USA > Indiana > A popular history of Indiana : with an introduction > Part 8
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he did so much to save them. He was re-elected in 1846, but before his term expired was chosen United States senator. He died in New York in 1852, at the age of fifty-seven, when he had served but little more than half his term as senator. He was one of the most eminent men of his genera- tion, and his services to his state were beyond computation.
PARIS C. DUNNING.
Lieutenant-Governor Paris C. Dun- ning acted as governor during the rem- nant of Governor Whitcomb's term. In IS49 Joseph A. Wright, one of the most distinguished men in our history, became governor. He served two terms, during which the state made unexampled mate- rial progress. The work of railroad and highway building was prosecuted with
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great energy, and the state grew in population and wealth at a rate never equalled before or since. Governor Wright's ad- ministration was wise and progressive. His career was a notable one. He was born of humble parentage in Wash- ington, Pa., in ISIo. When a child he came to Indiana. Ile struggled hard to obtain an education. He paid his tuition in the state university by acting as jani- tor, while he supplied himself with cloth- ing and books by gathering and selling nuts. In 1829 he began the practice of law at Rockville. Before his election as governor he had served in both branches GOV. JOS. A. WRIGHT of the legislature, and had represented his district in Congress. In 1857 President Buchanan appointed him minister to Prus- sia. In 1862, shortly after his return to this country, he was appointed United States senator to succeed Jesse D. Bright, in which capacity he served nearly two years. In 1863 Presi- dent Lincoln appointed him commissioner to the Hamburg exposition, and in 1865 he was again made minister to Prussia. He died at Berlin in 1867.
CHAPTER XVIII.
PROGRESS IN MATERIAL GREATNESS.
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THE WABASH AND ERIE CANAL-AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATE-ITS BEGINNINGS AND ITS ENDING-THE ADVENT OF THE FIRST PACKET CELEBRATED WITH GREAT REJOICINGS-THE INDIANA STATE BANK-SKETCH OF A NOTABLE INSTITUTION.
In the last chapter mention was made of the construction of the Wabash and Erie Canal, and some account was given of the financial difficulties into which that enterprise, and other undertakings of internal improvement, plunged the state. This canal, while it did not fully realize the hopes of its projectors, certainly proved a very important factor in the early develop- ment of the state. The need of better transportation than that afforded by pack-horses and flat-boats on the rivers was greatly felt. The fertile fields became very productive, and the farmers of northern Indiana required better markets than were afforded. by the few straggling villages accessible to them. J. P. Dunn, in his history of Indiana, gives the follow- ing record, which he found in the Canadian archives: "Be- tween the Miami (Maumee) and the Oubache (Wabash) there are beaver dams which, when water is low, passengers break down to raise it, and by that means pass easier than they otherwise would. When they are gone the beavers come and mend the breach; for this reason they have been
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hitherto sacred, as neither Indian nor white people hunt them." Here, then, says Dunn, "was the first Wabash canal in full operation, with beavers for keepers of the locks, serving the public without money and without price." Whether nature's workmen suggested the benefits and im- portance of such a work we know not; probably no such suggestion was needed. Be that as it may, the project of building a water-way to connect the lakes with the Gulf of Mexico soon engaged the attention of the ablest men in Ohio and Indiana. They anticipated that with the completion of this enterprise a new era of commercial activity and pros- perity would begin. And this anticipation was finally realized, though not until after years of patient perseverance in the prosecution of the work.
On January 21, 1822, a bill was passed in the Ohio legislature "authorizing an examination into the practicability of connecting Lake Erie with the Ohio river by a canal." Through the agency of congressmen from Indiana a survey of the canal was decided upon, and begun under the auspices of the general government in 1826. The surveyors were, however, soon prostrated by illness, Colonel Shriver, the leader of the engineer corps, dying in the old barracks at Fort Wayne. His successor, Colonel Asa Moore, also fell a victim to disease, after continuing the work until 1828. The survey was finally completed by Colonel Howard Stansbury.
