Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I commemorate founding of the Vermont Republican Party. Outraged by pro-slavery Democrats, friends of freedom in the Green Mountain State called for a convention to replace the Whig Party with a broad coalition of anti-slavery activists. Invited were "all persons who are in favor of resisting by all constitutional means the usurpations of the propagandists of Slavery." July 13th 1854, six hundred people assembled at a church in Montpelier. Presiding was Lawrence Brainerd, soon to be elected U.S. Senator. He went on to be instrumental in formation of a nationwide Republican organization. The platform resolved: "to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and to our posterity, and also a wise, just and economical administration of the government; and as the principles for which we are contending lie at the foundation of Republicanism, as proclaime...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I spotlight a Confederate attempt to capture the nation’s capital. July 12th 1864, ten thousand rebel soldiers attacked Fort Stevens in Washington DC. Bravely, the President went to observe the battle. Honored and astonished, Union soldiers cheered Hurrah for Lincoln! When a soldier nearby was wounded, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton obliged the Commander-in-Chief to depart. Confederates withdrew after several hours.  The site is preserved by the National Park Service, near what is now Georgia Avenue and Rittenhouse Street, NW. Every year there is a commemoration of this event. Back to Basics for the Republican Party is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The more we Republicans know about the history of our party, the more Democrats will worry about the future of theirs. For more information, see www.grandoldpartis...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor John Addams, born in Pennsylvania, July 11th 1822. He and his bride moved to northwest Illinois and bought a water mill. Operations expanded to grinding grin and sawing wood. He later established a bank and was director of two railroads and an insurance company. This savvy businessman co-founded the Illinois Republican Party. In 1854, Addams won first of eight two-year terms in the state senate. He arranged the Lincoln-Douglas debate held at Freeport, explained in Back to Basics for the Republican Party to be the most important. Addams was delegate to the 1868 Republican National Convention. He had been a close friend to Abraham Lincoln, referring to him as "the greatest man in the world." One of his nine children became an acclaimed social reformer and Nobel Peace Prize winner. Jane Addams credited her father's care for the "moral concerns of life...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Frank Morey, born in Boston, July 11th 1840. He relocated to Illinois at age seventeen and studied law. Outbreak of civil war, the young patriot enlisted with the state’s 33rd Infantry and rose to captain. This regiment battled through Mississippi and Alabama. Peace restored, Morey settled in Louisiana and won a state house seat. In 1868, he won first of four congressional terms. Receiving his vote were GOP accomplishments such as the [anti-] Ku Klux Klan Act, Yellowstone National Park and the 1875 Civil Rights Act. Years later, he served on the Republican National Committee. Back to Basics for the Republican Party is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The more we Republicans know about the history of our party, the more Democrats will worry about the future of theirs. For more information, see www.grandoldpartisan.com .  Here is a YouTube ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Augustus Straker, born July 11th 1842. He immigrated from Barbados at Civil War's end to help educate emancipated slaves. After teaching school in Kentucky, Straker studied law at Howard University. Frederick Douglass published many of his editorials. Four years, the Ulysses Grant administration employed him as a Treasury Department auditor. He visited Republican Senator Charles Sumner on his deathbed. In 1875, Straker relocated to South Carolina. Three times, the young Republican won election to the state house but Democrats refused to seat him. He and his law partner, former congressman Robert Elliott, discussed their plight with President James Garfield. Straker was the GOP's 1884 nominee for lieutenant governor. In 1887, Straker relocated again, to Detroit. His book, The New South Investigated , exposed the racist policies of Democrats who opposed Republic...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Wilhelm Thielepape, born near Frankfurt, July 10th 1814. He studied engineering. Age thirty, he emigrated to Texas, for work as surveyor and architect. Other ventures including teaching secondary school and editing an anti-slavery newspaper. Thielepape was a music enthusiast, performing and composing in his native German. He designed a 400-seat auditorium in San Antonio as well as a popular hotel. Outbreak of civil war, Thielepape managed to evade rebel authorities. Union restored, this patriot was among those who raised the Stars and Stripes over the Alamo. November 1867, during the Reconstruction era, Thielepape became mayor of San Antonio. The general who appointed him was trying to establish GOP control over the state. He was re-appointed by a Republican governor. In office more than four years, his administration repair...