INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly fi'om the original or copy submitted- Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from aity type of conçuter printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to r i^ t in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9427761 Lest the rebels come to power: The life of W illiam Dennison, 1815—1882, early Ohio Republican Mulligan, Thomas Cecil, Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 1994 Copyright ©1994 by Mulligan, Thomas Cecil. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Aibor, MI 48106 LEST THE REBELS COME TO POWER; THE LIFE OF WILLIAM DENNISON, 1815 - 1882, EARLY OHIO REPUBLICAN DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University by Thomas C. Mulligan, BBA, MS, MA. ***** The Ohio State University 1994 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Allan R. Millett Merton L. Dillon Joan Cashin Adviser Department of History Copyright by Thomas C. Mulligan 1994 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I express sincere appreciation to Professor Allan R. Millett for suggesting the topic of this research and guiding my efforts. Thanks go also to Professors Merton L. Dillon and Joan Cashin for their suggestions and comments. I am also most grateful to the research staff of the Ohio State University Library, the Ohio State Historical Society, the State Library of Ohio, and the Ohioana Library for their invaluable assistance. Certain individuals at various research libraries and archives have been particularly helpful in my research. These include: Carolyn D. Reinbolt and Rebecca Hill, the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, Fremont, Ohio; William E. Lind, Mike Meyer and Aloha South, The National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Eleanor M. Gehres, Denver Public Library, Denver, Colorado; Randall S. Gooden, West Virginia Regional History Collection, West Virginia State University; Frances D. McClure, The Walter Havighurst Special Collections, Miami University, Ohio; Rebecca Linz, Colorado Historical Society, Denver, Colorado; William R. Massa, Jr., Yale University Library, New Haven; and Beverly Lyall, Archives Department, The United States Naval ii Academy/ Annapolis. Also of great assistance were: Reverend Karen Burnard, Trinity Episcopal Church/ Columbus and Freda P. Koch/ Columbus. My warmest thanks to all. T.C.M. Ill VITA 1959 »»••»•»»•■•»»•»•■•»■»>•»» B# B# A» F6X1Z1. CollGQG? (Nov Cleveland State University), Cleveland, Ohio. 1963 ........................ M.A. The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. 1974 .... .................... Graduate, Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk. Virginia. 1979 ......................... Graduate, The Industrial College of the Armed Forces, The National Defense University, Washington, D.C. 1979 ......................... M.S. George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 1989 ......................... M.A. The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. Major Field; History Secondary Fields: American Nineteenth Century History American Diplomatic History Latin American History IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................ ii VITA ................................................... iv INTRODUCTION ........................................... 1 CHAPTER PAGE I. BEGINNINGS ..................................... 4 The Early Years ........................... 5 Sycamore Grove School ..................... 10 Miami University .......................... 13 Endnotes ......................... 27 II. BRANCHING OUT ................................. 32 Reading the Law ........................... 34 The Campaign of 1840 .................... 36 Columbus in the 1840s ......... 47 Early Railroads ....... 49 Before the Bar ............................ 55 "There Followed Sorrowful Days" .......... 58 State Senator ............................. 60 Endnotes .................................. 66 III. THE CAUSE ...................................... 71 Columbus in the 1850s ..................... 72 Leading Citizen .......................... 74 Banker and Railroad Executive ......... 78 Republican ................................ 85 Candidate ........... 94 Endnotes ............. 105 IV. THE GATHERING DARKNESS ........................ Ill "The Grace and Beauty of the West" ....... 112 A Nation Dividing ......................... 119 Politics as Usual ......................... 127 Rumors of War ............................. 131 Endnotes ...... 138 V. WAR GOVERNOR I; IMPROVISING .................. 143 To the Defense of Washington City ........ 145 The Queen City ............................ 149 "I Will Defend Ohio..." ................... 151 War Legislation ........................... 154 "Organize Yourselves Into Companies" ..... 158 Taking Charge ............................. 167 The Stuff of War ........................ 175 Endnotes .................................. 182 VI. WAR GOVERNOR II; LEADING ...................... 188 Trade and Telegraph ....................... 190 Kentucky ............................... 193 The Cleveland Conference .................. 196 Western Virginia ..... 200 Politics ............................ 210 Endnotes ......... 217 VII. IN THE WINGS .................................. 222 With McClellan in Virginia ................ 225 Governor's Agent ..................... 230 Private Citizen ........................... 236 In Lincoln’s Camp .................... 238 Endnotes ............ 252 VIII. POSTMASTER GENERAL ............................ 258 For Lincoln and the Party ................. 262 Managing the Mails ........................ 269 Tragic Victory ............................ 275 Untenable .............. 279 Endnotes .................................. 291 IX. THE TROUBLES .................................. 297 Financier ................................. 299 Return to Politics ..... 303 Not a Soldier's Woman ..... 309 A Death in the Family ..... 319 Another Indignity .................... 323 Endnotes ..................... 327 VI X. "CALUMNIATIONS SILENCED FOREVER" .............. 333 District Commissioner ...................... 334 The Contested Election ..................... 340 The Last Act ..... 349 Epilogue ........... 357 Endnotes ...... 361 XI. AN ASSESSMENT .................................. 366 Endnotes ................................... 386 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................... 388 V I 1 INTRODUCTION In large measure we define ourselves in terms of those who came before us. The lives of well-remembered Americans such as Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Beecher Stowe shape our image of that fateful time in the middle of the nineteenth century when our forebearers fought each other to determine if we were one nation or two, and whether slavery would continue as part of our communal organizations. There were over thirty million Americans in 1860, almost twice that number in 1880, and all of them played a part in shaping our legacy. Tens of thousands were in their day prominent leaders in politics, letters, business, science, and the arts, but have since been largely forgotten. Yet study of these second-tier leaders is instructive. Their lives offer insight into the lives of the better remembered Americans who were their contemporaries, and often they shaped events in ways that have not been well understood. This dissertation is a study of one of those second-tier American Victorians who was prominent in his day but has since largely faded from memory. William Dennison was a privileged scion of a prominent Ohio family of the early 1 statehood period who grew to be an uncompromising opponent of slavery, a leading ifhig, a founding member of the Ohio Republican party, and governor of Ohio in the opening months of the Civil War. In that capacity he did his great­ est service to his state and nation by raising troops, furthering Union aims in the West, and guarding his state and region against what he believed to be an imminent threat from the Confederacy. William Dennison went on to serve the Union cause as a Republican party insider during the difficult electoral struggles of 1862 and 1863, when the uncertainties and resolve of the Northern electorate played out at the polls. Late in the war, Abraham Lincoln appointed Dennison Postmaster General,