USA > Indiana > A popular history of Indiana : with an introduction > Part 9
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· was set to music and sung with boisterous enthusiasm at many a Whig rally:
"The times are bad and want curing; They are getting past all enduring; Let us turn out Martin Van Buren, And put in old Tippecanoe. The best thing we can do, Is to put in old Tippecanoe.
" It's a business we all can take part in, So let us give notice to Martin That he must get ready for sartin, For we'll put in old Tippecanoe. The best thing we can do, Is to put in old Tippecanoe.
" We've had of their humbugs a plenty; For now all our pockets are empty; We've a dollar now where we had plenty, So we'll put in old Tippecanoe. The best thing we can do, Is to put in old Tippecanoe."
Another song, suggested by the election returns from Maine, became at once very popular. One verse will be sufficient to indicate its style:
"Oh, have you heard the news from Maine, Maine, Maine, all honest and true? Seventeen thousand is the tune For Tippecanoe and Tyler too, For Tippecanoe and Tyler too, And with them we'll beat little Van. Van, Van is a used up man, And with them we'll beat little Van."
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When the campaign resulted in the election of Willian Henry Harrison to the presidency the west was again wild, but in a different sense from what it had ever been before. After Harrison's death, occurring as it did but one month after his inaugural, John Tyler became president. But he failed to carry out the policy of his party, and grew very unpopular. During his administration an event of great im- portance took place-the annexation of Texas-which brought with it into the Union its old quarrel with Mexico. Since Texas had freed itself from Mexican rule, the boundary line between the two countries had never been agreed upon. American citizens living in Texas had not been honorably and justly treated by the Mexicans, and, as the country changed governments so frequently, in consequence of the sudden and fierce revolutions which were constantly taking place there, the United States could not obtain satisfaction for the injury done her citizens. These disputes and troubles led to the war with Mexico, which began in 1846. James K. Polk was then president, having been elected in 1844 over Henry Clay.
A proclamation was at once issued by Governor Whit- comb, calling for volunteers to fill Indiana's quota. The people promptly responded, and three regiments were at once sent to the mouth of the Rio Grande, where they remained about a year, suffering greatly from the effects of the un- healthful climate. The second year of the war two other regiments accompanied General Scott in his march upon the City of Mexico. These five regiments were Indiana's con-
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tribution to the Mexican war, which ended in 1848, and ren- dered important services. Colonels James P. Drake of Marion county, Joseph Lane of Vanderburgh, James H. Lane of Dearborn, Ebenezer Dumont of Dearborn and James H. Lane were the respective commanders. The latter commanded the Third regiment until it was mustered out, after a year's ser- vice, when he became colonel of the Fifth regiment. Colonel Drake was promoted to brigadier and Henry S. Lane, after- ward governor and United States senator, became colonel. "Joe " Lane was made a brigadier-general and was succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel William A. Bowles of Orange county. The charge of cowardice at Buena Vista was made against him, but it was not sustained. Jefferson Davis, then a colonel, afterward president of the Southern Confederacy, was active in pressing the accusation. Colonel Bowles and his troops were the victims of mistaken orders, but Indiana bore the stigma until it was wiped out by the valor of her sons in the great civil war. Gen. "Joc " Lane, after an honorable career in Indiana, removed to Oregon, became United States senator, and was the nominee for vice-president on the Breckenridge Democratic ticket in 1860.
Colonel "Jim" Lane, when his regiment was mustered out, re-organized another regiment, and went with it to Mexico. Soon after arriving there he was promoted to a brigadiership, and his father-in-law, Daniel Baldridge, succeeded him as colonel. Lane fought gallantly through the war, and after his return home was elected lieutenant-governor on the ticket with Governor Whitcomb. When the Kansas trouble broke
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out he went there, assisted in making it free territory, was elected United States senator, and finally committed suicide.
Three Indiana colonels lost their lives at Buena Vista- Walker of Evansville, Knider of Indianapolis and Taggart of Logansport.
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CHAPTER XX.
