Away
back in the fifties, when Canada was the only place on this continent where a
runaway slave could breathe the air of freedom, the underground railroad did a
large business in helping the unfortunate human chattel to get out of the
country in which he was born and become a man under the protecting folds of the
British flag. It cost hundreds of thousands of lives and untold millions of
money to clear Old Glory from the dark stain of slavery. But it was not only
the slaves who sung the old refrain :
“I want to go to Canada,
Where colored men are free.”
For in those days, there were no
extradition laws between Canada and the United States for certain classes of
criminals, and it was but a span to cross the river at Niagara or Detroit for
embezzlers and rascals of every kind to get into this land of freedom. Hamilton
was the mecca of that class, as it was the nearest city to the border, and
unfortunately got more than its share of undesirable citizens who stopped here
long enough to decide upon their future. The old stagers will remember the
panic of 1857, which began in Cincinnati by the failure of a loan and trust
company, and quickly spread all over the American continent. The relations of
Canada and the United States were so closely intertwined in a business way and
in the location of so many Canadians in the border cities across the rivers,
that a financial disturbance over there was felt here immediately. There was
very little gold or silver in circulation in either country, and the bank notes
were only as good as far as the personal integrity of the banks which made
them, and, as a rule that not a very substantial guarantee. Out in the western
states, there was unlimited quantities of what was known as wildcat currency,
which might be good today, but not worth the paper it was written on tomorrow.
This was the condition of affairs in
the year 1857, when the events which are about to relate occurred. Dates are a
hard thing to remember when one has no memoranda for reference, but to get as
near as possible, we will risk the year as 1854 when Salmon P. Chase was
elected governor of Ohio, and J. D. Breslin, treasurer of the state. The
compensation of treasurer in those days was merely nominal, the honor of being
elected to the important position being considered an equivalent for the services
rendered as the work was done by the assistant treasurer and the clerical force
of the office. However, the treasurers managed to be well paid, for they lent
the large surplus on hand to private persons and to banks on which they
received the big interest, for money was a scarce article forty or fifty years
ago, and speculators were willing to pay well for the use of it. Like all his
predecessors in the treasurer’s office, Breslin lent the funds to his political
friends on personal security, and if there had been no panic to interfere, the
probabilities are that every dollar would have been paid back without loss to
the state or to Breslin’s bondsmen. The large interest was a temptation to
Breslin, for during his term, his income would have been sufficient to place
him easy circumstances, and in those days, there were no millionaires, $50,000
being considered a colossal fortune. Breslin had never been used to the
handling of much more than came to him on his meager salary from the business
to which he was engaged prior to his election to the high office of state
treasurer. He was an active political worker in Northern Ohio, and through the
efforts of influential friends, he received the nomination. One great element
of his strength with his party was the influence of his brother-in-law in
Tiffin, Ohio, who was an able platform speaker, and “there were giants” in
those days. Bill Gibson, as he was best known, had the persuasive manner that
could manage a caucus and pack a delegation, and when Northern Ohio went down
to Columbus to the state convention to nominate a governor, state treasurer and
other officers, Bill Gibson and his followers fairly swept everything before
them. Salmon P. Chase was nominated for governor, and J. D. Breslin and his
crowd were liberal in voting to distribute the other offices in different parts
of the state. One must have taken a part in American politics to understand the
fine wire-pulling that manages a state convention.
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Breslin was a whole-souled fellow, and
when opportunity offered was always glad to accommodate his friends. With the
treasury of the wealthy state of Ohio in his control, he became an angel to the
financially distressed, and it was not long before the surplus was scattered.
