A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume II, Part 74

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1006

USA > Indiana > A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume II > Part 74

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Yours Truly.

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

11th Dist.]

and was elected Representative to Congress from the Eleventh Congressional District, and occupied that po- sition during the Thirty-fourth, the Thirty-fifth, and the Thirty-sixth Congresses. In 1862 he engaged very actively in recruiting soldiers for the war, and in less than three weeks mustered thirty-five hundred men. In the following year he helped to organize the Soldiers' Orphans' Home, at Knightstown, Indiana, which was afterward turned over to the state, and which is in a prosperous condition. In 1864 Judge Pettit was again elected to the Legislature, and chosen Speaker of the House. Those were turbulent times, when Indiana and the departments of the state government were infested by rebel sympathizers plotting treason, and this office, at all times a responsible one, especially required a man of nerve and incorruptible patriotism. In 1865 occurred an episode in the life of Judge Pettit, which is of such general interest as to demand preservation. Bowles, Milligan, and Horsey, citizens of Indiana, had been con- demned to death by a United States military commis- sion, for a treasonable conspiracy in this state. No time had been fixed for the execution, and Horsey's sentence had finally been commuted, but on May 2, 1865, an order came from President Johnson to carry the sentence into effect "without delay." The date first fixed was May 19th, and afterward June 2, 1865. Judge Pettit was immediately dispatched to Washington by Governor Morton to secure from the President a commutation of the sentence. A graphic account of this mission and its final result is given in the following statement by Judge Pettit, called forth, in 1876, by the publication of an interview of a Chicago Times reporter with the Hon. Joseph E. McDonald, in which the latter arro- gated to himself the credit of obtaining the commuta- tion of the sentence. We quote the article, as abridged by the Indianapolis Journal of November 21, 1876, and also by the writer, omitting the latter part :

"To make my statement quite intelligible, a men- tion of the following facts is proper: I had been for several years a member of Congress from the Eleventh Congressional District, my term ending with Lincoln's inauguration. During two of those years I had lived at Brown's Hotel, now the Metropolitan. I was thus a witness, at Washington, of the darkest night of the Union and the mad scenes in which the Rebellion he- gan. A notable event was, first, after Jefferson Davis in the Senate withdrew the state of Mississippi, to which Andrew Johnson replied; and when afterwards, again, Benjamin withdrew Louisiana, in a speech specious and ornate, folding up the old flag, and laying it away be- cause it had done its whole duty. Andrew Johnson, in red-hot, defiant words, in the name of Tennessee, in the midst of the turbulence of secession, proclaimed then her devotion to the Union that would not die. Union men felt stronger that night; and few, I think, of either House, but went to Andy Johnson, in person, to thank him for his words. I mention this, not to say I was intimate, for I was not, but that these very events made us acquainted. At the time in question, May, 1865,

