USA > Indiana > Brief biographies of the members of the Indiana State Government : executive, judicial, and legislative, 1874-5 > Part 4
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WASHINGTON IRVING HOWARD,
SENATOR FROM STEUBEN AND DE KALB,
Was born in Jamaica, Windham county, Vermont, May 7, 1837. His remote ancestors were English, but his parents were both of American birth. The foundation of Senator Howard's education was laid at Leland Seminary, in the State of Vermont; then he graduated from Darmouth College, and read law. In 1854 he removed to Iudiana, and located at Angolia, where he practiced the profession of law until a short time preceding his election to the Sen- ate, when he engaged in the sale of hardware. From 1863 to 1867, however, he was treasurer of Steuben county. His father was for several terms a member of the Vermont Legislature, and for forty years a Justice of the Peace in that State. Office holding, therefore, is not wholly unknown to the family circle of the Howards. Senator Howard was a Democrat until the organization of the Republican party, when his political faith underwent a marked change, and he has been a member in good stand- ing of the Republican party since. His home is in Angolia, Steuben county.
ANDREW HUMPHREYS,
SENATOR FROM DAVIESS AND GREENE,
Was born in Anderson county, Tennessee, March 30 , 1821. His father was a native of Tennessee, and his mother of Virginia. He moved to Indiana in 1827. Senator Hum- phreys resided for a season in Putnam county, and then removed to Linton, Greene county, where he now lives.
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He received a good common school education, the best that could then be had without the expenditure of a great deal of money, for that article was not so plentiful then as now. As early as 1849 Mr. Humphreys was elected to the Legislature, and was kept there by his constituents in some capacity until 1857. Two years afterwards, in 1859, President Buchanan appointed him Indian Agent for the Territory of Utah, and he so served until 1861, at which date he resigned, and returned to his home in Indiana. Senator Humphreys has always been an ardent Democrat, and in times of great political excitement, violently so. He is a man of strong convictions, and resolute to assert the principles he conceives to be right. He regarded the rebellion as a revolution ; and, conceding the South's right of secession, he desired that those sister States should pass out of the Union at pleasure and in peace. When not in office the Senator from Greene and Daviess, tills the soil of the latter county.
FRANKLIN CONSTANTINE JOHNSON,
SENATOR FROM FLOYD,
Was born at Constableville, Lewis county, New York, June 23, 1836. He is the second son of Judge Horace Johnson, a well known lawyer and jurist, and also a prom- inent Democratic politician of Central New York, now and for many years a resident of Syracuse. Mr. Johnson was educated at the academies of Lowville and Rome, in his native State. Leaving New York in 1852 he came direct to Indiana and attended the first State Fair, at
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Indianapolis. There he got a glimpse of the varied and vast resources of our State, and he resolved to add one to its population by locating in it. So he settled in New Albany and engaged in business as a clerk in the whole- sale hardware establishment of Brooks & Brown, and was thus employed until he had attained the age of twenty-one years, when he became a member of the firm of Brown, Johnson & Crane. He continued a partner in the business of that firm until 1861, when he sold his interest in the concern to purchase the Southwestern Nurseries, of which he is now and has since then been the proprietor. He at once became identified with the horticultural and agricul- tural interests of Indiana, and has been active in their advancement ever since. He has been for many years Vice-President of the State Horticultural Society. In 1871 he was commissioned by Governor Baker to represent Indiana at the organization of the National Agricultural Congress at Nashville, and in the ensuing year was chosen a member of the State Board of Agriculture. Last year he was re-elected. In January, 1873, he was nominated by Governor Hendricks as one of the Indiana members of the Centennial Commission, and in February he was commissioned by President Grant. In May Mr. Johnson attended the first annual meeting of the American Cheap Transportation Association in New York, as the represen- tative of the National Agricultural Congress, and assisted in its organization, besides otherwise prominently partici- pating in its organization. This, coupled with the addi- tional circumstance of his having organized more Granges in Indiana than any one else, must in a measure account for the fact that in June ensuing he was ousted from the Centennial Commission to give place to General Passenger
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Agent Boyd, of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, who had not been a citizen of the State since early boyhood. And, added to the above enumerated incentives for casting Mr. Johnson off the Centennial Commission, is the fact that a year ago last summer, in answer to a letter from Senator Wyndom, inquiring into the grievances of the farm- ers of this State, he (Mr. Johnson) in behalf of the agricultural classes of Indiana, stated such grievances succinetly and strongly, and he then avowed himself in favor of the establishment of a Bureau of Commerce and Transportation, providing for a Commissioner from each State, selected by the State Legislature in joint session, thus vesting the power of control within easy access of the people.
