USA > Indiana > Biographical and historical sketches of early Indiana > Part 40
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" He was, as he appeared to me, a man of remarkable physi- cal constitution ; of abounding animal spirits, yet without vicious indulgence ; with great industry, energy and endurance ; of ac-
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tive, sympathetic, moral and Christian character and public spirit ; of shrewd, clear and vigorous intellect, well stored with a vast fund of knowledge, all resulting in a very high order of practical wisdom, and as a natural consequence he achieved marked success in his professional and other pursuits in life."
Oliver H. Smith, in his " Early Indiana Trials and Sketches," speaks thus of Mr. Fletcher :
" He was a remarkable man. He combined all the elements of an effective pioneer in a new country-an iron constitution, clear and vigorous common sense mind, an energy that never slumbered, integrity never questioned, a high conception of morality and religion, social qualities of the first order, a devo- ted friend to the cause of education, a good lawyer and a forci- ble speaker."
While the Whig party existed Mr. Fletcher was a member of it, and when it dissolved he became a Republican. Had he sought office it would have been given him, but he preferred a private business to public employment, hence his official life was short.
Mr. Fletcher was one of the men who made Indianapolis what it is. No one impressed himself more deeply upon the people than he, and no one dying left behind him more friends and a better name. His influence was always for the good. Educa- tion and religion had in him a friend and an exemplar.
Mr. Fletcher was about five feet eight inches high, and was strongly and compactly built. He had dark brown hair and gray eyes, the latter being unusually penetrating and expressive. His features were symmetrical, and his complexion unusually white, although of a healthy hue. He was a good and honest man, and his memory is revered by all who knew him.
WILLIAM H. MORRISON.
THE winter of 1880-'SI will long be remembered by the peo- ple of Indianapolis, not only on account of its extreme cold, but for the further reason that during it several of the city's most prominent citizens were called away. First, Governor Williams died, and although he was not properly a citizen of the capital, his almost four years of official residence seemed to make him so. Then Michael G. Bright, in his prime one of the foremost men of the State, departed this life; and soon after him General John Love, a respected and well-known citi- zen, went to " the undiscovered country, from whose bourne no traveler returns." Following quick after him-almost in his shadow-James M. Ray, one of the oldest and best beloved of our pioneers, departed from among us. Then Mr. Morrison was called away.
Mr. Morrison was born in New York, in July, 1806, and when fourteen years old came to Indiana and settled in the county of Clark. Nine years afterward he came to Indianapolis and en- tered the office of his brother, the late Judge James Morrison, as deputy Secretary of State. At the expiration of his brother's official term he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and continued in active business until he died. On the first day of March, 1870. he became a member of the Indiana Banking Company. and was president of that institution until 1878, when he left it to take the presidency of the First National Bank of Indiana- polis. He remained at the head of the First National until March 18, 1881, when he died.
To properly estimate the character of a man other things besides his business career ought to be considered. Mr. Mor- rison was a good business man, but he was something more.
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His influence was for good. He was active in most things that favored correct morals and the building up of Christianity. He was free from all the smaller vices, as well as the larger ones. His daily walk was above reproach, and his activity in the building of churches and in supporting the ministry was pro- verbial. He was instrumental in the building of Christ Church, Indianapolis, and to him more than to any other man must be ascribed the erection of St. Paul's Cathedral, in the same city. It was in this church that he worshiped during his latter days, and for years before his death no stranger entered there without noting an elegant and dignified man in a pew near the chancel. That man was Mr. Morrison.
Mr. Morrison, like all mortals, had his failings. They were not in the line of laxity of morals, or a want of religious activ- ity, for in these respects he was above reproach ; but his nature was so positive and his will so strong that at times he seemed obstinate and illiberal. This trait in his character was so marked that some thought him hard-hearted and unkind, but, in fact, he was neither. In his intercourse with friends and in the transaction of his business he was ever courteous and oblig- ing. It was only when he felt himself wronged that his com- bativeness arose, and at such times he was unyielding.
Mr. Morrison was both by nature and practice a gentleman. He never so forgot himself as to give way to passion or to act in an angry manner, but when he differed from a man it was in a courteous way. He never acted the bully nor played the role of a blackguard.
