USA > Indiana > Biographical and historical sketches of early Indiana > Part 15
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MILTON STAPP.
home. Therefore, in 1816, the year Indiana was admitted into the Union, he left Kentucky and came to this State, making his home at Madison, a town on the southern border. At that time Madison was a leading town and the home of men who subsequently became famous.
The young settler was ambitious, and knowing that the road to political preferment usually ran through legal fields, he de- termined to study law. He entered the office of the late James F. D. Lanier, as a student, and, after acquiring sufficient knowl- edge, was admitted to the bar. He began the practice as a partner of his preceptor, but having chosen his profession more as a means than as an end, he did not give it his sole attention. His mind ran on other things, mainly on public employment, and he was exceedingly active in trying to secure it. He was fond of display, and the militia law of that time gave him scope for the gratification of this propensity. It was then the custom to have an annual muster at Madison, which all the able-bodied soldiers of the town and its vicinage were required to attend. The glories of these musters have departed, but the remem- brance of them still gladdens the lovers of devastation and carnage. Governor Corwin once described " parade day " so graphically that the reader will pardon its insertion here :
" We all in fancy now see the gentleman from Michigan in that most dangerous and glorious event of the life of a militia general on the peace establishment-a parade day! That day for which all other days of his life seem to have been made. We can see the troops in motion ; umbrellas, hoe and ax han- dles, and other deadly implements of war overshadowing all the fields, when lo! the leader of the host appears.
"Far off his coming shines;
his plume, white, after the fashion of the great Bourbon, is of ample length, and reads its doleful history in the bereaved necks and bosoms of forty neighboring hen-roosts. Like the great Suwaroff, he seems somewhat careless in forms and points of dress ; hence his epaulets may be on his shoulders, back or sides. but still gleaming, gloriously gleaming in the sun."
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This picture, though drawn of a Michigan general, portrays the aspects of the Indiana brigadier equally well. Napoleon was no fonder of drilling the Old Guard than was General Stapp of drilling the Madison militia. He and Major Coch- rane would array themselves in the attire of warriors and march at the head of their columns. They were the boiler and en- gine that ran the military machine. To see them on their prancing steeds, their white plumes waving in the air, their swords flashing in the sunlight, was enough to drive Jupiter to. cover and Mars to his temple. The General's renown as a militiaman spread throughout the land, and did much to bring him into public notice. But he did not devote all his time to the intoxicating militia drilling. He became a candidate for the State Legislature in 1822, and was elected from Jefferson county. and in 1823 he was chosen State Senator from Jefferson and Jennings counties, of which body he was made President pro tem., in December, 1825, and in 1828 he was elected Lieuten- ant-Governor of the State, on the ticket with James B. Ray. His term expired in 1831, but he still continued in politics. In that year he ran for Governor, receiving only 4,422 votes. while Governor Noble received 17,959, and James G. Reed 15,168. Noble was elected, but he went to the Legislature again, and was an active and successful advocate of the inter- nal improvement system of that time. In 1836 the system cul- minated, and in 1839 broke down. A debt of $15,000,000 had been contracted, upon which no interest was .paid for years. Bankruptcy overtook the people, and ruin ran riot. The unfin- ished public works were abandoned, and afterward sold. A commission of three was appointed to settle this debt, General Stapp being one of the commission. After this he was elected Agent of State and charged with the care of the bonded debt. But neither his career as Fund Commissioner nor as Agent of State proved him a Morrison or a Gallatin. As Agent of State he placed a large amount of bonds with the Morris Canal and Banking Company for negotiation. The institution broke, with the money received for the bonds in its coffers, and all the State ever got from it were a few Brooklyn water lots. upon which was an old soap factory.
It will thus be seen that as a public financier General Stapp
MILTON STAPP.
was not a success. But, in justice to his memory, be it said that no charge of dishonesty was laid at his door. Many thought him weak, but none believed him dishonest.
