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Franklin Repository: August 12, 1868 Go To Page : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

Our Ticket
(Column 01)

Summary: The editor details the virtues of every Republican candidate, especially their war records. He also urges Republicans not to stand idle and let the Democrats take another election. The article calls on all true Republicans to form clubs to drum up support and get out the vote to retake the county from the Democrats.

Full Text of Article:

The Convention which met on Wednesday, the 5th instant, did its work well. The result of its labor meets the hearty approbation of the entire Republican party, and even the unwilling Democracy admit that the ticket is unexceptionable. We predict for it a triumphant election, because it is composed of such men as will bring to the polls the whole strength of the party.

Lieut. Josiah W. Fletcher, our candidate for Sheriff, is known to most of the voters of the county as an excellent and worthy gentleman, an earnest Republican and a gallant soldier in the war to suppress the rebellion and restore the Government. He bears on his person an honorable voucher of his bravery in the face of danger, which he will carry with him to his grave. His almost unanimous nomination, where such well known and worthy gentlemen as John Walter and Jacob Kendig were his competitors, is an encouraging assurance to our citizen soldiers that the loyal people of Franklin county will be slow to forget the lasting debt they owe them. Mr. Fletcher has been Deputy Sheriff during the last three years, and is thoroughly acquainted with the duties of the office.

Lieut. S. Wilson Hays, nominated for the office of District Attorney, is one of the Editors of the REPOSITORY, and a young lawyer that gives promise of more than ordinary ability. During the war, when not yet arrived at manhood, he threw aside his books and left Lafayette College to offer his services to his country. He entered the army as a private, where he soon rose to be 1st Lieutenant of a company of infantry. At the close of the war he came to Chambersburg, studied law, and has since been engaged in the practice. He will be a popular candidate, is worthy of the office, and will receive the warm support of his fellow soldiers and the Republican party.

Capt. Elias K. Lehman, candidate for Commissioner, and Capt. Joseph W. Winger, nominated for Auditor, are both soldiers of stainless record and esteemed citizens, worthy of any office in the gift of the county. They are men who do not seek emoluments or honors in politics, and the places assigned them on the ticket were imposed upon them by the people. John Bowman, of Guilford, will make an acceptable Director of the Poor, and protect well the interests of the county.

--Like the County ticket, the Republican District ticket, is emphatically the work of the people. Good and unexceptionable men of great ability in Chambersburg had been announced as candidates for Assembly and Senator, but the Convention thought it best to give these nominations to other sections of the county, and did so.

Capt. John H. Walker, upon whom was conferred the nomination for Assembly resides in Metal township, and has not been a candidate before, for the sole reason that he has hitherto positively refused to accept it. He is a modest, unassuming gentlemen of unblemished character, beloved by all who know him. He went into the war from a pure love of country, and fought bravely to rescue the government from the hands of traitors. It is such men as he who are wanted in our Legislature, and the same spirit which nominated him will also elect him.

The Convention named Col. Wm. D. Dixon as her choice for the State Senate, which will, without doubt, secure his nomination in the district. Adams county, it is said, will present no person for the position, and concedes the right of Franklin county to make the nomination. Col. Dixon's military record is associated with that of the Pennsylvania Reserves, the most faithful and gallant corps in the Army of the Potomac, in which he proved himself to be a brave soldier and a good and reliable officer. He has never been a candidate for any office, and, like Capt. Walker, the Convention sought him, and not he the Convention. His election to the Senate will be a pledge to our people that so far as in him lies, the true interests of the District and of the State will be protected.

Col. D. W. Rowe, at present Additional Law Judge by appointment of Gov. Geary, has already been made the choice of three counties of this Judicial District for that office. Fulton county, which holds her convention on the 24th instant, will also instruct for him, so that he will be the unanimous choice of the Republicans of his whole district. He is well known, and his qualifications for the position are so universally acknowledged, that we deem it unnecessary to speak of them here. He has already presided in the courts of the district, and is strongly supported where he has been. He is also a soldier, who distinguished himself greatly in the late war.

