Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/161

 CASS.

CASS.

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the wilderness. In 1«U2 Ohio was admitted to the Union, and Lewis Cass was the tirst candi- date admitted to the bar under the new consti- tution. The same year he went to Zanesville, where he practised law. In 1804 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the county. In 1806 he was married to Elizabeth Spencer of Virginia, and the same year was elected to the state legislature, ' ,. and appointed by Gov- ernor Tiffin a member of the committee to inquire into the move- ments of Aaron Burr. He drafted the bill passed by the Ohio legislature ordering the arrest of the ex- pedition. He also framed and presented to the legislature the resolution expressing confidence in the adminis- tration of President Jefferson, abhorrence of re- bellion and insurrection, and attachment to the Federal constitution, which was afterwards for- warded to the President. In 1807 President Jef- ferson appointed Mr. Cass U. S. marshal of the state of Ohio, and he continued in that office for six years. He was made colonel of the 3d Oliio volunteers in the war of 1812, and with an army of twelve lumdred volunteers assembled at Day- ton, Oliio. They were divided into three regi- ments under William Hull, governor of ^Michigan territory', who had been commLssioned brigadier- general. When the troops crossed the I'iver at Detroit in July, 1812, to conquer upper Canada, Colonel Cass was the first to land on the Cana- dian shore, where he made the attack on the enemy's outposts at Aux Canards. The misunder- standing with General Hvill resulted in the sur- render of the little army at Detroit without firing a gun. General Hull had included Colonel Cass's force in the capitulation, which action greatly incensed Cass, and he hastened to Washington, where he made his report of the affair to the gov- ernment. He was appointed major-general of the Ohio militia, but by reason of his parole was not able to take the field. In January, 1813, he was instructed by the President to recruit two regi- ments of regular troops, and his parole being removed he, on Feb. 20, 1813, was commissioned colonel in the regular armj^, was subsequently brevetted briga<lier-general, and commanded the 27th regiment of infantry in General Harri- son's army. He was a participant in the battle of the Thames, Oct. 5, 1813, and at the end of the campaign commanded the troops in Michigan

with lieadquarters at Detroit. He succeeded Hull as governor of Michigan, by appointment of Presi- dent Madison, Oct. 29, 1813. On tue retm-n of peace. Governor Cass devoted himself to reheving the distress of starving French settlers, encom-ag- ing immigration from the eastern states, negotia- ting treaties with the Indians, codifying the laws and opening roads. He was the first white man to ride over the Indian trail which became the great highway between Detroit and Chicago. He accompanied Schoolcraft's expedition along Lake Superior and up the Mississippi, traversing five thousand miles, investigating the mineral resources of the country and studying the customs of the Indians. He wrote an account of this jour- ne3% which was published in the North American Revieiv. He so won the love of the Indian tribes as to be known among them as the " Great Father at Detroit." In 1827 he averted a general Indian war by his promptness and personal in- fluence, making a voyage in a canoe up the Fox, and down the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers to warn the troops at St. Louis. In 1831 President Jackson appointed him secretary of war. He suppressed the Indians in the Black Hawk war, and when South Carolina threatened secession he was prompt in seconding the President in his policy of taking active measures against the movement, ordering General Scott to hold the forts, but to use the utmost discretion and self-restraint. This action, followed by diplo- matic legislation, averted civil war. He threat- ened to resign when the President proposed the removal of the public deposits from the United States bank, and was dissuaded onh' by the Presi- dent assuming personally the whole responsi- bility. Experience had convinced him* of the wisdom of isolating the Indian tribes, and he ad- vocated the removal of the Creeks and Seminoles from Florida to reservations west of the Missis- sippi. In 1833 he accompanied the President on his tour through the north, and afterwards in a general report to Congress he recommended the building of coast defences, maintaining a strong navy, and a reasonably formidable army. He, in the report, carefully detailed the condi- tion and resources of the military and naval defences of the nation. In 1836 his health failed, and he was appointed minister to France, with permission to leave Paris on a long trip for rest and recreation. Diplomatic intercourse between France and the United States had been sus- pended for over a j'ear, on account of the failure to settle the French spoliation claims; Mr. Cass, however, secured the interest and a promise of speedy payment of the principal, and he was received with general cordiality, and soon won the friendship of Louis Philippe. lie travelled through France, where he studied the condition