USA > Indiana > Early Indiana trials: and sketches. Reminiscences > Part 26
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278
EARLY INDIANA TRIALS.
JOHN FREEMAN.
IN the month of June in the year 1853, during my absence from home, the citizens of Indianapolis were surprised by the arrest under the fugitive slave law, of John Frceman a negro man, upon the affi- davit made by Pleasant Ellington of Kentucky, before commissioner William Sullivan, claiming Freeman as his slave. Freeman had resi- ded with his family many years in Indianapolis, was known to most of the citizens as an honest, industrious, sober man : claiming at all times to be a free man from Georgia. No one suspected him to be a slave. Freeman by his counsel obtained a writ of habeas corpus from Judge Major of the State Circuit Court, and he was taken out of the custody of commissioner Sullivan, and brought before the Judge. Jonathan A. Liston, and Thomas D. Walpole appeared for Ellington, and John L. Ketchum, Lucien Barbour, and John Coburn for Freeman. The Judge decided that he had no jurisdiction over the case, and remanded Freeman into the custody of the United States Marshall, who committed him to the jail of the county to await the decision of commissioner Sullivan, who postponed the hearing to give time to the parties to procure testimony, especially upon the important point of the identity of Freeman as the slave of Ellington. There was no question but that Ellington's negro Sam had escaped some years before, and Ellington had sworn that Freeman was his slave Sam. Pending the continuance of the cause, Ellington brought to Indiana- polis three witnesses from Kentucky, who were admitted into the jail by the marshall. Freeman was stripped, a scar found on the left leg about au inch and a half in diameter, by which the witnesses identi- fied him, and swore positively, that he was the identical negro Sam of Mr. Ellington. This looked had for Freeman, but Ellington himself had said that Sam had a large scar on the side of his right leg, run- ning down to, and covering the top of the foot, made by a burn at Hanging Rock, Kentucky : also, a scar on the back part of his shoul- der, made by a bite of another negro at the same place. Freeman, upon examination, had no scar on the shoulder, nor upon his right leg, and the scar on his left leg was proved to have been made by a cut. These facts, with the positive statements of Freeman, satisfied both his counsel and the public that the Kentucky witnesses were mistaken, to use the mildest term, as to the identity of Freeman as Sam. that the real Sam might be found, and after short search in Ohio, they found his line of travel, traced him to Canada, and found him there. He acknowledged that he was Ellington's Sam, told how he escaped, the rout he traveled, and all about his Master Ellington and
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his family. The counsel returned and procured two of Ellington's Kentucky neighbors to go to Canada and see Sam. The moment they saw him, they identified him as he did them, as his old acquaintances. This was the real Sam, the fugitive. Ile had escaped in the year 1834, he had the scars on the right leg and the shoulder, but how could the mistake be honestly made ? Sam was a tall, straight negro ; jet black, full chest. Freeman was a low, heavy-set man, muddy brown, by no means black like Sam, and at least six inches shorter : they were about the same age. Conelusive as this proof seemed to be, to leave no stone unturned the persevering counsel for Freeman went to Georgia, and learned there, that the statements of Freeman, were strictly true ; that he had removed from Virginia to Georgia in the year 1831 ; had lived in Georgia until the year 1844, when he removed to Indianapolis. Lero Pattillo of Georgia, who had been the guardian of Freeman, came to Indianapolis. The moment he and Freeman saw each other, Freeman burst out erying, and ran to Mr. Pattillo overjoyed. Several other gentlemen of Georgia came with Mr. Pattillo, all of whom recog- nized Freeman the moment they saw him. Thus stood the ease in the evening; next morning the examination before the commissioner was to be had. Ellington arrived after dark, learned from his coun- sel the hopeless state of the case, locked himself up in his room, and in the night left the city and walked to a station on the Madison rail- road ; got on the cars, made the best of his way to Kentucky, and has not returned since. The commissioner promptly discharged Freeman, who still resides at Indianapolis with his family. In the meantime Freeman brought a civil action for trespass and false imprisonment against Ellington, and the process served while he was at Indianapolis, and obtained a judgment upon compromise for two thousand dollars and costs, not a dollar of which has been paid, as I learned from one of the counsel. This case presents much for reflection ; it shows the great caution that should be observed on the part of slave-holders in pursuit of fugitives, in making affidavits, and the vast importance of the commissioner issuing the writ, giving full time to the parties after the arrest to get the proof of identity before a certificate is obtained. While it is right and proper, that the Constitution and laws should be enforced in such cases, it is highly important that every safeguard should be thrown around the free man of color.