Congress passed an act, approved March 2, 1827, "to grant a certain quantity of land to the State of Indiana for
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the purpose of aiding said state in opening a canal to con- nect the waters of the Wabash river with those of Lake Erie." This grant was accepted at a session of the Indiana legislature held in 1828, and Samuel Hanna, David Burr and Robert John were appointed a board of commissioners to have charge of the enterprise.
This generous grant of land to Indiana by the general government of the United States "was the first of any magni- tude made for the promotion of public works" in this country, and comprised 349,261 acres of land lying east of the Tippe- canoe river.
In 1832 Jesse L. Williams, of Fort Wayne, was ap- pointed chief engineer, which position he ably filled until after the completion of the canal. The formal beginning of the work, which took place February 22 of that year, was attended with appropriate ceremonies. In the entire northern portion of the state only one village was then to be found. That was Fort Wayne, which contained not over 400 inhabit- ants. At this place gathered representatives from the entire country side, who, together with the citizens, met at Masonic Hall. Henry Rudisill was made chairman of the meeting, and David H. Colerick secretary. Formning into a proces- sion, they marched to a point across the St. Mary's river, where the assembly was addressed by Charles W. Ewing, an eloquent orator, and J. Vigus, who, after referring to the obstacles and difficulties which had been met and overcome, closed by saying: "I am now about to commence the Wabash and Erie Canal in the name and by the authority of the
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State of Indiana." He then "struck the long suspended blow." Samuel Hanna and Captain Murray next aided in breaking the ground, which was followed by a general dig-
VIEW ON THE CANAL.
ging of the earth by those present; and the construction of the water-way, which was destined to play such an im- portant part in the development of the state, had begun. The division of the canal connecting the Wabash and the
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Maumee rivers was completed in 1835. On July 4 of that year the first packet, which was named the "Indiana," and commanded by Captain Oliver Fairfield, passed through it. and an enthusiastic celebration was held at Fort Wayne. In the procession formed on this occasion were thirty-three young ladies, representing the different states and territories. They wore white dresses and green sashes, and each one carried a flag, bearing the name of the state or territory she represented. After marching to the public square a dinner was served, and an able address delivered by Hugh Mc- Culloch, afterwards secretary of the treasury. A ball in the evening, at the "public house," kept by Zenas Henderson, completed the day's festivities. Two years later the young lady, whose trip to the west has already been noted, took her wedding trip on this "first packet," having been married a day previous to the one at first appointed for the cere- mony, in order to leave on this boat.
In the summer of 1843 the great water-way was finished and in navigable order. Again Fort Wayne was made the scene of a great celebration, which took place on the day usually chosen for such occasions-the Fourth of July. Both states, Ohio and Indiana, were represented in a large con- course of people, which gathered in what was long known as "Ewing's Grove," where, after music and banqueting, General Lewis Cass delivered an "able and classic oration."
In this same year a line of packets was established, which made regular trips between Toledo and Lafayette. There was also one steam propeller called the "Niagara." II
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These packets were models of comfort, and, although their rate of speed averaged but from seventy five to one hundred miles in twenty-four hours, we cannot wonder that their advent was the cause of great rejoicing when we remember their predecessors, the pack-horse and the flat-boat.
The arrival of a packet at the dock was announced by the playing of a violin and a clarionet by two of the employes.
This great enterprise, born in the days of heroic effort and sturdy perseverance of pioneer life, developed into a channel of great utility and mighty importance. It served its day and generation well, but it was in due time super- seded by an agent of a higher order-the railroad. Its mis- sion fulfilled, it has become a thing of the past. But a few years ago it was ignominiously consigned to oblivion, and now lives only in the recollection of the people.
This seems a fitting point to introduce a brief sketch of the Indiana State Bank, which, like the canal, played an important part in our early history as a state. It was, during * its entire career, in every way an honor to those who con- ducted its affairs, and a just cause of pride to the people of Indiana. For most of the facts connected with its history we are indebted to the account given by Ex-Secretary Hugh McCulloch in his work, "Men and Measures of Half a Cen- tury," to which we have before referred.
