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M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02412 8610
ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF
BIOGRAPHY OF INDIANA
VOLUME II
ILLUSTRATED WITH Steel Plate and Copper Flate Engravings
GEORGE IRVING REED, A.M. EDITOR
CHICAGO THE CENTURY PUBLISHING AND ENGRAVING COMPANY
1899
COPYRIGHT, 1899, THE CENTURY PUBLISHING AND ENGRAVING COMPANY CHICAGO.
CONTENTS.
1326337
Atkins, Elias C.,
33
Durham, William H., 113
Austin, William B.,
325
Eastman, Joseph, 66
Ayres, Alexander C.,
243
Erwin, Daniel P., - 74
Ayres, Lyman S., - 51 English, William E., -
- 253
Bailey, Leon O.,
208
Fahnley, Fred, 136
Baird, Samuel P.,
Fairbanks, Crawford, 108
Baird, Zebulon,
Finch, Fabius M., -
231
Baldwin, Elihu W.,
226
Finch, John A., 238
Barker, John H.,
187
Fitzgerald, Philander H., 3II
Barnard, John A., -
184
Fortune, William, 198 -
Bartholomew, Pliny W.,
273
Fuller, E. Chubb- - 345
Baur, John J.,
163
Gould, John H., - 123
Bellis, William K.,
341
Gray, Bayard, 343 -
Benson, Luther, . -
263
Gray, Isaac P., 354
Biddle, Horace P.,
170
Gray, Pierre S., 323
Boice, Augustin,
211
Hammond, Abram A., 37
Brackett, Charles H., -
Hammond, Edwin P., 94
Brown, George,
Harlan, Levi P., - 185
Brown, Ignatius,
193
Harvey, Lawson M., - 279
Burroughs, George S.,
248
Harvey, Thomas B., 275
Butler, Noble C.,
45
Haskell, Frederick, 290
Butler, Ovid, 42
Hasty, George, 281
195
Campbell, John L.,
262
Henderson, Albert,
129L
Carey, Harvey G.,
56
Henderson, Charles R.,
333v
Carnahan, Augustus G.,
92
Henley, William J., 197
Carnahan, William L., -
90
Henry, Charles L., 144
Caven, John, 70
166
Hord, Oscar B., 127
298
Coburn, John,
62
Howe, Daniel W., 176
Cockrum, John B., - 330
Jackson, William N., 319
Colborn, Abraham R.,
I9I
Jameson, Patrick H., 21
Collett, John,
234
Johnson, Eudorus M., 307
72
Collins, Major,
III
Jones, Aquilla, 2.44
Condit, Blackford,
28
Jordan, James H., 322
Cornelius, Edward G.,
138 Kent, James V., 224
87
Cunningham, Henry S.,
342 Kern, John W., 85
Denny, Austin F., -
222
Kinney, Horace E., -
340
Denny, Theodore V.,
266
Lamb, John E., £
IIO
Duncan, Henry C., 203
Landis, Charles B., - 272
Durbin, Winfield T., - 348 - Lawrence, Henry W., 327
Holt, Sterling R., - 258
Claypool, Benjamin F.,
Claypool, Jefferson H.,
178
Hovey, Edmund O.,
Collett, Josephus,
25
Johnson, Sylvester,
Cox, Robert S., -
122
Ketcham, William A.,
Caldwell, William H., 204
Hays, Franklin W.,
207 346
104 288
vi
CONTENTS.
