A portrait and biographical record of Delaware and Randolph counties, Ind., containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana, Part 11

Author:
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Chicago, A. W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1474

USA > Indiana > Randolph County > A portrait and biographical record of Delaware and Randolph counties, Ind., containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana > Part 11
USA > Indiana > Delaware County > A portrait and biographical record of Delaware and Randolph counties, Ind., containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana > 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).

ENRY SMITH LANE, for two days governor of Indiana, was born Feb- ruary 24, 1811, in Montgomery county, Ky. He secured a good practical education, and at the age of eighteen com-

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menced the study of law. Soon after attain- ing his majority he was admitted to the bar, and in 1835 came to Indiana and located at Crawfordsville, where he soon obtained a good legal practice. His winning manners made him very popular with the people, and in 1837 he was elected to represent Montgomery county in the state legislature. In 1840 he was a candidate for congress against Edward A. Han- negan, whom he defeated by 1, 500 votes. He was re-elected the next year over John Bryce, and as a national representative ranked with the ablest of his colleagues. He took an active part in the presidential campaign of 1844, and made a brilliant canvass throughout Indiana for his favorite candidate, Henry Clay. On the breaking out of the Mexican war, Mr. Lane at once organized a company, was chosen captain, and later became a major and lieutenant colonel of the regiment, and fol- lowed its fortunes until mustered out of the service.

In 1858, Col. Lane was elected to the United States senate, but, owing to opposition on the part of democratic senators, he did not take his seat. February 27, 1860, he was nominated by acclamation for governor, and was elected over Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks by a majority of about 10,000 votes. Two days after the delivery of his first message, Gov. Lane was elected to the senate of the United States. He at once resigned the gov- ernorship, the shortest term in that office on record in Indiana. In the senate, Mr. Lane did not attain any great distinction, as it was not the place for the exercise of his pecular talents as an orator, which were better suited to the hustings than to a dignified legislative body. When Col. Lane's senatorial term ex- pired, he returned to his home in Crawfords- ville, and never afterward held public office except the appointment of Indian commis- sioner, by President Grant. He was chosen

president of the first national convention that assembled in 1856, and nominated John C. Fremont. It is worthy of note that every nomination ever conferred upon him was by acclamation and without opposition in his party. In person, Col. Lane was tall, slender and somewhat stoop shouldered. His face was thin and wore a kindly expression. In his later days, the long beard he wore was white as snow. He moved quickly, and his bearing was that of a cultured man. He de- parted this life at his home in Crawfordsville, on the 18th day of June, 1881.

HOMAS A. HENDRICKS was the son of Maj. John Hendricks, and the grandson of Abraham Hendricks, a decendant of the Huguenots, who emigrated to New Jersey and thence to Penn- sylvania, prior to the Revolution. Abraham Hendricks was a man of remarkable force of character. He was elected to the Pennsyl- vania assembly first in 1792, and served four terms, the last ending in 1798. William Hen- dricks, second governor of Indiana, preceded his brother John in moving to this state from Ohio, and had gained much notoriety as a tal- ented and public man when Major John finally concluded to risk his fortune in the wilds of the new west. John Hendricks, prior to 1829, resided with his family at Zanesville, Ohio. His wife, whose maiden name was Jane Thompson, and a niece, were the only mem- bers of the Thompson family who emigrated west, the others remaining in Pennsylvania and other eastern states, where some of them gained enviable reputations in iaw, medicine, politics and ministry. Shortly after their marriage John Hendricks and wife moved to Muskingum. Ohio, where they lived for some time in a rude log house, one story, one room,

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one door and two windows, built of round logs and chinked and daubed after the pioneer fashion. In this little domicile were born two sons, Abraham and Thomas A. The last named, Thomas A., was born September 7, 1819. The next year, 1820, lured by the brilliant career of William Hendricks, hereto- fore spoken of, Maj. John Hendricks, with his little family, removed to Madison, Ind., then the metropolis of the state. Two years later the family removed to Shelby county, at that time a wilderness, and settled on the present site of Shelbyville. Here the father com- menced to erect a house and carve a career for their hopeful son, then scarcely three years of age. A dwelling was soon constructed, trees felled, and a farm opened, and the Hendricks house early became a favorite stop- ping place for all who saw fit to accept its hos- pitalities. The future vice president received his early educational training in the schools of Shelbyville, and among his first teachers was the wife of Rev. Eliphalet Kent, a lady of ex- cellent culture, fine education, graceful, and nobly consecrated to the Master, to whom Mr. Hendricks was largely indebted for much of his training and success. Having completed his course in the common schools, he entered Hanover college in 1836, where he remained for the greater part of the time until 1841. On leaving college he returned to Shelbyville, and commenced the study of law in the office of Stephen Major, then a young lawyer of brilliant attainments and considerable tact and experience. In 1843 Mr. Hendricks went to Chambersburg, Penn., where he entered the law school, in which Alexander was instructor, a man of distinguished ability, extensive learn- ing, and much experience as judge of the six- teenth judicial district of that state. After eight months' arduous work in this institution, he returned to Shelbyville, passed an exam- ination, and was the same year admitted to the

