USA > Indiana > Biographical and historical sketches of early Indiana > Part 33
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" Not long after this, in his loneliness he invited me to board with him while I was attending school at the seminary, and to have a care of the family garden and stable, while he was away at court in Indianapolis.
" On one occasion we were agreeably surprised to have a call from General Harrison, who was making a visit by saddle from North Bend to Vincennes, and dined with us. I was much in- terested in witnessing the old-time friendship of these pioneer officials. After dinner I brought out the General's horse and helped him to his stirrup, and they parted to meet on earth no more. During the summer of 1835 the destroyer finished his work. I was by him in his last hours, saw him expire, and, assisted by David Campbell, Professor Campbell's father, of Crawfordsville, prepared him for his narrow resting-place on the hill west of Salem.
" Benjamin Parke was a Christian in the true acceptation of the term, though he identified himself with no religious denomi- nation. He attached much value to the spiritual acceptation and experience of Christian life. To him it must be a true life in the soul. He could not be satisfied with appearances without a practical exhibition of its genuineness. He very often rode out three miles into the country to sit in silence with the Friends at their midweek meetings, as well as on the Sabbath, and was as appreciative of their spiritual communion as themselves. He read and enjoyed their books, and kept them in his library, which was perhaps the best, at that time, in the State. When death was near he was very conscious and calm, and smiled at all my little attentions ; and when the last suffocating cough was over he seemed quite ready, with Kirke White, who sank under like circumstances,
" Henceforth, O world, no more of thy desires, No more of hope, of anxious, vagrant hope. I abjure all. Now other cares engross me, And my tired soul, with emulative haste, Looks to its God and plumes its wings for Heaven."
While a resident of Vincennes Judge Parke was mainly in-
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strumental in the formation of a public library. Under his care it grew until it contained over 1,500 choice books, embracing standard works in many branches of science and departments of literature. He was a member of the first Board of Trustees of Vincennes University, and helped to organize and start that institution of learning. He was the father of the movement that established at Indianapolis a law library which has grown to be one of the best of the kind in the country. It was largely by his influence and activity that the Indiana Historical Society was formed, once an institution of much promise, but now scarcely known. Would that we had another Benjamin Parke to put life into this corpse, in order that the rich treasures of Indiana history now going to waste might be preserved. If the spirits of the departed are permitted to know what tran- spires on earth, that of Benjamin Parke must view with horror the wreck of the edifice he helped to build.
A warm friendship existed between Judge Parke and the late Judge Dewey. In going to court at Indianapolis it was the custom of Judge Dewey, who lived at Charlestown, to come by way of Salem, that he might have Judge Parke's company to the capital. Mrs. Parke used to say that her husband's eyes shone at the sight of Dewey as they did at the sight of no other man. When Judge Parke died the bar of Indiana selected Judge Dewey to deliver an address commemorative of his virtues. This address was a magnificent tribute of one great lawyer to the memory of another. It closes as follows : "His venerable form is in the tomb, but his example is with us in that his spirit lives and still kindly admonishes us to consecrate the remainder of our lives to life's great purposes, to duty and to usefulness."
THOMAS RANDOLPH.
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THOMAS RANDOLPH, third Attorney-General of Indiana Ter- ritory, was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1771. He belonged to the celebrated family of that name, and was a second cousin of John Randolph of Roanoke. He graduated with high honor at William and Mary's College, and subsequently studied law. He served one term in the Virginia Legislature, a position at that time of much honor and influence. He married, when a young man, a daughter of Sir John Skipwith, who bore him one child, a daughter, and shortly afterwards died. He was an ap- plicant for a position in the regular army, and in May, 1808, was appointed to a lieutenancy, but having previously emigrated to Indiana Territory, where he had many influential friends, he declined the commission. Soon after coming to Indiana Gov- ernor Harrison appointed him Attorney-General of the Terri- tory, a position of honor, but one which brought him but little money.
In June, 1810, he married Catherine Lawrence, a step- daugh- ter of General James Dill, and a grand-daughter of General Arthur Saint Clair. By her he had one daughter-Mrs. William Sheets, of Indianapolis-a lady of culture and high breeding, and to whom the author is indebted for much of the material used in the preparation of this sketch.
