Grand Old Partisan

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I laud John Locke Scripps, born in Missouri, February 27th 1818. He practiced law before co-founding the Chicago Tribune and working as chief editor. His political allegiance was to the anti-slavery Free Soil Party until the Republican Party emerged. During the 1860 presidential campaign, Scripps published a sixteen thousand word biography of Abraham Lincoln. It helped get him elected. Sources were interviews with the Republican nominee and his associates as well as press accounts of various events. President Lincoln named him postmaster at Chicago. Scripps innovated the practice of distributing mail by streetcar. He and his wife were friends of the First Couple. His cousin Edward established the Scripps media company. John Locke Scripps was remembered as "a man of high scholarly attainments, great purity of character and amiable disposition." Back to B...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I salute Daniel Hastings, born in Pennsylvania, February 26th 1849. Three times, this under-age teen tried to enlist in the Union Army. After working the family farm, he became a high school principal and studied law. Business ventures included coal mining and banking and editing the  Bellefonte Republican  newspaper. Hastings entered politics managing a friend's congressional campaign. He chaired the state GOP's 1887 convention and nominated Senator John Sherman for the presidency at the 1888 Republican National Convention. Over the years, diligence with the state militia brought him to the rank of adjutant general. Effective leadership of recovery efforts after the Jonestown Flood garnered him renown. In 1896, Hastings won the governorship. Highlights of his administration included appointing the first judges to the state supreme court, creating...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I acclaim James O’Hara, born in New York City, February 26th 1844, to a West Indian mother and Irish father. He relocated to North Carolina during the Civil War as a school teacher affiliated with the AME church. O’Hara studied law at Howard University, then returned to attend the North Carolina state constitutional convention. While serving on the NCGOP central committee, he won a state house term and chaired his county board of commissioners. Twice, "pure Democrat villainy" cheated him out of election to the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1882, O’Hara won first of two terms. Civil rights legislation was his priority. He succeeded in mandating that female schoolteachers in Washington, DC be paid equally to their male counterparts. Back to Basics for the Republican Party  is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I highlight the Wide Awakes, renowned Republican marching clubs that played an important role in the 1860 presidential election. Their name showed vigilance against the pro-slavery Democrats. Wearing spectacular uniforms, GOP activists held torchlit parades throughout northern states to boost enthusiasm for the Lincoln-Hamlin ticket. This movement began on February 25th, when twelve young Republicans escorted anti-slavery activist Cassius Clay to speak at an event in Hartford, Connecticut. They were able to protect him from attack by Democrat thugs. March 5th, hundreds of Wide Awakes protected Abraham Lincoln at a rally in Hartford. Their appearance caused such an impact that similar groups soon arose. Twenty thousand Wide Awakes marched in New York City, ten thousand in Chicago, and so on. In total, there were some three hundred thousand Wide Awakes. ...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Minnie Freeman, born February 25th 1868. Her family brought her to Nebraska as a child. She taught elementary school after graduating from college. January 1888, a ferocious blizzard struck the Great Plains. Freeman saved thirteen children by linking them together with twine and leading them through blinding snow to a farm more than a mile away. "We will live or die together," she vowed. Though she called it "an act of simple duty," the state board of education awarded her a gold medal and there is a mural of the deed at the capitol building. Freeman became involved in politics. She was an officer of the Nebraska League of Women Voters and president of the Nebraska Federation of Women’s Clubs. She served on a panel to devise a new state seal. In 1922, Republican named her National Committeewoman. Back to Basics for the Repub...

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I spotlight a law signed by President Abraham Lincoln on February 24th 1863. The bill has been introduced by Republican Representative James Ashley and passed by the GOP-controlled 37th Congress. It established the western half of New Mexico Territory as its own territory, to be called Arizona. Republicans acted to prevent pro-slavery Democrats in control of Santa Fe and Albuquerque from extending their reach all the way to California. 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 Video  about this article. Here is a  TikTok Video  about this article. Here is an  ...