Copperheadism in Butler County, Ohio: The 1858 Morgan Township House

Ohio Historical Marker Dedicated on June 16, 2007

Article and Photographs by David L. Mowery

June 28, 2007

©Copyright 2007 David L. Mowery and the Cincinnati Civil War Round Table

Morgan Township House (1858) in Okeana, Butler County, Ohio, where the first Copperhead society in southern Butler County was organized on July 17, 1863. (Photo by author)

Morgan Township, positioned along the southern border of Butler County in southwest Ohio, is a quiet, rural region that has not changed much from its Civil War days. Sprawling farms, many graced with buildings dating back to the early nineteenth century, still dominate the landscape. Residents here are faithful and active stewards of their heritage. Even in the midst of encroaching urbanization from the Cincinnati and Hamilton suburbs, the people of Morgan Township have worked hard to preserve their historical treasures.

One such treasure lies within the small town of Okeana, Ohio, where stands the Morgan Township House in a lot opposite 6463 Okeana-Drewersburg Road. Built in 1858, this structure is the only surviving antebellum-era public building in Butler County that is still located on its original site. On April 20, 1857, the township trustees met in Okeana to purchase land for their new meeting place. With the aid of a tax levy, they were able to buy a $50 lot in the center of town lying within the narrow V-shaped strip of land between the Okeana-Drewersburg Road and the heavily traveled Cincinnati-Brookville Turnpike. The trustees ordered a “township house” to be built on the lot. Construction of the house was completed in 1858 at a cost of $650 for the building, $41 for fencing, $12.60 for twelve chairs, and $10.25 for one table. Official township meetings and unofficial local gatherings were held in the building until 1972. The building also served the community as a school, concert hall, voting precinct, bank, and township garage.

The most dramatic event in the history of the 1858 Morgan Township House occurred during the upheaval of the American Civil War (1861-65). Although Ohio was a steadfast pro-Union state, by 1863 many Unionist citizens in Ohio, and throughout the North, had become disenchanted by the lengthy and bloody war. Many sons and fathers had already fallen for a cause that some persons felt was not worth dying for anymore. Those dissatisfied with the long war felt that President Abraham Lincoln had overstepped his constitutional bounds granted to the executive branch of the U.S. government, and those violations were infringing upon the rights of Union citizens. They believed the war they had signed up to fight was no longer about keeping the Union together, but about freeing the slaves, as implied by Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of January 1863. The institution of national conscription (mandatory drafting of citizens to fill the ranks of the Federal armies) in March 1863 was the final straw for the Copperheads, who were lead by an outspoken Ohio politician named Clement L. Vallandigham from Dayton, Ohio. They called for Lincoln’s immediate removal from office and for a cessation to hostilities.

The most detested of Lincoln’s self-extended powers was his suspension of the writ of habeas corpus (a lawful order that allows the plaintiff to appear before a court to contest his imprisonment). The habeas corpus decision was tested by Clement Vallandigham. A lawyer and former Ohio representative to the U.S. House of Representatives, he was arrested on May 5, 1863, for speaking out against the Lincoln administration and the war. Vallandigham was a firm believer that it was time for the Union to cease fighting and sue for peace with the Confederacy. In 1862 he had risen to be a clear leader among the growing opposition to the war, a grass-roots group of people known by their political enemies as “the Copperheads.” Their motto was “To maintain the Constitution as it is, and to restore the Union as it was.” Although his beliefs were a minority opinion, Vallandigham was considered a threat to the United States government. Union Major-General Ambrose Burnside ordered the arrest of Vallandigham on charges of violating General Order No. 38, which stated that those who were in the “habit of declaring sympathies for the enemy” would be jailed. Vallandigham was denied a writ of habeas corpus. He was subsequently tried by a military court from May 5-6, 1863, was convicted of “uttering disloyal sentiments,” and was sentenced to 2 years in Federal prison. Out of retaliation, Copperhead supporters in Dayton, Ohio, burned the office of the pro-Republican newspaper Dayton Journal. Lincoln calmed the situation by commuting Vallandigham’s sentence from imprisonment to banishment to the Confederacy. The Copperhead leader was sent under guard to Tennessee, where he was released behind Confederate lines on May 26.

Southwest Ohio was bitterly divided over the arrest and trial of Clement Vallandigham, and political tensions increased. A substantial anti-war sentiment had grown in the southern townships of Butler County, with Morgan Township being the epicenter of the unrest. Morgan Township’s voting majority was composed of anti-Republican households. In the Election of 1860, only 152 of 401 voters in the township had cast their ballots in support of Lincoln. The Copperhead movement peaked in Butler County during the Summer of 1863. When Confederate Brigadier-General John Hunt Morgan and his 3,400-man cavalry division invaded Ohio at Harrison on July 13, the Copperheads in southern Butler County sought cooperation from the famous Southern raider. However, having been disgruntled by the Copperheads’ lack of military support for the Confederacy, Morgan offered no assistance to these Northerners. In fact, Morgan’s men often treated the Copperheads with less respect than the pro-Union residents along his path. After the swift departure of Morgan’s Raiders on July 14th, the Copperheads of Butler County decided that they had to take matters into their own hands. On July 17, 1863, Copperhead citizens from Morgan, Ross, Reily, and Hanover Townships of Ohio and from neighboring Franklin County, Indiana, met at the Morgan Township House. There they organized themselves into a group called the “Butler County Mutual Protection Company.” This political society would not last long. 

From his sanctuary in the Confederate States, Clement Vallandigham escaped to Canada in early July of 1863. At the June 11th Ohio Democratic Convention he won the candidacy for the Democatic ticket for Governor of Ohio, in absentia. However, in the ensuing October 1863 gubernatorial election, Vallandigham lost by a landslide to pro-Union Republican John Brough. This sound defeat of the Copperheads in the Ohio elections spelled the death knell for the Butler County Mutual Protection Company. The organization ceased to meet after this event. Other Copperhead organizations in southwest Ohio continued to maintain a strong presence in politics, but the anti-war political movement in southern Butler County petered out.

On June 16, 2007, nearly 100 residents of Morgan Township gathered to dedicate an Ohio historical marker commemorating the meeting house and its history. Fittingly, the marker was sponsored by the Morgan Township Trustees and the Morgan Township Historical Society, and it was funded by private contributions. Though the exterior of the Morgan Township House is original and looks much the same as it did in 1858, the interior of the building has been modified significantly over the years. The cost of restoring the interior of the house will be considerable for such a small community. Yet, true to their nature, the citizens of Morgan Township harbor a strong desire to see the inside of the structure returned to its original appearance, and perhaps even converted to a museum of the region’s history. With cooperation, hard work, and determination, the desire may someday become a reality, something the Copperheads had failed to attain for their cause 144 years ago.

Local students Ethan Stanifer and Chelsey Schlembach have the honor of unveiling the marker (Photo by author)

Members of the Morgan Township Historical Society and Morgan Township Trustees dedicate an Ohio Historical Marker to commemorate the Morgan Township House, along with students and reenactors (Photo by author)

Morgan Township House, where the first Copperhead society in southern Butler County was organized on July 17, 1863 (Photo by author)

Sources:

Faust, Patricia L., ed. Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War. New York, New York, 1986.

Morgan Township Historical Society. 1858 MorganTownship House/Copperheadism in ButlerCounty.Ohio Historical Marker Program, Columbus, Ohio, 2007.

Stander, Thomas F. “Morgan Township in 1863.” An address given at the dedication of the 1858 Morgan Township House historical marker, June 16, 2007.