to become and now am a candidate for such nomination, and respectfully
submit my candidacy to the considerate judgment of our party.

Thanking you, and through you the other delegates to the convention,
and the Republicans of Piatt county for your and their confidence, and
assuring you that if nominated and elected Governor of this State, I shall
endeavor so to discharge the duties of that high office as to merit the
respect and approval of all the people, I have the honor to be,

Very truly yours, Vespasian Warner.

There was a perceptible Warner boom immediately following
his announcement. It had been understood for some time that
a number of his Cong-ressional colleagues were friendly to him,




HON. RICHARD A. LEMON.

(CLINTON.)
CAMPAIGN MANAGER FOR COLONEL WARNER.

Born in Sangamon county, Illinois, October i6, 1848. He was living in Piatt
county when the Civil War broke out, and he served the last year of the war in the
Thirty-Ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry — "the Yates Phalanx. He was admitted to
the bar in 1870 and has practiced his profession in DeWitt county ever since. He
served as a member of the State Board of Pardons and was its chairman from
1897 to 1901. He resides in Clinton and continues his law practice, having his son
for a partner.



PART ONE: THE CAMPAIGN., 113

and now dispatches from Washington indicated that he probably
would have almost the entire Illinois delegation in Congress with
him in his fight.

Senator Cullom, who previously had been looked upon as
friendly to Hamlin, said complimentary things about Warner.
So also did ex-Governor Fifer, of Bloomington, who, it was now
definitely known, would not himself be a candidate.

But the strongest point in Colonel Warner's candidacy
appeared to be the fact that he was the only one of the half-dozen
candidates who was a veteran of the Civil \\'ar. He had entered
the army early in the war and served to its close. It was esti-
mated that there were fully seventy-five thousand surviving Union
soldiers in Illinois — enough to keep alive the old soldier senti-
ment, once so powerful in politics, and to form the nucleus of
an effective organization.

Colonel Warner had been a practicing lawyer and a very
successful one in Clinton for many years. He had amassed a
large fortune. For eight years he had been continuously in Con-
gress, where he had served with distinction. He had less claim,
perhaps, than any of the other candidates to a reputation as an
orator, yet he was a clear and effective speaker and had partic-
ipated in every political campaign since the war. He was, there-
fore, no novice in fighting political battles, and it was anticipated
that he would make serious inroads upon the forces of most of
the other candidates.

COLONEL WARNER BEGINS AT GALESBURG.

He opened his campaign at Galesburg on the i8th of Decem-
ber. The day he spent there was typical of his visits to other
places in the State. It was described in the Chicago Tribune of
the following morning, in a dispatch from Galesburg, as follows :

After spending the day in Galesburg, Congressman Vespasian Warner,
candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor, left for Peoria,
whence he goes to Clinton to spend Christmas. After Christmas he will
call on friends in East St. Louis, Alton and Quincy, and will then await
the establishment of his headquarters in Chicago, after which he will
begin his more active campaign.

Colonel Warner held no set meeting here, but passed the time in going
about the city and meeting as many people as possible in the interest of his
candidac}-. Speaking of his reception, he said :

" I saw many business and professional men. and they were all kind
and pleasant. I received no chills."

On his arrival early m the morning. Colonel \\'amer was met by

8



114



THE BREAKIXG OF THE DEADLOCK.



M. O. Williamson and State Senator L. A. Townsend, who spent some
time in introducing him. lie visited the newspaper offices, Mayor George
Shumway, the county officers and others prominent politically.

Colonel Warner was a student in Lombard College, in this city, in
i860, and quit to join the army. He called on Dr. J. V. N. Standish, then
a teacher at Lombard, who loaned him the money with which to attend
the Republican National Convention in Chicago that nominated Lincoln.
He never forgot this kind act. Doctor Standish is an enthusiastic friend
of Colonel Warner.

At a gathering of Grand .\rmy comrades the Congressman was given
cordial greetings, and every man present pledged him loyal support. He
regarded this as encouraging. Editor Henry Emrich, who editorially has
commended his candidacy, received a call from the Congressman. At 4
o'clock Colonel Warner went to Knoxville, where he met a number of his
friends.




JOHN CHARLES EVERSMAN.

(CLINTON.)
SECRETARY TO COLONEL WARNER AND PROMINENTLY IDENTIFIED WITH HIS CAMPAIGN.

