Quincy Bell, Civil War Hero or Political Thug?, Part 2
UPDATED CONTENT
This post has been updated as of 2 August 2022. I’ve been able to decipher some more of the content of the second newspaper article and have updated the text portions that I’ve figured out. Additionally, if you’ll scroll to the bottom you will find Update, Final Thoughts, & Resources sections with new information.
I hope you read part 1 because we’re jumping right into part 2, no introduction!
Transcription of the first newspaper article:
From Texas County.
Still Another Spurious Delegate at Marshfield – A Fugitive from Justice turns up in a Representative Capacity.
Houston, Texas Co., Aug. 4.
To the Editor of the Daily Leader:
Springfield papers, containing an account of the Marshfield convention, have just been received here. From them we learn that one Q. A. Bell was in that convention as a delegate from Texas County. No Radical convention has been held in this county to appoint delegates to the Marshfield convention, nor for any other purpose. Mr. Q. A. Bell got into a scrape here, and left the county to avoid being arrested by the officers of the law. He ran away from Texas county- a fugitive from justice- went into Webster county and stayed with some relatives until the Marshfield convention came off. He has just got back, and I understand he says he is ashamed of what he did, and would not have gone into the convention but that some of Havens’ friends at Marshfield “fixed up his papers,” and insisted that he act as a delegate – that they assured him “it was all right enough, and nobody would ever find it out.
Suffrage Radical
It was alright enough. You ever told yourself that about something? Maybe next time, just say no! I wish I could tell you that I understand everything that happened but I don’t. I’ve sat on this story for about a year, maybe a little longer, because I was trying to figure out the whole story. I’m not going to hold out any longer. In trying to figure it all out there is another article we need to read but it is in such poor shape that it’s nearly impossible to read. I’ve transcribed as much of the article as possible, and as well as possible, below.
Daily Leader
Thursday, August 11, 1870
Was the nomination of the ten dollar, hundred day hero* by the Marshfield convention a cut-and-dried affair or was it not? Was the convention which made the nomination a body representative of the real contingent of the Radical party in the district, or did it represent only that Eternal Hateite(?)** “ring” in that party? It now appears that the two individuals admitted to the convention as delegates authorized to cast the vote of Ozark county, were not only spurious and self-constituted, but in no manner reflected the sentiment or wishes of the majority of the party in that ???. One of them, in fact, had not been in the county or the State three months, and was not therefore a qualified voter. It appears that McDonald county, which no primary convention was held and no expression whatever of choice as to candidates was had, was in like manner misrepresented in the person of W. H. Goody ????. And now it further appears that Texas county, failing to send a delegation found herself honored in the convention by being accredited in that body with a fugitive from justice, Q. A. Bell, who was picked up in the streets of Marshfield and clothed with representative honors by an agent of the Havens clique. Here, then, we have three ??? casting their votes at Marshfield for a candidate and the representative of principles notoriously ignored by a large majority of the party whose views they assumed to represent. Add to these Christian county, in which the friends of the amendment outnumber the malignants(?) two to one, and also add Greene, the ac??? to ??? from hold(?) of suffrage, and does not the question become one worthy of the party whether they have not been imposed on, their real sentiments misrepresented, and their wishes overridden in the action of the Marshfield meeting! Does it not become even a more serious question whether they will abide by and submit to the usurpations of a mere clique, bent upon carrying out the will and the wishes, not of the majority, but the barest minority of the party?
That’s where the article ends. I can hardly make heads or tails of it other than Quincy wasn’t alone in this mess and there was a clique known as the Havens clique that was a minority in the Radical Party of 1870. So I Googled it, of course! Apparently, in the five years following the Civil War, Missouri was deeply divided. The conservatives had split into several factions over a variety of issues and they couldn’t seem to agree on anything. In this void rose up the Radical Union Party (aka Radical Republican Party)***. They wanted to get rid of slavery as well as Missouri’s reputation of being a state overcome with guerilla warfare. The party was progressive in their thinking. You can learn more here.
Suffice it to say, Quincy got sucked into all this- whether willingly or through cajoling- and it didn’t end well for him. I really can’t tell you much more than that right now but there is at least one more article I need to transcribe. Unfortunately, it’s taking a lot longer than I thought it would. So, over the next week or two I’m going to be transcribing and reporting to you about the Marshfield Convention and the craziness that went on there and maybe when I’m done we’ll have this all figured out.
So enjoy your stay right here in the middle of a big old political, legal mess for Quincy. I’ll catch up with you soon with the rest of the story.
Until then,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog
Clippings are from Newspapers.com
UPDATE:
*”Ten dollar hundred day hero” refers to Captain Harrison HAVENS. The Hundred-Day portion is sort of explained with this political cartoon:
The Ten-Dollar portion is explained in this short article:
**Eternal Hateites was a name given to the Radical Republicans by the mainstream media of the day and by their political opponents. Interchangeable terms include “eternal haters”, “eternal hate-ring”, and “eternal hateism”.1, 4 This sect apparently included supporters of Captain HAVENS and Governor McCLURG.2 I’m not knowledgeable enough on the subject to say this was undeserved but from what I’ve read up to this point, it certainly seems like the Radical Republicans’ opponents were using the media as an arm of destruction to do their bidding against the Radicals.3 In fact, at this point, I’m not even certain I believe that Quincy was a “fugitive from justice”. The Radical Republicans were being called “anti-constitutional” and I certainly don’t see anything in their platform or in the newspapers that leans toward anti-constitutional. It seems their opponents had no problem conducting an effective smear campaign. Again, after the last few years I can certainly see that going on today in politics and in the media.
