O: Oglesby through Otis

See below for annotated biographies of anti-slavery Whigs. Source: Scribner’s Dictionary of American Biography; Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography.

OGLESBY, Richard James (July 25, 1824-April 24, 1899), governor of Illinois and senator. His father was a farmer, owned a few slaves, and was a member of the Kentucky legislature. In 1833 his parents, two brothers, and a sister died of the cholera and the family property was sold, including the slaves. He maintained that it was the sale of these slaves, especially of Uncle Tim, whom he later bought and freed, that made him an abolitionist.

(Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Volume 7, Pt. 1, pp. 648-649)

Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Volume 7, Pt. 1, pp. 648-649:

OGLESBY, RICHARD JAMES (July 25, 1824-April 24, 1899), governor of Illinois and senator, was born in Oldham County, Kentucky, the son of Jacob and Isabella (Watson) Oglesby. His father was a farmer, owned a few slaves, and was a member of the Kentucky legislature. In 1833 his parents, two brothers, and a sister died of the cholera and the family property was sold, including the slaves. He maintained that it was the sale of these slaves, especially of Uncle Tim, whom he later bought and freed, that made him an abolitionist. An uncle took the orphaned boy to Decatur, Illinois, where he attended the district school a few months before he began his struggle for a livelihood as farmer, rope-maker, and carpenter. He studied law in the office of Silas W. Robbins of Springfield, was admitted to the bar in 1845, and practised his profession at Sullivan, III., until the outbreak of the Mexican War. During the war he served as first lieutenant in the 4th Illinois Volunteers, participating in the battles of Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo. After the war he resumed his law practice and attended a course of lectures at the law school in Louisville. In 1849 he went to California to dig for gold and returned to his profession at Decatur in 1851. Five years later he went abroad for twenty months' travel in Europe, Egypt, and the Holy Land.

On his return to Decatur he entered politics. He had been a Whig and had served as a Scott elector in 1852 but joined the Republican party upon its formation. In 1858 he ran for Congress on the Republican ticket and was defeated by only a small majority in a strong Democratic district. In 1860 he was elected to the state Senate, but he served only one term, resigning at the outbreak of the Civil War to become colonel of the 8th Illinois Volunteers. He served as brigade commander under Grant at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson and was severely wounded at the battle of Corinth. In April 1863 he returned to the army and was promoted to the rank of major-general. He resigned in May 1864. In November 1864 he was elected governor of Illinois on the Republican ticket. He was an ardent advocate of Lincoln's war policies; however, later he denounced Johnson bitterly and sent a formal demand to Washington for action against him. During his administration, Illinois ratified the Thirteenth and the Fourteenth Amendments and repealed her "Black Laws." Further enactments provided for a home for the children of deceased soldiers, a school for the feeble-minded, the location of the Illinois industrial college at Urbana, and the construction of a southern Illinois penitentiary. At the end of his term he returned to his law practice, but in 1872 he was again the Republican nominee for governor, the party realizing that he was the only Republican who could carry the state. There was an understanding, however, that the lieutenant-governor should succeed to the governorship immediately after inauguration and that Oglesby in turn should receive election to the United States Senate. A few days after his inauguration, therefore, he was elected to succeed Lyman Trumbull. As senator, he served as chairman of the committee on public lands and on the committees of Indian affairs, pensions, and civil service. As a member of the pensions committee, he was an earnest champion of the soldiers' interests. He retired at the end of his term in the Senate. In 1884 the Republican party nominated him governor by acclamation, and he was elected, the first man in Illinois to receive that honor three times. During this administration his general policies were carried out in laws providing for a soldiers' and sailors' home, a home for juvenile delinquents, and the creation of various pension funds. In 1889 he retired to his home at "Oglehurst," Elkhart, III. In 1891 he was nominated for the Senate, but he failed of election.

The last years of his life were spent in comparative quiet. He was married twice: to Anna White in 1859 and, after her death in 1868, to Emma (Gillet) Keyes in 1873. He was a fine looking man with a bluff, friendly manner that appealed to the people. This, added to his wit and good humor, his sincerity and enthusiasm, and his ability to speak to the people in the vernacular, made him an excellent stump speaker, and as such he acquired considerable fame. He believed in the people and in their ability to govern themselves; in return, he was dearly beloved by them, to whom he was known as ''Uncle Dick."

[Correspondence in possession of Illinois State Historical Library, Urbana, and of his son, John G. Oglesby, Elkhart; J. M. Johns, Personal Recollections of Early Decatur (1912); The Bench and Bar of Illinois, ed. by J. M. Palmer (1899), volume II; The Biographical Encyclopedia of Illinois, ed. by Charles Robsen (1875); G. B. Raum, History of Illinois Republicanism (1900); John Moses, Illinois, Historical and Statistical, volume II (1892); A. C. Cole, The Era of the Civil War (1919); E. L. Bogart, The Industrial State (1920); Illinois State Register (Springfield), April 25, 1899.]

E. B. E.



ORTH, Godlove Stein, 1817-1882, lawyer, diplomat. Member of the anti-slavery faction of the Whig Party. Republican Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana. U.S. Congressman December 1863-March 1871, December 1873-March 1875. Voted for Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution, abolishing slavery, establishing citizenship, due process and equal protections, and establishing voting rights for African Americans.