Born at Effingham, 111.; educated in public and private schools and the National
Law University, Washington, D. C. : was a court reporter at an early age, and
afterward private secretary to several prominent railroad officials; private secretary
to Congressman Benson Wood during the Fifty-fourth Congress; private secretary
to Congressman Warner from 1896 to 1900; appointed clerk of the House Committee
on Revision of the Laws during the Fifty-seventh Congress, and still holds that
position. Mr. Eversman has been actively identified with [lolitics since 1896, when
he was secretary to the chairman of the Republican .State Central Committee. He
acted in the same capacity during the Presidential campaign of 1900. He has a
wide acquaintance among the public men of Illinois and of the nation.



PART ONE: THE CAMPAIGN. 115

â– ' I am satisfied with my reception in Knox count}'," he said. " I have
had some enthusiastic assurances of support. I expected this, as I had
already received a number of encouraging letters from here. This is the
first place I have visited out in the State.

"I am not sure just what form my campaign will take. I have not
decided on a speaking trip. I am out for myself alone, and iny relations
with other candidates are cordial. I shall conduct a clean fight.

"As to my prospects, I will say that, judging from letters I have
received from all parts of the State and from the general comments of
the press, if the convention were held within the next sixty days, I think
I would be nominated."

Colonel Warner's campaign was a peculiar one in several
respects. He made comparatively few speeches, but moved
leisurely over the State, visiting such places as seemed convenient,
meeting the Grand Army men and some of the political leaders.
A fact frequently commented on was that he visited many coun-
ties which were conceded in advance to some other candidate and
in which he had not the slightest hope of securing a delegate.
The explanation came later, when it appeared that Colonel War-
ner was depending for his success less upon the nttmber of
pledged or instructed delegates he would be able to get than upon
the standing which he would be able to establish for himself as
an available compromise candidate. It was very much to the
point, therefore, that he should make acquaintances and friends
wherever he could, no matter how the county visited might be
instructed : for in anticipation of a struggle in the State conven-
tion that would prevent the nomination of a leading candidate,
he would thus be in a position to invite the support of delegates
who might look upon him as an acceptable second choice.

Colonel Warner early in January opened headquarters on
" K " floor of the Great Northern hotel in Chicago, with Richard
A. Lemon, of Clinton, his campaign manager, and John C. Evers-
man. his secretary, in charge.

Among the cities visited by Colonel \\^arner in the course of
his campaign were the following :

Galesburg. Quincy, Cairo, Bloomington, Decatur, Champaign,
Aurora, Elgin, Wheaton, Sycamore, Belvidere, Albion, East St.
Louis, Peoria, ]\Ionticello, Bement, Alattoon, Charleston, Mount
Carmel. Carbondale. Murphysboro, Danville, Toulon. Wyoming,
Pittsfield, Sparta, Mount \'ernon. Paris, Effingham. Leroy. Lex-
ington. Normal, Danvers, Gibson City. Paxton and De Kalb.

It required only a short time to make it clear that of all the
candidates Judge Hamlin was the only one who was likely to be



116



THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.



affected seriously by the Warner candidacy. Two days after
Warner's announcement, a Chicago paper thus commented on a
visit made to Washington by the Attorney-General about that
time :

" Attorney-General Hamlin is said to have become alarmed at
the rapidly growing strength of the new candidate. He has gone
to Washington to confer with the Republican Congressman and
Senator Cullom, who he thinks ought to support him and attempt
to stop the Warner boom. Mr. Hamlin is said to have suspected
the senior Senator, who is reported to have encouraged the
Attorney-General to enter the race, to have taken too friendly an
interest in Colonel Warner's candidacv."




HON. PLEASANT T. CHAPMAN.

(VIENNA.)
NOMINEE FOR CONGRESS IN THE TWENTY-FOURTH DISTRICT PROMINENT PARTY LEADER.

Born on a farm in Johnson county, Illinris, October 8, 1854. He received the
rufliments of education in the country schools and completed his education at
McKendree College, graduating in 1876. He read law and was admitted to the bar
in 1878. A year previous to this he was elected County Superintendent of Schools and
was appointed for a short term in 1881. In 1882 he was elected County Judge, being
reelected in 1886. He was elected to the .State Senate in 1890 and was reelected in
1894 and again in 1898. In the Legislature of 1899 he was chairman of the important
Committee on Appropriations.



PART ONE: THE CAMPAIGN.



