William Bourke Cockran.
W. B. Cockran, the well-known lawyer and politician, who is also one of the most popular orators before the public, was born in Ireland, February 28, 1854. He was educated in that country, and later in France. When he landed in New York in 1871, he knew no one in America and had exactly one hundred dollars in his wallet. But he was well educated, of marked ability, and ambitious to the highest degree. Failing to secure something better, he became clerk in A. T. Stewart’s store. A month later, however, he obtained a position as teacher in a public school on Rutgers street, where he taught French, Latin and history. Still later he accepted an appointment as principal in a public school in Westchester. But at this period Mr. Cockran had mapped out his future. He had determined to become a lawyer, and when on Saturdays his time was his own, he studied law in the office of the late Chauncey Schaffer. Saving some money, he resigned as school principal, and for nearly a year did nothing but read. In 1890 he was admitted to the bar of New York. His rise thenceforward was rapid. Very soon he became known as a man of great ability as an advocate and of supreme eloquence as a speaker. It was not long before he had a lucrative practice, and took a foremost place among the best lawyers of the metropolis. In the meantime his repute as an orator had attracted the attention of democratic leaders, and hence it was that Mr. Cockran was in demand at national democratic conventions and “on the stump.” He was elected member of congress in 1891, serving in that capacity until 1895. In 1896, however, he refused to accept the 16 to 1 theory of the Democratic party and did his utmost to elect McKinley. Some will call Mr. Cockran a fortunate man, but as a matter of fact his fortune, professional and financial, is the outcome of his persistent industry and sincerity.
John Warwick Daniels.
John Warwick Daniels was born at Lynchburg, Virginia, September 5, 1842. He was educated in the public schools of the town, at Lynchburg college, and also at Dr. Gessner Harrison’s university school. During the Civil war he was an adjutant-general in the Confederate army, serving on the staff of General Early. At the close of the conflict he took up the study of law at the University of Virginia and graduated in 1866. He has practiced ever since at Memphis, Va. He was elected to the state senate in 1875 and was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1869 to 1872. In 1881 he was democratic candidate for governor of Virginia, but was defeated. As member of congress in 1885 to 1887, and since 1887 as United States senator he has been much in the eye of the public. He is one of the most eloquent of forensic orators in America, as well as being the author of several well-known legal works.
Carl Schurz.
The riper years of Carl Schurz are so generally identified with the peaceful and progressive things that are the fruits of the rostrum of the orator and the sanctum of the editor that it seems hard to associate him with the stormy and romantic incidents that crowded his youth. Born in Liblar, Rhenish Prussia, on March 2, 1829, he was educated at the Cologne gymnasium, and at the age of seventeen entered the University of Bonn. When, in 1848, the revolutionary spirit became actively in evidence, he, together with Gottfried Kinkel, a professor of the university, started a liberal newspaper. As the consequence, the young men were forced to flee from Bonn. Later, Schurz received a commission as adjutant in the revolutionary army, and upon the fall of Badstadt was compelled to fly to Switzerland. His friend Kinkel was captured and sentenced to twenty years’ imprisonment. Schurz, however, did not desert his friend, but returning to Germany, by the exercise of marvelous courage and ingenuity, liberated Kinkel, and went with him to Scotland. Subsequently, and in Paris, Mr. Schurz entered the journalistic profession. In 1855 he, accompanied by his young wife, whom he had married while under the ban of the German authorities, came to America and settled in Philadelphia. Afterward he went to Madison, Wisconsin, where he became identified with local political affairs. He soon became a prominent figure in state politics. In the interval he had been admitted to the bar and now opened an office in Milwaukee. In 1860 he was a member of the national republican convention, and when Lincoln became president he was made minister to Spain. During the Civil war he served with distinction under General Franz Sigel, who had been his old commander in Germany. In 1866 he was made Washington correspondent of the New York Tribune. Later he established the Detroit Post. He disposed of his interest in it, and in 1867 removed to St. Louis, where he became editor of the Westliche Post. In January, 1869, Mr. Schurz was made United States senator for Missouri. He has taken an active and even strenuous part in presidential campaigns for many years. In 1884, 1888 and 1892 he supported Mr. Cleveland. When he visited Europe, in 1888, he was cordially received by Prince Bismarck and other German leaders. He is an author, having published several books, including a life of Henry Clay and an essay on Abraham Lincoln. His screeds are often seen in periodical literature.
MUSICIANS.
Walter Johannes Damrosch.
It is questionable if there is a better method of giving intellectual pleasure to a large number of people than by teaching them concerted singing. More than that, music is admittedly one of the most powerful factors in the bringing into being those finer qualities which are identified with the higher civilizations. It follows, then, that the man who devotes his life to cultivating a love of music among the masses is a public benefactor. Such an individual is Walter J. Damrosch, who is both well known and popular in this country in connection with his work on the lines alluded to. Mr. Damrosch was born at Breslau, Prussia, January 30, 1862. His father was Dr. Leopold Damrosch, his reputation as a conductor being of an international nature, led to his coming to this country in 1871 to become director of the Oratorio society and Symphony society of New York. In the meantime Walter had received a thorough musical training under his father, and, when the latter died, in 1885, he succeeded to the directorship of the organizations named. Since that period his continuous and conscientious work for the popularizing of vocal music has borne fruit not only in New York, but in many other cities of the United States. Mr. Damrosch was also the director of German opera at the Metropolitan Opera House and added to his reputation in connection therewith. Mr. Walter J. Damrosch is married to Margaret, daughter of the late James G. Blaine.