In politics Senator Johnson is a Democrat, and has been such all his life. In 1870.he was elected to the City Coun- cil of New Albany, and served two years in that official capacity. At the Cincinnati Convention in 1872 he repre- sented the New Albany district and supported the lamented Greeley, first, last, and all the time, and upon returning home he urged the claims of that gentleman on all who loved honor in high places, most warmly and ably, until the close of the canvass.
JAMES T. JOHNSTON,
SENATOR FROM PARKE,
Is a native of Putnam county, this State. He was born January 19, 1839. His parents were natives of North Carolina, and removed to Indiana in 1820. They settled in Washington county, but did not remain there more than
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two or three years. They then located in Putnam county. The date of their settlement there was anterior to the laying off of the town of Greencastle. In 1861 the senior was Sheriff of the county. Senator Johnston was educated in the common schools of the county, and read law in the office and under the careful instruction of Williamson & Daggy. This was in 1860-'61. Hardly. had he completed his course of reading when he felt called upon by the most vital interests of his country to bear arms in her behalf, and he responded by enlisting in Company "C," 71st Indiana. He served in that regiment until 1863, when he was transferred to the 8th Tennessee cavalry, where he was commissioned Lieutenant. Subsequently he was Quartermaster Sergeant of the 133d Indiana, a one hun- dred day regiment. When his term of service therein has expired he became Quartermaster of the 149th Indiana. In September, 1865, he was mustered out of the service and returned home. The year following, he removed to Parke county and located at Rockville and engaged in the practice of the law. He is now a resident of Rockville and a member of the legal firm of Rice & Johnston, and in the enjoyment of a remunerative practice. For two years Senator Johnston was Prosecuting Attorney for the Parke, Vigo and Sullivan Circuit. In politics he is a Republican, living in the very Gibralter of the party in Indiana.
JOHN M. LA RUE, SENATOR FROM TIPPECANOE,
Was born near Harrison, Hamilton county, Ohio Novem- ber 24, 1826, of French and German descent, his father,
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however, having been born in New Jersey, and his mother in Pennsylvania. Mr. La Rue resided in Hamilton county, Ohio, until September 30th, 1830, when he removed to Tippecanoe county, this State, where he has since resided. Taking a course in Asbury University, he graduated in 1849. Subsequently he studied law, and. having acquired that profession, has been practicing for many years. In 1856 he was elected to the Lower House, from Tippecanoe county, and served satisfactorily through the term. He was chosen Common Pleas Judge in 1868 and served satisfactorily until the abolition of that office, in March, 1873. Mr. La Rue is Republican in politics and has been since the disorganization of the Whig party, to which organization he had before belonged, only deviating from it to support Van Buren, the Free Soil candidate, yet not voting, knowing it would do no good, inasmuch as he (Van Buren) could not be elected. Senator La Rue lives in Lafayette, and is regarded as one of the leading citizens of the Star City.
GEORGE MAJOR.
SENATOR FROM BENTON. NEWTON, JASPER AND WHITE, Was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, September 18, 1819. His parents immigrated to Pennsylvania from Ire- land before the Revolution, and removed to Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1816. The father of the subject of this sketch never held office, but his brother, Andrew, has rep- resented Carroll and Clinton in the Senate, and Clinton in the Lower House, of the Indiana Legislature. The son
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was educated at private school, and removed to this State in 1831 and settled in Clinton county, where he continued to reside until 1864, when he removed to Jasper county, where he has since lived on his farm. Politically, he was educated a Jackson Democrat; voted for Van Buren, Polk, Cass and Pierce ; opposed the repeal of the Missouri com- promise; took part in the anti- Nebraska movement in 1854; voted for Fremont and Lincoln, and supported the administration of the latter during the war of the rebell- ion ; he was dissatisfied with the McCulloch financial pol- icy and favored the nomination of Pendleton in 1868, but eventually voted for Seymour : in 1872 he was a delegate to the Cincinnati Convention, and supported Trumbull, but voted for Greeley and the Democratic State ticket at the polls ; at the inauguration of the independent movement he took a prominent part, and was elevated to his present position by the Independents. In a district that had before given a Republican majority of eight hundred, Mr. Major was elected by six hundred and sixty-two votes. He resides at Remington, in Jasper county.