The State Bank of Indiana received its charter from the legislature during the winter of IS33 and 1834, and, says McCulloch, "in nothing was the wisdom, the practical good
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sense, of the representatives of the people of Indiana in the legislative assembly more strikingly exhibited than in the charter of this bank." It could, indeed, hardly have met the needs of the people better than it did, so well adapted was it to the times.
It was a bank of branches, the number being limited to thirteen, which were located in the principal towns through- out the state. The capital of each branch was $160,000, one-half of which the state provided, the aggregate capital being over $2,000,000. The state was represented in the management of the bank by five directors, who were elected by the legislature, as was also the president, who, ex-officio, was a member of the board. The other directors were chosen by the branches, each branch being represented by one director. This board possessed almost absolute authority
over the branches. If a branch was not properly managed the board could suspend it, or, if through its mismanagement the other branches were liable to be injured, it could close it altogether. There was, however, but one branch suspended during the entire existence of the bank, and that only for a short time. Each branch was held responsible for the debts of every other branch, but retained its own profits. This responsibility insured a careful supervision of the affairs of the several branches. A semi-annual investigation by the president into the condition of each branch was required. These examinations were always very thorough, and, as the officers of the branches never knew when they were to take place, no especial preparation could be made for them.
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Money was at first loaned by the bank on real estate security, and during a part of the time there was considerable land speculation, but the affairs of the bank were so well con- ducted that not a dollar was ever lost on these loans, though they reached millions. But after the great financial crash of 1837 the loans were principally made on "bills of exchange, based upon produce shipped to eastern or southern markets." And as outlets for the plentiful produce of the fertile young state were what was most needed at that time, the bank, no doubt, performed a great service in furnishing the money to enable the producer to reach these markets.
It was the privilege of the branches to "issue circulating notes to twice the amount of their capitals." These notes were obtained from the officers of the bank. The directors of the bank never declared dividends on the capital of the branches unless they had been actually earned. Thus wisely and cautiously managed, it is not strange that the bank took high rank among the financial institutions of the country, and was able to weather the financial storm of 1837, which ruined so many banking houses all over the country. In that year it suspended specie payment. Although this was not actually necessary, it was considered the better policy under the circumstances. Ex-Secretary McCulloch says he had been a banker for fourteen years before he saw a dollar in gold, silver being used exclusively through the west for metallic currency. He also says "there was never a more wholesome business done between banks and their customers than was done by the State Bank of Indiana through a large part of its career."
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And when its charter expired in 1857, so great had been its success that the profit on the share which the state had fur- nished amounted to "nearly three millions of dollars," which was used as the foundation for the existing school fund. The stockholders in the different branches reaped equally large profits on their investment.
Two years following the retirement of the bank from active business were spent in settling up its affairs, and even at the end of that time many of its notes were still in circulation. But in order that no shadow of a cloud should be left on the fair name the State Bank had gained, arrange- ments were made with several responsible men to redeem these notes when presented. So no note-holder ever suffered loss.
The first president of the bank was Samuel Merrill, who was followed by James Morrison, Among the directors were Lanier, Fletcher, Blanchard, Dunning, Fitch, Ball, Rathbone, Ross, Burkham, Orr, Rector and Chapin, while the cashier was James M. Ray.
Quarterly meetings of the directors were held at Indian- apolis, at which time they carried with them large sums of money. In those days, it must be remembered, there were no express companies. The directors usually traveled to and from Indianapolis alone on horseback, and were often three days on the way, both going and coming, stopping at night at taverns or cabins. They were well-known through the state, and it was also known that they carried with them in their saddle- bags, at such times, thousands of dollars. That none of them
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were ever robbed speaks volumes for the honesty of the young, sparsely-settled state.