Levering, William H.,
97
Shoemaker, John C., - 60
Lilly, Eli,
80
Smith, Harry B., - 155
Lowder, Lindsey T.,
168
Smythe, William H., - 134
Martin, Henry C.,
137
Spades, Michael H., 270
Martin, Joseph,
115
Spencer, Charles C., -
329
Maxwell, Allison,
286
Spencer, Elijah M., 158
Maxwell, James D.,
218
Stewart, Daniel, 335
Merrill, Samuel, -
14
Stuart, Charles B., 284
Merritt, George,
141
Stuart, William Z.,
48
Minshall, Deloss W.,
296
Taggart, Thomas, - 268
Monks, Leander J.,
189
Taylor, Napoleon B., - 130
Morss, Samuel E.,
250
Thompson, Alfred, 306
Mount, James A.,
39
Thompson, Simon P.,
-
220
McCabe, James,
172
Trissal, Francis M.,
217
McCoy, Alfred,
304
Vajen, John H.,
277
McDonald, Ranald T.,
352
Vajen, Willis C., -
182
McKain, Arthur A., -
260
Van Arsdel, William C.,
332
Oyler, Samuel P.,
179
Van Camp, Cortland,
78
Palmer, Truman, F., -
125
Van Camp, Gilbert C., 54
Parkhurst, Josiah J.,
280
Vinton, Almus E., 309
Parvin, Theophilus,
240
Vinton, David P., -
143
Pence, John W., -
153
Voorhees, Daniel W.,
359
Perry, Charles C.,
318
Wallace, Wilson D.,
120
Piel, William F., -
294
Wallick, John F., -
156
Pierce, Winslow S., -
313
Wasson, Hiram P., -
337
Porter, Albert G., -
7
164
Pratt, Daniel D., 233
Wetherill, Richard B.,
White, Chiarles, 173
160
Rishier, William W., 116
Wilson, George S., 283
Robertson, James E.,
59
Wilson, Jolın R., 146
Sample, Henry T.,
IO1
Wilson, Medford B., 206
Schnull, Henry, 180 -
Wishard, William H., -
148
Seath, James,
118
Watson, James H., 106
Richards, William J., 246
140
White, James B.,
Richmond, John L., -
-
i. E. Porter
ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF
BIOGRAPHY OF INDIANA.
ALBERT G. PORTER.
The quaint old town of Lawrenceburg, in the State of Indiana, was the birth- place of Albert Gallatin Porter, who be- came one of the most prominent and popular men in the State. His father, Thomas Porter, a native of Pennsylvania, enlisted at the age of eighteen in Colonel Ball's regiment for the War of 1812, was severely wounded in the battle of Missis- sinewa, in the Territory of Indiana, and was carried from the field on a litter to a hospital in the State of Ohio. Soon after the war Thomas Porter came west and located in Lawrenceburg, where he was for some time cashier of the Farmers and Mechanics Bank, and subsequently was elected recorder of Dearborn county. He married Myra Tousey, the daughter of Moses Tousey, who resided on his farm in Kentucky, on the bank of the Ohio river, opposite Lawrenceburg. After the death of Mr. Tousey the homestead was bought and occupied by Thomas Porter and his
family. Albert Porter was a dutiful son and a very active, enterprising, ambitious boy. He was frugal in his habits and at the age of fifteen had saved a sum suf- ficient to start in college. He went to Hanover, which was nearest his home, expecting to satisfy a fondly cherished hope of acquiring a liberal education. His little capital was soon exhausted and he returned home somewhat discouraged but full of pluck. Fortunately, however, for the gratification of his ambition, an uncle, possessed of ample means and a kindly disposition, advanced the money necessary to pay his matriculation and expenses in Asbury (now DePauw) Uni- versity, at Greencastle, Indiana, from which he was graduated in 1843, after completing a classical course. On leav- ing college he studied law at Lawrence- burg with Philip Spooner, father of Sen- ator John C. Spooner, of Wisconsin. He then located in Indianapolis to engage in practice. His excellent knowledge of the law and his affable manners soon gained
8
BIOGRAPHY OF INDIANA.
for him a lucrative business. He was for a time clerk in the office of the Auditor of State and private secretary to Gover- nor Whitcomb. He was attorney for the city of Indianapolis in 1851-3. His abil- ity attracted the favorable notice of Chief Justice Blackford of the Supreme Court, and in compliance with the unanimons recommendation of the judges, Governor Wright appointed him reporter of the court's decisions, when a vacancy oc- curred. He discharged the duty so ad- mirably that he was nominated for the same office by the Democratic State Cen- tral Committee the following year, and was elected by a majority phenomenally large for the State at that time. Before the close of his term the pro-slavery character and tendency of the Demo- cratic party became so apparent to him that he renounced allegiance to it and joined the Republicans in their first na- tional campaign, supporting General Fre- mont for President. In 1858 he was nom !- inated by the Republican convention of the Sixth District as its candidate for Congress, and was elected by a majority of more than a thousand in a district that had given a Democratic majority of eight hundred at the preceding election. He was renominated in 1860 by acclamation, in a convention composed of able and rep- resentative men, some of whom became distinguished. A resolution approving his course in Congress was unanimously adopted. Judge David McDonald deliv- ered a short speech, from which the fol- lowing is quoted:
"The relation of partnership, either in trade or professional business, is the most intimate relation in life, unless it be that of husband and wife. I have held the relation of partner in the law with Mr. Porter for several years past, and I have therefore had peculiar opportunities of judging of the moral worth of the man. I desire now to say, what I would not say if Mr. Porter was present, that in all that relates to private virtue and morality he is one of the purest men I ever knew. To say nothing of the giant vices, which are the disgrace of the age and of which Mr. Porter knows as little as the child un- born, his record in regard to all that ren- ders men amiable and praiseworthy in social relations and private virtues, is perfectly spotless. He is the man whom I could trust with millions of money in the dark. He is not the man who will steal public funds under pretense of serv- ing the public. * * * I am sure we may entrust to him our interests in the halls of Congress."