280
EARLY INDIANA TRIALS.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.
THE distinguished subject of this sketch, stands acknowledged among the first men of his times. His name, and public services, form an essential part of the history of our country; indeed, they could not be torn from it without greatly mutilating the record. He was the only son of his distinguished Revolutionary sire, who stood by the side of Thomas Jefferson on the memorable occasion, when a great nation was born, to astonish the civilized world. It is not my pur- pose to speak of the many high offices that were filled by Mr. Adams, nor of the ability with which he filled them, nor is it any part of my purpose to speak of his administration. I may he permitted, how- ever, to say what is now usually conceded, since the public eye sees through national, and not through partisan glasses, that his administration was a model one,-pure, patriotic, economical, American. John Quincy Adams was small of stature, not over five feet eight inches higli, well made, good chest, fine features, large head, high, retreating forehead, thin hair, bald to his ears, weak, watery eyes, effected by cold caught on his European tour. I speak of John Quincy Adams, after he had left the Presidential Chair, and had been returned to the House of Representatives from his native district in Massachusetts. Ile was the only Ex-President, that had taken a seat in that body, since the organization of our Government. Mr. Monroe, after he had retired from the Presidency, held the office of Justice of the Peace, and of member of the House of Delegates of Virginia, but no other Ex-President has ever appeared in the House of Repre- sentatives, and I much douht, whether any other could have sustained himself in debate in the popular branch of Congress. It was there that I knew him hest. As a speaker, he was clear, cool, self-possessed, strong, a mind of the highest order, his head a diary of facts and dates, always prepared, a fine classic scholar, a professor of rhetoric, he was an able, prompt debater, and in personal contests which he seldom avoided, he was a competitor to be dreaded by the ablest debaters in the House. On one occasion, Henry A. Wise had made a personal attack on him, using language that Mr. Adams thought unbecoming the occasion. After Mr. Wise took his seat, Mr. Adams sat quietly writing at his desk without noticing him, until his silence became painful to Mr. Wise. Dr. Mallory, the friend of Mr. Wise came round to the seat of Mr. Adams and told him that he could get the floor to reply to Mr. Wise. Mr. Adams in a loud voice, that could be heard over the House, "No sir, the young man has let him- self down entirely below reply from me," and continued writing.
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JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.
Without attempting to sketch many of the smaller incidents con- nected with Mr. Adams, in the House, I come at once to one of the im- portant ones which I witnessed. He was known throughout the United States, as the avowed friend of the Constitutional right of petition, for redress of real or supposed grievances. On the occasion to which I allude, he received a petition, praying a dissolution of the Union, and introduced it in the House accompanied by a resolution. " Resolved that the prayer of the petitioners ought not to granted." Thomas F. Marshall, of Kentucky, one of the ablest debaters in the House, with more zeal than discretion, immediately rose and moved that Mr. Adams be expelled from the House. This motion created great excitement; but Mr. Adams sat writing at his desk cool and collected ; the debate took a wide range, and occupied the morning hour as the priviledged question for weeks.
I entered the House one morning during the debate, while Mr. Adams was speaking. Lord Morpeth sat by him, with his face turned up, closely watching every gesture, and attentively listening to every word of Mr. Adams. I had a full view of both at the time, and was afterward introduced to Lord Morpeth. In person, he was a fine model of a man ; about the common hight; light complexion, flush, carnation cheeks ; blue, cheerful eyes ; fine features ; English dialect ; plainly dressed; manners plain and unostentatious. He remarked to me, "Mr. Adams is a remarkable man, a most sarcastic debater." It was apparent that Mr. Adams had the best of the contest. ITis oppo- nents keenly felt their position. Mr. Adams had wisely maintained the Union, while he admitted the right of petition of the citizen in its enlarged sense, Mr. Marshall, without noticing the resolution of Mr. Adams, moved to expel him for introducing the petition; this gave Mr. Adams such vantage ground in the debate, that his oppo- nents could not resist him. With many others, I always regretted that the petition and resolution had not been referred to a select com- mittee, with Mr. Adams at the head, that he might have reported on the value of the Union. No man in the nation was so well qualified to draw the report as Mr. Adams. The result of the matter was, that Mr. Adams gave way for a motion to lay the petition, resolution and motion on the table ; which was done unanimously, where they still lie.