JAMES JAY MAXWELL,
SENATOR FROM MARION AND MORGAN,
Was born in Morgan county, Ind., February 27, 1839. His parents were Irish and Scotch, respectively. His father was born in Ireland, and came to this country when he was but six weeks old. His mother was reared in the High- lands. Mr. Maxwell has lived all his life between the two Indian creeks, and all he knows he learned at home, never having enjoyed to any considerable degree the advantages
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of the school system of the State. The first vote he ever cast was for Douglass and the Democratic ticket in 1860, but during the war he acted and voted with the Republicans, regarding that organization as the party of patriotism. In 1872, after having seen the Republican party outlive its mission and its usefulness, he becamea Liberal and support- ed the noblest Republican of them all for the Presidency, though the ticket on which he run was a mixed one. He is now opposed to the administration of public affairs by the Grant dynasty. During his whole life Mr. Maxwell has been a farmer, and can conscientiously claim to have acted honorably in his dealings with his fellow men. In fact his relations with those who have had business to trans- act with him have been so amicable and agreeable that he has never had a suit at law. If the world were all like Mr. Maxwell the law would be the poorest profession in all the land, whereas it is the most remunerative. Win- chester is Mr. Maxwell's address.
ANDREW J. NEFF,
SENATOR FROM WAYNE,
Was born in Preble county, Ohio, November 30, 1825 ; parents of German descent ; the father from Pennsylvania, the mother from Maryland. In 1839 Mr. Neff came to this State and settled in Wabash county, then moved to New Castle, thence to Hartford, and subsequently to Winchester, where he now resides. He was educated at the academies in New Castle, Muncie and Winchester, and read law with Judge Bundy ; was appointed Circuit Pros-
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ecutor by Governer Wright, in 1855, and in 1856 was elected Representative from Blackford county. Early in the late war, he cnlisted in the service in the capacity of Major of the 84th Indiana volunteers ; was promoted to Lieut. Colonel, and subsequently Colonel, and finally Brevet Brigadier General by Andrew Johnson, then President. In 1864, his term of service in the army having expired, Mr. Neff began to publish and edit the Journal, at Win- chester, and continued so to act until 1869. In 1872 he was elected to the Senate from Randolph county, by the Republicans, with whom he had been acting since he left the Democratic party in 1858; and he is now holding over. For his services to the State during his legislative career, the reports of the various sessions through which he has served, speak in terms of glowing praise. His war record is a part of the history of the country. Winchester is Mr. Neff's address.
DANDRIDGE HALLADAY OLIVER,
SENATOR FROM MARION,
Is a Kentuckian by nativity, but an Indianian by adoption. He was born in Henry county, Kentucky, November 11, 1822, and came here in October, 1836. He is a worthy son of a noble sire, and bears as a given name the maiden name of the worthy wife of the father of his country. His grandfathers fought for the liberties we enjoy through the well won victories of the Revolutionary war, participating with particular prominence in the decisive battle of York- town. His father, John H. Oliver, wore the eagles in the
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militia service for many years, besides serving his country as a postmaster. Upon the occasion of the lamented Statesman, Henry Clay, visiting Indianapolis, when his (Clay's) star of destiny was a blaze of glory, the elder Oliver was a most prominent member of the committee of reception. The son studied medicine, and after having acquired as good an English education as could be had in the schools of this section of the State at that time, hav- ing read the books prescribed by his professional adviser, he attended and graduated from the medical department of the University of Louisville, winning honors for himself and credit for his class. Then he commenced to practice, and at once began to reap a rich harvest of business in reward for the care he had taken to first thorougly qualify himself.
