USA > Indiana > Biographical and historical sketches of early Indiana > Part 8
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The Legislature of 1849 elected Governor Whitcomb to the Senate of the United States for the term commencing in March of that year. He was qualified by talent, by education, and by experience for the place, and he would have added luster to a name already great by his service there, had his health been good and he permitted to serve out his term. But disease had fastened itself upon him, and therefore he was unable to dis- charge his senatorial duties as he otherwise would have done. He often left the capital in quest of health, but he found it not. His disease (gravel) was painful in the extreme, but he bore it with Christian fortitude. He died at New York, October 4, 1852, away from the State whose representative he was. His remains were brought to Indianapolis and buried in Greenlawn Cemetery, where they have mouldered to dust. The State erected a monument to his memory, and it still stands to point out the spot where lies all that is mortal of one whose influence upon public sentiment is felt even at the present day.
Governor Whitcomb's poverty in early life forced upon him habits of economy which never left him. By many his economy was considered parsimony, and indeed, if it were not such, it it was near akin to it. It cost him a seat in the Senate of the United States at a time when he very much desired the honor. In 1843 he wrote a remarkable pamphlet, entitled "Facts for the People," the most effective treatise against a protective tariff ever written. In those days corruption funds to carry elections were unknown, and after the Democratic State con- vention of 1843 had nominated him for Governor, and Jesse D. Bright for Lieutenant-Governor, a proposition was made in the convention to raise a fund to publish Whitcomb's pamphlet for gratuitous circulation. Whitcomb headed the paper with a donation of twenty dollars, and after him came Bright with a two hundred dollar subscription. In 1845, when a United States Senator was to be chosen, Mr. Bright was selected instead of the Governor ; his two hundred dollars contribution brought its reward. The remarkable pamphlet to which reference has
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been made is out of print, and can only be found in the libraries of those antiquarians who delight in preserving the treasures of the past. It was with great difficulty that the author was able to procure a copy, and he has transcribed a page or so for the edification of the reader. This was done to show Governor Whitcomb's style and the simple manner in which he gave his thoughts to the public. It is extracted from a chapter entitled "'A Familiar Example : "
" Suppose one of our incorporated towns in Indiana should pass a law, or ordinance, that all articles brought within the town limits to market from the country should pay a tax. Among others, suppose the tax of fifty cents on every bushel of potatoes. Suppose a bushel of potatoes could be raised for fifty cents. The farmer taking them to market, 'to make himself whole.' would be obliged, then, to charge one dollar a bushel ; that is. fifty cents for the trouble of . raising and hauling ' them to town and fifty cents for the tax which he would be obliged to pay for the privilege of selling them.
" Now, one raising potatoes in town, in his garden, or on his outlot, with the same trouble or expense of fifty cents a bushel. could get his dollar a bushel in market also, although he would have to pay no tax, because he would ask and could get the highest price in market, for the tax on the farmer's potatoes would keep them up to a dollar, and the town people must pay that or do without ; and it is manifest that the tax, although paid by the farmer in the first instance, would, after all, be paid by the people in town, who were the buyers, the farmer being obliged to charge just so much more. So a high tax, to be sure. would cause fewer potatoes to be eaten, and, of course. fewer would be sold by the farmer. The farmer, also, could not buy as many articles in town as he would have done had he sold more potatoes. He couldn't be as good a customer to the me- chanics in town, nor get as much sugar, tea, coffee, salt, iron. etc., as he would have done if he had sold or exchanged more of his potatoes. He can't. for instance. get leather from the tan-yard in town, because the people in town can't afford to give the money for his produce. He is not well prepared for tanning leather on his farm, and besides he has too many other matters
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to attend to ; but leather he must have, and the time it takes to tan an inferior article would have enabled him to raise potatoes enough to buy twice as much from the tanner, if the tax was not in the way.
" So far, such a tax would diminish trade and be injurious to both parties.
" Now, the operation of such a law between town and coun- try is precisely that of a tariff between this and a foreign country.
" The most difficult national question can be understood by any man who is able to attend to his own business without the aid of a guardian, if exhibited to him by a familiar example. and if he will think for himself. There are too many who are interested in veiling such questions beneath the mist of decep- tive words and pompous declamation.