*** The Radical Union Party is synonymous with the Radical Republican Party. There were many, many small and very short-lived political parties that sprang up between the midterms in 1870 and the presidential election of 1870. This included the Liberal Republican Party (which was not the same as the Radical Republicans or State Republicans (which would become what we know as the Republican Party of today). The Liberal Republicans would later be known as Rockefeller Republicans and would eventually merge with the Democrat Party as we know it today. Quincy was not affiliated with this party. The Radical Republicans would eventually merge with the Republican Party. This is, in part, why it has been so difficult to parse out what really happened. Despite the Radical Republican Party affiliating as Republican, they could expect no help at all from the mainstream Republicans. In fact, the Radical Republicans received the name-calling, etc. from all sides including the “friendlies”. The last third party president was President Millard Fillmore in 1850-1853. By 1870, I’m sure it was much like today where people were harassed and discouraged from voting third party.
You know how I always say that everything “comes back around full circle”? While researching all the players and events connected to the Marshfield Convention, I came across this article that was written a little over one year ago referencing the 1870 Missouri events stemming from the Marshfield Convention. The headline and sub-headline read, “Missouri Democrats Brace for Electoral Disaster Not Seen in 150+ Years: Republicans will be favored to hold all statewide offices in Missouri after the 2022 midterms for the first time since 1870”.5 Like I always say, it all comes back around eventually. This is, in part, why I write this blog – so my grandsons can see how cyclical life is and how resilient their ancestors were (and maybe so they’ll see where bad decisions will take them in life).
Final Thoughts
Keep in mind that, just like today, the newspaper articles seem to be very slanted toward one side or the other. The most neutral paper I found (in regard to their reporting on the Radical Republican Party) was the Buffalo Reflex, a small paper out of Buffalo, Missouri. In 1870, Buffalo had a population of 278 people. Like today, the majority of newspaper articles about politics included name-calling and libelous-sounding statements. Just like today, emotions were high, opinions were plentiful, and everyone believed they were right. Tensions were so high and the articles were biased enough that at this point I’m even questioning whether Quincy really did anything wrong. I’m wondering if the people in control of media just didn’t like the side he chose. This tactic is so prevalent today and it gives me a whole new perspective on the situation for Quincy. I do wonder if he was doing a favor for an old military friend (John PHELPS, from part 1 of this story) or if a group of people perhaps coerced Quincy to do this. I say this because I’ve never found any other stories of Quincy being in legal or criminal trouble. In any case, I may never know the truth but I keep searching. To my boys (and my new granddaughter that will arrive in the Spring!) I say, be careful with whom you associate. Your friends matter. Be careful when making decisions in haste. Always try to take time to think through the consequences of your decisions and actions. And, always keep your behavior above board so no one can coerce you to do something by saying they’re going to tell things about you that you don’t want others to know.
One more note: I used a political cartoon as the new featured image for this post. It’s the only derogatory cartoon I found on the Liberal Republican candidate while researching this post. (I didn’t look too hard but most of the newspapers were left-leaning and were attacking HAVENS and MCCLURG rather than SCHURZ. This cartoon didn’t come out until 1872, the year of the presidential election. I found the image at Wikipedia.8 It’s a public domain image and originally appeared in Harper’s Weekly. The artist/creator was Thomas NAST.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the update. Until next time,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives
Resources
- Newspapers.com. Warrenton Banner, 6 September 1870, Vol. 6, #3, Page 4; Warrenton, Missouri. Accessed on 1 August 2022.
- Newspapers.com. Nodaway Democrat, 12 October 1870, Vol. 1, #48, Page 2; Maryville, Missouri. Accessed on 1 August 2022.
- Newspapers.com. Buffalo Reflex, 24 September 1870, Vol. 2, #4, Page 4; Buffalo, Missouri. Accessed on 1 August 2022.
- Newspapers.com. Buffalo Reflex, 8 October 1870, Vol. 2, #6, Page 5; Buffalo, Missouri. Accessed on 1 August 2022.
- Ostermeier, Dr. Eric. “Missouri Democrats Brace for Electoral Disaster Not Seen in 150+ Years”. 7 June 2021. Smart Politics, University of Minnesota. Accessed 1 August 2022.
- Newspapers.com. Springfield Leader and Press, Vol. 1, #73, Page 4; Springfield, Missouri. Accessed on 2 August 2022.
- Newspapers.com. Springfield Leader and Press, Vol. 1, #77, Page 2; Springfield, Missouri. Accessed on 2 August 2022.
- Wikipedia – Carpetbagger entry. Accessed on 2 August 2022.