Mr. Randolph was one of a coterie of young Virginians who came to Indiana in early times, and whose influence upon the manners, customs and politics of the Territory was widespread and deep. Their chief was William Henry Harrison, then Gov- ernor of the Territory, to whose fortunes they clung with great steadfastness and fidelity.
Chaperoned as Mr. Randolph was by Governor Harrison, he
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at once took rank among the leading men of the Territory. At that time there was an effort being made to nullify the provis- ions of the ordinance of 1781, forbidding slavery in the North- western Territory. At the head of this movement was Gov- ernor Harrison, and he had as aids the Virginians about him. among them Mr. Randolph. The leader of the Free State party, or the party opposed to any change in the compact be- tween Virginia and the United States in relation to the territory northwest of the Ohio river, was Jonathan Jennings, afterwards Governor of the State. In 1809 Jennings became a candidate for delegate to Congress. The Virginia, or pro-slavery party. chose Randolph to make the race against him, and the contest which ensued was active, bitter and exciting. When the votes were counted it was found that Jennings's majority was thirty- nine, but Mr. Randolph and his friends contended that this majority was made up by votes illegally counted. A contest was determined upon, and money raised to prosecute it. Mr. Randolph went to Washington, having previously given Mr. Jennings notice of contest, and appeared before the Committee on Elections. He commenced a speech before the committee. but was interrupted by Mr. Jennings, who moved that he be required to reduce his objections to writing. The committee ordered this to be done, and Mr. Randolph complied with the order. A sharp and acrimonious debate took place before the committee between the contestant and the contestee, during which Mr. Randolph said :
" MR. CHAIRMAN-I have but a few observations to make in reply, for I certainly am not disposed to controvert arguments and positions perfectly in accord with my ideas on this subject. and which I have contended for before this and the committee to whom was referred the memorial from the Territory. I most sincerely wish that the arguments of the gentleman may con- vince you of the legality of the election, as I myself believe it to have been. Much rather had I that this should be your de- cision than the seat of the delegate should be vacated, unless on the other points before you, because this has been seized on by a pettifogging faction (who, like drowning men, catch at straws), to prove the arbitrary conduct of the Governor. Such
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are their contemptible artifices to render unpopular a virtuous and great man, by representing that he had trampled upon the rights and privileges of the people. I am not a little astonished, sir, to see the change in sentiment which has taken place in that gentleman. I did not expect a change of situation would have so metamorphosed him. He has chimed in with this faction in the clamor against this man in the vain hope of rendering him unpopular. Such a change should not be produced in me by personal considerations." [Here Mr. Randolph was called to order. He apologized by declaring that his surprise had pro- duced these observations, but added, he stated nothing but the truth.]
The committee came to the conclusion that the election for delegate was without authority of law, and, therefore, that Mr. Jennings was not entitled to his seat. They closed their report by submitting the following resolution :
" Resolved, That the election held for a delegate to Congress for the Indiana Territory, on the 22d of May, 1809, being with- out authority of law, is void, and, consequently, the seat of Jonathan Jennings as a delegate for that Territory is hereby de- clared to be vacant."
The report of the election committee was considered in com- mittee of the whole and adopted, but on coming before the House for final action that body refused to concur in it, but confirmed Mr. Jennings in his seat.
This contest between Mr. Jennings and Mr. Randolph begat much bad blood. They both resorted to the hand-bill-a weapon much used by the politicians of that day. Randolph hand-billed Jennings, and Jennings hand-billed Randolph. Each was severe on the other, but Randolph's invective and sarcasm were the more cutting and biting of the two. He closes one of his letters to the public as follows :
" If at any time I have been led into indiscretion in my de- fense it has proceeded from the injustice and violence of my opponents. Truth may sometimes, with propriety, be sup- pressed-it will always have most force when mildly expressed-
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but though uttered in the warmest language, with the keenest satire, it may often be excused. The feelings of the man too frequently gain the mastery of sober judgment. I confess my natural sanguine disposition, impatient at injustice, often forces me to express myself in terms which might be softened. In whatever garb, however, it may be decked, truth will at length prevail."