" But to return. Another and more important effect would be produced by this town tariff. The advanced price on pota- toes, occasioned by the tax, would not all be paid into the town treasury. That part paid on the potatoes sold by the farmer would go into the treasury, but the extra fifty cents a bushel paid for those raised in town would go into the gardener's pocket. The gardener would be benefited by that part of the operation, and not the town government, for carrying on which the tax was imposed.
"Again, if the tax on potatoes should be so high that the farmers would take theirs to other towns where the taxes were not so high, then none would be brought from the country to the first town, and no tax would be derived from that source. That would be a prohibitory tariff; and the first town would be compelled to resort to direct taxation to pay the town expenses. The farmers, too, being compelled to trade with other towns. the mechanics, merchants, etc., in the first town would lose the benefit of their custom.
" But the potatoes that might yet be raised in our own town would still bring a dollar a bushel, although it would cost the gardener but fifty cents a bushel to raise them. The remaining fifty cents would then be a tax on the rest of the community for the exclusive benefit of the gardener, not a cent of it going into the treasury, for the common benefit of the citizens.
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"All this would be bad enough. But the argument of the town council would be, that they wanted to protect the garden- ers until they could raise and sell potatoes as cheap as the farm- ers, and make the town independent of the country. Well, sup- pose the ten or a dozen gardeners should have bought up nearly all the outlots for that purpose, and having no other cultivation to attend to, should, by the aid of machinery, wealth, etc., ac- tually raise potatoes so cheap that after the people of the town had bought all the potatoes they wanted of them, at a high price, there would still be an overplus, which the gardeners could afford to be at the expense of sending to the other towns and undersell the farmers. Would the gardeners need a tax on their neighbors for their own protection any longer?
" But perhaps it might still be urged that if the profits of the gardeners were so high, it would encourage others to turn gar- deners also, and so cheapen the article. But, to make the com- parison just as to our large manufactories, suppose it required great wealth to procure machinery, etc., to engage in the busi- ness ; that it could generally be done only by rich companies ; they could then undersell any new beginner, and break him up, and then indemnify themselves by again raising their prices. Besides, it is seen that they already raised more potatoes than were used in the town. And would the gardeners ask for an increased tax if they believed it would cheapen the article and diminish their profits?
"Another argument is that, by encouraging others in town to turn gardeners, there would be fewer mechanics, etc., left to attend to their old business and more gardeners to buy their work. But there are but few gardeners needed, as their work is carried on by machinery, etc., and it is not machinery, but human beings, that need shoes, leather, salt, sugar, coffee, etc. A gardener can use only a small part of these articles which are for sale in town, and, by their high tax, they have driven off the farmers who would have used them in exchange for their productions. Is it strange that under such circumstances the gardeners should become rich, and the rest of the town complain of ' hard times?'
"Not satisfied with all this, however, suppose the gardeners. made wealthy by this very tax, should beg the town council to
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lay a still higher tax on potatoes. Would there be any reason or justice in it? . It might be natural enough for the gardeners to ask, but would you suppose that a town council, fairly elected by all the citizens, would pass such a law? Would you suppose that, to gratify one-tenth part of the people in the town, they would be willing to increase the already heavy burdens of tax- ation on the other nine-tenths?"
After this sketch was prepared and published, in February, 1882, by request, the Indianapolis Sentinel reproduced the pamphlet named, and it was widely distributed during the po- litical campaign of 1882. In respect to the document and its author, the Sentinel, of August 26, spoke editorially as follows :
" The Sentinel has no hesitancy in recommending the widest possible circulation of this remarkable production by one of the most remarkable men that was ever connected with public af- fairs in Indiana. Governor Whitcomb was an intellectual giant. He was a man of lofty integrity. He was sans peur et sans re- proche. He was a man of the people. His colossal mind grasped every problem of statecraft and mastered it. No ques- tion was too occult for his analytical powers. In the crucible of his reasoning faculties the pure gold of fact was brought forth from the dross of fiction. Sophisms were exposed, duplicity was throttled, subterfuges were swept away and plain people were permitted to comprehend the most intricate questions re- lating to their welfare, and the pamphlet in question is a monu- ment to his clear-sightedness."