Mr. Morrison belonged to a distinguished family. His brother, the late Judge Morrison, was an eminent lawyer, and filled many places of honor and profit with great ability. He was Secretary of State when a young man, and he was Indiana's first Attorney-General. For many years he was president of the old State Bank of Indiana, and he performed the duties of that responsible place honestly and well. Another brother-Alex- ander H .- was prominent in politics in his day, and he left his impress upon the city in which he lived in more ways than one. The youngest brother, the subject of this sketch, never asked for public office, but contented himself with commercial affairs. Had he sought public employment it would have been given him.
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and the record of his business life is an earnest of what he would have done had he chosen to be a public man.
Mr. Morrison was an active business man until the sickness overtook him from which he died. Although he had passed the age allotted to man, three-score years and ten, he stood up- right and walked with grace and ease so long as he was able to get about. His was not the tottering gait of old age, but the steady one of vigorous manhood. He was often seen upon the streets of Indianapolis taking his regular walks, with a son of his old age beside him ; and the elegant old gentleman and the bright boy side by side, engaged in thoughtful converse, brought to mind those great creations of Dickens-Dombey and Son. Had the great novelist known Mr. Morrison and his boy many would have thought that they were the originals of his picture.
The funeral of Mr. Morrison took place in St. Paul's Cathe- dral, on Saturday, March 19, after which his remains were taken to Crown Hill and buried. The Indianapolis Clearing House Association and the directors of the First National Bank of Indianapolis met and passed resolutions extolling his virtues. But in no other place, outside his family, was Mr. Morrison so missed as in his church. In church influence he was first among the laity, and his advice was sought and his counsel heeded by the clergy. He was Senior Warden of St. Paul's Cathedral when he died.
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JAMES S. ATHON.
DR. JAMES S. ATHON was born in Louden county, Virginia, April 1, 1811. Soon after his birth his parents removed to Mur- freesboro, Tennessee, and after remaining there awhile emigra- ted to Kentucky. They lived there but a year or two and then came to Indiana Territory and located upon Clark's grant, on the southern border of the State.
The father of Dr. Athon was an unpretentious farmer of firm integrity, and stood high in the community where he lived. For many years he was a member of the Methodist church, and living near the town of Charlestown his family had the benefit of church privileges. The church in town and the log school- house in the country afforded all the facilities young Athon had in his boyhood to obtain an education. He worked on his fath- er's farm until he reached manhood, and then he commenced the study of medicine. He afterwards graduated at the Medi- cal College at Louisville, Ky., after which he removed to Lex- ington, in Scott county, and opened an office for the practice of his profession. He remained at Lexington but a short time and then went to Charlestown, where he afterwards became eminent in his profession, ranking among the first practitioners of the State.
On the breaking out of the Mexican war Dr. Athon was ap- pointed surgeon of the Third Indiana regiment and remained with it until it was mustered out of service. Subsequently the Fifth Indiana regiment was formed and Dr. Athon went to Mexico as its surgeon, and continued with it until the end of the war. Being then vigorous and in his prime he was active in the discharge of his army duties, and many a brave man owed his life to the skillful and attentive surgeon.
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On the return of Dr. Athon from Mexico he was elected to the State Senate from his county, and served as Senator one term. While in the Senate, although a Democrat, he had many personal friends on the Whig side of the chamber, among them being Joseph G. Marshall, of Jefferson, and George G. Dunn, of Lawrence county. He accompanied Mr. Marshall to Louis- ville as his surgeon when that gentleman challenged Senator Bright to mortal combat, and he and Mr. Dunn were very warm personal friends while the latter lived.
In 1852 the Democratic State convention of Indiana placed Dr. Athon on the ticket as a presidential elector for his district. He was elected, and cast his vote in the electoral college for Pierce and King. The next year the Legislature elected him Superintendent of the Indiana Hospital for the Insane. He filled the place with distinguished ability, earning for himself a fame that will go down to later generations.
In 1862 Dr. Athon was elected Secretary of State, and held the office for a full term of two years. When his term expired he resumed his medical practice, and was actively engaged in it until attacked by the disease from which he died.
On the 28th of September, 1875, Dr. Athon was stricken by paralysis. He lingered until the 25th of the next month when death came to his relief.