He was re-elected by a larger majority, after a canvass of great spirit and activ- ity, and served until March 4, 1863, sup- porting vigorously all measures for the prosecution of the war, and opposing every species of compromise that did not acknowledge the supremacy of the Fed. eral authority and the abandonment of the heresy of secession. He advocated many beneficent reforms, including the abolition of the franking privilege. Dur- ing the entire time of his service in Con- gress he was an active member of the Judiciary Committee and drafted many of its reports. Among the most impor- tant prepared by him was a report as to the liability of railroads that had received land grants and subsidies from the gov- ernment to transport troops and muni-
9
BIOGRAPHY OF INDIANA.
tions of war free of charge. His clear- cut argument established such liability and declared for strict enforcement of the statutes governing such cases. The report was regarded so important as to be reprinted by the succeeding Congress, on the motion of the distinguished mem- ber from Illinois, Hon. E. B. Washburne. It secured the enforcement of the laws and a large increase of the revenues. He declined renomination for a third term because of his determination to resume the practice of his profession and pro- vide a competence for his young family. for which the salary of Congressman then was utterly inadequate. He canvassed the district, however, for General Eben- ezer Dumont, who, while serving in the field, was nominated to succeed him. For a period of fourteen years next ensuing he gave his undivided attention to the practice of law, in which he gained a high reputation as a lawyer, secured a large and valuable clientage and amassed a comfortable fortune. In his earlier prac- tice he was associated at different times in partnership with Hiram Brown, Lucien Barbour and Judge David McDonald. Subsequent to his service in Congress he was head of the firms of Porter, Harrison & Fishback, and Porter, Harrison & Hines. He was extremely careful always in the preparation of his cases, and in the trial was equally attentive in order to keep the record free from error. He was a great jury lawyer where important rights were involved. Both in argument before a jury and in a popular oration or
political speech he was candid and scrup- ulous in the presentation of facts. His statement was always trustworthy. In 1877 he was appointed First Comp- troller of the Treasury by President Hayes, on the request of Secretary Sherman, a position requiring the best legal ability, firmness and in- tegrity of character, and a judicial quality of mind. The Comptroller is charged with the duty and the sole responsibility of construing all laws touching disbursements of the treasury. He discharged the important duties with fidelity to the government, satisfaction to the Secretary and honor to himself, until July, 1880, when he resigned to accept a nomination for Governor of the State, unanimously tendered by the Republican convention. A grand reception awaited him on his return from Washington, and he entered with characteristic zeal, in the heat of mid-summer, upon one of the most energetic, brilliant and extraordinary canvasses ever made in the State. He visited every county but five, addressed meetings in the cities, villages and woods, by day and by night, discussing the issues in public before thousands, and meeting as many of the individual voters as pos- sible by personal introduction. His fav- orite style of discussion was colloquial, presenting to the voters his views of vital questions in clear, terse, simple sentences, easily grasped and comprehended. His manner was earnest and conciliatory; his speech entirely free from personal abuse; his social intercourse marked by a cor-
10
BIOGRAPHY OF INDIANA.
