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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

11

BIOGRAPHICAL

HISTORICAL SKETCHES

EARLY INDIANA

WILLIAM WESLEY WOOLLEN

He that writes
Or makes a feast, more certainly invites
His judges than his friends ; there 's not a guest
But iriU find something waniing or ill-drest.
—Sir K. How.vrd.

INDIANAPOLIS
PUBLISHED BY HAMMOND & CO

COPYRIGHT BY
EMMA W. HUBBARD,
1883.

CARLON .» IIOl.LENBKCK,
I'llINTEIlS AND BINDEKS,
INDIANAPO 1.1.1.

TO
EMMA W. HUBBAED
WHO GREATLY AIDED ME IN THE PREPAEATION OF THESE
SKETCHES, THIS BOOK IS
Hffectionateli? Unscribeb
BY HER FATHER THE AUTHOR

PREFACE,

Mant of the sketches contained in this book were originally published in the
Indianapolis Jmtmal These, and such as have been given the public in other
papers, have been carefully revised and rewritten. Some of the sketches, how
ever, were prepared expressly for this work.
I have not written of living men, but only of those who have passed away.
The dead Governors of Indiana — both Territorial and State — are sketched, and
monographs of other distinguished men are given. The book contains other
papers, of a historical character, the whole making a work which, I hope, will
prove of permanent value.
The information contained in this book, which necessarily develops much of
the early political history of the State, was obtained from various sources, and
can not elsewhere be found without great research and labor. No inconsiderable
part of it is derived from the author's own observation and recollection, and
would pass away with him were it not committed to writing.
Should this book be favorably received by the public, it will, most probably,
be followed by another of similar character, for the author is in possession of
abundant material for such a work.
Such as the book is, I send it forth. 'Whatever may be the verdict of the pub
lic upon it, I shall have the satisfaction of knowing that it was conscientiously
written. It contains nothing which I do not believe to be true, and in its prepa
ration I accepted nothing as evidence which I did not regard as conclusive. I
ask for the work the public's considerate judgment, and I shall be content to
abide its verdict. ,
¦WILLIAM "WESLEY WOOLLEN.
Indianapolis, May, 1883.

T.\BLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE.
WiLLi.\M Henry Harrison,  1
John Gibsox, . .  11
Thomas Posey,  21
Jon.vthan Jennings-.  29
Ratliff Boon, ....  42
William Hendricks,  51
James Brown Ray,  56
Noah Noble.  65
David Wallace,  70
Samvel Bigger,  77
James Whitcomb,  81
Joseph .\. Wright (ariiAptoe),  94
AsHBEL P. Willard, ....  104
Abram .\. Hammond (tei<Aj3ta<e),  113
Henry S. Lane,  . . 120
Oli^ver P. Morton (ifirtpfcite), . .  130
James D. William.s, .... .... 147
Christopher Harrison,  ... 160
Milton Stapp,   168
David Hillis,  .... 173
James Noble, .  178
•loHN Tipton, .  ¦ . . . . 185
Oliveb H. Smith,  . . 196
.Albert S. White, ...  . 204
Ed^ward a. Hannegan,  ... 211
Jesse D. Bright, .  223
John W. Davis, . .  ' . 233
George G. Dunn,  241
William W. Wick,  252
TiLGHMAN A. Ho-ward,  262

viii t.\ble of contents.' 1 281

PAGE, j
273 J
James H. Cravens, .  'I

Andre'W Kennedy, .... . .
Robert Dale Owen, .  ¦ '
Thomas Smith, . .... . . .309
John L. Eobinson,  ... 315
Cyrus L. Dunham, . . ¦ . . 321
John La'vv, .... ¦ ^ ... 332
Michael C. Kerr {with plate), . . . ... 335
Isaac Blackford, ....  344
Stephen C. Stevens, . .  353
Charles Dewey, . . .... . 360
Jeremiah Sullivan, . .  366
A Historical Trio, ....  373
Beniamin Parke, .  384
Thomas Randolph, ...  391
Williamson Dunn, . . . . . . 400
Abf.l C. Pepper, . . . . . . 407
Joseph Lane,  . ... 412
James Gregory,  . . . 426
Joseph G. Marshall (wiSAjjkte), . . . . 432
Michael G. Bright, . . . .449
Nicholas McCarty, . ... 457
Calvin Fletcher, . . ... 464
William II. Morrison, . .  47.5
Jajies .'-I. Athon, .... .... . . 478
Michael C. Garber, . . ... 480
John D. Defrees,  . 485
Free Masonry in Indiana, . .  489
Madison prom 1844 to 1852, .  513 :
Indian.v Press in the Olden Tijie, ... 538

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.

IxuiAN.\ Territory, when organized, embraced all the coun
try lying between the present Ohio State line and the Mississippi
river, the great northern lakes and the river Ohio, excepting a
small part of Michigan and that portion of Southeastern Indiana
ceded to the United States at the treaty of Greenville. It was
created by an act of Congress passed May 7, 1800, and re
mained under territorial government until December 11, 1816,
when the State of Indiana was admitted into the Federal Union.
The first Governor of Indiana Territory was William Henry
Harrison. He was born in Berkeley, Charles City county, "Vir
ginia, February 9, 1773. He was the youngest son of Benja
min Harrison, one of the foremost raen of the revolutionary
era, and pe lived to add new luster to his father's name. When
nineteen years old he entered the army as an ensign, and fought
under both St. Clair and Wayne. In 1795 he was appointed a
captain, and assigned to the command of Fort Washington, a
fortress standing on the present site of Cincinnati. Two years
afterward he resigned his place in the army, and was appointed
Secretary of the Northwestern Territory, of which his old com
mander. Genera] St. Clair, was Governor. On the 3d of Oc
tober, 1799, the Territorial Legislature elected him a delegate
to Congress by a vote of eleven to ten, the latter number being
cast for Arthur St. Clair, Jr., a son of the Governor. On the
13th of May, 1800, he was appointed Governor of Indiana Ter-
ritor}^ and on the loth of January following he arrived -at Vin
cennes and took possession of his office. He remained in con
trol of the executive department of the Territory until Septem
ber, 1812, when he was appointed a brigadier-general of the
army and assigned to the command of the northwestern fron-

2 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
tier. The next year he was promoted to the rank of major-
general, and continued in the military service of the country
until the close of the second war with Great Britain, when he
threw up his commission and retired to his farm near CincinT:
nati. But he did not remain long in private life. In 1816 he
was elected to Congress from the Cincinnati district, and con
tinued a member of that body for three years. In 1849 ^^ ^^s
chosen a member of the Ohio Senate, and served two years as
a Senator. In 1824 Ohio sent him to the Senate of the United
States, where he sat until 1828, when President John Ouincy
Adams appointed him minister plenipotentiary to Colombia.
But his residence abroad was short, as General Jackson recalled
him soon after becoming President. On his return to the United
States he went back to his old home at North Bend, and soon
afterward was elected clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of
Hamilton county, an office he held for twelve years. In 1836
he was a candidate for President of the United States and re
ceived seventy-three electoral votes, being those of the States
of Vermont, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky,
Ohio and Indiana. The electors who cast the vote of Indiana
for him were John C. Clendening, Achilles Williams, Hiram
Decker, Austin W. Morris, Milton Stapp, Albert S. White,
Enoch McCarty, Marston G. Clark and Abram P. Andrews.
In 1840 he was again the Whig candidate for the presidency,
and this time was triumphantly elected, receiving 234 electoral
votes to 60 cast for Martin Van Buren. The electors for In
diana this year were Jonathan McCarty, Joseph G. Marshall,
John W. Payne, Joseph L. White, Richard W. Thompson,
James H. Cravens, Caleb B. Smith, Wilham Herod and Sam
uel C. Sample, several of them being among the most brilliant
men Indiana has ever produced. Thus, for the second time,
did Indiana vote for her first Territorial Governor for the high
est office in the gift of the people. He was bound to her citi
zens by the strongest ties, for he had scattered the savage hordes
at Tippecanoe, and at the Thames, and saved the homes of the
pioneers from pillage. General Harrison was inaugurated Pres
ident of the United States, March 4, 1841, and in one month
afterward-on the 4th of April, i84i-he died. His remains
were taken to his home at North Bend and there interred The

\\ILLI.VM HENRY HARRISON. 3
soil of Ohio never hid from sight one more dearly belox'ed
than he.
General Harrison was educated at Hampton Sidney College,
and afterward studied medicine. But his entrance into the
army, and his subsequent active service in the military and ci\'il
departments of the government, made its practice impossible.
America has had no more illustrious family than that of the
Harrisons. For four generations its members have sat ih the
national councils. General Harrison's father, Benjamin Har
rison, was a delegate to the Continenal Congress, and signed
the Declaration of American Independence. He was three
times elected Governor of Virginia, and was a member of the
convention called to ratify the Federal constitution. The Gen
eral's son, John Scott Harrison, was a member of Congress
from 1853 to 1857, and his grandson. General Benjamin Harri
son, is now a Senator of the United States from Indiana. What
a line of glorious ancestors has the Senator !
General Harrison's career as Territorial Governor of Indiana
was an eventful one. For a time faction was rampant about
him, fomented by able and ambit'.ous men. These men sought
to break him down, but he was too strongly entrenched in the
affections of the people. Among the private papers of Thomas
Randolph, a warm personal and political friend of General
Harrison, is an unfinished and unsigned letter, believed to have
been written by Benjamin Parke, the first delegate to Congress
from Indiana Territory. It has never hitherto been published,
and is exceedingly valuable, giving, as it does, a graphic ac
count of the intrigues against Governor Harrison, and naming
the men engaged in them. It is to be regretted that the narra
tive was not brought down to a later day. The following is a
copy of the paper : "Vincennes, 5 September, 1808.
"Sir — ^The moral and political history of the people of this
government exhibits numberless instances of the most barefaced
inconsistency, dupHeity, cunning and depravity. Re,morse has
lost its sting, shame its blush, and probity, justice, honor have
all been supplanted by the most unblushing hypocrisy.
" To comply with your request, it will be needless to enume
rate many cases. The leading features will enable you to form

4 biographical anh historical sketches.
a complete idea of the whole. In fact, a profile will give you
ample materials for a miniature.
- In 1801, about a year after the Territorial government com
menced, I came to this place. At that time I found Colonel
Edgar and Robert Morrison eager for the estabhshment of the
second or representative grade of government. The partisans
of the measure were principally in the two western counties.
" R. M. went so' far as to address circular letters to the peo
ple of the Territory, showing the ease with which it might be
attained and the advantages that would result from it. It was
notorious that he expected, from the standing of himself and
party, to be the first delegate to Congress. But the measure
was opposed upon the following grounds : By the census of
1800 the population of the Territory amounted to about 5,600
souls. Comparatively speaking, there was no emigraition and
no prospect of there being anv for some time. The county of
Dearborn was then within the limits of the Northwest Territory;C|
No purchase had then been made of the Indians, and they all
appeared to be averse to selling a single acre, and boundaries j
between us and the Indians on the Mississippi and in this county '
were not defined. The lines of Clark county, containing 150,-
000 acres, had been run. In fact there was scarcely an acre
of ground for settlement save in Clark count}' and the two do
nations. Those who had removed to the count}- had principally
to settle on the public lands in the neighborhood of the old set
tlements, and, in fact, to which we had no title, as the Indian
lines had not been run. The expenses of the second grade were,
by some, estimated at about from |i2,ooo to $15,000. How
ever, the smallness of the population ; the barren prospects of
a speedy increase of it ; our confined situation with regard to
the Indians ; their aversion to selling any of their lands, and
the supposed expenses of the establishment, influenced a great
majority of the people against the measure. Some expressed
their sentiments on the subject to the Governor, bv petition.
However, the project failed. There was little stir made in regard |
to it for some time after. 1
" In 1803 the politics of the West took a new direction. Sat
isfied with no establishment from which they could not derive •
either office or emolument, they seized with avidity everv cir-

WILLI.VM HKNRY H.VKKISON. :;
cumstance that might effect a change in our political situation.
In the summer of that year we received information of the ces
sion of Louisiana. Instantly the project was formed by the
Edgar and Morrison party to connect the counties of St. Clair
and Randolph to the country now called the Louisiana Terri
tory, and make one government of the whole. Edgar was to
be the Governor and R. Morrison the secretarv, and all the
posse were to be amph' provided for in this new arrangement.
A slight schism, however, took place in their party about this
time. James Higgin, an attorne}-, notorious for his avarice,
impudence and cowardice, proposed Judge Dowis as Governor
of the new Territory, promising himself an office if the Judge
succeeded. These projects failed also.
•• It ought to have been observed that in 1802 a convention ot
delegates assembled at this place to take into consideration the
situation. of the Territory, and to petition Congress for redress
on certain subjects. The petition was agreed to, and the major
ity of the delegates voted a clause for the introduction of slavery
for ten years, or rather a suspension of the sixth act of the
compact for ten j-ears. It was then proposed to elect an agent
to go forward with the petition. I. with others, was proposed.
Morrison was violently opposed to my being appointed. I have
been told, for I was in Kentucky at the time, that he wished the
appointment himself. I vvas appointed, and this affair satisfied
him and his party that their influence was trifling, and some
change must be wrought to place them in the situation desired.
•¦After the golden prospects which the cession of Louisiana
opened to this Territory had vanished, a project for dividing the
territor}- and forming a distinct government of the counties of
Randolph and St. Clair vvas brought forward. However, little
more than conversation was had on it at that time. It was soon
entirely suspended by the agitation produced by another project,
that of going into the second grade of government.
'• In the autumn of 1802 a treaty vvith the Indians was made
at this place, by which the United States became possessed of
the country from Point Coupie to the mouth of White river ;
and from twelve miles west of the Wabash to the distance of
seventy-two miles east. This was the first purchase that was
made. In August, 1803, the Kaskaskian Indians sold their

6 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
land to the United States. In March, 1804, Congress passed a
law for establishing land offices at Kaskaskia and Vincennes,
and authorizing the survey and sale of the lands purchased by
the above treaties. In August, 1804, the Delaware treaty was
made, by which the United States acquired the lands of the
Wabash, south of the first mentioned purchase and the road
leading from this place to Clarksville, thence down the Ohio to
the mouth of the river Wabash. (See the several treaties and
act of Congress in the laws of the United States.)
^' In the year  , the Northwestern Territory assumed a
State government, by which the counties of Wayne and Dear
born were annexed to the Indiana Territory.
' ' The purchases from the Indians had increased the emigration
to the Territory. It was also accelerated by the establishment
of land offices at Kaskaskia and Vincennes. In the summer of
1804 the subject of adopting the second grade of government
was agitated with considerable warmth.
" With agriculture improved, population increased, the coun
ties of Dearborn and Wayne added to the territory ; possessed
of all the lands from the falls of the Ohio to the Mississippi, with
the e.xception of the Pyan Kaskaw claim, of no great extent,
and which was shortly purchased ; and offices established at
Kaskaskia and Vincennes for the sale of public lands, it was
thought that the measure might be safely gone into. To this ad
vantageous change in our situation was added, that the expenses
of the establishment would not exceed $3,500 (I thought about
$3,000) ; that the people would be entitled to a partial repre
sentative government ; that they would have the absolute con
trol over one branch of the Legislature ; that it would give them
a Representative in Congress, and, although he would not be
entitled to vote, yet from his situation he would acquire respect
and attention, and would give a faithful representation of our
situation, and that some sacrifices ought to be made to obtain
even the partial exercise of the rights considered so dear and of
such universal importance to the several States.
" But strange as it may seem, to a case so plain, and princi
ples resulting from it so obvious, forgetting former professions,
and lost to all sense of shame, Edgar, Morrison & Co. were op
posed. In 1801 raising $10,000 or $15,000 would have been a

WILLIAM HENRV H.\RRISON. 7
slight tax and no burden ; j'et, in 1804, with an increased pop
ulation, an immense purchase of lands, offices opened for their
sale, and our situation in every respect changed infinitely for
the better, between $3,000 and $4,000 would be ruin to the peo
ple ; although the office of Governor was obnoxious on accovmt
of the extent of its prerogatives, and the conduct of the Gover
nor reprehensible for the tyranny of his conduct, yet it would
endanger the rights and liberties of the people to diminish his
prerogatives and contract the sphere of his duties ; and although
in 1801 the Edgar and Morrison party were so violently in favor
of the measures, in 1804 they were its most bitter opponents.
''In this county J. R. Jones, Vigo, Hurst, the Governor, the
Johnsons and myself were in favor of the measure. Vander-
burg and Mcintosh were opposed to it. In Randolph, Fisher
and Menard were in favor of it.
"By the act of Congress of May, 1800, (the Division act) the
Governor of the Territory was authorized that whenever in his
opinion a majority of the freeholders of the same were in favor
of the second grade of government, to declare the Territory to
be in the second grade, and issue his writ for an election of
Representative. An absolute and undefined discretion was
devolved on him as to the mode of collecting the evidence, its
kind and qualities, upon which this fact depended in his own
mind. Petitions had been presented to him both for and against
the measure. From them he could form no definite opinion.
He had neither evidence of the signing nor of the signers being
freeholders. Thus situated, and conscious it was necessary,
from the clamor, that the question should be put to rest, he
wisely determined to authorize, by proclamation, an election in
the several counties, on a certain day, at which, under the reg
ulations of the election law, the freeholders could express their
voice. " This was public, open, fair and just. The notice was pub
lic and general, and an opportunity afforded to all of a candid
expression of their will. This was particularly the case as to
Randolph, St. Clair, Knox, Clark and Dearborn. It was not
the case as to Wayne, as I will hereafter explain.
"In the month of  . 1804, the election accordingly took
place. The vote stood as follows :

8 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES. For. Against.
"St. Clair  22 59
Randolph  40 21
Knox  163 12
Clark  35 ^3
Dearborn  26
Totals  269 131
131
Majority  138
"Giving a majority of 138 in favor of the second grade of
government. "As to the county of Wayne, a proclamation was sent to De
troit by mail, and another by express by way of Fort Wayne.
This to increase the chances of their receiving the information
in time. However, no election was holden in that county. My
memory does not enable me to state correctly the cause that pre
vented it ; but it has been said that it was received before that
day elapsed, but not in time to give it the necessary publicity,
as it ought to have been published a certain number of days be
fore the election ; but as the proclamation was issued on the 
day of  , in 1804, and the election authorized to be holden
on the  day of the next  , and as it was immediately
forwarded, and in time to attain the object in view, according
to the source or mode of conveying intelligence to that county.
the failure of the election in that county ought not to have
affected the result of the election in the other counties. This
from an obvious principle and notorious examples. In a gen
eral election the result is not to be affected bj' want of its
possibility in every district ; or, if known, by the electors fail
ing to give their votes, or from the officers conducting it ille
gally.  so  is this principle in elections, that had the
county of Knox, which was in the ma)ority, or the county of St.
Clair, which was in the minority, alone e.xpressed its voice, it
would unquestionably have setded the question. The principle
is limited to this alone : If the proper officer performs his duty ;
if there is a fixed time in which proclamations shall be issued ;
that it be done in the time prescribed by law ; or, if not fi.xed

WILLI.VM UKNRV H.VRRISON.

by law, if it be issued so as to afford reasonable time for its dis
tribution ; with a view to its being done by mail or by privati'
express : distance of place, roads, season of the year, etc., the
law and reason and common sense are complied with. As to
examples, the case of Mr. Adams in — 96 ; Governor Strong, of
Massachusetts, in  ; C. Mead, elected to Congress from
Georgia in 1805, are conclusive.
" Upon the receipt of the returns, and learning that no elec
tion had been held at Detroit, the Governor declared the Terri
tory to be in the second grade of government, and issued writs
for an election of members of the House of Representatives.
Yet it has been stated ten thousand times, and is now repeated
with much confidence by Rice Jones, that the Governor thrust
the people of the Territory into the second grade against their
will. This view brings us down to the fall of the year 1804. I
will proceed to recount a few things that grew out of this change
in the political character of our government."
Here the paper ends.
I shall not attempt to do that which the author of this letter
proposed to do, for I am not writing the history of the Territorial
government, but attempting to sketch the life of its head, of the
most influential and important man within its jurisdiction.
General Harrison was emphatically a man of the people.
The pioneers of Indiana loved and honored him as they did no
other man. They testified to this on every occasion that offered.
Both times he ran for the presidency Indiana voted for him,
although a majority of her citizens were averse to the party
whose candidate he was. He was an honest man. No taint of
dishonor attaches to his name. William Mcintosh, his terri
torial treasurer, once accused him of official dishonesty, but
was mulcted in heavy damages by a jury df his peers for the
libel. General Harrison was Southern-born, and grew up under the
influence of human slavery. It is no wonder, then, that he
favored the abrogation of the article in the ordinance of 1787
prohibiting slavery in the Northwestern Territory, but for
tunately for Indiana, as well as for the General's fame. Con
gress refused its consent to the change.

ID BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
When General Harrison was a candidate for the presidency
his pohtical opponents belittled his talents, and tried to make
the people believe he was an ignorant and ordinary man. They
said he was a backwoodsman, living in a log cabin ; a man who
treated his guests to hard cider. His supporters accepted these
charges as true, and utilized them in his behalf. Log cabins,
with corn-cobs tied to the latch-strings of their doors, were car
ried in the processions of his partisans and made to do duty in
his cause. The result proved that it never renders a man un
popular with the people to have them believe he is one of them
selves. The house in which General Harrison lived while Governor
of Indiana Territory still stands. The intelligent stranger sel
dom visits Vincennes without asking to see it. In the yard near
it stand the trees under which the Governor held his celebrated
conference with Tecumseh. The house and its surroundings
are held in veneration by the inhabitants of the " Old Post,"
and the time will come when the people of the country will visit
the spot and the grave at North Bend as they now do Mount
Vernon, Monticello and the Hermitage. It was in this house
that the civil government of Indiana Territory was planned,
and its master was the one, of all others, who did most to rear
the structure. He was a master builder, and builded well.

JOHN GIBSON.

John Gibsox, Secretary of Indiana Territory from its organ
ization until it became a State, and for awhile Acting Governor
of the Territory, was born at Lancaster, Pa., May 23, 1740.
He received a good education, and when eighteen years old
joined General Forbes's expedition against Fort Du Quesne,
which stood on the present site of Pittsburg. The expedition
was successful, resulting in the capture of the fort, and when
peace was declared young Gibson settled at Fort Pitt, formerly
Du Quesne, as an Indian trader. Soon afterward he was taken
captive by Indians, and, with other white men, condemned to
be burned at the stake. An aged squaw, however, who had
lost a son in battle, adopted the young trader, and thereby saved
his life. He remained with the Indians several years, and
learned their language, manners and customs. During his res
idence with them he maintained conjugal relations with a sister
of Logan, the chieftain made immortal by his speech on the
murder of his family. The life he was compelled to lead among
the Indians did not suit Gibson, and he determined to abandon
it. A suitable opportunity offering, he left his savage associates,
returned to Fort Pitt, and resumed his business as a trader.
In 1774 Mr. Gibson accompanied Lord Dunmorein his march
against the Shawanee towns. Previous to this expedition the
family of Logan, including his sister, known as "Gibson's
squaw," were killed at Yellow creek by a family named Great-
house. The Indians, at the time of their murder ,^were on a
friendly visit to the Greathouses, and their " untimely taking
off" was an act of treachery of the basest kind. Logan laid
the blame of the foul murders at the door of Colonel Cresap, a
celebrated Indian fighter of that day, but history exonerates

12 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Cresap from the charge. In a deposition made at Pittsburg,, jf
¦on the 4th of April, 1800, General Gibson gives this account of
Dunmore's expedition, and of Logan's celebrated speech :
"This deponent further saith that in the year 1774 he accom
panied Lord Dunmore on the expedition against the Shawanees
and other Indians on the Scioto ; that on their arrival within
fifteen miles of the town they were met by a flag and a white
man by the name of Elliott, who informed Lord Dunmore that
the chiefs of the Shawanees had sent to request his lordship to
halt his army and send in some person who understood their
language ; that this deponent, at the request of Lord Dunmore
and the whole of the officers with him, went in; thai on his
arrival at the town, Logan, the Indian, came to where this
deponent was sitting with Cornstalk and other chiefs of the
Shawanees and asked him to walk out with him ; that they went
into a copse of wood, where they sat down, when Logan, after
shedding abundance of tears, delivered to him the speech nearly
as related by Mr. Jefferson in his ' Notes on the State of Vir
ginia ; ' that he, the deponent, told him that it was not Colonel
Cresap who had murdered his relatives, and although his son,
Captain Michael Cresap, was with a party who had killed a
Shawanee chief and other Indians, yet he was not present when
his (Logan's) relatives were killed at Baker's, near the mouth
of Yellow creek, on the Ohio ; that this deponent, on his return
to camp, delivered the speech to Lord Dunmore, and that the
murders perpetrated as above were considered as ultimately the
cause of the war of 1774, commonly called Cresap's war."
The speech referred to was as follows :
" I appeal to any white man to say, if he ever entered Logan's
cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat ; if he ever came cold
and naked, and he clothed him not. During the course of the
last long and bloody war Logan remained idle in his cabin, an
advocate of peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my
countrymen pointed as they passed and said : ' Logan is the
friend of white men.' I had even thought to have lived with
you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, who, last
spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all the rela-

JOHN GIBSON. 13
tives of Logan, not even sparing my women and children.
There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living
creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought it ; I
have killed many ; I have fully glutted mv vengeance ; for my
country, I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor a
thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He
will not turn on his heel to save, his life. Who is there to mourn
for Logan? Not one I "
On the breaking out of the revolutionary war. Colonel Gib
son raised a regiment and marched at its head to the scene of
hostilities. He and his regiment were with the army at New
York, and remained with it during its retreat through the Jer
seys. Soon after this he was assigned to the command of the
Western frontier, a position he was admirably qualified to fill.
When the war had ended, and the independence of the colonies
was assured, he returned to Pittsburg and resumed his former
avocation of a trader.
In 1788 General Gibson was elected a member of the conven
tion that made the first constitution of Pennsylvania. Subse
quently he was, for several years, a judge of the Court of Com
mon Pleas of Alleghany county, and at the same time he served
as general of the State militia.
In April, 1793, President Washington appointed Benjamin
Lincoln, of Massachusetts, Beverly Randolph, of Virginia,
and Timothy Pickering, of Pennsylvania, commissioners to
treat with the Indians northwest of the river Ohio. These gen
tlemen requested General Gibson, under date of May 26, 1793,
" to point out the most suitable persons for interpreters, and we
request your aid in engaging them," etc. They also asked him
to procure for them 80,000 white wampum, to use in their nego
tiations with the Indians. At that time General Gibson was-
a general of the Pennsylvania militia, and under date of July
1 1 , 1 794, he wrote Governor Mifflin as follows :
"I have written to the different inspectors of my division,.
pressing them to have the men ready, agreeably to the requisi
tion of the adjutant-general, and you may rely on my using
every means in my power for the protection of the western.
frontiers."

14 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
The historian of St. Clair's defeat gives this account of the
•Gibson family :
" Colonel George Gibson, who was mortally wounded at St.
Clair's defeat, was the father of General George Gibson, of the
War Department, and of the late Chief Justice of Pennsyl
vania. He was the brother of General John Gibson, commonly
called by the nom de guerre ' Horsehead,' the well known Indian
interpreter in Dunmore's war. Colonel George Gibson, besides
being a gallant soldier, was an accomphshed gentleman, a man
of wit and of fine imagination. Had he, instead of his brother,
been at the treaty of Camp Charlotte, and present at the deliv
ery of Logan's speech, that posthumous leaf from the plants of
Sir William Johnson might have been imputed to him."
On the 7th of May, 1800, Congress passed an' act dividing
the Northwestern Territory, and creating that of Indiana. Soon
afterward. President Jefferson appointed General Gibson Secre
tary of the new Territory, and he at once started for its capital.
He reached Vincennes in July, 1800, and the Governor, Wil
liam Henry Harrison, not having arrived, he commenced to
organize the Territorial government. He made several appoint
ments of Territorial officers, and did other things in the direction
of creating a civil government. He continued in charge of the
executive department of the Territory until the arrival of Gov
ernor Harrison, the next January, when his executive functions
ceased. He confined himself to the Secretary's office until the
summer of 181 2, when he again became Acting Goveraor.
administering the affairs of the Territory at the most critical
period of its existence. On the i8th of June, 181 2, Congress
¦declared war against Great Britain, and on the 4th of the next
September, Fort Harrison, then commanded by Captain Zach
ary Taylor, afterward President of the I'nited States, was
attacked by a large body of Indians. The day after the attack,
and even before the news of it had reached Mncennes, Gov
ernor Gibson took active measures for the gathering of mil
itary forces at Vincennes, in anticipation of trouble with the
Indians. He wrote to Governor Harrison, at Frankfort Ky.,
for one company of regular troops and two companies of Ken
tucky militia, with stores, wagons, etc., asking that they be sent

' JOHN GIBSON. 15
as expeditiouslj- as possible. There being some delay from
lack of arms and equipments for some six hundred men, who
were at Louisville, and Governor Gibson meantime being
advised of. the investment of Fort Harrison, on September 9,
i8i2, wrote a second letter urging the immediate march of the
troops without their baggage, as the danger seemed imminent.
Responding to this appeal, by the 20th of September Gen
eral Winlock reported at White river, sixteen miles from Vin
cennes, with six hundred and forty infantry and six hundred
mounted men, but one day behind. Nor was the commandant
at Louisville the only officer to whom Governor Gibson applied
for help. He also informed General Samuel Hopkins, of Hen
derson county, Kentucky, of Indiana's emergency, and asked
for volunteers from Kentucky at once, saying, "The exigency
is such as to preclude the possibilitj'^ of applying for aid from
your quarter through the proper channel." In response to this.
Colonel Philip Barbour, at Henderson, on the nth of Septem
ber, dispatched Major William R. McGary, with two hundred
and forty-one men, for Vincennes, with promise of the rest of
the regiment just as soon as arms could be procured for them.
Barbour wrote of Major McGary to Governor Gibson :
" The Major is brave, firm and determined, and, I doubt not,
will give you a good account of any command you may be
pleased to order him on."
In the latter part of September General Hopkins reached
Vincennes with two thousand mounted volunteers from Ken
tucky. Colonel William Russell, of the United States Army,
was also there with a considerable number of men. These,
with the soldiers of General Winlock and Major McGary, made
a large army, and one which had been mainly gotten together
within a single month.
Meantime, Captain Taylor, in command at Fort Harrison,
informed Governor Gibson by messenger that he had been able
to maintain his garrison against a severe assault by the In
dians, lasting seven hours. On September 12, Governor Gibson
instructed Colonel Robert Robertson to use such mihtia as could
be so employed to guard the boundaries of Clark and Harrison

16 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES. -
counties, "taking care to have an eye to Linley's settlement,
the Drift Wood and Pigeon Roost settlements." He added,
"You will give particular orders to the officers commanding
to employ their men continually in reconnoitering and scouring
through the country on the frontier, and should anything e.xtra-
ordinary or alarming occur, you will give me the earliest infor
mation thereof by express." Colonel Paddock, at the same
time, received instructions identical with the above.
September 9, 1812, Governor Gibson wrote Colonel Robert
son, who, at the head of a body of men, was on the way to the
Delaware towns, as follows :
" ViNCE.NNES, September the 9th, 1812.
"Sir — I have just been informed that a body of men have
undertaken an expedition against the Delaware towns, under an
impression that the Delawares had done or countenanced the
murders which have been committed on the frontiers of Clark
county. I have official information that the great body of the
Delaware tribe are now in council at Piquea, with commission
ers appointed by the President, to hold a treat}" with the Indi
ans, or such of them as wish to remain the friends of the United
States. They being under the immediate protection of the
United States, I do hereby forbid all citizens of this Territory
from proceeding against the Delawares without permission from
government, assuring you, at the same time, that no person will
be more willing to punish them than myself if they are found to
be guilty. Very truly,
"John Gibson,
"Acting Governor. '^
The above letter shows Governor Gibson to have been a just
man. In the excited state of the people at that time there are
few who would have troubled themselves about seeing that jus
tice was done an Indian. Retribution, not justice, was what the
people were clamoring for.
Colonel Russell reached Fort Harrison in due time, and soon
after General Hopkins foUov^'ed him with his army. In a letter
written to Governor Gibson by General Hopkins, dated F'ort
Harrison, November 8, 181 2, he says :

JOHN GIBSON. 17
"Letters, etc., sent to Fort Harrison by safe hands might
probably find their way to us ; we are kept wholly uninformed of
everything passing. We feel the want of whisky badly ; any
other thing could be better done without. General Butler
informs me the contractor had a supply, which, by this time,
might have arrived here had it been sent on. Our supply of
bread-stuffs and meat will, I hope, suffice."
It seems the pioneer soldiers of Indiana loved their grog.
General Hopkins puts it before powder and ball in importance,
and, in fact, it might have done about as good execution if it
had possessed the qualities of the modern article.
The temptation to outline the history of the Wabash and Illi
nois campaigns of 181 2 is a strong one, as I have original mate
rials at hand which could be used for the purpose, but my ob
ject is not to write history, e.xcept incidentally, but to sketch
men. I have made these slight digressions to show the reader
that Governor Gibson was equal to the occasion, that he took
good care of the people under his jurisdiction, and that, too,
when great watchfulness and discretion were demanded.
Governor Gibson was in charge of the Governor's office for
about one year, and then gave place to Governor Posey. All
this time — that is to say, from the day of his arrival at Vincennes
until the commencement of Governor Posey's administration,
and thence on until Indiana became a State — General Gibson
was in charge of the Secretary's office. No complaint was ever
made of the way he discharged its duties ; nor was there of his
actions as Governor. In his double capacity of Secretary and
Governor he so conducted the affairs of the Territory as to escape
criticism from the ambitious and plotting men around him, some
thing his chief. General Harrison, a good and patriotic man,
was unable to do. He kept aloof from the cabals and intrigues
of -Territorial days, confining himself to the discharge of his
public- duties. He did not become involved in the quarrels
about him, and as a consequence enjoyed the good-will and
friendship of those who were hostile among themselves.
While Secretary of Indiana Territory General Gibson was
not conspicuous in public affairs outside of his official duties.
He seemed content with attending to his business, leaving to

1 8 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
others- the task of righting neighborhood wrongs and setthng
private grievances. It was only on extraordinary occasions
that his name appears in the proceedings of the public gatherings;
of these days. In July, 1812, a public meeting was held at Vin
cennes to consider the subject of the war with England. General
Gibson was chosen its president, and strong resolutions were
passed approving the declaration of war, and indorsing the course
of the Madison administration. The Western Sun, a paper pub
lished atVincennes by Elihu Stout, the grandfather of Hon. Henry
S.Cauthorn, makes frequent mention, during the summer of 1812,
of the valuable information furnished by General Gibson, then
the Acting Governor of the Territory, in relation to public mat
ters generally, and particularly in regard to Indian affairs. In
the Sun of September i, 1812, is a proclamation of General
Gibson, as Acting Governor, requiring all aliens in the Territory
to report, conformably to the law of Congress passed July 6,
1798, to him in person, in the county of Knox, and to certain
persons named by him in the other counties of the Territory.
On the 26th of December, 181 2, the Sun contains General
Gibson's proclamation, as Acting Governor of the Territory,
convening the Legislature, and naming February i, 1813, as
the time for its meeting.
On the i6th of January, 1813, the Sun contains the general
orders of General Gibson as commander-in-chief of the Terri
torial militia, promoting Daniel Sullivan to the rank of colonel,
and ordering that " on account of the present aspect of affairs
the whole of the militia of the Territory hold themselves in
readiness to march at a moment's warning, and when warned,
will rendezvous according to law."
In the Sun, of February 6, 1813, is the address of General
Gibson, as Acting Governor, delivered before the Legislature on
the previous Tuesday. It is plain, pointed and brief. He says
he is no speaker. The topics alluded to by him are " the de
volving of the gubernatorial duties upon him : " " his promise to
discharge them fairly and justly," etc. He alludes "to the just
war with England," and approves of the course of President
Madison. Attention is called in the address "to the frequent
and numerous Indian massacres, and the uncertainty of life and
property in the Territory." He calls attention to the necessity

JOHN GIB.'iON. 19
of reform in "the militia organization of the Territory^ the
revenue laws and the salaries of public officers."
On the 6th of March the Sn// contained the reply of James
Scott, the Speaker of the Territorial Legislature, to General
Gibson's speech before that body, in which the Speaker said:
¦•Your patriotism has long drawn down the attention of the
only nation upon earth enjoying the liberal e.xercise of national
liberty. We are happy, sir, in congratulating you that, not
withstanding the many years that the critical eye of envy has
had an opportunity of observing you in the discharge of your
duties of a national concern, and important trusts confided in
you by your nation, that yet, for the most cogent reasons,
national patronage is extended to you in the evening of your
life." This florid and prolix spsech does not indicate an embryo
jurist ; nevertheless, the Speaker afterwards became a very-
eminent judge of our Supreme Court. On the 12th of March,
1S13, Governor Gibson prorogued the Legislature, after a ses
sion of forty days, and directed it to reassemble at Corydon on
the first Monday of the next December. In the meantime the
records and o.ffices of the Territorial government were removed
to Corydon, Governor Gibson accompanying them. In May,
1813, he was superseded in the Governor's office by^ General
Thomas Posey, and from that time until the admission of Indi
ana into the Union he acted as Territorial Secretary.
General Gibson's knowledge of the Indian language most
probably once saved General Harrison's life. At a conference
between the latter and Tecumseh, at Vincennes, the Indian,
becoming angry, arose to his feet, flourished his tomahawk, and
directed his followers to be ready to obey his command. Gen
eral Gibson, who was present, understanding the Shawanee
tongue, called the guard, which he had stationed near by, and
on their appearance the cowed savage resumed his seat. When
his threatening language was translated for the Governor, he
broke up the conference and ordered Tecumseh away.
Alter much research I have been unable to find the origin of
General Gibson'-s pseudonym of " Horsehead." I assume that
it was his Indian name ; at least that it was given him by the

20 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Indians. He was known by it long before he came to Indiana
Territory, and it clung to him while he Hved. It may be that
it was given to him because of his strong common sense, com
mon sense sometimes being denominated " horse sense."
When the State government of Indiana was formed. General
Gibson went back to Vincennes, his old home, to live. Soon
afterward he left Indiana, and during the remainder of his life
resided with his son-in-law, George Wallace, at Braddock's
Field, near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, at whose house he died
April lo, 1822.
The Western Clarion, a paper published at Madison, Indiana,
in its issue of June 10, 1822, contains a letter supposed to have
been written by Mr. Wallace, dated Pittsburg, April 19, 1822,
which says that " General Gibson died recently at Braddock'.s
Field, near Pittsburg." It also says that " he had been care
fully educated, with uncommon pains, as he was a good scholar,
and his classical attainments were considerable." It gives a
summary of .the leading incidents of his life, to the time In
diana became a State, and concludes as follows :
" At this period, having become somewhat infirm, and being
afflicted with an incurable cataract, he, with his amiable- wife.
removed from Vincennes to the residence of his son-in-law,
Mr. George Wallace, in the neighborhood of this place, where
he was attended till the moment of his death with the most ex
emplary filial piety."
Having safely passed the dangers of field and flood, of both
civilized and savage warfare, he was mercifully permitted to
live far beyond the allotted years of man, and to die with his fam
ily about him. God was vvith the old pioneer to the end. Gib
son county, in this State, was named in his honor, and it is,
therefore, his most enduring monument.

THOMAS POSEY.

Thom.vs Posey, the last Governor of Indiana Territory, vvas
born in Virginia, on the banks of the Potomac, July 9, 1750.
He was the son of a farmer, and grew up a farmer's boy. His
education was scanty, being confined to those branches ordina
rily taught in the country- schools of that dav-. The familv' was
respectable, but not wealthy, and the high distinction afterward
reached by General Posey can not be attributed to family influ
ence, nor the efforts of powerful friend.s. It was the work of
himself. When nineteen years old young Posey left his paternal home
and went into the western part of the State, then the frontier of
civilization. He was, no doubt, prompted to this change by a
spirit of adventure and a desire to find full scope for his dar
ing nature. Soon after locating in his new home the occasion
offered for him to go soldiering, and he eagerly embraced it.
It was in the year 1774, the year of Dunmore's expedition
against the Indians, that he first put on the knapsack and
shouldered his musket. Dunmore's army was in two divisions,
one of which was commanded by himself and the other by
General Lewis. The plan of the campaign was for Dunmore
to march to Pittsburg and thence down the Ohio river to the
mouth of the Kanawha, where the united army was to rendez
vous. Levvds was to cross the mountain, march down the Ka
nawha valley and join Dunmore. Posey was with Lewis, and
when that General reached the appointed rendezvous he en
camped, to await the arrival of his superior. But when Dun
more reached Pittsburg he changed his mind, and, instead of
going forward to join Lewis, he marched his arm)- against the

22 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTOltlCAL SKETCHES.
Shawanee towns on the Scioto. On the loth of October, 1774,
Lewis was attacked by a large body of Indians under Cornstalk,.
and one of the bloodiest battles ever fought by Indians and
white men took place. Seventy-five Virginians were killed out
right and one hundred and forty wounded, while the loss of the
Indians was still greater. The latter were defeated and driven
away, and soon afterward peace was established, at Camp Char
lotte, by the treaty between Lord Dunmore and the Indians.
The battle between General Lewis and Cornstalk is known in
history as the battle of Point Pleasant. Posey behaved with
great gallantry, giving evidence of the coolness and braver)-
which afterward made him one of the most conspicuous figures
in the military service of his country.
The war having ended, Posey went back to his home in West
ern Virginia, but did not long pursue his peaceful avocations.
The next year (1775) war broke out between the colonies and
Great Britain. Pose}- was elected a member of the committee
of correspondence of his county, similar committees being chosen
in the other counties of the colony, the purpose being to keep
the people advised of what was going on and to draw them to
gether in closer union. Shortly after hostilities had commenced
Posey raised a company of infantry and took it to the field.
His commander was the General Lewis under whom he had
already fought, and the enemy against whom he marched was
led by Lord Dunmore, who had been Lewis's superior officer
the year before. The two armies met at Gwyn's Island, and in
the battle which followed Dunmore was beaten and driven oft'
the field.
After the Virginia campaign had ended, the regiment to
which Captain Posey was attached joined the army of Wash
ington in the Jerseys. The company then became a part of a
regiment of picked men, armed vvith the rifle and commanded
by Colonel Morgan, which did gallant sei vice on many a field.
At Piscataway it was surrounded b)- the enemy and cut its vvav
out in a hand to hand fight, which lett manv- a brave man on
the ground. Afterwards it vvas with Gates at Saratoga, and
helped compass the surrender of Burgoyne there. Subsequentlv-
Captain Posey was given command of this noted re<nment and
headed it at the drawn battle of Monmouth. In 1778 the rej^i-

THOM.VS POSEV. 23
ment vvas sent to the relief of the people of Wyoming, whose
calamities have been made the subject of one of our finest
poems. In the spring of 1779 Colonel Posey joined the main army
under Washington, and vvas assigned to the command of the
Eleventh Infantry. Subsequently his regiment was transferred
to the army of Wayne, and was with it at the taking of Stony
Point. Marshall gives this account of Posey's actions in this
battle :
" Colonel Fleury vvas the first to enter the fort and strike the
British standard. Major Posey mounted the works almost at
the same instant, and was the first to give the watchword, ' The
fort's our own.' "
After the taking of Stony Point Colonel Posey went to South
Carolina, and subsequently to Yorktown, at which place he wit
nessed Cornwallis's surrender. In the winter of 178 1-2 he
served with Wayne in Georgia, and on the 24th of June, 1781,
vvas in the battle, near Savannah, fought with Guristersigo and
his Indian followers. In this battle Posey killed several Indians
with his own hands, displaying the greatest gallantry through
out the entire engagement. After this he served with Greene
in South Carolina, being with him when peace was declared.
During the Revolutionary war Colonel Posey lost the wife of
his youth. After the peace he married again, and settled in
Spottsylvania county, Virginia.
In 1785 Colonel Posey was appointed colonel of the militia of
his county, and the next year was made county-lieutenant, an
office of much honor and dignity. He continued to act as
county-lieutenant and magistrate until 1793, when he was again
called into the military service of his country.
The Indians in the Northwest continued hostile. Many had
been the expeditions sent against them, and many the chastise
ments they had received, but they had not been conquered.
Washington determined to break their spirit and subdue them,
and with these ends in view he appointed Mad Anthony Wayne
to conduct an expedition against them. He also selected Gen
erals Wilkinson and Posey as his lieutenants. These men were

24 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
all revolutionary soldiers and had large experience in fighting
the foe they were chosen to conquer. General Posey was with
Wayne for some time and aided greatly in rendering successful
the campaign of that able and patriotic man.
Early in the winter of 1793 General Posey appHed for leave
of absence in order to visit his home. The following is Wayne's
letter granting it :
"Headquarters, Greenville,
" December 5, 1793.
" Dear Sir — I raust acknowledge that it was with difficulty
I at length prevailed upon myself to grant you leave of absence
at a crisis when I was conscious that your aid and advice were
extremely necessary to me, perhaps to the nation. Friendship
may have prevailed over duty on this occasion, but I have the
consolation that it may eventually be in your power to render
as essential services to your country during your absence in the
Atlantic States as you could have done in the wilderness of the
West. I have only to regret the temporary absenceof a friend
and brother officer with whom I have participated in almost
every vicissitude of fortune from the frozen lakes of Canada to
the burning sands of Florida. I have, therefore, to request that
you will endeavor to return to your command on or before the
last of March ensuing, and, in the interim, I pray you to make
a point of impressing every member of Congress wdth whom
you may converse with the absolute necessity of the immediate
completion of the Legion, and that you also pay a visit to the
seat of government, and wait personallv- upon the President and
Secretary of War, and give them every information, viva voce,
that they may wish to receive relative to the situation of the
Legion, together with the motives and circumstances which in
fluenced an advance and halt at this place. You will also sug
gest the expediency and policy of permitting settlers to take
possession of it the moment the Legion takes up its line of
march in the spring.
" Wishing j'ou a safe and quick passage through the wilder
ness and a happy meeting with v'our familv- and friends, I am,
with the truest and most lasting friendship and esteem etc.
"Anthony W.vyne." '

THOMAS I'OSKV. 25
A\ hen the war vvas over. General Posey resigned his com
mission in the army, and soon afterwards removed to Kentucky.
In a short time after settling there he was elected a member of
the State Senate, and vvas chosen Speaker of that body. He
thereby became ex-officio Lieutenant Governor of the State, and
held the place during his entire service in the Senate.
In 1809, on account of the unsatisfactory conditions of our re
lations vvith France and England, Congress ordered the raising
ol an army of 100,000 men, and the President fixed the quota
ot Kentucky at 5,000. General Posey was commissioned a
major general and assigned to the command of the Kentucky
troops. He at once proceeded to organize and equip his forces,
but the call for troops vvas premature. War was not declared,
and the forces were disbanded. Soon after this General Posey
remo\-ed to Louisiana. He never seemed contented e.xcept
when on the frontier, and whenever his home ceased to be near
the dividing line between civilization and the woods he moved
away. In 181 2, when war vvas about to be inaugurated with Great
Britain, General Posey, then a citizen of Louisiana, raised a
companv- of infantry at Baton Rouge, and for some time was its
captain. Seldom in the history of military men do we find one
who, having held a major-general's coramission, consents to
command a company. But with General Posey patriotism vvas
stronger than pride. H.ad he believed it best for his country,
he would have shouldered a musket and marched in the ranks.
John N. Destrihan was one of the first Senators sent by
Louisiana to the Senate of the United States. Soon after his
election he resigned, and Governor Claiborne appointed Gen
eral Posey to fill the vacancy. He sat in the Senate until March
3, 1813, when President Madison appointed him Governor of
Indiana Territory. He reached Vincennes the next May and
entered upon the discharge of his official duties. Soon after
this the Territorial capital was removed to Corydon, necessi
tating a change of the Governor's residence to that town. On
the 6th of the ne.xt December he delivered his first message to
the Legislature. He was in delicate health at the time, and on
the 27th of the same month he addressed a letter to the presi
dent of the legislative council, in which he said :

26 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
" I wish you to communicate to your honorable body that the
delicate state of my health will not adrait of my longer continu
ance at this place [Corydon]. I find myself badly situated on
account of the want of medical aid. My physician is at Louis
ville, and I have taken all the medicine brought with me. The
weather is moderate now, which will be favorable to my going
to Jeffersonville, where any communication that the two houses
of the Legislature may have to make will find me. Mr. Pra
ther will, in the most expeditious manner, bring them on; and
it will take but a short time for me to act upon them and for his
return, which would not detain the Legislature in session more
than a day longer. Be assured, sir, that nothing but imperious
necessity compels me to this step."
On the 6th of January, 1814, the legislative council passed
the following preamble and resolution :
" Whereas, Both houses of the Legislature did, on the 4th
inst., inform the Governor that they had gone through their
legislative business, and were ready to be prorogued ; and,
"Whereas, The expense of near fifty dollars per day doth
arise to the people of the Territory by reason of the Legislature
being kept in session — all of which ev-ils and inconvenience
doth arise from the Governor leaving the seat of government
during the session of the Legislature and going to Jefferson
ville, and the Legislature having to send their committee of
enrolled bills to that place to lay them before him for his
approval and signature ; be it, therefore,
" Resolved, That in order to prevent any further expense ac
cruing to the Territory at the present session, that the President
of the Legislative Council and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives be, and are hereby authorized to receive the
report of the Governor of the laws bv- him signed or rejected.
and his order of prorogation, and communicate the same to the
clerks of their respective houses, who shall insert the same in
their journals in the same manner as if the two houses were in
session." The House of Representatives concurred in this resolution,
whereupon the two houses adjourned without dav-.

¦rHOM.\.S POSE v. 2>J
On the first .Monday in December, 1815, the Legislature of
the Territory met in session at Corydon. Governor Posey, who
resided at Jeffersonville, vvas too unwell to be present, and sent
his message to the two houses by his private secretary, Colonel
Thom. The message vvas a brief one, treating principally upon
questions affecting the internal affairs of the Territory. This
vvas his last formal communication to the Legislature, and to it
that body responded in the following complimentary language :
" They (the Legislature) can not refrain from declaring their
perfect approbation of your official conduct as Governor of this
Territory. During your administration many evils have been
remedied, and we particularly admire the calm, dispassionate,
impartial conduct, which has produced the salutary effects of
quieting the violence of party spirit, harmonizing the interests
as well as the feelings of the different parties of the Territoi}'.
Under your auspices we have become one people."
In May, 1816, delegates vvere elected to make a State consti
tution, and in the following June they met at Corydon and per
formed the work. The next August officers were elected for
the new State. At this election General Posey was a candidate
for Governor, but was beaten by Jonathan Jennings, by a very
decisive vote.
When Governor Posey's official term had expired, by reason
of the admission of Indiana into the Union, he was appointed
Indian agent for Illinois Territory, with headquarters at Shaw-
neetown. Early in the spring of 1818, while descending the
Wabash river from Vincennes, he caught a deep cold, which
threw him into a fever. When he reached Shawneetown he
was compelled to take to his bed. He continued to grow worse
until the 19th of March, when he died.
Governor Posey was a most amiable raan in private life. He
was a member of the Presbyterian church, and very active in
church work. He was president of a Bible society, and did
much to distribute the Scriptures among the poor and needy of
the Territory.
In person. Governor Posey was exceedingly attractive and
commanding. He was tall, athletic, and had a handsome face.

28 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
His manner was gracefill and easy, denoting the gentleman he
was. Some ten years ago a correspondent of the Cincinnati
Commercial started the story that Governor Posey was a natural
son of George Washington, but the romance did not take root.
Had he been Washington's son, begotten in wedlock, he would
have honored his father's name.
Dillon, in his history of Indiana, says that when General Po
sey was appointed Governor of Indiana Territory, "he was at
the time a Senator in Congress from the State of Tennessee."
This is a mistake. He never lived in Tennessee, and never
served her in any official capacity whatever. Five States
might properly claim that he once lived within their borders,
but Tennessee is not one of the five. She must be content with
Jackson and Polk, and other eminent men who have served her
ably and well, and leave to Virginia, to Kentucky, Louisiana,
Indiana and Illinois the honor of having once been the home ol
Thomas Posey, a revolutionary patriot, and the last Territorial
Governor of Indiana.

JONATHAN JENNINGS.

JoNATH-VN Jenning-s, the first Governor of Indiana, was born
in Hunterdon county, N. J., in 1784. His father was a Presby
terian minister, and. soon after Jonathan's birth, removed to
Fayette county. Pa. It vvas here that the future Governor grew
to manhood. After obtaining a common school education he
went to a grammar school at Cannonsburg, Pa. Here he studied
Latin and Greek, as well as the higher branches of mathematics.
Thus liberally educated, he commenced the study of the law, but
before being admitted to the bar he left Pennsylvania and started
for Indiana Territory. Arriving at Pittsburg, he took passage
on a flatboat and floated down the Ohio river to Jeffersonville,
where he landed, having determined to make that town his
home. He was then very young, and in appearance younger
than he really was. He resumed his legal studies, and in a
short time was admitted to the bar. But clients were few, and
the young attorney sought other means for a living besides the
practice of his profession. He wrote an unusually good hand,
and was soon made clerk of the Territorial Legislature. While
filling this place he became acquainted with most of the leading
men of the Territory, and in 1809, when the Territory entered
into the second grade and the people became possessed of a
right to elect a delegate to Congress, he became a candidate for
the place. His opponent was Thomas Randolph, then Attorney-
general of the Territory, and a man of much learning and abil
itv. The contest between Jennings and Randolph was exceed
ingly exciting and bitter. Randolph was Virginia born, and
beHeved in the divinity of slavery, while Jennings, a native of a
free State, considered slavery abHght and a curse. The Terri-

30 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
tory was but sparsely inhabited, the settlements being on its
eastern and southern borders, with one at Vincennes, on the
Wabash. The question at issue was that of slavery. The
Governor of the Territory, WilHam Henry Harrison, and the
Virginians about him, were striving to have the provision of the
ordinance of 1787 prohibiting slavery in the Northwestern Ter
ritory suspended or repealed, and Jennings and other free-state
men were trying to prevent this. The territorial delegate would
have much to do in determining the matter, hence the two par
ties battled fiercely for the election of their respective favorite.
The intelligent reader need hardly be told that the Territory was
then virtually a slave Territory. Negroes were bought and
sold in the market at so much a head. The author has been
permitted to examine the private papers of Mr. Randolph, and
among thera are two bills of sale for negroes, executed at Vin
cennes in 1809. There is, also, among Mr. Randolph's papers,
a letter from General James Dill, Randolph's father-in-law,
written from Vincennes to his wife at Lawrenceburg, saying he
had not bought her a negro servant because they rated too high,
but he hoped soon to find one at a price he could stand. Public
sentiment at Vincennes was then as pro-slavery as it vvas at
Richmond. Randolph was its representative and exponent,
and it rallied to his support with all the dogmatism that used to
characterize its adherents. Jennings was then a young man —
a mere youth — but he met the assault of the pro-slavery men
with the courage of a hero. He made a thorough canvass of
the Territory, riding on horseback to all the settlements. As is
known, the eastern part of Indiana vvas mainly settled bv Qua
kers from the Carolinas. These people hated slavery, and they
supported Jennings almost to a man, Randolph hardly getting
enough votes in the Whitewater country to pay for the counting.
General DiH, who followed Jennings in the canvass, hoping to
counteract his work, in a letter to Randolph says that " wher
ever Jennings goes he draws all men to him." In a letter from
Brookville, he says the only man he finds for Randolph is
Enoch McCarty, and that he publicly declares that Jennings
will be elected.
The election for delegate came off' in May, and Jennings was
victorious. His total vote in the Territory was 428, and that of

JON.VriLV.N JENNINGS. 3I
Randolph 402. John Johnson received 81 votes at the same elec
tion ; so it will be seen that Jennings vvas elected by a pluraHty
and not by a majority. To us of the present dav' the vote which
elected Jennings seems too insignificant to make a congressman.
Wards in some of our cities now contain more voters than did the
Territory of Indiana at that time. But the vote, meager as it was,
virtually fixed the status of Indiana upon the subject of slavery
for years to come. Had Randolph been elected, the clause in
the ordinance of 1787 prohibiting slavery in the Territory would
have been abrogated and the " pecuHar institution" estabhshed
by law. This done, it would have remained to curse our people
until the day that American slavery went down in blood.
Governor Harrison gave Mr. Jennings his certificate of elec
tion, and the delegate went to Washington and took his seat in
the National Congress. , But he was not permitted to hold it
unchallenged. Mr. Randolph contested his election on the
ground that at one of the voting places in Dearborn county, the
election was not legally held. At this precinct Jennings received
a greater majority than that given him in the Territory ; con
sequently, if the vote of this precinct could be thrown out he
would be defeated. There was a grave question as to the le-
galit}- of the entire election, but as Mr. Randolph had advised
the Governor that an election could be held under the law, he
refused to raise the point. Both Jennings and Randolph ap
peared before the comraittee on elections and stated their cases.
The committee reported to the House " that the election held for
a delegate to Congress for the Indiana Territory, on the 22d of
May. 1809, being without authority of law is void, and con
sequently the seat ot Jonathan Jennings as delegate for that Ter
ritory is hereby declared to be vacant." The report of the com
mittee vvas considered in committee of the whole, and adopted,
but on being reported to the House, that body refused its con
currence, and confirmed Jennings in his seat.
Much bad feeling grew up between Jennings and Randolph
on account of this election and contest. Each resorted to hand
bills and scattered them far and wide. Randolph was the raore
sarcastic and bitter ; Jennings, the more persuasive and convinc
ing. In a circular dated "Jeffersonville, Indiana Territory, Oct.
10, 1810," addressed to the people of the Territory, he says :

32 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
" If Mr. Randolph succeeds in his wishes by fair means, with
out injuring me, rely upon it, that I shall never envy his success,
nor take the advantage of his absence to traduce him.. But, if
he expects to ascend the political ladder by slander and detrac
tion, he ought not to be surprised if his borrowed popularity
should forsake him and leave hira, like other thorough-going
politicians, without so much as the consolation of an approving
heart." The friends of Mr. Randolph partook of that gentleman's
hatred of Mr. Jennings. Waller Taylor, then a territorial
judge, in a letter tb Mr. Randolph dated June 3, 1809, says he
had publicly insulted Mr. Jennings without the latter's resenting
it, and that Jennings was a " pitiful coward." He also says:
"Jennings revenges himself on me by saying he never did anv-
thing to injure me, and professes esteem." Surely, if it be true,
that " He that ruleth his spirit is greater than he that taketh a
city," Jonathan Jennings was a great man. It is ev-ident that
Taylor's purpose was to provoke him to a duel, but he kept his
temper and gave the hot-blooded Virginian no excuse for chal
lenging him.
In 181 1 Mr. Jennings was re-elected to Congress, his oppo
nent being Waller Taylor, the same man, who, two years be
tore had tried to provoke him to mortal combat. In 1813 he
was again re-elected, his competitor this time being Judge
Sparks, a very worthy and popular man.
The Territory of Indiana was now ready to pass from its
chrysalis condition and become a State. Earlv- in 1816 Mr.
Jennings reported a bill to Congress enabling the people of the
Territory to take the necessary steps to convert it into a State.
Delegates to a convention to form a State constitution were
elected in May, 1816, Mr. Jennings being chosen one from the
county of Clark. The delegates met at Corydon, June 10, and
organized the convention by electing Mr. Jennings president
and William Hendricks secretary. The convention continued
in session nineteen days, and then adjourned, having made the
constitution under which the people of Indiana lived and pros
pered for thirty-four years. The constitution required that an
election should be held on the first Monday in August, 1816,

JON.VTH.VN JENNINIiS. 33
lor the election of a Governor, Lieutenant-gov ernor and other
officers, the Territorial officials in the meantime continuing in
office. The candidates for Governor vvere Jonathan Jennings
and Thomas Posey, the then Territorial Governor. Governor
Posey was a Virginian by birth. lie was a gallant soldier in
the revolutionary war, and for a time served in Jhe Senate of
the United States from the State of Louisiana. He vvas con
sidered the pro-slavery candidate, and, although the questioii
of slavery- had been settled in Indiana by the adoption of the
State constitution, the pro-slavery men of the Territory still
kept up their organization. Jennings had been a leader of the
free-state party- since his entrance into public life, and now that
he was a candidate for governor, that party rallied to his sup
port. He received 5,211 votes, and Governor Posey 3,934, his
majority being 1,277.
The making and putting into motion of the machinery of a
new State requires ability of a high order. Revenue is to be
created, laws for the protection of life and property to be drawn
and passed, and divers other things to be done that the founda
tions of the government may be properly laid. The Governor
proved himself equal to the task. The State machinery started
off' without impediment and ran without friction. It did its work
well, for it was guided by a master hand.
In his first message to the Legislature, delivered Nov. 7, 1816,
Governor Jennings says :
•' I recommend to your consideration the propriety of provid
ing by law to prevent more effectually any unlawful attempts to
seize and carry into bondage persons of color legally entitled
to their freedom ; and at the same time, as far as practicable, to
prevent those who rightfully owe service to the citizens of any
other State or Territory, from seeking, within the limits of this
State, a refuge from the possession of their lawful owners.
Such a measure will tend to secure those who are free frora any
unlawful attempts to enslave them, and secure the rights of the
citizens of the other States and Territories so far as ought rea
sonably to be expected."

34 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
In his message to the Legislature of 1817, he thus refers to
the subject of fugitive slaves coming into the State:
" Perrait me again to introduce to your attention the subject
of slaves escaping into this State, and to suggest the propriety
of making further provisions by law calculated to restrain them
from fleeing to this State to avoid their lawful owners, and to
enable the judges of our Circuit Courts, or any judge of the
Supreme Court, in vacation, to decide, with the aid of a jury,
upon all claims of this character without delay. This subject,
in the adjoining State of Kentucky, has produced some excite
ment in the citizens and an interference on the part of their
Legislatur.e. To preserve harmony between our State and
everyr other, so far as may depend on our exertions, is a duty
the discharge of which is intimately connected with our best in
terests as a State, and solemnly required of Indiana as a mem
ber of the Union."
On the loth of December, 1817, Governor Jennings sent to
the House of Representatives a letter from Governor Slaughter,
of Kentucky, and his answer thereto. The letter was referred
to a special committee, of which General Samuel Milrov- was
chairraan. In his letter Governor Slaughter complains of the
difficulty the citizens of Kentucky encounter in reclaiming their
slaves who escape into Indiana, and says : " You must be sen
sible, sir, that occurrences of this sort can not fail to produce
discontent here and a spirit of aniraositv- toward your State,
which is equally the interest of all to avoid." In his reply Gov
ernor Jennings says :
" With regard to the subject matter of your letter — the diffi
culty said to be experienced by your citizens in reclaiming their
slaves who escape into this State — allow me to state in rela
tion to my views on this subject, that I have been and still am
desirous that every municipal regulation, not inconsistent with
the constitution of the United States or of this State, may be
adopted by Ae legislative authority of the latter, calculated to
secure to th'e citizens of every State or Territory of the Union
the means of reclaiming any slave escaping to this State that

JONATH.VN Jl-.NNINCS. :; :;
may rightfully belong to them or either of them vvith as little
delay as the operation of the law will admit."
The committee to which this matter was referred made a
lengthy report, in which they said :
" On the subject of the difficulties said to be experienced by
the citizens of Kentucky in regaining their fugitive slaves, your
committee are of opinion that the feelings of His Excellency,
as well as of the Legislature of Kentucky, have been governed
in a great degree by the improper representations of individuals
who have been disappointed in their attempts to carry awav'
those whom they claim as slaves from this State, without com
plying vvith the preliminary steps required by law, together with
the groundless assertions of unprincipled individuals who have
attempted, in many instances, to seize and carry away people
.of color, as slaves, who were free, and as much entitled to the
protection of the laws as any citizen of Indiana. * * * Ji
is a well-known fact that, whatever mav be the opinion of our
citizens on the abstract principles of slavery, and however re
pugnant it may appear, in their estimation, to the principles of
moral' justice, there is but one sentiment prevalent on this sub
ject of people of color migrating, in any circumstances, to this
State. It is believed, if not restricted, it would, in time, become
an evil of not much less magnitude than slavery itself. ¦* * *
Your committee, in the further prosecution of the duties as
signed them, will take into consideration the laws on the subject
of slaves escaping into this State, as well as the laws for the
punishment of the crime of man-stealing, and, if it shall be
found that any new provisions are necessary on either of these
subjects, they will form the subjects of future reports."
In the last paragraph the comraittee showed its teeth, and
told kidnappers to beware, or they would get bitten.
I have spoken thus fully of Governor Jennings's recomraend-
ations upon the subject of the rendition of fugitive slaves, be
cause it was a question that confronted the young Common
wealth at its birth, and the people of the present day should
know how it was met. That it was considered in a states
manlike way and disposed of to the best interest of the people

36 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
must be admitted by those who study it in the Hght of this time.
Public sentiment upon the question of slavery was then widely
dift'erent frora what it is now, and in coraing to a correct con
clusion as to its treatraent this fact should not be forgotten.
Governor Jennings was far in advance of the public men of his
day in Indiana upon this subject, and while his utterances seem
to us exceedingly conservative, they are those of one of the
most pronounced anti-slavery raen of his time.
In 1818, President Monroe appointed Governor Jennings a
comraissioner to negotiate a treaty with the Indians, his associ
ates being General Cass and Judge Benjamin Parke. The
coraraissioners reached St. Mary's in September of that year,
and proceeded with their work. On the 3d of October Gov
ernor Jennings wrote frora St. Mary's to Christopher Harrison,
the Lieutenant-governor, that " Understanding some official
business is necessary to be transacted, permit me to inform you
that my absence is still necessary, and that it may be necessary
for you to attend the seat of government to discharge such du
ties as devolve on the executive of Indiana." Lieutenant-gov
ernor Harrison thereupon went to Corydon, took possession of
the e.xecutive office, and performed the duties of Governor un
til Jennings's return from Saint Mary's. The constitution of
the State prohibited the Governor from holding " any office un
der the United States," and Governor Jennings, having accept
ed and performed the duties of Indian Commissioner, contrary
to this provision, the Lieutenant-governor claimed that the
Governor had thereby forfeited his office, and that he, the
Lieutenant-governor, had become Acting Governor of the State.
Governor Jennings refused to accept this interpretation of the
law, and demanded possession of the e.xecutive office. The
Lieutenant-governor left the room he had been occupying, and
taking with him the State seal, opened an office elsewhere.
The State ofticers were in a quandarv- what to do. Two men
were claiming to be Governor, and thev- did not know which
to recognize. Such vvas the condition of aft'airs when the Leg
islature of 1818 convened. On the loth of December of that
year Ratlift'Boon, then a senator from the countv- of Warrick,
appeared upon the floor of the House and said :

JON.Vril.VN JENMNCS.

.1/

" .^Ir. Speaker. 1 am directed by the Senate to inform this
House that the Senate has appointed a committee on their part
to act vvith a similar committee which mav' be appointed on tlie
part ot the House of Representatives to wait on the Lieutenant-
governor, and late acting Governor, and inform hira that the
two houses of tlie General Assemblv' have met, formed a quorum,
and are now ready to receive anv" communications which he
may please to make relative to the e.xecutive department of
government, and request a similar committee be appointed on
the part of the House of Representatives, and that on the part
of the Senate .Messrs. Boon and DePauvv vvere appointed that
committee. ••Whereupon, on motion of Mr. Milrov, the House ordered
• that a similar committee be appointed on the part of this House
to act with the committee on the part of the Senate, and to learn
from the Lieutenant-governor, if he should please to make any
communications, at what time and in what manner the two
houses may- expect them.' "
Thus it will be seen that the Lieutenant-governor was ac
knowledged to be the chief executive by both branches of the
Legislature. The next day Mr. Sullivan, chairman of the House
committee under the resolution above quoted, reported to the
House that the committee had waited on " His Excellency Lieu
tenant-governor Harrison, and had informed him that a quorum
of both houses of the General Assembly had convened and vvere
ready to receive any communication he might be pleased to
make to them," and that the Lieutenant-governor, had replied,
•'That, as Lieutenant-governor he had no communication to
make to the Senate or House of Representatives, but as Lieu
tenant and Acting Governor, if recognized as such, he had."
The same day a committee was appointed by the House to
investigate the troubles in the Executive Department, and ne.xt
day reported through their chairman. General Milroy, that they
" are of the opinion, from the testimony herewith transmitted,
that His Excellency. Governor Jonathan Jennings, did, in the
months of September and October last, accept an appointment
under the government of the United States, by virtue of which

38 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
he, together with others, did repair to St. Mary's, and then and
there did negotiate and conclude a treaty with various tribes of
Indians on behalf of the United States ; and that he did sign said
treaty as the agent or officer of the United States, and he did
thereto subscribe his name with others."
The coramittee addressed Governor Jennings a note, inform
ing hira that they had been appointed to investigate his actions
in relation to the treaty of St. Mary's, with a view of deter
mining if he had forfeited his office of Governor, and asking
hira to appear before thera and make his defense. He repHed
in a courteous note, in which he said :
"If the difficulty, real or supposed, has grown out of the cir
cumstances of my having been connected with the negotiation
at St. Mary's, I feel it my duty to state to the committee that I
acted frora an entire conviction of its propriety and an anxious
desire, on my part, to promote the welfare and accomplish the
wishes of the whole people of the State in assisting to add a
large and fertile. tract of country to that which we already pos
sess." Governor Jennings declined to appear in person before the
committee, but wrote General Milroy to "receive and introduce
Mr. C. Dewev' as my counsel to the committee of which you are
chairman." The committee took the testimony of several persons, from
which it conclusively appeared that Governor Jennings had
acted as a commissioner of the United States at St. Mary's.
The testimony w^as reported to the House, and that body, on the
1 6th of December, passed a resolution " that it was inexpedient
to further prosecute the inquirv- into the existing difficulties in
the executive department of the government of the State." and
tiiereupon recognized Governor Jennings as the rightful Governor
In I't'ceiving his message. The vote by which this resolution
was passed was 15 yeas and 13 nays; so it vv-ill be seen that a
change of two votes would have put Governor Jennings out of
ollice. Indeed, had a vote been taken directlv upon the ques
tion, a majorit}' ol'tlu- House would probably have declared that
he liad loi'feitiHl the governorship, for this he most unquestion-

JtlN Vni.V.N Jl-.NMNCS. 39
ably had ilone. But the Legislature, apiireciating the motive
of his action, avoided the issue, and he remained in office.
So soon as the Legislature recogni/.ed Jennings as Governor,
the Lieutenant-governor resigned, saving in a note to the House
that " As the officers of the executive department of the Gov
ernment and the General Assembly have refused to recognize
that authority which, according to my understanding, is consti
tutionally attached to the office, the name itself is not worth re
taining." The next year he ran against Mr. Jennings for Gov
ernor, and vvas badly beaten, receiving but 2,008 votes in a
total of 1 1,256.
In May, 1820, Governor Jennings left Corydon with General
Tipton, to meet the commissioners appointed by the Legislature
to locate and lay out a permanent capital of the State. As is
known, the ground upon which Indianapolis stands was selected,
and although Governor Jennings was not officially a party to
the selection, he was present when it was made, and no doubt
advised it.
In August, 1S22, Governor Jennings was elected a represen
tative to Congress from the Second congressional district, and
on the I2th day of next month — September — resigned the gov
ernorship. The remainder of his terra — until Dec. 5, 1822 —
was filled by Ratlift' Boon, the Lieutenant-governor. Governor
Jennings was re-elected to Congress in 1824, in 1826, and in
1828, serving his district continuously for eight years. In 1830
he was again a candidate, but was beaten by General John Carr,
a gallant soldier of the war of 1812. The defeat of Governor
Jennings at this election was not because the people had lost
confidence in his judgment or ability to serve them, but because
they believed such a result would conduce to his good. He
was of convivial habits, and at Washington had become a reg
ular drinker. His friends saw the habit was growing on him,
and were fearful that if they continued him in public life he
would become a drunkard. Therefore raany of them voted
against him, believing such a course was best for him. The
habit, however, had become so fastened upon him that his re
tirement to private life did not cause him to leave it off. He con
tinued to drink while he lived, and in his later years was olten
incapacitated for business by the too free use of the liquor he

40 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
made on his farm. This habit— the single vice of his Hfe— fol
lowed hira to the grave.
On leaving Congress, Governor Jennings retired to his farm
near Charlestown, where he remained until his death. In 1832,
President Jackson appointed him a commissioner to negotiate
a treaty with the Indians for the Indian lands in northern Indiana
and southern Michigan. His associates in the commission were
Dr. John W. Davis and Mark Crume, the treaty being held at
the forks of the Wabash river, near where the city of Hunting
ton now stands. Mr. John H. B. Nowland, of Indianapolis, was
at the treaty, and tells this story of what happened there :
" During the preliminary council. Dr. Davis, who was a pomp
ous, big-feeling man, said something that gave offense to Oba-
noby, one of the head chiefs of the Pottawatomies. The chief
addressed Governor Jennings saying : ' Does our Great Father
intend to insult us ' by sending such men to treat with us?
Why did he not send Generals Cass and Tipton r You (point
ing to the Governor) good man, and know how to treat us.
(Pointing to Crume). He chipped beef for the squaws at Wa
bash. (Meaning that Crume was t'he beef contractor at the
treaty of 1826.) Then pointing to Dr. Davis, he said : 'Bigman
and damn fool." The chief then spoke a few words to the Pot
tawatomies present, who gave one of their peculiar yells and
left the council house, and could only be induced to return after
several days, and then only through the great influence of Gov--
ernor Jennings."
The signing of the treaty at the forks of the Wabash vvas Gov
ernor Jennings's last official act. He remained on his farm, cul
tivating the soil and spending his leisure in his library, until
July 26, 1834, when the end came. He died at home, sur
rounded by his family and friends, beloved by them all. The
next day his body vvas placed in a common farm wagon and
taken to Charlestown and buried. The day vvas intensely hot,
and but few were at his burial, these few being members of his
family and particular friends. He vvas laid at rest on a hill
overlooking the town, and his grave vvas unmarked by head or
foot stone. Thus it has remained until the present time, and

joN.vi'ii VN j1';nnin<;s. 41
were it not that a lew men and women still live w lio wtTe pres
ent at his burial, no one would certainlv know where the re
mains of the First Governor of Indiana are interred.
Men who plant civilization in the wilderness, who organize
backwoodsmen into communities, and throw around them the
protection of the law, should not be forgotten. They render
mankind a priceless service, and those who come after them and
enjoy the I'niits of their labor and their sacrifices should never
tire in honoring their memory. Jonathan Jennings vvas such a
man, and Indiana owes him more than she can compute. He
fought slavery to the death when it sought to fasten itself upon
her territory : he helped secure for her sons and daughters the
best portion of her rich and fertile lands, and yet he sleeps the
long sleep without a stone to mark his resting place. Shame
on Indiana I
The first Governor of Indiana, like the first President of the
United States, died without issue. He vvas twice married, but
no child was born in his household to call hira father.
Governor Jennings was a man of polished manners. A lady
who knew him well, and was often a guest at his house, told the
author that she never met^ more fascinating man. He was al
ways gentle and kind to those about him. He vvas not an orator,
but he could tell what he knew in a pleasing way. He wrote
well, as well perhaps, as any of his successors in the Governor's
office. He vvas an ambitious man, but his ambition was in the
right direction — to serve the people the best he could. He had
blue eves, fair coraplexion and sandy hair. He was about five
feet eight and one half inches high, and in his latter days in
clined to corpulency. He was broad-shouldered and heavy-set,
and weighed about 180 pounds. He died comparatively young,
but he did as much for the well-being of Indiana as any man
that ever lived. Will not she do something to mark the spot
¦where he lies?

RATLIFF BOON.

There is some uncertainty as to the birthplace of Ratliff
Boon. Lanman, in his " Biographical Annals of the Civil Gov
ernraent," says he was born in Franklin county, North Caro
lina, in 1781. Boon's grandson, David N. Boon, in a letter to
the author, says he was born January 18, 1781, in the State of
Georgia. Lanman is usually correct, and his account should
not be lightly considered, but I assume that the statement of
the grandson is true, and that the Empire State of the South
has the honor of being the birthplace of one of Indiana's most
influential pioneers.
When Ratliff Boon was a boy his father emigrated to Ken
tucky, and settled in Warren county. Ratliff learned the gun
smith's trade in Danville, and in 1809 came to Indiana Territory,
and located in what is now Boon township, Warrick county.
In 1813, on the organization of Warrick county, Boon was ap
pointed its first treasurer, which office he held for several years.
He was a member of the House of Representatives in the ses
sion of 1816-17, and in 1818 vvas elected from Warrick county
to the State Senate, and took his seat in December of that v-ear.
He possessed, in an unusual degree, the quaHties which make
a leader, and at once drew to himself a large following. Three
years afterward (in 1819) he vvas elected Lieutenant-Go\-ernor
of the State on the ticket with Jonathan Jennings, and on the
resignation of that gentleman, September 12, 1822, to accept a
seat in Congress, Lieutenant-Governor Boon filled out the un
expired term of the Governor.
In August, 1S22, Governor Boon vvas re-elected Lieutenant-
Governor of Indiana on the ticket vvith William Hendricks.

R.vrLiKK noo.N. 43
He served as Lieutenant-Governor until the close of tlie legis
lative session of 1824. and then resigned to become a candidate
for Congress in the First District. His letter notifying the Sen
ate of his resignation, dated January 30, 1824, vvas as follows:
••Gentlemen of the Skn.vie — This day closes vvith me,
perhaps t'orever, the honor of presiding over your honorable
body. Circumstances combined have made it necessary for me
to resign into the hands of the people from which it emanated
the office of Lieutenant-Governor ; the object of which, when
explained. I flatter myself will be received as a sufficient apol
ogy for making it.
"I shall carry with me, from this into whatever situation I
may be placed, a grateful recollection of the civilities which I
have received from many of you, and of the almost unlimited
confidence which has been reposed in me by a generous public.
No one can estimate more highly the value of your favor, nor
could any one with more unfeigned gratitude than I do the hon
ors which have been conferred on me. And, in conclusion of
this address, permit me to solicit you to accept assurances of my
best wishes for your present felicity, and a hope for your future
prosperity-. " I have the honor to be, vvith sentiments of regard and es
teem, yours and the public's obedient humble servant.
" Corydon, January 30, 1824. R. Boon."
On the same day- the Senate was notified by a comraunication
from Robert A. New, the Secretary of State, that the resigna
tion of Governor Boon had, that day, been filed in his office.
Governor Boon was elected to Congress in August following,
and two years afterward vvas a candidate for re-election, but was
defeated by Colonel Thomas H. Blake. In 1829 he was again a
candidate for Congress, and this time was successful. He was
re-elected in 1831, in 1833, in 1835, and in 1837, raost of the
time serving as chairraan of the Committee of Public Lands.
In 1836 he was a candidate for United States Senator, but was
defeated by Oliver H. Smith. His congressional career ended
in March, 1839, ^"*^ ^ ^^^ months afterward he removed from
Indiana and settled in Pike county, Missouri.

44 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HIS'rORICAL SKETCHES.
In Missouri Governor Boon at once became active in public
aft'airs, and soon was one of the leading men of the State. At
that tirae Missouri elected her congressmen on general ticket,
and not by districts, as is now the case. Colonel Thomas H.
Benton was then the political dictator of Missouri, and con
trolled its politics as absolutely as a feudal lord controlled the
action of his dependents. A rebellion against the autocratic
rule of Benton was inaugurated, and Boon became its principal
leader. He placed hiraself in antagonisra to Benton, and thereby
incurred the latter's deadly hostility. Early in. 1844 Boon be
came a candidate for Congress, and at once went to work to
secure his election. He espoused the measures of reform then
in agitation, and although he did not live to see them consum
mated, justice to his memory requires me to say that he gave
them the momentum that insured them success. Before he had
formally announced himself as a candidate he received the fol
lowing letter from a committee of St. Louis Democrats :
" St. Louis. January 31, 1844.
' ' Hon . Ratliff Boon :
" Sir : At a meeting of the Democratic party of the city and
county of St. Louis, convened on the 8th inst.. at the court
house in said city, a committee was appointed to interrogate the
aspirants to important offices in this State. In the absence of
S. Penn, Jr., Esq., chairman of said committee, the under
signed beg leave to submit the following questions, to wit :
"I. Are you in favor of a convention to amend the constitu
tion so as to equalize representation according to population,
and to limit the judicial tenure according to established Demo
cratic principles?
"2. Are you in favor of the passage of a law by the next
General Assembly to lav- oft' the State into districts, and to pro
vide that each district shall elect one meraber?
"3- Are you in favor of the bills, as originally introduced
last session, coniraonly denominated ' the currency bifls? "
" 4- Are you still in favor of the principles and will vou sus
tain the doctrines embodied in the address adopted and pub
lished by the Democratic National Convention held at Balti
more in May, 1840?

R.VrLIFF BOON. 45
"You are most respectfully requested to fm'nish, at your
earliest convenience, direct and categorical answers to the fore
going interrogatories. Very respectfully, '• Tiiovrvs B. 1 luDsoN.
•• L. T. L.MsE.vuivn-:.
¦' N. Ranney.
"D. H. Ar.mstroni;."
To this letter Governor Boon replied as follows :
'• Lolisi.vna, Mo., February 14, 1844.
" Gen-fle.men — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt
of your communication of the 31st ult., in which you sav- that at
a meeting of the Democratic party of St. Louis you were ap
pointed a committee to interrogate the aspirants to important
offices in this State.
••Whilst I am insensible of having authorized the use of my
name as an aspirant to any office at the next August election, I
am, nevertheless, proud of the opportunity thus aff'orded me to
express mv- sentiments touching some of the leading questions
of political economy, about which there exists so great a diver-
sitv- of opinions among the Democrats of Missouri. And in my
answer to vour several interrogatories, I will respond to each
one of them in the order in which they stand arranged.
"To your first interrogatory I answer — I am.
••To your second, I answer — I now am and ever have been
in favor of electing members of Congress by single districts.
" To your third interrogatory I answer — I now am and ever
have been opposed to those bills, from their first introduction
into the Missouri Legislature.
" To your fourth interrogatory I answer — That I have not
before me the address of the Democratic convention held in
Baltimore in 1840, but from ray present recollection of the prin
ciples therein set forth, they will continue to receive from me a
cordial support. Very respectfully, R. Boon.
"Thomas B. Hudson and others, Coramittee."
The contest became exceedingly bitter between the reformers
and the adherents of Benton. In looking over some newspaper
clippings sent me by a grandson of Ratliff Boon, I am reminded

46 BIOGRAPHIC.VL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
of the contest in Indiana in i860, between the administration
men and the friends of Judge Douglas. On the ist of March,
1844, a coramittee of St. Louis Democrats wrote Governor
Boon, asking him questions upon various subjects, and ending
as follows : ' ' We also desire to learn from you whethet you
are willing to submit your pretensions to the convention above
named (the State convention), abide its decision and support
its nominees." To this letter Governor Boon repHed as follows :
" LouisiAN.v. Mo., March 7, 1844.
" Gentlemen — Your letter of the ist inst. came to hand last
evening. And as I have determined to submit mv- pretensions
to a seat in the next Congress of the United States, subject to
the untrararaeled decision of the freemen of Missouri,, in the ex
ercise of the elective franchise, it will, for the present, super
sede the necessity of my going into detail touching my views of
national policy. Suffice it to say that I am a Democrat of the
true Jeffersonian stamp, and will, in due season, write out for
publication a full expose of my political creed.
"Very respectfully, R. Boon."
Frora this time on the battle between the two wings of the
party waxed hotter and hotter. As a sample of the political
Hterature of that day, I copy the following communication pub
Hshed in an organ of the Reformers :
" OLD PIKE.
" Doubtless it will be gratifying to the friends of the Demo
cracy everywhere, and to the warm admirers of Hon. R. Boon
in particular, to learn that this war-worn veteran, who for the
last thirty years has bravely batded side by side with the noble
spirit of the nation against every species of fraud upon the
rights of the people, 'is himself again ; ' that by the superior
skill of his accomplished physician. Dr. W. B. Gorin, a disease
which had fastened itself upon him, and for several months
seemed to leave little hope of his recovery, has been, in a meas
ure, removed, and that he is once more actively associated, as
was his wont, with the unterrified Democracy — confirming the
doubting, giving strength and efficacy to their action— aidino'

R.VrLII-l- BOON.

47

and assisting the pure and disinterested in combatting alike the
open and disguised enemies of republicanism, and lending dig
nity to their councils. I have been drawn into these reflections
by unexpectedlv- seeing this time-honored lather of Democracv-
called, a few days sinc%, to preside, at Louisiana, over one of
the largest and most respectable political meetings ever assem
bled at that place. Spi-x'tator."
The editor of the paper which published this communication
says. •• Colonel Boon was one of the most sterling Democrats in
Indiana, and is one of the best in Missouri ; yet his Democracy,
past services and unflinching integrity have not saved him from
the machinations of those whose instrument the editor of the
.Missoiir/ii// is. "
¦•Spectator" vvas at fault in reladon to the success of Dr.
Gorin's skill, for Governor Boon soon had a relapse and was
compelled to take to his bed. His health vvas such that he de
termined to withdraw from the canvass. This he did, very
much to the regret of his friends. He recovered his health suf
ficiently to get about the town, but not to travel. He was very
an.xious tor the election of Mr. Polk, and as the election hinged
on the result in New York, he vvas at the wharf boat all day
November 20. 1844. ^" hope of learning how New York had
voted. He said during the day that if the boat brought the
news of Polk's election he would be willing to go home and
die. When the boat carae with the information that New York
had voted for Polk and he was elected, Ratliff Boon went home,
and in a few hours at'terward died. He was buried in the cem
etery at Louisiana, and his son, Baily Hart Boon, caused a
monument to be erected at his grave bearing this inscription :
•• Ratliff Boon,
•• Born January 18, 1781 ; died November 20, 1844."
And the earthly career of Indiana's second Lieutenant-Gov
ernor vvas ended.
E. C. Murray-, Esq., of Louisiana, Mo., who married a grand
daughter of Ratliff Boon, has furnished the author the following
account of Governor Boon's career in Missouri, written by
Colonel N. P. Minor :

48 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
" In 1839 ^on. R. Boon came to Missouri from Indiana, and
settled at Louisiana permanently with his family, Mrs. Luce,
Baily H. Boon and Matilda, afterward intermarried with John
Folks, Jr. He was then apparently a long ways on the shady
side of life, and yet full of pluck and vigor, and there was never
raore vitality concentrated in one sraall body than in his. He
was the very erabodiment of courage and daring, and as we
listened to his fierce philippics on his eneraies, and looked into
his sraall but deep-set eyes, we could not but realize the truth of
General Jackson's encoraium on Boon, when he called him
'faithful among the faithless." The Missouri Republican, the
Whig organ, called him ' Collar Boon,' because they said he
wore the collar of General Jackson, for whora he had intense
admiration. But it was all words ; he was a born partisan,
loved his friends and hated his enemies, but at heart he was too
honest and independent to fawn on any man, and if General
Jackson, as much as he loved him, had been recreant to his
trust. Boon would have branded him as he afterward did Colo
nel Benton. His interest in politics never abated by his change
of location ; in fact he always wore his harness, and he was al
ways ready to strike heavy blows for what he thought was right.
About this time Benton began to show treachery to the Demo
cratic party, although he did not go off then boldly with Van
Buren, Dix and others. He had his currencv- bills pass the
Legislature, the object being to suppress the circulation of small
bank bills, the passing or receiving them being made a felom-.
Of course, no one regarded the law, and it fell still-born. In
1843, I think, a Whig Congress had passed their mandamus act
ordering the State to district before electing their members of
Congress. As 1844 approached it was evident that Benton's
heart was with Van Buren and Blair, then avowed Freesoilers,
although I believe he voted for Polk. The Democracy divided,
and a fierce war followed. Colonel Boon became the candidate
of what was called the soft wing of the Democracy on account
of their opposition to the folly of Benton's currency bills, and
he made a splendid canvass of the State. Much might be writ
ten of Colonel Boon's career in Missouri, to demonstrate how
profound and fixed he was in his views, and how unyielding he
was in all things. The labor of the canvass and advancing

R.VTLIFF BOON. 49
years had worn out the old man, and he was admonished to set
his house in order. He was willing to go, but he wanted to
know that James K. Polk was elected before his eyes closed in
death. The November election came at last, but the result was
so close that none knew who the lucky man was. The State of
Louisiana, long in doubt, after weary weeks, declared for Polk,
and then the Empire State, New York, trembled in the balance.
Then a single county in that State, then a single township in
that county of that State, hung fire, until some time in No
vember, when the news reached us that New York had voted
for Polk, which made him President. Then the venerable
old man, with the spray from the Jordan of death beating in
his face, exclaimed, ' Polk has beaten Henry Clay ; I am willing
to go ;' and with the evening tide he entered that undiscovered
land we call death. N. P. Minor."
Knovring that the Hon. Charles H. Test was familiar with the
prominent men of early Indiana, I wrote him, requesting his
recollections of Ratliff Boon, and in reply received the follow
ing: ' • Dear Sir — I had but a slight acquaintance with Ratliff
Boon. He lived on the west side of the State and I on the east.
The first time I ever saw him was in 1817, at Corydon. He
was a member of the first Legislature after the admission of In
diana as a State, and appeared to be an active member of the
body. I recollect a circumstance occurring at that session of
the General Assembly, strongly illustrative of the spirit of the
times in regard to the negro race. A gentleman of Kentucky,
by the name of Sumner, had determined to manumit his slaves,
some forty in number, and with that view petitioned the Legis
lature to be allowed to settle thera in Indiana, promising to pro-
vide for them until such time as they were able to take care of
themselves. The petition was referred to a select committee
of which Boon was a member. The committee reported to the
House a letter addressed to Mr. Sumner, in which they compH-
mented Mr. Sumner as a philanthropist, but could not consent
to his proposition to settle his freedmen in Indiana, as it set a
dangerous precedent. They declared it would not do to allow

50 biographical and historical sketches.
free negroes to settle in Indiana, as in process of tirae they
raight inaugurate all the horrors of the massacre of St. Do
mingo. The reasons given for rejecting the petition of Mr.
Sumner are at this day somewhat laughable, but the manner in
which it was done was quite as rauch so. The idea of a sage
Legislature addressing a letter to a private individual is quite as
ludicrous as the fears that at some future day we might all be
murdered by the freedmen if allowed to Hve within our bounda
ries. Amos Lane, of Dearborn, was the only member who op
posed the report of the committee.
" In those early days the whole State was infested by wolves.
Farmers could raise no sheep. The Legislature undertook to
give some protection in this particular, and passed a law allow
ing a premium on wolf scalps, to be paid out of the State treas
ury. The whole revenue of the State did not amount to much
raore than the expenses of an incorporated small city do now. The
law failed to designate the kind of wolf for the killing of which
the premium should be paid. It was intended, without doubt,
to embrace the large gray species, for they were the most to be
feared among the farmers' sheep. Boon, however, went to
hunting prairie wolves, found in great numbers in the Wabash
country, and at one haul drew from the treasury about $700.
The next year the Legislature repealed the wolf law to save the
treasury from bankruptcy.
" Boon was a lithe, active man when I last saw him. In
height he was about five feet ten inches, spare in person, and as
straight as an Indian. His forehead vvas low and receded rap
idly frora his eyebrows. His face in this particular was pecul
iar. Without doubt he was closely connected with the Boones
of Kentucky. 'i^ours truly,
"Charles H. Test."
There are few raen now living who knew Radift' Boon, and
these few are widely scattered. He belonged to a tv-pe of men
suited to fronder life, and his career, both in Indiana and Mis
souri, was that of a courageous and self-reliant man. He vvas
a pioneer of two States, and he left his impress upon them both.

WILLIAM HENDRICKS.

WiLLi.VM Hendricks, Governor of Indiana from 1822 to 1825,
was bom at Ligonier, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in
1783. He was educated at Cannonsburg, having for a class
mate Dr. Wylie, afterward a distinguished president of the State
University at Bloomington. They both became eminent, one as
a statesman, the other as an educator, but their diverse path
ways did not sever their early friendship, which terminated only
with their lives.
After reaching manhood Mr. Hendricks left Pennsylvania
and located at Cincinnati, Ohio. He remained there but a year
or so, and during that tirae studied law and was admitted to the
bar. In 1814 he left Cincinnati and took up his abode at Madi
son, this State, and resided there until he died.
Indiana was then a Territory, and the same year, 1814, he
was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the
Territorial Legislature from Jefferson county, and was chosen
Speaker of that body. The question of a State governraent was
then agitating the people, and in 1816 a convention was held at
Corydon to form a State constitution. This was but two years
after Mr. Hendricks settled at Madison, but during this time he
became so well known that on the organization of the conven
tion he was made its secretary. He so discharged the duties of
this office as to win the good opinion of the delegates, and when
the convention adjourned he had established for himself a repu
tation for business aptitude and political sagacity equal to that
of any man within the boundaries of the State. At the next
August election — the first held under the State government — he
was elected the sole representative of the people of the new

32 biographical and historical sketches.
State to the National Congress. He was re-elected in 1818 and
in 1820, thus serving the people of Indiana in Congress for six
consecutive years. He discharged the duties of his high posi
tion with so much acceptability that at the end of his third term,
in 1822, he was elected Governor of the State without opposi
tion, receiving 18,340 votes, all that were cast. Thus he and
Jonathan Jennings, the first Governor, exchanged places.
Before Governor Hendricks's term as Governor had expired
the Legislature elected him a Senator of the United States, and
on Saturday, February 12, 1825, he filed his resignation as
•Governor in the office of the Secretary of State, and notified
the Senate thereof in the following communication, dated at
Indianapolis the day aforesaid :
" Gentlemen of the Senate — Permit me to inform you
that I have filed in the office of the Secretary of State my resig-
-nation as Governor, and to assure you of the great degree of
gratitude, which, under all circumstances, I must ever feel for
the many signal instances of confidence reposed and honor con
ferred by the people and Legislature of the State. I have the
Jionor to be, with the greatest respect, your obedient servant,
"William Hendricks."
In 183 1 he was re-elected, and at the expiration of this term —
in 1837 — he retired to private life, and never afterward took
upon himself the cares of public office. Thus it will be seen
that for twenty-one years — from 1 816 till 1837 — he served with
out intermission the people of Indiana in the three highest
•offices within their gift.
Men who found empires should not be forgotten. They plant
the tree of civil liberty, and water its roots, while those who
come after them but trim its branches to preserve its symmetry.
If they plant carelessly and in poor soil the tree will have but a
sickly growth. That the men who planted Indiana in the wil
derness sixty-seven years ago planted wisely and well, is evi
denced by its wonderful growth. It was then inhabited only
by a few thousand hardy pioneers, who had settled on its south
ern and eastern borders ; novv it contains two millions of prosper
ous people, its whole area being covered vvith happy homes.

WILLI.VM HENDRICKS. 53
William Hendricks had as much to do with laying the found
ations of this great State and commencing its superstructure as
any other man, excepting Jonathan Jennings only, and yet how
few there are who know he ever lived. How^ transitory is the
feme of human greatness.
" This i.-i the state of man ; to-diiv he puts forth
The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms,
.¦^nd bears his blushing honors thick upon him ;
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,"
and he dies and is forgotten.
Worldly honors are not easily won, although the bard tells us
that some men have greatness thrust upon them. In the con
test for fame there is sharp competition, and those only win whoi
have endurance and mettle. A number of educated and tal
ented young men had come to Indiana in quest of fortune,.
and had WilHam Hendricks been a dolt or a laggard he would
have been distanced in the race. But he was neither. He was^
talented and energetic, and he won. He also knew how tO'
utilize the means at his command and to make the most of the
situation. When he came to Indiana he brought with him a
printing press, and soon afterward commenced the publication-
of a weekly paper. It was called the Eagle, and, I believe,.
was the second newspaper published in the State, the Vincennes-
Sun being the first. Through his paper he became known and.
paved the way for his political fortune. He made the first re
vision of the laws of the State and had it printed on his own
press. The Legislature offered to pay him for this work, but
he declined all pecuniary compensation. It then passed a res
olution of thanks, the only return for his labor he would take-
Governor Hendricks was a friend to education. Hanover-
College and the State University at Bloomington both received'.
his fostering care. He took an active interest in public enter
prises, and frequently aided them with his purse. He was very
politic in his actions, never antagonizing a man when he could
honorably avoid it. He had a large estate, and after leaving
the Senate he spent his time in managing it and practicing law.
He held on to his real estate with great tenacity, leasing it for
a term of years when practicable, instead of selling it. Many

54 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
houses were erected at Madison on property leased of him, and,
like raost houses built under such circumstances, they were
poorly and cheaply constructed. Flis disposition to lease rather
than sell his property caused much dissatisfaction among the
people, and very greatly lessened his influence.
On the i6th of May, 1850, Governor Hendricks rode out to
his farm, just north of Madison, to oversee the building of a
family vault. While assisting in the preparation of a receptacle
for his body " after life's fitful fever " was over, he was taken
ill and soon afterward died. The author is not certain whether
he died at the farm-house or was takpn back to his home in the
city, but is inclined to the opinion that he breathed his last near
the spot where he is buried and where his remains have crum
bled to dust.
The Indiana Gazetteer of 1850 thus speaks of him :
" Governor Hendricks was for many years by far the most
popular man in the State. He had been its sole representative
in Congress for six years, elected on each occasion by large ma
jorities, and no member of that body, probably, was more atten
tive to the interests of the State he represented, or more indus
trious in arranging all the private or local business entrusted to
him. He left no letter unanswered, no public office or docu
ment did he fail to visit or examine on request ; vvith personal
manners very engaging, he long retained his popularity."
Governor Hendricks was of a family that occupies a front
place in the history of Indiana. There is probably no other
one in the State that has exerted so wide an influence upon its
politics and legislation as his. His eldest son, John Abram,
was a captain in the Mexican war, and a Jieutenant-colonel in
the war of the rebellion. He vvas killed in the battie of Pea
Ridge while in command of his regiment. Another son, Thomas,
was killed in the Teche country during General Banks's cam
paign up Red river. A brother and a nephew sat in the State
Senate, and another nephew, Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks, has
received the highest honors his State could confer upon him.
Governor Hendricks vvas about six feet high and had a well-
proportioned body, lie had auburn hair, blue eves and a florid

WILLI.V.M HENKRICKS. 55
complexion. His manners were easv' and dignified, and his
address that of a well-bred gentleman. He vvas not a great
lawver, nor an eloquent advocate, but he prepared his cases
vvith care and vvas reasonablv' successful at the bar. In early
life he was a Presbyterian, but in his later v ears he joined the
Methodist church and died in her communion. He never had
a picture taken of himself", so there is no portrait of him in the
State library, while portraits of the other Governors are there.
This is to be regretted, for the people whose ancestors honored
him so highly would like to know something of his form and
features. The only picture they can have of him must be drawn
vvith the pen. and the author submits this sketch as an effort in
that direction. Would that the work vvere better done.

JAMES BROWN RAY.

One of the most noted and influential men of early Indiana
was James Brown Ray. He was born in Jefferson county, Ken
tucky, February 19, 1794, and when quite a youth went to Cin
cinnati, Ohio, and read law with General Gano, of that city.
On the loth of December, 1818, he married Mary Riddle, and
soon afterward removed to Brookville, Indiana, and commenced
the practice of the law. Brookville was then the home of many-
ambitious and able men, but the young Kentuckian soon took
rank among the ablest and most influential of them. In August,
1822, he was elected to the State Senate from Franklin county,
and took his seat on the 2d of December following. On the
30th of January, 1824, Ratliff Boon, then Lieutenant-Governor
of the State, resigned his office, and on the same day Mr. Ray
was elected President fro tempore of the Senate. The Senate
journal shows that, on raotion of Mr. Stapp, it was "resolved
that a comraittee be appointed to wait on His Excellency, the
Governor, and inforra him that the Hon. Ratiiff Boon having
resigned the office of Lieutenant-Governor, the Senate has
elected James B. Ray as President fro te//ifore.'" Mr. Ray
presided over the Senate for the balance of the session, and
when that body met, in January, 1825, on motion of Dennis
Pennington, the Senator from Harrison county, Mr. Ray again-
took the chair as President. A very interesting debate took
place as to whether the election of Mr. Ray at the previous ses
sion continued him as President ^rt> tc/)/-porc of the Senate, and,
a vote being taken, it was decided that it did not ; whereupon
he called General Stapp to the chair and took his place upon
the floor. An election then took place for President fro tc//i-

J.VMES BROWN RAY. 57
fore, which resulted in the re-election of Mr. Ray, who there
upon resumed his seat as the Senate's presiding officer.
Governor William Hendricks having been elected to the
United States Senate, resigned the Governorship on the 12th
day of February, 1825. When the Senate received notice of
his resignation Mr. Ray left the presiding officer's seat and at
once entered upon the discharge of his duties as Acting-Gov
ernor. The Senate unanimousl)- passed a resolution thanking
him for the ability and fairness with which he had discharged
his duties as presiding officer, an honor fairly won, for he had
been impartial in his rulings and courteous in announcing
them. He was then a young man, but he was one of the most
popular and influential politicians in the State. He became a
candidate for Governor, and the next August was elected to
that office over Isaac Blackford by a majority of 2,622. Three
years afterward — in August, 1828 — he was a candidate for re
election, his competitors being Dr. Israel T. Canby and Harbin
H. Moore. Governor Ray received 15,141 votes; Dr. Canby,
12,315, and Mr. Moore, 10,904. Governor Ray having received
a pluralit}- of the votes was re-elected, and held the office of
Governor until the inauguration of Noah Noble, in 1831.
During Mr. Ray's service as Governor no exciting questions
agitated the people of the State. In 1830' the terms of the Su
preme Judges expired, and he determined to reorganize the
court. He reappointed Judge Blackford, but refused to nomi
nate to the Senate Judges Scott and Holman. It was charged
at the time, and very generally believed, that his refusal to re
appoint Judges Scott and Holman was because they had declined
to aid him in his senatorial aspirations. Be this as it may, he
would not send their names to the Senate, but, in their ^stead,
nominated Stephen C. Stevens and John T. McKinney. This
action of Governor Ray cost hira many friends. Up to that
time no man in the State was so popular, but after this his popu
larity waned, and finally almost disappeared. The people be
lieved this action of Governor Ray was prompted by personal
reasons and not for the pubHc good, hence they withdrew their
support and confidence from him. A sad example was this of
what one false step will do.
In 1826, while fiHing the executive chair of Indiana, Gov-

58 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
ernor Ray was appointed a commissioner, on the part of the
United States, to negotiate a treaty with the Miami and Potta
watamie Indians. His associates in the commission were Gen
erals Cass and Tipton, and the result of the treaty was the
ceding of a tract of land ten miles wide, on the north line of
the State, and the cession of a small body lying between the
Wabash and Eel rivers. Through the exertions of Governor 1
Ray the Indians donated to the State one section of land for
each mile, to aid in building the road from Lake Michigan to
the Ohio river, known as the Michigan road. This was an im
portant cession, and Governor Ray deserves the gratitude of the
people of Indiana for obtaining it.
The .constitution of the State prevented the Governor from
holding any office of honor or profit under the government of
the United States, and when Governor Ray asked to be ap
pointed a member of the commission to negotiate the treaty
which I have named, he requested that no commission, but
merely a letter of authority should be sent him. He remem
bered the difficulty Jonathan Jennings had encountered by act
ing as commissioner to negotiate an Indian treaty while holding
the office of Governor, and sought to avoid a similar difficulty
by acting without the authority of a regular coramission. But
his precaution did not save him from trouble. The Legislature
took cognizance of his action, as it- had done with Governor
Jennings, and, as in that case, settled the matter by evading it.
The record of this controversy is as follows. It is of interest
in showing the somewhat stilted dignity of those early states
men in the exercise of their official functions :
In the Legislature of 1826 Mr. Craig, a representative from
Ripley county, offered the following resolution :
"Resolved, That it is the opinion of this House that James B.
Ray, Esq., who now is acting in and fijling the office of Gov
ernor of this State, has forfeited his right to act in and fill said
office of Governor by accepting of and exercising at Mississin-
awa, during a part of the year 1826, the office of commissioner
under the United States, together vvith Lewis Cass, Esq., Gov
ernor of the Territory of Michigan, and John Tipton, of Fort
Wayne, Indian agent, to treat vvith the Pottawatamie and Miami

JA^^^;s brown ray. 59
tribes of Indians, for the purchase of lands Iv ing within the
State of Indiana : and that the Senate be informed of this
opinion, and their opinion requested."
The resolution vvas off'ered on* the 5th of December, 1826.
The ne.xt day the House passed a resolution " That a comraittee
be appointed to wait on James B. Ray, Esq., and inform him
that there is now a resolution before this House tending to de
clare his office as Governor of the State vacated, in consequence
of his having accepted and exercised the authority, under the
President of the United States, of treating with certain Indian
tribes within this State during tiie present year; and that he,
the said James B. Ray, has leave, should he judge proper, to
avail himself of the privilege to appear before this House and
defend himself, either in person or by counsel." The Speaker
appointed Messrs. Johnston and Bassett the committee, who
served Governor Ray with a copy of the resolution, and the
foUowng day the Governor sent the House a letter, of which the
following is a copy :
" GeNTLE.VIEN OF THE HoUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES  As the
Executive of the State, it will at all times give rae pleasure to
answer anv- suitable requisition raade of me by either branch of
the General Assembly, and I acknowledge the resolution which
I have had the honor of receiving from the House of Repre
sentatives, through the gentlemen coraposing their coramittee,
to be full evidence that I had reason to have the confidence in
the members composing your body, that you would not arraign
my conduct whilst holding the important and responsible situa
tion to which the voice of the people of the State has called me,
without in the first place allowing me the sacred constitutional
privilege to which the humblest citizen is entitled, of being heard
in my defense. At the same time, feeling conscious of having
committed no act since I have been honored with the office of
Governor, incompatible with its high obligations and duties,
and which was not intended, to the best of my ability, for the
prosperity of the State of our choice, I must express my convic
tion that the harmony of the co-ordinate branches of this gov
ernment, the laws of delicacy, and the true interests of our
common country at this late period, with which I have been

6o BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
favored through your committee ; asking to be permitted to add,
that in no transaction of mine, official or other, have I anything
proper to be communicated, which shaU not be at aU times sub
ject to the inspection of my fellow citizens of the State, or their
representatives. If I have erred in the manner intimated in a
resolution sent me, I have erred with the fathers of the repub
lic, the first patriots of the age, and in attempting to do good
and advance the highest interests of our beloved country. As
custom, precedent and example passed in review before me, I
could not be insensible of their force, and have been made to
feel as if I had done my duty to my conscience and the State.
" I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your most obe
dient servant, J. Brown Ray."
This exceedingly diffuse and muddy communication was re
ceived and the question debated by the House until just before
the close of its sitting that day, when a vote was taken on Mr.
Craig's resolution, which resulted in 28 yeas and 30 nays. The
House then, by a vote of 31 yeas to 27.nays, passed a resolution
to receive the message of Governor Ray, whereupon the mes
sage was delivered, and the effort to declare the Governorship
vacant ended.
In Governor Ray's messages to the Legislature he argued
forcibly and eloquently the great advantage that must accrue to
Indiana by the construction and operation of railroads, and pre
dicted much which, although at the time seemed chimerical,
has really come to pass. M^ny considered him insane and his
utterances those of a madman, but time has demonstrated that
in the main he vvas correct. He saw more plainly than any
other man of his day the future of the State in which he hved.
iM'ter he left office he continued to dilate upon his favorite sub
ject, and to predict a great future for Indianapolis. A writer,
who seems to think the Governor was somewhat oft' his mental
balance, thus speaks of him in a late article in an Indianapolis
paper: " During a long period of mental disturbance in his old age,
Governor Ray was fond of discussing his ' grand scheme ' of
railroad concentration at Indianapolis. Here vvas to be the

J.VMES BROWN RAY. 6l
head of a score of radiating lines. At intervals of five miles
were to be villages, of ten miles towns, and of twenty miles
respectable cities. This crazy whim, as everybody regarded it,
has been made a fact as solid as the everlasting hills. The
only point of t'ailure is the feature that possessed special inter
est to the Governor. The Union Depot and point of concen
tration of the radiating lines are not on his property, opposite
the Court-house, where, by all the requirements of symmetry
and consistency, they should have been. Oddly enough, one
expedient in constrtiction, which certainly looked silly, has been
actually put in use successfully in some one or another of our
far Western lines. Where deep gorges were to be crossed, he
thought that trestle-work might be replaced by cutting off the
tops of growing trees level with the track and laying sills on
these for the rails. It is not many months since the papers pub
lished a description of exactly that sort of expedients in cross
ing a deep and heavily timbered hollow on a Western railway —
the Denver and Rio Grtinde probably. So thoroughly has the
great ' hub ' scheme and its connections and incidents been
identified vvith Governor Ray and his hallucinations, that there
are few who know anything of the matter at all who will not
be surprised to learn that the origination of it is at least as
likely to be the work of Governor Noble's deliberate reasoning
as of Governor Ray's fantasies. In his annual message of 1833-4,
he discusses the importance of the internal improvement system,
then projected and widely debated, but not adopted by the
State, and only partially pursued by the help of canal land
grants by Congress, and he argues for the concentration of ar
tificial facilities for transportation here. In other words, with
out saying it, he wants Indianapolis to be exactly the ' hub '
that Governor Ray predicted it would be. Whether the rational
Governor in office got his notions from the fancies of the de
ranged ex-Governor, or the latter only expanded in his fantastic
projects the official suggestion of the other, we shall never know.
But the probability is that the sane Governor profited by the
hints he saw in the wild talk of the insane Governor. For
Governor Noble was not a strikingly original genius, and Gov
ernor Ray, as eccentric and egotistical as he was, had more
than an average allowance of brains."

62 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Aftsr Governor Ray ceased to be Governor he resumed the
practice of law, but he did not succeed in getting rauch legal
business. He seeraed to have "run down at the heel," and,
although he was in the prirae of life, the pubhc appeared to
think him superannuated, as having passed his day of usefulness.
In 1835 he became a candidate for clerk of Marion county
against Robert B. Duncan, Esq., and, for a time, seemed bent
on making a lively canvass. But, before the election came off,
he had virtually abandoned the contest. Although he did not
formally withdraw, he had no tickets printed, and when the bal
lots were counted, it was found that few of them had been cast
for him. In 1837 he ran for Congress, in the Indianapolis dis
trict, against William Herrod, and was defeated, receiving but
5,888 votes to his competitor's 9,635. This want of apprecia
tion by the public soured him, and made him more eccentric
than ever.
In the summer of 1848 Governor Ray made a trip to Wiscon
sin and returned home by way of the Ohio river. While on the
river he became unwell and, on reaching Cincinnati, was taken
to the house of a relative. The disease proved to be cholera,
and terrainated in his death August 4, 1848. He was buried in
the Spring Grove Ceraetery, near Cincinnati, outside the State
he had helped to found.
Governor Ray's first wife died while he vvas in the Senate.
and in September, 1825, he married his second wife, Mrs.
Esther Booker, of Centreville, Indiana.
Governor Ray was egotistical, very dressy and fond of dis
play. He liked sensations, and more than once, while Gov
ernor, exercised his executive functions in a manner that vvas
highly tragical. In the summer of 1825 three executions of
white men were to take place at Pendleton for the kifling of
some Indians. The day arrived and two of the murderers
were hung, the sheriff' delaying the execution of young Bridges,
a mere bov', in hope the Governor would interfere. Mr. John
H. B. Nowland, in his "Prominent Citizens of Indianapolis,"
thus speaks of this event :
"Alter they (Bridges, senior, and Sawyer) had hung about
thirty minutes they vvere taken down and placed in coffins at

J.VMES BROW .N R.W. 6t
the foot of the gallows. The young man, who had witnessed
the scene, was then placed in the wagon (which had been read
justed on the hillside) vvith the intention of waiting until the last
moment for Governor Ray or a pardon. He had not been in
this siUiation long before the Governor made his appearance
(which created a shout from all present) on a large, fancy gray
horse. He rode directly up to the gallows, where the young
man was seated on a rough coffin in the wagon. The Governor
handed the reins of the bridle to a bystander, commanding the
prisoner to stand up. ' Sir,' said the Governor, ' do you know
in whose presence you stand?' Being answered in the nega
tive, the Governor continued : ' There are but two powers
known to the law that can save you from hanging by the neck
until you are dead ; one is the Great God of the Universe, the
other is J. Brown Ray, Governor of the State of Indiana. The
latter stands before you (handing the young man the written
pardon) ; you are pardoned.' "
Had Governor Ray turned his attention to dramatic literature,
the Buft'alo Bills of Indiana would have had no occasion to go
outside the State for their blood-and-thunder plays.
In traveling it was the custom of Governor Ray to register
his name on steamboats and at hotels as "J. Brown Ray, Gov
ernor of Indiana." But, then, he vvas not the only great man
who has been vain. Either Sir Walter Raleigh or Murat would
have registered with all his titles.
Governor Ray was a brave man, and sometimes a belligerent
one. When a young lavvyer at Brookville, James Jones, a
farmer, attacked him, and in a hand to hand light vvas worsted.
When he and Calvin Fletcher were in the active practice of the
law they had a personal difficulty at Danville, which caused a
good deal of talk at the time. The court was in session, and
one morning while the lawyers in attendance were warming
their backs at the hotel fire. Governor Ray and Mr. Fletcher
got into a controversy about something the former had said in
one of his messages to the Legislature. The dispute begat bad
blood, and eventually Governor Ray told Mr. Fletcher that if
he repeated the offensive remark he would thrash him. Those
who knew Mr. Fletcher are aware that threats had but little

64 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
terror to him, so he reiterated the accusation, whereupon Gov
ernor Ray caught him by the nose. At this Mr. Fletcher struck
the Governor in the face, but before he could repeat the blow
his arm was caught by the bystanders and the belligerents sep-
.arated. Both these men had the courage of their convictions,
and were ever ready to maintain them in the old Western style.
In his latter days Governor Ray was so eccentric that most
people thought his mind diseased. He always walked with a
cane, and sometimes he would stop on the street and, with his
cane, write words in the air. It is no wonder that those who-
saw him do this believed him insane. A short time before he
died he advertised, in an Indianapolis paper, a farm and a tav
ern-stand for sale, and for a proposition to build a railroad from
Charleston, South Carolina, through Indianapolis to the north-
¦ern lakes, all in one advertisement.
In person. Governor Ray, in his younger days, was very pre
possessing. He was tall and straight, with a body well-pro
portioned. He wore his hair long and tied in a queue. His
forehead was broad and high, and his features denoted intelli
gence of a high order. For many years he was a leading man
of Indiana, and no full history of the State can be written ¦with
out frequent mention of his name.

NOAH NOBLE.

Noah Noble, fourth Governor of Indiana, was born in Clark
county, Virginia, January 15, 1794. When he was a'little boy
his father emigrated to Kentucky with his family, and there
Noah grew to manhood. About the time Indiana was admitted
into the Union Mr. Noble came to the State and located in
Brookville. His brother James had preceded him to Brook
ville, and had become quite prominent in public affairs. In
1820. a few years after Mr. Noble settled at Brookville, he was
elected sheriff of Franklin county, and was re-elected in 1822.
In August, 1824, he was chosen a representative to the State
Legislature from Franklin county, virtually without opposition,
there having been but twenty votes cast against him. At that
time he was probably the most popular man in Franklin county.
Enoch McCarty was then clerk of the county, and, being a can
didate for re-election, was considerably disturbed when he heard
that the friends of Mr. Noble were talking of him for the office.
In a conversation between the partisans of McCarty and those
of Noble about the clerkship, one of them said : " Let's elect
Enoch McCarty clerk, and Noah Noble Governor." In this
w-ay was the movement started that landed Governor Noble in
the executive chair. Lazarus Noble, a younger brother of
Noah, was receiver of public moneys for the Brookville land
district. In 1826 the office was changed to Indianapolis, and
while on his way to that place with his books and papers, Laz
arus Noble died. President Adams appointed his brother Noah
to the vacancy, and the new receiver at once came to Indiana-
poHs and opened his office. He filled the place with great ac
ceptability until 1829, when he was removed by President Jack-

66 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
son for political considerations, and the office given to James
P. Drake. While receiver of public moneys Mr. Noble was
brought into contact with many people, and he made friends of
them aU. He often assisted the immigrant with money to enter
his land, and in other ways accommodated and befriended him.
In 1830 he. was appointed one of the commissioners to locate
and lay out the Michigan road. In 183 1 he was a candidate
for Governor of the State, and although he was a Whig and
the Democracy had a large majority in the State, he was elected
over James G. Reed (Democrat) by 2,791 majority. This was
a remarkable result, for Milton Stapp, also a Whig, was a can
didate, and polled 4,422 votes.
In 1834 Governor Noble was a candidate for re-election. He
received 27,676 votes, and his opponent, James G. Reed, 19,994.
In 1839, after his gubernatorial terra had expired, the Legisla
ture elected him a member of the Board of Internal Improve
ments. In 1841 he was chosen a Fund Commissioner, a very
important and responsible position. Early in 1841 he was of
fered by the President of the United States the office of General
Land Commissioner, but he decHned the place because he
thought he was needed in Indiana to help the State out of her
financial embarrassments.
Governor Noble died at his home near Indianapolis (now
within the city limits), February 8, 1844, ^^^ "^^^ buried in
Greenlawn Cemetery. About five years ago his remains were
taken up and reburied at Crown Hill by the side of his wife.
That Governor Noble was beloved by his neighbors is evinced
by the way they received news of his death. So soon as it was
known in the city that he was dead a meeting was held at
Browning's hotel, at which Nicholas McCarty presided. A
committee of arrangements, consisting of forty-three persons,
was appointed, and as evidence of the mutability of earthly
things, it may be noted that Alfred Harrison is the only one of
of the forty-three now (1883) living. The next day a meeting
was held at the Court-house, to which the committee of forty-
three raade report. Samuel Merrill, chairman of the commit
tee, reported the following resolutions :
"Whereas, It has pleased Almighty God to remove from us
by death our respected feUow-citizen, Noah Noble, who, as

NO.VH NOBLE. 67
Governor of the State for six years, and in the performance of
various other official duties, acquired for himself the approba
tion and respect of a large portion of the community ; and,
" Whereas, The ability, integrity and patriotism of Gov
ernor Noble as a public officer, and his uniform kindness, lib-
eraHty and an.xiety for the welfare of others as a private citizen,
secured to him to an e.xtent unexampled amongst us the friend
ship and good wishes of his neighbors and numerous acquaint
ances ; therefore,
" Resohrd, H//ani//io/isly, That this assembly deeply sympa
thizes with the bereaved family of Governor Noble in the loss
they have sustained.
"Resolved, una/iimously , That the public services and private
character of the deceased have been such that his death inspires
general gloom and deep regret in the community and State of
which he was so distinguished an ornament.
••Resolved, unanimously. That, as a mark of respect for the
memory of Governor Noble, this assembly will' attend the fu
neral at two o'clock to-morrow, and will wear the usual badge of
mourning for thirty days.
" Resolved, That copies of the foregoing preamble and reso
lutions be sent to the widow and children of the deceased, and
also to the Journal z.vidL Sentinel {or publication."
Messrs. Douglas Maguire, Samuel Merrill, Judge James Mor
rison, Dr. Richmond and others, made speeches in favor of the
resolutions, and, on the vote being put, they were unanimously
adopted. The next day the remains of Governor Noble were
taken from his home to the Methodist church in Indianapolis,
where appropriate religious services were held. Rev. Dr.
Gurley led in prayer, after which Rev. L. W. Berry preached
the funeral sermon.. The exercises closed with a prayer by
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, after which the corpse was taken
to Greenlawn and buried.
Governor Noble's father was a slaveholder, and some of the
negroes once owned by him, and with whom the Governor had
played when a boy, were sold out of the family. After Gov
ernor Noble had removed to Indianapolis he sought out these
negroes, bought them, and brought them to his home. He
looked after them while he lived, saw they wanted for nothing

68 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
-necessary for their comfort, and in his will provided for their
maintenance and support. This incident illustrates his good
ness and kindness of heart, and his interest in the race which
for centuries had worn the bondsman's yoke.
Governor Noble once gave public notice that if any one
hunted on his farm " with dog or gun," he would be prosecuted
to the full extent of the law. One day the late George McOuat,
then a lad, and his younger brother, Andy, while hunting on
the Governor's farm flushed a flock of quails, which sought
refuge in some beech trees near the Governor's house. The
young hunters were under the trees trying to get a favorable
position to shoot when they saw the Governor running toward
them with a gun in his hand and shouting, "Get out of my
inclosure ; don't you dare to shoot in my woods." Andy was
scared, and started to run, but his brother George commanded
him to stop, and he obeyed. George paid no attention to the
Governor, and getting a favorable position, pulled the trigger
and brought down five birds. The Governor looked on with a
certain degree of adrairation, for he loved a good shot, and was
proud of his own ability to raake one, and when the birds fell,
in a pleasant tone he said : " Well, I believe there is no scar
ing a Scotch boy." " You are right. Governor," said the elder
of the brothers, " and particularly when that bov is a Mac-
gregor." The McOuats are descendants of the Macgregors.
Governor Noble had a laudable ambition to go to the United
States Senate, but it was never gratified. In 1836 he was a
candidate to succeed William Hendricks, but was defeated by
Oliver H. Smith. He led on the first ballot, and continued in
the lead until the eighth, when Mr. Smith ran ahead of him,
and on the next ballot was elected. In 1839 ^^^ ^^"^^ again a
candidate for the Senate, to succeed General John Tipton, but
was defeated by Albert S. White, on the thirty-sixth baflot.
Governor Noble occupied about the same position in Indiana
that Henry Clay did in the United States. He vvas the strong
est man in his party, but his antagonisms were such that he
covdd not draw from the opposition. The consequence was,
that while leading off vvith a large plurality, he never could get ,
a majority. His political opponents preferred any other candi
date to him, and when they found thev- coidd not elect their

NOAH NOBLE. 69
own man they always went to the one who could beat Governor
Noble. This fact shows he vvas a positive man. A negative
man is the one to draw from an opposing party ; the positive
one. however, keeps his friends.
Governor Noble vvas one ot* the most efficien.t promoters of the
internal improvement sv'stem, and when the system broke down
his popularity waned. He never lost his hold upon his friends,
but he never had enough of them to reach the goal of his am
bition — the Senate of the United States.
Governor Noble vvas a remarkable man. "Self taught, al
most, he readily acquired a capacity for managing all kinds of
important business ; with a very feeble constitution, he could
endure almost any fatigue ; and so much of an invalid as seldom
to be free Irom pain, and always living on the diet of a hermit,
he was never otherwise than cheerful, and few persons ever did
so much to promote good feeling in the society in which he-
Hved. His benevolence was not manifested merely by profes
sions, but his kind looks and kinder words vvere always attended:
by the most substantial aid whenever distress or difficulty ap
pealed to his sympathy."
Oliver H. Smith says that Governor Noble " was one of the-
most popular men vvith the masses in the State. His person.
vvas tall and slim, his constitution delicate, his smile winning,.
his voice feeble, the squeeze of his hand irresistible. He spoke
plainly and well, but made no pretense to eloquence. As Gov
ernor he was very popular ; his social entertainments will long
be remembered." John H. B. Nowland says of him : " In his
friendships he was warm and devoted, and confiding to a fault.
He had a mild and benevolent countenance, and a smile for all
with whom either business or circumstances brought him in con
tact."

DAVID WALLACE.

David Wallace, Governor of Indiana from 1837 to 1840,
was born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, April 24, 1799.
When he was a littie boy his father emigrated to Ohio, and set
tled near Cincinnati. General William H. Harrison Hved in
the neighborhood, and between him and the Wallace family a
friendship was formed that lasted while they lived. General
Harrison was then in Congress, and through his influence young
David secured the appointment of a cadet to West Point. This
act bound the young emigrant to the old pioneer with hooks
of steel, and he lived to repay the debt thus contracted with
interest compounded,
Mr. Wallace graduated at West Point in 1821 , and afterwards,
for a short time, was a tutor in that institution. He then entered
the army as a lieutenant of artillery, and in about one year re
signed his comraission. His father having emigrated to Indiana
in 1817, and settled at Brookville, the son came to his paternal
home and commenced the study of the law in the office of Miles
C. Eggleston, a distinguished jurist of that day. In 1823 he was
admitted to the bar, and soon obtained a large practice. He
entered poHtics, and was elected to the Legislature in 1828,
1829 and 1830. In 183 1 he was elected Lieutenant-Governor
of the State, and in 1834 was re-elected. Indiana never had a
Lieutenant-Governor who excelled him as a presiding officer,
and but few who equaled him. His voice was good, his manner
dignified, and his decisions just and impartial. In 1837 ^^ ^^^
elected Governor, defeating for the office John Dumont, an able
and distinguished lawyer who lived at Vevay, on the southern
border of the State. H:e had been closely identified vvith the

n.VVID W.VLLACE. 7I
internal improvement system, and vvas elected Governor upon
that issue, but during his term of office the system broke down
and took him vvith it. It is the nature of the American people
to go from one extreme to the other, and the measure that gave
him office in 1837 defeated him in 1840. When the Whig State
convention met that year it passed him by and nominated for
Governor Samuel Bigger, a man who had not been identified
with the internal improvement system. He stepped aside with
out a murmur, and at once resumed the practice of the law.
The next year, 1841, he was elected to Congress from the In-
dianapoHs district, defeating Colonel Nathan B. Palmer. Two
years afterward, 1843, he was a candidate for re-election, but
was defeated by William J. Brown 1,085 votes. In 1846 he
was chairman of the Whig State central committee. He again
went back to the law, and practiced it uninterruptedly until
1850, when he was elected a delegate to the constitutional con
vention from the county of Marion. In this body he was chair
man of the Committee on Public Institutions, and was a mem
ber of the Committee on the Practice of Law and Law Reform.
He took but little part in the deliberations of the convention,
his name only appearing nine times in its records, except on the
call of the roll. It seems strange that a man of his talents and
experience in public life should have taken so insignificant a
part in the proceedings of the convention ; but strange as it is,
it is true. He made one speech in opposition to the proposition
of Judge Pettit to abolish grand juries, which was a strong pre
sentation of the reasons why it should not be done.
In another speech delivered on a series of resolutions intro
duced by Mr. Rariden, approving of Mr. Clay's compromise
measures. Governor Wallace made the following rather note
worthy statement. He said :
"Mr. President — I hope that the charge of being an abo
litionist will not be made against me because I vote against the
postponement of these resolutions. I ought to be above suspi
cion, for when I had the honor of a seat in Congress I voted to
expel the high priest of abolitionism from that body — Joshua R.
Giddings. I voted for that expulsion, and I speak of it now as
an act that, under the same circumstances, and influenced by

72 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
the same impressions which then operated on me, I would
cheerfully do again. I voted on that occasion regardless of
consequences, honestly believing that the welfare of the country
demanded such an example."
In 1856 Governor Wallace was elected' Judge of the Court of
Common Pleas, and held the office until he died. As a judge
he was impartial and able, and raade the best record of his life.
He died suddenly on the 4th of September, 1859, ^'^^ the next
day the Indianapolis bar convened to take action upon his death.
Judge David McDonald presided at the meeting, and John Co-
burn acted as secretary. Several gentlemen delivered ad
dresses, and a committee on resolutions was appointed. The
resolutions were reported by Mr. Coburn, one of them declar
ing that the dead jurist " was a just judge — firm, upright, clear,
patient, laborious, impartial and conscientious." Mr. Coburn
was appointed to present the resolutions to the Circuit Court,
and twenty-one days afterward he performed the duty-, accom
panying the presentation with an eloquent eulogy upon the life
and character of the deceased. The address was a chaste and
elegant production, and worthy of its distinguished subject.
Speaking of Goveri}or Wallace's ability as a speaker, Mr. Co-
burn said :
"As an orator Governor Wallace had few equals in the na
tion. With a voice modulated to the finest and nicest precision,
an eye sparkling and expressive, a countenance and person re
markable for beauty and symmetry, he stepped upon the speak
er's stand, in these respects, far in advance of his compeers.
His style of delivery was impressive, graceful, and at times
impassioned, never rising to a scream or breaking into wild ges
ticulations, and never descending into indistinctness or lassi
tude. His style of composition was chaste, finished, flowing,
and beautiful, often swelling up into rarest eloquence or melt
ing down into the tenderest pathos. * * * His prepared
orations were completed vvith the sev^erest care. As the sculp
tor chisels down and finishes his statue, chipping and chipping
away the stone to find within his beautiful ideal, so did he elabo
rate his thoughts till thev- assumed the shape he would give
them, and so will retain them forever."