A NURSERY OF GREAT MEN.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S YOUTHFUL EXPERIENCES IN INDIANA-HARDSHIPS OF HIS EARLY LIFE-BEGINNINGS OF HUGH MCCULLOCH'S GREAT CAREER-HOW HENRY WARD BEECHER ELECTRIFIED THE STATE WITH HIS ELOQUENCE- TEN YEARS OF NOBLE ACHIEVEMENT-BISHOP SIMPSON'S WORK IN INDIANA.
As we thread our way through the events occurring previous to the year 1840 we find scattered through the state men whose names in after years were numbered among the most illustrious of our land, forming a galaxy of brain and power at that time dim, but destined in the future to shine forth upon the nation in brilliance and grandeur. Some reflected lustre upon the political pathway; some distinguished themselves as financiers, and still others illuminated the theo- logical, literary and scientific world.
And now let us turn back for a moment to the year 1816, the year that Indiana became a state. Making our way with difficulty to the southern portion, to what is now Spencer county, we reach a little clearing, where we find what was known in those days, as a "half-faced camp;" that is, a cabin inclosed on three sides and open on the fourth. In this camp, or "about the place somewhar'," we find a little boy about eight years old, of muscular frame and sad countenance, bare- foot, of course, and coarsely and shabbily dressed. He goes
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by the name of Abe, and has come with his father and mother and sister from Kentucky.
The child's father was a rough, shiftless man, and his mother, from whom he is said to have inherited his mental power, died two years after their removal to Indiana.
Actual suffering must have been endured by this family in this half-faced camp, in which they lived one year, when
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they built a rough log cabin, inclosed on all sides, but in which there was neither floor, door, nor window. In this, no doubt, the family was more comfortable, but it was not until after the death of the mother and the father had married again that there was anything like home comfort for the poor children.
The stepmother was not only the owner of a few ABRAHAM LINCOLN AS A STUDENT. household goods of her own, such as "one fine bureau, one table, one set of chairs, one large clothes chest, cooking utensils, knives, forks, bedding and other articles," which she brought with her to this cabin in the wilderness, but she was also possessed of what is even of greater value-a kind and generous heart and good judg- ment-and was a thrifty housewife. Her mother heart warmed
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toward her poor, little, destitute children; and, dressing them cleanly and comfortably, and taking great interest in their training, she soon won their deepest respect and warmest love. This was the first turning point in little Abe's life, and the first feelings of self-respect were no doubt stirred in his heart when he found himself surrounded by these improved condi- tions.
During the years that this boy was a resident of our state his time was mostly employed in doing such work on a farm as a boy can do, but all the "schooling " he ever received was in the rough backwoods of the " Hoosier State," where the highest qualifications required of a teacher were "readin', writin' and cipherin' to the rule of three."
It was not long before young Abe learned all that could be taught him at the schools. But he was fond of reading and borrowed all the books in the settlement, which com- prised " Æsop's Fables," "Robinson Crusoe," "The Pilgrim's Progress," a "History of the United States," and a "Life of Washington." From these he made a great many extracts, copying passages that especially pleased him into a copy. book. There was one book he could not borrow, however, and that was a copy of the Statutes of Indiana, so every spare hour he could get he ran over to the house of the neighbor who was the fortunate owner of the valuable book, and studied it.
The boy's entire sojourn in our state, which continued until he was twenty-one years of age-when, in 1830, he went with his father to Macon, Illinois-was indeed full of hard-
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ships, toil and privation. But the stepmother's kind treat- ment and unselfish interest in his welfare did much to mitigate them. And it was to her the famous President Lincoln- whom you have no doubt long ere this recognized in the little Abe-referred when he alluded to his "saintly mother " and his "angel of a mother."
His own mother's grave is in a small meadow near the little village of Lincoln in this state. A plain marble słab has been there erected by Mr. Clem Studebaker of South Bend, on which is the following inscription :
NANCY HANKS LINCOLN, Mother of President Lincoln, Died October 5, A. D. 1818, aged thirty-five years. Erected by a friend of her Martyred Son.
The mother's remains were borne to this grave in a two- wheeled cart, drawn by a yoke of oxen.