Besides being an inveterate user of snuff, Governor Whit- comb was addicted to smoking. But his habits of economy were such that when his cigar was so far consumed that he could no longer manipulate it with his fingers, he would insert a pin in the stump to hold by, and thus get all the good (or bad) there was in it. One day he was in the office of Horatio J. Harris, then Auditor of State, when Mr. Harris used a match to light a cigar. A fire was in the grate at the time, and the Governor thus reproved the Auditor for his reckless extrava- gance : "Why didn't you light your cigar by the fire?" said the Governor. "A man has no right to wantonly destroy a
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thing of value. A match has its value, and the one you used could have been saved."
Governor Whitcomb was as economical of time as of money. He wasted neither. It was his custom to read as he walked. and those who used to see him going from his boarding house to his office will remember that he was nearly always reading a book.
While he had a remarkable memory in most things it was very defective in relation to names. He was often unable to recall the names of his friends, an imperfection which caused him much annoyance and inconvenience.
Governor Whitcomb was a very able lawyer. Governor Porter rates him as the first in the State of his day, but the esti- mate I think is too high. But if he did not stand at the head of his profession, his place was very near him who did. In arguing his case before a jury it was his custom to first present the side of his opponent, and then demolish it. Like the player in the bowling alley, who puts up the pins to knock them down. he set up his adversary's arguments that he might scatter them with his own.
During the Legislature of 1845 Governor Whitcomb became involved in a quarrel with the Senate over the appointment of Supreme Judges. The terms of Judges Dewey and Sullivan having expired, he refused to reappoint them. He sent the names of Charles H. Test and Andrew Davidson to the Senate as successors to Dewey and Sullivan, but the Senate refused to confirm them. He then nominated E. M. Chamberlain and Samuel E. Perkins, but they were also rejected. He then designated William W. Wick and James Morrison for the places, but the Senate refused its consent. After the Senate adjourned he appointed Samuel E. Perkins and Thomas L. Smith, who served until their successors were chosen. The opposition to Governor Whitcomb in these appointments was led by Joseph W. Chapman, then a Democratic Senator from Laporte, and afterward a distinguished judge of the Madison circuit. The reason the Governor gave for his refusal to reap- point the old judges was the fact that the court docket was be- hind, and he believed it needed younger men to bring it up.
Governor Whitcomb was a member of the Methodist church.
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and an active worker in its cause. He frequently led in public prayer, and for some time was a class-leader in the church. In his public utterances he often referred to the Deity, and al- ways in a reverential manner. In December, 1844, Mr. W. P. Dole, a Senator from Vermilion county, offered a resolution in the Senate "to refer so much of the Governor's message as referred to the goodness of God to the priesthood." This irrev- erent proposition met with no favor, even from the Governor's political opponents.
When he died, Governor Whitcomb was Vice-President of the American Bible Society, an organization he loved, and to which he contributed with his means. He willed his library to Asbury University, an institution he favored in many ways. The library was large, containing many rare books, but the collection was ill-assorted and disjointed. It showed that he gathered his books without a system, picking them up here and there as he came across them.
Governor Whitcomb was one of the best amateur musicians in the country. He composed many pieces of music for the violin, an instrument upon which he played with rare skill and ability. Many stories are told of him and his "fiddle." but one must suffice for this biography.
