party for fourteen years and has been for the past ten years a member of the State
Central Committee. He was a delegate to the National Convention at Philadelphia in
1900. During all the campaigns of the last sixteen years he has been an active cam-
paigner, making speeches for the ticket in all parts of the city and surrounding country.
In 1892 he was elected a member of the State Legislature and in 1895 was appointed
attorney for the Chicago Sanitary Board, resigning a year later upon his nomination
to the office of state's attorney of Cook county. He was elected to this office in 1896
and again in 1900, receiving a majority over his opponent ten thousand greater than
McKinley's majority over Bryan. During his term of office he has handled with great
skill a large number of important cases. On account of the extensive jurisdiction of
the Cook County Criminal Court, he has had an immense amount of personal experi-
ence with cases of world-wide importance, and his successful prosecutions have attracted
great attention.
PART ONE: THE CAMPAIGN. 29
midnight, accompanied by Mrs. Yates, he started for New York,
whence he sailed for Europe. His friends, who had been con-
ferring with him, went to their homes in various parts of the
State. The State convention was almost a year away ; but those
who had participated in the Executive Mansion conference on the
night of the 4th of June went home feeling certain that the con-
test for the Governorship would begin in earnest as soon as
Governor Yates returned from his foreign trip ; and most of them
began at once to lay the groundwork of local organization for
the coming contest.
No man had yet announced himself a candidate for Governor.
Yet as early as the 4th of June it was regarded as reasonably
certain that at least six men would aspire to the nomination —
Governor Yates, who had virtually admitted his candidacy ; L. Y.
Sherman, former Speaker of the House of Representatives :
Charles S. Deneen, State's Attorney of Cook county ; Col. Frank
O. Lowden, a Chicago lawyer ; H. J. Hamlin, Attorney-General
of the State, and Congressman Vespasian Warner. Months
elapsed before all of these men got into the contest ; but they were
the identical men whose names eventually were presented to the
State convention.
The fact that so many men were to seek the nomination spoke
well for the confidence in the success of the party at the polls the
following year. It was well understood that the State convention,
however it might result, or whoever might be the winner in the
coming contest, would mark the end of all differences so far as
the campaign and election were concerned, and that all factions
would unite in the support of the ticket nominated. It was in this
spirit and in this belief that the campaign for the nomination for
Governor had its inception in the early summer of 1903.
The first movement in the direction of organization developed
in northern Illinois in June. Party leaders in that section of
the State, looking back a number of years, discovered that the
northern half of the State, outside of Chicago, had not had its
proper proportion of State offices. The office of Governor had
usually gone to central Illinois, and most of the other offices had
been carried off by the central or southern parts of the Stat^
That section known as "Egypt," so fertile of adroit and success-
ful politicians, though having a much smaller population, had had
more than its share, according to the views of the northern leaders ;
, 30 THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.
for at that moment there were three State officers who resided in
the southern half of the State. It was argued that the time had
arrived when northern Illinois should assert itself and secure
larger recognition from the State convention.
"THE OGLE COUNTY FARMER."
Accordingly, a meeting of party leaders w^as held at Rock-
ford on the 1 8th of June. The counties represented for the most
part were those composing the twelfth and thirteenth Congres-
sional districts. Already the name of Colonel Lowden had been
freely used as a probable candidate, and it was expected that he
would be brought out as the northern Illinois candidate ; for he
owned a magnificent farm and country place near Oregon, and was
therefore almost as much a resident of Ogle county as he was of
Chicago. Many months each year he had spent at " Sinnissippi,"
as his country place w^as named, and he had acquired the dis-
tinction of being called, half in jest, half in earnest, the " Ogle
county farmer." He had an extensive personal acquaintance in
the northern and northwestern counties, and many of the local
leaders in that section thought well of him as a prospective candi-
date for Governor.
About one hundred prominent Republicans attended the Rock-
ford " love feast," as the gathering was called. B. F. Shaw,
editor of the Dixon Telegraph, and one of the founders of the
Republican party in Illinois, presided. All of the speeches made
related to the proposition to secure better representation on the
State ticket for northern Illinois. Among those who made
speeches were State Senator Homer F. Aspinwall, of Freeport :
H. C. Burchard, of Stephenson county ; A. S. Leckie, of Rockford ;
Ralph Eaton, D. W. Baxter, of Ogle county ; Col. Mose Dillon, of
Sterling, and Howard O. Hilton, of Rockford. Mr. Hilton made
reference to the coming out of the candidates for Governor, and
said : "Out this way there is another man. a big, whole-souled
fellow, who has the brains to be a big and broad Governor. I
refer to Col. Frank O. Lowden."
