USA > Indiana > An illustrated history of the state of Indiana: being a full and authentic civil and political history of the state from its first exploration down to 1879 > Part 54
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700
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
PLINEY HOAGLAND.
He was born on the thirty-first of July, 1810, near New Philadelphia, Ohio. He has been a very promi- nent citizen of Fort Wayne for many years, taking an active and important part in all railroad and canal and city improvements. In 1851 Mr. Hoagland was elected a member of the house of representa- tives of the Indiana legislature, and in 1863 a member of the State sen- ate. Judge Mccullough, after his appointment to the office of comp-
troller of the currency, resigned his position as president of the Fort Wayne branch of the bank of the State of Indiana, and accepted the appointment, resigned his seat in the State senate, and held the posi- tion until the organization of the Fort Wayne national bank, under the national banking law, when he declined the offer of the presidency of the institution, but accepted the office of vice-president, which he still continues to hold.
DAVID S. GOODING.
IIc was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, January twentieth, 1824. He is a grandson of the late Colonel David Gooding, of Kentucky, and the eldest son of Asa Gooding, de- ceased. His father removed to Rush county, Indiana, in 1827, and to Hancock county, Indiana, in 1836, where Mr. Gooding has ever since resided. He was educated at the Indiana Asbury University, but the death of his father made it neces- sary for him to leave the university before graduating and return home and take charge of his father's fam- ily. While at home he studied law, and was a licensed and practicing lawyer before he was twenty-one years of age. In 1847, when he was twenty-three years old, was elected to the State legislature from IIan- cock county. In 1848 he was elect- ed prosecuting attorney of Han- cock county for three years. In 1851 he was elected prosecuting attorney for the Indianapolis cir- cuit for two years, over Ex-Gov- ernor David Wallace. In 1852 he was elected judge of the com-
mon pleas court for the counties of Hancock and Madison for four years over Judge Jolin Davis, of Anderson. In 1856 he was elected a State Senator from Hancock and Madison counties for four years over Judge II. II. Hall. In 1861 he was again elected common pleas judge for four years for the counties of Decatur, Rush, Henry, Madison and Hancock. In 1864 he resigned the judgeship and was nominated and elected a presidential elector for the State at large on the union ticket. Ilis name was at the head of the electoral ticket, and he cast his vote for Lincoln and Johnson. In January, 1865, President Lincoln nominated him for a United States judgeship in New Mexico, which nomination he declined, and the nomination at his special request was withdrawn after the senate ju- diciary committee had determined to recommend his confirmation by the senate. In June, 1865, he was appointed United States marshal for the District of Columbia by President Johnson, and was con-
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Armed by the United States senate in January, 1866, and continued to serve as United States marshal until after the inauguration of President Grant in 1869, when he resigned and returned home to Indiann in May, 1869, and resumed the prac-
tice of the law at Greenfield. In 1870 lie was unanimously nominated as the democratic candidate for congress, but not elected. Heagain resumed the law practice in Green- field, where he has resided for more than thirty-six years.
CLEM. STUDEBAKER.
Ile was born in Adams county, Pa., on the twelfth day of March, 1831. Ilis father, John Studebaker, was a wagon maker, and built the first Studebager wagon known to the world. At the age of four years Clement came with the family to Ashland county, Ohio. At the age of twelve he was going to school and devoting all of his spare mo- ments in carning his board. At fourteen he engaged himself to a farmer at two dollars per month and board. Tiring at this, he returned to his father's roof and began learn- ing his father's trade, and at the age of twenty, with a few dollars in his pocket, he came west and stopped at South Bend with only two dol- lars as his worldly capital. Failing to get employment at once, he en- gaged in school teaching on Pal- mer's prairie. To keep ahead of his
pupils he had to devote much of his night time to study. In his teach- ing he gave good satisfaction, and made many life-long friends. In February, 1852, he formed a part- nership with his elder brother, Henry, under the firm name of H. && C. Studebaker, with a capital of sixty-cight dollars. This was the beginning of the great house of Studebaker Bros. Manufacturing Company, which is at this day the largest of its kind in the world. In 1869, the joint stock company as it now exists was formed, and Clem. Studebaker was made its president, which position he now fills.
Mr. Studebaker has filled many positions of trust and responsibility in the county and municipal gov- ernments to the general satisfaction of all.
JOIIN M. STUDEBAKER.
