A LIFE OF PUBLIC SERVICE JAMES MONROE OF OBERLIN, 1821-1898

by

Catherine Rokicky, Ph.D.

Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Oberlin Historical and Improvement Organization, April 25, 2001

This paper is not to be reproduced for publication or any commercial use without the written permission of the author, who may be contacted through Cuyahoga Community College.

            As I was contemplating the topic for this evening's program, I recollected that a decade has passed since I first came to Oberlin. I was a newlywed and a young doctoral student at Kent State University. I went to the Oberlin College Archives with much enthusiasm. I had been introduced to Oberlin as an undergraduate at Cleveland State University when Dr. Allan Peskin spoke about the Oberlin Wellington Rescue in his Civil War and Reconstruction class. I left class wondering that day why I did not know more about Oberlin when I grew up in northeast Ohio. I am also still astounded in my classes when I mention Oberlin, and all of my students are not aware of your special place in our nation's past. At Kent, I decided to direct my research on Oberlin because of my interest in the antebellum reform movements. The time I have spent researching the history of Oberlin has not disappointed me, and I am very happy to be with you this evening to celebrate it.

            This evening, I have chosen to focus on something other than a strict biography of Monroe. I would like to explore the relationship of Monroe to Oberlin: both the college and the community. This topic deserves attention because I believe that Oberlin helped to direct the course of Monroe's life. In the same fashion, I think that he left an indelible mark on the college and the community.

            Monroe arrived at Oberlin in April of 1844 (some 157 years ago), just at the time when the ice on Lake Erie had thawed. Monroe did not travel alone; he came to Oberlin with Charles G. Finney, who had influenced his decision to come to Ohio and Finney's daughter Helen. Finney would greatly affect Monroe throughout his life.

            Although a newcomer to Oberlin, Monroe shared several characteristics with the residents of northeastern Ohio: he hailed from a typical "Yankee" or New England background. Monroe was born in 1821 in Plainfield, Connecticut, to Phebe Monroe, a Quaker, who had influenced her husband Job, a lawyer and later a farmer, to convert. Mrs. Monroe took pains to instill a sense of Christian humanitarianism in all four of her children. As a youth, Monroe demonstrated his commitment to reform and education. At age eighteen, Monroe gave up his plans for college and instead chose to become a lecturer for the American Anti-Slavery Society, led by William Lloyd Garrison. Monroe had the opportunity to work with abolitionist including Frederick Douglass.

            After lecturing for three years, Monroe decided he could not forego his college studies much longer. He wanted to attain a classical education and decided to attend Yale. However, two Oberlin professors helped him to change his mind. While in Massachusetts, Monroe met Amasa Walker, a professor of political economy at the Oberlin Institute. Walker informed Monroe that Oberlin would give him the opportunity to continue his abolitionist activities while also receiving his education. After this conversation, Monroe decided to speak to the Reverend Charles G. Finney, professor of theology at Oberlin, who was leading revivals in Boston. Finney effectively conveyed to Monroe the advantages of Oberlin in regards to both moral and classical training. After the interview, Monroe packed his bags and left aboard a steamer with Finney and his daughter Helen in the Spring.

            After his arrival in 1844, Monroe found himself swept in the religiosity of the school. Finney's thundering sermons led Monroe to conversion in 1845. Monroe remained a member of First Church until his death. The religious atmosphere in Oberlin also influenced him to pursue theological studies.

            As a student, Monroe received much guidance from James Harris Fairchild, the professor of languages and a member of the institute's admissions committee. Fairchild met Monroe when he entered Oberlin, and the two found themselves mutually impressed with each other. Fairchild agreed to offer Monroe admission into the junior class if Monroe could prove his readiness during the summer. Fairchild privately doubted that Monroe could acquire the body of knowledge in less than five months, but Monroe proved himself capable. Fairchild later commented, "During my sixty years of teaching at Oberlin I have known many bright scholars, but no one ever surprised me as did this young student from Connecticut." Monroe went on to earn his A.B. in 1846 and theology degree in 1849. Because of his talents, the college offered Monroe a position as a tutor in 1845. Monroe quickly advanced and accepted an appointment as a teacher of the advanced class in the preparatory department in Greek and Latin. The next academic year he became an assistant professor in the college.

