RECOLLECTIONS OF E. L. APPLEGATE 255
power for that close and lucid thinking which characterized his earlier efforts, until his mind became the habitat of divers sorts of sophisms and vagaries.
Soon after Lincoln's inauguration, B. J. Pengra was ap- pointed Surveyor General of Oregon, and Applegate accepted a position as transcribing clerk in his office, at a salary of twelve hundred a year. That a man who had gained such plaudits by his tongue and pen in the field of political debate should accept such a subordinate position is almost unthinkable by the men of this generation, but it was different then. Such positions were considered posts of honor in those days. Some prominent men accepted clerkships at that period. Indeed, one such Hon. J. H. D. Henderson vaulted directly from a transcribing clerk's desk, in the same office, to a seat in Con- gress.
It is quite probable that the character of the work per- formed by the subject of this sketch would not have met with the hearty approbation of a modern civil service expert. Nev- ertheless he retained the place for a year or two, that is, until lack of appropriations necessitated a heavy reduction in the clerical force of the office. After leaving the office he moved to Southern Oregon and remained there until the spring of 1865, when he was appointed Surveyor General, taking the place of Pengra, who declined to be a candidate for reappoint- ment. He held the position almost six years nearly two years after his appointment expired. His administration of the affairs of the office was creditable. Although almost entirely devoid of executive ability himself he had the sagacity to select for his chief clerk, Mr. Joel Ware, a remarkably clear headed man, who possessed fine clerical, executive and administrative ability.
At one period of his incumbency he seemed in imminent dan- ger of losing his official head. It was when Andrew Johnson turned turtle and was engaged in a mortal political combat with the United States Senate. It was a period that tried office- holders' souls. They did, indeed, seem to be "between the devil and the deep sea." As the contest between the executive
