USA > Indiana > A popular history of Indiana : with an introduction > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15
197
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
service. But General Gresham's fame does not rest alone on his military career. He is better known as an able lawyer and statesman. He has rendered distinguished service on the bench, and has filled two cabinet positions-those of postmaster- general and secretary of the treasury, in President Arthur's cabinet.
There are many other names well deserving a place on Indiana's roll of honor, but the limits of this volume will not permit more than a passing notice.
Alvin P. Hovey and James Clifford Veatch, both natives of Indiana, were, during the first summer of the war, made colonels of the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth regiments respectively. After the battle of Shiloh, in which they took active part, they were appointed brigadier generals. For a short time General Hover was in command of Memphis, after its surrender, when he required all male residents of the city, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, to take the oath of allegiance. Five thousand who refused to do so, he exiled from the city. This measure subjected General Hovey to severe censure. Ile was subsequently in command of the eastern district of Arkansas, and. took part in the battle of Vicksburg. After he resigned in 1865 he was appointed minister to Peru, in 1886 was elected to Congress, and in ISSS was made governor of the state. General Veatch participated in the capture of Fort Donelson, in the sieges of Corinth, Vicksburg and Mobile, and in the Atlanta campaign. Both officers received the brevet of major-general. General Veatch was afterward an adjutant-general of the state and collector of internal revenue.
198
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
James Richard Slack, a lawyer by profession in Hunting- ton, of which place he was a resident many years, was appointed colonel of the Forty-seventh regiment in September, 1861. His first service was in Kentucky, under General Buell. Most of the engagements in which General Slack participated, were in Missouri, where he fought under General Pope. In December of 1864 he was commissioned brigadier-general. In March, 1865, he was breveted major-general, and mustered out of the service in January, 1866, resuming the practice of the law at his old home. He became judge of the twenty-eighth (judicial) circuit. He died suddenly in Chicago in 1886.
CHAPTER XXIV.
RECENT POLITICAL HISTORY.
THE MARCH OF EVENTS SINCE THE CLOSE OF THE CIVIL WAR- THE MEMOR- ABLE CAMPAIGNS OF '76, '80, '84 AND 88-INDIANA'S PART IN NATIONAL POLITICS-SCHUYLER COLFAX, WILLIAM H. ENGLISH AND THOMAS A. HENDRICKS-BENJAMIN HARRISON'S NOMINATION AND ELECTION AS PRES- IDENT-ADMINISTRATIONS OF BAKER, HENDRICKS, WILLIAMS, PORTER, GRAY AND HOVEY-LATTER-DAY GIANTS.
When Governor Morton was elected to the Senate in 1867 Conrad Baker, being lieutenant-governor, became acting
governor. He was a man of sterling qualities, and his adminis- tration, which covered a period of fierce political strife, was suc- cessful and popular. In 1868 Mr. Baker was nominated by the Republicans for governor, and was elected after an exciting campaign. In the same year an Indianian, who had made his mark in national politics-Schuy- ler Colfax-was elected to the vice-presidency. He was the first resident of this state to be honored with a place on the national ticket SCHUYLER COLFAX.
T
199
200
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
of either of the great parties. Mr. Colfax had lived in Indiana since 1836, when, as a lad of thirteen, he came to the state with his parents from New York City, where he was born. He lived at New Carlisle for a time, then for several years on a farm, and at the age of eighteen removed to South Bend, where he kept his residence until his death. Before he reached his majority he displayed a marked fondness for politics, held several clerical positions in the legislature, and was in demand as a stump speaker. At the age of twenty-two he became editor and one of the proprietors of the St. Joseph Valley Register, a newspaper which he con- ducted with much ability for many years. He was a dele- gate to the Whig national convention, which, in 1848, nom- inated Zachary Taylor for president, and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1851, in which body he was conspicuous for his advocacy of three negative proposi- tions which prevailed-"No slavery, no imprisonment for debt, no divorce by the legislature." In 1855 he entered Congress as a Whig, and served continuously in that body, the last three terms as speaker, until his election to the vice-presidency in 1868. He failed of a renomination in 1872, and retired permanently to private life. During the remaining years of his life he devoted himself to writing and lecturing. Mr. Colfax possessed many elements of popularity. He was engag- ing in his manners, and had a rare faculty of making and keep- ing friends. He was a polished and graceful public speaker, and an accomplished parliamentarian. Mr. Hendricks said of him: "He was as handsome a young man as I have ever
201
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
known, open in his deportment and obliging. He was a rapid and accurate writer, and he spoke with great beauty and fluency. But his industry and public spirit, no less than his exquisite social qualities, endeared him to the people among whom he lived." Mr. Colfax died in IS85.