Dr. Athon was a man of great physical and moral courage. What he believed to be his duty he did at once. Always prompt and energetic, he nearly always succeeded in his un- dertakings. He did not wait for others to act before determin- ing his course, he determined it himself.
Dr. Athon left a widow and three children when he died, one of the latter being the gifted Hettie Athon Morrison, well-known throughout the West as a song and sketch writer of very great ability. Another daughter is the widow of the late General Jefferson C. Davis, the most distinguished soldier Indiana has ever produced. Dr. Athon's fame rests mainly upon his pro- fessional actions. Although he served the State well in the offices he held, he did her a greater service in healing the dis- eased bodies and minds of her citizens.
MICHAEL C. GARBER.
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN GARBER was born in Augusta county, Virginia, April 7, 1813. His father served, for several terms, as sheriff of Augusta county, and for awhile was mayor of the city of Staunton. For many years he was engaged in conduct- ing a line of stage coaches, in which business he was assisted by his son Michael. In this way the latter became familiar with the transportation business, and he availed himself of this knowledge later in life to the great benefit of the government.
Before Mr. Michael Garber reached his majority he left Staunton and went to Hollidaysburg, Pa., and engaged as a clerk for an uncle. After this he and his uncle became contract- ors on the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, then under construction. From 1832 until 1840 he was engaged in the forwarding busi ness, and for a short time afterwards was a partner of George McFarland in the conduct of a foundry.
In 1843 Mr. Garber left Hollidaysburg and located at Rising Sun, Indiana, as a merchant. In 1849 he bought the Madison Courier of Samuel F. and John I. Covington, and at once re- moved to Madison and assumed control of the paper. It was as the conductor of this paper that he became known to the people of Indiana, and his fame is inseparably connected with it.
When Mr. Garber took charge of the Madison Courier he was without newspaper experience. He associated with him in the editorial conduct of the paper Charles P. Baymiller, a bril- liant though erratic man, who died in Indianapolis several years ago. At that time the Courier was a Democratic paper of the strictest sect, and being published at the home of Jesse D. Bright, was looked upon as his personal organ. But the new editor was not fitted to be a personal 'grinder of tunes for any
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man, and he soon became restive under the restraints which such a position imposed. The contest between Senator Bright and Governor Wright for the leadership of the Indiana Democ- racy was then pending, and the Courier gave evidence of weakening in the Bright cause by publishing complimentary notices of Governor Wright, copied from other papers. By doing this its editor incurred the mortal displeasure of the Sen- ator, for he was a man who allowed no divided allegiance. From his place in the Senate chamber at Washington he wrote a letter to the late Judge William M. Taylor, of Madison, in which he hurled his anathemas at the editor, and declared he would drive him out of the Democratic party. The letter did not reach the man for whom it was intended, but went to an- other Taylor, who gave it to Mr. Garber. The latter was, therefore, put in possession of irrefragable proofs of Senator Bright's hostility, and being a man not given to turning the other cheek when smitten on one, he placed the Courier squarely on the side of Governor Wright.
When Mr. Bright came home he called a meeting of Demo- crats in the old Madison Court-house to consider the situation. All the leading Democrats of the county were there, and to them Mr. Bright delivered a two-hours speech, in which he de- nounced Mr. Garber as no Democrat, and demanded that he be publicly read out of the party. He ended by offering a series of resolutions to that effect, but before the question was put upon their adoption Mr. Garber arose and asked to be heard. He protested against being politically ostracised, and declared him- self a Democrat in whom there was no guile. He read a letter from Governor Wright certifying to his Democracy, but Gover- nor Wright was not Democratic authority in Jefferson county, and his certificate of the editor's political orthodoxy went for naught. Mr. Bright's resolutions were adopted with but three dissenting voices, and Mr. Garber was declared outside the Democratic pale. But the condemned man refused to abide the decree, and continued to advocate Democratic principles and policy. He supported Pierce for President and Wright for Governor, and rendered his party very efficient service the year they were elected. But he had no affiliation with the Demo-
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cratic leaders of his county. They had started the Madisonian to crush the Courier and drive its editor from Madison. But their efforts were in vain. The Courier lived and prospered, while the paper which was intended to supplant it struggled a few months and died. The bad feelings engendered by the ef- forts of Mr. Bright and his friends to break down the Courier terminated in a personal difficulty, which came near costing Mr. Garber his life.
