USA > Indiana > A History of Indiana from its exploration to 1922 > Part 26
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MEN PROMINENT IN EVANSVILLE'S HISTORY
Among all the men who have lived and died in Evansville, none ever held a higher place than Judge Asa Iglehart. He was the eldest son and fifth child of Levi and Anne Taylor Iglehart, born in Ohio county, Kentucky, December 8th, 1817. He was descended from Ger- man ancestors, of whom the first emigrant settled in America about two hundred years ago. His father, the fifth son of John Iglehart, was born in Prince George's county, Maryland, in 1786, grew to man- hood there with very meager educational advantages for the proper development of a mind naturally bright and intellectual. His mother was a woman of highly nervous temperament, a devout Christian and remarkably zealous in the discharge of Christian duty. Originally Episcopalians, they united with the Methodist church after they came west as that church was the only one accessible to them in the wilder- ness and became active in religious work, which was continued with-
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out abatement during life. In 1815 the family, then comprising four children, crossed over the mountains in emigrant wagons, crossed the Ohio river at Maysville, and settled in Ohio county, Kentucky. Two considerations prompted the removal of Levi Iglehart from Kentucky with his family, after a residence of seven years in the state: First, the difficulty of perfecting a title to his land, and second, his abhor- rence of slavery. In 1823 he settled in the wilds of Warrick county, Indiana, where wolves were more numerous than domestic animals, and bridle paths through the forests served the purposes of highways; where few books were to be procured, and newspapers were rare in- deed. In this wilderness, with such surroundings, Asa Iglehart grew to manhood, subject to the privations and the hard work that foster self-denial and independence. He enjoyed the good fortune of being the son of ambitious, intelligent parents-abmitious for the advance- ment and success of their children, intelligent in providing the means of intellectual improvement to the utmost extent of their resources. Weekly papers were subscribed for and all available books were pro- cured. From these, and the stimulus afforded by the regular visits by the Heaven-ordained circuit preacher, a liberal education was obtained at home -- more extended, more practical, more useful than possibly could be secured in the log-cabin schools of the day. Asa Iglehart never attended college as a student, but his learning was great. In later life, few college graduates in the state excelled him in breadth of erudition and substantial literary acquirements. After his marriage he taught school and had part of his farm work done by a hired boy or man, and read law at night. It is not recorded that he entertained the ambition to enter the profession of law prior to his marriage, at the age of twenty-four. Speaking on that subject himself, in an autobiography, he says that soon after marriage he was possessed by a "seemingly irresistible passion for learning the law, commenced the study on the farm and pursued it with enthusiasm little short of romance." His admission to membership in the bar of the state at the age of nearly thirty-two marked an era in his career. Henceforward he devoted himself with the zeal of an enthusiast to the study and practice of that honorable profession, varied for a few years by his administration of the law as a judge, and by the publication of a valuable treatise on practice, as well as some other digests and expositions. It is by no means improbable that his wife was the inspiration of his purpose to engage in the law. She was, before marriage, Miss Ann Cowle, member of an English family living over the line in Vanderburgh county, a lady of literary taste and social culture ; of strong common- sense and general intelligence much above the local surroundings. Her religious tendencies were quite as marked as her mental characteristics and she was in every way fitted to be the helpmeet for such a man, and the mother of his children. His parents had been at all times desirous of the advancement of their children, and solicitous for their welfare. His father had become a well-informed man, possessed of general in- telligence and the qualities of leadership in his community. He was also active in good works, a leader in affairs of the church. His
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mother, with laudable ambition and pardonable pride, had set a high mark for her sons and encouraged them to attain it. The family was so constituted that the members found the most congenial and help- ful society at home with one another. Whatever may have inspired the impulse and nursed it into a resolute purpose, whether it was the precept of his mother, the promptings of his wife, or his own volition, his first text-book in law was bought after his marriage. He pored over Blackstone during the noon hour of recreation, while working on ' the farm; during hours of evening by the firelight ; and even sometimes carried the book with him to the field, reading and pondering until he had absorbed the elements and principles of the common law and be- come familiar with the foundations of jurisprudence. He studied every book with the same thoroughness. His application was patient and persistent ; his mastery of the subject complete. There was no superficiality in his reading ; no temporizing in his practice. His