While the debate was in full blast, I returned to the Senate cham- ber. Mr. Clay asked me what was going on in the House ? I told him that Mr. Adams was using up Mr. Marshall, of Kentucky. "Ah! just as I expected. I told the young men to let him alone. The truth is, Mr. Adams is too much for any of them; the sooner they get rid of him and the subject, the better for them."
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EARLY INDIANA TRIALS.
Mr. Adams, with all his powers, was far from being a pleasant speaker. He was very interesting, because of his facts, but to my ear, he could not be called eloquent.
Mr. Adams had strong pretensions to being a poet, as well as a jurist, philosopher, and statesman ; but I believe he had little if any music in him. Indeed, the anecdote he related to Mr. Robert C. Winthrop, of Boston, would seem to divorce him from all musical pre- tensions. It was at Ghent; the American and British plenipoten- tiaries had met to form the treaty of peace between the two countries; the authorities of the place proposed to give a grand musical enter- tainment in honor of the occasion. The chief musician was directed to call upon the American ministers and get their national song, with the air to be played by the band. He was introduced to our ministers and the object of his visit stated. The question was, what was the national song of the United States, and what the air? Some were for "Hail Columbia," and some for " Yankee Doodle." The latter prevailed, and was decided by the plenipotentiaries of the United States to be the national song. The chief musician .- " Please give me the air." Mr. Adams, looking at Mr. Clay, " I can not do it; I never sung or whistled a tune in my life." Mr. Clay, looking at Mr. Bay- ard, " Nor I." Mr. Bayard, " Nor I." The other ministers also dis- claimed all knowledge of music. Mr. Clay, always quick at expedients, "C'all John," his colored man. John came in. " What massa ?" " John, whistle Yankee Doodle for this gentleman." The musician took his seat, with paper and pencil, and, as John whistled, took the air, noted the tune for music, and next day " Yankee Doodle," with its variations, was played by the band, in splendid harmony, to the admiration and delight of the assembled multitude. This establishes forever " Yankee Doodle " as our national song and air.
Mr. Adams continued to discharge his arduous duties in the House of Representatives, with a punctuality and industry worthy of all praise. One day he caught his foot in the carpet and fell, breaking his arm ; the next morning, at the meeting of the House, he was in his seat, with his arm in a sling. He said, " I have made it a rule through life, never to be absent from my post, unless it is impossible to be there." This venerable patriot was at last stricken with death in the Hall of the House, while discharging his duties. He fell and expired, surrounded by the Representatives of the nation, as his ton- gue whispered, " This is the last of earth," and his immortal spirit took its flight.
283
AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS.
ADDRESS, Delivered at Indianapolis, at the Agricultural Fair, September, 1856.
MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
MEMBERS OF THE MARION COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY :
I had but one object in view, in accepting the kind invitation of your Society to deliver the Annual Address on this occasion, and that was, to contribute so far as I might, to the practical results essential to the prosperity of the Society, and the progress and permanent useful- ness of knowledge, when applied to Agricultural, Horticultural, and Mechanical pursuits, in the affairs of life.
I might entertain you to-day, for the brief space allotted to this Address, with fine sayings, classical allusions, and metaphysical dis- quisitions upon subjects surrounding and even germain to the main objeet of your Association ; but such an address, however it might seem to elevate the author, would fall far short of the object I have in view. Let others range the fields of fancy, and cull from the gardens of elassie literature their flowers of rhetorie, while I direct your thoughts to the useful, to the main object of the formation of Societies like yours, and to some practical considerations connected with the operations in which you are or may be engaged; and if I should not give many extracts from written works to sustain my sug- gestions, you will rather attribute what may seem to be a neglect of authors, to the impossibility of confining myself within reasonable bounds, if I should attempt to analyze, or give even proper views from the books and writings of others. I wish to condense my remarks into a readable length, as I have long since noticed that, as a general rule, the writers of large books, like the authors of long, prosy addresses, must expect to be their chief readers.
We have met at the Capital, on this anniversary of the Agricultural Society of the county of Marion, in the year 1856, for the purpose of adding our annual contributions to the store of knowledge, and other- wise furthering the important objects of our Association. It would be time uselessly occupied in this address, for me to attempt to prove, at this day, the utility or benefits of Agricultural Societies. The effect of this congregation of onr citizens, bringing with you the annual fruits of your industry and experience, for the inspection of each other, and for the improvement, in kind and quality, of the several products, will not be fully appreciated until its more matured results shall be presented, on like occasions, in after years. Since the commencement
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EARLY INDIANA TRIALS.