The citizens of Madison held a public meeting and appointed a committee to receive Kossuth when he visited Madison in the winter of 1852. Hamilton Hibbs, a devoted friend and follower of Senator Bright, was on this committee, and so was Mr. Gar- ber. The former published a card in the Madisonian-the Bright organ-declining to serve, for the reason that Mr. Gar- ber was a member of the committee, and saying he would rather serve on a committee with a "buck nigger" than with M. C. Garber.
Now, Mr. Garber was a Democrat, and in those days to be likened to a " nigger " was more than Democratic nature could bear, so, on meeting Hibbs the afternoon his card appeared, he spat in his face and struck him with a cane. Hibbs, who was a house-carpenter, was returning home from his work with his tools in his hands, and on being thus assaulted he drew a chisel and stabbed Garber three times in his left side, each time cut- ting the lung. The wounded man was taken home faint and bleeding, and for many days lay halting between life and death. He recovered, however, from the injury in a few weeks and re- sumed control of his paper. Nothing was done with Hibbs for the stabbing.
When the People's party was organized in 1854 Mr. Garber cut loose from the Democracy and entered the new party. In 1856, when the Republican party made its first campaign in In- diana, he attached himself to it, and continued in its ranks until he died. He assisted in making the State platform of the party that year, and in 1858 he was chosen chairman of the State Cen- tral Committee. He filled the place with signal ability, and at the expiration of his term turned over the party machinery to his successor in good working condition. His paper-the Madison Courier-has been an active and able supporter of the Republi-
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can party since its birth. It is now, and for several years has been, mainly under the editorial control of Colonel Garber's eld- est son, Michael C. Garber, Jr. ; but its policy was determined, while he lived, by the one who, for more than a quarter of a cen- tury, was its head.
Colonel Garber made an unsuccessful race for Treasurer of Jefferson county in 1860, the only time he was ever a candidate for office before the people.
In 1861 the late David C. Branham, then in the secret ser- vice of the government, suggested to the Secretary of War the appointment of Mr. Garber as an army quartermaster. General Cameron, the Secretary, had known Mr. Garber in Pennsyl- vania, and was well acquainted with the fact that the latter had great knowledge of the subject of transportation. He at once caused Mr. Garber to be commissioned as brigade quartermas- ter with the rank of captain. Mr. Garber at once entered upon the duties of his office, and so well and satisfactorily did he perform his official duties that he was twice promoted, once to the rank of major and then to that of colonel. He was chief quartermaster of the Army of the Tennessee, and was with it during the Atlanta campaign.
When Sherman started on his march to the sea Colonel Gar- ber was ordered to Louisville, Kentucky. Subsequently he joined Sherman at Savannah, and was appointed chief quarter- master of Sherman's army. He remained with that general until the war ended, and was present at the grand review at Washington, when General Sherman refused to take the hand of Secretary Stanton, and publicly turned his back upon him. He remained in the army about one month after the war had ended, and then resigned his commission and went back to his work on the Courier.
On the 25th of July, 1865, General Sherman wrote Colonel Garber a very complimentary letter, closing it as follows: "I hope you will enjoy health and prosperity and live long to enjoy the peace and security you aided to establish for our common country."
As editor of the Courier, Colonel Garber sharply criticised Governor Morton's Richmond speech, and antagonized his views in other particulars. The Courier was known through-
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out the State as an anti-Morton paper, and was really a sharp thorn in the side of the War Governor.
In 1872 Colonel Garber was appointed postmaster at Madison, after which time the Courier was mainly conducted by his old- est son. The new director changed its course towards Gover- nor Morton, and from thence onward until the latter died gave him a very cordial support.
On the morning of April 3, 1881, Colonel Garber was attacked with hemorrhage of the brain. For five days he lay in an un- conscious state, and then breathed his last. Two days after his death he was buried at Madison, with Masonic honors, in the presence of a large assemblage of sympathizing friends.