117



This, of course, was only a newspaper conjecture, but it indi-
cated the antagonism that was to come between Hamhn and
Warner.

THE NINETEENTH DISTRICT.

Their contest for the control of the nineteenth Congressional
district became one of the features of the campaign. The other
candidates kept out of the district, leaving the two rivals who
lived in it to settle between themselves the question of getting
the delegates in the counties composing it. These counties were
Dewitt, in which Warner resided ; Shelbv, the home of Hamlin ;




HON. S. C. PEMBERTON.

(OAKLAND.)
ONE OF THE LEADERS IN THE STATE SENATE PROMINENT IN POLITICS.

Born near Oakland, Illinois, in 1858, and received the usual common school educa-
tion, finishing at Lee's Academy. He taught school for two years and became engaged
in the coal and lumber business in 1881 and has continued his interest until the
present time. He became interested in politics upon attaining his majority and has
served in many minor local offices. He was eight years a member of the County
Board, the last four of which he was chairman of the board. He was elected to the
State Senate in 1896 and again in 1900.



118 THE BREAKIXG OP THE DEADLOCK.

Macon, Piatt, Moultrie, Champaign, Douglas and Coles. A bitter
contest ensued in every county in the district, except Shelby and
Dewitt.

For several weeks the little county of Piatt was the scene of
one of the fiercest political combats fought anywhere in the State.
As has been shown, the county, at a convention in September for
the nomination of a candidate for coroner, had endorsed Colonel
Warner, and presumably was for him ; but this campaign was
one in which nothing was to be taken for granted, and Hamlin
invaded Piatt with the determination to defeat his rival in the
county in which his candidacy had been laiuiched.

Judge Hamlin traveled over the county from township to
township. Warner made much the same kind of a tour of the
county. As the Attorney-General drove through the country,
wearing heavy shoes and having much the appearance of a
farmer, he sometimes traveled through a drenching rain, and at
other times was compelled to face a cold winter sleet. Altogether
he devoted fully ten days to the county. He made speeches at
Cisco, Cerro Gordo, Milmine, Atwood, La Place, Bement, Mans-
field and Monticello. -

Colonel Warner all the while was busily engaged in speech-
making in the county. An incident that illustrates the nature of
the fight grew out of a speech made by Warner one night at
Monticello, in which he made some criticism of the /Attorney-
General. Judge Hamlin was at home in Springfield, but at soon
as Warner had concluded his speech ]\Ir. Felix J. Streyckmans,
who was on the ground looking after Hamlin's interests and
who was ])resent at the meeting and had taken notes of the War-
ner speech, called up the Attorney-General by long-distance
telephone and advised him of the attack that had been made upon
him. It was lo o'clock at night, but Judge Hamlin got in com-
munication with the State Auditor, and in a few^ minutes w'as
on his way to the State House with a clerk. For several hours
he was at work in the Auditor's office, and when he left the
office at I o'clock he carried with him a certified statement cover-
ing the facts which he desired to use in reply to the criticism.
The next night he was in Monticello answering his rival.

But, hard as he fought, the Attorney-General w-as not able to
defeat Warner in Piatt. The vote in the county convention stood :
W^arner 58. Hamlin 49.



PART ONE: THE CAMPAIGN. 119

The fight in Macon county, which was hotly contested, took
the form of a contest for the Congressional nomination. David
Shellabarger, of Decatur, came out as a candidate for Warner's
seat in Congress. The Hamlin men lined up with Shellabarger
and succeeded in defeating Warner.

The fight in the nineteenth district resulted in a substantial
victory for Hamlin. The only counties secured by Warner were
Dewitt and Piatt. Hamlin carried Shelby, ]\Iacon, ]\Ioultrie and
Douglas, and got their delegations solidly. Champaign county,
having a candidate for auditor in the person of James S. ]\IcCul-
lough, diplomatically divided its vote between the six candidates
in the field. Coles county, the last in the district to hold its con-
vention, gave Hamlin six of its twelve delegates, Warner three
and Yates three.

The winning of the Macon county fight in March followed
closely the capture of Vermilion county by Hamlin and, altogether,
added immensely to his prestige. The Hamlin victory in \'er-
milion had been entirely unexpected. As the county was the
home of Joseph G. Cannon, Speaker of the National House of
Representatives, and as it was understood that Mr. Cannon pre-
ferred that the delegates go to the State convention uninstructed,
the candidates as a rule had kept away from Vermilion. The
county convention was held on the loth of March. Judge Hamlin
was there and made an address, and the convention, after a close
fight, adopted a resolution instructing the twenty-five delegates to
the State convention to vote for Hamlin for Governor.




