Leonard Henly Sims
Encyclopedia
Leonard Henley Sims was a U.S. Representative
from Missouri
.
Born in Burke County, North Carolina
, Sims received a limited schooling.
He moved to Rutherford County, Tennessee
, in 1830 and engaged in agricultural pursuits.
He served as member of the Tennessee House of Representatives
for two terms.
He settled near Springfield, Missouri
, in 1839 and continued agricultural pursuits.
He served as member of the Missouri State house of representatives 1842-1846.
Sims was elected as a Democrat
to the Twenty-ninth Congress (March 4, 1845-March 3, 1847).
He returned to Rutherford County, Tennessee
, in 1847 and continued farming.
He moved to Independence County, Arkansas, in 1859, settled on a farm near Batesville, and engaged in cotton raising and farming.
He served in the Arkansas State senate 1866-1870 and 1874-1878.
He died on his plantation near Batesville, Arkansas
, February 28, 1886.
He was interred in the family plot on his farm.
Leonard Henley Sims
Congressional Speech
On January 5, 1846 Leonard Henley Sims made the following speech to the House of Representatives which gave him notoriety. This speech is taken from the Congressional Globe which is available in the Library of Congress.
"Mr. L. H. Sims obtained the floor, and addressed the House on the question. He ought probably, he said, to apologize to the House for claiming their attention. But on the other side of the Hall he saw a colleague who, with himself, resided on the western, frontier of Missouri in the region which was nearest the Oregon Territory; and it must be conceded by gentlemen that those who lived in that quarter took a deep interest in this subject. It might be recollected, too, that the people of Missouri, and their representatives here, had ever taken an anxious interest in the Oregon question. He would be wanting in his duty, therefore, to the people of Missouri, if he failed to make some remarks, though he did not profess to be able to enlighten the House on this important subject.
Sir, the first proposition which I intend to consider, I will put in the form of an interrogatory.
I ask this country and nation, whether Oregon is ours or not? He had seen no man yet who dared to say that we had no right to Oregon. Now sir, if we have a right to Oregon up to the 49th parallel, we have the right to it up to the 54th. It might be true that the people of his district felt a more warm affection for Oregon than others in this nation. He could not help feeling for it the warmest affection. If, therefore, said he, I should say anything calculated to wound the feelings of any who hear me, I assure them that it is not my intention. I have witnesses the tears of the mother in parting with her son, or her daughter, when they took up the travel for Oregon, which was said by gentlement to be a route so impracticable and so full of dangers; and I have sympathized in the feelings of the aged father, when he has seen his children depart for the country where they were to find a home on the borders of the Pacific.
I will notice what the gentleman from South Carolina said, if it be in order, as to this country being the refuge of liberty and free to all comers from every nation, who are suffering under tyranny and oppression; and I was surprised that he was willing to let Oregon alone, and thus close it to those who may seek, under our protection, a home in that country. He would leave our rights in Oregon the subject of negotiation with a nation which never yielded anything in its diplomacy to us, or to any other people. We had here openly discussed every branch of this question, and our views upon it were known to all the world. But you call never tell what are the purposes of Great Britain from the debates in her Parliament, for the decision of such questions does not depend upon the small portion of the popular principle which is infused in her system of government. Being a resident of the frontier, where I have cast my lot in life, I feel very deeply the necessity of giving notice to Great Britain of our purpose to terminate the joint occupancy of Oregon. The gentleman from South Carolina asks for reasons why we should do this, and I will give them. Proposition after proposition have we made to Great Britain for the
settlement of this question and a division of the territory between her and us. All these she had steadily refused and had I been with the President when he offered the last compromise of the 49th parallel, I would have advised him against it. But sir, the gentleman from New York (Mr. King) was mistaken when he said that the President had not made that offer in sincerity. Sir, I have known the President intimately, and for many years, during his whole history, and have marked his devotion to republican principles, in every station that he has filled. He never made one offer in bad faith. He would not have withheld this offer, had he supposed that it would be accepted, and he intended to be bound by it.