although the Legislature was not in session, I was, offi- cially, Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives. Leaving home early in the morning, I think Tuesday, I was in court when it met (fourth Monday of May). On my way down from Peru (getting a Journal from the up train), I read the order directing the execution of Bowles and Milligan. The very reading was a shock. While Lincoln was living I had understood from Governor Morton there was to be no execution of these sentences. Ilaving left the court-room, some one, I think General Terrell, told me Governor Morton had called to see me at the Supreme Court Room. I thought it a personal kindness, and thanked him. Soon after, I was at the office of Thomas B. McCarty, then Auditor of State, whose naked word of friendship was stronger than any bond, and the common friend of both McDonald and myself, and he told me Governor Morton had been there, asking for me. A little later, some one told me Gov- ernor Morton wished to see me before I went home. It was near my train time; I answered I would go. Any body knowing Governor Morton understands that when business is to be done there is no ceremonial. On enter- ing I met him standing near the door. I am certain we remained standing as we tock each other's hands. Though our families had dined at the same table, I do not think he even inquired after them. Ilis manner showed concern, and his words were abrupt. 'You have heard of the President's order for the execution of Bowles and Milligan?' I answered, 'Yes.' ' What do you think of it?' I answered, 'Governor, I don't yet see where this military commission has its authority. We have lived this whole war with all our courts open. A military court exists only by necessity, where civil courts are subdued. Here civil courts have never been sub- dued. It is the void judgment of a court without power, and its execution would be barbarous. As a state we have done our whole duty. Peace is coming. In a state fuller of danger than any other, danger has been kept down. Internal rebels have been quieted by thousands. The state has been invaded, and it has been taken care of. She has sent one hundred and forty thousand men to the front, and now, at the begin- ning of peace, Johnson ought not to pick us out first of all the states, and have a military execution in our midst, as if we did not know how to keep the law.' Governor Morton said: 'That is just what I think. There is no reason now for executing such a judgment. We are at peace. Necessity is ended. I have remon- strated against these executions with Johnson, in every form, by letter and telegraph. He is obstinate, and is determined on this execution. It shall never occur, but by having my remonstrance in his sight.' And then he said, " You must go to Washington, at once.' I first said, 'Governor, I can't go. 1 left home saying I would return to-night. I am not prepared to go.' He said : ' These men are citizens of our state, entitled to the care of her laws, and you are as much bound to this duty as I am.' I paused an instant to think, and then told him I would go. These words were spoken rapidly as they can be read. We counted the time. It was but a few minutes to the Eastern train. The Governor said he would give me a letter, giving me authority to represent him with the President. I went to get ready, while he was writing the letter, telegraphed my wife, and imme- diately returned to the Governor's room. I was absent so briefly that his letter was unfinished, and I stood at his side as with clear hand he wrote the finishing words. I depend here on memory. The final words were : 'Mr. President, I protest against these executions.' These

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last words were written with more than the usual quan- tity of executive ink, underscored with bold, broad lines, like ribbons, across the page, the boldness and distinct- ness of them having the meaning of emphasis. It was addressed, and delivered to me as an open letter. 'I want you,' Governor Morton told me, as he handed me the letter, ' to deliver this letter in person to the Pres- ident ; to remonstrate against the execution of these men, on the reasons I have suggested, and what your pru- dence suggests, in the interest of these men, and for the honor of the state; and to remain there and stand by it, never leaving till remonstrance is unavailing.' I told him I would, and I observed every syllable of my duty. What Governor Morton wished and aimed to do is very plain. In a few minutes I was on the train, never paus- ing till I reached Washington. While this pending execution was the busy topic of the many thousands making the hive of Indianapolis, few of whom knew me, none of them all were acquainted with my errand but Governor Morton, Tom McCarty, and myself. I reached Washington at the close of that great sight, the final march of Sherman's grand army, ' that marched to the sea' seventy thousand strong, on final review before the President, the official representatives of every people, and the worth and beauty of the land. All Pennsylva- nia Avenue, from sidewalk to top, at all balconies and windows and hanging over the roofs, seemed filled thick as swarms of bees with wondering and thankful thou- sands gazing at the spectacle. The steady column kept moving on, under ragged flags, from the blood and smoke of fields now historic, along the avenue, past the President ; the faces of the returning men brown with marches and scarred in battle, but gleaming with new thoughts of union established and peace and home, the gleam of their steel swaying with their long, swinging gait, but their feet solidly striking the pavement, like the ticking of a clock: Six hours and a half, General Sherman says, after he himself had reached the Presi -. dent's stand, the wonderful procession moved on in sight of the President. It was the day of peace accomplished, and sacred as a Sabbath. I recall this, because it does not seem probable that any one would be visiting the President on that day. . Next morning after my arrival, at the first moment of audience, I went to the President's. The scene was bewildering. Meade's and Sherman's armies together, one hundred and sixty thou- sand strong, were at large and filled the streets. The approach to the White House, the walks and lawns, were a wilderness of people. Sentinels were at the door. I had never seen that before. Inside it was a jam. I struggled on to the President's door, which, with hardly room for the usher, was surrounded with a crowd anx- iously turning their faces toward the door and waiting. Some were heroes who were introduced by their pictures, made familiar during the war. There were many women in silks and many in weeds. But the door where the usher stood was the point of interest. . [Through the usher's personal regard for Judge Pettit he was at length admitted to the President. ] As the party was bowed out, Mr. Johnson turned, and I rose instantly and delivered my letter. He read it, paused, and, as if without mo- tion except to turn his look at me, then remarked, 'You have a Governor in Indiana that uses strong words.' I answered : 'Mr. President, when Governor Morton feels warmly, he speaks so,' and I referred to the subject. He spoke suddenly and impatiently, and this was his next expression : 'Governor Morton ought to know by this time that traitors are to be punished.' I felt I was not remembered, and referred to the gloomy time be-