diality that was captivating. The whole ticket was elected, and his own majority of more than two thousand above that of any other candidate was a high tribute to his personality and the effectiveness of his methods. Governor Porter entered the executive office well equipped for its duties. He studied existing conditions, with a view to their improvement. He desired that his administration should confer upon the people of the State some real benefit. With this end in view his inaugural address contained many impor- tant recommendations: With respect to the pardoning power-that it should con- tinne to be lodged in the Governor alone, and that his responsibility be not divided with a board of pardons. As to the swamp lands, comprising an area of more than eight hundred thousand acres in the State: That provision should be made for a careful survey, by a reputable civil engineer, to determine the practicability of their drainage and reclamation. As to charities and public health: That a board of visitors, five persons, two of them women, "noted for their zeal and dis- interestedness in benevolent undertak- ings," be appointed to inspect the benevo- lent institutions, observe the management and treatment of inmates, with a view of improving their condition; that provision be made for the collection and compila- tion of accurate data relative to the local conditions under which diseases arise. the development and spread of disease and the most effective methods of pre. vention; the fullest information possible
relative to the distribution of charity and the best means of bestowing private bene- factions, to enable the objects to become self-supporting. Among the later recom- mendations of the Governor were the ap- pointment of capable women physicians to have charge of the Woman's Depart ments of the hospitals for the insane: numerous amendments of the mining laws, to protect the lives and health of the miners and protect their interests by securing accurate measurement of the product of their labor, and requiring the mine owners to furnish full statistics as to the output of the mines. Having ob- tained from the Legislature the authority desired to make a preliminary survey of the swamp lands, he appointed and placed in charge of the work Prof. John L. Camp- bell, of Wabash College, an eminent en- gineer, who had conducted the Geodetic Survey in the State for the Federal Gov- ernment. The preliminary survey showed that reclamation of the lands was entirely feasible, as set forth in the engineer's report ; and the Governor transmitted the report to the Legislature with a recom- mendation that a substantial appropria- tion be made for the prosecution of the work. The suggestions of the executive in the several communications regarding this matter, which he had studied exhaus- tively, covered all details, not only as to the conduct of the work, but also as to methods of raising the necessary money without oppressing the poor settlers and proprietors of the lands. The Legislature acted upon his recommendations and un-
II
BIOGRAPHY OF INDIANA.
dertook the prosecution of this important public work, which not only adds millions to the value of the lands, but also pro- motes the health and substantial prosper- ity of the people. The Governor sought to infuse new life and interest in the State Board of Agriculture, by advising that the professors of chemistry and agri- culture in Purdue University, and some expert mechanics familiar with the con- struction of farm machinery, be admitted to its membership; and that practical information relating to all branches of agriculture be obtained from progressive farmers, by means of questions sent out for that purpose, for discussion in the stated meetings of the board. His official recommendations embodied in statutes had in view the mitigation of the hard- ships of labor; the amelioration of the condition of inmates of benevolent insti- tutions; the opening of official employ- ment to women; and in general the pro- motion of the public welfare and the con- servation of the public interests. Per- haps no other executive of the State has ever been called upon to deliver so many addresses on so great a variety of subjects as Governor Porter. Indianapo- lis has long been noted as a convention city. All sorts of societies and organiza- tions in the State are accustomed to hold their annual meetings there, and it was the uniform custom during his adminis- tration to invite the Governor to deliver an address of welcome, or some other speech, during the sessions. He was equal to all demands. His graciousness and
good nature prompted the acceptance of all invitations and a compliance with every request. A compilation of these ad- dresses would make a most interesting volume of useful information and afford satisfactory proof of the versatility of their author; but the limits of this sketch forbid more than a brief reference to a very few of them. To the Baptists as- sembled in their National Anniversary meeting he said, among other things:
"It is fit that the chief executive of a State should welcome to its capital the representatives of a church, of which it was said by an illustrious English philoso- pher more than two hundred years ago, 'The Baptists were from the beginning the friends of liberty; just and true lib- erty.' A church that led the van in pro- claiming the sacred right of individual judgment in matters pertaining to relig- ious faith-a right called in the rugged phrase of the day when it was first pro- claimed 'soul liberty'-and planting that doctrine on American soil, following it up by causing to be inserted in the Consti- tution of the United States, by a con- certed Baptist movement, those memor- able words contained in the first amend- ment, 'Congress shall make no law re- specting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' A free religion without help or huurt from the State was the motto of every Baptist. Your fathers sowed the seed and their descendants reap the harvest."
Addressing the State grange he re- forred to the significance of the name "Patrons of Husbandry": husbandry-the art of management or saving. He ap- proved the admission of women as mem- bers, because they should have the op- portunity to be instructed in methods of business, so that if left widows they
12
BIOGRAPHY OF INDIANA.