John Mohler Studebaker, the third son of John Studebaker, was born in Adams county, Pa., October tentli, 1833. Ilis inheritance con- sisted in a good constitution, & happy mental nature, and habits of probity, industry and economy, which, combined, form the best capital a young man can possess. At the age of twelve he began bus- iness on his own account by taking
a contract to clear a swamp for the sum of twenty-six dollars, clearing at this ninety cents per day, which in those days was considered large wages. He soon after cleared thirty dollars by working a sugar camp, which carned him the name of the " boy contractor." In 1851, he came with the family to South Bend, and in the spring of 1852, he engaged himself to a German wagon maker,
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
but which was one year after brok- en. At this time the California fever was at its height, and John, now in his eighteenth year, resolved to seek his fortune in the gold fields. IIc traded the first wagon he ever made for passage to the Pacific slope, which wagon was the first Studebaker wagon ever seen in Cal- ifornia. At the end of the trip this wagon was the best one in the whole train and readily sold for three hundred dollars in gold. Ar- riving in Placerville, he at once procured employment with Mr. HI. L. Hines, (now an honored member of the Studebaker Brothers Manu- facturing Company,) and com- menced making wheelbarrows at twelve dollars apiece. In 1858, he returned to South Bend and pur- chased the interest of his brother Henry, (who retired to a farm near South Bend,) thereby becoming an equal partner with Clem, under the firm name of C. & J. M. Studebaker. His arduous labors in his business
affected his health, and threatened him with a serious decline, so much so that he spent fifteen months in Europe with his wife, visiting Eng- land, France, Germany, Italy, Switz- erland, and Ireland. He returned fully recuperated, and in a physical condition to successfully meet all the stern vicissitudes of an active business life. Mr. Studebaker pos- sesses great mental and physical endurance. Ilis moral sentiments are well poised and his religious nature active. Ile is a consistent member of the Presbyterian church, and an active worker for, and a free giver to all works of true charity and benevolence. As a citizen he stands high, taking a lively interest in all public improvements and reforms. In social life he is pre- eminent; his friends are many, and foes are few or none. Mr. J. M. Studebaker, in point of age, stands second in the firm, and fills the position of vice-president of the company.
PETER E. STUDEBAKER.
The subject of this sketch, Peter Evans Studebaker, was born in Ashland county, Ohio, April first, 1836. He is the fourth of the five sons of John Studebaker, and the only one who was not bred a wagon maker. In boyhood Peter mani- fested a strong ambition to become a successful business man, and soon developed marked abilities in that direction. At an early age he en- gaged with a brother-in-law, who was a merchant, with whom he stayed two years, when he started :vest, arriving in South Bend with a five frank piece in his pocket as his sole moncyed capital. The day
after his arrival, he engaged as a dry-goods clerk, which he retained for three years, with a constant in- crease in his salary. With a capi- tal of one hundred and fifty dollars, as the savings of his three years salary, he began business on his own account. Mounting a ped- dling wagon, he struck out into the country, in search of his fortune. Although meeting with many diffi- culties and rebuff's incident to his avocation, he managed to add to his small beginning, the handsome sum of seven hundred dollars. At the age of twenty-one he married, discontinued his itinerancy, and in
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETOHEA.
April, 1856, opened a retail store at Goshen, Indiana. This he carried on with varied successes until 1860, when he engaged in selling wagons for his brothers, C. & M. In this he was eminently successful. He removed from Goshen to South Bend in 1863, and in the year fol- lowing, at the age of twenty-eight, he became an equal partner with his brothers, C. & J. M., the new firm organizing under the name of Studebaker Brothers. Leaving im- mediately for the west, he settled at St. Joseph, Mo., that being the great outfitting point for California, Oregon, Montana, Santa Fe, and the
entire west. He soon commanded a large trade in the sale of their wagons for the plains, and the Studebaker wagon was favorably known throughout the whole west to the Pacific coast. He remained in St. Joseph until 1871, when he returned to South Bend, where he is now settled for life.
Peter E. Studebaker possesses rare financial ability, strict integrity, indomitable will, and great endu- rance. He is the treasurer of the concern, which position he fills with credit alike to himself and the company.
JACOB F. STUDEBAKER.