In 1833 we find a young man wending his way from his New England home in search of a promising location in the west in which to establish himself in the legal profession. Ile first stops in Madison, Indiana, for a few weeks, and then proceeds to Indianapolis, which he describes as being at that time more "utterly forlorn " than any of the other new western towns he visits.
The young lawyer decided to seek further before locating, and exchanging his trunk for a pair of saddle-bags, made the journey from Indianapolis to Fort Wayne in the usual way- on horseback. He found this village quite as uninviting as others through which he had passed, except that its site was higher. But he chose the place for his future home, and
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opening a little office, began the practice of the law, which he soon abandoned, and engaged in the banking business, becoming one of the directors of the State Bank in 1836, and president of the State Bank of Indiana in 1856.
In 1863, during the administration of President Lincoln, Hugh McCulloch-for our young lawyer was none other than he -- was made the first comptroller of the currency. And a few days after Lincoln's second inauguration, in 1865, he was appointed secretary of the treasury. This office he most ably filled through Johnson's administration, when he went to London, and there engaged in the banking business for several years. In 1884 Mr. McCulloch was again called upon to fill the treasury department, which he did for several months, under President Arthur. He ranks as one of the greatest financiers and political economists the country has produced.
In 1837 there came to Lawrenceburg direct from a theological seminary a young divine, whose moral teachings, broad philanthropy and brilliant oratory were revelations to its people, and sources of pride and congratulation years afterward, when the RELE HALL name of Henry Ward Beecher was in the zenith of its glory and popularity. Here he re- mained two years, when he went to Indianapolis to CIRCLE HALL, BEECHER'S FIRST CHURCH. take charge of the first
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" New School " Presbyterian church organized in that city. From a membership of a dozen it grew, through the mag- netic power and intense earnestness of the young clergyman, to be one of the largest churches in the city. His labors during the ten years he spent in this field were enormous, and would have no doubt broken down a man of less physical endurance. He preached regularly three times a week, deliv. ered courses of lectures to young men, engaged in benevolent and missionary work throughout the state, and edited a weekly horticultural paper, besides milking his cow, grooming and feeding his horse, sawing his wood, and "with his own hands making the best and largest garden in the city."
The beautiful lawns, so much admired now in Indian- apolis, are largely the results of the teachings and example of Henry Ward Beecher during the carly years of the city's growth. His library at that time was extremely limited. IIe was then, as always, a student of men, rather than of books. The church where this distinguished pulpit orator attracted his large audiences, for he was then considered one of the ablest preachers in the west, is still standing on the Circle.
In 1847 Mr. Beecher accepted a call to the Plymouth Con- gregational Church in Brooklyn, where his methods, so different from any then known in the east, led to his being called a western orator. May not the free, expanding life then found in Indiana have contributed to the formation of his broad views? Indeed, he himself acknowledged this to have been the case fifty years later, when relating some of his personal history before the board of London Congregational ministers.
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The year, 1839, was indeed an eventful one in the religious development of the state, for not only did Henry Ward Beecher begin his labors in Indiana at that time, but a Young professor, whose name is known over two continents, was called to fill the position of president of what was then known as Asbury University, but has been since re-christened De Pauw. Though of unprepossessing appearance, he had only to preach his first sermon to establish himself in the high appreciation of the people. The university he found in a most deplorable condition financially, and the village of Greencastle possessing all the unattractive characteristics of a rough pioneer settlement. The church building of the Methodist Society was unfinished. "It had a single aisle, with movable benches. The men and women sat apart. It was not uncon- mon for the women to come to church in their sun-bonnets, which they took off during ser- vice. While the people were both respectable and pious, soci- ety was in almost every sense in a very primitive condition." This was the picture Bishop Simpson himself drew of the field of his youthful labors. The situation demanded heroic meas- ures. Matthew Simpson proved BISHOP SIMPSON. the man for the emergency. He soon acquired an extraordinary power over the Methodists
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throughout the state and enlisted them heartily in the building up of this seat of learning.