The action of the County Convention in naming Hon. John Cessna, of Bedford, by such a decided majority as their standard bearer for Congress in the campaign, will, we feel confident, secure his nomination in the district. Bedford county had instructed for him before, it is understood that he will carry Fulton, and it is not unlikely that Adams county will go for him. The Gettysburg Star and Sentinel, the organ of Hon. E. M'Pherson, says on this subject:

"Mr. Cessna has already carried Bedford and Franklin, and it is understood will carry Fulton, so that this action of Franklin virtually settles the Congressional nomination, in which we suppose Adams will concur. Gen. Koontz has many friends over the district, and would have been cordially sustained, had the current of opinion been favorable to his nomination. Mr. Cessna is a powerful campaigner, and a gentleman of great ability and energy, who will conduct a vigorous and successful campaign."

This is the whole Republican ticket. It can be elected from top to bottom, if Republican voters but do their duty. It may be defeated if they do not do their duty. Never, perhaps, was a stronger, more unexceptionable ticket presented for our support. But let not its strength and popularity, by lulling us into a feeling of confidence and security, work its defeat. We must have organization, thorough, systematic organization. Without this we can do nothing. The people have given us candidates; now let the people go to work and elect them. There must be a Grant and Colfax Club in every township to distribute documents, to make out lists of voters, to bring every Republican voter to the polls on the second Tuesday of October, and to convert as many of the Democracy from the error of their ways as possible.

The nomination of Seymour and Blair, the candidates espoused by the unconverted rebels of the South, has already alarmed, and justly too, the reflecting men of the Democratic party. They see that there is no safety from revolution and anarchy, from repudiation and financial ruin, but in the defeat of these men and the election of Grant and Colfax.--Thousands are already joining the ranks of the Republican party. By thorough organization, by calm and truthful discussion and comparison of the iniquitous doctrines of the Democracy and the principles of universal liberty and right of the Republican party our triumph will be assured and the country rescued from the revolution threatened by Blair and his rebel associates.

Let a few earnest republicans in each township call a meeting to organize a Grant and Colfax Club, and when the meeting is held let it elect a President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary, and appoint committees to canvas the votes, to see that no one is led astray and that all who can be persuaded to do so, are made to vote the Republican ticket. That is all the organization that is wanted, and that, if properly managed, will elect our whole ticket, because it will bring out a full vote. Last October we were defeated because sixty-two thousand voters failed to come to the polls, of which three-fourths were Republicans; and yet the State was lost by but nine hundred and twenty-two votes. We were defeated by our own supineness and indifference. Let us not be defeated again.

Chambersburg and China
(Column 02)

Summary: The paper urges the citizens of Chambersburg to work to ensure construction of the Waynesboro railroad with Chambersburg as a terminus, and then joining it to the road linking Gettysburg and Philadelphia. Such an accomplishment would ensure that Chambersburg process "the Asiatic trade seeking the seaboard and European markets." The paper estimates all could be accomplished by raising $45,000. "Should she neglect it and suffer, for want of a small sum, the forming line of trade to pass her side and connect other and rival towns, she will one day lament her supineness."

The Appraisement of Damages
(Column 03)

Summary: The paper criticizes the methods used by the current Commission to compensate border damages. While the editor is sympathetic to border grievances, he insists the best way to recoup the losses is to wait patiently for the federal government to provide compensation so the state would not be bankrupted.

Full Text of Article:

The Commission appointed under the act of the Legislature of last winter, to appraise the damages suffered by the citizens of Franklin, Fulton, Bedford, York, Perry and Cumberland counties, sat in Chambersburg, on Thursday of last week. We are loth to say anything unfavorable towards any movement which promises in the slightest degree to afford compensation for the great losses our people sustained by the war. Many of them were seriously crippled in their means, and some rendered absolutely pennyless, and we hold that a great prosperous State like the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, no mean empire in itself, should not fail to make full compensation to the sufferers.