Jacob Franklin Studebaker, the fifth son of the family, and the junior member of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, was born in Ashland county, Ohio, May twenty-sixth, 1844, and is con- sequently now in his thirty first year. At the age of eight, young Jacob followed with the family train to South Bend, but afterwards returned to Tiffin, Ohio, where he learned the trade of wagon and car- riage making with Peter Van Ness. Returning to St. Joseph county, he
M. M. MOODY .- He is a resident of Muncie, and is a prominent granger,
S. C. EVANS .- He is an active, prosperous and useful citizen of Fort Wayne.
N. G. OLDS .- He is a resident of Fort Wayne, and a leading manu- facturer of that place.
engaged three years at farming, be- fore becoming a member of the company. He is the secretary of the Studebaker Brothers Manufactur- ing Company, and has the sole charge of the carriage works, a post for which he is peculiarly fitted. No man in the west, perhaps, has a better knowledge of the wants and needs of the people in his specialty, and very few persons have better taste and judgement in all matters relating to the manufacture of fino carriage work.
D. H. YEOMAN .- He is a resi- dent of Rensselaer, and one of its prominent citizens.
M. L. PIERCE .- He is a promi- nent citizen of Lafayette, and an old pioneer of that place.
MRS. LAURA SUTTENFIELD .- She was one of the oldest-if not the oldest pioneer of Fort Wayne.
710
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
GEN. BEN. HARRISON.
General Harrison was born on the 20th day of August, 1833, at the house of his grandfather, President Harrison, at North Bend, Ohio.
He received his earliest educa- tion at home, being instructed by a tutor employed in the family. At the age of fourteen years he was sent to Cary's Academy, near Cincinnati, where he remained almost two years. In the summer of 1850 he suffered the irreparable loss of his mother. In the fall of that year he proceeded to Miami University, at Oxford, then under the presidency of Rev. W. C. An- derson, where he entered as a junior and graduated in June, 1852, fourth in a class of sixteen. After a few months vacation, Mr. Harrison engaged in the study of law in the office of Storer & Gwynne, of Cincinnati, in which occupation he remained two years. In October, 1853, at the age of twenty years, he united in mar- riage with Miss Carrie L. Scott, daughter of Rev. J. W. Scott, DD., of Oxford. There is issue of this marriage two children, both living, Russell B. and Mary S. Harrison.
In March, 1854, Mr. Harrison settled in Indianapolis, Ind , with the small fortune of $800 inherited from the estate of a deceased aunt, Mrs. General Findly, of Cincin- nati. In this city he first entered the office of John H. Rea, clerk of the District Court of the United States, and while engaged there was invited by Major Jonathan W. Gordon to assist in the prose- cution of the celebrated "Point
Lookout" burglary case, being pitted against Governor Wallace, who represented the defense. When the youthful lawyer sat down and Governor Wallace open- ed, the latter placed his hand on the young man's head and paid him a most graceful and merited compliment. Immediately Mr. Harrison was invited by William Wallace to a partnership and ac- cepted the invitation. The part- nership relations were of a very pleasant nature to both parties, and they founded a very success- ful business. In 1860 Mr. Wallace having been elected clerk of Ma- rion county Mr. Harrison formed a partnership with Mr. W. P. Fish- back, which union of interest con- tinued until H. entered the army.