In his younger days Colonel Garber was able to do two men's work, and he did it. He was a man of indomitable pluck and perseverance, and he never tired in his undertakings. Although he had nearly reached the allotted life of man-three score and ten years-he was a worker until he died. He was at his office the morning on which he was struck with the malady that caused his death ; so it may be said that he died at work, with his har- ness on.
Colonel Garber was a man of splendid physique. His form was full, even to rotundity, and his carriage was manly and graceful. He had white hair and beard, and his appearance de- noted an old man in vigorous life, one who had retained his strength as he grew old. He was greatly missed by the people of Madison, where he had lived so long, and the press of the State deplored the loss of its oldest representative and one of its most honored and influential leaders.
JOHN D. DEFREES.
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JOHN D. DEFREES was born at Sparta, Tennessee, November 10, 1810. He attended a country school when a boy, and ob- tained a fair education, and when thirteen years old went into a printing office to learn " the art preservative of all arts." Sub- sequently he emigrated to Ohio, and entered the law office of the late Governor Corwin, at Lebanon, as a student. After being admitted to the bar he removed to South Bend, Indiana, and opened an office for the practice of his profession. He took an interest in public affairs, and was elected to the State Senate from his district, becoming one of the leading members of that body. On the resignation of Jesse D. Bright, then Lieutenant-Governor of the State, to take his seat in the Senate of the United States, there was a severe struggle over the elec- tion of a President of the Senate. The two parties-Whig and Democratic-were equally divided in the Senate, and many fruitless ballots were had for a presiding officer of that body. The Democrats claimed the office on the ground that the State was Democratic on a popular vote, and were answered by the Whigs that if they wished a Democratic presiding officer they should not have elected Mr. Bright to the United States Senate. After wrangling several days over the matter, each party met in caucus to determine what to do. The Democrats made a list of ten Senators and sent it to the Whigs, with the word that the selection of any one of the ten would be satisfactory to them, when Mr. Defrees, on the part of the Whigs, made a counter proposition, naming the twenty-five Whig Senators, and saying the selection of any one of the twenty-five would be acquiesced in by his political friends. The matter was finally settled by a compromise. Godlove S. Orth, Whig, was elected President,
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with the agreement that he should resign on the last day of the session, which he did, and James G. Read, Democrat, was elected in his place. This contest and settlement were mainly managed by Mr. Defrees for the Whigs.
In February, 1846, while a member of the State Senate, Mr. Defrees bought the Indianapolis fournal and became its editor. He controlled its columns until the fall of 1854, when he sold the paper and retired from newspaper work. In July, 1855, Mr. Defrees, in connection with other gentlemen, established the Central Bank, and for some time he was its president. In 1858 he was a candidate for nomination for Congress in the In- dianapolis district. His competitors were William Sheets, Al- bert G. Porter, and, for a time, Jonathan W. Gordon, who, how- ever, withdrew from the contest before the convention was held. Mr. Porter was nominated and elected, beating Martin M. Ray, Esq.
In July, 1859, Mr. Defrees started the Atlas, a daily paper, and continued in its control until March, 1861, when it was ab- sorbed by the Journal. The Atlas favored the nomination of Edward Bates, of Missouri, for the presidency, and its editor was Mr. Bates's principal manager in Indiana. The plan was to nominate Mr. Bates on his record, without a platform, a scheme which proved successful in 1848 in the election of Gen- eral Taylor. Early in 1861 President Lincoln appointed Mr. Defrees Government Printer, in the place of Cornelius Wendell, who had long held the office. Mr. Defrees did not dispense the patronage of his office to the satisfaction of the Republican members of Congress, and in 1869 Congress passed a law mak- ing the office of Government Printer elective by the Senate. The Senate elected A. M. Clapp, then of the Buffalo Express. to the place, and Mr. Defrees became a private citizen. There had been ill feeling between Senator Morton and Mr. Defrees for a long time, which was deepened on account of this election, and the estrangement lasted while the Senator lived. For many years Mr. Defrees and Hon. Schuyler Colfax had been partic- ular friends. Mr. Defrees aided Mr. Colfax in his canvass for the Republican nomination for the vice-presidency in 1868, and was as influential in securing it as any other man. When the law was pending in Congress to make the office of Public Printer
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