A Brief History of the United States

by John Bach McMaster

[13] James A. Garfield was born in Ohio in 1831. While still a lad. he longed to be a sailor, and failing in this, he became a canal boatman. After a little experience as such he went back to school, supporting himself by working as a carpenter and teaching school. In 1854 he entered the junior class of Williams College, graduated in 1856, became a teacher in Hiram Institute, was elected to the Ohio senate in 1859, and joined the Union army in 1861. In 1862 he was elected to Congress, took his seat in December, 1863, and continued to be a member of the House of Representatives till 1881.

[14] Chester Alan Arthur was born in Vermont in 1830, graduated from Union College, became (1853) a lawyer in New York city, and was (1871-78) customs collector of the port of New York. In 1880 he attended the national Republican convention as a delegate from New York, and was one of the 302 members of that convention who voted to the last for the renomination of Grant. After Grant was defeated and Garfield nominated, Arthur was named for the vice presidency, in order to appease the "Stalwarts," as the friends of Grant were called.

[15] When this failed to accomplish its purpose, Congress (1887) enacted another law providing heavy penalties for polygamy. The Mormon Church then declared against the practice.

[16] The murder of Garfield led also to a new presidential succession law. The old law provided that if both the President and the Vice President should die, the office should be filled temporarily by the president pro tem of the Senate, or if there were none, by the speaker of the House of Representatives. But one Congress expired March 4, 1881, and the next one did not meet and elect its presiding officers till December; so if Arthur had died before then, there would have been no one to act as President. A new law passed in 1886 provides that if both the presidency and the vice presidency become vacant, the presidency shall pass to the Secretary of State, or, if there be none, to the Secretary of the Treasury, or, if necessary, to the Secretary of War, Attorney General, Postmaster General, Secretary of the Navy, or Secretary of the Interior.

[17] In 1881, Lieutenant A. W. Greely was sent to plant a station in the Arctic regions. Supplies sent in 1882 and 1883 failed to reach him, and alarm was felt for the safety of his party. In 1884 a rescue expedition was sent out under Commander W. S. Schley. Three vessels were made ready by the Navy Department, and a fourth by Great Britain. After a long search Greely and six companions were found on the point of starvation and five were brought safely home. During their stay in the Arctic, they had reached a point within 430 miles of the north pole, the farthest north any white man had then gone.

[18] Grover Cleveland was born in New Jersey in 1837. In 1841 his father, a Presbyterian minister, removed to Onondaga County, New York, where Grover attended school and served as clerk in the village store. Later he taught for a year in the Institute for the Blind in New York city; but soon began the study of law, and settled in Buffalo. He was assistant district attorney of Erie County, sheriff and mayor of Buffalo, and in 1882, as the Democratic candidate for governor of New York, carried the state by 192,000 plurality. Both when mayor and when governor he was noted for his free use of the veto power.

[19] In 1885 the Bartholdi statue of Liberty Enlightening the World was formally received at New York. It was a gift from the people of France to the people of America. A hundred thousand Frenchmen contributed the money for the statue, and the pedestal was built with money raised in the United States. An island in New York harbor was chosen for the site, and there the statue was unveiled in October, 1886. The top of Liberty's torch is 365 feet above low water.

In September, 1886, a severe earthquake occurred near Charleston, South Carolina, the vibrations of which were felt as far away as Cape Cod and Milwaukee. In Charleston most of the houses were made unfit for habitation, many persons were killed, and some $8,000,000 worth of property was destroyed.

[20] Benjamin Harrison, the grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born at North Bend, Ohio, in 1833. He was educated at Miami University, studied law, settled at Indianapolis, and when the war opened, was reporter to the supreme court of Indiana. Joining the volunteers as a lieutenant, he was brevetted brigadier general before the war ended. In 1881 he became a senator from Indiana. He died in 1901.

[21] This required the Secretary of the Treasury to buy each month 4,500,000 ounces of silver, pay for it with treasury notes, and redeem the notes on demand in coin. After July 1, 1891, the silver so purchased need not be coined, but might be stored and silver certificates issued against it.