foun- dations were laid broad and deep. With intellectual powers of a high order ; industry that never faltered ; singleness of purpose and devotion to his profession, he achieved eminence. In 1849 he removed to Evans- ville and became associated with Ingle and Wheeler in legal practice. It required little time to establish himself as on of the strong lawyers of that eminent bar. In 1854 he was appointed judge of the common pleas court, to fill a vacancy, and subsequently was elected to the same position for a full term. His judicial career was conspicuously able and absolutely above reproach. After resuming the practice, he be- came distinguished for the grasp of his intellect and the acumen which he displayed in the argument of abstruse propositions. Brushing aside all technicalities as unworthy of consideration by a great lawyer, he plunged into the merits of a case and sought to discern the legal prin- ciples involved. He entertained a lofty view of the aim and purpose of the law ; the duty and responsibility of a lawyer. As the heavens are above the earth, so was he above all shams and tricks in practice. According to his view, the highest duty of a lawyer is to interpret and apply the law for the conservation of justice. Though capable as a special pleader, he was a lawyer of the widest range, strong in gen- eral practice. He did not employ sophistry, or seek to darken counsel by rhetorical periods. He held the principle of right and the principles of law above the temporary interest of any individual, and was con- tent to accept for a client the rights and equities ascertained by such a standard. He sought nothing more, and was satisfied with nothing less. As early as 1878 he was grouped by the New York Graphic with the twenty-five leading lawyers of Indiana. He was one of the founders of the State Bar Association. This organization has contrib- uted to the elevation of the profession by the improvement of its meth- ods in practice, and its members in ethical culture. Judge Iglehart, with the earnestness of his ardent nature, took a leading part in the proceedings and during his lifetime was a perpetual inspiration to higher excellence and nobler achievements in the practice of law. He was also an active promoter of the National Bar Association, organized on a high plane for the mutual benefit of its members. He was a
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frequent contributor to the columns of law journals. His expositions were clear, supported by the cogent reasoning of a logician. "Igle- hart's Treatise" for justices in Indiana was a revision of "McDonald's Treatise" and in general use. "Iglehart's Pleading and Practice in Indiana," was a pioneer work in the state. Other works on practice have followed it, but the portion of his work on pleading is an adap- tation of pleading as it exists at the common law to the law in Indiana under the code; is an able and concise elementary discussion- which has not been, and probably will not be, superseded, and is valuable especially to students of law in Indiana. With all his legal ability and devotion to the law, Judge Iglehart always acknowledged the superior claims o fa higher power. He was a Christian from his youth up; active in the duties of the church, loyal in his allegiance, and conse- crated to the service of the Master. He was a trustee and a steward of Trinity church for many years, and in a broader sense a steward in the Lord's vineyard; dispensing charity as a trustee among the worthy poor ; helping such as were in distress; inspiring more hopeful views of life, and aiding in the attainment of better conditions. Naturally a man of his temperament and views took a prominent part in the proper education of the young. He was a member of the Evansville board of education, and for twenty years a trustee of Asbury and DePauw university. His connection with the university began when it was weak. With a heartiness and sincerity characteristic of the man, he entered its council chamber with other great and good men and labored unselfishly to promote its growth and power in the state. He was wise in counsel, devoted in his service, liberal in contributions. He rarely missed a session of the board of trustees. His sound judg- ment, in the solution of complicated legal questions concerning the management of the new corporation, was of inestimable value. He witnessed the growth of the institution from a condition of weakness and comparatively obscurity to one of financial strength and extended reputation. At the time of his death, February, 1887, Depauw Uni- versity held a high place among institutions for higher education in the West. Many years before his death the honorary degree of doctor of laws was conferred on him by DePauw University. He was a man of strong intellect, kind of heart, generous of disposition. As a law- yer he went to the bottom of things. In largeness of ability, integrity of purpose, sincerity of action, appear the grandeur of his character and the nobility of his life. A contemporary and fellow-townsman, himself able in the law and conspicuous in public service, says of Judge Iglehart :
"He was a lawyer, pure and proper-imbued with respect for his profession, abiding by its etiquette and illustrating its high intellectu- ality. His appropriate place was the court-room and his greatest pleasure the argument of an abstruse question of law. * * * My mind often reverts to the law and to lawyers. Among them all there was no stronger or clearer mind ; no greater equity pleader ; no professor of profounder legal learning."