During Governor Baker's administration the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the constitution of the United States were ratified by the legislature. There was a heated partisan struggle over the latter. The Democrats and many conservative Republicans regarded it as premature-a view which Governor Morton had himself entertained when it was first proposed, a few months before. The Democrats opposed it earnestly in the legislature of 1869, because the peo- GOV. CONRAD BAKER. ple of the state had not had an oppor- tunity to express themselves on the question, as it had not been an issue in the campaign of 1868. The Republicans in the legislature, however, were unanimous in its support, and the Democratic senators and members finally resigned in a body in order to prevent its ratification. Writs were issued for a special election to fill the vacancies created by this action. A special session of the legislature was convened. When the amendment was brought up, the Democratic senators and members again resigned, but the presiding officers of the senate and the house ignored their action. The resolution to ratify the amendment was voted for in both houses by all the Repub-
202
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
lican members, and declared adopted. In 1870 the Democrats carried the legislature, and an effort was made to reconsider the ratifying resolution. This was done in the senate, but before the house had an opportunity to concur the thirty-six Republican members of that body resigned. The ratifying resolution was held to be valid, notwithstanding the irregularity of the proceedings attending its adoption.
Mr. Hendricks became governor in 1873. He had then been the leader of his party in Indiana for a number of years, and had long enjoyed a national reputation.
Thomas A. Hendricks' ancestry was of Scotch and Dutch origin. As early as 1749 the name of Hendricks was con- spicuous in the Province of Pennsylvania. After it be- came a state Abraham Hen- dricks, the grandfather of the late vice-president, was for many years a prominent member of the legislature. John Hendricks married Jane HENDRICKS' BIRTHPLACE. Thompson, and soon after- ward removed to a farm near Zanesville, Ohio, where, in a little log cabin, two sons were born, the younger, Thomas A., on September 7, 1819. When he was six months old the family moved to Madison, Ind., the home of William Hendricks, of whom the reader has been told. John Hendricks, the father of Thomas, was known as the founder of Shelbyville, to which place he removed after a two years' residence in Madison.
Dumas Astudricks
203
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
After living in a log cabin here for a short time Major IIen- dricks-for by this title he was generally known-built a large, substantial briek residence, which, during the many years it served as a family homestead, became famous through southern Indiana for the generous and refined hospitality extended to the frequent and numerous guests. The atmos- phere of this home, where Thomas A. Hendricks spent his childhood and youth, was pervaded by strong religious influ- ences and social refinement. The strength of his mind was early shown. When a boy but nine years old he took opposite views from those of his father in politics, calling himself a Jackson man and a Democrat, while his father was a supporter of Adams. His first school days were spent in a little log cabin. After he had exhausted the educational privileges of Shelby county, he became a student at Hanover, from which college he received his diploma in 1841.
Upon completing his college course, Mr. Hendricks chose the law for his profession, and after a thorough course of read- ing and study, was admitted to the bar. The first political campaign in which he was a candidate occurred in 1848, when he was elected as representative in the legislature, receiving more than his party vote. In 1850 Mr. Hendricks was chosen a member of the constitutional convention, serving on two commit- tees. His colleague from Shelby county was over seventy years of age, while Mr. Hendricks was but thirty-one. Of this conven- tion he was a strong and capable member, early becoming a leader, to whose judgment and opinion many deferred. In 1851, Mr. Hendricks was elected to Congress, at which time his career
204
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
in national politics began. After serving two terms he returned to his home in Shelbyville and resumed the practice of law, but was soon appointed by President Pierce commissioner of the general land office, a position entirely unsought and even unthought of. This office he filled four years with great credit. In 1860 his party nominated him for governor, but the opposing candidate, Henry S. Lane, was elected. That same year, he removed from Shelbyville to Indianapolis, where he continued the practice of the law.