            During his first years at Oberlin, Monroe developed his oratorical skills earning the respect of the community. In 1846, Monroe spoke at Oberin's commencement ceremonies in which he spoke on "Moral Heroism." The power of Monroe's spoken word moved people. A correspondent from the Cleveland Herald commented that Monroe had given the best speech of the day and was an "accomplished and gifted author." He stated that Monroe would "leave the impress of his own mind and genius upon the age in which he lives." The correspondent also disclosed the positive reputation he had of Oberlin because of Monroe. Before attending the commencement ceremonies, the man had harbored deep prejudice against Oberlin. After hearing Monroe, he honored the institution for offering the world such a man who would "speak for truth, and right, and Liberty."

            The Oberlin community welcomed Monroe, and he forged several friendships that would last throughout his life. Monroe influenced Jacob Dolson Cox who saw Monroe as a mentor. Cox said that he looked up to Monroe "as the brilliant model of what we younger men might hope to become." Later, the two would enjoy a relationship as political and intellectual equals.

            At Oberlin, James met Elizabeth Maxwell, a student in the Ladies' Department from Mansfield, Ohio. James courted Libby, and they married in 1847. They made their home in Oberlin first living at the homes of Oberlin professors before purchasing their own home in 1852. The couple counted on the help of the close-knit faculty as they struggled on Monroe's salary as a Professor of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres [1849] to raise their children. (They had 5 children: twin girls Emma and Ellen in 1848 (Ellen died in 1853); Mary Katherine (1854); Charles Edwin (1857); and William (1858)). The Oberlin Evangelist Association helped the Monroes financially. James and Elizabeth also took in boarders to help financially.

            Monroe helped to ease the financial strains of Oberlin College when he participated in the endowment drive in the 1850s. The trustees began an effort to raise $100,000 in donations and scholarships. The trustees would invest the funds to pay the professors' salaries. From 1850 to 1852, Monroe travelled throughout Lorain County soliciting funds. He raised an astounding $33,000, one-third of the money needed. The entire $100,000 goal was reached in January 1852. The success of the endowment insured the permanence of the Oberlin Institute. Monroe had made an everlasting contribution to the college. His labors also had given him an opportunity to meet people throughout the county which would help him in his entrance into politics.

            As the split in the nation over the slavery question widened, Monroe and the Oberlin community intensified their anti-slavery activities, living up to their radical reputation. Monroe lent his oratorical skills to the cause with vigor saying that the institution would be destroyed since "human nature, the religions we profess, the tendencies of our civilization and the Providence of God are all on our side" in the "mortal struggle." Despite the positive spirit that Monroe could stir with his speeches, he began to believe, as did many other abolitionists, that moral suasion alone would not free the slaves. Monroe came to accept the necessity of political action to achieve reform. When the community called for a faculty member to take their reform agenda to the state legislature, Monroe was called upon as a natural choice since he possessed the unpretentious disposition to ensure the message would be heard. As a respected member of the faculty, his decision to enter political life awakened the community to its acceptance.

            Monroe entered the political arena as a member of the newly formed Republican party in 1855. In this decision, he compromised a bit on the standards he had advocated as an abolitionist since the Republican party had committed itself to non-extension of slavery into the territories instead of emancipation. Monroe rationalized this shift by stating "that in a country where suffrage is universal, you cannot carry a great national reform without votes." Since most of the anti-slavery voters entered the Republican ranks in the 1850s, Monroe decided that he belonged with them. He believed, "if the new party were not moving as fast as I could wish, they were, perhaps, moving as fast as public opinion would sustain." This philosophy guided Monroe throughout his career. Jacob Dolson Cox said that Monroe "represented the most pronounced form of advocacy of freedom and the most advanced members of the new party. Still he had the instincts of practical wisdom in working sincerely within the lines agreed upon." Monroe belonged to the radical group within the Republican party that viewed slavery as a sin.

