Chapter 44

Chapter 44
pages 246 - 255

THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. GOV. FORD.

     Not so much for the figure Gov. Ford cut in the settling of Peoria, as for the figure he cut in the state at large, I have concluded to devote a chapter to his biography.
     Mrs. Ford, the mother of Gov. Ford, found herself, in 1802, near Brownsville, in Pennsylvania, with a large family of small children, with no husband, and nothing with which to support her children. She had had two husbands, the first one by the name of Forquer, who was killed by a coal-bank falling on him. Her second husband, Robert Ford, disappeared, and was reported to have been killed by robbers. Among her first set of children was a boy named George Forquer, who was born near Brownsville, Pa., in 1794, and afterward became somewhat conspicuous in the history of Illinois. One of the second set of children was the subject of this memoir, and was born near Uniontown, Pa., in the year 1800.
     The Spanish government at this time had possession of Louisiana, which included Missouri, and, to induce emigration to that section, gave lands gratis to actual settlers. To avail herself of this boon, Mrs. Ford, in 1804, started with all her children in a keel-boat from Brownsville to St. Louis. But when she reached St. Louis, she found, too late, that the country had been ceded to the United States, and she could get no land without buying it, and the money to buy with she had not. At St. Louis her family got sick and were delayed; but before the year was out they were settled in Illinois, near where the town of Waterloo has since been built. Mrs. Ford must have been a superior woman, for, though extremely poor and in a neighborhood where schools were exceedingly scarce, she did give these boys a respectable education. About the other children I know nothing. Reynolds, in his ' Pioneer History of Illinois', tells the remarkable story that, when Forquer was nine years old and Ford five, they "walked upwards of three miles to school." I suppose this is a mistake as to the date. The distance was nothing unusual for those times, had the boys been a little older. But both the boys had to work out the most of the time to get bread and meat for the family. Forquer, for this purpose, was hired out at the early age of nine years, and I know a man who has seen Gov. Ford, when a lad, officiating as a hostler and servant about a small country tavern. Forquer, when old enough for that purpose, went over to St. Louis and learned the carpenter and joiner's trade, and worked at it several years after he got through with his apprenticeship. How the mother and children were supported in the mean time, or whether the other boys ever worked any, has not been handed down to me. That they were of no great account I infer from the fact that Ford was always ready to talk about George, but none of the others.
     Mr. Forquer seems to have flourished as a carpenter and joiner, for in 1818 he came over to Illinois and purchased the land on which Waterloo is located, and he and Hon. Daniel P. Cook laid out said town. This was, no doubt, a good move, but he branched out into merchandise— a thing he did not understand—and went under, and was harassed for years with debt.
     At this time there was a debating club in his county, and he participated in the debates, and here discovered a fact that he had not known before, that he was by nature pretty well qualified for a public speaker. At that time, several talented men who were lawyers, orators, and politicians, ruled the destinies of Illinois. With these men he had become acquainted; a new scene burst upon his theretofore circumscribed vision; he became egregiously aspiring; he laid aside the yard-stick and jack-plane, and betook himself to law-books and political tracts. He ran for office at nearly every election, and, whether a candidate or not, he made political speeches to practice oratory. His ambition was considered audacious, yet he generally succeeded, and learned to be a pretty good public speaker.
     He held the offices of attorney-general, secretary of state, register of a land-office, and member of the state Senate, after I came to the state. He labored hard to get into Congress, but failed; soon after which his health gave way and he went the way of all the world. Such was his ambition and his determined will that, had he lived a little longer, he would undoubtedly have become governor of the state, or a member of the United States Senate.
     This is the man that the poor laborer, Thomas Ford, had for a foster-father, as being an older brother and the father being dead. When Forquer became a merchant, he sent Ford to Transylvania University for a thorough education; but before the first year was out, the former broke, and the latter came home for want of funds to pay his way. Hon. Daniel P. Cook, a young man of high promise, who became son-in-law to Gov. Edwards, and a member of Congress, had become acquainted with the family while he and Forquer were figuring with their town-lots, and, sympathizing with Ford's disappointment in not being able to go through college, advised him to read law without it, and at once become a lawyer. This advice Ford took, hoping, probably, that Cook would furnish the money; but this not happening, and not liking to go to work again, he read law awhile, and taught school a while, until he was able to obtain license to practice law. Which got license first, he or Forquer, I am not able to tell; but Forquer's ambition bore him ahead, leaving Ford in the background. In 1823, the latter got license to practice law. Although Cook failed to furnish Ford money, he, no doubt, furnished him influence, for in 1829, his father-in-law, Gov. Edwards, appointed him state's attorney of the judicial district in which he lived.
     In 1831, Gov. Reynolds appointed him to the same office for the northern circuit, including nearly all the northern half of the state. In 1835, as before stated (Chap. XV), he was elected Circuit Judge; in 1840, a Judge of the Supreme Court; and in 1842, Governor of the State of Illinois.
     Although Ford was more diffident than Forquer, and did not show his ambition so much, he was, nevertheless, ambitious,* and was successful—not as fast as his brother Forquer, but as fast as his abilities could sustain him. His clear perception, and plain, unassuming manners, enabled him to make a popular judge; but his administration as governor of the state was a perfect failure, and this he understood as well as others; and in his 'History of Illinois' (page 271), he explains why he failed, in the following words: "Mr. Snyder had been nominated because he was a leader of the party. Mr. Snyder died,