(Appletons’, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 594-595; Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Vol. 7, Pt. 2, p. 60; American National Biography, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, Vol. 16, p. 772; Congressional Globe)

Biography from Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 594-595:

ORTH, Godlove Stoner, statesman, born near Lebanon, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, 22 April, 1817; died in Lafayette, Indiana, 16 December, 1882. He was a descendant of Balthazer Orth, a German, who in 1742 purchased of John Thomas and Richard Penn, the proprietors of Pennsylvania, 282 acres of land in Lebanon County, where on the birthplace of Godlove Orth was soon afterward built and still stands. His Christian name is a translation of the German Gottlieb, which was borne by many of his ancestors. He was educated at Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1839, and began to practice in Indiana. He was a member of the Senate of that state from 1842 till 1848, and served one year as its presiding officer. In the latter year he was presidential elector on the Taylor and Fillmore ticket. He represented Indiana in the Peace Conference of 1861. The part that he took in its debates gave him a wide reputation, and his definitions of “state rights” and “state sovereignty” have been quoted by Hermann von Holst with approval. In 1862, when a call was made for men to defend Indiana from threatened invasion, he organized a company in two hours, and was made captain and placed in command of the U. S. Ram “Horner,” in which he cruised in the Ohio River, and did much to restore order on the borders of Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. He was elected and re-elected to Congress as a Republican, serving from 7 December, 1863, till 3 March, 1871. Two years later he was chosen a member of the 43d Congress, and served from 1 December, 1873, till 3 March, 1875. During his long Congressional career he was the chairman and member of many important committees. He urged the vigorous prosecution of the war, and voted for the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution. After his return to Congress in 1866 he began to labor to secure from European governments the recognition of the right of expatriation, and lived to see it recognized in the treaties of the United States with most of the other powers. In 1868, at the request of the administration, he undertook the management of the legislation that looked to the annexation of Santo Domingo. At the same session he framed the “Orth Bill,” which reorganized the diplomatic and consular system, and much of which is still in force. Early in 1871 a recommendation, urging his appointment as minister to Berlin, was signed by every member of the U. S. Senate and House of Representatives, and President Grant at one time intended to comply with the request, but circumstances arose that rendered the retention of George Bancroft desirable. Mr. Orth soon afterward declined the office of commissioner of internal revenue. In 1876 he was the Republican candidate for governor, but withdrew from the canvass. He had frequently been a member of the Congressional Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in March, 1875, was appointed minister to Austria, after declining the mission to Brazil. He returned to the United States in 1877, and was again elected to Congress, serving from 18 March, 1879, until his death. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 594-595.

Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Volume 7, Pt. 2, pp. 60-61:

ORTH, GODLOVE STEIN (April 22, 1817-December 16, 1882), politician, congressman, was born near Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a descendant of Balthazel Orth who is said to have emigrated to Pennsylvania with the Moravian leader Zinzendorf in 1742. After attending the local schools and Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, he entered the law office of James Cooper. In 1839 he moved to Lafayette, Indiana, and was admitted to the bar. The following year, in October, he married Sarah Elizabeth Miller of Gettysburg. In the campaign of 1840 he made his debut a s a political speaker, stumping Indiana for Harris on. This activity brought him prominence, and in 1843 the Whigs elected him to the state Senate, where he served until 1848. In 1845, as a result of discord in the Loco Foco ranks, he was elected president of the Senate. His name was presented as a candidate for the gubernatorial nomination in 1846, but he withdrew in favor of Joseph Marshall. Although he thought the nomination of Taylor on the Whig ticket a mistaken political move, he served as a presidential elector for Taylor and stumped northern Indiana. His wife died in 1849 and on August 28, 1850, he marri ed Mary A. Ayers of Lafayette. After the enactment of the Compromise Measures of 1850, like many anti-slavery Whigs, he joined the Know-Nothings, but in 1852 campaigned for Scott. He was president of the Indiana Know-Nothing Council for 1854-55, subsequently joined the People' s party of Indiana, and out of this helped organize the Republican party in the state.

