USA > Indiana > Biographical and historical sketches of early Indiana > Part 4
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JONATHAN JENNINGS ..
may rightfully belong to them or either of them with as little delay as the operation of the law will admit."
The committee to which this matter was referred made a lengthy report, in which they said : 1152349
" On the subject of the difficulties said to be experienced by the citizens of Kentucky in regaining their fugitive slaves, your committee are of opinion that the feelings of His Excellency. as well as of the Legislature of Kentucky, have been governed in a great degree by the improper representations of individuals who have been disappointed in their attempts to carry away those whom they claim as slaves from this State, without com- plying with the preliminary steps required by law, together with the groundless assertions of unprincipled individuals who have attempted, in many instances, to seize and carry away people of color, as slaves, who were free, and as much entitled to the protection of the laws as any citizen of Indiana. * It is a well-known fact that, whatever may be the opinion of our
citizens on the abstract principles of slavery, and however re- pugnant it may appear, in their estimation, to the principles of moral justice, there is but one sentiment prevalent on this sub- ject of people of color migrating, in any circumstances, to this State. It is believed, if not restricted, it would, in time, become an evil of not much less magnitude than slavery itself.
Your committee, in the further prosecution of the duties as- signed them, will take into consideration the laws on the subject of slaves escaping into this State, as well as the laws for the punishment of the crime of man-stealing, and. if it shall be found that any new provisions are necessary on either of these subjects, they will form the subjects of future reports."
In the last paragraph the committee showed its teeth, and told kidnappers to beware, or they would get bitten.
I have spoken thus fully of Governor Jennings's recommend- ations upon the subject of the rendition of fugitive slaves, be- cause it was a question that confronted the young Common- wealth at its birth, and the people of the present day should know how it was met. That it was considered in a states- manlike way and disposed of to the best interest of the people
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must be admitted by those who study it in the light of this time. Public sentiment upon the question of slavery was then widely different from what it is now, and in coming to a correct con- clusion as to its treatment this fact should not be forgotten. Governor Jennings was far in advance of the public men of his day in Indiana upon this subject, and while his utterances seem to us exceedingly conservative, they are those of one of the most pronounced anti-slavery men of his time.
In 1818, President Monroe appointed Governor Jennings a commissioner to negotiate a treaty with the Indians, his associ- ates being General Cass and Judge Benjamin Parke. The commissioners reached St. Mary's in September of that year, and proceeded with their work. On the 3d of October Gov- ernor Jennings wrote from St. Mary's to Christopher Harrison, the Lieutenant-governor, that " Understanding some official business is necessary to be transacted, permit me to inform you that my absence is still necessary, and that it may be necessary for you to attend the seat of government to discharge such du- ties as devolve on the executive of Indiana." Lieutenant-gov- ernor Harrison thereupon went to Corydon, took possession of the executive office, and performed the duties of Governor un- til Jennings's return from Saint Mary's. The constitution of the State prohibited the Governor from holding " any office un- der the United States," and Governor Jennings, having accept- ed and performed the duties of Indian Commissioner, contrary to this provision, the Lieutenant-governor claimed that the Governor had thereby forfeited his office, and that he, the Lieutenant-governor, had become Acting Governor of the State. Governor Jennings refused to accept this interpretation of the law, and demanded possession of the executive office. The Lieutenant-governor left the room he had been occupying, and taking with him the State seal, opened an office elsewhere. The State officers were in a quandary what to do. Two men were claiming to be Governor, and they did not know which to recognize. Such was the condition of affairs when the Leg- islature of 1818 convened. On the 10th of December of that vear Ratliff Boon, then a senator from the county of Warrick. appeared upon the floor of the House and said :
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JONATHAN JENNINGS.
" Mr. Speaker, I am directed by the Senate to inform this House that the Senate has appointed a committee on their part to act with a similar committee which may be appointed on the part of the House of Representatives to wait on the Lieutenant- governor, and late acting Governor, and inform him that the two houses of the General Assembly have met, formed a quorum, and are now ready to receive any communications which he may please to make relative to the executive department of government, and request a similar committee be appointed on the part of the House of Representatives, and that on the part of the Senate Messrs. Boon and DePauw were appointed that committee.