The feud between Randolph and Jennings extended to their friends, and many bitter things were said by the latter of each other. Waller Taylor, then a Territorial judge, and afterwards a Senator in Congress, thus writes to Mr. Randolph :
"JEFFERSONVILLE, June 3, 1809.
" DEAR SIR-There has no circumstance transpired to throw further light on the result of the Dearborn election since I saw you. Jennings's conduct is a little mysterious, but he still says he is elected. He states that he got 143 votes, that you got 67, and Jones an inconsiderable number ; one township he had not heard from when he left there, but he apprehends no injury from that, as it was in a part of the county the least populous. I ex- pected the fellow would have been so much elated with his suc- cess that he would have been insolent and overbearing, but he says very little on the subject, and is silently preparing to go on to the city. Our meeting was not cordial on my part ; I refused to speak to him until he threw himself in my way and made the first overtures, and then I would not shake hands with him. He has heard, I am told, of everything I said against him, which. by the by, was rather on the abusive order, but he revenges him- self on me by saying that he never did anything to injure me, and professes esteem. He is a pitiful coward, and certainly not of consequence enough to excite resentment nor any other sen- timent than contempt. He may rest in peace for me. I will no longer continue to bother myself about him. I expect, before you receive this, you will have passed through the list of your enemies in asking them over the Wabash to partake of your company and the amusement you wish to afford them. I make no doubt they will decline your invitation, although it may be couched in the most polite and ceremonious style ; if they do,
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you will have acquitted yourself agreeable to the rules of mod- ern etiquette, and can be then at liberty to act afterward to them in whatever way may best suit your humor. I hope the junta will be put down like Lucifer, ' never to rise again.' I have no news to communicate. I shall expect you on shortly. In the meantime, believe me to be respectfully yours,
"WALLER TAYLOR."
William McIntosh, who had been Territorial Treasurer, be- came inimical to Governor Harrison, and headed a movement intended to destroy his character and influence. He made slan- derous statements about the Governor, which, coming to the latter's knowledge, highly incensed him. He brought a suit against McIntosh for slander, and employed Randolph to pros- ecute it. The latter called to his aid General W. Johnston and Ellis Glover, two eminent lawyers of that day, and the three successfully prosecuted the suit, obtaining judgment in favor of the Governor against McIntosh for $4,000. McIntosh was a Scotchman of large fortune, who, for many years, had been hostile to Governor Harrison, and who was not believed to be very partial to the government of the United States. Governor Harrison had a sufficient amount of McIntosh's property exe- cuted and sold to pay the judgment, but to show that his suit was not instituted for money, but to maintain his good name, he afterwards returned to McIntosh two-thirds of this property, and gave the remaining third to some of the orphan children of persons who fell in the last war with Great Britain.
A bitter feud between McIntosh and Randolph grew out of this suit, which culminated in a personal altercation between them. McIntosh stabbed Randolph in the back with a dirk, and Randolph cut McIntosh in the face with a small pocket- knife, the only weapon he had about him. McIntosh was but slightly hurt, but Randolph was so badly injured that for weeks it was supposed he would die. In a letter of General James Dill to Mr. Randolph, dated October 19, 1809, that gentleman says :
" I am glad to hear you are out of danger, and am really as- tonished you came off so well, considering the precipitate and inconsiderate manner you engaged. I hope, however, it will
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have the effect of stopping the slanderous and libelous publica- tions of that wretch, McIntosh, and if it does this you will not have risked your life for nothing."
Under date of October 15, 1809, Jonathan Taylor thus writes him :
" I had been much distressed for your recovery until I re- ceived your letter by Mr. Tanahill, having before heard of the affray between you and McIntosh. I have with great pleasure. I assure you, heard, to-day, by Mr. Jones, that you were en- tirely over the wounds."
Under date of October 13, 1809, Waller Taylor, in a letter to Mr. Randolph, says :
" I am happy to hear that you are so nearly recovered from the wound given you by Sawney. I wish you could batter his Scotch carcass well for it."