During the war, while he did not go to the front and fight, as his brothers did with great credit to the family fame in military matters, he performed professional service in the families of soldiers gratuitously. In that way he served his country to a greater advantage than had he drawn the sword in her defence. Politically, Dr. Oliver was formerly a Whig, now a Republican. In 1872, he was elected to the State Senate, and is serving as such still.
HENRY A. PEED,
SENATOR FROM MARTIN, DUBOIS AND ORANGE COUNTIES, Was elected by a majority of two thousand two hundred and twenty-five on the Democratic ticket, the principles of which party he always professed and practiced. He had
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served the State as Representative for the counties of Mar- tin and Dubois, having been elected to that position in 1872, serving in special and regular session on the Committee of Ways and Means. Mr. Pced is of English and Scotch extraction ; having been born in Johnson county, Indiana, seven miles northeast of Franklin, November 9, 1845. Edu- cational facilities in that neighborhood in those days were limited to an old log school house, and the elder Peed's means being limited, the subject of this sketch could only receive a common school education, which, however, he made the most of. Mr. Pecd worked on his father's farm until the breaking out of the war of the rebellion, and then he shouldered arms and served his country in the army of the northwest, as long as his services were required. Then he returned to this State and repaired to Columbus, where he located, and there he learned the art preservative, in the office of the Union, meantime reading law with G. W. Richardson, of Hill & Richardson. Hav- ing acquired both professions, his fortune was made. Leaving Columbus he went to Martin county and estab- lished the Herald, in 1868, since which date he has devo- ted his time and talent to the practice of the profession of law, and editing the Herald, making a large, general and local reputation, especially as an editor.
In politics Mr. Peed is now and always has been a Democrat. He never held office but once until elected to the Legislature, and then was School Examiner of Martin county, for one year. The postoffice address of the Senator from Dubois, Orange and Martin, is Shoals, Martin county.
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WILLIAM P. RHODES,
SENATOR FROM FOUNTAIN AND WARREN,
Was born in Tippecanoe county, July 17, 1833. His father was of German and his mother of English and French descent. He was educated at Fort Wayne College, and read law. He made his home in Tippecanoe county until 1859, and then removed to Williamsport, Warren county, and entered upon the practice of his profession. In the winter of 1860, he removed to Kankakee, Illinois, but returned again in the ensuing spring and resumed his practice. During the war he served in the 135th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, as Captain of Company K. At the close of the war he returned to Williamsport and resumed the practice of his profession there. In 1870 he was elected to the Lower House of the Legislature, and dis- charging the duties of the trust to the satisfaction of his constituency, he was elected to the Senate in 1870, and is now holding over. He is Republican in politics.
MORGAN BRYAN RINGO,
SENATOR FROM OWEN AND CLAY,
Was born in Henry county, Kentucky, March 23, 1818. With his parents, who were also native Kentuckians, Mr. Ringo removed to Indiana in the spring of 1833. In early manhood he identified himself with the agricultural interests of Clay county, where he has lived so long. He has farmed his landed estate with more than ordinary care and intelligence, devoting much of his time to the improvement of his stock, as well as to the improvement
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of his farm, setting a good example to that large class of farmers who allow their land and stock to become alike impoverished. By industry and intelligent labor and rigid economy Mr. Ringo has accumulated quite a com- petency. The only educational facilities he enjoyed were in the common schools of Kentucky and Indiana, but he acquired an education of which he should not be ashamed. In 1872 he was elected to the Senate on the Democratic ticket, of which party he has been a member since 1860, having been a Whig the twenty years preceding. How- ever, he is very liberal in his views, differing with the majority of Democrats on the temperance question. Poland is his P. O. address.
J. D. SARNIGHAUSEN.
SENATOR FROM ALLEN, ADAMS AND WELLS,
Was born in Hanover, Germany, October 31, 1818. He came to this State and settled at Fort Wayne, in 1862, and has resided there ever since. Before coming to this coun- try he received a college and university education. Mr. Sarnighausen is and has long been a newspaper editor by profession, and as editor of the Staats Zeitung at Fort Wayne, has wielded great influence among his German- American fellow citizens in the community where he lives. In 1870 Mr. Sarnighausen's claims to the Senatorship, for the county of Allen, were urged by the German and Amer- ican friends he had made by the manly manner in which he conducted his paper. The election was so close that a contest resulted and Mr. Sarnighausen lost his seat, though on the first count he was ahead one hundred and 5
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seventy-one votes. Not discouraged, however, his friends prevailed upon him to become a candidate for the counties of Allen and Adams, and he consented. This time he was elected by six thousand one hundred and eighty-four majority, indicating great political and personal popular- ity. He is a Democrat.
