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WHEELING -- Steubenville native Edwin M. Stanton's pivotal role in the historic Wheeling Suspension Bridge court case will be explored in an upcoming program.
Walter Stahr, author of a new biography, "Stanton: Lincoln's War Secretary," will speak at the Ohio County Public Library at noon Thursday. The free program will be the final event of the 2017 Upper Ohio Valley Festival of Books.
The lawyer and author from California will discuss the Wheeling Bridge case and the research he conducted at the local library in March 2016. He said, "I had found it a really interesting case, (with) the personalities involved and the legal issues, all the ups and downs of the case."
Regarding his upcoming visit, Stahr said, "I'm not one of these reclusive authors. I like to talk to people. When I was in Wheeling before, I didn't talk. I'm looking forward to actually meeting some people in Wheeling and hearing their questions about Stanton and the bridge and the Civil War."
At the library, Stahr read copies of old Wheeling newspapers on microfilm and examined a dozen boxes of research papers that Elizabeth Monroe donated to the archives after she wrote a 1992 book on the Wheeling Bridge case.
He had another reason for visiting Wheeling. "I wanted to see the bridge with my own eyes," he said.
Stanton, while working in Pittsburgh, represented Pennsylvania in an 1849 lawsuit against the Wheeling & Belmont Bridge Co., arguing that the new bridge's low height would prevent tall steamboats from reaching Pittsburgh and harm the city's role as a major port.
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed with Stanton in 1852, ruling the bridge should be raised by 28 feet or changed so navigation would not be obstructed. However, the bridge company sought federal legislation. Congress then approved the bridge in its original form and declared the route to be a national post road.
Stanton argued that Congress had no authority to overturn the Supreme Court decision, but the court ruled against him in 1856. The full court dissolved a prior injunction and dismissed the case.
In the litigation, Stahr wrote, "Stanton had distinguished himself not just as a Pittsburgh lawyer, not just as an Ohio lawyer, but as a national lawyer, able to handle the hardest cases in the highest court."
Stahr said, "Wheeling was a very important part of his resume, even though he was the anti-Wheeling person."
From the beginning, the case was handled by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Evidence suggests it was a deliberate maneuver on Stanton's part -- for the case's merits and perhaps as a ploy to advance his own career.
Merchants in Pittsburgh could have filed suit in federal court, but "because the state itself was the plaintiff, he (Stanton) started in the Supreme Court, not in Washington, but in Philadelphia," Stahr said. "He was basically able to pick his judge, his friend Justice (Robert) Grier. It was an aspect of the story that no one else had really focused on."
Stanton offered to write a 1,000-page book about the Wheeling Bridge case, but a publisher rejected the proposal. "You can see he saw this not just as good for Pittsburgh, but good for Edwin Stanton and his legal career, and it was," Stahr said. "Not long after, he was able to move to Washington and establish himself as a Supreme Court specialist. He wanted to be noticed, and he had a few other cases that got there."
Meanwhile, after writing a best-selling biography, "Seward: Lincoln's Indispensable Man," Stahr chose Stanton, who was "a little bit darker," as his next topic. "He's not as likeable as (William) Seward. I felt that he could do with a new and better biography," the author said.
He said, "I'm also a lawyer, and that's part of what drew me to him. Stanton as a lawyer was part of the story I wanted to tell. He had lots of interesting cases over the course of his legal career."
Stahr read messages that Stanton wrote from the War Department and was amazed by the attention he gave to different issues during the Civil War. "He sort of understood the big picture is composed of a thousand details," the historian remarked.
Many people may not realize that President Andrew Johnson's attempt to remove Stanton from the War Department led to Johnson's impeachment. Stahr commented, "Almost no one knows that story. I think it's a great story."
Stahr's new project concerns Salmon P. Chase, another lawyer and another member of Lincoln's cabinet. A friend joked that Stahr has become "a first-rate historian for second-rate Americans," but he said, "l like to think of them as first-rate Americans." He added, "I think they're really important people, but I'm realistic enough to realize that not everyone is going to know who Stanton is."