But this is not contemplated in the action of the Legislature. The law says:

"When such claims have been fully adjudicated, reported and filed, it shall then be the duty of the proper officer of the Commonwealth, to be designated by the Governor, to proceed to recover compensation for said losses from the general government, and when so collected, and not till then, shall the amount so recovered be paid, pro rata, to the sufferers of said counties, in accordance with the report of the said commissioners of their claims, and their receipting in full to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania."

We know that this Commission has been rendered popular by means of the impression having been spread abroad that the State proposes to pay these losses. It is entirely without foundation. The law contemplates nothing more than the making of an estimate of the losses and submitting it to the General Government, and even then does our people the injustice to provide that they must receipt in full to the State no matter what proportion of the losses be paid. The action of the Commission itself, while performing the duty intrusted to it by His Excellency Gov. Geary, was such as to discourage and disgust applicants, but whether this arose from circumstances against which they could not provide or was the result of their own complicity with bad men, we do not pretend to say. It was impossible to prepare and examine with any care and correctness the statements of losses of a thousand men in one day even if the best opportunity had been given, but the Commission sat in a hotel and were surrounded by Justices of the Peace and cross-road lawyers from other counties, like scavengers in the wake of an army, who plundered without stint the unfortunate victim who had already suffered greater losses than he could bear. We still recollect with pride the dignified and manly body which sat in the Court House in the spring of 1866 to adjudicate the losses of the citizens of Chambersburg occasioned by the burning of the town by rebels. No one could say aught against them. No breath of suspicion was ever whispered against the purity and integrity of their action. It was in the power of the present Commission to have done as well.

We would not be willing to say one word to discourage any one from making every effort to recover a claim, so just as these we have mentioned, from the Commonwealth or the General Government, but we do not hesitate to say that the General Government will never pay a cent upon the present appraisement. If Congress ever does, and we sincerely hope she will, conclude to compensate us, an estimate of the losses will be made in a careful and judicious manner; the best testimony will be had, an abundance of time will be taken, and a just and impartial decision will be made. The labor of this Commission will be thrown aside as so much waste paper, and the expenses incident to its execution will be so much lost to the State, while that filched from our citizens, in the shape of fees, will go to make an apex to the monument erected to our former losses.

[No Title]
(Column 04)

Summary: The paper defends John Cessna from charges from the Valley Spirit that he plans to run as a temperance candidate. The editors assure readers that the Republicans have no intention of running on a temperance platform, though the personal habits associated with that cause are certainly admirable.

Address to the Soldiers of Franklin County
(Column 05)

Summary: The paper prints a "bloody shirt" declaration from the Boys in Blue organization. The authors heavily criticize the Democratic stance during the war and during reconstruction. They claim that if the Democrats are elected, anarchy will once again seize the country. The address calls on all soldiers to remain true to the cause of Union by voting for Grant.
(Names in announcement: James G. Elder, John A. Seiders)

Full Text of Article:

COMRADES:--The Boys in Blue are organizing for another campaign, under their great leader U.S. Grant. They are marshaling for a conflict with the same enemies they were compelled to meet and overthrow before. The hosts that fought under Lee, and shouted for Davis in 1864, are again banded together as one man, to accomplish by the ballot the same purposes they sought to effect by arms. Their object is the same, their inspiration the same, their leaders the same, their allies the same. The soldiers of Stonewall Jackson, who cheered for Horatio Seymour in 1862, are cheering for him now. The leaders of the Rebellion openly declare that in the election of Seymour, the object of the war on their part will be at last accomplished. In every Southern city, bells rung and bonfires blazed over the Democratic nominations, because they embodied the spirit of the "Lost cause." Treason and Democracy joined hands at New York, and vowed the triumph of the principles of the rebellion, or else anarchy. Against Grant, the representative of Union and Peace, they vomited forth denunciations and threatenings; they decreed the State Governments of the South, now at length so happily represented in Congress of no validity, and openly declared that they must be overthrown by arms, and the Union be again disrupted, because Loyalty controls them. Squarely on this issue they nominanted Gen. Frank Blair for the Vice Presidency. The issue again therefore is the Union.