The county of Wells was admitted to the Fort Wayne district under the last apportionment law.
Senator Sarnighausen's father held a high civil office under the former kingdom of Hanover, but notwithstand- ing the favors royalty heaped upon the sire, the son recognizes the republican as the best form of government the world has ever witnessed.
HARVEY D. SCOTT,
SENATOR FROM VIGO,
Was born in Milford Union county, Ohio, December 18, 1819. His parents were natives of the United States. His infancy was spent in Union, but his childhood days were whiled away in Ashtabula county, a part of the beautiful Buckeye State known as the Western Reserve. In 1838, however, he moved to Indiana, and, as fortunate fate would have it. located in the fruitful valley of the Wabash, at Terre Haute. He was educated at Asbury University, Greencastle, and subsequently became learned in the law. Then he became skilled in politics. He has held, in his time, the office of Prosecuting Attorney one term, County Treasurer of Vigo county two terms, Representative in the Lower House of the Indiana Legislature one term,
*
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member of the National Congress one term, and one term State Senator, and he is serving in the latter capacity still. His record of public service is a long one, and one of which neither he nor his constituents are ashamed. During the last session of the Legislature he was generally regarded as one of the ablest members of the higher branch of that honorable body. Politically, he was first an Anti- Slavery Whig, then American, and now a Republican. In private, as well as public life, he has ever been found in the very van of all movements that could tend to the advancement of the moral and mental condition of the community and country. When not engaged in official or professional life, his time, for years, has been occupied in horticulture, at his country residence, in the suburbs of the city of Terre Haute. He is an ardent friend of the agri- cultural class of the country, and aids in all ways he can to advance their interests. He is more or less identified with the Grange movement through this sympathy. The purity of his private life is one of his many virtues.
DE FORREST L. SKINNER,
SENATOR FROM LAKE AND PORTER,
Is a native of Vermont. He was born in Hardwick, Cale- donia county, in 1853. His father was one of the leading lawyers in that State. The son was educated at a private acadamy, and acquired an extraordinarily good English education, his opportunies cons.dered. When but eleven years of age, he came to Indiana with his parents, and had been here but a year when he was bereft of his father by death, and was, at that early age, thrown upon his own
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resources, and they proved equal to the emergency. His first business venture was in the dry goods line and he at once secured the support and confidence of all with whom he had dealings. His business undertakings have all been crowned with success, and he is now about as well off in a worldly way as any man of his age in Indiana. For many years he has been regarded as a leading spirit in inaugura- ting movements for public improvement in his section of the State, especially rail road enterprises. He was one of the most extensive contractors for the construction of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago, Chicago and Lake Huron, and the Cincinnati and Chicago, all of which were successfully built, and are now in active operation. In 1864, his health failing him, he took a trip across the plains, and after having endured many physical privations, and passed through great peril, he returned home in robust health. While absent, he had many adventures with the Indians. He even had the rare satisfaction of reading his own obituary in his home paper ; and the joy unspeakable of comforting his estimale wife in her supposed widow- wood. The writer might dwell upon the romance of the Senator's eventful experience, but leaves that to J. Fen- nimore Cooper's graphic and prolific pen.
Politically and personally, Senator Skinner is very pop- ular in the north western part of the State, as is indicated by his election from such a stronghold of Republicanism as he represent, he being a Democrat. In 1866 he was nomina,ed by the Democracy of Porter county, for the lower house of the Legislature but was defeated, though he ran far ahead of his ticket. Last fall he received the Democratic nomination for Senator from Lake and Porter, and was elected by a handsome majority, overcoming a
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Republican predominence of over eleven hundred votes. The Senator is now in the prime of life, with a flattering future before him. He resides at Valparaiso where he is Vice President and principal stock-holder of the First National Bank, the financial bulwarks of the beautiful and prosperous little city where it is established,
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