The control of so much money made Breslin somewhat extravagant in his methods
of living, for the interest rates alone was a large income, even if he did not
use a dollar of the state money himself. Everything was lovely and all would
have ended well had it not been for the financial crash which came in 1857. Men
wealthy today were bankrupt tomorrow, and those who were debtors to Breslin
were among the unfortunates to go down. In ordinary times, he could have
discounted the notes and saved himself, but then it was every man for himself,
and the banks were not taking any chances. Indeed, the banks were in deep
water, and a majority of them never reached dry land again. In due course, the
regular examination of the condition of the treasury came, when Breslin would
have to show up every dollar. He called in vain upon the men whom he had
befriended in their days of adversity, but they could not respond. Disgrace and
arrest stared Breslin in the face, so one night, after business hours, he went
to the state house and packed up the available funds in the vault, and before
daylight he was far on his way to Niagara Falls, and before he was missed in
Columbus, he was on this side of the Niagara river, safe from pursuit, for
their were no extradition laws to molest him.
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Breslin and his wife came direct to
Hamilton, and after spending a few days at the Anglo-American hotel, they
secured board with Mrs. Almond, who lived in the brick block, then owned by
Hickory Clark, on the south side of Gore street, between James and Hughson
streets. There was a pretentious block of residences in those days, occupied by
Hamilton’s elite. Its days of glory have long since vanished’ but it has even
now an air of subdued gaiety. Mrs. Breslin was a handsome woman, who dressed
well and in excellent taste, and Breslin was good counterpart, but did not
intrude himself upon the public gaze. He was reputed to be wealthy, but what
cared the outside world how he gained it. He was a sociable man, and not
adverse to a moderate game of poker now and then at the clubroom or in a
private parlor in the hotel, so that time did not hang heavy on his hands.
However, as “conscience makes cowards of us all,” there were times when the
spirit of unrest seized Breslin, and he longed to return to his home in the
Buckeye state. One day, when conscience was more persistent than usual, Breslin
prepared a statement of defalcation and in it he gave the names of the men who
had borrowed the money and the amounts. This had printed in the Christian
Advocate office and made them to Governor Chase, to the men who owed the money,
and to the leading politicians of his party. The result was that one day in
1858, Governor Chase, William Gibson and a few of Breslin’s old political
friends came to Hamilton and the whole question of defalcation was gone into.
Breslin agreed to pay back what money was left, and the men who owed the notes
also promised to make restitution as far as they were able, and the end of the
interview was that Governor Chase would intercede in Breslin’s behalf and save
him from the penitentiary. The party returned to Ohio, and a few weeks later,
Breslin and his wife bade adieu to Hamilton.
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Bill Gibson was indicted for
complicity in Breslin’s embezzlement, and while it was generally conceded that
he never profited a dollar in the use of the money, nor had he any part in Breslin’s
skipping out to Canada, yet a sacrifice had to be offered, and as he was a
prominent connection of Breslin, being his brother-in-law, poor Bill had to
suffer the disgrace. The case was put over from one court to another till the
war drums began to beat again in 1861. Gibson was among the first in Northern
Ohio to offer his services to the government, and he helped raise one of the
finest companies in that part of the state. In the burst of patriotic fervor, the
indictment that was hanging over Gibson was nullified by the prosecuting
attorney, and the celebrated embezzlement became only an unpleasant memory.
Gibson distinguished himself as a soldier for bravery and skill in the field of
battle, and when the war closed, he was mustered out with the rank of brigadier-general.
Although he was always in demand as a stump speaker – and there was none better
in the state – he was never able to get away from the stain of the
embezzlement. He was an innocent sufferer for his guilty brother-in-law.
Breslin dropped out of sight altogether. He never had the manliness to acquit
Gibson of complicity in the robbery of the state treasury. It was generally
thought that Breslin provided for his future out of the stolen funds. When
Governor Chase was candidate for the United States senate from Ohio, he had to explain
the whole transaction in which he showed that had it not been for his visit to Hamilton,
Breslin would never have made restitution. Senator Chase became famous as
secretary of the treasury in President Lincoln’s war cabinet, and was the
father of the greenback. Breslin never again visited Hamilton. All connected
with the celebrated defalcation and robbery of the Ohio treasury have answered
the roll call, many of them washing out the stain on the field of battle during
the war of 1861-65.
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