From 1863 to 1869 Mr. Hendricks was a member of the United States Senate. He was the acknowledged leader of his party in that body from the moment he entered it until he left it. In 1868 he was a prominent candidate for the Democratic nomination for president. The same year he was again nominated for governor, but was defeated by Conrad Baker, who was afterward his law partner. In 1872 Mr. Hendricks was elected governor. At the Democratic national conventions of 1868 and 1876 he had a strong support for the presidential nomination. In the latter year he was nominated for vice- president on the ticket with Samuel J. Tilden of New York. At the election Tilden and Hendricks received a large majority of the popular vote, but the result in the electoral colleges was disputed, and after a heated controversy, the decision, by a commission created for that purpose, went against the Demo- cratic candidates. In ISS4 Mr. Hendricks was again nominated by his party for the vice-presidency. The ticket-Cleveland and Hendricks-was elected, and on March 4 1885, Mr. Hendricks was inducted into office. His death occurred
205
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
suddenly, at Indianapolis, on November 25, 1885, and was deeply mourned by the country. Mr. Hendricks' remains lie in Crown Hill cemetery, but a few feet from the tomb of his old political adversary, Governor Morton.
An imposing monument has been erected to his memory on the state-house grounds. Among the many tributes paid to his memory is the following, by Hugh McCulloch:
"Pure in character, faith- ful to duty, courteous in manners, he was highly respected even by the sena- tors from whom in politics he radically differed. Upon the stump he did not excite the enthusiasm of the crowd, nor did he attempt it. His aim was to con- HENDRICKS' MONUMENT. vince and to win. Intelli- gible, earnest, sincere, he rarely failed to impress his own convictions on those who listened to him. Without being an orator, he was one of the most effective speakers of the day. As a lawyer he stood high, both as counseller and advocate. His two nominations for vice-president were evidences of the hold which he had upon the confidence and respect of his party. Fortunate was it for the 15
203
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
Democracy that his name was upon the ticket with President Cleveland, and it was his great popularity that insured its success in Indiana and strengthened it in other states. His death was a severe loss, not only to his political friends, but to the whole country."
In his inaugural address as governor in 1873, Mr. Hen- dricks made an earnest appeal for the reform of the abuses which had crept into popular elections. Some of his recom- mendations were embodied into laws by the legislature of that year, but it was not until several years after his death that such a radical measure of ballot reform as he would have desired became a law. In his final message Governor Hendricks strongly urged the erection of a new state house, which was decided upon two years later.
In 1875, for the second time, an Indianian was called to the responsible position of speaker of the National house of representatives. The honor was con- ferred upon Michael C. Kerr, an Indiana Democrat, who had served ten years in Congress, and was known to the entire country as an able statesman and a pure man. Mr. Kerr died a few months after he became speaker, at the age of forty- nine.
In 1876 the political campaign in Indiana was intensely interesting. Tilden MICHAEL C. KERR and Hendricks carried the state, and James D. Williams, a sturdy representative of the farming element, who from the
207
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
attire he had always worn, was known far and wide as "Blue Jeans Williams," was elected governor over Benjamin Harrison. Governor Williams had served the people faithfully in both houses and in the halls of Congress, and had been actively identified for a long period with the agricultural interests of the state. He enjoyed a unique popularity. During his administration the great labor strikes of IS77 occurred, and produced for a few days a very critical situation in Indiana. . But happily the emergency passed without any loss of life, or destruction of property in Indiana, although in other states there was much GOV. JAS. D. WILLIAMS. violence and bloodshed and millions of While Mr. Williams dollars worth of property was destroyed. was governor the act providing for the erection of the new
Gov- state house was passed.
ernor Williams died shortly before the expiration of his term at the age of seventy-two, and Isaac P. Gray became acting governor.
In ISSo, when Indiana was again represented on a national ticket in the person of William H. English, the Democratic can-
208
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
didate for vice-president, Albert G. Porter was elected gover- nor on the Republican ticket. Governor Porter was a man of marked ability, and had been conspicuous in the public affairs of the state for many years. He held a high position at the bar, and had served with distinction with Congress. Ilis administration as governor was com- paratively uneventful. He was subse- quently appointed minister to Italy by President Harrison.