could care for the estate without being dependent on a stranger, who might be incompetent or dishonest. The saving meant more than the saving of money; it included the preservation of the imple- ments used on the farm and everything that would produce money; it stood op- posed to waste and extravagance of every kind. He advised farmers not to borrow, except from the atmosphere, as "a farmer cannot bring a worse enemy to his door than a mortgage." One of his interesting and clever addresses was delivered on the occasion of laying the corner stone of a magnificent new court house in Kosci- usko county. After referring happily to the brave old Polish patriot, whose ser- vices in the cause of freedom were com- memorated in naming the county, he pro- ceeded to show how the archives of the court house contain a complete history of the county; its organization, growth and improvements, together with the biog- raphies of its citizens in all the stages of life; their marriage, their accumulation of property, their private trusts and offi- cial positions, their progress in material prosperity, or retrogression following mis- fortune or crime, were all carefully writ- ten and preserved in the public records. The speech invested the temple of justice with a new interest, transforming the minsty records of taxes and mortgages and litigation, preserved in its vaults, into a treasury of history and biography. One of the most eloquent of his addresses was that welcoming the Indiana Saengerbund. After referring by name to the great Ger-
man composers and their achievements in music, he said:
"This love of music, from centuries of cultivation, has become wrought into the substance of German life. It is associa- ted with all that is pleasant in the recol- lections of childhood. The hearthstone of the humblest German cottager has been cheered by it not less than the Kais- er's throne. Patriotism has borrowed from it the most animating impulses, and from the time of Tacitus it has gone to the battle-field with every German army, to kindle heroic ardor, to cheer and to in- spire. The great German emigrations to America have brought to us much that is invaluable: a love of home and the cheer- ful fireside; frugality in youth, laying up store for comfortable old age; a belief that idleness is criminal, and a persis- tence in doing whatever can be done that often places you victoriously on the sum- mit of a difficulty while others sit at the base contemplating whether the difficulty may be overcome; a faculty for laying * aside care and taking up pleasure.
I have heard it said that when you came you should have given up German ideas and adopted the ideas you found here. The stock of which you are a part could not do that if it would. Whatever idea it yields it gives up slowly; whatever new idea it adopts it stands by steadfastly. * *
* We were not a musical people
when you first came amongst
us.
* *
* You found the soil fallow and you planted in it a love of song. *
* * It will not be long until a national music will begin to take on quality from the character of our in- stitutions and the peculiarities of our na- tional and social life. And I have allowed myself sometimes to dream that in this land of liberty-in this country of Wash- ington and Lincoln-some inspired man, descended from the great German strain, will create a song that, sung in every Ger- man cottage and chanted in mighty chorus on every German battle-field, shall swell the acclaim for freedom in the older world, until, under German leadership, a
I3
BIOGRAPHY OF INDIANA.
general establishment of government by the people, for the single good of the whole people, shall crown the lofty glor- ies of the grand old fatherland."
All of Governor Porter's messages and other State papers possess literary merit of a very high order in addition to the clearness with which they present mat- ters for consideration. It is a tribute to his sagacity that nearly all of his recom- mendations to the Legislature, on mat- ters of great moment, have received fav- orable consideration. Some of them were novel at the time; but he demonstrated their usefulness by such practical reason- ing, and urged their adoption with such statesmanlike argument, as to impress their importance and secure their adop- tion by the General Assemblies subse- quent to his administration. He was a far-seeing man, calculating long before- hand the results of an action, and his con- victions of right and duty sometimes led him to take an advanced position, which a halting public opinion approved later on. He did not hesitate to make a prece- dent. A noteworthy incident during his administration may be cited as an in- stance of this in criminal procedure: An estimable woman of Bartholomew county married a plausible adventurer, and af- terwards discovered that he had a wife living in another State. As soon as de- tected he fled to Nebraska. A lady friend of the woman who had been betrayed applied to the Governor for a requisition and at the same time petitioned for her own appointment as special officer to serve the warrant and bring back the fug-
| itive. Her request was complied with. Armed with the proper authority she ob- tained the extradition, arrested her pris- oner, brought him safely to Indiana and lodged him in jail, charged with bigamy. While occupying the executive office Gov- ernor Porter decided to write a complete history of the State, and subsequently spent several years in the collection of valuable material for a series of volumes which would certainly have possessed the double merit of historical accuracy and literary excellence. This important labor, which was interrupted for three years by an official residence at Rome, was re- sumed after his return home and carried forward with marked enthusiasm until a short time prior to his death. He ac- cepted appointment as United States Min- ister to Italy tendered him by President Harrison in 1889. During his term of of- fice delicate complications arose out of the killing of Italian subjects by a mob at New Orleans, which led to the with- drawal of the Italian Minister from Washington and the American Minister from Rome. Throughout this controversy, and in all diplomatic intercourse, Gover- nor Porter maintained the dignity and honor of his own government, while he retained the confidence and good will of the King and Court of Italy. Justice and kindness, two qualities essential to successful diplomaey, are recognized at- tributes of his nature. ITis resignation after three years of service called forth expressions of regret both at Washington and Rome. Governor Porter's career was
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