In 1834, when the Madison branch of the State Bank of In- diana was organized, General Stapp was appointed its cashier. In a short time he resigned this position, to take the presidency of the Madison Savings Institution, a bank of discount and de- posit. He remained at the head of this institution so long as it transacted business.
In 1850 General Stapp was elected mayor of Madison, the last office he held in Indiana. He made a most excellent mayor, certainly as good a one as the city ever had. He administered the law fearlessly and without favor. He had the intelligence to know his duty and the courage to perform it. He never filled an office with so much honor to himself, and with so much acceptability to the people.
In the spring of 1853 General Stapp bought a half interest in the Madison Daily Banner, and took editorial charge of the paper. He continued to direct its columns until it died.
In 1860, when sixty-seven years old, General Stapp left Mad- ison and removed to Texas. He was active and reasonably vigorous at the time, and bid fair to live many years in his new home, but the war soon coming on, he determined to leave. He had fought under the old flag when he was young, and he would not desert it now. Communication by public convey- ance between the sections having ceased, he procured a spring wagon and a mule, and, taking his family with him, traveled overland from Goliad, Texas, to Sedalia, Mo. From there he came by railroad and steamer to Madison. He remained at his old home until the war had ended, and in 1865 returned to Texas as Collector of Internal Revenue for the Galveston dis- trict. Galveston was his home, but he traveled extensively over the State in attending to his official duties. On one of his trips, while crossing a stream between Goliad and Galveston, he suddenly became surrounded by a flood of water, and was compelled to climb a tree to save his life. The water continued to rise, and all communication with land was cut off. By hal- looing he made himself heard, but there was no boat in which to go to his relief. This was in the afternoon, and he had to
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stay in the tree top until the next morning. By that time a boat had been constructed, and the General was relieved from his perilous situation. It rained hard during the whole of his water captivity, and when succor came he was found to be suf- fering from a burning fever. He was taken to his home at Galveston, and soon after reaching there he died. The news of his death reached Madison on the 4th of August, 1869, but his remains were not removed from Galveston until the first day of the next November, when they were shipped to Madison.
His funeral took place on the 9th of November, at the residence of his nephew, William Stapp, in the house which was formerly his home. After the services the body was taken to the Madi- son cemetery and there interred.
In politics General Stapp was a Whig, while the party exist- ed, and on its dissolution he did not attach himself to either of the great political parties. Hence, during the latter part of his life, his was a free lance in politics. But, when the war came, he took his position on the side of the Union, a place where all who knew him expected him to stand.
General Stapp was a man of great energy and courage. He had many ups and downs in life, but he bore his misfortunes well, and, at a time when most men would have given up work and sought ease in the chimney corner, he went to a new coun- try to build up his fortunes anew. He was an active member of the Baptist church and prominent in the religious work of that denomination. In his credulity he was as simple as a child. His heart was tender, and he was never happier than when binding up the wounds of others. In person he was rather un- der the usual size. He had light hair with a somewhat golden tinge, a fair complexion and light-blue eyes. His self-esteem was great, but it hurt no one but himself. Sharp and designing men worked upon it to his disadvantage; but, take him alto- gether, he averaged well. He was a kind and good neighbor, a brave and patriotic citizen, and an active Christian worker -- qualities which more than compensate for the defects of his character.
1
1
DAVID HILLIS.
DAVID HILLIS, Lieutenant-Governor of Indiana from 1836 to 1840, was born in 1785, and emigrated to Indiana in 1808, set- tling in Jefferson county, near Madison. He was, at the time, vigorous and healthy, with a body capable of enduring the pri- vations incident to the life of a pioneer. He entered a large tract of land near Madison, much of it hilly and broken, but enough of it was level to make him a very desirable farm. He built him a cabin on the edge of a ridge that now bears his name, and commenced to open up a farm.