The evidences of his learning and his greatness are preserved in
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the records of the highest courts of the state. His memory is revered by members of the bar with whom he was associated. He was a suc- cessful man in financial affairs and the accumulation of property. His family life was characterized by love and sympathy, confidence and helpfulness, a depth of tenderness unknown by any save those who entered the charmed circle. In his luxurious home the most gen- erous hospitality was dispensed with the native simplicity of a pioneer. It was a home, beautiful in its confidences and endearments, charming in refinement and domesticities. From it radiated influences that tend to invest life with happiness and wholesomeness, dispelling every som- bre view and cheerless contemplation. Two sons and a daughter of this notable man grew to maturity: The late Rev. Ferd C. Iglehart, D. D., who was well and favorably known as an author, religious edi- tor, preacher, lecturer and orator, and was regarded as one of the leading men of his denomination in the country. J. E. Iglehart is a lawyer engaged in general practice at Evansville.
While for more than fifty years in the general practice of the law, he is also District Attorney of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Rail- road Company, the supervisor of its litigation at the southern end of its line in Indiana, a position held by him since the consolidation of the Evansville and Terre Haute Railroad Company (of which he was general counsel) with the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad Com- pany, and to which he succeeded by virtue of his relation to the old company. His father, Judge Iglehart, was seventy years ago asso- ciated with John Ingle, the builder of the old Evansville and Craw- fordsville Railroad, the first railroad built in Evansville, and was the legal counsel of that company, a relation held by him and his son in continuous succession for more than seventy years. The daughter is Mrs. Annie Taylor, of Evansville.
JOHN W. FOSTER
Gen. John W. Foster, the diplomat, was born in Pike county, In- diana, March 2, 1836. His father emigrated from England in boy- hood, with his parents, and settled in Pike county in 1819. The same year he entered in the Vincennes land district an eighty-acre tract of land, which he cleared and cultivated, building thereon a cabin home. Later on he became a prominent merchant and filled the office of pro- bate judge. Then he removed to Evansville, where he was active in commercial and public affairs up to the time of his death in 1863. His mother was the daughter of Col. John Johnson, a pioneer and leading citizen of the territory and state of Indiana. He was at one time pri- vate secretary to Gen. William Henry Harrison, participated in the battle of Tippecanoe, was a member of the first constitutional conven- tion, under which Indiana was admitted into the Union, and repre- sented Pike county several times in the state senate. Young Foster had advantages in youth above those enjoyed by the average Indiana boy of his age. He was graduated from the State university in 1855, and afterwards attended Harvard law school. When qualified he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law in Evansville. He
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entered the military service in August, 1861, as major of the Twenty- fifth regiment Indiana volunteers, and in April following was pro- moted lieutenant colonel of the same regiment. He served in that capacity until August, 1862, when he was appointed colonel of the Sixty-fifth regiment. He continued in the field as commander of the Sixty-fifth until March, 1864, when he retired from the service to take charge of the settlement of his father's estate, of which he had been appointed executor. Having spent two months at home and arranged his business matters satisfactorily, he raised the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth regiment, which enlisted for one hundred days, received a commission as its colonel and again went to the front, where he re- mained until his regiment was mustered out of service. After the war he became editor of the Evansville Journal and made it a strong, vig- orous, influential newspaper. This was the medium of his introduc- tion into active participation in political management. He was ap- pointed postmaster of Evansville in 1869, and in 1872 was appointed chairman of the Republican state central committee. His direction of the campaign was intelligent, business-like and successful. In 1873 he was appointed Minister to Mexico, by President Grant, and served the government so admirably that President Hayes re-appointed him in 1877. Three years later he was transferred to St. Petersburg and held the Russian mission until November, 1881, when he resigned and returned to the United States to look after his personal business. He established his residence in Washington for the practice of interna- tional law. After little more than a year he was appointed Minister to Spain, by President Arthur-in February, 1883-and served until the inauguration of Mr. Cleveland, March, 1885, when his resignation was tendered. During his official residence in Madrid he negotiated an important commercial treaty with Spain, which failed of confirmation by the senate. Soon after the change of administration General Fos- ter returned to Spain, at the urgent request of President Cleveland, and opened negotiations for a modified treaty. As the mission was