Section 22:  Congressional Candidacy

From 1843 till 1846 I continued steadily at work, my practice gradually improving, and began to accumulate some money -- more than I needed for a bachelor life, and I felt myself in easy circumstances and took an active part in all that interested our town and was pretty well read up on the political questions of the time.

Judge Thompson of Erie (afterwards of the Supreme Court) was a candidate for Congress in the fall of 1846 in this district, and my name was spoken of as the Whig candidate. The Judge lived in the only strong Whig county and I in the strongest Democratic county in the district. It was then composed of the counties of Erie, Clarion, Jefferson, Elk, Potter, McKean and Warren, and the Judge had held important positions of trust before that time and had far more experience as a politician and statesman. I was somewhat acquainted with him, at least had met him a number of times. He came down to attend our court after I had been nominated. I met him in the courthouse. One or two of my old Democratic clients wanted to be introduced to him, and just as the court adjourned in the evening, I called him over to the bar where I was and introduced him to half a dozen old Democrats and told them that he was a gentleman and if they were going to elect a Democrat they could not vote for a better man. Before he left town he called on me and said our contest will be purely political and he would tell his friends over the district that he and I were personal friends, and it was agreed that no personalities were to be indulged in and we would speak of each as if we were not candidates. And we did and remained personal friends till the day of his death.

My chances of competing with the Judge successfully were not rosy. I think all or nearly all the counties gave democratic majorities but one. The district covered nearly one-fifth of the State and it was deemed the proper thing for me to do to go into every county and become acquainted with the people. So I hired a gray horse from J. W. Loomis and started to the Brookville court. After remaining there till the Saturday of the court, Gen. Levi Clover, although a Democrat, proposed going with me up to Ridg[e]way where the court would be in session the following week. We got on our horses and started pretty early in the morning up to the Buck Woods -- stopped at a good many houses -- the General was acquainted all along the road, introduced me and electioneered for me more than I did for myself. He was a personal friend and did all for me he could.

That night we arrived at a place called Brandy Camp, six miles below Ridg[e]way, where we found a little tavern kept by a lady called Mrs. Viol, and there we also found Judge Alexander McColmont, his son, John S., Tom Turney and George W. Zeigler, all on the way to the Elk County court. Turney and Zeigler were young lawyers hunting a place to locate. We were a pretty jolly party and spent a pleasant night. We visited a family or two there that evening and did some electioneering. On Sunday morning we all rode up to Ridg[e]way and put up with Esqr. Guliger. He took me to task sharply for traveling on Sunday, and I excused myself as well as I could by telling him we had traveled hard the day before but could not get in, without abusing our horses. However, he gave us a good breakfast and made us comfortable.

About ten o'clock I was startled by the discharge of a gun, and going out to his back yard found the Squire just sitting down his gun after shooting a beef. I asked what he meant by desecrating the Sabbath by butchering. "Oh," he said, "This was a work of necessity"; that we hungry rascals had come in on him and how could he feed us without killing the beef? At any rate he fed us well.

The next morning I came down to the porch to wash (everybody washed there) and as a good many had washed, the big towel was pretty wet, and just as I turned around to find a dry place, a young lady came out with a clean towel and handed it to me. I was in my shirt sleeves with my hands and face wet and my eyes full of water, but I saw enough to know that she was wonderfully handsome and graceful. She was Squire Guliger's daughter and on seeing her afterwards I thought she was as beautiful a girl as I ever saw, and for one raised in the woods as she was, was very ladylike and pleasant. She afterwards went to the City of Mexico and there married a rich gentleman from Philadelphia, but who was residing there, where I heard of her many years afterwards.

I stayed at the Elk County court several days with Gen. Clover forming acquaintances and electioneering.

I think on Wednesday morning, with letters to political friends there, I started alone on my horse to Smethport. The ride was 40 miles, a great portion of the way through woods. I ate dinner at a little hotel by the side of the road. I saw nobody but a woman, I supposed the landlady. She fed me on wild pigeon for meat and it was as tough as an old gander. In all my after life I was careful to refuse wild pigeon unless I knew it to be a spring chicken.

Toward evening I was riding up the head waters of the Clarion River where it was apparently about as large as Little Toby at Clarion. It was all woods and the road began to seem monotonous. About sundown I saw a break in the woods ahead of me and came out right into the town. I stopped with the Sheriff of the county who kept the hotel -- again found nobody but a woman. She said the Sheriff would be in directly, that he was milking the cows, and in a short time I saw him coming in between two buckets of milk. I gave him a letter of introduction and he received me very cordially, but having no hostler he took charge of my horse himself, and I have no doubt fared well for he was a horseman.

That night I saw Richard Chadwick who was Prothonotary of that county and a leading man among the Whigs. I found the Whig party well organized in the county and I thought their arrangement for getting out the vote and conducting the campaign was excellent. In fact, I found earnest, intelligent men who felt the importance of the issues of that day. The next morning the Sheriff (whose name I have forgotten) told me my horse's back was sore but that he would give me his buggy to ride over to Coudersport, the county seat of Potter County, and the harness would not touch the sore and in a day or two he would be well.