This declaration was greeted with an applause which showed
^e meeting to be clearly a Lowden gathering. For reasons of
policy, however, his friends did not ask an endorsement or a
declaration in his favor. Practically the only action taken at the
meeting was the adoption of the following resolution :
PART ONE: THE CAMPAIGN.
31
HON. HOWLAXD J. HAMLIN.
(SHELBYVILLE.)
.\TTOR.\EY-GENER.^L OF ILLINOIS- — .K CANDIDATE FOR NOMINATION FOR GOVERNOR.
Born on a farm in St. Lawrence county, New York, July 13, 1850. He received
his earlier education at the short terms of a district school, working on the farm
meanwhile. Later he attended Lawrenceville Academy and finished his education at the
State Normal School at Potsdam, New York. At the age of twenty years he came
to Illinois and taught school in Moultrie and Shelby counties, studying law at the
same time under the direction of Anthony Thornton, of Shelbyville, ex-judge of the
Supreme Court, and being admitted to the bar in 1875. He formed, some time later,
a partnership with Judge Thornton, which lasted for many years. Mr. Hamlin has
always been prominent in State politics, having served on the State Central Committee
several terms, and he was a delegate to the National Convention that nominated
William McKinley the first time. At the Republican State Convention of 189S, of
which he was the permanent chairman, he outlined the expansion policy of the party
I Continued at bottom of next page.)
32 THE BREAKIXG OF THE DEADLOCK.
Resolved, That it is our intention to give united support to secure
our just proportion of candidates for office in the State convention. We
recommend that a massmeeting of northern Illinois Republicans be called
the first of September at Rockford, for the purpose of further outlining
and determining the course to be taken by the Republicans of northern
Illinois, to the end that united action may be had.
While the Rockford " love feast " was in progress, Colonel
Lowden was at his country place on the banks of Rock river.
He was entertaining a number of prominent party leaders, includ-
ing Senator Cullom, United States Marshal John C. Ames and
United States District Attorney S. H. Bethea. During the day,
Colonel Lowden and Senator Cullom drove over to Mount Morris,
some miles away, and called on Congressman Hitt. Much
significance was attached to the gathering at " Sinnissippi " that
day ; but when Senator Cullom and his friends got back to
Chicago they declared that Colonel Lowden had not mdicated
whether or not he would be a candidate for Governor. A Chicago
paper had this to say regarding the conference :
" It can be stated that harmony was the keynote of their
political gossip. Various plans to unite the Republican party of
Illinois for the battle of 1904 and carry the State by another
McKinley majority were the chief topics of their discussion.
It was given out that Federal office-holders would take no part
in the coming campaign, and that Senator Cullom has no desire
to be an active participant."
The second Rockford meeting was held on the first of Sep-
(Continued from preceding page.)
that was afterward pursued. That address was one of the most notable of the year;
for it was delivered at a time when the party, on the question of expansion, was still
uncommitted and its policy not deiinitely settled. In an editorial on the speech, the
Chicago Inter Ocean said:
" The most significant of all Mr. Hamlin's utterances was that referring to the
war policy of the administration. Others had spoken of the limitations imposed on
the Government waging a war of humanity, but Mr. Hamlin outlined a policy that
' Would strike the last vestige of Spanish treachery and cruelty from the Western
hemisphere,' and that would mark a new epoch in the history of this country. When
he spoke of Commodore Dewey's raising the stars and stripes in the Philippine islands,
there to stay, the convention went wild with enthusiasm. No other utterance of the
day met with prompter approval and no plank in the platform was more enthusiastic-
ally applauded than that declaring that the United States should hold such conquered
territory as would be advantageous to its interests in time of war and peace. On the
same day W. J. Bryan, speaking at Omaha, declared against retaining Puerto Rico or
the Philippines. Time will show whether he spoke for his party or not, but no one can
doubt where the Republicans of Illinois stand on the question."
Two years earlier (July, 1896) at Vandalia, he made a speech which was circulated
throughout the State as a campaign document, being pronounced a complete and mas-
terful refutation of the Democratic arguments for free silver and free trade.