DAVID WALLACE.

73

Previous to ordering the resolutions placed upon the records
Judge Wick said :
" The political and official history of the deceased would lead
one, in the absence of knowledge of his personal character, to
expect that he had become more or less imbued with the spirit
of the times. But those who have known him longest, and the
most intimately, can unite their voices in calling for proof or
allegation that he ever knowingly wronged a fellow-creature,
or pocketed a single cent in dishonesty or corruption.
'• Few persons born at the close of the last century, and flour
ishing during more than half the present one, prominent in
both private and political station, can present such a record as
this. " Verily, the absence of evil is the best evidence of the pres
ence of good — far better than all the monuments ever erected
by either real or Pharisaic piety."
On the 7th of November, 1835, a convention was held on the
Tippecanoe battle-ground, at which General Harrison was
formally put forward for the presidency. William Ross Wal
lace read a poem, and Governor Wallace, in replying to a toast,
said :
•¦We have been told by the magic genius of our youthful
poet that we are standing on one of the proudest battle fields
of our country, the very soil of which has been rendered holy
by the blood of heroes ; that some of the noblest of Kentucky
chivalry are sleeping beneath our feet, inclosed in the same
grave, mingling their dust with the bravest of the sons of In
diana ; that, although no monument as yet arises to commemo
rate their deeds, no inscription to claim the homage of gratitude
from the traveler, scarce a vestige to indicate the exact place of
their repose, still — still they are not forgotten. Their memories
and their sacrifices have found an abiding place and a sanctu
ary in the hearts of the living who are here, and of every son
and daughter of Indiana who is absent, and there they remain,
to be forever fondly and devotedly cherished while man has a
soul to worship at the altar of patriotism, or woman a tear to
shed at the tomb of the fallen brave."

74 BIOGRAPHTCAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
He then pronounced a glowing eulogynpoii General Harri
son, during which he said :
" It is the first time in my Hfe that the opportunity has pre
sented itself enabling me to pay a long-existing debt of grati
tude to one whose name and whose services are identified with
the history and the glory of this field. Twenty-four years ago,
and you all recoHect how consternation and dismay pervaded
the whole line of our Western frontier ; how conflagration and
murder and massacre were the ordinary scenes of the day ; and
how the fiend-Hke yell of the savage was often the last sound
that rang upon the ear of the dying pioneer as he sank beneath-
the assassin blow of the Indian knife or tomahawk. And there,
too, you recollect, there was in the field that mighty genius —
that man — I scarce know where to place or what to name him —
the sworn, the inveterate enemy of our race, who grasped so
astoundingly the scepter of power, and with a giant's strength
and a god's ability, seemed to wave it over the wilderness, and
to make the tribes and nations there bow to its supremacy; to
forget the national feud and private animosities, and to catch
frora it the same fierce, terrible and unrelenting hate toward us
which fired and burned and blazed in his own bosom. But why
this allusion to the past? * * * Why, that you may recol
lect more vividly the thrill of joy and shout of exultation with
which you received the tidings of the battles fought and victory
won on this field ; that you may recollect with w^hat sincerity 6f
heart you hailed the victor's return, and blessed the memory of
those who gallantly perished in the fight ; that you may recol
lect in all its freshness the unbribed, unasked burst of approba
tion and applause which everywhere rose to greet and welcome
the honored chieftain of the battle ; how, vvith one voice, you
proclaimed him your preserver ; the restorer of peace to your
firesides ; the matchless warrior, who, on Tippecanoe, had
broken and dispersed the fierce legions oY the border foe ; who
rolled back with one sweep of his arm the destructive war-cloud
which the charmed genius of the savage had so wonderfully
gathered and concentrated and suspended over your boundless
forests, shading them with terror and bristiing them vvith
death."

D.WID VVALL.VCE. 75
While Governor of the State, Governor Wallace issued a
proclamation appointing a day for thanksgiving and prayer.
It was the first paper of the kind issued by a Governor of In
diana, and it established a precedent which has been followed to
the present time. Governor Wallace, in this matter, but fol-
low-ed the custom of the Governors of the New England States,
who for a long time previous had been in the habit of annually
calling upon the people to meet together and give thanks for
the blessings they enjoyed.
When in Congress Governor Wallace was a member of the
Committee of Ways and Means, and in committee gave the
casting vote in favor of assisting with a donation, Professor
Morse to develop the magnetic telegraph. This act was ridi
culed by his political opponents, and cost him many votes the
last time he ran for Congress. But he lived to see the telegraph
established in nearly all the countries of the world and the
wisdom of his action acknowledged by all.
Governor Wallace was not a money-raaking and money-
getting man. He took more pleasure in filling his mind with
knowledge than in filling his pockets with money. He entered
into a business venture at Fort Wayne which, proving unfortu
nate, cost him his entire estate. One day, while sitting in his
yard talking with his oldest son, the sheriff came with an exe
cution which he sought to le'vy upon the Governor's property.
After some parleying the sheriff left, and the Governor, ad
dressing his son, said: "Wifliam, I want you to remember
that it vrill be a good deal better to have a few thousand dollars
laid away for old age than to have been Governor of the State
or a member of Congress."
Governor Wallace' was a man of great equanimity of temper.
He was never known to exhibit anger in his family, but in his
home and in his business affairs he was uniformly courteous and
kind. He was a lover of books, and was one of the most de
lightful of readers. In this respect he was superior to most
men who make reading and elocution a profession. It was his
custom of evenings, at his home, with his family and friends
around him, to read aloud choice selections from the writings
and speeches of poets and statesmen. Those who were so for
tunate as to be admitted to his family circle, and had the privi-

y6 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
lege of being present on such occasions, will ever remember
the pleasure the exhibitions afforded.
Governor WaUace was twice married. His first wife was a
daughter of John Test, and his second a daughter of Dr. John
H. Sanders. The latter still Hves, and is prominent in reforma
tory work. She is one of the leaders of the woman's suffrage
movement, and is quite active in the temperance cause. She is
a good public speaker, and is. a woman of great force of char
acter and large influence.
When a young man. Governor Wallace had a well-propor
tioned body, but in his latter years its symmetry was marred by
an undue amount of flesh. He had black hair, dark eyes, and
a ruddy complexion. He was cultured and well-bred. His
address was good, and his manners unexceptionable. He was
prominent at a time when Marshall and Dunn, the two Smiths,
Whitcomb, Bright and Howard lived, and had he not been a
man of talent he would inevitably have been obscured by their
greatness. That he was not is the best evidence that can be
adduced of his ability and acquirements.

SAMUEL BIGGER.

The life-journey of a man like Samuel Bigger is difficult to
sketch in a way that will interest the reader. From the time he
grew to manhood he occupied the table-lands of life. There
were no mountains in his pathway nor gorges for him to cross.
If his road was not smooth it was level, and if not macadamized
it was solid enough to bear his weight. He ever occupied a
respectable plane ; he never fell below it, and his altitude was
never much above it.
Samuel Bigger, Governor of Indiana from 1840 to 1843, was
bom in Warren county, Ohio, March 20, 1802. He was the
eldest son of John Bigger, a Western pioneer, and for many
years a member of the Ohio Legislature. The son loved his
books, was fonder of them than of farm work, a disposition
which remained with him while he lived. When eighteen years
old he contracted a deep cold which settled on his lungs and
came near costing him his life. His feeble health unfitted
him for manual labor and determined his father to qualify him
for a profession. He was prepared for college in the neigh
borhood, and then entered the one at Athens, from which he
graduated with honor. Subsequently he studied law, and in
1829 removed to Liberty, Indiana, and commenced the prac
tice of his profession. He remained at Liberty but a short
time, when he removed to Rushville, where his public life be
gan. He was elected to the Legislature in 1834, and re-elected
in 1835. In the Legislature of 1834 Mr. Bigger was a candi
date for Speaker of the House, his opponent being Colonel
James Gregory. On the first baflot he received 37 votes.
Colonel Gregory 38, and one vote was cast scattering. On the

78 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
second ballot each of the candidates received 38 votes. The
vote continued about even until the sixth ballot, when Colonel
Gregory was elected, receiving 39 votes, one more than a ma
jority. The next year Mr. Bigger was chosen judge of his judi
cial circuit, and served acceptably until called to a higher office.
In 1840 he was nominated for Governor by the Whig State con
vention, and, after an exciting race, was elected, beating Gen
eral Tilghman A. Howard. He was a candidate for re-election
in 1843, and was defeated by Jaraes Whitcomb, one of the ablest
of Indiana's Governors. Soon after leaving the gubernatorial
office he removed to Fort Wayne and resumed the practice of
law. His professional career at Fort Wayne was honorable,
but was too brief for him to obtain a lucrative practice. He
died at Fort Wayne in 1845, and was buried in the cemetery
there. While Governor Bigger was Chief Executive of Indiana the
State was overwhelmed with debt. The internal improvement
system broke down the year before his election, leaving the
people in the slough of despond. Little was done during his
adrainistration to relieve the State from its financial embarrass
ments, that being reserved for his successor. Governor Whit
comb. In February, 1841, the Legislature appointed Governor Big
ger " to prepare a compilation and revision of the general stat
ute laws of this State, and to suggest such amendments and
alterations in any of said statutes, and to prepare such additions
as he might deem proper, with a view to the adoption and enact
ment by the Legislature of a fuH and complete code of general
laws." This was a work Governor Bigger was well qualified
to do. He entered upon it at once, but becoming convinced
that he could not, of himself, prepare the revision in the time
fixed by the law, he asked the next Legislature to allow him
an assistant. His request was granted, and George H. Dunn
became associated with hira in the work. The revision was
reported to the Legislature in 1842, and passed that body almost
as it came from the hands of the revisers. It was intelligently
and carefully done, and is a memento of the painstaking care
and legal ability of its author.

SAMUEL BIGGER.

79

The Hon. Finley Bigger, in a note to the author, gives this
graphic account of his brother's early life :
"When a boy, his (Governor Bigger's) temper was very
equable, and it was seldom any one ever saw him angry, or
e\-en vexed. He vvas nevertheless high-sti-ung and sensitive,
and to have been decoyed or hurried into a wrong act would
have mortified him greatiy. A cowardly or unmanly act in
another would sometimes throw him off his guard and prompt
him to action. I recollect, when at school, an instance which
I ¦will name. A boy, much larger than his victim, struck and
knocked a small boy down and then kicked him. Samuel broke
a gad from a bush, took the large boy by the arm, and gave him
a severe flogging. This was the only time in his whole life that
I ever saw him evince what one might call hot temper.
¦'When quite a boy he was noted for expertness in wearing
out the seat and knees of his breeches ; a good pair would last
him about a week. I have heard my mother say that, as a
matter of economy, she once made him a buckskin suit, and
that even the pants of this didn't stand his gyrations long.
" He was always, in his young days, fond of his books, but
the state of his health compelled him to moderate this desire.
His early life was passed in the midst of great men — the West-
em pioneers, who felled dense forests and cultivated farms, and
at the same time built log houses, barns, school-houses and
churches, employed and paid teachers and preachers, lived at
first on venison, wild turkeys and bear meat killed with their
rifles. Sometimes they dropped the ax and hoe, shouldered
their rifles, and hastened to some point to defend their homes
from an invasion of savages. A common necessity and a com
mon danger made all these men brothers. Among such men
Samuel began his life and grew to manhood. No one knew
him better than I, and it may look unseemly in a brother, but I
only do just reverence to his name and memory when pronounc
ing him a great man in goodness, great in heart, and great in
soul." Governor Bigger's talents were not of the showy kind. As
a speaker he was plain and simple. He made no attempt at
florid oratory, and would have failed if he had. His mind was.

8o HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
of the judicial order. He carefully weighed a question before
deciding it, and reached his conclusions by feeling his way.
Governor Bigger was beaten for Governor in 1843 mainly by
the influence of the Methodist church. His opponent, James
Whitcomb, was a member of that denomination, and during the
canvass it was charged that in opposing some legislation which
resulted in the establishment of Asbury University, Governor
Bigger had said that the Methodist church did not need an ed
ucated clergy ; that an ignorant one was better suited to the
capacity of its membership. The vote of the church was cast
almost solid against him and caused his defeat. The author
well remembers hearing the late Bishop Ames say, in 1846:
" It was the amen corner of the Methodist church that defeated
Governor Bigger, and I had a hand in the work."
Governor Bigger was a Presbyterian, and for many years
was a ruling elder in the church. He was a capable musician,
being a good bass singer, and a skillful performer upon the vio
lin. For raany years he led the church choir, and took much
delight in the work. He was a man of fine form and presence.
He was six feet two inches high, and weighed two hundred and
forty pounds. His hair was black, his eyes a blue hazel, and
his complexion dark. The expression of his face was kind and
benignant, and denoted the goodness of his heart. His talent
was not of the highest order, but he accomplished more in Hfe
than others more brilliant than he. He was a patriotic citizen,
an incorruptible judge, and an executive officer of very respect
able ability.

JAMES WHITCOMB.

The student of Indiana history will look in vain for a more
eminent name than that of James Whitcomb. It is a name
which should excite love and veneration in the bosom of every
Indianian, for his State gave Whitcomb her highest honors,
and he bore them honestly and well.
James Whitcomb was born near Windsor, Vermont, Decem
ber I, 1795. When James was a little boy his father left the
barren fields of the Green Mountain State and came to the
Great West, then the El Dorado of the enterprising and am
bitious. The family settled near Cincinnati, Ohio, and at once
began the work of opening up and improving a farm. Hard
work^nd coarse fare vvere their lot, their new home being in
a barren pasture for the cultivation of the mind, but a rich one
for the growth of a steady independence and a true raanhood.
The future Governor and Senator was known in the neighbor
hood as a studious boy, one who read all the books he could
lay his hands upon. His father often complained of his son's
love of books rather than of manual labor, and more than once
told him he would never amount to anything in life ; for, be it
known, that old John Whitcomb, like raany another pioneer,
thought it more important that his son should be able to lay oft'
a straight corn row and to deftly handle the sickle and the
scythe than to read Homer and Virgil in the original. But the
son did not agree with the father, and continued to borrow
books and to read thera whfn his daily work was done. In
this way he acquired a great fund of information, and was
noted throughout the settiement as the most studious and intel
hgent boy in it. Indeed, so well established was his reputa-
6

82 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
tion for diHgence and knowledge, that a Mr. Johnson — a.
neighbor — once said to him, " Jimray, some day you will be a
United States Senator; you study while others play." This
incident Governor Whitcomb related to a friend a few moments
after he was elected to the United States Senate in 1849.
When the lad had fitted himself for college he entered
Transylvania University, and by teaching during vacation
managed to maintain himself at college until he graduated.
On leaving college he entered a law office and bent his best
energies to acquiring a knowledge of the profession in which he
afterward became eminent. In March, 1822, he was admitted
to the Fayette County, Kentucky, bar, and two years after this
he came to Indiana and settled at Blooraington, then one of
the raost promising towns in the State. He soon became
known as an able advocate and practitioner, and in 1826 was
appointed Prosecuting Attorney of his circuit by Jame% Brown
Ray, then Governor of the State. In discharging the duties of
this office he traveled over a large scope of country and became
acquainted with many leading men. In 1830 he was elected to
the State Senate, and was re-elected in 1833. In the Senate he
had for associates Calvin Fletcher, John Dumont, and other
raen of distinction, but it is saying only what is known to. those
who are familiar with the history^ of that day, that in ability and
influence he outranked them all. The internal improvement
fever was then at its highest point, and Whitcomb did more to
stay its progress than any other man in the State. On the roll-
call, there were but nine votes against it, Whitcomb being one
of the nine.
While in the Senate Mr. Whitcomb participated largely in
the debates of that body, and during raost of the time vvas chair
man of the Judiciary Committee. He was felt in the Committee-
room as well as in the Senate charaber.
In October, 1836, General Jackson appointed Mr. Whitcomb
Coramissioner of the General Land Office, and the next June he
was reappointed by President Van Buren, and served as com
missioner until the end of Mr. Van Buren's term. On taking
charge of the land office Mr. Whitcomb found himself embar
rassed by reason of his inability to read French and Spanish,
many of the land grants being printed in these tongues ; he

J.VMl-;s WHI'rcOMH. S3
therefore commenced at once to study these languages, and
soon qualified himself to read them vvith I'acility and ease.
Early in 1S41 Mr. Whitcomb left Washington and returned
to Indiana. He located at Terre Haute, opened an office and
commenced the practice of law. Business came to him quicklv ,
and he soon commanded a large and lucrative practice. He
vSas then one of the best known and most popular members of
his party, and at the Democratic State convention of 1843 he
was nominated for Governor of the State. ?Iis opponent vvas
Samuel Bigger, who, three years before, had beaten Tilghman
A. Howard, one of the ablest and purest men in the State, 8,637
votes. Mr. Whitcomb entered the canvass with confidence and
zeal, and vvas elected Governor by 2.013 majority. Three years
afterward, in 1846, he vvas re-elected, beating Joseph G. Mar
shall, the Whig candidate, 3,958 votes.
Governor Whitcomb occupied the executive chair during an
eventful period of the State's history. He entered the office
with the State loaded down with debt, upon which no interest
had been paid for years ; he left it with the debt adjusted and
the State's credit restored. " He smote the rock of national
resources, and abundant streams of revenue burst forth ; he
touched the dead corpse of public credit, and it sprang upon its
feet." It was at his suggestion and on his recommendation
that the Butler bill vvas passed, whereby one-half the State's
debt was paid by a transfer of the Wabash and Erie canal, and
the other half arranged for by the issuance of bonds drawing a
low rate of interest. The settlement was alike satisfactory to the
bondholders and the people, and in Governor Whitcomb's own
words, restored ••the tarnished escutcheon of Indiana to its
original brightness." Had he done nothing else, he would de
serve the gratitude of all, but this was only one of the many
things he did for the good of the people and the honor of the
State. It vvas by his efforts that a public sentiment was created
which demanded the establishment of our benevolent and re
formatory institutions, and he it was who awakened the people
of Indiana to the importance of establishing common schools
and providing a fund for their maintenance. It was while he
was Governor that the Mexican war broke out, ^nd Indiana
was called upon for soldiers to assist in " conquering a peace."

84 BIOGRAPHIC.VL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Five regiments of infantry were organized and mustered into
the service under his direction, and the ease and rapidity with
which it was done proved him as able in organization as in
finance. The Legislature of 1849 elected Governor Whitcomb to the
Senate of the United States for the term commencing in March*
of that year. He was quaHfied by talent, by education, and by
experience for the place, and he would have added luster to a
name already great by his service there, had his health been
good and he permitted to serve out his term. But disease had
fastened itself upon hira, and therefore he was unable to dis
charge his senatorial duties as he otherwise would have done.
He often left the capital in quest of health, but he found it not.
His disease (gravel) was painful in the extreme, but he bore it
with Christian fortitude. He died at New York, October 4,
1852, away from the State whose representative he was. His
remains were brought to Indianapolis and buried in Greenlawn
Cemetery, where they have mouldered to dust. The State
erected a monument to his memory, and it still stands to point
out the spot where lies all that is mortal of one whose influence
upon public sentiment is felt even at the present day.
Governor Whitcomb's poverty in early life forced upon him
habits of economy which never left him. Bv- manv- his economy
was considered parsimony, and indeed, if it vvere not such, it
it was near akin to it. It cost hira a seat in the Senate of the
United States at a tirae when he very much desired the honor.
In 1843 he wrote a remarkable pamphlet, entitled "Facts for
the People," the most eft'ective treatise against a protective
tariff ever written. In those days corruption funds to carry
elections were unknown, and after the Democratic State con
vention of 1843 had nominated hira for Governor, and Jesse
D. Bright for Lieutenant-Governor, a proposition vvas made in
the convention to raise a fund to publish Whitcomb's pamphlet
for gratuitous circulation. Whitcomb headed the paper with a
donation of twenty dollars, and after him came Bright with a
two hundred dollar subscription. In 1845, when a United States
Senator was to be chosen, Mr. Bright was selected instead of
the Governor ; his two hundred dollars contribution brought its
reward. The remarkable pamphlet to which reference has

J.VMKS WHITCOMIi. 8^
been made is out of print, and can only be found in the libraries
of those antiquarians who delight in preserving the treasures of
the past. It was vvith great ditflculty that the author vvas able
to procure a copy, and he has transcribed a page or so for the
edification of the reader. This was done to show Governor
Whitcomb's style and the simple manner in which he gave his
thoughts to the public. It is extr.i'.ted from a chapter entitied
*"A Familiar Example : "
¦¦Suppose one of our incorporated towns in Indiana should
pass a law. or ordinance, that all articles brought w ithin the town
limits to market from the country should pay a tax. Among
others, suppose the tax of fifty cents on every bushel of potatoes.
Suppose a bushel of potattoes could be raised for fifty cents.
The farmer taking them to market, ' to make himself whole,'
would be obliged, then, to charge one dollar a bushel ; that is,
fifty cents for the trouble of ' raising and hauling ' them to town
and fifty cents for the tax which he would be obliged to pay for
the privilege of selling them.
" Novv, one raising potatoes in town, in his garden, or on his
outlot, vvith the same tt'ouble or expense of fifty cents a bushel,
could get his dollar a bushel in market also, although he would
have to pay no tax, because he would ask and could get the
Highest price in market, for the tax on the farmer's potatoes
would keep them up to a dollar, and the town people must pav-
that or do without ; and it is manifest that the tax, although
paid bv- the farmer in the first instance, would, after all, be paid
by the people in towm, who were the buyers, the farmer being
obliged to charge just so much more. So a high ta.x, to be sure,
would cause fewer potatoes to be eaten, and, of course,, fewer
would be sold by the farmer. The farmer, also, could not buy
as many articles in town as he would have done had he sold
more potatoes. He couldn't be as good a customer to the me
chanics in town, nor get as rauch sugar, tea, coft'ee, salt, iron,
etc.. as he would have done if he had sold or exchanged raore
of his potatoes. He can't, for instance, get leather from the
tan-yard in town, because the people in town can't aft'ord to give
the money for his produce. He is not well prepared for tanning
leather on his farm, and besides he has too many other matters

86 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
to attend to ; but leather he must have, and the time it takes to
tan an inferior article would have enabled him to raise potatoes
enough to buy twice as much from the tanner, if the tax was
not in the way.
" So far, such a tax would diminish trade and be injurious to
both parties.
" Now, the operation of such a law between town and coun
try is precisely that of a tarift' between this and a foreign
country. ' ' The most difficult national question can be understood by
any raan who is able to attend to his own business without the
aid of a guardian, if exhibited to him by a familiar example,
and if he will think for hiraself. There are too many who are
interested in veiling such questions beneath the mist of decep
tive words cind pompous declamation.
" But to return. Another and more important effect would
be produced by this town tariff. The advanced price on pota
toes,' occasioned by the tax, would not all be paid into the town
treasury. That part paid on the potatoes sold by the farmer
would go into the treasury, but the extra fifty cents a bushel
paid for those raised in town would go into the gardener's
pocket. The gardener would be benefited by that part of the
operation, and not the town government, tor carrying on which
the tax was imposed.
"Again, if the tax on potatoes should be so high that the
farmers would take theirs to other towns where the taxes were
not so high, then none would be brought from the country to
the first town, and no tax would be derived from that source.
That would be a prohibitory tariff; and the first town would be
compelled to resort to direct taxation to pay the town expenses.
The farmers, too, being compelled to trade vvith other towns.
the mechanics, merchants, etc., in the first tow-n would lose the
benefit of their custom.
" But the potatoes that raight yet be raised in our own town
would still bring a dollar a bushel, although it would cost the
gardener but fifty cents a bushel to raise them. The remaining
fifty cents would then be a tax oji the rest of the community for
the exclusive benefit of the gardener, not a cent of it going into
the treasury, for the common benefit of the citizens.

J.VMKS vvnnvoMu. 87
"All this would be bad enough. But the argument of the
town council would be, that they wanted to protect the garden
ers until thev- could raise and sell potatoes as cheap as the farm
ers, and make the town independent of the country. Well, sup
pose the ten or a dozen gardeners should have bought up nearly
all the outiots for that purpose, and having no other cultivation
to attend to, should, by the aid of machinery, wealth, etc., ac-
tuafly raise potatoes so cheap that after the people of the town
had bought all the potatoes they wanted of them, at a high
price, there would still be an overplus, which the gardeners
could aft'ord to be at the expense of sending to the other towns
and undersell the farmers. Would the gardeners need a tax on
their neighbors for their own protection anv longer?
¦' But perhaps it might still be urged that if the profits of the
gardeners were so high, it would encourage others to turn gar
deners also, and so cheapen the article. But, to make the com
parison just as to our large manufactories, suppose it required
great wealth to procure machinery, etc., to engage in the busi
ness ; that it could generally be done only by rich companies ;
they- could then undersell any new beginner, and break him up,
and then indemnify themselves by- again raising their prices.
Besides, it is seen that they already raised more potatoes than
were used in the town. And would the gardeners ask for an
increased tax if they believed it would cheapen the article and
diminish their profits?
¦•Another argument is that, by encouraging others in town to
turn gardeners, there would be fewer mechanics, etc., left to
attend to their old business and more gardeners to buy their
work. But there are but few gardeners needed, as their work
is carried on by machinery, etc., and it is not machinery, but
human beings, that need shoes, leather, salt, sugar, coffee, etc.
A gardener can use only a small part of these articles which
are for sale in town, and, by their high tax, they have driven
off the farmers who would have used them in exchange for
their productions. Is it strange that under such circumstances
the gardeners should become rich, and the rest of the town
complain of ' hard times?'
•' Not satisfied vvith all this, however, suppose the gardeners,
made wealthy by this very tax, should beg the town council to

88 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
lay a still higher tax on potatoes. Would there be any reason
or justice in it? It might be natural enough for the gardeners
to ask, but would you suppose that a town council, fairly elected
by ah the citizens, would pass such a law? Would you suppose
that, to gratify one-tenth part of the people in the town, they
would be willing to increase the already heavy burdens of tax
ation on the other nine-tenths? "
After this sketch was prepared and published, in February,
1882, by request, the Indianafolis Sentinel reproduced the
pamphlet named, and it was widely distributed during the po
htical carapaign of 1882. In respect to the document and its
author, the Sentinel, of August 26, spoke editorially as follows :
"The Sentinel has no hesitancy in recommending the widest
possible circulation of this remarkable production by one of the
most remarkable men that was ever connected with public af
fairs in Indiana. Governor Whitcomb was an intellectual giant.
He was a man of lofty integrity. He was sans fcur et sans re-
froche. He was a man of the people. His colossal mind
grasped every problem of statecraft and mastered it. No ques
tion was too occult for his analytical powers. In the crucible of
his reasoning faculties the pure gold of fact was brought forth
from the dross of fiction. Sophisms were exposed, duplicity
was throttled, subterfuges were swept away and plain people
were permitted to coraprehend the most intricate questions re
lating to their welfare, and the pamphlet in question is a monu
ment to his clear-sightedness."
Besides being an inveterate user of snuft'. Governor Whit
comb was addicted to smoking. But his habits of economy
were such that when his cigar was so far consumed that he
could no longer manipulate it vvith his fingers, he would insert
a pin in the stump to hold by, and thus get all the good (or
bad) there was in it. One day he was in the office of Horatio
J. Harris, then Auditor of State, when Mr. Harris used a match
to light a cigar. A fire vvas in the grate at the time, and the
Governor thus reproved the Auditor for his reckless extrava
gance : "Why didn't you Hght your cigar by the fire?" said
the Governor. "A raan has no right to wantonly destroy a

J.VMl':s VVIHTCDMI!. Sq
thing of value. A match has its value, and the one you used
could have been saved. "
Gov-ernor Whitcomb vvas as economical of time as of money.
He wasted neither. It was his custom to read as he walked, '
and those who used to see him going from his boarding house
to his office will remember that he vvas nearly always reading
a book. While he had a remarkable meraorv- in raost things it was
very defective in relation to names. He vvas often unable to
recall the names of his friends, an imperfection wdiich caused
him much annoyance and inconvenience.
Governor Whitcomb vvas a very able lawver. Governor
Porter rates him as the first in the State of his day, but the esti
mate I think is too high. But if he did not stand at the head
ot his profession, his place was very near him who did. In
arguing his case before a jury it vvas his custom to first present
the side of his opponent, and then demoHsh it. Like the player
in the bowling alley, who puts up the pins to knock them down,
he set up his adversary's arguments that he raight scatter thera
with his own.
During the Legislature of 1845 Governor Whitcomb became
involved in a quarrel with the Senate over the appointment of
Supreme Judges. The terms of Judges Dewey and Sullivan
having expired, he refused to reappoint them. He sent the
names of Charles H. Test and Andrew Davidson to the Senate
as successors to Dewey and Sullivan, but the Senate refused to
confirm them. He then nominated E. M. Chamberlain and
.Samuel E. Perkins, but they were also rejected. He then
designated William W. Wick and James Morrison for the
places, but the Senate refused its consent. After the Senate
adjourned he appointed Samuel E. Perkins and Thomas L.
.Smith, who served until their successors were chosen. The
opposition to Governor Whitcomb in these appointments was
led by Joseph W. Chapman, then a Democratic Senator from
Laporte, and afterward a distinguished judge of the Madison
circuit. The reason the Governor gave for his refusal to reap
point the old judges was the fact that the court docket was be
hind, and he believed it needed younger men to bring it up.
Governor Whitcomb was a raember of the Methodist church.

po BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
and an active worker in its cause. He frequently led in public
prayer, and for some time was a class-leader in the church.
In his pubHc utterances he often referred to the Deity, and al
ways in a reverential manner. In December, 1844, ^^- ^- ?•
Dole, a Senator from Vermilion county, offered a resolution in
the Senate "to refer so much of the Governor's message as
referred to the goodness of God to the priesthood." This irrev
erent proposition raet with no favor, even from the Governor's
political opponents.
When he died. Governor Whitcomb vvas Vice-President of
the American Bible Society, an organization he loved, and to
which he contributed with his means. He willed his library to
Asbury University, an institution he favored in many ways.
The library was large, containing many rare books, but the
collection was ill-assorted and disjointed. It showed that he
gathered his books without a system, picking them up here and
there as he came across thera.
Governor Whitcomb was one of the best amateur musicians
in the country. He composed manv- pieces of music for the
vioHn, an instrument upon which he played with rare skiU and
abihty. Many stories are told of him and his ••fiddle," but
one must suffice for this biography.
Oliver H. Smith, in his book entitied " Early Indiana Trials
and Sketches," tells of a trip he took vvith Governor Whitcomb
from Indianapolis to Eastern Indiana. They stopped for the
night at a house standing on the present site of Knightstovvn.
Mr. Sraith says :
"Entering the cabin, there sat before the fire a lame v-oung
man by the name of Amos Dille, vvith an old vioHn in his hand,
scraping away, raaking anything but music. He laid the violin
on the bed and started with our horses to the stable. As he
closed the door, Mr. Whitcomb took it up, soon put it in tune.
and when Amos returned vvas playing light and beautiful airs.
Amos took his seat by me seemingly entranced, and as Mr.
Whitcomb struck up 'Hail, Columbia' he sprang to his feet.
' Ifl had fifty dollars I would give it all for that fiddle : I never
heard such music before in mv' life.' After playing several
tunes Mr. Whitcomb laid the instrument on the bed. Amos

j.vvn':s vvHiTcoMi!.

seized it, carried it to the fire where he could see it, turned it over
and over, examined every part, and sang out, ' Mister, I never
saw two fiddles so much alike as yours and mine." "

1 n

Governor Whitcomb vvas alwavs well dressed, vvas alwavs
clean. It vvas his custom when traveling over the circuit to
take a night-shirt, which he would put on before retiring. This
custom was so dift'erent from that of the ordinal-)- itinerant law
yer that his brother attornev-s resolved to play a prank upon
him. While at a tavern in the eastern part of the State, kept
by one Captain Berrv', the resolve was carried out. I again
quote from JNIr. Smith :
''Taking the Captain to one side, Fletcher said: 'Do you
know. Captain Berry, what Mr. Whitcomb is saying about your
beds? ' ' I do not ; what did he say ? ' ' If you will not men
tion my name, as you are my particular friend, I will tell you.'
• Upon my honor, I will never mention your name ; what did
he say ? ' ' He said your sheets were so dirty that he had to
pull oft' his shirt every night and put on a dirtv- shirt to sleep
in.' ' I'll watch him to-night.' Bed-time came, and Captain
Berry vvas looking through the opening of the door when Mr.
Whitcomb took his night-shirt out of his portmanteau and began
to take off his day-shirt. Captain Berry pushed open the door,
sprang upon Whitcomb and threw him upon the bed. The
noise brought in Mr. Fletcher and the other lawyers, and after
explanations and apologies on all sides the raatter was settled."
In his remarkable address entitled " The Advocate," deliv
ered before the Central Law School, in April, 1882, Governor
Thomas A. Hendricks pays the following eloquent tribute to
the subject of this sketch :
" Governor Whitcomb was a great scholar. He was capable
not only of acquiring but of using the accuraulations of learn
ing. With him learning becarae an inftuence, an instruraen-
tality, a power. His tastes were cultivated. He coramanded
beautiful and strong language, and in it he clothed his thoughts,
that were always appropriate to the subject and the occasion. I
heard him address the people in his first candidacy for Gov-

92 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
ernor. It was the greatest political speech I have ever heard.
There was not in it a vulgarism or an appeal to low sentiment.
He addressed reason, emotion, sympathy. The multitude stood
enraptured. As men went from the place of the meeting they
fell into grave and serious conversation about what they had
heard, and the impression remained. From that day he was a
leader, but not as men commonly speak of leadership ; he ma
neuvered for no combinations ; he was a leader in a higher
sense. He declared what he beHeved to be the truth, and
trusted to its inftuence upon men's minds to bring them into
coramon action. He led legislators because it was safest for
thera to follow. His manner was grave and serious, his \-oice
was full and musical, and his deli verv- almost without gesture.
I never heard him in court, but am sure he was a formidable
antagonist before either court or jury."
Governor Whitcomb was an active Freemason. He was the
first raan knighted in Indiana, the honor being conferred upon
him May 20, 1848. Raper Commandery- was organized in his
house, and for some tirae held its meetings there. He was
proud of his connection with Masonry ; in his affections Masonry
stood only second to his church.
Governor Whitcomb was raarried March 24, 1846, to Mrs.
Martha Ann Hurst. His wife died July 17. 1847, shortiy after
giving birth to a daugher, now the wife of Claude Matthews,
Esq. . He recorded her death in the family Bible, and followed
the record with these words : " How brief our happy sojourn
together." If not universally loved, Governor Whitcomb was universaHy
respected. He was kind to the young and aspiring. Professor
Collett, the distinguished geologist, says he feels he is indebted
to Governor Whitcomb's advice for whatever success in life he
has attained. On being asked what the advice vvas he replied :
"Follow one line of thought and research vvith your w-hole
mind and soul ; take no active part in poHtics until maturity has
brought you settled thought. The life of a politician is not al
ways reputable ; it has so many elements of deceit and dishon
esty that it is hard to follow it and keep clean one's hands and
.soul."

j.\Mi-:s vviH'rcoMH. 93
Governor \\'hitcomb vv as compactlv' and strongly built ; he
vvas somewhat above the average size of man ; he had a dark
complexion and black hair, which usuallv- fell in ringlets to his
shoulders. His features vvere good and expressive, and his
manners the most elegant. His appearance was that of a
courtier, and in any circle of society he would have been con
sidered a pattern of propriety. He vvas not a fop, but, like
many other eminent men, he had a weakness in that direction.
Foibles he had, but they were insignificant in comparison with
his many virtues. He vvas a talented and an honest man, and
when the roll of Indiana's great is raade up, among the first in
the list will be the name of Whitcomb.

JOSEPH A. WRIGHT.

There are many examples of self-made raen, but there are
few more striking and worthy of study- than that of Joseph A.
Wright. Some raen have reached a higher eminence than he,
but they are few. Where one attained his altitude, thousands
fell by the way. His career shows the' possibihties of life, and
ought to stimulate young men to new exertions when they are
faint and ready to fall.
Joseph A. Wright, for seven years Governor of Indiana, was
born at Washington, Pa., April 17, 1810. When a boy he em
igrated to Indiana with his parents and settled at Bloomington.
They were poor and unable to give their son the education he
desired, but this did not prevent him from securing it. " Where
there is a will there is a way," says the proverb, and so said
the boy. He entered the State University as a student, and
paid his way by ringing the college bell and doing the janitor's
work. To get money to buy his books and clothing he bore
oft'brick frora the brick -yard, and gathered nuts from the woods.
Being also trained in the use of the trowel, and doubtless glad
of a chance to use it, he proved to be a convenience in doing
small jobs around the premises. Proof of this appears on the
records of the Indiana college to-day, as the following passages
which the author has taken pains to copy show :
EXTRACTS FROM 'rHE RECORDS.
"Friday, May 6, 1828.
"Ordered, That Joseph A. Wright be allow^ed for ringing the
college bell, making fires, etc., in the college building durino'
the last session of the College Seminary, the sum of . 1^16.25 ; also.

3TE.5T EHESIDENT OP THE INDMNA STAEE BQAHD OF JiGBICHLTDHE
¦j 3 . Mn-'lSTZn PIKiRPOT.'iSr'IIfiHS- JiT BEBUiir,

JOSEPH .v. WRIGHT. 95
for a lock, befl-rope and brooms, the sum of .$ 1.37^, and that the
treasurer of the State Seminary pay the same."
•'Bloomington, Friday, October 31, 1828.
"Ordered by the Board of Trustees, That Joseph A. Wright
be and he is hereby^ allov^'ed the sura of one dollar for repairing
the top of one of the college chimneys, and that the treasurer
pay the same." "November 18, 1828.
•'Joseph A. Wright is allowed for repairing arches in the
small seminary building and kitchen the sum of $1.25."
By such expedients and humble yet persistent exertions he
defrayed his expenses for a couple of years, and then he left
college and entered the law office of Judge Hester as a student.
In 1829, when less than twenty years old, he stood his examina
tion, and obtained his license to practice law. Soon after this
he removed to Rockville, and hung out his shingle as a lawyer.
In 1833 he was elected a member of the State Legislature.
A rather amusing incident, given by Robert Dale Owen in
Scribners Monthly, should not be omitted. It happened while
he and Mr. Wright were members of the House of Representa
tives. ^Mr. Ow-en writes!
" The most flowery speech on our side was made by a prom
ising young man, then fresh from college and classical recollec
tions, Joseph Wright. A poor boy, he had entered the State
University as janitor, and afterwards becarae, first. Governor of
the State, and then foreign minister. I remember that he was
descanting, in a somewhat sophomoric strain, on the duty of
Indiana toward the children of the State — her best treasures —
when his eye was arrested by a chubby little fellow of seven or
eight, son of one of our members, who had been sitting on his
father's knee and had strayed off, coming down the center aisle
toward the orator.
" ' Ah, there ! ' said Wright, extending his arras to the boy,
who stopped, abashed at the sudden address. ' Look there ! I
am reminded, when I gaze upon that little one, of a pleasant
story from the annals of Rome, in her old republican days. It

o6 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
is related of the raother of the Gracchi, when several of her
lady friends vvere exhibiting to her, soraewhat vauntingh-. no
doubt, their costly ornaments, while she, simple in her tastes,
had little to show them in return, that she turned to her children,
playing in the room, and exclaimed, 'These are my jewels!'
Let us learn wisdom, gentlemen, frora the mother of the Grac
chi.' " ' The raother of the what? ' e.xclairaed, in an under-tone, a
rough young country meraber, named Storm, and whom, be
cause he seldom opened his lips except to raove the previous
question, we had nicknaraed 'Previous Question Storm.' His
exclamation was addressed to the member next to whom he vvas
sitting, Thoraas Dowling, of Terre Haute. Now, of all things,
Dowling loved, from his heart, a good joke ; and this was too
good a one to be lost. So, composing his features, he replied
gravely to Storm : ' Why, don't you know her? It is a noted
old woman in Parke county, where Wright comes from. Ev
erybody knows her there. You get up and ask Wright, and no
doubt he'll tell you all about her.' "
In 1840, the year of the Harrison political tornado, Mr. Wright
was elected to the State Senate. In 1843 he was elected to Con
gress, and two years afterward vvas beaten for that office by Ed
ward W. McGaughey 171 votes. In 1849 he was nominated for
Governor, and defeated John A. Matson 9,778 v-otes. In 1852 he
again ran for Governor, and defeated Nicholas McCart)-
20,031 votes. In 1857 he was appointed United States Minister
to Prussia, and served four years as such. In 1862 he vvas ap
pointed by Governor Morton United States Senator, and satin
the Senate until the next January. In 1863 President Lincoln
appointed him a commissioner to the Hamburg Exposition. In
1865 he again went to Prussia as United States Minister, and
remained there until he died. His death occurred at Berlin,
March 11, 1867, and his remains vvere brought to New York,
and there buried. This is an epitome of the life and death of
Joseph A. Wright.
Governor Wright will be best remembered as Governor of
Indiana. Mis service in Congress, one term in the House and
one )'ear in the Senate, was too brief for him to make much

HtSKI'H .V. VVRKJH'r.

97

impression there. .\s Governor, he vvas an important factor in
shaping legislation and moulding public opinion in his State.
It was while he vvas Governor that the constitution under which
we live was made. It vvas while he vvas Governor that the State
Agricultural Society vvas formed, and it vvas while he vvas Gov
ernor that the Free banking law w as passed, ahd the charter for
the Bank of the State of Indiana granted. In 1852, on the or
ganization of the State Board of Agriculture, he was chosen its
President. He vvas re-elected in 1853 and in 1854. He took
great pride in the work of this society. He used to quote the
saying of Horace Greeley, that " the man who makes two blades
of grass grow where but one had grown before, is a public ben
efactor." Agriculture vvas a ''hobb)" vvith him. From the
fact that he 'had never been a farmer his political opponents
made sport of his farming pretensions. They used to tell a
story on him, which is too good to be omitted here. It was said
that in one of his speeches before an agricultural society, he
advised farmers to buy hydraulic rams to improve their sheep !
The story, although apochryphal, had great credence at the
time. Another, which vvas true, will bear repeating: Sorae
one brought him a bunch of hog bristles, taken frora the paunch
of a cow. He exhibited this as a great curiosity, <ind was wont
to descant upon it for the edification of his farraer friends. At
last it was discovered that the cow from which the bristles vvere
taken was in the habit of browsing near a pork-house where
hog's hair vvas spread to dry. While eating grass she had
swaflowed the bristles, and, as they were indigestible, they re
mained in her stomach until she died. This discovery spoiled
the Governor's lecture on the cow.
Governor Wright was an anti-bank man, and opposed with
the whole weight of his influence the free bank law and the bill
chartering the Bank of the State of Indiana. He vetoed both
these measures, but the Legislature passed them, notwithstand
ing his opposition. The bill to charter the Bank of the State
passed the Senate at the session of 1855, in its closing hours,
and when the Senate had adjourned the Governor ascended
the President's chair and made a bitter speech against the bfll,
asserting that it was passed by corruption and fraud. This

98 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
speech caused much bad feeling between the Governor and the
members of the Legislature, and also the Lieutenant-Governor,
who had been an advocate of the bill. The Legislature having
passed the bank bills over the Governor's veto, he sought to
bring the laws into disrepute, and thereby impede the organiza
tion of banks under them. He commenced a suit in the Marion
Circuit Court against John D. Defrees and others for the pur
pose of having the charter of the Bank of the State declared
null and void. The case was decided against him, but he ap
pealed to the Supreme Court, and that tribunal affirmed the
judgment of the court below. Having exhausted all legal
measures, he was compelled to retire from the contest, which
he very reluctantly did. But he renewed the fight in the Leg
islature of 1857. In his message to this Legislature he said:
"The means and appliances brought to bear to secure the
passage of this charter would, if exposed to the public gaze,
exhibit the nakedest page of fraud and corruption that ever dis
graced the Legislature of any State. While raen of pure and
honorable sentiment were led into its support in the belief that
the approaching close of the existing bank required them thus
early to provide a successor, others' supported it upon promise
of stock, equivalents in raoney, or pledges as to the location of
certain branches. To raake up the constitutional vote in its
favor the names of merabers were recorded on its passage who
were at the moment absent, and many miles distant from the
capital." Upon the delivery of this message the Senate raised an in
vestigating coramittee of five, at the head of which vvas Horace
Heffren, the Senator from Washington. The examination of
the coihmittee was thorough and exhaustive, and, although some
suspicious transactions were discovered, nothing vvas developed
to justify the sweeping charges of the Governor. A majorit}'
of the committee reported that manv- dishonorable things had
been done by the speculators who engineered the bill through
the Legislature, and recommended that the charter be revoked.
Mr. Heft'ren, the chairman, dissented from the opinion of a
majority of the committee, taking the ground that one Legis-
ture had no right to review and pass judgment upon the .acts

JOSEPH v, vvKmn'r.

99

of another. The investigation and reports of the committee
practically amounted to nothing, for the bank vvas organized,
and made for itself one of the most ht)norab]e records known
in the history of bankins.
Governor Wright vvas more fortunate in his contest with the
free banks than vvith the Bank of the State. He sent a mes
senger to a small town near the Illinois line with some !|! 2,000
of the bills of a bank located there for the purpose of testing
its bottom. The messenger demanded payment of the bifls,
and the bank being unable to redeem them, suft'ered the dis
honor of protest. The result justified the Governor's often ex
pressed opinion, /. c, that some of the free banks were merely
banks of circulation. His action in testing the solvency of a
single bank brought on a crisis vvith the system. Those which
could not stand the test of solvency — the redemption of their
bills — were forced to suspend and wind up their aft'airs. For
some time the value of Indiana free bank bills vvas an uncer
tain quantity. The banks of Indianapolis fixed a price upon
these bills, and this price was as fluctuating as the mercury in
March. It often varied as much as ten per cent, a day ; some
times down, and then up. This state of aft'airs continued until
all the illegitimate banks were closed, leaving only those stand
ing which had been organized with capital, and vvere under the
control of reputable men.
Until the sumraer of 1861 Governor Wright acted and voted
with the Democratic party. He favored the compromise meas
ures of 1850, being their zealous advocate. During their pend
ency in Congress he invited John J. Crittenden, then Governor
of Kentucky, to visit Indiana. This eminent Kentuckian was
warmly received wherever he appeared, and when he returned
to his home he took with him the best wishes of the people of -
Indiana. It was believed at the time that this visit did rauch to
allay sectional animosity and assuage the bad feeling existing
between the North and the South. About one year and a half
after Governor Crittenden's trip to Indiana Governor Wright
was invited to visit Kentucky. He accepted the invitation, and
at Frankfort was received with great honors. The welcoming
address was made by Lazarus W. Powell, then Governor of the

lOO BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
State, one of the most eloquent men of that time. In his reply,
Governor Wright said :
"Governor Powell, you refer to the invitation extended to
Governor Crittenden to visit our State in 1850, and have al
luded to me in connection therewith. That invitation, sir, came
from the people of Indiana, and it was due to the exalted worth,
talents and services of your then distinguished Executive. It
was peculiarly appropriate, in the dark hour of our country's
history, when the tempest of disunion frowned in the political
horizon, that the people of two States like Kentucky and In
diana, differing in their institutions, should meet together,
smoke t'ne pipe of peace, and pledge theraselves to the support
of the constitution. It was erainently proper, in this dark and
trying hour, that the heart of this nation should speak, and
when Kentucky and Indiana spake, the heart did speak.
" On crossing the beautiful Ohio, vesterday, I was reminded
of the custom of some of the aboriginal inhabitants of this coun
try, in performing the marriage cereraony of the tribe. The
bride stood upon one side of the streara and the groom upon the
other, their hands plaited together, and the clear, living waters
of the rivulet, emblematical of their virtue and purity, and tend
ing to a common union, the great ocean of love. Kentucky
and Indiana have clasped hands upon the Thames and the Tip
pecanoe, and at Buena Vista, and for forty years, in peace and
in war, they have been shaking hands: and to-dav (shaking
the hand of Governor Powell) they renew the covenant afresh,
that Kentucky and Indiana will live by the bond of their union,
the ark, the covenant, the piflar, the cloud, the constitution '.
They theoretically and practicallv- carry out the doctrine of non
intervention, each State attending to its own municipal aff'airs."
During Governor Wright's official term the ^^"ashington
Monumental Association requested the several States to con
tribute blocks for the Washington monument. At that time
there were but few stone quarries open in Indiana, the principal
ones being those at Vernon, in Jennings county, and at Saluda
Landing, in Jeft'erson county. Governor Wright had a block
from the Saluda quarry properi)- dressed and prepared at Mad
ison, and sent to Washington. It bore this inscription, dictated

JOSKPU v. WRIGHT. lOI
by the Governor: "Indiana knows no East, no West, no
North, no South; nothing but the Union." The stone vvas
placed in the Washington monument; a work which vvas com
menced over thirtv- years ago, and is still unfinished.
In the report of Postma.ster General Barry, made in 1830,
under the caption of " Contracts made for carrying the mails,"
the following maybe found: "The Postmaster General re
ports route No. 10, from Brownstown to Terre Haute, Ind., once
a week, 134 miles, awardedto Alfred J. Athon, at i|!398. Joseph
A. Wright bid ^334 per annum. Wright was not sufficiently
known nor recommended : therefore his bid was rejected."
Mr. Wright vvas then a young lavvyer of Bloomington, and be
ing badly in need of money sought to make a few dollars by
getting a mail contract. As will be seen, he was not sufficiently
known for his bid to be regarded. What a commentary on the
possibilities of life is this I The man who was then too insig
nificant to be considered, afterward sat in both branches of the
Legislature of his State, and for nine vears vvas its Governor.
Not only this, but he served in both houses of Congress, and
twice represented his country at a foreign court. I have told
the reader who the unsuccessful bidder vvas ; can he tell me
who was the successful one, and what became of him? I im
agine not.
Governor Wright was a Democrat of the straightest sect. He
stood high in the councils of his party, and contested with Jesse
D. Bright for the leadership, but without success. He was strong
with the people, but weak with the leaders. Mr. Bright always
kept the upper hand of him, and when he aspired to the United
States Senate, in common parlance, Mr. Bright sat down upon
him. The rivalries of these party leaders begat bad blood, and
Mr. Bright was outspoken in his denunciations of the Governor.
In a letter, now in possession of the author, he thus speaks of him :
" While the Governor is active in getting up his certificates to
prove a He the truth, I am wagging on in the even tenor of my
way, a firm believer in the correctness of that old, time-honored
maxim, 'Truth is mighty and will prevail.' He has begged a
truce out of Governor Whitcomb, I understand. The latter
shows he is a man of peace : though very timid, he will make

I02 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
good all he has uttered or written as to that prince of Hars and
hypocrites." Governor Wright was in Europe when the rebellion began,
but he warmly espoused the cause of the government, ai)d did
much to create a correct sentiment at the court to which he vvas
accredited. He returned home in the fafl of 1861, reaching
Indianapolis on the 7th of Septeraber of that year. He was
warmly received by his old neighbors and friends. General Du
mont making the welcoraing speech. The next February Mr.
Bright, his old rival and enemy, was expelled from the United
States Senate, and Governor Wright was appointed to the place.
Will Cumback wanted the appointment, but Governor Morton
said there was poetic justice in Governor Wright's taking
the place of Mr. Bright, and he gave it to him. The appoint
ment only lasted until the meeting of the next Legislature, and
the Democracy, having a majority in that Legislature, elected
Hon. David Turpie to fill out Mr. Bright's unexpired term.
Thus it will be seen that as a Democrat, Governor Wright
never reached the Senate. It was only after he had cut loose
from his party and affiliated with those he had ever fought that
he reached the coveted honor.
In 1863 Governor Wright was appointed by President Lin
coln Comraissioner to the Haraburg Exposition, and remained
some time abroad. Two years alter this President Johnson ap
pointed him Minister to Prussia. This was the second time he
represented his government at Berlin. He made many friends
at the Prussian capital, among them Baron von Humboldt, with
whom he maintained a very close intimacy. As previously
stated in this sketch, he died in Berlin while United States Min
ister there.
Governor Wright was an able canvasser. He had the faculty
of getting at the people and getting hold of them. In his
speeches he used to say- the people vvere more interested in se
lecting good County Commissioners than good Congressmen.
He was a member of the Methodist church, and many believed
he used his church connection to advance his political fortunes.
In the canvass of 1852 he went to Madison and remained there
over Sabbath. On Sunday morning he attended Third Street

JOSEPH A. VVRKHl-r. IO3
Methodist Church, and at'terward dined with WilHam Griffin, a
leading Roman Catholic. In the afternoon he attended the
Weslev- Chapel Sunday-school, and delivered a lecture to the
scholars ; and in the evening he attended the services of Wes
ley Chapel. Thus it will be seen that he put in his whole time
on Sunday, and when the votes vvere counted that fall it was
found that he had carried Jeft'erson county. Whig though it was.
His most eft'ective electioneering was done in the circles of his
church. Governor Wright was tall and raw-boned. He had a large
head, and an unusually high forehead. His hair was light and
thin upon his head, his eves blue, and his nose and mouth large
and prominent. He was an eft'ective speaker, mainly on ac
count of his earnestness and simplicity. He vvas not an elo
quent man, and did not compare vvith Willard as a stumper, but
the people liked to hear him talk, and listened attentively to
what he said. While not the greatest man in the State, he was
one of the most influential ; and, to his honor be it said, his in
fluence was exercised for the public good. Economy and hon
esty in public life, and morality and religion in private station,
had in him an advocate and an exemplar.

ASHBEL PARSONS WILLARD.

Robert Pollock, author of "The Course of Time," died
before he was 28 ; Lord Byron, of whom it had been said,
"He laid his hand upon the ocean's mane,
And played familiar with his hoary locks,"
died at 36 ; WilHam Pitt was Prirae Minister of England at 25,
and Ashbel P. WiHard was Governor of Indiana at 36. What
a lesson for young men !
Ashbel Parsons WiHard was born October 31 , 1820, in Oneida
county, New York. He was educated at Hamilton College,
and studied law with Judge Baker in his native county. He
emigrated to Marshall, Michigan, in 1842, and lived there for
a year or so. He then made a trip to Texas on horseback, and
on his return stopped at Carrolton, Kentucky, and there taught
school for a while. After this he went to Jefferson county,
Kentucky, and took a school near Louisvdlle. His spare hours'
were employed in reading, and the knowledge he gained at
this time was of great benefit to him in after life.
The contest for the presidenc)' in 1844 between Clay and
Polk was an exciting one, and in no part of the country did
party spirit run higher than in Kentucky, the home of Clay.
Young Willard was a Democrat by- birth and by education,
and was firmly grounded in the faith. He had a natural love
for politics, and he soon left the school-room for a more excit
ing theater. He commenced stumping for Polk, and during
the campaign spoke at New Albany, just across the river from
Louisville. He made such a favorable irapression that many of
the first raen of the town soHcited him to come and settle among

.VSHBEL P.VRSONS WILL.VRD. IO5
them, ^\'hat they said impressed him, and next spring he
left Kentucky and took up his abode at New Albany. He lived
there until he died, except when at the State capital attending
to his official duties.
He opened a law office at New Albany, but cHents were tardv-
in coming, and to get monev- to pay his necessary expenses he
supplemented his professional income by a small salary received
for writing in the office of the county clerk. The first office
Mr, Willard held was that of common councilman. He took
pride in the place, and won the good opinion of the people
without respect to party. The next year. 1850, he was elected
to the State Legislature, and from that time until he died he
occupied a conspicuous place in the public eye. On the organi
zation of the House he was chosen chairman of the Committee
on Way-s and Means, and thus became leader of the House.
We now find him, at thirty years of age, the acknowledged
chief of his party in the popular branch of the Legislature, and
never vvas chiet"tain more lovingly followed. Alert and watch
ful, he was always read)- for the contest. He could parry a
blow or give one with as much dexterity as an old knight of the
lance. His address and manner were so captivating that before
the session closed he had made prisoners the hearts of his fellow
members. Those who did not like his poHtics Hked the man,
and when the members separated and went to their homes thev
took with them the fondest recollections of the gallant young
leader of the House.
When the Democratic State Convention of 1852 convened,
the delegates were met bv- an overwhelming public sentiment
demanding the nomination of Willard for Lieutenant-Governor.
The demand was recognized and the nomination made. Joseph
A. Wright, the nominee for Governor, was an able and popular
man, but he was not the equal of WiHard on the hustings.
Indeed, I only state a fact well known to those famiHarwith the
public men of that day, when I say that, as a political stumper,
Mr. Willard had no equal in the State, with the exception of
Henry S. Lane. There were men who surpassed hira as de
baters and logicians, but none who matched him in impassioned
oratory, with the exception named. He was elected and, at the
next session of the Legislature, took his seat as President of the

I06 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Senate. As a presidipg officer he was courteous, prompt and
decisive. He was a warm partisan, and his decisions were
sometimes influenced by party zeal ; but, on the whole, he
averaged well. In politics he met fire with fire, and believ-ed
in doing evil that good might come. Witness his casting vote
in the Senate in 1855 on the resolution to go into an election for
United States Senator. The People's party, having a raajority
on joint ballot, norainated Joseph (ir. Marshall, of Jefferson,
for United States Senator. The Senate was a tie, and, by the
casting vote of Lieutenant-Governor Willard, refused to go into
an election. There can be no justification for this act. The
most that can be said in its defense is that the Lieutenant-'
Governor followed a line of bad precedents. Several times in
the history of Indiana poHtics has a legislative minority failed
to discharge its constitutional duty by refusing to go into an
election for Senator. Happily the law has been so changed as
to break up this reprehensible practice.
In 1856 Willard was nominated for Governor. Two years
before the Know-nothing party had swept the State. Willard
had antagonized it from the first, having fought it bitterh- and
unrelentingly. It had gone to pieces, but those of its members
who entered the Republican partyr took w-ith them an intense
hostility to the Democratic candidate. Oliver P. Morton, then
a young lawyer of Wayne county, and afterwards the great
war Governor of Indiana, was Willard's opponent for Governor.
The contest between them was memorable. It was a battle of
giants. Morton fought with the battle-ax of Richard Coeur de
Lion, and Willard with the sword of Saladin. The sword con
quered, and the young man who, eleven years before, had come
to Indiana poor and friendless, was now the Governor-elect of
a great State. I shall not speak of Governor Willard's admin
istration of the State government further than to say that it
commanded the approbation of his political friends and met the
condemnation of his political enemies. The time is too recent
to examine it without political bias, so I will pass it by.
In the summer of i860 Governor Willard's health gave way.
It had been bad for years, but his strong will enabled him to
keep up and attend to his official duties. The last speech he
attempted to make was at Columbus, this State. At that time

.VSHBEL I'.VKSONS V\-n.L.VRD, IO7
the Democratic party- vvas suft'ering from internal disorders.
The Nebraska .bill had disrupted it. and the wonder is that a
man of Governor Willard's discernment and sagacitv' did not
see it was doomed to defeat. But he continued hopeful of its
fuUire, and did all he could to insure its success. He attended
many of its conventions and labored hard to heal its wounds.
He went to Columbus as a peacemaker, but he had his labor for
his pains. The convention, after much wrangling, norainated
Dr. William M. Daly, a Methodist preacher, for Congress.
The delegation t'rom Jeft'erson vvas intensely hostile to him, al
though that county was his home, and, when the nomination
was made, one of the delegates arose and proposed three cheers
for McKee Dunn, the Republican candidate. To hear a mem
ber of a Democratic convention propose cheers for a Republican
was, indeed, shocking to Willard, and he at once mounted the
rostrum and commenced to speak. His voice was as musical,
and he controlled it as artisticallv- as ever, but in the midst of
an impassioned appeal for harmony he suddenly stopped. He
vvas taken ill, having a hemorrhage of the lungs, but the bleed
ing soon stopped, and he left the room.
Soon after the convention at Columbus Governor Willard
went to Minnesota in quest of health. But the trip had been too
long delayed to do him permanent good. Disease was eating
at his vitals, and refused to release its hold at the bidding of
the bracing air of the Northwest. On the 4th of October, i860,
he became suddenly worse, and on the evening of that day
breathed his last, and there went from the face of the earth one
of the brightest intellects of the day.
Governor Willard was the first Governor of Indiana to die in
office. The people, without respect to party, paid homage to
his remains as they passed through the towns and cities of the
State. They were brought to Indianapolis, and for three days
lay in state, being viewed by thousands who loved the young
man eloquent. On the day after the October election, i860,
they were taken to New Albany, his old home, and there in
terred. Some incidents fllustrating WiHard's character, and his power
as an orator, may appropriately conclude this sketch of his life
and death.

I08 BIOGXiAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
On the Saturday before the presidential election in 1856,
Governor WiHard went to Madison to deliver .a political ad
dress. It had been announced that he would speak in the
Court-house, but the deputy sheriff had let the Fillmore men
have it that evening for the purpose of holding a pohtical meet
ing. There was but a handful of these men, and it was be
Heved that this was but a ruse to prevent Governor Willard
from speaking. *A party of Democrats, headed by Joseph W.
Chapman, went to the deputy sheriff and charged him with be
ing a party to the trick. They told him that Willard should
have the Court-house, and if he — the deputy sheriff— did not
open its doors, they would break them down. Judge Chapman
and his friends went to Governor Willard and told him the
.situation, and what they intended to do. He said there should
be no trouble, and that he would speak in the market-house.
His friends objected to this, but 'he remained firm, saying that
as the Democracy was " on top " it could afford to be generous.
That evening he addressed an immense crowd in the market-
house in his happiest vein. He was never more eloquent and
effective. During the delivery of his speech he vvas interrupted
by huzzas for Fremont. Sorae of his friends started for the
offender with a view of putting him out of the house, but Wil
lard stopped them, saying : " Let him alone. Enjoy the music
while you can. After Tuesdav- ' hurrah for Fremont ' will be
the dearest music you can buy."
Soon after the election in 1.856, Governor Willard vvas invited
by the Legislature of Mississippi to visit Jackson as a guest of
the State. Being acquainted with a gentleman who is familiar
with public events in Mississippi, the author requested him to
give an account of this event. The following is his response :
"Mr. Woollen — Of course my recollection of details must
be somewhat imperfect, as I vvas then a lad of fifteen years. I
will give them as I remember them. It vvas in December, 1856,
alter the Democratic" victory, the Legislature being in regular
session. Governor Willard and other prominent Democrats
were invited to visit the capital of the State, Jackson. I re
member his speech vvas full of vigor and patriotic sentiments,
and overflowing vvith kindness towards his entertainers and the

-VSHBEL P.VRSONS WILL.VRD. IO9
whole Southern people. I can not now recall anv- expression
of his. but I know his address vvas received vvith the greatest
enthusiasm, .\fter the speech-making, reception and general
hand-shaking, a banquet at the Spengler House vvas given, and
three hundred people were present. Wit flowed as freely and
sparkled as brightly as the generous wines which graced the
board. General good feeling prevailed. David C. Glenn was
the newly appointed Attorney-General of the State, just barelv-
of the constitutional age. He vvas considered one of the bright
est lawyers of the commonwealth, and was a brifliant and elo
quent writer. He came from the sea-coast country, or the
•• Piney Woods " district, as it was then called. His brilliancy
and eloquence were famous throughout the State. His capacity
for a drinking bout vvas also well established. In fact, he vvas
considered the best, heaviest and solidest drinker in the South
west. The reputatioii of Governor Willard in this particular
had preceded him, and it was determined to pit Glenn against
him. The result was that Glenn was put hors du coi/ibat at an
early^ stage of the proceedings, and Willard held his own 'as
cool and clear-headed and as steady on his pins at the close of
the banquet as he was at the commencement."
Colonel John S. Williams thus speaks of Governor Willard
in the Lafayette Times :
"As a political organizer and mere party man the late Gov
ernor Willard never had an equal in the State of Indiana. I
will not except his great rival. Governor Morton. I remember
the Saturday before the State election, in 1856,- his arrival in
Lafayette to make the closing .speech of the campaign. Com
ing into my apartments, he found me, in corapany with the late
Senator Hannegan, talking over the political situation. We at
once asked him what he thought of the political situation and his
chances of election. 'I've got em sure.' 'Can you give the
figures!' I inquired. 'Yes,' he responded; 'get your paper
and I will give y^ou the vote of every county.' Commencing
with Posey county, in the southwest corner of the State, and
without any list before him, he named every county, giving his
estimate of majorities in each one. Strange to say, he had not
missed a single county. I have his figures now before me. In

no BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
several counties they correspond with the official vote, and, in
the aggregate, do not vary three hundred votes as declared by
the board of State canvassers. His majority over Governor
Morton was about six thousand."
In 1857 news came to Indianapolis of the John Brown raid.
Among those connected with Brown was John E. Cook, a
brother-in-law of Governor Willard. Governor Willard's family
had not heard of Cook for years, and, when it was pub
lished that one John E. Cook was arrested for participating in
the Harper's Ferry tragedy, they could hardly believe it was
Mrs. Willard's brother. But it was he, and when Governor
Willard knew this fact he determined his course at once.
The raid of John Brown on Harper's Ferry was reprobated
by all save a few abolitionists, and they were hushed to silence.
Willard was young, was ambitious, and had great expectations
of the future. He had a national reputation as an orator, and
visions of the first office in the people's gift no doubt flitted be
fore him. To identify himself as a friend of one connected
with the detested raid would surely damage him at the South,
and raight do so at horae. But he hesitated not. He deter
mined to go to the rescue of his kinsman. He sent a special
messenger to his friend, Daniel W. Voorhees, requesting his
immediate presence. The messenger found Mr. Voorhees at
Vincennes engaged in an important trial, but the eloquent ad
vocate turned the case over to another and went to his friend
as fast as the cars could take him. He found him in sore dis
tress. He comforted him as best he could, and without delay
the two started for Charleston, Virginia, where v-oung Cook
was imprisoned. The meeting between Willard and' his brother-
in-law was deeply affecting. One was Governor of a great
State, the other a prisoner, charged vvith crime, but the differ
ence between thera did not stop the flow of aft'ection from one heart
to the other. And, here, let it be recorded, that Cook's love
for Willard probably cost hira his life. It vvas stated at the
time, and not contradicted, that after Governor Willard left the
prison the keeper opened a way for Cook's escape. But he
would not embrace it. He said if he escaped the blame would
be laid on Willard; and would ruin his prospects for future

.VSHBEL P.VRSONS VVIL1..VR1). Ill
prel'erment ; hence he staid in prison and met his fate. Brave
and considerate man I Prisoner though you vvere, convict
though you vvere to be, this act of self-abnegation proves you
to be a hero.
On the 8th of November. 1859, Cook vvas put upon his trial.
He was defended bv Mr. Voorhees in a speech of transcendent
eloquence, but it availed him naught. The fiat of a frenzied
public had gone forth that he should die, and there was no put
ting it aside. At'ter he vvas convicted Governor Willard ap
pealed to Governor Wise for his pardon, but the appeal was in
vain, and the young man suffered the extreme penalty of the
law. Governor Willard's eft'orts to save Cook's life, instead of les
sening his popularity at home, increased it. People admired
his courage and comraended him for what he had done. Par-
ticidarly was this true of his political opponents, and from that
time until he died they respected and esteemed him as they had
never done before.
In the Legislature of 1857 the Democrats had a majority on
joint ballot, but the Republicans had the Senate. The two
houses met in joint convention to count the vote for Governor,
and when this was done, adjourned to a subsequent day. The
purpose of thus adjourning was to elect United States Senators.
The Republicans refused to go into another joint convention, so
the Democrats were in a great strait to know what to do. It
was contended that there having been a joint convention, a ma
jority- of the members of the Legislature could meet on the day
appointed and legally elect the Senators. The Republicans
controverted this position, and contended that it took a majori-
itv of each branch of the Legislature to constitute a legal con
vention. Senator Bright was disposed to consider this as the
correct view of the question, and refused to accept an election
which he believed to be tainted with illegality. The subject
was referred to SamuelE. Perkins, Joseph W. Chapman and
James Hughes, three lawyers of the highest standing. After
examining it, these gentlemen came to the conclusion that an
election held, as proposed by the Democrats, would be legal.
A caucus of the Democratic members of the Legislature was
held in the hall of the House to receive the report of the com^

112 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
mittee. The report was read by Judge Chapman, and when he
had concluded Governor Willard arose and said that if a ma
jority of all the members of the Legislature met in joint session
and elected Messrs. Bright and Fitch to the Senate, he would
comraission them, and he had no doubt they would get their
seats ; that the Senate of the United States would not refuse to
receive men whose commission bore the great seal of the State
of Indiana. The author was present at the caucus, and well
remembers the eft'ect of Governor Willard's speech. Although
one of the youngest men in the hall, he was looked to for ad
vice and guidance. His emphatic declaration that he would
commission Messrs. Bright and Fitch if they were elected in
the manner proposed, and that he had no doubt of their admis
sion in the Senate, caused the doubting Thomases to give way
and cease their opposition.
In person Governor Willard was very prepossessing. His
head and face were cast in the finest moulds, his eyes were blue,
his hair auburn and his complexion florid. By nature he vvas
open and frank. He was generous to a fault, carrying his heart
on his sleeve. A more magnetic and attractive man could no
where be found, and had he lived to the allotted age of man
kind, he raust have reached still higher honors.
The Western Democratic Review, in its October nuraber, 1854.
thus sums up Governor Willard's characteristics as an orator :
" WiHard, though a young raan, is the best popular orator in
the United States. His language is chaste and elegant, utterly
void of coramonplace and provincialisms, his manner that of
a practical speaker, his voice one of the best we have ever
heard for an orator. H^e speaks with rapidity, precision and
uncommon emphasis, and can be heard distinctiv by an im
mense number of persons at once. His commanding talents
will, one day, lift him far above the reach of the most bitter
stings of prejudice and the boldest shafts of enmity."

^ Oi.}i

CAyi/y^^ «^u 'S'T'^

ABR.\M ADAMS HAMMOND.

Abr.\m Ad.vms Ham.mond, once Governor of Indiana, was
born at Brattleboro, ^'t., March 21, 1814. He came to Indiana
when si.x years old, and vvas raised at Brookville, where he
studied law with John Ryman, a lawyer of note of that place.
In 1835, having previously been admitted to the bar, he re
moved to Greenfield, in Hancock county, and commenced the
practice of his profession. In 1840 he removed to Columbus,
Bartholomew county, and soon afterward formed a partnership
with John H. Bradley in the practice of the law. While a res
ident of Columbus he vvas chosen Prosecuting Attorney of his
circuit, and acquitted himself with decided ability in the office.
In 1846 Mr. Hammond and Mr. Bradley removed to Indiana
polis, and the next year to Cincinnati. But not being satisfied
vvith their location, they returned to the former city in 1849, '^"^
Mr. Hammond formed a partnership vvith Hugh O'Neal, a cele
brated criminal lawyer of his day. In 1850 the Legislature of In
diana passed a law creating a Court of Common Pleas for Marion
county. Mr. Hammond was chosen the first judge of this court.
He, however, held the office but a short time, resigning it to
leave for the West. In 1852 Judge Hammond went to San
Francisco, Cal., and became a partner in the practice of the
law with the eminent Rufus A. Lockwood. The next year he
returned to Indiana, and in 1855 removed to Terre Haute and
formed a partnership with Hon. Thom'ks H. Nelson in the prac
tice of the law. He lived in Terre Haute until elected Lieuten
ant-Governor of the State.
In 1856 the Democratic State Convention of Indiana nom
inated the late John C. Walker for Lieutenant-Governor. Soon
8

114 biographical and historical sketches.
after the nomination had been made it was discovered that Mr.
Walker was not eligible for the office by reason of his not having
reached the constitutional age. He therefore withdrew from
the ticket, leaving the vacancy to be filled by the State Central
Committee. On the dissolution of the Whig party, after the disastrous
campaign of 1852, many of its members entered the ranks of
the Democracy. There was but little difference in the national
platforms of the two great parties in that year, so these recruits
had not far to go. Judge Hamraond was one of the most prom
inent men in Indiana who took the new departure, and as there
was a disposition to recognize this element of the Democratic
party, the State Central Committee put hira on the ticket in the
place of Mr. Walker. He had not been a prominent politician,
but he was well known over the State as an able lawyer. He
made an active canvass, speaking in the principal cities, and
when the election came off was chosen Lieutenant-Governor.
He made a most excellent presiding officer of the Senate, his
rulings being so fair and his decisions so just that even his po
litical opponents bestowed encomiums upon him.
During the time that Mr. Hammond was Lieutenant-Gov
ernor and Governor, the Democratic party was greatly dis
tracted by the slavery question. The President, Mr. Buchanan,
and his cabinet held the doctrine that the constitution of the
United States protected slavery in the Territories, and that
slaveholders had the legal right to take their slav-es into the
Territories of Kansas and Nebraska. Mr. Douglas, the great
apostle of popular sovereignty, controv^erted this position, and
contended that the people of the Territories had the right of
determining the question for themselves so soon as they had
organized a civil government. In an elaborate paper, published
in Harper's Magazine, he argued to this effect with great force
and plausibility, if not with irresistible logic. There was an
¦" irrepressible conflict" between the two wings of the Democ
racy, which culminated at the Charleston convention in i860,
and severed the party in twain. That convention adjourned
without making a nomination, and subsequentiy reassembled at
Baltimore, where one wing of the party norainated Mr. Douglas
for the presidency, and the other John C. Breckenridge. The

.VI'.R.VM .VD.VMS H.VVIVIONI). II5
fight between the factions vvas bitter and relentless — more bitter
than against the Republicans. The mass of the part)- in Indiana
followed the lead of Douglas, but many of the politicians tried
hard to compass his overthrow. Previous to the meeting of the
Democratic State Convention of i860 Governor Hammond
went to several county conventions for the purpose of using his
influence to have administration delegates sent to the State
convention. The author sawhim at the convention in Jeft'erson
county-, and well remembers his eft'orts to have delegates chosen
who would sustain Mr. Buchanan. He vvas fully in accord vvith
Senator Bright, Governor Willard, United States Marshal Rob
inson, and others in their opposition to popular sovereignty as
expounded by Douglas, and, vvith them, he favored the admis
sion of Kansas under the Lecompton constitution. But he did
not follow Senator Bright into the Breckenridge movement.
.The organization of the party in Indiana was for Mr. Douglas,
and Governor Hammond stood by the organization. He, how
ever, gave Mr. Douglas but a passive support, his heart not
being in the fight. A Breckenridge electoral ticket was formed,
which received 12,295 votes in the State, but, had these votes
been added to those cast for Mr, Douglas, Mr. Lincoln would
still have carried Indiana. His vote vvas 139,033, that of Mr.
Douglas 115,509, that of Breckenridge 12,295, and that of Bell
(Union) 5,306. It will thus be seen that Mr. Lincoln's majority-
in the State over all opposition was 5,923.
Governor Willard died at St. Paul, Minnesota, October 5,
i860, and Mr. Hammond became Governor. On Friday, Jan
uary II, 1861, he delivered his first and only message to the
Legislature. In it he refers to the death of Governor Willard ;
to the borrowing of $125,000 of Winslow, Lanier & Co., of
New York, to pay the semi-annual interest on the State debt,
the necessity for which he declares was occasioned by "the
failure of the Senate of Indiana to pass a revenue bill for the
years of 1857-8." He recommends legislation to protect the
ballot-bo-x, a law requiring " the collection of the debts due the
State in gold and silver," and the establishment of a sub-treasury
in which to keep the funds of the State. He says " the estab
lishment of a house of refuge upon the grounds selected and
purchased for that purpose [one hundred acres lying four miles

II 6 biographical and His'roRicAL sketches.
west of IndianapoHs, bought of Colonel Drake], is imperatively
demanded — demanded alike by good morals and sound poHcy —
and I recommend that prompt and adequate action be taken by
the Legislature in the matter, and that an appropriation for that
purpose be made." He closes his message as foflows :
" It gives me great pleasure to say that Indiana, as a State,
has hitherto faithfully kept the bond of union with all her sister
States. Her record is unstained by any act of bad faith. She
has never attempted, directly or indirectiy, to evade or avoid
any of the requireraents of the Federal constitution, and no man
can doubt that if the same could be said of every other State,
instead of discord, peace and harmony would reign throughout
our borders. Let us then t-ake pride in maintaining the high
position we have thus far occupied as a conservative, union-
loving State, and while we throw our weight into the scale in
favor of any practical mode of settling the present trouble, let
us endeavor to aid in that raore permanent and lasting settle
ment that must flow from a restoration of amity- and cordiality-
among all our people. North and South. Then, as you have
raet in a legislative capacity, you should place Indiana, in this-
controversy, where she rightly belongs, as a conservative, law-
abiding and Union State. Show to the people of the Confed
eracy that Indiana will raaintain the constitutional rights of
every State in this Union ; that she will e.xtend to the South all
rights in the Territories belonging to this government that she
would claim for herself; that she will look to the constitution
and the laws to determine rights of propertv^ and not permit
any moral question to interfere to aft'ect that determination, and
that all property recognized by the constitution and laws shall
be alike protected. This position, although it may not affect
the action of the extreme Southern States, yet it may do much
to bring about a convention of the border free and slave States.
And regarding, as I do, these States to be conservative, and in
favor of maintaining the Union as it is, it would be well for the
peace of this country if they could meet in convention and con
sult together in regard to the present unhappy dift'erences ex
isting between the North and South. They might, by their con
servative action, induce the extremists of the North and South

AliRAVI AU.VMS ILVMMOND. II 7
to pause and reflect upon the consequences which must nec
essarily result from their fanatical course, and if, by their action,
this much could be gained, there would then be hope that b)-
u union of the conservative elements of the country these un
happy dift'erences might be satisfactorily settled, and the best
government under heaven saved from the horrors of disunion
and civil war."
These recommendations of Governor Hammond were favor
ably received and acted on by the Legislature. Subsequently
a sub-treasury law vvas passed, and is still upon the statute
books. Although the Legislature he addressed failed to provide
for the creation of a house of refuge for juvenile oft'enders, a
subsequent one passed such a law. It vvas during the adrainis
tration of Governor Baker that the institution at Plainfield vvas
established, but a part of the honor for its creation justly belongs
to Governor Hammond.
Governor Hammond's recommendation that Indiana should
be represented in a convention of the border States, then about
to be held, was adopted. Fiv^e days after the delivery of his
message, Lieutenant-Governor Morton became Governor by
reason of the resignation of Governor Lane, who had been
elected to the United States Senate. Governor Morton was
opposed to Indiana's sending delegates to the Peace Congress,
but the Legislature passed a joint resolution for their appoint
ment, whefeupon the Governor named Caleb B. Smith, Pleas
ant A. Hackelman, Godlove S. Orth, Thomas C. Slaughter and
Erastus W. H. Eflis as the delegates.
The Peace Congress m.et at Washington City, February 4,
1861, and organized by the election of John Tyler, once Presi
dent of the United States, as its president. Much was hoped
from it, but nothing obtained. There were several propositions
before it, notably the one named for Mr. Crittenden, looking to
a compromise of the differences between the sections ; but they
were all rejected. The delegates from Indiana opposed all
compromise or concessions to the South, and after several days
of fruitiess efforts to reach an accommodation the convention
adjourned. Governor Hammond was in fav-or of the Crittenden
compromise, and if he had had the selection of the Indiana del-

Il8 BIOGRAPHICAL .VND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
egates he would have chosen men who would have supported
that measure.
About the time Governor Hammond went out of office his
health gave way. Rheumatism fastened itself upon him and
never let go its hold. After this time he suft'ered almost con
tinuously and was compelled to walk with crutches. He tried
all manner of remedies to get relief, but to Httle purpose. After
awhile asthma attacked him, and in the summer of 1874 ^^ vvent
to Colorado, hoping to be benefited by its climate. But the
dry air of the mountains failed to work a cure. He died at Den
ver, August 27, 1874, and four days afterward his remains
reached Indianapolis and yvere taken to the house of John M.
Talbott, an old friend of the Governor. On the day of their
arrival Governor Hendricks issued an order for the closing of
the State offices during the obsequies. On the afternoon of
September i , the funeral took place at Mr. Talbott's residence.
Rev. F. M. Bird officiating. The pall-bearers were Governor
Hendricks, Major Gordon, Judge Roache, Aquilla Jones, Cap
tain Dodd, Hon. Joseph E. McDonald, William Mansur and
Simon Yandes, who escorted his remains to Crown Hill Ceme
tery, where they were buried.
Governor Hamraond was the first Lieutenant-Governor of
Indiana to become Governor on account of death. In 1822
Lieutenant-Governor Boon becarae Governor, succeeding Jon
athan Jennings, and in 1825 Jaraes Brown Rav-, President of the
Senate, becarae Governor, as the successor of William Hen
dricks, but in both cases the vacancies vvere caused by resigna
tion, andnot by death.
Governor WiHard died October 5, i860, and Governor Ham
mond served until the inauguration of Governor Lane, January
14, 1 86 1. Two days afterward Governor Lane resigned and
Lieutenant-Governor Morton became Governor. Thus it will
be seen that in a period of one hundred and th«ee days Indiana
had four different Governors, a fact without a parallel in the
history of the country, so far as mv- knowledge goes.
Governor liammond was not a showy man, but he vvas an
able one, much abler than the public gave him credit for. He
had an analytic and logical mind, and vvas remarkably clear in
stating his positions and drawing his conclusions. He had not

¦VUKAVl .VI). VMS ll.VVlMOND.

119

great learning, but he vvas a close observer of e\ ents, and dur
ing life gathered a mass of information not found in books.
He vvas not particularly well read in the law, but he was a good
lavvyer. for he comprehended principles and was able to apply
them in his practice.
While Governor Hammond's residence was at Indianapolis
t'rom 1840 until he died, except the year he was at Terre Haute,
yet he made several changes in the location of his business.
He would have succeeded anywhere, for in ability he was far
above most of his competitors at the bar, but he would hardly
be well settled at one place before he would close his office and
open one elsewhere. He vvas not content to '• watch and wait,"
but wanted the business to come at once.
Until he became afflicted vvith rheumatism Governor Flam-
mond vvas an unusually fine specimen of physical manhood. He
walked with a spring and moved with the agilit)- of an athlete.
He was of medium height, compactly built, and of dark com
plexion. His head vvas large and well-shaped. While the ex
pression of his countenance was kind and gentle, it never
betrayed passion or emotion. He vvas cool, deliberate and self-
possessed, keeping his feelings and temper under perfect con
trol. He was frank in his manners, honorable in his dealings
and dignified in his deportment. Although not one of the raost
learned Governors of Indiana, he was, by nature, one of the
ablest.

HENRY SMITH LANE.

Henry Smith Lane, for two days Governor of Indiana, was
born in Montgomery county, Kentucky, February 1 1 , i8i i . He
was yvell educated, and when eighteen years old commenced
the study of the law. Soon after reaching his majority he w^as
adraitted to the bar, and in 1835 came to Indiana and settled at
¦CrawfordsviHe. He had a winning address, abounded in anec
dote, and was fluent in speech. He soon obtained a good legal
practice, particularly in criminal cases. He became very popu
lar, and in 1837 was elected to the State Legislature from his
county. In 1840 the Democracy of Indiana nominated General Tilgh
man A. Howard, then a meraber of Congress from the Seventh
District, for Governor of the State. General Howard resigned
his seat in Congress to make the race, and Edward A. Hanne
gan and Henry S. Lane became candidates to fill the vacancy.
In many respects they were alike. They were both wonder
fully eloquent, but neither very logical. Mr. Lane vvas elected,
defeating his competitor some 1,500 votes. The next y-ear he
was again a candidate for Congress, and defeated John Bryce
by an iramense majority. He never was elected to Congress
after this.
In 1844 Mr. Lane stumped Indiana tor Henry Clay, and none
mourned the defeat of the Kentucky statesman more than he.
On the breaking out of the Mexican war he engaged earnestly
in the work of raising troops and stimulating the war spirit
among the people. In May, 1S46, he attended a vv-ar meeting
at Indianapolis and participated actively in its proceedings.
He vvas a member of the committee on resolutions, and assisted

henry sMrrn lank. 121
in drawing those adopted b)- the meeting. The resolutions
were preceded by the following preamble :
"Where.\s, The cherished malice of the Mexican govern
ment toward the United States has at length resulted in the au
dacious invasion of our terri tor)- by her troops, and the shedding
of American blood on American soil."
This preamble vvas followed by a series of resolutions, one of
which pledged the government the support of the West ' ' with
out regard to political distinctions." The account of this meet
ing, published at the time, says that " Henry S. Lane being
called for by- the meeting, addressed it in that peculiar strain
of inspiring eloquence for which he is so distinguished, and
w-hich is possessed by few other men of our country." No man
in the State was warmer in his support of the war than Mr.
Lane, and few did so much to enthuse the people and unite
them in its support. But he did other things besides talking to
aid the country in its war with Mexico. He raised a company
of volunteers, and when the first regiment was organized, he
was chosen its major. While in the field he was promoted to
the lieutenant-colonelcy, and served as such until the regiment
disbanded. His regiment was engaged most of the time it was
in Mexico in guarding supply trains and protecting posts, but
nevertheless its services were valuable to the government.
After the expiration of the term for which Colonel Lane had
enlisted he returned to Indiana, landing at Madison. The
night of his arrival he made a speech in the Madison Court
house in support of the war. He was a leading Whig, and in
this speech he severely attacked those men of his party who
opposed the war vvith Mexico. He declared that if Governor
Corwin and others of his school were to shape the policy and
lay down the principles for the Whig party, it would become
the duty of all patriotic men to abandon it. The fiery eloquence
of the speaker kindled anew the war spirit at Madison, and a
company was soon organized, which went into the field as part
of the Fifth Indiana Regiment, commanded by Colonel James
H. Lane.
In 1849 Colonel Lane was again a candidate for Congress in
his district. His opponent was Hon. Joseph E. McDonald,

122 BIOGRAPHICAL .VND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
afterward a Senator of the United States. The contest between
these distinguished men was conducted with entire good feel
ing, and resulted in the election of Mr. McDonald.
On the organization of the People's party in 1854, Colonel
Lane entered it. That party having a majority of the Legisla
ture that year, Colonel Lane carae to Indianapolis and labored
for the election of Joseph G. Marshafl to the United States Sen
ate. But the Deraocrats, having control of the Senate, refused
to go into an election for Senator, and none took place.
When the Republican party was forraed, Colonel Lane took
a position at its head in Indiana, and such was his reputation
throughout the country that when the national convention of
the Republican party met in 1856 he was chosen its president.
His speech on taking the chair was wonderfully eloquent and
spirit-stirring. The delegates became so enthused during its
delivery that they cheered the speaker to the echo. The con
vention nominated Fremont and Dayton for President and Vice-
President, and Colonel Lane at once took the stump in Indiana
in their support. They were defeated at the election which
followed, but the principles they represented soon became dom
inant in the country.
In 1859 Colonel Lane and Colonel William M. McCarty re
ceived the votes of a majority of the members of the Indiana
Legislature for United States Senators. They went to Wash
ington and contested the seats held by Senators Bright and
Fitch, but the Senate decided against them.
The Republican State convention of i860 nominated Colonel
Lane for Governor and Oliver P. Morton for Lieutenant-Gov
ernor. Their Democratic corapetitors vvere Thomas A. Hen
dricks and David Turpie. It is questionable if four men of
equal ability were ever pitted against each other as candidates
for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor in Indiana. They started
out to make joint canvasses, and for sorae time continued their
debates. The candidates for Governor began their canvass at
Jeft'ersonville. They then vvent to Charlestown, thence to New
Albany, and then down the river, stopping at the leading towns,
until they reached Evansville. Soon after they spoke at Evans
ville Colonel Lane left Mr. Hendricks and went to Chicago to
attend the convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln for

HENRY SMrril L.VNl-;. 123,
President. When the convention vvas over he returned to In
diana and resumed his debates vvith Mr. Hendricks, .speaking
first at Fort Wayne, and attervvard at several other towns in the
northern part of the State. After filling these appointments
Colonel Lane refused to further extend the joint discussion, and
daring the remainder of the campaign canvassed by himself.
In this he acted vviselv-. for while he vvas Mr. Hendricks's su
perior as a popular orator, he vvas not his equal as a debater.
The election resulted in the choice of Colonel Lane by a large
majority, and on the 14th of January, 1861, he took the oath of
office and entered upon his official duties. In his message to-
the Legislature he said :
"The novel, alarming and treasonable assumption that any
State in the Union has a right, under the Federal constitution,
to secede at pleasure is a doctrine unknown to the constitution,
at war with the principles on which our government was es
tablished, and destructive of those high and sacred objects
sought to be accomplished by- the confederation. * * The
doctrine of secession, peaceable or forcible, now or at any other
time, is a dangerous heresy, fraught with all the terrible conse
quences of civil war and bloodshed, and leading directly to-
the utter ruin of all our institutions. This heresy has not yet
poisoned the public sentiment of Indiana, and raay God, in
his kind providence, put afar oft' the evil day which shall wit
ness its prevalence amongst us. I most sincerely believe, and
am proud to declare, that the people of Indiana, of all parties.
are true to the constitution and loyal to the Union ; and that
they will always be in the future, as they have shown them
selves to have been in the past, wilhng to yield a ready and
cheerful obedience to all the requirements of the constitution
of the Unfted States, and to maintain and uphold at all times,
under all circumstances, and at every hazard, the glorious form
of free government under which we live."
Two days after the delivery of this message Governor Lane
was elected to the Senate of the United States. He at once
resigned the governorship, having held the office but two days —
the shortest term in that office on record in Indiana.

124 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
In the Senate Colonel Lane did not attain any great distinc
tion. It was not the place for the exercise of his pecuHar tal
ents. These were better suited to the hustings than to a legis
lative body. He was placed upon the Committee of MiHtary
Affairs, and upon that of Pensions, and reached the chairman
ship of the latter committee before his senatorial term expired.
He zealously sustained the governraent in its war for the Union,
voting it all needful supplies, and upholding its hands in every
way he could. But he was not an ultra man, and did not advo
cate ultra measures. In the beginning of the trouble^he had
favored concessions to the South not inconsistent with national
honor and national union, but when the flag was fired on at
Fort Sumter the compromising spirit left him. Absolute and
unconditional obedience to the law was the only condition he
had to oft'er the South after that.
When Colonel Lane's senatorial term expired he returned to
his home at Crawfordsville, and never afterward held pubhc
•office, unless the appointment of Indian Commissioner, tendered
him by General Grant, may be said to hav-e been a public one.
He lived at his pleasant home, at peace with the world and en
joying the affection of his neighbors and friends until the end
came. And when it did come grief abounded throughout the
¦State. On the afternoon of Friday, June i8, 1881, Colonel Lane was
upon the streets of Crawfordsville enjoying his usual health.
In the evening he entertained some of his friends at his resi
dence, and after they had gone, retired to bed as usual. He
was taken sick in the night, suffering from smothering spells
and pains in the region of the heart. The next morning, hovv--
ever, he arose, dressed himself, and for some time sat on his
porch, smoking. About 11 o'clock that morning he com
plained of being unwell. He undressed himself and went to
bed, and continued to grow worse until half-past one o'clock
that afternoon, when he died.
The news of Colonel Lane's death vvas telegraphed over the
country, and created a profound sensation. He vvas universally
popular in Indiana, and his death vvas mourned as sincerely by
llis political opponents as by his political friends. The people
of his town held a meeting the day he died, and passed resolu-

HKNRY SMITH LANK. 12^
tions testifying of their love t'or the dead statesman. When the
news reached IndianapoHs Governor Porter issued an order that
¦' the State offices be draped in mourning for a term of thirty
days, and that on the day of the funeral they be closed." On
Monday, June 20, the State officers met and resolved to attend
the funeral in a body. The same evening a public meeting was^
held at Indianapolis, over which ex-Governor Hendricks pre
sided, to testify of the high respect in which the deceased was
held by the people of the State capital. In his speech stating
the object of the meeting. Governor Hendricks said :
" It is novv twenty-one years since we were the candidates of
our respective parties for Governor, and I came out of that
campaign respecting him most thoroughly, and have so con
tinued to do ever since."
In his speech at this meeting Senator McDonald said :
'' In 1849 ^^^ were competitors for Congress. He vvas always
the soul of honor, and generous to his opponents alike in the
practice of the law and on the stump."
General Coburn said :
" Caleb B. Smith was a more ftuent and graceful speaker,
perhaps. General Howard more stately and polished, Samuel
Parker excelled him in the keenness of satire and ridicule, but
in the intensity of force, point, and a wonderful drollery. Lane
was simply unapproachable."
General Harrison said of him :
" There was no personal malice in his speeches ; if they con
tained hostility or bitterness it was directed towards the political
principles of his opponents. He was, to an eminent degree, a
man of the most genial and kindly feeling, of an open-hearted,
sympathetic disposition."
Judge Gresham said :
" The conditions under which Colonel Lane came forward
and gained his power do not now e.xist, and perhaps never will

126 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
again. That power consisted largely in his ability to speak to
the feelings of men. He depended greatly upon the inspiration
¦of the moment. Thoughts came as he spoke, and he made a
better speech ex tenifore than by writing it out."
The Committee on Resolutions, consisting of Major Jonathan
W. Gordon, John M. Butler, Thomas A. Hendricks, Albert G.
Porter and Joseph E. McDonald, reported to the meeting a
memorial, in which they said :
" In private and social Hfe he was a model man and citizen.
* -* * His peculiar gifts as an orator fitted him for the field
of politics, and he entered it with all the enthusiasm of his na
ture. * * * He was a wise man, just and generous withal ;
and many a charitable act that was known only to his giving
hand will be revealed by Him who seeth in secret and rewardeth
¦openly. He was capable of intense enthusiasm and passion,
but able to restrain and direct them to ends of beneficence and
order. His last year was like the hour of a glorious and cloud
less sunset ; and even now, that he has left us, his Hght stiU
streams far up our skies to enlighten and cheer us amid the
gloom of the present."
Tuesday, June 21, was designated as the day the remains of
Colonel Lane would be laid at rest. The hour of the funeral
was I o'clock, but long before the time arrived, business in
Crawfordsville was suspended, and the people began to meet in
the grounds about the home of the distinguished dead. The
bells were tolled, and gloom hung over the city like a pall.
Among the distinguished persons from a distance were ex-Sena
tors Hendricks and McDonald, Governor Porter, Senators
Harrison and Voorhees, Judge Gresham, and many other noted
raen. The religious services were conducted by Rev. John L.
Smith, after which the remains, followed by an immense con
course of people, were taken to Oak Hill Cemeterv-, deposited
in a vault, and subsequentl)- buried. The pall bearers vvere
Samuel Binford, Governor Porter, James Heaton, R. B. F.
Peirce, Peter S. Kennedy, Senators Voorhees and Harrison,
B. F. Ristine, Prof. Campbell and Governor Hendricks. Some
¦of these gentlemen had often met him on the hustings and been

HENRV SMI'ni LAN I'..

12/

the objects of his keenest satire and inimitable drollery, but
these contests had left no stings, and the)' mourned him as a
t'riend. The monument erected to the memory of Colonel Lane is
thus described :
"It is an obelisk of ."scotch granite, from the quarries of
Aberdeen, Scotland, resting upon a double base of American
granite, which is eight feet and two inches square. Upon the
first Scotch granite base is the name Lane' in raised, large
block letters. Within the die is a polished panel, upon which
inscriptions are to be carved. On the die, which is bordered
bv- polished columns, are the letters, ' H. S. L.,' forming a
beautiful monogram. The shaft is thirteen feet high, and is
surrounded by a finial, the terminal of which is a polished ball.
The height of the entire structure is thirty-two feet. The
monument weighs forty-five tons. It is a magnificent piece of
workmanship, and is a worthy memorial of the distinguished
man whose resting place it marks."
In October, 183 1, when but twenty years old, Mr. Lane de
livered an address before the Colonization Society in Bath
county, Kentucky, which proves him to hav-e been opposed to
slavery in his youth. In his speech he said: " This society
presents the only- plausible way of removing the evil of slavery
from this country." He was not an abolitionist, but a coloniza-
tionist. In this respect he was like Heniy Clay, at whose po
litical shrine he vvas a worshiper. He also declared that "The
history of all times admonishes us that no nation or communit)-
of men can be kept in slavery forever ; that no power earthlv'
can bind the immortal energies of the human soul ; and how-
ev^er unpleasant the reflection may be, it is nevertheless true
that we must free our slaves, or they will one day free them
selves. Perhaps they may- soon rise in their might and majesty
of freemen and cast their broken chains at their feet with a
mighty effort, which will shake this republic to its center. The
light of history shows us that men determined to be free can
not be conquered." The speaker lived to see the negro free
and enfranchised, buf'the work was not accomplished by the

128 HISTORICAL .¦V.ND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Colonization Society. The great evil of human slavery could
only be destroyed by the sword.
While Colonel Lane was an anti-slavery raan, he did not,
until after the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, favor anti-
slavery agitation. In 1842, when in Congress, he voted to cen
sure Joshua R. Giddings for introducing his celebrated resolu
tions in the Creole case. The passage of the vote of censure
on Mr. Giddings caused the sturdy old abolitionist to resign his
seat and appeal to his constituents for vindication.
Colonel Lane became popular at a time when the world was
in love with his peculiar oratory. He abounded in anecdote,
was very felicitous in illustrations, and extremely happy in his
applications of thera. He spoke easily and fluently, and there
was a peculiar charm in his delivery. He could enthuse a
crowd as but few other men could do ; but he w-as not a logical
speaker, and as a debater he was excelled by many of far less
reputation as an orator than he. While in the United States
Senate he seldom said a word. The debates of that body were
not suited to one of his type, and, as a consequence, he seldom
or never participated in them. On the hustings he vvas the
equal of any man who sat in the Senate with him, but he felt
his deficiencies as a Senator, and when his term expired refused
to be a candidate for re-election. But in a canvass before the
people he was superb. We never had a raan in Indiana who
excelled hira in this re.spect, and but few who equaled him.
While mingling among the people, addressing them from the
stump, he felt his power, and was at home. He could then say,
without the semblance of egotism, "My foot is on my native
heath, and my name is Macgregor." It may tnilv be said of
Colonel Lane that " He was not analytical or philosophical.
He rarely attempted to make a speech instructive to the unin- .
formed or convincing to the undetermined. His mission, fixed
by the character of his intellect and the intensity of his feelings,
was rather to stir men up to act, to give them impidse and mo
tive, than to arm them for controversy or determine the direction
of their action."
Colonel Lane vvas a speaker, not a writer. He wi-ote nothing,
unless it were a letter, or a paper designed for use at the time.
lie never wrote his speeches, and did not care whether they

HKNRY S.Virril L.VNK. 1 29
were published or not. He made them to inlluence those who
heard them, and not those who vvere to come after him.
Colonel Lane vvas a member of the Methodist church, and
vvas a God-learing man. He vvas a gentleman, a patriot and a
Christian, and vvas esteemed as such by those who knew him.
In person Colonel Lane was tall and slender and somewhat
stoop-shouldered. His face was thin and wore a kindly ex
pression. In his latter days the long beard he wore vvas as
white as snow. He moved quickl)-, and his bearing was that
of a cultured man. " Xiine knew him but lo love him,
Xuiir named him but to prai-^i-.''

OLIVER P. MORTON.

Fully realizing the difficulty before me I comraence this
sketch of Oliver P. Morton. Sufficient time has not elapsed
since he was a leading factor in the poHtics of the country for
him to be correctl)- weighed and judged. He held high offi
cial positions and great power during a great civil war, a war
that fanned the passions of the people to the fiercest heat. By
many he was considered little less than a god, by some as little
better than a devil. History will accord him the place of a man
who accomplished great results ; of a man of strong will and
passions ; of intense love of country and of great intellect. He
had the weaknesses inherent in mankind, but his great deeds
obscured thera, and he will go down to future ages as the
foremost man Indiana has yet produced.
Oliver Perry Morton, the War Governor of Indiana, was
born in Saulsbury, Wayne cOunty, Indiana, August 4, 1823.
The original name of his family, which vvas of English origin,
was Throckmorton, but the last meraber to so write it was his
grandfather. The father of the late Governor left oft'" Throck "
frora the family name, writing it "Morton," which example
was followed by his children. He called the boy Oliver Hazard
Perry, but when the future statesman reached an age when he
could determine for himself he eliminated Hazard from his
name. When Oliver vvas a boy he attended the academy of Prof.
Hoshour at Centerville, but the family being poor he vvas
placed, at the age of fifteen, vvith an older brother to learn the
hatter's trade. He worked some four years at this business,
and I doubt not became proficient in his cafling, for he always

y^y-rr^ ./^ /^^^v

oLiyi-:K p. MoR'i'ON.

inastered anything he undertook. Concluding that the hatter's
business did not suit him he resolved to abandon it and qualifv
himself for the profession of the law. With this object in view
he entered Miami University in 1S43, and remained there a
couple of years. He then returned to Centerville and com
menced the study of the law vvith the late Judge Newman. He
soon secured a good practice and rose to prominence at the bar.
In 1852 he was elected Circuit Judge. He served on the bench
about a year, w hen, preferring the practice to judicial service,
he resigned. He then attended a law school at Cincinnati for
one term, and resumed his legal practice.
Up to this time Judge Morton had been a Democrat. The
county in which he lived vvas largely Whig, thus virtually pre
cluding him from holding elective offices. Had he been in
political accord vvith the majority in his county he woidd, no
doubt, have become prominent in the politics of the State at an
earlier day than he did. But in 1854 politics underwent a change
that brought him to the front. The repeal of the Missouri Com
promise created a rebellion in the Democratic party, and Judge
Morton became a political rebel. He entered the " People's"
movement in 1854, ^"^ in 1856 became one of the creators of
the Republican party. He was a delegate to the Pittsburgh
convention of that v-ear, a convention that gave the Republican
party- form and shape, and breathed into its nostrils the breath
of life. His prominence was such that in May, 1856, he was
unanimously nominated for Governor of the State. His op
ponent was Ashbel P. Willard, a brilliant man, and the superior
of Morton as a stumper, but greatly his inferior as a logician
and a debater. Both the candidates were young and able.
They canvassed the State together and drew immense crowds
of people to hear them. The speeches of Willard were florid
and spirit-stirring, those of Morton plain and convincing. He
made no effort to be eloquent or witty, but addressed himself
to the reason and conscience of his hearers. Although he was
beaten at the polls, he came out of the contest vvith his popu
larity increased and with the reputation of being intellectually
one of the strongest men in the State.
The defeat of Judge Morton for Governor in 1856 had a de
pressing effect upon hira, as, indeed, did all his defeats. Mr.

132 BIOGR.\l'niCAI> AND HIS-PORICAL SKETCHES.
Murat Halstead, of Cincinnati, gives this account of a meeting
between hira and Judge Morton :
"The night after the day when he was beaten by Willard for
Governor of Indiana, Morton called at my office, and was weary
and depressed. His first State campaign had ended in disaster,
and he seemed to have no political future. He was himself of
the opinion at the time that that was the end of his career as a
politician. Could he have looked ten years ahead he would
have beheld himself a leading man of the country."
In i860 Judge Morton was nominated for Lieutenant-Governor
of Indiana on the ticket with Henry S. Lane. Colonel Lane
was a more popular orator than Judge Morton, but far behind
him in executive ability. Both were able, and they had able
men to contend with. Judge Morton's opponent was David
Turpie, afterward a United States Senator, and one of the
strongest writers and debaters in the State. They made a joint
canvass, and ably discussed the issues then before the countr}-.
The election resulted in the choice of Lane and Morton, and
when the Legislature convened in January, i86i,the latter was
duly inaugurated Lieutenant-Governor of the State. Two days
afterward Governor Lane was elected to the United States Sen
ate, and resigned the governorship, whereupon Lieutenant-
Governor Morton became Gov^ernor. It was while filling this
term as Governor that Morton did his best public work, and
created for himself a fame as lasting as the State itself. A civil
war was about breaking out when he became Governor, and
few so well comprehended what would be its magnitude as he.
While raany believed the trouble would pass away without an
armed conflict, and that if one did commence it would be of
short duration. Governor Morton plainly saw its coming, and
knew it would be one of the hardest fought and bloodiest con
tests the world ever saw. Many of Gov-ernor Morton's part)'
friends, and among them Governor Lane, had favored conces
sions to the South before hostilities began ; but not so Governor
Morton. The onl)- compromise he had to oft'er the South vvas
absolute obedience to the laws of the land. He opposed the
scheme of a peace congress, and when the Legislature passed
a joint resolution providing for the appointment of peace com-

OLIVER P. MORTON. 13^
missioners, he selected men who vvere publicly known lo be
opposed to anv compromise or concessions. lie commenced
preparing for the conflict that he knew vvas coming, and when
Beauregard fired on Sumter, April 12, 1861, the Governor of
Indiana was neither surprised nor appalled. On the 15th of
April, three days after the attack on Sumter, President Lincoln
called for seventy-five thousand men to put down the rebellion.
The same day Governor Morton telegraphed him as follows :
" Indlvnapolis, April 15, 1861.
-•To Abraha/n Lincoln, President of the U//itcd States:
" On behalf of the State of Indiana, I tender to you for the
defense of the nation, and to uphold the authority of the gov
ernment, ten thousand men. Oliver P. Morton,
" Govcr//or of Indiana."
In seven days from the date of this oft'er, over three times the
number of men required to fill Indiana's quota of the President's
call offered their services to the government. The struggle
vvas to get into the army, not to keep out of it. Never, in the
world's history, did the people of a State respond more cheer
fully and more enthusiastically to the call of dut)- than did the
freemen of Indiana in the spring of 1861.
On the 24th of April Governor Morton reconvened the Leg
islature, which had adjourned a short time before. In his raes-
sage to that body he particularly^ described the condition of
public aft'airs and asked that one raillion of dollars be appropri
ated to meet the emergencies of the occasion. At this special
session there was little or no division among the members upon
the subject of the war. They voted a loan of two millions, pro
vided for all needful supplies, and sustained the Governor in his
efforts to put Indiana in the fore-front in the war for the Union.
It vvas only when the war pointed to the abolition of negro
slav-ery that division among the people of Indiana began.
There is not room in a sketch like this to go into the details
of Governor Morton's public acts. He displayed extraordinary
industry and ability in putting troops into the field, and in pro
viding for their needs while there. He never tired in working

134 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
for their comfort, and his efforts in their behalf justly earned
hira the title of " The Soldiers' Friend."
The Legislature of 1862 was not in accord with the political
opinions of Governor Morton. It refused to receive his mes
sage, and in other ways treated him with want of consideration
and respect. While a bill was pending in the House to take
from the Governor the command of the militia and give it to a
board composed of State officers, his friends in that body left
the capital and went to Madison. The Legislature was thus
broken up before the appropriation bills had passed, and the
Executive was left without money to run the government. In
this emergency he applied to certain county boards and banks
for funds to defray the expenses of the State government. Large
amounts were furnished him, but not enough to answer his pur
pose ; so he went to Washington and obtained from the national
government a quarter million of dollars. He established a Bu
reau of Finance and appointed General W. H. H. Terrell his
financial secretary. This bureau was created in April, 1863,
and continued in existence until January, 1865. During the
intervening time all the disbursements on account of the ex
penses of the State, except salaries, vvere made by this bureau.
It received a total of 5111,026,321.31, every cent of which was
properly accounted for. Its ci'eation vvas without authority ot
law, but it served a necessary purpose, and was in consonance
with many things done during these troublous and exciting
times. I know of no parallel to this action of Governor ]Morton
in the history of the country. He ran, for many months, the
State government outside of legal channels, but he ran it so
honestly and well that the people not only excused the act, but
applauded it. By assuming great responsibilities he kept the
machinery of the State government smoothly in motion in all
of its departments, and preserved the financial credit of the
commonwealth by securing an advance of about 1600,000 through
a New York banking house to pav- the interest on the pubhc
debt. In 1864 Governor Morton vvas again nominated for Governor
of Indiana, and this tirae was elected, defeating his opponent,
Hon. Joseph E. McDonald, by a raajority- of 20,883 votes. He
and Mr. McDonald made a joint canvass of the State, and

OLIYKK P. VIOR'rON. 135
passed through it vvith the utmost good leehng. Although
standard-bearers of their respective parties, during one of the
most exciting canvasses ever made, nothing occurred to mar
the personal friendship long existing between them. This
friendship continued while Governor Morton lived. After he
had been prostrated by disease, and, indeed, was on his death
bed, Mr. McDonald, then his colleague in the Senate, visited
him and assured him that should he be unable to attend the next
session of the Senate, without injury to his health, he, Mr.
McDonald, would pair with him upon all political questions.
For this generous offer Senator McDonald was severely criti
cised by the Democratic press at the time, but, nevertheless, it
detracted nothing from his popularity, but rather added to it.
In t'ne summer of 1865 Governor Morton received a partial
paralytic stroke, from which he never recovered. The disease
struck the lower part of his body, affecting his limbs to that
extent that he never walked afterward without the assistance of
canes. At this time he was in the prime of Hfe, with great
physical and raental vigor. His mind was in no wise affected
by the shock, but continued to grow stronger while he lived.
In December following this attack of paralysis Governor Morton
turned over the executive departraent of the State to Lieuten
ant-Governor Baker and vvent to Europe. While there he re
ceived medical attention from the most eminent specialist in the
treatment of nervous diseases on the continent, but although
the treatment benefited him, it did not restore him to health.
He remained in Europe until the next March, and then returned
home and resumed his official duties.
In January, 1867, Governor Morton was elected to the United
States Senate. He resigned the governorship and was suc
ceeded by the Lieutenant-Governor, Conrad Baker, who served
the remainder of the gubernatorial term. In 1873 Mr. Morton
was re-elected to the .Senate and continued a member of that
body while he lived.
In the Senate Mr. Morton ranked among its ablest mem
bers. As a party leader he stood like Saul, the son of Kish,
among his fellows. He was chairman of the Committee of
Privfleges and Elections, and did more to determine the poHcy

136 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
of the Senate, and of the Republican party of the country, upon
political questions, than any other raember of that body.
Mr. Morton served in the Senate during a most exciting and
troublous time. It was while he was there that the question of
reconstruction of the rebellious States was before the country.
He supported the most repressive and radical measures affect
ing these States and their inhabitants, treating -them as con
quered provinces subject to rehabilitation by Congress. He
favored the irapeachraent of President Johnson on account of
his differences with Congress upon the reconstruction question,
and when the irapeachraent failed none regretted it more than he.
In 1874 Senator Morton voted for the inflation bill vetoed by
President Grant, and the next year he supported the redemption
act. He opposed the electoral commission bill of 1877, holding
that the President of the Senate had the right to open and count
the votes. But when Congress passed the act he accepted a
place upon the commission and voted against going behind the
returns as certified to the Senate. In a speech delivered at
Richmond, Indiana, in the summer of 1865, he argued against
conferring upon negroes the right to vote, and soon afterward
became a champion of negro suft'rage. Once, after making a
speech in the Senate in its favor, he was twitted by Senator
Doolittle with inconsistency, and replied as follows :
" I confess, and I do it without shame, that I have been
educated by the great events of the vv-ar. The American peo
ple have been educated rapidly ; and the man who says he has
learned nothing, that he stands now where he did six years ago,
is like an ancient raile-post by the side of a deserted highway."
In the spring of 1877 Senator Morton vvent to Oregon as
chairman of a Senate coramittee, to inv^estigate matters con
nected with the election of Senator Grover of that State. His
associates on the committee were Senators Saulsbury, of Dela
ware, and McMillen, of Minnesota. The committee sat eighteen
days and took a large araount of testiraonv, which was subse
quently submitted to Congress. While in Oregon, Senator
Morton delivered a political speech at Salem, the last speech
he ever made. It vvas characteristic of the man, being strong,
logical, and exceedingly hostile to the South. On his way

t)LIVKR P. MUR-rON. 1 37
home from Oregon he stopped awhile at San Francisco for
rest. On the evening of the sixth of August, being still in that
city, he ate a hearty supper and retired to rest. He awoke in
the night and found his left side paralyzed. The next day he
started home in a special car, and was met by his brother-in-law,
Colonel Holloway, at Cheyenne, and by his family physician,
Dr, Thompson, at Peoria. These gentlemen accompanied him
to Richmond. Indiana, when he vvas taken to the residence of
Mrs. Burbank. his mother-in-law\ He reraained there until
October 15, when he vvas reraoved to his home in Indianapolis.
There, surrounded by his wife and children and intiraate
friends, he remained until Thursday. Nov-eraber i, 1877, when
the end came.
After his paralytic stroke in 1865, Senator Morton always sat
while making a speech. As he was never profuse in gestures,
the unusual postiire did not militate against the eft'ectiveness of
his addresses. In the Senate he had a " rest" to support him
while standing, but he vv as never long upon his feet, always
conducting his debates and making his set speeches sitting in
his chair.
In 1870 President Grant oft'ered Senator Morton the English
mission. It was declined for the reason that should he resign
his seat in the Senate, a Democrat would be elected in his place.
He was too good a party man to accept office at the expense of
his partv% and besides, I doubt not, his work in the Senate was
more congenial to his tastes than the negotiation of treaties.
His nature was to reach his ends in a straightforward way, and
not by the tortuous road of diplomacy.
During the tirae Senator Morton lay sick nigh unto death
the interest of the people in his condition was intense. The
great newspapers sent special correspondents to IndianapoHs
to keep them advised of his pulse-beats. Bulletins were issued
every hour, which vvere telegraphed over the country and posted
at the newspaper offices. Previous to that time the health of no
public man had created so much concern araong the people.
The death of no man, with the exception of that of President
Lincoln, ever created so much grief in Indiana as did that of
Senator Morton. At Indianapolis, gloom hung over the city
like a pall. Bells were tolled, and pubhc and private buildings

138 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
were draped in mourning. Men walked the streets with sad
dened faces and measured footsteps. The city legislature met,
passed suitable resolutions and appropriated raoney to defray
the expenses of the city government in attending the funeral.
Nor were the manifestations of grief confined to Indiana. The
President of the United States issued an order directing the
flags on all the public buildings to be placed at half-mast. He
also ordered that the government departments should close on
the day of the funeral. The city council of Cincinnati, which
had previously placed a portrait of Senator Morton in its hall,
met and appointed a comraittee to go to Indianapolis to attend
his funeral.
The remains of the great Senator were taken from the fam
ily residence to the Court-house, where they lay in state during
the Sunday and part of Monday succeeding his death. They
were then conveyed to Roberts Park Church, where the funeral
exercises were conducted, and thence to Crown Hill Cemetery,
where they were placed in a vault, and afterwards buried on
the spot where he stood on Soldiers' Decoration or Memorial
Day, in May, 1876, when delivering his great speech to the peo
ple there assembled. The procession, which followed the re
mains to Crown Hill was an immense one, and was under the
command of General Lew Wallace, as chief marshal, who
ably directed its movements.
Never before did so many distinguished men attend the fu
neral of a citizen of Indiana. A son of the President of the
United States, two cabinet ministers, six United States Sen
ators, seven members of the national House of Representatives,
besides other men eminent in the poHtics and legislation of the
country, were present, as weH as thousands of people from aU
parts of Indiana and from other States of the Union.
The day after Senator Morton died his colleague. Senator
McDonald, announced the fact in the Senate, whereupon the
Vice President appointed Senators McDonald, Davis of IlHnois,
Burnside, Bayard, Cameron of Pennsylv^ania, and Booth, a
committee to attend the funeral on behalf of the Senate.
On the 17th of the next January Mr. McDonald oft'ered in
the Senate a series of resolutions in relation to Senator Morton's

OLIVI-.R P. VIOR'rON. 139
death, which vvas unanimously adopted. In speaking to these
resolutions, Senator McDonald said :
" Naturall)' combative and aggressive, intensely in earnest in
his undertakings, and intolerant in regard to those who dift'ered
vvith him, it is not strange that while he held together his friends
and followers vvith hooks of steel, he caused many whose pat
riotism and love of country were as sincere and unquestioned
as his own to place themselves in political hostility to him.
That Oliver P. Morton vvas a great man is conceded by all. In
regard to his qualities as a statesman, raen do differ now and
always will. But that he was a great partisan leader — the
greatest of his day and generation — will hardh' be questioned,
and his place in that particular field will not, perhaps, be soon
supplied." Senator Edmunds said :
•'He was a man of strong passions and great talents, and
was, as a consequence, a devoted partisan. In the fields in
which his patriotism was exerted, it may be said of him, as it
vvas of the Knights of Saint John in the hoi)' wars : ' In the
fore-front of everv- battle was seen his burnished raail, and in
the gloomy rear of every retreat was heard his voice of con
stancy and courage.' "
Senator Thurman said of him :
" He evaded no duty however onerous ; he asserted his claim
to leadership at all times and under all circumstances, however
great might be the sacrifice of comfort, repose or health."
Senator Conkling paid this eloquent tribute to his memory:
•¦As a party leader he was too great for any party or any
State readily to supply his place. As an efficient, vigilant, and
able representative he had no superior in either House of Con
gress. Oppressed and crippled by bodily infirmity, his mind
never faltered or flagged. Despite pain and sickness, so long
as he could be carried to his seat he vvas never absent from the
Senate or the committee. No labor discouraged him, no con-

140 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
tingency appalled him, no disadvantage disraayed him, no de
feat disheartened him. He will go down to a far hereafter, not
as one who embellished and perpetuated his name by a studied
and scholastic use of words, nor as the herald of resounding
theories, but rather as one who day by day on the journey of
life met actual affairs and realities and grappled them with a
grasp too resolute and quick to loiter for the ornament or the
advantage of protracted and tranquil meditation."
Senator Burnside said :
"Morton was a great man. His judgment was good; his
power of research was great, his integrity was high, his patri
otism was lofty, his love of family and friends unlimited, his
courage indomitable."
The closing speech in the Senate upon the adoption of the
resolutions was made by Mr. Voorhees, Mr. Morton's successor.
In it Mr. Voorhees said :
" Senator Morton was, without a doubt, a very remarkable
man. His force of character can not be overestimated. His will
power was siraply treraendous. He threw himself into all his
undertakings with that fixedness of purpose and disregard of
obstacles which are always the best guarantees of success. This
was true of him whether engaged in a lawsuit, organizing troops
during the war, conducting a political campaign or a debate
in the Senate. The sarae daring, aggressive polic)'- character
ized his conduct everywhere."
At the close of his speech Senator Voorhees moved the adop
tion of the resolutions, and they vvere unanimously agreed to
by the Senate. Similar resolutions passed the House of Rep
resentatives, and eulogies vvere delivered upon the dead Sen
ator by several of the people's representatives. One of the
best and most just estimates of Senator Morton is the following,
taken from an address delivered by ex-Governor Hendricks
before the Central Law School of Indiana. Governor Hen
dricks said :
" Governor Morton was not what is called a ready speaker,
in the sense of speaking upon the spur of the moment. He

OLIVER P. MORTON.

141

was one who became read)- by careful forethought and prepar
ation. The order of arrangement received great care. The
positions followed one after another in adroit sequence, with
studied eft'ort, to the close. The matter was carefully chosen
and considered. The manner or style did not share the same
attention. His sentences were not always smooth, sometimes,
indeed, rough, but alvva)'s strong and forcible. Sometimes a
passage occurred, as if not noticed by himself, of almost classic
force and beauty. His voice vvas clear and strong, his gesture
heavy and not frequent, and his utterance deliberate and dis
tinct. As he spoke the impression was felt that he had other
and further tbrces which he might summon to his aid if needed
either to establish his own position or attack that of his adver
sary. Force vvas the marked quality of his style. He chose-
the shortest, boldest and most direct method both of attack and
defense. When stated, his proposition was understood, and he-
would not delay to repeat it. He lacked the power of persua
sion. It was probably a weakness in the court-house, as it was.
at the head of a political party. In debate he vvas a combatant.
He could not conciliate. The developraent of that quality was-
probably the result of the turbulent times in which he was am
actor." After having quoted so largely from others, it may seem a
work of supererogation for me to attempt an analysis of Senator
Morton's character. But as some of his leading traits have not
been touched upon in the extracts I have given, I will essay the-
task. A prominent characteristic of Senator Morton vvas tenacit)"
of purpose. When he attempted a thing he did it. If he
could not succeed in one way, he would in another. He never
tired and he never let up. He would abandon a position at
once, if by so doing he could better succeed in his ultimate^
purposes. But he was never conciliatory. If an obstruction
appeared in his pathway and he wanted to continue his journey. •
he would take a club and knock it aside. If, however, he be
lieved it best to retrace his steps and take another path he did
not hesitate to do so. In 1868 he delivered a speech in the
wigwam on the Court-house square, Indianapolis, and replied-

142 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
to the charge of inconsistency made against him by Gov ernor
Hendricks two nights before, by confessing that his course was
inconsistent with the sentiments of his Richmond speech, but
declared it to be " consistent with the logic of events." Most
men would have hunted evidence to defend their consistency,
but he admitted the contrariety of his public life upon the negro
question, and justified it.
Another marked trait in Senator Morton's character was fore
sight or looking ahead for what was coming. The author had
¦opportunities for observing this characteristic of the Senator
during a trip they took together in 1865. At that time travel
was so great that seats in railroad cars were hard to get, and
sleeping-car accommodations only secured by industry and fore-
.sight. In these matters he succeeded because he was always
in advance of others. At Harrisburg, where we had missed
connection with the train from Philadelphia, and were compelled
to lie over until the next one arrived, the Senator had an oppor
tunity of exemplifying the trait I have named. On the arrival
of the Philadelphia train it was observed that it was full to over
flowing. There was not a vacant seat in it, and the effort to
secure one was hopeless. While taking, in the situation, the
Senator observed a passenger car attached to an engine on a
side track some distance from the depot, and saying, " That car
will be added to the train," broke and ran for it. He boarded
it and secured the most comfortable seat in it for himself and
the author. When the car vvas attached to the train and the
crowd entered it, it found hira seated and at his ease. When
we reached Pittsburg he gave another evidence of his care and
forethought. No one was permitted to pass the gate that leads
to the western bound train without exhibiting a ticket. Before
we reached the Pittsburg depot Senator Morton had selected
a Pan-Handle pass from among many others, and, holding it
in his hand he took a position on the steps of the car, and at
the earliest possible moment sprang from it and rushed to the
gate. He was the first to pass its portals, and when the author,
who was among the first to follow him, entered the sleeping car,
he found that the Senator had secured berths for both.
Senator Morton was well versed in the sciences. He knew
as much of geology as some who make it a study, and he knew

OLI\-ER P. MORTON.

H.?

more of theology than many whose province is to teach it. He
vvas familiar vvith all creeds, and knew the arguments that best
sustained them. He was particularly conversant with those
which infidels use against Christianit)-, and could designate the
strongest points as readily as he could the weakest of an oppo
nent in a political debate.
But it was as a politician and statesman that he made his
great reputation, and no estimate of his character would be at
all complete without weighing and considering his political ac
tions. As Governor of Indiana Senator Morton displayed wonder
ful energy, tact and forethought. He distanced all contempo-
rar}- Governors in putting troops into the field, and excelled
all in providing for their wants while there. His best clairas
to fame rest upon his administration of the office of Governor.
In that office he showed remarkable powers of organization and
ability to use that organization to accomplish his purposes. In
these respects he had no peer in the Union.
While having charity for the masses of the South who went
into the rebellion. Senator Morton hated their leaders with in
tense hate. The last public letter he wrote and the last public
speech he made showed that his animosities toward them were
neither allayed nor placated. They were rather intensified by
the fact that the policy he had advocated was being abandoned
and the people of the South were being restored to self-govern
ment. He seemed to forget that the war was ended and the
country at peace. He wanted a policy continued which might
be justified by the exigencies of war, but which was without
defense in time of peace. In these extreme views he was not
sustained by the country, nor even by his party. This was
evinced by the vote he received at Cincinnati in 1876. Al
though the ablest man in his party, and confessedly the best or
ganizer and leader it contained, he received but a single North
ern vote for the nomination for President except those cast by
the delegates from his own State. His main support came from
the extreme South, and was rendered b}rmen who did not rep
resent the people of that section. They were mostiy negroes
lately freed from slavery. Northern raen who had gone South

144 BIOGR-\PHICAL .VND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
for pelf and personal aggrandizement, and Southern men who
had separated themselves from the masses of their section.
It is greatiy to the honor of Senator Morton that, living and
holding office during an era of venality and corruption, he kept
his hands clean. With opportunities to enrich himself pos
sessed by few, he contented himself with a moderate compe
tency, and illustrated by the simplicity of his habits the princi
ples of the democracy he professed. If he had vices cupidity
was not one of them.
Senator Morton was not what is called a society man. After
he entered politics he became so much absorbed that he had
but little time for social gayeties and pleasures. But he was a
family man, of domestic habits and tastes, passionately loving
his wife and children and spending his happiest hours in their
society. The State pride of Senator Morton was intense. Indiana
had been a butt for the ridicule of men for years who knew but
little about her, and he determined to raise her to a plane where
she could be ridiculed no longer. And he did it. In the great
civil war, which tried the mettle and patriotism of the people,
Indiana came, under his guidance, to the front, yea, to the fore
front of the line. Senator Morton was an untiring worker, but he
had no taste for the drudgery of details. He left this to others,
and was very careful who they were. His brother-in-law,
Colonel W. R. Holloway, and General W. H. H. Terrell vvere
his most trusted lieutenants, and rendered him services of incal
culable value. Senator Morton was not a member of any
church, but he was a believer in the Christian Teligion. In a
letter to a friend, written from New York on the eve of his de
parture for Europe, in 1865, he said :
"You are right when you say you believe that I deeply ap
preciate the prayers which have been oft'ered up by the praying-
friends whom I have, left behind me. I am no infidel. I was
educated by pious grandparents to a professed belief in Chris
tianity, and taught tofeverence holy things ; and though I ma)'
not, in many things, have led a Christian life, yet I have never
fallen into disbelief, nor have I been the immoral man some
would have the world to believe. The Christian gentleman is

OLIVER P. VI ORTON.