Isaac P. Gray, who was elected gov- ernor in 1884, had at that time become widely known as a skillful and aggressive party leader. As governor he showed GOV. ALBERT G. PORTER. executive ability of a high order and made so strong an impression upon his party that he proved a formidable candidate for its vice-presidential nomination in 1888. The campaign of that year was perhaps the most intense and exciting in the his- tory of Indiana, although polit- ical contests in this state had been for many years-and espe- cially since Indiana had become a "pivot " in national politics- noted for their heat and bitter- ness. The nomination of General Harrison for the presidency by the Republicans, however, added an element of personal interest
GOV. ISAAC P. GRAY.
209
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
and "state pride" to this campaign, which had not been present in previous campaigns. The state was canvassed as never before; every vote was struggled for on both sides, as if the result of the contest depended upon it alone; and for months every city, town and village-every hamlet and farmhouse in the state-was a center of the most intense political activity. General Harrison carried the state by the very narrow plurality of 2,348 in a total vote of 536,875, and the victory was celebrated by his supporters for days and nights after the result became known with the wildest demonstrations of joy. He was the first Indianian ever elected to the presidency-indeed, the first ever nominated for that office by a national convention.
General Harrison came of a family which had been conspicuous in our national history from early days. His great-grandfather, Benjamin Harrison, was one of the signers of the declaration of independence; his grandfather, William Henry Harrison, the first governor of Indiana and the hero of Tippecanoe, was the ninth president of the United States; his father, John Scott Harrison, served two terms in Congress from Ohio. Benjamin Harrison was born at North Bend, Ohio, in 1833; was educated at Oxford, Ohio, and read law at Cincinnati. In 1854 he took up his residence in Indianap- olis, and his first earnings were made as crier of the federal court. In 1860 he was elected on the Republican ticket as reporter of the supreme court. When the war broke out, however, he organized a regiment, the Seventh Indiana, of which he was appointed colonel, and went to the front.
210
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
BENJAMIN HARRISON.
211
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
He led his regiment in the battle of Resaca, took part in the Atlanta campaign, was in command for a time of a brigade at Nashville, and served under General Sherman in North Carolina. In recognition of his services he was made a brevet brigadier-general in 1865. After the war he resumed the practice of the law, and speedily reached a place in the front rank of his profession. In 1876 he was the Republican candidate for governor, and in ISSI was elected to the United States Senate, where he served one term. He was a member of the Mississippi river commission for several years.
On the same day that General Har- rison was elected president General Alvin P. Hovey was elected governor of Indiana. Doubtless the most important event that has occurred in Indiana dur- ing his incumbency was the enactment, by the legislature of 1889, of a law estab- lishing the Australian election system, with some modifications. Indiana was the GOV. ALVIN P. HOVEY. second state in the Union to adopt this system, which has proved an unqualified success.
This work has assumed, in some proportions, a bio- graphical character. The writer felt that some knowledge of the antecedents and the characters of the men who did so much to mold the destinies of this great commonwealth, in addition to that which would be imparted by a narrative of the events which are recorded in these pages, would be of in- terest and value to the reader. Some reserve has been exer-
212
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
cised in speaking of living men, however, for reasons which will be obvious. Little more has been said of them than seemed necessary to fix their
DANIEL W. VOORHEES.
festly deficient which did not contain some mention of such men as Daniel W. Voorhees, Joseph E. McDonald, David Tur- pie, William S. Holman, George W. Julian, Richard W. Thomp- son and William E. Niblack. Mr. Voorhees, who has served longer in the Senate than any of his predecessors from Indiana, having been appointed in 1877 to
DAVID TURPIE.
relations to current events. A history of Indiana to the present time would, however, be mani-
JOSEPH E. M'DONALD.
213
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
succeed Senator Morton, and elected for full terms in 1879, 1885 and 1891, has from early manhood possessed a national reputation as an orator and an advocate. In the Senate he has been a conspicuous figure, and few men of his time have en- joyed a larger personal popu- larity. Joseph E. McDonald served with distinction in both houses of Congress, was the Democratic nominee for gov- ernor of Indiana in 1864, and in 1884 was a prominent can- didate for the Democratic presidential nomination. He had been for many years, one of the most eminent lawyers WILLIAM S. HOLMAN. in the United States, and took
high rank as a statesman and a party leader. He died while these pages were going through the press (1891) at the age of 72. David Turpie was a member of the United States Senate in 1863, and in 1887 was elected to that body for a full term after a memorable party contest. He is a man of rare scholarly attain- ments, and is famous as a lawyer
GEORGE W. JULIAN.