On May 8, 1900, Mr. Hamlin was nominated for the office of Attorney-General
and was elected at the November election by a majority of eighty-seven thousand votes,
leading the ticket by more than ten thousand votes. In this office he has made an
excellent record.
Mr. Hamlin married Miss Ella York at Windsor, Shelby county, June 8, 1876.
They have four children — Howard B., Joseph and Jesse Y. ("Jack") Hamlin, and
Mrs. Agnes Y. Mertens, wife of Charles R, Mertens.
PART ONE: THE CAMPAIGN.
33
COL. VESPASIAN WARNER.
(CLINTON.)
CANDIDATE FOR THE NOMINATION FOR GOVERNOR.
Born in Mount Pleasant (now Farmer City), Illinois, April 22, 1842, his father
being Dr. John Warner. In the following year the family removed to Clinton. There
Vespasian attended the common and high schools, afterward taking a course at Lom-
bard University, at Galesburg, Illinois. He was reading law in the office of the Hon.
Lawrence Weldon in Clinton when the Civil War broke out and immediately enlisted
as a private in the Twentieth Infantry. He remained in the ranks and carried a
musket until February s, 1862, when he was commissioned a second lieutenant. With
his regiment he saw his first service in Missouri, after which came the Fort Donaldson
campaign, his promotion and the battle of Shiloh. Before this last engagement he had
a premonition of approaching danger which was so strong that he reread and burned
a package of letters from a sweetheart, fearing that they might fall into strange hands.
The precaution was justified when the young officer received a wound in the cheek
(Continued at bottom of next page.)
3
34 THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.
tember as planned. It was a larger gathering than the first one
had been. About a thousand Republicans, representing nearly all
of the counties of the northern part of the State, were present.
B. F. Shaw, of Dixon, was again the presiding officer. Speeches
were made by Mayor Jackson, of Rockford ; State Senator John
C.-McKenzie, of Jo Daviess county; Rev. G. R. Van Horn, of
Rockford, and ex-Congressman Walter Reeves, of Streator. No
attempt was made to boom Colonel Lowden for Governor, but
his friends were in an overwhelming majority. The avowed pur-
pose of the meeting — to secure proper recognition for northern
Illinois — was kept well in view. A committee was appointed to
map out a plan of campaign. This committee organized by
electing E. H. Marsh, of Rockford. chairman ; J. R. Cowley, of
Freeport, secretary, and J. Stewart Lamont, of Apple River, assist-
ant secretary. A majority of the committee were friends of Colonel
Lowden and it was the general understanding that its work
would be directed with a view to promoting his interests in the
contest for the Governorship.
DENEEN'S FRIENDS AT WORK.
Meanwhile ihe friends of Charles S. Deneen were actively at
work in Chicago. Mr. Deneen had not yet said that he would be
a candidate ; but powerful influences were at work pavirtg the
way for his candidacy. The first endorsement he secured at a
public meeting appears to have been embodied in a resolution
adopted at a mass meeting of Republicans of the Seventh ward.
(Continued from preceding page.)
which at first appeared to be very serious. He recovered, however, but the scar is still
slightly visible. Shortly afterward he was offered a detail on the staff of Gen. M. K.
Lawlor, but declined it at his Colonel's request. A little later he was detailed to the
staff of Gen. John E. Smith, and, after serving there for one month, was passed to
the staff of General Logan, serving with that commander around Vicksburg and
throughout the siege. When General Logan became Corps Commander, Lieutenant
Warner remained with his successor. Gen. M. D. Leggett, and served at the battle of
Kenesaw Mountain and in the campaign around Atlanta. He fell under his horse
during this campaign and, just before Sherman cut loose from Atlanta on the march
to the sea, was invalided home. Recovering from his injury after several months of
suffering, he was ordered to the plains in March, 1865, and three months later was
made a captain. He saw considerable service against the Indians in Nebraska and
was breveted major for gallant and meritorious conduct. He was mustered out of the
service July 13, t866. Immediately he began a course in the Harvard Law School,
graduating "in 1868. returning to Clinton and entering into a partnership with Clifton
H. Moore, whose daughter he married. He served as Colonel and Judge-Advocate
General in the Illinois National Guard, through the administrations of Governors
Hamilton, Oglesby and Fifer. Mr. Warner was a presidential elector in 1888 and was
nominated and elected to represent the thirteenth district in the Fifty-fourth Congress
in 1894, being reelected in 1896, 1898, 1900 and 1902. In the Fifty-fifth Congress he
was a member of the Committees on Agriculture and Invalid Pensions, and is now
(1904) chairman of the Committee on the Revision of the Laws.