H5

the noblest and loveliest character on earth, for which I enter
tain the highest respect and love. I recognize the hand of
Providence in all the aft'airs of man, and believe there is a di
vine economy which regulates the lives and conduct of nations."
These are not the sentiments of a scoft'er, nor of an unbeliever.
The mind of Senator Morton vvas massive and logical. He
possessed the faculty of getting at the "bottom facts," and of
weighing them with deliberation and judgment. He was never
superficial in the examination or treatment of a subject. His
comprehension vvas broad and far-reaching, his perception acute
and penetrating, enabling hira, with singular clearness, to pre
sent his opinions and arguraents in a convincing and raasterly
manner. As a legislator it can be said of Senator Morton that he orig
inated and accomplished much. He introduced many impor
tant measures and followed them up with persistent advocacv-
until they were disposed of. Many of them passed and became
laws. He showed large capacity and fertile expediency as a
law-maker, and as a party man never lost sight of the important
bearing congressional action would have on the success of his
part}-. And thus it vvas that he always took a leading part in
such legislation as affected the political destiny of the organiza
tion to which he belonged. He was quick to observe the strong
points of political advantage and the weak points in the record
and programme of his opponents. These he pressed with a
vigorous industry, scarcely equaled in Senatorial annals. He
was far-seeing in the political future, full of well-defined ex
pedients, comprehending, as if by intuition, the political situa
tion, and was undoubtedly the most aggressive, bold and clear
headed Republican politician of his time.
A statue of Senator Morton has been made and will soon be
placed in one of the public parks at Indianapolis. It is of
bronze, is of life size, and represents the distinguished states
man in a standing posture. It was executed by Francis Sim
mons, an American artist residing in Rome. He made the
statue of William King, contributed by Maine to the collection
in the national capitol. He also designed the army and navy
IO

146 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
monument at Washington, and is known throughout the civil
ized world as a man eminent in his profession. Although the
remains of Governor Morton were buried at Crown Hill, near
Indianapolis, the statue of him will be placed in the heart of the
city. It will stand where visitors to the State's capital can see
the form and lineaments of the great War Governor, and be re
minded of his public work and patriotism. The money which
is]^to pay for this monument was contributed by a generous pub
lic ; therefore the monument will be an acknowledgment of the
people's love and veneration for the man whose memory it was
erected to perpetuate, and who was Indiana's most distin
guished son.

JAMES D. WILLIAMS.

In a book entitled '¦ Eminent and Self-Made Men of Indiana,"
published at Cincinnati, by the Western Biographical Publish
ing Company, is the following monograph of the late Governor
Williams, written by the author of these sketches :
James Douglas Williams, Governor of Indiana, is a type of
the Western pioneer novv seldom seen east of the Mississippi
river. Born in Pickaway couptv', Ohio, January i6, 1808, he
moved with his father's family to Indiana in 1818, and settled
in Knox county, near the historic city of Vincennes. He grew^
to manhood there, and there remained until January, 1877,
when he came to the capital of Indiana to take the reins of the
State government, at the coraraand of over 200,000 American
freemen. When Governor Williams arrived in Indiana, and for many
years afterward, the State vvas sparsely populated. In many parts
of it there were no white raen or women, and where there were
white settlements dwelling houses vv ere far apart, and commu
nication with the outside vvorld difficult and unfrequent. There
fore, it was hard to establish and maintain schools and churches,
and the newspaper was an unusual visitor at the fireside of the
pioneer. It was under such circumstances as these that Gov
ernor Williams grew to manhood and entered upon the duties
of life. The little schooling he received was obtained in the
log school-house, at times when his services could be spared
from the farm. But, if the advantages of the school-room were
measurably denied him, he was somewhat compensated for their
loss by mingling with the best people in his settlement, and
learning from them something of the outside world. Therefore,

148 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
when he reached his majority he was unusually well versed,
for one in his circumstances, in the news of that day and the
history of the past. Added to this, he had a well-knit, hardy
frame, was supple and agile in his movements, and, taken all
in all, was the most promising young raan in the settlement.
He could make a full hand at the plow, in the harvest-field, or
at the log-rolling, and was known throughout the neighborhood
as a young man of industrious habits and of more than ordinary
culture. When Governor Williams was twenty years of age his father
died. Being the oldest of six children, the care of the family
devolved on him. He accepted this responsibility and acquitted
himself well, as he has always done when charged with impor
tant duties. Three years afterward, at the age of tvs'enty-three,
he raarried Nancy Huffraan, who lived until this year to bless
and comfort him in his declining years. By her he has had
seven children, two of whom only are living. His wife, like the
mistress of the Hermitage, was wedded to her cpunti-y home,
and throughout his long life, most of which has been spent in
the public service, has remained on his farm and participated in
its management. Her death occurred June 27, 1880.
Governor Williams entered public life in 1839, ^^ ^ justice of
the peace. For four years he held this office and decided the
controversies and adjusted the difficulties of his neighbors with
great judicial fairness. His decisions were sometimes dissented
from, but in no case were corrupt motives imputed to him. His
neighbors knew his integrity, and while they sometimes criti
cised his conclusions they never impugned the motives by which
he reached them. In 1843 he resigned his office of justice of
the peace, and the same year was elected to the lower branch
of the State Legislature. From that time until 1874, when he
was elected to the national Congress, he was almost continu
ously in the legislative service of the State, sometimes in the
House of Representatives, and then in the Senate. A history
of his legislative work would be a histor)- of the legislation of
Indiana from 1843 to 1874. No man in the State has been so
long in public Hfe as he, and no one has more faithfully served
the people. Fle is identified vvith most of the important meas
ures of legislation during this tirae, and is the author of many

J.VVn-;s O. WILLIAMS. 149
of them. It is to him that the widows of Indiana are indebted
t'or the law which allows them ti) hold, without administration,
the estates of their deceased husbands, when they do not ex
ceed three hundred dollars in value. He is the author of the
law which distributed the sinking fund araong the counties of
the State : and to him more than to any other man, vvith proba
bly the exception of the late Governor Wright, are the people
indebted for the establishment of the State Board of Agricul
ture, an institution that has done so much to foster and develop
the agricultural interests of Indiana. He was for sixteen years a
member of this Board, and for four of them was its President.
During his management of its affairs it was a self-supporting
institution, and, besides, it accumulated an extensive and valu
able property during the time he vvas at its head. It has hap
pened, since he ceased to control its direction, that its finances
have become so disordered that to preserve its existence the
Legislature of the State has been compelled to take from the
public treasury large sums of money and bestow them upon the
society. It is safe to say that had he continued at its head no
such necessity would have arisen.
In 1872 Governor Williams was the nominee of the Demo
cratic members of the Legislature for United States Senator,
but his party being in the minority he was defeated for the
office by the late Senator Morton. In 1874 Governor Williams
was elected to Congress frora the Vincennes district, and took
his seat the ensuing fall. He was made chairman of the Com
mittee on Accounts of the House. Abuses had crept into this
branch of the public service. Officers and employes acted upon
the theory that "Uncle Sam" was a rich goose, from which
every one had the right to pluck a quill. He soon taught them
that public property was as sacred as private property, and that
no one had a right to its use without rendering an equivalent.
This brought upon him the maledictions of those who hover
about the capital to fatten upon the rich pickings there to be
found ; but it endeared him to those whose money supplies
them. It was while at his post at Washington, attending to his
public duties, that a telegram was handed him announcing his
nomination for Governor of Indiana by the Democratic conven
tion of that State. He had not been a candidate for the place.

150 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
and was as much surprised as any one when informed that the
nomination had been made.
The campaign of 1876 in Indiana was a memorable one. It
never had its counterpart in this country, except in 1858, when
Douglas and Lincoln, in Illinois, contested for the Presidential
stakes in i860. Senator Morton announced early in the can
vass, in a speech he delivered in the Academy of Music in In
dianapolis, that the election of Williams as Governor meant
the election of Tilden as President. Events proved the truth
of the Senator's declaration ; for neither the decision of the
electoral comraission nor the legerdemain practiced by the re
turning boards can obscure the fact that the United States
voted in November as Indiana did in October. Hendricks and
McDonald, Landers and Gooding, Voorhees and Williams, and
many other able raen, entered the fight as champions of the
Democracy ; while Morton and Harrison, Cumback and But
ler, Gordon and Nelson, and other raen of prominence and
ability, marshaled the forces of the Republicans. The conflict
was so fierce that it shook the whole country. The Republican
speakers and journals ridiculed the Democratic candidate for
Governor, and raade sport of his horaespun clothes and plain
appearance ; but the Democracy seized upon his peculiarities
and made them watchwords of victory. Blue Jeans clubs v\-ere
formed throughout the State, and the name the Republicans
had given the Democratic candidate in derision vvas accepted
by his friends and raade to do service in his behalf. When the
campaign was ended and the ballots vvere cast and counted, it
was ascertained that the plain and honest old farmer of Knox
had beaten his opponent — General' Benjamin Harrison — over
5,000 votes. The result was as gratifying to his friends as it
could have been to him, for they knew he had never been found
wanting in any place he had been called upon to fill ; and they
felt entire confidence that his legislative and congressional
laurels would not turn to gubernatorial willows. The predeces
sors of Governor Williams for more than two decades have been
eminent men. The three imraediate ones were Morton, Baker,
and Hendricks, the first and the last of whom have national
reputations. While he has not the organizing ability and aggres
siveness of Morton, the reading and legal erudition of Baker,

JAMKS 1). VVILLI.VMS. I5I
nor the elegance and symmetrical development of Hendricks,
he has other qualities as an executive otficer as valuable as
those possessed by any of them. He is careful and painstaking,
and enters into the minutest details of his office ; and he per
forms no official act without thoroughl)- understanding its im
port and eft'ect. He is self-willed and self-reliant, and proba
bly consults fewer persons about his official duties than did any
of his predecessors for a generation.
During his canvass for Governor it was charged by his politi
cal opponents that his selection would place in the executive
chair one who would be influenced and controHed by others, but
experience has proved the falsity of the charge. If any just
criticism can be made upon him in this regard, it is that he has
not sufficiently given his confidence to his friends. Instead of
being swayed to and fro by others, he goes, perhaps, to the
other extreme, and refuses to be influenced by any. Better,
howev-er, be stubborn than fickle, for the first insures stabilit)-
and fixedness of purpose, while the latter always results in un
certainty and doubt.
Governor Williams is economical and simple in his tastes and
habits. By industry and care he has accumulated a handsome
competency, which, no doubt, will increase each succeeding
year of his life. The necessities of his youth caused him to be
careful and saving of his earnings, and he has clung to the hab
its then formed to the present day. He is fond of amusements
and is an adept in social games and pastimes. He frequently
visits the theater, and it is as pleasant as it is coramon to see him
enter a place of public amusement accompanied by his grand
children or some of his country neighbors. He is courteous in
his intercourse with others, is a good conversationalist, and is
never at a loss for words to express his thoughts. He stands
six feet four inches in his boots ; is remarkably straight and erect
for one of his years ; has large hands and feet ; has high cheek
bones ; a long, sharp nose ; twinkling gray eyes ; a clean shaven
face, skirted with whiskers upon his throat, and a head covered
profusely with black hair, in which scarcely a gray filament is
to be seen. His physiognomy denotes industry and shrewdness,
and does not belie the man. He dresses plainly but with scru
pulous neatness. He is a good judge of human nature, and he

152 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
who attempts to deceive or overreach him will have his labor
for his pains. Such is Jaraes D. WilHams, the Centennial Gov
ernor of Indiana.
Governor WilHams wfll retire from his office in January, 1881.
His age is such that it is probable that his pubHc Hfe — forty-two
years in the service of the people — will then be ended. That
he has acquitted himself well in all the positions he filled ; that
he has made the world better by having lived in it, and that he
is entitled to honorable mention in the history of his adopted
State, will be the verdict of the people, when, like Cincinnatus
of old, he lays aside the robes of office and retires to his farm,
there to spend the evening of his life in quietude and rest.

On Saturday evening, October 30, 1880, Governor WilHams
attended the dedication of the dining hall of the House of Re
fuge, at Plainfield. During the dedicatory exercises he was
called out by a toast to " Our present Governor," and responded
in a neat speech of some ten minutes, the last speech he ever
made. He told the boys when they left the House of Refuge
to go into the country, to keep away from towns and cities,
which, he said, were filled with pit-holes and sinks of iniquity.
He declared that he had fully realized this to be ti-ue during the
four years he had lived in a city, and that as soon as his term
as Governor expired he was going back to his farm to stay
while he lived. (Alas ! he was taken there before another put
on his official robes..) That night Governor Williams and the
author slept in the same bed. He was up many- times, a dozen
or more, on account of discharges from the bladder, and next
morning I said to hira that I thought he ought to consult a phy
sician, as he evidently had disease of the kidneys or bladder.
He replied, he thought not, that the trouble was '• a breaking
clown of the fence all along the line." It struck rae at the
tirae that the words were ver)'^ expressive, and they sank deep
into my memory. The illustration vvas drawn from the farm,
a place he never forgot, no matter where he vvas, nor in what
business he was engaged. The next day Governor WilHams,
Governor Baker, Senator Briscoe and myself drove from Plain-
field to Indianapolis in a two-horse carriage. Governor Baker
holding the reins. During most of the trip the conversation ran

J.VVIES n. VVILLI.VMS. I53
upon t'arm-lit'e and its eft'ect upon boys. Both the Governors
expressed great concern about the future of the boys at Plain-
field, and agreed that the farm was the place for them to go
when they left the Reformatory,
On the Tuesda) after the dedication at Plainfield, Governor
Williams walked to the polls and cast his ballot for electors for
President and \'ice-President of the United States. He was
unwell at the time, and after exercising this right of citizenship
he returned to his rooms at the Washington Club House, never
to leave them again. For several days he retained his cheer
fulness and saw those of his friends who called upon him. He
also dispatched such public business as demanded immediate
attention, his last official act being to respite a man sentenced
to be hanged. During his illness he had the best of medical
attention, careful nursing and the presence of several personal
friends, among them Hon. John T. Scott, who remained with
him almost constantly. He continued to grow worse until Sat
urday noon. November 20, when he died.
The news of Go\-ernor Williams's death spread over Indiana
polis with great rapidit}-. In an hour or two flags were placed
at half-mast on all the public buildings, and upon many private
ones. That afternoon a meeting of citizens was held in the
parlors of the Washington Club House to take action in relation
to the Governor's death. A committee was appointed to pre
pare a memorial, and it was determined that the remains should
lie in state at the Court-house at Indianapolis on Monday, on
Tuesday morning be taken to Vincennes, and lie in state at the
Court-house there until that evening, and then be conveyed to
the homestead near Wheatland, and the next day be buried.
On Sunday the remains lay in state in the parlors of the
Washington Club House. On Monday morning they were
taken to the Marion county Court-house and placed on a bier
in the main hall. Thousands of people — white and black —
citizens of IndianapoHs, and citizens from other parts of the
State, passed by the casket and viewed, for the last time, the
face of the farmer Governor. The same day a meeting of the
citizens was held in the Court-house, at which Hon. Joseph E.
McDonald presided and the author of this sketch acted as sec
retary. Hon. Walter Q^ Gresham, Solomon Claypool, Thomas

154 BIOGRAB.HICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
F. Davidson, Augustus N. Martin and William P. Fishback,
the committee appointed the Saturday previous, reported a me
morial, from which I make the following extracts :
" He never lost his fondness for the soil, nor for the men w-ho
till it ; and in the midst of his most pressing official engage
ments it was his wont to seek a respite from public care in the
active raanageraent of his farra at Wheatland. * * * It is
worthy of note and eraphasis that Governor Williams was a
man of singular purity of character. His private and domestic
virtues are attested by all who enjoyed the intimacy of his per
sonal friendship, and his official integrity vvas never blurred by
even an imputation of dishonesty. His conception of official
station was that it was a public trust, to be administered with '
the same care, prudence and frugality which a wise man would
bestow upon his private aft'airs. It is to his honor that at a time
when the tendencies in official station were in the direction of a
lavish and careless expenditure of the public moneys, he used
his influence in Congress to check those tendencies and expose
existing abuses. As Governor he evinced the same watchful
care of the public interests, and, though a warra partisan, no
alleged party necessity, no consideration of personal friendship,
could swerve him from what he- believed to be the path of duty.
**¦**%***
" Measured by the best standards Governor Williams was a
worthy citizen, a faithful public servant, a good man. His vir
tues were many and conspicuous,
" ' ji.nd e'en his failings leaned to virtue's side.' "
Hon. Williara H. Enghsh arose and seconded the adoption of
the raeraorial, and in a very appreciative speech said, among
other things :
"When I say he represented the people, I mean it in the
broadest and best sense, for he was literally of the people, and
always especially devoted to their interests — himself a hard
working tiHer of the soil, a true type of that class of sturdy pio
neers whose stout hearts and strong arms have made Indiana the
great and prosperous State it is to-day. The masses of the peo-

jAvn-;s D. VVILLI.VMS. 155;
pie did honor to themselves in honoring him, for he was their
tnie representative. He vvas not a man learned in the lore of
books — not in one sense a man of culture — but he vvas a man of
most excellent judgment, and his mind vvas well stored with
useful and practical information ; and what is more than all, and
better than all, he was what is said to be God's noblest work,
an honest man."
Ex-Governor Hendricks said :
•• I believe that no man living has served the people of the
State in so many important respects for so long a period, com
mencing, as I perceive by the memorial, in 1839, almost con
tinuously. He vvas a public servant until the day of his death,
more than forty y-ears — not all the time in public service, but for
the greater portion of that period, and what gives emphasis to
this circumstance, is the fact that for the most of the time he
was selected bv- his immediate neighbors, among whom he was
raised, and with whom he had all the relations of life. Such a
man, so indorsed, is worthy of the respect which we pay him
to-day. It is a great loss when such a man dies, and I feel that
the public service sufl'ers in his death. I wish simply, in rising,'
to express my profound regard for his character and for the ex
cellence of his public service."
Hon. Jonathan W. Gordon closed a very eloquent speech, as
follows :
"When a generation of men shall come — as it will come in
the State of Indiana — that will believe that economy will be
subserved by lavish expenditure of money in building a temple
to preserve the memory of the great who have served the peo
ple. Governor Williams's name and memory and face and monu
ment will be entitled to a conspicuous place in that temple."
General Benjamin Harrison, who was Governor WilHams's
opponent in the gubernatorial contest of 1876, paid this gener
ous tribute to the memory of the departed Governor :
"If there were nothing to be said of Governor Williams's
relation to the public affairs of Indiana at all, his life would be

156 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
an honorable and successful one. I have always felt that the
successful pioneer, one of those who pressed toward the edge
of civilization in the early days, and made a successful fight
with the wilderness, and cleared the primitive forest and made
of it a meadow, and of the marsh a dry field, and who built up
around him and for himself and for the family that God gave
him, a competence, elevated them, that that life was an honor
able life and worthy of mention in any assembly. This work
Governor WilHams has done conspicuously."
Ex-Governor Baker said :
" He was not a learned man, but not an uneducated man. I
mean by that, he was a man who knew how to think. He had
learned the art of thinking, but had he been an educated man
he would have been a good lawyer. He had a discriminating.
mind. He was one of the best parliamentarians I ever knew.
Hardly ever making a mistake. He was a man of a strong,
generous, emotional nature. I have seen him on several occa
sions when he could not control his emotions. I was with him a
few weeks ago, at the house of a friend, when some songs of the
little folks touched him so that he filled up and could not speak."
Rev. Dr. Bartlett spoke thus eloquently of Governor Williams :
" Cincinnatus was found at the plow when his promotion
came. Our Governor, we may say, has never left the plow. It
is a credit to the institutions of the country that you can take the
plain workingmen, that you can take the early suffering pioneers,
men who can only make headway by virtues that are rugged
and severe and stern, virtue that labors vvith unremitting toil,
the ingenuity that comes from making much out of little, build
ing your house with a hammer and a saw rather than with the
refined impleraents of a later day,"
On Tuesday, November 23, the remains of Gov-ernor Williams,
accompanied by the State officers and hundreds of leading citi
zens, were taken to Vincennes on a special train. They vvere
met at the Vincennes depot by a committee and taken to the
Court-house, where they la)- in state during the day. The
weather was intensely cold, but, notwithstanding this, thou-

J.VMKS D. VVILLI.VMS. 157
sands of Knox county farmers vvere in \'incennes to take a last
look upon the remains of the man they loved so well. That
evening the corpse vvas taken to the old homestead, and the
next day buried in the cemetery near by.
During the present year. 1883, the t^amily of Governor Wil
liams procured a granite monument and placed it at the head
of his grave. On the 4th of July it was unveiled vvith impos
ing ceremonies in the presence of thousands of his former neigh
bors and friends. Hon. D. W. Voorhees made a very eloquent
address on the occasion, in which he said :
" He lived and died a practical farmer. He knew the labor
ing people better than any other public man Indiana ever pro
duced. He vvas bom in their ranks and remained there to the
end. He vvas at home in the broad and wholesome field, and
he vvas familiar w-ith the wants and ways, the hardships and the
hopes of those who eat their bread by the sweat of their faces.
From the days of Cincinnatus to the present time, men seeking
popular favor have been paraded and eulogized as farmers who
coifld not tell a field of wheat from a field of oats, but the farmer
in whose memory we are here to-day drove his team and held
the plow ; planted the corn, attended its growth, and gathered
it in ; sowed his small grain, and reaped his harvests; raised
horses, cattle, sheep and hogs, and fed them with his own hands.
He made more than two blades of grass grow where none grew
before, and thus advanced the general welfare."
Speeches were also made on this occasion by E.x-Governor
Baker, Ex-Senator McDonald, Senator Harrison and Hon. Ja
son B. Brown, all of them being eloquent and appreciative.
The monument which stands at Governor Williams's grave
bears this inscription :
.James D. 'Williams,
Born January 6, 1808;
Died November 20, 1880.
A representative of the people for many years ;
Was one term in Congress ;
Governor of Indiana from 1877 until his death.
A faithful officer
and
An honest man.
Indiana honored him in life and cherishes his memory in death.

¦1^8 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
In the spring of 1880 the author of these sketches accom
panied Governor Williams in a trip to the Gulf of Mexico. Af
ter leaving Nashville, at every point of importance upon the
road he ¦was received by large delegations of people. When
he reached Mobile, he was met by the recorder, who is the
¦chief executive officer of the city, the president of the Cotton
Exchange and the president of the Board of Trade, who es
corted him to his quarters at the Battle House. After dinner
he held quite a levee in the parlors of the hotel, where many of
the leading people of the city called upon him. While thus
engaged, a young girl, some twelve or fourteen years old, called
at the office of the hotel, with a large bouquet, and asked for
him. The clerk, thinking she was a flower girl, seeking to
-dispose of her wares, tried to have her leave the hotel without
seeing the Governor, but this she would not do. She came .
into the parlor where he was seated surrounded by a number
of gentlemen and ladies, and approaching hira, said: "This
is Governor Williams, I believe?" "Yes, my daughter," he
replied. She then presented him the bouquet, which he ac
cepted with the grace of a courtier. She asked if he did not
remember receiving a bouquet at Laporte, during the canvass
of 1876, from a little girl who was sick. He replied that he re
membered it well. She then said: "I am the girl wdio sent
it to you, and your kind acknowledgment makes mamma very
anxious to see you." "Where is your mamma?" asked the
Governor. "At home," replied the girl, giving the street and
number. "She shall see me," said the Governor, who then
arose, excused himself to the ladies and gentlemen present and
left the room. On reaching the street he called a hack and
was driven to the mother's horae.
This incident illustrates one prominent trait in his character —
his love for children.
On our return home from the South we stopped one day in
Nashville. While there I procured a hack and asked Governor
Williams to accompany me to the Hermitage, as I wished to see
the home and grave of Jackson. He did so, and on our return
said to me : " This morning I vvent vvith you, now I want you
to go with me." I asked him, " Where? " He replied, " To see
the finest farm in America, if not in the vvorld." He ordered a

J.VMES 1). VVILLI.VMS. 159
carriage and we drove to the farm of General Harding, some
seven miles from Nashville. I shall not attempt to 4escribe the
farm. After seeing it I had no disposition to question the Gov
ernor's judgment. We went over the farm, chaperoned by Gen
eral Jackson. General Harding's son-in-law, and saw some of
the fine stock t'or which the farm is noted. A horse, for
which •^30.000 had been paid in Europe, particularly attracted
the Governor's attention. He examined him critically, and
pointed out his excellencies and his defects. I wondered at the
time what Gov-ernor Williams thought of General Harding's in
vestment, for I knew he would never have put $30,000 in a horse.
He believed in utility, but not in show. As we walked over the
farm Governor WilHams, several times, plucked blades frora the
blue-grass sod and e.xamined them with a critic's eye, some
times tasting them. He spoke of the blue-grass of the Wabash
country, which, he said, vvas as fine as an)- he had ever seen.
Often, after our return home, did Governor Williams speak to
me about our visit to General Harding's farm, but never once
about that to the Hermitage. While he loved the memory of
Jackson he loved still more fine stock and rich blue-grass pas
tures. Governor Williams was the only farmer ever elected Gover
nor of Indiana. He belonged to the class who till the soil and
husband its increase. He loved his calling and was successful
in it. The farmers of the State considered him their represen
tative and were proud of his fame. Posterity will revere his
memory and he will go down in history as the Farmer Gover
nor of Indiana.

CHRISTOPHER HARRISON.

On the south bank of the Choptank river, fourteen miles
from its confluence with Chesapeake bay, stands the beautiful
town of Cambridge. It is one of the oldest towns on the East
ern Shore of Maryland, having been settled early in 1600 by
immigrants from England, many of whom were of gentle
blood. In the Episcopal burying-ground at Cambridge may
now be seen tombstones covered with ivy, upon which are en
graved the naraes and coats of arras of the early settlers of that
country. The town is in Dorchester county, and is the most
beautiful as well as one of the most populous on the peninsula
lying between the Chesapeake and Delaware bays. In this
town, sometime during the year 1775, Christopher Harrison,
first Lieutenant-Governor of Indiana, was born.
Christopher Harrison's faraily were English. His parents
emigrated to Maryland about the middle of the eighteenth cen
tury, and settled at Cambridge. The family was of good so
cial standing in England, one of its members having held an
important office in the city government of London. The Har
risons were received into the aristocratic circles of Maryland,
for be it known that nowh.ere in the country w-ere the lines di
viding the people into classes more distinctly drawn than in the
land first settled by Calvert. The abolition of slavery destroyed
this, and now a man in that country is not measured by the ne
groes he owns, nor by the number of years his ancestors lived
off the labor of others. During the war of the rebellion the
author of this sketch, who is a native of Dorchester, county,
asked an old school-fellow about one of their earl)- friends, and
was told that he was sheriff' of an adjoining count}'. Knowing

CHRISTOPHER H.\RRISON. l6l
that in the days ol his boyhood the sons of slaveholders only
vvere elected to office, the author remarked : "Well, Frank has
risen in the world," "Yes," said his friend, "in this country
the bottom rail has become the rider."
Christopher Harrison was liberally educated. He graduated
at St. John's College. Annapolis, and soon after entered the
counting-room of William Patterson, one of the merchant
princes of Baltimore, as his confidential clerk. He was re
ceived into Mr. Patterson's family as an equal, a privilege to
which he vvas entitled both by his birth and his education. Mr.
Patterson was the father of Madame Bonaparte, then Elizabeth
Patterson, one of the most beautiful and brilliant women Amer
ica has ever produced. The young clerk became her friend,
and for a while acted as her tutor. There is a tradition that an
attachment grew up between the young people, resulting in an
engagement of marriage. It is also said that the match was
opposed by the lady's father, and that Harrison, finding his
suit hopeless, left Baltimore and sought surcease of sorrow in
the w-ilderness of the West. There is a good deal of evidence
to support this tradition, but not enough, I think, to make the
matter conclusive. It is, however, certain that Christopher
Harrison had a love aft'air at this period of his life, and that it
caused him to leave his native State and come to the new Ter
ritory of Indiana. Thomas P. Williams, of Baltimore, who
married his niece, in a letter to Judge Banta, of Franklin (to
whom I am indebted for much of the material for this sketch),
thus speaks of this epoch in Mr. Harrison's Hfe :
" In early Hfe he was a confidential clerk of the late WilHam
Patterson, of this city, one of our princely merchants, and who
was the father of Madame Bonaparte, who recently died in this
city. He instructed, or rather aided her in her studies as a
young girl, and has often spoken of her as the brightest and most
ambitious person he ever knew. I have been informed that in
a sketch of Madame Bonaparte it is incidentally mentioned that
Mr. Harrison made love to this then beautiful woman, but this,
I think, is a rnistake. He had, however, a love affair, which
was the cause of his leaving home, and of not being heard frora
for years. Both his family and the family of the lady objected
II

l62 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
to the marriage, and, while the young people were devotedly at
tached to each other, they did not marry, for .Mr. Harrison said
he would not enter a family where there was opposition ; and
seeing no end to this opposition, he preferred to go West."
The belief was quite general among Mr. Harrison's friends
in Indiana that he and Madame Bonaparte had been lovers, and
if there had been nothing of it, it is somewhat strange that the
husband of his niece, at whose house he Hved for many years
after his return to Maryland, should have said anything about it.
In 1809, when Williamson Dunn settled in Jefferson county,
where Hanover now stands, Christopher Harrison was living in
a log cabin on the bluffs of the Ohio river, near by. When he
carae there I know not, but on a beech tree standing near his
cabin door, were engraven these words :
"Christopher Harrison, July 8, 1808."
¦ Perhaps he made the inscription as a meraento of the day he
located upon this beautiful and romantic spot. His cabin stood
upon a point known as " Fair Pfospect," a site which commands
a view of the Ohio river for miles up and down. It had but a
single room, and was roughly raade, but inside were many
things which testified of the culture of its occupant. Books
were there, sorae of them classical, and paints and brushes and
easels were to be seen, and pictures hanging on the wall. He
also had about him man's most faithful friend — the dog. Back
of his cabin, jutting against its chimne)- of clay, was a kennel,
in which the companions of his solitude vvere wont to shelter
themselves from the wind and the rain.
This hermit of the wilderness vvas quite a hunter. He sup
ported himself mainly by his dog and gun, for the woods
abounded in game, and his necessities were tew. Thus lived
Christopher Harrison until 18 15, when George Logan came
along and bought his land. It is supposed that by this time the
keenness of disappointed love had worn oft', for he threw soli
tude behind him and went out into the world*. At that time
vSalem was one of the most important towns in the State, and
thither the hermit of the Ohio bluft's deterniined to go. He and

CHRIS'rOPHER HARRISON. 163
Jonathan Lyons, one of the original proprietors ot Madison,
bought a miscellaneous stock of merchandise and took it to Sa
lem, where they opened out a store. For many )'ears they sold
goods together, doing the largest business in their line in the
place. While at Salem Christopher Harrison lived alone. His dwell
ing was a little brick house of two rooms, one of them barely
large enough for a bec^. An old colored woman came each
morning to tidy up the house and put things in order, and, with
this exception, no one scarcely ever entered his door. But the
lot upon which it stood vvas otten visited. It was fiftv feet one
way by a hundred the other, and nearly every foot of it not
covered by the house was planted in flowers. Here the boys
and girls of the town would come for flowers, and seldom did
they go away empty-handed. The master of the house made
bouquets and gave them, drew pictures for them, and in raany
other ways sought to please and make them happ)-. One who
remembers his Salem home says he painted a picture of a grape
vine clinging to his porch so perfectly- that she once, on seeing
it, reached out her hand, thinking she vvas about to pluck a
bunch of grapes. About 1830 Governor Harrison left Salem
and moved upon a farm a few miles awa)-, where he lived until
1834, when he left Indiana and returned to his native State.
While he lived on his farm it was his custom, in melon time,
to fill his wagon vvith this delicious fruit for his little friends in
town. He would cut the name of each favorite on the rind,
and then deliver the melons to the delighted young folks. He
evidently loved children. But I can not longer dwell upon his
tastes and habits, and must hurry along and say something
about his public life, else the reader will wonder wh)- this sketch
was written.
In 1816 Christopher Harrison was elected Lieutenant-Gov
ernor of Indiana, at the first election held under the State gov
ernment. At the same election Jonathan Jennings was elected
Governor over Thomas Posey, while Harrison's competitor was
John Vawter. He served as Lieutenant-Governor for a couple
of years, and then resigned in a pet, and went horae. The
cause of this unnatural act in an office-holder was this : In
1818, Governor Jennings, General Cass and Judge Parke were

104 ' BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
appointed by the President of the United States, commissioners.
to negotiate for the purchase from the Indians of the lands in
the central part of the State. The constitution of the State for
bade the Governor frora holding " 'any office under the United
States," but Governor Jennings accepted the office and dis
charged its duties. Lieutenant-Governor Harrison claimed that
Jennings had vacated his office, and that he (Harrison) had be
come Acting Governor. He took possession of the executive
office and attempted to assume its duties, but Jennings appealed
to the Legislature, and that body recognized him as the legal
Governor. This so incensed the Lieutenant-Governor that he
resigned his office. The day he resigned his office of Lieuten
ant-Governor, he sent to the House of Representatives a letter
dated Corydon, December i8, 1818, addressed to the Speaker,
in which he said :
"I have this day delivered to the Secretary of State, to be
filed in his office, my resignation of the office of Lieutenant-
Governor of this State. As the officers of the executive depart
ment of governraent and the General Assembly have refused to
recognize and acknowledge that authority which, according to
my understanding, is constitutionally attached to the office, the
name itself, in my estimation, is not worth retaining."
Upon the reading of this letter the House passed the following
resolution :
"Resolved, That the House of Representatives v-iew the con
duct and deportment of Lieutenant-Governor Christopher Har
rison as both dignified and correct during the late investigation
of the dift'erences existing in the executive department of this
State." The next year, 1819, he was a candidate for Governor against
Governor Jennings, but vvas badly beaten, receiving but 2,088
votes in a total of 11,256.
But his defeat for Governor in 1819 did not end Christopher
Harrison's pubhc life in Indiana. In 1820 the Legislature elect
ed him and Jaraes W. Jones, of Gibson county, and Samuel P.
Booker, of Wayne county, commissioners to survey and lay oft*

CHRISTOPHER HARRISON. 165
Indianapolis, the new capital of the State. At the time fixed by
law for the commissioners to meet none of them except Mr.
Harrison appeared. He determined to act by himself, and at
once proceeded to business. He appointed Elias P. Fordhara
and Alexander Ralston surveyors, and Benjamin I. Blythe
clerk. This was in April, 182 1, and the next October the lots
vvere sold under the direction of General John Carr, the State
agent. At this sale Christopher Harrison bought several lots,
some of which he held until after he left the State.
On December i, 1823, he made his report of the condition of
the 3 per cent, fund, of which he was agent, and in 1824 the
Legislature appointed him and Governor Hendricks commis
sioners to open a canal around the falls of the Ohio. This re
port dates January 18, 1825.
After Governor Harrison returned to Maryland he lived
around among his relatives and friends. For many years he re
sided with his sister, Mrs. Lockerman, and spent his time, when
not reading, in hunting and fishing in Chesapeake bay and its
estuaries. Judge Banta has several of his letters written at this
time, in which he very minutely describes his manner of life.
He savs he is " uncle " to all the young folks in the neighbor
hood. He tells of his success in hunting and fishing, of the
number of canvas-back dueks and sheep's-head fish he brings
home to " the pot."
Mr. Williams, in the letter heretofore referred to, says :
" He vvas a student all his life, and his acquirements vvere
various and extensive. He vvas not satisfied with a superficial
knowledge of anything ; he went into matters thoroughly. He
was reticent, and it was difficult to get at what he knew^ or
thought on any subject. He was the soul of honor, and no man
I ever knew had a more thorough contempt for a mean act. He
was generous to excess. He had no love for raoney or its ac
cumulation. He had opportunities for making a fortune, but he
gave avv^ay as he made. Frora the simplicity and purity of the
man and his great goodness I became greatly attached to him.
He was the best informed man I ever met. At one time he lived
in my family for ten years, and I know him thoroughly. He

1 66 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
was an honest man and died poor. He was a reraarkable raan,
and deserves a place in history."
Governor Harrison died at the home of Mr. H. C. Tilghman,
in Talbot county, Md., in 1863, at the ripe age of eighty-eight
years. And another Indiana pioneer was laid at rest.
When Christopher Harrison arrived at man's estate he was
the owner, by inheritance, of a nuraber of slaves. To these he
gave their freedom, and never afterward was he the proprietor
of human flesh and blood. In those days it was a rare thing
for a young slaveholder to free his chattels, but Christopher
Harrison stood not upon precedent ; he acted for hiraself.
Governor Harrison was a well-built raan, of medium height.
While he lived in the cabin near where Hanover now is he was
erect in carriage, but later in life he became bent or stoop-
shouldered. He had an oval face, light complexion and blue
eyes, says one authority. Another describes him the same,
except that his eyes were gray. He was always careful of his
dress. Usually he was cleanly shav^ed, and in his person was
always scrupulously clean. He was a free-thinker, but he had
great respect for the Quaker church. After he returned to
Maryland he frequently extolled the virtues of the Quakers he
knew in Indiana. He was a great student, being a voracious
reader of books. Judge Banta has a couple of books, one of
them printed in Latin, which once belonged to the old pioneer.
They contain notes and emendations in his handwriting, and
interspersed through thera are beautiful pictures, in water col
ors, drawn by the deft hand of their owner.
Dr. Alexander H. Bayl)-, who lives at Cambridge, Maryland,
the town in which Christopher Harrison vvas born, in a recent
letter to the author of these sketches, says :
"Well, indeed, do I remember the sturdv- old gentleman as
he visited, for the last time, the home of his childhood. I can
see him now, dressed in the old style, slovvl)- wandering around
our town, lost, as it were, in the memories of ' the long, long
ago.' Sad, indeed, must have been his thoughts. Being bald,
he wore a black silk skull-cap, which gave rise to the report
that he had been scalped b)- the Indians. His father, Robert
Harrison, was a proud, aristocratic Englishman, and all stood

CHRISTOPHER HAKRISON. 167
in awe of him. He owned, lived and died on his farm, 'Ap
pleby.' in the suburbs of Cambridge, on the Blac^water road,
where old Dr. Joseph E. Muse once lived, and where he died.
After his death it vvas bought b)- the late Governor Thomas H.
Hicks, who resided on it at the time of his death. You, no
doubt, recollect the farm. [The author remembers it well.]
" Christopher Harrison, or as he vvas most comraonly called
here, ' Old Kit Harrison," was a descendant of the John Caile,
now resting in our old graveyard, and was related to William
G. Harrison and others of Baltimore. The family was highly
respected and influential."
Christopher Harrison never married. He lived his fourscore
and eight years without a helpmeet, but he vvas blessed with lov
ing friends. These cared for him in his old age, and when the
messenger came and called him to his fathers, they laid him
away in his silent tomb and covered him vvith his native earth.
There I will leave him at rest.

MILTON STAPP.

Indiana owes much to Kentucky. She owes her for thou
sands of pioneers who helped cut down her forests and bring
her lands into cultivation ; she owes her for statesmen of trans
cendent ability, and particularly does she owe her for the gal
lant rangers she sent to beat back the savage foe.
Among the men from Kentucky who came to the help of In
diana in her trials was Milton Stapp, the subject of this sketch.
He was born in Scott county, Kentucky, in the year 1793. His
boyhood was spent in the ordinary way, there being nothing
unusual in his history until after he was nineteen years old.
The tidings of Indian cruelty that came to him from across the
Ohio river fired his blood and stimulated his patriotism to such
a degree that he resolved to go to the rescue of his imperiled
countrymen. He enlisted as a private soldier in the regiment
commanded by Colonel Richard M. Johnson. He participated
in all the skirmishes and battles of his regiment, and at the bat
tle of the Thames, fought October 5, 1813, he was wounded in
the neck by a musket ball. He carried the scar of this wound
while he lived — a badge " more honorable than the star or gar
ter," for it testified of blood spilled in saving women and chil
dren from outrage and butchery and their homes from pillage.
When peace was declared, and the inhabitants north of the
Ohio river no longer needed his musket, he returned to his
Kentucky home. In his march through the Territory of Indiana
to meet the Indians and their British allies, he saw a country
rich in soil and natural advantages, and believing that such a
land presented more inducements to the young and ambitious
than the country where he lived, he determined to make it his

MiL'ro.N s'r.vi'P. 169
home. Therefore, in 1S16, the year Indiana vvas admitted into
the Union, he left Kentucky and came to this State, makino-
his home at Madison, a town on the southern border. At that
time Madison vvas a leading town and the home of men who
subsequently became famous.
The young settler vvas ambitious, and knowing that the road
to political preferment usually ran through legal fields, he de
termined to study law. He entered the office of the late James
F. D. Lanier, as a stiident, and, after acquiring sufficient knowd
edge, was admitted to the bar. He began the practice as a
partner of his preceptor, but having chosen his profession more
as a means than as an end, he did not give it his sole attention.
His mind ran on other things, mainly on public employment,
and he was exceedingly active in trying to secure it. He was
fond of display, and the militia law of that time gave him scope
for the gratification of this propensity. It was then the custom
to have an annual muster at Madison, which all the able-bodied
soldiers of the town and its vicinage were required to attend.
The glories of these musters have departed, but the remem
brance of them still gladdens the lovers of devastation and
carnage. Governor Corwin once described " parade day " so
graphically that the reader will pardon its insertion here :
'• We all in fancy now see the gentleman from Michigan in
that most dangerous and glorious event of the life of a militia
general on the peace establishment — a parade da)- 1 That dav-
for which all other days of his life seem to have been raade.
We can see the troops in motion ; umbrellas, hoe and ax han
dles, and other deadly impleraents of war overshadowing all
the fields, when lo I the leader of the host appears.
"Far off his coming shines;
his plume, white, after the fashion of the great Bourbon, is of
ample length, and reads its doleful history in the bereaved necks
and bosoms of forty neighboring hen-roosts. Like the great
Suwaroff, he seems somewhat careless in forms and points of
dress ; hence his epaulets raay be on his shoulders, back or
sides, but still gleaming, gloriously gleaming in the sun."

170 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORIC.VL SKETCHES.
This picture, though drawn of a Michigan general, portrays
the aspects of the Indiana brigadier equally v\'ell. Napoleon
was no fonder of drilling the Old Guard than was General
Stapp of drilling the Madison militia. He and Major Coch
rane would array themselves in the attire of warriors and march
at the head of their columns. They were the boiler and en
gine that ran the military raachine. To see them on their
prancing steeds, their white plumes waving in the air, their
swords flashing in the sunlight, was enough to drive Jupiter to
cover and Mars to his temple. The General's renown as a
militiaman spread throughout the land, and did much to bring
him into public notice. But he did not devote all his time to the
intoxicating militia drilling. He becarae a candidate for the
State Legislature in 1822, and was elected frora Jefferson county,
and in 1823 he was chosen State Senator from Jefferson and
Jennings counties, of which body he was made President fro
tem., in Deceraber, 1825, and in 1828 he was elected Lieuten
ant-Governor of the State, on the ticket with James B. Ray.
His term expired in 1831, but he still continued in politics.
In that year he ran for Governor, receiving only 4,422 votes,
while Governor Noble received 17,959, and James G. Reed
15,168. Noble was elected, but he went to the Legislature
again, and was an active and successful advocate of the inter
nal improvement system of that time. In 1836 the system cul
minated, and in 1839 broke down. A debt of $15,000,000 had
been contracted, upon which no interest was paid for years.
Bankruptcy overtook the people, and ruin ran riot. The unfin
ished public works were abandoned, and afterward sold. A
commission of three was appointed to settle this debt. General
Stapp being one of the commission. After this he was elected
Agent of State and charged vvith the care * of the bonded
debt. But neither his career as Fund Commissioner nor as
Agent of State proved him a Morrison or a Gallatin. As Agent
of State he placed a large amount of bonds vvith the Morris
Canal and Banking Compan)- for negotiation. The institution
broke, with the money received for the bonds in its coft'ers, and
all the State ever got from it were a few Brooklyn water lots,
upon which was an old soap factory.
It will thus be seen that as a pubHc financier General Stapp

:milton stapp

lyi

was not a success. But, in justice to his memory, be it said
that no charge of dishonesty vvas laid at his door. Many thought
him weak, but none believed him dishonest.
In 1834, when the Madison branch of the State Bank of In
diana vvas organized. General Stapp was appointed its cashier.
In a short time he resigned this position, to take the presidency
of the Madison Savings Institution, a bank of discount and de
posit. He remained at the head of this institution so long as it
transacted business.
In 1850 General Stapp was elected mayor of Madison, the
last office he held in Indiana. He made a most excellent mayor,
certainly as good a one as the city ever had. He administered
the law fearlessly and without favor. He had the intelligence
to know his .duty and the courage to perform it. He never
filled an office with so much honor to himself, and vvith so much
acceptability to the people.
In the spring of 1853 General Stapp bought a half interest in
the Madison Daily Banner, and took editorial charge of the
paper. He continued to direct its columns until it died.
In i860, when sixty-seven years old. General Stapp left Mad
ison and removed to Texas. He was active and reasonably
vigorous at the time, and bid fair to live many years in his new
home, but the war soon coming on, he determined to leave.
He had fought under the old flag when he was young, and he
would not desert it now. Communication by public convey
ance between the sections having ceased, he procured a spring
wagon and a mule, and, taking his family with him, traveled
overland from Goliad, Texas, to Sedalia, Mo. From there he
came by railroad and steamer to Madison. He remained at his
old home until the war had ended, and in 1865 returned to
Te.xas as Collector of Internal Revenue for the Galveston dis
trict. Galveston was his home, but he traveled extensively
over the State in attending to his official duties. On one of his
trips, while crossing a stream between Goliad and Galveston,
he suddenly became surrounded by a flood of water, and was
compelled to climb a tree to save his life. The water continued
to rise, and all communication with land was cut off. By hal
looing he made himself heard, but there was no boat in which
to go to his relief. This was in the afternoon, and he had to

172 HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
stay in the tree top untir the next morning. By that time a
boat had been constructed, and the General was relieved from
his perilous situation. It rained hard during the whole of his
water captivity, and when succor came he was found to be suf
fering from a burning fever. He was taken to his home at
Galveston, and soon after reaching there he died. The news
of his death reached Madison on the 4th of August, 1869, but
his remains were not removed from Galveston until the first day
of the next November, when they were shipped to Madison.
His funeral took place on the 9th of November, at the residence
of his nephew, William Stapp, in the house which was formerly
his home.' After the services the body was taken to the Madi-
.son cemetery and there interred.
In politics General Stapp was a Whig, while the party exist-
¦ed, and on its dissolution he did not attach himself to either of
the great political parties. Hence, during the latter part of his
life, his was a free lance in politics. But, when the war came,
he took his position on the side of the Union, a place where all
who knew him expected him to stand.
General Stapp was a man of great energy and courage. He
had many ups and downs in life, but he bore his misfortunes
well, and, at a time when most men would hav-e given up work
and sought ease in the chimney corner, he went to a new^ coun
try to build up his fortunes anew. He was an active member
of the Baptist church and prominent in the religious work of
that denomination. In his credulity he was as simple as a child.
His heart was tender, and he was never happier than when
binding up the wounds of others. In person he vvas rather un
der the usual size. He had light hair vvith a somewhat golden
tinge, a fair complexion and light-blue eyes. His self-esteem
was great, but it hurt no one but himself. Sharp and designing
men worked upon it to his disadvantage ; but, take him alto
gether, he averaged well. He vvas a kind and good neighbor,
a brave and patriotic citizen, and an active Christian worker —
qualities which more than compensate for the defects of his
character.

DAVID HILLIS.

D.WID Hillis, Lieutenant-Governor of Indiana from 1836 to-
1840, was born in 1785, and emigrated to Indiana in 1808, set-
tiing in Jeft'erson county, near Madison. He was, at the tirae,
vigorous and healthy, with a body capable of enduring the pri
vations incident to the life of a pioneer. He entered a large
tract of land near Madison, much of it hilly and broken, but
enough of it was level to make him a very desirable farm. He
built him a cabin on the edge of a ridge that now bears his
name, and commenced to open up a tarm.
It vvas on such a spot as I have named that the young pioneer
commenced the battle of life. There were no settlers near him ;
he vvas alone in the woods. His brother Ebenezer, and the Ry--
kers — Colonel John, Samuel J. and Gerrardus — had come to the
Territory- about the same time as himself and settled some three
miles away, but they lived too far from him to be considered
neighbors. With the exception of them, no white man lived
nearer than Madison. Christopher Harrison had settled some
time before on the bluff of the Ohio river, near where Hanover
now is, and the year after Mr. Hillis came to the Territory Wil
liamson Dunn left his Kentucky home and located near the
cabin of Harrison. With these and a few other exceptions all
the territory now comprised in Jefl'erson county, outside of the
settlement at Madison, was wild and uninhabited.
A short time after Mr. Hillis had built his cabin and com
menced clearing up his land, the Indians became hostile. The
settlers lived in constant fear of the tomahawk and scalping-
knife, and well they might, for they were used with merciless
severity. To protect the settlements from Indian incursions, a

174 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
company of rangers, or mounted men, was organized at Madi
son and mustered into the service of the government. William
son Dunn was captain of the company and David Hillis its first
lieutenant. This was in the spring of 1813. For some time the
rangers were engaged in the building of block-houses and in
scouring the woods for Indians, but in June, 1813, they marched
to the Indian towns on White river, and in the fall of that year
made a campaign to the Wabash country. They went to Fort
Harrison, near Terre Haute, where Captain Taylor, afterward
President of the United States, was surrounded by the Indians.
The presence of the rangers was most opportune, for had they
not come when they did the garrison must soon have surren
dered to the enemy. In the spring of 18 14 Captain Dunn left
the service, and from that time until the company disbanded it
was commanded by Lieutenant Hillis. This company of ran
gers rendered great service to the settlers, and its commanders
were not forgotten. Both Captain Dunn and Lieutenant Hillis
were held in high esteem by the people. Both of them were
time and time again given public office, and both of them hon
ored the places given them.
When the company of rangers was mustered out of service.
Lieutenant Hillis went back to his farm. He employed a large
number of men in clearing his land and putting it in order for
the plow and the harrow. No other farraer in the country gave
work to so raany men.
Lieutenant Hillis was a civil engineer, and one skilled in his
profession. He was appointed government surveyor, and tor
several years was engaged in surveying the public lands of
Northern Indiana, Michigan and Illinois.
Soon after the organization of the State government Lieu
tenant Ilillis was elected an Associate Judge of the Jeft'erson
Circuit Court. He displayed a legal acumen unusual in one
not bred to the law, and when he left the bench he took with
him the good will of the bar and his brother judges.
In 1823 Judge Hillis commenced his legislative career, and it
was continued almost uninterruptedlv- while he lived. In that
year he was elected to the State Legislature, and he was re
elected each succeeding year, vvith one exception, until 1830.
Two years afterward, in 1832, he vvas sent to the State Senate,

DAVID HILLIS.

175

and in 1835 he vvas re-elected. At that time there were many
able men in the Senate, but Judge Hillis ranked them all, being
chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, and. there
fore, the Senate's leader.
Such vvas Judge Hillis's prominence and popularity that, in
1837, he was nominated for Lieutenant-Governor on the ticket
with David Wallace. His competitor vvas James Gregory, an
able and popidar man, but Judge Hillis defeated hira at the
polls. The issue in this campaign vvas the internal improve
ment system, and upon that question Judge Hillis occupied the
popular side.
In 1842 Governor Hillis vvas again elected to the Legislature.
When the Legislature met he vvas norainated for Speaker of
the House, but his party being in the rainority, he vvas defeated.
In 1844 Governor Hillis vvas, for the tenth time, elected to
the Legislature. Soon after the election he was taken sick and
never recovered. When the Legislature met he was unable to
leave his home, but hoping to regain his health, he did not re
sign his seat. The session ended without his being able to at
tend a single sitting, or, indeed, to come to the capital. He
lingered through the spring and until midsuraraer, when he
died. His death took place at his homestead, on the 8th day
of July. 184^. Being known and beloved by^ almost everv- man
and woman in his county, his death caused great public sorrow.
The people from far and near came to his funeral, and many
not of his blood wept at his grave. He vvas buried a few hun
dred yards north of his dwelling, and all that was raortal of the
old pioneer has gone to dust.
Governor Hillis vvas kind and obliging to all who had deal
ings with him. He gave largely to the poor and to benevolent
and religious purposes. He had the qualities which drew raen
to him and kept them there. His large estate had many ten
ants, and these tenants vvere always the landlord's friends.
In religion Governor Hillis was a Seceder of the straightest
sect. Indeed he was the head and front of the Seceders'
church at Madison. He would come to town on Sunday morn
ing, bringing his family and dinner with him, and devote the
dav- to religious services. He would listen to a two hours' ser-
, mon in the morning and return to church to listen to another

176 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
equally as long. A sermon was never too long for him, if i
abounded in gospel unction. The house of God was to him the
best of all places. He never tired of being there. Were he
now living he would consider the half-hour discourses of oui
preachers as mere exordiums of what gospel talks should be.
No guest left Governor Hillis's house on the Sabbath. Those
who came 'to it on Saturday remained until Monday. He be
lieved in the Bible injunction and kept holy the Sabbath day,
and he saw that all his household obeyed the command. He
would not perrait his sons to pluck apples from the trees on Sun
day. One of them once said to me that when a boy the sound
of a falling apple or walnut, on the Sabbath, shocked him, so
still was everything about his father's house.
Governor Hillis abhorred secret societies. He held them sin
ful, and thought no Christian should belong to one. He be
lieved the singing of hymns in worship to be wrong, but took
great delight in the singing of psalms of approved rendition.
This pleasure was in nowise marred by faulty time or measure,
when the words were according to Rouse.
Governor Hillis's old homestead still stands. It was one of
the first brick farm-houses built in Jefferson county, and, when
new, was the wonder of the people. It is located near a spring
of ever-flowing water, and all around and about it great locust
trees are growing. These trees were planted by the old pio
neer, and he lived to see them grow large enough to protect
him from the sun as he walked about his yard or sat under the
branches of his trees. But the house has passed into the hands
of strangers. Those who tread its halls and rest in its cham
bers have none of the builder's blood in their veins. They are
not to the manor born.
When Governor Hillis died he left surviving him a widow,
two sons and several daughters. His oldest son, William C.
Hillis, represented Jefferson countv- in the Legislatiire of 1849-
50, and subsequently served a term as treasurer of his county.
He afterwards emigrated to Missouri, and subsequently to Iowa.
He is now police judge of Des Moines, and Master Commis
sioner of the United States Court for the district of Iowa. The
youngest son, David Burke Hillis, is a practicing physician of

DAVID HILLIS. 177
Keokuk, Iowa, and occupies a high place in his profession.
The sons detract nothing from their father s well-earned fame.
There are but few men living who knew David Hillis, but
there are many who revere his name.
In person. Governor Hillis vvas about the average size of
man. He had black hair and eves, and a good face. He was
well educated t'or the time in which he lived, but he was not a
classical scholar. He vvas one of the most noted men in his
section of the State — a section which has given Indiana several
of her most distinguished sons.

12

JAMES NOBLE.

At the tirae of the forraation of the State government of In
diana, and for many years afterward, the politics and offices of
the State were controlled by a few families, chief among them
being the Nobles. It is James Noble, the head of this family,
that I now propose to sketch.
The Nobles were of Virginia stock, the family home being
near Fredericksburg, a city rendered faraous by the great bat
tle fought there during our civil war.
Near the close of the eighteenth century Thomas T. Noble,
the father of James, left Virginia with his family and emigrated
to Kentucky. His life was like that of other pioneers who set
tled in the wilderness of the West. His son James was a hardy
boy, inured to labor. He grew up strong and self-reliant.
When but seventeen years old he married Mary Lindsay, of
Newport, and soon afterwards entered the law office of a Mr.
Southgate as a student. After finishing his legal studies and
being adraitted to the bar, he reraoved to Brookville, Ind., and
commenced the practice of his profession. He soon became
known as an eloquent advocate, his practice extending through
out the Whitewater country. In those days the bar of eastern
Indiana was very able. James Brown Ray, John T. McKin
ney, David Waflace, Ohver H. Smith, Amos Lane, George H.
Dunn, John Test and other noted men were contemporaneous
with James Noble, and were his competitors at the bar. But
as a speaker upon the hustings and as a jury lavvyer he excelled
them all. Some of them were better judges of the law, and
stronger before the court, but none equaled him in swaying the
masses upon the stump and in influencing juries in the box.

j.vvH=:s Noiu.i-:. 179
When Indiana resolved to emerge from her territorial condi
tion and become a State, the people of Franklin county sent
General Noble to Corydon to help make a constitution. In the
constitutional convention he was chairman of the Committee on
the Legislative Department, and he vvas also a member of the
Judiciary Committee. When the work of the convention was
done he returned to Brookville and continued the practice of
the law. The next August he vvas elected a member of the first
Legislature under the State government. It met at Corydon,
November 4, 1S16, and adjourned January 3, 1817. Among
the members of this Legislature who are remembered now,
were James Noble, Amos Lane, John Dumont, Williamson
Dunn, Davis Floyd, Samuel Milroy, Isaac Blackford and Rat
liff Boon. Isaac Blackford vvas elected Speaker of the House,
and John Paul President of the Senate. Three da)s after their
organization the two houses met in joint convention and de
clared Jonathan Jennings to have been elected Governor, and
Christopher Harrison Lieutenant-Governor, whereupon these
. gentlemen took the oath of office and entered upon their respec
tive duties. The next day, November 8, 18 16, the General
Assembly, by a joint v-ote, elected James Noble and Waller
Taylor to represent Indiana in the Senate of the United States.
Thus it will be seen that in four days from the time General No
ble took his seat in the Legislature he was elected a member of
the highest legislative body in the world. This was not an ac
cident ; it was because his fellow-members knew his eminent
<}ualifications for the place.
In the Senate General Noble had for associates the ablest
men the country has yet produced. He was not dwarfed by
their stature, but maintained a respectable standing among them.
He continued in the Senate until February 26, 183 1, when he
died at his boarding-house in Washington. On Monday, Feb
ruary 28, 183 1, William Hendricks, his colleague, arose in the
Senate and said :
" Mr. President — It becomes ray painful duty to announce
to the Senate the death of my respected colleague. He de
parted this life on Saturday evening last, at 10 o'clock. His
services in this body have been faithful and uninterrupted for

l80 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISrORICAL SKETCHES.
the last fifteen years. They have been honorable to himself and
useful to his country ; but man goeth to his long home, and with
him these services have terminated in the meridian of life. He
had indeed lived to see his early associates in the business of
this house retire to other spheres of Hfe, or, like himself, pass
silently to the grave ; yet his friends raight reasonably have
hoped and expected for him a longer period of usefulness and
distinction. On an occurrence like the present, and especially
standing as I do in the midst of a circle so intimately acquainted
with the deceased, it will not be expected of me to pronounce
his eulogy ; but I can speak, and I may be permitted to speak,
in the language of early and well-tried personal friendship of
one highly prized, not only by myself^ but by the State he has
so long had the honor to represent ; of an individual idolized by
almost every circle in which he ever moved. He was a bold
and fearless politician, warm and generous in his feelings. He
had a heart that responded to every appeal of sympathy and
benevolence ; a heart formed for the most ardent attachment.
Open and undisguised, the prominent traits of his character
were always before the world ; but a long period of familiar ac
quaintance could only develop the ardor, the devotion and the
value of his friendship. For such an associate it may well be
permitted us to mourn, and well assured am I that in paying
these last honors to his memory we are but giving expression to
the feelings of every meraber of the Senate. His society I have
enjoyed when he was in health ; in sickness I have frequently
been near hira and endeavored to soothe his hours of anguish
and distress, and I had an opportunity of watching, with intense
anxiety and great solicitude, the last moments of his life."
Mr. Burnet then submitted the following resolution, which
was agreed to :
"Resolved, u/ianimously. That a committee be appointed to
take order for superintending the funeral of the Hon. James
Noble, deceased, which will take place at half-past ii o'clock
this day, and that the Senate will attend the same, and that no
tice of this event be given to the House of Representatives."
The chair stated that under the circumstances of the case,'

JAMKS NOBLE. l8l
upon being informed yesterda) of the death of the late Senator
from Indiana, he had appointed a committee of arrangements
and pafl-bearers. and hoped the course he had pursued would
not be disapproved of.
Mr. Burnet then submitted the following resolutions, which
were adopted :
••Resolved. /i//a//i///oiisly. That the members of the Senate,
from a sincere desire of showing every mark of respect due to
the memory of the Hon.. James Noble, deceased, their late as
sociate, will go into mourning for him for one month, by the
usual mode of wearing crape round the left arm.
Resolved. una//in/ously. That, as an additional mark of re
spect for the memory of the Hon. James Noble, the Senate do
now adjourn.'"
On the same day a message vvas received in the House of
Representatives from the Senate, notifying the House of Sena
tor Noble's death, and informing it that his funeral would take
place that day at 11:30 o'clock .v. m., whereupon Mr. Test, the
member representing the district in which Senator Noble had
formerly liv-ed, offered the following resolution and moved its
adoption :
••Resolved. That the merabers of this House will attend the
funeral of the Hon. James Noble, late a member of the Senate
from the State of Indiana, this day at the hour appointed, and,
as a testimony of respect for the meraory of the deceased, they
will go into mourning and wear crape around the left arm for
thirty days."
The resolution was agreed to unanimously.
On motion of Mr. Vance it was then ordered :
•¦That for the purpose of attending the funeral of the late
Senator Noble, the House take a recess until 3 o'clock p. m."
The committee of arrangements issued the following order in
relation to the funeral of General Noble :

1 82 BIOGRAPHICAL .VND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
ORDER OF PROCESSION-
rOR THE KU.NERAI. OF THE
HONOKABLE .TAMES NOBLE,
Senator of the United Stales from the Stale of Jrt^kana.
The committee of arrangements, pall-bearers and mourners will attend at ¦Mis,
( ialvin's, the lale residence of the deceased, at 11 o'clock A. M., to ttiorrow, at which
time the corpse will be removed, in charge of the committee of arrangmeuts, at
tended by the Sergeant-at-Arms, to the Senate Chamber, where divine service will
be performed. .'^t 11:30 o'clock the funeral will move from the .Senate Chamber to the place of
interment in the following order : Pall-Bearers :
+-+
Mr. Holmes. I .^ I Mr. Burnett.
Mb. Clavtox. z Mr. Woodbury.
Mr. Kobinson. \ ~ \ Mr. Frklixghcysex.
February J7, IS.Jl.
The funeral will take place this day at 11 o'clock.
February ;?cS', iSSl.
The body of the deceased was brought into the chamber of
the Senate and placed in front of the secretary's desk, soon
after which the House of Representatives, preceded by their
Speaker and clerk, together vvith their sergeant-at-arms, en
tered the charaber, and were immediately followed by the Presi
dent of the United States, the heads of departments, and the
judges of the Supreme Court, who respectively took the seats
prepared for thera. The chaplain of the Senate (the Rev. Mr.
Johns) then arose and delivered an eloquent and very impres
sive address, which was followed by a fervent prayer by the
Rev. Mr. Gurley, the chaplain of the House. A procession
was then formed and proceeded to the Eastern Branch burial
ground, where the remains of the deceased were solemnly in
terred. There they have mouldered to dust.
Oliver H. Sraith, in his " Early Indiana Trials and Sketches,"
raakes frequent raention of General Noble. He thus speaks of
a passage at arms between him and Mr. Calhoun, then Vice-
President of the United States. Addressinjr the chair. General
Noble said :

JA.VtKS NOBLIC. 183
•• I tell you, Mr. President, the Littie Magician will spoil
your dish with the old hero ; he is as cunning as a serpent and
as harmless as a dove."
•• The Senator will confine hinu^ to 'the subject."
•• Which subjeti?"
*¦ Tbe one before the Senate."
•• I am trying to do so. I see but one subject before the Sen
ate — the other is at the White House."
•¦The Senator will take his seat."
••As I was saying, the Little Magician — "
•'The Senator was directed to take his seat."
" So I did, but the chair did not expect me to sit there the
balance of the session."
Mr. Smith declares General Noble to have been one of the
strongest and most effective speakers before a jury or a pro
miscuous assembly he ever heard. He gives his opinion of him
as a party leader in these words :
•'General Noble was, as the saying is, born for a leader.
His person, his every act, look and motion suited the populace.
He was emphatically a self-made man — quick, ready and al
ways prepared. His taste vvas quite military, and the old set-
tiers of Whitewater will not soon forget the General in full uni
form, mounted on •Wrangler,' at the head of his division."
There are but few men now living who were personally ac
quainted with General Noble. The Hon. Jacob B. Julian, of
Indianapolis, has given the author the following account of a
trial at which General Noble was a conspicuous figure :
•'In the spring of 1821 Hampshire Pitt was placed on trial
in the Wayne Circuit Court at Centerville, for the murder of
William Mail, both men of color. Noble was the leading coun
sel for the defense, and made one of his ablest speeches. I
was then a little boy, and was taken into the court-room while
he was addressing the jury, by an older brother, and such was
the violence of his actions, and so loud and terrific were his
denunciations of the prosecution and all connected with it, that I
became alarmed and demanded that I should be taken away.

184 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
I need not say that I have lived to learn that such performances
are harmless. Of all the raen connected with this trial, Samuel
King, one of the jurors, only survives. He resides in the State
of Iowa, and is ninety-four years of age."
General Noble was a large, well-proportioned man of fine ad
dress and bearing. His hair was black, his eyes dark and his
complexion florid. He was, in fact, one of the finest looking
men of his day in the Whitewater valley. With his easy and
graceful manners, his fine conversational powers, added to his
warm heart and generous nature, he was the idol of the people
of his section of the country, and was perfectly invincible be
fore them. He was a good lawyer, though he specially excelled
as an advocate, in which department of the practice he had no
equal in his part of the State. His style was what would be
called Western, now. He had a voice of great compass to
which he gave the fullest scope, and it was generally known for
several squares around the Court-house when he was addressing
a jury. There was no occasion for a juror to hold his hand be
hind his ear to catch the sound, or to use an ear-trumpet, when
General Noble was pleading a case before hira. He spoke loud
enough to be heard.
Mrs. Austin H. Brown, a granddaughter of General Noble,
has in her possession a miniature portrait of her distinguished
ancestor. It is that of a man in the prime of life, with a full,
round, ruddy face, large nose, small and unusually shapely
mouth, dark eyes, and black hair gathered into a queue and .
hanging down his back. Such is the picture of James Noble,
a Senator of the United States from Indiana from 1816 to 1831.

JOHN TIPTON.

Among the pioneers of Indiana few did a grander work than
John Tipton. He was a great man in the council and in the
field, and no history of the State can be written without honor
able mention of his name. Many of his leading characteristics
were inherited from his father, Joshua Tipton, who, born in
Maryland, emigrated to East Tennessee, where he became a
man of note and influence. He was well acquainted vvith In
dian character, and led many a foray against the hostile Chero-
kees. He thus became an object of hatred to the wily savages,
and on the i8th of April, 1793, vvas waylaid and murdered b)-
them. It vvas from the loins of such a man that John Tipton
sprang. John Tipton, the subject of this sketch, vvas born in Sevier
county, Tennessee, August 14, 1786. Frora a child he was
used to the ways of the Indian. He knew his habits, his treach
ery, and his savageness. He could trail him like Chingach-
gook or circumvent him like Pathfinder. The Indian raurdered
Joshua Tipton, and John Tipton felt it his duty to avenge his
father's death. And inexorably he did it. Many an Indian bit
the dust at the command of John Tipton's rifle, and many a
pioneer's home was saved from savage incursion by a healthy
dread of the same terrible weapon.
When John Tipton had reached his majority he was known
in the section where he lived as a man of untiring industry and
- of unquestioned courage. He became dissatisfied with his con
dition and opportunities, and determined to leave Tennessee and
find a home in the territory northwest of the river Ohio. With
him to determine was to act, so in the fall of 1807 he left Ten-

l86 BIOGRAPHICAL .^ND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
nessee with his raother and her family, and came to Indiana.
He settled in Harrison county, near Brinley's Ferry, on the
Ohio river, and for many years raade that place his home.
Buying fifty acres of land, which he mainly paid for with money
earned by splitting rails and clearing ground for his neighbors,
he commenced the battle of life anew. In a short time he was
the acknowledged leader of his neighborhood when leadership
was required, and when it became necessary to organize the
good people to drive out the horse-thieves and counterfeiters
with which it was infested he was put in the van-. They left
the neighborhood without a fight, for when he told them they
must go or take the consequences, they weH inew what it
meant. In the sumraer of 1809 a military company called the '• Yel
low Jackets" was formed near young Tipton's home, of which
he became a member. It was commanded by Captain Spier
Spencer, and was designed for active service should the neces
sity occur. On the loth of September, 181 1, the company en
tered upon the campaign that culminated in the battle of Tip
pecanoe and the rout of the army under the Shawanee prophet.
The young soldier kept a journal of this campaign, and it, with
a journal of his trip to Indianapolis to locate the State capital,
is in the possession of Mr. John H. Holliday, of Indianapolis.
These journals are written upon common writing paper, folded
and stitched, and are yellow with age. On the front page of
that giving an account of the Tippecanoe campaign are these
words : "John Tipton,
September 11. 181 1.
•' Steal Not this Book for fear of Shame, for here you see the
Oner's Name."
At the end of the journal is this certificate of its authenticity,
written in General Tipton's own hand :
" This Day Book kept During the Campane in the )-ear 181 1
wherein His Excellency Governor Harrison was Commander in
Chief and Col. J. B. Boyd of the 4th united States Riegement
was Second in Comraand Everything therein Stated the Sub-

JOHN TIP'rON. 187
scriber holds himself Ready to make appear to Bee fact from
the Best information could be Had as it vvas duly kept by
himself.. John Tipton."
On a page at the back of the journal are these lines :
" Young major Dark received a wound,
Just by his father's side,
Those feeble hands shall be Revenged
For my son's death he cry'd
-Vnd like a man distracted
Out o'f ¦HwJiues he flew
And like a bold Virgin-i-an
-V savage there he Slew."
The joui-nal begins as follows :
•'An acompt of the march and encampment of the riflemen
of Harrison County- I. T. Commanded by Capt Spencer, con
sisting of 47 men, besides oflicers in Corapany with Capt. R.
M. heath, with 22 men."
It commences Thursday, September 12, 181 1, and ends Sun
day. November 24, 181 1 , a period of seventy-three days. It gives
a minute and particular account of everything that occurred
under his notice during the time it covers, and is, perhaps, the
fullest narrative in existence of the campaign it describes.
The battle of Tippecanoe was fought November 7, 181 1, and
I copy the entries in General Tipton's journal narrating the
ev-ents of the day preceding the battle, the day of the battle and
the dav after. They are as follows :
" Wednesday the 6 a veri-y Cold day we moved earley a scout
sent out they Came back had seed Indian sines. We marched
as usel till 12. Our Spies caught four horses and seed some In
dians. Stopt in a prairie the foot throwd all their napsacks in
the waggons, we formed in order for Battle — ^marched 2 miles
then formed the line of Battle we marched in 5 lines on the ex
treme Right, went into a Cornfield then up to the above town
and surrounded it they raet us Pled for Peace they, said they
would give us satisfaction in the morning. All the time we ware
there they kept hollowing. This town is on the west side of

100 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
wabash — miles above Vincinnis on the Second Bank neat built
about 2 hundred yards from the river. This is the main town,
but it is scattering a mile long all the way a fine Cornfield, after
the above moovement we mooved one mile farther up. Campd
in timber between a Creek and Prairie after crossing a fine
Creek and raarching ii miles.
" Thursday the 7 agreeble to their promised. Last night we
ware answered by the firing of guns and the Shawnies Break
ing into our tents a blood Combat Took Place at Precisely 15
minutes before five in the morning which lasted two hours and
20 minutes of a continewel firing while many times mixed
among the Indians so that we Could not tell the Indians and our
men apart, they kept up a firing on three sides of us took our
tent frora the gueard fire. Our raen fought Brave and By the
tiraely help of Capt Cook with a company of infantry we maid
a charge and drove them out of the timber across the prairie.
Our Loost in killed and wounded was 179 and theirs graiter
than ours, among the Dead was our Capt Spier Spencer and
first Lieutenant mcmahan and Captain Berry that had been at
tached to our company and 5 more killed Dead and 15 wounded.
after the Indians gave ground we Burried our Dead. Among
the Kentuckians was killed mayj Owen and mayj Davis badly
wounded and a number of others in all killed and wounded was
179 but no company suffered like ours, we then held an Elec
tion for ofiicers. I was Elected Capt, Saml. Flanagan first
Lieut and Jacob Zenor second Lieut and Philip Bell Ensign.
we then built Breastworks our men in much confusion, our
flower been too sraall and all our beeve lost. Last night onley
half Rations of whisky and no corn for our horses, my horse
killed I got mcmahans to Ride. 37 of them had been killed
wounded and lost last night. I had one quart of whisky.
" Friday the 8th a cloudy Day and last night vvas also wet and
cold, we Lay all night at our Breastwork fire in the morning
Spies sent out found the Indians had Left their town, the horse
men was all sent to burn the town. We went and found grait
Deal of Corn and Some Dead Indians in the houses, loaded 6
waggons with Corn and Burnt what vvas Estimated at 2 thou
sand Bushels and 9 of our men Died last night."

JOHN TIPTON. 189.
The journal closes on the 24th of November, the day General
Tipton reached his home. He describes that event in these
words :
" Sunday the 24th a Cloudy and Rainy morning we moved
Early Came to Corrydon at half past ten. I staid two. hours
and half took Breakfast mooved up to Coonrod's found my Lt
and sick man. Staid 2 hours had ray horses fed got some
whisky, met one of my neighbors, mooved again and at 2
•o'clock got safe Home after a campaign of 74 days. John
Tipton. "
It was reported by a member of General Harrison's staff that
while the battle of Tippecanoe vvas raging, and after the death
of Captain Spencer and his lieutenants. General Harrison rode
up, and, addressing Ensign Tipton, asked where was his cap
tain. ••Dead, sir," replied the ensign. •'Your first lieuten
ant?" ••Dead, sir." "Your second Heutenant?" "Dead.
sir." ••Your ensign!" "He stands before you." "Hold
your position, my^ brave lad, a little longer, and I will send you
assistance." General Tipton says nothing about this incident
in his journal, but nevertheless it raay be true, as his modest}-
might have prevented him frora recording it ; but I think the-
probabilities are that it rests on no better foundation than the
current gossip of the camp.
After the Tippecanoe campaign had ended General Tipton
arose, by regular gradation, until he became a brigadier-gen
eral in the military service of the State. It raav- be mentioned
that in 1813 he piloted Captain Dunn's company of rangers
through the wilderness and in the same year acted as officer
of the spies during the campaign to the Indian town on the West
Fork of White river.
At the first election under the State constitution General Tip
ton was elected Sheriff of Harrison county. He was afterward-
re-elected, and continued to discharge the duties of the office
until August, 1819, when he was elected a representative to the
State Legislature.
On the nth of January, 1820, the Legislature appointed'
George Hunt, John Conner, John Gilliland, Stephen Ludlow,
Joseph Bartholomew, John Tipton, Jesse B. Durham, Frederick-

190 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Rapp, William Prince and Thomas Emerson, commissioners to
select and locate a new capital for the State. In General Tip
ton's journal, giving an account of his trip for this purpose, he
¦says :
" On Wednesday, the 17th of May, 1820, 1 set out from Cory
don, in company with Governor Jennings. I had been ap
pointed by the last Legislature one of the commissioners to
select and locate a site for the permanent seat of government
of the State of Indiana. We took with us Bill, a black boy," .
etc. He gives a very particular account of the journey to the house
¦of William Conner, where the commissioners were to meet and
qualify. The commissioners were divided in judgment between
Conner's farm, the mouth of Fall creek (Indianapolis), .and
the Bluffs near Waverly. The Fall creek site was chosen,
upon General Tipton's motion, as will be seen from the follow
ing extract frora his journal :
" Wednesday, 7th (June). A fine, clear morning. We met
at McCormick's, and on my motion, the commissioners came to
a resolution to select and locate sections numbered i and 12, and
east and west fractional sections numbered 2, and east fractional
section 1 1 , and so much off the east side of the west fractional
section nuraber 3 to be divided by a north and south line running
perelled to the west boundary of said section, as will equal in
amount 4 entire sections in t. 15, n. of R. 3, E. We left our
clerk making out his minuets and our report and vvent to camp
to dine. Returned after dinner. Our paper not being ready B.
(General Bartholemew), D. (Colonel Durham) and myself re
turned to camp at 4 ; they went to sleep, and me to writing.
At 5 we decaraped and went over to McCormick's. Our clerk
haying his writing ready, the commissioners met and signed
their report, and certified the service of the clerk. At 6 :45 the
first boat landed that ever vvas seen at the seat of government.
It was a small ferry flat with a canoe tied alongside both loaded
with the household goods of two families moving to the mouth
of Fall creek. They came in a keel boat as far as they could
get it up the river, then reloaded the boat and brought up their

JOHN rip-roN. 191
goods in the flat and canoe. I paid for some corn and w
^(whisky:) bzi."
During the nine years between the Tippecanoe campaign and
the location of the State capital General Tipton had very rauch
improved in composition, as is attested by his journals. The
one recording his trip to Indianapolis and return is much more
correctly written than the one giving an account of the Wabash
campaign. He vvas a growing man, and he grew in ability to
vv-rite. as well as in other things.
In August. 182 1, General Tipton was re-elected to the Leg
islature from his county. At the session following he was cho
sen a commissioner on the part of Indiana to meet a similar
commissioner from Illinois to fi.x and locate the boundary be
tween these States. The work was done the ensuing summer,
and the action of the commissioners ratified by the Legislature
during the session of 1822-3.
In March, 1823, General Tipton was appointed by President
Monroe general agent for the Pottawattomie and Miami Indians
in Northern Indiana. He at once removed to Fort Wayne,
where the agency vvas located. In the spring of 1828, at his
suggestion, the agency was removed from Fort Wayne to Lo
gansport. In 1826, two years before his removal to Logansport,
he was mainly instrumental in securing from the Indians valu
able lands for public settlement.
On the death of United States Senator James Noble, in Feb
ruary, 1831, Governor Ray appointed Robert Hanna to the va
cancy. Soon after this appointment was made a moveraent was
started to have the Legislature, when it met, elect General Tip
ton to the place. For some time he declined to allow his name
to be used, but finafly he gave way and became a candidate.
The following letter, written to Dr. Stewart, of Delphi, will be
read with interest : "At Home, July 23, 183.1.
••Dear Sir — Your note of yesterday has been received, and
in reply I have to inform you that I would greatiy prefer remain
ing in the situation I now hold, as Indian agent, to any other
that could be given me. I have many letters on this same sub
ject, and am of opinion we should weigh well this raatter before

192 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
we act. If, after the election, it is found best to use a name,
and mine is best (strongest), I will go with my friends for the
cause and for our country ; but believe me, that I am not seek
ing office, and will esteem it a sacrifice of peace and property
to do this. My talent is not of the kind that I wish to see in the
United States Senate. John Tipton."
Such was General Tipton's hold upon the people of Indiana,
and such their confidence in his integrity and wisdom, that, not
withstanding his opposition, he was elected in December, 1831,
.to fill out General Noble's term, and in 1833 he was elected for
the full term of six years. Politically, he was a friend of Gen
eral Jackson ; but he opposed with all his power that great man
in his warfare upon the Bank of the United States. He believed
the bank a necessity, and its issues the best currency the people
had ever had. When party stood in the way of conviction he
put party aside.
General Tipton took great interest in the material and educa
tional affairs of Logansport, the town where he lived. On his
removal there he took steps to organize the Eel River Seminary
Society and to construct school-houses and raise money to pay
teachers. He built saw and grist mills, and, in fact, was "the
motive power that gave form and imparted energy- to everv
movement calculated to improve society and induce progress to
ward the unfoldraent and utilization of all the natural advan
tages with which Cass county has been and is so abundantiy
supplied." He was the proprietor of additions to Logansport,
and was interested with Mr. Carter in the original plat of the
town. In 1838 he was given discretionary powers to remove
the disaffected Indians west of the Mississippi river. He over
came many difficulties in this work and accomplished it with
dispatch. General Tipton was twice married ; the first time, about the
year 1818, to Miss  Shields, who died in less than two years
after their marriage. The second time vvas in April, 1825, to
Matilda, daughter of Captain Spier Spencer, who was killed at
the battle of Tippecanoe. The second Mrs. Tipton died at
their residence in Logansport on the 14th of February, 1839, a
few days prior to the close of her husband's senatorial career.

JOHN TIPTON. 193
The prestige of his name as a civilian and statesman, added
to his fame as a mflitary leader, did not completely fill his meas
ure of honor. He vvas a meinber of the Masonic fraternity, and
occupied a distinguished position in the order. He received
the first degrees in Pisgah Lodge, No. 5, at Corydon, Indiana,
in the year 1817. He vvas soon after elected Master, and as
such represented that lodge at the first session of the Grand
Lodge of Indiana, at which time he vvas elected Senior Grand
Warden, holding that position until 1820, when he became Grand
Master. Having served one term, he was again elected Grand
Master in 1828. In 1822 he received the Chapter degrees at
Louisville, Kentucky, at the hands of Companion Snow, of
Ohio. Subsequently he filled many important positions in the
Grand Lodge, and vvas chiefly instrumental in the institution
of Wayne Lodge, No. 25, at Fort Wayne, and Tipton Lodge,
No. 33, at Logansport, Indiana, in 1828, and also of Logan
Royal Arch Chapter, No. 2, at the latter place, in 1837, i" ^^^
of which he achieved the highest honors.
On the morning of April 5, 1839, ha\-ing the day previous
taken cold while superintending the proposed improvement of
the extensive water privileges owned by him, after a few hours
of apparently unconscious suft'ering, he died, in the meridian
of life, honored and respected by all save the few who were un
able to command his energies in behalf of what his judgment
could not approve. He was buried with the honors of war and
in accordance with the rites of his cherished order, on Sunday,
April 7, 1839.
General Tipton was an excellent judge of land, and his op
portunities were such that he was enabled to secure a large
amount of the best in the State. He entered an extensive body
in Bartholomew county, and donated sixty acres of it, where
the city of Columbus now stands, to the county for the purpose
of erecting public buildings. For awhile the county seat was
called " Tiptonia," in honor of General Tipton, but after awhile
the county officers, who were not political friends of the Gen
eral, changed the name to Columbus. This action of the of
ficials of Bartholomew county was very ungenerous, and deeply
touched General Tipton. Afterward he took but little interest
13

194

BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.

in the affairs of that county, and seldom or never visited its
capital. He was entitled to the name, by reason of his public
services and private liberality, and to take it from him after it
had been bestowed was an insult not to be forgotten.
There is an elevation on the bank of White river, at Colum
bus, probably one hundred feet high, which is known as "Tip
ton's Mound." In early times it was called "Tipton's Knoll,"
and the street leading to it was named Tipton street, but now
" Knoll" has been changed to " Mound," and Tipton street to
Third street. General Tipton's narae may be stricken from the
map of Columbus, but his donation to Bartholomew county will
stand as a memento of his public spirit and priv-ate munificence.
It was he, also, who donated to the State, the beautiful Battle
Ground of Tippecanoe. (See journal of constitutional conven
tion.) In a recent history of the Miami Indians, by Thad. Butler,
Esq., it was stated that Samuel McClure, of Marion, was pres
ent at the Indian treaty of 1826. Desiring to know the facts in
the case I addressed Mr. McClure a letter, and received the
following reply : " Marion, Ind., April 10, 1882.
" William W. Woollen, Esc^ : Dear Sir — ^Yours of the 7th
inst. at hand and contents noted, and in answer I vv-ill sav- that
Mr. Butler got his statement a little wrong when he said that I
was at the treaty of the Miami Indians in 1826. I vvas at the
payment which occurred in November, 1826, and my recollec
tion is that General Tipton and Martin M. Rav- were there and
made the payment at that time. I was but a bov-, about nine
teen years old, and they vvere strangers to me. My father,
Samuel McClure, came to Wabash in January, 1827, and set
tled at the spring where the treaty vvas made, and lived in the
cabins built for that purpose.
"I knew General Tipton, but vvas not intimate with him.
Knew him to be a shrewd, smart and verv decided man ; posi
tive in having his orders obeyed, and he made a good agent for
the government and also for the Indians. I vvas at every pay
ment he made the Indians.
" General Tipton lived in the fort at Fort Wayne when I
came to the State, but in the faH of 1827, or in the spring of

JOHN TIPTON. 195
1828, he moved from Fort Wayne to the mouth of Eel river, on
the east side of the Wabash, and lived in a two-story hewed log
house built by a man named Chamberlin, who moved from there
to Rochester, or where Rochester now is, I think it was before
Logansport vvas laid off. The General bought lands on the
same side of the river and made quite a nice improvement, and
lived there until his death. Yours very respectfully,
" S.VMUEL McClure."
Oliver H. Smith, in his '• Early Indiana Trials and Sketches,"
thus speaks of General Tipton :
•'He vvas about the medium height, well set, short face,
round head, low, wrinkled forehead, sunken gray eyes, stern
countenance, good chest, stiff sandy hair standing erect fi-ora
his forehead. He was not what is called an eloquent debater,
still he was plain and strong as a speaker. He saw the ques
tion clearly, and marched directly at it without rhetorical flour
ishes. He vvas a strong, if not an eloquent debater, and was
always formidable upon the subject he had in charge, and he
seldom or never interfered with the business of others beyond
a silent vote."
General Tipton was about five feet eight inches high, was
slightiy though compactly built, and weighed about 140 pounds.
He was muscular and strong for one of his weight, and in man
ner he was quick and active. His stern features and sharp eyes
denoted a man born to command and to see that his commands.
were obeyed. He had unconquerable will, and when deter
mined upon a line of policy he moved forward with all the en
ergy of his nature to execute it. He always took the lead, and
others followed as a matter of course. A leading citizen of
Fort Wayne said that Fort Wayne owed more to General Tip
ton in his day than to any other man. The same is true of Lo
gansport, the city in which he died. Indiana, however, owes
him more than anv" of her cities, for he did as much to free her
from Indian depredations and to render her people secure in
their homes as any other man of his time.

OLIVER HAMPTON SMITH.

Oliver Hampton Smith, Congressman and Senator, was
born October 23, 1794, on Smith's Island, near Trenton, New
Jersey. He came very near being drowned when a boy, hav
ing taken the cramp while swimming. In his "Early Indiana
Trials and Sketches," he tlius describes this incident:
"The breathing ceased, the pressure on my lungs was pain
ful, my head rolled over on the gravelly bottom, my mind was
clear as my eyes closed on a bright sun. I fell, as it were, into
a sound sleep. Some thirty- minutes afterward I felt v-ery sick,
the water was running from ray raouth, and my eyes seemed to
open involuntarily. There stood Isaac Fox bending over me.
When I was drowning he ran down to the bank of the river,
learned where I went down, floated over me, and saw me lying
quietly on the bottom. I had been there near ten minutes. He
dived down and brought me up, and took me, unconscious, to a
tavern just by, and rolled and rubbed me into life. As I opened
my eyes he cried aloud for joy."
Had it not been for the opportune presence and daring of
young Isaac Fox this sketch would never have been written.
Y.oung Sraith coramenced attending school when he was six
years old, in a building near his home. He went to this school
off and on until 1813, when, on account of the death of his father,
he left home and went out into the vvorld to seek his fortune.
He visited New York, and then went to Pennsylvania, where
for a time he worked in a woolen mill. On reaching his ma
jority he received .$1,500 from his father's estate, which he in
vested in an enterprise that proved to be unfortunate. On

OLIVER HAvn-roN s:\n'ni. 197
closing it out the only thing he had to show for his patrimony
vvas a Canadian pony, upon which he rode to his brother Thom
as's. He remained there a short time and then started West.
On his arrival at Pittsburg he engaged as captain of a coal boat
bound for Louisville, Kentucky. The boat had another lashed
to it. and during the trip down the river the captain discovered
that the consort of his boat vvas about to strike a snag. He
knew if she did she would sink and take down vvith her the one
upon which he stood. He met the exigency with promptitude.
Seizing an ax he cut the rope which bound the vessels together,
and in a moment afterward the fated boat struck the snag and
sank to the bottom. This incident illustrates Mr. Smith's judg
ment and promptitude.
In 1817 Mr. Smith came to Indiana. He first settled at Rising
Sun. but in a short tirae he remov^ed to Lawrenceburg and com
menced the study of law. In March, 1820, he was personally
examined by Miles C. Eggleston, then Judge of the Third Ju
dicial Circuit, and licensed to practice law. Soon after this he
removed to \'ersailles, in Ripley county, and opened an office,
but, not liking the location, in a few months he reraoved to Con-
nersville, where he lived until 1839, at which time he became a
citizen of Indianapolis. At Connersville Mr. Sraith, notwith
standing the strong competition, soon obtained a large practice.
He came in contact with the lawyers of Brookville and Law
renceburg, as well as those at his home, but his ability was such
that he was able to earn and maintain a position among them
equal to the best.
In August, 1822, Mr. Smith vvas elected to the Legislature
from Fayette county. On his way to Corydon, then the capital
of the State, he stopped over night at Madison and had his
horse taken to the stable by General Milton Stapp, and on the
organization of the House, when the county of Jeft'erson vvas
called, the " flaxen-headed hostler" stepped forward and took
the oath of office. (General Joe Lane, afterwards famous as a
warrior and statesman, was also a meraber, as were Dennis Pen
nington, Isaac Howk, John Dumont, William A. Bullock, and
others whose names have come down to the present day. Mr.
Smith was made chairman of the Judiciary Coramittee, an im
portant position, and one which is usually given to the ablest

198 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
lawyer in the body. It is, therefore, evident that his profes
sional reputation was at that early day well established. In 1824
Governor Hendricks appointed Mr. Smith prosecutor of the
Third Judicial Circuit. It was while he held this office that
Hudson, Sawyer, Bridge, sr., and Bridge, jr., were indicted
and tried for the killing of a party of friendly Indians near Pen
dleton, in Madison county. In an address delivered before the
Marion County Agricultural Society, Mr. Smith thus speaks of
this trial :
" I was circuit prosecuting attorney at the time of the trials at
the falls of Fall creek, where Pendleton now stands. Four of
the prisoners were convicted of murder, and three of them hung,
for killing Indians. The court was held in a double log cabin,
the grand jury sat upon a log in the woods, and the foreman
signed the bills of indictment, which I had prepared, upon his
knee ; there was not a petit juror that had shoes on — all wore
moccasins, and were belted around the waist, and carried side
laiives used by the hunters."
In 1826 Mr. Smith became a candidate for Congress against
Hon. John Test, who had represented the district for three full
terms. The district coraprised one-third of the State, and ex
tended along its eastern border from the Ohio river to the Mich
igan line. Mr. Smith traversed the district frora one end to the
other, and spoke to the people whenever and wherever he could
get an audience. He made a trip, under great difficulties, to
Fort Wayne, and when the election came off he received just
ten votes in Allen county. Allen county then, as now. voted
pretty rauch one way. But the other counties of the district
<iid better by Mr. Sraith, for he was elected by ov-er 1,500 ma
jority. Mr. Smith served vvith distinction in Congress. His
speech on the appropriation to build the Cumberland road was
the ablest argument in its favor raade in the House. Fle vvas
attentive and industrious in his public duties. When his term
expired he returned to the practice of the law and to the culti
vation of his lands.
In December, 1836, he vvas a candidate for the United States
Senate. His competitors were Noah Noble, WilHam Hen-.
dricks and Ratiiff Boon. On the\first ballot he ran behind

OLIVER H.VAH'TON SMITH.

199

both Governor Noble and Governor Hendricks, but on the
eighth he took the lead, and on the ninth vvas elected. The
second night alter the election he reached his home, and the
next morning started to Cincinnati with a drove of hogs. But
I will let him tell the story :
" Late in the evening I reached Henrie's Mansion House, in
Cincinnati, covered with mud. There vvere many inquiries
about the result of our senatorial election ; I was asked if there
had been an election. ' Which is elected, Hendricks or Noble ? '
'Neither.' ' Who. then, can it be? ' ' I am elected.' 'You!
What is yojir name?" •Ohver H. Smith.' 'You elected a
United States Senator ! I never heard of you before.' "
In the Senate Mr. Smith was chairman of the Committee on
PubHc Lands. He took great pride in the place, and filled it
vvith distinguished ability.
In 1839. while holding the office of Senator, Mr. Sraith re
moved to Indianapolis, and afterward resided there while he
lived. He had a large law practice in the Federal courts as
wefl as in the State courts, and when not in Washington attend
ing to his public duties he vvas industriously engaged in his
profession. In 1842 Mr. Smith vvas a candidate for re-election to the Sen
ate, but vvas defeated by Edward A. Hannegan. In March,
1843, his senatorial services terminated, and he came back to
his home. Soon after this he turned his attention to railroads,
and Indianapolis is mainly indebted to him for the building of
the Indianapolis and Bellefontaine road, now known as the Bee
Line. He was at different times president of two railroads, and
he directed their aft'airs vvith the sarae energy and intelligence
that he displayed in everything he undertook.
In 1857, having measurably abandoned the law, and his rail
road enterprises being, in a manner, suspended, he commenced
writing a series of sketches for the Indianafolis youri/al on
early times in Indiana. They attracted much attention, and the
next v-ear the publishing house of Moore, Wilstach, Keys &
Co., of Cincinnati, brought them out in book form. The book
"is valuable as a record of early- Indiana times, containing as it

200 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
does raany historical incidents which otherwise would have been
forgotten. Had its extraneous raatter been omitted, and the
author confined himself to sketching Indiana men and their ac
tions, the book, while not so bulky, would have been of more
value than it is. There' is a good deal of genuine humor in it,
and its raatter otherwise is interesting, but its style is not that
of a practiced writer. It is, however, a most valuable contri
bution to the history of the tiraes of which it treats, and will
live while the State exists. As a sample of its style I copy
the following from a sketch entitled, "Early Condition of In
diana : "
"At the tirae I carae into the State, in March, 1817, there was
not a railroad in the United States, nor a canal west of the Al
legheny raountains. The telegraph had not been discovered,
fire was struck by the flint and steel — the falling" sparks were
caught in ' punk ' taken frora the knots of the hickory tree.
There was not a foot of turnpike road in the State, and plank
roads had never been heard of. The girdled standing trees
covered the cultivated fields, the shovel plow the only cultiva
tor ; no roads west of Whitewater ; not a bridge in the State ;
the traveling all done on horseback, the husband mounted be
fore on the saddle, with from one to three of the v-oungest chil
dren in his arms — the wife, with a spread-cover reaching to the
tail of the horse, seated behind, with the balance of the children
unable to walk, in her lap. We young gentlemen retained the
luxury of a single horse ; not a carriage nor buggy in all the
country. After some years Mr. Lovejov- brought a buggy with
out a top to Connersville, frora New England. I borrowed it to
ride to Wayne county, but I gave up the buggy and took my
horse for fear the people would think me proud and it vvoifld
injure ray election to Congress."
Mr. Smith died on Saturday, March 19, 1859, O"- ^he Mon
day following, the Indianapolis bar met in the Court-house to
take action upon his deatii. Governor David Waflace presided,
and Simon Yandes, Esq., acted as secretary. Governor Ham
mond, Jonathan W. Gordon and Hugh O'Neal were appointed
a committee on resolutions, and reported a series, in which the
private worth and public service of the deceased were recounted

OLIVER HAVU'TON SVimi. 20I
and extolled. Speeches vvere made by Mr. Yandes, John L.
Ketcham, Hugh O'Neal and Governor Wallace. The speech
of the last gentleman was particularly able and discriminating.
In it he said :
•• He had no envy in his composition. He never tried to
crush others. His egotism had been sometimes spoken of dur
ing his life, but it vvas the simplest egotism the vvorld ever saw.
He never assailed another, or tried to pull him down that he
might raise himself. Detraction he vvas never guilty of. He
was ambitious, but his ambition vvas to surpass you, not to ruin
you. He would give you all the merit you deserved, and often
more, and then claim that he excelled you. This was the ex
tent of this feature of his character."
The meeting appointed Governor Willard, Lieutenant-Gov
ernor Hammond, R. L. Walpole, Albert G. Porter, John L.
Ketcham, John Coburn, Robert B. Duncan and Governor Wal
lace Mr. Smith's pall-bearers, and Siraon Yandes, Esq., to pre
pare a eulogy on his life and character. It adjourned to meet
at the house of Governor Willard, from whence the members
proceeded in a body to the residence of Mr. Smith to attend his
funeral. On the 29th of March Governor Wallace asked the Marion
Circuit Court to have the resolutions adopted at the bar meeting
spread upon its records. He accompanied the request with a
few remarks, after which Simon Yandes, Esq., delivered a very
appreciative and eloquent eulogy upon the life and character
of the deceased. Mr. Yandes had long been his friend, and
for many years was his law partner, and was, probably, better
qualified to bring out the prominent and salient points in his
character than any other man. In this address he said :
" It is said he vvas ambitious. It is true he was ambitious of
excellence, and this was his greatest merit. He may have been
but too ambitious of success, and it is perhaps but fair to ad
mit that is a fault of our profession, especially among its lead
ers. It does not become me to pass upon a measure of intellect,
or the comparative rank of a man so distinguished as he was.
No man'in the State raore filled the public eye ; and, indeed, it

202 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
may be said that his senatorial and other services gave him a
reputation that was national. He and our lamented Marshall
had this trait of greatness in common : they rose with the occa
sion, and always seeraed to have a force in reserve. He was of
great and varied ability, prompt alike for the debates of the Sen
ate or the bar ; in the argument of fact or law, and of all classes
of cases, he intuitively fastened upon the leading and governing
points." Previous to making the order to have the proceedings of the
bar meeting spread upon the records. Judge Majors said :
"As a lawyer Mr. Smith was ever true to the interest of his
client. In the prosecution of his cases in court he displayed
much zeal and earnestness. He was generally well prepared
and ready for trial, and if unsuccessful, from inadvertence or
oversight, it was a very rare occurrence. He was an honorable
opponent, and very liberal in his practice, yet very capable and
sometimes ready to seize upon the weakness or oversight of an
adversary. Mr. Smith's career at the bar w-as a successful one.
He well merits the tribute paid to his memory bv- his brethren
of the bar. The court takes great pleasure in directing that
the resolutions be spread upon the record."
Mr. Smith was a jovial man, of a happy disposition, and he
loved to make others happy, hence he would say things which,
taken frora their surroundings, would appear the height of ego-
tisra. He was an irrepressible talker : would talk to any one
and every one he met. A gentieman who knew him wefl, and
who was also acquainted with Judge Stoiy, says Mr. Smith, in
this respect, more nearl)- resembled that distinguished jurist
than any one he ever knew. One day a boarder at a hotel kept
by a Mr. Sloan (who vvas a good liver and had a rubicund face)
complained, in Mr. Smith's presence, of the fare he had at his
hotel, when Mr. Sraith remarked, " What better coidd you ex
pect? Sloan eats all the good things himself: there is nothing
left for his boarders." One day a friend said to him that he
was too much given to self-praise, when, vvith a twinkle of the
eye, he replied, " Why not praise one's self? A man can praise
himself more in a minute than his friends will in a year." The

OLIV KK H.VMPTON SVHTH. 2O3
reader should bear in mind Mr. Smith's wit and disposition to
be facetious, else ho will form a wrong idea of his character.
He had vanity, but, according to Governor Wallace, it vvas
the simplest the world ever saw — it harmed no one.
Mr. Smith's disposition vvas such that he made the best of
everything. He never grieved over things that could not be
prevented, and when they carae upon him he bore them with
fortitude aad soon forgot them.
Indiana has produced few men who will be so long remem
bered as Mr. Smith. As a lavvyer he ranked among the very-
first in the State, as a politician he had great influence, and as a
statesman he maintained a very high standing while in the Sen
ate of the United States. He was also an active promoter of
railroads, and his book containing sketches of early Indiana
will live when his other works are forgotten. He himself says :
••These sketches will live and be read by thousands when
the author and his subjects shall sleep together in the silent
tomb." Mr. Smith is in his tomb. Most of the raen he mentioned have
gone the way of all the earth, but his book still lives, and is
more highly prized as the years roll on. It is the only record
we have of the men and tiraes of which it treats, and will be
read vvith more interest fifty years frora now than it is to-day.
Mr. Smith was five feet ten inches high, and weighed about
180 pounds. He vvas broad-chested — was large from the waist
up. The lower part of his body was correspondingly smaller
than the upper, and, when he vvas subjected to great physical
exercise it was too weak to bear hira up. Often, when fatigued
by travel and corapelled to speak, he would address the people
sitting. His eves were dark, his hair was black and stood up
upon his head. He had large, shaggy eyebrows, and the gen
eral outline of his features denoted energy, pluck and endurance.
His place is in the front rank of the great men of Indiana.

ALBERT S. WHITE.

Among the most scholarly men who have attained eminence
in the politics of Indiana was Albert S. White. His writings
were copiously embellished with classical allusions, and his
speeches were rich in references and quotations from the most
noted thinkers and publicists of the world.
Albert S. White was born in Blooming Grove, New York,
October 24, 1803. He graduated from Union College, New
York, in 1822, having for a classmate the Hon. William H.
Seward, one of the most eminent men of his time. Mr. White
studied law at Newburg, New York, and in 1825 was licensed
to practice his profession. Soon after this he emigrated to In
diana and located at Rushville. After practicing law a year or
so in that town, he removed to Paoli, where he remained but a
short time, and then took up his abode in Lafayette. This was
in March, 1829, and from that tirne until his death, Lafayette,
and its near neighbor, Stockwell, was his home.
During the session of 1828-29 Mr. White reported the pro
ceedings of the Indiana Legislature for the Iiidia/zafolis Jour
nal, the first work of the kind done in the State. He did it
thoroughly and well, as the files of the paper will attest. In
1830 and 1 83 1 he was the assistant clerk of the Indiana House
of Representatives, and. from 1832 to 1835 he vvas its clerk.
During these years of service in the House h« was brought in
close contact with the leading men of the State, a circumstance
which was of great benefit to him in his future political career.
In 1833 he was a candidate for Congress -against Edward A. .
Hannegan, and was defeated. Ile had neither the brilHancy
nor eloquence of Hannegan, but he vvas the superior of that er-

.VLBER'I' S. VVllI'nC. 205
ratio man in education, culture, and in most of the qualities
which go to make up the successful man. Four }ears after this
he was elected to Congress from his district, defeating Nathan
Jackson by a majority twice as large as the latter's vote. The
year before he vvas on the Whig electoral ticket, and in the
electoral college cast his vote for William Henry Harrison.
On the expiration of the senatorial term of General John Tip
ton, in 1839, Mr. White was chosen to succeed him. A pro
tracted struggle took place over this election, the candidates
being Governor Noble, Colonel Thomas H. Blake and Mr.
White. It was not until the thirtv-sixth ballot was reached that
an election took place ; on that ballot Mr. White received a ma
jority of the votes. He was then a young man, but his training
had been such as to acquaint him with public business, and when
he took his seat in the Senate he vvas no novice in the duties
of the place. He actively opposed the annexation of Texas, as
he did every measure which was calculated to extend the area
of slavery. He vvas of a conservative temperament, and usually
voted with the moderate men of his party, but he vvas conscien
tiously an anti-slavery man, and always acted with those who
strove to confine slavery to the territory it then polluted. He
was active in securing grants of land to aid in the extension of
the Wabash and Erie canal, and it vvas largely by his influence
that such grants were obtained.
On the expiration of his senatorial terra in 1845, Mr. White
resumed the practice of the law. but in a short time he aban
doned it and entered actively into the business of railroading.
He was president of the Indianapolis and Lafayette railroad
from its organization until 1856, and during three years of the
time was also at the head of the Wabash and Western railway.
He performed the duties of these places with ability, and to the
satisfaction of the public and the roads.
In i860, when the country had need, of its strongest and most
experienced men, Mr. White was again called into the public
service. He was elected to Congress from his district, and hav
ing had experience both in the House and the Senate, he at
. once took high rank as a member. He was made chairman of
a select committee raised to consider the question of compensa
ted emancipation. Mr. White reported a bill appropriating

205 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
$180,000, GOD to pay loyal men for their slaves, and $20,000,000-
to aid in the colonization of the freedmen. This measure was
recommended by Mr. Lincoln, and supported by him with all
the influence of his position, but the madness of the Southern
people prevented its adoption. Had the raen of the South been
wise they would have accepted this proft'er as a solution of the
slavery question. Had they done so there would have been no
war, and the devastation that swept over the Southern States-
would have been avoided. In presenting the bill, Mr. White
accorapanied it with a report in which the social and political
i»fluences of slavery were elaborately argued. He contended
that the white and black races should be separated, and the lat
ter colonized in the equatorial regions of America. In his
speech supporting the bill, he told the Southern raerabers that if
they did not accept the olive branch it would be withdrawn, and
their slaves would be taken frora them without compensation.
The result is known. The oft'er was rejected and the slaves
freed by a proclamation by the President.
Mr. White failed of a renomination to Congress mainly on
account of his action in regard to the emancipation question. He
was, however, appointed by Mr. Lincoln one of three commis
sioners to adjust the claims of citizens of Minnesota and Da
kota against the government for Indian depredations. He dis
charged the duties of this position, as he did all his public
trusts, honestly ^nd well.
On the death of Hon. Caleb B. Smith, January 7, 1864, Pres
ident Lincoln appointed Mr. White United States Judge for the
District of Indiana. He had been out of law practice so long
that many doubted the wisdom of the appointment, but it proved
a good one. He soon adapted himself to his new position, and
had he lived would have proven a worthy successor of the em
inent man who preceded him. But his term was of short dura
tion, for, on the 4th of the next Septeraber, eight raonths from
the time of his appointment, he died at his home in Stockwell,
a town of which he was one of the founders. His death caused
a gloom throughout the State, but its darkest shadows rested
over Lafayette, where he had lived so long. A special train
left there for Stockwell the Wednesday morning after his death,
and soon returned with his remains. The)- were raet at the

ALBER'r s. vviiiric. 207
Lafayette depot by an immense concourse of people, headed by
the mayor, the city council, and the members of the bar. The
procession moved to the Fifth-street Methodist church, where
an appropriate discourse vvas delivered b)' Rev. John L. Smith,
after which all that vvas mortal of Albert S. White was taken to
the Greenbush Cemetery, and there interred. Subsequently,
Wifliam F. Reynolds, a wealthy citizen of Lafa)-ette, and a
great admirer of Mr. White, erected over his grave a monu
ment which still stands to mark the resting place of the scholar
and jurist. It is of Bedford stone, and represents an oak tree,
thunder-riven, blasted, dismantled, its branches shattered by
the storm, but enough of the trunk standing to show how loftily
and nobly it towered toward the heaven. A pair of doves nestle
on a broken limb, and an iv-y vine clings and clambers around
the root. On a scroll fastened to the tree is inscribed the name,
date of birth and death of Mr. White, and a simple tribute to
his worth as a man, a legislator, judge, lavvyer, citizen, friend.
The inscription is as follows :
The grave of
Albert S. White.
In all relations of life, admirable.
As a friend, sincere ; as a citizen, public spirited ; as a lawyer, honest ;
as a legislator, wise ; as a judge, without reproach.
It is a beautiful tribute of friendship to exalted worth.
In the Fayette Observer, of July 22, 1826, is the full text of an
address deliv-ered by Mr. White, at Rushville, on the Fourth -of
July of that year. It is a chaste and elegant production, abound
ing in classical allusions, couched in the choicest language. It
could only have been prepared by a scholar of great erudition,
one familiar vvith the classic authors. In apologizing for the
space occupied by the speech, the editor says :
"We pretend not to be very lynx-eyed in historical politics,
nor very sensitive to beauties or deformities in rhetoric and
belles-lettres ; nor, indeed, to profess the talents or to exercise
the privileges of reviewing public performances ; nevertheless,
we can venture to express our belief that the speech of Mr.
White, fraught, as it seems to us to be, with many historical in
cidents that can not fail to be pleasing to those who delight in

208 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
the story of ' the times that tried men's souls,' will fully com
pensate its readers for time and labor."
Mr. White was then a young man, fresh from college, and his
address was somewhat sophomoric, yet its diction is such as to
stamp its author as one who had drunk deeply of the waters of
classical lore.
Mr. White had but little in common with the typical Western
pioneer, and it is, therefore, somewhat strange that he should
have reached the eminence he did. He never sunk his man
hood nor lowered his self-respect by trying to get down to the
level of every man who approached him. He was in no sense
a demagogue, and never sought to curry favor by pretending to
be what he was not. He was always dignified, was always a
gentleman. The last speech made by Mr. White was delivered
on the 1st of June, 1864, at the dedication of Crown Hill Ceme
tery. It was an elegant production, entirely worthy of its dis
tinguished author. The following extracts from this address.
will serve to show the author's style :
"You do well, friends, to leave for a day the busy pursuits of
common life to plant these altars here. Your city is but litfle
older than Jonah's gourd, but where are now the men who built
it? Where are your Nobles, your Wallaces, your Merrills,
your Coes, your Mitchells, your Coburns, your Stevenses, your
Walpoles, your Footes, your Browns, your Morrises, )-our Saun-
derses, your McCartys, and your Blackfords?
" Of some the public history of our State, and of others the
traditionary annals of your city, will have preserved the mem
ory, but though their virtues may survive, their persons wall
have been forgotten. Let the honored remains of such be
transferred to these guarded grounds, and here, side by side,
let them sleep with other cotemporaries equally dear to memory.
As time rolls round and the inmates of these grounds are
counted by thousands ; as strange guests are deposited here
from the myriads of emigrants who vv-ill flock to our capital af
ter its fortunes have been made, the story of the pioneer settlers
will have a thrilling interest, and their graves a peculiar sanc
tity. In this respect your cemetery grounds will have a more
classic interest than those of Mt. Auburn, Greenwood, Laurel

ALBERT S. WHITE. 2O9
Hill or Spring Grove, or even the famous cemetery of Pere la
Chaise, which is said to contain the dust of Heloise and Abe-
lard," While Mr. White was in Congress Mr. Lincoln promised him
the Lafayette postoffice for a friend, but after he left Washing
ton the President changed his mind, and appointed Mr. James
P. Luse. Mr. Luse was not Mr. White's candidate, and when
word came to Lafayette of the appointment, Mr. White at once
went to Washington to remonstrate against it. As soon as Mr.,
Lincoln saw him he knew his business and sought to mollify
him before he had time to speak. " I see how it is. White,"
said the President, " but before you proceed to business I want
to tell you a story. In one of our large towns in Illinois a new
hotel was opened to the public with a splendid entertainment to
a large number of invited guests. Among these came a big,
lean man, who was supposed to be a guest, and at the table he
made tremendous havoc among the viands, eating with a
voracit}' that struck everybody with astonishment. After din
ner the man approached the landlord and said : ' I was not in-
vited to your dinner, but I was very hungry, and came of my
own accord. I have nothing with which to pay you for your
bountififl dinner, and all that you can do in the case is to kick
me out of doors, and I shall be greatly obliged if you do kick
me out ! I shall feel in that case that I have paid the debt.'
"Now, White, I promised you that Lafayette appointment;
I admit it. Just before I left Springfield an old friend, with
whom I had often fished and hunted and slept, came to see me,
and I asked him if I could do anything for him, but he said
there was no office he wanted. Well, the other day this good
old friend of mine came on, and, of course, was my guest ; and
before he left he asked me for the Lafayette postoffice for some
friend of his, and I had to give it to him. You see, White, I
admit I had promised it to you, but what could I do but give it
to him? Now, if you will kick me out of doors, and go quits,
I shafl feel greatly obliged to you," whereupon the President
turned his back to Mr. White, drew aside his coat tail, and
asked for the kick. Mr. White used to tell this story, and add :
H

2 ID BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
"Just think of it! The President of the United States asking
to be kicked ! "
In person Mr. White was small' and spare. He had a thin
visage, a large Roman nose and a narrow chest. Physically
he was weak ; intellectually he was strong. Had his career in
life depended alone upon his body he would have been a failure ;
but depending, as it did, upon his mind and heart as well, he was
a success. He was one of the first men of the Wabash country
and of the State, and his name will not be forgotten while learn
ing and scholarship are cherished, and honor and patr otism.
revered.

EDWARD A. HANNEGAN.

EDvy.\RD A. H.VNNEGAN was born in Ohio, but early in life he
moved to Lexington, Kentuck)-, and grew to manhood there.
He acquired a good education, studied law, and, when twenty-
three years old, vvas admitted to the Lexington bar. Not long
after this he left Kentucky and started West in search of a lo
cation. When he reached Covington, a town on the Wabash,
he stopped, and for many years afterward made it his home.
He opened an office and commenced the practice of his pro
fession. In a short time he obtained a lucrative business, his
practice not being confined to the county in which he lived, but
extending to many others in the western part of the State. But
the law was too dry to satisfy his fiery nature, so he entered
politics. He was elected to the State Legislature, and became
a leading member of that body. He advocated the passage of
a bill chartering the State Bank of Indiana, and was particu
larly active in trying to secure an appropriation for the improve
ment of the Wabash river at the rapids. This was in January,
1833, ^nd the next August he was elected to Congress from his
district, defeating Albert S. White, afterward his colleague in
the United States Senate. He was re-elected in 1835, ^^^ '^^'^^-
ing his two terms established a reputation for eloquence excelled
by few in the House. In 1840 he was again a candidate for
Congress, but, after a most laborious and exciting contest, he
was defeated by Henry S. Lane, afterwards Governor of In
diana, and then a Senator of the United States.
The Legislature of 1842 was very evenly divided between the
Whig and Democratic parties. Oliver H. Smith was the Whig
candidate for United States Senator, and General Tilghman A.

212 , BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Howard the Democratic. On the first ballot Mr. Smith re
ceived 72 votes ; General Hovyard, 74 votes ; Edward A. Han
negan, 3 votes ; and Joseph G. Marshall, i vote. On the second
ballot Mr. Smith received 75 votes ; General Howard, 74 votes ;
and Mr. Hannegan, i vote. On the third ballot Mr. Smith re
ceived 73 votes ; General Howard, 73 votes ; and Mr. Hanne
gan, 3 votes. The fourth ballot was the same as the third, ex
cept that Governor William Hendricks received one of the
votes which before was cast for Mr. Hannegan. On the fifth
liallot Mr. Smith received 71 votes ; General Howard, 73 votes ;
.and Mr. Hannegan, 2 votes. On the sixth ballot Mr. Hanne
gan received 76 votes, and was elected. General Howard hav
ing withdrawn from the race.
This election caused much excitement at the time. David
Hoover, of Wayne county, and Daniel Kelso, of Switzerland
county, refused to vote for General Howard, and, as he could
not be elected without their support, he withdrew from the con
test. It was said that both Hoover and Kelso were pledged to
the support of Mr. Smith. Hoover, who was a Democrat,
elected from a Whig county, voted for Mr. Smith on the first and
second ballots, and then went over to Mr. Hannegan. Kelso
voted for Hannegan on every ballot ; therefore it will be seen
that Hoover and Kelso virtually selected the Senator.
Mr. Hannegan took his seat in the Senate on the 4th of De
cember, 1843, and served until the 4th of March, 1849. Dur
ing his service in that body he made several speeches which
attracted the attention of the country, notably, one on the Ore
gon boundary. He occupied an extreme position on this ques
tion, being " for 54-40, or fight." In a letter to the committee
inviting him to be present at a meeting of the friends of Mr.
Daflas, held in Phfladelphia, January 8, 1846, he sent the fol
lowing toast :
"Oregon — Every foot or not an inch; 54 deg., 40 min. or
delenda est Britannia.''''
The committee repHed : " The Hon. Edward A. Hannegan.
The true-hearted American statesman, who truly represents the
people on the Oregon question — the whole of it or none ; Oregon
or war! "

EDWARD A. HANNEGAN. 213
He attacked President Polk, who favored a compromise pol
icy, in a most bitter manner. He said of him :
" So long as one human eye remains to linger on the page of
history the story of his abasement will be read, sending him
and his name together to an infamy so profound, a damnation
so deep, that the hand of resurrection will never drag him forth.
So far as the whole tone, spirit and meaning of the remarks of
the Senator from North Carolina are concerned, if they speak
the language of James K. Polk, then James K. Polk has spoken.
words of falsehood with the tongue of a serpent."
He closed the speech as follows :
"For the singleness and sincerity of my motives I appeal to-
heaven. By them I am willing to be judged now and hereafter,
so help me God, when, prostrate at thy feet, I falter forth my
last brief prayer tor mercy on an erring life."
Mr. Hannegan's votes in the Senate were always in accord
with those of his party friends. On the ist of March, 1847, Mr.
Upham, of Vermont, while the Mexican treaty was before the
Senate, moved "that there shall be neither slavery nor invol
untary servitude in any Territory which shall hereafter be ac
quired or annexed to the United States, otherwise than in pun
ishment for crimes." Among the nays was Mr. Hannegan.
In this, however, he but obeyed his party's will, for he had for
company Senators Bright, Cass and Dickinson, from the free
States, and all the Senators from the South.
The Thirtieth Congress expired March 4, 1849, and with it
Mr. Hannegan's senatorial term. In its closing hours Mr. Polk
nominated him for Minister to Prussia, and the Senate con
firmed the appointment. He was commissioned on the 29th of
March, 1849, ^"'^ ^^ once sailed for Berlin. Mr. Hannegan:
was unfitted for diplomacy both by nature and by habit. He
was naturally open and frank, carrying "his heart upon his
sleeve," and besides, his convivial habits were such as to make
him an unsafe depository of secrets. It is therefore no wonder
that his career at Berlin was such as added nothing to his char
acter or that of his government. He was recalled on the 13th

214 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES. '
of the next January, and with that recall the public Hfe of Mr.
Hannegan ended. He returned to his home at Covington, and
the next year was a candidate for the State Legislature. At
that time the question of removing the county seat from Coving
ton to a more central point agitated the people of his county,
and the canvass was made mainly upon that issue. Jacob Dice,
a Democrat, who favored the removal of the county seat to
Chambersburg, became a candidate against Mr. Hannegan, and
receiving the votes of those who favored a change, and also of
many Whigs at the county seat who were particularly hostile to
his opponent, was elected. Mr. Hannegan took his defeat
much to heart. Like many other generous and warm-hearted
men, he loved his cups, and his defeat caused him to drink the
harder. The habit grew upon him until, in a fit of madness, he
killed one whora he dearly loved. This tragic event took place
in his own house, and at the time created intense excitement
not only at Covington, but throughout the State. Mr. Hanne
gan and his brother-in-law. Captain Duncan, had been drinking
deeply, and angry words passed between them. Mrs. Hanne
gan, who was present, asked her husband to go up stairs, which
he did, and lay down upon his bed. Captain Duncan started
after him, when his sister requested him not to go, saying her
husband was drinking and trouble might ensue. But he refused
to heed her, and went up stairs and into Mr. Hannegan's room.
As he entered, the latter half arose and awaited the Captain's
coming. A Spanish dagger was within his reach, and as Cap
tain Duncan approached he cafled Mr. Hannegan a coward and
slapped him in the face. Hannegan snatched the dagger, and
in an instant dro^ve it to the hilt in the Captain's body. The lat
ter, all wounded and bloody, walked into an adjoining room and
lay down to die. When his sister came, and friends gathered
about him, he told them no blame attached to Mr. Hannegan,
that the fault was all his own. Hearing this, Hannegan ran to
the wounded man, threw his arms around him, and madly kissed
him again and again upon the forehead, sobbing all the time as
though his heart would break. The wounded man died the
next day and was buried in the cemetery at Covington. Never
afterward did Hannegan enter that city of the dead. Not even

EDVV.\RD A. H.VNNEGAN. 215
when his wife died and vvas there laid to rest would he cross its
portals. In the Madison /ni////er. of May 13, 1852, a paper conducted
by the author of this sketch, is the following notice of Captain
Duncan's death :
" Captain Duncan, whose unfortunate altercation with ex-Sen
ator Hannegan we mentioned yesterday, died on Saturday,
twenty-six hours after receiving the fatal blow. Captain D. was
a brother of Mrs. Hannegan, and a member of her family. He
was formerly a citizen of Newark, Ohio, and commanded a
company of mounted riflemen during the Mexican war. His
personal appearance vvas exceedingly prepossessing and com
manding. He vvas about forty years of age, and had never
been married.
"Nothing has transpired as to the cause of this lamentable
affair, but it is generally attributed to the influence of liquor.
No steps have yet been taken to arrest Mr. Hannegan. The
anguish of his mind is said to be indescribable. His friends are
apprehensive that the consequences of his rash act will drive
him mad. What a lesson !
"' Better be with the dead,
Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace,
Than on the torture of the mind to lie
In restless ecstasy. Duncan is in his grave ;
After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well ;
Passion has done its worst, nor steel, nor poison,
Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing
Can touch him farther.' "
Mr. Hannegan was not indicted and tried for the killing of
Captain Duncan, the universal sentiment of the people being in
his favor. But had he been convicted it would have added
nothing to his suffering. He sought surcease of sorrow by
leaving the State and going to a distant place, but peace did
not come. He removed to St. Louis in 1857, and on the 25th
of January, 1859, he died in that city. His remains were
broug'nt to Terre Haute and deposited in the earth with impos
ing ceremonies, on the banks of his own beloved Wabash. Let
us hope that the peace which came not to him on earth was
found when he entered the dark portals of death.