fore the war, the courage his words inspired, how we thanked him for it, with what steady heroism he had kept his word, and, now that we were at peace, that this was the nation's day of mercy. A reference to these times seemed to make him kind. He said, in substance : ' My judgment does not yield to suspending these sen- tences, but I will be glad to talk with you about it. I am going to dinner. Come at five. I will arrange ; you can pass in.' I returned at the time, passing sentinels at the entrance 'by the President's order,' past friend Brown, and met the President alone. The subject was carefully talked of. The President rested strongly on the facts that Lincoln had approved of the sentences, though he had not ordered the executions, and that the law questions had been carefully considered by Mr. Stanton and Judge Holt in their departments. At this meeting, or one the next evening, I can't say which, I mentioned Mr. Lincoln's assurance that these sentences should not be capitally executed, and that his words were morally a commutation at least, if not a pardon. The Presi- dent's answer was prompt and decisive: 'Mr. Lincoln acted on his sense of responsibility, and I now act on mine.' But the consideration of chief weight in my mind, and which I sought most to press, was that the Civil Court of Indiana (United States), sitting with two Judges and examining this question, had divided in opinion, and that the matter was coming into the Su- preme Court of the United States; that the force of this conviction by the military court would be strengthened, if its action should be affirmed in the Supreme Court ; but, if denied there, the execution of these men in the mean time would hereafter be criticised as judicial mur- der. This interview lasted, without lighting the gas, till past twilight. The President seemed already worn and glad to escape care. It was his expression, several times repeated and with pleasure, that all was now at peace and that every body could stay at home. Among other things common friends were spoken of-Hatton (Bob Hatton, so-called) and General Zollicoffer, whose last words in Congress were for the Union, but who had died on the field in the Rebellion ; but he spoke with unspeak- able contempt of Nelson, at first a Union man, who had contrived to be arrested, and at the first sight of a prison had given up his loyalty and gone into the kingdom of Jefferson Davis. The interview was not satisfactory. The President said : ' I think I shall say no, but I will not now, lest I should change my mind, and I do not wish that answer to stand in the way. Come to-mor- row.' I am sure this day Mr. McDonald did not meet the President. I went the next morning, but the crowd was no less, and the answer was: 'Come at five.' The second evening, I had another interview, shorter and no more satisfactory. I met the President two or three other times. On the day of the commutation of the sentences, I met the President by appointment in the morning. He said : 'I am not now able to say yes, nor am I willing to say no ; but I will give you a decisive answer this evening.' I think he said five o'clock. He seemed struggling with the obligation of a very painful duty. At the appointed time I went to the President's. The house was still. I inquired of the secretary for the President. He answered he had gone to Bull's Run to review an army corps returning from the South. I asked if any answer had been left for me. He answered no. While thinking what next to do, I went to a window fronting the Potomac with the Long Bridge in sight. In a few minutes an orderly entered and delivered a message to the secretary. He then came to me and said : ' This is the order for the commutation of these

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sentences. The President forgot it when he left, but |

any assembly to respond to a sudden emergency with has sent an orderly back from Alexandria.' I waited | " words fitly spoken" is a faculty that many covet, but only to know that this decision would be immediately communicated through the War Department, and he answered it would, immediately. It is my impression we went together to the door, he turning one way toward the War Department, myself in the direction of the tel- egraph office, to convey to Governor Morton the result of my mission. This was unmistakably the first public information of the fact." few possess. Judge Pettit, having a retentive, well-stored memory, with all his mental resources ready at his sum- mons, is a graceful and effective impromptu speaker. Being widely known and respected, it is probable he has not yet reached the zenith of his usefulness; and it is hoped, especially for the sake of public interests, that he may last many years longer with health unimpaired.