PART ONE: THE CAMPAIGN. 35
held on the night of June 17, at Sixty-third street and Stony
Island avenue in Chicago. This resolution was as follows :
Whereas, Chicago ought to name the next Republican candidate for
Governor, since neither of the United States Senators resides in Cook
county; and,
Whereas, This great office requires a man of strong vitality, wide
experience in public affairs, unflinching courage, demonstrated by the per-
formance of difficult public duties under adverse circumstances, and integ-
rity beyond suspicion ; and
Whereas, We believe that all these conditions and qualifications are
happily satisfied in the highest degree by our distinguished fellow citizen,
the present State's Attorney of Cook county, Charles S. Deneen ; now,
Therefore, Acting under the constitution of this organization, we rec-
ommend Mr. Deneen to the Republican voters of the Seventh Ward as
a proper candidate for the office of Governor of Illinois, and we pledge
ourselves, when he shall have signified his willingness to stand for the
office, to do all we can to bring about his nomination and to unite with
all other Republicans and Republican organizations of this and other wards
to secure that much-to-be-desired result.
Other Deneen meetings quickly followed. One was held in
the Sixth Ward on 24th of June at Boulevard hall, Forty-seventh
street and Grand boulevard. The Deneen Club of the Sixth
ward was there organized. Among the speakers was Henry
Greenebaum, who had been a campaigner as far back as 1856.
He voiced the spirit of the meeting when he said :
It is grand to see a movement of this kind have its beginning with the
people. To me, one-man power in dictating nominations is as bad as any
despotic government. Let the people say who they want for their candi-
dates and they always select the best men. As a man of the highest char-
acter, of ability and of integrity, of wonderful resources, Mr. Deneen is
my ideal.
On the 28th, the Twenty-first Ward Republican Club gave
Mr. Deneen its endorsement. Resolutions favoring his candi-
dacy were adopted, and in speaking on the resolutions Paul Stein-
brecher said :
We want for the Republican candidate for Governor a man who is
strong in Cook county and popular in the country — a man who is fearless
and who is a fighter, and that man is Charles S. Deneen. The work of the
next legislature will be of vital importance to the people of Cook county,
and we need in the Governor's chair a representative of this county who is
in touch with the issues which mean so much to Chicago.
Thus the Deneen campaign for the nomination for Governor
was well under way before the end of June, although months
passed before he formally entered the list of candidates.
36 THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.
CHAPTER III.
GOVERNOR YATES RETURNS FROM EUROPE — " PRIVATE
JOE" FIFER A POSSIBILITY — YATES'
ANNOUNCEMENT.
All this time things were comparatively quiet in the Yates
camp. The Governor was enjoying a few quiet weeks on the
continent of Europe, and his lieutenants at home awaited his
return before making any important move. The Governor, return-
ing, landed in New York July i8, and he reached Chicago on the
24th. Asked whether or not he would be a candidate for renomina-
tion, he said :
" I will answer that by repeating what Governor Tanner said
when asked the same thing. It was the same time in his term
and he remarked that it should be taken for granted that a man
who is Governor of the third State in the Union would take a
renomination if he could get it. That fits my case."
About this time many of the politicians began talking of
ex-Governor Fifer of Bloomington as a gubernatorial possibility.
The ex-Governor was then a member of the Interstate Commerce
Commission. It was not certain that he would agree to abandon
that desirable and honorable post to enter a fight for an office
whose honors he had already enjoyed. Nevertheless, the Fifer
movement received encouragement and for a time it looked as
if " Private Joe " would be an important factor in the contest.
The second week in August Mr. Fifer returned home from
an outing in Michigan and said that he had given the matter
some attention, but was uncertain whether or not he would become
a candidate. " This going into the field as a candidate about a
year before the convention," he commented. " is something new
to me. We used to hear a little talk about possible candidates for
Governor at the close of the session of the General Assembly,
and then nothing more until the following winter. I think this
is a little earlv for the announcement of a candidacv."