2l6 .BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Mr. Hannegan was warm in his friendships, and had a large
personal following. He and Judge John R. Porter and Jose-
phus Collett maintained the closest intimacy for many years. It
was their custom to often meet at the home of Mr. Collett and
spend days together. Hannegan was a brilliant conversation
alist, Porter a fascinating talker, and Collett the best story tel
ler in the country 'round about. When they met it was seldom
they parted until " Some wee short hour ayont the twal."
One evening they entered into a compact that the one who
first died should return to his friends, if it were possible, and
give them words or tokens of what was going on in the other
world. After this every tirae they met, before separating, they would
clasp hands and renew the covenant. Judge Porter first
" crossed the river," and soon afterward Mr. Hannegan wrote
Mr. Collett a note stating that he would be with him the next
Wednesday evening. He came at the time, and was received
by Mr. Collett with all his wonted cordiality. But he was
nervous and ill at ease. After supper the two friends conversed
until bedtime without either of them naming Judge Porter.
When the time for retiring arrived, Mr. Collett announced it,
and proposed conducting Mr. Hannegan to his room, where
upon Hannegan sprang to his feet, and in an excited manner
said : "Joe Coflett, has John Porter been back to you?" " No,
Mr. Hannegan," repHed Mr. Collett; "has he appeared to
you? " "No ; and novv I know there is no coming back after
death. John Porter never broke his word." This instance
illustrates Mr. Hannegan's faith in mankind, and his confidence
in the veracity of his friend.
When Mr. Hannegan was on his way to Covington in search
of a location, he was overtaken in the woods, one evening, by
darkness. He saw a cabin, and, approaching it, asked for
shelter for the night. It was given him, and next morning,
when ready to resume his journey, he demanded his bill, and
was answered there was none. This was a boon to the young
man, for he had but a pittance in his pocket, and could ill have
spared the small amount he expected to pay. He never forgot

EDWARD .v. HANNEGAN. 217
the kindness then shown him, and years afterward, when he
had become famous, he repaid the debt vvith interest doubly com
pounded. A rich neighbor had killed the son of the woman
who had given him shelter and bread in the woods, and Han
negan was employed to prosecute him. The attorney for the
defense tried to make capital for his client by speaking of the
eft'orts made to convict him, dwelling particularly on the em
ployment of the most eloquent man in the country to prosecute
him. Hannegan replied by telling the story of his stopping in
the cabin in the woods, and saying that the woman who then
gave him shelter and bread had come to him in her extremity,
and requested his services in prosecuting the murderer of her
son. "She said she had no money to give me," said Hanne
gan, " but she had a horse which I could send for when I
pleased." With flashing eye and quivering lips, he continued :
" When Edward A. Hannegan and his family are starving for
bread, then, but not till then, will he send for the horse."
In some respects Mr. Hannegan was superstitious. He would
not commence a journey or any important business on Friday.
Neither would he pay out money on Monday, and so well was
this fact known that his bills vvere never presented on that day.
For years a great rivalry existed between Covington and At
tica. Hannegan headed it in Covington, and James D. McDon
ald in Attica. In 1848, when the water was being let into the
Wabash and Erie Canal below Lafayette, the level at Attica
vvas necessarily filled before the Covington level was reached.
Some ten days before the latter level could be filled Mr. Han
negan and a party of his friends went to Attica for the purpose
of having the water drawn into the Covington level. The boat
men prevented this from being done, and Mr. Hannegan left
for home. A few days afterward he returned, with some two
hundred followers, determined to turn on the water. The party
took possession of the lock, placed guards around it, and turned
on the water. Ezekiel M. McDonald, and some half dozen
other citizens of Attica, were present, and mixed with the crowd
in a friendly way. A Covington man knocked a Mr. Herr, of
Attica, down, whfle he was in the water, and Mr. McDonald,
on attempting to go to his assistance, was struck with a club
and badly hurt. The Covington men, having accomplished

2l8 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
their purpose, returned home and disbanded. Mr. McDonald
determined to hold Mr. Hannegan personally responsible for
the assault upon him, and punish him for it. Some six months
afterward he and Hannegan met at the Brown Hotel, in Cov
ington, and McDonald at once assaulted him. The parties
were separated before either was hurt, and Hannegan left the
hotel. He went home and armed himself and returned at the
head of some forty of his friends, and demanded that McDon
ald be surffendered to him. The latter was secreted in the house,
and knew what was going on. The landlord, however, told
the mob that McDonald had gone, and it left in search of him.
Ahorse was obtained, and McDonald left town by way of the
Crawfordsville road, and by a circuitous route reached his home.
Had he been caught he would have been killed, so excited and
mad were Hannegan and his friends.
Two years after this, Mr. Hannegan made overtures to Mr.
McDonald for a settlement of the feud between them. With
the assistance of mutual friends a reconciliation was reached,
and ever afterward they and their families were upon the best
of terms.
Mr. Hannegan's manners were elegant. He was courteous
to ladies and delighted in their society. While he was in the
Senate, Mrs. Maury, an English woman, visited the United
States and afterward published a book. She vvas fascinated
with Hannegan, and in her book praises him to the skies. She
¦says :
' ' This is a genuine son of the West ; ardent, impulsive and
undaunted ; thinking, acting and daring with the most perfect
freedom. His spirit is youthful and buoyant, and he is ever
sanguine of succes's, though he feels acutely the bitterness of
disappointment. Show me a gentler, more aft'ectionate nature
than Edward Hannegan, you can not ; and believe me, the
Western men in general resemble him. ¦* * * When Mr. H.
made his speech on the Oregon question, I was in the gallery
immediately above, and in the excitement of the moment I
threw down my glove to the speaker ; it fefl at his side. The
chivalrous Hannegan instantly picked it up. pressed it to his
lips, looked gratefully up to the gallery, bowed and placed it in

KDW.\RD A. H.\NNEGAN. 2I9
his bosom. The fortunate glove was transmitted by the next
day^'s post to the lady of the Senator, then in Indiana. I pre
serve the less happy fellovv to it. * * *
" This Senator was not born in the State he represents, but in
Kentucky (?), iti the city of Lexington (??) ; consequently, in
the very atmosphere^ of Henry Clay, and I can not well tell how
he escaped being a Whig. He is a Presbyterian, but has com
mitted his only son to the care of Dr. Hailandiere, Catholic
Bishop of Vincennes, in Indiana, to be educated at the college
in that city. A devoted lover of the country and of its inde
pendence, he so pined at last in Washington that he was com
pelled to go home for a fortnight to refresh his spirits and re
cruit his health. I met him on the Ohio on his way. ' Come
home with me,' said he to the Doctor and myself; ' come home
with me, and I will show you the lovely valley of the Wabash.
I can endure those hot and crowded halls no longer ; I must have
free air and space to roam in ; I like to hunt when I please, and
to shoot when I please, and to fish when I please, and to read
when I please. Come home vvith me and see how I live in In
diana.' "
Mr. Hannegan, like most other men, did not enjoy a practi
cal joke at his own expense. A jolly Irishman, still living at
Covington, delighted in playing pranks upon his distinguished
friend. On one occasion 'a Teutonic sausage-grinder was hold
ing forth to a crowd upon the wonderful merits of his sausage,
and declaring that " Meester Hannegan, he buys 'em," when
the jolly Irishman, with a twinkle in his eye, said: "Pshaw!
Hannegan says you make your sausages out of dead hogs."
"Did he say dot; did he say mine sausage was made from
dead hogs?" asked the butcher, terribly excited. "Yes, he
did," replied the Irishman, as he left and went on his way.
The meat man wanted to hear no more. With coat off and shirt
sleeves rolled up, he ran, butcher-knife in hand, to Hannegan's
office door, which he pounded vigorously. Mr. Hannegan,
who, at the time, was entertaining some friends, quickly turned
the knob and met the irate butcher face to face. There stood
the angry German, flourishing his butcher- knife, and pouring
forth a torrent of broken words with such energy that Hanne-

220 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
gan was really alarmed. "Meester Hannegan, Johnny Mac
says you tells him I make sausenges out' en dead hogs ! " yelled
the butcher. "I makes nice, clean sausenges, and I wants to
know about it." "Why, my good friend," said Mr. Hanne
gan, " who told you that? " " Vy, John Mac.'i* "Did he ; did
the rascal say that? Let's go and see him." Excusing him
self to his friends, Mr. Hannegan and the 'sausage man started
out to hunt the jolly Irishman. Arriving at his house, he was
called out, and when he appeared a broad smile upon his face
soon developed into a loud laugh. "Now, Mr. Mac," began
Hannegan, " did you intimate that I cast any reflections on this
man or his business? Why, sir," growing more excited, "he
was about to assassinate rae." The Teuton began talking,
also, and between the two, the noise was lively. After awhile
there was a lull, and the joker said to the butcher, ' You don't
make sausages out of live hogs, do you?" Light broke in
upon the German, and uttering the words  , he walked
away. By this time Hannegan was somewhat mollified, and
addressing the Irishman said : "Johnny Mac, jokes are jokes,
but when they reach the point that a friend is in danger of as
sassination, it is carrying them a little too far." The story soon
spread over town, and Hannegan enjoyed it as much as any
one ; but the sausage-grinder's occupation was gone.» He could
not stand the raillery to which he was subjected, so he left Cov
ington and sought fields for peddling his sausage where jokes
did not so rauch abound.
Mr. Hannegan was on the stearaer Princeton, February 28,
1844, when a large gun exploded, kilHng Abel P. Upshur, Sec
retary of State, Thomas W. Gilmer, Secretary of the Navy,
and several other distinguished men. President Tyler vvas on
board, but was not injured by the explosion. In a letter to Dr.
Stewart, of Delphi, dated March i, 1844, Mr. Hannegan says:
"The horrible occurrence on the Princeton you will see in
the papers. I was standing with General Jessup at the main
mast, some twenty-five or thirty feet from the e.xplosion, and
was the first person who pressed forward to the place. Colonel
Benton had been prostrated by the awful concussion, having
been standing immediately behind the breech of the gun. When
I reached his side he was lifting a poor sailor in his arms whose

EDW.VRD .v. H.VNNEG.VN. 221
left arm was shot oft'; thoughtiess of himself, he thought only
of the poor, suft'ering man. He was cool and collected. I asked
him if he was wounded. "No, Hannegan," was his reply;
•'but look at this poor fellow. Bring a surgeon to him, quick."
Judge Phelps, -of \'ermont, vvas standing near Benton at the
time of the explosion, and acted likewise with great coolness and
courage. He declared publicly that injustice shall no longer be
done to Benton's generous and noble heart ; that he will seek
an occasion in the Senate to pay him a tribute. He is, as you
know, a warm Whig. Benton and Phelps were standing im
mediately by the bulwarks which were swept away, and their
hats vvere also carried overboard, with the bonnet of a lady who
stood between them. Benton is out of danger, but not able to
sit up. The force of the concussion struck his breast ; had it
struck his head, he must have been instantly killed."
When Mr. Hannegan was in the Senate, Bishop Simpson
was President of Asbury University at Greencastle. Mr. Han
negan had a high appreciation of Bishop Simpson's power as a
preacher, and invited him to go to Washington and speak to
the "Godless Congressmen." The bishop went, and notwith
standing Mr. Hannegan's effort to get him an audience, he
preached his first sermon largely to empty benches. But those
who did hear him were charmed with his discourse, and his
subsequent appointments drew crowded houses. He remained
at Washington over a month, preaching every Sunday, and al
ways with much acceptability. Mr. Hannegan is entitled to the
credit of first introducing Bishop Simpson to the leading men
of the country, and of securing for him a hearing which was the
commencement of his reputation as one of the best pulpit orators
in the country.
In some respects Mr. Hannegan was a great man, but in oth
ers he fell far below several of his cotemporaries. He was
like the comet that flashes athwart the heavens, dazzling the
eye a moment with its brilliancy, and then disappearing. He
and Jesse D. Bright were in the Senate together, and although
he was Mr. Bright's senior in years and in public service, he
did not exercise anything like the influence of that gentleman,
either in the Senate or in the country. He was a more brilliant
man than Bright, but he lacked the latter's strength of charac-

222 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
ter and his knowledge of raen. In speaking of the Indiana
Senators of that day, it was always Bright and Hannegan, not
Hannegan and Bright. Governor Willard used to say, " Start
Hannegan down stream at high tide, and he can gather more
driftwood than any man I know, but he isn't worth a curse to
row up stream."
The following incident is related as illustrative of Hannegan's
impulsive nature. A paper called the Fountain Ledger was
started in Covington by J. P. Luse for the purpose of support
ing the Whig cause in the then strong Democratic county of
Fountain, and defeating Hannegan. It became very bitter and
personal in its war with the Peofle's Friend, then published by-
Solon Turman. It was especially severe on Hannegan, and
hence the editor incurred the enmity of him and his friends.
After the election, which resulted in the defeat of Hannegan,
Mr. Luse bought the Lafayette Journal and removed to Lafay
ette. Shortly after the unfortunate homicide of Captain Dun
can by his brother-in-law, Hannegan, occurred. It was ex
pected that Mr. Luse would embrace that opportunity to de
nounce Hannegan and inflame the public mind against him.
On the contrary, he published a very mild, kind and consider
ate editorial, referring most generously to Hannegan, and ask
ing the calra judgraent of the country on his awful deed. Some
two years after, Mr. Hannegan accidentally met Mr. Luse at
Danville, Illinois, rushed up to him, embraced him, and in his
impulsive and characteristic way evinced his deep appreciation
of his kindness. Ever after, till Hannegan's death, they were
friends. In person Mr. Hannegan was below the medium height ;
he was firmly and compactly built, and in his latter davs was
inclined to corpulency. He had a ruddy complexion, blue eyes,
and light brown hair. He was a charming companion, a fasci
nating talker, and a public speaker of true eloquence. He was
not a profound man nor a great scholar, but what he lacked in
profundity he made up in brilliancy, and his deficiencies in schol
arship were largely compensated for by his quick wit, his fertile
imagination, and his power to express himself in the choicest of
language. He was of Irish descent, and inherited many of the
characteristics of that warm-hearted and impulsive race.

JESSE D. BRIGHT.

For twenty years prior to i860, Jesse D. Bright was a leading-
man in Indiana. He was the autocrat of his party, and ruledi
it as absolutely as did Governor Morton the Republican party
when in the zenith of his power. Indeed, in many respects.
these men were alike. Both loved power and knew the art of
getting it ; both loved a friend and hated an enemy, and both.
knew how to reward the one and punish the other.
Mr. Bright was born in Norwich, New York, December 18,
1812, and came to Indiana when a boy. His family located at
Madison, and there young'Bright grew up to man's estate. He-
had a good constitution, and was one of the healthiest and
strongest men in the town. He vvas fond of athletic sports, and
vvas always ready- to test the strength and endurance of any who
chose to challenge him. He would accommodate them with a
friendly tussle or a regular knockdown — ^just as they pleased to
have it. I do not mean by this that he was quarrelsome, for he
vvas not ; but I do mean that he had muscle and grit, and was
not loth to let it be known. His physique was splendid. He
weighed about two hundre^ pounds and had a well-proportioned
bod}% save, probably, a little too much fullness in the abdomen.
His face was cleanly shaven, and his clothes fitted him well and
were of good quality. He had a good head and a good face,
and he stood straight upon his feet and carried himself as one
having authority. He was imperious in his manner, and brooked
no opposition either from friend or foe. Indeed, he classed
every man as foe who would not do his bidding, and made per
sonal devotion to himself the test of Democracy. He had natu
ral talents of a high order, but was deficient in education and.

224 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
cultivation. In his public speeches he was a frequent violator
of grammar and of logic, but his manner was so earnest and
his delivery so impressive, that what he said found a lodgment
in the minds of his hearers. He was the Danton of Indiana
Democracy, and was both loved and feared by his followers.
Mr. Bright was the best judge of men that I ever knew. In
deed he seemed to have an intuitive knowledge of men and their
thoughts. He seldom or never gave his confidence to a man
that abused it. He often withheld it from gentlemen of his own
political household and bestowed it upon those of another faith.
As an illustration of this fact the following incident is narrated :
One evening in 1852 the editor of a Whig paper was in Mr.
Bright's parlor on invitation, when the door-bell rang, and Mr.
Bright said : "I must ask of you the favor to step into another
room ; that is John A. Hendricks at the door ; I don't want him
to meet you here ; he wants my influence for Congress ; I must
humor him, but I can not trust him ; he is uncertain anyhow,
and if he is not nominated by the Democrats will leave us and
go over to the opposition ; if he sees you here he will suspect
where you get some of your items about Joe Wright. Mr. Hen
dricks was not nominated by the Democrats, did go over to the
opposition, and in 1856 was the candidate of the '' People's"
party for Congress in the Third District, and was defeated by
the late Judge Hughes. He was killed at the battie of Pea
Ridge during the rebellion, and his photograph may be seen in
our State Library. He was a son of e.x-Gov-ernor William Hen
dricks, and a cousin of Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks.
Mr. Bright was an earnest man, and whatever he undertook
he did with all his might. There was nothing " 'alf and 'alf"
about him. He struck out from tlie shoulder, right and left,
and his blows were those of a giant. He never conciliated ;
he demanded absolute obedience ; he permitted no divided al
legiance, and the Democrat that looked with favor upon his
rival. Governor Wright, committed an off'ense for which there
was no atonement. In those days Governor Wright was a
strong man with the people of Indiana. His character was en
tirely different from that of Mr. Bright. He had not the bold
ness nor the courage of the Senator, and in the battle for the
leadership had to go to the wall. Bright hated him with a

JESSE D. BRIGHT. 225
healthy hatred, and was disposed to make war on him " to the
knife, and the knife to the hflt." However, through the inter
position of friends a truce vvas established ; but it lasted only a
short time. The late James Blake and Judge S. E. Perkins
once pubHshed a card in which they said that all matters of dif
ference between these Democratic leaders having been sub
mitted to them for settiement, were satisfactorily and honorably
adjusted. How hollow the truce ! The fires smouldered and
soon broke out again. Both wanted to go to the United States
Senate, but the matter was finally settled by the return of Bright
and the appointment of Wright as Minister to Berlin.
Mr. Bright chose the law for a profession, and was early ad
mitted to the bar. At that time the Madison bar was the ablest
in the State. Marshafl, and Sullivan, and Stevens, and the
elder Bright, and several other distinguished men were mem
bers of it, so when the young lawyer opened his office, business
was slow in coming. He never mastered the philosophy of
law, and did not equal his brother Michael as a lawyer, but he
spoke well, and, being popular with the people, succeeded in
getting a fair amount of business.
The county of Jefferson was Whig, and Mr. Bright was a
Democrat of the strictest sect, but notwithstanding this he was
elected Probate Judge of the county, and held the office for
years. Subsequently he was appointed United States Marshal
for Indiana, and it was while in this office that he laid the foun
dation of his political career. His business took him all over
the State, and he made friends wherever he went. His knowl
edge of mankind was such that he never, or very rarely, mis
took his man, and the friends he made were bound to him with
hooks of steel. Afterwards, when he needed these friends to
help on his political fortunes, he knew where to find them, and
they failed him not.
Away back in the forties, the Whigs of Jefferson county nom
inated Williamson Dunn for the State Senate. He was a pio
neer of the State, and commanded a company of rangers in the
war of 1812. He was a man of great physical and moral cour
age and unquestioned integrity. But he was a Presbyterian
elder and held to the faith and teachings of Calvin with the
IS

226 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
greatest tenacity. He was ultra on the Sunday question, and
was very active in trying to stop the Sunday mails. ,This caused
dissatisfaction with his nomination, and the disaffected brought
out Shadrach Wilber, also a Whig, as an independent candi
date. The fight waxed warm between the supporters of Dunn
and of Wilber, and much bad blood was aroused. When the
blood was seething a new Richmond entered the field. He saw
his chance and embraced it. He knew the passion between
the friends of the other candidates was too intense to be allayed,
so he entered the lists and won the fight. That Richmond was
Jesse David Bright.
In the State Senate Mr. Bright took rank, at once, as the
leader of his party. In fact, he was a born leader of men. He
always stood at the fore-front of the line.
In 1843 Mr. Bright vvas nominated for Lieutenant-Governor
on the ticket with James Whitcomb. He canvassed the State
thoroughly, speaking in everv county. He had not the grace
nor the eloquence of his chief, but his speeches were equally or
raore eft'ective. He had an earnestness of manner, and a cer
tain rough and turgid eloquence that won the people's favor,
and when the canvass closed he had established a reputation as
a politician second to none in the State. He was elected, and
came to Indianapolis the leader and beau ideal of the young
Democracy. No one in his party disputed his right to lead, and no one out
side of it, except his great compeer, Joseph G. Marshall, dared
cross swords with hira in the city where he lived. His success
in doing what he attempted was proverbial. He filled his office
well, presiding with fairness and dignity, and so won the affec
tions of the Senators and Representatives that they soon elected
him to the Senate of the United States. At this time [when
elected to the United States Senate], he was barely eligible to
a seat on account of his age, he being the youngest man that
had ever taken a seat in the Senate.
In 1850 he vvas a candidate for re-election to the Senate.
Robert Dale Owen, who was also a candidate, openly charged
him with having attempted to secure his return by bribery. Be
ing advised of this charge a few days before the election he ap
plied to Postmaster-General Campbell and obtained a special

JKSSK I). BRIGH'r. 227
order to be taken to the Ohio river in the United States mail
coach. [At that time no railroad crossed the mountains.] At
Wheeling he took a steamer for Cincinnati, and from that city
telegraphed to Madison to have an engine and car read)- to con
vey him to Indianapolis. When he stepped ashore in the city
of his home he at once boarded the car, which awaited him, and
was borne to the State capital as fast as steam could propel him.
Great was the wonderment among the politicians at Indianapo
lis when they saw him upon the streets of that city. They
thought he was at Washington, and expected the election to
come oft' in his absence. He sought Mr. Owen, and soon sat
isfied that gentleman that he had been misinforraed about the
alleged bribery. Mr. Owen thereupon withdrew from the race,
and Mr. Bright was re-elected without further contest.
In 1856, his second term having expired, he again sought a
re-election, but the Republican members of the Legislature
refused to go into an election. They had met the Democratic
members in joint convention to canvass the votes for Governor
-and Lieutenant-Governor, and when that was done took their
leave and refused to go into joint convention again.
The Democratic members adjourned to a fi.xed day, and when
it arrived again met. but did nothing but organize and adjourn
until another day-. The intention had been to elect the Senators
[two were to be chosen] at the second meeting, but Mr. Bright
refused to accept an election unless satisfied it would be legal,
.of which he had his doubts. At his suggestion, the question.
was referred to Samuel E. Perkins, James Hughes and Josepk
W. Chapman, all eminent lawyers and jurists, who subsequently
reported to a caucus that an election held under the circum
stances existing would be legal. The Democratic and American
members of the two houses soon after this met in joint conven
tion and elected Messrs. Bright and Fitch to the Senate. The
next Legislature, being Republican, declared this election ille
gal, and chose Henry S. Lane and Wifliam M. McCarty as
Senators, and these gentlemen vvent to Washington and claimed
their seats. They were, however, refused admission to the
Senate by a party vote, with the exception of Senators Doug
las, Mason and Broderick, Democrats, who voted to admit
them. This vote of Douglas made Mr. Bright his enemy for

228 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
life, and in i860 he opposed Mr. Douglas's election to the Pres
idency with all the influence and power he possessed.
In the Senate of the United States Mr. Bright did not rank
high as a debater, but he was good at committee work, and
won and maintained a respectable standing. He was popular
with the Senators, and enjoyed their personal friendship. Be
tween him and Henry Clay there was a warm attachment, and
more than once was he the guest of that gentleman at Ashland.
When Mr. Clay introduced his omnibus bill, and the Committee
of Thirteen was raised, Mr. Bright had a place upon it. He
stood by the author of this bill during the bitter fight over it, and
when it went to pieces clung to the fragments. Such was his
standing that on the death of Vice President King, in 1853, he
was elected President fro temfore of the Senate. He filled
this office until the inauguration of John C. Breckinridge, in
1857, and thus for four years stood within one step of the Pres
idency. While President of the Senate he did not assign Sumner,
Chase and Hale to places upon the committees, and when asked
his reason for failing to do so, replied : " Because they are not
members of any healthy political organization." He did not
see the seeds of the great Republican party which were then
sprouting and about to burst through the ground.
In 1857, when forming his cabinet. President Buchanan of
fered Mr. Bright the secretaryship of State, which office he de
clined. At the time of Mr. -Bright's entrance into political Hfe, and
for many years afterward, public sentiment in Indiana was
strongly Southern. Northern Indiana was but sparsely setded,
and the immigrants to the southern and central parts of the State
were mostly from the South. . Mr. Bright lived on the southern
border, and in sentiment and feeling was a Southern man. He
¦owned a farm in Kentucky, well stocked with negroes, and was
thus identified with the South by interest as well as feeling.
Once he had the temerity to bring one of his slaves to Madison,
out somehow or other she got away, probably by the help of
Chapman Harris or Elijah Anderson. A Senator from a free
State, he was the owner of slaves and a representative of In
diana, his largest material interests were in Kentucky. Dur-

JESSE D. BRIGHT. 229
ing most of the time for many years he lived at Washington and
in Kentucky in the midst of slavery. So it is no wonder he be
came politicafly permeated with the virus of that abominable
institution. When the war came and slavery was about to be
destroyed, he had no heart for the contest. All the Southern
Senators, save those from the border States, excepting Andrew
Johnson only, left Washington and went home to help on the
rebellion. Mr. Bright did not believe that war would restore
the Union as it vvas, and therefore he opposed the war. He
wanted the Union to stand dominated and controlled by South
ern men, and rather than have any other Union he was willing
to see the country go to pieces. It is but just to say that he
was not a secessionist fer se, and would gladly have had the
Union remain as it vvas. He knew that war meant the destruc
tion of slavery, and, being a slaveholder, he opposed the war.
Just before the commencement of hostilities, but when it was
apparent that the conflict must come, he wrote a letter to Jef
ferson Davis, the provisional President of the Confederate
States, introducing an old friend and former fellow-townsman.
The letter was as follows :
"Washington, D. C, March i, 1861.
" My Dear Sir — Allow me to introduce to your acquaintance
my friend, Thomas Lincoln, of Texas. He visits your capital
mainly to dispose of what he regards a great improvement to
fire-arms. I recommend him to your favorable consideration
as a gentieman of the first respectability, and reliable in every
respect. Very truly yours, Jesse D. Bright.
"To His Excellency Jefferson Davis, President of the Confed
eration of States."
Lincoln was arrested on his way to the Confederate capital
with the letter of Mr. Bright upon his person. Proceedings
were at once commenced against the writer, and after a short
and angry contest, ended in his expulsion from a body in which
he had sat for sixteen years and over which he had presided for
a quarter of the time. He defended himself as best he could,
and when the vote was taken, gathered up his books and pa
pers, and left the Senate never to return. He came back to
Indiana, and for some time quietly staid at his home. But

230 HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
when the Democracy, in 1862, elected a majority of the Legis
lature, he determined to be a candidate for his unexpired time
in the Senate. When the Legislature met he came to Indian
apolis and asked his party friends to vindicate him by sending
hira back to the body which had disowned him. But "the
scepter had departed from Judah," and the boon was refused
him. Judge Turpie was elected to the place, and Mr. Bright
left Indianapolis, swearing vengeance against those who had
.brought about his discomfiture. He laid the principal blame of
His defeat at the door of Governor Hendricks, and ever after
wards was a personal and political enemy of that gentleman.
In i860 Mr. Bright organized and led the Breckenridge party
in Indiana. He stumped the State for the young Kentuckian
and gave the movement all the force and vitality that it had in
this State. He made a speech at FrankHn, in which he was
very bitter on Douglas and his friends. After he had concluded
his address and was going to his hotel, he observed an old per
sonal and political friend on the opposite side of the street. He
crossed over, and taking the friend by the hand, said : " Why
were you not out to hear me speak ? " He was answered : "Mr.
Bright, I am sorry to see you engaged in such a work. I can
^ive no countenance to your effort to break up the Democratic
party." " I am endeavoring to place the Democratic party on
a. solid basis. A number of old Whigs and free-soilers are in
the party, and they must not control it." He vvas reminded
that the organization in Indiana had declared for Douglas, and
that the mass of the Democratic voters were for him. "Yes,"
.said he, "the State Convention did instruct for Douglas, but
Hendricks and McDonald, Hammond and Dunham consented
to these instructions without consulting me."
In June, 1868, he went to Indianapolis on a political mission,
and stopped at the Bates House. One afternoon the author re
ceived a note from him, asking his presence at the hotel, and
¦on going there met Mr. Bright, Hon. D. W. Voorhees, James
B. Ryan and Robert S. Sproule. The conversation was upon
political matters, and during it Mr. Bright asked Mr. Voorhees
whom he favored for the Democratic nomination at New York.
Mr. Voorhees answered, General Hancock, whereupon Mr.
B right asked Mr. Ryan the same question. Mr. Ryan repHed

JKSSK D. BRiGirr. 231
that his choice vvas Mr. Hendricks, and the author, on being
asked for his favorite, named the same gentleman. 1 then said :
"Mr. Bright, we have named our choice, now name yours."
Drawing his nether lip between his teeth, as if to give empha
sis to what he said, he replied: ••Not your man Hendricks.
He is the Oily Gammon of the Democratic party. He paid his
respects to me in 1863 : I propose paying mine to him in 1868."
Pausing t'or an instant, he continued: " Salmon P. Chase is
the proper man tor the Democracy to nominate at New York.
He is a Democrat, now that slavery has gone, and there is no
reason why Democrats should not support him. If he be .nom
inated, he wifl be elected ; any other man will be defeated."
In order that the reader may see how Mr. Bright kept his word,
I wifl recall the fact that his nephew, Richard J. Bright, ser
geant-at-arms of the United States Senate, was a delegate to
the New York convention, and that he steadily voted against
the nomination of Mr. Hendricks. Had Indiana been solid for
Governor Hendricks he would undoubtedly have been the nom
inee instead of Governor Seymour.
In the summer of 1865 Mr. Bright came to Indianapolis, di
rect from Washington. The President, Andrew Johnson, had
broken with his party, and there was much controversy among
Democrats as to the proper thing to do. A number of Mr.
Bright's old friends gathered about hira, and one of them asked
him what course the Democracy ought to pursue. " Support
Johnson," he answered ; " he is right in his fight vvith Congress
and Democrats should hold up his hands. God knows how I
hate him, but I will stand by him in this fight. In 1842 I can
vassed a part of the State with Dr. John W. Davis, of Sullivan
county. One day while he was speaking a man kept interrupt
ing him by asking him questions. At last Mr. Davis became
tired of the interruptions, and, turning to the man, said : ' My
friend, to save time and trouble, I will say that I am in favor of
everything the Democratic party ever did do, or ever will do.'
Now, gentlemen," continued Mr. Bright, " I will not ask you
to indorse Andy Johnson as broadly as Dr. Davis did the Dem
ocratic party, but I will ask you to indorse him when he is in
the right." In the same conversation Mr. Bright advised his
party friends to do what they could to secure the election of

232 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Judge Hughes to the United States Senate, as the successor of
Governor Lane. Judge Hughes was then a Republican Sen
ator from the county of Monroe, and had been as ultra as the
most ultra upon the question of the war. " You can't elect a
Democrat," said Mr. Bright, "and Mr. Hughes is' far prefer
able to an old-time Republican. 'Tis true, he has strayed from
the fold, but we Baptists believe in election and foreordination.
Hughes is one of the elect ; he may go astray, but he will not
be lost." It will be remembered that shortly afterwards Judge
Hughes returned to the Democratic party, and remained in it
while he lived.
Mr. Bright left Indiana soon after the Legislature of 1863 re
fused to return him to the United States Senate, and took up his
residence in Kentucky. Subsequently he served two terms in
the Kentucky Legislature, and at one time was prominently
named for United States Senator from that State. He once told
the author that he could have gone to the Senate from Ken
tucky had he chosen to make the contest.
Mr. Bright was a good business man, as well as a good poli
tician. He had large interests in the coal mines of West Vir
ginia, out of which he made much money. In 1874 he removed
to Baltimore, but he was broken down in health, and on the 20th
day of May, 1875, he died in that city, of organic disease of the
heart. He was buried there, and all that was mortal of Jesse
D. Bright is mouldering to dust near the banks of the "Blue
Patapsco." Most of the men who were cotemporaries of Mr. Bright are
dead. At Madison, where he commenced his political life and
where he lived so long, he had as devoted followers as any man
that ever lived. The Old Guard was not more devoted to Na
poleon than was the Democracy of Jeft'erson county to Jesse D.
Bright. Of his captains, there are but three remaining — John
Kirk, John Marsh and Rolla DooHtfle. These men love the
raemory of their dead chieftain, and will tell you for the asking
that Jesse D. Bright was a warm friend and a good hater — as
true to his friends as the needle to the pole and as inexorable to
his enemies as death itself.

JOHN WESLEY DAVIS.

From 1829, when he entered public life, until 1859, when he
died. Dr. John Wesley Davis, of Carlisle, Sullivan county, was
one of the prominent men of Indiana. He was judge of a court,
often a legislator, repeatedly a Congressman ; he was a foreign
minister and Governor of a Territory, and all these places he
filled with credit to himself and to his adopted State.
The author has in his possession a manuscript autobiography
of Dr. Davis. It is without date, but, as it speaks of matters
which occurred in 1858 it must have been written but a short
time before his death. He gives the incidents of his early life
with more minuteness than is necessary for a paper like this,
but as I do not wish to abridge or alter it, I copy it entire. It
was written with his own hand, and is a valuable contribution
to the history of the day. It is as follows :
" I was born in the village of New Holland, Lancaster county,
Pennsylvania, on the i6th of April, 1799. A portion of ray
childhood was spent with my maternal grandfather, Jones.
When I was about ten years old my father purchased a farm
one mile east of Shippensburg, in Cumberland county, Penn
sylvania, and settled upon it. Until I was seventeen years of
age most of my time was spent upon my father's farm ; how
ever, during that period I was bound an apprentice to a clock-
maker by the name of Hendel M. Carlisle, but my health failed
from confinement, and I quit that business and was next sent to
learn storekeeping. Being changeful in my disposition, I did
not long remain at it, and my father then sent me to a Latin
school in Shippensburg, where I continued about a year, and
then commenced the study of medicine in Carlisle, under the

234 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
¦direction of Dr. George D. Foulke. The winter of 1819-20 I
spent in attending medical lectures at the University of Mary
land, Baltimore. The intervening summer, between the win
ters of 1820 and 182 1, I spent in practicing medicine in the vil
lage of Concord, Franklin county, Pennsylvania. In October,
1820, I raarried Ann Hoover, of Shippensburg, and shortly
afterward returned to Baltiraore to attend a second course of
lectures. I graduated at the university on the 2d day of April,
1821. After graduating I attempted to practice my profession
at Shippensburg, but becoming discouraged with my prospects,
I moved, in August, 182 1, to Old Town, Allegheny county,
Maryland, and there practiced medicine until early in the spring
of 1823, when I moved to Carlisle, Indiana, where I arrived in
April of that year with just three cents in my pocket. My pro
fessional prospects were anything but flattering for the first few
weeks of my residence here, but eventually I obtained my share
of the practice.
"In 1826 1 thought to better my condition in some respects, and
in the spring of that year removed to Terre Haute, where, in
August follovving, rayself and two children were taken sick with
bilious fever, and, after lingering several weeks, and partially
recovering, I returned to Carlisle, and ara indebted to the kind
ness of Mr. John Widener, in his care and nursing at his house,
for my recovery. I continued the practice of my profession
until the summer of 1828, when I was induced to be a candidate
for the State Senate against William C. Linton, and was de
feated by a few votes. The district then, as now, was composed
of the counties of Vigo, Cla}r and Sullivan. I went to Indian
apoHs at the opening of the Legislature and became a candidate
for clerk of the House, and was again unsuccessful, there being
four candidates in the field (Mr. Hurst, Mr. Sheets, Mr. Hunt
ington and myself) ; my share of the ballots was only eleven,
and Mr. Hurst was elected. My successful competitor for the
Senate solicited rae to be a candidate for sergeant-at-arms to
that body. I consented, and was elected. In the summer of
1829 I ran against Associate Judge John H. Eaton for Judge of
the Probate Court, under the new law, and was elected. I
served two years, and then (in 1831) was a candidate for the
Legislature, and was elected. In 1832 I was re-elected to the

JOHN VVKSLI';V DAVIS. 235
Legislature without opposition, and at the session which fol
lowed I was elected Speaker over Harbin 11. Moore. After my
election in 1832, and prior to the meeting of the Legislature, I
vn-as appointed by the President one of three commissioners to
hold treaties vvith the Indians, the other coramissioners being
Governor Jennings and M. Crume, Esq. After discharging our
duties as commissioners we all resigned, and I repaired to my
legislative duties. In 1S33 I became a candidate, with five oth
ers, for Congress, and was defeated by Mr. John Ewing, he re
ceiving two more votes than I. In 1835 ^ "^^^ again a candidate
for Congress, and was elected over Mr. Ewing by nearly 1,000
majority. In 1849 I opposed Mr. Ewing again for Congress,
and vvas elected (to the best of ray memory) by a majority of
1.297. ••At a special session, held the first Monday in May, 1841,
preparatory to a called session of Congress, R. W. Thompson
and myself were the candidates, and he was successful, but not
by so large a majority as that received by General Harrison the
preceding fall. After my defeat for Congress in 1841, I vvas in
duced to be a candidate for the Legislature, and was successful.
When the Legislature met I was again elected Speaker of the
House. In 1842 I was again returned to the House of Repre
sentatives, but declined being a candidate for the chair. In
1843 I was again a candidate for Congress, my competitor being
the talented George G. Dunn, whom I defeated by a majority^
of some 800 to i.ooo votes. [Mr. Davis's raajority over Mr.
Dunn was 962.]
" In 1845 I vfas again returned to Congress over Rev. Eli P.
Farmer by a majority of about 3,000. [His majority was 2,930.]
On the assembling of Congress I was elected Speaker of the
House, by- a party vote, over the Hon. Samuel P. Vinton, of
Ohio. " In 1847 I was nominated by several Democratic conventions
for Congress, but as the conventions were not attended by dele
gates from all the counties in the district, I declined to run.
"In December, 1847, President Polk appointed me Commis
sioner to China. I very soon embarked on my mission in the
United States sloop of war Plymouth. I was over four months
on my voyage out, and had a most irksome and disagreeable

236 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
journey. Early in the year 1850 I asked leave of my govern
ment to return home, and in the summer of that year started
home by what is usually called the overland route, touching at
Singapore, Penary, the Island of Ceylon, the Red Sea, Suez,
across the desert to Cairo, down the Nile to Atfeh, thence by
the Mamonda canal to Alexandria, and thence by the Mediter
ranean to England. I then visited France, returned to Eng
land, and then carae home.
" In 185 1 I yvas again returned to the Legislature, and again
was elected Speaker of the House. During the session the
House took some action which I construed into an implied cen
sure, whereupon I resigned the speakership.
"On the 8th of January, 1852, I was appointed one of the
delegates from Indiana to the Democratic national convention
that met in Baltimore in June of that year. On the assembling
of that body I was chosen its president ; I had several times be
fore been a delegate to Democratic conventions.
" Up to about this time I attended to the duties of my profes
sion at all times when my public engagements permitted.
" In 1853 President Pierce sent me a commission as Governor
of Oregon, unsolicited by myself, or by any one else, so far as I
know. I declined this appointment at first, but, after an inter
view with the President, I went to Oregon in the autumn of
1853, and remained there about a year, and then resigned and
returned home.
" In 1856 I was again elected to the Legislature by the most
flattering vote I ever received from the good people of Sullivan
county, araong whora I have resided for more*han thirty-five
years. " In ^858 I was appointed by the Secretary of War a visitor
to West Point Military Academy, and while there I was elected
president of the board of visitors."
Here Dr. Davis's autobiography ends.
The reader will not forget that Dr. Davis speaks of his resig
nation of the speakership in 1852, on account of what he con
sidered bad treatment. It will be remembered that the session
of the Legislature of 185 1-2 was the longest and most important
one ever held in the State. During that session the whole sys-

JOHN WESLEV DAVIS. 237
tem of the law vvas revised so as to raake it conform to the new
constitution which had just been adopted. Dr. Davis and Hon.
W^ifliam H. English, then just entering upon his legishitive
career, were candidates before the Democratic caucus for nomi
nation for Speaker, Dr. Davis receiving thirty-one votes and
Mr. English tvvent)'-two. Dr. Davis, being the nominee, was
elected Speaker by the House on its organization, but early in
March he resigned the position, as stated in his autobiography,
on account of a disagreement between him and the House.
On Friday. March 5, 1852, both houses adopted a resolution
for a temporary adjournment from the loth of March to the 20th
of April, and for the appointment on the part of the Senate of
two members, and on the part of the House of four, to remain
as a committee of revision during the recess. In the Senate
Messrs. Eddy and Hester were elected by a viva voce vote. In
the House a difference of opinion existed as to the power to
appoint, some contending that the Speaker, under the rule, " He
shall have the right to name any members to bear messages to
the Senate, and to appoint all committees, subject to additional
members to be added on raotion," had such power, and others
that the election should be by the House. The Speaker was of
the former opinion. To settle the matter, however, on motion
of Mr. English, the House adopted a resolution directing the
Speaker to make the appointment, and he thereupon appointed
Messrs. Gibson and English, Democrats, and Messrs. Bryant
and Lindsay, Whigs, as such committee.
On Safurday, March 6, Mr. Mudget moved to reconsider the
vote by which: the House gave the power to appoint the com
mittee to the Speaker. A lengthy and exciting debate ensued,
and the motion to reconsider prevailed — ^yeas 52, nays 21. The
question then recurred on the resolution authorizing the Speaker
to appoint the committee.
Mr. English moved to amend the resolution by striking out
all after the enacting clause and inserting "That the House
vv-ill, the Senate concurring, rescind the resolution for a tempo
rary adjournment."
Mr. Mudget moved to lay the resolution on the table, whicli
was carried.
Mr, Mudget then moved to amend the original resolution by

238 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
striking out all after the enacting clause, and inserting the fol
lowing :
" Resolved, That this House now proceed, by viva voce vote,
to elect the joint committee on the revision." Carried — ^yeas
59, nays 16.
The question then recurred on the adoption of the resolution
as amended — yeas 50, nays 27.
The Speaker decided that it took two-thirds to pass the reso
lution, and hence it was lost.
Mr. McDonald appealed from the decision of the chair.
The question being taken whether the decision of the chair
should be taken as the judgment of the House, it was decided
in the negative — yeas 15, nays 31.
Dr. Davis at once wrote his resignation as Speaker, and call
ing Mr. English to the chair, handed it to him and then de
scended to the floor. Mr. English then laid before the House
the following comraunication :
" Hall of Representativ-es, March 6, 1852.
" Sir — You will please lay this, my resignation of the place
of Speaker of the Flouse, before the body over which you are
temporarily presiding, and oblige yours, respectfully.
"Jno. W."^ Davis."
"To Wra. H. Enghsh, Esq."
Dr. Davis remarked, after the resignation had been read, that
he should be wanting in every element of self-respect if he
had continued for a raoment longer to occupy the chair. The
rescinding of the resolution authorizing him to appoint the com
mittee was a vote of censure, either for ignorance in the dis
charge of that trust by appointing incompetent or unworth)-
men, or else for maliciously violating the will and wishes of the
House. He had on forraer occasions presided in this House
and in the National Congress, and never before had his char
acter for impartiality been impeached. It was 'the severest stab
ever aimed at him.
Messrs. McDonald and Owen, for theraselves and the House,
disclaimed all intentions of the kind, renewed their expressions
of friendship for the Speaker, and solemnly declared that they

JOHN WKSLKV D.VVIS. 239
were governed onl)- b) a regard f'or the best interests of the
State, and a desire to protect the rights of the House.
During the day there vvas much excitement. In the after
noon a caucus of the Democratic members was held, in which
Dr. Davis vvas urged to resume the chair, but which he per
emptorily refused to do. The meeting then nominated Mr.
English for Speaker, and Messrs. Owen, Stover and Gibson for
the revising committee, and, on Monday, March 8, 1852, these
gentiemen vvere severally elected.
In speaking of Dr. Davis. Oliver H. Smith, in his "Early
Indiana Trials and Sketches," says : " Few men in this or any-
other State have held so many prominent positions, or dis
charged their duties with greater ability." All who knew him
bear similar testiraonv-.
A writer in the A'ez^' Alba/iy Press — supposed to be Colonel
Horace Heffren — in sketching the raerabers of the Legislature
of 1856-7. thus speaks of Mr. Davis:
"John W. Davis vvas from Sullivan. Of him I need not write,
as all are, or ought to be, familiar with his histor}-. He was an
old-time gentleman, and had been in the Legislature, Speaker
in Congress, Minister to China, and Speaker of the Indiana
House of Representatives. He vvas a raan of talent, of a high
sense of honor, and v-er\- sensitive."
Dr. Davis was a solid rather than a showy man. His imag
ination was sraall, but his perceptive faculties were large. Fle
thoroughly understood parliamentary law, and was one of the
best presiding officers in the country. While his mind was not
so active as that of Willard, it moved fast enough for him to
readily reach his conclusions. These were seldom wrong, nor
were they often questioned.
Throughout Dr. Davis's long career no one ever doubted his
honesty. He kept his hands clean. With opportunities for
money-making possessed by few, he contented himself with his
legitimate earnings, and died a poor man.
Dr. Davis had fine social qualities. While he was at the
capital, in attendance upon his public duties, it was his custom
often to spend his evenings in the farailies of his friends. He

BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
was fond of rausic, was a good vocalist, and delighted in the
singing of popular songs.
Dr. Davis did not rank high as a public speaker. He had
none of the arts of the public orator, but nevertheless he was an
entertaining talker. Fle was a good canvasser, could express
himself intelligently and well, and if not an eloquent man, he
was a sensible one. He knew how to reach the average voter,
and how to get his vote.
Physically, Dr. Davis was a fine specimen of manhood. He
was six feet two inches high, with a well proportioned body.
He had light hair, blue eyes, and a florid complexion. As a
presiding officer he ranked with the best, and as a safe and pru
dent legislator he was the equal of any man in the State in his
day. He died in Carlisle, August 22, 1859, ^^"^ was buried in
the cemeterv there.

GEORGE G. DUNN.

George G, Dln.n, lawyer and statesman, was born in Wash
ington county, Kentucky, in December, 1812. He came to
Indiana when a boy, and settled in Monroe county, a countv
that has given the State several of her most eminent sons.
Hav-ing acquired sufficient education to enter college, he became
a student of the State University at Bloomington, and continued
one until after he entered the junior class. While a raeraber of
this class he had trouble vvith the President, Dr. Wylie, which
ended in his leaving college. Dr. Wylie said something Mr.
Dunn did not relish, and he made a cutting retort. The Doctor
then said to him, "Young man, do you see this cane?" shaking
one he held in his hand. "Yes, sir," replied the young stu
dent, '"but I don't feel it." He at once gathered his books
and left the college, never to return as a student. He was then
a boy, but was a brave and self-reliant one. He determined to
strike out for himself, and at once went to Switzerland county
and commenced teaching school. When he had saved one
hundred dollars out of his earnings he gave up his school and
started back to his old home. Oh the way he lost his money,
and when he reached home he was as poor as when he left,
save in the knowledge he had gained of the world.
In 1833, when he was twenty-one years old, Mr. Dunn went
to Bedford and taught school awhile, and occupied his spare
hours in reading law. In due time he was admitted to the bar,
and soon afterward formed a partnership with Colonel Richard
W. Thompson, late Secretary of the Navy.
In 1843 he ran for Congress against Dr. John W. Davis, and
was defeated. After this he was made prosecuting attorney of
16

242 biographical .VND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
his circuit, and was a terror to the evil-doers of that section of
the State. He prosecuted law-breakers as he did everything
else, with the vim and energy of a great mind.
Traveling over the circuit, he became acquainted with its
leading raen, and in 1847 his party friends again determined to
make him their candidate for Congress. His district two years
before had given Dr. John W. Davis, Democrat, 2,930 majority,
but this fact did not deter Mr. Dunn frora raaking the race.
He was then thirty-five years old, was in good health and capa
ble of great physical and raental labor. He made a searching
canvass of the district, speaking in all the townships, and de
feated his competitor, Dr. John M. Dobson, twenty-two votes.
This race and its result astonished everybody save the young
Whig standard-bearer, who, from its beginning, believed he
would win. He served his term in Congress with credit, and
¦ at its close intended to return to private life, but he was not per
mitted to do so, for his party friends nominated and elected
him to the State Senate the year his term expired.
In the spring of 1852 he resigned his seat in the Senate while
the Legislature was in session and went home to attend to his
legal business. He continued in active practice until the sum
raer of 1854, when he again entered the political field. During
that year the Know-nothing party sprang into life. It vvas
composed of former Whigs, sore-headed Democrats and Aboli
tionists. Captain John A. Hendricks, who, until then, had
been a Democrat, was nominated for Congress by a convention
of political mongrels, most of whora had been Democrats. He
at once took the field and commenced his canvass. Soon, how
ever, he learned that Mr. Dunn was also a candidate. The
candidacy of the latter, so far as the world knew, was solely of
his own volition. He had been nominated bv no convention,
but it was soon discovered that the mass of the new party vvas
rallying to his support. Captain Flendricks vvas in a quandary
what to do. He had long been an aspirant for congressional
honors, and now when the cup of fruition was at his lips another
snatched it from hira. lie saw his friends deserting him, and,
knowing his race to be hopeless, he left the field.
Mr. Dunn entered the contest in 1854 somewhat as he had
done that of 1847. Two years before the district had given

(JEORGE G. Dl N.N.

-4.'t

Cyrus L. Dunham 031 majority over Joseph G. Marshall. But
this had no terror for Mr. Dunn. Fle believed in his star, and
vvent into the fight feeling confident of success. He visited all
the townships in the district, sometiraes speaking three tiraes a
day. He vvas in bad health, but his great will and deterraina-^
tion kept hira up until the canvass closed. Fle was elected,
beating Mr. Dunham 1,660 votes, but his success was a, poor
compensation for his broken health. The labor of this contest
vvas so severe that it undermined his constitution and he was
never afterward a strong man.
In Congress Mr. Dunn occupied a somewhat anomalous po
sition. He was mainly elected by the Know-nothings, but the
Whigs of the district who refused to assume the new party affil
iations voted for him. It will be remembered that the Know-
nothing party had but an ephemeral existence. Out of its ruins
sprang the Republican party, a party with which Mr. Dunn did
not identify himself. In Congress he occupied an independent
position, but generally voted with the opposition to the Democ
racy. He had made his canvass mainly in insisting that the
Missouri restriction, which had been repealed, should be re
stored, and he remained faithful to that position. The anti-Ne
braska party in Congress nominated Mr. Banks for Speaker,
but Mr. Dunn persistently opposed his election. Congress con
vened on the 3d day of December, 1855, and did not organize-
until the 2d day of February following. During this interval
great excitement prevailed throughout the country. One hun
dred and twenty-nine ballots had been taken for Speaker, when-
Mr. Smith, of Tennessee, offered a resolution that the House-
proceed to vote three times, and if no one had a majority for
Speaker, then " the roll shall again be called, and the raeraber
who shall then receive the largest nuraber of votes, provided it
shall be a majority of a quorum, shall be declared duly elected
Speaker of the House of the Thirty-fourth Congress. The
resolution passed, Mr. Dunn voting against it.
The final ballot was as follows :
For N. P. Banks, 103 ; Williara Aiken, 100; Henry M. Ful
ler, 6; Lewis D. Campbell, 4 ; Daniel Wills, i.
On this ballot Mr. Dunn voted for Campbell. During the
contest he voted for Mr. Etheridge, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Pen-

244 biographical and HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
nington and Mr. Eddie, but never for Mr. Banks. His course
during the organization of the House, no doubt, cost him the
chairmanship of a leading comraittee, a place he was well quali
fied to fill. His position in this Congress could not have been
a pleasant one, for he was not in accord with those in control of
the House, and it must have been with a feeling of relief that he
left Washington for his home at the end of his term. His health
was now so bad that he could do little else than remain at home
with his family. He gradually grew worse until September of
that year (1857), when he died.
As an advocate, Mr. Dunn was always ready. He took no
notes of the testimony in his cases, relying entirely upon his
meraory for his facts. He raade the cause of his client his own,
and in conducting his cases he was aggressive and bold. If
such a course involved him in trouble with opposing counsel he
let the trouble come. He had a difficulty with the late Judge
Hughes, which grew out of a trial in court, and carae near end
ing in a duel. He called Judge Hughes a pettifogger, and, re
fusing to retract, was challenged by that gentleman. He ac
cepted the hostile invitation, but before going upon the field
friends interfered and the trouble was settled.
Mr. Dunn made more reputation in the State Senate than in
Congress. In the Senate he stood head and shoulders above
his fellow members, with the single exception of Joseph G. Mar
shall, and in sorae respects he excelled that distinguished man.
He was a better scholar and a greater master of ridicule and in
vective than the Senator frora Jefferson, but he fell below him in
breadth of comprehension and ability to move the passions of
the people. The one was scholarly, argumentative and witty.
the other impassioned, profound and convincing.
In an admirable portraiture of this subject by Miss Laura
Ream, in 1875, that graphic writer, speaking of his oratory,
says : " His voice was clear and resonant as a silver bell. His
style of speaking was very impressive, enforced, as it was, by
a personal magnetism which can scarcely be imagined in this
age .of tame leadership. His will was invincible, and he in
spired others with such confidence in his strength that any law
case he undertook was considered decided in his favor before
hand."

GEORGE G. DUNN. 245
While in the Senate Mr. Dunn had a memorable debate vvith
Colonel James H. Lane, then Lieutenant-Governor of Indiana,
and afterwards a United States Senator from Kansas. David P.
Hofloway, a Senator from the countv of Wayne, offered a reso
lution to present certain trophies of the Mexican wai', then in
the State Library, to a Catholic church in Indianapolis. In
speaking on his resolution he animadverted on the Mexican war,
and when he had concluded Colonel Lane took the floor and
made a speech, in which he coarsel)- abused the Senator from
Wayne. When he had taken his seat Mr. Dunn replied in a
speech that will never be forgotten by those who heard it. He
flayed the Lieutenant-Governor, taking off his hide, strip by
strip ; that is. if words can be made to do such a thing. Before
taking his seat he said he wore no shad-bellied coat like the
Senator trom Wayne (Mr. Holloway was a Quaker), and that
he vvas personally responsible for what he had said. It was sup
posed at the time that Colonel Lane, who recognized the
"code." would call Mr. Dunn to account for this speech, but
he did not — letting it pass without notice.
The greatest speech Mr. Dunn ever delivered vvas at the
Whig State Convention of 1852. A few days before the con
vention vvas held he resigned his seat in the Senate, and in this
speech he gave his reasons for the act. The main one was the
fact that his party being in a minority in the Senate, he was
without influence and unable to shape legislation. He was not
the man to have influence with his political opponents ; he was
too bitter and choleric for that. He denounced the course of
the Democratic Senators, and said, with a single exception he
parted from them with the greatest pleasure. That exception
he declared to be the Senator from Clark, Dr. Athon, for whom
he said he had the warmest feeling. Dr. Athon, who was pres
ent, arose and said he highly appreciated the kind expressions
of the speaker. He severely criticised the action of Governor
Wright in appointing Messrs. March, Barbour and Carr com
missioners to revise and simplify the Code. " When these men
were appointed," said Mr. Dunn, " I was at a loss to know
what place 'Squire Carr would fill in the commission. A little
reflection, however, convinced me he had his place. March is
to furnish the law, Barbour to read the version, and if Carr can

246 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
understand, it will be within the comprehension of all." He
took up the Democratic nominees for State offices one by
one and thoroughly dissected thera. He was particularly se
vere upon Governor Wright. Seeing the Governor in the hall,
Mr. Dunn said: " I am glad you are here, Governor. Don't
leave until I am done. I propose going through you with a
lighted candle that all may see what a mass of putrefaction and
political rottenness you are." When he came to speak of Judge
Davidson, he said: "My objection to Davidson is that his
eyes are too close together. When you farmers buy a horse
you don't choose one whose eyes are in the middle of his head.
You know that such a horse would run against the first fence-
corner be comes to. You should exercise as much care in vot
ing for a Supreme Judge as you would in buying a horse," But
space forbids me further following Mr. Dunn in his criticisms
of the Democratic candidates. When he was done with them
he proceeded to speak of the Whig nominees. Mr. McCarty,
who had just been norainated for Governor, was sitting but a
few feet frora the speaker. Mr. Dunn drew a dark picture of
the condition of the Whig party until Mr. McCarty consented
to be a candidate, and then, rising on tip-toe, and bending his
body forward and pointing his finger at the nominee, he ex
claimed with the power of a Booth :
"Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by the sun of York ;
And all the clouds that lowered upon our house,
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried."
It is a great pity that this speech was not taken down at the
¦time and preserved. It embodied the wit and drollery of Cor
win, the invective and sarcasm of Randolph, and the eloquence
of Clay, in one symraetrical whole. It lives only in the recol
lection of those who heard it, and, happily for the author, he
was one. These men will be gone after awhile, and then this
great forensic effort will be forgotten, or remembered only as it
is handed down from father to son.
During the first State fair held in Indiana, just after the Oc
tober election, 1852, the Democracy had a jolHfication meeting
at the State capital. The Whigs, believing the time and occa-
-sion inopportune, and smarting under their recent defeat, ere-

(;kor(;e <;. dinn.

247

ated so much '• noise and confusion" that the speakers could
not be heard. The speaking took place on Washington street,
opposite the ^^'right House, where a large number of leading
Whigs vvere staying. Joseph E. McDonald and Ashbel P.
Willard. who had just been elected Lieutenant-Governor, at
tempted to speak, but their voices vvere drowned by the noise
of the tumultuous crowd. During Willard's attempt to speak,
Mr. Dunn, who vvas on the balcony of the Wright House, over
looking the crowd, appealed to those about him to stop their
noise and let Mr. Willard speak. Some of those who saw him
standing and gesticulating thought he vvas urging on the mob.
The Democrats, after awhile, countermarched down Washing
ton street, and stopped at the State-house square, where the
speaking vvas resumed without further interruption. Both Col
onel Gorman and Governor Willard charged Mr. Dunn with
having incited the disturbance, and criticised him severely for
it. The Sent/ncl. next morning, had an account of the meeting
and reported what the speakers had said. Mr. Dunn sought
Messrs. Gorman and Willard and told them they were mistaken
in attributing to him sympathy with the mob, that he had done
all he could to quell it. Governor Willard expressed himself
as entirely satisfied with Mr. Dunn's statements, and published
a manh- letter withdrawing his offensive language. Colonel
Gorman also promised to retract the charge, and the next day
he published a card in the Sentinel, which, after giving an ac
count of what he had said, closed as follows : " In a personal
conversation this morning with Mr. Dunn, he assures me that
my information was incorrect, and that he tried to suppress the
confusion and noise. I publish this to allow him the full benefit
of his denial, and to place myself in the right." This card did
not satisfy Mr. Dunn, but, on the contrary, incensed him the
more. He addressed Colonel Gorman a letter, in which he
asked to be informed if he was the author of the card signed
with his name. Colonel Gorman repHed in a soraewhat lengthy
letter acknowledging the genuineness of his card, and, after
answering other questions propounded, he closed as follows :
" If this is not satisfactory, it is out of my power to make it so
on paper." That it was not satisfactory is evidenced by the
following letter :

248 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
"Bedford, Ind., November 8, 1852.
" Hon. W. a. Gorman : Sir — Yours of the 5th inst. is just
received, and is, I regret to say, objectionable in several re
spects. It is my purpose now to take the advice of some expe
rienced friend in regard to the whole matter, and adopt such
steps as may be due to ray obligations to society.
" Being cafled to Louisvifle, Ky., the last of this week, I shafl
be happy to find you at the Gait House, in that city, at 10 o'clock
A. M., on Saturday next. Respectfully yours,
" George G. Dunn."
To which letter Colonel Gorraan raade the following reply :
"Bloomington. Ind., Noveraber 9, 1852.
" Hon. George G. Dunn : Sir — Yours of this date is before
rae. I will be at the Gait House, in Louisville, agreeably to
your written request, on Saturday next, at 10 o'clock a. .vi.,
where ray friend will receive any coramunication you may be
pleased to make. Respectfully, your obedient servant,
"W. A. Gorman."
Messrs. Dunn and Gorman raet at Louisville, as agreed upon,
and referred their difficulty to Professor John H. Harney and
Mr. George A. Caldwell, who, after examining the correspond
ence, published a card announcing a settlement on the follow
ing terms :
" We are of opinion that the note of Colonel Gorman to Mr.
Dunn amply e.xonerates that gentleman from all participation in
the disturbance of the meeting referred to, and sufficientiy ex
plains the purpose of the card published in the Sentinel, and
that nothing reraains to disturb the peaceful relations of the par
ties except the language in which the notes are couched and
their general tone.
" Mr. Dunn objects to the concluding sentence of Colonel
Gorraan's note of the 3d instant, and to the language in other
passages, as oft'ensive.
" Colonel Gorman objects to the general tone of Mr. Dunn's
previous note of the 30th ult., and especially to the call upon
him to retract.

GEORGE (;. DUNN.

249

" Mr. Dunn cheerfully withdraws the word ' retract,' and sub
stitutes the word ' correct,' or any other word not deemed ofl'en-
sive, and disavows any purpose of giving ofl'ense by his note of
the 30th, his only object being to obtain a respectful vindication
of himself from whatever vvas injurious in the matters referred
to in the note. Whereupon. Colonel Gorman promptiy with
draws anything ofl'ensive in his note of the 3d.
••Therefore, the whole difficulty, we are happy to announce,
is amicably and honorably settled.
"John H. Harney,
•• George A. Caldwell."
And thus the matter ended.
Mr. Dunn vvas fond of fine stock and did much to improve
the strain of horses and sheep in his section of the State. He
vvas one of a company which imported the first Norman Perche-
ron horse brought to Indiana. He purchased in Ohio a flock of
Cotswold and Southdown sheep at ¦$27 a head, an enormous
price for that day. He took good care of his stock, giving it
his personal attention and spending much of his time in looking
after its comfort.
One of Mr. Dunn's chief characteristics was his contempt for
shams and a love of independent thought. On the leaf of an old
Latin dictionary used by him while at college, he wrote, " I des
pise your opinion." One day- his oldest son, then a boy, put on
his father's watch. Looking at the lad the father said : "If
you go on the streets with that watch people will ask, as Czesar
did of a small lieutenant, ' Who tied you to a sword ?' — or
watch." Again quoting Miss Ream, I give her description of his home,
and also his death scene, as follows :
" Towards the latter part of his life he built a house in the
country, in the center of a magnificent tract of land. The large
domain abounded in rich and diversified scenery, especially on
the line defined by a range of cliffs nearly two hundred feet in
height and really picturesque, if not grand, in appearance. But
Mr. Dunn built his house in the heart of a grove of royal growth,
a bit of pasture land to the north, an orchard and the door yard

250 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
the only clearing. The house that he built was a story and a
half in height, but there its modest pretensions ended. There
was a great hall as wide as an ordinary house, and the rooms
opening out of it were fit for the audience chamber of a king.
The ceilings were lofty and elegantly frescoed, the furniture of
these rooms was in keeping, and the out-door complement,
which the great windows added to their state, were views of the
forest, meadow and sky. It was a home for a prince, for a poet ;
it proved the last earthly abiding place of a kingly soul. When
it was noised abroad that George G. Dunn was dying the peo
ple from all the country round carae to see hira. The lane lead
ing tb the house was lined with the horses and wagons belonging
to the friends who had come to bid him good bye. Among the
nupiber was one Robert Rout, a man yet living, but weather
tanned and wrinkled ; why, you could not lay a pin-point any
where on his face that would not touch a wrinkle. Well, when
Robert Rout heard that Mr. Dunn could not live long, he came
and took up his abode near. He said little or nothing, and his
presence was only noticed when his ready hand or step an
swered to the sick man's need. The very last day of Mr.
Dunn's life he observed Rout hovering about the room, and
said : ' Rout, take that glass pitcher and go to the well and
bring me a drink. Draw it from the north side of the well. Rout ;
I want it cold and fresh.' The fond and faithful friend did
his bidding, and when he carae back into the room, the glass
pitcher filled to the brim and running over with the drops of
water sparkling Hke diamonds in the sunlight, the dying man
looked at him for a moment with grateful, tender eyes, and said :
'Rout, 'tis well, 'tisvery wefl. Rout, you shall be cup-bearer when
I am king.' The voice which uttered these words had lost none
of its melody, but the strength to swallow was gone, and the
water was put down from his parched, feeble lips untasted. The
act which followed was not less in character — as brave as it was
human. He turned his face to the wall — himself "shutting out
and bidding farewell to the world, the day, sunlight and friend
ship." Mr. Dunn's literarv' library was large. It vvas composed of
standard classical historical works and English political pamph-

(il'-.ORGK G. nUNN. 2^1
lets and essa)s. and books treating on Araerican history and
politics. Mr. Dunn left no raanuscript copies of any of his speeches,
nor. indeed, any manuscript whatever. He filed his letters care
fully, leaving some five or six books of correspondence. He
vvas a great lover of Shakespeare, and often quoted him in his
speeches. He vvas also familiar vvith the Bible, and, in address
ing juries, was in the habit of drawing largely from its pages.
In person, Mr. Dunn vvas tall and commanding. He had fair
complexion, blue eyes and light hair. His talents were great
and varied, and he is entitled to stand in the front rank of Indi
ana lavvv-ers and statesmen.

WILLIAM W. WICK.

But few men of early Indiana were better known than Wil
liam Watson Wick. He came to the State in 1820, being the
first lawyer to locate in Connersville, and from that time until
1857 he was almost continuously in public life. He was a man
of marked peculiarities. He had a sunny disposition, w-as of a
genial nature, thoroughly understanding human nature, and
knowing just what to do to maintain his hold upon the people.
I can not give a better summary of his Hfe, up to 1848, than the
following letter written to a Texas gentleman named Payne.
Payne had read one of Judge Wick's congressional speeches,
and was so impressed with its quaint humor and ready vv-it that
he wrote to Hon. D. S. Kauffman, then in Congress, asking
about Judge Wick, and saying he would like •'to know all
about him." Mr. Kauft'man gave Judge Wick the letter, and
under date of June 12, 1848, the Judge sent Payne the follow
ing autobiography : *
" William W. Wick is a full-blooded Yankee, though born in
Cannonsburg, Washington county, Pennsylvania, February 23.
1796. In 1800 W.'s father, a Presbyterian preacher, settled in
the woods in the poorest township in the Western Reserve of
Ohio, adjoining the Pennsylvania State line. Here W. lived,
going to school, toiling at ordinary labor, and indulging in day
dreams tifl the time of his father's death in 1814. He then re
nounced all interest in his father's estate (which vvas only some
$3,000), and took himself oft'. Till spring, 1816, he essayed to
' teach the young idea how to shoot ' in Washington county,
Pennsylvania, when he descended the Monongahela and Ohio
in a ' broad-horn ' to Cincinnati. He taught school and studied.

WILLI.VM VV. WICK. 253
first medicine and then law, till Decenfber, 1849 ; read chemis
try principally by the light of log-heaps in a clearing, and law
of nights and Sundays (wrong so far as Sunday is concerned).
December. 1819, settled in Connersville, Indiana, as a lawyer,
and made and sent his mother a deed for his interest in his
father's real and personal estate. December, 1820, was chosen
clerk of the House of Representatives of Indiana, and served
till January, 1822, when he vvas chosen judge of a new circuit,
just formed, and removed to Indianapolis, where he has ever
since resided. In three years he resigned the judgeship, be
cause it was starving him, and waS chosen Secretary of State;
served four years, then chosen circuit prosecuting attorney,
then judge again. He has also figured as quartermaster-gen
eral, and is a now a brigadier. He has committed much folly
in holding offices, and only escapes the condemnation of his
own judgment in consideration of the fact that he was never
green enough to accept a seat in the State Legislature. In
1835 ^- changed his politics ; his party did not leave him — he
left it. [In this he differs from most great men.] In 1839 he
vvas chosen an M. C. as a Democrat, and as successor to Col.
Kinnard, who died from the blowing up of a steamboat when
on his vvav- to Washington. [Colonel K. had been in Congress
for some years.] In 1843 and 1847 W. was norainated and
elected to Congress. He was a candidate for Congress in 183 1 ,
and got beat. Right. He was once a Clay candidate for elec
tor, and got beat. Right. In 1844 was a Democratic candi
date for elector — successful. Right.
" In the intervals of the above engagements he practiced law ;
never made rauch at that ; did not know how to scare and skin
a client. In 1821 he married a wife, who died in 1832. He
has a son and daughter married, and five grandchildren living.
His youngest boy (a third child and afl), went last year 'to
see the elephant ' as a private in the Illinois volunteer regiment —
then he was near seventeen years of age. He went without
leave, but (good boy) he wrote for and got leave after he was
gone. He has acquired Spanish enough to write a good Span
ish letter, and unassisted by W.'s name, has worked his way.
He is now clerk to the depot quartermaster at the city of
Mexico. Says the climate in Mexico is better than in Indiana,

254 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HIS'rORICAL SKETCHES.
and that the boys killed themselves drinking spirits, eating
Mexican fruits, and ' cavorting.'
" Wick has committed much folly in his tirae — the principal of
which has been holding offices, writing rhymes, playing cards
for money, and paying other people's debts — all which he
abandoned about the time he became a Democrat.
"At this present writing W. is fifty-two years of age ; fair, a
little fat, having increased since 1833 from 146 to 214 pounds —
si.x feet and one inch high, good complexion, portly — has been
called the best looking man about town — but that was ten years
ago — not to be sneezed at now — a little gray — has had chills
and fever, bilious attacks, and dyspepsia enough to kill a dozen
coramon men, and has passed through misfortunes sufficient to
humble a score of ordinary specimens of huraan nature. His
system being sluggish, he takes a sarsaparilla bitter, or some
No. 6, in the morning, and takes a glass or two of wine (if good)
at dinner when he can get it. He has acquired a good deal of
miscellaneous knowledge, loves fun, looks serious, rises early,
works rauch, and has a decided penchant for light diet, humor,
reading, business, the drama, music, a fine horse, his gun, and
the woods. W. owes nothing, and vvere he to die to-day his
estate would inventor)- eight or nine hundred dollars. He saves
nothing of his per diem and mileage, and yet has no v-ices to
run awa,y with money. He ' takes no thought for to-morrow,'
but relies upon the same good Providence to which he is debtor
for all.
•'W. would advise young raen to fear and trust God, to
cheat rogues, and deceive intriguers by being perfectly honest
(this mode misleads such cattle effectually), to touch the glass
lightly, to eschew security and debt, tobacco, betting, hypocrisy
and federalism, to rather believe, or fall in vvith new philosoph
ical and moral humbugs, and to love woman too well to injure
her. They will thus be happy now^ and will secure serenity at
fifty-two years of age, and thence onward."
This paper exhibits Judge Wick as he vvas — warm-hearted,
humorous and improvident. He truly said he took no thought
for the morrow.
In 1853 President Pierce appointed Judge Wick postmaster

WILLI.VM VV. WICK. 2SS
at Indianapolis. He served a full term of four vears, and in
1857 vvas superseded by John M. Talbott. He vvas an appli
cant for reappointment, and he took his defeat sorely to heart.
In a letter to a friend, under date of May 8, 1858, he thus speaks
of his retirement f'rom office :
•• I suppose my selfish interests in politics are closed, and
closed forever. M)- health, activit)- and physical energies are
much impaired by the wear and tear of the last few months. It
is the first tirae in my life that I have been constrained to feel
a consciousness of exceeding wrong, neglect and injustice, ac
companied by fraud and dishonor. It came upon me unex
pectedly, and it hurt badly. But no measure of age, ill-health
or disgust could make me careless of the fate of the Democratic
party." After leav-ing the postoffice Judge Wick resuraed the practice
of the law. Like most men who forsake the law for public
office, he found it hard to get back his legal business. Others
had taken his clients, and now when he sought to regain them
they would not come. But if the law was measurably closed
to him, the political field was open, and as he had always loved
politics he did not particularly grieve at the want of clients, but
entered acti\-ely into political work.
The Thirty-fifth Congress vvas the most exciting one that had
ever convened up to that time. The Kansas and Nebraska bill
had passed, and the bill to admit Kansas under the Lecompton
constitution which was before the House, aroused the fiercest pas
sions of the people. The Deraocratic party, then in control of the
government, vvas divided upon the bill, and the two wings fought
each other with intense fury. There were in that Congress six
Democrats from Indiana, and the six were equally divided in sen
timent upon the bill. Messrs. Niblack, Hughes and Gregg favored
the measure, and Messrs. English, Foley and Davis opposed it.
Judge Wick was bitterly hostile to the bill, and by speech and by
letter did what he could to defeat it. In a letter to Hon. W. H.
English, then in Congress, dated February 8, 1858, he says :
"I am opposed to Kansas's admission on the Lecompton con-'
stitution solely on the point of honor." He proceeds at some

256 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
length to show that the honor of the Democratic party demands
the submission of the constitution to the people, and closes by
saying : " The most foolish thing a politician can do is to grow
desperate and risk his all on a single question." He begs of
Mr. English not to "risk his all" by voting for a bill whose
passage would bring dishonor upon his party. Writing to Mr.
English under date of February 21, 1858, he says :
" 'The wise raan forseeth the evil and hideth himself; the
fool passes on and is punished.' I would not expect you to be
a fool, but on the contrary v\'Ould expect your wariness, clear
sightedness and high sense of honor to save you from minister
ing to the ambitious plans of others, by surrendering yourself
to be led blindfold into the pit, and I see it is likely that I shall
not be deceived. I congratulate you."
Further on he thus refers to the bill introduced by Mr. Eng
lish for the settlement of the Kansas question :
" Had I been at your elbow, I would have whispered these
things to you, and said : ' Now mind your compromise. It will
do no public good, and raay be to the Jews (anti-Lecompton
men) a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks (Lecompton men)
foolishness, and so bring you little honor or profit.' "
When the campaign of i860 opened. Judge Wick took the
stump as an advocate of the election of Douglas. He made
speeches in several places in Central Indiana, and vvith much
effect, for he was a very popular stumper. He was not particu
larly logical as a speaker, but his humor, his wit and pleasant
ries supplied the place of argument with many and made him
a great favorite upon the hustings. Had Judge Douglas been
elected Jifdge Wick would undoubtedly have been rewarded
for his devotion to the fortunes of that remarkable man, but as
he was defeated all hopes of Judge Wick for political prefer
ment disappeared. In a short time after the campaign closed
he left Indianapolis, which for so long had been his home, and
took up his abode at Franklin, vvith his daughter, Mrs. WilHam
H. Overstreet. He died at her house. May 19, 1868, and was
buried in the Franklin cemetery.

WILLI-VM W. WICK. 257
William and Henry Wick, Judge Wick's father and uncle,
settled at Youngstown, Ohio, in 1801. As previously stated,
William was a Presbyterian preacher. He came to the then
far West as a missionary, and labored zealously in his calling.
In speaking of the location of his father and uncle at Youngs
town, Judge Wick once said : " One chose piety and poverty,
the other merchandizing and money-getting, and they both suc
ceeded." One laid up treasures in heaven, the other on earth,
and verily they both had their reward.
Judge Wick's father intended him for a Presbyterian minis
ter, but the boy grew up doubting the truth of Calvinism and
refused to become an organ for its propagation. He studied
medicine, as stated in his autobiography, but soon abandoned
it, giving as a reason that he did not like to be always contem
plating the miseries of mankind. Law and politics were more
congenial to his nature, hence he embraced them and became a
good lawyer and a very astute politician.
Judge Wick, like Yorick, vvas "a fellow of infinite jest, of
most excellent f'ancy." His exuberant humor often " set the
table in a roar," making him one of the best and most jolly of
companions. Fun and hilarity abounded wherever he was, "not
even leaving him when on the bench. The lawyers joked with
him and played cards with him, often for money. He was once
indicted by the grand jury of Bartholomew county for gam
bling, was tried before his associate judges, found guilty and
fined. A few days after this one Job Gardner, who had been
indicted for gambling with the Judge, was brought to trial, and,
on being asked if he was guilty^ repHed: "Guilty, as Your
Honor well knows." " You are fined $5 and costs," responded
Judge Wick, whereupon Gardner cried out, " Have mercy.
Judge, have mercy." "You will have to appeal to a higher
court for mercy," said the Judge, with a twinkle in his eye, as
he proceeded to call the next case upon the docket.
Judge Wick, like most of the public men of early Indiana,
loved a social glass. Oliver H. Smith, in his " Early Indiana
Trials and Sketches," tells this story :
".We started in fine spirits from Greensburg after breakfast.
The day was cloudy, dark and drizzling. There was no road
17

258 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
cut out between Greensburg and Shelbyville ; there were neigh
borhood paths only in the direction between thera. Judge Wick
rode a spirited animal, and at once took the lead. Away we
went at a rapid traveling gait. All at once the Judge stopped
at a little log cabin at the forks of the paths, upon the gate-post
of which hung a rough board with the word ' whisky ' marked
upon it with chalk. The Judge hallooed at the top of his voice,
the door opened, and out came the woraan of the cabin. The
Judge: ' Have you got any whisky?' 'Yes, plenty; but we
have no license to sell, and we will be prosecuted if we sell by
*the small. You can have a gallon.' 'A gallon ! I don't want
a gallon. A tin-cupful, with some sugar, will do.' 'You can't
have it.' ' Fetch it out. I am the president judge of the Cir
cuit Court, and this is Mr. Smith. He can quash any indict
ment these woods prosecuting attorneys can find against you.
Fetch it out ; there is no danger of prosecution.' Thus assured,
the old woman returned, brought out the whisky and sugar, the
Judge took the lion's part, and away he went on his journey."
Judge Wick was kind and affectionate to his family. His
youngest daughter was accidentally burned when a child, and
when the wound healed it left a bad scar upon her face. While
she was from home, at the house of a friend of the family, a
thoughtless companion twitted her vvith the cicatrix. In her
mortification and grief she wrote her father, asking to be brought
home. In reply, he sent her the following touching and beau-
ti-ful letter : " Indl\n APOLIS, November i. 1862.
" Dear Ally — I ara delighted to hear from you. I was not
uneasy about you, but I did want to see my little one — my be
loved child. But, now I know you are well, -all is well. I am
truly glad that you are learning not to be afraid of the dark
ness, which is one of the foolishest things in the vvorld.
"Nobody has slighted you because of your scars. I know,
who was worth minding. I hope my little girl will remember
that as she will never be very pretty there is so much more
reason for her to be good. A prettv- face may recommend one
to light-hearted and foolish people, but it is goodness and talent
and education which recommend one to the better sort of peo-

WILLIAM W. WICK.

-59

pie, whose good opinion is valuable. Be ever good and inno
cent and sincere, as you are novv, and you will find enough peo
ple to love you, in spite of the burns. Perhaps they may, Hke
your old f'ather. love you all the more for the scars. I long to
see mv- baby, but do not wish to sav a word about your coming
home, but leave that to fix itself. Be good and obedient and
bbflging. and your pa will not be ashamed of you. Dear All)-,
goodbye. W. W. Wick.""^

&

This child, novv an intelligent and thoughtful woman, in a
note to the author of this sketch, thus speaks of her father:
••After my father's first stroke of paralysis, when it was with
great difficulty that he walked, we had in our household a ca
nine called • Daint)-,' for which I had a great fancy, but the rest
of the family a very decided dislike. I fear ' Dainty ' must
have been a serious trouble to my father, owing to his unfortu
nate faculty for always being in the way. But my dear father
bore very patiently- with the dog and his many pranks, for his
'baby's" sake, and one day crowned all by an act which was
much to me then, but more to me now, that I can better appre
ciate the loving thoughtfulness that prompted it. I was awa)-
from home, and ' Dainty,' taking advantage of my absence,.
took to the street for a frolic. But, alas ! with his usual readi
ness, he got in the way of a heav)- wagon, and thus ended his-
somewhat active career. My father, hearing of the accident,,
and knowing what a sad catastrophe it would be to me, went
out into the street, and bringing in the poor littie body, laid it
down in a shady part of our yard, and then waiting my return,.
told me that poor little ' Dainty ' was no more, but that there
was a happy hunting-ground where all good dogs were sup
posed to go.
"And so it was always ; his children's troubles were always his
troubles, too. They were never so small but he could and did un
derstand them, and relieve them, too, when rehef was possible.
Many a time has he stroked my head, saying : ' Never mind,
baby, it will all come right.' And so it did, or was forgotten,,
which vvas about the sarae thing to ra)- mind in those days."

^6o biographical and historical sketches.
A son of Judge Wick, now Hving at Springfield, Ohio, gives
this incident in his father's career :
' ' I remember when a lad, during one of his canvasses for
Congress, going to the old Court-house where he was making
a speech. My boy eyes were wide open taking in the scene.
The room was literally packed, and I noticed that ^y his elo
quence his audience were affected to tears, and then by his wit
and humor were convulsed with laughter. At the close of the
speech two stalwart Clay Whigs gathered him upon their
shoulders, and went out of the Court-house yard and down
Washington street, hurrahing for Billy Wick."
Judge Wick's first wife was Laura Finch, a sister of Hon.
Fabius M. Finch, of Indianapolis. As stated in the Judge's
autobiography, Mrs. Wick died in 1832, and in 1839 ^^ married
Isabella Barbee. The issue of this marriage was two daughters,
the youngest of whom is living, and is connected with the In
dianapolis Public Library. The second Mrs. Wick survived
her husband.
Judge Wick wrote well and correctly. His manuscript was
a pattern of neatness and gramraatical accuracy. It could be
printed as written, soraething that can not be done with the
compositions of most of our public men.
Judge Wick's grave is without even a headstone to mark it.
It is several inches lower than the cemetery's level, otherwise
there would be nothing to show that the ground where his ashes
lie was ever disturbed. A foot or so from the head of the grave
stands a monument erected to one who, though one of the best
of men,* was unknown outside his neighborhood, and at its foot
runs a roadway. On either side are monuments commemorat
ing the virtues of those who exercised but little influence upon
their kind, and whom the State's history will never mention.
Amid such surroundings is the final resting-place of the genial
pioneer, with nothing to mark it save an indentation in the
ground. Some members of the FrankHn bar have talked of
putting a stone at the head of the grave, but nothing further has
*The author's father.

WILLIAM W. WICK. 261
been done, and unless some one moves in the matter before
long the last resting place of the first judge of the " New Pur
chase " will be unknown. Standing by it a thoughtful man
must realize the instability of worldly honor and human great
ness. Alas, how transient and fleeting they are !

TILGHMAN A. HOWARD.

The term "Christian statesman" is so often appHed to men
v^rho prostitute public office for private gain as almost to become
a synonym of hypocrite ; but that it raay be applied to Tilghman
A. Howard in its literal sense, those who read this sketch will
;see. Tilghman Ashurst Howard was born on the Saluda river,
near Pickensville, South Carolina, Noveraber 14, 1797. His
father was a Revolutionary soldier, and afterward a Baptist
preacher ; so the son inherited patriotism and religion as a
birthright. When a child Tilghman's mother died, and he
went into the faraily of John McElroy, his half-brother. Soon
afterward this family removed to North Carolina, and setded in
the county of Buncombe. Here the subject of this sketch re
mained until .he was nineteen years old, and then he started
•out in the world for himself. He traveled to East Tennessee,
and liking the country, raade it his horae. He had gone to
school in North Carolina altogether about a year, and soon
after he settled in .Tennessee he commenced to utilize his learn
ing by teaching school. After awhile he quit teaching and be
came a merchant's clerk, and continued in that vocation untfl
he entered, as a student, the office of Hugh Lawson White, one
of the most eminent lawyers and statesmen of that day. When
twenty-one years old he passed his examination, and was ad
mitted to the bar. Fle practiced his profession with success,
but having an aptitude and a love for public life, he entered it
.six years afteward as a Senator from his district. This was
when he was twenty-seven }'ears old ; but, young as he was, he
;took high rank as a debater, and became one of the most influ-

tilghman a. HOWARD. 263
ential members of the body in which he sat. He participated
in afl the leading debates, and his advocacy of, or opposition
to. a measure did much to determine its fate. While he was
in the Senate of Tennessee he became intimate with General
Sam Houston, then Governor of the State. The intimacy was
renewed years afterward, when he vvent as a representative of
his country to the republic of Texas, whose executive head was
his f'riend, the old-time Governor of Tennessee. Governor
Houston appointed him to a place on his military staff, and in
other ways testified his high appreciation of his talents and
patriotism. In 1828 General Howard vvas put upon the electoral ticket
for his district as the friend of Andrew Jackson. He canvassed
the State, and, being elected, cast his vote in the electoral col
lege for his friend, both personal and pohtical, the hero of New
Orleans. Two years afterward he left Tennessee and came to
Indiana. He settled at Bloomington, and at once opened an
office for the practice of his profession. In a short time he
formed a partnership with Jaraes Whitcomb, afterward Gover
nor of Indiana, and it is questionable if there ever was a stronger
legal firm in the State than this. He remained at Bloomington
some three years, and removed to Rockville, Parke county,
vv-hich was his home until he died. Fle continued his business
relation with Mr. Whitcomb until 1836, when he dissolved it
and entered into partnership vvith Judge William P. Bryant.
This connection continued three years, when Judge Bryant
withdrew from it. His place was taken by Joseph A. Wright,
afterw-ard Governor of the State, who continued to be General
Howard's partner until the latter's death.
In 1835 it became necessary for the administration of General
Jackson to appoint a commissioner to adjust and settle a num
ber of claims against the gov^ernment growing out of treaties
with the Indians. The place was an iraportant one, requiring
capacity and integrity of a very high order, and there being
much difference of opinion among General Jackson's cabinet
as to the proper man, the matter was referred to the President.
" Gentlemen," said General Jackson, " I will tell you whom
to appoint. Appoint General Howard, of Indiana ; he is an

264 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
honest man. I have known him long." He was selected, and
filled the place, as he did all his trusts, honestly and well.
In 1832 General Howard was appointed District Attorney for
Indiana, and held the office for seven years. In August, 1839,
he was elected a member of the Twenty-sixth Congress, his
district comprising nineteen counties in the western and north
ern parts of the State. The next year, 1840, he was nominated
by the Democracy for Governor. He reluctantly accepted, and
made the race. Like the waters of a mighty river, the great
popularity of General Harrison, who was a candidate that year
for President, carried everything before it. General Howard
went down with the tide, being beaten by Samuel Bigger 8,637
votes. How he bore himself under his defeat the following let
ter, written to a friend, will tell :
"Rockville, Ind., Sth August, 1840.
' ' Dear Sir — I have seen enough to convince me that In
diana has gone the entire Whig ticket — Governor, Lieutenant-
Governor, Congressmen, and a majority in both houses of the
Assembly. The close of the canvass found me worn down by
fatigue and disease, and only sustained by the tremendous ex
citement of the occasion. I am still very feeble, and part of my
time confined. Repose, however, and proper attention, I trust,
will restore me, and leave me to return to my profession, to
mend up my private affairs, and to forget as soon as I can what
I was and be content with what I am. My kind regards to our
friends. Very truly yours, T. A. Howard."
General Howard had made an able canvass, but Hercules
could not have withstood the Harrison tornado of that year. It
is pleasant to see with what philosophy the General took his de
feat, and how easily he adjusted himself to the situation. As
bearing upon his nomination for Governor and his canvass for
the office, the following letters will be read with interest :
"Washington City, 30th Dec, 1839.
"My Dear Sir — Who will be Governor? We shafl know
after the election. Will not Palmer run? You must have
harmony, union, prudence and patriotism — everything for the

tilghman .v. how.vrd. 265
principles of liberty, equality and sound State policy ; no pri
vate bickering, no heartburnings. My whole soul is with you,
and success and wisdom attend all your deliberations. Our
committees have been announced, and the new Speaker has
given the Democrats the Committees of Ways and Means, For
eign Relations (of which I have the honor to be a member),
etc. We had a littie Abolition breeze to-day, but it died away,
and this evening all is tranquil, cool and peaceable.
"Your friend, T. A. Howard."

" Washington City, May 14, 1840.
" Dear Sir — I received your letter from New York. Am
happy to hear that you will soon be in the Hoosier State. You
should encourage in every way you can the formation of Demo
cratic associations. Let it be done everywhere. You can, for
example, write to Fisher, Law, Stuart, etc., etc. ; never writing
to any but men of discretion. Palmer ought to do the same.
It is better to take this course, because it will bring our people
together, and they will, unmolested, talk over their principles
and compare their reflections. It is calculated to do good by
diffusing political knowledge. Action and concert are neces
sary, but with these we can carry the State. I will be there the
greater part of July. Truly yours, T.A.Howard."

"Washington City, May 30, 1840.
•' Dear Sir — When I saw you something was said about the
general assemblage of the Democracy at Indianapolis, with a
view to a public dinner, etc. I have considered the matter. It
is not Democratic, and would be to a certain extent, imitating
the folly of our antagonists. Freemen ought to meet together
to reason on public interests, when they assemble for political
effect, and allow me to say to you that the mass of our people
will not be any the more zealous by any public demonstration.
They will turn out to hear debate. I shall have as many as I
deserve to have to hear me, and my wish is to have no demon
stration, no procession, no flags, no drums, nor any other exhi
bition unworthy of a free, thinking, orderly community. I shall
leave here at the very earliest day, and hurry home, and you

266 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
may rely on it, I will be at several points yet in Indiana before
the election. Allow my suggestion to prevail. Let us be what
Democracy should be, too independent to be deceived by shows
or led away by them ; possessing too much respect for our fel
low-men to attempt to mislead them on those great subjects that
¦concern the general happiness. Your friend,
"T. A. Howard."
The Legislature chosen in 1842 having a United States Sen
ator to elect, the canvass of that year was raade mainly upon
that issue. The Whigs supported Oli-ver H. Smith, and the
Democrats General Howard. No other man was spoken of in
¦connection with the office until after the Legislature met. The
two candidates met just before the Legislature convened and
had a talk about the senatorship. General Howard said to Mr.
Smith that he knew one of them would be elected if the will of
the people was carried out ; "but," said he, "the vote will be
so close that a man or two may be found, who, Hke Judas, would
sell his party for a few pieces of silver. There is nothing
certain." That General Howard was correct events proved.
On the first ballot he received 74 v^otes, Mr. Smith 72 votes,
Edward A. Hannegan 3 votes, and Joseph G. Marshall i vote.
It will be seen that Howard lacked two votes of election. It
was said at the time these votes were offered him if he would
proraise office to the givers, but he scorned the proffer. On the
sixth ballot Mr. Hannegan was elected, General Howard hav
ing withdrawn from the contest. The following letters from
General Howard in reference to the election are not without
interest : "Rockville, Ind., 5th Jan., 1843.
"My Friend — I have received your two letters and agree
with you and others, and have remained at horae.
" I am very anxious respecting the nomination on one point,
and that is the question of harmony. Never vvas a party in
better condition for a contest, and if we ' pull all together,' suc
cess is certain. Then I hope there will be union and a hearty
co-operation. " Let me hear from you as soon as the nominations and busi
ness of the convention are over, and believe rae to be most truly
your obliged friend, T. A. How.a.rd."

TILlillMAN v. HOWARD. 267
"Rockville. Ind., Jan. i6, 1843.
'• My De.vr Sir — I have received your letter, and two or three
others, urging me to come to Indianapolis bv the last of the pres
ent week, under the hope that the United States Senator would
about that time be elected,
•• Since my return from Indianapolis I have enjoyed poor
health, and novv it would be very painful to me, owing to the
rheumatism vvith which I am afflicted, to travel there. Other
things pressing upon me, connected vvith my private affairs and
professional business, render it next to impossible that I should
now leave home.
•'I should be happy to be there, but I am satisfied that, so far
as results are concerned, they will be the same whether I am
present or absent. I have, therefore, concluded to trust my
interests entirely^ to my friends. If any man raay do this, I
surely may, after the evidences which were afforded me during
my four or five weeks' stay at Indianapolis this winter.
'• I understand that counter-instructions have been gotten up
in Monroe county in favor of a man who will vote for a bank
and a high protective tariff. I am not acquainted with the par
ticulars, and have no right to censure or complain. If the peo
ple of these counties (Monroe and Brown) are for a United
States bank and a high protective tariff, they surely have the
right to say- so, but I am not the raan to aid in carrying out
their measures. I would rather remain in the ranks with the
real anti-bank party, and aid in still further laboring to prove
to the mind of our whole people the impracticability, as well as
the inconsistencv- of such an institution with the fundamental
principles of our government, until there shall be no party re
maining in its favor, than to aid under any sanction or any cir
cumstances to entail such a corporation upon the country.
" I wfll thank you to show this letter to Henly, Harris, Ma
jors, Bright, and others of the Legislature who may feel au)-
interest in knowing why I am not there. I shall be happy to
hear from you. Your friend,
"T. A. Howard."
The two following letters exhibit General Howard as a father
and a Christian :

268 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
" Washington City, February 22, 1844.
"My Dear Sir — Before I left home, during the sickness of
my favorite, who is now in her grave (a dear little daughter
eighteen months old) I received your last letter. I started to
this city the day after her death, and am now here, where I
shall probably remain some time. I am engaged in promoting,
as far as I may be able, the interest of our canal. I have writ
ten some of the citizens of your place on the subject. I expect
to be at home in due time, and, unless my health should fail,
visit the several parts of the State. I have not been here long
enough to know what is going on ; but I shall be an attentive
observer of men and things while I stay, and will likely trouble
you with an occasional line.
" I remain, as ever, faithfully yours,
" T. A. Howard."

"Washington City, March 12, 1844.
" Dear Sir — I received your letter yesterday. I thank you
for your kind and sympathetic expressions respecting my dear
little girl whom I buried before I left home. I got a letter from
my wife, a few days since, in which she seeras perfectly resigned.
It is a good thing to have the Christian's hope — it withdraws a
veil when sorrow swells the bosom, and shows a vision so bright,
so calm, so real, that the soul feels all its sorrows to be nothing
compared with this overwhelming consolation.
" One word to you — I may be allowed to surmise and con
jecture. Stand erect, conscious of your rights in society and
among your friends, and do not let any future event, or thing
that man can do, disturb you. Your friend, Howard."
In 1844 the question of the annexation of Texas to the United
States greatly agitated the public mind. Mr. Van Buren and
Mr. Clay, both candidates for the presidency, wrote letters in
which they argued against the policy of annexation. The fol
lowing letter of General Howard gives his v-iews upon this
subject : "Washington, April 29, 1844.
" Dear Sir — You will see Van Buren's and Clay's letters on
Texas. I do not agree with either of them, as I regard the ac-

tilghman a. HOWARD. 269
quisition of Texas of great moment to the United States. Mr.
V. B.'s letter has given great dissatisfaction to the Southern
members here, and there is much confusion and misgiving in
the party. A third, man is talked, of, and Cass often mentioned.
I think Democrats should not be too prompt in taking ground
against Texas, as it will react, and the country will go for it, or
I am mistaken. I will write you again in a few days.
"Yours truly, T. A. Howard."
General Howard was correct. The country did go for Texas,
the joint resolution for its annexation being approved by the
President on the 2d of March, 1845. All the letters contained
in this sketch, except the one which follows, were written to a
personal and political friend in Indianapolis, and are now pub
lished for the first time. Their chirography is beautiful, their
punctuation faultless and their style admirable, as the reader
will see. They are an important contribution to the history of
that time, and the author congratulates himself on being able to
give them to the public.
In the summer of 1844 General Howard was appointed by
President Tyler Charge D'affaires to the Republic of Texas.
He left home on the 4th of July, and reached Washington, the
capital of Texas, August i, 1844. In a few days he was taken
sick with fever, and, in fifteen days from the time of his arrival,
he died. He breathed his last at the house of John Farquher,
a few miles from Washington. He was buried in Texas, and
for three years his remains rested in that far-off country.
In the spring of 1844 there was a great revival of religion at
Rockville, General Howard's home. A gentleman of the town
wrote Hon. Joseph A. Wright, then a member of Congress,
asking his opinion of the revival. Mr. Wright showed General
Howard the letter, and he at once wrote the inquirer as follows :
" My Dear Friend — I saw in your letter to friend Wright
this line, ' Is this enthusiasm or is it reality?' This prompts
me to drop you a line. I have asked myself in years past the
same question ; and I believe that God has answered it to my
moral nature. It is reality. My dear sir, I know of no man
who more needs the soothing consolation of religion than you.
It would bind up your wounded spirit, and shall I say how it is

270 historical and biographical sketches.
to be obtained? I answer, be assured of one thing: God ex-.
ists. Go to hira in the silent hour, when he alone sees and
¦knows your purpose ; falter not, but ask hira, as -the fountain of
eternal truth, to solve the question, to open your heart and moral
vision that you raay see and feel whether these things- be so.
Read the words of Christ to Nicodemus, his Sermon' on the
Mount, his prayer for his disciples while in the garden of Geth-
semane, and his whole mission, and continue to read and pray,
and you will find pardon, consolation and joy in believing."
General Howard was a raeraber of the Presbyterian church,
but he was not a sectarian. He believed there were many
branches of the sarae vine, many paths leading to the strait
gate. He was too great to be a bigot, too good to have no
charity. General Howard was always dignified in public. Fle seldom
indulged in levity ; but notwithstanding this, he had the faculty
of drawing all classes of men to hira. The sober and the gay.
the lettered and the unlettered, alike follovved his fortunes.
Although General Howard never attended an academy or a
college, he was a very learned man. He was acquainted with
the civil law, with theology, history, politics, geology, miner
alogy, botany, philosophy, and the occult sciences. His mind
was a vast storehouse of knowledge, it being questionable if
there was another raan in the State of such information as He.
During the canvass of 1840 a newspaper published at Green
castle sought to raake political capital against General Howard
by coraraenting upon his well-known opinions on temperance.
When he spoke in that town he read the article and told the
editor to get out another edition of his paper and throw it broad
cast over the State. " I want every voter to know my opinions
•on this question," said Howard. " I am willing to stand by
them, and, if need be, fall by thera."
On another occasion, when speaking, he read aloud a news
paper article charging hira vvith a disreputable act. When
done reading he threw the paper from hira and proceeded with
his speech. Fle could afford to thus treat the charge vvdth silent
conterapt ; he stood too high to be aft'ected by it.
In a debate with a gentleman who evaded the issues and vvent

TILGHVl.VN .V. HOVV.VRD.

271

out after side ones. General Howard told the t'ollowintr story, and
applied it to his opponent : •• Once." said he, " a representative
from Buncombe county made' a speech in the North Carolina
Legislature, in which he talked "of many things entirely foreign
to the matter before the House, and on being called to order by
the Speaker, and told to confine himself to the question at issue,
replied : • M)' speech is not for the Legislature ; it is all for
Buncombe." •All for Buncombe' became a common saying,
and has remained such to the present day."
As has already been stated. General Howard died and was
buried in Texas. But the people of Indiana were not willing
that his dust should commingle with foreign soil. The Legisla
ture of 1847 passed an act directing the Governor and General
Joseph Lane •• to have the remains of Tilghman A. Howard re
moved from their place of burial in Texas, and reinterred at
such place in Indiana as his family might desire." The act was
approved by his friend and former partner, James Whitcomb,
then Governor of the State. The will of the Legislature was
carried out, and the reraains of Howard disinterred and brought
to Indiana. They remained awhile at Indianapolis, receiving
high honors. From thence they were taken to Greencastle,
where like honors awaited thera. They vvere then reraoved to-
Rockville, his old home, and interred in his orchard. Previous
to placing the coffin in the ground. Professor William C. Lar-
rabee, afterward Indiana's first Superintendent of Public In
struction, delivered a eulogy upon the dead statesman, replete
with beautiful thoughts. It closed as follows :
••Take him and bury him among you. Bury him where the
primrose and the violet bloom in vernal beauty, where the rose
of summer sheds its fragrance, and where the leaves of autumn
fall, to protect the spot from the cheerless blast of the wintry
winds. Bury him in that rural bower on the hillside, within
sight of his quiet cottage horae. Bury him by the side of the
pretty child he loved so well — the beauteous little girl, who,
years ago,- died suddenly, when' the father was away from
home. Bury him novv by her, that child and father may sleep
side by side. Ye need erect no costly monuraent, with labored
inscription, over his grave On a plain stone inscribe the name
of Howard, of Indiana's Howard, and it shall be enough."

272 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
General Howard stood among the people of Indiana as did
Saul, the son of Kish, among the people of Palestine. Al
though so very tall, his form was symmetrical. His hair and
eyes were coal black, and his complexion . corresponded with
them. His nose and mouth were large and expressive ; his
forehead broad and high, and the whole contour of his face de
noted energy and intellect of the highest order. In private
life his deportment was simple, his conversation delightful, and
he enjoyed the pastimes of the social circle with the zest of
youth to such an extent that he sometimes half reproached him
self with the remark that he "was afraid he should never be
anything but a boy." Howard was a great man and a good
one, and made a deep impression on the State of his adoption.

JAMES H. CRAVENS.

J.\MES Harrison Cravens, one of the ablest of the men who
changed public sentiment in Indiana on the slavery question,
was bom at Harrisonburg, Rockingham county, Virginia, Au
gust 12, 1802. When a boy he vvas self-willed and self-reliant ;
was independent, plucky and thought for himself. His father de
signed him for the law, but in order to tame and take the wire
edge off him, put him with a gunsmith, intending it only as a
temporary expedient, but when the father wanted him to quit
work and go to school, he obstinately remained throughout his
whole apprenticeship and learned the trade. Afterward he
vvent into the law office of Judge Kinney and studied law. He
vvas admitted to the bar in 1823, and soon after removed to
Franklin, Pa., and commenced the practice of his profession.
He met with reasonable success, but the reports which reached
him from the West raade him dissatisfied with his location and
prospects. He had confidence in his ability to successfully
compete with the young men who were leaving the older States
for Western homes, and his subsequent career proved that he
did not overestimate his parts. He left Pennsylvania in 1829,
and came to Indiana, locating in Jefferson county.
An incident of the journey, which illustrates some very inter
esting phases of character, is furnished by a member of the
family now living at Franklin, Indiana. Before removing he
had bought the black woman, "Aunt Mary," at the sale of
effects of his wife's mother. Soon thereafter, having decided
to come to Indiana, he determined to take the slave woman
along. Mary had a husband, or a "man," who belonged to
another master. Not wishing to part them Mr. Cravens bought

274 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
the man, Tom, for $600. He provided a "carry-all" and
horse and started the two blacks for Madison, Indiana. As
robbers frequently halted the stages in those days crossing the
mountains, and as Mr. Cravens had about a thousand dollars
more than enough to defray the expenses of himself and wife
and the blacks to Indiana, he had such confidence in the hon
esty of the old woman " Mary," that he gave her the $1,000 in
gold to secrete upon her person, telling her not to let " Tom "
know she had any money about her, other than a few dollars to
defray expenses. Well, they all left Virginia the same day.
Cravens and wife, by stage, arrived about two weeks before the
negroes. The former's friends at Madison learning what he
had done with his money laughed at his " foolishness," and said
he would never see his raoney nor negroes again. In due time,
however, the blacks arrived at Madison, and the old woman
" Mary " handed over the package of money saying, " Here,
Mars Jim, is yo money.'''' The money proved to be all there as
when given in charge of the old black woman. The two ne
groes would have sold for more money than all Cravens was
worth besides. But his anti-slavery notions were such that he
would never sell into slavery any human being.
At that time Madison, the capital of Jefferson county, was
the leading town of the State, and contained a number of men
who were, even then, noted for their ability. Marshafl and
Sullivan, the two Brights, Robinson and others resided there,
and it would seem that the new comer's chances for success at
the bar were meager indeed. He had settled on a farm some
twelve miles from Madison, and had a law office in town, and
between the two his whole time was employed. He vvas an
ardent Whig, and took a deep interest in public affairs. Two
years after he located in Jefferson county, in 1831, he was elected
to the Legislature, defeating David Hillis, afterward Lieuten
ant-Governor of the State. The next year he was a candidate
for re-election, defeating James H. Wallace, an able and popu
lar raan. He was now on the high road to political fortune.
Fle was farming and practicing law, but his hand had not for
gotten its cunning, and he could make a gun, and for that mat
ter, could shoot it, too, as wefl, or better than any other man in
the county. These accomplishments added to ^his popularity,

J.\I\HiS H. CRAVENS. 3^^
and particiflarly endeared him to the men who lived in the val
leys of Indian Kentuck.
Mr. Crav-ens had an ambition to reach a leading place in his
profession, and realizing the fact that the Madison bar was the
ablest in the State, he determined to leave Jefferson county, and
go where competition was not so strong. Therefore, in 1833,
he removed to Ripley county, and remained a citizen of it while
he Hved, He opened an office at Versailles, and soon had a
large and lucrative practice. Like most lawyers of that day,
he took an active interest in poHtics, and although not an office
seeker, he was alvva)'s ready to speak for his party. In 1839
the Whigs of Ripley elected him to the State Senate, and the
county never had an abler or raore faithful representative. His
reputation as a speaker vvas such that he was placed on the
Harrison electoral ticket in 1840, a position of honor, and one
to which the leading Whigs of the State aspired. Indiana never
had so able an electoral ticket as the one upon which he was
placed. Jonathan McCarty and Joseph G. Marshall were the
electors for the State at large, and araong the district electors
were Joseph L. White, Richard W. Thompson, Caleb B. Smith
and James H. Cravens. These raen made the hills and valleys
of Indiana resound with praises of "Tippecanoe and Tyler,
too," and when the election was held and the votes counted it
vvas found that Indiana had v-oted by a large majority to make
her first territorial Governor the chief executive of the national
government. It vvas in this campaign that Mr. Cravens became
known throughout the State as one of the ablest debaters in it.
During the canvass he and Robert Dale Owen had a joint dis
cussion at Bloomington, which is still remerabered, and will be
while those who heard it live. As is known, Mr. Owen was
the most learned and cultured of all the public men of Indiana
of his time, but, as a debater, Mr. Cravens proved his equal.
When the debate between them ended. Dr. Wylie, then presi
dent of the State University, publicly coraplimented Mr. Cra
vens on the ability he had displayed, and at the same time spoke
in high terms of Mr. Owen's talents and learning.
The spring after General Harrison's election Mr. Cravens
was nominated for Congress, and elected over his competitor,
Colonel Thomas Smith, by over one thousand majority. He

276 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
took his seat at the called session which convened soon after
President Harrison died and Mr. Tyler, the Vice-President,
had become the acting President. Mr. Tyler soon broke with
his party, and failing to establish a party of his own, he natu
rally drifted to the Democracy. Mr. Cravens had often sounded
his praises upon the stump, and had voted for him in the elec
toral college, but when he separated from the party that elected
him, Mr. Cravens denounced hira from his seat in Congress as
well as from the stump at home. In his family Bible he made
this record :
" For the Tyler vote I have sorely repented, and hope my
country will forgive me. J. H. Crav^ens."
In Congress Mr. Cravens stood by and supported John Quincy
Adams in his fight for the right of petition, and in many other
ways testified to his belief in the rights and equality of all men
before the law^ He hated oppression in all its forms, and he
hated that which was known as human slavery with an intensity
akin to madness. In it he saw nothing good ; for it he had no
charity whatever. But his party was thoroughly permeated
with its virus, and when he went before a convention and asked
a nomination for re-election he was put aside, and one with dif
ferent views upon the question of slavery selected. He knew
he had been badly treated, but he accepted the situation with
out complaint. In 1846 a Whig convention nominated him for
the State Legislature, but a large portion of his party rebelled
against the nomination. The objection to him was on account
of his pronounced anti-slavery principles, and so hostile were
many Whigs to him for that reason that they demanded his
withdrawal from the ticket. That there might be no mistake
as to his views upon the slavery question, he published an ad
dress, from which I raake the following extract :
" I understand that a portion of the Whigs of our country
charge me with being what they call an 'Abolitionist.' If I
knew in what sense they used the term abolitionist, as applied
to me, I would give a simple answer, 'Yes,' or 'No;' but,
inasmuch as I do not know what meaning they attach to it, in
reference to me, I deem it proper, in justice to them as well as

JAMES II. CKAV'ICNS. 277
to myself, to give ni)' views of slavery as it exists in the United
States :
••I. I consider slavery a great moral and polit cal evil.
•• 2. I am opposed to the extension of slave territory.
••3. I am opposed to the admission of any more slave States
into the Union.
••4. I believe the admission of slave States into the Union
out of territor)- acquired since the adoption of the Federal con
stitution to be a violation of the spirit of that instrument.
•'5. I believe that whilst we are expending $1,000,000 annu
ally for the suppression of the 'African slave trade,' we ought
not to spend millions for the promotion and extension of the
• domestic ' or American slave trade.
"6. I believe that Congress has the power to regulate the
inter-state slave trade, and ought to exercise it.
'•7. I believe that Congress has the power of abolishing
slaver)- in the District of Colurabia (the seat of the national
government), and ought to exercise it whenever a majority of
the citizens of the District desire it to be done, and that the
' slave mart' there ought to be abolished immediately.
•• 8. I believe that whenever a proposition is made to the na
tion to extend the peculiar institution, either directly or indi
rectly, that it then becomes, so far, if so facto, a national ques
tion ; and that the non-slaveholding States, and their citizens
indi\'i dually^, ought, in self-defense, both in a moral and political
point of view, to make use of every constitutional means v\'ithin
their power to prevent so great an injustice.
•'9. I am utterly opposed to the abolition of the liberty of
speech, and of the press, and of the rights of petition.
¦'10. I believe the slave States and slave owners have con
stitutional rights in reference to their slave property, with which
the free States can not and ought not to interfere, nor ought
their citizens, individually, to meddle with them, such as per
suading a slave to escape from his owner, concealing them after
they have escaped, and running them from the place clandes
tinely or otherwise, with a view of aiding them in finally making
their escape.
•'II. I would not arrest and return to his owner, nor harbor,
nor conceal a fugitive slave.

278 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
"12. I should be more than gratified to see the slave States
adopt some system of gradual emancipation by which we, as a
people, should be entirely rid of slavery in sorae twenty-five or
thirty years.
"13. I do not beheve the Whigs have, nor am I prepared to
believe they will, incorporate a pro-slavery article in their po
litical creed. Should they do so they will drive many good
and true raen from their ranks in grief and sorrow."
At that time there was quite a nuraber of abolitionists in Rip
ley county, the leader of whom was Stephen S. Harding.
They met and resolved to support Mr. Cravens for the Legisla
ture, whereupon several leading pro-slavery Whigs determined
he should be driven from the ticket. Their antagonism caused
him to ask for the reassembling of the convention which had nom
inated him, and when it met he placed his declination before it.
It, however, unanimously indorsed him, and he continued a can
didate. He was elected, and in the Legislature made a strong
fight against the Butler bill ; but it passed, notwithstanding his
opposition. As will be remembered, it was a bill to compro
mise the debt of the State upon the basis of the surrender of
the Wabash and Erie canal to the bondholders for one-half the
debt, and the issuance of new bonds for the remainder.
Mr. Cravens opposed the Mexican war because he believed
it was waged in the interests of slavery. In 1848 the Whig
convention of his congressional district passed a resolution jus
tifying the war, and offered him the nomination for Congress
upon the condition that he would indorse the platform. He
repHed at once, " No, gentlemen, I will not do it. If it was in
your power to give me a seat in Congress for life I would not
do it." Where is the man now in politics who would not indorse
his party's creed, when by so doing he could go to Congress?
Mr. Cravens saw that his party was wedded to slavery, and
when it nominated General Taylor, a slaveholder, for the pres
idency, he determined to leave it. No one who has not passed
the ordeal knows how hard it is for one to cut loose from his
party. Personal friends desert him and the associations of
years are broken up and destroyed. But Mr. Cravens saw his
duty in a line different from that pursued by his party, and he

JAMl';s H. CR.WICNS. 279
determined to follow it. He vvent to the Buft'alo Freesoil con
vention as a delegate, and actively participated in its proceed
ings. He supported its nominees — Van Buren and Adams —
stumping the State in their behalf. They were defeated, and
for awhile afterward Mr. Cravens affiliated vvith the Democracy.
He vvas one of its nominees in 1850 for delegate to the consti
tutional convention, but vvas defeated at the polls. The Demo
cratic party, like the Whig, had too many pro-slave;'y men in
its ranks for a man of such pronounced anti-slavery principles
as Mr. Cravens to be popular vvith it. As stated above, he was
beaten, and the people of Indiana were debarred from having
•his valuable services in the formation of the constitution under
which we live.
In 1852 both the Whig and Democratic parties declared in
their national platforms that the question of slavery was settled.
They also resolved that the further agitation of the question was
unwise and unpatriotic. There really was no vital issue be
tween the parties, their contest being merely to determine which
should have the patronage and the spoils. In the canvass of
that year Mr. Cravens supported Hale and Julian, the Freesoil
candidates for President and Vice President, and was himself
the candidate of that party for Governor of the State. Of
course he was beaten, for although pro-slavery politics was then
becoming weakened, it was strong enough to bind with its hate
ful cords the masses of the people.
When the Republican party was formed Mr. Cravens entered
its ranks. Indeed, he was one of the men who made the party.
Its opposition to the extension of slavery endeared him to it,
and made him active in its behalf. At the Republican State
convention of 1856 he was nominated for Attorney-General of
the State, and he entered the canvass with all his old-time zeal
and eloquence. He was defeated, but this canvass added
largely to his already well-established reputation as a strong
debater. On the breaking out of the civil war, in 1861, Mr. Cravens
took an active part in securing recruits, and in other ways fur
thering the cause of the government. He was, for a time, lieu
tenant-colonel of a regiment of infantry, but he was too old and
feeble for active service, and soon resigned his commission.

28o BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
When John Morgan made his raid through Indiana, Colonel
Cravens raflied his neighbors, and tried to stop the invader's
progress, but he and his soldiers were taken captive and paroled
by the guerrifla chieftain. After this Colonel Cravens did not
aspire to public employment, but remained at his home in Os
good untfl the 4th of December, 1876, when death cafled him
hence. His remains were taken to Versailles and deposited in
the cemetery there.
Colonel Cravens was one of those men, rarely met in life,
who prefer principles to success. Elected to Congress before
he had reached middle Hfe, he could have continued in the pub
Hc service had he not been truer to his convictions than to his
ambition. But he preferred private station with self-respect to
public office with self-abasement.
In early life Colonel Cravens was small of physique, but as he
grew older he fleshened. His height was five feet six and one-
half inches, and his weight about one hundred and sixty pounds.
His complexion was Hght, his eyes blue and his hair inclined to
be sandy. He was a brave, conscientious and able man, and
well deserving a place in the history of the State.

ANDREW KENNEDY.

One of the best examples of the possibilities of the American
boy may be seen in the life and career of Andrew Kennedy.
Bom poor, and growing to manhood illiterate, he becarae a
lavvyer of large practice, a statesman of enviable reputation,
and died before he was thirty-eight years old, one of the best
known and most honored men in the State.
Andrew Kennedy was born near Dayton, Ohio, Jul)- 24, 1810.
When a child his father removed to Indiana and settled in the
wilderness near where the city of Lafayette now stands. Here
young Kennedy lived and worked until farm life became irk
some and distasteful, and he determined to leave it. This
vvas when he was about midway between boyhood and man
hood. He left his home and went to Connersville, where he
had an aunt living, and soon after arriving there he apprenticed
himself to a blacksmith, to learn the trade of a smithy. In due
time he became a master workman, and would, most probably,
have continued at the anvil and bellows for life had not an ac
cident happened to him, which, instead of being a misfortune.
proved a blessing.
The late Samuel W. Parker then lived at Connersville, and
was not only a brilliant lawyer, but was also a dear lover of the
horse. He owned an animal which was so spirited and vicious
that it was difficult to get him shod, but Kennedy undertook the
task, and was badly injured by a kick frora the horse. Being
unable to work, he commenced to study, and, although he could
scarcely read and could not write his name, with the help of
Mr. Parker, who took great interest in hira, he soon becarae
able to read and understand what he read. Books were a reve-

282 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
lation to him. They opened to hira a new Hfe. He soon tame
to the conclusion that the hammer and the anvfl were not the
proper instruments, for him to fight with ; that he was capable
of wielding intellectual weapons as well as those only used by the
hand. He therefore determined to abandon his trade and study
law. In this he was encouraged by Mr. Parker, who placed at
his comraand his library, and the young blacksmith laid aside
his apron, washed the soot from his face and hands, and en
tered Mr. Parker's office as a student. He studied hard, and
in a short time was Hcensed to practice. At that time admission
to the bar was much more difficult than now. Good moral
character was not the only thing necessary to enable one to be
a lawyer. Before being admitted to the bar the applicant had
to pass a rigid and critical examination, and he was only
licensed when he passed this ordeal to the satisfaction of two
judges of a court of record, so it is apparent that young Ken
nedy made good use of his time and opportunities, for otherwise
he would not have been able to gain the admission he sought.
Soon after obtaining his license he removed to Muncie, and
opened an office for the practice of his profession. At that time
(1830) Muncie contained but few inhabitants, and these few lived
in log cabins. The Court-house was a cabin, and in it the
young lawyer's voice rang out in behalf of those who employed
him. While not so good a lawyer as some who practiced at
the Muncie bar, he excelled them all in the defense of those
charged with crime. His fine presence, his magnetism and his
fervid eloquence made him exceedingly effectiv-e before a jury,
and fortunate indeed was the oft'ender who secured him as an
advocate. His fiery eloquence captivated the people, and he
soon became noted as one of the most popular speakers as well
as one of the most successful lawyers in the eastern part of
the State. He had engaging manners, and, in 1836, when
hardly eligible on account of his age, he vvas elected to the
State Senate to fill a vacancy. The next year he was chosen a
Senator for a full term, and while in the Senate he was noted
for his attention to business and for his fidelity to the interests
of those whom he represented. In 1840 he was placed on the
Democratic electoral ticket, and made a thorough canvass of
his district. The people flocked to hear him wherever he went,

ANDREW KKNNKOV. 283
and at the close of the canvass, the " vountf blacksmith" was
one of the best-known men in the State. In 1841 he vvas nom
inated f'or Congress and elected. He vvas re-elected in 1843
and in 1845, and in 1847 vvas again oft'ered a nomination, but
declined it. During his six years in Congress he attended
sti^ctiv to his public duties and established a reputation for elo
quence and eft'ective services equaled by few.
Before the close of his congressional term Mr. Kennedy de
termined to be a candidate for the United States Senate. He
aspired to a seat in the highest legislative body in the country,
and had he lived would, most probably, have succeeded in ob
taining it. He came to Indianapolis in December, 1847, to
commence his canvass for the Senate, but he had been here
only a few days when he was taken sick vvith a disease which
proved to be small-pox. The Legislature was in session, and
many of the members had called on him at his room in the
Palmer House, and when it became known that the disease vvith
which he was afflicted vvas small-po.x the utmost consternation
prevailed. Resolutions adjourning the Legislature until the
second Monday in January, 1848, vvere introduced and passed
on the 13th of the preceding month, and the members at once
left for their homes. There was no case of small-pox in the
city except the one, and why this one should so badly scare the
assembled wisdom of the State seems to us of the present time
exceedingly strange. Mr. Kennedy continued sick and confined
to his room until the evening of the last day of- 1847, when he
died. His body was taken at the dead of night, wrapped in
the clothes of the bed on which he died, to the cemetery, at
tended only by the hack-driver and sexton, and consigned to
mother earth. The hackman and the sexton who performed the
sad task of laying him away in his tomb contracted the fell dis
ease which took him oft', and in less than two weeks thereafter
were laid by his side. A sad ending was this of a career which
promised so much.
The death of Mr. Kennedy caused gloom throughout the
State. In commenting upon his demise, the Indianafolis Sen
tinel said :
" In the death of Mr. Kennedy the State loses, in the prime

284 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
of his life and usefulness, one of her most honored and distin
guished sons."
On the 1st day of January, 1848, the same paper thus spoke
of Mr. Kennedy :
"The decease of this distinguished raan will excite feelings
of the profoundest regret, not only araong the people of this
State, but araong all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance.
He was emphatically one of ' nature's noblemen,' and, though
born of poor parents, and in his early youth deprived of even
common advantages for the cultivation of his mind, he was so
richly endowed in mental qualities that he was able to overcome
all obstacles, and ultimately to attain an elevated position among
the most distinguished raen of the State. He was socially, as
well as politically, a Deraocrat. Possessing the most exalted
mental attributes, he felt that no raan could rightfully claim
raastery over him ; and, having himself drunk of the bitter cup
of poverty, he knew how to sympathize vvith and encourage the
poor in the assertion of their rights."
When the Legislature convened in January following Mr.
Kennedy's death, appropriate resolutions vvere introduced and
several eloquent speeches were made. In speaking on the reso
lutions, Hon. A. J. Harlan, of Grant county, said:
" I hope and believe that I shall not be deemed by any one
who hears me at all exaggerating vv-hen I assert that the la-
raented Kennedy, whilst connected with his public services,
either in the Legislature of his adopted State, or in the Con
gress of the nation, gave constant and continued proof of his
sound, practical and statesmanlike intellect, unyielding honesty
of purpose, and a generosity of soul and will that ever qualified
him for the performance of all generous, hospitable and noble
deeds, and which at all times saved him from the charge of any
act that was ignoble, sordid or illiberal.
" In his private life he was remarkably bland, courteous and
interesting ; and his death has thrown a sorrow and disappoint
ment to raany a kind and innocent bosom which his living mo
ments never failed to fill vvith the liveliest hopes of future good
ness and prosperity."

.VNDIiEW KKNNKDY. 285
Mr. Orr, a representative from Delaware county, the county
in which Mr. Kennedy had lived, said :
••3Ir. Speaker — I arise to announce to you and the House
the pleasing intefligence that that dreadful and loathsome dis
ease, the smallpox, is measurably arrested. We had some
thirty-odd cases at our county-seat, and but three deaths out of
the number. Out of ten or fifteen cases in the county there
was but one death, and for a week or ten days previous to my
leav-ing home there was but one new case. Now, sir, although
this was calculated to produce joy in our midst, yet we are cast
into gloom and sadness at the news of the death of our highly
honored and much esteemed fellow citizen, the Hon. Andrew
Kennedy. Death, it is true, is not a respecter of persons, and
in this case its v-ictim was a shining and conspicuous mark ; his
social virtues were most appreciated by those who knew him
best. As an instance of this, sir, I will tell you that in his own
county, which always casts upwards of two hundred Whig ma
jority, he reduced this raajority to twenty-five. He was an
ardent admirer and lover of our institutions, and well he might
be, for it was owing to their benign influence that he rose to
that conspicuous and enviable position he occupied in society.
When talking on these subjects he seeraed lo soar, as it were,
above himself, and to forget every other thing around him. As
an instance of this, I will tell you a circurastance that trans
pired as he and I came down at the opening of the Legislature.
Talking of our glorious institutions, which to me was always
pleasing, he became quite eloquent ; his eyes beamed with lus
ter peculiar to the man ; he sprang to his feet (unconsciously
dropping the check-lines, though approaching a critical place
in the road), and burst forth into one of his most grand and
eloquent strains, just as though he had an audience of five hun
dred persons. He poured forth to my delighted ears, in the
most glowing language, the glory of our country as it now is,
and as I hope it will be a thousand years hence ; during which
time we had passed over considerable road. After sitting down
he asked me how or when I took the check-lines from him. I_
told him the circumstances ; he replied that he hoped the tree
of liberty would ultimately become so large that all nations and

286 biographical and historical sketches.
kindreds might repose underneath its shade, and that its branches
might extend to the nethermost parts of the earth, and that he
believed repubflcan principles would become so prevalent that
they could peremptorily give the command, 'Tyrants, about
face!' But he needs no. eulogy from me; the history of this
commonwealth is his history. Of this, the future impartial his
torians in writing it out wifl devote a page to the history of the
Hon. Andrew Kennedy. Permit me, sir, in conclusion, to pre
sent the following resolutions :
" Resolved, unanimously. That we have heard with profound
regret of the death of our distinguished fellow-citizen, the Hon.
Andrew Kennedy, who departed this life on the 31st day of De
cember, 1847.
"Resolved, unanimously. That in the death of Andrew Ken
nedy society has lost one of its brightest ornaments, and the
State one of its faithful servants.
"Resolved, unanimously. That we deeply condole with his
afflicted family in the loss they have sustained, and that we
hereby tender to his bereaved widow our mutual sympathy.
"Resolved, unanimously. That His Excellency, the Governor,
be requested to forward to the widow of the deceast-d a copy
of the foregoing resolutions.
' ' Resolved, unanimously , That as an evidence of the high es
teem entertained for the deceased this House do now adjourn."
Mr. Kennedy's vv^idow still lives at the old homestead in Mun
cie, and a short tirae ago the author of this sketch heard from
her lips the sorrowful account of her husband's death. She
said she begged to be taken to Indianapolis that she might be
with her husband in his illness, but the boon was denied her.
The life of her husband went out when she vvas far awav. His
fevered brow and parched lips were cooled by stranger hands
while the wife of his youth was praying that she might be per
mitted to perform those loving offices herself. But she prayed
in vain.
The small-pox scare of 1847 caused a good deal of amuse
ment among the people of that day. That the great Sanhedrim
of the State should dissolve and its members go home on ac-

.VNDREW KENNEDY. 287
count of a solitary case of small-pox seems incredible, but it
vvas so. Many vvere the jokes that went the rounds of the news
papers of that time. Among them were the following :
" Why is the present Indiana Legislature like General Wil
kinson? "Answer — Because they ran away from Kennedy (Canada).
"Why is the Indiana Legislature Hke a young lawyer?
"Answer — Because it is highly excited over a solitary case.
"Why is the Indiana Legislature unlike Santa Anna?
"Answer — Because they ran when there was no danger; he
ran when there vvas danger."
A local poet thus poured out his soul in blank verse in an ode
to " Small-pox and the Legislature : "
" Thou hast
Alarmed the heels e'en from their boots, and
Given their tattered coat-tails to the wind ;
And, with the vast velocity of fear, they
Have outstripped the speed of railroad cars,
And frost and mud have been like cobweb
Barriers to their brave retreat. Avaunt!
Fell devil, from our peaceful town, and
Let the Legislature all come back."
This body of lawmakers vvas known at the time as the Leg-is-
lature. Mr. Kennedy, while in Congress, made a speech on the Ore
gon bill, in favor of " fifty-four forty or fight." At the conclu
sion of his speech he fainted frora exhaustion. However, he
revived in a moment and received many congratulations from
his friends. Among those who took him by the hand on that
occasion vvas John Quincy Adams, a bitter opponent of the bill,
but a great lover of oratory. He said: "Kennedy, let me
take by the hand the greatest natural orator in America."
In a speech, delivered in the Senate of the United States, by
Judge Douglas, of Illinois, the following reference is made to
Mr. Kennedy. (See Congressional Globe, part 3, Thirty-fifth
Congress.) "I am reminded of the case of Hon. Andrew Kennedy, a
Democratic member of Congress from Indiana, who, some years-

288 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
ago, was elected from a district which had about four thousand
Whig majority. One day he got up to make a speech in the
Flouse, when one of his colleagues asked him how he got there.
He replied : ' I come from the strongest Whig district in the
State of Indiana, a district that gave General Harrison a bigger
majority than any other in the United States of America. I beat
three of the ablest Whigs there were in the district, and I could
have beaten three more if they had dared to run against me."

ROBERT DALE OWEN.

Judge Banta, in his veracious history of "The Voyage of
the Oscar Wilde," makes the observation : " Writing history
is like making a bouquet in a garden of rare and beautiful flow
ers — there is such an array of material, so much to choose from,
so littie that can be chosen, and so much to be left untouched."
In preparing this sketch I was forced to reject more material
than I used ; to cast aside more flowers than my bouquet con
tains. If I have had the judgment to select those which give
forth the sweetest fragrance, those whose , colors best blend in
unison, I have been fortunate, indeed.
Robert Dale Owen, litterateur, reformer and statesman, was
bom at Glasgow, Scotland, November 7, 1801. His father was
Robert Owen, the noted philanthropist, and his mother a daugh
ter of David Dale, a rich cotton-spinner, renowned for his be-
ne\-olence. When Robert was a child his father removed to
New Lanark, a village near Glasgow, where he operated an
extensive cotton mill. He had a delightful home, known as
Braxfield House, where he lived in elegance, and at which he
entertained many of the most distinguished men of his day,
among them the Grand Duke Nicholas, afterwards Emperor of
Russia. Here young Robert remained until he was sixteen
years old, receiving all the advantages which wealth and cul
tured surroundings could bestow. At that age he left home,
and with his brother William went to Switzerland, and for
three years attended the school at Hofwyl, near Berne, con
ducted by M. Fellenberg, a noted Swiss scholar and statesman.
On leaving Hofwyl he returned to New Lanark, and for sev-

290 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
eral years assisted his father in conducting his business, a por
tion of the time it being under his entire control.
In 1824 Robert Owen bought of George Rapp a large tract
of land on the Wabash river, where the town of New Harmony
now stands. The next year Robert Dale left Scotland for
America, that he might assist his father in the management of
the New Harmony estate. On arriving at New York he at
once went to the Prothonotary's office and declared his inten
tion of becoming a citizen of the United States. In due time
he arrived at New Harmony and zealously entered into his
father's plans to build up a community where competitive labor
should be unknown, where the work of each should be for the
benefit of all. The experiment proved a failure, and was soon
abandoned. In 1828 Mr. Owen went to New York, and for three years
conducted in that city, in connection with Frances Wright, a
radical journal known as the Free Enquirer, a paper devoted
to socialistic reform. In 1832 he married Mary Jane Robinson,
a woraan of great strength of mind, who entered heartily into
her husband's efforts' to change the social system. After a bri
dal trip to Europe, Mr. Owen and his wife returned to America,
and in a short time located at New Harmony, where the greater
portion of their lives was spent.
Mr. Owen was active in furthering the raoral and material in
terests of the community where he lived. There was no town
in the West, if in the whole country, where the standard of
morality and intelligence was higher than at New Harmony.
Philosophers, scientists — men of world-wide reputation — sought
the little town on the Wabash for society and for homes. Among
these men Mr. Owen was a central figure. His education, his
intelligence, and his popularity among his neighbors combined
to make him the most influential raan in his section of the
State It would have been almost impossible for a man of Mr. Owen's
position at that time to keep out of politics, and in 1836 he be
came a candidate for the Legislature. He was elected, and
during this, his first year of public life, we find him an influ
ential member of the body in which he served. During the ses
sion he was mainly instrumental in setting aside, for the purpose

ROBERT DALE OWEN. 29 1
of education, two-thirds of the surplus revenue given Indiana
by the general government. He introduced a bill securing to
married women the right to own and control property, a meas
ure vvith which his name is inseparably connected. But the
people were not prepared for such a radical change in the laws
of property, and the proposition was defeated.
Mr. Owen was returned to the Legislature the two following
years, and at the session of 1838-9, he prepared and offered a
bill known as the "Modification Bill," which passed, and ar
rested the gigantic operations which were loading Indiana with
debt. In 1839 Mr. Owen was a candidate for Congress, his oppo
nent being the gifted George H. Proffit. During the canvass
Mr. Owen was grossly attacked, being charged with infidelity,
licentiousness and other crimes against religion and morality.
Two days before the election, three clergymen of Posey county —
Mr. Owen's home — published a contradiction of the calumnies,
and bore testimony to the purity of his life, but the defense came
too late. He was beaten by Mr. Proffit 839 votes.
In an article published in Scribner's Monthly in 1877, Mr.
Owen gave this incident of his campaign with Proffit :
•' I may mention here, as illustrative of the style of thought and
of idiomatic expression among the simple people with whom I had
made my home, an incident of a later date, when I was in the
field of Congress against George Proffit. It was in a rustic por
tion of the district, and after I had spoken I had been invited,
as usual, to spend the night at a neighboring farmer's. Hap
pening to sit, during the evening, on my host's front porch, I
overheard, from just 'round the corner of the cabin, the conver
sation of two men who did not suppose I was within ear-shot.
Their talk was, as usual, of the candidates :
" ' Did you hear Owen speak? ' asked one.
" ' Yes,' said the other, ' I hearn him.'
' • Now, ain't he a boss? ' was the next question.
•' ' Well, yes : they're both blooded nags ; they make a very
pretty race.' "
Seldom, indeed, were better blooded animals than Proffit and
Owen entered for congressional sweepstakes.