bar. His first case was before Squire Lee, his opponent being Nathan Powell, a young acquaintance, who had opened up an office about the same time. The case was a trivial one, yet the young attorneys worked hard and with the vim of old practitioners for their re- spective clients. Mr. Hendricks won, and after complimenting Mr. Powell upon his ef- fort, he gracefully served the apples which had been generously furnished by an enthusiastic spectator. Thus started the young advocate who was destined to become one of the na- tion's greatest and most beloved statesmen. In 1843, he formed the acquaintance of Miss Eliza Morgan, who was the daughter of a widow, living at North Bend, and two years later, September 26. 1845, the two were united in the bonds of wedlock.

So soon as Mr. Hendricks emerged from boyhood, his success as a lawyer and public man was assured. Having established an office in Shelbyville, he gained in a short time a fair competence, and soon became one of the leading attorneys of the place. As an advocate he had few equals, and as a safe counselor none surpassed him at the Shelby county bar. In the year 1848 Mr. Hendricks was nominated for the lower house of the gen- eral assembly, was elected after a brilliant canvass, and served his term with marked dis- tinction. In 1850 he was chosen a delegate to the state constitutional convention, in the deliberations of which he took an active part, having served on two very important commit- tees, and won distinction by a brilliant speech upon the resolution relative to the abolition of the grand jury system. The following year was the beginning of Mr. Hendricks' career in national politics. He was nominated for con- gress at Indianapolis, May 16, 1851, over several other candidates, made a vigorous canvass, and was elected by a decided majority over Col. James P. Rush, the whig candidate.

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In congress he progressed with signal ability, and was called to act on some of the most important committees, and soon won a national reputation. Scarce had congress adjourned when he was required to make another cam- paign, for the constitution had transferred the congressional elections to even years, and the month to October. The whig candidate, John H. Bradley, of Indianapolis, was a brilliant man and a public speaker of rare attainments, whom Mr. Hendricks defeated by a largely increased majority. In 1854, when the north- ern whigs were in a chaotic condition, pro- slavery, anti-slavery, free-soilers, abolitionists, know-nothings and democrats commingling in a storm of confusion a "fusion" state and congressional ticket was formed for the oc- casion. Opposed to Mr. Hendricks was Lucian Barbour, a talented lawyer of Indianapolis, who exerted himself to combine all the oppo- nents of democracy. Mr. Hendricks made a vigorous and manly contest, but was defeated, after which he retired to his profession and his home at Shelbyville. In 1855 he was ap- pointed by President Pierce general land com- missioner, in which capacity he served nearly four years, and 1860 was nominated for gov- ernor of Indiana against Henry S. Lane. After a brilliant and able canvass, during which the two competitors spoke together in nearly every county of the state, defeat again came to Mr. Hendricks. In the same year he moved to Indianapolis, where he lived until his death. In January, 1863, he was elected to the United States senate, which position he held for six years. In 1872 he was again nominated for governor, his opponent being Gen. Thomas Brown, a man of ability and enviable reputation. This campaign was peculiar in one particular. The republicans had infused the crusaders with the idea that they were the salvation of their cause, while the democracy opposed all sumptuary laws.