Bishop Simpson was but twenty-seven years of age when he assumed the responsibilities of president of a college, which had no endowment, whose professors were paid in scrip issued by the college, and whose first sessions were held at the "deestrict schoolhouse, and then in the county seminary." " All over Indiana he went like a hero," stirring up the hearts of the fathers to send their boys to this college and to give of even their limited means for its support. He was an inspira- tion and power in the pulpit, genial, brilliant and magnetic in social intercourse, and eminently qualified as a teacher, reach- ing the hearts and minds of the boys in his charge as few are ever able to do. He befriended and assisted the needy, who were struggling for an education, and aided the ambitious. He did more perhaps than any other one man ever did in Indiana, which was but just emerging from its log-cabin stage, to inspire ambition for the acquisition of learning and the pur- suit of the higher branches of knowledge.
In this state, it is claimed, Bishop Simpson "matured as a preacher." But his health becoming impaired, he resigned the position of president in 1848, and accepted the editorial chair of the Western Christian Advocate, which position he · soon exchanged for the office of bishop. His subsequent career was full of distinction, and he was known as one of the two or three most eminent divines and pulpit orators of his time. He died in 1884 full of years and honors.
CHAPTER XXI.
· AN IMPORTANT EPOCH.
THE CONSTITUTION OF 1851 -- A NOTABLE CONVENTION-COLFAX, HENDRICKS AND ENGLISH AMONG ITS MEMBERS-A GALAXY OF FAMOUS INDIANIANS- ASHBEL P. WILLARD-JOSEPH G. MARSHALL, "THE SLEEPING LION"- EDWARD A. HANNEGAN, CALEB B. SMITH AND HENRY S. LANE-JESSE D. BRIGHT, ONE OF THE GREATEST OF PARTY LEADERS-THE CAREER OF OLIVER P. MORTON.
In 1851 a new constitution was adopted. For several years there had been a very general feeling that the state had, in some directions, outgrown the old constitution. How. ever well adapted the latter was to the condition and the wants of the people at the time it was made, it was, in some respects, not suited to their circumstances after the great changes which had been wrought by the introduction of the telegraph, the railway and other modern inventions. A con- vention was therefore called to frame a new constitution, which assembled at Indianapolis, and which included among its members many men who were then, or afterwards became, distinguished. George Whitfield Carr presided over this con- vention, and its principal secretary was William H. English, a native of Indiana, who afterward served with great distinc- tion in Congress ( 1853 to 1861,) and who was the Democratic candidate for vice-president on the ticket with General Han-
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cock in ISSo. Two men who subsequently became vice-presi- dents of the United States-Schuyler Colfax and Thomas A. Hendricks-also sat in this convention. The greater part of the old constitution was re-enacted, although new word- ings were introduced into nearly every section. The bill of rights was increased from twenty-four to thirty-five sections. The prohibition of slavery was renewed in somewhat different language. In the existing constitution it is as follows:
"There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude within the state otherwise than for the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. No indenture of any negro or mulatto, made or executed out of the bounds of the state, shall be valid within the state."
The new constitution greatly increased the number of elective officers. The supreme judges were made elective, their terms reduced from seven years to six years, and their number limited to five. The old circuit courts, which con- sisted of a presiding judge, appointed by the governor, and two associate judges, elected by the people, were abolished. It was provided that every circuit should be presided over by one judge, elected by the people for a term of six years. Annual sessions of the legislature were discontinued. The
general assembly was made to consist of a senate of not to exceed fifty members, and a house of representatives of not to exceed one hundred members; senators to be elected for four years and representatives for two years; the legislature to meet in January of every alternate year, and to remain in session no longer than sixty-one days. Special sessions,
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to be called by the governor, were limited to forty days. The passage of local or special laws on a great number of specified subjects was absolutely forbidden; and it was pro- vided that "in all other cases, where a general law can be made applicable, all laws shall be general, and of uniform operation throughout the state." This important provision was adopted to cure an evil which had become very serious under the old constitution-that of special or local legislation. The terms of the governor and lieutenant-governor were ex- tended to four years, and the former was made ineligible for "more than four years in any period of eight years." The veto power was left as before-in the hands of the governor, subject to be overruled by a majority of each house of the legislature. Liberal provision was made for a permanent school fund. This constitution was ratified at a popular election by a large majority. It was subsequently (1873) amended so as to forever prohibit the assumption by the state of the Wabash and Erie Canal debt, for which the canal had been accepted by the creditors in full payment.