Mr. Preston King inquired of the gentleman, if he referred to anything~ which he had said when he spoke of the faith of the Government. If so, he desired to say that he (Mr. K) had said nothing on the subject of the faith of the Government. The question of faith, good or bad, was not at all involved in the offer last made by our Government to Great Britain. If it had been accepted, our Government would have been bound by it, and the line settled at 49°. It was for this very reason he had said he would not have made the offer. The offer was rejected by the British Government, and we were saved from all injury. He (Mr. King) felt no sensitiveness on this subject of the faith of the Government. The honor of the country was in safe hands, in the care of the Administration. His acts, and the votes of those who sent him here, were the testimonials of his faith for the past as they would be for the future.
Mr. Sims resumed. It is so common on this floor for inexperienced members to make apologies for their embarrassment, that I will not offer any for mine. I do not intend to make any personal allusions to any gentleman here; and I find so much difficulty in getting along with all the questions that may be raised by the North or by the South, and by lawyers, and metaphysicians, and learned doctors, who abound here, that I shall be slow in getting along. I hope, therefore, the gentlemen will keep cool, and suffer me to get through. I was about to say, sir, that the fact that the President offered the forty-ninth degree as a compromise, is no reason why he should make it again, or why he should take it if offered by the other party. Suppose that I have a cargo of flour in the port of Boston; a man may come to buy it; I offer it for six dollars. Am I bound to take the offer of six dollars, or to offer it again at that price? This is precisely an analogous case.
A great deal had been said here about war. I wish it to be distinctly understood what banner I fight under. It is “for Oregon, all or none, now or never.” Not only I myself, but all my own people whom I represent, will stand up to this motto. Around that will we rally, and for it will we fight, till the British lion shall trail in the dust. The lion has cowered before us before. Talk of whipping this nation! Though not, sir, brought up in the tented field, nor accustomed to make war an exercise, and do not so much thirst for martial renown as to desire to witness such a war, yet I cannot fear it, nor doubt its success.
The gentleman from South Carolina had brought several other topics into view; and I believe that gentleman would die if he could not say something about abolition and slavery. I do not wish to say anything against the South. No, God forbid; for she has too often displayed her patriotism in the battle-field, and her devotion to democratic principles. I do not, sir, desire to witness the shock of war, its pomp and parade, and its bloody fields; nor do I even wish to hear the shouts of those triumphs which I know we shall achieve in the struggle; but I do hope that we shall never submit to British dictation.
When I was a boy, sir—a small boy—in 1815, I was with my father at church~ where he was offering his prayers to the Almighty, and it was then that the news of the victory of New Orleans was brought to the spot. I never felt so happy, sir~ as at that moment. At that moment my love of country commenced and from that hour it has increased more and more every year; and I shall be ever ready to peril everything in my power for the good of my country. Sir, I do not fear that such will be the result. Will Great Britain make war upon us for taking and using that which is our own? Will she do this, when the treaty itself provides that either may terminate the joint occupancy by giving notice? If she desires to have a war, let war come. Still, I am for the whole of Oregon and for nothing else but the whole; and in defense of it I will willingly see every river, from its mountain source to the ocean, reddened with the blood of the contest. Talk about this country being whipped! The thing is impossible. Why did not Great Britain whip us long ago, if she could? Why should we give up Oregon, and cut off the West from the trade with China, and give it all to Great Britain. If we show that we are afraid of Great Britain, the loss of the country will be certain.
What is peace without honor? If we once give way on one point, we shall soon be called to yield another; and so on, till we have nothing to lose. The situation of things on the Northeastern boundary, I do not wish to see in the West. Those neighbors on one side of a line see in those on the other bitter foes. Talk about dividing the territory by the forty- ninth parallel! That would be a pretty piece of business. With Great Britain on one side, and the United States on the other, perpetual hostilities must be expected. There never could be any peace between them.