" Whereupon, on motion of Mr. Milroy, the House ordered ' that a similar committee be appointed on the part of this House to act with the committee on the part of the Senate, and to learn from the Lieutenant-governor, if he should please to make any communications, at what time and in what manner the two houses may expect them.'"
Thus it will be seen that the Lieutenant-governor was ac- knowledged to be the chief executive by both branches of the Legislature. The next day Mr. Sullivan, chairman of the House committee under the resolution above quoted, reported to the House that the committee had waited on " His Excellency Lieu- tenant-governor Harrison, and had informed him that a quorum of both houses of the General Assembly had convened and were ready to receive any communication he might be pleased to make to them," and that the Lieutenant-governor, had replied. " That, as Lieutenant-governor he had no communication to make to the Senate or House of Representatives, but as Lieu- tenant and Acting Governor, if recognized as such, he had."
The same day a committee was appointed by the House to investigate the troubles in the Executive Department, and next day reported through their chairman. General Milroy, that they " are of the opinion, from the testimony herewith transmitted. that His Excellency, Governor Jonathan Jennings, did, in the months of September and October last, accept an appointment under the government of the United States, by virtue of which
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he, together with others, did repair to St. Mary's, and then and there did negotiate and conclude a treaty with various tribes of Indians on behalf of the United States ; and that he did sign said treaty as the agent or officer of the United States, and he did thereto subscribe his name with others."
The committee addressed Governor Jennings a note, inform- ing him that they had been appointed to investigate his actions. in relation to the treaty of St. Mary's, with a view of deter- mining if he had forfeited his office of Governor, and asking him to appear before them and make his defense. He replied in a courteous note, in which he said :
"If the difficulty, real or supposed, has grown out of the cir- cumstances of my having been connected with the negotiation at St. Mary's, I feel it my duty to state to the committee that I acted from an entire conviction of its propriety and an anxious. desire, on my part, to promote the welfare and accomplish the wishes of the whole people of the State in assisting to add a large and fertile tract of country to that which we already pos- · sess."
Governor Jennings declined to appear in person before the committee, but wrote General Milroy to " receive and introduce Mr. C. Dewey as my counsel to the committee of which you are chairman."
The committee took the testimony of several persons, from which it conclusively appeared that Governor Jennings had acted as a commissioner of the United States at St. Mary's. The testimony was reported to the House, and that body, on the 16th of December, passed a resolution " that it was inexpedient to further prosecute the inquiry into the existing difficulties in the executive department of the government of the State." and thereupon recognized Governor Jennings as the rightful Governor by receiving his message. The vote by which this resolution was passed was 15 yeas and 13 nays ; so it will be seen that a . change of two votes would have put Governor Jennings out of office. Indeed, had a vote been taken directly upon the ques- tion, a majority of the House would probably have declared that. he had forfeited the governorship, for this he most unquestion-
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JONATHAN JENNINGS.
ably had done. But the Legislature, appreciating the motive of his action, avoided the issue, and he remained in office.
So soon as the Legislature recognized Jennings as Governor, the Lieutenant-governor resigned, saying in a note to the House that " As the officers of the executive department of the Gov- ernment and the General Assembly have refused to recognize that authority which, according to my understanding, is consti- tutionally attached to the office, the name itself is not worth re- taining." The next year he ran against Mr. Jennings for Gov- ernor, and was badly beaten, receiving but 2,008 votes in a total of 11,256.
In May, 1820, Governor Jennings left Corydon with General Tipton, to meet the commissioners appointed by the Legislature to locate and lay out a permanent capital of the State. As is known, the ground upon which Indianapolis stands was selected, and although Governor Jennings was not officially a party to the selection, he was present when it was made, and no doubt advised it.