292 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
In 1840 Mr. Owen was placed on the Democratic ticket as an
elector for his district. He made a general canvass of the State,
and established a first-class reputation as a public speaker. His
standing as a writer was already established.
In 1841 Mr. Owen was again a candidate for Congress, and
this time was elected, defeating John W. Payne 602 votes.
During the canvass he published an address to the electors of
the district, in which he said :
" Many conscientious and excellent men were misled by the
outcry raised against rae in 1839. ^ appeal from their votes
.then to their second sober thought now. I claim for myself, as
the good and noble Roger Williams did of yore, that right of
private judgment and free speech, which is our country's proud-
•est boast, that every Araerican citizen, be he citizen by birth or
citizen by selection and preference, raay deraand at the hands
•of his fellow-citizens. To the greatest it has not been refused ;
to the humblest it may not justly be denied. Jefferson claimed
it when he asked your fathers' votes for the office of Chief Mag
istrate of the republic. I am equally entitled to its sacred shield,
though I stand before you but one among the undistinguished
hundreds who now aspire to a seat in the councils of the nation."
In Congress Mr. Owen becan\e prominent at once. His
speeches on the Oregon question, on the annexation of Texas,
and upon the tariff, were among the ablest delivered upon these
subjects. That upon the tariff was adopted by the Democratic
congressional committee as their tract upon this subject. It
was this speech that first attracted the author's attention to Mr.
Owen. I was then a boy, and lived on the peninsula between
¦Chesapeake and Delaware bays, where political tracts did not
often come. But I got hold of this speech of Owen, and wefl I
remember the impression it made upon me. John Weathered,
who then represented the Third Maryland district in Congress,
was a manufacturer of cotton and woolen goods. In a speech
upon the tariff he attacked Mr. Owen and twitted him for hav
ing been born in a foreign land. He declared that if Mr. Owen
should go back to his native land he would be commanded to
appear before the British Qiieen to receive an order of Knight-
liood for his services in her behalf in the American Congress.

ROBERT n.VLl<; OWEN.

295

I have nol Mr. Owen's speech in my possession, nor have I
seen it for nearly forty years, but I well reraeraber much that
he said. He commenced b)- sa)ing that on looking around the
hall he saw but two pictures, those of Washington and Lafay
ette, Continuing, he said: "While the gentieman from
Maryland was speaking, the picture of Lafayette seemed im
bued with life, and I expected to see its quivering Hps cry out :
• Take me hence ! This is no place for one born in a foreign
land.' " He closed his speech in almost these very words :
" Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Maryland is an American
by chance ; I am one by choice. I had no control over the
place of my birth ; could I have chosen the spot, it would have
been in the Pocket of Indiana." Twice I asked Mr. Owen for
a copy of this speech, and twice he promised me I should have
it. As I never received it, I presume he had no copy at his
command. In 1845 Mr. Owen was re-elected to Congress, his raajority
over Wilson, his corapetitor, being 1,015. ^^ '^his Congress he
introduced a bill creating the Sraithsonian Institute, and for
many years afterwards he was one of its regents.
Mr. Owen's congressional career terminated in March, 1847,
and from that time until 1850, -he remained at home, devoting
most of his time to study and literary work. In August, 1850,
he was elected a delegate from Posey county to a convention
called to make a new constitution for Indiana. At the organi
zation of the convention in October following he appeared and
took his seat as a member. He was made chairman of the
committee " on the rights and privileges of the inhabitants of
the State ; " also, on the " committee on revision, arrangement
and phraseology " — a most wise selection, for he was, by odds,
the best writer of English in the convention.
Early in the session Mr. Owen proposed a section "prohibit
ing negroes and mulattoes from coming into the State ; and
prohibiting any negro or mulatto from purchasing or otherwise
acquiring real estate hereafter." He was naturally the friend
of the downtrodden and helpless, but he lived in Southern In
diana, which was then as thoroughly pro-slavery in sentiment
as the State of Kentucky. In a speech made in favor of this.
section he said :

294 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
"They can never obtain political rights here. They can
never obtain social rights here. And for these reasons I think
we ought not to have them amongst us. We ought not to have
in our midst a race, daily increasing, who must, of necessity,
remain disfranchised ; a class of people to be ta.xed without
being represented, on whom burdens are imposed, and who
have no voice in deciding what these burdens shall be."
Mr. Owen lived to see the negro have political rights in In
diana, and he did much to secure them to him. When making
this speech he did not see with the eye of a seer.
A few days after the convention was organized, Mr. Owen
offered the following resolution :
' ' Resolved, That the committee on rights and privileges of
the inhabitants of the State inquire into the expediency of in
corporating in the bill of rights the following section : Women
hereafter married in this State shall have the right to acquire
and possess property to their sole use and disposal ; and laws
shall be passed securing to them, under equitable conditions,
all property, real and personal, whether owned by them before
marriage or acquired afterward by purchase, gift, devise or
descent ; and also providing for the registration of the wife's
separate property."
The proposition was fiercely antagonized by nearly every
lawyer in the convention. They declared that such a law would
overturn organized society and break up the family relation.
Mr. Owen combatted these assertions with power and earnest
ness. In one of his speeches he said :
" It will be thirteen years next winter since I (then a member
of the Legislature and of its committee to revise the laws) re
ported, from a seat just over the way, a change in the then ex
isting law of descent. At that time the widow of an intestate
dying without chfldren was entitled, under ordinary circum
stances, to dower in her husband's real estate and one-third of
his personal property. The change proposed was to give her
one-third of the real estate of her husband absolutely, and two-
thirds of his personal property, far too little, indeed : but yet as

ROBERT DALE OWEN.

295

great an innovation as Mr. Marshall, of Jeft'erson, and myself
(we vvere the sub-committee to vvliom the law had been referred)
thought it probable we could carry."
It will thus be seen that Mr. Owen's public life commenced
with an eft'ort to confer upon married women the right to own
and control their separate property, and it may be said that his
legislative life ended vvith it. In the last Legislature in which
he sat this was the subject that engrossed his mind, and this
the object for which he worked. Throughout the pubHshed
proceedings of the convention of 1850 are scattered many gems
of oratory by Mr. Owen in advocacy of his favorite measure.
On one occasion he eloquently said :
" I appeal to the successful settler, who has raised his cabin
first in the wild woods, has gradually opened a flourishing farm,
and at last has seen flow in upon him comfort and plenty,
whether he, alone and unaided, built up his fortune and made
comfortable his home? I ask him whether there was not one
who saved while he accumulated ; whether, when his arm was
busy without, her hand was idle within? I ask hira whether
his heart does not revolt at the idea that when he is carried to
his long home his widow shall see snatched from her, by an in
human law, the very property her watchful care had mainly
contributed to increase and keep together? "
In the convention Mr. Owen advocated the section in the
constitution prohibiting the State from contracting debt, except
for the purposes therein specified. He also favored a provision
securing a homestead for all heads of families. His efforts were
generally directed to protect the weak against the strong. Dur
ing the debate on the question of securing to married women
the right to own and control property, Mr. Owen's views upon
moral and religious questions were savagely attacked by Mr.
Badger, a delegate from the county of Putnam. In his reply,
Mr. Owen quoted Leigh Hunt's poem of "Abou Ben Adhera
and the Angel." Abou Ben says :
" I pray thee, then,
Write me as one who loves his fellow-men."

296 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
"When there is a question in regard to ray religious opin
ions," said Mr. Owen, "be my reply this : that I adopt and in
dorse the sentiment of Leigh Hunt's beautiful parable."
The convention refused, by a close vote, to engraft into the
constitution Mr. Owen's section to secure property rights to
women. Defeated but not vanquished, he afterward sought an
election to the Legislature that he raight secure by legislative
enactraentwhat he failed to do by constitutional provision. He
was successful, and the woraen of Indiana are more indebted
to him than to any other man — living or dead — for some of the
most valuable of their legal rights. There were a few women'
in those days who appreciated Mr. Owen's labors in behalf of
their sex, and among them was Sarah T. Bolton, a lady of great
worth and talents, who still lives to grace her sex and honor the
State. Knowing she was active in sustaining Mr. Owen in his
contest for the rights of woraen, I addressed her a note asking'
for her recollection of the events connected with the presenta
tion of a silver pitcher to hira by the women of Indiana. A few
days afterward I received the following reply :
"Laurel, September 16, 1882.
" William Wesley Woollen, Esq. :
" Dear Friend — Your favor of the nth inst. is before me.
Mr. Owen's efforts in the constitutional convention to which you
allude were to get recognition in the organic law of women's
rights of personal property ; their rights of real estate were
already secured. This measure excited a great deal of unprof
itable discussion. It hung on for weeks — months, I think — was
laid on the table, taken up and discussed fro and con, and laid
on the table again. Men did not scruple to stand up and sayr
' If women Had the rights proposed by this measure under con
sideration, they would go out into the market to buv- and sell,
instead of darning the stockings, sewing on the buttons, cook
ing dinner and washing the children's faces. In short, the pro
posed law would throw a firebrand into a thousand happy
homes.' "In the meantirae I vvas writing articles setting forth the
grievances resulting frora women's status, as under the common

ROBERT D.VLE OVVKN. 297
law. and the necessity of reform, and scattering these articles
through the newspapers over the State to make public opinion.
'•.\t length the measure passed, but vvas reconsidered and
voted down. Then we rallied the few women who were in
favor of it. and went to the convention in a body to electioneer
with the members. The measure was brought up and passed
again, reconsidered the next day and again voted down. This,
to the best of my recollection, vvas repeated five or six tiraes be
fore it was finally lost.
••Then I wrote a circular setting forth Mr. Owen's eft'orts,
and asking the woraen of the State to contribute one dollar
each for the purpose of presenting to Mr. Owen a testimonial
to show our appreciation of his endeavor on our behalf. Can
vassing the city of Indianapolis to get lady signers to this cir
cular, we got, I think, but four names — Mrs. Drake's and mine
making six, and we obtained five more in dift'erent parts of the
State. The women of Indiana, in answer to this circular, sent
over one hundred dollars for the testimonial. With this money
we procured one of the most elegant antique silver pitchers 1
have ever seen in any land, and had it engraved with a suita
ble inscription.
" Having obtained leave to use the hall of the House of Rep
resentatives on the occasion of the presentation, we decorated
it with green garlands and fragrant flowers till it seemed a
bower of beauty, and on the evening of the 28th of May, 185 1,
it was crowded and crammed with the elite of the city to see
what had never occurred in Indianapolis before. Professor
Larrabee, who had accepted our invitation to make the pre
sentation, acquitted himself admirably in a beautiful and grace
ful address. Mr. Owen's reply on receiving the pitcher was a
grand, logical, exhaustive argument in favor of woman's rights.
" I am not a ' woman's rights woman,' in the common accept
ation of the phrase. I have taken no part in the present cru
sade, but am proud of ray action in that long-ago battle for the
property rights of my sisters.
"Mr. Owen, as you doubtless know, returned to the Legis
lature for the sole purpose of securing by statute the law he had
tried to have incorporated in the new constitution, where it

298 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
would not be subject to the action of every demagogue who
chanced to have a little, brief legislative authority.
"Although the people of our State paid but little attention to
the raatter at that time it was taken up by the English news
papers. Mr. Owen's action in the convention, the spirit and
bearing of the law equalizing the property rights of men and
women, the testimonial in recognition of Mr. Owen's efforts,
were all set forth and discussed in the London Times and the
Evening Star, with the gracious comment : ' From this, we
should judge that Indiana has attained the highest civilization
of any State in the Union.'
"I have written this hastily, having no data with me, here
among the hills. Very respectfully, " Sarah T. Bolton."
An Indianapolis paper of the 30th of May, 185 1, gives the
following account of the presentation of the pitcher to Mr.
Owen : "THE OWEN TESTIMONIAL.
" This interesting ceremony came off in the Representatives'
Hall on Wednesday evening. The hall was thronged with la
dies, they occupying the bar exclusively long before 8 o'clock,
the hour at which the presentation was to take place. The gen
tlemen were then admitted, filling up, almost to suffocation, the
lobbies and galleries. Never before was there so large a crowd
in that hall, and upwards of five hundred left, unable to get in.
" Flon. T. L. Smith was called upon to preside, and on taking
the chair delivered a short and appropriate address. After mu
sic by Downie's Sax-horn Band, the silver pitcher vvas handed
to Professor W. C. Larrabee, on behalf of the ladies, by Mrs.
C. J. Allison. It is the finest specimen of silver plate we have
ever seen, weighing forty-four ounces, and carved in the most
beautiful manner.
" On presenting the testimonial. Professor Larrabee thus ad
dressed Mr. Owen :
"'The women of Indiana, sir, deeply impressed with the
evident injustice of the laws now in force regarding the prop
erty of married women and of widows, and ardently desiring
that those laws may be so changed as to aftbrd protection to the

ROBERT D.VLE OWEN. 299
unfortunate of their sex. have delegated me to tender you their
heartfelt gratitude f'or )-our eftbrts in their behalf in the late con-
stitiitional convention, and as a slight token of their high appre
ciation of the nobleness of soul, the integrity of character and
the singleness of purpose that impelled you to advocate, un
selfishly and perseveringly, those invaluable and necessary
rights, which custom, prejudice and inconsiderate legislation
have hitherto withheld from them in regard to their power to
possess property, and to be protected by the law of their country
from the vicissitudes of life and the casualties of misfortune,
they have commissioned me to present to you this piece of plate,
on which I find the following inscription :
•• 'Presented to the Hon. Robert Dale Owen by the women
of Indiana, in acknowledgment of his true and noble advocacy
of their independent rights to property, in the constitutional
convention of the State of Indiana, convened at Indianapolis,
1850.' "
Mr. Owen's speech on this occasion was unusually eloquent,
even for him. He closed it as follows :
" In after days it may need some such memorial as the rich
and graceful gift that now stands before me to remind a more
enlightened generation that time was when the law took from
wives their property, and from parents the right to convey what
they would to a child. That exertions of mine may have con
tributed, in manner how humble soever, to remedy injustice
thus flagrant, will be to me a pleasant thought in that hour, the
last of earth's pilgrimage, when all things, good or evil, put on
their true garb, and when the deeds of a past life standing forth,
as before God's throne, they might, unmasked, unveiled, receive
judgment from a heart soon to be stirred no more forever by the
fears or the promptings of censure or of praise. "
Robert Dale Owen did much for Indiana, but nothing of more
importance than in equalizing the property rights of men and
women. For this the woraen of the State owe him a monu
ment, and they should cause his remains to be brought to the
Capital, and erect over them a shaft to commeraorate his labors
in their behalf. Will no one coramence the work ?
In an article like this it is impossible to narrate all that is

300 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
worth remerabering of a raan so prominent as was Mr. Owen.
At best, I can but skira the subject ; albeit, I will try to get the
cream. On the 24th of May, 1853, President Pierce appointed Mr.
Owen Charge d'Affaires to Naples, and on the 29th of the next
June he was coraraissioned Minister Resident to the same country.
He remained at Naples in the diplomatic service until Septem
ber 20, 1858, when he took leave and returned home. He re
mained in private life, engaged most of the time in literary
work, until the breaking out of our civil war, when he was ap
pointed by Governor Morton an agent to purchase arms for the
State. Fle performed this service with great intelligence and
honesty. Subsequently, a committee of the Indiana legislature
investigated his dealings in this matter, and found them all cor
rect. For this work he received no compensation and asked for
none, being conteirt with the satisfaction he enjoyed for doing
that which he believed to be his duty.
Mr. Owen's facile pen was busy during the war writing tracts
and newspaper articles in defense of the war and of President
Lincoln and his administration. His writings did much to unify
the people and to cause them to stand by the government in its
war with the Confederacy.
Early in the war Mr. Owen advocated the emancipation of
the slaves by presidential proclamation. On the 17th of Sep
tember, 1862, he addressed a letter to the President upon this
subject, and, in acknowledging its receipt, Mr. Lincoln thus
spoke of its effect upon him : "Its perusal stirred me like a
trumpet call." Mr. Chase, then Secretaiy of the Treasury,
wrote thus to Mr. Owen : "It will be a satisfaction to you to
know that your letter to the President had more influence on
him than any other document which reached him on the sub
ject ; I think I might say than all others put together. I speak
of that which I know from personal conference vvith him." Mr.
Owen considered this letter to President Lincoln the most use
ful service he ever rendered his country.
Mr. Lincoln had great confidence in Mr. Owen, and highly
prized his services. He appointed him to rev-ise the contracts
for military supplies which were outstanding when Simon Cam
eron left the War Office. .

ROBERT D.VLE OWEN. 3OI
Mr. Owen served as chairman of the commission known as
the " Freedman's Inquiry Commission," an organization created
after the slaves were freed.
When the war was over and reconstruction had taken place.
Mr. Owen went back to his study and his books. He wrote
much in favor of spiritualism, which doctrine he had embraced
many years before, when he vvas minister to the court of Naples.
He also wrote his autobiography\ a most charming book, which
he called "Threading My Way." At this tirae he seems to
have been greatly- engrossed in the study of spiritualism, and
his writings upon it are very voluminous. He gave a pretended
spiritualistic medium — one Katie King — his fullest indorsement,
going so far as to write a magazine article in her praise, but
investigation proved her a fraud, and her manifestations shams.
This cut Mr. Owen to the quick, for he vvas an honest raan,
hating frauds and shams vvith a healthy hatred. About this
time his mind gave way, and it was believed that this sad afflic
tion came upon him on account of grief caused by his connec
tion with the Katie King swindle. But this was a mistake.
His mental troubles vvere caused by disease and overwork. His
son, Ernest Dale Owen, in a letter to Dr. Taylor, of New York,
dated July- 13, 1875, says:
•' You may^ remember that my father, for some time, has been
residing at Dansville, New York. While there he was very
ill with a nervous fever, the most severe sickness he has suffered
for years. When he was recovering from his attack, and while
he was still so weak that he was unable even to sit up, he in
sisted, against the advice of physicians and friends, on cora-
mencing a book, which he had for sorae time had in contempla
tion, by dictating for others to write. As soon as he was at all
able to sit up, he employed much of his time at this labor. The
book — a treatise on theology — dealing as it did in some of the
most abstruse propositions, required the intensest mental appli
cation. This, under the circumstances, proved raore than the
brain could bear, and so its powers broke down. This is the
real cause of his malady."
His daughter, Rosamond Dale Owen, in a letter to the New
York Post, thus speaks of the cause of her father's illness :

302 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
" The cause of the calamity which has befallen us is simply
an overworked brain. My father believed his strong Scotch
constitution could, even in his old age, endure all things ; but
richly endowed though he was with physical and mental vigor,
he could not break God's laws of health with impunity, and we,
his children, can not, with our love and care, shield him from
the effects of his error."
Mr. Owen was received into the Indiana Hospital for the In
sane July lo, 1875, and left it restored to health October 14, of
the same year. A few days before he left the institution he ad
dressed Dr. Everts, then its superintendent, a letter, from which
I make the following extract :
" If a raan wishes to be well spoken of by those who had
hitherto slighted or reproved hira, he had better either die or
suffer a temporary civic death by confinement in a lunatic asy
lum. De mortuis nil nisi bonum — we speak with tender favor
of the dead. This has been amply illustrated by the many
newspaper notices of myself which have fallen under my ob
servation since an inmate of this institution. I trust that on en
tering the world again I shall giv^e no cause for retraction of
these good opinions of the press, so kindly volunteered while
temporarily secluded."
Soon after leaving the Insane Hospital Mr. Owen took up
his residence at a cottage on the banks of Lake George, and
resumed his literary work. He was engaged to write a series
of articles for Scribner's Monthly on his recollections of matters
in the West, but soon after finishing the first one, he sickened
and died. The end came on the morning of the 24th of June,
1877, at his cottage home. His funeral services were conducted
by a Mr. Huntington, a Presbyterian minister, in the presence .
of the family and neighbors of the dead philanthropist. After
the services were over a procession was formed, which marched
around the lake shore to the cemetery near the village of Cald
well. Here the remains of Mr. Owen vvere deposited in the
earth. One who was present at the burial thus describes the
scene : i

ROBERT DALE OWEN. 3O3
" It was a scene for an artist. As the casket was being low
ered into the grave we looked up to take in a glimpse of the
surroundings. In the company were persons representing va
rious conditions of life. Here was a believer, there an infidel,
yonder several Christian neighbors, and beyond these a group
of Indians, watching with wonder everv movement. The beau
tiful lake stretched out before us in full view ; upon its bosom
was the new steamer, coming rapidly toward us ; the sun gilded
the tops of the distant mountains, and its light reflected from a
thousand wavelets. From the grave you can see his former
home ; from his home you can behold some of the most pleasing
aspects of nature : from nature as she is here revealed you
may, if pure in heart, see God ! "
Mr. Owen wasjwice married. His first wife's maiden name
was Mary Jane Robinson. He married her in New York, April
12, 1832. The marriage was performed by a notary public, in
the presence of the bride's family and a few of her neighbors.
Previous to the marriage, Mr. Owen drew up and signed a pa
per, from which I make this extract :
•'Of the unjust rights which, in virtue of this ceremony, an
iniquitous law tacitly gives me over the person and property of
another, I can not legally, but I can morally, divest myself.
And I hereby distinctly and emphatically declare that I con
sider myself, and earnestly desire to be considered by others,
as utterly divested, now and during the rest of my life, of any
such rights, the barbarous relics of a feudal and despotic sys
tem, now destined in the onward course of improvement to be
wholly swept away, and the existence of which is a tacit insult
to the good sense and good feeling of the present comparatively
civilized age."
Mr. Owen lived to see the "iniquitous law swept away" in
Indiana, and had the pleasure of knowing that it was mainly
by his efforts that it was done.
Mrs. Owen lived to a ripe old age, and until her husband had
become one of the noted men of his day. When she died, Mrs.
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a hymn, which was sung at her
burial, and her husband delivered a eulogy upon her life and

304 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
character, as he stood by her open grave. In this eulogy he
thus declared his faith in a hereafter :
"I do not beheve — and here I speak also of her whose de
parture from us we mourn to-day — I do not believe more firmly
in these trees that spread their shade over us, in this hill on
which we stand, in these sepulchral monuments which we see
around us here, than I do that human life, once granted, never
perishes more. She believed, as I believe, that the one life
succeeds the other without interval, save a brief • transition
slumber, it raay be for a few hours only. * * * Again, I
believe, as she did, in the meeting and recognition of friends in
heaven. While we mourn here below, there are joyful reunions
above" Mr. Owen's second wife's raaiden name vvas Lottie Walton
Kellogg. He married her about a year before he died. His
autobiography, which was mainly written at her house, was
dedicated to her.
Mr. Owen was a devoted Odd Fellow, and was appointed by
the Grand Lodge of Indiana to purchase ground, and upon it
erect a Grand Lodge hall. The building in Indianapolis known
as Odd Fellows' Hall was the result of this appointment.
Mr. Owen, having been one of the early settlers of Indiana,
knew what it was to travel over bad and muddy roads. In 185 1
and '52, he warmly advocated, b-y pen and tongue, the con
struction of plank roads, and did much to create the plank road
fever of that time. These roads, like the block pavements of
to-day, were smooth and delightful to travel upon when new,
and like them, also, were exceedingl)- rough and difflcult to get
over when old and worn. They lasted but a few years, and
gave place to the gravel and macadamized roads now so gener
ally used.
In 1843 or 1844 Mr. Owen was invited by the Union Literary-
Society of Hanover College to deliver an address before it. So
soon as it was known that the invitation had been given and
accepted the faculty of the college and some of its trustees de
termined he should not speak. Rev. E. D. McMasters was the
president of the college, and to him, more than any one else,

ROBER'r DALE OVVlCN. 305
was due the insult that was heaped upon Mr. Owen in this mat
ter. Knowing that Hon. James Y. Allison, of Madison, vvas then
a resident of Hanover. I addressed him a note, asking for his
recollection of the event. In Judge .Vllison's reply he said:
¦' I remember the circumstances well, as I was one of the
committee of th^ Union Literar)' Society to confer with Dr,
McMasters on the subject, Mr. Owen had been invited as the
anniversary speaker forthe society, and Dr. McMasters said,
' He, being an infidel, can not speak,' and we had to cancel the
engagement." The illiberality and dogmatism that prompted such a decision
would have put upon Mr. Owen the iron boot and driven in the
wedge, had the laws of the land allowed it. Thank God for
the law that prevents bigots from putting men to the torture for
a dift'erence of opinion I
Mr. Owen's mother was a Presbyterian, and his father a deist.
He adhered to the doctrines of his father until middle life, but
the teachings of his mother had not been entirely lost upon him.
In many of his speeches, and often in his writings, he spoke of
Jesus, and always with reverence. In his latter days he be
came, as we have seen, a spiritualist, and he enriched the liter
ature of his time with publications in favor of that doctrine. It
has been charged that he recanted spiritualism before his death,
but this is a mistake. He died in the faith he had so ably ad
vocated and defended.
Mr. Owen was a radical of the most pronounced type. He
tried to make the world better by uprooting and destroying that
which he believed to be bad. He never advocated a measure
because it was old ; in fact, age was a reason for attacking it.
He believed in progression. He thought the world should
grow better as it grew older, and he labored hard to make it so.
That in some respects he succeeded must be the verdict of
mankind. Mr. Owen was unusually prompt in meeting his engagements.
If he made an appointment he kept it to the minute. He was
20

306 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
always on hand when the train started, never being left nor
having to run to reach it.
Mr. Owen was five feet eight and a half inches high, and
Veighed about 150 pounds. He had a large head (he wore a
7i-inch hat) and a long face. His nose and mouth were large,
his forehead broad and high. His eyes were a blue-gray, over
which the lids drooped when he was absorbed in thought. Tbe
expression of his face was frank and mild. He had great earn
estness in all his undertakings, from the most trivdalto the most
important. He would throw all his energies into an attempt to
stop a street car rather than wait for the next one. To succeed
in what he undertook, and to give pleasure to others, gave him
the greatest happiness.
He was very fond of making presents. Indeed, this was al
most a mania with him. In order to raake an offering that
would be a surprise, so as to give the greater satisfaction, he
would take trouble out of all proportion to the result. He
was irapatient when forced to attend to business, particularly.
that relating to money matters. He had a contempt for money
for its own sake, and spent it freely. He occupied but a small
part of his time in money-getting, yet he made a good deal of
it. His freedom, however, in spending money and giving it
away prevented hira from accumulating anything like a fortune.
No traits of his character were more prominent than his buoy
ancy and hopefulness. In the severest reverses he saw some
thing good. He lived in the faith that mortal affairs were pre
sided over by a beneficent being and influenced by his spirit.
In a trustfulness childlike in its simplicity, he believed that, in
some way or other, everything that transpires, no matter what
its immediate appearance may be, works out for good.
In politics, Mr. Owen vvas a Democrat. On the breaking out
of the civil war he separated from his party, and during the
great struggle affiliated with the friends of Mr. Lincoln's ad
ministration, but on those questions which usually divide par
ties he was essentially a Democrat.
I can not better conclude this sketch than by adopting the
language of another, one who knew Mr. Owen, intimately and
wefl, Mr. B. R. Sulgrove :

ROBERT DALE OWKN. 307
•• His manner was courteous, unaft'ected and conciliating. He
never let his feehngs displace his reason and force him to harsh
language or ungenerous allusions. Even in the heat of a presi
dential campaign he never dealt in personal aspersions or im
putations of bad motives. Severity, irritation, invective, vvere
no parts, of his rhetoric. He abused neither individuals nor
parties, and vvas as little of a '•rabble rouser" as a quiet man
could be, though one of the most powerful and altogether the
most winning of all speakers the Democracy ever had in this
State. He relied on facts, and rational applications of them.
and he never made a stump speech that did not contain more
substance in a sentence than most stumpers could get into a
wind gust continued, like a Chinese play or a Ledger storv, for
six months. He vvas what a party orator never was then and
rarely is now — a scholar. He knew something besides ' ante
cedents." and 'records,' and ' platforms,' and the stale drippings
of ten thousand vvaterv- effusions. If he had any animating
principle to which all others were subordinated it vvas his hu
manity. In all his lectures and legislation and fugitive publi
cations his theme vvas social or individual improvement, effa
cing mean prejudices, dift'using wholesome correction, elevating
human nature. He inherited it from his father, and made it at
least as effectiv-e by good sense and practical statesmanship as
his father did by wealth and energetic preaching.
" In scholarship, general attainments, varied achievements.
as author, statesman, politician and leader of a new religious
faith, he wag unquestionably the most prorainent man Indiana.
ever owned. Others may fill now% or may have heretofore filled,.
a larger space in public curiosity or interest for a time, but no-
other Hoosier was ever so widely known, or so likely to do the
State credit by being known, and no other has ever before held
so prominent a place so long with a history so unspotted with
selfishness, duplicity or injustice. He was a pure raan, and in
two generations of politicians with whom he lived and labored
there can not enough more of the same kind be named to have
fifled the bond of Sodom's safety. It is noteworthy that, though
he began his public life an infidel, he ended it a believer in the
most irrational of superstitions, if it be not the most inaccessi
ble of sciences ; his father did, too. Mr. Owen, though, as

308 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
might have been expected from his tolerant and genial nature,
was never bigoted or disposed to maintain that he must be
right and everybody else damned for doubting, in the fashion
of Wendell Phillips. He did a great deal for the State in his
life, and always set a good exaraple in industry, system and
punctuality, and preached by acts many virtues that usually are
most loudly inculcated in the pulpit."

THOMAS SMITH.

Thom.vs Smith, known in the days of his political activity as
'¦ Tom, the Tanner," vvas born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania,
in 1799. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, and inherited many
of the characteristics of that hardy and contentious race. Pluck,
endurance, tenacity of purpose and uncompromising devotion
to principles were his by birthright. When a boy of eighteen
he left his native State and sought a home in the West. He
located at Rising Sun in 1818, and commenced to learn the
trade of a tanner. He labored assiduously, and in due time be
came a master workman.
In 1821 he married Frances, daughter of Hon. John Watts,
and soon afterward removed to Versailles. He at once estab
lished a tanyard and went to work at his trade. His business
brought him in contact with nearly all the people who traded at
Versailles, for in those days it was the custom for a man who
killed a sheep or a bullock to take its hide to the tanner's and
have it made into leather. The affability of the young tanner,
his accommodating manner and his intelligence all combined to
give him influence and make him a power in the county in
which he lived. At that time much attention was paid to mil
itary affairs, the annual muster and drill being looked forward
to vvith as much anxiety as is now the county fair. The village
tanner became the militia colonel, and seldom was colonel more
popular with his soldiers than he. He thus laid the foundation
for a popularity that never deserted him.
Colonel Smith subsequently represented Ripley county in
both branches of the Legislature. While in the Legislature he
opposed the wild schemes of internal improvement which bank
rupted the State and brought financial dishonor upon her name.

3IO BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
His course upon this subject added to his popularity at home,
' and was the immediate cause of his subsequent political ad
vancement. In 1839 Colonel Smith was norainated for Congress, and
raade a successful race against the Hon. George H. Dunn, the
Whig candidate, his raajority being 999. Mr. Dunn was an
able raan, and when Colonel Smith was nominated his friends
were fearful that he would not be able to meet Mr. Dunn on the
;stump, but after the first encounter of the candidates these fears
were dispelled. He developed unexpected powers as a debater,
¦and proved himself a full match upon the stump for his com
petitor. In 1841 Colonel Smith was a candidate for re-election, but
was defeated by James H. Cravens 1,030 votes. This was the
year after the ever-to-be-remembered Harrison campaign. Two
years after this he was again a candidate, his opponent being
John A. Matson, whom he defeated by a majority of 255. In
1845 he was a successful candidate for re-election, defeating
Joseph Eggleston, Esq., an able and popular man, by a major
ity of 540 votes. He did not seek a re-election, but at the ex
piration of his term, in 1847, retired to private life. His con-
.gressional career was honorable both to himself and his State.
He proved himself a ready and fluent speaker, and took rank
;among the best debaters in the House.
In 1850 the Democracy of Ripley county nominated Colonel
wSmith and Hon. James H. Cravens for delegates to the consfi-
itutional convention. They were unquestionably the ablest men
:in the county, and were peculiarly fitted for the place. Mr.
?Cravens had two years before broken with the Whig party and
:Supported Van Buren for the presidency, and after the election
¦was over had affiliated with the Democracy, but there he was
¦not at home. He was an anti-slavery man of decided convic
tions, and was never loth to express them. His position upon
the slavery question cost him many votes and caused his defeat.
Colonel Smith was elected, although he, too, was an anti-
slavery man, but he was not so radical in his views as Mr. Cra
vens, nor so open in expressing them.
In the convention Colonel Smith was made chairman of the
.committee "on county and township organization, powers and

'PHOMAS SVH'l'ir. 31 1
offices," and was also a member of the committee " on revision,
arrangement and phraseology." He participated actively in
the proceedings of the convention, and during its sittings made
several speeches of great merit.
Colonel Richard M. Johnson, once A'ice President of the
United States, died while the convention vvas in session, and
resolutions were introduced expressive of the sense ofits mem
bers. During Colonel Smith's congressional service he had
for three months been a member of Colonel Johnson's house
hold, and for a part of the time vvas very ill with fever. His
host had cared for and nursed him, and in other ways had en
deared himself to his guest. Therefore, it is no wonder that
Colonel Smith paid this beautiful tribute to his memory, in his
speech seconding the resolutions :
" Sir. in war Colonel Johnson was as brave as Jackson ; of
death or danger he was fearless as Worth, or Scott, or Taylor.
But as a man, in his affections he vvas tender as a child. The
tale of sorrow never entered his ear and failed to draw a tear
from his eye.
" If goodness of heart, kindness of soul and acts of charity
form claims on heaven, then may we not say his spirit is
blessed ? Mr. President, I second the motion for the adoption
of the resolutions."
Colonel Smith offered a resolution in the convention in favor
of a provision to make all banks organized in Indiana respon
sible for the issues of each other ; also, that the banks so organ
ized should issue no notes of a less denomination than ten dol
lars. The convention, however, voted it down. He made a
speech against the re-eligibility of State and county officers, and
the constitutional provisions upon these subjects are the work
of his hands. Upon the question of erecting by the State a
monument to those who fell at Tippecanoe, he said :
" Sir — It requires no monument of marble to perpetuate the
memory of those who fought at Tippecanoe. Their monument
exists in the hearts of their countrymen. To the soldiers who
fell upon the battle fields of Mexico you need rear no huge col
umn of granite or marble. Such things perish ; but the memory

312 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
of brave deeds never perishes. Go to the city of Washington
and look at the monument that has- been there erected to the'
memory of those who fell at Tripoli. See the mouldering con
dition in which it now is, whilst the memory of their deeds is
fresh in the minds of Americans. Who is there that would fafl
to be convinced that they need no monuraent erected by human
hands? Their deeds have erected for them a monument more
durable than brass. Erexerunt monumentum cere ferennius.'"
Upon the question of prohibiting negroes from coming into
the State Colonel Smith made a lengthy speech, from which I
make the following extract :
"Whenever you make a law that we shall not feed these un
fortunate people, under the penalty of presentment or indict
ment, or fine ; and whenev^er a man shall be brought into court
under a presentment or indictment of this kind, and shall stand
up and plead his cause and say : ' This man came to my house ;
he was starving! he begged of me bread; I gave it to him,
and he did eat ' — how, under such circumstances, could you
enforce a penalty of this kind upon any man? You can not do
it. I tell you, sir, I would feed the starving man, if black as
Pluto. The dog does not live that I would not feed, if I knew
he were starving. Your penalties would never quench these
irresistible sympathies of the people of Indiana. I have too
much confidence in their humanity to believe they would suffer
even a black raan to die at their door for want of food."
Seldora do we find better exaraples of true eloquence than
these extracts afford. The tanner boy had become an orator
of power and skill, and, springing as he did from the people,
he delighted in pleading the cause of the poor and oppressed.
He was " to all the world akin."
When the convention had completed its work. Colonel Smith
went back to his home at Versailles, and never afterward held
public office. He did not, however, cease to take an interest
in public aft'airs. When Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska
act he left the Democratic party and went into the Fusion or
People's party. On the formation of the Republican party he
became a raember of it, and remained in its ranks while he

THOM.VS SMirn. ^1^
lived. He vvas a Democrat by education and from conviction,
but he did not hesitate to sever his connection with his party
when he believed the public interests required it. He was an
opponent of banks, of a protective tarift', and of monopolies of
all kinds, but he held these questions in abeyance while the war
lasted and the Union vvas in danger of dissolution. He did
not allow party to stand between him and what he believed to
be public duty. He left the party with which he had trained
so long, and which had honored him so highly, because he be
Heved that, upon the issues then before the country, his party-
was wrong. In so doing he alienated many warm and devoted
friends, but this he counted as naught. He never hesitated to
go where he believed public duty called him.
As a politician Colonel Smith was decided in his views and
frank in expressing them. He had no compromises to make
vvith what he believed to be wrong. He opposed rings, cliques,
and corruptionists in every form. In short, he was a raan of
the people ; he sprang from their ranks, and was true to their
interests. Colonel Smith died at Versailles, April 12, 1876, and was
buried there. His widow still lives, and shares, in a large de
gree, the affection the people bore her husband. It must be a
comfort for her to know that her husband is not forgotten by
the people of the State whose constitution he helped to make,
and whom he served so long and so well, both in the councils
of the State and of the Union.
Oliver H. Smith, in his "Early Indiana Trials and Sketches,"
thus speaks of Colonel Smith :
" In the winter of 18 18 one evening I went to a little school-
house in Rising Sun to a debating society. I met there a num
ber of young men of the place, among them the subject of this
sketch ; a young tanner in his apprenticeship ; his face smooth,
eyes and hair dark, forehead high, face narrow, countenance
smiling and pleasant, below the common height, spare person.
I heard him that night, and then said : ' That young man will
yet be known in the State' Time rolled on, Thoraas Sraith
married a daughter of Judge John Watts, settled in Versailles,
Ripley county, was soon after a raember of the Senate of the

314 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
State, among the most able of that body. Soon after he was
elected to Congress, and again re-elected, and served his con
stituents with decided ability in that body of distinguished men.
His manner as a debater was plain, straightforward, eraphatic,
irapressiv'e He was heard with attention whenever he spoke.
He was a strong Democrat and a prominent leader of that party
until the Missouri compromise Hne was effaced by the Nebraska
and Kansas bill, when he took sides with the Republicans, and
presided at their convention at Indianapolis. He maintained
the integrity- of the compromise acts, and placed himself firmly
upon the principles of non-extension of slavery over territory
that was ever free."

JOHN L. ROBINSON.

KEN'rvcKV has t'urnished Indiana many men of mark, and
among them John L. Robinson. In his day he was a power in
Indiana, and when he died one of the brightest intellects in the
State went out. What manner of man he was, and what he did
worthy of remembrance, I will try to tell.
John L. Robinson vvas a native of Mason county, Kentucky,
and vvas bom May 3, 1814. When eighteen years old he came
to Indiana and settled in the county of Rush. He went into a
country store, and for some time weighed coffee and sugar and
measured calico for a living. After awhile he commenced
business for himself, but, like Patrick Henry, he was not a suc
cess as a merchant, his experience as a storekeeper being more
utilized in the study of character and in learning the different
sides of human nature than in piling up a balance on the right
side of the ledger. He paid more attention to the variations of
the political compass than to the fluctuation of the markets, and
vvas a better judge of men than of dry goods. He soon earned
a reputation at home for political tact and sagacity, and in 1840,
v\'hen but 26 years old, vvas placed upon the Democratic electo
ral ticket for his district. Until then he was but little known
outside of his county, but when the canvass closed he was ac
knowledged to be one of the strongest debaters in Eastern Indi
ana. The campaign of 1840 was a memorable one, and termi
nated in the defeat and utter rout of the party to which Mr.
Robinson belonged, but it served to bring out his great powers
as a political debater.
During the canvass of that year the Whig leaders at Rush
ville, at the head of whom was the late General Pleasant A.
Hackleman, proposed a debate between Mr. Robinson and

3l6 HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL .SKETCHES.
Caleb B. Smith. As is known, Mr. Smith was araong the ablest
men of his party, and at that time had a reputation as a political
orator beyond the boundaries of the State, but this did not deter
the young Democratic chieftain from accepting the challenge.
He believed in the principles of his party, and had confidence
in his ability to advocate them in a convincing manner ; so he
entered the lists without hesitation, and valiantly strove for the
raastery. When the Hsts were opened and the contestants en
tered, great was the wonderment of the people that one so
young and inexperienced should have the temerity to encounter
the Whig Goliah. But when the bugles sounded the charge and
the battle commenced, the wonderment ceased. Like the disin
herited knight's assault upon Brian de Bois-Gilbert, that of the
young David was for victory or utter discomfiture. And al
though it can not be said he won the right to crown the Queen
of Love and Beauty, he showed his ability to handle his weapon
deftly and to measure spears with the best. The debate lasted
three days, and Mr. Robinson came out of it with a reputation-
as one of the very strongest political disputants in the State.
In August, 1842, Mr. Robinson was elected Clerk of the Cir
cuit Court of his county, and in 1847, before his official term
had expired, he was nominated and elected to Congress. He
was re-elected the two succeeding terms, and on the accession
to office of President Pierce in March, 1853, he was appointed
United States Marshal of Indiana. President Buchanan con
tinued him in this office, so he held it from the time of his ap
pointment until his death.
In 1856 Mr. Robinson became a candidate for the Democratic
nomination for Governor. His opponent vvas Ashbel P. Wil
lard, one of the most eloquent and dashing young men of that
day. Each of the candidates had warm and devoted friends,
and the contest between them was so even that it took the closest
calculation to determine which vvas the stronger. Senator Bright
was understood to favor the nomination of Mr. Robinson, and
on being written to by Mr. Willard upon the subject, replied
that he would take no part in the contest, but that he loved Mr.
Robinson " as a very brother." The candidates carae to In
dianapolis several days in advance of the meeting of the con
vention, and log-rolling and combinations vvere the order of the

JOHN L. ROHINSON. 317
day. John C. Walker and Robert Lowry were candidates for
the nomination tor Lieutenant-Governor. The friends of Walker
combining with those of Willard, and the friends of Lowry with
those of Robinson, made it almost certain that one or the other
of the combinations would be the ticket. Mr. Robinson counted
his friends, and finding he would be beaten unless he could
draw upon Walker for support, vvent to him and proposed that
if the delegations from Laporte, Porter and Stark would favor
his nomination he would insure the withdrawal of Judge Lowry
and the nomination of Colonel Walker for Lieutenant-Governor
by acclamation. The offer was a tempting one, for to be nomi
nated for the second office in the State government without op
position vvas no common honor ; but as Colonel Walker was an
avowed friend of Willard, he declined the proposition and took
the chances. Mr. Robinson had so thoroughly canvassed the
matter and so well understood the situation that he knew he
viould be defeated without the votes of these counties, and fail
ing to secure them, he withdrew from the contest and left an
open field for Willard. Willard and Walker were nominated,
but the rebuff Mr. Robinson had received from the latter rank
led in his bosom, and he determined to get even with the man
who gave it. Suspecting that Colonel Walker was not old
enoagh to legally hold the office of Governor, he went to Shel
byville, where the Colonel was born, and sought for information
among the records there. He found his suspicions well founded,
and that the nominee for Lieutenant-Governor was under the
constitutional age. He thereupon went before the Democratic
State Central Committee and demanded that Colonel Walker
be taken off the ticket. The situation was an erabarrassing one,
but Colonel Walker, who had not before thought of his dis
qualification, relieved the committee by withdrawing from the
ticket. The committee published an address at the time notify
ing the public of Colonel Walker's withdrawal and of the sub
stitution of Judge Hammond, and saying that the action of the
former had been such as to endear him more than ever to the
Democratic party. It will be remembered that Governor Wil
lard died before his term expired, and was succeeded by Judge
Hammond, the Lieutenant-Governor. Had Colonel Walker re
mained upon the ticket, and received, as he would have done.

3l8 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
a majority of the votes, it is almost certain that the Republican
candidate for Lieutenant-Governor would have been declared
elected, for the votes cast for an unconstitutional candidate
would not have been counted. Thus it will be seen that Mr.
Robinson's action in this matter — whatever may have been his
raotive — secured the succession of a Democrat to the governor-
' ship. Mr. Robinson was the administration leader in the Demo
cratic State convention of i860. At that time the Democratic
party was divided on the Lecompton question, and its different
wings fought each other with great violence. Indeed, the ad
ministration men and the adherents of Douglas were raore bit
ter and hostile to each other than to the Republican part)-.
When the State convention raet • the two wings came together,
but they did not fuse and become one body. The fight on the
organization was bitter, but on the first ballot it was apparent
that the friends of Douglas were in the majority. Mr. Robin
son and Governor Willard fought gallantly, and contested the
ground inch by inch, but the numbers were against them and
they had to succumb. They retired with honor, having secured
the nomination of several administration men on the State
ticket, and they swallowed the instructions for Douglas with
apparent gusto. But the pill was a bitter one, and the seeming
complacency with which they took it served to prove them the
consumraate politicians they were.
The Legislature of 1855 passed a very stringent liquor law,
known as the Maine law. It raade impossible the buying of
spirituous liquors, except from regular authorized agents, and
then only on the certificates of practicing physicians. Mr.
Robinson was accustomed to having liquors about his house,
and not being able to procure them in the State, he sent to
Louisville for a keg of the best Bourbon and ordered it shipped
to hira as lard oil. The keg reached Rushvifle in safety, but
before it was taken to Mr. Robinson's house the true character
of its contents was discovered. This incident was widely pub
lished at the tirae, and afterwards, while Mr. Robinson lived,
he was often called " Lard Oil John L."
During one of the sessions of the Legislature, while Mr.
Robinson was marshal, Silas Colgrove, a raeraber from Ran-

JOHN L. ROBINSON. 319
dolph count)', and afterwards a general in the Federal army,
attacked Mr, Robinson in a speech delivered in the House.
Fle charged him with having prostituted his office to political
purposes. The speech vvas oft'ensive to Mr. Robinson, and on
the evening after it was delivered he met Mr. Colgrove in the
office of the Palmer House, and called him to account for it.
Angry words passed between them> and these were follovved by
a blow from Mr. Robinson. He vvas a small man, physically.
and having his overcoat on at the time, the blow had little et'-
fect. save to excite Mr. Colgrove to anger. The latter was
large and strong, and he struck his assailant a powerful blov\',
which felled him to the floor. Mr. Robinson was taken up
limp and helpless by his friends and conducted to his room.
After he had washed and dressed himself, one of his friends
asked him what he proposed to do about the difficulty. He
answered, ••Nothing." "Why, you don't intend to let the
matter rest where it is, do you? " inquired his friend. " Why
not?" said Mr. Robinson : " I am satisfied, and I am sure Col
grove ought to be. A man can't always whip, but he can al
ways fight. When he fights he satisfies his honor, and mine is
satisfied." One of the gentlemen present vvent down stairs
and told Mr. Colgrove what Mr. Robinson had said. In a mo
ment that gentleman vvas knocking at Mr. Robinson's door.
On its being opened, the two late antagonists met face to face.
" I have come to your room," said Mr. Colgrove, " at the risk
of being kicked down stairs, to offer you my hand. I have
heard what you said about our difficulty, and it touched my
heart. If you will take my hand, you may count on me as a
friend while you live." Mr. Robinson took his hand and in
vited him to a seat. He ordered a bowl of punch, and the two
drowned their difficulties in the exhilarating fluid. The seal of
the punch-bowl was never broken.
One who knew Mr. Robinson intimately in all the relations
of life thus sums up his character :
"Of all the public men I ever knew he was farthest removed
from the time-server and the demagogue. He despised politi
cal intrigue, chicanery, dissimulation, tergiversation, untruth
and injustice, and held with Jefferson that ' an honest heart is
the first blessing, a knowing head is the second.'

320 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
"What his ambition compassed highly it compassed hoHly.
In the assured confidence of an honest purpose for the achieve
ment of the public weal he was bold, fearless and audacious,
and yet always unerring in the precision of his aim.
"His was no spirit that palls in irresolution and doubts its
own qui vocation, nor did he consort with those juggling politi
cal fiends ' that palter with us in a double sense ; that keep the
word of promise to the ear, and break it to the hope'
" But what he was in pledge he ever fortified in performance.
He knew nothing of that oily art, to speak and purpose not.
No one was ever at a loss to know his convictions in regard to
either measures or men. He was unreserved and candid in the
avowal of his opinion as to both.
" His marked decision of character, his clear judgment, his
unselfish devotion to the popular cause, his unfaltering faith in
the masses of his own party, his pre-eminent abilities as the ad
vocate and defender of popular rights, combined to make him,
as acknowledgedly he was, the heart and head leader of the De
mocracy of Indiana."
Mr. Robinson died at his home in Rushville, March 21, i860.
Over twenty-one years have passed since he departed from
among us, but he is still remembered by many who admired
him living and mourn him dead.
Mr. Robinson was five feet nine or ten inches high, was
sparely built, and weighed from 135 to 140 pounds. His mouth
and nose were large and prominent, his forehead broad and
high, his eyes coal-black and wonderfully expressive, and his
hair was as the raven's wing. Such was John L. Robinson,
one of the great men of Indiana twenty-five years ago.

CYRUS L. Dl'NHAM.

Cyrls Livingston Du.nh.vm vvas born at Dryden, Tompkins
county-. New York, January i6, 1817, His family vvas poor,
and he worked in the spring, sumraer and fall for money to pav-
his schooling in the winter. In this wa)- he grew to manhood,
save that he once took service in a fishing-smack and made a
trip to Newfoundland. By his labor he obtained sufficient
means to pay his way in a seminary for awhile, and when he
had obtained the requisite education he comraenced teaching
school and studying law. Soon after his admission to the bar
he emigrated to Indiana and located at Salem, in Washington
countv-. This was in 1841. He at once commenced the prac
tice of law. and, considering the competition he had, succeeded
remarkably well. But it was not until 1844 that he obtained
much reputation as a speaker, and that vvas gained, not at the
bar, but upon the hustings. In that year Dr. Elijah Newland
vvas the candidate for elector upon the Democratic ticket in his
district. He associated Mr. Dunham with him in the canvass,
and the latter became noted throughout the district for his elo
quence and ability as a speaker. The next year he was elected
prosecuting attorney for his circuit, and soon became eminent
as a criminal lawyer. In 1846 he was elected to the State Leg
islature from Washington county, and the next year vvas re
elected. He was active in the support of a bill authorizing the
calling of a convention to make a new constitution for the State.
In 1848 he was on the electoral ticket for his district, and cast
his vote in the electoral college for Cass and Butler. The next
year — 1849 — ^^ ^^^ nominated by his party for Congress, and
defeated "William McKee Dunn for the place, his majority over
21

322 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Mr. Dunn being 485. In 185 1 he was re-elected, his competitor
being Roger Martin, whom he beat 963 votes. The next year
he defeated Joseph G. Marshall, one of the grandest men In
diana ever had, his majority over Mr. Marshall being 931.
Two years after this, in 1854 — the year of the Know-nothing av
alanche — he was beaten by George G. Dunn 1,660 votes, which
ended his congressional career. On the resignation of Daniel
McClure, in 1859, Governor Willard appointed Mr. Dunham
Secretary of State. -He held this office until the election and
qualification of his successor, Mr. Peelle, in the fall of i860.
Soon after the breaking out of the civil war Mr. Dunham
raised the Fiftieth regiraent Indiana Volunteers and took it to
the field. After serving about a year ill health compelled him
to resign his commission and retire from the service. He set
tled at New Albany and opened a law office there. The next
year, in 1864, he was elected to the Legislature and took a lead
ing part in the proceedings of that body. In 187 1 he was elected
judge of the Floyd and Clark Criminal Circuit Court. While
holding this office he removed to Jeft'ersonville, and remained a
resident of that city while he lived.
James K. Marsh, Esq., had read law with Colonel Dunham
in New Albany, and in 1867 or '68 the two lawyers formed a
partnership, Mr. Marsh opening an office in Charlestown and
Colonel Dunham remaining in New Albany. This relation
continued until the election of Dunham as criminal judge. After
his terra expired he resumed his practice, and continued in it
until November 21, 1877, when he died.
Colonel Dunham's death was deeply lamented by the people
of Southern Indiana, to whom he was as well known as any
raan in the State. A meeting of the Jeffersonville bar was held
to take action on his death, at which Hon. J. C. Howard acted
as chairman. At this meeting invitations were extended to the
lawyers of New Albany and Charlestown to participate in the
funeral ceremonies, and necessary arrangements were made
for the burial of his remains. The following resolution was
adopted :
"Resolved, That in the death of Colonel Dunham our profes
sion has lost a member possessed of eminent personal worth
and rare legal attainments. Guided always by a strong sense

CYRIS L. Dl'NlLVVL ^^2^^
of justice and right, his firmness, his t'earlessness and indepen
dence in maintaining his convictions, won the confidence and
respect of all wiio met him, either in professional, public or
private life,"
The day after the meeting of the bar, the remains of Colonel
Dunham vvere followed to Walnut Ridge cemetery, near Jeft'er
sonville, by a large concourse of people, and there interred.
When the earth covered them, afl that vvas mortal of a great
man vvas hid from view .
Colonel Dunham vvas a ver)- brave raan. He proved his cour
age in many- combats, both private and general. No one ever
saw him quail at the sight of danger. His nerve and endurance
were wonderful. Once his abdomen vvas so cut that his bowels
protruded ; he put them back vvith his own hand and walked
some distance, unaided, to the office of a surgeon. In his con
test for Congress, in 185 1, with Roger Martin, he and that
plucky Irishman had a set-to and knock-down.
One of the most striking illustrations of his genuine courage
is an incident giv-en while he vvas on the bench in Clark county.
A family named Park, living near Henryville, had been mur
dered in their beds, and three negroes had been arrested on sus
picion and lodged in jail. A mob of about fifty men entered
Charlestown about midnight and overpowered the sheriff and
broke the jail and took the men out and hung them. Court was
in session at the time, and Colonel Dunham was loud the next
morning in the denunciation of the mob. Business was entirely^
suspended in the town, and intense excitement had taken pos
session of every one. The streets were full of threats, that
should any of the officers attempt to find out who were in the
mob they would share the same fate of the negroes. When
court assembled the room was crowded, and it was generally-
supposed that a majority of the mob were in the crowd. Judge
Dunham had the grand jury brought in and delivered to them a
special charge upon the mob, taking occasion to denounce it
in the most vehement and bitter terms. It was a regular stump
speech against mobs in general and that one in particular. In
this Judge Dunham displayed raore bravery than in any of his
personal encounters.

324 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
While in the Legislature of 1865 he had, in open session of the
House, a difficulty with Alfred Kilgore, a representative from
Delaware county, and hit that gentleraan with an inkstand. A
few days afterward he got into a quarrel with the Speaker, John
U. Pettit, and was ordered to take his seat. He refused to obey
the order, whereupon the Speaker directed W. W. Browning,
the doorkeeper, to enforce the command. Mr. Browning ap
proached Colonel Dunham, and, laying his hand upon his shoul
der, ordered him to be seated. Colonel Dunham at once drew
back and struck the doorkeeper in the face. For this offense
Judge Horatio C. Newcorab, then a representative from Marion
county, offered a resolution to expel Mr. Dunham from the
House, but the resolution never reached a vote. When these
difficulties occurred, both Mr. Kilgore and Mr. Browning were
Republicans. Soon afterward they became Deraocrats, where
upon a wag remarked that Dunham struck proselyting licksr
that whomsoever he hit he converted.
Colonel Dunham's military career, though brief, vvas honor
able. He fought F'orrest at Parker's Cross Road, Tennessee,
and behaved with great gallantry. He was in several skir
mishes, and he always acted bravely and well. Colonel B. C.
Shaw, in a letter to the author, thus speaks of Colonel Dun
ham's bearing at Murafordsville :
" Your favor of the 14th instant, asking me to relate incidents
in the military career of Colonel C. L. Dunham, is received..
My only direct connection in service with that in many respects
remarkable raan, was at Murafordsville, Kentucky, when the
so-called fort at the crossing of Green river by the Louisville
and Nashville railroad and turnpike was besieged by the Con
federate forces of General Bragg, in their advance north on
Louisville, in the fall of i862.> The position vvas held by about
three thousand Indiana troops, all new regiments, or recruits,
that there stopped off on their' road south to join the commands
for which they had been recruited. Among others thus de
tained with their detachments vvas Colonel Dunham, Colonel
John T. Wflder, and others. Colonel Dunham, being the sen
ior officer present, was placed in comraand of the post on the
approach of Bragg's arra). After the attack on the fort was.

CVULS L. DlNll.V.Vl.

.v-\s

made by Bragg's advance. General Dumont sent Colonel R.
Owen, Sixtieth Indiana, and Colonel E. A. King. Sixty-eighth
Indiana, as reinforcements. The writer vvas the lieutenant-
colonel of the Sixty-eighth Indiana. When about to depart
from Lebanon Junction on this mission, the General approached
me with a warm grasp of the hand, remarking : ' Good-b)'e,
Colonel. I never expect to see you again, unless after you
have been a prisoner in the rebel army ; ' saying, ' I know it
will not change your action nor dampen your ardor when I tell
you that the forces at Murafordsville will either all be killed or
taken prisoners inside of forty-eight hours.' This was the first
intimation to the writer of the tmly perilous expedition upon
which the two regiments were embarking. Arriving at Mura
fordsville, we found the devoted band, under coraraand of Col.
Dunham, had repulsed several direct attempts to carry the
works by assault, but the whole force of Bragg was now fast
surrounding the fort. During the last da)- the odds seemed so
great against the Federals that the boys, being nearly all fresh
troops, began to shov^' some signs of discouragement. Several
new guns had opened on us. The sharp twang of the Parrot
shells and the whistling bullets of the muskets required men
and officers to stick close to the ditches, as ' heads up ' longer
than necessary to take aim and fire was nearly certain death.
" During the heavy firing Colonel Dunham mounted his horse
and leisurely rode along the lines of the fort, starting along the
left flank, encouraging the raen, not only by his daring, but
with words of cheer, and at the sarae tirae attracting the fire of
the enemy on all sides. Arriving about the middle of the left
face of the fort, where Colonel E. A. King was in command,
that officer immediately jumped out of the ditch and approached
Colonel Dunham. I was in comraand of the right face of the
fort, and seeing the extraordinary scene, I supposed some new
phase of the fight was to take place at once. My curiosity
tempted me also out of the ditch, to run over at great risk to
receive the orders at once, that Colonel Dunham raight not ex
pose himself unnecessarily. Running up to thera I eagerly in
quired, ' Have you anything new for us. Colonel? ' The group
thus fully exposed was receiving the corapliraents of the enemy
in terrible, close and frequent calls. Colonel King at once

326 BIOGRAPHICAL .VND HIS'PORICAL SKETCHES.
said : ' I was just saying to Colonel Dunhara that he had no
more right to unnecessarily expose himself than I had, and if
he was going to make a d — d fool of himself I would, also;'
adding, in a jocular way, that the Colonel was an old bachelor,.
and if he did get killed there 'would be no one to mourn his
loss. ' But,' said Colonel King, ' if by imitating his example
I should get kflled, what would become of my poor wife?' In
stantly straightening himself up more erect, if possible, than
usual. Colonel Dunhara retorted : ' By G — d, sir, I'll marry
her.' Both laughed heartily at the rejoinder. The writer re
marked : ' If that's afl, I'll scoot to ray ditch.' Colonel Dun
ham rode a few steps further, and, turning his horse, rode
leisurely back to headquarters, in the rear. He had revived
the spirits of all — officers and men — by his daring. An hour
afterward he was relieved of command by a telegraphic order
frora General Boyle, at Louisville, and Colonel John T. Wilder
was placed in command."
In regard to his war record a correspondent of the Indiana
folis Journal, who speaks from personal knowledge, relates
the following incidents to show how earnestly Colonel Dunham
was devoted to the Union, and how zealously he defended it
during the w^ar :
" His command was on duty at Nashville, Tennessee, during
most of the summer of 1862. More than once I heard him com
plain because he could not get out to the front where the big
fighting was being done, notwithstanding his position, while he
vvas fighting small detachments of Rebel cavalry- and keeping
them frora approaching Nashville along the Nashville and
Louisville railroad, was attended with rauch danger, and he
did not know at what raoraent he would have to contend with
greatly superior forces, for that country vvas at that time fufl of
bushwhackers and wandering squads of rebel cavalry and in
fantry, ever ready to attack any unfortified position. He had,
therefore, to keep men on guard and scout dut)- all the time.
"John Morgan sHpped in one day in broad dayHght and rode
with fifty men behind an erabankment thrown up for a railroad
track, and actually reached the bridge across the Cumberland

CVRl'S L. Dl'NHAM. 327
river, and would in ten minutes more, had he not been discov
ered, had the bridge on fire. He had just commenced applying
turpentine when the alarm vvas given. No troops were for one
hour safe from the risk of an attack by some of these dashing,
daring men. Morgan had sent word by some prisoners who
reached our lines from him. or, rather, he had said in their
presence that he would come down to Nashville on the Fourth of
July and learn the Yankees how he celebrated that day. When
the word reached Colonel Dunham he said, ' I wifl send hira
an invitation to come, and I will teach hira some new lessons
of devotion to the old flag.' Colonel Dunham vvas too familiar
with the reckless bravery of Morgan not to indulge some appre
hensions that he might undertake to carry out his threat.
"A few days before the Fourth the Colonel announced that he
was going to have the glorious old day of independence cele
brated in camp, and everything was made to conform to his
purpose. A large stand was erected, and a reader of the Dec
laration was appointed. Colonel Dunham was to be the princi
pal orator of the day. Everything was put in readiness, not
only for the celebration, but to defend the camp against the
threatened attack of John Morgan.
"The day was a beautiful one. The men were dressed up
in their best, and all that could be spared from duty were
called around the stand. The Rev. Mr. Jackson, the chaplain,
opened the exercises with prayer ; the Declaration was read,
and Colonel Dunham made one of the best speeches he ever
made in his life, much of which was addressed to the citizens,
who had gathered in to witness the ceremony. Quite a num
ber were present, among them some of the best citizens of
Nashville. " I shall only give one or two of the impressive utterances of
the Colonel on that occasion. In referring to General Jackson,
whose tomb vvas almost in sight, he quoted his memorable ut
terance vvith reference to the preservation of the Union, that,
'By the Eternal, it must and shall be preserved.' He referred
to the attempt made by the Confederates to stop the navigation
of the Mississippi river, and said :
" ' We are standing upon the banks of the Cumberland river,
and this stream bears off the products of your farms. It is the

328 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
channel along which pass the trade and much of the travel that
support and maintain the prosperity of your capital. Were we
of the North to attempt to blockade this outlet, which the God
of heaven has prepared for your use and for the expansion of
your enterprise, you would be cowards if you did not fight till
that wrong was redressed. I live up in Indiana. The farm
that raises my bread gathers a part of the waters that flow down
the channel of the Mississippi. It is the outlet that nature has
provided for the products of the land. You men of the South
now attempt to blockade that river, and tell me and my neigh
bors in Indiana that we must seek other channels of trade. I
tell you, men of Old Tennessee, here to-day, on this anniver
sary of our national independence, under that flag, that you
underestimate our manhood, and misapprehend the temper of
the citizens of Indiana, if you for one moment suppose we will
not fight till this blockade is raised. We will float our traffic
down this stream if we have to do it on our hearts' blood. The
spirit of the Revolutionary fathers will marshal the hosts of
heaven to defend us in a causq so just as that in w-hich we are
struggling.' "These remarks were made in a highly impassioned manner,
and in that magnificent dash of oratory for which the Colonel
was noted when he was warmed up by the magnitude of his
utterances. The boys in blue cheered lustily, and the effect of
this speech was wonderful. For fufly one minute you could
have heard a pin fall, so absorbed was every mind in contem
plating the ideas so logically and eloquently presented.
" Other speeches were made, but I wifl not even name them
at this time. The day, however, passed off pleasantly. The
boys had a good dinner, and all seemed to enter into the spirit
of the occasion. This was the only time I saw the Fourth cel
ebrated in sight of and under the threats of the rebels. Dun
ham was the man, however, who had the pluck to do so.
Though but littie has been said of his war record I have seen
him tried, and know that no braver man ever comraanded a
regiraent or a brigade than Colonel C)'rus L. Dunham."
Colonel Horace Heff'ren, who was the lieutenant-colonel of
Dunham's regiment, in a late note to the author, speaks of his

I.YRIS L. Dl'NH.VVl. 329
chief with great aft'ection. lIealsosa)s: " Dunham was the
idol of his men. No man ever took better care of his soldiers
than he." When he left the army his soldiers parted from him
vvith warm tokens of aft'ection. They loved him as a friend.
In early life Colonel Dunham dressed very poorly ; so much
so that man)' believed he did it purposely to catch the rabble
vote. I became acquainted with him in 1849, when he vvas
making his race for Congress against William McKee Dunn,
and I w-ell remember his appearance and dress at that time.
He was then in the strength of earlv manhood. In person he
vvas tall and wiry, vvith not a surplus pound of flesh upon his
body. He seemed an athlete trained for the ring. His clothes
were scanty and of the commonest kind ; a pair of nankeen
breeches and a long, swinging linen coat, a hat made of wheat
straw, with a rim a yard in circumference, and a pair of coarse
shoes, constituted the sum total of his visible apparel. But if he
didn't dress well, he spoke well. Indeed, he was eloquent.
He captivated his audience, being one of the best speakers on
the hustings in the State. The meeting was at Dupont, in Jef
ferson county ; and after it vvas over I rode with him in his
ramshackle buggy to Madison. It had no top. One of its
shafts was broken and mended by a pole lashed to it with hick
ory withes. His horse would have made Sancho Panza's eyes
gUsten with delight. He would have much preferred hira to
his mule. Such vvas Dunham's mode of conveyance over his
district. He was elected, but it could not have been his " turn
out" that did the work, for the people of the district were or
dinarily intelligent, being too smart to be influenced by clap
trap and demagoguery. The majority were of his political way
of thinking, and those who heard him speak knew he was a
man of a very high order of intellect.
In 1859, when Daniel McClure resigned the office of Secre-
tar}' of State, Governor Willard telegraphed Mr. Dunham to
come to Indianapolis. At that time he lived in Jackson county,
and was engaged in farming. The dispatch was taken to him
in the field. He had barely time to reach the railroad station
before the train for Indianapolis would arrive, so he left without
changing his clothes. On his arrival in the city he went at
once to the Governor's office and asked what was wanted.

330 BIOGRAPHICAL -VND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Cockle burs and Spanish needles were clinging to his panta
loons and socks, and his dress otherwise was unfitted for any
one pretending gentility. Willard told him to go to a clothing
store and dress himself as became an ex-member of Congress,
and he would tell him. Dunham left, and soon returned prop
erly dressed, when Governor Willard handed him a commission
as Secretary of State
In i860 Mr. Dunham was a candidate for the Democratic
nomination for Governor. The intelligent reader will remem
ber that at that time the Democratic party was divided upon the
Kansas and Nebraska question, one wing of it being known as
the administration wing and the other as the Douglas wing.
Mr. Dunham identified himself with the forraer, and was sup
ported by it for the gubernatorial noraination. When the State
convention raet it was found that the administration men were
in a minority, and that Mr. Dunham had but a small chance
for the nomination. After the convention was organized and
the tirae had corae for the noraination to be raade, Mr. Dun
hara arose, and in a raost eloquent speech withdrew from the
contest, and moved that the Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks be
norainated by acclaraation, which was done. During his speech
Mr. Dunham was several times interrupted bv Colonel Allen
May, in a manner which was very offensive to the speaker.
Soon after the convention adjourned for dinner these gentie
men met in the street opposite the Bates House, when a per
sonal altercation took place between them. Mr. Dunham got
the best of the difficulty, putting his antagonist hors du combat.
The convention put him and the late Dr. John C. Walker at
the head of the electoral ticket, by way of a compromise,
Dunham being an administration man and Walker an adherent
of Douglas. Dunham made a thorough canvass of the State,
and added much to his laurels as an eloquent political speaker.
His old-time friend Senator Bright, who stumped the State for
Breckenridge, tried hard to get him to withdraw from the regu
lar Democratic ticket and take a position on that of the bolters,
but his efforts were in vain. Dunham was too good a party
man to falter when he carried the colors, and too good a soldier
to turn his back to the enemy, or eng-asje in a diversion in his

CVRL'S L. Dl'NHAM. 33I
favor, even when so commanded by U general whom hitherto
he had delighted to follow.
Mr. Dunham vvas not a great lawyer. His professsonal repu
tation mainly rested upon his ability as an advocate. Before a
iury he vvas always eftective, often eloquent. His speech in
defense of Dr. Benjamin Newland, tried for the killing of J.
Madison Evans, vvas one of the finest forensic eft'orts ever made
at the bar of Southern Indiana. Public sentiment justified Dr.
Newland in taking Evans's life, and the speech of Mr. Dunham
in his behalf stnick a chord in the popular heart that vibrated
throughout the State. Dr. Newland was acquitted, and the
ladies of New Albany- — where the trial was held — vied with each
other in testifying their delight at the verdict. They showered
bouquets upon Dr. Newland, upon Mr. Dunham and upon the
jurors, making one of the most affecting and dramatic scenes
ever witnessed in a court of justice.
In his later years Colonel Dunham abandoned the slovenl)-
mode of dress he affected when younger, and clothed himself
as became one of his character and standing. He was always
courteous and polite, particularly to ladies, and whatever might
be his garb, his manners vvere unexceptionable.
Colonel Dunham was over si.x feet high, was raw-boned, had
black hair and eyes, and a. pleasant countenance. He had his
weaknesses and his faults, but they were not venal ones, but of
the kind that often afflict the raost erainent men of the world.
'•He that is without sin among you, let hira first cast a stone."

JOHN LAW.

One of the prominent raen of Indiana in early days was John
Law, the historian of Vincennes. He was born in New London,
Conn., in 1796, and, when 18 years old, graduated at Yale Col
lege, New Haven. He studied law, and, in 1817, was admitted,
to the bar of the Supreme Court of Connecticut. The same year
he left his native State and came to Indiana, settling at Vin
cennes. He opened an office there and commenced the practice .
of his profession. In a short time he was elected prosecuting
attorney of his circuit, a circuit which embraced nearly one-half
the settled portion of the State. In 1823 he was elected to the
Legislature from Knox county, and was an active member of
that body. His tastes, however, running in the line of his pro
fession, he did not seek a re-election. In 1830 the Legislature
elected him Judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit. In 1838
President Van Buren appointed him receiver of public moneys
for the Vincennes district, which office he held for four years.
In 185 1 Judge Law removed to Ev^ansv-ille, and, with James B.
McGall, Lucius H. Scott and his brother, Wifliam H. Law. pur
chased 700 acres of land adjoining Evansville, and laid it out in
lots, giving it the narae of Laraasco. In 1855 President Pierce
appointed him Judge of the Court of Land Claims for Indiana
and Illinois, the court to be held at Vincennes. This was a po
sition of great importance.' and he filled it vvith signal abihty.
His mind was cast in a judicial mould, and he had both the pa
tience and the industry to critically exaraine the cases brought
before him. His conclusions vvere reached after much research
and thought, and were seldom called in question.
In i860 Judge Law vvas elected to Congress f'rom the First
District, and served on the Library Committee and on the Com-

JOHN LAW. ^7,^1;.
mittee on Revolutionary Pensions. It was as chairman of the
latter committee that he drew and reported to the Flouse a bill
to pay the twelve remaining soldiers of the Revolutionar)- war
each a pension of |ioo a year. This bill was unanimously
passed bv the House, and the old soldiers raade glad as the)
tottered to the grave. Where is the John Law who will get
through a similar bill f'or the benefit of the soldiers of the Mexi
can war, a war that added a golden empire to the country?
Judge Law vvas re-elected to Congress in 1862, and thus served.
in the national councils during the most perilous period of our
country's history. His congressional career, though not bril
liant, was eminently useful, and he left Congress vvith the re
spect of his fellow members and the regret of his constituents.
He died at Evansville, October 7, 1873, and, according to his de
sires, his remains were taken to "Vincennes and buried. A plain.
monument, one simply bearing his name, the date of his birth
and the time of his death vvas erected at his grave. It was made^
plain and simple, in accordance with his oft-repeated requests..
During Judge Law's legal practice he had charge of the cel
ebrated case of Vigo against the United States. This claim.
grew out of the fact that Colonel Vigo furnished General George
Rogers Clark provisions and war material in 1779, when Gen
eral Clark captured Vincennes from the British. Some fortv'
years after the goods were furnished. Congress agreed to pay
the principal of the draft drawn by General Clark, amounting
to nearly eight thousand dollars, but he refused to accept it un
less the interest was also paid. In 1877 the claim was paid,
both principal and interest, but too late to be of any benefit to-
either Colonel Vigo or Judge Law, as previous thereto both of
them had been gathered to their fathers.
Although of different politics, a warm friendship existed be
tween Judge Law and the late Thaddeus Stevens. They fre
quently corresponded, and they kept up their friendly intercourse
until Mr. Stevens's death. Judge Law was also a personal
friend and correspondent of the late President Lincoln. He
gave Mr. Lincoln his first case in the Illinois Supreme Court,
and was a great admirer of the personal qualities of that re
markable man. When struck down by an assassin no one
grieved for him more sincerely than Judge Law.

334 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
I have no recollection of any family in the country, except
the Adamses, the Bayards and the Harrisons, that equals the
Laws in length and distinction of public service. Judge Law's
great-grandfather, Jonathan Law, was Chief Justice of Connec
ticut for many years, and Governor of the colony from May,
1741, untfl his death, in 1750. His grandfather, Richard Law,
and his father, Lyman Law, both served in the national Con
gress, and as he was for four years a member of that body, it
will be seen that for three generations the Laws satin Congress
as representatives of the people. His maternal grandfather,
Amasa Learned, was a raeraber of the first Congress under the
constitution, and was coteraporary with, and an intiraate friend
¦of, those great raen who formed our government and put its
machinery in raotion. Surely the children of Judge Law have
reason to be proud of their ancestry.
Judge Law was not only a good lawyer, but also as a historian
and an antiquarian he ranks araong the first in the West. For
some time he was President of the Indiana Historical Soci
ety, and took great interest in its transactions. On the 2 2d day
of February, 1839, ^^ delivered an address before the Vincennes
Historical and Antiquarian Society which is standard author
ity on the matters of which it treats. Two thousand copies of
the address were published at the time, but they were soon
taken by an appreciative public. In 1858 he published a new
edition, with additional notes and illustrations, and this, too,
was soon exhausted, and it is now extremely difficult to get a
copy of it. It exhausts the subject of the "Colonial History
of Vincennes," and no one need look elsewhere to learn its his
tory from its first settlement to the formation of the Territorial
government of Indiana.
In pef^cjn. Judge Law was large and comraanding. He
¦wej'gh^ ^bout two hundred and twenty-five pounds, and his
general , -appearance was that of an intellectual, dignified man.
His Htetary work will Hve, and he will be remembered when
most of those who were cotemp6rary vvith him shall have been
forgx;)tten.

V :wO.

:• /fir/i((<l'-(r. ''ha 'I <"

MICHAEL CRAWFORD KERR.

Michael Crawford Kerr, Speaker of the Forty-fourth
Congress, vvas born near Titusville, Pennsylvania, March 15,
1827. His father vvas a man of moderate means, and the son
was mainly self-educated. At the age of eighteen he gradu
ated at the Erie Academy, and soon after married her who was
his wife while he lived. He then eraigrated to Kentucky, and
for awhile taught school at Bloorafield, in that State. While
teaching at Bloomfield " he laid the foundation of his subse
quent career of usefulness and honor. There, in the intervals
of his arduous duties as a teacher, which others w-ould have de
voted to idleness and pleasure, he mastered the fundamental
principles of jurisprudence and political philosophy, with which,
in after life, both as a lawyer and a statesman, he showed him
self so remarkably familiar." After this he attended the Lou
isville University, where he received the degree of Bachelor of
Laws. In 1852 he removed to New Albany, Indiana, and cora
menced the practice of the law. Soon afterward he was
elected City Attorney of New Albany, and the next year was
chosen Prosecuting Attorney of Floyd county. In 1856 he was
sent to the State Legislature, where he served with distinction,
and in 1862 was chosen Reporter of the Supreme Court of the
State. In 1864 he was norainated for Congress by the Deraoc-
racy of his district, his opponent being Rev. W. W. Curry,
whom he defeated by a majority of 1,793. In 1866 he was re
elected, beating his opponent. General Walter Q. Gresham,
1)743 votes. In 1868 he again ran against General Gresham,
and defeated him by 6,436 majority. In 1870 he was again
elected to Congress frora his district, beating his opponent,
Carr, 5,834 votes. In 1872 Indiana having, by the last census.

336 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
gained two members of Congress, and the State not having
been redistricted, Mr. Kerr was norainated by the Democracy
for Congressrhan for the State at large, and beaten by Godlove
S. Orth, 162 vote?. In 1874 he ran against General James A.
Cravens for Congress, in his district, and beat him 1,209 votes.
The labor of the campaign of 1874 "^^^^ ^^ severe that Mr.
Kerr's health gave way under it. He spent raost of the next
year in the far West, hoping to recruit his shattered constitution.
He was benefited by the change of cliraate, and returned to In
diana in the fall of 1875, with his health measurably restored.
While Mr. Kerr was in Colorado inhaling the pure air of the
raountains, the press of the country was discussing his qualifi
cations for Speaker of Congress. His long congressional ex
perience and knowledge of parliamentary law peculiarly fitted
him for the place, and this the people readily saw. His views
upon the currency question were in consonance with those en
tertained by his party friends in the East, and, besides, he was
known to be honest and brave, qualities valuable in all public
men, and particularly valuable in those charged to preside over
the Congress of the United States.
The Forty-fourth Congress met on the 6th of December, 1875,
and, after the roll-call, Mr. Lamar, of Mississippi, placed Mr.
Kerr in nomination for Speaker, and Mr. Wheeler, of New
York, Mr. Blaine. On the call of the roll, Mr. Kerr received
173 votes and Mr. Blaine 106. The clerk announced that Mr.
Kerr, having received a raajority of all the votes given, was
duly elected Speaker, whereupon he took the Speaker's chair
and thus addressed the House :
" I ara heartily grateful for the honor you have conferred
upon me in calling me to this exalted station. I profoundly ap
preciate the importance and delicacy of its duties. I shafl,
doubtless, many times need your patient indulgence. I pray
that you will grant it ; and, with nothing but kindly feelings
toward every raember of the House, I promise that in all my
official acts I will divest myself, to the utmost of my ability, of
all personal bias, and observe complete fairness and impartiality
toward all the great and diversified interests of our country rep
resented in this House."

VHCHAKI. CRAWFORD KERR.

337

Mr. Kerr was never well a day after he vvas elected Speaker.
He presided during the sessions of the House while suffering
intense pain. Disease vvas at his vitals, and it was apparent to
all who saw him that he must soon succumb to its demands.
At a time when he was barely able to be about, and was dis
charging the duties of his high office only on account of his in
domitable wifl, a cruel charge was made against him which
well nigh kifled him outright. One Lawrence Harney, a Wash
ington lobbyist, charged that, several years before, he had paid
Mr. Kerr 1J450 for securing one Augustus P. Greene a position
in the regular army. A committee vvas appointed to investi
gate the charge, and, on the 12th of June, 1876, the committee
reported to the House that there was no evidence to sustain the
charge. The report closes as follows :
• ' Your committee have found no dift'iculty in reaching the
conclusion that the charge, as made by Harney, as to the pay
ment of the amount of money stated, or any other sum, to Mr.
Kerr for the object and purpose naraed, is unqualifiedly false ;
that Mr. Kerr stands fully exonerated from all implication in
anywise affecting his personal honor or official integrity. Your
committee find nothing throughout the whole progress of this
investigation to impair or detract from the well-established rep
utation that he enjoys for unquestioned personal integrity and
unsullied purity of official record."

Messrs. Clymer and Danford made speeches in favor of adopt
ing the report, after which the following proceedings were had
by the House :
"Mr. Clymer — I ask the previous question on the adoption
of this report.
" The previous question was seconded and the main question
ordered. "Mr. Garfield — I ask that the question on the adoption of
the report be taken by a rising vote.
" Mr. Clymer — I hope that ¦will be done.
"Mr. Blackburn — I trust the suggestion of the gentleman
from Ohio (Mr. Garfield) will be adopted.
22

338 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
" The affirmative vote being called for, all the raerabers pres
ent rose.
" Mr. Banks — Let there be a count ; it makes a record.
"Mr. Garfield — I ask unanimous consent that it be entered
on the record that the report was unanimously adopted.
" Mr. Milliken — By a rising vote.
" The Speaker (pro tempore) — Unless there be objection the
record suggested by the gentleman from Ohio will be entered.
"Mr. Banks — There should be a count of the votes ; it makes
a record. " The negative vote being called for and no member rising,
the result was announced — yeas, 210 ; nays, none.
"The Speaker (pro tempore) — The report is adopted by a
unanimous vote.
"Mr. Garfield — I renew ray request that it be recorded that
the report was adopted unaniraously by a rising vote.
"The Speaker (pro tempore) — It will be so recorded.
"Mr. Leavenworth — It seems to me, Mr. Speaker, that it
would be highly proper that this House should furnish to Mr.
Kerr, in the most formal manner, a certified copy of our pro
ceedings on this occasion. I raove that such copy be furnished
to him by the Clerk of this House.
" The Speaker (pro tempore) — The chair hears no objection
and the order is made."
Never was a man raore completely vindicated than vvas Mr.
Kerr. Few men so long in public life have escaped charges
affecting their public reputation, and fewer still have been so
grandly upheld. The charge, instead of being a blot upon his
memory, but adds to his glory. In the language of Mr. Hurl
burt, of Illinois, when speaking of the report of the committee:
' ' The long record of an honorable life outweighs all charges of
those loose defamers whom these base times encourage to de
traction and scandal." He also declared that Mr. Kerr's blame
less life was a shield to " protect him from the envenomed shafts
of maflce."
Mr. Kerr was now too sick to preside in the House, and,
hoping that rest and mountain air would benefit him, he left
Washington shortly after the w^arm weather set in, and went to

VIICll.VKL CR.VWFORD KERR. 33g
Rockbridge Alum Springs, in West \'irginia. At first the water
and the air helped him, but, in a short time, they lost their
power for good. The base charge of Harney had done its work.
The magnificent vindication of Congress came too late for him
to rally. He continued to grow worse, and was conscious that
his end was near. On the afternoon of the 15th of August,
1876, he telegraphed his friend, S. S. Cox, of New York, " My
condition is very critical ; no change since morning." The
dispatch vvas read in the House, and created great feeling. Mr.
Banks, of Massachusetts, took the floor, and, after delivering a
feeling speech, offered the follovving resolution :
"Resolved, That the House of Representatives, at the moment
of closing the present session, tenders to Hon. Michael C. Kerr,
its beloved and honored presiding officer, the unanimous expres
sion of the heartfelt sympathy of its members in his affliction,
and they hope that the recovery of his health may soon restore
to his associates in the public service the wisdom of his counsel
and the beneficent influence of his example."
The resolution was unanimously adopted, and the Speaker
was requested to communicate the same to Mr. Kerr by tele
graph. The message came none too quickly, if it was to reach the
Speaker alive, for four days afterward, on the 19th of August,
1876, he breathed his last.
A few days after the death of Mr. Kerr his remains were
started on their way to the West, escorted by Senator Ferry,
President pro tempore of the Senate, Mr. Adams, clerk of the
House, Mr. Morrison, chairraan of the Committee of Ways and
Means, all under charge of John G. Thompson, door-keeper
of the House. The widow and only son of the dead states
man were with the cortege. A special train, containing a large
number of prominent citizens, left IndianapoHs on the 23d of
August, and met the remains at Knightstown, where they
boarded the train containing the corpse. The party reached
New Albany at 12 o'clock that night, and were met at the depot
by an immense concourse of people, and the remains were
taken to the Court-house. The casket was placed in the ro-

340 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
tunda, where it lay in state until 8 o'clock the next evening,
and was then taken to the home of the late Speaker.
New Albany put on the habiliments of woe. All her public
buildings and many private ones were draped in mourning.
The next day Dr. Conn preached an eloquent funeral discourse
over the honored dead, after which the body was taken to the
cemetery at New Albany and buried.
When Congress met, in December, action was taken on the
death of the late Speaker, several eloquent eulogies being pro
nounced. In his address. Senator McDonald said:
" He filled every station to which he was called, public and
private, with honor. He honored the city in which he Hved,
and his name is there cherished as a household word. He
honored the district which had conferred upon him its highest
favor, and his meraory will be long held in reverence by his
people. He honored the State of his adoption, and it will pre
serve his narae upon the roll of its most illustrious citizens. He
honored the high place to which he was called by the represen
tatives of the whole people, and for that we this day place his
name ' in memoriam ' upon the records of the Congress of the
nation, there to reraain for all time."
Senator Morton, in a very eulogistic speech, said of the dead
Speaker :
" His name will be remembered with pride and with aft'ection
in Indiana. He was one of her most highly favored and gifted
sons, and it gives me satisfaction to bear testimony to his patri
otism. I believe he was a devout lov^er of his country, and
went for that which he believed was for the best. I have always
given him credit for his integrity, for his patriotism, and for love
of his country, and the strongest testimony which I can bear to
the character of Mr. Kerr is to say that he was regarded by
men of all parties in Indiana as an honest man, an able man, a
patriotic man, and that his death was mourned by all his neigh
bors, and by all who knew him, without distinction of party."
Those who know how chary Senator Morton was of compli
ments to political opponents vv-ill properly appreciate this eulogy

MICHAEL CR.VWFORD KERR. 34I
upon the life of Mr. Kerr. It is a just tribute of one great man
to the memory of another.
Mr. Kerr vvas a patriot. In 1864 he was a candidate for the
Democratic nomination for Congress, the late Colonel Cyrus L.
Dunham being his principal competitor. The nominating con
vention met at Jeffersonville, in the old Methodist church, on
Wafl street. Politics was at fever heat, and the contest between
Mr. Kerr and Colonel Dunham was very close. An hour or so
before the convention was to meet Mr. Kerr called a caucus of
his friends in a room over the store of General Sparks. There
were present at the caucus several of Mr. Kerr's friends from
New Albany; General Sparks and Mr. J. P. Applegate, from
Clark county; Hon. William H. English, then a resident of
Scott county ; General James A. Cravens, of Washington coun
ty, and a few other gentlemen from different parts of the district.
The gentlemen thus called together supposed the purpose of the
meeting was to make arrangements for the management of the
convention. When all were seated, Mr. Kerr arose, drew him
self up to his full height of six feet or more, and, with sup
pressed excitement but with perfect self-control, said he must
withdraw from the race for Congress ; that he was in possession
of the knowledge that a conspiracy existed against the govern
ment of the State ; that the conspirators vvere Democrats ; that
he felt it his duty to go to Indianapolis and lay the facts before
Governor Morton ; that such a course would erabitter certain
Democrats and jeopardize his election should he be a candidate.
Mr. English and others made remarks after Mr. Kerr had taken
his seat, the purport of which was that he was right in his pur
pose to make known and denounce the conspiracy, but wrong
in determining to withdraw from the contest ; that only a few
hot-heads had gone wrong ; that the great body of the party was
loyal to the government. Mr. Kerr persisted in his purpose to
decline, and it was formally announced that he was no longer a
candidate. Afterward, however, several gentlemen were sent
to him by the various county delegations, who urged him to
stand. He finally consented to do so, and was nominated. He
came at once to Indianapolis to expose the conspiracy, and what
he did can be best told by giving the testimony of one of the

342 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
witnesses in the trials of Bowles, Milligan and others. Says
this witness :
"As I walked down Washington street I saw a gentleman
coming up rapidly, and I stopped him: " Hello! Kerr, what
has brought you here? ' said I. He seemed very much excited.
' Do you know anything? ' he said ; and I said, ' Do you know
anything? ' ' Yes,' he replied. ' What is it? ' said I. He then
said, ' The devil's to pay in our section of the State ; the people
of Washington, Harrison and Floyd counties, and that neigh
borhood, have got the idea that a revolution was impending;
the farmers were frightened and were selling their hay in the
fields and their wheat in the stacks, and all the property that
could be was being converted into greenbacks.' "
Mr. Kerr was so deeply impressed with the danger of the
situation that he and the witness from whom I have quoted
went to the residence of Hon. Joseph E. McDonald in the
night, awakened that gentleman, and told him what they knew
about the conspiracy. It was agreed that a meeting of prominent
Democrats should be called next morning at Mr. McDonald's
office, to consider the situation. The meeting was held, and
during its sitting Mr. Kerr made a speech. I again quote from
this witness :
" He spoke about this excitement, this revolutionary scheme,
and said that he came up on purpose to put a stop to the thing.
I think he said it was our duty to stop it, and if it could not be
stopped in any other way it was our duty to inform the author
ities." Mr. Kerr was sustained in his position by Mr. McDonald and
other prorainent Deraocrats, but there is no gainsaying the fact
that he was the leading man of his party in the effort to destroy
the conspiracy, which, had it been inaugurated, would have
deluged Indiana with blood.
The action of Mr. Kerr in proposing to decline the race for
Congress in his district was in keeping with his character.
Young, and ambitious for political preferment, he was yet wil-

MICll.VEL CR.-VVN'KORD K1-;RK. 343
ling to stand aside for others when he believed dutv called him
to make the sacrifice.
Mr. Kerr vvas verv- resolute and persistent in an)' course he
adopted. He I'ought three-fourths of the Democrats of his county
on the question of a tarift', and he fought nearly all the promi
nent men of his party in the State on the currency question.
On these questions he didn't consider policy. He bravely ad
vocated what he believed to be right, regardless of policy.
Without being a professor of religion, Mr. Kerr was strictly
moral. He had no vices, either great or small, being as pure a
man as ever lived.
Mr. Kerr lived and died a poor man. With opportunities to
make money possessed by few he chose to do that which was
right, preferring a good name to great riches. When on his
dying bed he said to his son and only child : "I have nothing
to leave you, my son, except my good name. Guard it and
your mother's honor, and live as I have lived. Pay all my
debts, if my estate will warrant it without leaving your mother
penniless. Otherwise pay what you can, and then go to my
creditors and tell them the truth, and pledge your honor to wipe
out the indebtedness." Such a father could trust his son to do
his coram ands.
In 1862, when Mr. Kerr vvent into politics he had a fine law
practice, which his entrance into public life measurably de
stroyed. At a bar w-hich contained an Otto, a Crawford, a
Smith, a Browne, a Howk^ a Stotsenburg, and other leading
men, he ranked with the best.
Mr. Kerr was not a pleasant speaker. He was too honest
and conscientious to stand before an audience and troll off some
thing he thought every intelligent man knew as well as himself.
Although possessed of ambition, he was exceedingly modest,
and a modest man rarely becomes an attractive extemporaneous
speaker. Such is a brief outline of the life and some of the leading char
acteristics of Michael C. Kerr, a mari who reached the third
office in the governraent of the country, and one whom Indiana
deHghted to honor.

ISAAC BLACKFORD.

Is.-^Ac Bl.\ckford, for thirty-five years a Judge of the Su
preme Court of Indiana, was born at Bound Brook, Somerset
county. New Jersey, November 6, 1786. When sixteen years
old he entered Princeton College, from which, four years after
ward, he graduated with honor. He then commenced the study
of the law in the office of Colonel George McDonald, where
he remained a year, and then entered that of Gabriel Ford,
where he continued his legal studies. In 1810 he received his
license, and two years afterward left New Jersey and came to
Dayton, Ohio. He remained there but a short time, and then
came to Indiana. He stopped at Brookville awhile, and then
went to Salem and located. On the organization of Washing
ton county, in 18 13, he was chosen its first Clerk and Recorder.
In after years he used to say that his principal duty while fill
ing these offices was the recording of marks. At that time
there were few inclosures for stock, and, as it ran at large, it
was important that it be so marked that it might be identified
by the owner; hence the marks. The next year Mr. Black
ford was elected Clerk of the Territorial Legislature, which
office he resigned on being appointed Judge of the first judicial
circuit. He then removed to Vincennes, and in the fall of 1815
resigned the judgeship and opened a law office. The next year,
1816, he was elected a representative from the county of Knox
to tbe first Legislature under the State government. There
were maiiy jnen in that body who afterward became distin
guished in the history of Indiana, among them James Noble,
Amos Lane, John Dumont, Williarason Dunn, Davis Floyd,
Samuel Milroy and Ratliff Boon ; but even at that early day
Judge Blackford's reputation for judicial fairness was so well

IS.VAt.' BL.VCKFORD.

.H5

established that he vvas chosen Speaker without a contest. The
next year Governor Jennings appointed him a Judge of the
Supreme Court, a position he graced and honored for the next
thirty-five years.
In 1853, his term as Supreme Judge having expired, he
opened an office at Indianapolis for the practice of the law. He
had been so long on the bench that he vvas ill at ease when he
went into court vvith a case. His eft'ort to get into practice was
not successful, and in a short time he measurabl)- abandoned
it. General Terrell narrates this arausing incident in Judge
Blackford's career at that time :
" One of his first cases was tried before a jury in the Marion
Court of Common Pleas, Judge David Wallace presiding. The
testimony on both sides had been submitted, and as the day
was far spent court adjourned until next morning, when the
attorneys were to make their arguments. Judge Blackford was
on hand bright and early-, apparently eager to proceed with the
case. It was the first time in thirty-five years that he had ap
peared as an advocate before a jury. When the time came for
him to make his argument he arose with some trepidation, and
thrusting his hand into his coat pocket forthe manuscript of his
speech, discovered, to his astonishment, that he had left it in
his office. Without the document he was entirely helpless, and
he was compelled to beg the indulgence of the court and jury
until he could go out and get it, which he did as quickly as pos
sible ; but he was evidently much embarrassed and humiliated
by the unfortunate circumstance. He read his remarks in a
stumbling, monotonous way, that probably raade little irapres
sion on the minds of the ' twelve good and lawful ' jurors, inas
much as they- brought in a verdict against him. It is not un
likely that this mishap and adverse verdict had some influence
in his retirement from practice in the courts."
Judge Blackford was not at home at the bar, and he longed
to be again upon the bench. The opportunity soon came. In
1855, on the organization of the Court of Claims at Washington,
President Pierce appointed him one of its judges. He held
this office untfl his death, December 31, 1859. ^e discharged
its duties in a way that added luster to a name already illus-

J46 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
trious, and died the best known and most eminent jurist Indiana
has ever produced.
When Judge Blackford's death became known at Washing
ton a meeting of the Indiana congressional delegation was held
to take action upon it. Albert G. Porter, then the representa
tive from the Indianapolis district, in a speech delivered on that
occasion, said :
" It is hardly possible, sir, for persons who reside in an old
¦coraraunity to appreciate the extent to which, in a new country,
the character of a public man may^ be impressed upon the pub
lic mind. There is not a community in Indiana, not a single
one, in which the name of Judge Blackford is not a household
word. He has been identified with our State from the beginning.
He may almost be said to be a part of our institutions. Judicial
ability, judicial purity, approaching nearly to the idea of the
divine, private worth, singularly blending the simplicity of
childhood with the sober gravity of age — these were represented,
not simply in the mind of the profession, but in the universal
popular mind of Indiana, in the person of Isaac Blackford."
At the same meeting General William McKee Dunn, then the
representative from the Madison district, said: "For more
than a quarter of a century Judge Blackford occupied a seat on
the Supreme Bench of our State. He has done more than any
other man to build up our jurisprudence on the broad foundation
of the common law. His reports are not only an honor to him,
but to the State of Indiana also. It has been well said here that
he was an ' upright judge,' and not onlv- was he so in fact, but
so careful was he of his judicial character, and so regardful of
all the proprieties of his position, that he was universally rec
ognized and esteemed as ' an upright judge'
" Indiana is proud of her great jurist, but to-day she mourns
the loss of one of her most eminent citizens, and now by her
linited delegation in Congress claims that all that is mortal of
Isaac Blackford may be entrusted to her care and have sepul
ture in her bosom. Let his body be borne back to the State
with whose judicial history his name is inseparably connected,
and there at its capital let him be buried, wdiere those from all

IS.VAl BLACKFORD. 347
parts of the State who have so long known, revered and loved
him may visit his tomb and pa)' aft'ectionate tribute to his
memory," On Thursday, January 13, i860, while the Democratic State
convention vvas in session. Governor Willard announced to the
convention that the remains of Judge Blackford had reached
Indianapolis and vvere then lying in state at tlie Senate cham
ber. He also said the Judge's funeral would take place that
afternoon, and invited the delegates to view the remains and
attend the funeral. On the same day the Indianapolis bar held
a meeting in reference to his death, at which Judge Morrison
presided and John H. Rea acted as secretary. John L. Ketch
am, chairman of the Committee on Resolutions, reported a series,
including the following, which were unanimously adopted :
"Resolved, That while we receive, in the profoundest sorrow,
the announcement of the decease of the late Hon. Isaac Black
ford, we cherish for his memory the highest regard, acknowl
edging that he has contributed more than any other man in
Indiana to the high character of her judicial reputation ; that
such judges are a blessing to any State, and deserve to be held
in great respect by all the people.
"Resolved, That as we recognize in this removal the hand of
God, we also acknowledge His goodness to the State in sparing
so long one who presided over her highest judicial tribunal with
such marked ability and spotless integrity."
Judge Blackford's remains have been interred in Crown Hill
Cemetery, and at his grave stands a monument upon which is
engraven the leading events of his life, the inscription closing
as follows :
"The honors thus conferred vvere the just rewards of an in-
dustr}^ that never wearied, of an integrity that was never ques
tioned." A year or so ago Mr. D. S. Alexander, now Fifth Auditor of
the Treasury at Washington, contributed a valuable paper on
the Hfe and character of Judge Blackford to the Southern Lazu

348 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Review. Mr. Alexander, however, does not do justice either
to the natural talents or legal attainments of the distinguished
jurist. He says that "at no tirae in his long career was he.
(Judge Blackford) esteemed a great lawyer or a. profound ju
rist." Again : " He was in no sense a great man, and candor
compels the admission that in some respects he was a very or
dinary man." I must take issue with Mr. Alexander on this
subject. His verdict is not the verdict of the world. A man's
ability can be determined by what he accomplishes in life. By
this standard Judge Blackford was a great man, for he accom
plished much. When he entered upon his public life there was
no scarcity of able men about him. The pioneers of Indiana
who reached distinction were all able, and most of them highly
educated. It would have been impossible for one " not a great
lawyer " to have reached Judge Blackford's eminence in judi
cature, and it would have been equally impossible for " a very
ordinary man " so early in life to have attained his distinction
in the politics of the State. While his talents were not of the
highest order, they were good, and his great industry enabled
him to accomplish raore than raany possessing greater natural
parts. In 1825 Judge Blackford was a candidate for Governor of
Indiana, but was defeated by Jaraes Brown Ray by a majority
of 2,622 votes. Subsequently he was a candidate for United
States Senator, and was beaten by William Hendricks by a
single vote.
Judge Blackford was very careful in his expenditure of money.
He seldom parted with it without an equivalent.
In March, 185 1, when Jenny Lind sang in the Madison pork-
house, he went to Madison to hear her. There was much ex
citement the evening she sang over the, sale of tickets, but he
stood at the box office and patiently bided his time. When the
bidding became slack, and the price of tickets dropped tO five
dollars he made his purchase. He vvas not a benevolent man,
but he seldom refused a contribution, when called on, for a
charitable purpose.
Judge Blackford had an only son, George, whose mother
died in giving him birth. The father vvas wrapped up in his
boy. He was not only an onl)- child, but he vvas the only hope

IS.V.VC BL.VCKFORD. 349
of perpetuating the Blackford name. This boy, this child and
companion of the cloisteral jurist, sickened and died while at
Lexington. Kentucky, under inedical treatment of Dr. Dudle)-.
The father went to. Lexington, and after seeing his boy laid
away in his tomb, returned to his home. It vvas in the summer
time, and he reached Indianapolis in the middle of the night.
Instead of going to his room in the Circle, he went to the resi
dence of Henry P. Coburn, and, without knocking, opened the
door and entered the house, a house in which he was ever wel
come. Soon afterward one of Mr. Coburn's sons was awakened
by the stifled sobs of the mourner. He arose from his bed, and
lighting a candle, beheld Judge Blackford, walking the floor
and sobbing as though his heart would break. Not a word was
said. The young man knew the cause of the great grief of his
father's friend, and having no wish to intrude upon its sanctity,
left the room. Judge Blackford remained at Mr. Coburn's for
several days, and during the time held no conversation with
any one. He took his meals in silence, and when they were
over returned to his room. When narrating this incident.
General John Coburn said to the author : "I have seen grief
in all its forms ; have seen the mother mourning for her son ;
have seen the wife at the grave of her husband, and heard her
sobs, but I never saw such appalling agony as Judge Blackford
exhibited that night at my fathers house."
Judge Blackford had a room in the old building which used
to stand in the Governor's Circle, in which he lived for many
years. It was plainly furnished, but it contained everything
necessary- for his comfort. There were three tables in it, and
these were always loaded with books. WilHam Franklin, a
colored man still living, used to sweep the Judge's room, make
the fires and do other necessary things about the house. He
was with Judge Blackford twelve years, and says that, during
that time, he never saw him in a passion, nor heard him utter
an angry word. He nursed the Judge when he was sick, and
attended to his little wants when he was well, and had the best
of opportunities of knowing him as he really was.
. Judge Blackford was prudish in the manner of writing his
.opinions. The orthography must be perfect and the punctua
tion faultless before the matter left his hands. One who knew

350 • BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
him well says he paid as much attention to a comma as to a
thought. He has been known to stop the press to correct the
raost trivial error, one that few would notice. The late Samuel
Judah, desiring to have a decision delayed, once asked him the
correct spelling of a word he knew/ would be in the opinion.
The Judge answered, giving the usual orthography. Mr. Judah
took issue with him and argued that the spelling was not cor
rect. The Judge at once commenced an examination of the
word, dug out its roots and carefully weighed all the authorities
he could find. He spent two days at this work, and before, he
got through the court had adjourned and the case went over to
the next term.
In poHtics Judge Blackford was originally a Whig, but in
1836 he supported Van Buren for the presidency, and afterward
acted with the Democracy. He hated slavery, and during his
whole life his influence was against it. Although the ordinance
ceding the Northwestern Territory to the United States pro
vided that slavery should never exist in the Territory or the
States formed from it, it was covertly introduced into the Ter
ritory. Laws were passed authorizing the bringing of negroes
into the Territory, and providing for apprenticing males until
they were thirty-five years old, and females until they were
thirty-two. Children of colored persons born in the Territor}-
raightbe apprenticed until the raales were thirtv and the females
twenty-eight years old. It was also provided that slaves found
ten miles from horae without perraission of their masters might
be taken up and whipped with twenty-five lashes. Congress
was petitioned to suspend the si.xth article of the ordinance of
1787 prohibiting slavery in the Territory, but happily without
effect. General Harrison was Governor of the Territory, and
approved of all these measures. He had about him, and en
joying his confidence. Waller Taylor, Thomas Randolph, and
other immigrants from Virginia, who were pro-slavery men of
the most decided cast. Judge Blackford hated slavery in all
its forras, and early allied hiraself with the free State party led
by Jonathan Jennings. He held General Harrison responsible
for the effort to make Incliana a slave Territory, and when the
General became a candidate for President, in 1836, Judge
Blackford refused to support him. His action in this matter put

IS.V.VC BL.VCKFORD. ^]i,1
him outside the Wiiig party and into the Democratic — a position
he maintained while he lived.
Judge Blackford regarded \'incennes as his home for many-
years after he came to Indianapolis to live, and every year he
spent a part of his time in that place. On one of his trips to
Vincennes on horseback he came very near losing his life.
Mouhted on a stout horse, with overcoat, leggings, and saddle
bag full of law books, he undertook to ford White river, near
Martinsville, while the river was much swollen by^ a freshet. He
and his horse were swept down the stream a great distance, but
eventually- they landed on an island. The Judge was wet and
cold, and it was several hours before he reached the mainland,
being rescued by a farmer who had heard his outcries. He spent
a couple of days in drying his law books and clothing, and in
waiting for the waters to fall low enough for him to cross the
river with safety, and then proceeded on his journey.
Judge Blackford was about five feet nine inches high, very
erect, with a neat, trim, lithe figure ; he was quick and active
in motion and graceful in bearing. His face was long, though
well proportioned and marked with intelligence, sensibility and
refinement. His head was small but shapely. He was upright
and scrupulously honest in his dealings ; was a model of integ-
rit}' and purity of character. He had great reverence for the
Sabbath, and nothing could swerve hira from his purpose to do
no work on Sunday.
He lived the greater part of his life alone, having the habits
of a student and the tastes of a scholar.
His legal opinions were prepared with the greatest care and
precision. They were written and rewritten until they were
brought to his critical standard. So, too, with his reports of
the decisions of the Supreme Court, eight volumes of which he
pubHshed. Each syllabus was wrought out as a sculptor chisels
his marble. He did not report all the decisions of the court,
many were omitted. Those only were published which he re
garded as sound and just on the general principles of the law.
The result of this was his reports are authority wherever the
courts recognize the common law as their rule of action . Since
they were pubHshed a law has been passed compelling a report
of all the opinions of the court. There have been so many con-

352 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
tradictory opinions given since then that the authority of our
highest court is not, relatively, as high as it was when its de
cisions were only known through Blackford's Reports. Judge
Blackford's reports were short and sententious, his style being
clear and faultless. He did not write essays or treatises in his
opinions, but treated of the essence of the case, and of nothing
more. Jildge Blackford was not a member of any church, and he
attended religious meetings wherever his taste or inclination
led him. He was a believer in the Christian religion. He was,
in short, a conscientious, modest, firm and incorruptible man.
He was economical in habit, plain in dress, and unostentatious
in manner. He was shy in deportment, avoided discussions,
and made no enemies by his manner or treatment of men. He
was a constant reader, and had an extensive miscellaneous as
well as an excellent law library. He took the leading Ameri
can and foreign magazines and carefully read them. He was
great as a judge. He was not great as an advocate, or states
man, or scholar, or orator, or writer, but as a judge he stands
in advance of any man our State has produced.
He was not a rapid thinker or powerful reasoner, but his
sense of justice and fair dealing, his ability to weigh legal ar
guments, his untiring perseverence in the investigation of cases,
put him in the front rank of Indiana judges, and there he wifl
stand. Without favor, fear or affection he held up the scales of jus
tice before the world. His spotless rectitude and unswerving
justice made his name a household word in Indiana, a State
whose judicature he found in swaddling clothes and left clad in
beautiful raiment.

STEPHEN C. STEVENS.

One of the leading lavv-yers of early Indiana was Stephen C.
Stevens. He ran a political career at an early stage of his his
tory in the State, which may be briefly summed up as follows :
In 1817 he vvas elected to the Legislature from Franklin
count}' (he then lived at Brookville). He was made chairman
of the Commission on Revision of the Laws. Soon after this
he removed to Vevay, in Switzerland county, and in 1824 was
sent to the Legislature from Switzerland county, and was
elected Speaker of the House. The next year he was re
elected to the Legislature from Switzerland, and was appointed
chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
In 1826 he was elected to the State Senate from Switzerland
and Ripley- counties, and in 1828 was re-elected to the Senate
from said counties. He was always a prominent figure in the
Legislatures in which he served.
He was an officer in the Vevay- branch of the Bank of Vin
cennes, an institution chartered by the Territorial Legislatiire
in 1814. Subsequently he reraoved to Madison, and remained
a resident of that city \vhile he lived. On the 28th of January,
1831, Governor Ray appointed him a Judge of the Supreme
Court, a position he held until May, 1836, when he resigned
and returned to the practice of the law.
Judge Stevens was not a great lawyer. However, he was a
painstaking one, and his industry and care made him a success-
fill practitioner. For years he had the largest collection busi
ness of any member of the Madison bar. He was a fair jury
lawyer, and excelled most of his compeers in the preparation
23

354

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

of legal papers and in the collection of claims. In these re
spects he was fully abreast of any member of the ablest bar in
the State.
Judge Stevens was dift'use and prolix in his writings. He
always told the whole story. I remeraber writing up the com
plete record of the case of Warfield vs. Warfield, a chancery
case disposed of in the Jefferson Circuit Court in 1847. Judge
Stevens was the plaintiff's attorney, and had prepared most of
the papers. There were several depositions taken and pub
lished, the questions and answers of which were written by the
Judge. Each deposition commenced as follows :
"The deposition of John Smith, a man of sound mind and
discretion, taken before Hiram Harris, Esq., a justice of the
peace in and for the township of Shelby, in the county of Jeffer
son and State of Indiana, duly elected, commissioned and
qualified, at his office in the town of Canaan, in the township,
county and State aforesaid," etc.
While I was making up the record Judge Stevens came into
the Clerk's office, and I asked him why he prefaced the depo
sitions so minutely and jjarticularly. He answered, that when
a school-boy the master once called him up and interrogated him
about a difficulty he had had with one of the scholars, and ended
with administering to him a pretty severe flagellation ; that
subsequently, on learning all the circumstances connected vvith
the difficulty, the teacher said that if he had told the whole story
he would have escaped punishment. " This vvas a lesson,"
said the Judge, " I have never forgotten. Since then I have
made it a rule to tell the whole story."
Judge Stevens was an old-time Abolitionist. He was an anti-
slavery man at a time when it required great courage to be one.
It is impossible for those whose memory does not go back twenty
years to realize the prejudice, and even bitterness, that then ex
isted against the Abolitionists. They were not only considered
" outside of any healthy political organization," but they w'ere
socially tabooed and ostracised. And particularly was this the
case in Southern Indiana, where Judge Stevens lived. But op- -
position to slavery was with him a principle.

STEPHEN C. STKVKNS. 355
In 1845 the Liberty part)- nominated Judge Stevens for Gov
ernor of the State. From a speech he made during the can
vass I make the following extracts, illustrative of his extreme
views on the question of slavery and his bold st)'le of presenta
tion :
" Sir. let us know but two classes of men in church and state —
the friends of slavery and its enemies.
"We are asked how slavery is to be abolished? Sir, I will
tell you. We must reach the abolition of slavery over the dead
bodies of both the old political parties ; not slain by violence,
but destroyed by the overthrow of their principles, the only
thing which holds them together and gives them party existence.
As long as those parties exist so long will slavery find a shelter
under their folds. In the second place, we must reach the abo
lition of slavery through the doors of twenty thousand churches.
I do not mean that we must destroy them, so that they will cease to
be churches, but that we must bring them on the side of Jesus
Christ instead of that of slavery. All this we must do by teach
ing the trtith and correcting the errors of the people.
" But we are told that our plan is seditious and factious ; that
v\-e are agitators, yes, agitators. Well, Christ was an agitator.
What makes agitation wrong is that it is error and not truth
which agitates. The only question whether our agitation, Hke
that of Christ and his apostles, is justifiable and necessary, is
v\-hether what we teach is the truth ; and it is the truth, God
knows I
" 'But we shall divide the church !' Sir, division implies separa
tion ; and what shafl we separate? Why, the sin of slaveholding
from Christianity. God send that division soon. We are told,
too, that we shall divide the Union ; that we are disunionists.
Now, sir, I am for the Union ; but I say if the only Union we
can have with the South, in church and state, is to be and must
be cemented by the blood of three millions of my brethren, I
say, in God's name, let it go. down. I am for no union the bond
of which is open crime. No church can or will be recognized
for Christ in the great day which is cemented together by blood.
The doom of Sodom and Gomorrah will be more tolerable in
that day than theirs.

356 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
" But we are told to reraedy all our evils at horae before touch
ing slavery. Doctor, cure yourself.
' ' Sir, if we must wait till no injustice exists among men be
fore we touch slavery we shall never touch it. Is that what
they want?
" But our black laws in the free States, which they ask us to
repeal before touching slavery, are a mere sequent — a tail — a fol
lowing thing to slavery itself. When slavery is destroyed these
laws, which are a raere consequence of slavery, will fall with
it. Destroy the tree and you kill the branches."
He believed slavery wrong, and he lifted up his voice against
it at all tiraes, in season and out of season. In 1851 or 1852 a
negro committed a rape on a white woman some thirty miles
from Madison, and was lynched by an infuriated inob. The
author, who was born and reared in a slave State, and taught
to believe in the divinity of slavery, was talking with Judge
Stevens about this case, when the latter remarked that, although
rape was a great crime, and its perpetrators should be severely
punished, yet there were mitigating circumstances in this case
which should have shielded the negro from extreme punish
ment. Shocked at his words, I asked him what he meant. He
answered that the commission of a criminal assault by a negro
upon a white woman was not so great an offense as the com
mission of a similar assault by a white man. This was so con
trary to my own feelings that I told him I was surprised at such
an avowal ; that I had not supposed there was a man in the
State who entertained such sentiments. He replied that the
white man had the school-room, the church and the Bible to en
lighten and christianize him, while the negro was denied them
all. Said he : "A man must answer according to his oppor
tunities ; when the educated white man raakes a beast of him
self he is more culpable in the sight of God, and should be in the
sight of man, than the ignorant negro who does a similar thing."
However contrary to my education and feelings this position of
Judge Stevens was, I could not but admit its force.
Judge Stevens was a Presbyterian, and for some time was a
member of the New School Presbyterian Church at Madison. .
As is known, the New School branch was formed on account!

STEPHEN C. STEVENS. 357
of the conservatism of the Presbyterian church on the subject
of slavery. The New School Presbyterians vvere anti-slavery,
but they vvere not sufficiently so to suit the views of Judge Ste
vens. He refused to affiliate vvith any one in the church who
upheld slavery, and therefore severed his connection with the
church at Madison, and joined one located in the Abolition set
tlement some twelve or fourteen miles away. He remained a
member of this church while he lived.
In his younger days Judge Stevens was an active meinber
of the Masonic fraternity. He vvas one of the eleven men who
met at Corydon, December 3, 1817, and laid the foundation for
the Grand Lodge of Indiana. In his latter days he did not
affiliate with the order, having left it at the time of the Morgan
excitement, but he never ceased to have a high respect and re
gard for it while he lived.
Judge Stevens accumulated a competence by his profession,
and lived in good but not extravagant style. In 1851 or 1852
he invested all his means in a contemplated railroad. Although
he had seen much of the world, and was a close observer of
men and things, he ignored the fact that those who build rail
roads seldom operate them. He put all the money he had, and
even his home, into the road and lost it all. He soon found
himself without a dollar of money or a home. The shock was too
great for him to bear, and it impaired his mind. He imagined
himself immensely rich, and traveled over the State in search of
investments for his surplus raoney. Wherever he went he bar
gained for farms, for houses and lots, and for anything that
struck his fancy% The author saw him at Franklin in 1861 or
1862, and remembers that he contracted for the finest residence
property in that city. Having known him in the days of his in-
teUectual strength and worldly prosperity, I was deeply pained
to see what a wreck he had become. He was but a shadow —
and a faint one, too — of his former self. Time did not improve
his mental condition, and on the 29th of June, 1869, he was ad
mitted into the Indiana Hospital for the Insane as a patient.
He remained in that institution, with but littie apparent benefit,
until November 7, 1870, when death came to his relief. His
remains w^ere taken to Madison and buried in the cemetery

358 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
there, and all that was mortal of Stephen C. Stevens rests near
the homestead where he lived so long.
Judge Stevens was a large, raw-boned man. He was slightly
stoop-shouldered, and in person was somewhat ungainly. He
had an active mind and strong body, but the first gave way to
misfortune and the latter to age He was an old man when he
died, but had not adversity overtaken him he would most prob
ably be living now. Bodily disease is not the only thing that
kills ; reverse of fortune often causes disease of mind, and when
the mind dies it is a blessing for the body to follow.
Oliver H. Sraith, in his Early Indiana Trials and Sketches,
thus speaks of Judge Stevens:
" He stood high at the bar, and was one of the strongest advo
cates in the State, but the diffuseness of his opinions supplied
to raany obiter dicta for other cases, in the opinion of many
sound members of the bar. He was one of the most laborious
judges upon the bench, and furnished Blackford's Reports with
raany valuable opinions."
For the following additional incidents of interest the author
is indebteded to the venerable Judge Test, yet living, who knew
the subject personally and well :
"Judge Stevens carae to Brookville vvith his raother about
1812. It was during the war, and the Indians w^ere troubling us
a great deal. Stevens reported one day that he had shot at an
Indian that was coraing up to his house, and that he had wound
ed him. Some were rather doubtful about the matter, and fol
lowed the trail of blood down to the river, but finding nothing,
they accused hira of having killed a chicken and passed it ofl'
as an Indian. This got hira down a good deal. He was a mer
chant then on his own account. Before the close of the war he
went to New Orleans and joined Jackson's army. He was one
of the few men wounded in the battle of New Orleans, being
wounded on the top of his head. This restored his reputation
at home, and the people thought his Indian story might not be
altogether untrue. He had studied law while operating as a
merchant, and when he returned to Brookville he commenced
the practice of law, building a little office in the south part of

srKPiiKN c. stev'1':ns. 359
town. After this he moved to \'evay, living there vvith his
mother. He vvas very devoted to his mother, taking good care
of her and living for her. He was president of the Vevay bank,
and after the bank broke he practiced law with some success,
I became better acquainted with him at this time and came into
coflision vvith him in one case. He was a ver)- dift'use man and
covered a good deal of paper to express a small idea. The last
time I saw him he was in the Insane Asylum. The superin
tendent asked me ifl had known Judge Stevens. I told hira I
had known him very well, hav-ing lived in the same town. The
superintendent informed me he was there and I found him lying
on the bed in his drawers, while an old fellow named Mussel-
man, from Logansport, was mending his breeches. He looked
at me intently, as if trying to gather up his thoughts, and then
said : ' I don't know you,' then added, ' Yes, of course I know
you ; but ever since the top of my head was cut off my raemory
is not as good as it used to be.' After leaving the asylum I
went to the (governor's office and told him the circumstances,
and how poor the old man vvas. Governor Baker pulled out a
ten dollar bill, and going around to others, raised some fifty or
sixty dollars within an hour, which vvas sent up to the superin
tendent with instructions to buy Stevens a suit of clothes. His
measure was taken and when the suit vvas made, it was pre
sented with the compliments of the bar. Stevens made quite a
speech to the effect that he was glad to be remembered by the
bar. In a few da\-s after this he died and vvas buried in his
new suit."

CHARLES DEWEY.

No narae is raore venerated by the bar of Indiana than that
of Charles Dewey. Although not so learned in the books as
his great compeer, Isaac Blackford, nor so elegant in his dic
tion as his other companion on the bench, Jeremiah Sullivan,
yet, in strength of intellect and ability to grasp legal questions.
Judge Dewey was superior to either of them. Such is the judg
ment of those best qualified to know.
Charles Dewey was born in Sheffield, Massachusetts, March
6, 1784. He was well educated, having graduated at Williams
College with the honors of his class. After completing his
coiirse at college he studied law, and in 1816 came to Indiana
and located at Paoli, in Orange county. He opened an office
and commenced the practice of the law, and soon had a large
business, not only in the county where he lived, but in other
counties on his circuit. In these days a lawyer did not confine
his practice to a single county, but traveled over a large extent
of territory, and took cases wherever they vvere oft'ered him.
Mr. Dewey, like most lawyers of his tirae, and indeed of this
also, took an interest in politics, and in 1821 vvas elected to the
Legislature frora his county. He served vvith such distinction
as to attract the attention of the people throughout his section
of the State, and the next year the}- demanded that he should
run for Congress. His district comprised one-third of the State,
and it was very thoroughly canvassed both by him and his com
petitor, General William Prince. General Prince had been
with Aaron Burr in his Southwestern expedition, and it was
charged that Mr. Dewey had favored the Hartford convention;
therefore, the honors were even so far as charges vvent. But the
pioneers of Indiana vvere raore antagonistic to the Hartford con-

CH.VRLES DEVVEV. 36 1
vention than to Burrs filibustering expedition, and, although
Mr. Dewey had not been a member of the Hartford convention,
the charge was " a good enough Morgan " to defeat him.
In 1824, two years after Mr. Dewey made his unsuccessful
race for Congress, he removed to Charlestown, in Clark county,
and lived there until his death. He devoted himself assiduously
to the practice of the lav\', and reached a high place in the pro
fession. While taking an interest in politics he was not a can
didate for office until 1832, when he ran for Congress against
General John Carr, and vvas beaten. This was the last race he
made for office before the people.
In 1836 Governor Noble appointed Mr. Dewey Judge of the
Supreme Court, to fill the place of Stephen C. Stevens, who had
resigned. Oliver H. Smith, in his " Early Indiana Trials and
Sketches." speaks thus of this appointment: "The Judge
brought with hijn a matured mind, and a large experience as a
practitioner. Many doubted, at the time, whether he could sus
tain on the bench his high reputation at the bar. But as his
judicial powers were developed he rose as a judge, and fully
sustained himself in the opinion of the bar, who are good judges
and safe depositories of the judicial reputations of the judges."
Judge Dewey sat on the Supreme bench eleven years, and
honored it as few have done He came fully up to the mark,
the public having, by common consent, placed him in the very
front rank of Indiana judges.
Under the first constitution of Indiana, Supreme Judges were
appointed by the Governor, by- and with the consant of the Sen
ate. In politics Judge Dewey was a Whig. In 1843 James
Whitcomb, a Democrat, was elected Governor, and re-elected
in 1846. When the Governor came into office one of the Su
preme Judges — Isaac Blackford — was a Democrat, and the
other two — Dewey and Sullivan — were Whigs. When the
terms of the judges expired, the Governor sent to the Senate
the name of Judge Blackford to succeed hiraself, and those of
Samuel E. Perkins and Thomas L. Smith to succeed Judges
Dewey and Sullivan. The Senate confirmed Judge Blackford,
but refused its consent to the appointraent of Messrs. Perkins
and Smith. A long and acrimonious contest took place between
the Governor and the Senate over these appointments.

362 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
The Governor sent the naraes of several other gentlemen to
the Senate, but they were promptly rejected. After the Legis
lature adjourned Governor Whitcomb gave Judges Dewey and
Sullivan temporary appointments to last until the meeting of
the next Legislature. When that body convened, the Senate,
like that of the previous session, refused to confirm the Gov
ernor's nominees. A few days after it had adjourned the Gov
ernor sent Judge Dewey another temporary appointment. Be
fore accepting it he had an interview with the Governor, and,
told him he should decline the appointment unless he had as
surances that he would be regularly norainated to the next Sen
ate. Governor Whitcomb told him that he should, as a com
promise measure, nominate him and Judge Perkins to the next
Senate, "unless he should be diverted from his purpose in re
spect to him — Judge Dewey— by the course the Whigs might
take in the coming canvass for Governor." It was, undoubt
edly. Governor Whitcomb's intention, at the time to re-appoint
Judge Dewey, but he was diverted from the purpose, mainly
through the influence of Ashbel P. Willard, afterward Gov
ernor of the State. Willard was then just rising to influence
and power in the politics of Indiana, and Judge Dewey, being
a Whig, was fiercely antagonized by the rising young politician.
He succeeded in preventing the nomination of Judge Dewey,
and in securing that of his friend and towmsman, Thomas L.
Smith, but, as raany thought at the time, at the expense of the
¦Governor's good faith.
In February, 1847, Judge Dewey published a letter in the /«-
dianafolis Joiir/ial, in which he recounted at length his com
plaints against Governor Whitcomb. After reciting the several
interviews he had had with the Governor, and naming the
pledges which he asserted had been given him, he closed as
follows: "I have only to add that the Governor's word has
not been kept ; his pledge is unredeemed,"
On leaving the Supreme bench Judge Dewey resumed the
practice of the law. He took into partnership George V. Howk,
now of our Supreme Court, and for many years they practiced
together. The firm had a large practice in Southern Indiana as
well as in the Supreme Court of the State, the reputation of the
senior partner bringing it business, far and near.

CHARLES DEVN'KV. 363
In April. 1840, Judge Dewey, while riding in his carriage,
vvas thrown out, and suft'ered the fracture of a leg. He never
recovered from the hurt, being compelled during' the remainder
of his life to walk vvith crutches, but he continued the practice
of his profession while he lived. He died at his home in Charles
town. April 25. 1862. and was buried in the cemetery there.
Judge Dewey vvas cotemporaneous with the men who made In
diana a State. He vvas the friend and neighbor of Jonathan
Jennings, and vvas his legal adv-iser in the trouble between him
and Christopher Harrison about the governorship. He practiced
at a bar which contained man}- able members, but none of them
outranked him. He and Benjamin Parke, the first United
States District Judge of Indiana, vvere friends, and usually came
to Indianapolis together, when business called them there, al
though they lived many miles apart. Judge Dewey was a great
reader of novels, and tried to have Judge Parke read them also,
but the latter could not get interested in the fictitious creations
of genius, and continued to prefer Coke and Blackstone to
Fielding and Smollet. After Judge Parke's death Judge Dewey,
at the request of the bar of the State, delivered a eulogy upon
his departed friend worthy of the distinguished subject. The
address was printed, and a few copies of it onlv- are in existence.
I have been unable to find any literary eft'ort of Judge Dewey
save this address and his published opinions, but these prove
him to have been a writer of remarkable ability. The clean-cut
sentences of his eulogy upon Judge Parke remind one of the
writings of Burke. There is no superfluity of words. His
meaning is never obscure. Judge Dewey- was not blessed with
the graces of oratory. He could, however, talk with ease and
fluency, and was very effective when presenting his views to a
court. Judge Dewey was fond of anecdotes. Having been person
ally acquainted vvith most of the leading men of early Indiana,
he was full of reminiscences and stories, which he was in the
habit of recounting to attentive listeners. When on the bench
he was dignified and somewhat austere, but when oft' it he was
always ready to tell a story.
Throughout Judge Dewey's long life he was a supporter of
the Christian church. A short time before he died he made a

364 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
profession of the Christian religion, and joined the Presbyterian
church, in whose communion he died.
I am indebted to Professor Campbell, of Crawfordsville, for
the following characteristic anecdotes of Judge Dewey :
"On a certain occasion there were assembled a pleasant
party in the parlor of the Washington House, Indianapolis, who
were enjoying especially the joke of Dewey's menagerie, as
they facetiously termed the traveling concern which happened
at the time to be e.xhibiting at Indianapolis, and was located on
some vacant lots on Washington street belonging to Judge
Dewey, when a young man of somewhat diminutive stature and
pompous manner approached the Judge with a ' Well, Judge, I
think I shall patronize your menagerie to-night.' ' Glad to hear
it,' replied Dewey ; ' glad to hear it. Our pony has just arrived,
and our monkey is sick ; we shall need you.' Gifted as he was
in this quickness of repartee, he enjo}^ed equally well a sally of
wit, even though he himself were the subject. On another oc-
sion, at the sarae hotel, in a corapany of lawyers, John L  ,
of Madison, with a little unwarranted liberty, remarked, in
reference to the long nose and chin of Judge Dewey, that they
would probably meet soon. The Judge replied, somewhat bit
terly, that they never had met yet ; whereupon Henry S. Lane,
with ready wit, added : ' Yet a good many hard words have
passed between them ! ' The merry twinkle with which this
was received established a cordiality and friendship between
them that lasted while they liv^ed.
"On one occasion, in the argument on a demurrer, the law
was plainly against him, and he was prepared to yield grace
fully to the decision of the court against him in accordance with
the presentation of the other side bv- Col. Wilson. Unfortu
nately, however, Judge John Thompson, instead of confining
himself to the points made by the opposing attorney, was pro
ceeding to make the ruling for other reasons, whereupon Mr.
Dewey boldly spoke out, ' The law may be against me, Judge,
but you are giving a  poor reason for it.'
" ' Sit down, Mr. Dewey, sit down I ' thundered the Judge in
excited tones. With stern dignity and folded arras, Dewey re
plied, ' I am too much of a freeman, sir, to be directed by you,

L'n.VRLi-:s DKVvi-:v. 305
or any one. as to the attitude I must assume.' ' Be quiet, sir."
again spoke Jiulge T. ' That ^'our Honor has the right in this
court to command," responded Mr. 1)., and this passage at
arms ended."
In person Judge Dewey was large and commanding. He vvas
six feet high, and weighed about 200 pounds. His hair was
black, his complexion dark, his t'orehead broad and high, and
his mouth very expressive. His features vvere not regular, his
nose and chin being too long to be symmetrical, but this defect
was more than overbalanced by the look of intelligence and
dignity that always pervaded his face.
Judge Deweys widow is living in Indianapolis at the advanced
age of eighty years. Her health is good, her mind unimpaired
and her body e.xceedingly vigorous for one of her years. She
gave the author many of the incidents mentioned in this sketch,
and, when speaking of her distinguished husband, her eye
plainly told of the love she bore him.