On Thursday I rode over a mountain twelve miles and came down to a bridge over the Allegheny. It was then a small stream. I followed it up to Coudersport, stopping on the way with old Dr. Coleman for whom I had a letter of introduction. I found him a very pleasant, genial man and I took dinner with him. I met Mr. Benson at Coudersport, an intelligent young lawyer with whom I spent the night at the hotel. I met a few of the voters but they were not as well organized as at Smethport.

The next day was warm and I returned to Smethport. It began to thunder while I was still on the mountain. A heavy thunder shower seemed to be approaching, and I was trotting my horse as fast as I could, when a rather wild-looking man stepped out of the woods just ahead of me -- had a gun, coonskin cap and moccasins. I called to him to jump into the buggy, which he did, and I found him a pleasant, intelligent fellow, and by a close shave we got to the hotel as the rain came on.

That night I saw some other men of our party and made arrangements for supplying the county with tickets. Next morning, which was Saturday, I started for Warren, on horseback, and had another forty mile ride ahead of me. I stopped a few miles out to see Major Taylor as he was called. He was the father of Mrs. D. Eaton of Franklin, but was raised by Hon. John W. Howe of Franklin. I had to make Kinzua on the Allegheny for dinner and I pushed on through the woods and towards the river through a very poor country. I rode moderately for fear my horse would give out and it was evening when I got to Kinzua where I got dinner and bed my horse. I was still 12 miles from Warren and had to cross the Allegheny without a bridge and it was a much larger stream than where I left it in Potter County. I was told to follow the road down some three miles -- I would there see where it turned into the river opposite an island, and to just follow the track and I would find shallow crossing all the way. But before I got down it got very dark and began to rain. When I thought I had gone down far enough, I got off and felt for the track of the road but could find none. I strained my eyes to see an island, but could see nothing but black darkness -- could see no light or sign of a house. So I turned my horse into the river, which was very low, and sure enough I soon come out on an island. I rode across to the west side and again hunted for a wagon track but found none. I again turned my horse into the river and after going a few rods he plunged down so the water came to the saddle flaps, but he moved on and soon was in shallow water. On that side the river seemed very wide, but at last I came out and found a perpendicular bank as high as my head on the horse. I found there was no road from the margin to the bank so I rode up the river fifteen or twenty rods and came to a break in the bank which I found by the sound of the horse's feet on the stones. I got off and found that I was on the road. I found I had gone too far down the river, but I was safe on the west side.

All this time it was raining pretty fast, and I gave the horse the rein and trotted on down to Warren, which I reached about 9 o'clock, and put up at Mr. Hackney's which happened to be Whig headquarters. I there spent an hour by his kitchen stove and then to bed.

In thinking over my experiences I came to the conclusion that this thing of going to Congress was not all fun, and then the chances were that after all I would not get there. Just at that time if I had the thing all to do over again, I would stay at home and let Congress go to the dogs. But I spent a quiet Sunday there, and on Monday Thos. Struthers, Archie Tanner, Richard Miles and several others went up to Sugar Grove and had a meeting and everything passed off nicely and I made the acquaintance of a good many first class men. Came back the next day and with some company went six miles down the river, and from there up the Brokenstraw to Youngsville and stopped with old Judge Young who was then living. From there a man named Tarbox traveled with me to Lottsville where we stopped an hour and my companion left me and I rode on to Columbus that night -- stayed in a poor tavern there with a Democratic landlord.

Next day I traveled alone, stopping with old Sheriff Grey at Beaverdams and Wattsburg and reaching Erie about dark and stopped at the Reed House, attended a Whig meeting in the courthouse, made a little speech. Hon. John H. Walker made the principal speech.

The next few days we traveled over the county -- had meetings in North East, General McKean's corners and several other places. Friday evening found me at Waterford with Mr. -- now Judge Vincent, who had accompanied me across the county to that place. Next morning I started home pretty tired of the trade of politician. Nearly ten o'clock that night I broke into Col. Kunecies barroom and got a good humored scolding for keeping such bad hours. I had traveled 46 miles. I got my supper, however, and stayed there till Monday morning and then came on home. I had traveled some 420 miles on horseback and so far as I knew had not made five votes.

The time from that to the election was put in in my own county and there I made some votes, and if I had put in all my time among my friends and clients, I might have been elected, for I was beaten by only 228 votes.

I was not greatly surprised or disappointed at the result of the election and found that some four hundred dollars would cover my entire expenses. I had extended my acquaintance, if not improved my reputation as a lawyer, and I expected to increase my practice enough to cover all my expenses, and I did and more in the course of a few years. My political experience perhaps was not very valuable, but it was a break in the monotony of practicing law and may have given me some views of life that I would not have readily acquired at the practice, and I was at a time of life when a knowledge of men and the outside world was useful. At any rate, I did not regret the experiment. I have no doubt now that it was a fortunate turn that I was not elected. Had I become fascinated with politics, I would have lost my interest in the law and probably my practice. Judge Thompson told me, after spending six years in Washington, that if I had beaten him in 1846 it would have been the most fortunate thing that could have happened him, that at the end of that time, after keeping his family, he was not worth a cent, and his practice was gone and at fifty he had to start life anew, while as he said, I was quietly at my practice making and saving money.