PART ONE: THE CAMPAIGN.
37
HON. LAWRENCE Y. SHERMAN.
(macomb.)
a candidate for the nomin.^tion for governor nominated for lieutenant-
governor.
Born in Miami county, Ohio, November 8, 1858. His boyhood and early life
were passed on a farm in Jasper county, Illinois, to which the family removed when
he was but one year of age. He received a common school education and also took
a course at McKendree College, at Lebanon, Illinois, where Charles S. Deneen was a
fellow student. He taught school in Jasper and St. Clair counties and put in his spare
time reading law. He was admitted to the bar and went to Macomb, where, after
considerable difficulty, arising from the lack of funds, he opened an office and began
the practice of his profession in 1882. Later he became (and still is) senior member of
the firm of Sherman, Tunnicliff & Gumbart. He served one term as city attorney of
Macortib and one term as county judge of McDonough county. In 1896 he was elected
to the Fortieth General Assembly, in which he made a distinct impression by his force-
â– Continued at bottoin of next page.)
38 THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.
The ex-Governor voiced a feeling that was generally shared
by the older party leaders. About the same time Congressman
Cannon, passing through Chicago from Washington, thus com-
mented on the Governorship contest :
" It is too early. January will be plenty of time to take that
matter up. Of course there is nothing to prevent people who
like that sort of thing from amusing themselves with debating
the situation. It may do them good."
But if that view was entertained by the men who actually
had it in mind to contest for the Governorship, the course they
pursued was quite inconsistent with their theories. Although
their public announcements were delayed for some time, all were
busily engaged in making plans and in getting the work of organi-
zation under way. Before the Governor's return to Illinois from
his European trip, he had taken occasion to visit Oyster Bay,
where he had had a talk with President Roosevelt, presumably
about political conditions in Illinois. The first week in August
he met about a dozen of his closest political friends in a conference
at the Executive Mansion. This was merely a preliminary and
entirely informal conference, and ended without very definite
results. But on the 13th another meeting was held. This was
a larger gathering, about forty of the Governor's friends being
present, all of the congressional districts outside of Cook county
being represented. This meeting was held in the office of the
Railroad and Warehouse Commission. Those present at this con-
ference included the following:
C. E. Snively, Canton ; George T. Buckingham, Danville ; W. L.
Sackett, Morris ; W. R. Newton, Yorkville ; E. J. Murphy, warden at
Joliet ; J. B. Smith, warden at Chester ; A. H. Jones, of Robinson, pure
food commissioner; John J. Brown, Vandalia; Senator Putnam, Peoria;
J. E. McChire, Carlinville; T. J. Clark, Quincy; John H. Duncan, Marion;
James H. Danskin, Jacksonville; Speaker John H. Miller, McLeansboro;
Senator Lcn Small, Kankakee; Lieut. -Gov. W. A. Northcott, Greenville;
James S. Neville, Bloomington ; Charles M. Tinney, manager of the State
Committee press bureau ; A. L. French, Chapin ; Senator H. M. Dunlap,
Savoy; Walter Fieldhouse ; Col. J. H. Strong, Chicago; State Commit-
tee Chairman Fred H. Rowe, Jacksonville; Dr. J. A. Wheeler, Auburn;
(Continued from preceding page.)
ful and witty speeches. At the following session of the Legislature (1899) he was
elected Speaker of the House and he held the chair for two consecutive terms. He
was reelected to the Legislature in 1902. During his service in the Legislature he has
been closely identified with the passage of all of the important enactmetits that have
been placed on the statute books, many of which were of his own creating. He has
been actively identified w-ith State politics ever since his first election to the speaker-
ship of the House. He was the second candidate to formally enter the contest of
190.3-04 for the Republican nomination for Governor. The State convention nominated
him for Lieutenant-Governor.
PART ONE: THE CAMPAIGN.
39
JOHN H. PIERCE.
(kewanee.)
candidate for the nomination for governor.
Born at Aurora, Illinois, in 1843. After leaving school he was employed in the
postoffice in his native city. Later he removed to Kewanee, Illinois. After spending
some time in California, he returned to Kewanee and engaged in the iron business.
Later he became identified with the Western Tube Company, of Kewanee, and for
many years was its president, resigning in May, 1904. He is now (1904) president of