In August, 1822, Governor Jennings was elected a represen- tative to Congress from the Second congressional district, and on the 12th day of next month-September-resigned the gov- ernorship. The remainder of his term-until Dec. 5, 1822- was filled by Ratliff Boon, the Lieutenant-governor. Governor Jennings was re-elected to Congress in 1824, in 1826, and in 1828, serving his district continuously for eight years. In 1830 he was again a candidate, but was beaten by General John Carr, a gallant soldier of the war of 1812. The defeat of Governor Jennings at this election was not because the people had lost confidence in his judgment or ability to serve them, but because they believed such a result would conduce to his good. He was of convivial habits, and at Washington had become a reg- ular drinker. His friends saw the habit was growing on him, and were fearful that if they continued him in public life he would become a drunkard. Therefore many of them voted against him, believing such a course was best for him. The habit, however, had become so fastened upon him that his re- tirement to private life did not cause him to leave it off. He con- tinued to drink while he lived, and in his later years was otten incapacitated for business by the too free use of the liquor he
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
made on his farm. This habit-the single vice of his life-fol- lowed him to the grave.
On leaving Congress, Governor Jennings retired to his farm near Charlestown, where he remained until his death. In 1832, President Jackson appointed him a commissioner to negotiate a treaty with the Indians for the Indian lands in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. His associates in the commission were Dr. John W. Davis and Mark Crume, the treaty being held at the forks of the Wabash river, near where the city of Hunting- ton now stands. Mr. John H. B. Nowland, of Indianapolis, was at the treaty, and tells this story of what happened there :
" During the preliminary council, Dr. Davis, who was a pomp- ous, big-feeling man, said something that gave offense to Oba- noby, one of the head chiefs of the Pottawatomies. The chief addressed Governor Jennings saying : 'Does our Great Father intend to insult us by sending such men to treat with us? Why did he not send Generals Cass and Tipton? You (point- ing to the Governor) good man, and know how to treat us. (Pointing to Crume). He chipped beef for the squaws at Wa- bash. (Meaning that Crume was the beef contractor at the treaty of 1826.) Then pointing to Dr. Davis, he said : ' Big man and damn fool." The chief then spoke a few words to the Pot- tawatomies present, who gave one of their peculiar yells and left the council house, and could only be induced to return after several days, and then only through the great influence of Gov- ernor Jennings."
The signing of the treaty at the forks of the Wabash was Gov- ernor Jennings's last official act. He remained on his farm, cul- tivating the soil and spending his leisure in his library, until July 26, 1834, when the end came. He died at home, sur- rounded by his family and friends, beloved by them all. The next day his body was placed in a common farm wagon and taken to Charlestown and buried. The day was intensely hot. and but few were at his burial, these few being members of his family and particular friends. He was laid at rest on a hill ·overlooking the town, and his grave was unmarked by head or foot stone. Thus it has remained until the present time, and
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JONATHAN JENNINGS.
were it not that a few men and women still live who were pres- ent at his burial, no one would certainly know where the re- mains of the First Governor of Indiana are interred.
Men who plant civilization in the wilderness, who organize backwoodsmen into communities, and throw around them the protection of the law, should not be forgotten. They render mankind a priceless service, and those who come after them and enjoy the fruits of their labor and their sacrifices should never tire in honoring their memory. Jonathan Jennings was such a man, and Indiana owes him more than she can compute. He fought slavery to the death when it sought to fasten itself upon her territory : he helped secure for her sons and daughters the best portion of her rich and fertile lands, and yet he sleeps the long sleep without a stone to mark his resting place. Shame on Indiana !
The first Governor of Indiana, like the first President of the United States, died without issue. He was twice married, but no child was born in his household to call him father.
Governor Jennings was a man of polished manners. A lady who knew him well, and was often a guest at his house, told the author that she never met a more fascinating man. He was al- ways gentle and kind to those about him. He was not an orator, but he could tell what he knew in a pleasing way. He wrote well, as well perhaps, as any of his successors in the Governor's office. He was an ambitious man, but his ambition was in the right direction-to serve the people the best he could. He had blue eyes. fair complexion and sandy hair. He was about five feet eight and one half inches high, and in his latter days in- clined to corpulency. He was broad-shouldered and heavy-set, and weighed about 180 pounds. He died comparatively young, but he did as much for the well-being of Indiana as any man that ever lived. Will not she do something to mark the spot where he lies?
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RATLIFF BOON.
