534 



MORTON, OLIVER P. 



received his education chiefly at the Wayne 

 County Seminary and Miami University at Ox- 

 ford, O., which he entered in 1843, and left 

 two years after. He studied law at Centre- 

 ville, Ind., and began practice there in 1847. 

 During the next 10 years he rose to a leading 

 position at the bar of Indiana. He was elected 

 a circuit- judge in 1852, but remained on the 

 bench only one year. He was a Democrat in 

 early life, but, having strong antislavery sym- 

 pathies, left the party after the repeal of the 

 Missouri Compromise in 1854. In 1856 he was 

 the Republican candidate for Governor, and 

 made a brilliant canvass of the State with his 

 opponent, Ashbel P. Willard. He was defeat- 

 ed, and returned to his law-practice at Centre- 

 ville. In 1860 he was nominated on the Re- 

 publican ticket for the office of Lieutenant- 

 Governor, and during the canvass that followed 

 took strong ground in favor of the coercion of 

 the Southern States into obedience to the Con- 

 stitution. He was elected, and took his seat 

 as President of the Senate on the 14th of Jan- 

 uary, 1861, but two days after he took the 

 oath of office as Governor, Henry S. Lane, who 

 was elected to that position, having been cho- 

 sen United States Senator. During the war, 

 Governor Morton was very active and zealous 

 in raising troops and supporting the efforts of 

 the Government for the suppression of the 

 Southern resistance. In 1863 he was opposed 

 by a Democratic Legislature, which contem- 

 plated taking the military power out of his 

 hands and placing it in those of four Democrats. 

 These efforts were defeated by the withdrawal 

 of all the Republican members, leaving both 

 Houses without a quorum. The Governor 

 then borrowed money on his own responsibil- 

 ity to carry on the Government of the State. 

 The Democratic Attorney-General gave an 

 opinion that there was no authority for draw- 

 ing money from the Treasury to pay State 

 bonds, and that a special appropriation was 

 necessary, and this position was sustained by 

 the Supreme Court. The object was to com- 

 pel a calling of the Legislature, but the Gov- 

 ernor raised the needed funds for meeting the 

 obligations of the State on his own personal 

 responsibility. The obligations which he in- 

 curred were afterward assumed by the State. 

 Through them he was enabled to carry on the 

 Government and continue his support of the 

 Federal authority, in spite of the opposition 

 of Democratic Legislature and courts. In 

 1864 he was elected Governor by a majority 

 of nearly 21,000 over Joseph E. McDonald. 

 In November, 1865, having been stricken with 

 paralysis, he visited Europe. After an ab- 

 sence of about five months, without fully re- 

 gaining his health, he returned and resumed 

 his executive duties. Soon after his return he 

 delivered, seated in his chair, a political speech 

 of which more than a million copies were cir- 

 culated in pamphlet form. In January, 1867, 

 he was elected to the United States Senate for 

 the. term. ending in 1873, and he was reelected 



for the term ending in 1879. He at once took 

 a foremost position in the Senate, and was soon 

 recognized as the leader of the Republican 

 party. He took a conspicuous part in every 

 prominent debate, and served on the Commit- 

 tees on Foreign Relations, Agriculture, Mili- 

 tary Affairs, Private Land Claims, and Privi- 

 leges and Elections. He labored zealously to 

 secure the passage of the Fifteenth Amend- 

 ment in Congress, and was instrumental in 

 securing its ratification by the Legislature of 

 Indiana after certain Democratic members had 

 attempted to defeat it by resigning, in order to 

 render a quorum impossible. In the Senate 

 he was the champion of the administration in 

 the matter of the San Domingo Treaty, and in 

 acknowledgment of his services, President 

 Grant tendered him the English mission; but 

 Senator Morton declined the honor, for the 

 reason that the Legislature of Indiana would 

 elect a Democrat as his successor in the 

 Senate. 



During his career in the Senate, Senator 

 Morton favored a stern policy toward the 

 South. He was the champion of the Fifteenth 

 Amendment, the advocate of the Ku-Klux leg- 

 islation and the Force Acts, and the consistent 

 opponent of amnesty. He was exceedingly 

 popular among the Republicans of the South, 

 and the trusted counselor of the Southern 

 Republican leaders. In the Republican Na- 

 tional Convention, held in Cincinnati in June, 

 1876, Senator Morton's name was present- 

 ed for the first place on the ticket by R. W. 

 Thompson, the present Secretary of the Navy. 

 The Senator received 124 votes on the first 

 ballot, 111 on the second, 113 on the third, 108 

 on the fourth, 95 on the fifth, and 85 on the 

 sixth. On the seventh ballot Hayes was nom- 

 inated, receiving 384 votes, while 851 were for 

 Elaine and 21 for Bristow. Morton received 

 the second highest number of votes cast on the 

 first ballot, and the third highest on the second, 

 third, and fourth ballots. The number of can- 

 didates on each of these ballots was eight. Dur- 

 ing the latter part of bis Senatorial career, 

 Senator Morton made earnest efforts to secure 

 an amendment of the law governing the count- 

 ing of the electoral vote for President ; and he 

 rendered valuable service as a member of the 

 Electoral Commission created to settle the dis- 

 puted questions growing out of the presidential 

 election of 1876. Senator Morton was over six 

 feet tall and had a powerful frame. In walk- 

 ing he was obliged to use crutches or canes, and 

 he had to be carried between the lobby of tie 

 Senate-chamber and his carriage. "When speak- 

 ing, especially at any considerable length, it 

 was necessary for him to sit. He was a man of 

 vigorous intellect and iron will, and great en- 

 ergy. He was a popular orator, his eloquence 

 being marked by sturdy force and directness, 

 rather than by elegance. He was the young- 

 est, excepting Sprague, of Rhode Island, of the 

 famous war Governors, and was regarded as 

 the strongest. 



