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 12

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 12
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 12

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the honor of the key battle of the Vicksburg campaign, that of Champion's Hill. This is no small praise; also, it is remembered that military critics, in view of the vast conse- quences that flowed therefrom, have ranked Champion's Hill as one of the five decisive battles of the civil war, and second in impor- tance to Gettysburg alone. Gen. . Hovey re- signed his commission on October 18, 1865, and was appointed minister to Peru, which office he held until 1870. In 1886 he was nominated for congress by the republicans in the Evansville district, which theretofore had steadily given a large democratic majority. Gen. Hovey's personal popularity and military prestige overcame this, and he was elected by a small majority. In congress, he attracted attention by his earnestness in advocating more liberal pension laws, and every measure for the benefit of the ex-Union soldiers. Largely to this fact was due his nomination for the governorship of Indiana, by the repub- lican party in 1888, the soldier element of the state being a very important factor in securing his nomination, and his subsequent election. In his social relations, Gov. Hovey has always been very popular, and his family circle is one of the happiest in the state. Though a strong partisan, he is never abusive or vindictive, and at every trial of strength at the polls, he has received strong support from many personal friends in the ranks of the opposite party.

RA J. CHASE was born in Clarkson, Monroe county, N. Y., December 7, 1834. His father, Benjamin Chase, moved into Orleans county, where most of Ira's years were spent up to the age twenty. After leaving the public school of that day, he attended the Milan (Ohio) seminary and Medina academy. At twenty he accompanied

his father to Illinois, driving a team much of the time alone through Michigan and Indiana, landing in Chicago in the spring of 1855. Farming, merchandising and school teaching filled up the time until the war broke out. In 1857 he united with the Christian church. March 24, 1859, he married Miss Rhoda J. Castle, of Cook county. In 1861 he was the first man to enlist in the town of Barrington, Ill. He assisted in raising a company of men and was unanimously elected first lieutenant. The enlistments were so numerous that the government could not accept them all, and the organization disbanded, a part going into company C, Nineteenth Illinois, June 17, 1861, of which Chase was made sergeant, This regiment saw hard and continuous service from the start, being always on the move, serving in Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee the first year of the war. While in camp at Elizabeth- town, Ky., he heard the news of the birth of his second child. He was appointed drill ser- geant and placed on special duty, owing to poor health. In this capacity the Eighteenth O. V. I. officers invited him to aid in drilling their men, as they were fresh from the farms of their state. A petition, signed by Col. Stanley, Lieut. Col. Grim, for years chief justice of Iowa, and Major C. H. Grosvenor, famous as a soldier and statesman, was pre- sented to the field officers of the Nineteenth Illinois, asking for his transfer to a lieutenancy in the Eighteenth Ohio. This was endorsed by Gen. J. B. Turchin, brigade commander, and by Maj. Gen. O. M. Mitchell, division commander. but denied by Maj. Gen. Buell, department commander. Our soldier was in the seige of Nashville, 1862; was discharged and returned home from Nashville in 1863, and entered into business, but sold out, owing to a long and very serious illness of his wife that left her blind and lame for years. He prepared himself for the ministery and became

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pastor of the Christian church in Mishawaka in 1867, and has served at LaPorte, Wabash and Danville. For a period of time he la- bored in Pittsburgh and Peoria. He has been prominent in G. A. R. circles, was twice de- partment chaplain and once department com- mander. In 1886, while in California, he was nominated for congress by the fifth district. Upon his return he accepted and made his first political campaign. Col. C. C. Matson had received his fourth nomination. His average majority for the three terms previous had been about 1,800. In 1886 it was 532. In 1888 Mr. Chase was spoken of for governor, and though there was no activity manifested re- ceived a handsome vote. Gen. Hovey was nominated and private Chase was nominated for lieutenant governor by acclamation. He served two terms as presiding officer of the senate.