The Republican Party and the Union soldiers together, through terrible years and trials saved the nation as one, and now in the very act and article of consummating the restoration of all the States to their normal orbits in the Federal System and their accustomed paths about the central Government, the enemies of union and peace advance to prevent the consummation so devoutly to be wished, and begin the re-inauguration of chaos and anarchy in the South, in the demand that the restored States shall be hurled out of the Union by military violence, and their Governments overthrown. Over against these revolutionists and anarchists, stands the grand figure of Grant, surveying a Union restored and rapidly cementing together in every part, and uttering the sigh of the nation, "Let us have peace." The same hero who won for us soldiers, by your aid, Liberty and Union, now undertakes to accomplish for us Fraternity and Peace. His bugle notes summon you to this struggle, and under his leadership another Vicksburg, another Appomattox Court House await you. Rally to the standard of Grant. The rebels defame your glorious captain, the Democrats are fouler still in their abuse of him they have eulogy only for Wade Hampton and the murderer Forest of Fort Pillow infamy. Rebuke their calumnies, speak out for him who speaks for himself only in his great actions. Rally to the standard of Grant and victory.

In 1864, at Chicago, the Democracy declared the war a failure, now they declare reconstruction a failure; then, they denounced the commander in chief of our armies the civilian Lincoln, now they denounce the General-in-Chief the warrior Grant; then in the midst of war, they were for peace, now in the midst of returning peace, they threaten war; heretofore they clamored for the admission of the Southern States, now that seven of them have been admitted they demand that they be thrown out; then when the issue of national currency was necessary to the nation's life, they were against greenbacks, now when a sound currency is necessary to the prosperity of the nation, they would flood the country with Greenbacks. Then, soldiers, by your arms only--for they refused you the right to vote--you proved their declaration that the war was a failure, a falsehood, now by your votes alone you will prove reconstruction not a failure; then Lincoln triumphed as Grant will now; then they did not succeed in stopping the war and thus secure disunion, and now they will not be able to prevent peace and union; then the Republicans so managed the finances as to secure triumph in war, now they will be so managed as to obtain prosperity in peace; at that juncture you saved the nation's integrity and honor, in this crisis you will do the same. What soldier will hesitate between Grant and Seymour? That you will refuse to follow your old leader, who led you to so many glorious victories, to the crowning victory of all is impossible. You cannot be deceived.

"Forever true, you wore the blue, and followed General Grant,
The Boys in Blue, forever true, will follow General Grant."

By order of the Club of Boys in Blue of Chambersburg. JAMES G. ELDER, Pres't.
JOHN A. SEIDERS, Secretary.

The Proposed Female College
(Column 01)

Summary: The paper endorses a proposed plan to erect a female college in the area. The editors assert that the old notions of the inferiority of women are out of date, and women deserve to have a thorough education. The article urges Chambersburg residents to raise $200,000 for the enterprise.

Full Text of Article:

A late number of the Greencastle Valley Echo contains the following communication, signed "W," on this subject:--I declare, with your permission, to call attention to the enterprise which has been set on foot, to establish somewhere in this section of country a first-class Female College. The enterprise has been fairly inaugurated, and being a matter of public interest, will, I am sure, when rightly set forth, commend itself to favorable consideration.

There is no need of writing at this day of the importance of female education. This importance is felt; and so deeply felt, that parents on behalf of their daughters are demanding wiser and more liberal educational facilities. It was an old barbarous notion that woman, as compared with man, was destined to fill an inferior place, and consequently had less need of personal culture. And this old barbarous notion, while long since given up in theory, yet in all the best conditions of society up to the present, has continued to exert some practical force. It has operated everywhere to retard the progress of female education. It has given it in the appreciation of the people a subordinate place, and has helped to limit its breadth and thoroughness. There is, however, here, in our day, a marked advance. It is now conceded that woman, while she is not man, as some narrow minds would make her, is yet man's equal in all that is noble and good and true. She has a place to fill which is peculiarly her own, to which she is appointed of God--a place of relative importance, equal to that filled by the stronger and coarser sex--for the right filling of which she needs the most effective cultivation of all her powers.