In 1860 Mr. Harrison was elected to the office of Reporter of the Su- preme Court of Indiana. During his term of office he got out two volumes of reports, 15th and 16th, and had nearly completed the 17th when he entered the military serv- ice
In July, 1862, just after a re- peated proclamation for troops was issued by President Lincoln, Mr. Harrison felt that the call was a personal appeal to his patriotism, and it occasioned a strong conflict within his breast as to what course he should take. He had just ob- tained a fair start in life, he was holder of a comfortable civil office, the husband of a young wife, and father of two little children, and the owner of a small cottage not more than half paid for. What should he do? His course was
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
decided by the follo ring incident recorded in his own words. "I went one day to see Governor Morton with Mr. Wallace, 10 seek an appointment as lieutenant for a young man in the north part of the State. After getting through with this business Governor Mor- ton invited us to an inner apart- ment. He there spoke of the call and that no response was being made thereto. The Governor seem - ed quite discouraged at the apathy of the people, and pointing over toward the Gallup block, where men were dressing stone, remarked that men were interested in their own business more than the safety of the Nation." I said right there, "Governor, if I can be of any service to my country, I am ready to go." IIe said, "you can; you can raise a regiment in this dis- trict." He went on to say, "You have a good office and it would be too much to ask you to give it up; but you get up the regiment and we can find some ‹ ne else to take it to the field." I said, "No; if I make a recruiting speech and ask any man to enlist, I propose to go with him and stay as long as he does if I live so long." "Well," said the Governor, "you can command the regiment." I said, "I don't know that I shall want to: I have no military experience ; we can see about that." After this conversa- tion Mr. Harrison proceeded up the street with Mr. Wallace, bought a military cap ; they got ont hand bills for a war meeting at Masonic Hall, hired a drum and fife and hung a flag out of his office win- dow. Mr. Harrison took out a
second lieutenant's recruiting com- mission, and raised and took the first company (A) of the seven- teenth regiment into camp, and in less than thirty days from the date of the first recruiting commission, he was in Kentucky with 1,010 men. This was the first regiment in the field under the call. Gen. Harrison continned in the army until 1865, when he was mustered out as Brevt. Brigadier General. Meanwhile, in the fall of 1864, he was re-elected Reporter of the Su- preme Court, and was offered a place in the law firm of Porter & Fishback, which then took the name of Porter, Harrison & Fish- back. Since that time Gen. Har- rison has been closely identified with the practice of law, remain- ing with Mr. Porter and in com- pany with Judge Hines, after Mr. Fishback assumed the editorial- ship of the Journal, and afterwards becoming the head of the present firm of Harrison, Hines & Miller. Gen. Harrison united with the Presbyterian Church in Oxford, in the year 1853, and has been ever since 1860 an elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Indianapo- lis. His career as a soldier is stainless, his practice as a lawyer is extensive, brilliant and success- ful, and as a public speaker no one is more convincing and effect- ive.
By universal consent the Re- publicans of the State settled on General Harrison as their candi- date for Governor in 1876, the Centennial year, but as the State went Democratic, he was defeated by Gov. Williams.
712
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
DANIEL DARWIN PRATT.
Hon. Daniel Darwin Pratt, one of the distinguished men of In- diana, was born a Palermo, in the State of Maine, October 24, 1813. He was educated at Cazenovia Seminary, New York, and Hamil- ton College, and graduated at the latter in 1831. His scholastic at- tainments were extensive, and at an early age he became distin- guished as an able and eloquent public speaker. He was selected to fill the place of one of the pro- fessors of Madison University in 1831, and afterwards read law at Cazenovia. He emigrated west to try his fortune in a new country, and traveled a considerable por- tion of the journey to Cincinnati on foot. He taught school at Rising Sun in 1832, and subse- quently entered the law office of Calvin Fletcher at Indianapolis. He located as an attorney-at-law at Logansport in 1836, where he remained till the close of his life. Logansport was then but a back- woods village, and the county in which it was situated (Cass) had been organized only seven years previously. He rapidly grewinto favor among the people, and soon became recognized as one of the ablest lawyers in Northern Indi- ana, and maintained till the time of his death a position in the front rank of his profession. He was nominated for Congress by the Whig party of his district in 1847, but was defeated by Charles Cathcart. In 1847 he was a Presi- dential elector. In 1851 and 1853
he was elected to the Legislature, and was one of the ablest and most efficient members of the House. He was chosen secretary of the Republican National Con- vention at Chicago in 1860, which nominated Mr. Lincoln for the Presidency. In 1863 he received the unanimous nomination for United States Senator, but his party being in the minority, he was not elected. In 1868 he was elected a Representative in Con- gress by a large majority, and in January, 1869, was promoted to the Senate of the United States. During his six years term in the Senate he was a member of the Claim and Pension Committees, and rendered efficient and impor- tant service to the Government. At the close of his senatorial term in 1875 he was appointed by Presi- dent Grant Commissioner of In- ternal Revenue, but resigned in 1876, after a faithful term of ser- vice of about eighteen months. This was the last official position he held under the Government, and it may be said that he dis- charged all the public duties to which he was called in the most efficient and faithful manner. He died at his residence in Logans. port on the 17th of June, 1877. Indiana can lay claim to but few men of superior merit and nobler instincts. He sustained an un- blemished character through life, and was universally regarded as a man of the strictest integrity and honesty.
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
JAMES D. WILLIAMS.