Oliver H. Smith, in his book entitled " Early Indiana Trials and Sketches," tells of a trip he took with Governor Whitcomb from Indianapolis to Eastern Indiana. They stopped for the night at a house standing on the present site of Knightstown. Mr. Smith says :
" Entering the cabin, there sat before the fire a lame young man by the name of Amos Dille, with an old violin in his hand, scraping away, making anything but music. He laid the violin on the bed and started with our horses to the stable. As he closed the door, Mr. Whitcomb took it up, soon put it in tune. and when Amos returned was playing light and beautiful airs. Amos took his seat by me seemingly entranced, and as Mr. Whitcomb struck up 'Hail, Columbia' he sprang to his feet. . If I had fifty dollars I would give it all for that fiddle ; I never heard such music before in my life.' After playing several tunes Mr. Whitcomb laid the instrument on the bed. Amos
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seized it, carried it to the fire where he could see it, turned it over and over, examined every part, and sang out, 'Mister, I never saw two fiddles so much alike as yours and mine.' "
Governor Whitcomb was always well dressed, was always clean. It was his custom when traveling over the circuit to take a night-shirt, which he would put on before retiring. This custom was so different from that of the ordinary itinerant law- ver that his brother attorneys resolved to play a prank upon him. While at a tavern in the eastern part of the State, kept by one Captain Berry, the resolve was carried out. I again quote from Mr. Smith :
"Taking the Captain to one side, Fletcher said : 'Do you know, Captain Berry, what Mr. Whitcomb is saying about your beds?' ' I do not; what did he say?' . If you will not men- tion my name, as you are my particular friend, I will tell you.' ' Upon my honor, I will never mention your name ; what did he say?' ' He said your sheets were so dirty that he had to pull off his shirt every night and put on a dirty shirt to sleep in.' ' I'll watch him to-night.' Bed-time came, and Captain Berry was looking through the opening of the door when Mr. Whitcomb took his night-shirt out of his portmanteau and began to take off his day-shirt. Captain Berry pushed open the door, sprang upon Whitcomb and threw him upon the bed. The noise brought in Mr. Fletcher and the other lawyers, and after explanations and apologies on all sides the matter was settled."
In his remarkable address entitled " The Advocate," deliv- ered before the Central Law School, in April, 1882, Governor Thomas A. Hendricks pays the following eloquent tribute to the subject of this sketch :
" Governor Whitcomb was a great scholar. He was capable not only of acquiring but of using the accumulations of learn- ing. With him learning became an influence. an instrumen- tality, a power. His tastes were cultivated. He commanded beautiful and strong language, and in it he clothed his thoughts, that were always appropriate to the subject and the occasion. I heard him address the people in his first candidacy for Gov-
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ernor. It was the greatest political speech I have ever heard. There was not in it a vulgarism or an appeal to low sentiment. He addressed reason, emotion, sympathy. The multitude stood enraptured. As men went from the place of the meeting they fell into grave and serious conversation about what they had heard, and the impression remained. From that day he was a leader, but not as men commonly speak of leadership ; he ma- neuvered for no combinations ; he was a leader in a higher sense. He declared what he believed to be the truth, and trusted to its influence upon men's minds to bring them into common action. He led legislators because it was safest for them to follow. His manner was grave and serious, his voice was full and musical, and his delivery almost without gesture. I never heard him in court, but am sure he was a formidable antagonist before either court or jury."
Governor Whitcomb was an active Freemason. He was the first man knighted in Indiana, the honor being conferred upon him May 20, 1848. Raper Commandery was organized in his house, and for some time held its meetings there. He was proud of his connection with Masonry ; in his affections Masonry stood only second to his church.
Governor Whitcomb was married March 24, 1846, to Mrs. Martha Ann Hurst. His wife died July 17, 1847, shortly after giving birth to a daugher, now the wife of Claude Matthews. Esq. He recorded her death in the family Bible, and followed the record with these words : " How brief our happy sojourn together."
If not universally loved, Governor Whitcomb was universally respected. He was kind to the young and aspiring. Professor Collett, the distinguished geologist, says he feels he is indebted to Governor Whitcomb's advice for whatever success in life he has attained. On being asked what the advice was he replied : " Follow one line of thought and research with your whole mind and soul ; take no active part in politics until maturity has brought you settled thought. The life of a politician is not al- ways reputable ; it has so many elements of deceit and dishon- esty that it is hard to follow it and keep clean one's hands and soul."
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Governor Whitcomb was compactly and strongly built ; he was somewhat above the average size of man ; he had a dark complexion and black hair, which usually fell in ringlets to his shoulders. His features were good and expressive, and his manners the most elegant. His appearance was that of a courtier, and in any circle of society he would have been con- sidered a pattern of propriety. He was not a fop, but, like many other eminent men, he had a weakness in that direction. Foibles he had, but they were insignificant in comparison with his many virtues. He was a talented and an honest man, and when the roll of Indiana's great is made up, among the first in the list will be the name of Whitcomb.