THERE is some uncertainty as to the birthplace of Ratliff Boon. Lanman, in his " Biographical Annals of the Civil Gov- ernment," says he was born in Franklin county, North Caro- lina, in 1781. Boon's grandson, David N. Boon, in a letter to the author, says he was born January 18, 1781, in the State of Georgia. Lanman is usually correct, and his account should not be lightly considered, but I assume that the statement of the grandson is true, and that the Empire State of the South has the honor of being the birthplace of one of Indiana's most influential pioneers.
When Ratliff Boon was a boy his father emigrated to Ken- tucky, and settled in Warren county. Ratliff learned the gun- smith's trade in Danville, and in 1809 came to Indiana Territory, and located in what is now Boon township, Warrick county. In 1813, on the organization of Warrick county, Boon was ap- pointed its first treasurer, which office he held for several years. . He was a member of the House of Representatives in the ses- sion of 1816-17, and in 1818 was elected from Warrick county to the State Senate, and took his seat in December of that year. He possessed, in an unusual degree, the qualities which make a leader, and at once drew to himself a large following. Three years afterward (in 1819) he was elected Lieutenant-Governor of the State on the ticket with Jonathan Jennings, and on the resignation of that gentleman, September 12, 1822, to accept a seat in Congress, Lieutenant-Governor Boon filled out the un- expired term of the Governor. .
In August, 1822, Governor Boon was re-elected Lieutenant- Governor of Indiana on the ticket with William Hendricks.
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RATLIFF BOON.
He served as Lieutenant-Governor until the close of the legis- lative session of 1824, and then resigned to become a candidate for Congress in the First District. His letter notifying the Sen- ate of his resignation, dated January 30, 1824, was as follows :
" GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE-This day closes with me, perhaps forever, the honor of presiding over your honorable body. Circumstances combined have made it necessary for me to resign into the hands of the people from which it emanated the office of Lieutenant-Governor; the object of which, when explained, I flatter myself will be received as a sufficient apol- ogy for making it.
" I shall carry with me, from this into whatever situation I may be placed, a grateful recollection of the civilities which I have received from many of you, and of the almost unlimited confidence which has been reposed in me by a generous public. No one can estimate more highly the value of your favor, nor could any one with more unfeigned gratitude than I do the hon- ors which have been conferred on me. And, in conclusion of this address, permit me to solicit you to accept assurances of my best wishes for your present felicity, and a hope for your future prosperity.
" I have the honor to be, with sentiments of regard and es- teem, yours and the public's obedient humble servant.
R. BOON." " CORYDON, January 30, 1824.
On the same day the Senate was notified by a communication from Robert A. New, the Secretary of State, that the resigna- tion of Governor Boon had, that day, been filed in his office.
Governor Boon was elected to Congress in August following,. and two years afterward was a candidate for re-election, but was defeated by Colonel Thomas H. Blake. In 1829 he was again a candidate for Congress, and this time was successful. He was re-elected in 1831, in 1833, in 1835, and in 1837, most of the time serving as chairman of the Committee of Public Lands. In 1836 he was a candidate for United States Senator, but was defeated by Oliver H. Smith. His congressional career ended in March, 1839. and a few months afterward he removed from Indiana and settled in Pike county, Missouri.
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
In Missouri Governor Boon at once became active in public affairs, and soon was one of the leading men of the State. At that time Missouri elected her congressmen on general ticket, and not by districts, as is now the case. Colonel Thomas H. Benton was then the political dictator of Missouri, and con- trolled its politics as absolutely as a feudal lord controlled the action of his dependents. A rebellion against the autocratic rule of Benton was inaugurated, and Boon became its principal leader. He placed himself in antagonism to Benton, and thereby incurred the latter's deadly hostility. Early in 1844 Boon be- came a candidate for Congress, and at once went to work to secure his election. He espoused the measures of reform then in agitation, and although he did not live to see them consum- mated, justice to his memory requires me to say that he gave them the momentum that insured them success. Before he had formally announced himself as a candidate he received the fol- lowing letter from a committee of St. Louis Democrats :
"ST. LOUIS, January 31, 1844.