During the summer of 1809 several articles appeared in the Vincennes Sun severely denunciatory of Mr. Randolph. They had fictitious signatures, but Mr. Randolph suspected they were either written by Mr. Jennings or were instigated by him. On the 3d of June, 1809, he addressed a letter to Mr. Stout, the ed- itor of the Sun, demanding the name of the author or authors of these objectionable communications. Mr. Stout replied, giv- ing the name of Dr. Elias McNamee. The next day Mr. Ran- dolph sent Dr. McNamee a letter by the hands of Major Jona- than Taylor, demanding redress for the injury done him. Dr. McNamee replied, saying, "I must leave you to seek that re- dress you may think most proper.". The same day Mr. Ran- dolph wrote him, saying : "I hope a polite invitation to meet me on the other side of the river Wabash, in the Illinois Ter- ritory, will be accepted." Instead of accepting the " polite in- vitation," Dr. McNamee went before Judge Vanderburg and swore " that Thomas Randolph, of the county of Knox, Esquire. hath challenged him to fight a duel, and that he hath good reason to believe, and doth verily believe, that the said Thomas
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Randolph will take his life or do him some bodily harm." . Mr. Randolph was arrested and put under bonds to keep the peace.
Dr. McNamee was born and bred a Quaker, and conse- quently was opposed, on conscientious grounds, to accepting Randolph's challenge. If Randolph knew this when he chal- lenged him his action was not in accordance with the code.
In the next number of the Sun he published a long commu- nication, reciting the correspondence between him and Dr. McNamee, and closing as follows :
" In taking leave of you, Dr. McNamee, as a scoundrel no longer worthy of my notice, I pronounce you a base slanderer, an infamous liar and a contemptible coward."
Such was the " modern etiquette " to which Waller Taylor, in the letter copied above, referred.
Mr. Randolph was of such a fiery nature that he often got into trouble. In a letter written by him to Captain Samuel C. Vance, of Lawrenceburg, he thus speaks of his relations with John Johnson, afterwards a judge of the Supreme Court :
"J. Johnson's address to me as the author of 'Alpheus,' I suppose, has reached you before this. It excited my risibility without creating in the slightest degree sentiments either of irri- tation or mortification ; and believing it unworthy of notice I have passed it over in silence. On his appearance in this place he prepared and walked with a large hickory stick for some days. Informed by my friends that they had good reason to believe it was intended for me, and earnestly urged by them to place myself in a situation for defense, I thoughtlessly followed their advice, and carried also a stick for one evening and then threw it away, censuring myself for the folly of suspecting his intentions. A day or two afterwards, however, the truth was discovered that his was a weapon of defense and not offense. for he apprehended an assault on him by me, for which I had no cause save his hostile appearance. Warlike appearances have vanished, and we treat each other politely in court, and touch hats as we pass on the streets."
In a letter to Captain Vance, dated January 10, 1811, Mr. Randolph says : .
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" I have nothing to expect from Mr. Jennings more than all the injury he can do me. His unremitted exertion to identify me in all things with the Governor proceeds from his inimical disposition toward me. If he means, in this side way, to pro- duce on the minds of his hearers that I am the echo of the Gov- ernor, he is a fool and a liar."
My purpose in drawing so copiously on the letters at my dis- posal is to show the reader the temper of the men who were prominent in the politics of Indiana in Territorial days. In no other way could I convey to him so forcibly their principles and manner of action.
When General Harrison inaugurated the Wabash campaign of 1811 it was his intention to give Mr. Randolph a com- mand, but circumstances made this impossible. Mr. Randolph, however, accompanied him as a volunteer aid, and fell at the battle of Tippecanoe, pierced by an Indian bullet. The gallant Jo Daviess also fell, and Waller Taylor, a major in the army. and a bosom friend of Randolph, caused them to be buried side by side on the sanguinary field. Before committing their bodies to the grave he took a pin from Randolph's bosom, cut off a lock of his hair, and on his return home gave them to Randolph's widow. He also cut the initials of the names of the dead soldiers on the tree under which they were buried, and years afterward Mrs. Sheets, Randolph's daughter, visited Tip- pecanoe and found the spot where her distinguished father was laid at rest.