of this annual fair, I have walked over these beautiful grounds, so handsomely appropriated to this laudable purpose, both for the County and State. I have looked with trne delight at the annual products of cultivated nature, and of art, that have been brought up and spread before us, and I have said to myself, what wonderful progress the hands of civilized industry are making ? Truly, the late wilderness is blossoming as the rose ; but above all, my heart has been filled with gratitude, when looking at the cheerful and happy countenances, and the entire absence of all appearance of want or distress, of the assem- bled citizens of our county ; and when refleeting upon the blessings we enjoy, in this fertile, salubrious, and beautiful portion of the great Valley of the Mississippi, under the best government on earth, where we can worship as our own consciences may dictate, where we are gov- erned by laws of our own making, and where labor of both sexes is honorable. I can not dismiss this idea without saying, that one of the happiest effects of these annual associations, is to bring the people from all parts of the county together, and by introducing them to cach other, strengthen the bonds of friendly neighborhood and county society, that should be maintained and cherished by us all.
It affords, perhaps, the only pleasant opportunity in the year for our citizens to meet upon a common platform, and exchange the salu- tations of the season, in rational, virtuous, innocent, and useful con- versation, unalloyed by the presence of a privileged aristocracy, or any other distinctions of society than the true line that should be drawn between the virtuous and the vicious. Our Agricultural Fair should ever be held as our annual county jubilec, and its members, and all others, should zealously contribute to its perpetual prosperity.
It may not be improper, as a further preliminary remark, to direct your thoughts to our beautiful, fertile State and county, to inquire what they were? what they are ? and what are their prospects ? And here let me be understood, once for all : I mean no invidious com- parisons between Marion and other counties. Our State, as a great agricultural section of the West, will compare favorably with any other, while her mineral resources are of the first order, and inex- haustible. She lies in the trough of the Great Mississippi Valley, stretching from the Northern Lakes to the Ohio river on the south, and bounded by the great States of Ohio and Illinois, on the east and west. She lies directly across the track, for all time, of all the great artificial improvements that can ever be muade connecting the Eastern Atlantic cities with the Pacific Ocean, over the Valley of the Missis- sippi. She is highly favored in point of climate, soil, minerals, wood, water, rock-in a word, Indiana combines all the elements of a great
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AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS.
and growing State, and being blessed with a free Constitution, she must yet contain as dense a population as any part of the globe. She was born in the year 1816, with some sixty-five thousand inhabitants ---- only about forty years ago. A few counties only were then organized. The whole middle, north, and north-west portions of the State were an unbroken wilderness, in the possession of the Indians. Well do I remember when there were but two families settled west of the White- water Valley-one on Flatrock, above where Rushville now stands, and the other on Brandywine, near where Greenfield was afterward located. When I first visited the ground on which Indianapolis now stands, the whole country, east to Whitewater and west to the Wabash, was a dense, unbroken forest. There were no publie roads, no bridges over any of the streams. The traveler had literally to swim his way. No cultivated farms, no houses to shelter or feed the weary traveler, or his jaded horse. The courts, years afterward, were held in log huts, and the juries sat under the shade of the forest trees. I was Circuit Prosecuting Attorney at the time of the trials at the falls of Fall Creek, where Pendleton now stands. Four of the prisoners were convicted of murder, and three of them hung for killing Indians. The court was held in a double log cabin, the grand jury sat upon a log in the woods, and the foreman signed the bills of indictment which I had prepared, upon his knee ; there was not a petit juror that had shoes on-all wore moccasins, and were belted around the waist, and carried side-knives used by the hunter. The products of the country consisted of peltries, the wild game killed in the forest by the Indian hunters, the fish caught in the interior lakes, rivers and creeks, the papaw, wild plum, haws, and small berries gathered by the squaws from the woods. The travel was confined to the single horse and his rider, the commerce to the pack-saddle, and the navigation to the Indian canoe. Many a time and oft have I crossed our swollen streams, by day and by night, sometimes swimming my horse, and at others paddling the rude bark canoe of the Indian. Such is a mere sketch of our State when I traversed its wilds, and I am not one of its first settlers.