[* It was the opinion of some that modesty and diffidence were inherent with Gov. Ford, and that wherever he exhibited ambition he was spurred to it by Forquer; and I have seen some evidence of his native diffidence. Although the practice of the law and the office of judge have a great tendency to wear out a man's native diffidence, I remember that when he was sworn into office as governor in the presence of the General Assembly, and undertook to read to them his inaugural address, he could not do it. He had read but a small way when his voice failed, and he sunk down on the seat or table upon which he was standing. Hon. John Calhoun (of candle-box notoriety), rose as the governor sank down, and took the paper from his hand and read it with a clear, strong voice. Ford, however, had learned usually to summon up courage enough to argue a case or give a decision.]

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and I was nominated, not because I was a leader, for I was not, but because I was believed to have no more than a very ordinary share of ambition; because it was doubtful whether any of the leaders could be elected, and because it was thought I would stand more in need of support from leaders than an actual leader would. To this cause, and perhaps there were others, I trace the fact, which will hereafter appear, that I was never able to command the support of the entire party which elected me." Although the above-quoted paragraph speaks the truth with regard to himself, it does not speak the whole truth. Although he had the ability to make a very respectable judge, he was not man enough to rule Illinois in times so turbulent, nor were there many men who could have done any better; yet, I venture the assertion that his competitor, Gen. Duncan, was the man that could have done that thing. l am very sure that Gen. Hardin, had he been in that office, would have made the Mormons and anti-Mormons of Hancock, and the vigilants and anti-vigilants and scoundrels of every grade in Massac, tremble before the majesty of the law.
     The trouble was, that, although Ford had accepted the services of a dishonest clique to get into the governor's chair, he intended, when once in, to govern the state patriotically and independently, without being controlled by them. But they proved too strong for him. When he found they would not aid him in putting down the Mormon and anti-Mormon war, he employed Gen. Hardin and other Whigs to do it. This created so great an outcry throughout the democratic ranks, that he became alarmed, and he let the people of Massac cut each other's throats, and drown each other in the Ohio, until they quit of their own accord; and when the second Mormon disturbance broke out, he was afraid to call on Whisks for aid, for fear of losing caste with his party. And when he was in a state of quasi siege in Nauvoo, and deemed his life in danger, he appealed to Mr. Smith Frye, a Democrat of some standing in Peoria, to come with a force to his relief. Frye at first talked of raising a party for that purpose, but finally abandoned the project, and left the governor to his fate. I know Whigs in Peoria who, if they had been appealed to by the governor, under those circumstances, would have hastened to his assistance with a sufficient force to relieve him.
     But from what Ford says about how he got into the governor's chair, no correct idea can be formed. By what he says, the idea would be taken up that he had no ambition for office, but, his party having nominated him, he patriotically accepted the nomination. The facts were the following: He belonged to the democratic party; but there was much knavery practiced by that party in those days (and by all parties, I believe, now-a-days), which he heartily disapproved. He also became convinced that he had obtained as high a position as he could obtain, without throwing himself into the ring of intriguers, and getting their aid in obtaining a nomination to a higher position.