not successful he returned to Washington in a few months and resumed his international practice. He continued in this employment until November, 1890, when at the request of President Harrison and Sec- retary Blaine he became the special agent of the state department for the negotiation of reciprocity treaties with foreign governments, con- templated by the tariff act of November 1, 1890. In this he was emi- nently successful. By request of Secretary Blaine he visited Cuba in January, 1891, to investigate the commercial relations between that island and the United States. In March following, he went to Madrid and negotiated a commercial arrangement with the Spanish govern- ment for Cuba and Porto Rico, very similar in its terms to the un- ratified treaty which he negotiated in 1884, and it became operative in September, 1891. In June he negotiated a reciprocity convention with San Domingo, in August with Germany, and during the year with various countries, among which were Brazil, and British West Indies, Austria-Hungary and the Central American Republics. In April, 1892, General Foster was appointed special agent of the United
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States, under the treaty of February 29, 1892, for the settlement by arbitration of the differences between our government and Great Brit- ain respecting the fur seals resorting to Pribilof Islands in Bering Sea. He prepared the case and counter case of the United States, con- sisting of several printed volumes, submitted to the tribunal of arbi- tration. On the 29th of June, 1892, he was nominated by President Harrison as Secretary of State of the United States to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Hon. James G. Blaine, and the nomina- tion was confirmed by the senate on the same day, without the usual reference to a committee. The principal acts during his incumbency of the state department was the adjustment of the Chilian embroglio by the payment of an indemnity by Chili on account of the attack on the United States cruiser Baltimore; the Chilian Claims treaty, the adjustment of the Canadian canal tolls discrimination, and the treaty for the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States. He resigned the office of Secretary of State February 23, 1893, to enable him to resume his duties as agent of our government before the tri- bunal of arbitration for the settlement of the fur-seal dispute with Great Britain, which tribunal convened in Paris, France, February 23d, and remained in session until August 15, 1893. After the adjournment of that tribunal, General Foster, accompanied by his wife, made a tour around the world, in the course of which he was received by the Khe- dive of Egypt, the British Viceroy and Governors of India, Singapore and Hong Kong, the native rulers of the Malay Peninsula, the Vice- roys and Imperial officials of China, and by the Emperor and Pro- vincial Governors of Japan. On his return to America he again re- sumed the practice of international law at Washington City, which was continued without interruption until January, 1895, when he accepted the appointment from the Emperor of China to represent that government in negotiating terms of peace with Japan. In pursuance of that mission he went to Pekin and accompanied the Minister of War, Li Hung Chang, to Japan, where the negotiations were con- ducted to a satisfactory conclusion. General Foster held more foreign appointments and had more varied diplomatic experience than any other American since the organization of our government. In his perfect mental equipoise, exact sense of justice, wide knowledge of the world, acquaintance with international law, familiarity with modern languages, courtly and polished manners, and thorough training in diplomacy, he possessed an amplitude of equipment not found in any other living American statesman. He was intellectually acute, shrewd, quiet, strong and forceful. He enjoyed the unlimited confidence of the ablest representatives of foreign governments resident in Wash- ington, and the friendship of all his fellow countrymen who knew him. His official acts and his private life will bear the closest scrutiny. His legal business in behalf of other nations was remarkably profitable. It is reported that a fee of one hundred thousand dollars was paid him by the Emperor of China, for services in connection with Japan. In 1859, Mr. Foster married Mary Parke McFerson, the daughter of Eliza J. McFerson, for many years principal of the Female seminaries
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at Bloomington, Indiana, and Glendale, Ohio. Mrs. McFerson be- longed to the celebrated Read family ; one of her brothers was judge of the supreme court of Ohio; another, Dr. Daniel Read, was professor in the Ohio and Indiana universities and president of the Wisconsin and Missouri universities ; Dr. Ezra Read was a leading physician of Indiana ; four brothers served in the Union army and navy during the civil war and two lost their lives in that service. Mrs. Foster was highly educated, being a Greek and Latin scholar. She also spoke the modern languages fluently. She has always accompanied her husband on his missions abroad and has participated in his labors and honors. Mr. and Mrs. Foster had two daughters, married, one to a clergyman and the other to a lawyer, both residents of New York state. A beauti- ful mission chapel, grown to a regularly organized Presbyterian church, at Evansville, Indiana, was built as a memorial to two daugh- ters who died in their girlhood.
