Thomas Ewing Jr.: Frontier Lawyer and Civil War General (Volume 1) (Shades of Blue and Gray)

The Ewings influenced the course of the Midwest for more than fifty years. Patriarch Thomas Ewing raised four major players in the nation s history including William Tecumseh Cump Sherman, taken in as a nine-year-old. Smith shows that Tom Jr. had a remarkable career of his own. He came to national prominence in the fight over the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution, was instrumental in starting up the Union Pacific Railroad, and became the first chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court. Ewing obtained a commission in the Civil War and issued the dramatic General Order No. 11 that expelled residents from sections of western Missouri. Then this confidant of Abraham Lincoln s went on to courageously defend three of the assassination conspirators and lobbied the key vote to block the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. An Ohio family with roots in the South, the Ewings influenced the course of the Midwest for more than fifty years. Patriarch Thomas Ewing, a former Whig senator and cabinet member who made his fortune as a real estate lawyer, raised four major players in the nation's history—including William Tecumseh “Cump” Sherman, taken into the family as a nine-year-old, who went on to marry his foster sister Ellen. Ronald D. Smith now tells of this extraordinary clan that played a role on the national stage through the illustrious career of one of its sons. In Thomas Ewing Jr.: Frontier Lawyer and Civil War General, Smith introduces us to the Ewing family, little known except among scholars of Sherman, to show that Tom Jr. had a remarkable career of his own: first as a real estate lawyer, judge, soldier, and speculator in Kansas, then as a key figure in national politics. Smith takes readers back to Bleeding Kansas, with its border ruffians and land speculators, reconstructing the rough-and-tumble of its courtrooms to demonstrate that its turmoil was as much about claim-jumping as about slavery. He describes the seat-of-the-pants law practice in which Ewing worked with his brothers Hugh and Charlie and foster brother Cump. He then tells how Tom came to national prominence in the fight over the proslavery Lecompton Constitution, was instrumental in starting up the Union Pacific Railroad, and became the first chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court. Ewing obtained a commission in the Union Army—as did his brothers—and raised a regiment that saw significant action in Arkansas and Missouri. After William Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas, he issued the dramatic General Order No. 11 that expelled residents from sections of western Missouri. Then this confidant of Abraham Lincoln's went on to courageously defend three of the assassination conspirators—including the disingenuous Samuel Mudd—and lobbied the key vote to block the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. Smith examines Ewing's life in meticulous detail, mining family correspondence for informative quotes and digging deep into legal records to portray lawmaking on the frontier. And while Sherman has been the focus of most previous work on the Ewings, this book fills the gaps in an interlocking family of remarkable people—one that helped shape a nation's development in its courtrooms and business suites. Thomas Ewing Jr.: Frontier Lawyer and Civil War General retells a chapter of Kansas history and opens up a panoramic view of antebellum America, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Gilded Age. Thomas Ewing Jr. FRONTIER LAWYER AND CIVIL WAR GENERAL......Page 4 CONTENTS......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 14 Abbreviations......Page 16 Part One: Hardscrabble......Page 20 1 THE JUDGMENT OF HEAVEN ON A COUNTRY ......Page 22 2 LE GRAND DÉTOUR......Page 39 3 MORTGAGES, PRESS BOOKS, AND OFFICE BOYS......Page 85 4 MR. CHIEF JUSTICE AND A MAN NAMED LINCOLN......Page 118 Part Two: They'd as Soon Fight the Devil as to Fight Kansas Men......Page 160 5 A WORLD WAS WATCHING......Page 162 6 EWING’S LIGHT ARTILLERY......Page 179 7 EXTERMINATE THEM, ROOT AND BRANCH......Page 205 8 THE VISIBLE INTERPOSITION OF GOD......Page 231 9 THERMOPYLAE OF THE WEST......Page 246 Part Three: The Politics of Money......Page 276 10 DR. MUDD’S TRIALAND WIDOW ADIE’S COTTON......Page 278 11 THE GATHERING OF EVIL BIRDS......Page 299 12 THE CRÉDIT MOBILIER AND “HIS FRAUDULENCY”......Page 333 13 SWEATY OLD COINS AND LAST HURRAHS......Page 348 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 364 INDEX......Page 378 Thomas Ewing Jr. FRONTIER LAWYER AND CIVIL WAR GENERAL 4 CONTENTS 8 Preface 10 Acknowledgments 14 Abbreviations 16 Part One: Hardscrabble 20 1 THE JUDGMENT OF HEAVEN ON A COUNTRY 22 2 LE GRAND DÉTOUR 39 3 MORTGAGES, PRESS BOOKS, AND OFFICE BOYS 85 4 MR. CHIEF JUSTICE AND A MAN NAMED LINCOLN 118 Part Two: They'd as Soon Fight the Devil as to Fight Kansas Men 160 5 A WORLD WAS WATCHING 162 6 EWING’S LIGHT ARTILLERY 179 7 EXTERMINATE THEM, ROOT AND BRANCH 205 8 THE VISIBLE INTERPOSITION OF GOD 231 9 THERMOPYLAE OF THE WEST 246 Part Three: The Politics of Money 276 10 DR. MUDD’S TRIALAND WIDOW ADIE’S COTTON 278 11 THE GATHERING OF EVIL BIRDS 299 12 THE CRÉDIT MOBILIER AND “HIS FRAUDULENCY” 333 13 SWEATY OLD COINS AND LAST HURRAHS 348 BIBLIOGRAPHY 364 INDEX 378 0826218067,9780826218063 University of Missouri Press "Examines Thomas Ewing, Jr.'s career as a real estate lawyer, judge, soldier, and speculator in Kansas and how he came to national prominence in the fight over the proslavery Lecompton Constitution, was instrumental in starting the Union Pacific Railroad, and became the first chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court"--Provided by publisher.