by Walter Stahr
A few years ago, in my Seward book, I wrote the following about the presidential campaign of 1860: “Some Republican leaders, such as Edward Bates of Missouri, refused to give speeches at all; others such as Salmon Chase of Ohio gave one or two speeches; but Seward traveled thousands of miles and gave dozens of speeches.”
I was right about Seward but wrong about Chase.
by Walter Stahr
I read a lot of history books for my research: I have on the kitchen table right now a volume of the history of the Supreme Court, about 1500 pages, not light reading. So, when I go upstairs in the evening, and read for pleasure, I often read historical fiction.
Most often I read about the nineteenth or twentieth centuries, novels such as the Hornblower novels of Forester or the WWII novels of Alan Furst. But occasionally I venture farther afield, as in The Medicus Codex by Cy Stein, set in Rome in the third century AD.
by Walter Stahr
Next week I will be giving three speeches about three different men on three successive days.
On Wednesday evening I will be at the Smiley Library in Redlands, California, to talk about William Henry Seward. I spoke with this group a few months back about Stanton, for some reason I never spoke with them about Seward when the Seward book was first released. They had a cancelation and asked if I could fill in with Seward. Since I need to spend time at the library anyway, to research the Chase book, it is not a big problem.
by Walter Stahr
As I research the Chase book I come across items I wish I had seen for the Seward or Stanton books.
For example, today I was reading a March 1847 letter from Salmon Chase to Lewis Tappan, one of the Liberty Party leaders in New York. Chase was commenting on the decision of the Supreme Court in the Vanzandt case, in which Chase and William Henry Seward had served as co-counsel for the defendant Vanzandt or Van Zandt. Among other arguments, Chase and Seward tried to persuade the Supreme Court that their client could not have violated the fugitive slave law because the blacks in question ceased to be slaves when they crossed into the free state of Ohio. Chase and Seward lost, but Chase was not discouraged, telling Tappan that truth would prevail in the end.
by Walter Stahr
One of Salmon Chase’s best friends was Charles Sumner, the antislavery leader from Massachusetts. They first met in the 1840s, mainly through the mail, and they served together in the United States Senate in the 1850s, when they were among the most ardent opponents of the Fugitive Slave Law and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. During the Civil War, they were in almost daily touch, with Sumner in the Senate and Chase in the Treasury, and Sumner was one of those who pressed Lincoln hardest to make Chase the Chief Justice. Chase and Sumner continued to talk, in person and by letter, right up until Chase’s death in 1873.
by Walter Stahr
A friend told me yesterday that he had looked, in vain, here on my website for an update on my prostate cancer. Here is an update.
I am recovering well from my prostate cancer surgery on July 2. I am walking, running a bit, and could I think do some cycling, although Dr. B tells me to wait on that. I am also doing physical therapy, once a week, and PT exercises daily. I am doing Kegel exercises, in all different variations: lying down, lying down with legs raised, sitting on the side of the bathtub, doing mini-push-ups. I am sometimes wearing underwear rather than adult diapers; my urinary control is getting better, although it is not good when I am walking the dog. She pulls this way and that, and I tend to leak.
by Walter Stahr
I realize, now that I have cancer, that I have been reading about cancer for many years. Most of what I know about cancer I know from reading. That is, I suppose true of most topics; we learn about Brazil, or the French Revolution, or John Jay, by reading. I could go on and on about books and their central role in my life, but let me get to the topic at hand, four specific books.
by Walter Stahr
Among other things, I have been thinking about Salmon Chase, about the way in which he faced death over and over during his own life. I wanted to quote and comment on a few of his many letters about death.
The first major death in Chase’s life was that of his father, who died in August 1817, when Chase himself was only nine years old. Chase’s father suffered a stroke, lost the ability to speak and to move, and then died. Here is a description from a letter Chase wrote years later:
by Walter Stahr
I continue to recover from my prostate surgery. A couple days ago the doctor removed the catheter and removed the dressing on my incisions. I am now working, not very well so far, to regain control of my urination.
I wanted to publish what I hope is implicit in my past two posts: get tested. If I had not been tested for prostate cancer as part of my routine physical exam a few weeks ago, I would have no sense that I have cancer. Most men with prostate cancer, if the cancer is not detected through testing, have no symptoms until the cancer is quite widespread, when it causes bone pain and other symptoms.
by Walter Stahr
A few weeks ago, on Friday April 13, I saw my usual doctor for my annual physical. The exam went well until that final phase, for men, the digital rectal examination. Instead of saying, as I expected, “that is fine too” Dr. C said something like “hmm, that is not quite right, you should see a urologist.” He suggested that I see a friend of his, Dr. B, and I was able to get an appointment sooner than I thought, on Monday April 16.