It was on such a spot as I have named that the young pioneer commenced the battle of life. There were no settlers near him ; he was alone in the woods. His brother Ebenezer, and the Ry- kers-Colonel John, Samuel J. and Gerrardus-had come to the Territory about the same time as himself and settled some three miles away, but they lived too far from him to be considered neighbors. With the exception of them, no white man lived nearer than Madison. Christopher Harrison had settled some time before on the bluff of the Ohio river, near where Hanover now is, and the year after Mr. Hillis came to the Territory Wil- liamson Dunn left his Kentucky home and located near the cabin of Harrison. With these and a few other exceptions all the territory now comprised in Jefferson county, outside of the settlement at Madison, was wild and uninhabited.
A short time after Mr. Hillis had built his cabin and com- menced clearing up his land, the Indians became hostile. The settlers lived in constant fear of the tomahawk and scalping- knife, and well they might, for they were used with merciless severity. To protect the settlements from Indian incursions. a
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company of rangers, or mounted men, was organized at Madi- son and mustered into the service of the government. William- son Dunn was captain of the company and David Hillis its first lieutenant. This was in the spring of 1813. For some time the rangers were engaged in the building of block-houses and in scouring the woods for Indians, but in June, 1813, they marched to the Indian towns on White river, and in the fall of that year made a campaign to the Wabash country. They went to Fort Harrison, near Terre Haute, where Captain Taylor, afterward President of the United States, was surrounded by the Indians. The presence of the rangers was most opportune, for had they not come when they did the garrison must soon have surren- dered to the enemy. In the spring of 1814 Captain Dunn left the service, and from that time until the company disbanded it was commanded by Lieutenant Hillis. This company of ran- gers rendered great service to the settlers, and its commanders were not forgotten. Both Captain Dunn and Lieutenant Hillis were held in high esteem by the people. Both of them were time and time again given public office, and both of them hon- ored the places given them.
When the company of rangers was mustered out of service. Lieutenant Hillis went back to his farm. He employed a large number of men in clearing his land and putting it in order for the plow and the harrow. No other farmer in the country gave work to so many men.
Lieutenant Hillis was a civil engineer. and one skilled in his profession. He was appointed government surveyor, and for several years was engaged in surveying the public lands of Northern Indiana, Michigan and Illinois.
Soon after the organization of the State government Lieu- tenant Hillis was elected an Associate Judge of the Jefferson Circuit Court. He displayed a legal acumen unusual in one not bred to the law, and when he left the bench he took with him the good will of the bar and his brother judges.
In 1823 Judge Hillis commenced his legislative career, and it was continued almost uninterruptedly while he lived. In that year he was elected to the State Legislature, and he was re- elected each succeeding year, with one exception, until 1830. Two years afterward, in 1832, he was sent to the State Senate,
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and in 1835 he was re-elected. At that time there were many able men in the Senate, but Judge Hillis ranked them all, being chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, and, there- fore. the Senate's leader.
Such was Judge Hillis's prominence and popularity that, in 1837, he was nominated for Lieutenant-Governor on the ticket with David Wallace. His competitor was James Gregory, an able and popular man, but Judge Hillis defeated him at the polls. The issue in this campaign was the internal improve- ment system, and upon that question Judge Hillis occupied the popular side.
In 1842 Governor Hillis was again elected to the Legislature. When the Legislature met he was nominated for Speaker of the House, but his party being in the minority, he was defeated.
In 1844 Governor Hillis was, for the tenth time, elected to the Legislature. Soon after the election he was taken sick and never recovered. When the Legislature met he was unable to leave his home, but hoping to regain his health, he did not re- sign his seat. The session ended without his being able to at- tend a single sitting, or, indeed, to come to the capital. He lingered through the spring and until midsummer, when he died. His death took place at his homestead, on the 8th day of July, 1845. Being known and beloved by almost every man and woman in his county, his death caused great public sorrow. The people from far and near came to his funeral, and many not of his blood wept at his grave. He was buried a few hun- dred yards north of his dwelling, and all that was mortal of the old pioneer has gone to dust.
Governor Hillis was kind and obliging to all who had deal- ings with him. He gave largely to the poor and to benevolent and religious purposes. He had the qualities which drew men to him and kept them there. His large estate had many ten- ants, and these tenants were always the landlord's friends.