Yet Mr. Hendricks went before the people as a temperance man-opposed to prohibition, but willing to sign any constitutional legisla- tion looking toward the amelioration of crime and the advancement of temperance. He was elected and kept his pledges to the letter. He always kept his pledges inviolate, and ever remained true to his friends. He had a high sense of duty, and a spirit of philanthropy pervaded his whole nature. In 1876 he was nominated for the vice presidency on the dem- ocratic ticket with Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, and of this election it was claimed they were flagrantly defrauded by returning boards and the electoral commission. In 1880 the name of Thomas A. Hendricks was placed in nomination for the presidency at Cincinnati, by Indiana, and his nomination was strongly urged in the convention. In 1884 he was a delegate to the Chicago convention, and as chairman of the Indiana delegation presented in fitting terms and masterly manner the name of Joseph E. McDonald for the presidency. After the latter had positively refused to accept the second place on the ticket, Mr. Hendricks was unanimously chosen, and the successful ticket for 1884, the first in twenty- five years, became Grover Cleveland and Thomas A. Hendricks. But few greater calam- ities ever befell the people than the death of Vice President Hendricks, which occurred on the 25th day of November, 1885, at his home in Indianapolis, of heart disease. Mr. Hen- dricks was one of the nation's greatest men; deep, broad-minded, diplomatic and, above all, a true man. His acts and speeches in con- gress, both in the house and senate, his defense of what he conceived to be right, his labors for the poor, the oppressed and the wronged of every class in this and other countries, were of great interest to his people and worthy of emulation by all. His devotion to his party, his candor and honesty of purpose, his noble

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ambition to serve the people faithfully, his philanthropy and universal love of mankind, all combined to make him one of the noblest of men. Strong in his convictions, yet court- eous to opponents; great in intellect, yet approachable by the humblest of men; high in position, he met every man as his equal; independent in thought, self-reliant in prin- ciple, and rich in pleasant greeting to all whom he met; though dead, he yet lives in the hearts of the people, and his noble characteristics stand out in bold relief as beacon lights to guide and direct generations yet to be.

AMES D. WILLIAMS was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, January 16, 1808, and moved with his parents to Indiana in 1818, settling near the town of Vincennes, Knox county. He grew to manhood there, and upon the death of his father, in 1828, the support of the family de- volved on him. He received a limited educa- tion in the pioneer log school-house, but, by mingling with the best people in the neighbor- hood, he obtained a sound practical knowledge of men and things, which, in a great measure, compensated for his early deficiency in liter- ary studies, so that when, on reaching his ma- jority, he was unusally well versed for one in his circumstances. He was reared a farmer, and naturally chose agriculture for his life work, and followed it with much more than ordinary success, until the close of his long and useful life. Gov. Williams entered public life, in 1839, as justice of the peace, the duties of which he discharged in an eminently satis- factory manner for a period of four years, re- signing in 1843. In the latter year he was elected to the lower house of the state legisla- ture, and from that time until his election to the national congress, in 1874, he was almost

continuously identified with the legislative service of the state. Few men in Indiana have been so long in the public service, and few have been identified with more popular legislative measures than he. It is to him that the widows of Indiana are indebted for the law which allows them to hold, without administration, the estates of their deceased husbands, when they do not exceed $300 in value. He was the author of the law which distributed the sinking fund among the coun- ties of the state, and to him are the people largely indebted for the establishment of the state board of agriculture, an institution that has done much to foster and develop the agri- cultural interests of Indiana. He was a dele- gate to the national democratic convention at Baltimore in 1872, and in 1873 was the nom- inee for United States senator against Oliver P. Morton, but the party being in the minor- ity, he was defeated. He served in the national house of representatives from Decem- ber, 1875, till December, 1876, when he re- signed, having been elected governor in the latter year. The campaign of 1876 was a memorable one, during which the opposition, both speakers and press, ridiculed the demo- cratic nominee for governor, making sport of his homespun clothes ond plain appearance, but the democracy seized upon his peculiari- ties and made them the watchwords of victory. Gov. Williams, or Blue Jeans, as his friends were pleased to call him, was a man of the strictest integrity, and was known as a careful, painstaking executive entering into the minu- test details of his office. He was self-willed and self-reliant, and probably consulted fewer persons about his official duties than any of his predecessors. In personal appearance, Gov. Williams was over six feet high, remark- ably straight, had large hands and feet, high cheek bones, long sharp nose, gray eyes, and a well formed head, covered profusely with

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black hair. He was courteous in his inter- course with others, a good conversationalist, and possessed in a very marked degree shrewd- ness and force of character. He died in the year 1880.