In 1856 Ashbel P. Willard was elected governor. He was a man of robust in- tellect and great force of character, whose administration was vigorous and success- ful. Ile is remembered as the most effective "stump" orator ever heard in Indiana. He died at St. Paul, Minn., a few months before the expiration of his
GOV. ASHBEL P. WILLARD.
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term, and Lieutenant-Governor Abram A. Hammond acted as governor until Jan- uary 1861, when Henry S. Lane suc- ceeded him. Mr. Lane was elected to the United States Senate a day or two after he became governor, and Oliver P. Morton took the chair of state.
This seems a fitting point to say a few words of a number of men who were ABRAM A. HAMMOND. conspicuous in the affairs of Indiana before the war period, but whom the scope of our narrative has not brought into these pages.
Isaac Blackford, Charles Dewey, Isaac Howk and Jeremiah Sullivan were among those who gave renown to the bench and bar of Indiana in its earlier years as a state. Blackford's reports rank as legal classics, and are still "an acknowledged authority in all the courts of the Union." One of the most picturesque characters and most brilliant intellects in our history was Joseph G. Marshall, a native of Ken- tucky, but a resident of Madison, Indiana, for many years. He was a great lawyer GOV. HENRY S. LANE. and a great orator, and it has been truly said that "Indiana never had the equal of Joseph G. Marshall in breadth and strength of intellect. He was called 'the sleeping lion,' and when fully aroused he was a lion indeed. On such occasions his oratory was like the hurricane that sweeps I3
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everything before it." Mr. Marshall was the Whig candidate for governor in 1846, but was defeated. He was elected to the state senate in 1850, and in IS52 was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress. He died at Louisville in 1855, at the age of fifty-five.
Edward A. Hannegan was a scholar, an orator and a wit. In the JOS. G. MARSHALL. memorable campaign of 1840 he electrified the people of Indiana with his eloquence, and in the United States Senate he won an enduring fame as a debater. His career was cut short by premature death. George G. Dunn took high rank at home and in Congress as a man of ability, as did William McKee Dunn who subsequently became judge advocate-general of the United States army. Joh ?? Pettit, who served in the United States Senate from 1853 to 1857, and was afterward a member of the supreme bench of the state, and Graham N. Fitch, who was a senator of the United States from IS57 to 1861, were men of fine abilities. Mr. Fitch is still living (1891) at Logansport in honorable and dignified retirement. Caleb GRAHAM N. FITCH. B. Smith was eminent as a Whig, and afterward as a Republican, leader. He was a famous
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stump orator, served two terms in Congress, and was President Lincoln's first secretary of the interior. Henry S. Lane was one of the most eloquent and persuasive public speakers who ever lived in Indiana. His power over popular audiences is a lively tradition throughout the west. He was a member of Congress three terms, was elected governor in 1860, and served in the United States Senate from 1861 to 1867.
It remains to speak of one man, who, for twenty years before the war, occupied a commanding position in the public life of Indiana, and who has had few superiors anywhere in the art of party leadership. Jesse D. Bright was born in Norwich, N. Y., in 1812, but when a child came with his family to Madison, where his youth was passed. He was of robust constitution, fond of out-door sports, excelled as a wrestler, and had great powers of physical endurance. He was self-confident, ambitious, liberally endowed with brains, but of limited education. He was a lawyer by profession, and was success- ively probate judge, state senator and lieutenant-governor. While serving in that capacity he was elected to the United States Senate, and was the youngest man who, at the time, had ever taken a seat in that body. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1850 and again in 1856. On the death of Vice-President King in 1853 he was made president pro tem of the Senate, which position he filled four years. He declined a place in President Buchanan's cabinet. After sixteen years' service in the Senate he was expelled from that body because he had written a letter to Jefferson Davis which was considered treasonable in its character. Mr. Bright maintained that the
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letter was not written with any bad motive. After his expulsion from the Senate, he sought a re-election to that body, failing in which he removed to Kentucky, where he served two terms in the legislature. He died in Baltimore in 1874.
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