In 1861, Governor O. P. Morton [ q.v.] appointed him one of the five Indiana representatives to the Peace Conference in Washington. Prejudiced before going, he returned convinced that conflict was inevitable and advised preparation for war. When Governor Morton called for volunteers in July 1862, Orth reported in Indianapolis twenty-four hours la ter as elected captain of some two hundred men. The danger of invasion over, the company was mustered out, August 20, 1862. In this year Orth was elected to the Thirty-eighth Congress. He served continuously through the Forty-first, but was not a candidate for reelection in 1870. In Congress he urged vigorous prosecution of the war and later, stringent reconstruction measures. He voted for the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, opposing the later anti-Chinese legislation as contrary to the latter. Holding at first a position halfway between the Radicals and Johnson, he slowly gravitated toward the extreme Radicals when he became convinced that Johnson was as unwilling to compromise as they. Following the war, his interest turned to foreign affairs. In 1866 he began a fight for recognition of the right of expatriation. Two years la ter he undertook the management of the House legislation looking toward the annexation of Santo Domingo, but opposed the recognition of Cuban belligerency a s unprofitable. In 1868, also, he framed the Orth Bill which made certain changes in the diplomatic and consular services. In the Forty-first Congress he was one of th e small group who brought about the election 6f James G. Blaine to the speakership. He was recommended in 1871 for appointment as United States minister at Berlin, but it was decided to continue George Bancroft in that post, and Orth was offered, but refused, the commissionership of internal revenue. He was returned to the Forty-third Congress but was not a candidate in 1874. In March 1875, after declining the mission to Brazil, he was appointed minister to Austria-Hungary, but resigned in May 1876 to accept the Republican nomination for the governorship of Indiana. Party discord, however, caused him to withdraw in favor of Benjamin Harrison. .In 1878 he reentered politics and was elected to the Forty-sixth Congress. Reelected two years later, he died, at Lafayette, Indiana, before the expiration of his term. Orth recognized the necessity of machinery in politics, and never hesitated to sacrifice principle for party solidarity. No unpopular legislation ever received his vote.

[W. H. Barnes, History of the Thirty-ninth Congress of the U.S. (1867), and The Fortieth Congress of the U.S., volume II (1870); Biographical Directory American Congress (1928); S. M. Cullom, Fifty Years of Public Service (1911); Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of Godlove S. Orth, 47 Congress, 2 Session (1883); C. B. Stover and C. W, Beachem, The Alumni Record of Gettysburg College (1932); Indianapolis Sentinel, December 17, 1882; manuscript letters of Orth in the Indiana State Library; records in the Adjt.-General's Office, Indianapolis; papers in the William H. English Collection, University of Chicago Library]

J.L.N.



OTIS, Harrison Gray (October 8, 1765- October 28, 1848), statesman. As mayor of Boston he refused to interfere with William Lloyd Garrison. He, however, did denounce the abolitionist movement, which he foretold would bring about a division of the Union, but refused to countenance any suppression of free speech on slavery in his city.

Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1936, Volume 7, Pt. 2, pp. 98-100:

OTIS, HARRISON GRAY (October 8, 1765- October 28, 1848), statesman, was born in Boston, the eldest child of Samuel Allyne and Elizabeth (Gray) Otis. His father was brother to James Otis and Mercy Otis Warren [qq.v.], and the youngest child of Colonel James Otis of Barnstable, Massachusetts. His mother was the daughter of Harrison Gray (1711-94), treasurer of the province of Massachusetts Bay, and a refugee Loyalist in the Revolution. " Harry" Otis, as he was always call ed by his friends, inherited the winning personality, charming manners, and full-blooded enjoyment of life that have characterized the Otis family for two hundred years, and which marked him off from the somewhat austere and inflexible type of New England political leader. He also developed a brilliant if somewhat facile intellect. His education at the Boston Latin School was interrupted by the siege of Boston. Entering Harvard College in 1779, he graduated first in the class of 1783 and in later years received the usual appointment to the Harvard corporation and board of overseers that are awarded to successful alumni. His father, a merchant who had speculated heavily during the war, went bankrupt after its close. Harry read law with Judge John Lowell [ q.v. ] and was admitted to the Boston bar in 1786. The same year he commanded a volunteer infantry company during Shays's Rebellion, but did not see action; and made a reputation as an orator when takin g his master's degree at Harvard.

Otis never relinquished his hold of local public affairs. He was thrice elected mayor of Boston (1829-31), and he acquired some notoriety by refusing to interfere with William Lloyd Garrison. He greatly deprecated and publicly denounced the abolitionist movement, which he foretold would bring about a division of the Union, but refused to countenance any suppression of free speech on slavery. In the 1820's Otis became a considerable owner of manufacturing stock, and a convert to protection, although he had been instrumental in defeating the Baldwin tariff of 1820. After flirting with the Jacksonian party he became a stout Whig, and a supporter of Henry Clay. Always an enemy to democracy, he firmly believed that the country was going to the dogs. In 1848, in his eighty-third year, Otis published a pungent letter against the "fifteen gallon" temperance law, and another (Boston Atlas, October 2, 1848), in all the verve of his youthful style, in favor of General Taylor. Old age and debility prostrated him, and before the presidential campaign was over, he died at his Boston residence on October 28, 1848.

[S. E. Morison, The Life and Letters of Harrison Gray Otis, Federalist, 1765-I848 (2 volumes, 1913), with portraits and bibliography; Pubs. Colonial Society of Massachusetts, XIV (1913), 329-50; Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings, XLVIII (1915), 343-51; LX (1927), 24-31, 3 24-30; W. A. Otis, A Genealogical and Historical Memoir of the Otis Family in America (1924); Great Georgian Houses of America (1933), pub. for the benefit of the Architect's Emergency Committee; obituary in Boston Daily Advertiser, October 30, 1848.]

S. E. M.

Sources:
Dictionary of American Biography, Volumes I-X, Edited by Dumas Malone, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1930.

Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volumes I-VI, Edited by James Grant Wilson & John Fiske, New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1888-1889.