On the death of Gen. Hovey he served the state as governor from November 24, 1891, to January 8, 1893. At the state convention called by the republicans to nominate state officers, Gov. Chase was nominated by accla- mation to succeed himself. He entered into the campaign with all the earnestness of his nature, and everywhere it has been said that no man ever fought a harder fight.

a LAUDE MATTHEWS, who at this time fills most acceptably the office of governor of Indiana, was born in Bethel, Bath county, Ky., December 14, 1845. His father, Thomas A. Matthews, was a farmer, and also for a time a commis- sion merchant at Maysville. His paternal grandfather, Capt. George Matthews, com- manded a company of soldiers at the battle of the River Thames, in the war of 1812. Through his mother, Eliza (Fletcher) Mat-

thews, Mr. Matthews traces his origin to one of the most worthy names in the common- wealth, and his maternal grandfather, Jefferson Fletcher, represented the Bath district in the national house of representatives in the days Henry Clay. Young Matthews attended such schools as the county of his nativity afforded until his fifteenth year, then removed to Mason county, Ky., his father having purchased a farm near Maysville. Here the schools were of a better class, and he availed himself of their advantages by riding six miles each way daily. In 1863 he entered Center college, Danville, Ky., where he graduated in June, 1867. January 1, 1868, he married Miss Martha Renick Whitcomb, only daughter of James Whitcomb, one of the honored gov- ernors of this state, from 1843 to 1849. The marriage took place in Ross county, Ohio, where Mrs. Matthews is connected on her mother's side with the Renicks, well known for their wealth and public spirit. The young people moved to Vermillion county, Ind., in 1869, where Mr. Matthews settled down to the occupation he had chosen for his life work, the useful and honest calling of farming. His capacity for public affairs, and the evidence he gave of sensible ideas as to public needs, led to his selection by the democrats of Vermillion county, in 1877, as their candidate for repre- sentative in the legislature. That he was well appreciated by his neighbors was shown by some five hundred republicans of his county voting for him, and he had the honor of being the first democrat elected from that county of heavy adverse majorities. His record in the legislature was a fine one, and in 1880 he had a strong following for lieutenant governor. In 1882 Mr. Matthews was a candidate for state senator in his district, and cut down the republican majority of 900 to 300. In August, 1890, he was nominated by the democrats for secretary of the state and triumphantly elected

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at the ensuing election, his plurality reaching the astonishing and almost unparalleled figure of 20,000, in round numbers. His conduct of the office of secretary of state was so satisfac- tory to the people, that he was called upon to head the democratic state ticket in 1892. Although being a candidate before the state convention for renomination as secretary of state, he was nominated candidate for gov- ernor, and in the following November elected to that office by a plurality of nearly 7,000, leading the state ticket by several hundred votes, and higher than the average upon the electoral vote. He was inaugurated governor January 9, 1893, and is now, with the same earnestness and conscientious regard of public duty, performing the work of that office. Gov. Matthews, while faithfully attending to his duties as a state officer, still keeps up his interest in farming and the class of workers to which he belongs. He has done much in the way of improving the breeds of cattle and domestic animals by importing valuable speci- mens, and was the founder of the Short Horn Breeders' association of Indiana, the first asso- ciation of the kind ever organized in the United States. He was also originator of the American Short Horn association of the United States and Canada. While his business is that of farming, he is, nevertheless, a fluent speaker, and withal a man of fine address and genial manners. Mr. Matthews has three children; the eldest, Mary, is the wife of Sen- ator Cortez Ewing, of Greensburg; Renick Seymour Matthews, who, after a course in the Rose Polytechnic institute, is fitting himself in electrical engineering, and Miss Helen, a school girl, aged fifteen. Mr. Mat- thews is a man of positive character and strong intellect, and no man is more loyal in his citizenship, more faithful in his friendship, more devoted in his home life, or more worthy the regard of his fellow men.

ALLER TAYLOR, one of the first senators from Indiana, after her admission as a state, was born in Lunenburg county Va., before 1786, and died there before 1826. He re- ceived a common school education, studied law, served one or two terms in the Virginia legislature as a representative from Lunenburg county. In 1805 he settled in Vincennes, Ind., having been appointed a township judge: He served as aid de camp to Gen. William H. Harrison at the battle of Tippecanoe, and in the war of 1812-15. On the admission of In- diana as a state, he was elected United States senator, and at the close of his term was re- elected, serving from December 12, 1816, un- til March 3, 1825. He was a man of fine lit- erary attainments and a prominent political leader of his day.