JOSEPH A. WRIGHT.
THERE are many examples of self-made men, but there are few more striking and worthy of study than that of Joseph A. Wright. Some men have reached a higher eminence than he, but they are few. Where one attained his altitude, thousands fell by the way. His career shows the possibilities of life, and ought to stimulate young men to new exertions when they are faint and ready to fall.
Joseph A. Wright, for seven years Governor of Indiana, was born at Washington, Pa., April 17, 1810. When a boy he em- igrated to Indiana with his parents and settled at Bloomington. They were poor and unable to give their son the education he desired, but this did not prevent him from securing it. " Where there is a will there is a way," says the proverb, and so said the boy. He entered the State University as a student, and paid his way by ringing the college bell and doing the janitor's work. To get money to buy his books and clothing he bore off brick from the brick-yard, and gathered nuts from the woods.
Being also trained in the use of the trowel, and doubtless glad of a chance to use it, he proved to be a convenience in doing small jobs around the premises. Proof of this appears on the records of the Indiana college to-day, as the following passages which the author has taken pains to copy show :
EXTRACTS FROM THE RECORDS.
" FRIDAY, May 6, 1828.
"Ordered, That Joseph A. Wright be allowed for ringing the college bell, making fires, etc., in the college building during the last session of the College Seminary, the sum of $16.25 ; also.
FRESILENT OF THE INT NA BIANTE | ART OF AU ML. RE
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for a lock, bell-rope and brooms, the sum of $1.373, and that the treasurer of the State Seminary pay the same."
" BLOOMINGTON, Friday, October 31, 1828.
"Ordered by the Board of Trustees, That Joseph A. Wright be and he is hereby allowed the sum of one dollar for repairing the top of one of the college chimneys, and that the treasurer pay the same."
" NOVEMBER 18, 1828.
"Joseph A. Wright is allowed for repairing arches in the small seminary building and kitchen the sum of $1.25."
By such expedients and humble yet persistent exertions he defrayed his expenses for a couple of years, and then he left college and entered the law office of Judge Hester as a student. In 1829, when less than twenty years old, he stood his examina- tion, and obtained his license to practice law. Soon after this he removed to Rockville, and hung out his shingle as a lawyer. In 1833 he was elected a member of the State Legislature.
A rather amusing incident, given by Robert Dale Owen in Scribner's Monthly, should not be omitted. It happened while he and Mr. Wright were members of the House of Representa- tives. Mr. Owen writes :
" The most flowery speech on our side was made by a prom- ising young man, then fresh from college and classical recollec- tions, Joseph Wright. A poor boy, he had entered the State University as janitor, and afterwards became, first, Governor of the State, and then foreign minister. I remember that he was descanting, in a somewhat sophomoric strain, on the duty of Indiana toward the children of the State-her best treasures- when his eye was arrested by a chubby little fellow of seven or eight, son of one of our members, who had been sitting on his father's knee and had strayed off, coming down the center aisle toward the orator.
". . Ah. there !' said Wright, extending his arms to the boy. who stopped, abashed at the sudden address. . Look there! I am reminded, when I gaze upon that little one, of a pleasant story from the annals of Rome, in her old republican days. It
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is related of the mother of the Gracchi, when several of her lady friends were exhibiting to her, somewhat vauntingly, no doubt, their costly ornaments, while she, simple in her tastes. had little to show them in return, that she turned to her children. playing in the room, and exclaimed, . These are my jewels !' Let us learn wisdom, gentlemen, from the mother of the Grac- chi.'
"'' The mother of the what?' exclaimed, in an under-tone. a rough young country member, named Storm, and whom, be- cause he seldom opened his lips except to move the previous question, we had nicknamed ' Previous Question Storm.' His exclamation was addressed to the member next to whom he was sitting, Thomas Dowling, of Terre Haute. Now, of all things, Dowling loved, from his heart, a good joke; and this was too good a one to be lost. So, composing his features, he replied gravely to Storm : . Why, don't you know her? It is a noted old woman in Parke county, where Wright comes from. Ev- erybody knows her there. You get up and ask Wright. and no doubt he'll tell you all about her.'"
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