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24-749: The paper was founded by John Weiss Forney . Charles Emory Smith was editor and owned a stake in the paper from 1880 until his death in 1908. In 1920, it was purchased by Cyrus H. K. Curtis , who merged the Press into the Public Ledger . In 1882, a Philadelphia Press newspaper story sparked a sensational trial after a journalist caught body snatchers from the Jefferson Medical College stealing corpses from Lebanon Cemetery for use as cadavers by medical students. Before being published in book form, Stephen Crane 's 1895 novel The Red Badge of Courage

48-635: A Douglas Democrat and a supporter of Buchanan, upon the adoption of the Lecompton Constitution in the latter days of the Buchanan administration, he declined to support the Buchanan administration's effort to secure the admission of Kansas on that basis, and joined the Republican Party . He contributed to the organization of the Republican Party and its early successes. From 1859 to 1861, he

72-443: A journalist. The town of Forney, Texas is named in his honor. Attribution [REDACTED] Media related to John W. Forney at Wikimedia Commons Lecompton Constitution The Lecompton Constitution (1858) was the second of four proposed state constitutions of Kansas . Named for the city of Lecompton, Kansas where it was drafted, it was strongly pro- slavery . It never went into effect. The Lecompton Constitution

96-530: A member of the 'Charcoal Club' founded by Robert Henri , became known as the 'Philadelphia Four': This article about a Pennsylvania newspaper is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . John Weiss Forney John Weiss Forney (30 September 1817 – 9 December 1881) was an American newspaper publisher and politician. He was clerk of the United States House of Representatives from 1851 through 1856, and again from 1860 through 1861. He

120-586: A reading that became traditional after 1888. 'In January 1862, with the Constitution endangered by civil war, a thousand citizens of Philadelphia petitioned Congress to commemorate the forthcoming 130th anniversary of George Washington’s birth by providing that “the Farewell Address of Washington be read aloud on the morning of that day in one or the other of the Houses of Congress.” Both houses agreed and assembled in

144-687: A second vote in January 1858 by a majority of voters in the Kansas Territory. The rejection of the Lecompton Constitution, and the subsequent admittance of Kansas to the Union as a free state, highlighted the irregular and fraudulent voting practices that had marked earlier efforts by bushwhackers and border ruffians to create a state constitution in Kansas that allowed slavery. The Lecompton Constitution

168-418: A single issue, expressed on the ballot as "Constitution with Slavery" v. "Constitution with no Slavery". But the "Constitution with no Slavery" clause would not have made Kansas a free state; it merely would have banned the future importation of enslaved people into Kansas (something deemed by many as unenforceable). Boycotted by free-soilers , the referendum suffered serious voting irregularities, with over half

192-586: The Press and established a weekly, the Progress , which he edited until his death. Progress continued to be published by the Forney Publishing Company after his death. In 1880 he left the Republican Party and supported Winfield Scott Hancock for the presidency. He is buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery , Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Forney's daughter Tillie achieved some renown as

216-558: The port of Philadelphia , and he disposed of the Intelligencer and Journal , and purchased a half interest in the Pennsylvanian , a Democratic paper of great influence, which under his editorial control attained a national importance. From 1851 to 1855 he was Clerk of the United States House of Representatives , and, while continuing to write for the Pennsylvanian , he edited the Union ,

240-528: The 6,000 votes deemed fraudulent. Nevertheless, both it and the Topeka Constitution were sent to Washington for approval by Congress. A vocal supporter of enslaver rights, which he believed necessary to prevent Southern secession and preserve the Union, President James Buchanan endorsed the Lecompton Constitution before Congress. While the president received the support of Southern Democrats, many Northern Democrats, led by Stephen A. Douglas , sided with

264-501: The House of Representatives’ chamber on February 22, 1862, where Secretary of the Senate John W. Forney “rendered ‘The Farewell Address’ very effectively,” as one observer recalled.' On the death of Lincoln, Forney supported Andrew Johnson for a short time, but afterward became one of the foremost in the struggle which resulted in the president's impeachment. In 1868, no longer Secretary of

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288-412: The Lecompton Constitution was proposed, even though this would delay Kansas's admission to the Union. Furthermore, a new constitution—the anti-slavery Leavenworth Constitution—was already being drafted. On January 4, 1858, Kansas voters, having the opportunity to reject the constitution altogether in a referendum, overwhelmingly rejected the Lecompton Constitution by a vote of 10,226 to 138. In Washington,