A LBERT G. PORTER .- Among the self-made men of Indiana, none stand higher or have a more note- worthy career than the distinguished gentleman whose name heads this sketch. Al- bert G. Porter was born in Lawrenceburg, Ind., April 20, 1824. He graduated at Asbury uni- versity in 1843, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1845, and began to practice in Indianapolis, where he was councilman and corporation attorney. In 1853 he was ap- pointed reporter of the supreme court of Indi- ana, and was subsequently elected to the same position by a very large majority of the voters of the state. He was elected to congress from the Indianapolis district in 1858, on the republican ticket, overcoming an adverse democratic majority of 800, which he con- verted into a majority for himself of 1,000. Two years subsequently, he was re-elected by a smaller majority. On March 5. 1878, he was appointed first comptroller of the United States treasury, which position he filled with distinguished ability until called therefrom to become a candidate for governor of Indiana on the republican ticket. He resigned, and en- tered into the campaign of 1880, which will ever be memorable in the history of the state. After a canvess of remarkable bitterness and excitement, in which every inch of ground was stubbornly contested, Mr. Porter was elected governor by a handsome majority. He held the office from 1881 to 1884, his adminis- tration being regarded by friend and foe, alike, as on of the ablest in the history of the state.

Mr. Porter has for many years ranked as one of the ablest and most successful lawyers in Indiana, and his ." Decisions of the Supreme Court of Indiana " (5 vols., 1853-6), are re- garded as among the best of their kind in the state. Besides his talent in politics and law, Mr. Porter enjoys a literary reputation of no mean rank, attained chiefly from his law writ- ings and lectures. He is especially good authority on matters relating to pioneer his- tory in the west, and has in preparation a ' history of Indiana, which will undoubtedly rank as a classic in that line of literature. At this writing (September, 1890), Mr. Porter occupies the position of United States minister to Rome, which high honor was conferred upon him by his friend, President Harrison.

I SAAC P. GRAY is a native of Pennsyl- vania, having been born near Downing- town, in Chester county, October 18, 1828. His father, John Gray, moved to Ohio and settled near Urbana, when Isaac was almost eight years old. Within a short time thereafter his parents removed to near Dayton, Ohio, but did not long remain there, when they moved to New Madison, Darke county, Ohio, where young Gray grew to man- hood and became proprietor of a dry goods store. He married Eliza Jaqua, a few years his junior, and the daughter of Judson and Jaqua, who resided about two miles from New Madison, in a neighborhood (which had a postoffice) called Yankee town. Gray's parents are of Quaker descent, but they never adhered to the society Their ancestors came over with William Penn and took a prominent part in early colonial times. On November 30, 1855, Isaac P. located at Union City. Ind., his family then consisting of his wife and two baby boys, Pierre and Bayard S. From the

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time of his arrival he became one of the lead- ing citizens of the then small town. He was always active, energetic and progressive, and no work or enterprise in the town was consid- ered without his advice and counsel, and in many cases financial co-operation. He always bore a prominent part in all public matters and was depended upon to speak for the interests of the place.

He was engaged in the dry goods business for a while after he came to Union City, then in the banking business, finally drifting into the law, where by reason of his pleasant speech, excellent judgment of human nature and the happy faculty of condensing and mak- ing plain his thought, he became a successful advocate.

After a few years of practice in the law, however, the civil war came on, and Gray, being a strong unionist, was appointed colonel "of the Fourth Indiana cavalry, which position he held from September 4, 1862, to February II, 1864. He also raised and organized the 147th regiment Indiana volunteers, mustered in March 13, 1865, Col. Peden ; mustered out August 4, 1865. He was also colonel of the 105th Indiana (minute men). Served five days -July 12-17, 1863. At the close of the war he became a banker. organizing with Hon. N. Cadwallader, the Citizens' bank, of which he is a prominent stockholder and vice presi- dent. In 1866 he was candidate of the anti- Julian wing of the republican party for con- gress. Entered the law in 1868, and was state senator of Randolph county in 1868-72, on the republican ticket, of which body he took position as a leading member. In 1870, he was appointed by President Grant consul to St. Thomas, West Indies, and confirmed by the senate, but declined. In 1872 he was ap- pointed a delegate at large for the state of Indiana to the national liberal republican con- vention at Cincinnati, and, by that conven-

tion, was made the member, for the state of Indiana of the liberal republican national ex- ecutive committee.