J AMES NOBLE was the son of Thomas T. Noble, who moved from Virginia to Kentucky, near the close of the eight- eenth century James Noble grew to manhood in Kentucky, and after his marriage, which was consummated before he had at- tained his majority, began the study of law in the office of Mr. Southgate, of Covington. After finishing his legal studies and being ad- mitted to the bar, he removed to Brookville, Ind., and commenced the practice of his pro- fession, and soon became known as one of the most successful lawyers and most eloquent ad- vocates of the Whitewater country. When Indiana became a state Mr. Noble represented Franklin county in the constitutional conven- tion, in which he was chairman of the legisla- tive and judiciary committees. In August, 1810, he was elected a member of the first legislature under the state government, which met at Corydon, November, 1816, and ad-

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journed January, 1817. November 8, 1816, the general assembly, by a joint vote, elected James Noble and Waller Taylor to represent Indiana in the senate of the United States. " In the senate Gen. Noble had for associates the ablest men the country has yet produced. He was not dwarfed by their stature, but maintained a respectable standing among them." He remained in the senate until his death, which occurred February 26, 1831. Mr. Noble was a large, well proportioned man of fine address and bearing. He was a good lawyer and as a speaker was very effective be- fore a jury or promiscuous assembly. Person- ally he was quite popular and his warm heart and generons nature made him the idol of the people of his section of the state.

EN. JOHN TIPTON was born in Sevier county, Tenn., August 14, 1786, and was the son of Joshua Tipton, a native of Maryland, a man who possessed great positiveness of character, with keen preceptions and uncommon execu- tive ability. These peculiarities induced him to remove from his native state and settle in a home further west, where he afterward became a leader in the defense of the frontier against tne hostile Indians. He was murdered by the savages on the 18th of April, 1793. Left thus early in life in the midst of a frontier settle- ment, surrounded by the perils incident there- to, the son, inheriting the sagacity and self-re- liance of his father, soon began to develop that positive energy of character which dis- tinguished his after life. In the fall of 1807, with his mother and two sisters and a half- brother, he removed to Indiana territory and settled near Bringley's Ferry, on the Ohio river, where he purchased a homestead of fifty acres, which he paid for out of his scanty earnings,

making rails at fifty cents a hundred. These early experiences laid the foundation of his future success in life. June, 1809, he en- listed in a company recruited in his neighbor- hood, which was soon afterward ordered to the frontier for the protection of the settle- ments. September, 1811, the company en- tered the campaign which terminated in the battle of Tippecanoe. Early in that memor- able engagement all his superior officers were killed, and he was promoted to the captaincy, when the conflict was at its height. Subse- quently he rose, by regular gradation, to the rank of brigadier general. At the first elec- tion under the state constitution, he was chosen sheriff of Harrison county, which po- sition he filled two terms, and in 1819 was elected to represent this county in the state legislature. While a member of that body he served on the committee to select a site for the location of the state capital, which selec- tion was made in June, 1820, and approved January, 1821. He was re-elected in 1821, and at the following session was chosen one of the commissioners to locate the boundary line between the states of Indiana and Illinois. In March, 1823, he was appointed by Pres. Mon- roe general agent for the Pottawatomie and Miami Indians on the upper Wabash and Tip- pecanoe rivers, and immediately thereafter moved to Ft. Wayne, the seat of the agency. At his instance the agency was removed from Ft. Wayne to Logansport, in the spring of 1828, where he continued to discharge the functions of his trust with fidelity and success. At the session of the legislature, December, 1831, he was elected United States senator from Indiana, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Hon. James Noble, and was re-elected at the session of 1832-33, for a full term of six years. While a member of that distinguished body, he was noted for the soundness of his judgement and the independ-

