William Almon Wheeler by Herbert C. Hallas

Author:Herbert C. Hallas [Hallas, Herbert C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, 19th Century, State & Local, Middle Atlantic (DC; DE; MD; NJ; NY; PA), Biography & Autobiography, Political
ISBN: 9781438448114
Google: ozmsL3Gg-IgC
Publisher: SUNY Press
Published: 2013-09-26T03:37:02+00:00

Stewart L. Woodford. Brady-Handy Collection, Library of Congress.

Before another state could be called, Marshall Jewell’s name was withdrawn and a motion was made to suspend the rules and nominate Wheeler by acclamation. The convention roared its approval and the convention chairman could barely be heard above the din announcing that William Almon Wheeler had been nominated to run as the Republican candidate for vice president.25

News of Wheeler’s victory immediately flashed along the telegraph wires throughout the nation and reached Bill at the home of his brother-in-law, Henry W. Belcher, in Garrison at 5 p.m. Wheeler was mobbed by a group of well-wishers from the Military Academy at West Point led by General James H. Hall. Prominent local Republicans also descended on the house to extend their hearty congratulations to the congressman from Malone. They included Assemblyman Hamilton Fish Jr. from Putnam County, the son of President Grant’s former secretary of state, and representatives from the distinguished Livingston family, William Livingston and Frank Livingston. In the evening, Republican glee clubs from Garrison and Cold Springs arrived to serenade Wheeler. At 8 p.m. the Cold Spring Coronet Band led several hundred people in a torchlight parade from the Garrison railroad station to the Belcher residence where more music was played and fireworks were detonated in Bill’s honor.

From the balcony of the house, he thanked the crowd, referred to the Republican Party as “the conscience of the country,” and predicted a “splendid victory.” He wasted no time in attacking the Democratic Party for being “false to its promises, false to its duties,” and false to the opportunity it had while in control of the House of Representatives in Washington, to institute reforms. When he was finished speaking and came downstairs to shake everyone’s hand, more cannons and Roman candles were discharged. The festivities lasted until 10 p.m.26

The North Country also celebrated Wheeler’s nomination with bells, bonfires, bands, fireworks, and cannons firing salutes of thirty-eight guns—Colorado was set to become the thirty-eighth state to enter the Union on August 1. Triangular transparencies with the names of Hayes and Wheeler were raised and carried in front of processions that marched through the streets of Ogdensburg and Malone.27

Wheeler’s game plan to win the presidential nomination had been sound. If a few key states had broken for him instead of for Hayes, Wheeler might have been the man chosen to head the national GOP ticket. When friends asked him how he felt about losing the presidential nomination to Hayes, Bill told them, “God’s hand is in this work, and the choice for first place is better as it is.”28

As he traveled on the train back north to Malone from Garrison, Wheeler had time to think about how far he had come in life since his poverty-stricken childhood. As the cars rocked back and forth, he began to prepare himself for the biggest political campaign that he had ever faced in his fifty-seven-year-old life, and the first one he had ever engaged in without his wife, Mary, by his side.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.