JEREMIAH SULLIVAN.

Among the men who impressed themselves upon the morals
of the people and the institutions of the State in early days was
Jeremiah Sullivan. He had much to do in laying the founda
tions of the State government and in giving character to its ju
diciary, and he well deserves a place in the list of distinguished
men. Mr. Sullivan was of Irish descent. He was born in a small
Virginia town eighty-seven years ago, and was designed by his
father, who was a Roman Catholic, for the priesthood. He was
educated at William and Mary's College, graduating from that
institution with honor. He chose the law for a profession, but
before being admitted to the bar he enlisted in the army and
soon earned a captain's comraission. This vvas during the last
war with Great Britain, and when hostilities ceased the young
soldier laid aside his railitary trappings and resumed his books.
He was admitted to the Virginia bar, but his chances for rising
in his profession there being but meager, he determined to seek
a raore inviting field. So he bade his friends farewell and started
West on horseback in search- of a location. His destination
was Louisville, Kentucky, but on arriving at Cincinnati he heard
there was a good opening for a lavvyer at Madison, Indiana, so
he changed his mind and went to that town. It was in the fall
of 1817 when he reached there, and he settled and lived there
until he died.
At Madison Captain Sullivan practiced his profession with
success, and it vvas very seldom that he left it for any other busi
ness. In 1820, three years after he came to the State, he was
elected a member of the Legislature from his county. He
proved to be an industrious and painstaking one, and was as

JKREMI.VH SILLIV-.VN. 367
influential in shaping legislation as any member of the House.
It was he who gave Indianapolis its name, as will be seen by the
follovving letter to ex-Governor Baker, when that gentleman
was Governor of the State :
" I have a very distinct recollection of the great divereity of
opinion that prevailed as to the name the new town should re
ceive. The bill was reported by Judge Polk, and was, in the
main, very acceptable. A blank, of course, vvas left for the
name of the town that vvas to become the seat of government,
and during the two or three days we spent in endeavoring to
fill that blank there vvere some sharpness and much amusement.
General Marston G. Clark, of Washington county, proposed
'Tecumseh' as the name, and very earnestly insisted on its
adoption. When that failed he suggested other Indian names
which I have forgotten. They also were rejected. Somebody-
suggested 'Suwarro,' which met with no favor. Judge Polk
desired the blank to be filled with ' Concord ; " that also failed.
Other names vvere proposed, but they were all voted down, and
the House, without coming to any- agreement, adjourned until
the next day. There vvere man)- amusing things said during
the day, but my remembrance of thera is not sufficiently dis
tinct to state them with accuracy. I had gone to Corydon with
the intention of proposing ' Indianapolis ' as the name of the
town ; and on the evening of the adjournment above mentioned,
I suggested to Mr. Samuel Merrill, tlje representative from
Switzerland county, the name I preferred. He at once adopted
it, and agreed to support it. We together called on Governor
Jennings, who had been a witness to the amusing scenes of the
day previous, and told him to what conclusion we had come.
He gave us to understand that he favored the name we had
agreed upon, and that he would not hesitate to so express him
self. When the House met and went into committee on the
bill I moved to fill the blank with ' Indianapolis.' The narae
created a shout of laughter. Mr. Merrill, however, seconded
the motion. We discussed the proposition freely and fully, the
members conversed with each other informally, and the name
gradually commended itself to the comraittee, and was accepted.
The principal reason given for its adoption, to wit: that its

368 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Greek terraination would indicate the importance of the town,
was, I am sure, the reason that overcame opposition to the
name. The town was finally named Indianapolis. "Jer. Sullivan."
In early life Judge Sullivan had a taste for politics, but it left
him as he grew older. He once made an unsuccessful race for
Congress against Williara Hendricks, and this defeat seemed
to have cured him of poHtics and caused him to adhere more
closely than ever to his profession. I believe he never was a
candidate for office before the people after this until the year he
died. He was appointed by the Governor of the State a com
missioner to adjust the land question between the States of Ohio
and Indiana, growing out of the construction of the Wabash and
Erie canal. After this he was appointed a Judge of'the Supreme
Court of Indiana, and he sat upon the bench of that court from
1837 to 1846. It was while a judge of this court that he earned
his fame, and it is as a Supreme judge that he will be best re
membered. During the nine years he sat upon the Supreme
bench he graced and honored the place. His associates were
Judges Blackford and Dewey, and it is only saydng what is
well known that at no time since the organization of the court
has it stood so high as when Blackford, Dewey and Sullivan
were its judges. These men were dift'erent in their mental
make-up, but they vvere all able. Sullivan was the ablest writer
of the three, as may be seen by reading the reports of the court
of that era. His opinions, as recorded by Blackford, are
models of legal composition. There are a grace and perspicuity
in his style but seldom found, and had he chosen to be a writer
of legal books, he would, unquestionably," have won a reputa
tion even exceeding that which he earned upon the bench.
In 1869 a criminal court for Jefferson county vvas created,
and Judge Sullivan was appointed its judge. At the first elec
tion afterwards he was chosen judge for a full term, but on the
very day he would have taken his oath of office he died. He
had been in bad health f'or some time, but notwdthstanding this,
his death was unexpected, and it greatiy shocked the com
munity where he lived. He had resided so long at Madison,
and had been so closely connected with public affairs, that

JEREMIAH Sl'LLIV.VN. 369
when the end came his old friends and neighbors keenly felt
the loss.
In his early life Judge Sullivan vvas an active Freemason. In
January. 1818, representatives for the dift'erent Masonic lodges
in the State met at Madison and formed the Grand Lodgre of
Indiana. Judge Sulliv-an was a member of this body, and was
elected grand orator of the lodge. He continued his connection
with Masonry for man)- years, but about the time of the Morgan
e.vcitement he withdrew his membership from the order, and
never af'terwards renewed it.
Judge Sullivan vvas a member of the Presbyterian church,
and in his daily walk and example vvas a Christian man. On
the division of that church he allied himself to the New School
branch. He vvas an active member of the church and a regular
attendant upon the services. He was a ruling elder, and ever
demeaned himself as should one who occupies that high posi
tion. There were tw-o places which Judge Sullivan always entered
with reverence, the church and the temple of justice. I re
member an incident which occurred many years ago that will
serve to illustrate his respect and reverence for the latter. A
store-house and stock of goods, belonging to WilHam Brazleton,
were burned by incendiaries. Suspicion fell upon a couple of
men in the neighborhood, and, on following it up, sufficient
evidence vvas obtained to secure their indictment. They were
in due time put upon their trial, and Mr. Brazleton appeared
as a witness against them. While the trial was going on, and
the Court-house was filled with people, a pistol in Brazleton's
coat-pocket exploded. It was loaded with buckshot, but for
tunately no one was hurt. Brazleton's coat-tail was badly
shattered and the chair in which he was sitting was filled with
shot, but no other damage was done. The unfortunate witness,
who was frightened almost to death, drew the pistol from his
pocket, but no sooner had he done this than Judge Sullivan
snatched it from him, and, seizing him by the arm, demanded
of the court that he be sent to prison. " He comes into court,"
said the Judge, " a walking arsenal, and must be punished. I
ask Your Honor to maintain the dignity of your office and pro-
24

370 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
tect the lives of those whose duty it is to be here." Judge
Downey, or Judge Chapman, I have forgotten which, was upon
the bench, and no doubt would have complied with Judge Sul
livan's demand had not one of the lawyers present asked to be
heard in Mr. Brazleton's behalf. He read a letter to Brazleton,
without signature, threatening him with death if he appeared as
a witness in the case. The judge considered this a sufficient
reason for the witness's arming hiraself, and therefore excused
him. Judge Sullivan acquiesced in this decision, but said the
witness should have left his pistol outside the court-room. He
declared the court-room to be a place where controversies were
decided by the law, and not by violence, and that its precincts
should never be profaned by the presence of a deadly weapon.
Judge Sullivan seldom took an active part in politics. He
was a Whig while that party existed, and afterwards a Repub
lican, but he usually contented hiraself with voting his party
ticket. The only exception to this which I remember was in
1850, when the Whig candidates for the constitutional conven
tion were nominated. He was very anxious that delegates
should be sent to the convention from Jefferson county who
would not be under the control of corporations. He declared
that the people were in danger from corporations, and if they were
not controlled by constitutional provisions the time would come
when they would dictate the legislation of the country. He op
posed the nomination of Williara McKee Dunn, a personal
friend, because he was a son-in-law of Mr. Lanier, a gentleman
who had large interests in banks and in railroads. His oppo
sition to Mr. Dunn was unavailing, that gentleman being nomi
nated and elected.
Judge Sullivan was a humorist of the first water. His humor
seldom showed itself, but when it did it sparkled like a gem.
Just before the breaking out of the Mexican war Thomas J.
Henley, then a representative in Congress, and Senator Bright
made speeches at Madison, in which they ridiculed the idea of
war, and said if it came they would undertake to clean out
Mexico with a regiment of women armed with broomsticks.
When the war came, and blood commenced to flow. Judge Sul
livan wrote a series of articles for the Madison Banner, over
the signature of " Colonel Pluck," that were the perfection of

JEREMIAH SULLIVAN. 37 I
humor and ridicule. In them he called on Mes.^rs. Bright and
Henley to make good their promises at once, or he would take
the field vvith his " Inv-incibles " and mop up Mexico before the
women vvith their broomsticks could get into the field. He and
Senator Bright vvere personal friends, and fearing, if the author
ship of the letters vvas known, the Senator would be offended.
he had the papers copied before the)- went to the printer.
Soon after the adoption of the constitution of 1850 he wrote
some papers ridiculing the provision prohibiting the immigration
of negroes and their employment in the State. In one of these
papers he gave his reflections as he sat in a barber's chair get
ting shaved. These papers vvere inimitable, and no one who
read them will question that they were written by a master hand.
I do not think Judge Sullivan ever had a superior in this State
as a humorous and satirical writer, and I question if he ever had
an equal. He wrote so little, and so few knew what he did
write, that I doubt not this statement will be questioned by mau)-
who knew hira w-ell, but nevertheless it is true.
While Judge Sullivan was upon the Suprerae bench he was
particularly intimate with Judge Dewey, one of his associates.
Judge Dewey used to come to Madison and stay with Judge
Sullivan for days. It was understood that they raet for confer
ence and consultation, but I suspect that friendship and con
geniality of tastes had more to do with bringing them together
than the law.
In 1852, when General Scott was raaking his Western tour,
he was invited to Madison and given a grand reception. Judge-
Sullivan raade the welcoming address, and it was a model one
of the kind.
In 1861, on the breaking out of the rebellion. Judge Sullivan
entered actively into furthering the interests of the government-
His oldest son had been an officer in the war with Mexico, and
his youngest son, Jere, raised a company and entered the ser
vice in the war for the Union. He was afterwards promoted to
a colonelcy, and subsequently to a brigadiership, and he served
in all these positions vvith bravery and distinction. Another
son, Algernon S-, an eminent lawyer of New York, was ar
rested early in the war and imprisoned at Fort Lafayette. It
wifl be remembered that the administration of Mr. Lincoln at

372 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
first determined to treat Confederate privateers as pirates. It
denied them counsel and notified lawyers not to undertake their
defense. But notwithstanding this order, Mr. A. S. Sullivan
accepted employment as counsel for the captured privateers,
and commenced to prepare for their defense. He sent to Rich
mond for copies of the commissions under which they acted,
but his messenger was arrested before he crossed the lines.
For doing this Mr. Sullivan was arrested and sent to Fort La
fayette, and for sorae time confined as a prisoner of state.
Judge Sullivan was an ardent patriot, and, like Abraham of
old, would have offered his son as a sacrifice had it been neces
sary, but he was also a lawyer, and had decided notions as to
the duties of lawyers to their clients. He beHeved his son's
employment legitimate and his arrest an outrage. These things
he did not hesitate to say, and in a short time, through his influ
ence and that of his friends, his son was released from impris
onment and restored to his faraily.
In person Judge Sullivan was tall and coraraanding. His
height was over six feet, and his body was well proportioned.
He had a good head and a good face. His e)-es were dark
brown, his hair light and thin, and usually long, and his com
plexion was ruddy. His carriage was good and his manners
dignified. He was always polite— was always a gentleman.
He was not an aggressive man, and did not have the influence
of Marshall or of Bright, but he was a good citizen and an up
right judge, and had the respect of all who knew him.

A HISTORICAL TRIO.

Politics ran as high in Indiana seventy-five years ago as it
does to-day. William Henry Harrison was appointed Governor
of Indiana Territory July 4, 1800, and early in 1801 he entered
upon the duties of his office. On the 6th of February, 1801, he
appointed William Mcintosh Territorial Treasurer, and about
the same time he commissioned John Rice Jones Attorney-
General of the Territory. These men occupied very close rela
tions vvith the Governor, and for some tirae had his confidence.
They, however, becarae jealous of Benjamin Parke, a warra
friend of the Governor, and one of the purest men Indiana has
ever had. Seeing that Mr. Parke was supplanting them in the
Governor's favor, they determined to break him down, and at
the same time destroy the Governor. Their quarrel with the
latter was ostensibly on account of his position on the question
of the Territory's entering the second grade of government, but
in reality it was because others enjoyed a greater share of his
favor than themselves.
The contest was a bitter one. Mr. Parke ably defended Gov
ernor Harrison with his pen, and challenged Mcintosh to mortal
combat for traducing him. Mcintosh refused, but, with Jones
and Elijah Bachus, a newspaper writer, continued to abuse the
Governor. That the reader may know something of the viru
lence of the fight between Governor Harrison and his enemies,
I copy the following frora the Western World, a paper published
at Frankfort, Ky. It was written at Vincennes, and appeared
in the World 'in its issue of March 3, 1808.
John Rice Jones.
"The pieces which appeared in your paper of the 31st ult.
and 7th inst. over the signature of Philo-Tristram, and Tristram

374 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
are the productions of William Mcintosh, John Rice Jones and
Elijah Bachus, of this Territory, a triumvirate worthy of each
other and the vile cause of slander and detraction in which
they are engaged. I feel, most sensibly feel, the humiliation
of entering into a controversy with men who have no char
acter to lose, and who have long since (if they ever possessed
them) bid adieu to those sentiments of honor which characterize
the gentleman. Convinced that from a victory over such oppo
nents I could derive neither triumph nor consolation, I shall
confine rayself to the relation of some circumstances and the
exhibition of a few documents to show the credit which ought
to be attached to this respectable fraternity. The existence of a
combination to write Governor Harrison out of office was com
municated to me by a gentleman of veracity, who had it from
Jones himself. To the industry and ingenuit}- of Jones was as
signed the task of hunting up the charges ; these were to be
reduced to form by the classical pen of Bachus, and the Scotch
man (Mcintosh) undertook to usher them to the world. From
a conversation which Jones had with a gentleman of this place,
it appears that his exertions in finding a proper subject to com
mence the attack were for a long time unsuccessful. After in
dulging himself in some violent and indecent abuse of the
President of the United States, he declared in general terms his
dissatisfaction with the conduct of Mr. Harrison as Governor,
and his determination to commence a decided opposition to all
his measures. The gentleman expressed a favorable opinion of
Mr. Harrison's character and conduct, and requested him to
mention an instance of maladministration on his part. After
frequent evasions, he asserted that his treatment of a Mr. Jen
nings was raost cruel and tyrannical. Mr. Jennings was re
ferred to, who expressed the utraost astonishment, and declared,
from his first acquaintance with Governor Harrison he had only
received from that gentleman friendship and politeness. From
this anecdote we may with certaint)- conclude that the worthy
associates will never be in want of materials for their slanders.
" The following queries, published upward of two years ago
in the Farn/c/-'s L/bra/y, contain a few anecdotes of Jones's life.
The name of the author (one of our most respectable citizens)
was left with the printer, but no attention has been paid to it by

A HISTORICAL TRIO. 375
Jones. It is hinted that a new edition, with additions, is shortly
to be given to the world b)- the same author :
•• To John Rice Jones, one of the Legislative Council of India/ia
Territory :
•• By answering the following queries you will not only satisfy
an inquiring public, but relieve yourself from the load of infamy
which your conduct through life has heaped upon you :
¦' Did you come with General Clark's expedition to Vincennes
in the fall of the year 1786? Was Bazadonne not robbed of
merchandise to the amount of .l!6,626?
" Did you not receive the merchandise so taken from Baza
donne, and did you ever account to Bazadonne, to General
Clark, or to any other person else for them?
"When Bazadonne vvas about to commence suit for the re
covery of damages for the merchandise thus fraudulently taken
from him, did you not, in order to secure to yourself that safety
w-hich you knew your guilt would not entitle you to, tell Baza
donne General Clark vvas the only person against whom he
could maintain an action ; that your testimony was all he wanted
to reinstate him in everything he had lost, and until he gave
you a release General Clark might, and would, contend that
y-ou were an improper witness, being the person who seized the
goods (though by his order), therefore, interested, and deprive
him of your testimony ?
¦'And did you not, through your intrigue, swindle Bazadonne
out of a release ?
•'Did General Clark ever receive one cent of the merchan
dise taken from Bazadonne, but yourself the only person bene
fited by them ?
"Was not your general character so infamous in the govern
ment of Spain as to induce an officer of that governraent to for
bid you putting foot on his Catholic Majesty's dominions?
"Did you not, during the period in which you acted as At
torney-General for the Indiana Territory, receive testimony of
acknowledgments from I. B. Laplante and I. Barron, against
whom there were public prosecutions, to enter a nolle frosequi
to these indictments, and thereby filch the country out of its
revenue ?

376 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
"Did you not, to answer your own sinister views, prevail
upon Mr. Clark to have the Judge's library appraised and sold
at private sale for their appraisement? Did not your intrigues
procure you the appointment of appraiser, and did you not value
such of his library as you wanted 300 per cent, less than they
could be purchased in the city of Philadelphia? Did any per
son know the manner your vile imagination had suggested for
the disposal of the Judge's books until you vvere seen loading
them off? Were you not met by a gentleman who offered you
$18 for ' Coke on Littleton,' which you had valued and taken at
$6, and you refused to take it? For shame I Will you, clothed
with the garb of friendship, deprive the widow and fatherless
of their property ?
" Were you not frequently at the loo-table, in a circle of your
neighbors, discovered hiding cards, and, inconsequence of that
vile disposition, were you afterward adraitted to the loo-table?
" Did you not cheat Jaraes Sullivan and Lee Decker out of
£50? " Have you ever settled your account w-ith the administrator
of Judge Clark ? Don't you dispute payment because vou know
it can not be proved? Peter, P.vul .vnd Pompey."'
John Rice Jones was a Welchman, and vvas born in 1750.
He eraigrated to America soon after the Revolutionary war.
and came to the Northwestern Territory in 1786. He was the
first lawyer in Illinois, and one of the ablest she ever had. He
was a classical scholar and an accomplished linguist. His prac
tice e.xtended from Kaskaskia to Vincennes, and ev-en to Clarks
ville. He was not, like most pioneers, a hunter, but devoted
his whole tirae to the practice of his profession and to politics.
Fle was a brilliant speaker, a perfect raaster of satire and in
vective. He removed to "Vincennes previous to the Territorial
organization, and in 1805 was appointed by President Jeft'erson
a member of the Legislative Council of Indiana Territory, hav
ing, in the meantirae, served as Attorney-General of the Terri
tory. In 1809 he and John Johnson revised the laws of the
Territory, most of the work being done hy him.
Soon after the organization of Indiana Territory there wa*
born to John Rice Jones a son who became eminent in the poli-

A HIsrORICAL TRIO. 377
tics of the country, and who still lives in the citv- of Dubuque,
Iowa, He vvas called George Wallace, after a son-in-law of
General Gibson, then Secretary of the Territory, Fle was bred
to the law, but never practiced it, Fle vvas Clerk of the United
States District Court of Missouri in 1826, and vvas aid-de-camp
to General Dodge (who vvas also born at \'incennes) in the
Black Hawk war; vvas subsequentl)- a colonel, and then a ma
jor general of militia, and then a judge of a county court. In
1835 General Jones vvas elected a delegate to Congress from the
Territory of Michigan, and subsequently vvas elected to Con
gress from the Territory of Wisconsin. Afterwards, he served
as Surveyor-General of the Northwest, and in 1848 he was
elected to the United States Senate from Iowa, and in 1852 vvas
re-elected. Mr. Buchanan appointed him Minister Resident
at Bogota, which office he held until 1861, when he was recalled
by President Lincoln. Soon after his return home he vvas ar
rested, and for sixty-four days he vvas a prisoner of state at Fort
Lafayette. No reason vvas ever given General Jones for his
arrest, but it is supposed that it was made on account of one of
his sons going South and entering the Confederate service.
On the 1st day of June, 1883, there was a meeting of the pi
oneers of Iowa, at Burlington, which vvas largely attended.
General A. C. Dodge presided, and on introducing General
Jones to the people said :
•' In early days the pioneers always estimated a workman by
his chips. Here, ladies and gentleman, is the hand (grasping
the hand of General Jones) that chipped Wisconsin out of Mich
igan ; that chipped Iowa out of Wisconsin ; that chipped for us
640 acres of land covering this original town at a mere nominal
price, and to him, more than to any other man or representative,
we are indebted for our railroad grants."
The evening after the celebration the pioneers had a dance.
and in a description of it the Burlington Gazette says :
"The venerable statesman, General Jones, took part in the
dances, and was quite as frisky as the youngest participant."
Another son of John Rice Jones, his eldest, I think, was killed

378 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
at Kaskaskia, IlHnois, in a street rencounter, before Illinois be
came a State. He was a very brilliant man, and his death
caused great sorrow at the tirae. Thus it will be seen that the
talents of the first Attorney-General of Indiana Territory de
scended to his children.
In 1786 news came to the West that Congress had, by a secret
treaty with Spain, agreed to relinquish the free navigation of the
Mississippi river. This greatly incensed the people, and they
determined to resist it. At Vincennes General George Rogers
Clark enlisted a body of raen known as the Wabash regiment,
and by his orders all the Spanish traders at Vincennes and in
Illinois were despoiled of their property, in retaliation for simi
lar offenses alleged to have been committed by the Spaniards
at Natchez, Miss. In these despoliations John Rice Jones took
a leading part. He was the comraissary-general df the maraud
ers, and sold such goods as the regiment could not use. This
raid of General Clark came near embroiling the country in a
war with Spain, but being disowned by the government, it es
caped it. Sorae time after this Mr. Jones removed to Missouri,
where he became a leading man. He vvas a member of the con
vention that made the first constitution of Missouri, was after
ward a candidate for United States Senator against Colonel
Benton and defeated. He was one of the first Judges of the
Supreme Court of Missouri, and held the office until his death,
which occurred in 1824. Like Ratlift' Boon, he vvas a pioneer
of both Indiana and Missouri, and prominent in both.
WiLLIA.VI McIn-iosh.
In the same issue of the Western J J 'orld is an article on Wil
liam Mcintosh, one of the three leaders of the organization to
destroy Governor Harrison's inftuence The reader will note
its extreme bitterness. Seldom, indeed, do we find in the press
of the present da)' an article so personal and so denunciatory.
It is from the pen of the same writer that so mercilessly criti
cised John Rice Jones in the extract prev-iouslv copied. The
writer says :
"Wifliam Mcintosh is by birth a Scotchman. In the Rev
olutionary war he held a subaltern's commission in one of the

.\ HISTORIC.VL TRIO. 379
temporary regiments that vvere raised for the protection of the
King against his external and internal foes. He made his first
appearance at Vincennes as a trader, but, not succeeding in
this business, he took the sure road to the acquirement of a for
tune, by undertaking to act as agent for many of the French citi
zens whose claims to land vvere to be decided by the Governor.
Bv magnifying the difficulty of obtaining confirmations, and other
vile deceptions upon those illiterate and credulous people, he suc
ceeded frequently in obtaining two hundred out of four hundred
acres for barely presenting the claim. In the year 1804 his
portrait was given to the world by Mr. Parke, and crimes of the
blackest hue charged upon him. The Scotchman retorted upon
him some abusive language, which produced from Mr. Parke a
challenge ; the acceptance of this vvas, however, declined b)-
Mclntosh until he could clear his character of the charges that
had been made against it, and which he declared would take
but a short time. To this day, however, upwards of three years
hav-e elapsed and no attempt of the kind has been made (I can
safely aver), nor ever will, for two powerful reasons : The first
is that his character is of too deep a dye to require even a cen-
tur)- to cleanse it of its stains ; the other, his unutterable aver
sion to the smell of gunpowder. He surely is the v^eriest
coward that ever bit the dust. It is not my intention to give a
history of that man's iniquities, but shall content myself with
the exhibition of the following documents, taken from the office
of the land companies of this district." [Here follow several
affidavits showing that Mcintosh had obtained land from the
makers by duplicity and fraud.]
Mcintosh vvas not only- involved in a personal difficulty vvith
Benjamin Parke on account of his opposition to Governor Har
rison, but he had an altercation wdth Thoraas Randolph, a warra
personal and political friend of the Governor, growing out of
the same matter, in which the latter came near losing his life.
Mcintosh cut Randolph with a knife, and he lay for weeks in a
most dangerous condition .
The personal friends of the Governor were eneraies of Mc
intosh, and did what they could to drive him out of the Terri
tory, but without success. His intelligence and wealth gave him

380 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
an influence that could not be entirely destroyed. When Gov
ernor Harrison left Vincennes to take command of the North
western army he turned over the executive affairs of the Ter
ritory to John Gibson, its Secretary. During General Gibson's
term as Acting Governor Mcintosh was a large contractor for
supplying the army with rations. General W. H. H. Terrell.
of Indianapolis, has in. his possession a raanuscript letter of
Mcintosh, which I have been permitted to copy. It is as fol
lows :
" Sir — At Vincennes the contractor has not any quantity of
flour in store, and for several days I have been entirely- supplied
from the country. Measures have been taken by him to import
frora the State of Kentucky a quantity sufficient to meet the
several requisitions which have been made, but I am as yet
wit'nout inforraation of the time in which anv- part of it may ar
rive here. Of meat, whiskv^ and the other component parts there
is a sufficiency at my disposal to comply with the requisitions.
" I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
" Will McIntosh. for the Co/ttractor.
" Vi//cc//ncs. Sef tember 2i, 18 12.
" General Gibson."
The letter has never before been published, and is valuable in
showing the condition of the coramissariat, and the kind of
articles then believed to be necessary to support an army in the
field. On the 4th of July, 1883, I had a very interesting interview
with Mrs. Adeline D. Wolverton, of ^"incennes, and obtained
from her much valuable information. Mrs. Wolverton is a
daughter of Dr. Elias McNamee, and is the widow of Dr. Wol
verton, both of whora vvere prorainent in early Indiana history.
She remembers William Mcintosh well, and sav-s he was a rich
Scotch merchant, of elegant manners and good social position,
notwithstanding' the fact that he had a negro mistress, by whom
he had a famil)- of children. Mcintosh vvas an infidel, and he
and Beaubien, Currie, Flowers and Burbeck — all European
Free-Thinkers — purchased a large body of land on the Illinois
side of the Wabash river, upon which they located a city and

A HISTORIC.VL 'rRIO. 38 1
cafled it '• Mount Carmel."" Mcintosh removed to Mount Car
mel and lived there until he died. Rev. Aaron Wood, in a re
cent pubHcation. thus speaks of Mcintosh and his death :
•• It is well known that the infidel, W. Mcintosh, of the Grand
Rapids of the Wabash, vvas the father of illegitimate mulatto
children by old Lydia, his black housekeeper. I saw him car
ried to his grave, and Lydia. her two daughters and one son
were left poor, and others got his land. His son became a dis
tinguished preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal Church,
for it is due to Colonel Mcintosh to say that he gave him a good
education in the English and Latin languages and mathematics,
so that he was, in his time, among the few educated men of his
church." The education given the raulatto bo)- did much to atone for
the lax morals of the infidel, as it enabled the former to assist
in elevating the race to which his mother s blood allied him.
William Mcintosh vvas nearly related to Sir James Mcintosh,
a distinguished English philosopher and statesman, and had he
not become inv-olved in a quarrel with Governor Harrison must
hav-e risen to the front rank in power and influence in the new
Territory. His antagonism to the Governor put him under the
ban of those who controlled the affairs of the Territory, and
prevented him from reaching the position his education and
talents entitled him to. He and Jones, and Bachus, charged
the Governor vvith having cheated the Indians out of their lands,
and the Governor determined to sue Mcintosh in a court of law
t'or slander, believing that would be the best way to vindicate
himself and show the correctness of his conduct. Dawson, in
his life of General Harrison, goes into this matter with partic
ularity, and asserts that in instituting the suit the General was
governed solely by a desire to protect his reputation from slan
derous assaults. Dawson says that Mcintosh had been for
many years hostile to the Governor, and was not believed to be
very partial to the government of the United States.
It appears by a deposition made in 1811 by Colonel John
Small, that prior to the year 1805, Mcintosh had been upon the
best terms with Governor Harrison, but that, in that year, the
Governor gave him great offense by his advocating and pro-

382 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
moting the measure of the Territory going into the second grade
of government ; from which circumstance Mr. Sraall believed,
and asserted on his oath, that Mcintosh bore the greatest en
mity towards Governor Harrison.
It thus appears that the Governor's exertions to iraprove the
condition of the Territory by giving it a representative govern
ment had drawn down upon him the enmity of Mcintosh, who
strictly adhered to the declaration he had made to do the Gov
ernor all the injury in his power.
Suit was brought against Mcintosh in the Supreme Court of
the Territory, and vvas, from its character, well calculated to
draw the attention and excite a strong interest in the minds of
the people of the Territory. Of the three judges, one was a
personal friend of the Governor, and another of Mcintosh.
Both these gentlemen, when the suit was called, left the bench,
and the Hon, Waller Taylor, then recently arrived in the Terri
tory, was left to preside alone in the suit. To insure an impartial
jury the court naraed two elisors, who chose forty-eight citizens
as a panel frora which the jury was to be taken. From this
forty-eight the plaintiff and defendant each struck twelve, and
from the remaining twenty-four the jury was drawn by lot.
" Before a crowded audience the trial was continued from 10
A. M. till I o'clock at night. Every person concerned in the
Indian Department, or who could know anything of the circum
stances of the late treaty at Fort Wayne, was examined, and
every latitude that was asked for or attempted bv- the defendant
in the examination permitted. Finding that the testimony of all
the witnesses went to prove the justice and integrity of the Gov
ernor's conduct, the defendant began to ask questions relating to
sorae points of the Governor's civil adrainistration. To this the
jury, as well as the court, objected, the latter observ-ing that it vvas
necessary that the exaraination should be confined to the matter
at issue. But, at the earnest request of the Governor, the de
fendant was permitted to pursue his own course, and examine
the witnesses upon every point which he might think proper.
The defendant's counsel, abandoning all idea of justification,
pleaded only for mitigation of daraages. After a retirement of
one hour the jury returned a verdict of $4,000 damages. To
pay this sum a large amount of Mcintosh's lands were exposed

-V HISTORICAL TRIO. 3^3
to sale, and, in the Governor's absence in command of the ami)-,
vvas bought in by his agent. Two-thirds of this property he
afterward returned to Mcintosh, and the remaining part he
gave to some of the orphan children of several distinguished
citizens who fell in the war of 1812."
The writer in the Western World, frora whom I have already
quoted, closes his article with this scathing notice of
Elijah B.vchus.
"From the specimen which Mr. Bachus has exhibited of his
principles in the short time he has resided in the Territory, there ,
is every reason to believe that, if the history of his previous life
was as well known, that it would be found to contain as many
acts of perfidy as that of his worthy coadjutors. To say noth
ing of his official conduct, which has been severely arraigned,
he has been conv-icted, by a gentleman of respectability, of the
most egregious falsehoods and as vile a swindling trick as ever
was committed by a man who professed to be a gentleman.
"The sole intention of this publication, Mr. Editor, is to show
the world the real characters of those who, to gratify their ma-
Ugnant dispositions, have attempted, under the mask of patriot
ism, to undermine the character of Governor Harrison by the
foulest aspersions."
The fight against Governor Harrison, as the reader must know,
resulted disastrously to his assailants. It served to draw his
friends the closer to him, as it always will when one is unjustly
attacked. He was afterward elected President of the United
States, the highest office in the world, and the history of his
country makes honorable mention of hira as soldier and states
man. But few there are who know anything about John Rice
Jones, William Mcintosh, or Elijah Bachus. In assailing the
Governor they made it impossible for thera to reach a high posi
tion among a people who loved and revered him, and the only
one of the three who ever held office afterward was Jones, and
to attain it he had to leave Indiana and go west of the Missis
sippi river.

BENJAMIN PARKE.

In Drake^s Dictionary of American Biografhy is this notice
of Benjamin Parke : " Parke, Benjamin, jurist ; born in New
Jersey in 1777 ; died at Salem, Ind., July 12, 1835. A Western
pioneer. Fle settled in Indiana about 1800 ; was a'delegate to
Congress in 1805-8 ; was soon after appointed by Mr. Jefferson
a Judge of the District Court, and held the office until his death.
President Indiana Historical Society."
Reader, isn't this the first tirae you ever heard of Benjamin
Parke? And yet he was a leading raan in Indiana linder both
the Territorial and State governments, and a county on the
Wabash bears his narae. If Benjamin Parke is so soon forgot
ten, what hope for earthly iraraortalitv have you or I? I have
not been able to learn anything about Benjamin Parke's
boyhood, further than that he obtained a good common school
education. When twenty years old he eraigrated to Kentucky
and settled at Lexington. He soon afterward entered the law
office of Jaraes Brown, once Minister to France, and in due
tirae was admitted to the bar. Between him and his preceptor
a friendship was formed which lasted while they lived.
In 1801 Judge Parke and his young wife came to Indiana,
and took up their abode in the town of Vincennes, then the cap
ital of the Territory. He opened a law office, and was soon
appointed Attorney-General of the Territory — the second one
appointed. He was a member of the first Territorial Legislature,
which met in Vincennes July 20, 1805. The Legislative Coun
cil and House of Representatives elected him a delegate to
Congress, and he served in that capacity from that time until
1808, when he was appointed by President Jeft'erson a Terri
torial Judge. He remained in this office until Indiana became

BENJ.VMIN PARKE. 385
a State. He was a member of the convention that met at Cory
don on the loth day of June, i8i6,to form a State constitution,
and took a leading part in its deliberations. On the admission
of Indiana into the Union President Madison appointed him
United States District Judge, vvith circuit court powers, a posi
tion he held until his death.
But it was not only as a legislator and magistrate that Judge
Parke endeared himself to the people of Indiana. When the
savage warrior, with tomahawk and scalping-knife, marched
against the defenseless settlers of the frontier. Judge Parke
raised a company of dragoons and went to their relief. He was
in the bloody battie of Tippecanoe, and greatly distinguished
himself for bravery. When the gallant Major Daviess fell Cap
tain Parke was promoted to the majority and became com
mander of the cavalry. General Harrison thus speaks of him
as a military officer: " He was in every respect equal to any
cavalry officer of his rank that I have ever seen. As in every
thing else which he undertook, he made himself acquainted
vvith the tactics of that arm, and succeeded in bringing his
troops, both as regards field maneuvering and the use of the
saber, to as great perfection as I have ever known."
During the Territorial government, for several years Judge
Parke acted as Indian agent, and acquired great influence over
the savage men of the forest. He was peculiarly fitted for the
duties of this position, by reason of his knowledge of the Indian
character, and his patience, fortitude and bravery.
The late Hon, John I. Morrison many years ago conducted,
at Salem, a seminary of a very high grade. Judge Parke took
great interest in this school, as he did in everything that was
calculated to make men wiser and better. Mr. Morrison fur
nished the author the following beautiful and touching tribute to
the memory of his early friend and benefactor :
" Knight-stovvn, Ind., Jan. 23, 1882.
" William Wesley Woollen, Esq.:
" Dear Sir — In the spring of 1827 I became acquainted with
Hon. Benjamin Parke. Sarah B. and Wm. Barton, his only
children, both of whom he survived, were pupils of my first
25

386 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
school in Salem, Washington county, Indiana. In person the
Judge was tall, nearly six feet, but spare in habit, and of a
rather delicate frame. His dignified appearance irapressed me
with awe and reverence. He looked so much like a philosopher
— like my ideals, Socrates and Plato — I fancied I raight admire
him as I was wont to admire them, but concluded I could never
love hira. What a mistake ! I soon felt that I had found- a
second father, one whora I could not help but love and vener
ate. In all matters pertaining to my school he manifested the
liveliest interest. If I had been his own son he could have done
nothing more. He never failed to invite his distinguished
guests from abroad, who frequently shared his hospitality, to
visit the school. Among the number I remeraber well Governor
William Hendricks, Governor Jonathan Jennings and General
William Henry Harrison. On such occasions the Judge showed
a singular partiality for the class in Colburn's raental arithme
tic, and seemed unwilling to withdraw before his friends had
an opportunity to witness the drill of his favorite class. I
wondered many a time what there could be in operations so
simple and practical to interest the mind of a jurist so learned
and profound.
"At horae and abroad he spared no pains to present the
claims of the seminary to the public, and to his active efforts
and potent influence justly belongs a large share of the success
achieved in former days by that institution.
" He was ever on the lookout for opportunities to do good.
especially to the young, the poor, and the w-ayward. What
made other people happy seemed to increase his own happiness,
and if ever there was a man who performed works of disin
terested benevolence he surely was the man.
"The training and education of his own children claimed
much time and attention. The result was, they were regarded
by all as model pupils in deportment and scholarship.
" He never permitted his son to leave school without first ob
taining leave of absence, even when failing health required his
presence and watchful care while court was in session at Ind
ianapolis. "Judge Parke could not endure anything like arrogance and
pride. Fle was very careful to guard his son on this point. He

BENJ.VMIN P.VRKE. 387
encouraged him to ring the seminary bell, and associate, at
stated times, with the children of a very poor neighbor, who
came from the country to enjoy the advantages of the seminary.
Thus did he strive to crush out any false notions of superiority
which might be entertained on account of his father being a
Judge of the United States Court.
"Judge Parke vvas a hard student. He had a large library
of very select books, not wholly confined to the law, but well
supplied vvith standard works of history, philosophy, and clas
sical literature The Judge vvas scrupulously e.xact in all his
dealings and engagements.
'• He never failed to attend the regular sessions of this court,
so long as he vvas able to make the journey to IndianapoHs on
horseback. '¦ He was not long confined to his bed. His last hours were
calm and peaceful, and as I stood by his bedside and watched
his last pulse, and closed his eyes when he ceased to breathe,
my heart bled for the loss of my dearest friend and constant
benefactor. Yours truly, John I. Morrison."
Honorable Barnabas C. Hobbs was for raany years an inraate
of Judge Parke's family. He has great reverence for the dead
jurist's memory, and in a note to the author gives this graphic
description of the Judge and his family :
•' His wife's maiden name was EHza Barton. They were
married at Lexington. Parke was an intimate of Henry Clay.
He took his wife to Vincennes when he entered upon service,
that being then the chief town in the State and the residence
of Governor Harrison. While there a great intimacy existed
between his family and the Governor's. He was on the Gov
eraor's staff in his treaty with Tecumseh and in the battle of
Tippecanoe, and could relate some very interesting events in
connection with this service. He traveled on horseback during
all his judicial service. His last saddle-horse was a magnificent
fellow, presented to him by his son-in-law, Abram Hite, a mer
chant of Louisville, Kentucky. He reached Wayne County-
Court by a circuitous journey along the Ohio river to Law
renceburg, and then up the Whitewater valley. His first case

388 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
in Wayne county was a criminal case. He sat on a log, the
court being held in the forest. The case was a theft. A young
man had stolen a twenty-five cent pocket-knife from John
Smith's store. Judge Parke rode all the way from Vincennes
to try this case, the only one on the docket.
"Judge Parke was honest and generous to the core. He
scorned all subterfuge, dishonesty and hypocrisy. Whfle at
Vincennes he was induced to unite his fortunes with two other
raen in the organization and management of a bank. He, of
course, was busy with professional duties, and left the manage
ment of the bank and his own fortune to the other partners.
They found a desirable time and way to let the bank break and
to hide its resources, leaving Judge Parke to attend to its liabih
ties. These reverses made him bankrupt for life, or nearly so.
All who knew him knew his honesty and integrity, and admired
his patience and resignation to his fate. After Governor Har
rison left Vincennes Judge Parke moved to Salem, in Washing
ton county, a place at that time more central. He took an inex
pensive house, and year by year used all his savings to cancel
his bank indebtedness. He closed it all out a short time before
he died. He was for years afflicted with tubercular consump
tion, and must have struggled with much infirmity while steadily
and faithfully performing his judicial duties. He suffered also
from paralysis of his right side, so that he could not use his
right hand in writing. He overcame this disadvantage by learn
ing to write with his left hand, which he used with elegance and
dispatch. " He had two children, a daughter and a son. He took his
daughter with him to New Albany — being a delicate and beau
tiful maiden of fifteen — to join in his country's welcome of La
fayette, in his visit to America, in 1825, when Abram Hite, an
accomplished young merchant of Louisville, became fascinated
and afterward married her. She died young, leaving a littie
son, whom the grandmother claimed and took to her Salem
home. " Barton was the son's name. He vvas a delicate but talented
boy, and accompanied his father very often in his rides into the
country. He was a student in the county seminary, and was
making good progress in a preparation for college when, in

BENJAMIN P.VRKE. 389
i^33> the town of Salem lost one-twentieth of its citizens by
cholera. Barton and his sister's Httle boy were both taken, and
Benjamin and Eliza Parke vvere left childless.
"Not long after this, in his loneliness he invited me to board
vvith him while I was attending school at the seminary, and to
have a care of the family garden and stable, while he vvas away
at court in IndianapoHs.
'• On one occasion we vvere agreeably surprised to have a call
from General Harrison, who vvas making a visit by saddle from
North Bend to Vincennes, and dined with us. I vvas much in
terested in witnessing the old-time friendship of these pioneer
officials. After dinner I brought out the General's horse and
helped him to his stirnip, and they parted to meet on earth no
more. During the summer of 1835 the destroyer finished his
work. I vvas by him in his last hours, saw him expire, and,
assisted by David Campbell, Professor Campbell's father, of
Crawfordsville, prepared him for his narrow resting-place on
the hill west of Salem.
" Benjamin Parke was a Christian in the true acceptation of
the term, though he identified himself with no religious denomi
nation. He attached much value to the spiritual acceptation
and experience of Christian life. To him it must be a true life
in the soul. He could not be satisfied with appearances without
a practical exhibition of its genuineness. He very often rode
out three miles into the country to sit in silence with the Friends
at their midweek meetings, as well as on the Sabbath, and was
as appreciative of their spiritual communion as themselves. He
read and enjoyed their books, and kept them in his library,
which was perhaps the best, at that time, in the State. When
death was near he was very conscious and calm, and smiled at
all my little attentions ; and when the last suffocating cough vvas
over he seemed quite ready, with Kirke White, who sank under
like circumstances, " Henceforth, O world, no more of thy desires,
No more of hope, of anxious, vagrant hope.
I abjure all. Now other cares engross me,
And my tired soul, with emulative haste,
Looks to its God and plumes its wings for Heaven."
While a resident of Vincennes Judge Parke was mainly in-

39° BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
strumental in the formation of a public library. Under his care
it grew until it contained over 1,500 choice books, embracing
standard works in many branches of science and departments
of literature. He was a member of the first Board of Trustees
of Vincennes University, and helped to organize and start that
institution of learning. He was the father of the movement
that established at Indianapolis a law library, which has grown
to be one of the best of the kind in the country. It was largely
by his influence and activity that the Indiana Historical Society
was formed, once an institution of much promise, but now
scarcely known. Would that we had another Benjamin Parke
to put life into this corpse, in order that the rich treasures of
Indiana history now going to waste might be preserved. If
the spirits of the departed are permitted to know what tran
spires on earth, that of Benjamin Parke must view with horror
the wreck of the edifice he helped to build.
A warra friendship existed between Judge Parke and the late
Judge Dewey. In going to court at Indianapolis it was the
custora of Judge Dewey, who lived at Charlestown, to come by
way of Salem, that he might have Judge Parke's company to
the capital. Mrs. Parke used to say that her husband's eyes
shone at the sight of Dewey as they did at the sight of no other
raan. When Judge Parke died the bar of Indiana selected
Judge Dewey to deliver an address comraeraorative of his
virtues. This address was a magnificent tribute of one great
lawyer to the memory of another. It closes as follow-s : " His
venerable form is in the tomb, but his example is with us in
that his spirit lives and still kindly admonishes us to consecrate
the remainder of our lives to life's great purposes, to duty and
to usefulness."

THOMAS RANDOLPH.

Thomas Randolph, third Attorney-General of Indiana Ter
ritory, was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1771. He belonged
to the celebrated family- of that name, and was a second cousin of
John Randolph of Roanoke. He graduated with high honor
at William and Mary's College, and subsequently studied law.
He served one term in the Virginia Legislature, a position at
that time of rauch honor and influence. He raarried, when a
young man, a daughter of Sir John Skipvvith, who bore him one
child, a daughter, and shortly afterwards died. He was an ap
plicant for a position in the regular army, and in May, 1808, was
appointed to a lieutenancy, but having previously emigrated to
Indiana Territory, where he had many influential friends, he
declined the commission. Soon after coming to Indiana Gov
ernor Harrison appointed him Attorney-General of the Tei-ri-
tory, a position of honor, but one which brought him but little
money. In June, 1810, he married Catherine Lawrence, a step- daugh
ter of General Jaraes Dill, and a grand-daughter of General
Arthur Saint Clair. By her he had one daughter — Mrs. William
Sheets, of Indianapolis — a lady of culture and high breeding,
and to whom the author is indebted for much of the material
used in the preparation of this sketch.
Mr. Randolph was one of a coterie of young Virginians who
came to Indiana in early times, and whose influence upon the
manners, customs and politics of the Territory was widespread
and deep. Their chief vvas William Henry Harrison, then Gov
ernor of the Territory, to whose fortunes they clung with great
steadfastness and fidelity.
Chaperoned as Mr. Randolph was by Governor Harrison, he

392 biographical and historical SKETCHES.
at once took rank among the leading men of the Territory. At
that time there was an effort being made to nullify the provis
ions of the ordinance of 1781, forbidding slavery- in the North
western Territory. At the head of this movement was Gov
ernor Harrison, and he had as aids the Virginians about him,
araong thera Mr. Randolph. The leader of the Free State
party, or the party opposed to any change in the compact be
tween Virginia and the United States in relation to the territory
northwest of the Ohio river, was Jonathan Jennings, afterwards
Governor of the State. In 1809 Jennings became a candidate
for delegate to Congress. The Virginia, or pro-slavery party,
chose Randolph to make the race against him, and the contest
which ensued was active, bitter and exciting. When the votes
were counted it was found that Jennings's majority vvas thirty-
nine, but Mr. Randolph and his friends contended that this
majority was made up by votes illegally counted. A contest
was determined upon, and money raised to prosecute it. Mr.
Randolph went to Washington, having previously giv-en Mr.
Jennings notice of contest, and appeared before the Committee
on Elections. He commenced a speech before the committee,
bul^was interrupted by Mr. Jennings, who moved that he be
required to reduce his objections to writing. The committee
ordered this to be done, and Mr. Randolph complied vvith the
order. A sharp and acrimonious debate took place before the
committee between the contestant and the contestee, during
which Mr. Randolph said :
" Mr. Chairman — I have but a few observations to make in
reply, for I certainly am not disposed to controvert arguments
and positions perfectly in accord with my ideas on this subject,
and which I have contended for before this and the committee
to whom was referred the memorial from the Territory. I most
sincerely wish that the arguments of the gentleman may con
vince you of the legality of the election, as I myself believe it
to have been. Much rather had I that this should be your de
cision than the seat of the delegate should be vacated, unless on
the other points before you, because this has been seized on by
a pettifogging faction (who, like drowning men, catch at
straws), to prove the arbitrary conduct of the Gov^ernor. Such

THOMAS KANOOI.PH. 393
are their contemptible artifices to render unpopular a virtuous
and great man. by representing that he had trampled upon the
rights and privileges of the people. I am not a Httle astonished,
sir, to see the change in sentiment which has taken place in that
gentieman. I did not expect a change of situation would have
so metamorphosed him. He has chimed in with this faction in
the clamor against this man in the vain hope of rendering him
unpopular. Such a change should not be produced in me by
personal considerations." [Here Mr. Randolph vvas called to
order. He apologized by declaring that his surprise had pro
duced these observations, but added, he stated nothing but the
truth.] The committee came to the conclusion that the election for
delegate was without authority of law, and, therefore, that Mr.
Jennings was not entitled to his seat. They closed their report
by submitting the following resolution :
"Resolved, That the election held for a delegate to Congress
for the Indiana Territory, on the 22d of May, 1809, being with
out authority of law, is void, and, consequently, the seat of
Jonathan Jennings as a delegate for that Territory is hereb}- de
clared to be vacant."
The report of the election committee vvas considered in com
mittee of the whole and adopted, but on coming before the
House for final action that body refused to concur in it, but
confirmed Mr. Jennings in his seat.
This contest between Mr. Jennings and Mr. Randolph begat
much bad blood. They both resorted to the hand-bill — a
weapon much used by the politicians of that day. Randolph
hand-bifled Jennings, and Jennings hand-billed Randolph. Each
was severe on the other, but Randolph's invective and sarcasm
were the more cutting and biting of the two. He closes one of
his letters to the public as follows :
" If at any time I have been led into indiscretion in my de
fense it has proceeded from the injustice and violence of my
opponents. Tmth may sometimes, with propriety, be sup
pressed — it will always have most force when mildly expressed —

394 BIOGKAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
but though uttered in the warmest language, with the keenest
satire, it may often be excused. The feelings of the man too
frequently gain, the mastery of sober judgment. I confess
my natural sanguine disposition, impatient at injustice, often
forces rae to express myself in terms which might be softened.
In whatever garb, however, it may be decked, truth wifl at
length prevail."
The feud between Randolph and Jennings extended to their
friends, and many bitter things were said by the latter of each
other. Waller Taylor, then a Territorial judge, and afterwards
a Senator in Congress, thus writes to Mr. Randolph :
"Jeffersonville, June 3, 1809.
' ' Dear Sir — There has no circumstance transpired to throw
further Hght on the result of the Dearborn election since I saw
you. Jennings's conduct is a little mysterious, but he still says
he is elected. He states that he got 143 votes, that you got 67,
and Jones an inconsiderable number ; one township he had not
heard from when he left there, but he apprehends no injury from
that, as it was in a part of the county the least populous. I ex
pected the fellow would have been so much elated with his suc
cess 'that he would have been insolent and overbearing, but he
says very little on the subject, and is silently preparing to go on
to the city. Our meeting was not cordial on my part ; I refused
to speak to him until he threw himself in my way and made the
first overtures, and then I would not shake hands with him. He
has heard, I am told, of ev-erything I said against him, which,
by the by, was rather on the abusive order, but he revenges him
self on me by saying that he never did anything to injure me,
and professes esteem. He is a pitiful coward, and certainly not
of consequence enough to excite resentment nor any other sen
timent than contempt, Fle may rest in peace for me. I wifl no
longer continue to bother myself about him. I expect, before
you receive this, you will have passed through the list of your
enemies in asking them over the Wabash to partake of your
company and the amusement you wish to afford them. I make
no doubt they will decline your invitation, although it may be
couched in the most polite and ceremonious style ; if they do.

-rnOM.VS RANDOLPH. 395
you will have acquitted yourself agreeable to the rules of mod
ern etiquette, and can be then at liberty to act afterward to them
in whatever way may best suit your humor. I hope the junta
will be put down Hke Lucifer, ' never to rise again.' I have no
news to communicate. I shall expect you on shortly. In the
meantime, believe me to be respectfully yours,
"Waller Taylor."
William Mcintosh, who had been Territorial Treasurer, be
came inimical to Governor Harrison, and headed a movement
intended to destroy his character and influence. He made slan
derous statements about the Governor, which, coming to the
latter's knowledge, highly incensed him. He brought a suit
against Mcintosh for slander, and employed Randolph to pros
ecute it. The latter called to his aid General W. Johnston and
Eflis Glover, two eminent lawyers of that day, and the three
successfully prosecuted the suit, obtaining judgment in favor of
the Governor against Mcintosh for $4,000. Mcintosh was a
Scotchman of large fortune, who, for many years, had been
hostile to Governor Harrison, and w-ho was not believed to be
very partial to the government of the United States. Governor
Harrison had a sufficient amount of Mcintosh's property exe
cuted and sold to pay the judgraent, but to show that his suit
vvas not instituted for raoney, but to maintain his good name, he
at'terwards returned to Mcintosh two-thirds of this property,
and gave the remaining third to some of the orphan children
of persons who fell in the last war vvith Great Britain.
A bitter feud between Mcintosh and Randolph grew out of
this suit, which culminated in a personal altercation between
them. Mcintosh stabbed Randolph in the back with a dirk,
and Randolph cut IMcIntosh in the face with a small pocket-
knife, the only weapon he had about hira. Mcintosh was but
shghtly hurt, but Randolph was so badly injured that for weeks
it was supposed he would die. In a letter of General Jaraes
Difl to Mr. Randolph, dated October 19, 1809, that gentieman
says :
" I am glad to hear you are out of danger, and am really as
tonished you carae off so well, considering the precipitate and
^inconsiderate manner you engaged. I hope, however, it will

396 biographical and historical sketches.
have the effect of stopping the slanderous and libelous pubhca-
tions of that wretch, Mcintosh, and if it does this you wifl not
have risked your life for nothing."
Under date of October 15, 1809, Jonathan Taylor thus writes
him :
" I had been much distressed for your recovery until I re
ceived your letter by Mr. Tanahill, having before heard of the
affray between you and Mcintosh. I have with great pleasure,
I assure you, heard, to-day, by Mr. Jones, that you w^ere en
tirely over the wounds."
Under date of October 13, 1809, Waller Taylor, in a letter to
Mr. Randolph, says :
' ' I am happy to hear that you are so nearly recovered from
the wound given you by Sawney. I wish you could batter his
Scotch carcass well for it."
During the summer of 1809 sev^eral articles appeared in the
Vincennes Sun severely denunciatory of Mr. Randolph. Thev
had fictitious signatures, but Mr, Randolph suspected they vvere
either written by Mr. Jennings or vvere instigated by him. On
the 3d of June, 1809, he addressed a letter to Mr. Stout, the ed
itor of the Sun, demanding the name of the author or authors
of these objectionable coramunications. Mr. Stout replied, giv
ing the name of Dr. Elias McNamee. The next day Mr. Ran
dolph sent Dr. McNamee a letter by the hands of Major Jona
than Taylor, demanding redress for the injury done him. Dr.
McNamee replied, saying, '• I must leave you to seek that re
dress you may think most proper." The same day Mr. Ran
dolph wrote him, saying: " I hope a polite inv-itation to meet
me on the other side of the river Wabash, in the Illinois Ter
ritory, will be accepted." Instead of accepting the " polite in
vitation," Dr. McNamee vvent before Judge Vanderburg and
swore " that Thoraas Randolph, of the county of Knox, Esquire,
hath challenged him to fight a duel, and that he hath good
reason to believe, and doth verily believe, that the said Thomas

'I'HOMAS RANDOLPH. 397
Randolph will take his life or do him some bodily harm." Mr.
Randolph was arrested and put under bonds to keep the peace.
Dr. McNamee vvas born and bred a Qiiaker, and conse-
quentiy vvas opposed, on conscientious grounds, to accepting
Randolph's challenge. If Randolph knew this when he chal
lenged him his action vvas not in accordance with the tode.
In the next number of the Sun he published a long commu
nication, reciting the correspondence between him and Dr.
McNamee, and closing as follows :
" In taking leave of you, Dr, McNamee, as a scoundrel no
longer worthy of my notice, I pronounce you a base slanderer,
an infamous liar and a contemptible coward."
Such vvas the ¦' modern etiquette " to which Waller Taylor,
in the letter copied above, referred.
Mr. Randolph vvas of such a fiery nature that he often got
into trouble. In a letter written by him to Captain Samuel C.
Vance, of Lawrenceburg, he thus speaks of his relations with
John Johnson, afterwards a judge of the Supreme Court :
"J. Johnson's address to me as the author of 'Alpheus,' I
suppose, has reached you before this. It excited my risibility
without creating in the slightest degree sentiments either of irri
tation or mortification ; and believing it unworthy of notice I
have passed it over in silence. On his appearance in this place
he prepared and walked with a large hickory stick for some
days. Informed by my friends that they had good reason to
believe it was intended for me, and earnestly urged by them to
place myself in a situation for defense, I thoughtlessly followed
their advice, and carried also a stick for one Evening and then
threw it away, censuring myself for the folly of suspecting his
intentions. A day or two afterwards, however, the truth was
discovered that his was a weapon of defense and not offense,
for he apprehended an assault on him by me, for which I had
no cause save his hostile appearance. Warlike appearances
have vanished, and we treat each other politely in court, and
touch hats as we pass on the streets."
In a letter to Captain Vance, dated January lo, 1811, Mr.
Randolph says :

398 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HIS-PORICAL SKETCHES.
" I have nothing to expect from Mr. Jennings more than, all
the injury he can do me. His unremitted exertion to identify
me in all things with the Governor proceeds from his inimical
disposition toward me. If he means, in this side way, to pro
duce on the minds of his hearers that I am the echo of the Gov
ernor, he is a fool and a liar."
My purpose in drawing so copiously on the letters at my dis
posal is to show the reader the temper of the men who were
prominent in the politics of Indiana in Territorial days. In no
other way could I convey to hira so forcibly their principles and
raanner of action.
When General Harrison inaugurated the Wabash campaign
of 181 1 it was his intention to give Mr. Randolph a com
mand, but circumstances made this impossible. Mr. Randolph,
however, accompanied him as a volunteer aid, and fell at the
battle of Tippecanoe, pierced by an Indian bullet. The gallant
Jo Daviess also fell, and Waller Taylor, a major in the army.
and a bosom friend of Randolph, caused them to be buried
side by side on the sanguinary field. Before committing their
bodies to the grave he took a pin frora Randolph's bosom, cut
off a lock of his hair, and on his return home gav-e them to
Randolph's widow. He also cut the initials of the names of the
dead soldiers on the tree under which they were buried, and
years afterward Mrs. Sheets, Randolph's daughter, visited Tip
pecanoe and found the spot where her distinguished father vvas
laid at rest.
General James Dill, the husband of Mrs. Randolph's mother,
thus broke the sad news of Randolph's death to his family. His
letter was written at Vincennes and dated November 12, 181 1 :
" My Dear Bess — It appears as if misfortune vvere to attend
us in all situations and circumstances. News has at length ar
rived from the army. They have had a severe conflict, but a
signal victory. The worst of it is that manv- brave men have
been killed, more especially amongst those who were immedi
ately around the Governor. I wrote to you that Randolph had
joined the army. I wish it had not been so, but it is now too
late to wish. You will no doubt endeavor to support the trials

rilOMAS RANDOLPH. 3(.)()
heaven has thought proper to inflict. I wish I vvere with )'ou,
but that is impossible. The man who filled the place to which
I was appointed (a Colonel Owens), was shot through the heart
by the side of the Governor. Many have been killed and more
wounded, but there is one consolation for the friends of those
slain — they died gloriously and in the arms of victor)-. I hope
vou are all well. May God protect you. Yours, as ever,
•¦J.VMES Dill."
Mrs. Sheets has an oil portrait of her distinguished father.
which was painted in Richmond in 1806. It is that of a man in
the prime of life, vvith high, broad forehead, over which the
hair falls in ringlets, a long and delicate nose, dark hazel eyes
and a large mouth. The lower part of the face is too small for
the face to be symmetrical. x\ long queue hangs down the back,
and the whole appearance is that of a high-bred, intellectual
man. Had the original of this picture lived to the alloted age
of mankind he must have risen to great eminence in the history
of the State, for he had unquestionable talents, a classical edu
cation, a fine person and a host of friends.

WILLIAMSON DUNN.

Would that I had the pen of Dickens that I might draw Wil
liamson Dunn as he was. I design no panegyric of the old
pioneer, and if what I say appears extravagant, I beg to assure
the reader that Judge Dunn was one of the grandest men I
ever knew. I knew him well ; he was my friend when I needed
friends ; he was my counselor when I needed counsel, and if I
can do aught to honor his meraory, I shall only be paying a
debt I owe.
Williamson Dunn was born December 25, 1781, near Crow's
station, within a few miles of Danville, Kentucky. He was the
third son of Samuel Dunn, a native of Ireland, who at the age
of thirteen emigrated from the north of Ireland to America, and
settled in Rockingham county, Virginia. The family were
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, and transmitted to their descend
ants the characteristics of that tenacious and combative race.
Samuel Dunn was in the bloody battle fought with the Indians
at the mouth of the Big Kanawha, October 10, 1774, and after
wards served with distinction as a soldier in the Revolutionary
war. He afterward removed to Kentucky, where Wflliamson,
the subject of this sketch, was born and reared to manhood.
The son inherited his father's bravery and patriotism, and these
qualities descended to his children. As evidence of this fact
there has never been a call to defend the country's flag since
Williarason Dunn had issue, without his children and his grand
children answering, "We are here."
In September, i8o6,Williamson Dunn was married to Miriam
Wilson, in Garrard county, Kentucky, and three years after
ward, with his wife and two children, he emigrated to Indiana
Territory and settled in the woods where Hanover now is. This

VVILLI. VMSON DUNN. 4OI
continued his home until his death, except while he was regis
ter of the land office at Crawfordsville.
When Mr. Dunn came to Indiana he brought vvith hira three
negro slaves. They were a part of his inheritance from his
father's estate, and constituted a large part of it. But he hated
slavery, and brought his slaves to Indiana that thev might be
free. In 181 1 General Harrison, then Governor of Indiana Terri
tory, gave Mr. Dunn two commissions — one as a Justice of the
Peace, the other as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of
Jefferson county. He held these offices for some time, and hon-
esdy discharged their duties.
In 1812 President Madison commissioned Judge Dunn a cap
tain of rangers. He soon raised a company, among the mem
bers being two of his brothers and two of his brothers-in-law.
On the 13th of April, 1813, the company was mustered into the
service of the United States, at Madison, and at once entered
upon active service. For some time it was employed in erect
ing block-houses in the counties of Switzerland, Jefferson and
Scott, for the protection of the settlers.
In June, 1813, Captain Dunn and his company made a raid
upon the Delaware towns on the west fork of White river, and
next month, with three other companies, all under the command
of Colonel Russell, marched against the Indian towns on the
Wabash river, at the mouth of the Mississiniwa. During this
expedition Captain Dunn's company encamped one night on
the spot which is now known as Circle Park, Indianapolis. In
September, 1813, Captain Dunn's rangers marched to Fort
Harrison, near Terre Haute, to relieve Captain Zachary Tay
lor's company of United States regulars. Dr. David H. Max-
weU, a brother-in-law of Captain Dunn, and a member of his
company, in a petition to Congress asking compensation for
medicine and medical services rendered the members of his
company, gives this graphic description of the situation at Fort
Harrison when Captain Dunn arrived :
"After this campaign (the Mississiniwa), and without a res
pite. Captain Dunn's company of rangers was ordered to Fort
26

402 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Harrison to relieve a company of United States infantry which
had charge of that garrison.
" No language which your petitioner can command can ad
equately describe the situation of this infantry company when
the Rangers took charge of the fort. Of the whole company
four only were able to perform duty. The physician who was
stationed at the fort had been sick and confined to his bed for
weeks. At his request your petitioner attended upon the sick
of his company until those who recovered (for sorae died) were
able to leave the fort. Within the short space of three months
after Captain Dunn's company of rangers was stationed at Fort
Harrison there were eighty-five raen out of one hundred and six
who were sick and confined. Such was the rapid increase of
disease that your petitioner was wholly unable to attend per
sonally upon the sick, and he was obliged to apply to the offi
cers to obtain the aid of three or four intelligent individuals to
assist him in preparing and administering medicines, and to
attend on the sick during their operation. Nearly all the sick
were affected with remitting and intermitting fever, some few
from dysentery or bloody flux. The rangers were continued
at Fort Harrison for four months, and during that time, and, in
fact, until the company was discharged, in March, 1814, the
sick were often requiring additional-medicines. Of the whole
number of rangers at the fort, only one died during the service ;
but raore than twenty never perfectly recovered, and died within
eighteen months afterward."
Such were sorae of the hardships the pioneers of Indiana en
dured that this fair land might be opened to settlement and its
inhabitants made secure in their persons and property.
On Captain Dunn's return to his home he put aside the sword
and put his hand to the plow. Soon afterward he joined the
Presbyterian church at Charlestown, twenty-five miles from his
home, and continued a member of it until the establishment of
a Presbyterian church at Madison, to which he removed his
membership. In February, 1820, a church vvas organized at
Hanover, of which Judge Dunn became a ruling elder, and he
continued to occupy this high office until he died.
In 1814 Governor Posey commissioned Judge Dunn an Asso-

WILLLVMSON DUNN. 403
ciate Judge of the Circuit Court of Jefferson county. He held
this office until 1816, when he vvas elected to the first Legisla
ture under the State constihition. He vvas re-elected to the
second, third and fourth Legislatures, and during the sessions of
the third and fourth vvas Speaker of the House. While a mem
ber of the Legislature he vvas virtually oft'ered a seat in the Uni
ted States Senate, but he declined the honor because it would
have taken him away from his family.
In May, 1820. Judge Dunn vvas commissioned, by President
Monroe, Register of the Land Office for the Terre Haute dis
trict. Three years afterward the land office was removed to
Crawfordsville. Judge Dunn and Major Whitlock, the Receiver
of the Land Office, entered the land where Crawfordsville stands,
and laid out the town. Judge Dunn was re-appointed Register
in 1827 and held the office until 1829, when he was superseded
by General Milroy. A short time after leaving the Land Office
he returned to Hanover and remained a citizen of that town
while he lived.
Judge Dunn donated fifty acres of land to establish Hanover
College, and also donated the ground upon which Wabash Col
lege, at Crawfordsville, vvas erected. Thus it will be seen that
these colleges are mainly indebted to him for their establish
ment. In 1832 Judge Dunn vvas a candidate for the State Senate, but
on account of his views upon temperance and the Sunday mail,
was defeated by David Hillis. At the end of his term Mr. Hil-
hs was re-elected, and in 1837, having been elected Lieutenant-
Governor of the State, resigned his seat in the Senate, and Judge
Dunn was chosen to fill the vacancy.
In 1843 Judge Dunn was nominated for the Senate by the
Whigs of Jefferson county. Shadrach Wilber, also a Whig,
became an independent candidate, and the Hon. Jesse D. Bright,
a Democrat, received a pluraHty of the votes cast and was
elected. This was the real beginning of his long pohtical ca
reer. In 1846 Judge Dunn was elected Probate Judge of Jefferson
county over George S. Sheets, a very brilliant young lawyer of
Madison. He was re-elected at the end of his term and held
the office when the court was abolished.

404 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
In September, 1854, while overlooking some improveraents
of a plank road of which he was president. Judge Dunn was
sunstruck, and taken to his home in a helpless condition. He
remained an invalid until November 11, 1854, when he died.
When his life went out one of the best men of Indiana was no
more. The children' and grandchildren of Judge Dunn inherited his
bravery and love of arms. His sons, David and Thomas, served
in the Mexican war, the first as a lieutenant and the latter as a
private soldier. In the war of the rebellion they again enlisted
in the service of their country. David became lieutenant-colonel
of the Ninth Indiana regiment of volunteers, and Thomas the
captain of a company. He was afterward appointed to a cap
taincy in the regular army, and is now a major in that service.
Judge Dunn's son James was also lieutenant-colonel in the vol
unteer service, and his son Williamson served as a surgeon
throughout the war. Another son, William McKee, who was
a member of Congress when the war broke out, was offered a
colonelcy by Governor Morton, and a brigadiership by Presi
dent Lincoln, but decHned them both, that he might fill out the
term for which he was elected. When it expired he was ap
pointed Judge Advocate of the department of Missouri, and
served for some time in that capacity. Subsequently he was
appointed Assistant Judge Advocate-General, and on the retire
ment of Judge Advocate-General Holt he was selected to fifl the
vacancy. All of Judge Dunn's grandsons, except two, who were boys,
served in the war of the rebellion. One of them, William Mc
Kee Dunn, Jr., who is now a major in the regular army, was a
member of General Grant's staff, and was distinguished for his
coolness and bravery. General Grant once said of him : "He
is as brave as Julius Cgesar. Had I ordered him to a place
where it was certain death to go I do not believe he would have
hesitated a moment to obey the order." He is a true descend
ant of Wilhamson Dunn. His grandfather never hesitated to
go where duty called him. If there ever was in this State a
faraily that equaled the Dunns in bravery and soldierly qualities
I hope some one will point it out. I have no knowledge of such
an one.

WILLLVMSON Dl'NN.

405

Judge Dunn took great interest in public aft'airs. He started
the movement which culminated in the election of Zachary Tay
lor President of the United States. A meeting was held at
Madison in 1848, which formafly put forward General Taylor
for the presidency. Judge Dunn vvas the moving spirit of that
meeting. He introduced the resolutions favoring General Ta}-
lor's nomination, and supported them in an earnest speech. In
February, 1849, when on his way to Washington to assume the
presidency. General Taylor stopped off at Madison and was
given a public dinner. Judge Dunn presided at this dinner,
and, on arising to propose the health of the guest, read an or
der he had received from him at Fort Harrison in 1813. He
then paid a high tribute to the soldierly qualities and strong
common sense of General Taylor, and ended by proposing his
health. The toast vvas drunk with water, a cold-water banquet
being the onlyr kind at which Judge Dunn ever presided.
Judge Dunn had moral bravery as well as physical bravery.
He did what he believed to be right, and would have suffered
burning at the stake rather that do an act he knew to be wrong.
He was of the stuff of which martyrs are made.
In 1848 or '49 a temperance wav-e swept over Southern Indi
ana, and at Madison petitions w ere numerously signed praying
the repeal of the license law and the enactment of a law to make
the seUing of liquor a felony, punishable vvith 'fine and impris
onment. A year or so afterward, when the temperance move
ment had waned, the liquor men procured copies of these peti
tions and had them published in the Madison papers. This
played havoc with the aspirations of several men who were am
bitious to serve the public in an official capacity. A candidate
for the mayoralty of Madison on being confronted with one of "
these petitions with his name to it sought to evade responsi-
bihty by claiming that he did not know its contents when he
signed it. A day or two after his card to this purport had ap
peared in the Madison Courier I was at Hanover, and seeing
Judge Dunn in his porch, approached him and took a seat by
his side. We conversed awhile upon politics, and the canvass
for the mayoralty of Madison being mentioned. Judge Dunn said :
" I see by the Courier that  is trying to crawfish out

406 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
of having signed the temperance petition. I have a contempt
for a man who, having done a proper thing, turns his back upon
it to please the public. I, too, signed that petition. I did it
with my eyes open, and I stand by the act. It was right, and
I will do it again if the opportunity offers."
It was his unyielding devotion to conviction that twice cost
him a seat in the Senate of the State.
In appearance General William McKee Dunn is the coun
terpart of his father. At the late mee'ting of the Army of the
Tennessee in Indianapolis, while sitting on the platform at the
Park Theater, I saw General Dunn in the parquette, and, had I
not known his father was dead, I would have thought he was
before me. I never knew a son more like his father.
Judge Dunn was five feet ten and one-half inches high, and
was very strong and muscular. He had a fair complexion and
bright blue eyes. In his latter years his head was entirely bald,
save a fringe of hair behind his ears. His sons were all good
and patriotic men, but none of them was so good and patriotic
as he. He was a model citizen, and a Christian without re
proach. Rev. Jonathan Edwards, once president of Hanover College,
in an address at the dedication of the Presbyterian Theological
Seminary of the Northwest, at Chicago, thus speaks of Judge
Dunn :
"Early and intimately associated with Dr. Crowe in the
founding and fostering of this institution (Hanover College) was
his neighbor, Williamson Dunn, once Register of the Land'
Office at Crawfordsville, but for the last thirty years of his Hfe
a resident of Hanover. He had been a judge, but was best
known as a farmer and an elder of the church. Comparatively
hidden as was his light. Judge Dunn was yet widely known
and highly appreciated. His general intelligence, his practical
sense, his prudence, his great firmness, his rare integrity of
character, are still embalmed in the traditions of his State, and
he lives in the recollection of those who knew him as one of the
best specimens of the American citizen."

ABEL C. PEPPER.

Abel C. Pepper vvas born in Kentucky, and emigrated to
Indiana Territory in 1815. He was a soldier in the war of 1812,
having been a private in Captain William Garrard's troop of
volunteer light dragoons. He was mustered out of the service
by Lieutenant-Colonel James V. Bell, at Lower Seneca, Au
gust 10. 181 3, and received from his captain the following cer
tificate : " FRANKLiN-roN, August i8, 1813.
"By virtue of the within order, Abel C. Pepper, a private in
my troop of volunteer light dragoons, who has served under my
command twelve months, is hereby honorably discharged from
the service, and is entitled to the privileges and emoluments'
provided by the acts of Congress upon such discharge.
"Will Garrard, Jr.,
'¦^Caftain of Volunteer Light Dragoons."
When he came to Indiana he settled in Dearborn county, and
soon afterw-ard became one of her leading citizens. He had a
taste for military affairs, and had been in the Territory but a
short time until he became a militia captain. He was advanced
to the office of colonel, and subsequently to that of brigadier-
general, although he was generally called by the title of Colonel.
He served as County Commissioner of Dearborn county, as
her Sheriff, and for several terms represented her people in
the Legislature of the State. In 1828 he was a candidate for
Lieutenant-Governor, but was defeated by Milton Stapp a few
hundred votes. In 1830 General Stapp was a candidate for
Governor, and during the canvass made a speech at Rising Sun,
in which he said the people of Dearborn county ought to sup-

4o8 biographical and historical sketches.
port him, for they did but little for him when he ran for Lieu
tenant-Governor. Continuing, he said :
" When the returns came in from every portion of the State,
except old Dearborn, I felt rejoiced at the result. But when
the votes of Dearborn w^ere counted, it was ' Pepper,' ' Pepper,'
' Pepper,' and I assure you it came near peppering me."
In 1829 Colonel Pepper was appointed sub-Indian agent at
Fort Wayne by General Jackson. He was afterward promoted
to the office of Indian agent, and then superintendent for the
removal of the Indians in Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Wis
consin. In 1839 ^^ resigned this office. Subsequently he was
elected a Sinking Fund Commissioner, and in 1845 was ap
pointed by President Polk United States Marshal for Indiana.
He held this office until 1849, when he was superseded by John
L. Robinson. In 1850 he represented Ohio and Switzerland
counties in the constitutional convention, and took a very ac
tive part in its proceedings. He served on the committees of
elective franchises, apportionment and representation, banks
and banking, arrangement and phraseology, and of the militia,
being chairman of the last.
In the convention Colonel Pepper took a decided stand against
a State bank. Early in the session he offered a resolution,
"That from and after the expiration of the charter of the State
Bank of Indiana all connection between the State and banks
shall cease." He made a speech in favor of the resolution, in
which he declared hiraself in favor of free banks and opposed
to a State bank.
During the session of the convention Colonel Pepper oft'ered
a resolution of inquiry in relation to the unsold lots and land
included in the donation by the national government to the
State. In speaking on this resolution, he said :
" My object in oft'ering the resolution is to secure the preser
vation of these lots for the use and pleasure of the people of the
State as well as the citizens of Indianapolis, as public grounds.
In all the large cities of our country it became an object of great
interest to secure squares and open plats of ground in their
midst, to be ornamented with trees and shrubbery, and to serve

ABEL C. PKPPKK. 4O9
the double purpose of public use and private gratification.
While it is vet possible to secure such lots here I wish to see
it done." Colonel Pepper died at his home in Rising Sun, March 20,
i860, and was buried in the cemetery there. His death caused
much grief among his neighbors, and he was also mourned
throughout the State, for he was well known to the people as
a good and patriotic man.
Colonel Pepper vvas a devoted member of the Masonic fra-
temit)-. He vvas made a Mason in 1816, and afterward received
the highest honors of the craft, serving both as Grand Master
and Grand High Priest of the order in the State. He was one
of the brightest and most zealous Masons ever within the ju
risdiction of the Grand Lodge of Indiana.
When Colonel Pepper vvas a young man he determined to
study and practice medicine. Accordingly he entered the office
of a physician as a student, and soon afterward a man carae to
get medicine for a sick person while the doctor vvas away. The
student thought he would act the doctor f'or the nonce, and put
up what he thought was a dose of salts, gave it to the messen
ger, and sent him away. The doctor soon returned, and, on
being told by Mr. Pepper what he had done, ordered him to
mount a horse at once and overtake the messenger, as what he
had given him was the rankest poison. The student did as
directed, and succeeded in reaching the house of the sick man
just in time to prevent him from taking the poison. This nar
row escape from causing the death of a human being induced
Colonel Pepper to quit the study of medicine, and hence he did
not become a physician.
After this Colonel Pepper concluded to study law. He pur
chased some law books, and for a time diligently studied them.
Soon after commencing these studies a farmer came to him and
narrated a difficulty he had had with a neighbor, and urged
the Colonel to take the case. He had no Hcense, but knowing
the suit could be brought before a justice of the peace, he ac
cepted the employment. The case was tried, decided against
his cHent, and then appealed to the Circuit Court, which con
firmed the judgment of the ju.stice The costs were so heavy

4IO BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
that the farmer had great difficulty in saving his farm from being
sold to pay them. This ended the Colonel's aspirations to be
come a lawyer.
After this Colonel Pepper engaged in merchandising, and
¦continued at it most of the time he was not in public life.
Mr. Shadrach Hathaway, eighty-eight years old, and now
living at Rising Sun, in 1883, says that he and Colonel Pepper
once walked from Rising Sun to Cincinnati, some thirty miles
or raore. Their route was through Kentucky. When they
were near Covington they encountered a hill, and the Colonel,
being much fatigued, said he would give "a quarter" if he
were at its to,p. Mr. Hathaway took him upon his back and
safely carried him to the top of the. hill. The " quarter" was
paid. A gentleraan of this city, who was a lad of thirteen when he
looked upon the face of the Colonel at his funeral in March,
i860, has very pleasant recollections of the last years of the
Colonel's life. During a series of lectures at Rising Sun by
home talent — doctors, lawyers, clergymen and "statesmen" —
the Colonel lectured upon his experience among the Indians, oc
cupying the old fashioned high pulpit in the Universalist church.
As he proceeded with his description he gave forcible illustra
tions by means of his Indian relics. With the aid of the county
sherift' dressed up with a buffalo's head, tinkling bells, and other
instruments of terror to eye and ear, he presented to the audi
ence the " medicine man " as he appeared in his native forests.
The boys were impressed and the adults amused by the spec
tacle and the vivid description, punctuated by tosses of the head
and jangling of the bells. The fright of the young folks v^'as
tempered by a suspicion that they knew the man in costume.
In the winter of i860 a committee of boys from a literary so
ciety called upon Colonel Pepper one evening and solicited his
patronage to the society, and asked him to address it. They
found him tired with a hard day's work in killing hogs, but
were received with kindness, and vvith a dignity that reminded
them of the Father of his Country.
Colonel Pepper presided at the ceremonies of laying the cor
ner-stone of the Court-house of Ohio county, at Rising Sun.
The stone-mason, who supplemented speculative masonry with

.VBEL C. PEPPER. 4I I
limestone and mortar, had trouble in convincing the Colonel
which corner should be honored, as the building did not front
due east and west, the street upon which it stands running 36°
north of west by 36° south of east.
For a time after the election at which Colonel Pepper was a
candidate for Lieutenant-Governor it vvas supposed that he had
been elected, and preparations were being made to do him
honor, when unexpected returns from distant parts crushed the
hopes of his friends, and left: him a defeated candidate for the
second office in the State.
Colonel Pepper vvas slightly above medium height, spare and
sinew-y, of easy and pleasing address. He was urbane and
dignified in his intercourse vvith his fellow men, and was par
ticularly polite to ladies. He was a useful and patriotic citizen,
and his memory should be perpetiiated in the histoiy of the
State.

JOSEPH LANE.

The Lanes have been prominent actors in the politics and
history of Indiana. Amos Lane was a leading lawyer in early
times, and served in Congress frora 1832 to 1836. His son.
James H., was a colonel in the Mexican war, was Lieutenant-
Governor of Indiana from 1849 to 1852, and a member of Con
gress from 1853 to 1855. Subsequently he removed to Kansas.
and from March, 1861, until 1866, when he died by his own
hand, he was a Senator of the United States from Kansas.
Henry S. Lane was a gallant soldier, an eloquent speaker, and
a conscientious raan, and, after receiving the highest honors his
State could confer upon hira, died in 1882. But the Lane who
was best known to the country, and who served Indiana longer
than any of his name, was Joseph Lane, a pioneer of the State
and a distinguished soldier of the Mexican war.
Joseph Lane was born in Buncombe county. North Carohna,
Deceraber 14, 1801. In 1814 his father's family emigrated to
Kentucky, and two years afterward the future genei*a], then a
boy of fifteen, crossed the river and came to Darlington, then
the county seat of Warrick county, Indiana. He worked al
ternately in the office of the County Clerk and in a dry goods
store until 1821, when he married and settled on a farm in Van
derburgh county, just across the Warrick line. The next year,
before he was twenty-one years old, he was elected to the State
Legislature f'rom the counties of Vanderburgh and Warrick,
and had to wait until he reached the legal age before he could
take his seat. From that time until 1846 he vvas almost contin
uously a member of one branch or the other of the State Legis
lature. The breaking out of the Mexican war found him a member

JOSEPH LA.NE. 413
of the Senate, but he laid aside his official robes ahd joined
Captain Walker's company of infantry as a private soldier.
When the volunteers were organized at New Albany he was
elected colonel of the Second regiment, and on the ist day of
July. 1846, he vvas appointed a brigadier-general and given
command of the Indiana troops. He started at once for Mexico,
and when he reached the seat of war his brigade was assigned
to the First division, under command of Major-General Butler.
A thrilling episode in the shape of a personal difficulty just
prior to the battle of Buena Vista is described by the New Al
bany Ledger of Febmary, 1876. It was between General Jo
Lane and Colonel James H. Lane :
••While General Taylors army was encamped at Agua
Nueva, fourteen miles south of Buena Vista, the quarrel was
brought about by a trivial occurrence. It commenced in Gen
eral Lane's tent, and in the presence of Colonel B. C. Kent,
of this city. Lieutenant A. L. Robinson, aid to the General, and
several other officers. They were engaged in the discussion of
the relative merits of two companies of the brigade (incidental
to a discussion vvith reference to the organization of another
regiment at the close of the service of the regiments then in the
service). General Lane championing Captain Sanderson's com
pany, of the second regiment, of this city, while Colonel Lane
was equally enthusiastic in regard to the qualities of the com
pany of Captain Ford, of the third regiment, of Madison, this
State. Both of these companies were excellent, and it was the
utmost difficulty to decide which was really the better of the
two. During the discussion the Lanes became very much ex
cited, and something aroused the General to such a pitch that
he deemed it necessary to fight it out then and there, and, reach
ing to his camp chest, produced a pair of very excellent dueling
pistols, and handing them toward Colonel Lane, asked him to
take his choice- The latter endeavored to secure one of the
pistols, but the parties were separated by Lieutenant Robinson
and others, when Colonel Lane withdrew from the tent.
"Both of these officers were highly exasperated, and were
with difficulty prevented from laying violent hands on each
other. This occurred in the afternoon, near the time for the

414 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
usual dress parade of the several regiments. When the third
regiment was assembled on the parade ground, ready for the ex
ercise. Colonel Lane being present. General Lane came down
the line of tents with an old-fashioned rifle on his shoulder,
and called upon the Colonel to arm himself, for he had come to
demand satisfaction for the insult offered hira in the tent. Colo
nel Lane promptly directed one of the color guards to load his
gun with ball cartridge, which was done at once. In the mean
time intelligence had been conveyed to Major J. A. Cravens, of
the second Indiana regiment, who was officer of the day, and
he at once repaired to the parade ground and arrested the two
officers just as they were about to take their places for an ex
change of shots. Their swords were surrendered and sent bv
Major Cravens to General Wool's headquarters.
" It was very fortunate that Major Cravens was so prompt in
action, for there is no doubt but that one or both of these officers
would have been killed, both being men of courage and at the
time exasperated to the highest degree. Nor would the feud
have ended there, for the members of the second regiment were
devoted to General Lane, and looked upon him with the rever
ence usually bestowed upon a father and confidence as a com
mander. During the excitement in the camp previous to the
arrest fhany of the raerabers of the second regiment seized their
arms, loaded them, and were prepared to take a hand in de
fense of the General, and, no doubt, if he had fallen, would have
sought revenge in an attempt to take the Hfe of Colonel Lane.
The devotion of the second regiment to the General was no
greater than the love and admiration of the third for their chiv
alrous Colonel, and they would have sought the life of General
Lane had their commander been killed. These were the feel
ings that pervaded the camp in these two regiments at the time.
"These events occurred in the early part of February, and
the two officers raade no effort to reconcile their dift'erences, nor
would they permit their friends to interfere. They both re
raained under arrest until the evening of the 21st of February.
when General Wool sent their swords to them by the then Cap
tain McDowell, since promoted to major-general, vvith the in
formation that he presumed they would have an opportunity
within a few days of drawing them on a common enemy, it then

JOSEPH LANE. 415
being known to General Wool that Santa Anna was advancing
on his position t'rom the San Louis road, and that a conflict
would occur within forty-eight hours, which vvas realized in the
famous battle of Buena Vista, where less than five thousand
American volunteers put to flight a trained army of twenty-two
thousand Mexicans. Shortly after the battle, and while the
army was encamped at the ranche of Buena Vista, the former
friendly relations of these two officers vvere re-established, and
continued until the second and third regiments returned to their
homes. They were frequent visitors to their sev-eral quarters,
and those then best acquainted with them would never have
dreamed that the former bitter feud existed."
At the battie of Buena Vista General Lane commanded the left
wing of the division, and during the day was badly wounded in
the arm. He behaved with distinguished bravery, and was
warmly commended by General Taylor for his action in that
sanguinary conflict. The next June he brought his brigade to
New Orleans, where it was disbanded. But, although the men
he had led at Buena Vista returned to their homes when their
term of enlistment expired, he went back to Mexico, was given
command of 3,000 men at Vera Cruz, and at once started for
the Mexican capital. He defeated Santa Anna at Huaraantla,
attacked and routed a large body of guerrillas at Atlixco, scat
tered other bands of these partisan soldiers at Flascala, then
took Matamoras and captured a large quantity of military stores,
and soon after reached the headquarters of General Scott, the
commander-in-chief of the army. Early in 1848 he was sent out
by the commanding general to break up and destroy the many
bands of guerrillas roaming over the country. He came so near
Santa Anna at Tehuacan that he captured his carriage contain
ing his private papers and wooden leg. He moved with such
rapidity, and was so successful in beating the enemy, that he
was called "The Marion of the Mexican War," a name that
clung to him while he lived. He did the last fighting in Mex
ico, and his services brought him a brevet major-general's com
mission, an honor he fairly won.
A writer in Cisf s Advertiser gives the following item of history :
" It may not be amiss to state how he obtained his military ap-

4l6 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
pointment, taken, as he was, from the farm, to lead armies to
victory. ' ' When it became the duty of the President to make the ap
pointment of brigadier-general it was felt by every Western
meraber of Congress to be a prize for his constituents. Proba
bly sorae fifty names had been handed in to the President,
accordingly. Robert Dale Owen, in whose district Lane resided,
entertaining no such local pride, would probably not have fur
nished any name, but for a suggestion to that effect from one of
the Indiana Senators, 'Whom do you intend recommending?'
' Why,' said Mr. Owen, ' I had no thought of offering a name.
There are no applications to me from my own district, but if
you think it due to it to offer a name I shall hand in that of Jo
Lane.' " The Senator approved of the choice, and itvu'as accordingly
suggested. The President, as usual, said he would give it his
favorable consideration. A few days afterwards Mr. Owen was
transacting some private business at the White House. After
it was through — ' By the by, Mr. Owen,' observed the Presi
dent, ' I shall have to appoint your friend Lane to the brigadier-
generalship. I hope you have well considered your recom
mendation, for the office is a very responsible one.' ' I know
nothing,' replied Mr. Owen, ' of Lane's military talents, but
there are about him those elements of character which in all
times of difficulty prompt every one to rally instinctively, around
him as a leader. This has been the case in early days when
lawless men infested the river border. Whether on shore or
among boatmen on the river. Lane was the man relied on to
keep such men in order, and he was always found equal to every
emergency. I would select him for the office before any ot'ner
man I know, if I had the appointment to make.'
"Lane was appointed. The sequel is history, and justified
the penetrative judgment of Mr, Owen. Lane developed quali
ties which place hira in the front rank of military service.
' ' When the news of the battle of Buena Vista reached Wash
ington Mr. Owen called on President Polk.
"Well, sir," exclaimed he, " what do you think of our Hoo
sier general? "

JOSEPH L.VNK. 417
"Ah!" said the President, vvith a quiet smile, "Mr. Owen,
you are safe out of that scrape ! "
When the war had ended General Lane came back to In
diana, but his residence here vvas of short duration. In August,
1848, he vvas appointed by President Polk Governor of the Ter
ritory of Oregon, and in March he reached its capital. He
organized the Territorial government and remained at its head
until August, 1850, when he was removed by President Taylor,
a Whig, he being a Democrat. The next year he was elected
a delegate to Congress, and continued as such until Oregon be
came a State, when he was chosen to represent her in the
United States Senate. In i860, while he was in the Senate, he
was nominated for Vice-President on the ticket with John C.
Breckenridge, and received seventy-two electoral votes. Gen
eral Lane left the Senate on the 4th of March, 1861, and re
turned to Oregon. He remained in private life until April 20,
1881, when he died at Rosenberg, which for many years had
been his home.
General Lane's long service in the public councils, and his
brilliant career as a soldier, made him very popular in Indiana.
A large convention of the Democracy declared in his favor for
the presidency, and several of its shrewdest leaders at once
vvent to work to pave the way for his nomination. Robert Dale
Owen, a leading Democrat and a master of the English lan
guage, wrote a pamphlet in which General Lane's claims and
quahfications for the presidency were elaborately set forth.
John L. Robinson, than whom there was no more effective
political worker in the State, took charge of the movement and
threw into it all the energy and ability he possessed. In order
that the reader may have an inside glimpse of the political
workings of that day, and know something of the extent of the
effort to nominate General Lane for the presidency, the follow
ing letters from Mr. Robinson and from General Lane to a
gentieman of IndianapoHs, are now published for the first time :
"Washington, January 23, 1852.
" Dear Sir — Some of my letters from IndianapoHs indicate
some discouragement on the part of General Lane's friends. I
27

4l8 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
see no sufficient reason for this ; on the contrary, there is much
to encourage them. It is the opinion of all the General's friends
here .with whom I, have conversed, and I have given it my un
ceasing attention, that things are working as well for him as
could be reasonably expected. It is true, not much is said
about him in the papers ; in fact, at present he is not in the fight
that is so actively going on between the other aspirants and
their friends, and this very fact is most favorable to him. While
Cass's, Buchanan's, Douglas's and Butler's friends are active
and noisy, exciting prejudices against each other, Lane and his
friends, here, at least, are quietly awaiting the issue and strik
ing occasionally when we find something is to be made. We
desire to keep him in the position he now occupies ; that is,
friendly with all, hostile to none, sq that he may eventually get
votes from all, for we do not believe that any of the others can
possibly reach a two-thirds vote, so as to be nominated. Lane
has kept very still since he has. been here, but has nevertheless
made some strong friends and a most favorable impression with
every one with whom he has come in contact. I have never
known a man so uniformly and certainly successful in making
all whom he meets friends, and keeping them so, as General
Lane. I hear that there is a possibility that our convention on
the 24th of February will name a second choice No friend
of General Lane ought to listen for a moment to such a propo
sition ; it would be fatal to him. If you appoint his reliable
friends as delegates there is no need of absolute instructions at
all, but pass strong resolutions in his favor like Kentucky did
for Butler. But if you instruct, begin and end with Lane, and
nobody else.
"The Douglas bubble has exploded. Conventions have been
held in New York, Ohio and Kentucky, and delegates ap
pointed. He expected rauch from each and all of them, and
has signally failed. Lane is, in my opinion, stronger than
Douglas in all these States. At present Douglas can't rely
upon any State but Illinois. The contest at first in the national
convention will be between Cass and Buchanan. Douglas will
be put in as a rival of both, and hence not likely to get their
friends after they abandon them.
" Ultimately the race wiy be between Lane, Marcy and But-

JOSEPH LANE. 41^
ler. I think there can be no doubt of this. I write thus freely
to you just what I think. I intend to devote every energy to
the service of Lane, and I really have sanguine hopes of suc
cess. Much, however, very much, depends upon the action of
your convention on the 24th, and the sort of men you name as
delegates. V'ery truly yours,
•'John L. Robinson."
" W.vsHiNGTON, March 28, 1852.
" Dear Sir — I have been prevented by indisposition from
writing you for some time, but being now well, I propose to
give you a few of my thoughts and views about things con
nected with the interests of our friend Lane. I will begin by
saying that his prospects for the nomination are, in my opinion,
getting better daily. This is owing to the fact that he keeps^
very quiet, pursuing the even tenor of his way, and by his un
obtrusive but frank and generous bearing winning the affec
tions of all who make his acquaintance. His conduct and that
of his friends is in such .wide and favorable contrast with that
of other candidates and their friends, particularly Douglas and
his, that it is ha-ving a happy effect. You have noticed that
some sharp shooting has occurred in the House between Doug
las's friends and Butler's ; it has resulted much to the injury of
Douglas, as it ought. I never knew such an organization as
exists around Douglas, and it reaches into most of the States,
too, but it embraces but' few but trading politicians who expect
to live off of speculation and spoils. Their game is brag.
They will impudently assert that every man and every State
is for Douglas, wherever it will serve a purpose. In our dele
gation Gorman, Davis and Mace, I think, play a little at the
game. Speaker Boyd told me that he was in Gorraan's com
pany last night, and that Gorman said Indiana would go foi
Douglas, the second ballot certain, and the first if necessary ;
that this was an ascertained fact. Stfll these gentiemen say
they are for Lane, but that ' he has no chance.' In short, their
conversations are calculated to aid Douglas only ; I mean Gor
man and Davis particularly. Fitch, Lockhart and myself, and
Bright, when he is here, are doing what we can for Lane

420

BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.

Cass is proving much stronger than was expected, and may be
nominated, but I think not ; to let Douglas beat him, however,
would be a shame. Buchanan may now be considered out of
the ring ; his failure, so considered, in Virginia kills him.
Douglas's friends will now claim Virginia, but I am assured he
can not get it. Many Southern Democrats have recently indi
cated a strong leaning towards Lane ; it is generally of that
class who do not like to go for Cass. It will require but little
management to get raany of the Southern States to go in con
vention for Lane in the event, which, I think, is almost certain
to occur, to wit : a repeated and protracted balloting. But if
we have delegates who come up to Baltimore ostensibly for
Lane, but really for Douglas, determined to vote for Douglas
as soon as possible, a candidate from whose friends Lane has
nothing to expect — I mean who has no intrinsic strength to
transfer if he fails — why, I would rather have no delegates from
Indiana at all. It is therefore all important that Lane's friends
come up. You may rest assured Douglas's will, for they will be
paid for coming, if necessary.
" In haste, truly yours, John L. Robinson."

"Washington City, January 31, 1852.
' ' Dear Sir — While I was on the Pacific side of the Rocky
Mountains the people of Indiana, at a great mass-meeting held
in Indianapolis, in which every portion of the State was repre
sented, unanimously presented my name for the presidency,
subject to the decision of the national convention. It was their
voluntary act, without my knowledge or wish (as you well know
I had no agency in the matter). It was, however, gratifying to
me, and fairly placed my name before the country as the choice
of that State for the highest office in the world. Knowing the
people as I do, having in them the utmost confidence, and feel
ing under great obligations for the high honor conferred, I re
turned to the State of my adoption, in w^hich so large a portion
of my life has been spent, w^ith a heart full of gratitude, I
love my country, her honor and integrity. The perpetuation
and progress of our glorious institutions have been the aim and
desire of the Democratic party from the beginning of our gov-

JOSEPH LANE. 42 1
ernment ; vvith that party I have acted from manhood to the
present time, and shall continue so to do till the day of my death.
I have never deceived a friend or acted hypocritically toward
any one. I have always considered the Democratic party as
a band of brothers, bound by the strongest ties, with one great
object in view, namely, the promotion and perpetuation of the
institutions of our common country.
" Indiana occupies a high political position. She has within
her borders many natural advantages and artificial advantages
over any State in the Union of her age, with a generous, intel
hgent, industrious and patriotic population. I love her honor
and reputation as I love life, and I feel confident that she
never will do a dishonorable thing ; therefore I have no fears
about her course toward me, notwithstanding it is rumored here
that an eft'ort is now being made to give me the go by, by in
structing the delegation to vote for a second choice as soon as
your humble servant can be disposed of.
" It is not my wish to embarrass the Democracy of Indiana.
So far from it, I stand ready to support the election of any man
who may receive the nomination of the State or national Demo
cratic convention. With this view of the case, I hope that In
diana will send to the national convention delegates, each and
every one of them good personal friends, who would rather see
me nominated than any other man, without instructions, to act
as circumstances may require.
"Now, my friend, let me beg you to say to my friends that I
hope good delegates may be appointed without instructions as
to first or second choice. '~
"With great respect, I am, sir, your obedient servant,
"Joseph Lane."
The Democratic State convention of 1852 convened at Ind
ianapolis February 24, and was presided over by Judge Thomas
L. Smith. The committee on resolutions, of which Robert
Dale Owen was chairman, was a very strong one, being com
posed of the leading Democrats of the State, among them Oli
ver P. Morton, afterward the great War Governor of Indiana.
Two of the resolutions reported by the committee, and unani
mously adopted by the convention, were as follows :

422 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
"Resolved, That Joseph Lans, the State legislator, the gal
lant general, the Territorial Governor, tried in the executive
chair and never found wanting, is, of the people of Indiana,
their first choice for the presidency. While we repose entire
confidence alike in his administrative capacity, in his firmness,
in his honesty of purpose and in his unswerving devotion to
Democratic principles, at the same time, desiring, above afl
things, union and harmony in the support of the nominee of the
national convention, we will support him, let the choice of the
majority fall as it will ; and, fully trusting the judgment and de
votion to principles of our delegates to that convention, we leave
them free to exercise their judgment.
"Resolved, That, if General Lane should be the Democratic
nominee for President, we pledge hira the vote of Indiana, of
that State the honor of whose sons he has so nobly vindicated,
by a majority, as we confidently hope and truly believe, of
twenty-five thousand votes."
It will be observed that the views of General Lane, as ex
pressed in his letter, were adopted and carried out by the con
vention. The Democratic national convention met at Baltimore the
next June, and for thirty ballots the solid vote of Indiana was
cast for General Lane. On that ballot Judge Douglas devel
oped unexpected strength, and the delegates from Indiana be
ing particularly hostile to his nomination, on the next ballot
cast their thirteen votes for General Cass, his strongest compet
itor. As is known to the intelligent reader the convention
¦eventually nominated Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, who
Nwas elected President over General Scott, the Whig candidate.
General Lane had great influence with the Indians of Ore-
:gon. He learned to speak their language, and often hunted
with thera. One day while in the woods with a party of In-
'dians he was assaulted by one of thera, a powerful man, who
struck at the General, but the latter dodged the blow\ Seizing
a club, he struck his assailant and knocked him down. For a
a time he lay limp and almost lifeless, and when he recovered
sufficiently to arise upon his feet he expressed himself satisfied,
-and he desired no further contest vvith the General. It took a

JOSEPH LANE. 423
brave man to maintain himself, single and alone, with a drunken
Indian, flanked by a number of his red-skin friends.
During Mr. Pierce's administration General Lane, being in
Washington attending to his official duties, vvas requested by
the President to return to Oregon and take command of the
troops then employed in suppressing an insurrection of the In
dians. He did so, and entered the field at the head of the
army, determined to bring the war to a speedy close. He
found the Indians, several hundred strong, intrenched and well
protected by fallen trees and brushwood, awaiting his coming.
Stopping his command near their lines, he advanced alone,
wa^-ing a handkerchief, and when near enough to be heard he
asked for a parley. He vvas fired upon as he approached, and
shot through the shoulder, but this did not cause him to turn
back or abandon his effort to have a conference with the Indian
chieftains. When they saw who it vvas several of the leaders
came out from their cover and approached him. He asked that
the men in their camp who had murdered the settlers and
burned their hoiises be delivered up that they might be pun
ished. He told them they had better surrender these men, for
if they did not he would take them, and if they did, and
would agree to prevent such murders in the future, he would
retire vvith the army and not further molest them. The Indians
delivered up the criminals, who were hung, and peace between
the red men and the settlers was restored.
Whfle General Lane lived in Oregon he was a great hunter,
and once, on his return from a trip in the woods, a pistol in his
coat pocket went off as he was alighting from his horse. The
ball entered his back and came out in front, near the hip joint,
without striking a vital part. In speaking of this wound he
was wont to say that he w-ould never die by powder and ball,
and that he felt entirely confident that he would die a natural
death. His faith vvas well founded, for, although he was wound
ed by a Mexican bullet at Buena Vista, b}- an Indian bullet in
the wilds of Oregon, and by the accidental discharge of his own
pistol, he survived all these wounds and died in a natural way.
When he died the Hfe of a brave man went out. A pioneer of
Indiana, a gallant soldier of the Union, and he who fashioned
Oregon into a State, was no more. But his memory lives. No

424 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
history of Indiana, none of the Union, and none of Oregon, can
be truthfully written without honorable mention of his name.
His memory will live while there is a man to read of the deeds
of those gallant soldiers who added to the country its richest
jewels. In an eloquent sketch from the San Francisco Chronicle, by
Joaquin Miller, that nervous writer says :
" On the day he was sixty-five he and his son, since a mem
ber of Congress, went out shooting, and I saw the old Senator
bring in a seven-pronged buck on his shoulders.
"Ten years later, on my return from Europe^ I sought him
out. ' He lives three miles east and four miles perpendicular
now,' said one of his sons, pointing up the mountains. Poverty-
had driven him from his ranch in the valley.
" I found this old man, now approaching eighty years, felling
a tree in front of his little log cabin. He came forward, ax in
hand, to meet me, his aged wife shading her eyes with a lifted
hand as she looked frora the cabin door, wondering what stran
ger could possibly have climbed this mountain to their humble
hermitage. "And what a talk we had ; how he wanted to know all about
Europe, a world he had never seen, but which he knew so well.
How interested he was in my work, patting me on the head and
calling me his own boy, believing in me entirely, bidding me to
go with God's blessing ; to be good, to be great if I could, but
be good always.
"And here, on the mountain top, with the companion of his
bosom for more than fifty years, the sun of this old Roman
senator's life went down. Nothing was said of him at his death,
for no one knew him in his life. I lay this handful of leaves
on my dear dead. It is all I have to give ; I, a robin, bring
leaves for one who was lost in the w^oods, one who lay down
alone and unknown and died in the wilderness of this life. He
lived frugally and died poor, while others lived e.xtravagantly
and grew rich. Not a dollar of this nation's money ever found
its way into this simple and sincere man's pocket. He died not
in want, for his children were well-to-do, but poor ; very poor
and very pure, as he had lived.

JOSEPH LANK. 425
'• I may almost say Hterally this man taught me to read. He
certainly taught me to read a dozen well-thumbed old masters,
which he knew so well that if I misread a single word as we
lay under the oaks — I reading, he lying on his back looking up
at the birds — he would correct me. I know there is a vague
impression that General Lane vvas an ignorant man. Well. I
am not learned enough to be good authority, but I have mixed
vvith many educated men since, and I am bound to say, so far
as I can judge, he was the best read man I have ever yet met
with. His letters are the most perfect in all respects I have
ever received. He wrote in the old-fashioned, full, round style,
every letter like print, not even a comma missing in letters of
the greatest length. Using the simplest Saxon, he always said
much in Uttie — a duty of every writer of everything."
General Lane vvas about five feet nine inches high ; his com
plexion was ruddy, his eyes hazel, and his hair dark and in
clined to curl. In person he was strong and muscular ; in dis
position brave and chivalrous. He was a pioneer of Indiana,
the founder of Oregon, and the people of these States will re
member him with affection and gratitude.

JAMES GREGORY.

James Gregory, an Indiana pioneer, was born in Buncombe
county. North Carolina, in the year 1783. When twenty-two
years pld he inarried Elizabeth Lee, and five years afterward
left his native State and removed to Kentucky. He remained
there three years, and in 1813 came to Indiana Territory. He
located in Washington county, where he built a cabin in the
woods, and in it placed his earthly goods, which were few, even
for a Western pioneer. A large number of those who settied in
Washington county were North Carolinians, so the young pio
neer had countrymen for neighbors. I say countrymen, for at
that time, and indeed at the present day, people from the
Southern States consider those who were born in the same State
as themselves friends and countrymen. The v-^oung settler was
strong and courageous, and in his neighborhood was a man of
influence and a leader whora the people delighted to follow.
The frontier was then menaced by Indians, and the pioneers
were, wont to carry their rifles in their hands, as they visited
from cabin to cabin. Such were the surroundings of the sub
ject of this sketch for many )-ears after he made his home in the
Territory north of the Ohio river.
Three years after Mr. Gregory settled in Washington county
he was an unsuccessful candidate for delegate to the convention
that made our first State constitution. Two years after this, in
1818, he removed to Lawrence county, then just organized.
He was elected State Senator from the counties of Washing
ton, Orange, Jackson, Lawrence and Monroe, and took his seat
November 27, 1820.
In i8t8 Lewis Cass, Jonathan Jennings and Benjamin
Parke, as commissioners on behalf of the United States, pur

JAMKS GREGORY, 427
chased of the Indians all the central part of the State, and. vvith
the exception of some small reservations, all the Indian lands
south of the Wabash river. This large territory vvas known -is
the New Purchase, and among the first to locate upon it was
James Gregory, the subject of this sketch. He bought a tract
of land in Shelby county, about four miles west of where Shel
byville novv stands, and again built a cabin and opened up a
farm in the wilderness. He at once became a leading man of
his county, was made a colonel of militia, and in 1822 was
elected to the State Senate from his district. The district then
comprised eight counties, including Marion, a county which
novv sends two men to the Senate upon a basis much larger
than that upon which Mr. Gregory- was elected from the eight.
The other seven counties of the district were Hamilton, Madi
son, Johnson, Decatur, Shelby, Rush and Henry.
The constitution of 1816 required that "Corydon, in Harri
son county, shafl be the seat of government until 1825, and until
removed by^ law." The Legislature raet on the first Monday
of December in each year, and, therefore, that of 1824-25 must
have met at Corydon, unless the time for its meeting was
changed. Soon after Colonel Gregory took his seat in the
Senate he went to work to get a law passed changing the time
of the meeting of the Legislature to the first Monday in January
in each year. He was assisted in his work by John Paxton,
the representative from Marion county, by James Rariden, of
Wayne, Milton Stapp, of Jefferson, and others. At the head
of those opposed to it was Dennis Pennington, Senator from
Harrison, a man of much influence, and Ratliff Boon, then
Lieutenant-Governor of the State. These gentlemen succeeded
in uniting the members from the southwestern part of the State
against the measure, but there were not enough of thera to de
feat it. It vvent through both houses and was approved by the
Governor. The constitutional restriction being thus removed.
Colonel Gregory succeeded in getting a law passed changing
the capital to IndianapoHs. The act was passed on the 28th of
January, 1824, and provided that the offices and archives should
be removed to the new capital by the loth of the January fol
lowing, one year earlier than it could have been done had it
not been for Colonel Grt-egory's bill.

428 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
The hostflity of the people of Corydon toward Colonel Greg
ory for his course in relation to the removal of the capital, was
intense. Caricatures of him were posted on the walls of the
State-house and in other places about the town. Indignities
were offered him in public and threats were made to lynch him.
The reasons which caused the people of Corydon to insult and
abuse Colonel Gregory, endeared him the more to his constitu
ents of Marion county. James Blake, Calvin Fletcher, Samuel
Henderson, Colonel Paxton and James M. Ray inaugurated a
movement to give him a public dinner in recognition of his ser
vices. The dinner came off at Washington Hall, and was at
tended by most of the leading citizens of the town. Calvin
Fletcher, Harvey Gregg, Colonel Paxton, John Hawkins,
Nicholas McCarty and others made speeches. The late James
M. Ray, in a letter to Judge Gregory, of Lafayette, thus speaks
of the dinner :
"The speeches, and your father's happy and graceful reply,
were cheered in the highest pitch. Sismond Basye (afterwards
of Lafayette) was present; also, B. J. Blythe, Hervey Bates,
Alfred Harrison, O. Foote, Douglas Maguire, Nat Bolton,
George Smith, Dr. Coe, D. Mitchell and others. It was a jolly
good time, and a hearty proof of the high estimate of your
father's prominence and popularity in our part of the ' New
Purchase.' In decisive force of character, for executive ability
and magnetic influence over his associates. Colonel Gregory had
much of the force and stamp of Governor Morton."
Colonel Gregory continued in the Senate until 183 1, when he
lett Shelby county and removed to Warren. Before he left his
home his neighbors and friends met at Shelbyville in mass con
vention to bid him good-bye. Judge- Gregory, of Lafayette,
was at this meeting, and, in a letter to the author, says : " I
thought the speech of rav' father to his old friends and neighbors
very touching and eloquent." He left thera to again found a
home in the wilderness.
Very soon after Colonel Gregorv' removed to Warren county
he was sent to the Legislature. Wherever he vvent the people
had use for him in a public capacity. In 1833 he ran for Con
gress against the eloquent Edward A. Flannegan, and was de-

J.VMKS GREGORY. 429
feated. In 1837 he was a candidate for Lieutenant-Governor
of the State, and vvas defeated by David Hillis. Colonel
Gregorv, while in the Legislature, opposed the vast schemes of
internal improvement, then so popular in Indiana, and it was
upon that issue he made his race for Lieutenant-Governor.
In the winter of 1842 Colonel Gregory vvent to New Orleans
on a trading expedition. The next May he chartered a vessel
in that city, loaded it vvith pork and flour, and sailed for Yucatan,
in Central America. Soon after his arrival there he took the
black vomit and died. A young man named Johnson was with
him, and at his death took charge of his affairs, but nothing is
definitely known about his sickness or the circumstances of his
death. It is known, however, that he breathed his last at a
small town on the coast, and was buried there. But no stone
marks his resting place, and none of his family know the place
where he sleeps. The ashes of the old pioneer mingle with
foreign soil, but his memory will be preserved by the people
of the State he helped to found.
When Colonel Gregory settled in Warren county the supplies
of the settiers were brought from Chicago. The farmers would
take their grain to Chicago in wagons, and return with them
loaded with salt, leather and such other things as they needed.
Colonel Gregory was a large trader in cattle, sheep and hogs.
He once took a drove of cattle to Chicago and sold them to an
ancestor of the Chicago sharper of to-day. Soon after getting
possession of the cattle the purchaser sold them, put the money
in his pocket and ran away without paying Colonel Gregory
a dollar. As soon as the latter found out that he had been
swindled, he got a rifle and a fast horse and put out after the
swindler. He caught him, made him disgorge, and then, with
a healthy malediction, let him go.
During Colonel Gregory's service in the Legislature his son
Benjamin opened an office at Newport and comraenced the
practice of the law. His father wrote him a letter from Indian
apolis, which is still preserved in the faraily, and contains sen
timents worthy of a philosopher. He was not an educated man,
and reached his enviable standing by reason of his strong com
mon sense and correct deaHngs ; but if he had not studied the

430 HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
philosophers, he was not a stranger to their teachings. The
letter is as follows :
" Dear Son — I received your letter from Newport. You have
now settled down as a lawyer ; you are young in experience and
araongst strangers. On your course now as a young man of
your profession much of your future standing in society de
pends. You must be steady. Meddle not with anything that
you are not called on to take part in, saying nothing in your
speeches in any tryal you may be engaged that is qualifyed to
injure the feeling of any person ; be faithful to your client and
honest in all your dealings ; take exercise for your health ; walk
where you can ; avoid drinking strong drink, you can do well
withbut. I have not and I think I shall not taste one drop of
anything that tends in the least to stimulate, and I have just as
good health as any member here that uses it. One other injunc
tion, and in this and from this you raust in nowise deviate :
Never, never, in no case, do you garable — not the most inno
cent games. Never put your hands on a card — they have a be
witching quality about thera. Go to meeting and other moral
societys, so that you can always be numbered with those that
respect the morals of the country. Dabble as little in politics
as possible. You must have always before your eye that your
brothers are moral men — so I want all my children to be when
they leave rae. I will send your books to you so soon as they
come to hand. Your Father and Friend, "J.VMES Gregory.
"Mr. Benjamin F. Gregory, Newport, Indiana."
The orthography of the letter may be faulty, but no one will
find fault with its sentiraents.
Colonel Gregory was not only a pioneer of Indiana, but was
one of four counties. He didn't like to be crowded, and when
population carae about him he sold out and moved away. He
was never better satisfied than when building cabins and clear
ing up land. Fle was essentially a pioneer.
Colonel Gregory was a strong man, both in mind and in
body. lie weighed 244 pounds, had fair complexion, black hair
and eyes. He was of coramanding presence, would have been a

J.VMKS GREGORY. 43 1
man of mark in any company. He was one of those who
opened up Indiana to civilization, and the people owe him
much. He left a family which has honored his name. Three
of his sons and a grandson have sat in the Legislature of the
State, and one of them, Hon. Robert C. Gregory, of Lafayette,
served a term as Supreme Judge. Right worthily they bear
their father's name.

JOSEPH GLASS MARSHALL.

" He wag a man, take him for all in all,
I shall not look upon his like again."
Scotch-Irish and cavalier blood mingled in the veins of
Joseph G. Marshall. Like the North of Ireland man, he got
all the contention out of a thing there was in it ; and like the
cavalier, he was warm-hearted, impulsive, and brave. When
contending for a principle he believed to be right you would
imagine him a born son of Carrickfergus ; when at the fire
side, or around the social board, he would impress you as one
born on the banks of the York or the James. His father was a
Scotch-Irishman and his mother a Virginian, so his leading
characteristics were his by inheritance.
Joseph Glass Marshall was born in Fayette county, Ken
tucky, January i8, 1800. His father was a Presbyterian minis
ter, and he thoroughly indoctrinated the son in the principles
of the Scottish Church. He was fitted for college at home, en
tering Transylvania. University as a junior, and graduating from
that institution in 1823. In 1828 he came to Indiana and set
tled at Madison, where he resided until he died. He had studied
law in Kentucky, and although a young man in a town noted
for the strength of its bar, he soon obtained a lucrative practice.
Two years after coming to Indiana he was elected Probate
Judge of his county, and discharged the duties of the office with
signal ability. When he left the judgeship he returned to the
bar. In 1836, 1840, and 1844, he was on the Whig electoral
ticket, and each time made an active canvass of the State. In
1846 he was nominated for Governor and was beaten by James
Whitcomb 3,958 votes. In 1849 President Taylor appointed

/'t^^i-^^p4y( p. .^y^iyo^^.^<^L^^^Jt

JOSEPH GL.VSS MARSH.VLL. 433
him Governor of Oregon, but he refused the place. Before de
clining, however, he vvent to Washington and personally thanked
the President for the tender of the office. In 1850 he was elected
Senator from his county, and served the legal terra. In 1852,
much against his wishes, he vvas nominated for Congress in his
district, and vvas beaten by C)rus L. Dunham 931 votes. This
vvas the last race he made before the people. In addition to the
offices named, he represented his county several times in the
lower branch of the State Legislature.
Mr. Marshall had an ambition to go to the United States Sen
ate, but his ambition vvas never gratified. In the Legislature
of 1844 the Whigs had ten majority on joint ballot. They nom
inated him f'or the Senate, but the Democrats refused to go into
an election. Each party had twenty-five members in the Sen
ate, and Jesse D. Bright, then Lieutenant-Governor, gave the
casting vote against going into the election. In 1845 the Dem
ocrats carried the Legislature, and elected Mr. Bright to the
Senate, his v-ote being eighty, and Mr. Marshall's sixty-six.
His defeat the year before incensed him against Mr. Bright,
and ever afterv\'ard he hated him.
In the Legislature of 1854 the People's, or anti-Nebraska
party, had a majority of fourteen on joint ballot, but the Demo
crats, having two majority in the Senate, prevented the election
of a Senator. Mr. Marshall was the nominee of the dominant
party, and had an election been held he would have been
chosen. Thus it will be seen that he was twice kept from go
ing to the Senate by the refusal of the Democrats to perforra a
legal dut}^
Mr. Marshall was at Indianapolis raost of the time during the
session of the Legislature of 1854-5, and while there contracted
a deep cold. The cold settled on his lungs, and soon became
alarming. Early in the spring of 1855 he started on a Southern
trip, in hopes of regaining his health. When he reached Louis
ville, being too sick to proceed further, he took to his bed, and,
on the 8th of April, 1855, died. His reraains were brought to
Madison and there interred. When the sad news reached In
dianapolis a meeting of the bar was held to take action upon
his death . Governor Wright presided at the meeting, and James
28

434 biographical and historical sketches.
Rariden was the secretary. A committee consisting of Oliver
H. Sraith, Samuel C. Wilson and Simon Yandes was appointed
to prepare suitable resolutions, and reported the following :
"The members of the bar have recently heard with deep re
gret that their professional brother, Joseph G. Marshall, is no
more. " The profession has been deprived of one ofits brightest or
naments, and our State and country of a distinguished citizen.
We who have witnessed the pure exaraple of the deceased can
not permit an event so solemn and affecting to pass unnoticed.
Few raen of his age in any country have left behind stronger
proofs of erainent professional abilities, or higher claims to pri
vate and public confidence. While we feel a just pride in the
professional attainments and distinguished character of the de
ceased we will long cherish a recollection of his social qualities
and amiable deportment in private life which endeared him to
his friends and acquaintances.
" Therefore, in order to testify our regard for the memory of
the deceased,
"Resolved, That we hold in the highest estirnation the pure
and exalted private and professional character of Joseph G.
Marshall, and deeply lament the loss which the profession and
the country have sustained by the death of one so eminently
qualified for the high position whicli he occupied. ¦* * *""
The meeting appointed Oliver H. Smith to present the pre
amble and resolutions to the United States Circuit Court, then
in session. The next day Mr. Smith perform"ed the duty, and
Judge McLean ordered them recorded. Before making the
order he said :
" The court sympathizes with the bar in the loss of one ofits
distinguished raSrabers. Our social and professional relations
teach us how uncertain is the tenure of our earthly existence.
Among all the members of the bar there was no one who, from
his apparent strength of constitution and healthful vigor, ap
peared to have a stronger hold on life than the friend whose
death we now deplore.
" Mr. Marshall w^as a man of vigorous intellect and of strong

JOSEPH GL.VSS MARSHALL. 435
reasoning powers. His mind had a basis of coramon sense,
without which learning and experience are of little value. In
the strength of his views he more than compensated f'or any
want of polish in his manner. He was always sensible, often
convincing. At au)- bar in the Union his ability would have
been marked, and he would have been considered as an antago
nist worthy of the highest efforts. His professional bearing was
elevated and honorable. The loss of such a man can not but
be deeply felt and deplored by the public, and especially by the
bench and the bar, to whom he was best known.
•'The court directs the proceedings presented to be placed
upon the records."
Indiana never had the equal of Mr. Marshall in breadth and
strength of intellect. Neither did she ever have his equal in
ability to stir the passions and sway the feelings of the people.
She has had raen of greater culture and of raore general infor
mation, but in those qualities which enable the orator to melt the
hearts and fire the passions of his auditors he was without a
peer. He was called the "Sleeping Lion," and, when fully
aroused, he was a lion indeed.
On such occasions his oratory was like the hurricane that
sweeps everything before it. Ordinarily, he did not show his
power, but when engaged in a case that enlisted his feelings and
his conscience his words were like hot shot from the cannon's
mouth. I will name but two examples of his power to sway the
people. One was his speech in defense of John Freeman,
charged with being a fugitive slave. Of this eft'ort Miss Laura
Ream gives the following account :
"The trial of the case excited unusual interest from the fact
thatFreeman had longresided in that place, and, with his faraily,
was held in personal esteem. He alleged, under oath, and his
counsel brought testimony to prove, that he was a free man, but
the presiding judge did not care to brave the popular sentiment
in favor of the fugitive slave law, and at the close of the argu
ment asked if there was no other reason why the prisoner should
not be returned to his master? On the instant, a man on the
outskirts of the bar, in the old Court-house, was seen to rise to
his feet. He did it slowly, grasping the table before him with

436 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
both hands as if to steady his quivering nerves ; and towering to
his full height, with breast heaving and eyes aflame, in trumpet
tones began : ' Your Honor, though not of counsel for this un
fortunate man, I think I can answer the question why he should
not be remanded to slavery. I will answer that question. The
law presumes every man to be free. It is a fundamental ques
tion going back to the first principles of free government. It is
essential to State sovereignty. For it we went to war with
Great Britain in 1812 ; shall we surrender it now? The writ of
habeas corf us was not suspended by the fugitive slave law. It
is the inalienable right of every citizen, whether black or white,
whether bond or free. The State is not required to deliver up
a person held to service in another State before she knows
whether that person is a slave or not. In this case the fact of
slavery is denied, and there is no power in the world that had
the right to determine the point but the sovereign State of In
diana, to whom this man belongs.' The above is but the im
perfect summary of a speech which electrified the audience,
which did not need to be told that the speaker was 'Jo Marshall,'
as he was familiarly called. In a moment the court-room,
every window, was crowded with people, eager, breathless, in
tears, and ready to protect the prisoner with their lives. The
incident has been related to me by different raen who were pres
ent, but none could define the secret of Mr. Marshall's elo
quence. ' He was like one inspired,' said one gentieman. 'He
was the incarnate majesty of right. I could no more define the
quality of his eloquence than I could explain the wonders of the
deep.'" The other case was his defense of Delia A. Webster, charged
with running oft' slaves frora Kentucky. Miss Webster lived
on the Kentucky side of the Ohio river, opposite the city of
Madison. Previous to her residence there she had served a
terra in the Kentucky State prison for assisting slaves to escape.
While residing opposite Madison she was an object of suspicion
on the part of her Kentucky neighbors. Several slaves in the
neighborhood escaped, and investigation showed that she
prompted their leaving. For this she was indicted in ' the
Trimble Circuit Court, but before being caught she crossed the

JOSEPH GLASS MARSHALL. 437
river to Madison. She was arrested on a requisition from the
Governor, but before the officers could get her away Mr. Mar
shall had her brought before a judge on a writ of habeas corf us.
In his speech at the trial he so maddened the people that they
drove the Kentuck)- officers from the Court-house and from the
State. Indeed, they had to nin for their lives, so frenzied were
the people.
In some respects Mr. Marshall's oratory vvas faulty, but it was
none the less effective. He seemed to speak from his throat,
and not from his chest. When excited he enunciated so rapidlv-
and sent his words after each other so swiftly that they ran to
gether. His voice was not musical, like that of Hannegan, but
his matter was so strong that one hardly noticed his defects. In
his day the Madison bar vvas a strong one, but he was its king.
Michael G. Bright, Judge Sullivan, Judge Stevens, William
McKee Dunn and Abram W. Hendricks, all lawyers of emi
nence, practiced at it, but none of them approached Mr. Mar
shall in ability to convince courts and sway juries. The litigant
who had him for an advocate was fortunate, indeed. In fact,
it was almost impossible to get a verdict against him when he
vvas thoroughly aroused and " shook his mane"
A man with Mr. Marshall's power to arouse passion in others
must have passion himself. He had plenty of it, and, although
like his eloquence, it was usually dormant, yet when it was
stirred it was hot and burning. The late John Dumont once de
murred to a complaint drawn by Marshall, and made his points
so well, and argued them so strongly, that it seemed almost cer
tain he would be sustained. At that time a demurrer was a
more serious matter than it now is, for, if maintained, it drove
the plaintiff out of court ; therefore, Marshall fought Mr. Du
mont with all his might. When it becarae evident that the
court would decide against him he asked for a suspension of
judgment until he could bring a certain authority into court.
The favor being granted he thrust his hat upon his head and
started for his office almost on the run. At that time Judge
Woollen, now of Franklin, had a sleeping-room adjoining Mr.
Marshall's office, and was in it when Mr. Marshall reached his
door. He tried to open it, and, finding it locked, cried out
fiercely : " Woollen, have you the key to this door? " " No,

438 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
sir," replied Mr. Woollen; "I do not carry your key, Mr.
Marshall." The hall leading to his office was sorae six feet
wide, and Marshall, backing up against the wall, and drawing
his Hps between his teeth, shouted, " d — n the door," and with
a bound and a kick he went through it like a flash. Mr. Wool
len went down the stairs, but, being desirous of seeing the re
sult of the storra, stopped in the doorway. In a few minutes
Mr. Marshall carae down the stairway, and observing Mr.
Woollen, he said, with a sraile, "Woollen, I had the key in my
pocket. My passion has cost me a door."
Mr. Marshall and Judge Otto were once opposing counsel in
a case at Charlestown, and during the trial had a personal diffi
culty. Mr. Marshall, becoming incensed at something Judge
Otto said, retorted very severely. During the wrangle Judge •
Otto called him a liar, whereupon Mr. Marshall knocked him
down. Jndge Otto arose, and, coming at Mr. Marshall in a
belligerent manner, was knocked down again. He then got
up and went out of the house to arra hiraself preparatory to re
newing the fight. While he was gone some one told Mr. Mar
shall that he was to blame for the commencement of the diffi
culty, whereupon he sat down and wrote Judge Otto a letter in
which he apologized for his conduct and asked his pardon. He
was too great and brave to refuse justice when justice was due.
Mr. Marshall and the late George G. Dunn loved each other
like brothers. They roomed together during the session of the
Legislature of 185 1, both being members of the Senate. In the
latter part of the session they had a difficulty, and a gentleman
who witnessed their reconciliation thus describes it:
" Marshall and Dunn roomed together in 1851-2, when they
were in the Senate. They had a difficulty in debate, and though
they continued to occupy the same room to receive their friends,
were known not to speak to each other for weeks. The Senate
adjourned. Marshall was in one corner packing an old carpet
bag and crowding into it his soiled clothing. Dunn was in an
other corner crowding things into an old trunk. Neither of
them spoke. Finally Marshall walked up to Dunn, held out his
hand and said : ' Well, good-bye, George.' Dunn took it, and
they both cried like children."