SAMUEL ORR
Among the former citizens of Evansville none is more revered in memory than the late Samuel Orr. As merchant, manufacturer and banker he was intimately connected with the commercial activity and life of the city. Mr. Orr was a native of Ireland, and of Scotch-Irish descent. The year of his birth was 1810, the place Newtownards, County Down. His subsequent career is sufficient evidence that he received careful instruction in his boyhood as to the principles which should govern his actions, and a reputation for integrity and upright- ness established early was maintained till the end of his life. In 1833, he, with his wife, whose maiden name was Martha Lowry, emigrated to this country and landed at Baltimore, at that time the chief objec- tive point of emigrants seeking new homes in America. They pro- ceeded westward in wagons then the only conveyance in use for trade and traffic, and stoppd at Pittsburgh, which even at that early date gave promise of the great importance it has since attained as center of the iron industries of the country. For two years he remained in Pittsburgh as employe in the grocery store of Mr. Fairman, but was in 1835 induced by the Messrs. Laughlin, fellow countrymen of his, to come farther westward and establish for them in Evansville, Indiana, the business of pork packing and wholesale grocery and iron trade. A man of his ability and independence could not long be satisfied to manage the business of other men, and so it followed that he very soon became a partner, and later the owner of the business which he inaug- urated. After twenty years his business was divided into two branches, his son, James L. Orr, and Matthew Dalzell being admitted to partnership in the department of groceries, in which they continued until the beginning of the rebellion. After the close of the war his son and James Davidson were received as partners in the iron trade, the re- maining branch of the business. The firm name was then changed to Samuel Orr & Co. The business increased and prospered under the guiding hand of the head of the firm, until the house became one of the largest, best known and most responsible in the West. The methods
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of the founder, as well as his associates and successors, have always been clean and honorable . While building up a private business, vast in extent and profitable in returns, he neglected none of the duties of citizenship. He originated some of the most important enterprises con- nected with the growth of Evansville and was active in their manage- ment. No man had more at heart the interests of the municipality and the community, none was more progressive and liberal. The con- servation of public interests impelled him to give much of his time and of his means and counsel to advance such enterprises rather than con- sideration of private gain. In the whole course of his business career, beginning in 1835 and ending in 1882, every negotiation and every achievement was characterized by unbending integrity. In purpose, in method, and in results, his business life may be taken as a model for young men who engage in mercantile pursuits, and especially such as may be called upon to serve in a fiduciary capacity. Mr. Orr was elected a director of the branch at Evansville of the State Bank of Indiana, November 2, 1846, and on May 10, 1855, was elected presi- dent of the branch bank, as the successor of John Mitchell, deceased, and retained his official connection as president until the expiration of the corporate franchise of the bank and until the final dividend from the assets in December, 1858; and in 1856, upon the organization of the branch at Evansville of the Bank of the State of Indiana, as the successor of the State Bank of Indiana, Mr. Orr was elected a director and continued as such until 1865, when the act of congress, authorizing the existence of national banks and imposing the ten per cent. tax on the circulation of state banks, forced the Bank of the State of Indiana into liquidation. Immediately afterwards, together with his old asso- ciates, he joined in the organization of the Evansville National Bank, was one of the directors, a member of the executive committee and assisted in the active management of the bank until his death in 1882. In 1873 the German National Bank of Evansville was incorporated, and upon the organization he was elected president and continued this relation to the bank until his death. He was one of the influential supporters of the first movement inaugurated to build a railroad to Evansville, and was one of the incorporators of the Evansville and Illinois, now known as the Evansville and Terre Haute railroad com- pany. His word was accepted with absolute confidence and reliance. Truth and honor were so clearly disclosed in his daily transactions that no man doubted the one or assailed the other. As one "who loved his fellowmen" he was preeminent. For a quarter of a century he dispensed a wide and generous charity to all about him in innumerable cases known only to his Maker. In many humble homes widows and orphans who had for years enjoyed his benefactions, mourned the loss of a loving friend. And into his large heart he took the children and all suffering ones. Much they missed his sunny smile, his fond caress and the welcome gift that always marked his coming. In spirit he stooped to the lowliest and bound to his loving nature all classes up to the highest. His death fell with peculiar force upon the Walnut Street Presbyterian church, of which he had been an elder for twenty-
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