peace times as to revolutionary epochs in history like that of to-day, can have little to do with the fate of the South. Northern State elections, though much in every way to us, are of very little import or interest to the South. When the Jackson Clarion tells us that only half a dozen out of the sixty-one delegates to the Anti-Congressional Convention so imposingly advertised for weeks in every county, and this after the "Conservative triumphs" at the North, we may divine that the South does not propose to reject the Congressional plan. Question of impeachment, of repudiation, of prohibitory liquor codes, of protective tariffs, of revenue, of Alabama claims--of whatever else it likes, can be discussed by the North with furious fervor; but to the South, the first and sole question is that of reconstruction. What, therefore, the Clarion says of Mississippi is probably true of the people of South in general--that "the attempt to organize a party in opposition to reconstruction meets no response whatever in their hearts, and is emphatically a failure."

Local Items--Court Proceedings
(Column 1)

Summary: The article reports on the cases adjudicated last week in Court. The session was presided over by Judge King and Associates Paxton and King. Quarter Sessions: Com. vs. Frank Jones--Assault and Battery, on oath of John Ferry. A true bill. Defendant pleaded not guilty, verdict guilty of assault. Sentenced to pay a fine of $5 and cost of prosecution. Com. vs. John McGeehen--Assault and Battery, on oath of Jane L. Booth. A true bill. Defendant pleaded not guilty, verdict guilty. Sentenced to pay a fine of one cent and costs of prosecution. Com. vs. Joseph Wallach--Surety of the Peace, on oath of Jacob Heisy. The court after hearing the case dismissed it, each party paying half the costs. Com. vs. John Powell--Assault on oath of Simon Talhelm. Not a true bill and prosecutor to pay costs. Com. vs. Obed Gsell--Assault and Battery on oath of Elizabeth Thompson. Not a true bill and prosecutor to pay costs. Com. vs. Jacob Diehl--Malicious Mischief, on oath of C. Plasterer. Defendant pleaded guilty, whereupon the court sentenced him to pay a fine of one cent, costs of prosecution, and be imprisoned in county jail one month. Com. vs. Margaret Bricker. Assault and Battery. Catherine E. McKee, Prosecutrix. A true bill. Defendant pleaded not guilty. Verdict not guilty--costs equally divided between Prosecutrix and Defendant. Com. vs. Susan Spidle--Larceny, on oath of Elizabeth Lesher. A true bill. Defendant pleaded guilty whereupon the court sentenced her to pay a fine of one cent, costs of prosecution, and be imprisoned in county jail two months. Com. vs. Theodore Myers--Desertion of his wife, on oath of Mary Myers. Upon hearing the case, the court directed the defendant to pay the prosecutor the sum of $5 per month, and be committed to jail until he comply with the order, or give security for compliance therewith. Com. vs. Mary Hays and Bettie Johnson--Disturbing meeting of Sumner League, on oath Moses Taylor. Defendants pleaded guilty, and sentenced to pay fine of one cent and costs of prosecution. Com. vs. Leonard Cauffman and Isaiah Cauffman--Assault and Battery, on oath of J. R. Smith. Not a true bill and prosecutor to pay costs. Com. vs. Branton Williams--Assault and Battery, on oath of Obed Gsell. Not a true bill and prosecutor to pay costs. Com. vs. Dr. John E. McKee. Assault and battery. A true bill. Defendant pleaded not guilty. Verdict guilty. Sentenced to pay a fine of five dollars and costs of prosecution. Com. vs. Mary Hays--Charge assault and battery, on oath of Bettie Johnson. Defendants pleaded guilty and were sentenced to pay costs. Common Pleas: Ann C. Funk and James Hovis vs. David Miller and William F. Horner. Summons in trespass. Defendants confessed judgment for $30 and costs. James Shipp vs. Jacob Hisey. Appeal from judgment for John Kauffman, Esq., Justice of the Peace. Defendant confessed judgment for $20 and costs. Jesse Kean, Administrator of James W. Palmer, dec'd, vs. Daniel Palmer. This was an action to recover $475, which Plaintiff alleged that the Defendant had received from the Bounty Fund Committee, of Southampton township, as the local bounty of Plaintiff's intestate, James W. Palmer--The Defendant admitted the receipt of the money but pleaded payment. Verdict for Defendant. Daniel Hawbecker, Administrator of Noah Myers, dec'd, vs. Frederick Foreman. This was an appeal by Defendant from the judgment of justice John A. Hyssong--The claim of Plaintiff was for $98.68 for hogs sold to Defendant at the sale of the property of Noah Myers, dec'd. The defendant claimed to have paid the claim in full. Verdict for the Plaintiff for $98.68. James Shipp vs. Jacob Hisey. Appeal from judgment for John Kauffman, Esq., Justice of the Peace. Defendant confessed judgment for $20 and costs. Sarah Mayhew vs. Ephraim S. Shank. Summons case in assumpsit. This was an action brought by the Plaintiff, Sarah Mayhew, for money claimed to be due her for services tendered the Defendant in the capacity of a servant. Verdict for the Plaintiff for $54.87. Licenses: Licenses for restaurants were granted to Catharine Herrenlahen, George Rodgers, and Godfrey Greenawalt, Chambersburg, and Melchior Spielman, Waynesboro: for ale houses to Michael Miller, Chambersburg, and George Fourthman, Waynesboro: for wine store to Dr. H. Langhorn, Chambersburg. Licenses for restaurants were refused to Maria Morton, Greencastle, and James Snider, Mercersburg. The applicant of David Harper, for a restaurant in Greencastle, was withdrawn.
(Names in announcement: Mary Hays, Bettie Johnson, Margaret Bricker, Catharine E. McKee, Dr. John E. McKee, Joseph Wallach, John Powell, Obed Gsell, Leonard Cauffman, Isaiah Cauffman, Sarah Mayhew, Ephraim Shank, Daniel Hawbecker, Noah Myers, Frederick Foreman, Justice John A. Hyssong, Jesse Kean, James W. Palmer, Daniel Palmer, Ann C. Funk, James Hovis, David Miller, William F. Horner, James Skipp, Jacob Hisey, John Ferry, John McGeehen, Jane L. Booth, Jacob Heisy, John Powell, Simon Talhelm, Obed Gsell, Elizabeth Thompson, Jacob Deihl, C. Plasterer, Catharine Herrenlahen, George Rodgers, Godfrey Greenawalt, Melchior Spielman, Michael Miller, George Fourthman, Dr. H. Langhorn, Maria Morten, Jamesx Snider, David Harper)