JOSEPH tiL.VSS MARSH.VLL. 439
This was Marshall to the life. He belonged to that fiery class
of men who are all ablaze in their afl'ections and their hates.
In 1851 the contest for the Legislature in Jeft'erson count)' was
made upon the question of the State selling her interest in the
Madison and Indianapolis Railroad. Joseph W. Chapman, a
law partner of Senator Bright, vvas in the Legislature the year
before, and opposed a bill authorizing the sale. Mr. Marshall
canvassed the county in 1851 in support of candidates favoring
the sale, and Senator Bright in support of those opposing it.
In a speech at Ritchev's Mills, Mr. Marshall said he was sur
prised at Senator Bright's course in the canvass, as he had told
him before it commenced that if he had said to hira, Mr. Bright,
that he. Mr. Marshall, desired Mr. Chapman's support the win
ter before, he would have seen that he got it. Mr. Bright, who
was present, cried out in a loud voice: "Judge Marshall. I
deny that statement." Marshall stopped a moment, and look
ing Bright straight in the eye, said, with an eraphasis I shall
never forget: "And I, sir, reiterate it." "We will see about
it hereafter," said Mr. Bright. "As you please," replied Mr.
Marshall, who then proceeded with his speech. This trouble re
sulted in a challenge and alraost a duel, as will be seen further
along. In 1852 the author conducted a newspaper at Madison which
supported Mr. Marshall for Congress. During the canvass he
received a letter from some half dozen Quakers of Jackson
county asking him to give the particulars of the difficulty be
tween Mr. Marshall and Senator Bright. They said that while
anxious to vote for Mr. Marshall they could not conscientiously
do so if he had ever sought the blood of a fellow raan. -The
day I received this letter I sent Mr. Marshall a note asking him
to call at my office. When he came I handed him the letter. He
read it carefully, and, handing it back to me, said: "I fear
we must get along without the support of our Quaker friends.
You were present when the trouble between Bright and rayself
culminated, but it had been brewing a long time. Bright has
ever been in my pathway. I never go out of a door without
seeing his shadow. He prevented me from going to the Senate
in 1844, ^iid the next year beat me for the place. The day
after the trouble at Ritchey's Mills, while at my home, Jonathan

44° BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Fitch was announced. He came into my library and handed
me a note- from Bright. It was not a challenge, but was in
tended to provoke -one. Its contents were so insulting that I
becarae enraged, and resolved to kick Fitch out of my house.
But in a moment I changed my mind. He was in my house,
and, being a respectable man, I could not treat him thus. I
told him Mr. Bright would either see or hear from me soon, and
then he left. I studied over the matter that afternoon and even
ing, and concluded that the world was not big enough-for me
and Bright^ — that one of us must die. Next morning I came to
the city, went to the hardware store of H. K. Wells & Co., and
bought a bowie-knife. I put it in my pocket, and, knowing
that it was Bright's custom to go for his mail at lo o'clock, I
walked up and down Second street, between the post-office and
West street, from lo to 10:30, waiting for him, but he did not
appear. Had he come I should have attacked him and killed
hira, ifl could. I knew he was always armed, so I would not
be taking hira at a disadvantage I then went to my office, and
wrote hira a note, asking hira to raeet rae at Louisville, on
a day I named, to settle our difficulty. The day before we were
to meet I told McKee Dunn what I had done, and asked him to
accompany rae to Louisville. He agreed to go down that even
ing on the raail-boat. I left him, and at noon took the Louis
ville packet, got off at Charlestown landing, and walked out to
Charlestown. I called on Dr. Athon, told him I had chal
lenged Bright, and asked him to go on the field as my surgeon.
He consented, and he and I then hunted up Captain Gibson,
who agreed to serve as my second. That evening Athon,
Gibson and myself went to Louisville, and next morning found
Dunn at the hotel. Bright was also in the city, and negotiations
for a meeting began. Before thev- were completed friends in
terfered and the matter was settled." '• How was it settled,
Mr. Marshall?" I asked. "The particulars are not for the
public. All it will ever know is contained in the card pubHshed
by our friends. It was satisfactory to us, and the difficulty is
ended." This is the substance of what he said, and very nearly
the words he used.
Knowing that General Williara McKee Dunn, of Washing
on, was very near Mr. Marshall in his difficulty with Senator

JOSEPH GL.'VSS MARSH.VLL, 44!
Bright, I wrote him a short time ago asking him to give rae his
recollection of it. I suggested that, as the principals and every
one connected with the trouble but himself vvere dead, there
could be no impropriety in giving the facts to the public. The
follovving is a copy of General Dunn's reply :
•• Washington, January 5, 1882.
•• fr, jr. Woollen, Esq., India/zafolis, Ind.:
" De,vr Sir — I have been so occupied and distracted bv vari,
ous causes that I have too long delayed to answer your letter ask
ing for information about the difficulty between Senator Bright
and Joe Marshall, which caused them a trip to Louisville, with
a prospect of a duel. I do not think I can add much, if any
thing of consequence, to the information you alreadv- have. I
can not give you dates.
"You remember when the two law offices of Marshall & Wal
ker and Dunn & Hendricks were adjoining in the Sering House.
One hot day in August, I think, Mr. Marshall called me out of
my office to the street. He vvas equipped, as he usually was
when he would start out on the circuit, /. e.. with an old carpet-
sack, with very little in it, stuck under his arm, and his hat full
of papers down over his eyes. He told me he was on his way
to Louisville to meet Senator Bright, with a view of challenging
him to fight a duel, unless he (Bright) qualified or retracted
some statement he had made. He said he wished me to meet
him the next morning at the Louisville Hotel. I told him I
knew- nothing about the code, did not believe in dueling, and
could be of no service to him. He explained that he was going
down by the Louisville and Madison packet, that he would stop
at the Charlestown landing, walk out to Charlestown, and get
Captain Gibson to act as his second, and all that he wanted of
me was to act as an outside friend. I told him, with that under
standing I would go, as requested, hoping to be of some use in
bringing about an adjustment. He immediately started on his
way, and I shall never forget the appearance of that great big-
headed, big-hearted man, as he walked down the street on his
way, with the evident purpose of having matters brought to a
satisfactory conclusion. The friends and neighbors whom he
passed on the street little suspected the errand on which he was

442 biographical and historical sketches.
going. He had requested me, of course, to say nothing of the
matter. I went down to Louisville that night on the mail-boat,^
without having informed any one of the object of my trip. On
the boat I met Senator Bright, his brother Michael, Jonathan
Fitch, I think, and Charley Shrewsbury, who were of Senator
Bright's party. The next morning, at the Louisville Hotel, I
met Mr. Marshall and Captain Thomas W. Gibson. Senator
Bright's party were at the Gait House.
"I do not remember the particulars of the correspondence
that ensued between the parties belligerent. I remember that
Hon. James Guthrie, afterward United States Senator and Sec
retary of the United States Treasury, seemed to be Mr. Bright's
principal adviser. Judge Huntington, of the United States
District Court for Indiana, happening to be in Louisville at the
time, became one of Mr. Marshall's advisers. No conclusion was
reached the first day, and by night rumors of a hostile meeting
expected between the parties were in the air. In consequence
of these rumors I went to the Gait House and took Captain
Shrewsbury's room, Shrewsbury took Marshall's and Marshafl
took mine at the Louisville Hotel. My recollection is that a '
police officer visited Marshall's room that night, where he found
Captain Shrewsbury, who threw him entirely oft' his trail. The
next day we were amazed by the arrival of Rev. Samuel V.
Marshall, a brother of Joe, and I had great difficulty in pre
venting him frora procuring the arrest of the parties by the po
lice. You remember how Joe deceived a police officer who did
not know him by pointing out his brother Sam as the Joe Mar
shall to be arrested.
"The correspondence was brought to what vvas accepted as
a satisfactory conclusion that afternoon. It was part of the ar
rangement that the parties should return to Madison on the
littie packet. They shook hands when they met on the packet,
but I do not think they ever spoke to each other afterward. On
the arrival at Madison we landed at the depot wharf. Several
of Mr. Bright's friends met him, apparently w-ith great rejoic
ing. No one met Mr. Marshall. He walked up with me as far
as my house, and then, with his old carpet-sack under his arm,
he broke for his home on the hill. How grand and yet how
simple he vvas in his tastes and ways. Yours truly,
"W. M.'Dunn."

JOSEPH GL.VSS M.VRSILVLL. 443
The morning after Messrs. Marshall and Bright had settled
their difficulty the following card appeared in the Louisville
papers :
"The difficulty between Joseph G. Marshall, Esq., and Hon.
Jesse D. Bright having been referred to us by mutual (not offi
cial) t'riends, we are happy to say has been honorably adjusted,
and to the mutual satist'action of the parties.
" Henry Pirtle.
"J.VMES Guthrie.
"Alfred Thurston.
" W. O. Butler.
'¦ Gait House, ^\ugust 2g, iSji."
Mr. Marshall always traveled on foot or horseback. For
several years the author saw him alraost every day, and never
knew him to ride in a carriage. He kept one for family use, but
did not use it himself. He lived on the hill just north of Madi
son, and in going to and from his home to his office he inva
riably walked. When he started out on the circuit he threw a
pair of saddle-bags, containing a few articles of clothing, over
his saddle and mounted his horse. He made his canvass for
Governor in 1846 on horseback. The author is informed by
Judge Julian that during Mr. Marshall's canvass for Governor
in 1846 he came to the Judge's house and remained with him
over night. He was to speak next day at a town some ten railes
distant, and Judge Julian proposed taking hira to the place in
his carriage. He said he preferred riding his horse, and it
took a good deal of persuasion to get hira to take a seat in the
Judge's carriage.
Mr. Marshall loved the horse and was a raost excellent judge
of that animal. He always rode a good one and treated it most
affectionately. Although a leading politician Mr. Marshall seldom did more
on election day than deposit his ballot. I remember only two
occasions when he was a worker at the polls. One of them was
vvhen General Stapp ran for the Legislature, and the other when
Captain Meek was a candidate for County Treasurer. When
a candidate himself he kept away from the voting place. He

444 biographical and historical sketches.
was too big and too proud a man to work for himself. He left
to others the responsibility of his election or defeat.
Mr. Marshall was particularly fond of pictures. He has been
known to buy a book for its pictures, and, when he had exam
ined them, to give the book away. He loved the beautiful and
the true.
Mr. Marshall was a consumraate actor. He knew how to
" suit the action to the word, and the word to the action." In
his arguraents to a jury^ his force was not in the comparisons he
made, but in the deductions he drew frora his premises. In
other words, he argued not by comparison, but from cause to
eft'ect. His ability to present his facts in the strongest possible
raanner was excelled by no raan. He wasted no time in dally
ing with the graces of oratory, but at once hurled the javelins
of his logic at the weakest points in his adversary's armor. He
had the element of pathos. At times he would hav-e a jury he
was addressing in tears, and in a minute thereafter convulsed
with laughter. He knew when to do this, and never made the
mistake of provoking rairth when sadness would better serve
the interests of his client.
Mr. Marshall was kind to young lawyers, but held those that
aspired to be his peers to the strictest accountability. After de-
¦ murring a young attorney out of court he would graciously
permit him to amend his pleadings and go on with his case.
But if he got a fair advantage of Judge Sullivan, Mr. M. G.
Bright, or attorneys of their standing, he would not relax his
hold upon them one iota. He held them rigidly to the " bond,"
even though it took the " pound of flesh."
Mr. Marshall had the reputation of being an indolent man,
and the reputation was a correct one. He had a habit of put
ting oft' labor to " a more convenient season," but in justice to
him it must be said that he could do more work vv^ith less labor
than any of his competitors at the bar. Indeed, he could do
better work with little preparation than they could do with much
study. His mind was so great that it could grasp a difficult
problem in law at once, while his less able compeers could ac
complish this only by much study and labor.
Mr. Marshall was a wit as well as an orator. He often said
things that were worthy of Dean Swift. They came from him,

JOSEPH GLASS MARSHALL. 445
not as Studied eft'orts. but as naturally- as the water runs f'rom
the spring. One day, as the attorneys were gathering in
the Madison Court-house previous to the opening of court, a
bright boy — son of the deputy sherift" — came within the bar,
vvhen a Democratic lawyer addressed him thus : " Jeft'., what's
your politics?'' " I'm a Democrat, sir," answered the hopeful
three-year-old, " There, gentiemen," said the lawyer, "you
see that little children that know no sin are Democrats by na
ture," "Yes," said Mr. Marshall, "the Good Book tefls us
that we are all brought forth in sin, but through grace we are
saved. We may be Democrats by nature, but through grace
we become Whigs."
Again, the venerable John H. Thompson, who died in Indian
apolis a few years ago, was at one time Judge of the judicial
circuit that embraced the county of Scott. Mr. Marshall had a
case in this court, and introduced a witness that " surprised "
him. and, desiring to destroy the force of his testimony, sought
to impeach him. This vvas objected to by the opposing coun
sel, and Judge Thompson sustained the objection. The same
day a law student appHed to the Judge for license to practice,
and was referred to Mr. Marshall for examination. Marshall
took the young man outside the bar and spoke a few words to
him, when the student left the court-room and Mr. Marshall re
sumed the seat he had just vacated. The Judge asked him if
he had examined the applicant and was prepared to report.
"Yes, your honor," replied the lawyer. "Your exaraination
vvas a very brief one," reraarked the Judge. "I only asked
him a single question, your honor." " What was the question,
sir? " " I asked him if a party could, under any circumstances,
impeach his own witness. He said no ; and I told him to return
to his books, as a raan that knew no more of law than that was
not fit to practice before a justice of the peace."
Sometimes Mr. Marshall was very domineering in his man
ner. He even carried this into court, and neither judge nor
counsel was spared when the humor was on hira. A young
man was indicted in the Jeft'erson Circuit Court for larceny,, and
Mr. Marshall volunteered to defend him. The prisoner was
charged with stealing a watch that was found in a room occu
pied by him in a Madison hotel. It came out in the evidence

446 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
that the person indicted was decoyed out of the city by the
Sheriff and City Marshal, and threatened with flagellation if
he did not produce the watch. He confessed the stealing, and
told them where the watch could be found. To this testimony
Mr. Marshall objected because the confession was made under
duress. Judge Courtland Cushing was on the bench, and ruled
that although the confession of the prisoner could not go to the
jury, yet, if they found that the watch was discovered in the
prisoner's room, in the place named by hira, they might infer
that it was placed there by hira, and would be justified in bring
ing in a verdict of guilty. To this ruling Mr. Marshall e.x-
cepted with much warmth. After the evidence was closed he
addressed the jury in one of the ablest efforts he ever made.
The adverse decision of the judge had angered him, and the
"Sleeping Lion," as he was called, was aroused. He com
menced his speech by saying that the liberty of the humblest
citizen in the land was as dear to him as though he was " clothed
in purple and fine linen" and sat among the rulers of the land.
Continuing in an excited raanner, he said : ¦ ' The prisoner at
the bar stands charged with crirae without a particle of evi
dence to sustain it. The court, in its infinite wisdom, has per
mitted testimony to go to you which should have been excluded."
At this point Judge Cushing interrupted him, and said that he
must be more respectful to the court. With forced calmness,
for he was seething with excitement, he said : "I must confess
my inability, your honor, to be more respectful than I am."
" The court wifl teach you, then," replied the Judge in a testy
raanner. Folding his arms and bowing his head, he said:
"Will the court commence its lessons novv? " The Judge gave
way to the lawyer, who remained for some time as immovable
as a statue, and only relaxed his features and resumed his argu
ment when he saw that he had cowed the court. Had it been
any other member of the Madison bar he would have been fined,
if not imprisoned, for contempt of court. But Judge Cushing
could not assert the authority necessary to maintain the dignity
of his office when the transgressor vvas Joseph G. Marshafl.
In social circles he vvas facetious and witty, but in public he
seldom indulged in pleasantry. When he did so it was to illus
trate a point or ridicule the position of his adversary.

JOSEPH <;L.VSS .MARSHALL. 447
No man ever questioned Mr. Marshafl's integrity, lie was
as honest in politics as in private deaHngs. He vvas conscien
tiously opposed to the use of money in elections. In 1852,
vvhen a candidate for Congress, the chairman of the Whig-
State Central Committee wrote him that the National Commit
tee had sent him money to be used in Mr. Marshall's district,
and asking what should be done vvith it. Mr. Marshall replied r
" Return it to Washington. The use of money in elections is
both corrupt and corrupting. I shall have nothing to do with
it." In his sketches of Indiana men, Oliver H. Smith says of Mr.
Marshall: "As a lavvyer Mr. Marshall stood among the very
-first in the State. His great for.te as an advocate vvas in the
power with which he handled the facts before the jury. Fle
seemed to forget hiraself in his subject, and at times I have
thought him unsurpassed by any man I ever heard in im
passioned eloquence," It should be remembered that Mr.
Smith had sat in the Senate of the United States, and had
heard speeches from Clay, Webster and Calhoun. Colonel
Abram W. Hendricks, in a recent address, thus speaks of Mr.
Marshall: " He was one of the most transcendently powerful
advocates that have figured at the Indiana bar. His intellect
vvas colossal. He seemed to know the law by intuition. His
logic was surrounded by a glowing atmosphere of passion. He
could sweep through his subject Hke a tempest or crush through
it like an avalanche." Colonel Hendricks had practiced at the
bar with him for years, and knew whereof he spoke.
John D. Defrees, in a letter published in the Madison Courier,
says that Mr. Marshall was " the Webster of Indiana."
John Lyle King, of Chicago, in a recent letter, said that Mr.
Marshall "was, by odds, the greatest man Indiana ever pro
duced." Making all due allowance for the partiality of his friends the
reader must conclude that Joseph G. Marshall was a great raan
— the peer of any man living in Indiana in his day.
Mr. Marshall was very careless of his dress. He didn't care
whether his coat fitted him or not, or whether the bow on his
neck-stock was under his ear or his chin. He usually wore low
shoes, and there was often quite a distance between his shoe-tops

448 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
and the bottom of his pantaloons. He carried his papers in his
hat instead of his pockets, and wore his hat pulled low down up
on his head. He had a great big head, thickly covered with
sandy hair. His forehead, mouth and nose were large and prom
inent. His eyes were a light blue, and were the least expressive
¦of his features. He stood over six feet high. His body was not
symmetrical, being from his shoulders to his hips almost the
same in size. It was his head and face that told you the manner
of raan he was. These were raagnificent, and his uncouth form
and careless dress served to show thera to the best advantage.
Had he gone to the Senate, as he should have done, he would
have made a reputation equal to any one in the land. He had
the ability to shine anywhere and would not have suffered by
comparison with the ablest men in that body.

MICHAEL GRAHAM BRIGHT.

MiCH.\EL Graham Bright, lavv)er and financier, vvas born
at Plattsburg. N. Y., January i6. 1803. He was a son of David
J. Bright, who came vvith his family to Indiana in 1820, and
settled at Madison, where he conducted a hat manufactory for
many years. Mr. David J. Bright was a man of comraanding
presence and great force of character. He lived to see his sons
Michael and Jesse leading and influential men, and died sud
denly, at Madison, many years ago. His son Michael studied
law w-ith the late Judge Sullivan, and becarae one of the first
lawyers of the State. He was the last of the legal coterie which,
thirty-five years ago, made the Madison bar so famous. Mar
shall and Sullivan and Stevens passed away years ago. William
McKee Dunn and Abram W. Hendricks were then young men,
and can hardly- be considered as cotemporaneous with the legal
giants we have named, but they followed close after, and did
much to maintain the high character of the Madison bar. As
a lawyer Mr. Bright was astute and full of expedients. He
had not the logical mind of Marshall, nor was he as elegant
and poHshed as Sullivan, nor as painstaking as Stevens, but in
resources he was as fertile as any of them. His watchful eye
took in the situation at a glance, and his ingenuity enabled him
to make the most of it.
The county of Jefferson was, in the days of Mr. Bright's
activity. Whig, as it is now Republican. Notwithstanding this
fact, Mr. Bright, a Democrat, was chosen to represent it in the
State Legislature. He was in no sense an office seeker. The
offices he held came to hira unsought. They were the free-will
offerings of his neighbors and friends.
29

45 o biographical and historical sketches.
For a tirae he edited a newspaper at Madison, but then, as
for many years afterward, his main business was the law. In ,
1832 he was elected to the State Legislature, and served with
distinction, but he was satisfied with one term, and did not seek
a re-election. In 1844 he was elected Agent of State, and dis
charged the duties of the office with very great ability. When
he entered upon his official duties he found the office in great
confusion, but he soon restored it to order. At that time the
State had a large suspended debt, but Mr. Bright collected a
large part of it, and paid the money to the State's creditors.- In
deed, his administration of the office was such as to receive the
commendation of the public, and was in striking contrast with
that of his predecessor. .When his term expired he wentback
to the bar, but he was indifferent about obtaining business, and
did not give his profession that care and attention he had. pre
viously done. '
In 1850 Mr. Bright was elected a raeraber of the constitutional
convention frora the county of Jefferson, defeating. Moody Park,
a Whig, for the office. He was chosen chairman of the Com
mittee on the Legislative Department, was second on the "Com
mittee of Revision, Arrangement and Phraseology, and vvas also
a member of the Committee on Salaries, Compensation and
Tenure of Office. He was not a speaking member, but he some-
tiraes""addressed the convention, and when he did he was list
ened to with the greatest interest. He took rauch concern in
the provision authorizing the taking of private property for pub
lic use, and addressed the convention several times upon it.
He opposed that part of section 21 of the bill" of rights which
forbids the taking of private property for public use without first
tendering the raoney for the damages assessed. In discussing
the question, he said : ' ' Every member of the coraraunity holds
his property, whether real or personal, subject to the rights and
requirements of the State. It is a duty which the State owes
to itself and to all the members who compose it to maintain I'ts
sovereignty and its authority inviolate. It is a right inherent in
sovereignty to take private property for public use without com
pensation being first made. The State is amenable to no one,
save to a sense of right."
During the debate on this question, Mr. Walpole, a delegate

MICHAEL GR.VHAM BRIGHT. 45 I
trom the county of Hancock, charged Mr. Bright with being
the representative of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad
upon the floor of the convention. Mr. Bright replied to the ac
cusation in the follovving dignified words :
•' Mr. President — I have no interests to represent upon
this floor which will conflict vvith the rights and interests of the
State at large. I do not consider myself as holding a seat in
this convention f'or the purpose of exclusively representing Jef
ferson county. I am here to represent and support the interests
of the whole people of Indiana — not the interests of a section as
opposed to the general welfare I ara not the representative of
a local or personal interest ; I carae up here to aid in the forma
tion of a constitution which shall be, as I trust, the beneficent
organic law for this generation of the people of the State, and
for the generation to come, as vv ell as for rayself and my child
ren. I am a constituent part of the people — an unit in the great
aggregate — ..and I can not, if I would, separate my interests or
the interests of my immediate constituents from the interests of
the people of the State. We are all interested together and
alike in the formation of a good constitution ; we shall all be
benefited by rts wise provisions or injured by its bad ones."
Mr. Bright was the author of several sections in our State
constitution, and had rauch to do in moulding into shape many
others. The day the convention adjourned it thanked the Com
mittee on Revision, of which he vvas a leading member, for the
able manner in which it had discharged its duties.
Mr. Bright never held public office after the constitutional
convention adjourned. He had large farming interests, and
devoted much time to railroad matters. He projected several
raflroads, some of which were built and others not. He did not
do much at the law, nor did he care to, his office being in his
yard, away from the business quarter. He had accumulated a
handsome estate, and did not wish to be bothered with cases in
court. He seldom accepted employraent as an attorney, and
never did unless it was to oblige a friend.
Among his last cases in court was that of Stephen Lanciscus,
indicted for the kifling of Ebenezer Hollis. Lanciscus being
the son of an' old personal and political friend, Mr. Bright en-

452 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
tered upon his defense with great earnestness and conducted it
with all his old-time ability and energy. Lanciscus, however,
was convicted and sentenced to the State prison for life, but
through the influence of Mr. Bright and others he was after
ward pardoned.
Mr. Bright owned a railroad running frora Columbus to
Knightstown, and it being unprofitable he put it on the mar
ket for sale. It was purchased by the Jeffersonville Company,
and thereby Mr. Bright became a large stockholder in that
corporation. Previous to this sale John Brough, then president
of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad Company, and after
ward Governor of Ohio, asked the Legislature to pass a certain
law in the interest of his road, but Mr. Bright antagonized the
measure and it was defeated. Mr. Brough publicly charged
that Mr. Bright oft'ered to champion the measure if the Madi
son Company would buy his road, and that his opposition to the
legislation sought vvas caused by the company's refusal to do
so. Mr. Bright denied the charge and asked Mr. Brough to
retract it, and upon his refusal to do so challenged him to fight
a duel. Mi". Brough published the cartel and his answer in a
newspaper, and, Mr. Bright declining to fight on such a field,
the matter ended. Early in February, 1865, Mr. Bright was
stricken with paralysis at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York,
and never afterward was able to walk. He left Madison in 1868
and removed to Indianapolis, where he remained until he died.
On the 24th of April, 1878, Mr. Bright celebrated his golden
wedding, and it was as beautiful as it was touching to see him
on that eventful day. As he sat in his chair with a bouquet
pinned to the lapel of his coat, the wife of fifty years by his side,
and all his children and grandchildren around him, he seemed
like the patriarch of old, ready to say: "Lord, now lettest
Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word, for
mine eyes have seen Thy salvation."
On the 19th of January, 1881, when seventy-eight years and
three days old, Mr. Bright departed this life. His remains were
taken to Crown Hill Cemetery and there interred.
Mr. Bright was a member of the Episcopal Church, and in his
)Ounger days was an active Freemason. His affliction in his

VIICHAKL GRAHAM BRIGiri'. 453
latter years debarred him f'rom the privilege of the lodge room,
but he often attended church after he became an invalid.
Mr. Bright vvas an able and ingenious law) er. He vv as well
read in the books, and in practice vvas as good as the best. He
was ever on the alert, and if an opponent had a weak place in
his lines he pierced it. In speaking he sometimes hesitated or
stammered, and frequently repeated his words ; but if he vvas
not an eloquent man he was a sensible and a plausible one. He
ranked high at the bar as a business lawyer, standing at the
very head of his profession in the State. Fle raade a study of
finance, and once prepared a lecture upon it, which, however,
he never delivered. He lov-ed social garaes, and vvas an adept
in playing them. He vvas public-spirited, and liberal vvith his
means in assisting such enterprises as were for the public good.
Mr. Bright was an ardent Democrat, and the best party ma
nipulator in his section of the State. He vvas not ambitious for
office, and was never a candidate from choice. He lived in a
Whig county, but, vvhen a candidate, he vvas al\va)-s elected.
His party opponents knew his ability, and his power to serve
them, and, therefore, many of them voted for him.
Mr. Bright vvas a born diplomatist. No one knows how
much his brother Jesse vvas indebted to him for his successful
political career. He was his brother's mentor and counselor.
All his movements on the political chess-board were to check
the king of his brother's antagonist. The following letters,
written by him to a friend, and hitherto not published, will show
his interest in his brother's fortune :
" Brookeland, Nov. 21, 1852.
"Dear Sir — I received your late favor and mark its con
tents. I hope things will all corae out right. I do not fear, if
prudence and discretion mark our management. Jesse will not
go into the Cabinet — at least I think so. In the first place, a
position there will not be offered him ; in the second place, I
think that it would be inexpedient, under all circumstances, to
accept it if it were offered. He can be of as much service to
his friends and more to himself by remaining where he is.
Judge Borden wants to be Recorder of the Land Office in place
of Tenney, who was appointed from our State not long ago.

454 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
How would he do? My notion is, it would be a very proper
appointment. "As to United States Senator we in the South must follow
the lead of our Northern friends. If they want Pettit, then
Pettit is the raan ; if they prefer Dr. Fitch, then Fitch must be
our candidate. We shall leave it to them to say whom they will
have. If they can not agree among themselves (which will be
most likely), and it devolves upon us in the South to make the
selection, I say to you in confidence, I should not hesitate one
moment about the choice. Pettit, with all his goodness, is too
much identified with the Douglas faction to receive my cordial
support. On the other hand. Fitch is a real gentleman — known
to be right, and as true as steel. I hope to be out next week
or the week after, and shall be pleased to see you.
" Ever your friend, M. G. Bright."

" Madison, Jan. 31, 1853.
" Dear Sir — I acted on your suggestion and visited Wash
ington. I returned last Friday, and one day this week I shall
pay you a visit, for I have much that I wish to say to you.
" Who are to compose the Cabinet of General Pierce no one
can tell. On this subject you know as much as I, and I
knew as much before I left home as I learned by my trip. All
is in the dark. Pierce, if indeed he has made up his own mind
upon the subject, which it is believed he has not, keeps it en
tirely to himself. Cass and Hunter, and all those men, are as
profoundly ignorant on the subject as we are ; at least they say
so, and I do not doubt it. Fears are entertained by many of
our friends that extreme raen will be taken into the Cabinet
whose appointraent will create distrust, and produce dissatisfac
tion to the National Democracy. I. fear such a thing, though I
hope for the best.
" On the whole, I am gratified that I vvent. I found things
much better than I feared they would be, and I am entirely
easy in reference to the eft'ect which an)- eft'ort of Jo. W. and
Bill B. can have upon my brother. He can laugh them to
scorn. I shall try to be out this week ; if not early next.
•'Truly your friend, M. G. Bright."

:micii.vkl gr.vh.vm brigh-p. 455
It will be seen by these letters that the interests of his brother
Jesse were ever uppermost in his thoughts. Fle says nothing
about his own aft'airs ; it is of those of his brother that he speaks.
These two distinguished men vvere the most aft'ectionate of
brothers. When you struck one )'ou hit the other. In man)-
respects they vvere unlike. Michael was insinuating, diplo
matic, and conciliatory ; Jesse, magnetic, frank, and outspoken.
They vvere both proud of their fiimily, and both loved their
father's children.
John Pettit and Graham N. Fitch vvere candidates for United
States Senator before the Legislatiire of 1853. As will be seen
from Mr. Bright's letter printed above, he favored the election
of Dr. Fitch. He came to Indianapolis at the beginning of the
session, and worked hard for his favorite. Mr. Pettit, however,
vvas elected, and this result greatly chagrined Mr. Bright, for
he felt it was a blow at his brother Jesse. The evening after
the election he and Mr. Pettit met at the Palmer House, and
warm words passed between them. Pettit told him that, hav
ing been elected to the Senate, he would have influence with
the appointing power, and that he intended that he (Mr. Bright)
should be sent as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Guano Islands.
After this, Mr. Bright and Judge Pettit became friends and re
mained such while they lived. It will be remembered that
Judge Pettit vvas nominated for Supreme Judge in 1870 by the
Democratic State Convention. The evening after the conven-
v-ention adjourned he called upon Mr. Bright at his home.
They had a long conversation on old times, and vvhen Judge
Pettit arose to leave, Mr. Bright ordered his carriage for the
purpose of having the Judge taken to his hotel. Judge Pettit
declined the offer, saying he was too heavy and clumsy to get
in and out of the carriage. He then walked up to Mr. Bright,
and taking his hand, said : •' Michael, God bless you. I am
glad to see you looking so well, and I hope )-ou will be dancing
with the girls before spring. Good-by."
On the 24th of April, 1828, Mr. Bright married Betsy Brooke
Steele, who survives him. Twelve children were born to them,
six of whom are Hving. Among the dead is the lamented Mi
chael Steele Bright, who lost his life by trying to save the lives
of others in the memorable conflagration of the steamers Uni-

456 biographical and historical sketches.
ted States and America, which burned on the Ohio river in De
cember, 1868. The children living are, Richard J. Bright, Ser
geant-at-Arms of the United States Senate ; Mrs. Rachel Hal-
deman, Mrs. Martha Griffin, Mrs. Hannah Nichol, Mrs. Mary
Korbly and William L. Bright.
Mr. Bright's eldest daughter married Dr. J. R. Haldeman,
who, during the war, was a Confederate surgeon. Mrs. Hal
deman was taken sick while her husband was in the army, and
was kindly nursed and cared for by the Sisters of Charity irt
Vicksburg. When she convalesced she passed the lines and
came to her father's home. After the war had ended Mr. Bright
made a trip to New Orleans, and finding the steamer upon
which he traveled would stop awhile at Vicksburg resolved
to personally thank the Sisters for their attention to his daugh
ter. When the boat landed at the Vicksburg wharf he vvas
taken ashore in his chair and conducted to the Sisters' hospital.
Reaching the hospital he called for the Superior, and on her
appearance said: "My name is Bright. I am the father of
Mrs. Haldeman, whom you so kindly treated during her sick
ness, and I could not pass your city without calling in person
and thanking you for your goodness to my child." He vvas
then taken to the steamer and proceeded on his way.
In person Mr. Bright was large and portly. He vvas quick
in speech and in action. When aniraated his face and eyes
were peculiarly expressive His hair was a dark brown, his
eyes hazel, his features good, and his whole appearance that of
a well-bred gentleraan. He was a good law-y-er, an adept in
finance, and a diploraatist of very decided ability.

NICHOLAS McCARTY.

Indlvn.v has had many men of more learning and greater
natural talents than Nicholas McCarty, but she has had few who
exercised a more healthful influence, and whose life-work re
dounded more to the public good. He vvas a pioneer of the
State, and impressed himself deeply upon its morals and poli
tics. Nicholas McCarty was a native \'irginian, being born in that
part of the Old Dominion now included in the boundaries of
West Virginia. When but a child his father died, and he vvas
thrown upon his own resources for a living. Not only this, but
he had a mother to care and provide for, and he discharged
this sacred duty with the same fidelity with which he ever exe
cuted his trusts. When a boy in his teens he left Pittsburgh,
where he had gone soon after his father's death, and emigrated
to Newark, Ohio. He soon obtained employment in a dry goods
store, and such was his faithfulness and aptitude for business
that in a short time his employer placed him at the head of a
branch house in a neighboring town. This increased responsi
bility was met by increased industry and more strict attention
to his duties, and the fidelity vvith which he served his eraployer
laid the foundation for a friendship which lasted while they
hved. Soon after this he went into business for hiraself, and
met with reasonable success, but becoming infected with the
emigration fever then pervading the country he sold his store and
started towards the setting sun. When in the vicinity of In
dianapoHs he became impressed vvith the fertility of the soil, and
on reaching that town he stopped and pitched his tent. From
that time (1823) until he died he was an inhabitant of Indiana's
capital.

458 biographical and historical sketches.
The pathways of some men are easily traced. By the fur-
row^s they cut others follow them as readily as huntsmen follow
the trail. Nicholas McCarty was such a man. From the time
he settled in Indianapolis until he died -he was a leader in
everything that went to build up the city and conduce to the
public weal. He was the first man to establish a large mercan
tile house in the town, and his raanner of dealing was such as
to draw to it a large and lucrative trade. After awhile he in
stituted branch houses in several towns throughout the State,
and unquestionably he did more to create a correct code of
mercantile ethics than any other man in Indiana. Although he
had his vicissitudes, his ups and downs in trade, no one ever
¦questioned his integrity or doubted his fair dealing. If he did
not always do just as he agreed, he ever had a reason for the
failure, and the one he gave was accepted without question.
Mr. McCarty was of a sanguine teraperaraent, and engaged
in several enterprises which were not successful, but the faith
he had in the future of the city where he lived never forsook
him. He bought large tracts of land in its immediate vicinity
which have become exceedingly valuable, and his descendants
are now reaping the benefit of his judgment and foresight.
As commissioner of the canal fund Mr. McCarty effected the
first loan ever made to Indiana. His action in this matter was
such as to commend him to those in authority, as well as to the
people at large, and no man ever acquitted himself in a fidu-
¦cial capacity with more conscientiousness and fidelity than he.
Mr. McCarty had a taste for politics, and it is a wonder he
did not cultivate it more than he did. He vvas emphatically a
man of the people, and had the faculty of endearing himself
to all classes, but he preferred a priv-ate business to public em
ployment, and was seldom a candidate for office. He was a
Whig and a leader of the party, and could have had almost any
office in its gift for the asking. In 1847 he vvas the Whig can
didate for Congress in his district, and was beaten 298 votes by
the late Judge Wick. Judge Wick's majority over his com
petitor two years before was 1,676, and William J. Brown's
majority over his opponent in the same district two years after
wards was 1,497. Thus it will be seen that Mr. McCarty was
over i,20D votes stronger in the district than his party.

NICHOL.VS VI L.vR-rv. 459
In 1S50 Mr. McCarty vvas nominated and elected to the State
Senate. He vvas made chairman of the Senate's Committee on
Corporations, and jealously guarded the interests of the people.
The author remembers an incident which illustrates this fact.
During Mr. McCarty"s service in the Senate some gentlemen
at Madison sent William McKee Dunn and Captain David
White to Indianapolis to secure from the Legislature a charter
for an insurance company. They wanted the charter to run
ninety-nine years, and to be secure against legislative interfer
ence. But Mr, McCart)-, while fav-oring a charter, insisted
:hat the Legislature should reserve the right to alter or repeal
it at will. Messrs. Dunn and White reported this fact to their
clients, and vvere directed to get the charter through the Senate
vhen Mr. McCarty was absent. This was done, and the char
ter secured without any provision for its alteration or repeal.
In 1.S52 the Whig .^tate convention nominated Mr. McCarty
for Governor. He did not desire the noraination, and strenu-
lusly opposed its being raade. Marshall and Dunn and Thorap-
<on were spoken of, but none of them wanted the race. And,
besides, it was believed that Mr. McCarty, on account of his bus
iness connections and large agricultural interests, vvas stronger
than any other raan. When the convention met it vvas apparent
that he w-ould be nominated if he would accept, but it was so
generally understood that he would not stand that the conven
tion hesitated to raake the nomination. Therefore, after ap
pointing a committee to see him and solicit his consent, it ad
journed until the following day. That evening the committee
met Mr. McCartv- for conference, and found him firmly fixed in
his determination not to make the race. It labored with him
long and earnestlv-, but he continued obdurate. At last George
G. Dunn, one of the most gifted Indianians of that or any other
day, arose and, in the name of the Whigs of Indiana, demanded
that Mr. McCarty cast behind him his personal wishes and ac
cept the standard his party wished to place in his hands. This
touched him deeply, and asking until the next morning for con-
.sideration, he left the room. It was felt at once that Mr. Dunn's
shot had hit the mark. 'Tis said, if a woman hesitates she is
lost, and it may with equal truth be said that the raan who hes
itated vvhen George G. Dunn urged him in another direction

460 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
was also lost. So next morning the committee notified the
convention that Mr. McCarty would make the race, and he wa.-?
nominated by acclamation.
After this the convention was addressed by several distin
guished speakers, among them James T. Suitt and George G.
Dunn, who were particularly severe upon Governor Wright.
At last the nominee for Governor appeared and took the stand.
He looked troubled and careworn, and seeraed as one offering
himself as a sacrifice. He thanked the convention for the honor
it had conferred upon him ; said that, being a candidate, he
wished to be elected, and would do all he honorably could to
succeed ; that his competitor was able and honorable and had
raade a good Governor, and he hoped his friends would not be
little his opponent nor traduce his character. The convention
had been wrought to a high state of excitement by the previous
speakers, and these words, for the raoraent, fell on stony ground.
But the appearance and raanner of the. speaker, his frankness,
his earnestness and his siraplicity, soon touched the hearts of his
auditors, and they cheered hira to the echo. They saw they had
nominated a good and an honest man, and one w'hom it would
be an honor to follow. That the sentiments he avowed were
from his heart, his subsequent actions abundantly proved. He
and Governor Wright raade the canvass vvith the utmost good
feeling. They went from place to place together, often riding in
the sarae carriage, and nearly always stopping at the same
hotel. They had no petty bickerings nor angry w-ords, their
intercourse being more like that of merabers of the same family
than of leaders of hostile parties. On the stump there was great
difference between them. Governor Wright w-as educated ; Mr.
McCarty was not. Governor Wright was a good talker and a
good reasoner ; Mr. McCart)- vvas also a good talker, but not a
good reasoner. Fle dealt in repartee and in anecdotes, and was
peculiarly happy in his application of the latter. At their meet
ing at Madison, Governor Wright led oft' in a long speech, in
which he claimed credit for developing the agricultural resour
ces of Indiana and for the State's improved financial condition.
When he had concluded Mr. McCarty took the stand, and ad
dressing himself to the audience, said : ••If my friend Governor
Wright's foresights were as good as his hindsights, what a won-

NICHOL.VS m'c.VRTY. 461
derf'ul man he'd be."" The crowd laughed and cheered him,
and although he was no match for the Governor as a debater,
he excelled him in wit and anecdote, and made a deeper impres
sion on his hearers.
Eighteen hundred and fifty-two was a bad vear for Whig can
didates, and Mr. McCarty vvent down vvith the tide, being
beaten 20.031 votes. Having resigned his seat in the Senate
when he accepted the gubernatorial nomination, he was novv a
private citizen, and he remained one while he Hved.
Mr. McCarty vvas a good story-teller, and vvas fond of jokes.
His vvas a sunny disposition, and when he visited friends of
evenings the young folks always remained at horae. There
are men with gray beards now living who are wont to tell of
the many funny things said and done by the old pioneer in the
long, long ago. The sunshine he brought to the homes of his
friends still lingers on the door-steps, and lights the way of
those who traverse the halls of their fathers.
Mr. McCarty loved practical jokes, and often indulged in
them. He was a believer in the integrity of men and a disbe
liever in the doctrine that every man had his price. In the
early history of the State he sometimes went South to purchase
tobacco and other Southern products. On one of these occa
sions he took with him a large amount of the bills of the bank
of the State of Indiana. The bills were brand new, never hav
ing been used. On his passage up the Cumberland river on a
steamer he made the acquaintance of a Kentucky farmer who
was also on his way to Tennessee. Mr. McCarty found out that
the Kentuckian was a Baptist, and being a half-way one himself,
the two soon became intimate and treated each other as old
friends. He had often heard the assertion that every one had
his price, and he thought he had a good opportunity of testing
the truth of the saying. So one day he whispered to his friend
in a mysterious way that he wished to see him privately, and led
the way to his state-room. Entering it with his corapanion, he
drew the curtain over the window, bolted the door, and opened
his carpet-bag. Taking from it a large roll of bank bills, and
looking under the berths to see that no one was present, he
spread the money on his bed and said : " There, Mr. Smith, is
as good money as though it had been issued by a bank. It will

462 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
pass anywhere, and I can let you have it on such terms as will
enable you to make a handsome thing out of it." Seeing that
Mr. Smith was surprised and astonished, he proceeded : " Don't
be afraid of the money, Mr. Sraith ; it is as good as the bank
and will go anywhere. I can let you have it at twenty-five
cents on the dollar, and you can pay it out for tobacco dollar
for dollar." By this time the Kentuckian had recovered from
his surprise and replied : "I had rather not, Mr. McCarty; I
believe I had rather not." Mr. McCarty used to tell this story
with great zest, and declare that he had found one man in his
life who had not " his price."
But he was also an accommodating man, and took delight in
serving others. He would go out of his way to do one a favor,
and was always glad to make others happy. He had a keen
sense of the ridiculous, and enjoyed a joke as well as the best
of them. Years ago, when postage vvas high, a letter written
on two pieces of paper was subjected to double postage, which
could be prepaid or riot, at the option of the writer. An ac
quaintance from a distance wrote him upon a subject in which
he had no raanner of concern, and failed to prepay the post
age. Mr. McCarty attended to the business, and in his reply
to his correspondent said: "Your postraaster is dishonest.
He did not mark your letter prepaid. Of course you intended
to prepay it, as no one writes to another on his own business
without doing so. That you may bav-e the evidence of his dis
honesty I return your letter herewith." This act mulcted his
correspondent in double postage.
Mr. McCarty wrote rapidly. His chirography vvas poor, but
his writing was generally correct, although he knew but little
or nothing of grammar. Realizing his deficiency as a scholar
he did what he could, in priv-ate life and public station, to se
cure to others what had been denied himself. When a candi
date for the State Senate he visited a neighborhood where oppo
sition to public schools was active and strong, but he boldly said
that, if elected, he would vote money to make tuition free. . His
courage and frankness won him friends, and many who went to
hear him speak, opposed to free schools, went home their advo
cates. When Mr. McCart)- vvas norainated for Governor so
well was his reputation for frankness established that the In-

NICHOLAS :\1"CARTY. 463
dianafolis Se//ti//el had this to say of him : " Like Henry Chi) .
everybody who knows Nicholas McCarty knows his politics.
The same yesterday, to-da)- and t'orever."
Mr. McCarty vvas five feet eight inches high, and weighed
about 160 pounds. His complexion was fair, his hair light, and
his eves of a hazel color. His head and face indicated shrew d-
ness rather than profundity. In movement he was quick and
active. He was not a great man, but he was an intelligent and
influential one, and his influence vvas always for the good. W-
though not a church member he had a great reverence for Deity.
and his daily walk and example vvere without reproach.
.\t Crown Hill, that beautiful city of the dead, there stands
a granite shaft vvith this inscription :
^^R¦HOL.V.S M'CVHTY,
Born September ¦2i>, 17'J.5 ;
Died Ma.v 17, IS'Ji.
And there, beneath the now green sod, and beside that shaft
pointing heavenward, lie the earthly remains of Nicholas Mc
Carty.

CALVIN FLETCHER.

There stands at Crown Hill a massive granite shaft — the
largest in the cemetery — bearing the narae of Fletcher. On its
north face are engraven these words :
Calvin FiiEXCHEK,
Born in Ludlo^w, Vt., February 4, 1798 ;
Eraigrated to Indianapolis October 1, 1821 ;
Died May 26, 1866.
The monument is fitly chosen. It is plain, as was the man
whose name it bears ; it is solid and enduring, as is his fame.
The following extract from a letter dated March 25, 1861,
written by Mr. Fletcher to the Secretary of the New England
Historical Society, gives the main incidents in his active and
remarkable career :
" At that period (18 15), I had only had the advantage of two
raonths each year at the school in the district where my father
lived. For two years I labored for others at wages, a portion
of the time, and the residue I spent at the academies of Ran
dolph and Royalton in my native State. In 18 17 I determined
on a seaman's life, and in April of the same year went to Bos
ton, a total stranger, and tried my best to obtain a berth on board
an East Indiaman, but failed. I then turned my face toward
the country west of the Alleghenies. In two months I worked
my way, mostly on foot, to the western part of Ohio, and stop
ped at Urbana, then the frontier settleraent of the northwestern
part of that State. I knew not an individual in the State — had
no letter of introduction. I obtained labor as a hired hand for
a short time, and then a school. In the fall of 18 17 I obtained ,

C.VLVIN FLETCHER. 465
a situation in the law office of the Hon. James Cooley, a gen
tieman of talent and fine education — one of a large class which
graduated at Yale under Dr. Dwight. Fle vvas sent to Peru
under John Quincy Adams's administration and died there. In
the fall of 182 1 I vvas admitted to the bar and became the law
partner of my worthy friend and patron, Mr. Cooley. In the
summer of 1821 the Delaware Indians left the central part of
Indiana, then a total wilderness, and the new State selected and
laid oft" Indianapolis as its future capital, but did not make it
such for four or five years thereafter. I had married, and, on
my request, my worthy partner permitted me to leave him to
take up my residence at the place designated as the seat of gov
ernment of Indiana. In September of that year (1821) I left
Urbana with a wagon, entered the wilderness, and after travel
ing fourteen days, and camping out the same number of nights,
reached Indianapolis, where there were a few newly erected cab
ins. No counties had been laid off in the newly acquired terri
tory; but in a few years civil divisions were made. I com
menced the practice of law, and for about twenty-two years
traveled over, twice annually, nearly one-third of the northwest-
em part of the State, at first without roads, bridges or ferries.
In 1825 I was appointed State Attorney for the Fifth Judicial Cir
cuit, embracing some twelve or fifteen counties. This office I
held about one year, vvhen I was elected to the State Senate ;
served seven years, resigned, and gave up official positions, as
I then supposed, for life. But in 1834 ^ "^as appointed by the
Legislature one of four to organize a State bank, and to act as
Sinking Fund Commissioner. I held that place also seven years.
From 1843 to 1859 I acted as president of the branch of the State
Bank at Indianapolis, untfl the charter expired. During the forty
years I have resided in Indiana I have devoted much of my time
to agriculture and societies for its promotion, and served seven
years as trustee of our city schools. I have, been favored with
a large family — nine sons and two daughters. Three of the ,
former have taken a regular course, and graduated at Brown
University, Providence, R. I., and two a partial course at the
same institution. I have written no books, but have assisted in

30

466 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
compiling a law book. I have kept a journal of daily events,
confined mainly to my own routine of business."
Mr. Fletcher's death, which occurred May 26, 1866, caused
much public sorrow. His acquaintance was large, and extended
to all classes. He had long been a banker, and had made for
himself an honorable record as such. The day afterhe died
the bankers of Indianapolis raet to take action in relation to his
death, and among other resolutions passed the following:
" That we do not believe mere success in worldly^ aims.vvtas
the controlling inspiration of his career. His devotion to every
patriotic impulse ; his vigilant and generous attention to every
call of benevolence ; his patient care of all wholesome means
of public improvements ; his interest in the imperial claims of
religion, morals and education, and his admirable success in
securing the happiness and proraoting the culture of a large
family, show conclusively that whatever importance he attached
to the acquisition of wealth he never lost sight of his responsi
bility to that Great Being who smiled so graciously on his life,_ .
and whose approbation made his closing hours serene and
hopeful." The funeral of Mr. Fletcher was largely attended. Among
those present were a large number of colored people. He had
long been a friend to this down-trodden race He had aided
the negro with advice and money, and in return received his
love and veneration.
He was an anti-slaver}^ raan from principle ; was one when
it cost something to be one. No person who was not living
thirty or forty years ago can realize the bitter prejudice that
then existed against the old-time abolitionist ; he was considered
an enemy of his country, and was subjected to both social and
political ostracism. But this did not deter Mr. Fletcher, nor
cause him to alter his course. He once said to one of his sons:
" When I am in the Court-house, engaged in an iraportant case,
if the Governor of the State should send in word that he wished
to speak to me I would reply that I could not go ; but if a
Quaker should touch me on the shoulder and say, 'A colored
man is out here in distress and fear,' I would leave the Court-

C.VLVIN FLETCHER. 467
house in a minute to see the man, for I feel that I would have
to account at that last day vvhen He shall ask me if I have vis
ited the sick in prison or bondage and fed the poor. The great
of this world can take care of themselves, but God has made us
stewards for the down-trodden, and we must account to Him."
Mr. Fletcher's funeral discourse was preached by Rev. A. S.
Kinnan, after which his remains, followed by a large concourse
of people, vvere taken to Crown Hill and there interred.
.Mr. Fletcher had large farming and banking interests, as well
as a large-law practice, and he was successful in them all. Few
men were capable of doing so much work, and fewer still of
doing it so well. As a lawyer he was remarkably fortunate in
obtaining satisfactory results for his clients. He discharged his
professional duties as he did all his work — faithfully and well.
The author is indebted to one of Mr. Fletcher's law students for
many of the incidents that follow. They will give the reader
an insight into the life of this remarkable man, and raust be of
interest to all who' read this sketch. They testify of his fidelity
to duty, of his devotion to the interests of those who intrusted
their business to him. In practicing his profession, he investi
gated the cases of his clients to the bottom, and fortius purpose
was in the habit of cross-examining them and making note of
the facts both pro and con. He was, on one of these occasions,
much amused by a remark made by a brother of the client, who
had been brought along to help state the case and assist in un
derstanding and remembering the instructions. The client sta
ted in detail all he could prove, and by whom. He could prove
much, but at the end of the conference the brother spoke out
and said: "Yes, lawyer, and they can prove a power on the
other side."
Mr. Fletcher viewed his cases dramatically. He realized
them in actual life, then the points and authorities were exam
ined and the questions arising were settled after cautious and
labored deliberation. On the trial he was not oratorical, but he
had a fine, clear voice, and was a shrewd and effective speaker.
His most prominent talent was an insight into the motives of
parties and witnesses, and he was especially strong in cross-
examining witnesses. In one case, a witness who was com
pelled by him, on cross-examination, to disclose facts which con-

468 HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
tradicted his evidence in chief, fainted, and his evidence was
disregarded by the jury.
Mr. Fletcher's earliest practice was very miscellaneous, rang
ing from justice of the peace to the Supreme Court, including
both law and chancery cases, civil and criminal, with, howev^er,
an undue proportion of criminal and tort cases, among the last
slander suits being quite comraon. In early times there was-
less appeal to authority and more to the feelings of the jury
than now. In new counties the court -rooms were always
crowded, and often by citizens who had no business at court,
but only came to see and hear. The lawyers were much
tempted to make speeches for the lobby, and it was quite an
object to entertain and amuse the audience, and even those who
were indisposed to encourage this abuse occasionally gave it
countenance. Mr. Sraith, in his "Reminiscences," gives several instances
of Mr. Fletcher's fondness for quizzing and practical jokes. A
few specimens may be added. In early times lawyer Forsee,
who was not distinguished for his law or logic, but was fond of
display, made the quotation " Otium cum dignitate," for the pur
pose of raaking a grand irapression on the 'squire. In reply
Mr. Fletcher pretended he said, " Oh, corae and dig my taters,"
which, he argued, was not applicable to the case, for the rea
son that there was not a word of evidence about digging taters.
However trivial the fun, it plagued Forsee, who wanted to ex
plain that it was Latin, etc., all of which amused the crowd the
more. There was formerly a lawyer of distinction at the Indiana
polis bar who was a fine speaker and a wit, but a little too fond
of metaphysical distinctions. Hugh O'Neal, when Prosecuting
Attorney, to break the force of this kind of argument, some
times in closing the case, would tell the jury this story: That
this lawyer, so successful in his fine-spun distinctions, had been
eraployed to defend old raan Van Blaricum for shooting a neigh
bor's dog ; that the proof was clear that the defendant said he
would shoot the dog ; that he brought out the gun in open day
and loaded it ; that he took deliberate aim at the dog, and that
at the crack of the rifle the dog fell dead vvith a bullet hole
through hira ; that thereupon this ingenious lawyer was stimu--

C-VLVIN FLETCHER. 469
lated by the difficulties in his case to unusual ingenuity, and
contended that this vvas a case of circumstantial evidence
merely, and that in such cases it vvas well settled that if a sin
gle link in the chain of evidence was wanting the whole evi
dence vvas worthless ; and although there vvas proof of the
threat, the loading of the gun, the firing, and that the dog was
killed, "Yet," said he " what witness has testified that he saw,
the bullet hit the dog ? " O'Neal told the story so well that he was
sure to bring down the house, and that brought his opponent to
his feet to explain that that was one of the stories invented by
Fletcher. Mr. Fletcher and William Quarles were employed by an old
Quaker farmer unused to courts, but as full as other people of
human nature. The case was before Judge Wick, in chancery,
and the question was whether he would grant an injunction in
favor of the Quaker. Mr. Fletcher's argument exhausted the
points and authorities, so that, when Quarles closed the argu
ment, his remarks vvere principally directed to reviving some
pungent scandals against the Quaker's adversary, to all which
the Quaker gave earnest attention. Judge Wick sustained the
injunction, but criticised, with some severity, the personalities
which had crept into the case. The Quaker sat just outside the
bar, and Mr. Fletcher, thinking he might not have understood
the purport of the decision, said to him: "The court has de
cided in our favor." " Yes," was the answer, "but did thee
hear Quarles? " •
Occasionally, however, the fun was on the other side. On
one occasion, when the mails only went once a week to Mar
tinsville, Mr. Fletcher desired to forward a letter to that town
in advance of the mafl, and so informed Mr. Gregg, a waggish
pioneer lawyer. Mr. Gregg found a Methodist preacher who
was on his way to Marti nsvifle, and who was much in the habit
of holding up before sinners the terrors of future punishment.
Mr. Gregg hurried into the court-room and found Mr. Fletcher
busy. He told him, however, with a sober face, that he had
found a "brimstone peddler," who was on his way to Martins-
vifle, and would be in soon for the letter. Mr. Fletcher was
writing the letter as fast as possible when the minister carae in,
and Mr. Gregg introduced him as the gentieman he had spoken

470 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
of. The letter being hurriedly completed, and the minister
about to leave, Mr. Fletcher, without reflecting, inquired how
he succeeded in peddling brimstone. The minister was, of
course, surprised, and Mr. Gregg, with a smile, explained that
the peddler was a different man. Such are the specimens of
the huraors of the bar, which, though interesting at the moment,
effervesce and disappear. But, perhaps, the less the incident
the greater the comic talent required to make the fun effective.
It will not be supposed that these casual diversions indicated
any want of earnest purpose.
One of Mr. Fletcher's peculiarities was his ingenious mode
of criticising and stimulating his students. He would think of
something praiseworthy in the student, which he would eulo
gize, and thus please and gratify him ; then he would, with
touches of huraor, state the faults to be corrected. By this
course he avoided all offense.
During the process of making up his decision upon a question
of law or policy he preserved entire impartiality. He was
ready at any moment to abandon an untenable position. He
was not satisfied until all sides had been examined, and he had
the art of appropriating from those about him all that could be
known. In consequence of this his decisions were not rapid,
but they were sound and well considered.
One of his most serviceable powers was his remarkable mem
ory, which seemed to hold all that was committed to it. In his
law office it was he who kept in mind all the business and who
watched all the points of danger.
He held himself bound to give satisfaction to his client, and
if there was dissatisfaction he was willing to consider it his
fault. He explained, especially to non-residents, the services
performed and difficulties encountered, and thus demonstrated
the reasonableness of the charges made. This he considered
both his duty and his interest.
He had, when young, felt the pressure of poverty, and had
learned life from actual contact vvith its difficulties ; and while
this gave additional force and edge to his good sense, and ac
quainted him with the details of humble life, it also aroused his
disposition to take the part of the poor, the helpless and the op
pressed. To them his services were often rendered gratuitously,

CALVIN FLETCHER. 47'
or for meager compensation. His sympathies were always ac
tive, and he had the faculty of conferring great benefits, not so
much by direct aid as by teaching others how to help them
selves. His power of stimulating others to exertions vvas one
of his leading traits, and vvas more valuable than mere gifts of
money. Notwithstanding his fees vvere moderate, his business was so
extensive, and his industry and effectiveness achieved so much,
that his income was large. His judicious investments, and his
plain and unostentatious mode of living, led to the rapid accu
mulation of wealth.
This success did not enervate him ; he was essentially the
same, whether poor or rich. He was opposed to litigation when
it could be avoided, and had great success in adjusting cases by
agreement. In forming his judgment of men he paid more attention to
character than to talent, and he had the faculty of inferring
character from circumstances generally overlooked.
When introduced to a stranger he would, for some minutes,
give him his e.xclusive attention. He would notice every re
mark and movement, every expression of feature, and even the
minutiae of dress, yet he did all this without giving offense. He
seemed to be ever under some controlling influence which led
him to study character. In early times the bar, judge and peo
ple were thrown much together, and social and conversational
talents were of great advantage to the lawyer. Here Mr.
Fletcher was remarkably well endowed. Attachment to his
friends was one of his prominent qualities, and he often had
them at his house enjoying his hospitality. Toward those in his
office he was most attractive and amiable. He gave them his
confidence and directed them to open and read the letters which
came in his absence.
Among his other good qualities he was an exaraple of tera-
perance. He avoided the use of liquor and even of tobacco in
all their forms. He never played cards, although card-playing
was a comraon pastime among the lawyers in his day.
It is noticeable that he contrived to find his amusements along
the beaten path of every-day duties. Mr. Fletcher held the
office of Prosecuting Attorney at an early day, and afterwards

472 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
served some time as a State Senator. His services for the pub
lic were always his best.
No one guarded the interest of the public raore scrupulously
than he. As Senator he gave great offense to some of his con
stituents by opposing the first charter proposed for the organiza
tion of a State bank. He resigned the Senatorship, and the
next year another charter was prepared which obviated his
objections. This charter passed the Legislature, and on the
organization of the bank he became a director on the part of
the State, and thenceforth gave banking and finance a large
portion of his time and attention.
At one time Mr. Fletcher was, for a few days, a candidate
against William Herod for the Whig nomination for Congress.
He had every prospect of success, but he withdrew from the
race because he thought it bad policy to leave his family and his
business. At another time Governor Noble tendered him the
nomination for Suprerae Judge, but he refused to accept it.
For a short time Mr. Fletcher was president of the Bellefon
taine railroad, and for ten years he was superintendent of Rob
erts Chapel Sunday-school. It was his custom to have family
worship every morning, and all his household, including his
servants, were required to be present.
Mr. Fletcher kept a diary in which he recorded everything
of importance that took place under his notice. . This diary is a
compendium of the history of Indianapolis during Mr. Fletch
er's residence here, and it is understood that one of his sons is
now preparing a biography of his father, and that this diary
will be largely drawn upon in the preparation of the work.
John B. Dillon, the historian of Indiana, in a paper not hith
erto published, thus sums up Mr. Fletcher's leading traits of
character :
" I do not doubt that those peculiar traits of character which
raade Mr. Fletcher a remarkable man as a private citizen were
influential forces in regulating and controlling his conduct as a
member of the legal profession. As a private citizen he was a
man of great industry, of unquestionable integrity, with a
healthy, robust body, a mind naturally strong, fairly educated,
cautious, and inquisitive about men and things. He was a good

CALVIN FLETCHER. 473
judge of men, and active supporter of the interests of practical
Christianity, popular education, temperance and charitable in
stitutions. In the expenditure of money his habits were pru
dent and economical, but not parsimonious. He vvas firm,
courageous and persevering in what he regarded as the line of
duty. He vvas fond of children, and sometimes he would stop
in his rapid walk on the street, to arouse into activity and am
bition the dull sluggishness of
"The whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like a snail
Unwillingly to school.'
••Mr. Fletcher was often very much amused with laughable
stories, especially when such stories illustrated cases in which
dandies, fops or other vainglorious persons were made the sub
ject of comical practical jokes.
'• Holding his place in the first rank araong the lawyers of
Indiana while he was an active meraber of the bar, the duties
of Mr. Fletcher in prosecuting and defending suits in the courts
were numerous, important and often burdensorae. As a speaker
his language was forcible. His reasonings were generally- brief
and pointed, and were always understood by those to whora
they vvere addressed. He belonged to the class of ' business
speakers,' and he seemed to care very little for the arts of rhet
oric and logic. He could, on proper occasions, use the power
of sarcasm with great skill.
"As a prosecuting attorney in the pioneer time of the Fifth
Judicial Circuit in Indiana, he was diligent and faithful in the
discharge of his professional duties, but, if well authenticated
tradition be tme, he soraetiraes, in very extraordinary cases,
avafled himself of the use of novel and irregular powers in or
der to prevent the defeat of the ends of justice by the ignorance
and stubborness of foolish raen."
A gentieraan who knew Mr. Fletcher well and intimately,
gives this estimate of his character :
" He was, as he appeared to me, a man of reraarkable physi
cal constitution ; of abounding animal spirits, yet without vicious
indulgence ; with great industry, energy and endurance ; of ac-

-474 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
tive, sympathetic, moraland Christian character and public
spirit ; of shrewd, clear and vigorous intellect, well stored with
a vast fund of knowledge, all resulting in a very high order of
practical wisdom, and as a natural consequence he achieved
marked success in his professional and other pursuits in life."
Oliver H. Smith, in his " Early Indiana Trials and Sketches,"
speaks thus of Mr. Fletcher :
" He was a reraarkable raan. "He combined all the elements
of an effective pioneer in a new country — an iron constitution,
clear and vigorous comraon sense mind, an energy that never
slumbered, integrity never questioned, a high conception of
morality and religion, social quaHties of the first order, a devo
ted friend to the cause of education, a good lawyer and a forci
ble speaker."
While the Whig party existed Mr. Fletcher was a member
of it, and when it dissolved he became a Republican. Had he
sought office it would have been given hira, but he preferred a
private business to public employment, hence his official life was
short. Mr. Fletcher was one of the men who raade Indianapolis what
it is. No one irapressed hiraself raore deeply upon the people
than he, and no one dying left behind hira raore friends and a
better name. His influence was always for the good. Educa
tion and religion had in him a friend and an exemplar.
Mr. Fletcher was about five feet eight inches high, and was
strongly and compactly built. He had dark brown hair and
gray eyes, the latter being unusually penetrating and expressive.
His features were symmetrical, and his complexion unusually
white, although of a healthy hue. He was a good and honest
man, and his memory is revered by all who knew him.

WILLIAM H. MORRISON.

The winter of i88o-"8i will long be remembered by the peo
ple of Indianapolis, not only on account of its extreme cold,
but for the further reason that during it several of the city's
most prominent citizens vvere called away. First, Governor
"Wifliams died, and although he vvas not properly a citizen of
the capital, his almost four years of official residence seemed to
make him so. Then Michael G. Bright, in his prime one of
the foremost men of the State, departed this life ; and soon
after him General John Love, a respected and well-known citi
zen, went to " the undiscovered country, from whose bourne no
traveler returns." Following quick after him — almost in his
shadow — ^Jaraes M. Ray, one of the oldest and best beloved of
our pioneers, departed from among us. Then Mr. Morrison
was called away.
Mr. Morrison was born in New York, in July, 1806, and when
fourteen years old came to Indiana and settled in the county of
Clark. Nine years afterward he came to Indianapolis and en
tered the office of his brother, the late Judge Jaraes Morrison,
as deputy Secretary of State. At the expiration of his brother's
official terra he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and continued
in active business until he died. On the first day of March,
1870, he became a member of the Indiana Banking Company,
and was president of that institution until 1878, when he left it
to take the presidency of the First National Bank of Indiana
polis. He remained at the head of the First National until
March 18, 1881, when he died.
To properly estimate the character of a man other things
besides his business career ought to be considered. Mr. Mor
rison was a good business man, but he was something more.

476 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
His influence was for good. He was active in most things that
favored correct morals and the building up of Christianity. He
was free from all the smaller vices, as well as the larger ones.
His daily walk was above reproach, and his activity in the
building of churches and in supporting the ministry was pro
verbial. He was instrumental in the building of Christ Church,
Indianapolis, and to him raore than to any other man must be
ascribed the erection of St. Paul's Cathedral, in the same city.
It was in this church that he worshiped during his latter days,
and for years before his death no stranger entered there
without noting an elegant and dignified man in a pew near the
chancel. That man was Mr. Morrison.
Mr. Morrison, Hke all mortals, had his failings. They were
not in the line of laxity of morals, or a want of religious activ
ity, for in these respects he was above reproach ; but his nature
was so positive and his will so strong that at times he seemed
obstinate and illiberal. This trait in his character was so
marked that some thought him hard-hearted and unkind, but,
in fact, he was neither. In his intercourse with friends and in
the transaction of his business he was ever courteous and oblig
ing. It was only when he felt hiraself wronged that his com-
bativeness arose, and at such times he was unyielding.
Mr. Morrison was both by nature and practice a gentleman.
He never so forgot himself as to give way to passion or to act
in an angry manner, but when he differed from a man it was in
a courteous way. He never acted the bully nor played the role
of a blackguard.
Mr. Morrison belonged to a distinguished family. His
brother, the late Judge Morrison, was an eminent lawyer, and
filled raany places of honor and profit w-ith great ability. He
was Secretary of State when a young man. and he vvas Indiana's
first Attorney-General. For many years he was president of the
old State Bank of Indiana, and he performed the duties of that
responsible place honestly and well. Another brother — Ale.x-
ander H. — was prominent in politics in his dav-, and he left his
impress upon the city in which he lived in raore ways than one.
The youngest brother, the subject of this sketch, never asked for
public office, but contented hiraself with commercial affairs. Had
he sought public employraent it would have been given him.

WILLIAM H. MORRISON. 477
and the record of his business life is an earnest of what he would
have done had he chosen to be a public man.
Mr. Morrison was an active business man until the sickness
overtook him from which he died. Although he had passed the
age allotted to man, three-score years and ten, he stood up
right and walked vvith grace and ease so long as he was able to
get about. His vvas not the tottering gait of old age, but the
steady one of vigorous manhood. He vvas often seen upon the
streets of Indianapolis taking his regular walks, with a son of
his old age beside him ; and the elegant old gentleman and the
bright bov- side by side, engaged in thou^tful converse, brought
to mind those great creations of Dickens — Dombey and Son.
Had the great novelist known Mr. Morrison and his boy many
would have thought that they were the originals of his picture.
The funeral of Mr. Morrison took place in St. Paul's Cathe
dral, on Saturday, March 19, after which his reraains were
taken to Crown Hill and buried. The Indianapolis Clearing
House Association and the directors of the First National Bank
of Indianapolis met and passed resolutions extolling his virtues.
But in no other place, outside his family, was Mr. Morrison so
missed as in his church. In church influence he was first
among the laity, and his advice was sought and his counsel
heeded by the clergy. He vvas Senior Warden of St. Paul's
Cathedral when he died.

JAMES S. ATHON.

Dr. James S. Atho:S was born in Louden county, Virginia,
April I, 1811. Soon after his birth his parents removed to Mur
freesboro, Tennessee, and after remaining there awhile emigra
ted to Kentucky. They lived there but a year or two and then
came to Indiana Territory and located upon Clark's grant, on
the southern border of the State.
The father of Dr. Athon was an unpretentious farmer of firm
integrity, and stood high in the community where he lived.
For raany years he was a raember of the Methodist church, and
living near the town of Charlestown his family had the benefit
of church privileges. The church in town and the log school-
house in the country afforded all the facilities young Athon had
in his boyhood to obtain an education. He worked on his fath
er's farm until he reached raanhood, and then he commenced
the study of medicine. He afterwards graduated at the Medi
cal College at Louisville, Ky., after which he removed to Lex
ington, in Scott county, and opened an office for the practice
of his profession. He remained at Lexington but a short time
and then went to Charlestown, where he afterwards became
eminent in his profession, ranking araong the first practitioners
of the State.
On the breaking out of the Me.xican war Dr. Athon was ap
pointed surgeon of the Third Indiana regiment and remained-
with it until it was mustered out of service Subsequently the
Fifth Indiana regiment was formed and Dr. Athon went to
Mexico as its surgeon, and continued vvith it until the end of the
war. Being then vigorous and in his prime he vvas active in
the discharge of his army duties, and many a brave man owed
his life to the skillful and attentive surgeon.

JAMES S. ATHON. 479
On the return of Dr. Athon from Mexico he vvas elected to
the State Senate from his county, and served as Senator one
term. While in the Senate, although a Democrat, he had many
personal friends on the Whig side of the chamber, araong them
being Joseph G. Marshall, of Jefferson, and George G. Dunn,
of Lawrence county. He accompanied Mr. Marshall to Louis
ville as his surgeon when that gentleman challenged Senator
Bright to mortal combat, and he and Mr. Dunn vvere very warm
personal friends while the latter lived.
In 1852 the Democratic State convention of Indiana placed
Dr. Athon on the ticket as a presidential elector for his district.
He was elected, and cast his vote in the electoral college for
Pierce and King. The next year the Legislature elected him
Superintendent of the Indiana Hospital for the Insane. He
filled the place with distinguished ability, earning for himself
a fame that will go down to later generations.
In 1862 Dr. Athon vvas elected Secretary of State, and held
the office for a full term of two years. When his term expired
he resumed his medical practice, and was actively engaged in
• it until attacked by the disease frora which he died.
On the 28th of Septeraber, 1875, ^^- -A-thon was stricken b}'-
paralysis. He lingered until the 25th of the next month when
death came to his relief.
Dr. Athon was a man of great physical and moral courage.
What he believed to be his duty he did at once: Always
prompt and energetic, he nearly always succeeded in his un
dertakings. He did not wait for others to act before determin
ing his course, he determined it himself.
Dr. Athon left a widow and three children when he died, one
of the latter being the gifted Hettie Athon Morrison, well-known
throughout the West as a song and sketch writer of very great
abiht}'. Another daughter is the widow of the late General
Jefferson C. Davis, the most distinguished soldier Indiana has
ever produced. Dr. Athon's fame rests mainly upon his pro
fessional actions. Although he served the State well in the
offices he held, he did her a greater service in healing the dis
eased bodies and minds of her citizens.

MICHAEL C. GARBER.

Michael Christian Garber was born in Augusta county,
Virginia, April 7, 1813. His father served, for several terms,
as sheriff of Augusta county, and for awhile was mayor of the
city of Staunton. For many years he was engaged in conduct
ing a line of stage coaches, in which business he was assisted
by his son Michael. In this way the latter became familiar
with the transportation business, and he availed himself of this
knowledge later in life to the great benefit of the government.
Before Mr. Michael Garber reached his majority he left
Staunton and went to Hollidaysburg, Pa., and engaged as a
clerk for an uncle. After this he and his uncle became contract
ors on the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, then under construction.
Frora 1832 until 1840 he was engaged in the forwarding busi
ness, and for a short time afterwards was a partner of George
McFarland in the conduct of a foundry.
In 1843 Mr. Garber left Hollidaysburg and located at Rising
Sun, Indiana, as a merchant. In 1849 he bought the Madison
Courier of Samuel F. and John I. Covington, and at once re
moved to Madison and assumed control of the paper. It was
as the conductor of this paper that he became known to tire
people of Indiana, and his fame is inseparably connected with it.
When Mr. Garber took charge of the Madison Courier he
was without newspaper experience. He associated with him in
the editorial conduct of the paper Charles P. Baymiller, a bril
liant though erratic man, who died in IndianapoHs several years
ago. At that time the Courier was a Democratic paper of the
strictest sect, and being published at the home of Jesse D.
Bright, was looked upon as his personal organ. But the new
editor was not fitted to be a personal grinder of tunes for any

.VIICll.VKL C. G.VKUKR.

4,S.

man, and he soon became restive under the restraints which
such a position imposed. The contest between Senator Bright
and Governor Wright for the leadership of the Indiana Democ
racy vvas then pending, and the Courier gave evidence of
weakening in the Bright cause by publishing complimentary
notices of Governor Wright, copied frora other papers. By
doing this its editor incurred the mortal displeasure of the Sen
ator, for he vvas a man who allowed no divided allegiance.
From his place in the Senate charaber at Washington he wrote
a letter to the late Judge William M. Taylor, of Madison, in
which he hurled his anathemas at the editor, and declared he
would drive him out of the Democratic party. The letter did
not reach the man for whom it was intended, but went to an
other Taylor, who gave it to Mr. Garber. The latter was,
therefore, put in possession of irrefragable proofs of Senator
Bright's hostilit}-, and being a raan not given to turning the
other cheek vvhen smitten on one, he placed the Courier squarely
on the side of Governor Wright.
When Mr. Bright came home he called a meeting of Demo
crats in the old Madison Court-house to consider the situation.
All the leading Democrats of the county were there, and to
them Mr. Bright delivered a two-hours speech, in which he de
nounced Mr. Garber as no Democrat, and demanded that he be
pubHcly read out of the party. He ended by offering a series
of resolutions to that effect, but before the question was put upon
their adoption Mr. Garber arose and asked to be heard. He
protested against being politically ostracised, and declared him
self a Democrat in whom there was no guile. He read a letter
from Governor Wright certifying to his Democracy, but Gover
nor Wright was not Democratic authority in Jefferson county,
and his certificate of the editor's political orthodoxy went for
naught. Mr. Bright's resolutions were adopted with but three
dissenting voices, and Mr. Garber was declared outside the
Democratic pale. But the condemned man refused to abide the
decree, and continued to advocate Democratic principles and
policy. He supported Pierce for President and Wright for
Governor, and rendered his party very efficient service the year
they were elected. But he had no affiliation with the Demo-
31

482 biographical and historical sketches.
cratic leaders of his county. They had started the Madisonian
to crush the Courier and drive its editor from Madison. But
their efforts were in vain. The Courier lived and prospered,
while the paper which was intended to supplant if struggled a
few months and died. The bad feelings engendered by the ef
forts of Mr. Bright and his friends to break down the Courier
terminated in a personal difficulty, which came near costing
Mr. Garber his life.
The citizens of Madison held a public meeting and appointed
a comraittee to receive Kossuth when he visited Madison in the
winter of 1852. Hamilton Hibbs, a devoted friend and follower
of Senator Bright, was on this comraittee, and so was Mr. Gar
ber.- The former published a card in the Madisonian — the
Bright organ — declining to serve, for the reason that Mr. Gar
ber was a member of the committee, and saying he would
rather serve on a comraittee with a "buck nigger" than with
M. C. Garber.
Now, Mr. Garber was a Democrat, and in those days to be
likened to a " nigger" was more than Democratic nature could
bear, so, on meeting Hibbs the afternoon his card appeared, he
spat in his face and struck hira with a cane. Hibbs, who was a
house-carpenter, was returning home from his work vvith his
tools in his hands, and on being thus assaulted he drew a chisel
and stabbed Garber three times in his left side, each time cut
ting the lung. The wounded man was taken home faint and
bleeding, and for raany days lay halting between life and death.
He recovered, however, frora the injury in a few weeks and re
sumed control of his paper. Nothing was done with Hibbs for
the stabbing.
When the People's party was organized in 1854 ^^*'' Garber
cut loose frora the Democracy and entered the new party. In
1856, when the Republican party made its first campaign in In
diana, he attached himself to it, and continued in its ranks untfl
he died. He assisted in making the State platform of the party
that year, and in 1858 he was chosen chairman of the State Cen
tral Committee. Fle filled the place vvith signal ability, and at the
expiration of his term turned over the part}- machinery to his
successor in good working condition. His paper — the Madison
Courier — has been an active and able supporter of the Republi-

MICH.VEL C. garber. 483
can party since its birth. It is now, and for several years has
been, mainly under the editorial control of Colonel Garbers eld
est son, Michael C. Garber, Jr. : but its policy was determined,
while he lived, by the one who, t'or more than a quarter of a cen
tury, was its head.
Colonel Garber made an unsuccessful race for Treasurer of
Jeft'erson county in i8t>o, the only time he was ever a candidate
for office before the people.
In 1 86 1 the late David C. Branham, then in the secret ser
vice of the government, suggested to the Secretarv of War the
appointment of Mr. Garber as an army quartermaster. General
Cameron, the Secretary, had known Mr. Garber in Pennsvl-
vania, and was well acquainted with the fact that the latter had
great knowledge of the subject of transportation. He at once
caused Mr. "Garber to be commissioned as brigade quartermas
ter with the rank of captain. Mr. Garber at once entered upon
the duties of his office, and so well and satisfactorily did he
perform his official duties that he was twice promoted, once to
the rank of major and then to that of colonel. He vvas chief
quartermaster of the Army- of the Tennessee, and vvas with it
during the Atlanta campaign.
When Sherman started on his march to the sea Colonel Gar
ber was ordered to Louisville, Kentucky. Subsequently he
joined Sherman at Savannah, and was appointed chief quarter
master of Shermans army. He remained with that general
until the war ended, and was present at the grand review at
Washington, vvhen General Sherman refused to take the hand
of Secretary Stanton, and publicly turned his back upon hira.
He remained in the army about one month after the war had
ended, and then resigned his commission and vvent back to his
work on the Courier.
On the 25th of Julv-, 1865, General Sherman wrote Colonel
Garber a v-erv compliraentary letter, closing it as follows : "I
hope vou will enjoy health and prosperity and live long to enjoy
the peace and security you aided to establish for our common
countr}-." As editor of the Courier. Colonel Garber sharply criticised
Gov-ernor Morton"s Richmond speech, and antagonized his
views in other particulars. The Courier was known through-

484 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
out the State as an anti-Morton paper, and was really a sharp
thorn in the side of the War Governor.
In 1872 Colonel Garber was appointed postmaster at Madison,
after which time the Courier was mainly conducted by his old
est son. The new director changed its course towards Gover
nor Morton, and from thence onward until the latter died gave
hira a very cordial support.
On the raorning of April 3, 1881 , Colonel Garber was attacked
with hemorrhage of the brain. For five days he lay in an un
conscious state, and then breathed his last. Two days after his
death he was buried at Madison, with Masonic honors, in the
presence of a large assemblage of sympathizing friends.
In his younger days Colonel Garber was able to do two men's
work, and he did it. He was a man of indomitable pluck and
perseverance, and he never tired in his undertakings. Although
he had nearly reached the allotted life of raan — three score and
ten years — he was a worker until he died. He was at his office
the raorning on which he was struck with the malady that caused
his death ; so it may be said that he died at work, with his har
ness on.
Colonel Garber was a man of splendid physique His form
was full, even to rotundity, and his carriage was manly and
graceful. He had white hair and beard, and his appearance de
noted an old man in vigorous life, one who had retained his
strength as he grew old. He was greatly missed by the people
of Madison, where he had lived so long, and the press of the
State deplored the loss ofits oldest representative and one ofits
most honored and influential leaders.

JOHN D. DEFREES.

John D. Defrees vvas born at Sparta, Tennessee, November
lo, i8ro. He attended a country school when a boy, and ob
tained a fair education, and when thirteen years old went into a
printing office to learn " the art preservative of all arts." Sub
sequentiy he emigrated to Ohio, and entered the law office of
the late Governor Corwin, at Lebanon, as a student. After
being admitted to the bar he removed to South Bend, Indiana,
and opened an office for the practice of his profession. He
took an interest in public affairs, and was elected to the State
Senate from his district, becoming one of the leading raerabers
of that body. On the resignation of Jesse D. Bright, then
Lieutenant-Governor of the State, to take his seat in the Senate
of the United States, there vvas a severe struggle over the elec
tion of a President of the Senate. The two parties — Whig and
Democratic — were equally divided in the Senate, and many
fruitless ballots were had for a presiding officer of that body.
The Democrats claimed the office on the ground that the State
was Democratic on a popular vote, and were answered by the
Whigs that if they wished a Democratic presiding officer they
should not have elected Mr. Bright to the United States Senate.
After wrangling several days over the matter, each party met
in caucus to determine what to do. The Democrats made a list
of ten Senators and sent it to the Whigs, with the word that the
selection of any one of the ten would be satisfactory to thera,
when Mr. Defrees, on the part of the Whigs, raade a counter
proposition, naming the twenty-five Whig Senators, and saying
the selection of any one of the twenty-five would be acquiesced
in by his political friends. The matter was finally settied by a
compromise. Godlove S. Orth, Whig, was elected President,

486 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
with the agreement that he should resign on the last day of the
session, which he did, and James G. Read, Democrat, was
elected in his place. This contest and settieraent were mainly
managed by Mr. Defrees for the Whigs.
In February, 1846, while a member of the State Senate, Mr.
Defrees bought the Indianafolis Journal and became its editor.
He controlled its columns until the fall of 1854, when he sold
the paper and retired from newspaper work. In July, 1855,
Mr. Defrees, in connection with other gentiemen, estabhshed
the Central Bank, and for sorae time he was its president. In
1858 he was a candidate for noraination for Congress in the In
dianapolis district. His competitors were WilHam Sheets, Al
bert G. Porter, and, for a time, Jonathan W. Gordon, who, how
ever, withdrew from the contest before the convention was held.
Mr. Porter was nominated and elected, beating Martin M.
Ray, Esq.
In July, 1859, ^''- Defrees started the Atlas, a daily paper,
and continued in its control until March, 1861, when it was ab
sorbed by the Journal. The Atlas favored the nomination of
Edward Bates, of Missouri, for the presidency, and its editor
was Mr. Bates's principal manager in Indiana. The plan was
to nominate Mr. Bates on his record, without a platforra, a
scherae which proved successful in 1848 in the election of Gen
eral Taylor. Early in 1861 President Lincoln appointed Mr.
Defrees Government Printer, in the place of Cornelius Wendell,
who had long held the office. Mr. Defrees did not dispense the
patronage of his office to the satisfaction of the Republican
members of Congress, and in 1869 Congress passed a law mak
ing the office of Government Printer elective by the Senate.
The Senate elected A. M. Clapp, then of the Buffalo Exfress,
to the place, and Mr. Defrees becarae a private citizen. There
had been ill feeling between Senator Morton and Mr. Defrees
for a long time, which was deepened on account of this election,
and the estrangement lasted while the Senator lived. For many
years Mr. Defrees and Hon. Schuyler Colfax had been partic
ular friends. Mr. Defrees aided Mr. Colfax in his canvass for
the Republican nomination for the vice-presidency in 1868, and
was as influential in securing it as any other man. When the
law was pending in Congress to make the office of Public Printer

JOHN D. DEFREES. 487
elective Mr. Defrees appealed to Mr. Colfax to use his influ
ence against it, and vvas refused. This caused an estrange
ment between these gentiemen which lasted until about the time
of the scandal of the Credit Mobilier. As is known, Mr. Col-
I'ax vvas sought to be implicated in that matter, but Mr. Defrees
believed him innocent, and publicl)- defended him. This cora
ing to the knowledge of Mr. Colfax he sought Mr. Defrees and
oft'ered him his hand, which was taken, and ever afterward they
were friends.
In 1872 Mr. Defrees supported Horace Greeley for the presi
dency. He was originally a Whig and afterward a Republican,
and had nothing in common with the Democracy. It is no won
der, then, that when the Liberal Republican party disbanded,
Mr. Defrees should have resumed his former party affiliations.
In 1876 Mr. Defrees supported General Hayes for President,
and soon after that gentleman was inducted into office was ap
pointed to his old post as Government Printer, Congress having
in the meantime repealed the law making the office elective.
He continued to discharge the duties of Government Printer
until the 1st of April, 1882, when he resigned the office, and
again became a private citizen.
For many years Mr. Defrees was one of the most influential
politicians in Indiana. In 1852 he was chairman of the Whig
State Central Committee, and in 1856 he filled the same posi
tion for the Republicans. His conduct of the canvass of 1856
was pretty freely criticised at the time, and in the light of future
events it was faulty, but at the time it had the approbation of the
leading Republicans of the State. Southern Indiana was not
actively canvassed for Fremont, and many of the border coun
ties gave him but a meager vote. Had Republican speakers
gone into these Democratic strongholds and discussed the ques
tions at issue, it is quite certain that the anti-Democratic vote
would have been cast for Fremont and not been thrown away
on Fillmore, as a large portion of it was. But it is much easier
to know a thing after it has transpired than when it is pending.
Mr. Defrees's mistake in managing the canvass of 1856 was one
the most astute politician might have made.
Since March, 1861, Mr. Defrees did not reside in Indiana.
His home was at Washington and Berkeley Springs, Virginia.

488 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
When in practice Mr. Defrees was a good lawyer. He was not
a strong speaker,' but he could talk sensibly and well. He was
a writer of very considerable power, and he will be best remem
bered by the work he did with his pen. In his day he was one
of the prominent men of the State, and as the conductor of a
leading public journal he exercised great influence in shaping
public sentiment.
Mr. Defrees died at his horae in Berkeley Springs, Virginia,
October 19, 1882. The next day S. P. Rounds, Mr. Defrees's
successor in the office of Public Printer, issued an order, that
on account of Mr. Defrees's death, "The flag will be placed at
half-mast, and the office and all its branches will be closed on
the day of the funeral."
On the 2 1st of October the remains of Mr. Defrees reached
IndianapoHs, and on the afternoon of that day were taken to
Crown Hill and buried. The funeral services were conducted
by Rev. S. T. Gillette, and Messrs. John Lee Mothershead,
John, Milton and David Morris and Morris Ross, all nephews
of the deceased, acted as pall bearers. The grave was lined
with twigs of cedar, and the fresh earth from the grave was cov
ered with the same material. In such a receptacle was placed
all that was mortal of one who made a deep impress upon the
politics and legislation of Indiana.

FREEMASONRY IN INDIANA.

HISTORICAL SKETCH FRO.VI THE ORGANIZATION OF THE GRAND
LODGE TO THE BUILDING OF THE SECOND GRAND TEMPLE.

M.\soNRY is one of the oldest if not the very oldest organized
body of men e.xisting in the world. Its history is found in the
eariiest records. It dates away back to the cradle of the race
and the moming of recorded time. Its legends extend beyond
the historic age. It has raked up in its ashes the essence of all
sciences and of afl human history. It is common to afl nations
and to afl religions. Its altars now extend around the world.
Its Hght shines in afl lands. Its brotherhood is the most cora-
plete of any in the vvorld. It unites in one body raen of all
countries, sects and opinions. It contains in its archives the
condensed wisdom of all tirae. The intelligent Mason stands
upon the highest eminence of human observation. He finds in
his cosmos the histories of all nations, ages and religions. He
finds the teachings of the order in the Vedas of Hindostan, in
the sacred books of Confucius and Boodah, in the Avesta of
Zoroaster, in the ancient scrolls and hieroglyphics of Egypt, in
the writings of the prophets and sages of Judea, in the beauti
ful and enduring philosophies of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, in
the teachings of Jesus and Mohammed, in the laws and religion
of Rome, and in the myths and legends of the Scandinavian
and Teutonic races. He traces the footsteps of our ancient
brethren from the cradle of the seven great races in Bactriana,
in Central Asia, among the Judean hills about Jerusalem, among
the fallen columns and broken arches of ruined cities and deso
lated empires, around the pyramids and the Sphinx, throughout

490 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
the marble wilderness of Greece, and among the mouldering tem
ples of Roman power. Wherever man has wandered, suffered
and died there he finds the footprints of Masonry and the grave
of a brother. From all these sources he culls lessons of wis
dom. While Masonry embraces in its tenets the fundamental
teachings of the Christian religion, as well as of all other great
religions, it does not profess to be a religious institution. It re
gards the whole human species as one family, the children of
one Great Parent, and strives to do good to all men without dis
tinction. It visits the sick and the afflicted. It buries the
¦dead with the honors of the order. It protects and provides for
the widows and the orphans, and spreads the broad mantle of
its charily over the weaknesses, frailties and errors of mankind.
Its mission is love and good works. It seeks to do good to all
and harm to none. Many of the greatest and best of men whose
names brighten the pages of history, and whose good deeds
have rendered thera iramortal, were members of the order. It
numbers more than half a million men in the United States, and
over 27,000 in the State of Indiana. Many of the best men in
every town or city in this State are proud to say that they are
merabers of this ancient and honorable order.
The early settlers of Indiana organized Masonic lodges and
held their meetings in the log cabins of the wilderness. The
first lodges were organized at Vincennes, Lawrenceburg, Ve
vay, Rising Sun, Madison, Charlestown, Brookvflle, Salem
and Corydon. These lodges received their dispensations or
charters from Ohio or Kentucky. On the 3d day of December,
A. D. 1817, delegates from these various lodges met at the old
town of Corydon to make arrangements for organizing a Grand
Lodge for the Territory of Indiana. Brother William Hacker,
who compiled the proceedings of this meeting and many others
that followed it, wisely says :
"The opinions and acts of the far-seeing and true-hearted
men of the past, who had but the good of Masonry at heart,
constitute landmarks for the present generation ; and the vol
ume which contains their transactions should be the study of
those who are guiding the destinies of the order now."
But eleven Masons were present at this meeting. They laid

FRKKMASONRY IN INDLVN.V. 49I
the foundation of the Grand Lodge and what has indeed become
Aoraud body in Indiana. They have all passed to the Lirand
Lodge above, but their names will ever be commemorated as
the founders of Masonry in Indiana. Some of them have chil
dren and grandchildren novv prominent members of the Irater-
nity. The eleven vvere General W. Johnston. S. C. Stevens.
Abel C. Pepper. Christopher Harrison, llenry P. Thornton, Jo
seph Bartholomew, John Miller, Davis Floyd. Hezekiah B.
HuH. James F>ill and A. Buckner. These delegates addressed
a communication to the Grand Lodges of Ohio and Kentucky.
expressing their desire to sever their connection with their motiier
lodges as soon as a Grand Lodge could be organized in Indiana.
This body adjourned to meet at Madison on the 12th dav of
January. 181S. Delegates from the various lodges of the State
met pursuant to this adjournment, and were in session t'our days.
The Grand Lodge of Indiana vvas duly organized, and the fol
lovving officers were elected : M. W. Alexander Buckner.
Grand Master; R. W. Alexander A. Meek, Deputy? Grand
AVarden : W. John Tipton. Senior Grand Warden : W. Marston
G. Clark. Junior Grand Warden : W. Samuel C. Tate, Grand
Treasurer : W. Henry P. Thornton. Grand Secretary : W. Jere
miah Sullivan. Grand Orator ; W. Isaac Howk. Grand Senior
Deacon ; W. Jonathan Woodbury, Grand Junior Deacon : W
Nicholas D. Grover. Grand Pursuivant : \A . Alexander Mc-
Crosky. Grand Steward and Tvler. A constitution vvas then
adopted for the government of the Grand Lodge, most of which
snD remains in force. The account ot~ expenses of tliis Grand
Lodge show s the spirit of economy that prevailed in those early-
days. The aggregate expenses were #52.62^. It appears by
the bill of expenses that the one-half cent vvas for • • refresh
ments, etc.'' The tbllov\-ing resolution was adopted :
•• Resoked. That a committee be appointed, whose duty it
shall be to prepare and forward an address to the several Grand
Lodges within the United States, from this Grand Lodge, ex-
planatorv- of their reasons for forming a Grand Lodge in the
State of Indiana, and requesting of them a reciprocation of cor
respondence and communications."
The Grand Lodge was novv fairly organized. Sixty-six years

492 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
have elapsed since that time. This long period raust be briefly
sketched. Septeraber 14, 18 18, the Grand Lodge met at
Charlestown. The ordinary business was transacted, and Al
exander A. Meek was elected Grand Master. In 1819 the
Grand Lodge met at Madison ; the same Grand Master was
re-elected. The expenses of the communication amounted to
$16.00, and the Grand Lodge had in the possession of its vari
ous officers $316.50.
During the next five years the Grand Lodge met at Jeffer
sonville, Corydon, Madison and Salem. John Tipton, John
Sheets, Jonathan Jennings and Marston G. Clark served during
this period as Grand Masters. The largest number of lodges
represented at the annual communications during this period
was twenty-eight. At the coramunication held at Corydon in
1822 a communication was presented of peculiar interest. It
was from the Hon. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, John Marshall,
of Virginia, and other prorainent Masons and statesmen. The
following appears in the records of the Grand Lodge proceed
ings of that year :
"The Grand Secretary presented the following communica
tions on the subject of organizing a General Grand Lodge of the
United States : ' Masonic Notice — Those members of Congress
who belong to the Masonic fraternity, and those visitors of the
city who are or have been raerabers of any State (Jrand Lodge,
are respectfully invited to attend a raeeting to be held in the
Senate charaber this evening, at 7 o'clock, to take into consid
eration matters of general interest to the Masonic institution.'
"March g, 1822."
Pursuant to the above notice published in the Natio/ial Intel
ligencer (printed in the city of Washington), a number of niem
bers of the Society of Free Masons frora various parts of the
United States, coraposed of merabers of Congress and strangers,
assembled at the capitol in the city of Washington, March 9,
1822. Brother Thomas R. Ross, a member of Congress from
the State of Ohio, was appointed chairman ; and Brother "Wil
liam Darlington, raeraber of Congress f'rom Pennsylvania, Sec
retary. Much conversation took place on the expediency of
the general objects of this meeting ; various propositions were

FREKVLVSO.NKV IN INDLVN.V.

493

submitted; and several brethren oft'ered their views at large.
Finally, the following resolutions, offered b)- Brother Henry
Clav, of Kentucky, were adopted unanimousl)' :
••Resohec/. That in the opinion of this raeeting it is expedient
for the general interests of Free Masonry to constitute a General
Grand Lodge of the United States.
••Resolved. That it be proposed to the several Grand Lodges
in the United States to take the subject into their serious con
sideration at their next annual communications ; and that if
they approve of the formation of a General Grand Lodge, it be
recommended to them to appoint one or more delegates, to as
semble in the city of Washington on the second Monday of
February next, to agree on the organization of such a Grand
Lodge." Other resolutions follow and a long address written by Henry
Clay, the eloquent orator and classical scholar, who so often
thrilled the hearts of his countrymen in later years. It is a
powerful argument in favor of a General Grand Lodge of the
United States. The following paragraph quoted from it shows
its spirit :
" These reflections, drawn from the external circumstances of
Masonry, are strengthened by the consideration of its intrinsic
nature. Its foundation is flxed in the social feelings of the best
principles of the human mind. Its maxims are the lessons of
virtue reduced to their practical application. It stands op
posed to sordidness, to jealousy or revengeful temper ; to all the
selfish and malevolent passions ; it coincides with the highest
motives of patriotism, the most expanded philanthropy; and
concentrates all its precepts in reverence to a Divine Creator
and good will to man."
In another part of this address Mr. Clay says : " The United
States are supposed to contain 80,000 Free Masons. They are
generally in the vigor of manhood, and capable of much active
usefulness." It is needless to say the suggestions of Clay and
his associates were not adopted by the various Grand Lodges,
and no General Grand Lodge of Masons for the United States

494 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
has yet been formed. More than fifty years ago the " Mill-boy
of the Slashes " had left his old home at Hanover, Virginia, and
had become " Harry of the West." His clarion voice rang" out
through the Western forests, rousing his countrymen as no one
before had done. Iri the halls of Congress he spoke for the
rights of man with a power that thrilled the nation. If his wise
suggestions regarding Masonry had been adopted it is reason
able to suppose the fraternity would have been strengthened and
benefited. His remains have long rested in his tomb at Lexing
ton, but his eloquent words have not yet faded from the mem
ory of his friends and his brethren. In 1826 the Grand Lodge
met at Salem, a little town nestled among the hflls of Washing
ton county. Thirty-two lodges were represented, covering a
territory extending from the Ohio river to the Wabash. Then
there was not a railroad in the State, and no public conveyance
between the towns where lodges were located. Some of the
delegates rode more than a hundred miles on horseback. We
can see in imagination the sturdy- yeomen assembled in a log
cabin, the grand old priraeval forest about them, and the wolves
for sentinels. Less than four hundred Masons were then repre
sented by all the lodges of the State. The records show that
the Grand Lodge met at Corydon in 1817, 1821 and 1822; at
Madison in 1818, 1819, 1823 and 1824; at Salem in 1825, 1826,
1827 and 1832; atVincennes in 1831, and there was an ad
journed meeting at Charlestown in 1818. During the first ten
years of the -existence of the Grand Lodge of Indiana, Indiana
polis was too insignificant a town to be recognized by the Grand
Lodge. The first meeting of the Grand Lodge in that city was
on the 28th day of November, 1828. The record does not show
the number of lodges represented. From the best information
accessible it appears that there vvere about thirty lodges and
about four hundred Masons in the State. Indianapolis was in
the midst of a dense wilderness, with less than a thousand in
habitants. Fifty-four years have passed ; a great change has
taken place. It has become a city of nearl)- one hundred thou
sand inhabitants, with a system of railroads binding it to all
parts of the country, bringing to and carrying from it the pro
ducts of all lands. In place of the rude hovel, where the dele
gates of a few feeble lodges assembled, is the Grand Masonic

FREEM.VSONRY IN INDIANA.

495

Temple Where four or five hundred Masons vvere represented
then, more than twentv-eight thousand are represented now .
The city alone contains more than twice as many Masons as
vvere in the State vvhen the first Grand Lodge met at Indiana-
pohs. For the next twenty years the Grand Lodge met at In
dianapolis. It had a steady and prosperous growth. During
this period we find nothing of especial interest except what is
shown in the biographical notices in this article, vvith the excep
tion of the preliminary steps which vvere taken for the erection
of the Grand Lodge Hall, novv known as
"THE OLD .VIASONIC HALL."
At the annual communication of the Grand Lodge of the most
ancient and honorable fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons
for the State of Indiana, begun and held at Indianapolis, on
Monday, the 24th day of May, Anno Lucis, five thousand eight
hundred and forty-seven. Anno Domini, one thousand eight
hundred and forty-seven, the following proceedings were had in
relation to the purchase of a site and the erection of a Grand
Lodge Hall, to-wit: On motion of Brother William Sheets,
of Indianapolis, Resolved, That a coramittee of five on the part
of this Grand Lodge, and five to be appointed on the part of the
Grand Chapter of Indiana, now in session, report at their earliest
convenience, as to the expediency of procuring a site in this
city for a Grand Masonic Hall. Resolved, That the Grand Sec
retary furnish a copy of the foregoing resolution to the Grand
Chapter. The M. W. Grand Master laid before the Grand
Lodge the following communication :
" Hall of Grand Chapter of
" State of Indl\n-a, May 27, A. L. 5847.
"To the M. W. Grand Lodge of India//a :
"I am instructed to inforra you that the Grand Chapter con
cur in the resolution providing for the appointraent of a cora
mittee to confer with a similar comraittee appointed by your
body on the expediency of procuring a site in this city for a
Grand Masonic Hall, and have appointed Companions Taylor,
Colestock, Deming, Sopris and King the committee on the
part of this Grand Chapter. Respectfully,
"William Sullivan, G. S."

4^6 biographical and historical SKETCHES.
Brother Sheets, from the committee on that subject, made the
following report :
" The comraittee to which was referred the resolution directing
them, in conjunction with a comraittee from the Grand Chapter,
to inquire into the expediency of procuring a site for a Grand
Masonic Hall in this city, and if, in their opinion, such a site
should be secured, to recommend such location as in their judg
ment promises the raost revenue to the institution in the way of
rent, respectfully report that they have met the committee of the
Grand Chapter, and, after a full investigation of the first branch
of the resolution, are unanimously of the opinion that the Grand
Lodge ought no longer to delay the procuring of a site for the
erection of a hall. The committee, after coming to this conclu
sion, then cook into consideration the second branch of the reso
lution, the selection of a site. The comraittee weighed the sub
ject in all its bearings, as connected with the present and pros
pective business of this city, are alike unariimously of the opinion
that such site should be located on Washington street, as the only
one that promises a fair interest upon the investment in the way
of rent. They are also clearly of the opinion, from the past
history of the city, as well as facts intimately and inseparably
connected with its future growth, that the increase and spread
of business will greatly preponderate in the direction west from
the present center of business. This opinion is based partially
upon the fact that a large majority of the produce business of
the country will flow into the city from that direction, and from
the fact that all the manufacturing power is on the western bor
der of the city, no small element, as they conceive, in the future
growth of the place For these reasons the committee directed
their attention in the selection of a site to that part of the city,
and recommended, without a dissenting voice, the purchase at
once of lots Nos. 7 and 8, in square 67, fronting 63 feet on Wash
ington street, running south on Tennessee street 350 feet to
Kentucky avenue, thence on said avenue 121 feet. This prop
erty can be had now on very advantageous terms, the whole for
$4,200, one thousand in hand and the balance in four equal an
nual instalments with 6 per centum interest. The committee
believe this is as good an investment of the surplus funds of the
lodge as could be made.

FREEaiASONRY IN INDIANA. 497
" The committee have learned that there will be, at the close
of the present meeting, a surplus of funds on hand amounting
to over a thousand dollars, Aearly or quite enough to make the
first payment, as it is likely the payment of one-fourth in hand
will be received. The committee recommend that funds be
raised by stock subscription for the payment of the remainder
of the purchase money and for the erection of a hall, the cost
of which shall not exceed $10,000, vvith the right reserved to the
Grand Lodge of sinking or purchasing at pleasure the individual
stock at par, and they recommend that the Grand Lodge sub
scribe for stock equal to the advanced payment on the lot, and
for the probable annual net revenue of the lodge, and the sub
ordinate lodges such amount as their means might warrant ; the
Grand Chapter and subordinate chapters such amount, in like
manner, as they may- think fit, and individual brethren in the
same way ; and that so soon as a sufficient amount has been thus
realized to erect and enclose the building, to have it done, so as
to bring the store-rooms on the first floor into use. They recom
mend that the second story- be prepared for a hall suitable for
celebrations, concerts, town meetings, etc., and the third story
for two halls, one for the Grand Lodge and the other for the
Grand Chapter. If this plan should be adopted, a house can
be erected without involving the Grand Lodge dr any subordi
nate lodge in a dollar of debt. We therefore recommend the
adoption of the following resolutions, viz :
" Resolved, That three commissioners be appointed to make
the purchase for the Grand Lodge of the lots named in said re
port; that they procure subscriptions of stock upon the plan
proposed ; that they invite the presentation of plans for an edi
fice not to cost exceeding $10,000 ; that they procure materials-,
to the extent that the stock subscription will warrant, so as to
commence the building early in the spring of 1848, and that said
commissioners adopt such plans as, in their judgment, combine
in the greatest degree neatness of exterior, cheapness of con
struction and internal convenience.
"Resolved, That the Grand Secretary be directed to subscribe
stock to the amount of the funds on hand at the close of the
32

498 biographical AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
present meeting, and for such additional sum as the annual re
ceipts will meet.
"Resolved, That the Grand Treasurer pay to the said com
missioners, when called upon, any funds in his hands in the
way of bank stock, ready money or otherwise.
"All of which is respectfully submitted.
" Geo. W. Whitman,
" Wm. Sheets,
"John Taylor,.
"Joseph Roseman,
" J. S. Freeman,
" Committee on fart of Grand. Lodge.
" R. Sopris,
"Isaac Bartlett,
"Francis King,
"Henry Colestock,
" E. Deming,
" Committee on fart of Grand Chafter."
The hall was coramenced during the year of Masonry 5848,
and was constructed in conformity to plans furnished by Brother
Joseph Willis, architect, Indianapolis. The corner-stone was
laid on the 25th day^ of October, Anno Lucis, 5848, A. D. 1848,
in the presence of the Grand Lodge and before the assembled
craft of the State, a large body of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows of Indianapolis, the Grand Division of the Sons
of Temperance of Indiana, all in their appropriate jewels and
regalia, and a numerous concourse of citizens, by the Most
Worshipful Elizur Deming, Grand Master of Masons in In
diana. There were present : Officers of the Grand Lodge' of In
diana — Most Worshipful Elizur Deming, Grand Master ; Right
Worshipful G. W. Whitman, Deputy Grand Master; Right
Worshipful John W. Spencer, Senior Grand Warden ; Right
Worshipful S. P. Anthony, Junior Grand Warden ; Right Wor
shipful Rev. John W. Sullivan, Grand Chaplain ; Right Wor-"
shipful Austin W. Morris, Grand Secretary; Right Worshipful
Charles Fisher, Grand Treasurer ; Brother William Fogg,
Senior Grand Deacon ; Brother William N. Doughty, Junior

FREEM.VSONRY IN LNDIANA.

499

Grand Deacon ; Brother Charles I. Hand, Grand Steward and
Tyler. Building committee, William Sheets, James Whitcomb,
Austin W. Morris. Architect, Joseph Willis.
The Grand Secretary then read the following schedule of
deposits :
"Brethren — There wfll be deposited in the cavity of the
comer-stone, novv about to be laid, as follows, viz : The Holy-
Bible, square and compass, the Master's mallet, the twenty-
four-inch nile, three lights, the globes, the letter G, the plumb
and level, a lamb-skin apron, a sprig of evergreen, the trowel,
sword, spade and coffin, the constitution and by-laws of the
Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Indiana, the printed minutes
of the proceedings of the Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter of
this State, of their respective sessions, held in May, 1848. An
abstract from the minutes of the several Grand Lodges of the
respective States for 1848, showing the names of officers, time
and place of meeting, and names and number of subordinate
lodges. A printed copy of the proceedings of the last General
Royal Arch Chapter and General Grand Encampment of
Knights Templar of the United States, held at Columbus,
Ohio, in 1847. A copy of the Free Masons' Magazine, edited
by Brother C. W. Moore, of Boston. A copy of the last Ma
sonic Review, edited by Brother Cornelius Moore, of Cincin
nati. A copy of the last newspapers issued at IndianapoHs.
Several pieces of coin of the United States of America, dated
in 1848. A scroll containing the names, organization and pres
ent condition of the several churches in Indianapolis. A scroll
containing the names, organization and present condition of the
several divisions of the Sons of Temperance in Indianapolis.
A scroll containing the date of organization, names of officers,
and present condition of Sigourney Union of the Daughters of
Temperance in- Indianapolis. A scroll containing the date of
organization, naraes of officers, number of members of Center
Lodge of I. O. O. Fellows of Indianapolis."
AN ORIGINAL ODE FROM: MRS. BOLTON.
The foflowing original ode, prepared for the occasion by
Mrs. Sarah T. Bolton, of Indianapolis, was sung by the breth-

500 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
ren and citizens, to the tune of " Hail to the Chief," led by
Mr. Willard and others of the choir of the Second Presbyterian
Church : " ODE.
" Sons of a glorious order anointed,
To cherish for ages the ark of the Lord,
Wearing the mystical badges appointed,
Come to the temple with sweetest accord.
Come lay the corner-stone,
Asking the Lord to own
Labors that tend to His glory and praise ;
Long may this mercy seat,
Where angels' pinions meet,
Rest in the beautiful temple ye raise.
" Brothers united, to you it is given,
To lighten the woes of a sin-blighted world,
Far o'er the earth, on the free winds of heaven,
Now let your Lianners of love be unfurled.
Write there the blessed three,
Faith, hope and charity,
Names that shall live through the cycle of time ;
Write them on every heart,
Make them your guide and chart
Over life's sea to the haven sublime.
" Go forth, befriending the wayweary stranger,
Bright'ning the p-dthway that sorrow hath crossed,
Strength'ning the weak in the dark hour of danger,
Clothing the naked and seeking the lost.
Opening the prison door,
Feeding the starving poor,
Chiding the evil, approving the just,
Drying the widow's tears,
Soothing the orphan's fears,
Great is your mission, ' in God is your trust.'
" Go, in the spirit of flim who is holy,
Gladden the wastes and the by-ways of earth,
Visit the homes of the wretched and lowly,
Bringing relief to the desolate hearth.
Bind up the broken heart,
Joy to the sad impart,
Stay the oppressor and strengthen the just ;
Freely do ye receive,
I'reely to others give,
Great is your mission, ' in God is your trust.'

FREE.MASONRV IN INDIANA. 5OI
"Go forth with ardor and hope undiminished,
Ever be zealous and faithful and true,
Still, till the labor appointed is finished,
Do with your might what your hands find to do.
Narrow the way and strait,
Is heaven's guarded gate,
Leading the soul to the regions of love ;
Then with the spotless throng,
Swelling the triumph song,
May you be found in the Grand Lodge above."
On the evening of the 24th day of May, 1850, the members
of the Grand Chapter and a large number of citizens and strang
ers met in one of the city churches for the purpose of presenting
to Mrs. Bolton the silver cup voted her by the Grand Chapter
for the beautiful ode copied above. The presentation speech
was made by Judge Morrison, and vvas in the following words :
•• Mrs. Bolton — The Grand Chapter of Indiana are gratified
to be permitted thus publicly to assure you of their warm per
sonal esteem and high appreciation of your poetic merits, but
especially do they congratulate themselves that the opportunity
thus afforded enables them, in the name of Ancient Free Ma
sonry, to thank you for your noble and disinterested vindication
of the principles of the Order. In the ancient and appropriate
symbolic cereraony of laying the corner-stone of the Grand Ma
sonic Hall of Indiana, you, raadam, were so kind and intrepid
as to voluntarily come forward, in the face of wide-spread and
deep-rooted prejudice, to animate us in the work then just be
gun. And when the edifice shall be completed, as we trust it
soon will be, we can never look upon its imposing and symraet
rical proportions, looming out on the blue arch of heaven — a
monument of the taste and liberality of the Masonic fraternity
of Indiana — without associating a recollection of the beautiful
and soul-inspiring ode chanted at the laying of the corner-stone.
To speak of the poetic excellencies of the ode is not, of course,
the object of this manifestation ; that has been done by those
more competent to the work than the individual addressing you.
Nor, madam, do your claims to high poetic merit rest alone, or
even mainly, on this or any other single production. Far from
it. Many, very many gems, rich and rare, are enwreathed in
your coronet of song; and, ever and anon, another and another
brifliant is made to flash upon the eye of an admiring public.

502 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
If, therefore, you have been eraulous of fame, you must feel that
you h'ave already attained a raost enviable niche in her temple.
As Masons, raadam, we attach peculiar value to the signal ser
vice done our order by this free-will oflfering of your muse, for
we so consider it. I repeat the sentiment — we do consider it a
most noble, glowing and truthful defense of the cardinal princi
ples of ancient Free Masonry ; principles, alas, most grievously
maligned and misrepresented because they are not generally
understood. Penetrated, therefore, with a due sense of the ob
ligations under .which you had brought the whole Masonic fra
ternity, the Grand Chapter, at its last annual meeting, unani
mously adopted the following resolutions :
" • Resolved unanimously , That the thanks of this Grand Chap
ter are due to Mrs. Sarah T. Bolton, of Indianapolis, for the
beautiful Masonic ode composed by her, which was sung on
the occasion of laying the corner-stone of the Grand Masonic
Hall, injsaid city, on the 25th day of October last.
" '¦Resolved unanimously. That, as a token of the high regard
which the raerabers of the Grand Chapter entertain for the char
acter of Mrs. Bolton, and to raanifest their appreciation of her
merits as a poetess, the Grand Chapter will present for her accep
tance a silver cup with an appropriate device and inscription.
" ^Resolved, That a comraittee be appointed to carry these
resolutions into effect, and that a copy of the resolutions, under
the seal of the Grand Chapter, be furnished Mrs. Bolton with
the presentation.
"And now, madam, as the honored organ of the Grand
Chapter, in their name and presence, I present for your accept
ance this cup, the main device of which, you will notice, is the
Royal Arch, and under which, and between its sustaining col
umns, is this inscription :
" ' The Gkand Ch.vpteb of the State of Indi.vna,
TO
MRS. SARAH T. BOLTON,
As a token of acknowledgment for her excellent Masonic ode
ON THE
Laying of the corner-stone of the Grand Masonic Hall,
At Indianapolis,
October 25, A. D. 1848 ; A. L. 5848.'

FREEM.VSONRY IN INDI.\NA. 503
"The minor device represents a craftsman in the act of ad
justing a corner-stone to its proper place. The inscription is
one quite familiar to )ou, being three lines from your own in
spiring ode : '"Come, lay the corner-stone,
.\sking the Lord to own
Labors that tend to his glory and praise.'
"This token, Mrs. Bolton, you will please receive as an ac
knowledgment, by Masons, of a debt that neither time nor cir
cumstances will cancel or eflTace'"
Mrs. Bolton repHed :
'• I have no language to express my ^ense of the honor con
ferred on me by the Grand Chapter of Indiana in the presenta
tion of this beautiful cup ; but let me assure that honorable body,
through you, sir, that I will treasure it up with the proudest
care, and that it will be to me, in future years, the nucleus of a
thousand bright and cherished recollections. The ode, in con
sideration of which it is presented, was but the simple and spon
taneous outpouring of a heart alive to the dictates of humanity,
a heart well taught in the school of adversity to appreciate
human aid and human sympathy. When a little child on my
mother's knee, I listened to many a story of the stranger cared
for, the v\'idow relieved, and the orphan cherished by Masonic
charity, I learned to love and honor your noble and venerable
institution. The seed then sown has ripened with my years,
and I now believe that Free Masonry is the sister of Christian
ity. Both have gone out into the wastes and by-ways of earth,
'giving beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for raourning, and the
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.' Both have been
subjected to the ordeal of persecution, and both, like the He
brew children, came forth unscathed by the furnace and the
flame. When, bowed and broken-hearted, our first parents
were driven from the Garden of Eden, to reap the bitter fruits
of disobedience, the spirit of Free Masonry was commissioned,
in heaven, to bless and cheer them in their loneliness. She
has fed the hungry, reclaimed the wandering, ministered con
solation by the bedside of the dying, and brightened the path-

504 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
way of the bereaved and desolate. Mortals have witnessed her
labors of love, and angels have recorded her annals in the ar
chives of eternity. When the lion shall lie down with the lamb,
when the new heavens and the new- earth are created, then, and
not till then, may she fold her white wings on her spotless bo
som, and proclaim that her mission is accomplished."
In the spring of 185 1 the Grand Lodge Hall was dedicated
to the purposes for which it was erected. The editor of the
Masonic Review, who was present, thus writes of the dedication :
"The recent session of the Grand Lodge was, in some re
spects, the most interesting one ever held in the State. The
Grand Hall, to complete which the members had been toiling
for years, was flnished, and at the annual meeting was to be
dedicated in solemn form. A great crowd had assembled to
witness the imposing ceremonies, and the craft especially were
represented by delegates from every part of the State. We need
not describe the procession and the ceremonies, for these things
are familiar to our readers ; it is enough to say- that the Grand
Master, Dr. Deming, officiated on the occasion, and with his
usual skill and abilit}-. The great hall of the building was filled
to overflowing. Age and childhood were commingled in that
throng, man in his rugged strength, and woman in her loveH-
ness and purity. The Governors of Indiana and Ohio were
both in the throng ; judges and officers of State, with represent
atives from professional , mechanical and agricultural lives, were
all present to give eclat to the occasion and honor the comple
tion of the noble work. The Rev. Brother Lynch delivered
an address that was well received, and gave general satisfaction
to the crowded assembly. The song written expressly for the
occasion by Mrs. Bolton, the poetess of Indiana, was sung with
fine effect. Mrs. Bolton was in the audience, and her daughter,
a beautiful girl of ' sweet sixteen,' was one of the leading sing
ers in the choir. It is right that the mother should be a poetess
and the daughter a musician. Indiana mav be proud of her
gifted and accomplished daughters. The following is the poem
referred to :

FREE.MASONRV IN INDI.VNA. 505
"DEDICATION ODE.
¦' Brothers, rejoice! for our task is completed,
.Vfterthe pattern appointed of yore;
Ijet tlio reward to the craftsmen be meted,
While, with thanksgiving, we bow and adore,
Low at the leet of Him,
Throned where the seraphim
.Vnd lhe archangels sing anthems of praise.
Born of the lowly dust,
Wanting in faith and trust,
How shall we worship Thee, Ancient of Days.
Darkly we grope through the light of being,
Weary we wait for the day dawning bright ;
Father omnific, supreme and all-seeing,
Come to Thy temple and fill it with light.
Write here Thy great name,
Kindle the altar flame.
Saired to Thee in the most holy place ;
.\nd w^here the cherubs fling
Light from each golden wing,
Leave us the Ark with its symbols of grace.
" Show^ us the Truth and the pathway of duty ;
Help us to lift up our standard sublime,
Till earth is restored to the Order and Beauty
Lost in the shadowless morning of time.
Teach us to sow the seed
Of many a noble deed ;
Make us determined, unflinching and strong —
Armed with the sword of right,
Dauntless amid the fight,
Help us to Level the bulwarks of wrong.
" Prompt us to labor, as Thou hast directed,
On the foundation laid sure in the past,
And may 'the stone which the builders rejected'
Crown our endeavors with glory at last.
Then, at the eventide.
Laying the Square aside,
May we look calmly on life's setting sun ;
And, at the mercy seat,
Where ransomed spirits meet,
Hear from the Master the plaudit, 'well done.'"
The building was 63 feet front on Washington street by no
feet deep on Tennessee street, and three stories high. It was
built in the Grecian Doric order of architecture, with a portico

5o6 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
in front ii feet deep, extending across the entire front. The
entablature was supported by six Doric columns, 4ifeet in diame
ter, and 33 feet high ; said columns commencing on a platform
on a level with the second story floor. The sides and rear end
were finished with pilaster or antae the same height of the col
umns, 4 feet face and projecting 9 inches, and the whole build
ing crowned with a heavy Doric entablature. The roof was
covered with composition, and the whole external surface of
the walls with stucco, in imitation of cut stone, giving the build
ing the appearance of a cut stone edifice. The first or base
ment story was 1 1 feet high in the clear, and was divided into
three store-rooms, each 17 feet wide by 107 feet deep, and a
passage and stairway 6 feet wide. The second story was in
¦one large room for a public hall, 54 feet by 96 feet, and 20 feet
high, finished with a paneled ceiling and cornice around the
room in a good, neat style ; the entrance to said room was from
the front, on Washington street, with a private entrance from
the rear end. The windows on the front end extended to the
floor and opened out on the portico, and those on the west side,
on Tennessee street, also extended to the floor and opened out
to a handsome balcony, inclosed with a neat iron railing. The
third story was appropriated exclusively to Masonic purposes,
and consisted of a lodge room 37 by 60 feet, and a chapter
room 26 by 60 feet, the ceilings 19 feet high. There were also
several other rooms of different sizes, which w-ere used for vari
ous purposes in the labor of the craft, and also an encampment
room 32 by 50 feet, and 11 feet high.
The building was designed by J. Willis, architect, of Indiana
polis. The lot on which it was erected is 63 feet front by 350
feet deep. Entire cost of lot and building vvas about $-20,000.
GRAND MASTERS OF THE STATE.
The following is a list of the Grand Masters of Indiana in the
order in whicli they served : In 1818, Alexander Buckner; in
1819, Alexander A. Meek ; in 1820, John Tipton ; in 1821-2,
John Sheets ; in 1823-4, Jonathan Jennings ; in 1825, Marston
G. Clark ; in 1826, Isaac Howk ; in 1827, Elihu Stout ; in 1828,
John Tipton ; in 1829, Abel C. Pepper ; in 1830, Philip Mason ;
in 1831, William Sheets : in 1832, Woodbridge Parker ; in 1833,

FREEMASONRY IN INDIANA. 507
Phihp Mason : in 1834, Daniel Kelso ; in 1835, John B. Martin ;
in 1836, James L. Hogan ; in 1837, Caleb B. Smith : in 1838 to
1844, Philip Mason: in 1845, Isaac Bartlett; in 1846, Johnson
Watts; in 1847 to 1850, Elizur Deming; in 1851-2-5-6-Q and
i860, A. C. Downey: in 1857-8, Solomon D. Bayliss; in i86i.
Dr. Thomas R. Austin; in 1862, John B. Fravel ; in 1863-4,
Wifliam Hacker; in 1865-6-7, Harvey G. Hazelrigg ; in 1868-
9,1870-1. Martin H. Rice ; in 1872-3, Christian Fetta ; in 1874,
Lucian A. Foote : in 1875, David McDonald.
John Tipton was a United States Senator ; John Sheets, a
paper manufacturer of Madison ; Jonathan Jennings, a Governor
of Indiana ; Abel C. Pepper, United States Marshal of Indiana ;
William Sheets, a well-known merchant and manufacturer of
Indianapolis ; Daniel Kelso, a lawyer and politician of some
prominence in Southern Indiana ; Caleb B. Smith, a well-known
statesman and jurist, whose remains are deposited in a vault at
Crown Hill ; A. C. Downey, a distinguished jurist ; William
Hacker, an historian of the order, and probably the best versed
man in Indiana in the literature and jurisprudence of the craft ;
Martin H. Rice, who is a native of Vermont, and in early life
foflowed the profession of a civil engineer. He was made a
_ Mason at Plymouth, where he lived until a few years ago, when
he became a resident of Indianapolis. He is the present editor
and proprietor of the Masonic Advocate, a Masonic journal of
great influence and popularity. He is in the prime of life, and
bids fair to live many years to instruct his brethren in the prin
ciples of an order which four times honored him with its highest
office. It will be observed that Judge Downey's term of service
was longer than any of the other Grand Masters, it being for
six years, and that next to him in length of service is Past Grand
Master Rice, who was Grand Master for four years.
One of the best known Masons of Indiana, was Past Dep
uty Grand Master Caleb Schmidlapp, of Madison. Mr.
Schmidlapp was born in Germany in 1798. He came to this
country in 1818, and settied in Cincinnati, where, in 1825, he
became a brother of the " Mystic Tie." During his residence
in Cincinnati he had the pleasure of sitting in a lodge with the
Marquis de Lafayette, who visited the Masonic lodge in the
Queen City, when last among the people for whom he had done

508 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
SO much and who loved him so well. He emigrated to Indiana
in 1830, and settled in Madison. He was first a member of the
Grand Lodge in 1838, and was present at every meeting of that
body since, until the convocation of 1875, which he did not at
tend on account of physical infirmities.
Past Deputy Grand Master M.D. Manson, of Crawfordsville,
deserves honorable mention in the sketch of Indiana Masonry.
He was a valiant soldier in the Mexican war and in the war of
the rebellion, and is no less distinguished in peace than he was
in war. He was once the candidate of his party for the office of
Secretary of State, and was afterwards elected to Congress from
his district. In 1872 he was elected Auditor of State and served
his term. He is still living, and is in vigorous health.
Grand Secretary Morris — One of the best known and most in
fluential Secretaries the Grand Lodge of Indiana ever had was
Austin W. Morris, who died on the 21st day of June, 1851,
while filling that office. He was a son of Morris Morris, and a
brother of General Thomas A. Morris, of Indianapolis. He was
born in Kentucky on the 9th day of August, 1804, and was in
the prime of life when he died. He was much in public life,
and every position he filled was honored and dignified by his
actions. He left his impress upon the city of his adoption, and ,
to-day his name is honored and revered by all who knew him.
Particularly is his raeraory dear to his Masonic brethren who
knew him as Grand Secretary of the highest body of their or
der and an active worker in all things appertaining to the good
of Masonry. The following article, written by the editor of the
Masonic Review, and published shortly after the death of this
distinguished Mason, is so beautifully conceived and is such a
truthful estimate of his character that we reproduce it just as it
was written :
"We have known many excellent men in our day, men of
rare piety and uniform, consistent goodness, but we have known
few, if any, who combined so many traits of excellence, so good,
so kind, so true, as the subject of this notice. We knew him
well ; we had known him long, and we loved him. As Secre
tary of the Grand Lodge of Indiana, and as a prominent and
leading Mason of that State, we have been famiHarwith his de-

FREEMASONRY IN INDIANA. 5O9
portment as a Mason for a number of years. He was, in our
eye, the beau ideal of a Free Mason. Frank, generous, flrm,
consistent, unwavering in his attachment to the principles of
the order, determined and consistent in his efforts to preserve
Masonry in its purity, and exhibiting in his own character a*
living illustration of what a Mason ought to be. He taught bv
example. Few, very few, have passed from this earth who left
behind a more stainless reputation than Austin W. Morris."
The Grand Lodge of Indiana, in order to testify its appre
ciation of his servnces, and to commemorate his name, erected
to his memory an imposing monument, and the visitor to-day
will see at Crown Hill, the beautiful cemetery where rest so
many of our friends and loved ones, a column upon which is
engraved an epitome of the virtues of one whom the Masons of
Indiana loved while living and whose memory they now revere.
James F. D. Lanier, the founder of the eminent banking house
of Winslow, Lanier & Co., was Grand Secretary of the Grand
Lodge of Indiana in 1830. At that time he Hved at Madison
and was a practicing lawyer. Subsequently he was president
of the Madison Branch Bank, and went to New York in 1848
to start the banking house which now bears his name.
Judge Sullivan — Among the officers of the first Grand Lodge
of Indiana were Jeremiah Sullivan and Nicholas D. Grover.
The first was a native of Virginia, and came to Indiana when a
young man. He settled at Madison, and remained a resident of
that city until his death, which occurred a few years ago. He
was dignified in his manners and of the strictest integrity.
He was a lawyer by profession and attained great distinction.
He was a Judge of the Supreme Court of Indiana for many
years, and, vvith his associates. Judges Blackford and Dewey,
constituted a legal triumvirate whose decisions were authority
wherever they were known. He was the father of General Sul
livan, who attained distinction in the war of the rebellion, and
the grandfather of Thomas L. Sullivan, a promising young at
torney of Indianapolis.
General Grover, who died at Logansport in 1875, was the last
member of the first Grand Lodge of the State. He wns origi
nally from Madison, where he lived for many years, and was

5IO BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
well known in both the southern and northern portions of Indi
ana. He survived but a short time his friend and associate in
the first Grand Lodge, John B. Rose, of Wabash, who died a
few years ago.
Stephen C. Stevens, who represented his lodge at the first
meeting of Masons at Corydon, was originally from Brookville,
but many years ago removed to Madison. He was a lawyer by
profession, and at one time was a Judge of the Supreme Court
of Indiana. He was active in politics and a pioneer in the abo
litionist movement. In his old age misfortijnes overtook him
and his mirid became clouded. He was an inmate of the insane
asylum at Indianapolis, where he died eleven years ago.
Francis King, who held the office of Grand Secretary from
185 1 to 1868, a period of fourteen years, will be remembered by
many of the readers of this sketch. He was the private secre
tary of Governor Wright during the time he held that office, and
as such came into contact with men from all parts of the State.
After Governor Wright went out of office Mr. King was elected
Treasurer of the city of Indianapolis and served for some time.
Subsequently he was elected Grand Secretary of the Grand
Lodge, and continued in office until he died. He was an hon
est and conscientious raan, and his death was much lamented
by the citizens of Indianapolis, both Masons and non-Masons,
as well as by the fraternity throughout the State.
The present Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge of Indiana
is Charles Fisher. No history of Masonry in this State would
be complete without a biography of this worthy man. It is be
lieved that there is no other member of the fraternity in the
United States who has seen so many years of continuous ser
vice as an officer of the order as Mr. Fisher. In all his official
life there has never been a breath of suspicion against his integ
rity. He is a model citizen as well as a model .Mason, and his
example is worthy of emulation by all men who aspire to be
good citizens and good Masons. He was born in Dauphin
county, Pennsylvania, on the 26th day of February, 1806, and
came to Indianapolis in October, 1834, ^^^ ^^^ resided there
continuously ever since. He was made a Mason by Center
Lodge on New Year's day, 1836. In 1840 he was elected Sec
retary of his lodge, and held the ofliee, without interruption, for

FREEM.\SONRY IN INDIANA. 51I
thirty-five years. He vvas Recorder of Indianapolis Chapter
of R. A. Masons from 1855 to December, 1882, Recorder of
Raper Commandery from 1855 to December, 1877, Treasurer
of the Grand Commandery since i860. Treasurer of the Grand
Council since 1861. In 1838 he vvas elected Grand Secretary
of the Grand Lodge of Indiana and held the office one year.
In 1848 he was elected Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge,
and holds the office to-day, having been custodian of the funds
of the Grand Lodge for thirty-six years. In addition to these
offices, on the formation of the Masonic Mutual Benefit Society
of Indiana, in 1870, Mr. Fisher vvas elected Treasurer and held
the office fourteen years. As Treasurer of this society more than
one million of dollars passed through his hands. His accounts
have always been correctly- kept, and there has never been a
dollar of discrepancy between his books and those of the Sec
retary. Surely this is a record of which any man may be proud,
and his many friends in Indiana — Masons and non-Masons —
will be gratified to know that he bids fair to live many years to
honor the position he fills so well.
John M. Bramwell, ex-Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge
of Indiana, is a native of Jefferson county, Indiana. He was a
merchant's clerk for several years in Madison, and afterwards
went into business on his own account. He was the first Aud
itor of Jefferson county, being elected in 1841, and serving until
1848, when he resigned and came to IndianapoHs to engage in
mercantile pursuits. He was raade a Mason in Marion Lodge
in 1850, and ever since has been an active and zealous worker.
He was elected Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge in 1868,
and is the oldest active member of the Grand Lodge. At the
meeting of the Grand Lodge, May, 1882, the Grand Secretary,
W. H. Smythe, prepared a full list of all the officers of the
Grand Lodge since its organization in 1818. From the reca
pitulation the following items of general interest are hereto ap
pended :
" Since the organization of the Grand Lodge the following
brethren have been elected and installed Grand Masters : Alex
ander Buckner, Alexander A. Meek, John Tipton, John Sheets,
Jonathan Jennings, Marston H.Clark, Isaac Howk, Elihu Stout,

512 HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Abel C. Pepper, Philip Mason, William Sheets, Woodbridge
Parker, Daniel Kelso, John B. Martin, James L. Hagin, Caleb
B. Smith, Isaac Bartlett, Johnston Watts, Elizur Deming, Alex
ander C. Downey, Henry C. Lawrence, Sol. D. Bayless, Thomas
R. Austin, John B. Fravel, William Hacker, H. G. Hazelrigg,
Martin H.Rice, Christian Fetta, Lucien A. Foote, Daniel McDon
ald, Frank S. Devol, Andrew J. Hay, Robert "Van Valzah, Bal-
lamy S. Sutton. By this it will be seen that but thirty-five breth
ren have had the honor of presiding over the Grand Lodge, and
of this number there are now living the following : Thomas R.
Austin, A. C. Downey, William Hacker, Martin H. Rice, Chris
tian Fetta, L. A. Foote, Daniel McDonald, Frank S. Devol, A.
J. Hay, Robert Van Valzah, Ballamy S. Sutton.
"Those who have served as Grand Secretaries are as follows :
Henry P. Thornton, WilHam C. Keen, J. F. D. Lanier, A. W.
Morris, Daniel Kelso, A. W. Harrison, Charles Fisher, William
H. Martin, Francis King, WilHam Hacker, John M. Bramwell,
William H. Sraythe. Of this number the following are now
living : Charles Fisher, William Hacker, John M. Bramwell,
WilHam H. Smythe."
The intelligent reader will observe that this list contains the
names of men as renowned in the State as they were in Ma
sonry. The lessons they had learned in the lodge room qual
ified them the better for the discharge of their duties as citizens.
A good Mason is always a good man.