I shall lose as much as anyone in a war—r do not mean in property; but r have a wife and children, and I love them with all the heart and soul that I possess. No one can love his family more than I do mine, unless a stronger intellect may give him more strength of affection; and my family will be exposed to the merciless savages, who will as ever, become the allies of Great Britain in any war. They will be exposed to the horrors of the tomahawk and scalping knife. But still, sir, my people on the frontier will press on to the mouth of the Columbia, and fight for Oregon. I am not sure but I will go myself.
We talk about aggression upon British rights. He would like to read a paper he held in his hand. Great Britain had acquired by force one million six hundred and twenty-four thousand square miles. What nation has she not plundered of her territory? Ask France how she got the Canada’s Ask Spain, ask India, how she has acquired possessions belonging to them. Now we would invite Great Britain to come over here and take away the inheritance of our children. It was said that the route to Oregon was impracticable, and that it was beset with dangerous enemies, and that we could not send troops over to Oregon, nor provisions to feed them. Now, sir, we of Missouri can fit out ten thousand wagon loads of provisions for Oregon at any time, and ten thousand wagon-boys to drive them, who, with
their wagon whips will beat and drive off all the British and hostile Indians that they find in their way. Some say their ships will bring soldiers and provisions, and that they will block us out of access to the ocean, and starve us. It is a game that two can play at. They would have a share in the starving, too.
If the pilgrims who landed at Plymouth had landed first at the mouth of the Columbia, the same necessity for occupying the whole North American continent would exist that exists now. We should have pressed eastward till we had occupied the shores of the Atlantic, and southward to the Gulf of Mexico.
They say the Oregon country is poor. Then why does Great Britain want it? We have agricultural lands,
and we would like to have some manufactures on the Pacific, and a share in its commerce and navigation.
But, sir, much of Oregon is a fine grazing country. There you will already see flocks of sheep and herds of cattle in great numbers. How is it possible, sir, that gentlemen from the South should feel so indifferent to the acquisition of Oregon, I cannot see. I myself belong, morally and geographically, to the country south of Mason and Dixon's line. But I look upon this as an American question, and upon the country of Oregon as belonging to every portion of the American people.
Without speaking to the people of other States, he would say that, as to the people of Missouri, there was but one voice and one heart among them on this question. If the whole people of Missouri could be collected in a hollow square, and the line of 49 put before them, and the line of 54, they would all go for 54. If you put to them the question, notice or no notice, they would all go for the notice, and immediate notice.
The more you cry out, "war, war, we are in danger of war," the stronger they will go for Oregon. They were not to be thus intimidated. The western people had tried their valor on the plains of New Orleans; and if the venerated patriot, who now sleeps, in peace and honor, in the shades of the Hermitage he who refused to be buried in the tomb of a king could be permitted to give us his advice, he would say, "Go for Oregon, and for the whole of Oregon. I must be excused, Mr. Speaker, for speaking of one
who was my friend. One in whose mansion I was, when a child, an inmate, who often, when I was sleeping, has drawn the covering over me. From that neighborhood I emigrated, and finally settled, with my wife and children, on the frontiers of Missouri, exposed to those Indians who are west of the Mississippi. We are all fond of our early associations, of our kin and our blood, and he that does not refer to them with pleasure, is not a true-hearted man.
Mr. HILLIARD obtained the floor; and, on his motion.
The House adjourned.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
.
Born in Burke County, North Carolina
Burke County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 89,148 people, 34,528 households, and 24,342 families residing in the county. The population density was 176 people per square mile . There were 37,427 housing units at an average density of 74 per square mile...
, Sims received a limited schooling.
He moved to Rutherford County, Tennessee
Rutherford County, Tennessee
Rutherford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, it is the state's fifth-largest county by population with 262,604 people, an increase of 44.3 percent over the 2000 population of 182,023. Its county seat is Murfreesboro, which is also the geographic...