She has no gift of nature which is not designed for wise employment. Her rich intellectual, moral and emotional endowments, are essential for her work, else they would not have been bestowed. Their right use belongs to the sphere in which she is called to move. And their right development, by the best educational process, is therefore an imperative duty.

These have become commonplace convictions, yet growing every day more deeply into the mind and heart of the people. And they produce of necessity a demand for increased thoroughness in female education. Parents looking with pride and hope to the coming of a true and noble womanhood to their daughters, are deeply concerned that they shall be prepared for it, by the most liberal personal culture that lies within reach.--There is therefore an increasing demand for a class of institutions that will furnish to young ladies the facilities of a broad and thorough intellectual and moral training.

To meet this demand for this section of country, the Presbytery of Carlisle has set on foot a movement to organize and establish a Female College, which shall embrace a full classical and scientific course, and shall afford to young ladies advantages equal to those enjoyed by young gentlemen in the very best colleges in the land.--The purpose is that it shall be not a school of fashion, but a real training place--a place for the most liberal personal culture in mind and heart.

It is not designed to make it sectarian, not even denominational, yet as a pervading element in all true education and as the capstone of its completeness, it will embrace in its course the great principles of Reformed and Evangelical religion. It will be free from ecclesiastical control governed by its Board of Trustees. And its location will be determined in a large degree by the amounts of money contributed by the different places.

In order to make it independent of patronage--leaving what is paid in for tuition, to be expended in part at least, for educational apparatus--and at the same time to bring its privileges within the reach of as large a class as possible it is proposed, beyond the necessary buildings, to secure and settle upon it an endowment of two hundred thousand dollrrs; thus enabling it under all circumstances to insist upon a high grade of scholarship, and to do its work in a thorough and finished manner. This is what is proposed. Its realization, either in full or in part, depends of course upon the measure of interest taken in it by the people. An appeal, in proper form, for pecuniary aid will be made shortly; and in the meanwhile, let liberal and thinking men consider how much they owe to such an enterprise. There are personal and family considerations which might move almost every man who is able to lend it his aid. But beyond these every man owes something to society at large. Every man has an interest in the elevation and refinement of social life, yet such elevation and refinement can proceed no faster and rise no higher, than the personal culture of woman.

The Appraisement of Damages
(Column 01)

Summary: The committee for appraising war-damage claims sat at the National Hotel in Chambersburg on Thursday. Swarms of farmers from the surrounding countryside descended on Chambersburg to submit claims. Dishonest clerks swindled claim-seekers out of money by charging farmers to fill out forms the commissioners were providing for free. The commission only decided on one quarter of the cases and will return in September. In the meantime, they have ordered 2,000 forms to be printed, and urge those who need help filling them out to go to a lawyer to avoid swindlers.

[No Title]
(Column 02)

Summary: The paper reports on a local school teacher, who received death threats from the KKK after teaching freedmen in Tennessee.
(Names in announcement: Rev. Thomas Agnew)

Full Text of Article:

The practical workings of the Ku-Klux-Klan are at last being brought home to the citizens of Franklin county. Actual facts prove this organization to be no myth, but a stern reality--inflicting death on all persons who are known to be loyal. A short time since, Rev. Thomas Agnew, formerly of Mercersburg, moved to Tennessee. He is universally known as a devout man of God, and from his childhood has faithfully followed the teachings of his Master. In his manners he was always inoffensive, his sole object being to advance the cause of Christianity. Since his removal South, he has been engaged in the teaching of Freedmen. His labors have been so successful that unrepentant traitors have determined that he should leave the country. He has received three notices that his life will be the penalty he will pay for continuing his labors among the down-trodden and oppressed. So alarmed have his friends in our midst become for his safety, that on Sabbath last they requested the prayers of one of our churches, that he might be delivered from the hands of his enemies. This is but one of the many instances of rebel persecution. The Union men are helpless, and the traitors are still battling for the "lost cause." This will be so as long as a recreant Executive, forgetful of his pledges and promises, offers no protection, and gives no redress to good citizens.