     At that time there was a ring of young men, who generally ruled the destiny of the state. These young men had procured the nomination of Hon. A. W. Snyder for the office of governor. I know not whether Ford desired that nomination, and felt chagrined because he did not get it, or whether he had been disappointed in not getting a seat in Congress; but about this time he had a long conversation with me, in which he avowed the doctrine that a man, to be able to benefit his country, must get into power, and to do this he must adopt such means as would put him into power; that the day had gone by when quiet, old-fashioned virtue would procure for a man a position in which he could display his patriotism; that to refuse to adopt the only means of getting into power was to yield all power into the hands of selfish and dissolute men; that the only means left for honest men to purge the government was to use the governing cliques to get into power, and then to purge out their corruptions, and, if need be, them with them. This conversation was not had with reference to the then pending election for governor, for that was looked upon as a fixed fact; but soon after this Snyder died. What was to be done? It was rather late to get together another convention of the party, and should it be done, perhaps the governing clique might not be able to govern the convention so as to get a man they could control; or, peradventure, they might nominate a man whom the whig candidate (a very strong man) might beat. A meeting of the clique was had, and the determination come to run Ford without the indorsement of a convention, provided the necessary assurances could be obtained. A committee of two was sent to Ottawa, where Ford was then holding court. A long interview was had with him. What pledges were obtained, or whether any, I never knew; but as soon as the interview was ended, it was advertised all over the state that Ford was the democratic candidate for governor. It was a wise movement, for the democratic party was not strong at that particular juncture, and the Whigs were running a very strong candidate; but Ford's character was fair, and he had not been much concerned in the questions that had operated unfavorably upon the democratic party, and success attended him.
     The four years which Gov. Ford spent as governor of Illinois were the worst spent four years of his life. He left the office bankrupt, and with greatly impaired health. In pecuniary matters, he was incorruptible; but it was said that the harpies about the capital got him into habits that were injurious to him, and probably shortened his days. After his return to Peoria, I had a conversation with him, in which he appeared to be deeply impressed with the idea that his course for the last few years had been a bad one, and that he intended a thorough reformation. In this I have no doubt of his sincerity; but it was too late, and now he, who ought to be upon the bench of the Supreme Court of the state, has for several years been in Springdale Cemetery.
     A short summary of Gov. Ford: He was a small man, with features indicating one from the lower, rather than the upper, walks of life. His nose was rather sharp, and bent a little to one side. He was plain and unpretending in his manners. He was no orator, in the common acceptation of the word; but what he said was to the point. He was not a great man, but a smart little man. He was not a great gun, but a small gun that shot quick, and shot straight. He reasoned well, not so much by any show of logic, as by clear, distinct statements. Though his mind was not far-reaching, it was never in a cloud. Whatever he saw, he saw clearly. He had a tolerably clear perception of the ludicrous, and some times told anecdotes, but not original ones; and so far was he from aspiring to originality in such matters, that he would, in telling a story, quote his authority, as, Mr. Lincoln, or Col. Strode, or some one else having a reputation for telling stories, says so and so; or, I will tell you one of Mr. Lincoln's, or Strode's stories.
     He was not religious, in the common acceptation of the word; yet, up to his forty-second year, he lived as pure a life as any man I knew. Like Lincoln, he belonged to no church, opposed no church, and refrained from talking on religious topics. I never did know what were his opinions on those subjects. I supposed him to be an infidel, in the common acceptation of that word; but this I do not assert to have been the case.

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