, in 1830 and engaged in agricultural pursuits.
He served as member of the Tennessee House of Representatives
Tennessee House of Representatives
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional requirements:...
for two terms.
He settled near Springfield, Missouri
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. According to the 2010 census data, the population was 159,498, an increase of 5.2% since the 2000 census. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 436,712, includes the counties of...
, in 1839 and continued agricultural pursuits.
He served as member of the Missouri State house of representatives 1842-1846.
Sims was elected as a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
to the Twenty-ninth Congress (March 4, 1845-March 3, 1847).
He returned to Rutherford County, Tennessee
Rutherford County, Tennessee
Rutherford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, it is the state's fifth-largest county by population with 262,604 people, an increase of 44.3 percent over the 2000 population of 182,023. Its county seat is Murfreesboro, which is also the geographic...
, in 1847 and continued farming.
He moved to Independence County, Arkansas, in 1859, settled on a farm near Batesville, and engaged in cotton raising and farming.
He served in the Arkansas State senate 1866-1870 and 1874-1878.
He died on his plantation near Batesville, Arkansas
Batesville, Arkansas
Batesville is the county seat and largest city of Independence County, Arkansas, United States, 80 miles northeast of Little Rock, the state capital. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 9,556...
, February 28, 1886.
He was interred in the family plot on his farm.
Leonard Henley Sims
Congressional Speech
On January 5, 1846 Leonard Henley Sims made the following speech to the House of Representatives which gave him notoriety. This speech is taken from the Congressional Globe which is available in the Library of Congress.
"Mr. L. H. Sims obtained the floor, and addressed the House on the question. He ought probably, he said, to apologize to the House for claiming their attention. But on the other side of the Hall he saw a colleague who, with himself, resided on the western, frontier of Missouri in the region which was nearest the Oregon Territory; and it must be conceded by gentlemen that those who lived in that quarter took a deep interest in this subject. It might be recollected, too, that the people of Missouri, and their representatives here, had ever taken an anxious interest in the Oregon question. He would be wanting in his duty, therefore, to the people of Missouri, if he failed to make some remarks, though he did not profess to be able to enlighten the House on this important subject.
Sir, the first proposition which I intend to consider, I will put in the form of an interrogatory.
I ask this country and nation, whether Oregon is ours or not? He had seen no man yet who dared to say that we had no right to Oregon. Now sir, if we have a right to Oregon up to the 49th parallel, we have the right to it up to the 54th. It might be true that the people of his district felt a more warm affection for Oregon than others in this nation. He could not help feeling for it the warmest affection. If, therefore, said he, I should say anything calculated to wound the feelings of any who hear me, I assure them that it is not my intention. I have witnesses the tears of the mother in parting with her son, or her daughter, when they took up the travel for Oregon, which was said by gentlement to be a route so impracticable and so full of dangers; and I have sympathized in the feelings of the aged father, when he has seen his children depart for the country where they were to find a home on the borders of the Pacific.
I will notice what the gentleman from South Carolina said, if it be in order, as to this country being the refuge of liberty and free to all comers from every nation, who are suffering under tyranny and oppression; and I was surprised that he was willing to let Oregon alone, and thus close it to those who may seek, under our protection, a home in that country. He would leave our rights in Oregon the subject of negotiation with a nation which never yielded anything in its diplomacy to us, or to any other people. We had here openly discussed every branch of this question, and our views upon it were known to all the world. But you call never tell what are the purposes of Great Britain from the debates in her Parliament, for the decision of such questions does not depend upon the small portion of the popular principle which is infused in her system of government. Being a resident of the frontier, where I have cast my lot in life, I feel very deeply the necessity of giving notice to Great Britain of our purpose to terminate the joint occupancy of Oregon. The gentleman from South Carolina asks for reasons why we should do this, and I will give them. Proposition after proposition have we made to Great Britain for the
settlement of this question and a division of the territory between her and us. All these she had steadily refused and had I been with the President when he offered the last compromise of the 49th parallel, I would have advised him against it. But sir, the gentleman from New York (Mr. King) was mistaken when he said that the President had not made that offer in sincerity. Sir, I have known the President intimately, and for many years, during his whole history, and have marked his devotion to republican principles, in every station that he has filled. He never made one offer in bad faith. He would not have withheld this offer, had he supposed that it would be accepted, and he intended to be bound by it.