Dissatisfied with the administration of Gen. Grant, he joined the Greeley liberal move- ment in 1872, and from that time on acted with the democrats. In 1876 the democratic state convention nominated him by acclama- tion for lieutenant governor, and he was elected to that office in October, 1876. In 1880 he · was a candidate for governor before the demo- cratic state convention, and lost the nomina- tion by four votes, but was named by accla- mation a second time for lieutenant governor. In the general democratic defeat incurred in October, 1880, Col. Gray shared the catas- trophe. But, by the death of Gov. J. B. Wil- liams, in November, 1880, Lieut. Gov. Gray was promoted to the position of governor of Indiana, which honor he sustained with appro- priate dignity, addressing the legislature in perhaps the most voluminous message ever presented by any occupant of the gubernatorial chair to any legislative body. In 1884 he received the democratic nomination for gov- ernor, to which position he was triumphantly elected in the fall of that year, and for four years served in a manner so satisfactory to his partisan friends that he became the recog- nized leader of the democratic party in Indi- ana, and it has always been insisted by his supporters that his name, on the ticket with Cleveland, in 1888, would have that year secured the presidency of the United States to the democratic party. In the spring of 1894 Mr. Gray was appointed by the Cleveland administration United States minister to the republic of Mexico.

Isaac Pusey Gray is a man about five feet ten inches high, well proportioned and stands erect, with a semi-military carriage, and weighs about 180 pounds; his hair was black and curly, but is now somewhat tinged with

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gray; bold, prominent forehead, a full, frank, plump and florid face, strongly indicative of a high order of intelligence, and light blue eyes, beaming with good nature. His face is un- adorned except with small chin whiskers. Suave of address and of kind disposition. He is always cordial and pleasant with strangers and extremely sociable among his friends and acquaintances, He enjoys the society of his · friends. Perhaps one of the elements of his great popularity and steadfast hold upon his friends, is his freedom from any aristocratic reserve, and yet no one has a keener sense of the demands of true dignity; a man of great decision and firmness, yet always respectful of others' feelings. The home Gray left in Union City was and is to-day one of its finest resi- dences, a spacious brick dwelling located on a large plat of ground. He has built and owned some of the best residence properties in the city. He took great pride in his house, which was nicely furnished and supplied with a fine library, where he and his wife, who were great readers, gratified their literary tastes.

Mrs. Gray is a blonde of medium height, with gray eyes, well defined features, clear complexion, good figure, easy and graceful carriage. She is regarded as a fine looking lady, whose years rest upon her with becom- ing grace and dignity. By descent she comes from an honorable French family, whose ancestors at an early date settled in New England and New York.

His son Pierre, the elder, graduated at the Indiana State university in 1874, and his younger son, Bayard S., graduated at De Pauw university in 1876. Pierre followed his graduation by a course of law, and has ever since practiced his chosen profession, except while he acted as private secretary to his father as governor, 1885-1889. He is now associ- ated with his father, in the practice, at Indian- apolis. Pierre was married, about ten years

ago, to Miss Kate Alma McDonald of Union City ; they have no children. Bayard S., after returning from his alma mater, studied in his father's law office, but soon thereafter took up journalism, in which he made a brill- iant success He has however abandoned that field and located in Chicago, where he is again at the law. Like his father, Bayard S. has a taste for politics, and being a fluent speaker, with an unlimited vocabulary, he has taken a more or less active part in politics since his majority. Since his removal to Chi- cago he has achieved considerable prominence and is now regarded as one of their public speakers.

A LVIN P. HOVEY .- This gentleman, who was elected governor of Indiana in 1888, has had a notable career, both civil and military. He was born in 1821, in Posey county, Ind., where he has spent his whole life. After a common school education, he studied law and was ad- mitted to the Mt. Vernon bar in 1843, where he has practiced with success. The civil posi- tions he held previous to the war were those of delegate to the constitutional convention of 1850; judge of the third judicial circuit of Indi- ana from 1851 to 1854, and judge of the su- preme court of Indiana. From 1856 to 1858 he served as United States district attorney for the state. During the civil war he entered the national service as colonel of the Twenty- fourth Indiana volunteers, in July, 1861. He was promoted brigadier-general of volunteers on April 28, 1862, and breveted major-general for meritorious and distinguished services in July, 1864. He was in command of the east- ern district of Arkansas in 1863, and of the district of Indiana in 1864-1865. Gen. Grant, in his official reports, awards to Gen. Hovey

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A portrait and biographical record of Delaware and Randolph counties, Ind., containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana, Part 11

Author: Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Chicago, A. W. Bowen & Co. Number of Pages: 1474

Author:
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Chicago, A. W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1474