            Monroe served in the Ohio legislature from 1856 to 1859 and the Ohio Senate from 1859 to 1862 supporting measures for the protection of blacks and for education. Monroe's advanced views on racial equality outpaced those of his colleagues. In 1856, he succeeded in passing an amendment to the habeas corpus act that made it more difficult to arrest and confine fugitive slaves in Ohio. Several other northern states had passed such personal liberty bills to counteract the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Despite this initial success, Monroe also introduced legislation to obtain voting rights for blacks in Ohio.

            Most Oberlinites applauded Monroe's efforts for blacks, but one faction felt isolated. Supporters of woman suffrage who constituted a minority of the town called upon Monroe to answer for his inconsistency in pleading for Negro rights while ignoring the liberties denied women. Monroe had presented petitions asking for woman suffrage during the first term, but he did not advocate it. At home, some Oberlin residents challenged his stance by reading verbatim from his speech concerning black suffrage and replacing the word "woman" for "colored."

            As the sectional crisis heightened in the 1850s, Oberlin paid close attention. Oberlin had a reputation for harboring fugitive slaves seeking freedom, and Monroe aided them. Although Monroe had an obligation to uphold the law as a state legislator, he believed that his aid to slaves was necessary because the Fugitive Slave Law was contrary to the "higher law" of God. When slavecatchers from Kentucky attempted to return Oberlin resident John Price back to slavery in September 1858, Monroe played a role in the affair. Although Monroe was not one of the rescuers, he did help to convince Fairchild to keep Price for a few days before he could turn himself back. When the Oberlin Wellington rescuers were brought trial, Monroe frequently visited the jail with his daughter Mary often at his side. He professed disappointment that the Federal Grand Jury had not indicted him. He stated, "I have always felt a little hurt, that I was not indicted... don't I believe in colored suffrage. Don't I pray for the former slaves?"

            Monroe also became involved in the aftermath of the failed attempt by John Brown to take over the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry in 1859. Three black Oberlin citizens, John A. Copeland, Lewis Sheridan Leary, and Shields Green had participated in the raid. Leary died in the raid, and Copeland and Green were captured, tried, and hanged for their role in the siege. The parents of Copeland asked Monroe to recover their son's body because they feared a medical college in Winchester, Virginia would use the body for dissection. Monroe knew there would be risks involved because of the hostility of southerners toward "damned" abolitionists. Monroe decided to travel to Virginia because "I suppose I never pitied any one so much in my whole life." Monroe circumvented trouble during the trip by saying he was from Russia (township) instead of Oberlin. Monroe failed to bring Copeland's body home because the students had stolen it. He returned to Oberlin on December 24. The community gathered at First Church on December 25 to hear about Monroe's attempt. The parents expressed sincere thanks for Monroe's efforts and told him that they were at peace because they believed they had tried every means they could to recover their son's body. The community then had a funeral for Copeland. Residents donated funds to pay for Monroe's trip. The remaining funds were used to build a monument to Copeland and Leary at Westwood Cemetery in Oberlin. Although Monroe had failed to bring back Copeland's remains, he believed that the community had succeeded because the townspeople had united to assist the grieving parents.