Mr. Preston King inquired of the gentleman, if he referred to anything~ which he had said when he spoke of the faith of the Government. If so, he desired to say that he (Mr. K) had said nothing on the subject of the faith of the Government. The question of faith, good or bad, was not at all involved in the offer last made by our Government to Great Britain. If it had been accepted, our Government would have been bound by it, and the line settled at 49°. It was for this very reason he had said he would not have made the offer. The offer was rejected by the British Government, and we were saved from all injury. He (Mr. King) felt no sensitiveness on this subject of the faith of the Government. The honor of the country was in safe hands, in the care of the Administration. His acts, and the votes of those who sent him here, were the testimonials of his faith for the past as they would be for the future.
Mr. Sims resumed. It is so common on this floor for inexperienced members to make apologies for their embarrassment, that I will not offer any for mine. I do not intend to make any personal allusions to any gentleman here; and I find so much difficulty in getting along with all the questions that may be raised by the North or by the South, and by lawyers, and metaphysicians, and learned doctors, who abound here, that I shall be slow in getting along. I hope, therefore, the gentlemen will keep cool, and suffer me to get through. I was about to say, sir, that the fact that the President offered the forty-ninth degree as a compromise, is no reason why he should make it again, or why he should take it if offered by the other party. Suppose that I have a cargo of flour in the port of Boston; a man may come to buy it; I offer it for six dollars. Am I bound to take the offer of six dollars, or to offer it again at that price? This is precisely an analogous case.
A great deal had been said here about war. I wish it to be distinctly understood what banner I fight under. It is “for Oregon, all or none, now or never.” Not only I myself, but all my own people whom I represent, will stand up to this motto. Around that will we rally, and for it will we fight, till the British lion shall trail in the dust. The lion has cowered before us before. Talk of whipping this nation! Though not, sir, brought up in the tented field, nor accustomed to make war an exercise, and do not so much thirst for martial renown as to desire to witness such a war, yet I cannot fear it, nor doubt its success.
The gentleman from South Carolina had brought several other topics into view; and I believe that gentleman would die if he could not say something about abolition and slavery. I do not wish to say anything against the South. No, God forbid; for she has too often displayed her patriotism in the battle-field, and her devotion to democratic principles. I do not, sir, desire to witness the shock of war, its pomp and parade, and its bloody fields; nor do I even wish to hear the shouts of those triumphs which I know we shall achieve in the struggle; but I do hope that we shall never submit to British dictation.
When I was a boy, sir—a small boy—in 1815, I was with my father at church~ where he was offering his prayers to the Almighty, and it was then that the news of the victory of New Orleans was brought to the spot. I never felt so happy, sir~ as at that moment. At that moment my love of country commenced and from that hour it has increased more and more every year; and I shall be ever ready to peril everything in my power for the good of my country. Sir, I do not fear that such will be the result. Will Great Britain make war upon us for taking and using that which is our own? Will she do this, when the treaty itself provides that either may terminate the joint occupancy by giving notice? If she desires to have a war, let war come. Still, I am for the whole of Oregon and for nothing else but the whole; and in defense of it I will willingly see every river, from its mountain source to the ocean, reddened with the blood of the contest. Talk about this country being whipped! The thing is impossible. Why did not Great Britain whip us long ago, if she could? Why should we give up Oregon, and cut off the West from the trade with China, and give it all to Great Britain. If we show that we are afraid of Great Britain, the loss of the country will be certain.
