70- 14,094 SCHMIEL, Eugene David, 1944- THE CAREER OF JACOB DOLSON COX, 1828-1900: SOLDIER, SCHOLAR, STATESMAN. The Ohio S ta te U n iv e rsity , P h .D ., 1969 History, modem University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan Copyright by Eugene David Schmiel 1970 THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED THE CABEEE OF JACOB DOLSON COX, 1828-1900 SOLDIER, SCHOLAR, STATESMAN DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Eugene David Schmiel, B.A. ****** The Ohio State University 1969 Approved By A d v ise r Department of History PBEFACE The title of this work amply describes its scope. The topic herein discussed is the life of Jacob Dolson Cox, an admirable, aloof man of integrity who pursued a great number of activities in many fields and became a leader in each. He did so through the force of his character, his marked intellectual abilities, and his rigorous sense of duty. Yet he has not received in the past due credit for his role in shaping American politics, education, science, and railroad policies during and after the Civil War. At least in part that is because Cox was not prone to seek publicity or recognition for himself. In this study the author hopes to redress that balance and give him due credit for being an influential personage in American life from 1858 to I 9 0 0. In pursuing that goal the author has had the invaluable aid of a great many people, a ll of whom gave generously and graciously of their time to help me to gain a better understanding of both Jacob D. Cox and his times and the effect of each on the other. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each of them individually. Among those who were i i especially helpful, three, my wife and my parents, stand out. The aid of my wife, Bonnie, in typing large sections of the manuscript, correcting many grammatical and stylistic errors, and serving as my constant and major inspiration throughout this task can never be truly measured. To my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Schmiel, I give heartfelt thanks for supplying me with physical sustenance and a roof over my head while I researched and wrote this thesis and for understanding the need for tolerating the strange ways of the incipient scholar. One of the most important contributors to my efforts was the only living relative of Coz*s who knew him personally, his step-granddaughter. Miss Mary Budd Cochran. Her letters to me, a personal interview with her on March 25, 1969 which also entailed a trip to Cincinnati to see Cox*s gravesite and homes in that city, and her recollections of Cox as an older man were invaluable for this study. Another valuable source of aid to me was the archivist of Oberlin College, Mr. William Bigglestone. Under his guidance I researched the Cox papers and the other papers at Oberlin for five months. He was at all times encouraging, helpful, concerned, and agreeable—a ll of which made that sometimes tedious work a much easier task. Among the others who have helped me in my research and who also deserve my thanks are Richard D. Maxwell and the i i i staff of the National Archives; Hoy P. Easier and the staff of the manuscript division of the Library of Congress; William Jeffrey, Jr«, the librarian of the University of Cincinnati Law School library; Garry D. Byan of the National Archives M ilitary Records division; Peter Bo Thoms, University of Cincinnati Legal Adviser and Archivist; Kermit Pike, Head Librarian, and Florence L# Dawley, Curator, of the Western Reserve H istorical Society; Irene McCreery of the Toledo Public Library; Floyd E. Frederick of the Warren, Ohio City Schools; Congressman William Minshall, Ao Do Mastroguiseppe, Jro, and J. William Hess of the West Virginia University Library; Mrs. Frances Forman of the Cincinnati Historical Society; the staff of the Ohio Historical Society Library; John Simon of the Ulysses 8. G rant Association; John M. Morgan of the University of Toledo library; Adolf K. Placzek and the staff of the Avery library of Columbia University; and thp staff of the Oberlin College library. All of these people helped me either through letters concerning source m aterial, personal guidance to and througli pertinent materials, and, in many cases, both. None of them had anything, however, to do with whatever errors in fact, grammar, interpretation, use of pertinent materials, or any other facet of this paper which may appear. For those I take full and complete responsibility. iv To th e man who worked f o r many h o u rs to make su re t h a t as few of such errors as possible would appear in this paper, who gave a great deal of attention to my research and writing problems and provided an enormous amount of aid in solving them, who fulfilled all the ideal goals for which an adviser is supposed to strive, including allowing the w riter a great deal of freedom to grope his way toward becoming a researcher and writer, I give special thanks. Dr. Francis P. Weisenburger has been everything I had hoped my faculty adviser and thesis director would be. The special and concerned attention he gave to my efforts w ill always be highly appreciated. VITA February 2, 194^ Bom - Cleveland, Ohio 1966 B.A., St. Francis College, Loretto, Pennsylvania 1966-1969 NDEA Fellow, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1969-1970 Instructor, St. Francis College, Loretto, Pennsylvania FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History The Emergence of Modern America. Professor Francis P, Weisenburger Slavery, Reconstruction, and the New South. Professor Merton Dillon American Diplomatic History. Professor Marvin E. Z a h n ise r The Modern Middle East. Professor Sydney N. Fisher v i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PBEFACE.......................................................................................................... 11 VITA...... .................. Vi C hap ter I. Ancestry and Early Years .................................................. 1 II. The Oberlin Student ........................................................... 10 III. The Warren Years..................................................................... 23 IV. Incipient Politician ........................................................... 35 V. Ohio S e n a to r .............................................................................. 52 VI. The Hoad to W ar ..................................................................... 66 VII. From Kanawha to Kanawha ................................... 80 VIII. From West Virginia to A tlanta ..........................................101 IX. Franklin and War*s End ............................................................ 120 X. The Gubernatorial Candidate .............................................. l4 0 XI. The Governor In National Politics, 1865-7 • • • l 6l XII. Governor of Ohio ..........................................................................186 XIII. Cincinnati Lawyer ......................................................................210 XIV. Secretary of the Interior ................................................... 230 XV. The Party of the Future . .............................................. 288 XVI. Alienated Politician and Bailroad President . 3^7 XVII. The Return to Politics ............................................................ 382 XVIII. The Educator, 1881-1897 .................................................. 419 XIX. Private Citizen, 1879-1900 ...................................................443 XX. The Author, the C ritic, and the Man .............................. 469 BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................................................................... 507 v i i CHAPTER I THE CAREER OF JACOB DOLSON COX Ancestry and Early Years A sense of duty was an integral part of the character of Jacob Dolson Cox. Honest, upright, morally strict, he embodied the virtues, if not the vices of the true Victorian. Yet he was also a warm man, with an unselfish love for his family and friends. He was a man who, in some ways, was out of place in his own time. But at the same time he was so typical of many of his contemporaries that he could be called a fitting representative of their attitudes and outlooks. He was a complex and independent man who took on and performed well a diverse group of roles in his life. He was an elitist and an intellectual in an age of democracy and adventurous, active men. He was dedicated to the idea of being true to himself; and though the result was his being cut off from higher political office, he felt the sacrifice was worth the price. Honor above all else was to be preserved, and Jacob Dolson Cox was an h o n o rab le man. This first son of Jacob Dolson Coz I and Thedla Redelia Kenyon was bom on October 27# 1828* His mother, a direct descendant of Elder William Brewster, the religions leader of the colonists on the Mayflower, had come to Albany, New York from Saratoga Connty, New York with her parents in 1810. His father, the son of Michael Coz and Mary Dolson, had come to Albany with his parents in 1796 at the age of fo'or. Beginning his training as a carpenter and master builder there, in 1818 he met and was captivated by little Thedia Kenyon. After waiting for her to reach a respectably mature age, Thedia*s parents went forward with the wedding plans, and on her seventeenth birthday. May 25» 1821, the two young people were m a rrie d . 1 They then settled down in Albany, and Jacob continued his career as a builder and roofer. In 1825 he was offered the greatest