            During his service in the Ohio Senate, Monroe worked with Oberlin graduate Jacob Cox and James A. Garfield, from Portage and Summit counties respectively to present a unified stance from the Western Reserve against slavery. Collectively, they earned the nickname, "The Radical Triumvirate." In 1861, the nation erupted in Civil War. While many of his peers enlisted in the Union army, Monroe remained in the legislature gaining in power at a time when state politics reigned supreme. A correspondent of a Cincinnati paper called Monroe the "most universally popular member of the legislature." Although Monroe did not serve in the war, Company C of the Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, comprised of Oberlin college students, called itself the "Monroe Rifles" to honor the professor's work as a reform politician. Monroe visited the company at Camp Dennison in Cincinnati to encourage them to reenlist after President Abraham Lincoln had called for this extension in May 1861. Monroe appealed to them as moral men from a school known for its anti-slavery stance. Together with Cox, Monroe convinced the men to reenlist.

            Although Monroe's star was rising, his political and personal life was devastated by the sudden death of his young wife (age 36) in 1862. Working in Columbus, Monroe had no opportunity to see her before she died. Oberlin friends and faculty extended their sympathy to Monroe who felt deeply the loss.

            The death of Elizabeth proved to be a turning point for Monroe. He still aspired to national office, and he needed financial security to raise his four children (ages 13, 7, 4, 3) as he still had a substantial debt ($1500). Monroe solicited the aid of Chase to procure a diplomatic post. In 1862, President Lincoln appointed Monroe U.S. Consul to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a post he held until 1869. The Lorain County News noted the irony of the timing involved in Monroe's decision

During the war, Monroe served as an important diplomat following the paths of Confederate cruisers in the South Atlantic and working for favorable relations between the U.S. and the pro-Confederate Brazilian government.

            Throughout his years in Rio, Monroe depended on his friends in Oberlin to help with personal matters and to keep him informed of the political situation at home. His children would stay with the Reverend George Clark and his family. Professor Fairchild agreed to look after Monroe's financial interests. Fairchild invested Monroe's money well, and Monroe found himself able to give money to the college and Oberlin citizens in financial need. Monroe's affinity toward the college and community increased with distance. He commented to Fairchild:

Monroe also expressed to Fairchild his love and appreciation for the community: "How my heart yearns toward you all! O for the privilege of attending evening prayers once in the Chapel! ...Don't I love every man and woman of there?" The college tried to hasten his return home by offering him the presidency (in 1866). Monroe declined the offer because he had left matters unfinished in Brazil.

            When Monroe returned to Oberlin in 1865 on leave from his post, he courted the youngest daughter of Finney, Julia Rice Finney. The two had probably carried on correspondence while he was in Rio, but the letters are not in the Monroe collection to verify this. The two married with the Reverend Finney presiding. The marriage meant that Julia would return to Rio with him and his four children in 1866. James and Julia rented a house outside of Rio and created a warm family life with the children. The presence of his family made Monroe's last years in Rio happy ones.

            In 1870, Monroe resigned his consular position and planned his reentry into politics. He depended on the help of his Oberlin friends to assess the political situation. He especially took to heart the advice of his brother-in-law, Jacob Cox (married to Helen Finney). Monroe won the election which began his ten years of service in Congress. While he received congratulations from family and Oberlin citizens, his father-in-law did not express happiness at Monroe's victory. Finney used the pulpit of First Church to invoke God to help Monroe so that he would not yield to the evil ways of the capital but would come back to his congregation the Christian that they knew him to be. The public rebuke brought tears to Monroe's eyes, probably of sadness, and embarrassment, even though the rest of the congregation did not seem surprised by Finney's actions.

            During Monroe's service in Congress, the nation faced the final years of political Reconstruction and the issues raised by the nation's growth as an industrial power. Monroe and his fellow congressmen confronted matters pertaining to blacks, currency, the tariff, labor, civil service reform, prohibition, and the electoral crisis in 1876. Throughout his service, Monroe demonstrated a commitment to reform through the Republican party, even if he had to compromise his principles. He also managed to avoid scandal that dominated the presidential administration of Ulysses S. Grant.