214
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
and an orator. Judge William S. Holman has served in Congress more years than any other representative ever elected from Indiana, and has long enjoyed the honorable title of the "watch-dog of the treasury," conferred upon him by common consent, in recognition of his earn- est and persistent efforts to protect the people against schemes of job- bery and plunder. George W. Julian served six terms in Congress. He was one of the leading spirits in the great anti-slavery movement, and was the "free soil" candidate for vice-president in 1852 on the ticket with Charles Francis Adams, of Massachusetts. For intellectual power and eloquence
Ruthompson!
of speech he has had few superiors among his contemporaries. Rich- ard W. Thompson, the "old man eloquent," has exercised a potent sway with his silvery tongue over three generations of Indiana voters. He served in Congress two terms, was one of the founders of the Republican party, was sec- retary of the navy in the cabinet
HUGH M'CULLOCH.
215
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
of President Hayes, and was sub- sequently president of the Panama Canal Company. William E. Niblack served several terms in Congress, and with great distinc- tion, and for a long period on the supreme bench of Indiana. Ilis rank as a statesman and as a jurist is very high.
"No state," says Hugh Mc- WILLIAM E. NIBLACK. Culloch, very truly, "has been more prolific of superior men than Indiana; few have been as well represented in Congress."
CHAPTER XXV.
RECORD OF MATERIAL PROGRESS.
THE GREAT RAILROAD SYSTEM OF INDIANA-ITS ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT -THE FIRST RAILROAD IN THE STATE-HOW THE ADVENT OF THE IRON HORSE WAS CELEBRATED-INTRODUCTION OF THE TELEGRAPH-INDIANA'S WONDERFUL RESOURCES-NATURAL GAS-GREAT MANUFACTURING INDUS- TRIES.
After the close of the civil war, commercial life became very active in Indiana, and an era of growth and prosperity set in. New industries and manufactures were started, and towns, which had been little more than villages, fast developed into ' cities, and introduced many improvements in the way of paving and lighting streets, building street-car lines, erecting public builings, etc.
The population, which in 1816, when Indiana was admitted as a state, was not over 70,000, in 1870 was 1,680,637. In 1890 the census returns gave it as 2, 192,404.
The rapid material growth and development of the state was due more to the building of railroads than to any other one cause. The first railroad built in Indiana was that between Madison and Indianapolis, which was completed in the year 1847. In 1830 six railroads-the Lawrenceburg and Indian- apolis, Madison and Indianapolis, New Albany, Salem and Indianapolis, Harrison and Indianapolis, Lafayette and Indian-
216
217
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
apolis, and the Ohio and Indianapolis-were projected. The charters for five of these were signed on February 2, 1832, by Governor Noble. They were private enterprises, and were not carried out for a number of years, but on some the surveys were made, a little grading done and a few embank- ments thrown up, and in later years railroads were built on all these lines.
The Lawrenceburg and Indianapolis railroad was to have a capital stock of $500,000, and the incorporators were Nicholas McCarty and William Blythe, of Indianapolis; John
a
THE FIRST RAILROAD IN INDIANA.
Walker and Major John Hendricks (father of Thomas A. Hendricks ), of Shelbyville; G. H. Dunn and Henry A. Reid, of Ripley county, and Nathan D. Gallion and James Freeman, of Decatur.
In those early days there were men who earnestly and seriously objected to the building of railroads, sincerely and anxiously fearing that the roads would ruin the cities by taking away their trade. A few sages shook their heads and said: "These steam-car men will ruin the whole country. There will be no more use for horses and wagons." But, fortunately,
218
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
there were others of a more enterprising and progressive spirit, who were confident that the roads would prove a great benefit to the state. One of the leaders of this class was John Walker, who declared that he would have a part of the Lawrenceburg and Indianapolis railroad in running order by July 4, 1836. The day arrived and he had kept his word, though people listened in vain for the screech of the locomotive.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.