An incident, illustrating the temptation to which those who carried the money in this way were themselves exposed, may be of interest. Just previous to his death D. D. Pratt, of Logans-
S
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THE TEMPTATION.
port, at one time United States senator from Indiana, was dic- tating his " Personal Recollections " for publication. He related how, in 1833, he carried from Lawrenceburg to Indianapolis $20,000 in a pair of saddle-bags. When he had reached the brow of the hill overlooking the Ohio river the temptation came to him to appropriate the money then in his possession. The Ohio river at that time was "the great artery of com-
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ยท merce before a railroad had been built west of Massachusetts," and he had but to sell his horse and go aboard one of the steamers on the river, when he would be " absolutely beyond the reach of pursuit." There was no telegraph in those days, and there were no extradition treaties requiring foreign gov- ernments to return criminals. We give the rest of the story . in Mr. Pratt's own beautiful language: "The world was before me, and at the age of twenty-one, with feeble ties con- necting me with those left behind, I was in possession of a fortune for those early days. I recall the fact that this thought was a tenant of my mind for a moment, and for a moment only. Bless God, it found no hospitable lodgment any longer. And what think you, gentle reader, were the associate thoughts that came to my rescue? 4 Away over rivers and mountains, a thousand miles distant, in an humble farm-house on a beach, an aged mother reading to her boy from the oracles of God."
" At this point," says the narrative, "his voice choked and his emotions overcame him. He said, 'we will finish this another time, Julia; read over what you have written.' Hc put his head back on his chair, and in a moment afterward died without a struggle or a groan. The action of the heart, excited no doubt by the emotion, ceased."
During the existence of the State Bank no other banking charter could be obtained in Indiana. It had exclusive banking privileges in the state, hence was a monopoly. After a brief trial of what was called the free-banking system, which proved a complete failure, a new charter was obtained in many respects similar to the previous one. The new bank, founded upon this
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charter, was called the "Bank of the State of Indiana," but the state was not a stockholder. The branches numbered twenty instead of thirteen. The authorized capital was $6,000,000, and the president was selected by the directors. The bank began active business on January 1, 1857, under most promising circumstances, and was favored with the able management of Mr. Hugh McCulloch, who was chosen its president. But in that same year it encountered a severe financial panic, which it passed through successfully, and con- tinued to do an honorable and prosperous business until 1863. In that year it went into liquidation, owing to the tax of 10 per cent. imposed by Congress upon the notes of all banks excepting National banks.
CHAPTER XIX.
"A GRAND NATIONAL FROLIC."
THE EVER-MEMORABLE "LOG CABIN AND HARD CIDER CAMPAIGN" OF 1840 - INDIANA ABLAZE WITH ENTHUSIASM-THE GREAT WHIG "RALLIES"-SING . ING HARRISON INTO THE WHITE HOUSE-THE MEXICAN WAR AND INDI- ANA'S PART THEREIN.
For several years previous to the great financial crisis of 1837, to which reference has been made in previous chap- ters, there had been great apparent prosperity throughout the entire country; and, as is pretty sure to be the case when crops are abundant and work and money plenty, people went heavily into debt, and engaged extensively in speculations.
The currency had been inflated, and it is thought by many able financiers that the principal factor in hastening the inevitable disaster was the veto of the bill for the re- charter of the Bank of the United States by President Jackson in 1832. At the time the re-action came, after the years of wild speculation and debt-making, Martin Van Buren was so unfortunate as to be president of the United States. The masses were disposed to cast the blame of their misfortunes upon his administration. All classes suffered in this disaster. In New York City alone the failures amounted to $100,000,- 000. But the laboring man and the farmer suffered the most. Factories and stores closed, banks suspended, and eight of
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the states became bankrupt. Prices fell. A dollar could buy a great deal, but the dollars were scarce. In Indianapolis, it is said, oats sold for six cents a bushel, chickens fifty cents a dozen and eggs three cents a dozen. Work was of course hard to get, and thousands were destitute.
Hoping to change the times by changing the party in power, many old Democrats joined the Whig party. The political campaign of 1840, the first after the great financial crisis, was one of the most notable in the history of our country. None, probably, ever furnished so many amusing incidents and features.
George W. Julian, in his "Political Recollections," de- scribes it as "a grand national frolic, in which the imprisoned mirth and fun of the people found such jubilant and uproarious expression that anything like calmness of judgment or real seriousness of purpose was out of the question in the Whig camp."