What is peace without honor? If we once give way on one point, we shall soon be called to yield another; and so on, till we have nothing to lose. The situation of things on the Northeastern boundary, I do not wish to see in the West. Those neighbors on one side of a line see in those on the other bitter foes. Talk about dividing the territory by the forty- ninth parallel! That would be a pretty piece of business. With Great Britain on one side, and the United States on the other, perpetual hostilities must be expected. There never could be any peace between them.
I shall lose as much as anyone in a war—r do not mean in property; but r have a wife and children, and I love them with all the heart and soul that I possess. No one can love his family more than I do mine, unless a stronger intellect may give him more strength of affection; and my family will be exposed to the merciless savages, who will as ever, become the allies of Great Britain in any war. They will be exposed to the horrors of the tomahawk and scalping knife. But still, sir, my people on the frontier will press on to the mouth of the Columbia, and fight for Oregon. I am not sure but I will go myself.
We talk about aggression upon British rights. He would like to read a paper he held in his hand. Great Britain had acquired by force one million six hundred and twenty-four thousand square miles. What nation has she not plundered of her territory? Ask France how she got the Canada’s Ask Spain, ask India, how she has acquired possessions belonging to them. Now we would invite Great Britain to come over here and take away the inheritance of our children. It was said that the route to Oregon was impracticable, and that it was beset with dangerous enemies, and that we could not send troops over to Oregon, nor provisions to feed them. Now, sir, we of Missouri can fit out ten thousand wagon loads of provisions for Oregon at any time, and ten thousand wagon-boys to drive them, who, with
their wagon whips will beat and drive off all the British and hostile Indians that they find in their way. Some say their ships will bring soldiers and provisions, and that they will block us out of access to the ocean, and starve us. It is a game that two can play at. They would have a share in the starving, too.
If the pilgrims who landed at Plymouth had landed first at the mouth of the Columbia, the same necessity for occupying the whole North American continent would exist that exists now. We should have pressed eastward till we had occupied the shores of the Atlantic, and southward to the Gulf of Mexico.
They say the Oregon country is poor. Then why does Great Britain want it? We have agricultural lands,
and we would like to have some manufactures on the Pacific, and a share in its commerce and navigation.
But, sir, much of Oregon is a fine grazing country. There you will already see flocks of sheep and herds of cattle in great numbers. How is it possible, sir, that gentlemen from the South should feel so indifferent to the acquisition of Oregon, I cannot see. I myself belong, morally and geographically, to the country south of Mason and Dixon's line. But I look upon this as an American question, and upon the country of Oregon as belonging to every portion of the American people.
Without speaking to the people of other States, he would say that, as to the people of Missouri, there was but one voice and one heart among them on this question. If the whole people of Missouri could be collected in a hollow square, and the line of 49 put before them, and the line of 54, they would all go for 54. If you put to them the question, notice or no notice, they would all go for the notice, and immediate notice.
The more you cry out, "war, war, we are in danger of war," the stronger they will go for Oregon. They were not to be thus intimidated. The western people had tried their valor on the plains of New Orleans; and if the venerated patriot, who now sleeps, in peace and honor, in the shades of the Hermitage he who refused to be buried in the tomb of a king could be permitted to give us his advice, he would say, "Go for Oregon, and for the whole of Oregon. I must be excused, Mr. Speaker, for speaking of one
who was my friend. One in whose mansion I was, when a child, an inmate, who often, when I was sleeping, has drawn the covering over me. From that neighborhood I emigrated, and finally settled, with my wife and children, on the frontiers of Missouri, exposed to those Indians who are west of the Mississippi. We are all fond of our early associations, of our kin and our blood, and he that does not refer to them with pleasure, is not a true-hearted man.
Mr. HILLIARD obtained the floor; and, on his motion.
The House adjourned.