Local Items--Franklin Lyceum
(Column 2)

Summary: Announces that a literary organization named the Franklin Lyceum was recently established in Montgomery township. Since its founding, the Lyceum has hosted debates on two topics: the utility of capital punishment and a discussion on whether a republic is the best form of government.
(Names in announcement: E. Lamborn, Dr. Oelig, Jacob Young, S. Foreman, Mary Irwin, Mrs. E. Lamborn, Fanny Miller, H. Gsell, John Brown, Fred Foreman, William Adams, J. C. Miller, Abraham Foreman, J. W. Witherspoon)

Local Items--Improvements
(Column 2)

Summary: The article notes the various internal improvements undertaken by local residents lately. Apparently, Chambersburg is experiencing a building revival.
(Names in announcement: George K. Harper, George Eyster, William H. McDowell, Jacob Hoke, William Wanamaker, William Fulmer, A. H. McCulloh, Thomas Early, Walter Beatty, William Guthrie)

Local Items--Centenary Celebration
(Column 2)

Summary: Relates that the Presbyterian congregation of Upper Path Valley will celebrate their centenary in Spring Run on November 19th and 20th.

Local Items--Promoted
(Column 2)

Summary: Notes that Lieut. A. McLeod, of Franklin county, was promoted to First Lieutenancy in the Regular Army, and assigned to the 38th Infantry Regiment.
(Names in announcement: Lieut. A. McLeod)

Local Items--Arrested
(Column 3)

Summary: The piece informs readers that Chief Houser has returned from Illinois with his prisoner, William Ackerman. Ackerman, a young man from Chambersburg, is wanted for "obtaining money under false pretence." Ackerman was arrested a year ago, but escaped from prison and managed to elude detection until recently when Chief Houser received information that the escapee was living in Illinois, and immediately took steps to return him to Franklin county.
(Names in announcement: Chief Houser, William Ackerman)

Local Items--Supreme Court
(Column 3)

Summary: The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has rendered decisions in four cases from Franklin county: the case of Dixon et al. vs. Gilian et al. was affirmed at Applicants' costs; Best vs. Hammond was reversed and venerie de noxo awarded; Gillen's Administration vs. Gillen et al was affirmed; Guilford township School District vs. Zumbro was reversed and judgement for defendants below on case stated.