MADISON FROM 1844 TO 1852.

THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
I FIRST knew Madison in 1844. I" October of that year I
landed, one evening, at the city wharf, and put up for the night
at a hostelry known as the Light House. It stood on the east side
of Mulberry street extended, between Ohio street and low- water
mark. It was a two-story brick and frame house of the ordi
nary style, and w-as the only building then in the city between
Ohio street and the river, and it was the only one that ever
stood within these bounds since I have known the city. It long
since passed away, but its location and its appearance are in
delibly written upon my memory.
At this time Madison was a well built city of 4000 or 5000 souls.
Its streets were graded and its sidewalks paved much as they are
to-day. The exception I now remember is High street, which
then, east of Main street, was neither graded nor graveled.
The principal hotels in the city at that time were the Madison
Hotel and the Washington House. The former stood on the
site of the Academy of Our Lady of the Angels, and was kept
by George D. Fitzhugh, now of Indianapolis, and the latter,
which was under the direction of Enoch D. Withers, stifl stands
as a monument of hotel architecture of the olden time. The
Court-house was a two-story brick building of modest preten
sions, standing on the site of the present one. Southeast of the
Court-house was the jail, an old, dingy building two stories high,
fronting on an alley, with cells in either story, and rooms for the
* An address delivered at the High School building in Madison, on Thursday
evening, March 13, 1879.
33

514 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
jailer on the south. On the northeast corner of the Court-house
lot was the Clerk's office, a squatty one-story brick house of two
rooms, fronting on Main Cross street. At the northwest corner
of the lot, on the corner of Main Cross and Main streets, stood
a two-story building, having two rooms in the first story, and
three in the second, with a platform on a level with the latter
running the entire length frora east to west. The platform was
reached from both Main Cross and Main streets by wooden
stairways, over which people passed to reach the offices above.
The main room below was occupied by Bramwell & Phillips as
a dry goods store, and the other was the office of Dr. Joseph H.
D. Rogers whose presence is not yet denied you. The west
roora above was the Recorder's office, the center one the Audi
tor's office, and the east one the office of the County Treasurer.
Around the Court-house lot was a brick wall four feet high,
capped with stone. Such were the public buildings of Madison
thirty-five years ago. THE CHURCHES.
Saint Michael's Catholic church then stood, and the priest
who ministered to the spiritual wants of the parish was Maurice
de St. Palais, afterwards the distinguished Bishop of Vincennes.
This prelate was succeeded by Father Dupontavice, who was
known to you all. The Rev. Harvey Curtis vvas pastor of the
Second Presbyterian church, the Rev. Mr. Leavenworth of the
First Presbyterian church, and the Rev. E. D. Owen of the
Baptist church on Vine street. The policy of the Methodist
church is such that its clergy remain but a short time in charge
of a particular congregation, but I reraeraber the Rev. W. C.
Sraith and the Rev. Prescott as pastors of Wesley Chapel, and
the Rev. John Keiger and the Rev. Dr. Daily as pastors of
Third street church. Saint John's church vvas not then in ex
istence This church was an offshoot from Wesley Chapel.
Among its leading raerabers were the Taylors — Gamaliel, John
H. and Wflliam M.— Caleb Schmidlapp' and Charies W. Bas-
nett. The church building was erected in 1849 °^" 1^5°' ^^^^
the site of the first Methodist church built in Madison. The
Rev. John S. BayHss was the first pastor of Saint John's.
Christ Episcopal church and the United Presbyterian church

MADISON. 515
were erected during this time. The former was built mainly
by the exertions of Joseph M. Moore, then cashier of the Mad
ison Branch Bank, and ofits worthy rector, the Rev. Dr. Clax-
ton. Dr. Cla.xton vvas a gentleman of acknowledged ability
and was esteemed outside his parish as well as within it. He
vvas, probably, the most popular minister in the city of his day.
The Reverend James Browne, pastor of the United Presby
terian church, was a man of earnest convictions and of deep
piety. He vvas an active worker in the anti-slavery cause, and
did much to create public sentiment among us in opposition to
human slavery. He used to declaim against this abomination
from the pulpit, and vvas ever ready to espouse the cause of the
oppressed. It is to the labors of such men as Mr. Browne that
the world is indebted for that public sentiraent which eventually
stfangled this monster in his lair.
THE NEWSP.VPERS.
At this time there were two weekly newspapers published in
Madison, the Banner and the Courier. The first was edited by
Daniel D. Jones, known as Davy Jones, and the latter by Rolla
Doolittle. Mr. Jones was a dapper little gentleraan, a Welsh
man by birth, and in his day the foremost newspaper writer in
the State. His sentences were short and terse, and their mean
ing always apparent. He seldom wrote his editorials ; he set
them at the case and composed them as he handled the types.
He was a genial, social raan, delighting in fun and practical
jokes. I vvas once at a social party at his house when a raost
ludicrous incident occurred. He kissed a young lady, who
turned upon him as if to box his ears. His wife, a large, portly
woman, was present, and to her Mr. Jones ran for protection.
She was seated, and he cuddled by her side, sitting on the floor
with his head under her arm, and looking into her face, his eyes
sparkling with merriment, he said: "Mother, protect your
boy." I need say nothing of Mr. DooHttie, the editor of the
Courier, as he is of and with you at the present time.
William W. Crail, now, as then, of Louisville, Kentucky,
bought a half interest in the Banner, and soon afterwards it
was converted into a daily. On Mr. Jones's death, in 1851, his
late interest in the paper was purchased by the Hon. John R.

5l6 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Cravens, who, in March, 185 1, sold it to WflHam Wesley Wool
len. Subsequent to this time Mr. Woollen bought Mr. Crail's
interest, and in 1853 sold the Banner to General Milton Stapp,
who soon afterwards disposed of it to Captain W. H. Keyt, in
whose hands it died.
Samuel F. and John I. Covington bought the Courier in 1848,
or thereabout, and changed it to a daily. In 1849 they sold it
to Mr. M. C. Garber, now its senior proprietor. Mr. Garber
is the ranking newspaper publisher in the State, having been
continuously engaged in the business for twenty-nine years and
over. In 185 1 Milton Gregg and John G. Sering established the
Madison Daily Tribune. After publishing the Tribune for a
short time Mr. Sering withdrew from the firm, and Mr. Gregg
removed the paper to New Albany, where it was published for
several years under his direction.
In 1852 the Daily Madisonian was established by a company
of Democratic politicians. Rolla Doolittle was its publisher,
and Robert S. Sproule its editor. It lived during the Scott and
Pierce campaign, and soon thereafter it yielded up the ghost.
A daily paper was published a week or so during this time
by B. F. Foster and Ben. F. Reed, but its life was too short for
it to be properly classed among the journals of Madison.
A Free-soil paper was established in 1848 to advocate the
election of Van Buren and Adams. Its editor was Riley E.
Stratton, who afterwards went to Oregon and became a leading
jurist of that State.
With the exceptions of two religious weeklies — one a Baptist
and the other a Universalist — these are all the newspapers pub
lished in Madison during the time covered by this address.
THE BAR.
At this time the bar of Madison was very able, Marshall,
the giant intellect of Indiana, was of it ; so was the suave and
polished Sullivan ; the painstaking and prolix Stevens ; Glass,
vigorous in mind and body ; the polite and affable Dunn ; the
brilliant and erratic Sheets ; the scholarly King ; the method
ical Markley ; the sarcastic Chapman : the studious and careful
Troxell ; the brusque Daily ; the two Brights, the elder a law-

M.VDISON. 517
yer of much ability, and the younger, who gathered in the Sen
ate chamber the laurels which would have been his had he con
tinued at the bar. The two William Ilendrickses, senior and
junior, vvere of it — the elder an ex-Governor and an ex-Senator ;
the younger genial in disposition and with a heart ever respon
sive to distress : " Green be the turf above thee,
Friend of my better days ;
Xone knew thee but to love thee.
None named thee but to praise."
There vvere two Abram Hendrickses — John Abram and Abram
W. There vvere the two Hillises — William C. and John S. ;
Oliver S. Pitcher, once a partner of theelder Bright ; Hull, and
Thom, and Crittenden, and Walker, and Shaw, and perhaps oth
ers whom I have forgotten. One whom I have not naraed I
first knew as a wagon-raaker in the neighboring town of Han
over. One-half the day he worked at his bench ; the other
half and well into the night he studied law. Weekly, under
the summer's sun and through the winter's snow, he walked to
Madison to recite his lessons, for he was too poor to pay for
riding. In due time he stood his examination and was admit
ted to the bar. He came here and opened an office, but clients
came not. Weekly board bills vvere to pay, clothing had to be
bought, and other necessary expenses to be met, and how to do
these things vvas the problem this courageous young man was
to solve. More than once he consulted with me in regard to
abandoning his profession and returning to his trade. I ad
vised against it, and the advice was followed. After awhile " the
tide which, taken at its flood, leads on to fortune," turned. He
was elected City Attorney, then County Attorney, then a Sena
tor, and now he is the honored Judge of your Circuit Court.'*
" Honor and shame from no condition rise ;
Act well your part, there all the honor lies.''
Many of those I have named have pleaded their last case and
gone to judgment. Marshall sleeps near your city, mourned
by a State, and he would be mourned by a nation had his
theater of action been larger; Suflivan left you but yester
day, like a ripe sheaf garnered in the field ; Stevens, overtaken
•Hon. J. Y.Allison.

5l8 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
in old age by poverty, his raind gave way, and he died at the
Indiana Hospital for the Insane ; Dunn fills an honorable place
in the railitary service of the country ; Glass was cut down in
the prirae of a vigorous manhood ; Sheets died young, a victim
of an unfortunate appetite ; King is practicing his profession in
Chicago ; Markley is a prosperous merchant in the same city ;
Troxell lives in North-western Indiana, still engaged in the
practice of the law ; Daily, after representing Nebraska in the
National Congress, died while yet a young man ; the elder
Bright is an invalid, and lives at the capital of the State, an
honored citizen ; and the younger Bright, after serving seven
teen years as a Senator of the United States, died a few years
ago in the Monumental City, and his remains now lie mould
ering on the banks of the blue Patapsco. The two William
Hendrickses died in your midst many years ago ; John Abram
Hendricks fell at Pea Ridge while leading his regiment against
the enemy ; Abram W. Hendricks is an eminent lawyer at In
dianapolis ; William C. Hillis lives in Northern Missouri, where
he has filled several offices of honor and profit : Shaw is a re
tired merchant of Dayton, Ohio ; John S. Hillis died in his
youth, and was laid in the shade of the old homestead where
he first saw the light of day ; Walker lives among you ; Pitcher
is a thrifty business man in a sister State ; Crittenden is prac
ticing his profession at Washington City ; Hull and Thom are
dead and they were buried in your midst.
THE CIRCUIT JUDGES.
In this connection it is proper that I should say something of
the Judges before whom these men practiced their profession.
When I first knew Madison the Circuit Judge was Miles C.
Eggleston. He was then in feeble health and well stricken in
years. He was small in stature, a good lawyer, and although
at times cross and petulant, he never forgot the dignity of his
station. Courtland Cushing succeeded Judge Eggleston upon the
bench. He had respectable talents, was very dressy and quite
a beau among the ladies. While serving as judge he was ap
pointed Charg6 d'Affaires to Ecuador. After serving out his
term he entered the service of the Nicaragua Transit Company,
and soon thereafter died on the Isthmus of Panama.

MADISON. 519
Alexander C. Downey, now, as then, a resident of Rising
Sun, followed Judge Cushing as presiding judge of the Madi
son Circuit. Judge Downey is, or was at this time, an inveterate
wag. I will relate two incidents which will show the truth of
this: In these days full beards were unknown, and a moustache
vvas as rare as a disinterested friend. The Rev. Frederick T.
Brown once apologized from his pulpit for wearing a full beard,
and no other public man of the day had the temerity to oflend
in a similar manner. A young raan noted as a wit, and who,
since that time, has attracted much attention by^ reason of a
rencounter which resulted in death, removed to Madison at
this time. He had a red moustache which he cultured with the
greatest care. He was often in the Court-house, and one day
while he vvas there Judge Downey wrote the following order
and handed it to the clerk :
"Ordered by the court, that the young man with the red
moustache be taken into the custody of the sheriff and by him
conducted to the nearest barber shop and there shaved within
an inch of his life ; and may the Lord have mercy on his soul."
On another occasion, when the term of the court was nearly-
ended and order was lax, Abrara W. Hendricks and John S.
Hillis lay down at full length within the bar of the court-room.
Observing their posture. Judge Downey wrote the following
order and passed it to the clerk :
"Ordered by the court, that Abram W. Hendricks and John
S. Hillis, two members of this bar, be, and each of them hereby
is, fined five dollars for contempt of court for lying at full length
within the bar during the sitting of the court." And on a line
below the order, and in brackets, he added : " Which may be
satisfied by bringing into court, at once, twelve good, ripe
watermelons." The dozen watermelons were soon in the Tem
ple of Justice and the wrath of the Judge appeased.
JUDGES OF THE PROBATE COURT.
At this time WilHam Hendricks, junior, was the Judge of the
Jefferson Probate Court. This court was one of limited juris-

520 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
diction, its business being to settle the estates of deceased per
sons, and to care for their minor children. Judge Hendricks
was one of the kindest men I ever knew. Of a genial nature,
he had the esteem and love of all who knew him. I never
heard him. say an unkind word of any one, nor any one say an
unkind word of him. He was one of those rare men whose
province is to make happy every one they meet. I can recall
the meraory of no one with raore pleasure than that of this good
and modest man. In the language applied to another by one
of the raost gifted daughters of Indiana, " He was good enough
to be a woraan."
Williamson Dunn, of Hanover, succeeded Judge Hendricks.
He was a man of marked character. He was. a soldier of the
war of 1812, and had served the State in raany important posi
tions. He was of unquestioned courage, and although an elder
of the Presbyterian church, he never pleaded his religion in bar
for not resenting an insult. In the year 1848 a meeting was
held in the Court-house to put forward General Taylor for the
presidency. It was the first meeting for that purpose held in
the country, and as it was mainly inspired by Judge Dunn, it
will be seen that he was the author of the movement that culmi
nated in the election of old " Rough and Ready " to the presi
dency. The Judge offered a resolution nominating General
Taylor and supported it in an earnest speech. Charles Wood
ward subraitted an amendment, putting forward Tom Corwin,
of Ohio, for Vice-President. This Judge Dunn opposed. He
said that its adoption would militate against the interests of
General Taylor. It will be remembered that Governor Corwin
opposed the Mexican war. In a speech delivered in the Senate
of the United States, he said:
" If I were a Mexican I would tell you, ' Have you not room
in your own country to bury your dead men? If you come into
mine we will greet you with bloody hands, and welcome )0u
to hospitable graves.' "
Referring to this speech Judge Dunn said that while he could
cordially support its author for Vice-President, many friends of
General Taylor would be driven frora him if his name were

M.VDISON. 521
coupled with that of the man who had uttered such a sentiment.
Mr. Woodward repHed to him vvith some warmth, and during
his speech said : " The gentieman admits that the nomination
of Governor Corwin would be a good one, but sa)'s he is afraid
to have it made." Slapping his breast with his hand as vvas
his custom when speaking earnestiy, he exclaimed, "Coward
ice, sir, cowardice." Judge Dunn sprang to his feet, and ap
proaching Mr. Woodward, said in a loud voice: "I am an
old man, and never before vvas cowardice imputed to me. I
ask the gentleman to take back his words. Will he doit?"
Whether it was the sight of the judge's fist, or whether it was a
sense of justice that caused Mr. Woodward to withdraw the of
fensive words, I know not, but I remember they vvere withdrawn.
THE ASSOCIATE JUDGES.
Previous to the adoption of the present constitution each
county had two associate judges. These officials, usually de
nominated side judges, sat on either side of the presiding judge,
and acted as guy-ropes to hold him level. As a rule they were
neither Blackstones nor Mansfields, but were possessed of good
common sense, an important requisite of the righteous judge.
Wflliam M. Taylor and Robert Kinnear were the associate
judges in Jefferson, and they were the last of their Hne. They
went out of office with the old constitution, but their deeds live
after them. Judge Tay-lor was a low, chunky man with a kindly
face, was a saddler by trade and a gentleraan by nature. He
dressed neatly, wore a fob-chain with a large seal dangling at
his side, and walked with a cane. Judge Kinnear was a farraer,
and lived near Bryantsburgh. He was a large man with stooped
shoulders and an ungainly walk. These judges sometimes,
though rarely, held court in the absence of the presiding judge
When they did so the lawyers would call up their cases which
had no merit and have them decided. I remember one case
which was tried in the absence of Judge Cushing that caused
much merriment at the time. It grew out of a horse trade, and
Mr. Michael G. Bright was the defendant, and acted as his own
attorney. It was of that class of suits which, under the old
practice, was brought when the plaintiff was not the party in in
terest. Mr. Bright cafled the case, and, as attorney for the

522 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
plaintiff', ordered it dismissed. " Not so fast, Mr. Bright," said
Mr. Marshall, rising to his feet. "I have something to say
about that." He proceeded to state the case, and succeeded
in satisfying the court that it should not be dismissed. The
trial proceeded, and Mr. Bright made an ingenious speech in
which he quoted rauch law, and when he sat down it seemed
certain that his case was won. Mr. Marshall arose, and with
unusual deliberation addressed the court. He said that as the
case was a small one — the amount involved being but sixty dol
lars — he had given it but little thought ; that Mr. Bright knew
the law, and as he was attorney for the plaintiff, attorney for the
defendant, and defendant, himself, he had no doubt thoroughly
familiarized himself with the case ; that, if what he had laid
down to the court as law was the law, he was entitled to a find
ing in his favor ; therefore, he moved the court that Mr. Bright
be put upon his oath, and required to answer as to whether or
-not the law he had given the court was the law of the land.
Turning to Mr. Bright, and pointing at hira with his finger, he
exclairaed : "Will you swear, Mr. Bright, will you swear,
sir?" The effect was electrical. Mr. Bright would not swear,
and Mr. Marshall won the case.
THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS.
The County Commissioners in these days were Nat'nan Rob
inson, John E. Gale, John Kirk, John Smock and James W.
Hinds. It was during the administration of the first three of
these gentlemen that the present jail and jailer's residence were
built. Before undertaking a work requiring so large an outlay
of money they concluded to go on a tour of observation and
exaraine the best models of such buildings they^ could find.
Accordingly, accompanied by their architect, Monroe W. Lee,
they went to Ohio to inspect the prisons of that State. They
journeyed in a stage-coach — for in those days railroads were
not so common as they are to-day — and one afternoon during
the trip they had for a fellow-passenger a loquacious gentleman
who made hiraself exceedingly agreeable to "the innocents
abroad." When night drew her curtains over the earth and the
bright eyes of the stranger could no longer light the stage-coach,
the honorable gentlemen from Jefferson went to sleep. They

M.VDISON. ^ 523
could not retire to the arms of Morpheus, for there was no couch
to repose upon, so they contented themselves with sitting still
and doing homage to the sleepy god by reverentially bowing
their heads. " Some wee short hour ayant the twal " the coach
stopped at a country town to permit the stranger to alight.
Having touched terra ffrma, he sought his baggage in the dark,
and as Captain Kirk sat sleeping, vvith his head nearly touching
his knees, the stranger seized him by the nose. The clutch of
the stranger awoke the Captain and brought him to his senses.
He angrily demanded the cause of the assault. " Pardon me,
sir." replied the stranger, " I thought I had hold of ray carpet-
sack." THE COUN-ry CLERK.
John H. Taylor vvas Clerk of the courts during the time of
which I speak. He was a small mah, of Hght complexion,
affable in manner and a fluent talker. Dr. Tefft, at that time
editor of the Ladies' Refository, declared, in an article published
in his magazine, that Mr. Taylor's house was the home of the
prophets — referring to the fact that it was the uniform stopping-
place of the Methodist clergy.
Mr. Taylor was a great lover of tobacco. He chewed it con
stantly when not asleep, and was never seen, in-doors or out
doors, at home or abroad, without his cheek being distended by
an enormous quid of the narcotic plant. About this time
Daguerrean artists first appeared in the West, and one of them
came to Madison. There was a rush to his rooms for pictures,
and among ot'ners was Mr. Taylor. He succeeded in securing
a good likeness of himself, and took it home to show it to his
fanyly. Handing it to his wife he asked her how she liked it.
"Better than the original," replied the good dame; "the
tobacco is there but not the spittle."
THE SHERIFFS.
The sheriffs of Jefferson county during this time were William
H. Phillips, Robert Right Rea, Henry Deputy, and Robert M.
Smith. Mr. Phfllips still lives among you, so it is unnecessary
to speak of him, but I can not pass Messrs. Rea and Deputy
without notice. They were both raen of marked peculiarities
of character and took active parts in the public aflairs of their

524 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
day. Mr. Rea was a well built man of ordinary size, with a
bald head and kindly face. He was unlettered but was unu
sually shrewd and cunning. He was a natural detective and a
terror to absconding thieves and runaway cows. He was also
feared by runaway slaves, for many a panting fugitive was
arrested by hira and returned to bondage. I never could sat
isfactorily account for this trait in his character, for he had a
kind heart and was no slave to Mamraon. It probably was the
effect of his early education. Mr. Rea was easily teased and
had no relish for a practical joke when he was the subject.
Cool White, a negro rainstrel, once offered a gold pen as a prize
for the best conundrum. The offer brought a large audience to
the entertainment, and among others present was Mr. Rea.
When the exercises were ended White announced that the prize
had been awarded to Captain Horace Hull for the following
conundrum : " Why is our sheriff like old Uncle Ned ?
Because he has no hair on the top of his head."
Captain Hull walked to the platform amid shouts of laughter
and cries of "bravo," to receive the prize. He returned with
it down the aisle to where Mr. Rea was seated, and bowing, of
fered it to him. " Which, which," said the sherifl"; " damn it.
which? " Captain Hull kept the prize
Henry Deputy was a large raan, of dark coraple.xion and with
black hair and beard. He was affected in his voice and man
ners and very particular in his dress. He wore shirts with ruf
fled fronts and was seldom on the street vvith hands ungloved.
He was long in the service of Sheriff" Rea, first as clerk and
barkeeper in the old hotel that stood on the south side of the
public square, and afterwards as deputy sheriff'. The late Dr.
Cross used to tell a good story on Mr. Deputy. He said he was
in the hotel one dav when a Kentuckian entered, and address-
ing Mr. Deputy, said : " How is it that every time I come here
Right Rea has a new barkeeper. What is your name, sir?'"
" My name, sar, is Deputy, sar." "Then, Mr. Deputy, sar,
will you please, sar, hand rae a cigar? " " With pleasure, sar,"
and he handed the Kentuckian a cigar, accorapanied with a
lighted raatch, " I tell the tale as it was told to rae," and with

MADISON. 525
out vouching for its truth, but it is entirely consistent with Mr.
Deputy's character and manners. If there was a Beau Brum-
mefl in Madison, it vvas he, and if he was not a Chesterfield it
was for the want of ability rather than desire. While he was
deputy sheriff' he was the keeper of the jail and lived in the
front rooms of the jail building. One night the prisoners made
an eft'ort to escape, and had almost succeeded before they were
discovered. When Mr. Deputy reached the cell door and found
them engaged in picking the wall, he called out in his blandest
tones: "Gentlemen, gentlemen, desist from your operations,
or I shall be under the disagreeable necessity of putting hand
cuffs upon you." The "gentlemen" desisted, but whether it
was the polite and persuasive manner of the officer or the fear
of handcuffs that stayed their hands, is not written in the chroni
cles of these days. Poor, Deputy I He afterwards became pen
niless, but his pride did not forsake him. I remember that on
a cold day. several years after the time of which I am speak
ing, he came to rae in the Court-house and asked for money to
buy a load of wood. His clothes were seedy and threadbare
and as he sat in a chair before the fire, he drew the tail of his
well worn overcoat over his knees to hide the rents in his cloth
ing. It was the ruling passion, strong in death.
A PATRIOT.
At this time Joseph B. Stewart was a student in the law office
of Marshall & Glass. He was six feet tall or over, and of
gigantic frame ; vain and pompous. He was loud of speech,
and ever ready to talk in public. On the breaking out of the
Mexican war a meeting was held in the Court-house to stimulate
enlistments. It was addressed by General Milton Stapp and
John Lyle King, and perhaps by others. Stewart was present,
but was not cafled upon for a speech. After the meeting ad
journed and the crowd were leaving the Court-house there were
loud calls for Stewart. He mounted the wafl which surrounded
the pubHc square and commenced to harangue the people.
He eloquently descanted upon the glory to be won at the can
non's mouth and upon the beauty of the hafls of Montezuma.
He closed his speech about as follows : " Business prevents me,
mv fellow citizens, frora drawing my sword in this glorious

526 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
cause. I would gladly unsheath it in my country's defense,
but duty to others forbids. But there are some things I can
and will do. Those of you who go to war and die in the ser
vice will not be forgotten by me. I will assist in settling your
estates on the most reasonable terras. I will advise your wid
ows of their legal rights, and see that your orphans are not
defrauded of their patrimonies. These things I will do at a
considerable reduction on regular rates for such services."
Stewart is now, and for many years has been, one of the most
noted and successful of Washington lobbyists. He has en
gineered several of the largest jobs ever put through the Na
tional Congress, and if the political morals of the country do
not improve it is probable that he will engineer many more.
GENERAL MILTON STAPP.
One of the prorainent raen of these days was General Milton
Stapp. He was a public spirited raan, and was as brave as
Julius Caesar. He had filled many responsible offices, and had
filled thera well. He was vain of his talents and his honors ;
so rauch so that his vanity at times was very marked. He was
a soldier in the war of 181 2, and he commanded the Madison
brigade in the Irish war. On that occasion he, like
" The King of France, with forty thousand men,
Went up a hill, and so came down agen."
General Stapp was Mayor of Madison, and never did the citv"
have a better one. He often arrested oft'enders on the street
and, unaided, marched them to jail. On one occasion he had a
difference with a prorainent citizen which led to angry words.
He pronounced the raan a liar and a scoundrel to his face. The
prominent citizen retorted : " You dare not repeat those words."
General Stapp went to the door of the office he was in and
called to several gentlemen who were near. In their presence
he said : "I have called you gentlemen to witness that I here
pronounce Mr.  a liar and a scoundrel." The insult was
not resented. General Stapp vvas president of the convention
held at Charlestown, in 1849, that nominated WilHam McKee
Dunn for Congress. I well remember the speech he made on
taking the chair. He complained of his neglect by the Whig

M.VDISON. 527
party, and declared himself entitied to more consideration than
he had received. He said he had recently returned from Wash
ington where he vvent to get an office from General Taylor, but
his appHcation vvas refused. He declared that he experienced
great difficult)- in getting an interview with Mr. Clayton, the
Secretary of State, while others who had done nothing for the
party vvere admitted without trouble. Continuing in this strain
for a whfle, he said : -'When I first met Mr. Clayton, he in
quired who I vvas. I told him I was General Stapp, of Indiana.
He said he had never heard of me before 'What, sir,' said I,
' never heard of Milton Stapp, and you the Secretary of State
of the United States?" "" The General had supposed his fame
was national, not provincial.
-VI'kINLEY, NEWBERRY VND MURRAY.
Three noted men in these days vvere McKinley, Newberry
and Murray, They were demented but harmless. McKinley
believed he owned the major part of the city. His possessions
also included lands in foreign countries, and sometiraes he
thought himself the governing power of at least one European
monarchy. At times he would saw a load of wood, or perforra
other manual labor, but usually he was upon the street discours
ing upon his riches. Sometimes he would disappear and be
gone for awhile, but he would soon return and repeat "his
thrice told tale."' He was about as well known at Indianapolis
as at Madison, and I have seen him more than once in that city
and at Franklin with a crowd about hira listening to his won
drous stories. He once became very angry with me because
I told him that he and Murray (who also claimed to own the
city) should settle the question of title before he disposed of
some property he was trying to sell. He said Murray was
" nothing but a damned old Yankee, and had no sense no how."
Newberry was a very different man. He approached you as
stealthily as a cat,and would be bending over you and whispering
in your ear before you were aware of his presence. He talked
in a low voice, and his words were generally incoherent and
sometimes meaningless. He always had a short gun strapped
to his back, and his appearance was anything but inviting. He
harmed no one, but the wonder is that he did not. His whis-

528 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
pered words, his wild look and the gun upon his back always
inspired me with terror, and made me watch him like a hawk.
In his young days he was a prosperous man of business, and he
became insane by trying to solve an impossible problem.
Murray was the worst man of the three, if not the greatest luna
tic. He was given to liquor, and was terribly abusive when in his
cups. At such tiraes he would walk the streets, and "swear
like the army in Flanders." He was particularly abusive of
Moody Park, the Mayor of the city, who had often sent him to
jail for drunkenness. He believed he was owner of all the
property in the city by virtue of a judgment he had recovered
for one million of dollars for false imprisonment. This hallu
cination ever possessed him. Whether drunk or sober he
thought hiraself the lord proprietor of Madison, and her citizens
his tenants. He threatened suits of ejectment against those in
possession, and was often exceedingly abusive in his notices to
quit. The only way to manage hira was by force, and it was
frequently eraployed. He was often committed to jail, and
there compelled to remain for months. At that time the May
or's office was in the row of buildings on Main Cross street
known as the buzzard roost, and the jail was immediately south
of and back of it. Every raorning Murray would be at the win-
doyv of his cell when the Mayor opened his office. So soon as
he saw that official he would commence to curse and abuse him.
On these occasions it was his custom to sing a doggerel song,
running thus :
" When first King Moody began to reign, began to reign,
He bought a peck of buckwheat bran, of buckwheat bran,"
and so on for quantity. CAPTAIN DAVID WHITE.
No man in his day more deeply impressed himself upon
Madison than David White. He came here in 1846 from Penn
sylvania, where he had been engaged in the wool trade. He
was about six feet tall, with rather less than the average flesh for
one of his height, had stooped shoulders, and walked with his
head well forward and his eyes upon the ground. His Hfe was
one of vicissitudes. He was rich to-day and poor to-morrow.

INLVDISON.

529

He failed in business in Pennsylvania, in Madison, in Iowa and,
I believe, in St. Louis. But failure vvith him was but a stimu
lus to new exertions. Most men sink under adversity ; not so
he. If he touched the bottom it was to reach a foundation for
a rebound. He vvent down under one wave and sprang in tri
umph upon the top of the next. His energy never gave way
and his industry never tired. He was a leader in every public
enterprise of his day. Madison is mainly indebted to him for
her gas works, for her marine railway, and for the establish
ment of one of her insurance companies. He labored hard to
connect her vvith the world by a net-work of railroads, but in
this effort he failed. He saw the trade which had been hers
directed to other cities, and the sight made him sad. He left
us and went elsewhere, but so long as the great enterprises he
inaugurated remain he will not be forgotten. It was eminently
proper that his mortal remains should be brought here and con
signed to rest among a people for whom he had done so much.
WILLIAIM (i. WHARTON.
William G. Wharton was a prominent man at the time of
which I speak. In stature he was tall and straight. His
physique vvas splendid. In earlier days he had been both a
major of militia and a justice of the peace. Apropos to this :
Some years prevtious to this time he was in New York, and
meeting General Stapp at the Astor House he was prevailed
upon to call upon General Scott. Major Wharton was not given
to running after great men, nor to crowding himself anywhere
uninvited ; therefore, it was with reluctance that he consented to
cafl upon the hero of Lundy's Lane. But the persistency of
General Stapp prevailed, and the two went to the rooms of Gen
eral Scott. General Stapp approached the great captain and
said: "General Scott, allow me to present my friend. Major
Wharton." " I am happy to know you. Major," said the Gen
eral ; " to what part of the service do you belong? " " I am an
officer by brevet," said the Major ; " I am from the great West
where every man is a major or (bowing to Stapp) a general."
Major Wharton used to tell this story with great gusto.
At this time, deeds signed by married women, to be vaHd had
34

530 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
to be acknowledged by the wives, separate and apart from and
without the hearing of their husbands. Major Wharton was a
notary public, as also was William McKee Dunn. The latter
took the acknowledgment of a deed from Wharton and his wife
and inadvertently signed the Major's name to the certificate
instead of his own. Judge Billy Hendricks saw this deed in
the Recorder's office and determined to have some fun out of
the mistake. Observing Wharton on the street he called hini to
the office. " How is it. Major," said the Judge, " that you cer
tify under your oath of office that you have examined your wife
separate and apart from and without the hearing of her hus
band? " " What do you mean? " asked the Major. " I mean,"
answered the Judge, " that you have done this thing, and here
is the evidence of it." With that he proceeded to read as fol
lows :
" State of Indiana, )
} SS '
County of Jefferson, )
" Before me, the undersigned, a notary public within and for
said county, this day personally carae William G. Wharton and
Eliza Wharton, his wife, the grantors in the foregoing deed, and
acknowledged the signing and sealing of the same to be their
voluntary act and deed for the uses and purposes therein named.
And the said Eliza Wharton, wife of the said William G. Whar
ton, being by rae examined separate and apart from and with
out the hearing of her said Husband, declared that she signed
and sealed the same of her own free will and accord, and with
out any fear of or compulsion frora her said husband.
(Signed) " W. G. Wharton, Notary Public."
" Go and get Newberry's gun and strap it on ray back," said
the astonished Major.
Major Wharton was a devoted Mason. He was a Methodist,
but he placed his lodge above his church. One day he came
into the office of the Firemen and Mechanics Insurance Com
pany and applied to the late Caleb T. Lodge, then president of
the company, for a permit to smoke meat in his warehouse, on
which that company had written a policy. There was a contro
versy about the rate to be charged, when Wharton petulantiy

MADISON. 531
said: " I'll have nothing to do with your company ; all insur
ance companies are swindling concerns." " I am surprised,
"Squire," said Mr. Lodge, " that a good Methodist, like your
self, should belong to a swindling concern." (Mr. Wharton
was a stockholder in the company.) •' Don't quote Methodism
to me," responded the 'Squire ; " the other day I wanted some
shingles and went to the yard of Mr,  , a brother Metho
dist, to buy them, I selected the shingles I wanted and ordered
them sent to my house. Those received vvere not those I bought,
but vvere greatly inferior. Had I bought the shingles of old
man Todd — a hell-bound sinner — I should have received what
I bargained for. He is a good Mason, and show me a good
Mason and I'll show you a good man."
REV-. G.VMALIEL T.VYLOR.
Gamaliel Taylor, familiarly called •• Uncle Gam," was known
to every one in the city. His forra vvas lithe and erect, although
his locks were white and deep furrows were in his face. He
was both a minister of the gospel and a minister of justice.
On Sunday he dispensed gospel truths vvith a pure hand, and
during the week he dispensed justice vvith an even one. He
united in wedlock young men and raaidens, and when death
came he preached the funerals of the fathers and mothers.
Gold and silver he had none, but he was passing rich in the love
of all who knew him. His memory, like sweet incense, per
fumes this hall as I speak, and if the spirits of the blest are per
mitted to leave their heavenly abode that of the old patriarch,
so dear to us all, is hovering o'er us now.
MADISON'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MEXICAN WAR.
In May, 1846, war was declared between the United States
and Mexico. The war feeling at Madison ran high. Two
companies of soldiers were formed and organized at once. The
first was the Washington Guards, commanded by William
Ford, who had for several years been the captain of an inde
pendent military company. His lieutenants were Samuel G.
Cowden, J. P. A. M. Channey and John M. Lord. The sec
ond company, the Madison Rifles, was commanded by Thomas
L. Suflivan, who had for lieutenants Horace Hull, John Har-

532 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
rington and Americus O. Hough. War not having been antic
ipated by the Federal Government, no provision had been made
for clothing and feeding the soldiers. To meet the emergency
the Madison Branch Bank, then under the presidency of Mr.
J. F. D. Lanier, tendered Governor Whitcomb a sum of money
sufficient to clothe and feed the Madison soldiers until they
were mustered into service. The Governor having made other
arrangements declined the offer, but his action in the premises
was such as to occasion much criticism at the time. The Mad
ison companies went into camp at New Albany, and on the 24th
of June were raustered into the service of the United States.
They forraed part of the Third Indiana regiraent coramanded
by Colonel James H. Lane, and their members fought valiantly
at Buena Vista. None of the Madison boys were killed in that
sanguinary battle, but the anxiety of their friends at home as to
their fate was intense. Several members of these companies
died in Mexico frora accident and disease, but none were killed
in battle. The next suraraer, having served out the term of
their enlistment, the survivors returned home and were dis
charged. In the summer and fall of 1847 the Fifth Indiana regiment
was formed. It rendezvoused at Madison, its camp being in
the western part of the city, near the bend in the railroad.
Madison and Vernon contributed a company to this regiment.
It was commanded by Captain Horace Hull, who had for his
lieutenants DeWitt C. Ritch, John M. Lord and John M. Lat
timore. This regiment never was in battle, but one day it came
so close to Santa Anna that, in his hurry to get away, he left
behind his wooden leg. It becarae a trophy of the war and was
highly prized by the Hoosier soldiers.
It was by the action of these three companies of Madison men
and others of like patriotism that the United States conquered a
peace with Mexico and added to her territory a golden empire.
By the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, she became possessed of
the richest mineral lands in the world, and surely she owes a
debt of gratitude to the brave men wdio raade it possible for her
to obtain them. The denial to these men of a reasonable pen-

M.VDISON. 533:
sion gives color to the charge sometimes made that republics
are ungrateful. THE CROOKED CREEK FLOOD.
Early in September, 1846, Crooked creek overflowed its banks,
whereby eleven persons were drowned and over $100,000 worth
of property destro)-ed. The flood vvas in daylight, otherwise
the loss of life would have been much greater. Skiffs were
taken from the riv er to the creek, and the lives of many per
sons thereby saved. At that time Crooked creek flowed through
a culvert under the railroad tiack. This culvert was completely
Jblocked vvith houses that had been swept from their foundations.
The pent up water overflowed the banks of the creek and sub
merged the adjacent bottom lands. The woolen mill of Whit
ney & Hendricks, the oil mill of Jacob Shuh, a large part of
the pork-house of Mitchel & McNaughten, and several dwel
ling houses vvere borne away by the raging water. The bodies
of the drowned were recovered and inquests held upon them ;
and to illustrate the public econom)- of those times, it may be
proper to say that the Board of County- Commissioners consid
ered the holding of these inquests unnecessary, and objected to
paying their cost out of the county treasury.
-V MURDER.
The current of events ran smoothly in these days, for Madi
son was a peaceable city. Burglaries and other high crimes
were uncommon, and homicides were alraost unknown. There
was, however, one murder committed in Madison, and it created
intense excitement at the time. It was the killing of Joseph
Howard by Henry Holtzclaw. The Holtzclaws — William, the
father, and Henry, Eli and Thoraas, the sons, came from Ken
tucky and opened a wholesale grocery store on West street.
Thomas created a disturbance one Sunday evening at Wesley
Chapel, and the next day a warrant for his arrest was issued,
and placed in the hands of Howard, who was a constable.
Howard went to the Holtzclaw store to make the arrest, where
he got into a personal difficulty with the father and the sons.
He was a strong man as well as a courageous one, and seizing
Thomas by the collar of his coat, he dragged him out of the

534 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
house. He was followed by the father and brothers, and when
in the middle of the street was shot by Henry and mortally
wounded. The Holtzclaws were arrested and admitted to bail,
and then fled the country. Sometime afterwards Eli was re
arrested in the South and brought here by a brother of his victim.
By this time two of the most important witnesses were gone.
Langtree had been drowned and Weide had removed to Min
nesota ; so their testimony could not be had. Holtzclaw took a
change of venue to an adjoining county, and in the absence of
these witnesses was tried and acquitted.
PUBLIC SENTIMENT.
Situated on the line between the free and the slave States,
Madison was a quasi Southern city. The opinions and senti
ments of her inhabitants were moulded, to a great extent, by
the opinions and sentiments of their Kentucky neighbors.
Runaway slaves were hunted over the hills and through the
valleys of Jefferson. The abolition settlement in Lancaster
township was considered a plague-spot on the body politic. The
Hoyts, the Nelsons and the Tibbettses of that neighborhood,
although honorable and peaceable men, were tabooed because
they beHeved in the equality of all men before the law. The
Euletherian school at College Hill received the maledictions of
the people, because in it the fountain of knowledge was as free
to the negro as to the white man. Dwelling houses which had
been erected near this college for the use of colored students
were burned and destroyed. It is no wonder that in a commu
nity where Southern sentiments were so comraon the duel
should be considered a proper method for settling disputes.
Although we never had a duel here, we had several narrow
escapes from meetings under the code. John Abram Hen
dricks challenged John Lyle King, Joseph G. Marshall chal
lenged Jesse D. Bright, Michael G. Bright challenged John
Brough, and Robert S. Sproule challenged John A. Hendricks.
The difliculty between Messrs. Hendricks and King occasioned
much feeling in the cit}-. They vvere both young men of prom
ise and were sons of leading citizens. Mr. Hendricks had
been an officer in the regular army, but had resigned and come
home. Mr. King, in a communication to the Indianafolis

MADISON. 535
Jounial, over the signature of " Ion," mentioned this fact in
the following words :
"Captain John A. Hendricks, formerly of the United States
Infantry, but now of the peace establishment, has resigned his
commission and returned home.
"' Farewell the plumed troop and the big wars
That make ambition virtue ! O, farewell !
Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump,
The spirit-stirring drum, th' ear-piercing fife.
The royal banner, and all quality,
Pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war.
And, O, you mortal engines, whose rude throats
The immortal Jove's dread clamors counterfeit.
Farewell ! Othello's occupation's gone ! '
•• HI health and an inability to weather the Mexican climate
are the causes, I hear, assigned for his return."
Captain Hendricks vvas oft'ended at this reference to him and
to his return, and published in the Madison Banner, over his
own name, a letter, in which he pronounced " Ion " a liar and a
coward. Mr. King, still maintaining his incognito, replied in a
bitter letter, in which he quoted the couplet from Hudibras,
" For those that fly may fight again,
Which he can never do that's slain,''
and said his name was vvith the Banner editor and was at the
service of the Captain. Captain Hendricks went to Bedford,
Kentucky, and from there wrote Mr. King a challenge and sent
it by a Mr. Rowan. Mr. King refused acceptance of the chal
lenge, giving as a reason for the refusal that he was not on equal
terms with his enemy ; that his acceptance would subject him to
the penalty of the law of Indiana, while Mr. Hendricks would
escape such penalty^ by reason of having written the challenge
in another State. Upon receiving this reply Mr. Hendricks
came to Milton, opposite this city, and wrote another challenge,
without naming the place where it was written. This paper was
dehvered to Mr. King by Abram W. Hendricks, Esq., and the
invitation declined because it lacked a venue. By this time the
difficulty was widely known, and coming to the knowledge of

536 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
Governor Hendricks and Victor King, the fathers of the bellig
erents, they interfered and prevented a hostile meeting.
The difficulty between Messrs. Marshall and Bright origi
nated at a political meeting which took place at Ritchey's Mifls
in this county. Inasmuch as I wrote an account of this matter
some years ago for the Indianafolis Journal, which embodied
all I know about it, I shall say nothing further of it here.
The trouble between Mr. Bright and Mr. Brough grew out
of a controversy in relation to selling the State's interest in the
Madison and Indianapolis Railroad. Mr. Bright challenged
Mr. Brough, but, instead of accepting the challenge, the latter
published it in the Madison Banner with the reasons for his re
fusal. In speaking of this difficulty the late George D. Prentice
said in his paper that most persons would think Mr. Bright
would have the advantage of Mr. Brough in a duel, on account
of the great size of the latter, but, in fact, the advantage would
be on the other side, as it was doubtful if the pistol was then
made which could send a bullet to Mr. Brough's vatals. He
was a behemoth in size.
The difficulty between Messrs. Sproule and Hendricks grew-
out of political differences, and was not generally known.
Sproule was the challenger, and he sent the hostile message by
Michael Steele Bright. Nothing came of it, and the matter was
soon adjusted. THE GOLDEN ERA.
This was Madison's golden era. She vvas the entrefot of the
raerchandise sold and consumed in Indiana. She was the gate
at which the traveler entered the State. She had three whole
sale dry goods houses, and as manv- wholesale groceries and
boot and shoe establishraents. She was one of the largest pork-
packing points in the country. No less than four establishments
were engaged in the killing and packing of hogs, one of them
being the largest then in the world. She had a starch manu
factory on Crooked creek and a glue factory just outside the
city limits. She had several of the largest flouring mifls west
of the Allegheny mountains. She had three large iron foun
dries, a brass foundry, a boiler manufactory, and many other
establishments of great value. She had a chamber of com
merce, a reading-room and a public library. In addition to the

MADISO.N. 537
magnificent Pike and the Ben Franklin, which landed daily at
her wharfs, she had daily lines of steam packets to Cincinnati
and to Louisville, and a regular one to Frankfort. Her wharfs
were covered with hpgsheads of sugar and molasses from New
Orleans, and vvith boxes and bales of merchandise from the
Atlantic slope. Her streets were crowded with men who came
to buy her merchandise and her manufactured goods. Her
citizens were jostled on the sidewalks by strangers who came
hither to view her greatness, or to enter Indiana through her
portals. Such vvas Madison frora 1844 to 1852, when the zenith
of her prosperity vvas reached,
HER PRESENT POSITION.
Although Madison is not now what she then was, she is a
city of which her people may well be proud. Her material in
terests are great and her memories are glorious. Her starch
has a market in the old world ; her saddle-trees are sold in every
State of the Union, and her furniture and her steam engines
are floated down the beautiful riv-er that flows at her feet to
distant markets. The men she has educated and sent out from
her midst have played no mean part in the draraa of life. The
Madison colony at the State capital is noted for the intelligence
and business worth of its men and the beauty and goodness of
its women. Many of the leading men of Chicago were reared
in your city% and the same is true of Saint Louis. Go where
you will in the West you will find Madison men. In the East,
too, she is represented, for the head of one of the most eminent
banking houses in America* was a resident of Madison when I
first saw it. The late Chief Justice of Oregon vvas a Madison
boy, and Justice Beck, of the Supreme Court of Iowa, is an old
time Madisonian. •• I am a Roman citizen" vvas the proudest
boast of the dweller on the banks of the Tiber, and " I ara a
citizen of Madison " should be the proudest boast of every one
whose home is in the healthy and beautiful city under the hills.

*J. F. D. Lanier.

THE INDIANA PRESS OF THE OLDEN TIME.*

I PROPOSE giving you some sketches of the press of Indiana
as it was from twenty-five to thirty years ago. I hope they will
interest you ; the subject they seek to illustrate interests me.
The sketches will of necessity be short, for the subjects are too
-numerous to be profusely illustrated within the time allotted to
an address like this.
I speak of a time within the memory of men now living. I
speak of a time within the memory of some vvho hear me. These
will bear witness to the truth of what I say.
In 1850 the population of Indiana was 988,416. To-day it is
2,000,000. At the State election in 1852, 187,121 votes were
cast ; at'the election last October, 470,738 ballots went into the
box. In 1852 there were but 350 miles of railroad in the State;
now there are over 6,000. I give these figures to remind you of
the great strides in population and wealth Indiana has taken
since the time of which I speak. Has the press of Indiana kept
pace with population ? I shall not answer the question, but con
tent myself with showing what the press then was ; you know
what it now is, and when you have heard what I have to say you
can answer the question yourselves.
Thirty years ago the Indiana newspaper was not what it now
is. It was printed on inferior paper, with larger type and its
make-up was not so symraetrical or attractive. The editor's
narae was always at the head of the editorial column. There
was no shirking of responsibility nor hiding behind the backs
of others. The editor was answerable for the conduct of the
paper, and there was no mistaking who he vvas.
¦An address delivered before the Democratic State Editorial Convention at
Michigan City, Jnne 30, 18.S1.

THE INDIANA PRESS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 539
The editorial " we " vvas more frequently used tiien than now.
Indeed, it was sadly abused, for the editor took it wherever he
went. " We took a ride yesterday," or •' we have been sick,"
or " we shall be absent from our office for a day or so," might
often be found in the papers of those days. It is now a rare
thing to see in a respectable journal such abuse of this useful
word, the public having concluded that it should never, in a
newspaper, represent the personality of the writer.
At that time the telegraph was sparingly used by the press.
The news by it came over the O'Reilly line, and seldom filled
over half a column. It came from New York and from Wash
ington and from the other large Eastern cities, and was mainly
confined to the markets and to political aft'airs. The special
cortespondent and the special telegram were unknown. Nor
was the interviewer abroad in the land. This species of news
paper workers has come upon the stage of action since the time
of which I speak. But few journals had a distinctive depart
ment for local news. In most of them general and local news
were mixed and published in the same colurans. George Ben
nett, of the Cincinnati Enquirer, was the first . distinctive local
editor in the West. Some of the Indiana papers followed the
Enquirer's example and established local departments, but most
of them mixed news and opinions indiscriminately.
The first side of a newspaper in those days contained a love
story complete in itself, or a serial story which ran through
many numbers. I remember that the Rifley Cou/ity Index pub
Hshed the whole of •' Pilgrim's Progress." The Madison Ban
ner facetiously advised its editor to comraence on the " Bible "
when the Pilgrim reached the land of Beulah. It was common
to see at the foot of the last column on the first page the words,
"To be continued." At a party in Madison a gentieman was
asked who was his favorite author. He replied that he believed
he liked "To be continued " better than any other writer he
knew. He was then a prosperous dry goods merchant, and
afterwards went to New York and became a millionaire After
this, who will say that culture is a factor in money-getting?
There were three daily papers then published at Madison, and
for a time there were four. The Banner had grown into influence
under the direction of Daniel D.Jones, a Httie chubby Welshraan

54° BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
of decided talents. He set his editorials as he composed them,
and they were among the best that appeared in the press of that
day. When he died his interest in the Banner vvas bought by
John Robert Cravens, who in a few months sold it to the speaker.
Milton Gregg started the Tribune at Madison in 185 1 ; but there
was no room for it, and the next year he took it to New Albany,
and published it there until he died. Mr. Gregg was an easy,
flowing writer, but was not a particularly strong one.
Michael C. Garber, whose death occurred but a few months
ago, edited the Madison Courier. He was an independent, plucky
man, and a vigorous, though not a polished writer. He was
ill suited to conduct an organ, such as the Courier had been,
and his foot was on the pedal but a short time until he kicked
the machine to pieces. His assistant — the brilliant and erratic
Baymiller — was as independent as his chief, and the two prac
ticed independence to such a degree that they soon vaulted out
side the Deraocratic party. To strangle the Courier and have
a personal organ Senator Bright and some of his friends started
the Madisonian, and put it in charge of Robert S. Sproule. It
had a sickly existence of a year or so and died, as all personal
organs are apt to do. Many of you will remember poor Bob
Sproule. He was an impulsive, big-hearted Irishman, improvi
dent and reckless. " Alas, poor Yorick ! Where be your gibes
now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment that
were wont to set the table in a roar ? " There comes no answer.
The Ledger, at New Albany, was established by John B.
Norman and Phineas M. Kent. Mr. Kent soon sold his inter
est in the paper to Lucien G. Matthews, who was associated with
Mr. Norman in the conduct of the Ledger so long as the latter
lived. Mr. Norman edited the paper, and those who remember
his writings will class him among the best writers in the State.
He died in October, 1869, of apoplexy. ••Of gentle nature,
modest and unassuming, he was ill suited to breast the turbu
lent waves of life. He was honest and true in his friendships,
afl'ectionate and devoted in his familv- and social relations. He
was no orator, but with his pen expressions he was facile, grace
ful, forcible and oft eloquent. In political contests he wielded
a trenchant blade, and with logic he could combine sarcasm as
keen as polished steel." When Jenny Lind vvas at Madison in

THE INDI.VNA PRESS OF 'rilK OLDEN 'IIME.

541

185 1, there being no large hall in the city, she sang in a pork-
house. Norman's description of the concert vvas one of the
nicest pieces of newspaper work ever done in Indiana. It went
the rounds of the press, and Jenny Lind in the Madison pork-
house vvas as noted as Whittington in London town. Messrs.
Kent and Matthews still live, but neither of them is engaged in
newspaper work.
The Indianafolis Sentinel vvas then edited by William J.
Brown. Mr. Brown is better remembered as a politician than
as an editor, but he wrote well and conducted the Sentinel with
abihty. He held several offices in the State and was repeatedly
elected to Congress. At one time he came near being made
Speaker of the House, and would have been had not some of
the Southern members refused to vote for him. He was deeply
chagrined at his failure, and in a letter to a friend, after re
counting his services to the South and the treatment he had
received from the Southern members, he said : " I am done."
After this he vvas called by his political opponents, " Done
Brown." The Indianafolis Journal was then controlled by John D. De-
frees. Mr. Defrees went to Indianapolis as the Senator from
Saint Joseph county. He conducted the Journal for several
years and then sold^^it. When Mr. Lincoln became President
Mr. Defrees went to Washington, where he has since resided.
Most of the time he has held office, and is now superintendent
of the government printing office.
Dr. E. W. H. Eflis, a resident of Goshen, was elected Audi
tor of State in 1850, and soon afterwards, in connection with
John S. Spann, established the Indianafolis Statesman. The
States7nan was published weekly, and after existing a year or so
was absorbed by the Sentinel. It advocated the nomination of
General Jo Lane for the Presidency, and as the Sentinel also
claimed to favor his nomination. Dr. Ellis asked Mr. Brown why
he did not fly the General's flag. Mr. Brown repHed that first-
class hotels never put up signs ; that it was only cross-roads tav
erns that did so. Dr. Ellis was a strong and pungent writer and
a poet of decided merit. He died at Goshen a few years ago,
being postmaster of that city at the time.
About this time a series of sketches appeared in the Indian-

542 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
afolis Locomotive, a weekly paper published by Elder & Hark-
ness, which attracted rauch attention. They were so much
above the average of newspaper contributions that there was
great speculation as to who the writer was. He proved to be
Berry R. Sulgrove, then a young lawyer, but now one of the
most noted writers in the State. Yi\s nom de flume, ^'\vno\}a.y
Tugmutton, will be remerabered by those who were farailiar with
the newspapers of that day. Mr. Sulgrove afterwards edited
the Indianafolis Journal, and since his withdrawal from that
paper he has been a contributor to most of the journals published
at the State capital. His inforraation is vast and varied, and he
writes with ease and grace upon alraost all subjects. There is
probably no raan in the State of so extensive information, and
none who excels him in ability to give it to the public in an at
tractive form.
James P. Luse then owned and conducted the Lafayette
Journal. In 1853 he sold it to William G. Terrell, and six
years afterwards purchased it again. He again sold it, and for
the third tirae bought it. In 1866 he left Lafayette and vvent to
New Albany to edit the Commercial of that city. He is now,
and for some time has been, the leading editorial writer on the
Indianafolis Journal. Mr. Luse is a scholarly^ man and a vig
orous writer, and is well acquainted with public men and meas
ures. There are few men in the State vvho equal him in in
formation, and fewer still who have his ability to write. His
pen is as prolific and his style as vigorous as they were a quar
ter of a century ago. In 1852 he and I were of a party of ed
itors that went to Louisville to escort General Scott, then the
Whig candidate for President, to Indiana. When* we were in
troduced to the General, Mr. Luse remarked that we were
Whig editors from Indiana, and were working hard to make
him President. "Ah, gentlemen," replied the old hero, "the
people of Indiana, then, have heard of Lundy's Lane."
The Lafayette Courier was then conducted by William R.
Ellis. Mr. Eflis is still living,* but he abandoned journalism
long ago. He sold the Courier, in 1854, to William S. Lingle,
its present owner. Mr. Lingle was one of the Madison colony
* W. E. Ellis was a brother of Dr. Ellis, named above, and he died at Lafayette
since this lecture was delivered.

THE INDLVN.V I'RESS OF rilE OLDEN TIME. 543
that went to Lafayette vvith Mr. Terrell when he bought the
Journal. He wields a caustic pen, as I have good reason to
know. When I edited the Mad/son Banner I published a com
munication from Lingle that well nigh cost me a fight or a foot
race. Had not Providence favored me I should have had to
fight or run. I have thought, ever since, that Lingle did not
properly appreciate the vicarious cft'ering I made for him twenty-
nine years ago.
In these days A. H. Sanders edited the Eva//svillc Journal.
Evansville vvas not then even relatively what it now is, and the
Journal^ field was a circumscribed one. This paper has
grown with the prosperous cit)- in which it is published, and is
novv understood to be one of the most valuable pieces of news
paper property in the State. There was then no Democratic
paper published in . Evansville. Several attempts had been
made to establish one, but without success, Charles P. Baymil
ler, a lieutenant of Garber and of Terrell, being one of those
who made the effort. The Evansville Courier, now so ably
conducted by- the Shanklin brothers, vvas not then in existence.
In 1852 Enos B. Reed and Alf. Burnett started the Demo
cratic Union, a weekly paper, at Vernon. It was profusely il
lustrated with wood cuts which had done previous service.
Reed edited the paper and Burnett was its traveling correspond
ent. In a letter from New York he spoke of calling on N. P.
Willis, the poet, incog. The press made so much sport of this
piece of silly vanity that his letters stopped.
Mr. Reed, then as now, was a lover of the " foaraing lager."
One day he invited a prominent citizen of Vernon to take a so
cial glass in a grocery store. The "prominent citizen" de
clined the beer, but remarked that, as the cost was the same, he
would take a mackerel. As the people of Vernon liked mackerel
better than beer they were not congenial to the poet-editor. So,
in a short time, '• He folded his tent like the Arab,
And as silently stole away."
I well remember one incident connected with his career at
Vernon. A ballad over my name was published, which at
tracted the poet's attention. He critically tore it into shreds,
for which I thank him sincerely. From that day to this I have

544 BIOGR.-VPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
not attempted rhyme, being satisfied, with him, that if I have
talents they do not lie in that direction.
Some ten years ago Mr. Reed started the Indianafolis Peofle.
It " took" frora the start, and is now a valuable piece of prop
erty. It circulates chiefly araong the working people, and is
probably as influential with that class as any journal published
at Indianpolis. Mr. Reed is a florid, rotund, jolly man, and is
warm in his friendships. He is a devoted disciple of Izaak
Walton, and deftly handles the hook and line. A hooked bass
or red-eye throws him into ecstasies.
In 1855 Jacob B. Maynard bought the Cannelton Reforter
and entered journalism. From that time until now he has been
engaged in editorial work ; in Cannelton, in Evansville, in
Louisville, in St. Joseph, Missouri, and in Indianapolis. For
more than four years he has been the leading writer on the
Indianafolis Sentinel. As a statistician he has no equal in the
Indiana press. He has the figures on his finger's end, and can
tell all about the exports and the imports ; how many bushels
of wheat and corn are raised and how many consumed ; how
many gallons of whisky- — Bourbon or Robinson county — are
manufactured and how raany drunk, and how much fer cafita
it costs to run the government. He can dash off a political
leader as easily as he can prepare a statistical table. He can
also write a charming sketch, and, when necessary, successfully
court the muse. A pen equally versatile I do not know. Those
who judge him by his political leaders are apt to mistake the man.
These are often denunciatory- and vituperative, whereas he is
naturally gentle and kind. He fashions a leader as a potter
his clay — to suit the purpose for which it is designed. The late
George Harding used to say that when the manager of the
Sentinel wished a particularly savage article prepared he threw
Colonel Maynard a piece of raw beef over the transom of his
door. He works seven days in the week, year in and year out,
and the quantity and quality of his work are marvelous. It is
questionable if there be another man in the State who can
do so varied work and do it so well. From the day of the presi
dential election in 1876, until the day Mr. Hayes was inaugu
rated, the SentineVs rooster appeared as regularly as the paper,
but when, for the first and only time in our country's histor}r.

THE INDIANA PRESS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 545
a man not elected put on the presidential robes, Mr. Maynard
took down his rooster. Six days before he took the chicken
from his perch he thus addressed him :
" OUR ROOSTER.
" -Vt twilight's shades and morning's dawn
Our Rooster's watched the coarse of crime,
He's seen the perjured villains fawn,
And heard the thieving kennel whine.
" On watch when Grant, the second Nero,
Ordered troops to murder law,
lle's'stood his ground like Spartan hero,
With indignation in_his craw.
" Grandly he crowed the glory
When triumph flashed, where Rads lay slain.
Till all the world caught up the story,
.\nd vict'ry was the grand refrain.
" He heard the crime-forg'd fetters rattle
And queried, 'Are the victors slaves ?
Or will there be another battle,
Where freemen on its surging waves
' ' Will fight for rights their fathers willed them.
Till hope is lost to mortal vision.
Or fate a funeral pyre shall build them
To save their names from curs'd derision?'
'" Our Rooster has but lofty scorn
For crime-stained RaOs and perjured thieves.
And loud will crow on that glad morn
When each in hell his pay receives.
" He'll crow when Morton pleads for ice
To cool that lying tongue of his'n ;
He'll crow when Bradley's in the vise
The devil keeps in darkest prison.
" He'll crow when Wells goes planging under
Hell's hottest waves in search of Stearns ;
He'll crow when both, with stolen plunder,
Receive their pay in bonds and burns.
" Undismayed, our Rooster's crowing,
And though the dawn is not serene,
He'll crow till man, defiant growing.
Will by his courage change the scene.
¦ 35

546 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
" He'll crow till man, though fierce the fight —
No matter where God gave him breath —
At freedom's shrine will pledge his might
For freedom or a freeman's death."
William G. Terrell bought the Lafayette Journal of ]ames P.
Luse in the fall of 1853 and conducted it until 1859. When he
purchased the Journal he was a resident of Madison, and he
took with him from that city, to assist him in editing it, Charles
P. Baymiller and William S. Lingle. Mr. Terrell was a slow
but a careful and correct writer and an inveterate punster. He
was known as the newspaper joker of that day and some of his
sayings are not yet forgotten. In 1852 he attended a Whig
convention at Niagara Falls at which Horace Greeley was a
speaker. In. his speech Mr. Greeley declared that while he
favored the election of the Whig candidate for President, Gen
eral Scott, he "spat upon the platform." In a letter to the
Madison Banner, giving an account of this convention, Mr.
Terrell said that Mr. Greeley could not spit upon the platform
and expect-to-rate as a Whig. This bon mot went the rounds
of the press of that day.
On the breaking out of our civil war Mr. Terrell assisted in
raising a Union regiment in Kentucky, and afterwards was ap
pointed paymaster in the army with the rank of Colonel. After
the war ended he was postmaster at Newport, Kentucky, and
held the office several years. Subsequent to this time he be
came involved in a personal difficulty with a lawyer of Coving
ton named Meyers, which resulted in the lawyer's death. For
this he was tried and acquitted, the jury finding that the killing
was justifiable homicide. Colonel Terrell still lives, and at
present is engaged on the Ci/icinnati Commercial.
At this time Rev. William W. Hibben owned and controlled
the Lawrenceburg Press. He was a Methodist clergyman and
one of the pioneer preachers of that denomination in Indiana.
He was a smooth and a prolific writer, and was well known
throughout the State. His letters to the C///ci//nati Enquirer
and to the Indianafolis Se//ti//cl, and his contributions to the
Masonic Advocate, over the signature of Jefferson, proved him
a writer of merit. He died a few months ago at Indianapolis^
old and poor.

THE INDIANA PRESS OF THE OLDEN ITME.

H7

William W. Crail was a partner of Daniel D. Jones when the
Madison Banner first became a daily. He continued his con
nection vvith the paper until 1854, \vlien he sold his interest and
left the State. He is not a. brilliant man, but he is what is bet
ter, an honest and true one. While on the Ba/incr he was the
news editor, and he could boil down an article and get its mar
row as well as an)- one I ever knew. He still lives, and is now
working at the case on the Louisville Courier-Journal.
The Brookville American, edited by C. F. Clarkson, vvas
then a leading journal of the State. Mr. Clarkson vvas identi
fied vvith the temperance movement, and a large portion of his
paper was devoted to that cause. He afterwards sold the
American to Rev. Thomas A. Goodwin, and removed to Iowa,
where he now lives. After conducting the An/erican awhile at
Brookville, Mr. Goodwin took it to Indianapolis, where it died
on his hands.
Oliver B. Torbet edited the Lazvre/tcebiirg Register, then, as
novv, a leading journal of Southeastern Indiana. He was
elected to the Legislature in 185 1 and again in 1852, the latter
year being chosen Speaker of the House. Subsequent to this
time he removed to Indianapolis and became a partner of the
late General Dumont in the practice of the law. He has been
dead some si.xteen years, and is better remembered as a politi
cian than as a newspaper man.
One of the best weekly papers then in Indiana was the
Greensburg Press, edited by Daviess D. Batterton. Mr. Bat-
terton was an educated, scholarly man, and as a writer ranked
with the very best in the State. He died at Greensburg many
years ago.
The Columbus Democrat, a paper now published by Mrs..
Laura C. Arnold and Mr. Addison Arnold, was founded in
1848 by John P. Finkle. In 1850 it went into the hands of
Aquifla Jones and WilHam F. Pidgeon, who pubHshed it for a
year or so, and then sold it to W. C. Statelar. Mr. Statelar
introduced a power press, but finding it too expensive for his
small circulation, soon abandoned it. In 1855. Mr. Statelar
died, and the Democrat was sold to I. C. Dillie. Dr. Nathan
Tompkins, a brother-in-law of Hon. .WilHam J. Brown, was
the editor. The Doctor was a ready, graceful writer, and the

548 HISTORICAL .A.ND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
paper, with improved typography, gained a respectable stand
ing and a good paying patronage. The editor died, and in
1 86 1 Dillie entered the Union army and was killed by guerril
las in Tennessee.
The Souf Sfiller, a campaign paper, was issued by Mr.
Statelar, from the Democrat office, during the presidential cam
paign of 1852. The name was chosen in derision of General
Scott's "hasty plate of soup" letter. A committee of nine
Democrats did the editing, and several ingenious jack-knife
artists prepared the engravings with which the paper was pro
fusely iflustrated.
Shortly after the Democrat was started Samuel A. Moore and
William A. Holland began the publication of a Whig paper
called The Sfirit of the West. Holland remained in the con
cern but a few weeks. Moore was a well-informed politician,
a practical printer, and wrote with force and pungency. He
was also an off-hand speaker of considerable ability. In May,
1849, ^'"^ Moore was appointed postmaster at Columbus, and
the next year was elected to the lower House of the State Leg
islature. In 1853 he (removed to low^a, where he served as a
county judge and as a State Senator. He is novv postmaster
at Bloomfield, Iowa, and occasionally he appears on the rostrum
as a lecturer on literary subjects.
Mr. W. C. Statelar succeeded Mr. Moore, in 1849, ^^ pub
lisher of the Sfirit,. and soon afterward associated himself vvith
Columbus Stebbins as co-proprietor. Mr, Stebbins was a green '
farmer-boy, twenty-three years old, strong and awkward, of no
experience in life, but of good, hard, native sense. He had
occasionally contributed short articles to the local press and
believed he was destined by the "bent of his genius" for a
brilliant career in journalism. In a short time he bought out
his partner's interest in the paper and became sole proprietor
and editor. His raind developed rapidly, and though not a
polished writer, his articles vvere bold,, aggressive and argu
mentative, especially those on the questions of slavery and in
temperance. Radical as the Sfirit was under his management
it became doubly so in 1854, o" ^^ admission of Mr. J. Fred.
Myers as a partner. Mr. Myers was an excellent printer, a
German liberal, who hated slavery with all the intensity peculiar

rHE INDIANA PRESS OF THE OLl)l.;N TIME.

549

to the original .\bolitionists of the olden time. He was a writer
of great force and clearness, indift'erent to part)' expedienc}-,
and as pugnacious as a man well could be. In 1854 the pro-
prietoi-s changed the name of the paper to the Colu/nbus Indc-
fendeni. Know-nothingism vvas then sweeping over the State
like a mighly hurricane, gathering within its intolerant embrace
the bulk of the defunct Whig part)- and thousands of discon
tented Democratic "sore-heads." Among all the papers of the
State of Whig proclivities the Indefcndent was the only one to
boldly grapple with the wild fanaticism. Its proprietors vvere
threatened with loss of patronage, but they courageously stood
their ground and prospered, while Know-nothingism vvent down
in disaster almost as suddenly as it had arisen.
In February-, 1856, an anti-Democratic editorial convention
was held at Indianapolis, a large proportion of the members
being Know-nothings. Mr. Stebbins vvas a raember of the com
mittee on resolutions, the majority of which presented a report
susceptible of a favorable construction of Know-nothingism,
and which gingerly touched the question of slavery. Mr. Steb
bins brought in a minoritv report, his resolutions embracing the
main principles upon which the Republican party was founded.
He advocated his report in an argumentative and fervid speech,
and with the assistance of the late M. C. Garber, of the Madi
son Courier, and Theodore Hielcher. of the I//dianafolis Frie
Press, the minority report and resolutions were adopted. The
first State convention of the Republican party was held at In
dianapolis the next day. and Mr. Stebbins's resolutions were
embodied in the platform.
In the fall of 1856 Mr. Myers withdrew- from the Indefcndent.
He has since been connected with many journalistic enterprises,
and is now publishing a paper at Denison, Iowa, of which town
he is the postmaster. Mr. Stebbins continued the Indefcndent
until Mav, 1857, when he removed his printing estabhshment to
Minnesota and started the Hasti/igs Indefcnde//t. at Hastings.
He died there in December, 1878.
Rushville then had two journals, the Jacksonian and the Re-
fublican; the first under the control of John L. Robinson, and
the latter under that of Pleasant A. Hackleman. Mr. Robinson
was, for many years a member of Congress, and died United

55° BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
States Marshal of Indiana. He was one of the ablest speakers
in the State. Mr. Hackleman was a leading Whig, and on
the dissolution of that party became a Republican. He was a
delegate from Indiana to the Peace Conference held at Wash
ington just before the breaking out of our civil war. When
hostilities commenced he became a soldier, and was kifled in
.battle at Corinth while holding the comraission of a brigadier
.general. In 1852 Williara M. French published the Indiana Refubli-
¦can at Rising Sun. Two years afterward he went to Jeffer
sonville to edit the Refublican of that city. In 1861 he removed
to Indianapolis, where he has since resided. He is the author
of a life of the late Governor Morton, and is a frequent contrib
utor to the daily press. He writes with ease and grace, and
was a man of mark in the olden tirae.
The Richmond Palladium was then conducted by David P.
Holloway. It was the leading Whig journal in Eastern In-
. diana and had quite a circulation in other parts of the State.
Its editor was a meraber of the State Senate and afterward was
-elected to Congress frora his district. In 1861 he v\^as appointed
Commissioner of Patents, and removed to the city of Washing
ton, where he has since resided. Since his retirement from the
patent office he has practiced law, making a specialty of that
relating to patents. Mr. Holloway is the father of Colonel
William R. Holloway, the well-known ex-postmaster of Indi-
.anapolis.* The late Judge James Hughes then edited the North Western
•Gazette, a weekly paper published at Bloomington. As a writer
Judge Hughes was aggressive and strong, but it was as a law
yer and politician that he became distinguished. His editorial
•career was but an episode, but had he made journalism a' life
work he would, no doubt, have become eminent in it. He was
no common man, but was a master in any work he undertook.
He was one of the strongest raen Indiana has produced. He
died some ten years ago.
James H. McNeely, at this time, vvas local editor of the In
dianafolis Jour//al. He afterward vvent to Evansville, and for
a long time was connected vvith the Journal of f\\a\. city. About
*Mr. Holloway died September 9, 1883.

THIC INIUANV PRESS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 55 1
one year ago he removed to Terre Haute and became manager
of the Terre Haute Exfress. 1 le is a thorough newspaper
man, is an intefligent and painstaking writer and ranks among
the best as he is one of the oldest editors in the State.
A brilliant young man vvas John C. Turk, of the Greencastle
Argus. A graduate of Farmer's College, Ohio, he came to
Greencastie in 1S40 and studied law with Judge Eckles, and in
1853 started the Argus. In 1856 he went to Keokuk, Iowa, and
edited a paper there. From Keokuk he removed to Columbia,
Missouri, and assumed control of a paper in that place. Dur
ing the war he lived at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and vvas engaged
in practicing law and writing forthe press. He died at Council
Bluffs in the fall of 1871. Mr. Turk vvas a good lawyer, a fas
cinating speaker and a strong writer. He was bold and fearless
in his utterances and left his impress wherever he went. But few
men in the State at that time e.xcelled him in ability and culture.
Solon Turman then conducted the Peofle' s Friend at Coving
ton. He vvas a member of the State Senate and the youngest
man in that body. He afterwards removed to Greencastle, and
subsequently became Judge of the Circuit Court. He died at
Greencastle a few months ago.
The Times, a weekly paper then published at Laporte, was
under the editorial direction of John C. Walker. It vvas a lead
ing journal of Northern Indiana, and was as influential as any
published in that section of the State. It may be mentioned as
a matter of history that it was among the first, if not the very
first paper, in Indiana, to antagonize the dogmas and methods
of the Know-nothing party which sprang into existence in 1854.
There was no more promising man of his age in the State than
its editor. He vvas elected a member of the State Legislature
of 1853, and took high rank in that body. In 1855-6 Colonel
Walker owned and edited the Indianafolis Scnti//ct. and on the
Sth of January of the latter year he was nominated for Lieu
tenant-Governor on the ticket with the eloquent Willard, but
being under the constitutional age he did not raake the race.
In the latter part of 1857 he resumed charge of the Laforte
Times, and in 1858 made a gallant race for Congress against
the Hon. Schuyler Colfax. Two years after this he was placed
at the head of the Democratic electoral ticket, and made a thor-

552 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
ough canvass of the State in behalf of Judge Douglas for the
presidency. On the breaking out of the civil war he was ap
pointed Colonel of the Thirty-fifth (First Irish) Regiment of
Indiana volunteers, and commanded the regiment about two
years. The Legislature of 1863 elected Colonel Walker Agent
of State, which required him to take up his official residence in
New York. At the expiration of his term of office — in the
spring of 1865 — he went to England, and remained there eight
years. During this period he studied and acquired a good
knowledge of medicine, attending lectures at King's College,
one of the oldest and best institutions of learning in London.
In 1873 Dr. Walker returned to the United States, and in 1875
went to Shelbyville and opened an office for the practice of his
profession. He remained at Shelbyville until the spring of 1879,
when he was appointed assistant physician of the Indiana Hos
pital for the Insane. From that time till this he has filled that
important position with credit to himself and to the satisfaction
of the public.
Doctor Walker is a good speaker and a good writer, talents
not often found in the same person. He is warm and true in
his friendships, and courteous and urbane in his manners. He
is as gentle and kind as a woman, but is utterly fearless of dan
ger. Although he has not reached the high position his early-
life gave promise of he occupies a respectable place in his
chosen profession, and has the good will of all who know him.*
In 1855 Dr. Orpheus Everts succeeded John C. Walker in the
management of the Laforte Times. He edited that paper with
marked ability for some two years, when it again went into the
hands of Colonel Walker.
In 1857 Dr. Everts was appointed receiver of a Minnesota
land office and removed to that State. On the breaking out of
the civil war he was appointed Surgeon of the Twentieth regi
ment of Indiana volunteers, and remained in the service until the
end of the war. In 1868 he was chosen Superintendent of the
Indiana Hospital for the Insane, and continued as such until the
spring of 1879. He is now Superintendent of the Sanitarium,
near Cincinnati, an institution of first-class reputation for the
treatment of the insane.

*Dr. Walker died April 14, 1883.

¦PHE INDIANA PRESS OF rilE OLDKN riME. 553
Dr. Everts is a big man, intellectually and physical!)', lie
has distinguished himself in ever) position he has fifled. He is
an artist of no mean abilitv'. a prolific prose writer and a poet
of genius. .As a physician and surgeon, and a.s a specialist in
the treatment of the insane, he ranks deservedly high. He de
signed the new hospital f'or the insane, and it vvas mainly built
under his direction. It is a monument Xv his genius, his fidelity
and his integrity, and one of which he may well be proud.
The Practical Observer was published at \'alparaiso in 1850
by W. C. Talcott. .Mr. Talcott novv conducts the Porter County
Videttc. Both the Obsc/ver and the J Idcttc have been ably edi
ted by him and have exercised a large and legitimate influence
within the sphere of their circulation.
Mr. Talcott i.s not a brilliant raan, but he has energy and per
severance, qualities which nearl)' alwa)s win. He is one of the
few men in Indiana who has successfully published a country
newspaper for more than a quarter of a centurv'.
The Porter ( 'ounty Democrat vvas established at \'a]paraiso in
1856 by- L. H. Miller. Mr. .Miller vvas succeeded in the con
duct of the paper by J. L. Rock, an able writer and an influen
tial politician, At'ter several years of successful management
of the Democrat, Mr. Rock went upon the staff" of the Chicago
Times, and as he is lost to public gaze he is raost probably en
tombed in the bowels of that raammoth concern.
After publishing the I//dia//a Tocsi// at Laporte for a time,.
Mr. Thomas Jernegan vvent to Michigan City, and in 1846 es
tablished the Nez^-s. The office of the Nczfs was burned in
1853 and the paper discontinued. Shortly after this the Mich
igan City Transcrift vvas established, and Richard W. Colfax
made its editor. Mr. Colfax left the paper in 1854 and was suc
ceeded by Wright & Heacock. Mr. Heacock withdrew from
the paper in a short time and vvent to CaHfornia. Mr. Wright
changed the name of the paper to the Enterfrise and continued
to edit it until the fall of 1859, when he went to Waukesha.
Wisconsin, and took charge of a paper there. As a writer Mr-
Wright vvas vigorous and sometimes brilliant. When Mr.
Wright left Michigan City, in 1859, the E/zterfrise went into
the hands of Mr. Thomas Jarnegan, who controls it to-day.
Mr Jarnegan is one of the oldest editors and publishers in the

554 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
State. With but a few years intermission he has been engaged
continuously in the business for nearly half a century. In a
green old age he still pursues the chosen calling of his youth with
honor both to himself and to the profession.
John and William Millikan were the proprietors of the La
forte Whig from 1845 to 1854. ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ latter year
they sold the paper to F. M. Horan and Richard Holmes, who
changed its name to the Union. In a short time Mr. Horan re
tired, Mr. John Millikan taking his place. These gentlemen
conducted the Union until 1866, when they sold it to the pro
prietors of the Laforte Herald. The Millikans are now over
seventy years old, and have devoted more than half their lives
to the conduct of Country newspapers. They are practical
printers, and are plain, temperate, honest and substantial men.
The Laforte Herald was started at Westville, in Laporte
county, in 1856. Mr. Charles G. Powell took charge of the
office in December of that year, and in 1859 removed the paper
to Laporte The success of the Herald is a valuable example
of what industry, energy and perseverance will accomplish.
When the Herald ^as first issued in Laporte it came in direct
competition with five papers which seemed to have possession
¦of the field. It succeeded, however, in 1867, in swallowing
the Laforte Union, one of the oldest journals in Northern In
diana. The Laforte Chronicle, started by the Hon. Joseph
Packard in 1874, was also merged into the Herald at the be
ginning of last year. The Herald establishment is now one of
the largest and best pieces of newspaper property in the north
ern part of the State, and the Herald-Chronicle is recognized
as one of the leading Republican papers of Indiana. Mr.
Powell was an obscure country boy when he entered journalism,
but he has proved himself to be a fluent writer and a first-class
business manager. He has never aspired to political position,
but he is recognized as a leader in his party. He is one of the
postoffice editors of Indiana, having been appointed postmaster
¦of Laporte in 1877.
The Pilot was started at Plymouth, in 185 1, with John Q.
Howell as editor. Mr. Howell is now a resident of Kewanna,
Indiana, and is engaged in practicing medicine and selling
'drugs.

THE INDIAN.V PRESS OF 'rilK OLDICN TIME. 555
Richard Corbalev' conducted the Plymouth Banner in 18^2
and 1853. He novv lives at Healsburgh, Colorado, and is an
Advent preacher.
William J. Burns edited the Banner from 1853 to 1856. He
afterward started the Stark County Ledger, and died several
years ago.
William G. Pomeroy succeeded Mr. Burns in the conduct of
the Banner. He now resides at Rolla, Missouri, and is en
gaged in the practice of the law.
Thomas McDonald established the Ply/nouth De/nocrat in
1855. His sons. Daniel and Piatt, vvere associated vvith him in
the conduct of the paper, and two years afterward they became
its sole owners. Mr. Thomas McDonald died at Plymouth in
1875. Daniel McDonald novv owns and edits the Democrat.
He has been a member of the State Legislature, has been Clerk
of his county, and one year ago was the Democratic candidate
for Congress in his district. He is a good writer, and makes
one of the best weekly papers published in the State. Mr.
Piatt McDonald lives in Colorado, and is engaged in mining.
Ignatius Mattingly became editor of the Marshall County
Refublican in 1S56. and continued as such until 1868. He is
now postmaster at Bourbon, and editor of the Bou/-bon Mirror.
He commenced the printing business in 1822. and has. been in
it almost continuously since. He is, therefore, without doubt,
one of the oldest, if not the very- oldest, editor in the State.
Schuyler Colfax then edited the St. Josef h Valley Register,
a paper he established in 1845 and conducted until 1855. It is
now the South Bend Register.
Mr. Alfred Wheeler vvas associated with Mr. Colfax in the
conduct of the Register for many years. Since his withdrawal
from the paper he has served as Auditor of St. Joseph county,
and is now a resident of South Bend.
It would seem to be a work of supererogation to speak of the
career-of Mr. Colfax. Of all the raen who were engaged on
the press in Indiana in the olden time he became the raost dis
tinguished. He was an influential member of the convention
which formed the constitution under which we live. He was
elected to Congress in 1854, and continued a raeraber of that
body until 1868. During his last two terras he was Speaker of

556 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
the House In 1868 he was elected Vice President of the
United States on the ticket with General Grant. Since the ex
piration of his term as Vice President he has not been in poli
tics, but has devoted his time to literature. He is now one of
the best known and most popular lecturers in the country.
The South Betid Forum was established in 1852, by A. E.
Drapier, and was published by him and his son, William H.
Drapier, until 1862. Both father and son were fluent and ele
gant writers, and while their paper did not reach great influ
ence, it was, nevertheless, ably conducted, in a literary point,
being one of the very best papers in the State. Mr. A. E.
Drapier died at Mishawaka some three years ago. William H.
Drapier now lives at Indianapolis. He is widely known as the
publisher of the Brevier Legislative Reforts.
Robert Lowry then edited the Goshen Democrat. He after
wards removed to Fort Wayne, and is now Judge of the Cir
cuit Court of the Fort Wayne circuit.
Samuel A. Hall started the Logansfort Pharos, in 1844, and
published it until 1869. The Pharos, under his direction, was
a sound, conservative Deraocratic paper. Mr. Hall was not a
brilliant man or a fluent writer, but he had a retentive memory,
and his head was full of local and general political history. He
labored industriously in his chosen profession for twenty-five
years, and, while he was a good editor and made a good paper,
he died a poor man. He breathed his last in April, 1870, aged
47 years. Poor Hall ! Those of you who knew him will, I am
sure, drop a tear to his memory. Indomitable of will, ener
getic, honorable, honest, straightforward, unselfish and constant
in his friendships, he was beloved by all who knew him and
died without an enemy. Requiescat i// face.
The Logansfort Journal, the organ of the Republican party
of Cass county, was conducted by Thomas H. Bringhurst from
1854 to 1870. Mr. Bringhurst still lives and resides at Logans
port. John D. Howell establislied The Flag, a Democratic paper,
at Rochester, in 1852, but it soon died.
The Howard Tril>u//c was started at New London in 1849. ^'¦
was designed to represent all political shades of opinion then in
vogue, and in order to do so had three political departments —

-rnis iNni.VN.v press oi- -riiK oldkn timi':. 557
Whig. Democratic and .\bolitionist. The lirst vvas presided
over by Charies D. Murray, at"ter\\ards a State Senator; the
second by Moses R. Wickersham, and the last by Dr. J. F.
Henderson. In 1852 the paper vvas removed to Kokomo, its
name changed to the Koko/no Tribune, and Clinton Hensley was
installed as editor. It vvas then, as now, a weekly journal, but at
that time it vvas published somewhat irregularly on account of
the scarcity of quinine. It may seem strange to you that this
anti-periodical drug should be used a.s a motive power to run a
newspaper, but nevertheless this vvas the case in the Indian
Reserve thirty years ago. More than once were the weekly
\-isits of the Tribune interrupted by the ague, but when the
merchants replenished their stock of quinine it renewed its visit
ations. In 1856 the Tribune vvas purchased by Theophilus C. Phillips,
who was its editor on the 4th day of July, 1877, when he died.
Since then it has been published by his sons.
Charles D. Murray and Moses R. Wickersham, two of the
first editors of the Tribune, are dead, and the other editor. Dr.
Henderson, still lives at Kokorao. His sons now own and con
duct the Kokomo Disfatch, as do those of Mr. Phillips the Ko
komo Tribune. The Tribune and the Disfatch are two of the
very best papers published in the State.
The Vincennes Sun. the first paper established within the
boundary- of Indiana, deserves raore than a passing notice. It
was established by Elihu Stout on the 4th of July, 1804. The
material for the paper was taken to Vincennes on pack-raules
from Lexington, Kentucky. Mr. Stout conducted the Sun until
1845, vvhen he sold it to John Ri Jones, who had previously
pubHshed the Peofle s Friend at Covington. Mr. Jones con
ducted the paper with varying success until 1856, when it was
purchased by a company of prominent Democrats of Knox
county, who, in September of that year, disposed of it to George
E. Greene, then of Louisville, Kentucky, who, in addition to
publishing'a weekly edition, started a semi-weekly one. Both
.Mr Jones and Mr. Greene are dead. On the death of the lat
ter in 1870, the Sun went into the hands of Dr. A. J. Thomas
and General R. E. Kise. These gentiemen conducted it until
November, 1876, when it was purchased by Royal E. Purcefl,

558 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
its present owner, who for some two years has been publishing
a daily edition.
In 1830 Robert Y. Caddington started the Vincennes Gazette.
He continued its publication until 1854, when he sold it to Har
ney, Mason & Co., who published it, with the addition of a daily
edition, untfl 1859. In that year they sold the paper to Dr. H.
M. Smith, who published it until 1871, or thereabouts, when it
died. Mr. Caddington's editorial work showed care and precision,
and he had the full confidence of his political friends. He was
a bitter partisan, but his politics never interfered with his social
relations. During a residence of more than forty years in Vin
cennes he was held in high esteem by those who knew him.
He is probably the oldest man now living in Indiana who has
been identified with the press, his age being fully eighty years.
He resides in the city of Laporte.
William E. McLean became editor of the Terre Haute Jour
nal 'm December, 185 1. The Journal \v as then issued weekly,
and was the only Democratic paper published in the Terre
Haute congressional district. Mr. McLean conducted the Jour
nal until the spring of 1856, when it was sold to Grafton F.
Cookerly and Thoraas J. Browne. Colonel McLean has served
in both branches of the State Legislature, and during the war
he raised and coramanded the Forty-third Regiment of Indiana
volunteers. He is now a citizen of Terre Haute.
David S. Donaldson then conducted the Wabash Exfress.
Sometime in the spring of 185 1 a daily edition of the Exfress
was issued, it being the first daily paper published in Terre
Haute, but in a short time it was abandoned. Mr. Donaldson
is still living and resides at Terre Haute.
Thomas Tiger then conducted the Fort Way/ze Sentinel. He
and Mr. S. V. B. Noel, formerly of Indianapolis, established
the Sentinel '\vl 1833. Mr. Noel withdrew from it in about one
year, and from that time until 1865, with but a brief intermis
sion, Mr. Tiger was the Sc//ti//crs sole owner and manager.
He saw it grow from a small weekly into a daily of large cir
culation and influence. He died at Fort Wayne in February,
1875, in the 68th year of his age. One vvho knew him well thus
speaks of him : " He did not usually write much, but he wrote

THE INDIANA PRESS OF THE OLDEN TIME.

559

well, and for years his party had not an abler editor in the
State. He was peculiarly happy as a paragraphist, often con
densing into a few sentences, pointed and expressive, the sub
stance of a column in other hands. Had he been as ambitious
as he vvas able he might have risen to distinction as a party
leader. "
John W. Dawson conducted the /'y/-/ fl'ay//c Ti///es from 1854
to i860. He was a native Indianian, and was lame from his boy
hood. He was a bright, precocious boy, and became a strong,
intellectual man. He was a vigorous writer, radical in his
views and uncompromising in his opinions, warm in his friend
ships and unrelenting in his animosities. He was appointed
Goveraor of Utah in 1861, but soon resigned and returned to
Fort Wayne, where he died some four years ago.
A number of editors— notably. Colonel Isaiah B. McDonald,
of Columbia City ; Judge E.V. Long, of Warsaw ; Rufus Magee,
of Logansport, and Joseph J. Bingham, of Indianapolis, foflowed
so closely in the footsteps of those I have named as to tempt me
to sketch them, but as I can not do so without transgressing the
limits I imposed upon myself before commencing this address,
I am forced to pass them by. There are, no doubt, other papers
and other editors worthy of mention, but I have forgotten them ;
and, besides, it would be impossible in the time allotted me, to
sketch all the papers and their editors of twenty-five to thirty
years ago. Those entitled to be naraed who are not should at
tribute the omission to want of meraory and want of time, and
not to a deliberate purpose to ignore them.
I have thus sketched the newspapers and newspaper men of
Indiana of the olden time. What I have said has been mostly
from memory, so I doubt not some mistakes have been made,
but I feel confident they are neither great nor many. If I shall
be instrumental in preserving the memory of a single one from
forgetfulness I shall be well paid for my labor. Many of those
I have named have gone to " the undiscovered country from
whose bourne no traveler returns," and those who remain must
feel they are nearing its borders. When we are all gone raay
those who corae after us be able to truthfully say that our work
redounded to the public good and that the world is better for our
having lived.

INDEX

N.\MES OF PERSONS MENTIONED IN THIS BOOK.

Alexander D. .S.. mention of 
Allison Jame^ Y., mention ot'....'50.j.
Andrews Abram P., Harrison elec
tor 
Anderson Elijah, mention of 
Anthony >¦. P., mention of 
Applegate J. P., mention of 
Arnold Addison, mention of 
Arnold Lanra, mention of 
Athon James S.. mention of 
Sketch of 
Austin Thomas K., mention of 
Bachus Elijah, mention of 
Sketch of 
Baker Conrad. .\c:ting Governor 
Mention of  1.50, 1.32, 1.57,
Remarks of 
Banta D. I)., mtntion of ...161, 166,
Barbour Lncien, mention of 
Barbour Philip, mention of 
Bartlett W. A., mention of 
Bartholomew Jos., mention of, 189,
Bartlett Isaac, mention of  498,
Barron I., mention of 
Basnett Charles W., mention of 
Batterton 1). D., mention of 
Bates Edward, mention of 
Bayless S. D., mention of 
Bayley A. H., letter of 
Baymiller Chas. P., mention of, 480,
Bazadonne  , mention of 

347 17.)

Beck Joseph il.. mention of.
Beecher Henry Ward, mention of..
Bennett George, mention of 
Benton Thos. H., mention of 
Bigger Finley, letter of • 

2-2.S
498
341 .347.347
24.3
478 507
3723831353591.56289
243 15
156
491 .507375
514547
486507166
543
375.537 67
539
378 79

Bigger Samuel, mention of  71
Sketch of  77
Bingham J. J., mention of  559
Blackford Isaac, mention of..57, 179, 361
Sketch of  344
Blake James, mention of  225, 428
Blake Thomas H, mention of  4.3, 205
Blythe B. I., mention of  165
Bolton Nathaniel, mention of  428
Bolton Sarah T., letter of  290
Odes of  ,  499, 505
Address of  ¦  503
Boon Ratliff, mention of 
36, 179, 198,344,378, 427
Sketch of  42
Booker Samuel B., mention of  164
Bradley John H., mention of  113
Bramwell John M., mention of  511
Branham D. C, mention of  483
Brazleton Wm., mention of  369
Bright Jesse D., mention of 
84, 111, 112, 221, 316, 330, 370, 419
431, 480, 485, 517, 534
Sketch of  223
Bright Michael G., mention of 
437,475, 517, 521, 534
Sketch of  449
Bright M. S., mention of  455
Bright E. J., mention of  456
Bringhurst Thomas, mention of  556
Briscoe Thomas S., mention of  152
Brown Mrs. A. H., mention of  184
Brown James, mention of  384
Brown Jason B., mention of  157
Brown T. J., mention of  558
Brown Wm. J., elected to Congress 71
Mention of  458, 541

36

562

INDEX.

Browne James, mention of  515
Browning W. W., mention of  324
Brough John, mention of  452, 534
Bryant W. P., mention of  263
Buckner A., mention of  491, 506
Bullock W. A., mention of  197
Burnett Alf., mention of  543
Burns W. J., mention of  5.55
Burr Aaron, mention of  361
Butler John M., mention of  150
Butler W. O., mention of  443
Caldwell George A., mention of  249
Camp Charlotte, treaty of  22
Campbell David, mention of  389
Campbell Prof., mention of  364
Canby Israel T., mention of  57
Carr George W., mention of  245
Carr John, Mention of  39, 165, 361
Cauthorn Henry S., mention of...... 18
Chamberlain E. M., appointed
Judge Supreme Court  89
Chapman Joseph W., mention of...
89, 108, 111, 227, 370, 439, 516
Chauncey J. P. A. M., mention of.- 531
Clark George Rogers, mention of...
333, 375, 378
Clark Marston G., Harrison elector 2
Mention of  ..367, 491, 492, 506
Clarkson C. F., mention of  547
Claxton R. B., mention of  515
Clay Henry, mention of  492
Claypool Solomon, mention of  153
Clendening John C, mention of  2
Coburn H. P., mention of  349
Coburn John, remarks of  72, 125
Mention of  349
Cochrane James, mention of  170
Coddington R. Y., mention of  558
Colestock Henry, mention of  498
Colfax Richard W., mention of  553
Colfax Schuvler, mention of 
486, 487, 5.55
Colgrove Silas, mention of  318
Collet John, mention of  92
Collet Josephus, mention of  216
Cook John E., mention of  110
Cookerly G. F., mention of  558
Conner John, mention of..  189
Corbaley Richard, mention of  555
Corwin Thomas, mention of  169, 485
Corydon, Legislature met at  19
Covington Samuel F., mention of... 480, 516
Covington John I., mention of..480, 516
Crail W. W., mention of  516, 547
Cravens James A., mention of 
336, 341, 414
Cravens James H., Harrison elector 2
Sketch of  273
Mention of  310

Cravens John R., mention of ...515, 540
Crittenden T. T., mention of  517
Crowe John F., mention of  406
Crume Mark, Indian Commis.sioner 40
Cumback Will, mention of  102, 150
Curry W. W., mention of  335
Curtis Harvey, mention of  514
Cushing Courtland, mention of .446, 518
Dailey Samuel G., mention of  516
Daily William M., mention of..l07, 514
Davidson Andrew, appointed Judge
Supreme Court  89
Mention of  246
Davidson, Thomas P., mention of... 154
Daviess Jo., mention of  385, 398
Davis Jefierson C, mention of  479
Davis John G., mention of  255, 419
Davis John W., Indian commis
sioner  40
Sketch of..'  233
Dawson John W., mention of  5-59
Decker Hiram, Harrison elector... 2
Defrees John D., mention of..98, 447, 541
Sketch of  485
Deming E., mention of  499, .507
Deputy Henry, mention of  523
Devol Frank S., mention of  512
Dewey Charles, attorney for Gov.
Jennings  38
Sketch of  360
Mention of  371, 390
Dice Jacob, mention of  214
Dill James, mention of  30, 391, 491
Letters of  395, 398
Dillie I. C, mention of  547
Dillon John B., mention of  472
Dobson John M., mention of  242
Dodge A. C, mention of  377
Dodge Henry, mention of  377
Dole W. P., mention of  90
Donaldson D. S., mention of  558
Doolittle Rolla, mention of 
232, 515, 516
Doughty W. N., mention of  498
Douglas Stephen A., mention of
419, 422
Dowling Thomas, mention of  96
Downey A. C, mention of  507, 519
Drake Jimes P., mention of  66
Drake Mrs. James P., mention of... 297
Drapier A. E., mention of  556
Drapier W. H., mention of  556
Dumont Ebenezer, mention of.. 102, 305
Dumont John, mention of 
70, 82, 179, 197, 344, 437
Duncan Capt., mention of  214
Dunham Cyrus L., sketch of  320
Dunmore Lord, march against Sha
wanee towns  11
Dunn David, mention of  404

INUKX.

563

Dunn Gooixo (,;.. mention v>l 
•2;"..">, 4;i.s, -1.31),
^ketch „f 
Dunn t Jeorge 11., mention »f  7.^. 17.S,
Dunn Jauu'^, mention of 
Dunn Thoma,... mention of 
Dunn Williamson, mention of 
Hi'-'. 179, 344,
Sketch of 
Dunn Williamson Dr., mention of
Dunn W. M.. montion of 
107, 3-21.), 37(1. 4(14, 406, 437, 440,
441, 4.39, 516,
Remark... of 
Dunn W. M., Jr., mention of 
Dupontaviee Father, mention of...
Durham Jesse B., mention of 
Eaton John H., mention of 
Edwards Jonathan, mention of 
Et.'sle^ton Miles C., mention of 
70, 197,
Ellis E W. IL. delegate to Peace
Congre.-,- 
Mention of 
Ellis W. R., mention of 
Emerson Thoma?. mention of 
English W. H., remarks ot 
Mention of  237, 23.S, 235,
Evens J. M., mention of 
Everts Orphens, mention of  302,
Ewing John, mention of 
Fetta C. mention of 
Finch F. M., mention of 
Finkle John P., mention of 
Fisher Charles, mention of  49.^,
Fishback, W. P., raention of 
Fitch Graham X.. mention of 
 n-2, 419,
Fitch Jonathan, mention of 
Fitzhugh George D., mention of 
Fogg William, mention of 
Foote L. A., mention of 
Foley James B., mention of 
Fordham E. P., mention of 
Foster B. F.. mention of 
Fletcher Calvin, mention of..63, 82,
.Sketch of 
Floyd Davis, mention of. ..179, 344,
Franklin William, mention of 
Fravel .John B., mention of 
Freeman, J. S., mention of. 
Freeman .John, mention of 
French W. M., mention of 

Garber M C, Jr., mention of  483
Garber Michael C, sketch of ........ 480
Mention ot  ••  540, 549
Gibson George, mention of  14

479 ¦241
310 404
404 520400
404

530 346
404 5141,S!I
234
406519 117
•341542190 154
341 331
.352235 .5072(iU
547 510 134
455
43! I
513
4!I,S507255165
51 (J
428
464491349507
4984355.50

Gibson John, sketch of  1]
Mention of  380
(iil.son, T. W., mention of  441
GiUilaiul John, mention of  189
Glass James D., mention of  51(1
Glover Ellis, mention of  395
Gooding David S., mention of  150
tJouilwin T. \., mention of  .347
Gordon Jonathan W., mention of...
150, 200, 486
Remarks of  155
Gorman Willis .\., mention of..247, 419
Greene George E., mention of  557
Gregg Harvey, mention of  428, 469
Gregg James M., mention of  255
Gregg Milton, mention of  516, 540
Gregorv James, mention of  175
Sketch of  426
Gregory Robert C, mention of.  431
Gresham, W. Q., remarks of  125
Mention of  153, 335
Griffin William, mention of  103
Grover N. D., raention of  509
Guthrie James, mention of  443
Hacker Wm., mention of  .507
Hackelman P. .V., delegate to Peace
Congress  117
Mention of  31.5, 549
Hall H. B., mention of  491
Hall .S. .\., mention of  556
Hammond \. A., sketch of  113
Mention of  200,317
I4!and Charles I., mention of  499
Hanna Robert, mention of  191
Hannegan E. A., mention of 
120, 199, 204, 428
Sketch of  211
Harding George, mention of  544
Harding Stephen S., mention of... 278
Harney John H., mention of  249
Harlan A. J., remarks of  284
Harrington John, raention of  531
Harris Chapraan. mention of  228
Harris Horatio J., mention of  88
Harrison Alfred, raention of  428
Harrison A. W., mention of  512
Harrison Benjamin, Governor of
Virginia  3
Harrison Benjamin, Senator from
Indiana  3
Remarks of  12.5, 155
Mention of  150, 157
Harrison, Christopher, acting Gov
ernor  36
Sketch of  160
Mention of  363, 491
Harrison W. G,, mention of  167
Harrison W. H., sketch of  , 1
Mention of 
189, 374, 378, 383, 385, 386

564

INDEX.

Harrison John Scott, Member Con
gress  3
Hathaway Shadrach, mention of... 410
Hawkins John, mention of  428
Hay A. J., mention of  512
Hazelrigg H. G., mention of  507
Heffren Horace, mention of..98, 239, 328
Heilcher Theo., mention of  549
Henderson Dr., mention of  557
Henderson Samuel, mention of  428
Hendricks Abrara W., mention of
437, 447, 517, 519, -535
Hendricks John A., mention of 
224, 242, 517, 534
Hendricks, Thomas A., mention of.
54, 122, 330
Remarks of  91, 140, 150, 1.55
Hendricks Williara, Secretary of
Constitutional Convention  32
Sketch of  51
Mention of  68, 165, 198, 348,
368, 386, .517
Remarks of  179
Hendricks Wra., Jr.,mention of 
517, 519, 530
Henley Thomas J., mention of  370
Herod William, Harrison elector... 2
Elected to Congress  62
Mention of  '.  472
Hibbs Hamilton, mention of  482
Hicks T. H., mention of  167
Hillis Ebenezer, mention of  173
Hillis D. B., raention of  176
Hillis David, sketch of  173
Mention of  274, 403
Hillis John S., mention of  517, 519
Hillis W. C, raention of  176, 517
Hinds James W., mention of  522
Hite Abraham, mention of  388
Hobbs B.C., letter of  387
Hogan James L., mention of  507
Holman Jesse L., mention of  5i
Holmes Richard, mention of  554
Holliday John H., mention of  186
Holland W. A., mention of  548
Hollis Ebenezer, raention of  415
Holloway David P., mention of.245, 550
Holloway W. R., mention of ...137, 144
Holtzclaw Eli, mention of  533
Holtzclaw Henry, mention of  533
Holtzclaw Thomas, mention of  533
Holtzclaw Wm., mention of  533
Hoover David, mention of  212
Plopkins Gen. Samuel, mention of.. 15
Letter of  17
Horan F. M., mention of  554
Hough A. O., mention of  .532
Howard J. C, mention of  322
Howard Tilghman A., mention of.. 7S, 121
Sketch of  262

Howard Joseph, mention of  533
Howell John D., mention of  556
Howell John Q., mention of  554
Howk George v., mention of  362
Howk Isaac, mention of -..197, 491, 506
Hughes James, mention of 
224, 227, 244, 255, 550
Hull Fabius, mention of  517
Hull Horace, mention of ...524, 531, 532
Hunt George, mention of  189
Huntington E. M., mention of  442
Indiana Territory, act creating it
passed  2
Indiana Press in the Olden Time... .3.38
Jennings .Jonathan, sketch of  29
Mention of 
363, 367, 374, 386, 392, 396, 492, 506
.Jernegan Thomas, mention of  .553
Johnson Gen. W., mention of. ..395, 491
Johnson John, mention of  31, 377
Johnson R. M., mention of  168, 311
Jones Aquilla, mention of  547
Jones D. D., mention of  51.5, 539
Jones George W., mention of  .377
Jones James W., mention of  164
Jones .John R., mention of  .557
Jones John Rice, sketch of  373
Judah Samuel, mention of  350
Julian George W., mention of  279
Julian Jacob B., letter of  183
Mention of  443
Keen W. C, mention of  512
Keiger John, mention of  514
Kelso Daniel, mention of  212, 507
Kennedy Andrew, sketch of  281
Kent B. C, mention of  413
Kent P. M., mention of  540
Kerr Michael C, sketch of  335
Ketcham John L., mention of.. .201, 347
Keyt W. H., mention of  515
Kilgore Alfred, mention of  324
King ,E. A., mention of  3"25
King Francis, mention of  498, 510
King John Lvle, mention of 
447, 516, 525, 534
King Sarauel, mention of  184
Kinnan A. S., mention of  467
Kinnard George S., mention of  252
Kinnear Robert, mention of  521
Kirk John, mention of  232, 522
Kise R. E., mention of  557
ICossuth Lewis, mention of  482
Lanciscus Stephen, mention of  451
Landers Franklin, mention of  150
Lane Amos, mention of ...178, 179, 344
Lane Henry S.', mention of  105, 364
Sketch of  120
Lane Jas. H., mention of  244, 413, 532

INDl'.X.

5^.=;

L«ne Joseph, mention of  197,
Skcuh of  ¦
Lauier J. F, IX, mention of 
1(19, 370, .3(111, .332,
Laplante 1. 1!.. montion of 
Larrilnv W. C, iviuMiks of,... 271,
Lattimore John M.. lueiitiou of 
Law John, sketch ol 
Law W. H., mention ol 
Leavenworth Kev , mention of 
Lee M. W., mention of 
Lincoln .Vlirahain, uientlon ol 
Lind Jenny, mention of  .'U.^.
Lingle W. S . mention of 
Lockhart James, mention of 
Lockwood Rufus .\., mention ol ..
Lodge, Caleb T., mention oi 
Logan, speech of 
Logan George, mention of 
Long E, v., mention ot 
Lord John M., mention of  531.
Love John, mention of 
Lowry Robert, mention of  317,
Ludlow Stephen, mention of 
Luse James P., mention ol.."2o9. 222,
Lynch Tli.>ma~ H., mention of 
Lyons Jonathan, mention of 
Mcl'arty Enoch, Harrison elector..
Mention of  30,
McCarty Jonathan, Harrison elec...
Mention of 
McCarty Nich., mention of. (id, 246,
>kctch of 
McCarty W. M., mention of  122,
McClure Daniel, mention of 
McClnre Samuel, letter of 
McCrosky .\, mention of 
McDonald L)aniel, mention of, 512,
McDonald David, mention of 
McDonald E. M., mention of 
McDonald I. B., mention of 
McDonald .James D., mention of ...
McDonald J. E., elected to Cong.,
Mention of 
12-3, 134, 139, 1.50, 1.53, 247,
McDonald Piatt, mention of. . •••..-¦
McDonald Thomas, mention of 
McGall James B., mention of 
McGary Major, mention of 
McGaughey Edw. W., mention of,.-
Mcintosh Sir James, mention of ...
Mcintosh William, mention of .9,
.Sketch of 
McKinlev Wm., mention of 
McKinney John T., raention of 
McLean John, remarks of 
McLean W. E., mention of-—--"
McMasters E. D., mention ot... 304,
McNamee Elias, mention ot  3»U,

341 112
537

314

•340342416 li:'.
33(1 12
1(;2
35<l
•332 475
•35(; l.SSI
542 .301 l(;3

6o •2
'27-342S457

3'29 194
491 555 72
217559217 121
340342555555332 15
96
381
372378527178
434
558
305
396

McXcclv .laiiics 11., luentiou
Mc<)nal -Vnili-ew, iiiciitioii of.
McOuat licoi-Ro, meutioii of...

of..

Mice I'anU'l, mention of 
Mailisoii. address al 
Maj^cc Kiifiis, mention of 
Ma.nuire I 'oii{;lns, mention of 
Majors Judiic mention of 
Munson M. |)., mention of 
March Walter, mention of 
Markley John .\., mention of 
Marsli James K., raention of 
Mai--h John, mention of 
Marshall Joseph ti., Harrison elec.
Mention of 
:^:'.. 106, 1-22, '22(1. -273, -295,
516, 322,
Sketch of 
Marsliall Samuel V., raention of...
Martin A. N., mention of 
Martin John B., mention of 
Martin W. H., mention of 
Mason Philip, mention of 
Masonry, sketch of 
Matson John A., mention of 
Matthews ( lauile. mention of 
Matthews L. li., mention of 
Mattinjjly I., mention of 
Maxwell David H., mention of 
May Allen, mention of 
Mavnard J. B., mention of 
.Meek A. .\., mention of  491,
Meek Norcal 1>.. raention of 
Merrill .Samuel, mention of ..66, 67,
Michigan City, address at 
Miller John, raention of 
Miller Joaquin, mention of 
Miller L. H., mention of 
Millikan John, mention of 
Millikan William, mention of 
Milroy Sam'l, mention of. ..34, 179,
Moore C, mention of 
Moore C. W., mention of 
Moore Harbin H., mention of 
Moore Joseph M., raention of- 
Moore Samuel A., mention of 
Morris Austin W., Harrison elec...
Mention of  498,
Morris Morris, mention of  • 
Morris Thomas A., raention of 
Morrison A. H., mention of  •
.Morrison Hettie Athon, mention of
Morrison James, mention of.^-.- •••
(i7, 347, 475, 476,
Morrison John I , letter of 
Morrison W. H., sketch of 
Morgan John, raention of ••..• 
Morton Oliver P., mention ot....-.--
106, 150, 300, 421,
Sketch of 

330 (i.s(is
419 31H
359

(>i
202 50S
243 5163-22 232

479534 432 442 1.34
5(.I7 512
50(i 4S',I 9(.i92
540
555401:',3o
544 506
443
367 538491424
553
554 554
344
499
499 57
515
548

50850S
508
47(i
479
501
;!,85475
326
483 130

566

INDEX.

Murray  , mention of  527
Murray C. D., mention of  557
Muse J. E., mention of  167
Myers J. Fred., mention of  548
Nelson Thoraas H,, raention of..ll.3, 1-50
Newcorab H. C, raention of  324
Newberry  , mention of  527
Newland Benj., raention of  331
Newman John S., mention of  131
Niblack W. E., raention of  255
Noble James, sketch of  178
mention of  344
Noble Lazarus, mention of  65
Noble Noah, sketch of  65
Mention of  198, 205
Noble Thomas T., mention of  178
Noel S. V. B., mention of  5.58
Norman John B., mention of  540
¦O'Neal Hugh, mention of..ll3, 200, 468
Orth Godlove S., delegate to Peace
Congress  117
Mention of  336, 485
Otto W. T., mention of  438
¦Owen E. D., mention of  514
Owen Earnest Dale, letter of  301
Owen Robert, raention of  290
Owen Robert Dale, raention of 
95, 226, 275, 416, 421
Sketch of  289
Owen Rosaraond Dale, letter of  301
Packard Jasper, mention of  5.54
Palmer N. B., runs for Congress ... 71
Mention of  264, 265
Park Moody, mention of  450, 528
Parke Benjamin, raention of 
3, 163, 363, 372, 379
Sketch ol  384
Parker Samuel W., mention of  281
Parker W., mention of  506
Paul John, raention of  179
Paxton John, raention of  427, 428
Payne John W., JIarrison elector... 2
Mention of  292
Pennington Dennis, mention of 
.56, 197, 427
Pepper Abel C, sketch of  407
Mention of  491, 506
Perkins Samuel E., appointed Judge
Supreme Court  89
Mention of  Ill, 22.3, 227
Pettit John, mention of  455
Phillips T. G., mention of  557
Phillips W. H., mention of  523
Pidgeon W. F., raention of  547
Pirtle Henry, raention of  443
Pitcher O. S., mention of  517
Point Pleasant, battle ot  22
Pomeroy W. G., mention of  5.35

Porter Albert G., reraarks of  346
Mention of  486
Porter .John R., raention of  217
Posey Thomas, mention of  17. 402
Sketch of  21
Powell Charles G., mention of  554
Press, Indiana, in the Olden Time.. 538
Prescott Rev., mention of  514
Prince William, mention of  190, 361
Proffit George H., mention of  291
Purcell R. E., mention of  557
Quarles Williams, mention of  469
Ralston Alexander, mention of  165
Randolph Thoma.s, mention of 
29, 350, 379
Sketch of  391
Rapp, Frederick, mention of  190
Rapp George, mention of  290
Rariden James, mention of  427, 433
Ray James Brown, sketch of  56
Mention of  178,348, 353
Ray James M., mention of  428, 475
Ray Martin M., mention of  466
Rea John H., mention of  347
Rea R. R., raention of  523
Ream Laura, mention of ..244, 249, 435
Reed B. F., mention of  516
Reed Enbs B, mention of  543
Reed James G., mention of  66, 486
Reynolds W. F., mention of  207
Rice Martin H, mention of  507
Rich D. C, raention of  532
Robinson A. L., raention of  413
Robinson John L., sketch of  315
Mention of  408,418, 549
Robinson Nathan, mention of  522
Robertson Robert, mention of  15
Rock J, L., mention of  553
Rogers J. H. D., mention of  514
Roseman Joseph, mention of  498
Rout Robert, mention of  249
Russell Wm., Col. U. S. Army ....15, 401
Ryan James B., mention of  230
Ryker Gerrardus, mention of  173
Ryker, John, raention of  173
Ryker Samuel J., mention of  173
Ryman John, mention of  113
Sample Samuel C, Harrison elec. 2
Sanders .V. H., mention of  543
Schmidlapp Caleb, mention ot..507, 514
Scott Jaraes, speech of  19
Mention of  57
Scott John T., mention ot  153
Scott L. H, mention of  332
Scott Winfield, mention of  529
String John G , mention of  516
Shaw B. C, letter of  324
Shaw George S., mention of  517

iM)j;x.

567

54;t516
506 506.'!9.S 442

^""'"'^>"s Francis, maker of the
Morton Siatue  M,-,
Shanklin G. W., mention of  543
Shanklin .1. G.. mention of 
Sluvls George S., mention of. ..403.
Sheets John, mention of  192
Sheets Wm., mention of 
4.-<6. 4>n;, I'.i.s;, 4911
Sheets Mrs. William, mention of..
Shrewsbury Chas, L., mention of..
Slaughter, Gov. of Ky., letter of  34
Slaughter Thomas S., delegate to
Peai-e Congress  117
Small John, mention of  381
Smith Caleb B., Harrison elector .. 2
Delegate to Peace Conference, 117
Mention of  206, 275, 316, 507
Smith John L., mention of  126, 207
Smith Oliver H., mention of 
68, 17S, 434, 447
Sketch of  196
Smith R. M., mention of  523
Smith Thomas, mention of  275
Sketch of  309
Smith Thomas L., appointed Judge
Supreme Court  89
Mention of  298, 421
Smith W. C, mention of  514
Smock John, mention of  522
Smythe W. H., mention of  511
Sopris R., mention of  498
Spann John S., mention of  541
Sparks General, mention of  341
Sparks Judge, mention of  32
.Spencer John W., mention of 
Spencer .^pier, mention of  1><8,
Sproole R. S., mention of 
230, 516, 534,
Stapp Milton, Harrison elector  2
Sketch of..  168
Mention of 
197, 407, 427, 443, 517, 525, 529
Stapp William, mention of  172
Stateler W. C, mention of  .547, 548
St. Clair Arthur, mention of  391
St. Clair Arthur, Jr., mention of  1
Stevens Stephen C., sketch of  353
Mention of  437,491, 510
Stevens Thaddeus, mention of  333
Stewart Dr., mention of  191
Stewart Joseph B., mention of  525
Stout Elihu, mention of. ..396, 506, 557
Stowe Harriet Beecher, mention of, 303
Stratton B. E., mention of  516, 537
Sulgrove B. R., mention of  306, 542
Sullivan -^.. S. mention of  371
Sullivan Gen'l J , mention of  509
Snllivan Jeremiah, sketch of  366
Mention of  437,491, 509, 516
Sullivan John W., mention of  498
Sullivan Thos. L., mention of  509

498
189540

Sullivan WiUiam, mention of  493
Sutton li. S., mention ot  512
Talbott John M., mention of  255
Talcott W. ('., mention of  553.
Tate Samuel (.'., raention of  491
Taylor Gamaliel, raention of ...514, 531
Taylor John, mention of  498
Taylor John H., mention of  514, 522
Taylor Jonathan, letter ot  396
Mention of  396
Taylor Waller, raention ol 
32, 179, 350, 382, 398
Letters of  394, 396-
Taylor W. M., mention of ..481, 514, 521
Taylor Zachary, commander of Ft.
Harrison  ]4
Mention of  401, 405
Tecumseh, mention of  10, 19
Terrell W. G., mention of  547
Terrell W. H. H., Secretary of Bu
reau of Finance  134
Mention of  144, 345, 380
Test Charles H., letters from  49, 358
Appointed Judge Supreme Ct... 89
Test John, mention of ..76, 178, 181, 198
Tiger Thomas, mention of  55.S
Tilghman H. C, mention of  166
Tipton John, raention of 
39, 68, 491, 492, 506
Sketch of  185
Thom James C, mention of  517
Thomas A. J., mention of  357
Thompson John H., mention of- 364, 445
Thompson Richard W., Harrison
elector  2
Mention of  235,241, 275
Thompson W. C, mention of  137
Thornton Henry P., mention of. 491, 512
Thurston Alfred, mention of  443
Tompkins Nathan, mention of  547
Torbett O. B., mention of  547
Troxell J. R., .mention of  517
Turk John C, mention of  551
Turman Solon, mention of  551
Turpie David, elected V. S. Senator. 102
Mention of  122, 230
Vance Samuel C, mention of  397
Vanderburg Henry, mention of  396
VanValzah Robert, raention of  512
Vawter John, mention of  163
Vigo Francis, mention of  333
Voorhees D. W., mention of 
110, 150, 230
Remarks of  140, 157
Walker Charles E., mention of  517
Walker John C, mention of 
113, 317, 330, 551
Wallace George, mention of  20 ¦

S68

INDEX.

Wallace David, sketch of  71
Mention of  178, 200
Wallace James H., mention of  274
Wallace I^ew, mention of  138
Walpole Thomas D., mention, of... 450
Watts John, raention of  309
Watts Johnson, mention of  507
Wayne Anthony, letter of  ' 24
Webster Delia A., mention of  436
Wharton W. G., mention of  529
Wheeler Alfred, mention of  555
Whitcomb James, mention of 
78, 263, 499
Sketch of  81
White Alberts., Harrison elector... 2
Mention of  68
Sketch of  204
White David, raention of  459, .528
White Joseph L., Harrison elector 2
Mention of  275
Whitlock Major, raention of  403
Whitraan G. W., mention of  498
Wick William W., reraarks of  73
Appointed Judge Su preme Court 89
Sketch of  252
Mention of  458, 469

Wick Alice B., letter of  259
Wickersham M. R., mention of  557
Wilber Shadrach, mention of.. .226, 403
Willard A. P., sketch of..  104
Mention of...247, 316, 330, 347, 362
Williams Achilles, Harrison elector 2
Williams Jaraes D., sketch of  147
Williams John S., estimate of Gov.
Willard  109
Willis Joseph, mention of  499
Wilson Col. S. C, mention of... 364, 434
Winlock General, mention of...... 15
Withers B. D., mention of  513
Wood Aaron, mention of  381
Woodbury J., mention of  491
Woodward Charles, mention of  521
Woollen Thomas W., mention' of... 437
Wolverton Adeline D., mention of, 380
Wright Frances, mention of  290
Wright Joseph A., sketch ot  94
Mention of ...224, 246, 263, 269,
433, 460, 481
Wylie Dr., mention of  241, 275
Yandes Simon, mention of  200, 434
Remarks of  201

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