312-509: The Republicans in opposition to the constitution. Despite Douglas's objections, the Kansas statehood bill passed the Senate on March 23, 1858, by a vote of 33 to 25. Douglas was helped considerably by the work of Thomas Ewing Jr. , a noted Kansas Free State politician and lawyer, who led a legislative investigation in Kansas to uncover the fraudulent voting ballots. A new referendum over the fate of

336-593: The Senate, he disposed of his interest in the Chronicle and returned to Philadelphia where in 1871 he was made collector of the port by President Ulysses S. Grant . He held the office for one year, and during that time perfected the system of direct transportation of imports in bond without appraisement and examination at the port of original entry. He was an earnest promoter of the Centennial Exposition and visited Europe in its interest in 1875. In 1877 he sold

360-507: The admission of the state of Kansas with the Lecompton Constitution was rejected by the U.S. House of Representatives in 1858. Though soundly defeated, the debate over the proposed constitution had ripped apart the Democratic Party. Anson Burlingame delivered a fiery speech in the House of Representatives on March 31, 1858, condemning those in favor of the Lecompton Constitution as "An Appeal to Patriots Against Fraud and Disunion". Kansas

384-480: The designated capital of Lecompton in September 1857 to produce a rival document. Free-state supporters, who comprised most actual settlers, boycotted the vote. President James Buchanan's appointee as territorial governor of Kansas, Robert J. Walker , although a strong defender of slavery, opposed the blatant injustice of the constitution and resigned rather than implement it. This new constitution enshrined slavery in

408-654: The nomination of Pennsylvania's candidate, James Buchanan . He conducted Buchanan's successful campaign for the presidency, and Buchanan would have given him a cabinet office if the appointment had been more popular in the South. In January 1857, Buchanan's influence was not strong enough to win Forney a seat in the United States Senate , which went instead to Simon Cameron . In August 1857, Forney established The Philadelphia Press , an independent Democratic newspaper. At first

432-590: The organ of the Northern Democrats. While Clerk, it became Forney's duty to preside during a protracted struggle for the speakership in 1855, which resulted in the election of Nathaniel P. Banks . His tact as presiding officer won the applause of all parties. In 1855 he headed the Pennsylvania delegation to the Democratic National Convention at Cincinnati , and was instrumental in securing

456-469: The proposed state and protected the rights of enslavers. In addition, the constitution provided for a referendum on whether to allow more enslaved people to enter the territory. The Topeka and Lecompton constitutions were placed before the people of the Kansas Territory for a vote, and supporters of the opposing faction boycotted both votes. In the case of Lecompton, however, the vote was boiled down to

480-742: Was a second time clerk of the House, and he published in Washington, D.C. the Sunday Morning Chronicle , which in 1862 was changed to a daily, and was throughout the Civil War looked upon as the organ of the Lincoln administration. In 1861, he became Secretary of the United States Senate . Among the events of his secretariat may be remembered that he was the first to read aloud, in a joint session of Congress, George Washington's Farewell Address,

504-497: Was drafted by pro-slavery advocates and included provisions to protect slavery in the state and to exclude free people of color from its bill of rights . Slavery was the subject of Article 7, which protected the right to enslaved "property". It prevented the legislature from emancipating enslaved people without their enslavers' consent and full compensation. A rigged election approved it in December 1857 but overwhelmingly defeated in

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528-601: Was preceded by the Topeka Constitution and was followed by the Leavenworth and Wyandotte Constitutions, with the Wyandotte becoming the Kansas state constitution. The document was written in response to the anti-slavery position of the 1855 Topeka Constitution of James H. Lane and other free-state advocates. The territorial legislature—which, because of widespread electoral fraud, mainly consisted of enslavers—met at

552-497: Was serialized in The Philadelphia Press in 1894. Earlier, in 1888, Robert Louis Stevenson 's The Black Arrow appeared in the paper in serialized form under the title "The Outlaws of Tunstall Forest," with illustrations by Alfred Brennan, before the first hardcover book publication by Charles Scribner's Sons. In addition to written contributions, illustrations were also produced for the newspaper. Four illustrators, each

576-636: Was thereafter secretary of the United States Senate from 1861 through 1868. He was born at Lancaster , Pennsylvania and at the age of 16 entered the printing office of the Lancaster Journal . Four years later he purchased the Lancaster Intelligencer , and in 1840 he became proprietor of the Journal and combined the two papers under the name of the Intelligencer and Journal . In 1845 President James K. Polk appointed him deputy surveyor of

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