Local Items--I. O. G. T.
(Column 3)

Summary: Officers were selected to represent the McMurray Lodge, No. 119, I. O. G. T., in a meeting held last Monday.
(Names in announcement: Wilber Eyter, John M. Gilmore, Maggie P. McCulloh, H. S. Gilber, W. E. Tolbert, Edward C. Eyster, W. S. Roney, Frank Keagy, Thomas M. Mahon, Kate McKroy, Miss R. A. Sloan, Louisa Gillespie, John Ferry, Harry Hoke, Lizzie Gilmore, Cordelia Forbes, William Wanamaker, D. B. Kirby)

Local Items--Hoops Again
(Column 3)

Summary: The article disparages the return of the hoop skirt, which is once again in vogue in Paris. "That inexorable Fashion should compel our women to be street sweepers is a deplorable plague of social tyranny, but there is no escape from what the French call le despotisme de la mode," the piece relates. "The time will come, we hope, when our ladies will not go to the French Court but to common sense for their styles."

Local Items--Counterfeits Afloat
(Column 3)

Summary: Reports that counterfeits of "the fifty dollar Compound Interest Notes, issued under the act of February 1862," have appeared for a second time. The counterfeits are such a "good imitation of the genuine" that some have been redeemed unknowingly by the Treasury Department.

Local Items--Admitted to Practice
(Column 3)

Summary: Joseph McClure was admitted to practice law in the county's courts last Friday.
(Names in announcement: Joseph McClure)

Local Items--Sorghum Factory
(Column 3)

Summary: Reports that Samuel Zook's Sorghum Factory, located near Orrstown, burned down in a fire on October 25th. The fire destroyed "a large quantity of cane" stored in the mill as well. The blaze was touched off by a spark that fell from the chimney onto a pile of crushed sorghum.
(Names in announcement: Samuel Zook)

Local Items--Street Extension
(Column 3)

Summary: Announces that the Town Council has approved an ordinance extending King Street from the Franklin Railroad to a new street to be opened running north from Market St.

Local Items--Sworn In
(Column 3)

Summary: William Shenafield assumed his place as a member of the board last week. Elected Commissioner in the late election, Shenafield replaces John Armstrong, who is retiring.
(Names in announcement: Wiliam Shenafield, John Armstrong)

Married
(Column 3)

Summary: On Oct. 22nd, William D. Holtzworth and Evaline, eldest daughter of John Lindsay, were married by Rev. W. Howe.
(Names in announcement: William D. Holtzworth, Evaline Lindsay, John Lindsay, Rev. W. Howe)

Married
(Column 3)

Summary: On Oct. 31st, Martin V. West and Sophia Yost were married by Rev. G. Roth.
(Names in announcement: Martin V. West, Sophia Yost, Rev. G. Roth)

Married
(Column 3)

Summary: On Oct. 30th, Wilmer Moulder and Clarinda A. Harrison were married by Rev. William A. West.
(Names in announcement: Wilmer Moulder, Clarinda Harrison, Rev. William A. West)

Married
(Column 3)

Summary: On Oct. 24th, F. L. Zollinger, of Strasburg, and Sarah P. Rigner were married by Rev. J. Keller Miller.
(Names in announcement: F. L. Zollinger, Sarah P. Rigner, Rev. J. Keller Miller)

Died
(Column 3)

Summary: On Sept. 26th, Martha, 11, died; on Oct. 4th, Walker, 5, died; on Oct. 25th, Sarah, 21, died; and on Nov. 1st, Daniel, 18, died: The children, belonging to Elias and Mary Fraker, died of diphtheria.
(Names in announcement: Martha Fraker, Walker Fraker, Sarah Fraker, Elias Fraker, Daniel Fraker, Mary Fraker)

Died
(Column 3)

Summary: On Oct. 24th, Elizabeth Donaldson died in Greencastle. She was 67 years old.
(Names in announcement: Elizabeth Donaldson)

Died
(Column 3)

Summary: On Oct. 23rd, Ann, wife of Solomon Crouse, died near Spring Run. She was 39 years old.
(Names in announcement: Ann Crouse, Solomon Crouse)

Died
(Column 3)

Summary: On Oct. 13th, Thomas Bruce, son of William and Mary Ferguson, died in Guilford township.
(Names in announcement: Thomas Bruce Ferguson, William Ferguson, Mary Ferguson)

Died
(Column 3)

Summary: On Nov. 1st, Samuel Shaffer died. He was 64 years old.
(Names in announcement: Samuel Shaffer)

Died
(Column 3)

Summary: On Nov. 2nd, Jane Ann Maria, daughter of Jenings and Elizabeth Jones, died. She was 2 years old.
(Names in announcement: Jane Ann Maria Jones, Jenings Jones, Elizabeth Jones)