The reader will observe that Governor Morton had previously exerted all his potent influence to save Bowles and Milligan, but in vain, until this last effort ; and that, from among all the able men who would cheerfully have gone at his bidding, he selected Judge Pettit to perform that delicate and difficult mission, which he did in a manner not often exceeded in the annals of diplom icy. From 1867 to 1868 he was professor of law in the state university. In January, 1872, he was appointed Judge of the Seventeenth Judicial District, and, in the autumn of the next year, he was elected to that office, the num- ber of the district having been changed to the Twenty- seventh. He still occupies that position. Judge Pettit, as has doubtless been inferred from the foregoing, is a zealous member of the Republican party. He was at first a Free-soiler, and voted that ticket when there were but twenty-three ballots cast in the county of Wabash.

He is a communicant of the Episcopalian Church. In 1846 he joined the Independent Order of Odd-fellows, has been several times a delegate to the Grand Lodge of the state, and was one of the founders of St. Anastatia

Mesnil Lodge, Wabash. He was married, November 25, 1858, to Julia Brenton, daughter of Hon. Samuel Brenton, for many years a Congressman from the Tenth Congressional District ; he died in April, 1859, while in Congress. Their marriage has been blessed with six children : Ott B., Henry Corbin, Nellie H., Amie E., Jane Upfold, and Mary Heffron. Judge Pettit has in a marked degree those traits and abilities by which men may make themselves "masters of their fates." It is not easy to discover and define the hidden forces that move a life of such ceaseless and varied activities ; little more can be done than to note their manifestations in his career. He has mounted rapidly from one sphere of usefulness to another, always acquitting himself most honorably. In his profession he has attained a high rank. He is a formidable adversary in court. He pre- pares a case thoroughly and manages it with masterly skill. Firmly linked logic, persuasive eloquence, witty repartee, scornful retort, and scathing invective, are all at his command, and he possesses in an unusual degree the ability to befog, perplex, and outwit an oppo- nent. Clear perception, perfect analysis, comprehensive thought, correct judgment, and stainless honor have ever characterized his judicial career, and he ranks among the ablest jurists in the state. To be able in

OLLARD, CLARK N., Judge of the Circuit Court of the county of Howard, was born in Randolph County, Indiana, August 9, 1834. His parents, Allison and Mary Pollard, were both born in Shelby County, Kentucky, and lived there until their marriage, when they removed to Ohio, and subsequently into Indiana, and were among the early settlers of this state. Allison Pollard was a volunteer in the War of 1812, under General Jackson, and was in the battle of New Orleans. Both he and Mrs. Pollard, his wife, are still living, at the advanced ages, respect- ively, of eighty-four and eighty-one, having been mar- ried sixty-one years. Judge Pollard's early instruction was limited to the common school-that cherished insti- tution of a free land, that has so often been the nursery of able men. As he grew toward manhood, his strong desire for knowledge and for the development of his faculties impelled him to make every hour of leisure and every available book subservient to this purpose ; and thus works of biography, of history, and of general literature were read with avidity, and their contents treasured in his retentive memory. At length he aban- doned farming, which had been his occupation, and began fitting himself for the legal profession by becom- ing a student in the Law Department of the North- western Christian University, now Butler University. Graduating from that institution in 1863, he was soon admitted to the bar in Kokomo, and immediately com- menced practice there. In May, 1865, he was elected city attorney of Kokomo, and served two years, and was again chosen in 1868. In March, 1873, Mr. Pol- lard was appointed Circuit Judge of Howard County, and in October of the same year was elected to that office. He is a Democrat, but not a professed politician. He and his wife united with the Missionary Baptist Church in 1857, and remained therein until 1863, when they became members of the Christian Church, to which they still belong. Judge Pollard was married March 4, 1855, and the lady of his choice was Miss Sophronia Kirkpatrick, whose parents were natives of Indiana. His is a contented, contemplative mind. He sits as in a wayside nook, gazing calmly out upon the turbulent world, unmoved by its terrors or its enticements, yet per-

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forming every duty assigned him. As a lawyer and a jurist he ranks well, and those who have been favored by an intimate acquaintance with him speak in the highest terms of his manly virtues.