In 1839 the Democrats chose Martin Van Buren again for the first place on their ticket, and Richard M. Johnson. of Kentucky, for the second. At the national convention of the Whigs, which was held in Harrisburg, Pa., William Henry Harrison was nominated for president and John Tyler for vice-president.
Although General Harrison was a native of Virginia, his entire public career had been associated with the west. As a young man he had been aide-de-camp to General Wayne. When Indiana territory was formed he was made its first governor, and afterwards represented it in Congress. He had
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served as superintendent of Indian affairs, and, during the war of 1812 with England, had been commander-in-chief of the western army. His renowned victories over the Indians on the banks of the Tippecanoe, and the combined British and Indian forces on the Thames in Canada, had made him a popular military hero. In 1816 he had been elected to Congress from Ohio, and in 1824 had become a member of the United States Senate. After this long public career he had withdrawn to private life for a time, but in 1836 had been nominated by the Whig party for president of the United States. He was defeated by Martin Van Buren, the Demo- cratic candidate.
General Harrison was greatly esteemed in those early days in the west as a scholar and an honest man. He was closely watched by enemies in his administration of Indian affairs, and, though charges of fraudulent dealings were brought against him, they were disproved. He was an ardent and zealous worker in the cause of public education, and gave his aid and influence to the support of a state uni- versity, as well as to the establishment of schools of lower grades.
During the early part of the campaign of 1840 ? corres- pondent of an eastern newspaper referred to General Har- rison as a man whose greatest capacity for happiness was satisfied when he could live in a log cabin and have an abundance of hard cider to drink. This proved the key-note of the campaign, for the poorer classes inferred from that remark that there were some who thought the president must
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be chosen from the aristocratic class, and must be a man who lived in a grand house, and drank fine wines. Log cabins, built after the rude frontier style and ornamented with coon-skins, were built and called "wigwams," and were used for the meeting places of the Whig rallies and conven- tions. A plentiful supply of cider was always found at these places, and was frequently drunk out of gourds. Small log cabins made of poles were always most prominent features in the processions.
The campaign was rightfully named the "log-cabin and hard-cider campaign." Enthusiastic rallies were held throughout the west, where banquets were served, speeches were made and songs sung.
Among the most prominent Democratic speakers in Indiana were Edward A. Hannegan and James Kennedy. The most popular Whig orators were Richard W. Thomp- son, Caleb B. Smith and Henry S. Lane. At a rally held at South Bend, after the procession had marched, the bands had played, and the log cabins and mottoes had been dis- played, the delegations from the neighboring towns assembled at a banquet. The rude way in which it was served was made to contrast as strongly as possible with the elegant repasts supposed to be served at the president's table. The dinner was given by the farmers. The chickens, beef, pork and bread were cut up before the guests were called, and every man used his fingers and jack-knife; and instead of high-priced wines, the log-cabin boys drank water or cider out of tin cups.
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An immense mass meeting was held on the Tippecanoe battle-ground, where James Brooks talked to the assembled thousands from the top of a large log cabin. To this rally George WV. Julian rode 150 miles on horseback through mud and swamps. Cider was sent in large quantities up the Wabash, and generously dealt out to the crowd.
At another mass meeting held in the southern part of the state, where there were fully 15,000 people, a grotesque- looking character came on to the platform where General Harrison was to speak. The general arose and met him cordially, giving him a seat by his side, where, on a bench hewn out of a log, "the most venerable and respectable persons" of the vicinity were 1 seated. This singular-looking man had driven a long ox-team to the rally, hauling a number of passen. gers. He wore "knee breeches, and imitation silver buckles upon THE OLD-TIMER AT THE CAMPAIGN RALLY. his shoes, with stockings exposed and a hunting shirt," and had on his head, "a coon-skin cap, which was dressed with a coon's tail hanging down, his long hair being in a bag or queue."
Singing was a promiment feature of this campaign, largely contributing to the general joyousness and hilarity. The following verses are specimens of the doggerel which
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