In religion Governor Hillis was a Seceder of the straightest sect. Indeed he was the head and front of the Seceders' church at Madison. He would come to town on Sunday morn- ing, bringing his family and dinner with him, and devote the day to religious services. He would listen to a two hours' ser- mon in the morning and return to church to listen to another
-
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equally as long. A sermon was never too long for him, if it abounded in gospel unction. The house of God was to him the best of all places. He never tired of being there. Were he now living he would consider the half-hour discourses of our preachers as mere exordiums of what gospel talks should be.
No guest left Governor Hillis's house on the Sabbath. Those who came to it on Saturday remained until Monday. He be- lieved in the Bible injunction and kept holy the Sabbath day, and he saw that all his household obeyed the command. He would not permit his sons to pluck apples from the trees on Sun- day. One of them once said to me that when a boy the sound of a falling apple or walnut, on the Sabbath, shocked him, so still was everything about his father's house.
Governor Hillis abhorred secret societies. He held them sin- ful, and thought no Christian should belong to one. He be- lieved the singing of hymns in worship to be wrong, but took great delight in the singing of psalms of approved rendition. This pleasure was in nowise marred by faulty time or measure. when the words were according to Rouse.
Governor Hillis's old homestead still stands. It was one of the first brick farm-houses built in Jefferson county, and, when new, was the wonder of the people. It is located near a spring of ever-flowing water, and all around and about it great locust trees are growing. These trees were planted by the old pio- neer, and he lived to see them grow large enough to protect him from the sun as he walked about his yard or sat under the branches of his trees. But the house has passed into the hands of strangers. Those who tread its halls and rest in its cham- bers have none of the builder's blood in their veins. They are not to the manor born.
When Governor Hillis died he left surviving him a widow, two sons and several daughters. His oldest son, William C. Hillis, represented Jefferson county in the Legislature of 1849- 50, and subsequently served a term as treasurer of his county. He afterwards emigrated to Missouri, and subsequently to Iowa. He is now police judge of Des Moines, and Master Commis- sioner of the United States Court for the district of Iowa. The youngest son, David Burke Hillis. is a practicing physician of
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DAVID HILLIS.
Keokuk, Iowa, and occupies a high place in his profession. The sons detract nothing from their father's well-earned fame.
There are but few men living who knew David Hillis, but there are many who revere his name.
In person, Governor Hillis was about the average size of man. He had black hair and eyes, and a good face. He was well educated for the time in which he lived, but he was not a classical scholar. He was one of the most noted men in his section of the State-a section which has given Indiana several of her most distinguished sons.
12
JAMES' NOBLE.
AT the time of the formation of the State government of In- diana, and for many years afterward, the politics and offices of the State were controlled by a few families, chief among them being the Nobles. It is James Noble, the head of this family, that I now propose to sketch.
The Nobles were of Virginia stock, the family home being near Fredericksburg, a city rendered famous by the great bat- tle fought there during our civil war.
Near the close of the eighteenth century Thomas T. Noble, the father of James, left Virginia with his family and emigrated to Kentucky. His life was like that of other pioneers who set- tled in the wilderness of the West. His son James was a hardy boy, inured to labor. He grew up strong and self-reliant. When but seventeen years old he married Mary Lindsay, of Newport, and soon afterwards entered the law office of a Mr. Southgate as a student. After finishing his legal studies and being admitted to the bar, he removed to Brookville, Ind., and commenced the practice of his profession. He soon became known as an eloquent advocate, his practice extending through- out the Whitewater country. In those days the bar of eastern Indiana was very able. James Brown Ray, John T. McKin- ney, David Wallace, Oliver H. Smith, Amos Lane, George H. Dunn, John Test and other noted men were contemporaneous with James Noble, and were his competitors at the bar. But as a speaker upon the hustings and as a jury lawyer he excelled them all. Some of them were better judges of the law, and stronger before the court, but none equaled him in swaying the masses upon the stump and in influencing juries in the box.