EED, GEORGE IRVING, proprietor and editor of the Peru Republican, of Peru, was born in Cass County, December 14, 1838. He was the son of James and Margaret (Cox) Reed. His father was a pioneer settler in Cass County, having come at an early day from Ohio. His mother was a native of Tennessee; her father served in the War of 1812. Mr. Reed was educated in the district schools; at the Cass County Seminary at Logansport, and the Union Christian Col- lege at Merom, where he graduated in 1866. As a stu- dent he excelled in the languages, and during the last three years of his college course he taught the Latin classes. In July, 1866, he accepted the position of su- perintendent of the Peru city schools, which he was obliged to resign, on account of ill-health, at the end of six months. After recuperating for about a year Mr. Reed, in connection with J. M. Brown, Esq., purchased the Peru Republican, since which time he has been its editor. The firm of Reed & Brown continued as such for about one year, when Mr. Reed purchased Mr. Brown's interest, and remained sole proprietor until 1873. Mr. M. R. Sinks, a practical printer, was then received as a partner, and he took charge of the me- chanical part of the business. In May, 1878, he sold his share to W. W. Lockwood, Esq., of Odell, Illinois, a gentleman of superior ability, and the firm is now Reed & Lockwood. Under Mr. Reed's management the Peru Republican has become the leading newspaper of Miami County, its circulation having increased at least fourfold, and it is universally recognized as one of the oldest and most influential political journals of Northern Indiana. From 1867 to 1871 he occupied the position of school examiner; he is now one of the city school trustees and president of the board. In IS78 he was elected a Representative to the Legislature. His paper is open for articles written in the interests of education, and few men have done more than he has toward devel- oping the present effective educational system of his county. An earnest Republican, the columns of his paper are devoted, during the political campaigns, to advocat- ing the principles of his party. Mr. Reed is a member of the Christian Church, and an active Mason. As an editor and manager of a newspaper he is careful and prudent, always seeking to promote the best interests of his community. His editorials show him to be a close observer of men, measures, and events. During the late war Mr. Reed enlisted in the 21st Indiana Volun- teers, Ist Heavy Artillery, but was at once detailed for

clerical duties, in which he continued until peace was declared. He has been foremost in supporting all en- terprises for the good of the public. He is of medium size and height, has genial, pleasant manners, and stands deservedly high as a conscientious, intelligent, public- spirited citizen. January 13, 1870, he married Maggie Bell, daughter of N. Bell, Esq., a prominent citizen of Kokomo. They have one child.

ICHMOND, CORYDON, physician and surgeon, of Kokomo, was born in Onondaga, Onondaga County, New York, November 22, 1808. At the age of nine he became acquainted with pioneer life in Ohio, to, which state his parents, John Lambert and Lorana (Patchin) Richmond, emigrated in 1817, settling first fifty miles from Cincinnati, and, the next year, at Newtown, ten miles east of that city. The branches studied in the only school which he attended were reading, writing, and arithmetic, but the meager teaching there received was in part supplemented by home instruction and influence, for his father was a phy- sician and clergyman, and his mother possessed superior traits of character. Though his tastes inclined him to mechanics, in which he has always shown much native ability, he obeyed the wishes of his parents, and em- braced the profession of medicine, studying at first in his father's office. He attended lectures in the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati, during the session of 1831 to 1832, and at their close began practice in Pendleton, Madison County, Indiana, where he remained till 1838, and then removed to Indianapolis and entered the office of his father and Doctor G. W. Mears, who were in partner- ship. After remaining about five years, he returned to Pendleton to stay until he could find a suitable place in which to locate permanently. In the fall of the follow- ing year, 1844, in company with N. R. Lindsay, he visited the Indian Reserve, as Howard County was then called, and, after spending some time in examining it, both decided to settle there. Accordingly, late in the season, they returned and built their cabins; and the next spring removed thither with their families. That little settlement was the beginning of the present thriv- ing city of Kokomo, and there Doctor Richmond has ever since resided. In 1847 he was chosen to represent Howard and Cass Counties in the Legislature. In 1844 he joined the Masonic Fraternity, and was the first Worshipful Master of Kokomo Lodge No. 93, and first High Priest of Chapter No. 31, and is at present a mem- ber of the Council of Royal and Select Masters. He has also taken the Order of High Priesthood. In 1863 he became assistant surgeon in Military Hospital No. 3, Nashville, Tennessee, and remained until failing health compelled him to return home. In March, 1865, he

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A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume II, Part 74

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1006

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1006