Such is a brief view of early Indiana, but it is sufficient for my present purpose, my object heing merely to direct your thoughts to the rise and progress of the State generally, before I come to speak of our county of Marion especially. How stands the State to-day, as compared with Indiana at the time of her admission into the Union ? She then contained the same area of 33,809 square miles. Then, as now, she embraced the same minerals, the same fertile soil, and lay in the lap of the great Mississippi Valley. Her beautiful rivers and
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smaller streams then, as now, meandered through every part of her territory. But then the State only contained some 65,000 inhabitants, confined to a few connties ; now she contains some 1,500,000, spread over her ninety-one counties. Marion county was then a part of the wilderness; now she has a population of over 40,000, with taxables about $15,000,000, and produces annually over 250,000 bushels of wheat, 1,500,000 bushels of corn, 100,000 bushels of oats and barley, 55,000 bushels of potatoes, 9,000 horses and mules, 65,000 swine, 20,000 sheep, 19,000 cattle, 5,000 barrels of pork, 825,000 pounds of bacon, 18,500 slaughtered animals, $10.500 of poultry, $15,000 of orchard products, $18,500 of garden products, $10,472 of home manu- factures, $47,852 hay, 89,200 wool, $3,805 maple sugar and other pro- duets in proportion. Then there was not a railroad of any considerable length in the Union ; now we have in the United States, more miles of railroad than all the world besides. Then the magnetic telegraph and its usefulness were unknown. I well remember the first experi- ments of Dr. Morse, at Washington city, amid the universal doubts of even his ardent friends. Now our thoughts are flying upon the wires with the speed of lightning, through every part of the civilized world; and such has already been the concentration of railroads at our Capital, that Indianapolis has hy common consent, received the name of " the Railroad City of the West." The trains of nine rail- roads, radiating from the Capitol in full operation, are hourly entering and leaving our city, exchanging their freight and more than 4000 passengers daily, in our splendid Union Passenger Depot, while other important lines of railroad are being constructed to our city ; and this is only the beginning of the end. Such is the rapid progress of this astonishing age. Time is flying with the rapidity of thought -the new world seems to be moving with uncommon velocity, and man is progressing to his ultimate high destiny, under an impetus without a parallel in the history of our race.
MEMBERS OF THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. - My main object to- day can not be accomplished, without speaking directly to you, and through you to our other fellow-citizens of the county of Marion. I have already directed your attention to the character of our prosper- ons State, and said enough to enable you at your leisure, to fill up the outlines I have sketched. I now desire to ask your attention for a few minutes, while we look at the scenes around us, at the position we occupy as citizens of the county of Marion ; while we compare our county as she was when organized, with what she now is; but more especially while we contemplate the position of our farmers and mechanics at present, as compared with the early settlers. I can not,
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in the brief time allowed me for this address, do more than sketch these comparisons, leaving you to carry them out by your own reflec- tions. Those of you who lived here in early times, many of whom I see around me, will appreciate my views.
I mean not to speak boastfully, but I may say truthfully, that our county of Marion in point of soil, growth of timber, purity of water, mildness of climate, local position and all that could make her desir- able for settlement and cultivation, stood unsurpassed in a state of nature. With these truths before us, it is not strange that such induce- ments to emigrants, to make our country their permanent homes, should, in so few years, have produced the astonishing changes before our eyes. I stood, but as yesterday, on the site of Indianapolis, the Capital of our State, when there was scarcely a tree missing from the dense forest around it. I passed through the wilds of Marion on my pony, upon the winding Indian path, when the bear, the deer, and the wolf sprang up before me, and wildly bounded into the security of their native lairs. I recollect when the commerce of Marion and the infant Capital was carried between Cincinnati and young Indianapolis, by the semi-monthly six ox train of my departed friend, John Hager. This was the second stage of commercial operations in Marion ; the single horse and the pack-saddle being then employed in carrying the mail, the letters and papers having become too bulky to be carried in the pockets of the mail-boy. The beautiful and fertile lands of Marion were then covered with a heavy forest ; the farms that you prize so highly now, were then the hiding-places of the Indian and the wild animals of the woods. How stands the matter now? Look at Marion as she is ! Cast your eyes to the cast of this stand, and see the beautiful city of Indianapolis, the Capital of the State, with her 20,000 inhabitants! See the spires of her twenty-seven churches, of the different denominations of Christians, shooting up toward the clouds ! Look west, east and north at our humane institutions for the unfortunate deaf and dumb, blind and insane. See the numerous towering station buildings of our railroads ! Look at our colleges and graded-school edifices ! See those beautiful buildings erected by the different associated benevolent orders ! Observe our numerous first- class hotels ! See the solid blocks of splendid wholesale and retail stores, filled with the choicest merchandise from every clime ! Observe our crowded streets ! Hear the hum of business, and the sound of the workmen erecting new edifices, in every part of the city ! Listen to the whistle of the locomotives, entering and departing from our city, with their heavy freights and thousands of passengers! Pass over the county in every direction, and see the state of improvement
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