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JAMES NOBLE.
When Indiana resolved to emerge from her territorial condi- tion and become a State, the people of Franklin county sent General Noble to Corydon to help make a constitution. In the constitutional convention he was chairman of the Committee on the Legislative Department, and he was also a member of the Judiciary Committee. When the work of the convention was done he returned to Brookville and continued the practice of the law. The next August he was elected a member of the first Legislature under the State government. It met at Corydon, November 4, 1816, and adjourned January 3, 1817. Among the members of this Legislature who are remembered now, were James Noble, Amos Lane, John Dumont. Williamson Dunn. Davis Floyd, Samuel Milroy, Isaac Blackford and Rat- liff Boon. Isaac Blackford was elected Speaker of the House, and John Paul President of the Senate. Three days after their organization the two houses met in joint convention and de- clared Jonathan Jennings to have been elected Governor, and Christopher Harrison Lieutenant-Governor, whereupon these gentlemen took the oath of office and entered upon their respec- tive duties. The next day, 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. Thus it will be seen that in four days from the time General No- ble took his seat in the Legislature he was elected a member of the highest legislative body in the world. This was not an ac- cident ; it was because his fellow-members knew his eminent qualifications for the place.
In the Senate General 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 continued in the Senate until February 26, 1831, when he died at his boarding-house in Washington. On Monday, Feb- ruary 28, 1831, William Hendricks, his colleague, arose in the Senate and said :
"Mr. President-It becomes my painful duty to announce to the Senate the death of my respected colleague. He de- parted this life on Saturday evening last, at 10 o'clock. His services in this body have been faithful and uninterrupted for
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the last fifteen years. They have been honorable to himself and useful to his country ; but man goeth to his long home, and with him these services have terminated in the meridian of life. He had indeed lived to see his early associates in the business of this house retire to other spheres of life, or, like himself, pass silently to the grave; yet his friends might reasonably have hoped and expected for him a longer period of usefulness and distinction. On an occurrence like the present, and especially standing as I do in the midst of a circle so intimately acquainted with the deceased, it will not be expected of me to pronounce his eulogy ; but I can speak, and I may be permitted to speak, in the language of early and well-tried personal friendship of one highly prized, not only by myself, but by the State he has. so long had the honor to represent ; of an individual idolized by almost every circle in which he ever moved. He was a bold and fearless politician, warm and generous in his feelings. He had a heart that responded to every appeal of sympathy and benevolence; a heart formed for the most ardent attachment. Open and undisguised, the prominent traits of his character were always before the world ; but a long period of famiilar ac- quaintance could only develop the ardor, the devotion and the value of his friendship. For such an associate it may well be permitted us to mourn, and well assured am I that in paying these last honors to his memory we are but giving expression to the feelings of every member of the Senate. His society I have enjoyed when he was in health ; in sickness I have frequently been near him and endeavored to soothe his hours of anguish and distress, and I had an opportunity of watching, with intense anxiety and great solicitude, the last moments of his life."
Mr. Burnet then submitted the following resolution, which was agreed to :
"Resolved, unanimously, That a committee be appointed to take order for superintending the funeral of the Hon. James Noble, deceased, which will take place at half-past II o'clock this day, and that the Senate will attend the same, and that no- tice of this event be given to the House of Representatives."
The chair stated that under the circumstances of the case,
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JAMES NOBLE.
upon being informed yesterday of the death of the late Senator from Indiana, he had appointed a committee of arrangements and pall-bearers, and hoped the course he had pursued would not be disapproved of.
Mr. Burnet then submitted the following resolutions, which were adopted :
"Resolved, unanimously, That the members of the Senate, from a sincere desire of showing every mark of respect due to the memory of the Hon. James Noble, deceased, their late as- sociate, will go into mourning for him for one month, by the usual mode of wearing crape round the left arm.
Resolved, unanimously, That, as an additional mark of re- spect for the memory of the Hon. James Noble, the Senate do now adjourn."
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