120 THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.



CHAPTER XL

THE JANUARY " LOVE FEAST " — CONQUEST OF THE NORTH-
WEST—TALK OF "DARK HORSE."

But before these things had happened and before any of the
county conventions had been held, with two exceptions, there had
been a notable gathering of party leaders at the State capital on
the 27th of January. This was the Republican " love feast,"
held pursuant to a time-honored custom. Never had there been
such a gathering before on a similar occasion. The meeting was
held in the new State armory, where a few months later the
gubernatorial contest was to have its closing scene. Fully five
thousand persons were in attendance. The candidates for Gov-
ernor and for other State offices were there and delivered
addresses. Although in theory '' love feasts " had been held with
a view to promoting harmony, this one had no such tendency.
The one fact that stood out conspicuously at the close of the
" love feast " was that all of the candidates for Governor were
in the contest to remain until the battle had been fought out in the
State convention ; and all of them next day resumed the fight
with increased vigor. Incidental to the " love feast," the Repub-
lican State Central Committee held a meeting and fixed May 12
as the date and Springfield as the place for the coming State
convention.

We have already seen that the nineteenth Congressional dis-
trict was one of the important battle-grounds in the campaign.
In some respects, however, the biggest battles were fought in the
northwestern part of the State ; for these involved not merely
two but practically all of the half-dozen candidates. In years
])ast the campaign had usually commenced in southern Illinois,
but this time the order was reversed and the first county conven-
tions held in the State were those of Ogle and Lee counties, which
took place on the 25th of January.

The bitter fight beginning in December and extending into
February for the conquest of the northwest had its origin in the



PART ONE: THE CAMPAIGN.



121



action taken at the Rockford conference in September. The mean-
ing of that gathering was that Colonel Lowden had a fine prospect
of making good his announced intention of securing the delegates
from all of the northwestern counties. The danger that Lowden
would be able to do this alarmed the other candidates and all of
them hurried to that section of the State. Lowden, therefore,
had all of them to fight, except in one county (Winnebago), where
his followers made a combination with the Hamlin men. Every-
where else the attack was concentrated on Lowden, and every
county in that section witnessed such a political contest as it had




HON. FRED H. ROWE.

(JACKSONVILLE.)

CHAIRMAN REPUBLICAN STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE, I900-'o4 PROMINENTLY IDENTIFIED

WITH THE YATES CAMPAIGN.

Born at Poultney, ^'ermont, in 1857, and received his higher education at Troy
Conference Academy and at Williams College. After his graduation he came West and
located at Jacksonville. He was admitted to the bar in 188S, and had his office with
Governor Yates. Three years later he was elected city attorney of Jacksonville, win-
ning a reelection at the close of his first term. Mr. Rowe was married in 1884 to
Miss Marietta Mathers of Jacksonville and they have three children ^ Cole Yates,
aged eighteen; Richard, aged fifteen, and Millicent, aged thirteen. He had the man-
agement of the Yates ante-convention campaign in 1900, and after the State convention
of that year he was made chairman of the State Central Committee.



122



THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.



never before experienced. The fight for the '' Lowden terri-
tory " began in December with the announcement that Governor
Yates would extend his campaign to Ogle and Lee counties, the
two in wliicli Colonel Lowden admittedly was strongest. Indeed,
both of these counties had been visited by the Governor early
in November and it was the hearing accorded him tlien that had
encouraged his lieutenants in the conviction that he should make
a fight for both counties. Late in December about fifty Yates
men from Ogle county had a meeting in the Yates headquarters
in Chicago and mapped out a plan of campaign. It was the
argument that even if the Governor lost in both counties he would
suffer little, if anything, in the matter of prestige : for he had




HON. WILLIAM E. TKAUTMANN.

(east ST. LOUIS.)
CANDIDATE FOR THE NOMINATION FOR LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR.

Born on a farm near Caseyville, Illinois, in 1872. Graduated from the law de-
partment of McKendree College with the class of '93 and from the literary department
of the same institution with the class of '95. He was admitted to the jiractice of law
in this State in 1894. Mr. Trautmann was first elected to the House of Representatives
in 1898 and was reelected in 1900 and again in 1902. He is a member of several secret
and fraternal orders.