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ence of his actions on all questions involving the interests of the state or general govern- ment. He opposed the views of President Jackson in reference to the re-charter of the United States bank, and recognized no party in determining the line of duty, always acting from motives of public right. As a civilian and citizen, he was alike successful in direct- ing and executing, to the extent of his power, whatever purpose his conscience approved or his judgment dictated. After locating in Logansport he directed his energies toward the development of the natural resources of that town and surrounding country, and to him more than to any other man is due the credit of supplying the settlements with grist and saw-mills and other improvements, and for taking the initial step which led to the or- ganization of the Eel river seminary, at that time one of the best known educational insti- tutions of northern Indiana. He was also pro -. prietor of four additions to the town of Lo- gansport, and was interested with Mr. Carter in the plan and location of the original plat thereof. Mr. Tipton was twice married, the first time to Miss Shields, who died within two years after their marriage. The second time was in April, 1825, to Matilda, daughter of Capt. Spier Spencer, who was killed at the battle of Tippecanoe. The second Mrs. Tip- ton died in the spring of 1839, about the close of her husband's senatorial career. Gen. Tip- ton closed an honorable life on the morning of April 5, 1839, in the full meridian of his usefulness, and received the last sad honors of his masonic brethern on Sunday, April 7, 1839.

R OBERT HANNA was born in Laur- ens district, S. C., April 6, 1786, and removed with his parents to Indiana in an early day, settling in Brookville as long ago as 1802. He was

elected sheriff of the eastern district of Indiana in 1809, and held the position until the organ- ization of the state government. He was afterward appointed register of the land office, and removed to Indianapolis in 1825. In 1831 he was appointed United States senator, to fill the unexpired term caused by the death of James Noble, and served with credit in that capacity from December, of the above year, until January 3, 1832, when his successor took his seat. He was afterward elected a member of the state senate, but suffered defeat, when making the race for re-election. He was acci- dentally killed by a railroad train while walk- ing on the track at Indianapolis, November 19, 1859.

O LIVER HAMPTON SMITH, congress- man and senator, was born on Smith's island, near Trenton, N. J., October 23, 1794. He attended school near his home at intervals until 1813, at which time, owing to the death of his father, he was thrown upon his own resources. He afterward found employment in a woolen mill in Pennsylvania, and, on attaining his majority, received $1,500 from his father's estate, which he soon lost in an unfortunate business investment. Mr. Smith came to In- diana in 1817, and settled at Rising Sun, Ohio county, but, in a short time, moved to Lawrenceburg, and began the study of law. In March, 1820, he was licensed to practice, and soon afterward removed to Versailles, Ripley county, where he opened an office, but, be- coming dissatisfied with the location, in a few months he located at Connersville, thence in 1839 moved to the state capital. In August, 1822, he was elected to the legislature from Fayette county, and while a member of that body served as chairman of the judiciary com- mittee, an important position, and one usually

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given to the ablest lawyer of the body. In 1824 .he was appointed prosecutor of the third judicial district, and in 1826, became a candi- date for congress against Hon. John Test, who had represented the district for three full terms. He made a vigorous canvass, and defeated his popular competitor by 1, 500 majority. Mr. Smith served with distriction in congress, and was ever attentive and industrious in his pub- lic duties. In December, 1836, he was a can- didate for United States senator, his competi- tors being Noah Noble, William Hendricks and Ratliff Boon. He was elected on the ninth ballot. In the senate, Mr. Smith was chair- man of the committee on public lands, and took great pride in the place, which he filled with distinguished ability. In 1842 he was a candidate for re-election, but was defeated by Edward A. Hannegan; in March, 1843, his senatorial services terminated. Soon after his return home, his attention was directed to railroads, and Indianapolis is mainly indebted to him for the building of the Indianapolis & Bellfonte road, now known as the "Bee Line." In 1857 he commenced writing a series of sketches for the Indianapolis Journal on early times in Indiana, which attracted much atten- tion, and which were afterward brought out in book form. This volume is valuable as a rec- ord of early Indiana times, and contains much information not otherwise noted. Mr. Smith died March 19, 1859. As a political speaker, he exhibited much the same qualities and powers of mastery that he did as a forensic speaker, but he was less successful on the stump, because argument and close reasoning, which were his mode of dealing with political questions, were not as popular as anecdotal and declamatory style. "As a lawyer, Mr. Smith was ever true to the interest of his client, and in the prosecution of his cases in court, he displayed much zcal and earnestness. Hewas an honest opponent, and very liberal in his