[No Title]
(Column 02)

Summary: The paper describes the headquarters of the Boys in Blue for the coming campaign.

Full Text of Article:

The Boys in Blue have secured the third story of Austin, Elder and Fletcher's Building, on the South-east corner of the Diamond, and have decorated it beautifully with National flags and beautiful pictures. The room is large, well lighted and ventilated, and is becoming the most popular resort in town. It is kept open during the day and evening to the public, and is supplied with daily and weekly newspapers. We would advise all our Republicrn friends from the country, and especially soldiers, to visit it when they come to Chambersburg, as the members of the Club are always pleased to exhibit it. The organization is in a very flourishing condition, and will number Two Hundred before the campaign is over. Last week we published an additional list of thirteen new members, and still they come. We are waiting to hear of the rest of the county following our example. The club has also organized a Glee Club, under the leadership of Prof. Hunting.

Our Agricultural Fair Grounds
(Column 02)

Summary: Work in preparation for the fair is progressing rapidly. A piece of ground on the Greencastle Road has been secured, and improvements are being made. It will be held October 6-9.

I. O. G. T.
(Column 02)

Summary: Gilmore Lodge No. 358 of Fayetteville installed officers at a recent meeting.
(Names in announcement: A. B. Shively, L. Wolfe, R. F. M'Elroy, Maggie Cook, J. E. Henderson, Laura Boggs, A. C. Brown, Helen Shiveley, N. K. Mahon, D. M. Long, C. W. Lego, James M. Downey, Mollie Boggs, Rebecca Black, J. Burns White)

[No Title]
(Column 02)

Summary: George Cook, president, announces that the Republican County Committee will meet at the offices of Jere Cook on August 15th in order to select a chairman.
(Names in announcement: George Cook)

Daily Prayer Meeting
(Column 02)

Summary: A Union Prayer meeting will be held daily in the rooms of the Young Men's Christian Association above Gelwicks' store beginning on September 1st.

[No Title]
(Column 02)

Summary: The paper announces that a meeting will be held in Scotland to organize a Grant and Colfax club.

[No Title]
(Column 02)

Summary: The Chambersburg Building Association will sell ten shares of its stock next Monday.

[No Title]
(Column 02)

Summary: The Chambersburg Band made an excursion to Greencastle to serenade the citizens of that town. They took M'Kinley's "elegant" wagon, and were hospitably received.

[No Title]
(Column 03)

Summary: Samuel Lesher of Green has discovered iron ore on his farm.
(Names in announcement: Samuel Lesher)

[No Title]
(Column 03)

Summary: The Union Sabbath School of Fayetteville will hold a Basket Picnic in the Pines on August 15th.

Died
(Column 05)

Summary: Robert Cree died near Burnt Cabins on August 2nd. He was 78 years old.
(Names in announcement: Robert Cree)

Died
(Column 05)

Summary: Harvey Denton Bard, son of Robert and Jenette Bard, died in Chambersburg on August 2nd. He was 2 years old.
(Names in announcement: Harvey Denton Bard, Robert Bard, Jenette Bard)

Died
(Column 05)

Summary: Miss Sarah Coble, daughter of George Coble, died in St. Thomas on August 5th. She was 20 years old.
(Names in announcement: Sarah Coble, George Coble)

Died
(Column 05)

Summary: Jacob Bickley, Sr., died in Chambersburg on August 3rd. He was 80 years old. He was a member of the "River Brethren" and a "man of excellent moral character and genuine religious experience."
(Names in announcement: Jacob BickleySr.)