" Hon. Ratliff Boon :
"SIR : At a meeting of the Democratic party of the city and county of St. Louis, convened on the 8th inst., at the court house in said city, a committee was appointed to interrogate the aspirants to important offices in this State. In the absence of S. Penn, Jr., Esq., chairman of said committee, the under- signed beg leave to submit the following questions, to wit :
" I. Are you in favor of a convention to amend the constitu- tion so as to equalize representation according to population, and to limit the judicial tenure according to established Demo- cratic principles ?
"2. Are you in favor of the passage of a law by the next General Assembly to lay off the State into districts, and to pro- vide that each district shall elect one member?
"3. Are you in favor of the bills, as originally introduced last session, commonly denominated ' the currency bills? '
" 4. Are you still in favor of the principles and will you sus- tain the doctrines embodied in the address adopted and pub- lished by the Democratic National Convention held at Balti- more in May, 1840?
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RATLIFF BOON.
. You are most respectfully requested to furnish, at your earliest convenience, direct and categorical answers to the fore- going interrogatories. Very respectfully,
"THOMAS B. HUDSON.
"L. T. LABEAUME. ". N. RANNEY. "D. H. ARMSTRONG."
To this letter Governor Boon replied as follows :
" LOUISIANA, Mo .. February 14, 1844.
" GENTLEMEN-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 31st ult., in which you say that at a meeting of the Democratic party of St. Louis you were ap- pointed a committee to interrogate the aspirants to important offices in this State.
" Whilst I am insensible of having authorized the use of my name as an aspirant to any office at the next August election, I am, nevertheless, proud of the opportunity thus afforded me to express my sentiments touching some of the leading questions of political economy, about which there exists so great a diver- sity of opinions among the Democrats of Missouri. And in my answer to your several interrogatories, I will respond to each one of them in the order in which they stand arranged.
" To your first interrogatory I answer-I am.
" To your second, I answer-I now am and ever have been in favor of electing members of Congress by single districts.
" To your third interrogatory I answer-I now am and ever have been opposed to those bills, from their first introduction into the Missouri Legislature.
" To your fourth interrogatory I answer -- That I have not before me the address of the Democratic convention held in Baltimore in 1840, but from my present recollection of the prin- ciples therein set forth, they will continue to receive from me a cordial support. Very respectfully, R. BOON. " Thomas B. Hudson and others, Committee."
The contest became exceedingly bitter between the reformers. and the adherents of Benton. In looking over some newspaper clippings sent me by a grandson of Ratliff Boon, I am reminded
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
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of the contest in Indiana in 1860, between the administration men and the friends of Judge Douglas. On the Ist of March. 1844, a committee of St. Louis Democrats wrote Governor Boon, asking him questions upon various subjects, and ending as follows : " We also desire to learn from you whether you are willing to submit your pretensions to the convention above named (the State convention), abide its decision and support its nominees." To this letter Governor Boon replied as follows :
" LOUISIANA, Mo., March 7, 1844.
" GENTLEMEN-Your letter of the Ist inst. came to hand last evening. And as I have determined to submit my pretensions to a seat in the next Congress of the United States, subject to the untrammeled decision of the freemen of Missouri, in the ex- ercise of the elective franchise, it will, for the present, super- sede the necessity of my going into detail touching my views of national policy. Suffice it to say that I am a Democrat of the true Jeffersonian stamp, and will, in due season, write out for publication a full expose of my political creed.
" Very respectfully, R. BOON."
From this time on the battle between the two wings of the party waxed hotter and hotter. As a sample of the political literature of that day, I copy the following communication pub- lished in an organ of the Reformers :
"OLD PIKE.
" Doubtless it will be gratifying to the friends of the Demo- cracy everywhere, and to the warm admirers of Hon. R. Boon in particular, to learn that this war-worn veteran, who for the last thirty years has bravely battled side by side with the noble spirit of the nation against every species of fraud upon the rights of the people, 'is himself again ;' that by the superior skill of his accomplished physician, Dr. W. B. Gorin, a disease which had fastened itself upon him, and for several months seemed to leave little hope of his recovery, has been, in a meas- ure, removed, and that he is once more actively associated, as was his wont, with the unterrified Democracy-confirming the doubting, giving strength and efficacy to their action-aiding
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