practice, and yet very capable, and sometimes ready to seize upon the weakness or oversight on an adversary. His career at the bar was a successful one, and he well merited the high tribute paid to his memory at the time of his death." "In person, Mr. Smith was five feet ten inches in height and weighed about 180 pounds. He was broad chested, and large from the waist up. His eyes were dark, his hair was black and stood up upon his head. He had large shaggy eyebrows, and the general contour of his features denoted energy, pluck and endurance. His place is in the front rank of the great men of Indiana."

A LBERT S. WHITE, one of the most scholarly of Indiana's distinguished men, was born in Blooming Grove, N. Y., October 24, 1803. He gradu- ated from Union college, that state, in 1822, in the same class with Hon. William H. Sew- ard, and after studying law for some time at Newburg, was licensed to practice his profes- sion in 1825. Soon after this, he came to Indiana and located at Rushville, thence, one year later, moved to Paoli and subsequently took up his permanent abode in Lafayette. In 1830 and 1831 he was assistant clerk of the Indiana house of representatives, and served as clerk of the same from 1832 to 1835. In 1833 he was candidate for congress against Edward A. Hannegan, by whom he was de- feated. "He had neither the brilliancy nor the eloquence of Mr. Hannegan, but was the superior of that erratic man in education, cul- ture and in most of the qualities which go to. make up the successful man." In 1837 he was more successful, having been elected to congress by an overwhelming majority over Nathan Jackson. The year previous, he was on the whig electoral ticket, and in the elec-

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toral college cast his vote for William Henry Harrison. In 1839 he was elected to succeed Gen. John Tipton in the United States sen- ate, the struggle having been an animated one, requiring thirty-six ballots divided among Mr. White, Noah Noble and Col. Thomas H. Blake. He entered the senate a young man, but his training eminently fitted him for the duties of that distinguished body, in the delib- erations of which he bore an active part. He strenuously opposed the annexation of Texas, as he did every measure which was calculated to extend the area of slavery. "He was of a conservative temperament, and usually voted with the moderate men of his party, but he was conscientiously an anti-slavery man and always acted with those who strove to confine slavery to the territory it then polluted." He was active in securing grants of land to aid in the extension of the Wabash & Erie canal, and took a prominent part in shaping legislation to promote other internal improvements. On the expiration of his term, Mr. White resumed the practice of law, but soon abandoned the profession and entered actively into the busi- ness of railroad building. He was president of the Indianapolis & Lafayette railroad from its organization until 1856, and during a part of that time was at the head of the Wabash & Western railway. In 1860 he was again called into public life as a member of congress, where his thorough knowledge of political and state affairs soon enabled him to take high rank. He was made chairman of a select com- mittee, raised to consider the question of com- pensated emancipation, and also reported a bill appropriating $180,000,000 to pay loyal men for their slaves, and $20,000,000 to aid in the colonization of freedmen. His con- gressional career was eminently honorable, but he failed of a renomination, mainly on account of his action in regard to the emancipation question. In January, 1864, he was appointed

by President Lincoln United States judge for the district of Indiana, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Hon. Caleb B. Smith. He soon adapted himself to his new position, and had he lived, would have proved a worthy successor of his eminent predecessor. His term was cut short by his death, which oc- curred on the 4th day of September, 1864. "Mr. White had but little in common with the typical western pioneer, and it is therefore somewhat strange that he should have reached the eminence he did. He never sunk his man- hood nor lowered his self-respect, by trying to get down to the level of every man that ap- proached him. He was in no sense a dema- gogue, and never sought to curry favor by pretending to be what he was not. He was always dignified and always a gentleman." In personal appearance, Mr. White was below the medium height, quite spare and had a nar- row visage with a prominent Roman nose. Physically he was weak, but intellectually ranked with the strong men of the state and nation. "He was one of the first men of the Wabash country, and of the state, and his name will not be forgotten while learning and scholarship are chesished and honor and pat- riotism revered."

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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 12

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