            Monroe spent much time as a congressman meeting the needs of his constituents, especially the residents of Oberlin. While Congress was out of session, Monroe lived in the home he purchased in 1870, now the headquarters of your organization. This gave Oberlinites access to him, and they expected him to look after the interests of the college and community. Individuals looked to him for help in difficult circumstances. In one case, Albert Reed of Oberlin enlisted in the Marine Corps for five years when he was drunk and wanted Monroe to help him receive a discharge. Typical of Oberlin activism, citizens of the town wrote the congressman expressing their views as to whether or not Monroe should help Reed. Black residents from Oberlin looked to Monroe "as an earnest worker in the anti-slavery cause and as a champion and an eloquent defender of equal political rights for all." Monroe supported measures of the federal government to protect Southern blacks against severe violence. However, he also shared the view of many Republicans that with civil and political liberties, blacks could care for themselves. This marked a shift in Monroe's career, and he began to give more attention to issues confronting the economic changes in the nation. This included the conditions of labor. Friends in Oberlin praised Monroe's service and believed he had "won an honorable distinction among the foremost men of the country." In July 1874, a group of 1500 Oberlinites including the mayor welcomed him home with cheers and music.

            After ten years in Congress, Monroe decided to step down. He had many options open to him. He thought his friend, President-elect Garfield, would offer him a position in the diplomatic corps, but this never came. Then, he sought a position in higher education, and the only school he wanted to teach at was Oberlin. He turned down offers to become the President of the Ohio State University and the Chancellor of the University of Nebraska. He accepted a position created especially for him, an endowed professorship in political science and modern history. The college raised $30,000 to create this chair, and Monroe held it until his retirement in 1896.

            As professor, Monroe imparted the reform message to his students, urging them to work for a more Godly society by addressing social problems. Monroe used new methods in class, and his students responded. Monroe pushed himself and his students to analyze, contribute, and participate in the currents altering American society, much as the Reverend Charles G. Finney had led him and other Oberlin students to reform through the gospel of disinterested benevolence. Several of Monroe's students went on to play leading roles in progressive era reform including John Rogers Commons, E. Dana Durand, and Guy Stevens Callender. Monroe aided the college through its transitional phase into the twentieth century by recognizing its ability to encourage students to apply Christianity to all secular realms of life. Yet students also respected him as a living symbol of Oberlin's past.

            Because of his advancing age and increasing infirmities, Monroe decided to retire to private life in June 1896. The college paid tribute to Monroe who had the "ability to inspire" his students. The college especially praised Monroe for "his simplicity of heart, his sympathetic approachableness,...his open frankness and sincerity." His retirement signalled the end of the antebellum tradition at Oberlin, paving the way for a new generation of leadership. The new generation turned the evangelicalism of Monroe's age into concern for reforming and redeeming society.

            Monroe with his wife Julia lived out his remaining years in Oberlin at his home in College Place. In retirement, he published his book Oberlin Thursday Lectures. He also remained active in church and community affairs. He died on July 6, 1898, weeks shy of his 77^th birthday.

            The town grieved with the Monroe family as its prominent citizen, second only to Finney, had passed. On the day of his funeral, the town mourned with the college flag flying at half-mast. Businesses closed from 3 to 6 p.m. Appropriately, Monroe was laid to rest in Westwood Cemetery next to the grave of his first wife and across from the Finney family plot.

            Monroe's life illustrates currents that affected many of in the nineteenth century. As a reformer, politician, statesman, and educator, Monroe remained true to his evangelical roots. He also remained steadfast in his connection to Oberlin. Oberlin had pushed him into a life of public service as a politician. Likewise, he brought Oberlin's concern for black rights into the political arena. His return as an Oberlin professor brought his life full circle. He had many opportunities to leave Oberlin, but he did not. He viewed Oberlin as his home, and the college community likewise felt he belonged to them. Monroe articulated his definition of success that also embodied the Oberlin spirit of the antebellum era: "Disinterestedness is success; integrity is success; Christian fortitude is success." Measured by his own definition, then, Monroe's life as a Christian statesman and reformer was well lived. How wonderful that we can celebrate his life and his Oberlin spirit here this evening!