General James Dill, the husband of Mrs. Randolph's mother, thus broke the sad news of Randolph's death to his family. His letter was written at Vincennes and dated November 12, 1811 :
" MY DEAR BESS-It appears as if misfortune were to attend us in all situations and circumstances. News has at length ar- rived from the army. They have had a severe conflict, but a signal victory. The worst of it is that many brave men have been killed, more especially amongst those who were immedi- ately around the Governor. I wrote to you that Randolph had joined the army. I wish it had not been so, but it is now too late to wish. You will no doubt endeavor to support the trials
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heaven has thought proper to inflict. I wish I were with you, but that is impossible. The man who filled the place to which I was appointed (a Colonel Owens), was shot through the heart by the side of the Governor. Many have been killed and more wounded, but there is one consolation for the friends of those slain-they died gloriously and in the arms of victory. I hope you are all well. May God protect you. Yours, as ever,
"JAMES DILL."
Mrs. Sheets has an oil portrait of her distinguished father. which was painted in Richmond in 1806. It is that of a man in the prime of life, with high, broad forehead, over which the hair falls in ringlets, a long and delicate nose, dark hazel eyes and a large mouth. The lower part of the face is too small for the face to be symmetrical. A long queue hangs down the back. and the whole appearance is that of a high-bred, intellectual man. Had the original of this picture lived to the alloted age of mankind he must have risen to great eminence in the history of the State, for he had unquestionable talents, a classical edu- cation, a fine person and a host of friends.
WILLIAMSON DUNN.
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WOULD that I had the pen of Dickens that I might draw Wil- liamson Dunn as he was. I design no panegyric of the old pioneer, and if what I say appears extravagant, I beg to assure the reader that Judge Dunn was one of the grandest men I ever knew. I knew him well ; he was my friend when I needed friends ; he was my counselor when I needed counsel, and if I can do aught to honor his memory, I shall only be paying a debt I owe.
Williamson Dunn was born December 25, 1781, near Crow's station, within a few miles of Danville, Kentucky. He was the third son of Samuel Dunn, a native of Ireland, who at the age of thirteen emigrated from the north of Ireland to America, and settled in Rockingham county, Virginia. The family were Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, and transmitted to their descend- ants the characteristics of that tenacious and combative race. Samuel Dunn was in the bloody battle fought with the Indians at the mouth of the Big Kanawha, October 10, 1774, and after- wards served with distinction as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He afterward removed to Kentucky, where Williamson, the subject of this sketch, was born and reared to manhood. The son inherited his father's bravery and patriotism, and these qualities descended to his children. As evidence of this fact there has never been a call to defend the country's flag since Williamson Dunn had issue, without his children and his grand- children answering, " We are here."
In September, 1806, Williamson Dunn was married to Miriam Wilson, in Garrard county, Kentucky, and three years after- ward, with his wife and two children, he emigrated to Indiana Territory and settled in the woods where Hanover now is. This
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continued his home until his death, except while he was regis- ter of the land office at Crawfordsville.
When Mr. Dunn came to Indiana he brought with him three negro slaves. They were a part of his inheritance from his father's estate, and constituted a large part of it. But he hated slavery, and brought his slaves to Indiana that they might be free.
In 1811 General Harrison, then Governor of Indiana Terri- tory, gave Mr. Dunn two commissions-one as a Justice of the Peace, the other as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Jefferson county. He held these offices for some time, and hon- estly discharged their duties.
In 1812 President Madison commissioned Judge Dunn a cap- tain of rangers. He soon raised a company, among the mem- bers being two of his brothers and two of his brothers-in-law. On the 13th of April, 1813, the company was mustered into the service of the United States, at Madison, and at once entered upon active service. For some time it was employed in erect- ing block-houses in the counties of Switzerland, Jefferson and Scott, for the protection of the settlers.
In June, 1813, Captain Dunn and his company made a raid upon the Delaware towns on the west fork of White river, and next month, with three other companies, all under the command of Colonel Russell, marched against the Indian towns on the Wabash river, at the mouth of the Mississiniwa. During this expedition Captain Dunn's company encamped one night on the spot which is now known as Circle Park, Indianapolis. In September, 1813, Captain Dunn's rangers marched to Fort Harrison, near Terre Haute, to relieve Captain Zachary Tay- lor's company of United States regulars. Dr. David H. Max- well, a brother-in-law of Captain Dunn, and a member of his company, in a petition to Congress asking compensation for medicine and medical services rendered the members of his company, gives this graphic description of the situation at Fort Harrison when Captain Dunn arrived :
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