James Douglas Williams was born in Piqua county, Ohio, Jan- uary 16, 1808. His ancestry were Scotch-Irish and Welsh English. His ancestors came to this country about the middle of last century and settled in Virginia. They were agriculturists by profession, and the subject of this sketch, a worthy and honorable descendant of the ancient stock, has followed their footsteps in this most im- portant line of business. He was raised on a farm and received only what is known as a backwoods country education. This he has turned to a good practical account by his habit of reading and reflec- tion, and his keen perception and personal observation. His first entrance upon public life was in 1837 in the capacity of justice of the peace. He was elected a rep- resentative in the State Legislature in 1843, 1847, 1851, 1856 and 1868, and to the State Senate in 1858, 1862 and 1870. He was a delegate to the National Democratic Con-
vention at Baltimore in 1872, and was nominated by the Democrats in 1873 as a candidate for the Uni- ted States Senate against Oliver P. Morton. He was elected in 1874 a Representative in Congress by a majority of 7,848 votes. He took his seat in Congress in December, 1875, and served through the long session, which continued till the middle of the fo lowing August. Before the close of this session of Congress he had been nominated by the Democratic party of his State for Governor. Hle resigned his seat in Congress and entered upon a vigorous canvass of the State, and was elected in October, 1876, Governor, receiving a ma- jority of more than 5,000 votes over his competitor, General Benj. F. Harrison. He entered upon the duties of the gubernatorial office Jannary 4, 1877. His term of office will expire Jannary, 1881. Forhis official acts, see administration of Governor Williams in another part of this work.
JOSEPH E. McDONALD .*
Hon. Joseph E. McDonald was born in Butler county, Ohio, Au- gust 29, 1819, was taken to Indiana in 1826, was apprenticed to the saddler's trade at Lafayette, was two years in college, but did not graduate ; studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1843, and commenced practice; was prose- cuting attorney in 1843-47; was elected to the Thirty-first Congress from the Eighth District of In-
diana, was elected Attorney Gen- eral of Indiana in 1856 and re- elected in 1858; removed to In- dianapolis in 1859 ; was the suc- cessful Democratic candidate for Governor of Indiana in 1864; was elected to the United States Senate as a Democrat to succeed Daniel D. Pratt, Republican, and took his seat March 5, 1875. His term of office will expire March 3, 1881.
* Congressional Directory.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
SCHUYLER COLFAX.
He was born in the city of New York, March 23, 1823. In 1836 he emigrated with his mother and stepfather west to the St. Joseph River Valley and settled at New Carlisle. In 1845 he established at South Bend the St. Joseph Val- ley Register, a weekly newspaper, of which he continued editor and publisher for many years In 1848 he was chosen a delegate to the Whig National Convention at Philadelphia. In 1850 he was elected a member of the Indiana State Constitutional Convention. In 1851 he was the Whig candidate for congress in his district, but was defeated by a small majority. In 1852 he was a delegate to the Whig National Convention at Baltimore, and was chosen its secretary. In 1854 he was elected a Representa- tive to Congress, and was re elect- ed for the next six consecutive terms, making altogether fourteen years of uninterrupted congression- al service. He was elected Decem- ber 7, 1863, Speaker of the Thirty-
eighth Congress, and was re elect- ed Speaker of the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses. In 1868 he was elected Vice President of the United States on the ticket with General Grant as President, and served out the full four years of the office.
In 1870 he wrote a letter declar- ing it his purpose, at the close of his term of office, of retiring from public life, but in 1872 his name was again presented to the Repub- lican National Convention at Phil- adelphia as a candidate for the nomination for Vice President, and he received 314} votes, which, being less than a majority, he fail- ed to receive the nomination, it being conferred upon Henry Wil- son, of Massachusetts, who re- ceived 348} votes. Mr. Colfax is still in the prime of life, active and energetic, and has for several years devoted much of his time to public lecturing. He continues to reside at South Bend, Indiana.
ROBERT DALE OWEN.
Robert Dale Owen was a son of Robert J. Owen, a celebrated Eng- lish reformer, who was born in 1771 and died in 1858. He was born at New Lanark, near Glas- gow, Scotland, November 7, 1801. His early years were spent at New Lanark. under the care of a pri- vate tutor. In 1816 he entered Fillenberg's school at Hofwyle and remained there for more than three years.
He came to the United States with his father in November, 1823, and remained at New Harmony, Indiana, for some time. In 1823 he undertook, in partnership with Mrs. Frances Wright, at New York, the publication of a weekly paper called the Free Enquirer. and continued its publication about three years. He removed to New Harmony, Indiana, where he was three times (1835-8) elected a
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