P.IRT ONE: THE CAMPAIGN.



123



only a forlorn hope of carrying either, while if he were success-
ful the advantage to him would be incalculable. In advance of
the primaries, which were held January 22 and 2^, Governor Yates
spent several days campaigning in Ogle county. The fight was
an intensely bitter one. The primaries were carried by Low-
den by a vote of two to one. Although defeated, the Governor's
friends agreed that he had really gained something — he had
demonstrated, they said, that he had a respectable following even
in a county in which a rival candidate was presumed to be impreg-
nably intrenched.




HON. THOMAS RINAKER.

(CARLINVILLE.)
CANDIDATE FOR THE NOMINATION FOR LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR.

Born in Carlinville, Illinois, in 1857. He is a graduate of Blackburn University,
Jacksonville Business College and the law department of the University of jNIichigan.
He is now a law partner of his father. Gen. John I. Rinaker, in Carlinville. Mr.
Rinaker has served as an officer or an active member of his county organization almost
continuously since attaining liis majority, and has been twice elected to a seat in the
city council. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1900 and reelected in
1902. During the session of 1903 he prepared and introduced a compulsory pri-
mary election bill which was the subject of much favorable comment. He was one of
the recognized leaders in the House. In the ante-convention campaign of 1903-4 he
sought the nomination for Lieutenant-Governor.



124



THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.



The Carroll and AN'hiteside contests were carried on simul-
taneously, the convention in the former being held February 15,
and in the latter February 18 — the primaries in both occurring
during the previous week. In each county there developed a com-
bination between the followers of Yates and Deneen. The result
was that Yates won a sweeping victory in Carroll county, while
Whiteside was divided, Yates getting eight, Lowden five, and
Deneen one of the delegates.

THE WINNEBAGO CONTEST.

The next big fight in the northwest occurred in Winne-
bago county the early part of March. Winnebago had been




HON. FKANK L. SMITH.

(dwight.)

candidate for the nomination for lieutenant-governor.

Born in Dwight, Illinois, in 1867, and that village has always remained his home.

His education was received in the jniblic schools and he eraduated from the Dwight

High School in 1885. * After his graduation he taught school for a while and later

occupied a jiosition as bookkeeper. He left this to open a real estate and insurance

office and in this line he has made a brilliant success. He has been an active member

of the Republican State Central Conunittee for the past two years.



PART ONE: THE CAMPAIGN.



125



regarded as a strong Lowden county, for it adjoined Ogle, and it
was in Winnebago that the Rockford conference had practically
started the Lowden movement. Four of the candidates — Yates.
Deneen, Lowden and Hamlin — participated in the contest. Two
combinations developed — one between the Yates and Deneen
forces, the other between the Lowden and Hamlin men. Lowden
in the primaries received more votes than were given to any of his
rivals ; but the Yates-Deneen combination was strong enough to




COLONEL HENDRICK V. FISHER.
(geneseo.)
candidate for the nomination for lieutenant-governor.
Born at Wilkesbarre, Pa. ; was educated at Wyoming Seminary at Kingston,
that .State. His great-grandfather, Hendrick Fisher, came to America from Hol-
land in 1746, and was a delegate to and president of the first Provincial Congress
of 1775, and was chairman of the Committee of Safety. He was prominent also
in the establishment of the first Dutch Reformed Church in America, and was
one of the founders of Rutger's College. H. V. Fisher, subject of this sketch,
has been prominent in the Legislature and in politics for several years. In the
Thirty-fifth General Assembly, he was chairman of the House Committee on Canals
and Rivers, which had jurisdiction of the legislation pertaining to the Chicago
drainage and the Hennepin canals: was chairman of the Committee on Railroads in
the Thirty-sixth General Assembly; was chairman of the Senate Committee on
Insurance in the Thirty-ninth, and in the Fortieth was president pro tem of the
Senate by unanimous choice of the caucus. He served on Governor Fifer's military
staff with the rank of colonel and aide-de-camp.



126



THE BREAKIXG OF THE DEADLOCK.



control the county convention, and the delegates were divided
between the Governor and the State's Attorney — eight for Yates,
twelve for Deneen.

The net result of the northwestern fight was that Lowden
secured Ogle. Lee and Stephenson counties and a ])art of White-