SECRETARY WILLIAM E. CHANDLER.
BY HON. JACOB H. ELA.
William E. Chandler, the second son of Nathan S. and Mary A. Chandler, was born in Concord, N. H., December 28, 1835, and educated in the public schools of that city and the academies of Thetford, Vt., and Pembroke, N. H. He began the study of the law in the office of George & Webster and George & Foster in 1852; graduated from the Harvard Law School as LL. B. in 1855; and in 1856, before coming of age, began practicing in Concord with Francis B. Peabody, Esq., now of Chicago.
Mr. Chandler has, from early childhood, fulfilled all the expectations of his friends. At the Harvard Law School he was librarian, and graduated with prize honors for an essay on "The Introduction of the Principles of Equity Jurisprudence into the Administration of the Common Law." He developed an early taste for policies, and a desire to aid in philanthropic movements. He delivered an address, in 1857, before the Concord Female Benevolent Association, in the Unitarian church, which at once proved him a clear and vigorous writer and thinker. The writer's first recollection of him as a lawyer was in the management of an election case before the state legislature, for the Republicans of Moultonborough, when it seemed imprudent to employ one almost a boy to manage a case such as was generally committed to lawyers of large experience; but the result justified the selection. In June, 1859, he was appointed, by Gov. Ichabod Goodwin, law reporter of the New Hampshire supreme court, and published five volumes of the reports. He entered the service of the Republican party with great earnestness at its beginning, in 1856, and gave much of his time in the office of the state committee, to assist the movement during its early campaigns, becoming secretary first, and afterwards chairman in 1864 and 1865. The election of 1863 took place during the darkest period of the war, following the battle of Fredericksburg, when gloom and almost despair overshadowed every town in the state. It was evident to all that a draft was impending, and it seemed as though the ability of the towns and the state had been exhausted, and no more money could be raised or volunteers be found to enlist. All those opposed to the war were united and active in the Democratic party, and were aided by those Republicans who were alarmed by the burden of debt, and by those who would compromise the safety of the Union sooner than expose themselves to be drafted to save it. It was the most important political campaign ever conducted in the state, and brought the executive ability of Mr. Chandler prominently into view, and led to his future advancement. It was the first campaign in which a woman took a leading part. Miss Anna Dickinson was employed as one of the speakers in the canvass, and there commenced her career on the platform. She had before often spoken in anti-slavery meetings. President Lincoln watched this campaign more closely, probably, than any other outside his own state. It was the opening election of the year following a depressing defeat, and he felt that to lose it at such a critical time would be as disastrous in its effects upon the army and the country as the loss of a great battle. It was his interest in this election which first brought Mr. Chandler to his attention, and there is no doubt that he noted when, in the New Hampshire Republican state convention, in 1864, Mr. Chandler offered the following resolution, which was unanimously and by acclamation adopted:—
"Resolved, That Abraham Lincoln, by the exercise, during the severest and most dangerous crisis in the nation's history, of unequaled sagacity and statesmanship, and that moderation and prudence which experience has shown to be the highest wisdom; by his spotless integrity of personal character, above reproach and above suspicion; and by his slowly formed yet unalterable determination that the triumph of the constitution and the Union over secession and rebellion shall be the final triumph of liberty throughout the nation,—has received and merited the abiding confidence of the people to an extent never awarded any other public man since Washington; that the best interests of the country demand that the complete destruction of the rebellion and the restoration of peace, prosperity, and the Union, should be achieved under his administration of the government; and that we therefore declare Abraham Lincoln to be the people's choice for re-election to the presidency in 1864."
The adoption of the resolution, and the conduct of the canvass in the spring of 1864 on the basis of Mr. Lincoln's renomination, resulted in a very large Republican majority; and Mr. Chandler, who had been a member of the legislature of 1862, and, at the age of twenty-seven, had been elected speaker of the house of representatives, in 1863, was again chosen speaker; and in August, 1864, presided over the legislature in which occurred the eventful conflict and riotous disturbances over the veto by Governor Gilmore of the bill allowing soldiers in the field the right to vote. Mr. Chandler gained his earliest reputation for persistency, coolness, and moral courage in this celebrated conflict, so well remembered by the Republicans of the state.
In November, 1864, he was employed by the Navy Department as special counsel to prosecute the Philadelphia navy-yard frauds, and on March 9, 1865, was appointed, by President Lincoln, the first solicitor and judge-advocate-general of that department. On June 17, 1865, he was appointed first assistant secretary of the treasury, with Secretary Hugh McCulloch, and held the office over two years, resigning November 30, 1867. After his resignation, he practiced law in New Hampshire and in Washington, and was solicitor of the National Life Insurance Company, and counsel and one of the proprietors of the Washington-Market Company, and engaged in some mining and railroad enterprises.
It has been at various times falsely charged that Mr. Chandler received large fees for prosecuting cotton claims before the department in which he had been an officer. This charge is entirely false. He has never prosecuted, before any forum, any such claims, and the following letter to him, written at a time when Hon. George G. Fogg made such charges against him, proves the correctness of his conduct:—
Washington, D. C., January 25, 1868.
Hon. Hugh McCulloch, Secretary of the Treasury,—