USA > Indiana > Vanderburgh County > Evansville > Evansville and its men of mark > Part 13
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Mr. Hamilton was in the enjoyment of an ample fortune. The little trading-post, Fort Wayne, has become one of the most important cities in the State, and the wilderness which once surrounded it has become the home of a large and enter- prising population. His mercantile operations were entirely successful, and his investments in real estate more than realized his anticipations. His position presented an agreeable contrast with his prospects when he wandered through the streets of Philadelphia, seeking employment as a common laborer.
For some years he had been engaged in no regular busi- ness. He held, for many years, the presidency of the Branch Bank at Fort Wayne. The duties of this position did not oc-
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cupy much of his time, and he has enjoyed for many years the " otium cum dignitate," which is the legitimate result of honest enterprise and successful labor.
Mr. Hamilton was a firm and consistent friend of the Erie & Wabash Canal, and assisted our citizens in many of their rail- road projects. Though never a resident of our city, his contin- ual symathy with, and labors for this section have indissolubly connected his name with our progress in the last forty years.
-Review.
George W. Norton, Esq.
ILLIAM NORTON, the father of George W. Norton, removed from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Rus- sellville, Kentucky, in 1811. In 1813 he married Miss Mary Hise, a lady distinguished for her intelligence, energy, and practical good sense. He was universally esteemed for his pro- bity and industry.
George W., the oldest child, was born and educated in Russellville. In his fifteenth year he went into a dry goods store as clerk ; by industry and attention to his duties, gained the confidence of his employers, and was enabled to begin bus- iness on his own account in his nineteenth year. He was actively and successfully engaged in commercial pursuits until the Au- tumn of 1849, when he determined to retire from active employ- ments until his naturally feeble constitution and usually feeble health could be somewhat restored.
The charter of the Southern Bank of Kentucky, with a capital of two millions of dollars, having been amended by the Legislature of his State, the friends of the institution in the Spring of 1850, determined to put it into operation at once. Upon the organization of the Board of Directors, at the very urgent solicitations of the stockholders and directors, Mr. Nor- ton was induced to accept the presidency. of the bank. His success in commercial pursuits gave confidence to the community that the bank would be prudently and judiciously managed- 20
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expectations which were not disappointed. The Southern Bank of Kentucky had the confidence of the public to an extent not surpassed by any similar institution.
In his intercourse with his fellow-men he has endeavored to be influenced by strict integrity-as a consequence he has the confidence and esteem of all who know him.
At the age of about eighteen he became a member of the church, and has endeavored to live the life of a Christian.
In 1847 he was married to Miss Martha Stewart Henry, daughter of the late Major M. W. Henry, of Kentucky.
As President of the Southern Bank of Kentucky, Mr. Nor- ton's pecuniary aid to Evansville's enterprises has made his name familiar to our ears as a constant friend to the Crescent City.
Hon. Archibald Dixon.
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[From " Portraits of Eminent Americans," 1853.]
O write the biography of a living man is a task of diffi- culty and delicacy. To speak well of him would be deemed adulation by his enemies ; and to speak ill of him, no better than murder by his friends. In the following we shall endeavor to speak the truth, yet we will not deny that our pre- possessions are in favor of our subject ; and must candidly ad- mit that if we had esteemed it our duty to condemn more than to praise, we should have left the work to other hands. As it is brief, it may not be tedious ; and as it is the life of one whose name has not yet been associated with national affairs, it may excite curiosity.
ARCHIBALD DIXON, of Kentucky, was born on the 2d of April, 1802, in the county of Caswell, North Carolina. His grandfather, Henry Dixon, was a colonel in the Revolutionary army ; and at the battle of Eutaw Springs received a wound
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from a cannon shot, which carried away a great part of one side of his face, and of which he afterward died.
Wynn Dixon, the son of Henry Dixon, and the father of the subject of this memoir, entered the army at the age of six- teen, as an ensign ; and for his gallant conduct and soldier-like bearing in the battles of Camden, Eutaw and Guilford Court- house, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and served during the war.
Mr. Dixon's mother was the daughter of David Hart, of North Carolina, and the niece of Colonel Thomas Hart, of Lex- ington, Kentucky, whose daughter is the wife of Hon. Henry Clay. Wynn Dixon emigrated to Henderson County, Kentucky, with his son, Archibald, in the year 1805, where he continued to reside until his death. He had once been wealthy, but in an unfortunate hour, becoming surety for his friend, he was re- duced from affluence to indigence ; and he was unable to do more for his son than to afford him a plain English education, such as was to be obtained in the neighborhood county schools. But it is not in the power of circumstances to depress the ener- gies of a man who is determined to rise. Poverty and misfor- tune may delay, but can not prevent his ultimate success.
Mr. Dixon made good use of the few opportunities at his command; and, though without that intellectual cultivation which is rarely to be acquired except within college walls, and which seems absolutely necessary with ordinary minds to smooth the pathway to professional eminence, at the early age of twenty entered upon the study of the law.
His preceptor was Mr. James Hillyer, a gentleman of good legal attainments, and who possessed many excellent and noble qualities. With the use of a good library, and an occasional hint from Mr. Hillyer, Mr. Dixon made rapid progress in his studies. His whole heart was in the work. His days and nights were devoted to the prosecution of a science which, to a begin- ner, seems to be made up of recondite principles and dry details. Pleasure was forgotten ; amusement was disregarded. He had no time to loiter by the way. He was not only inspired by am- bition, but urged by poverty. He worked not for fame only, but for bread.
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At the age of twenty-two he had made sufficient progress in his studies to justify his admission to the bar. Immediately on obtaining his license, he entered upon the practice of his profession. At this period the " state of his finances " was low indeed. He wanted even the means to purchase a suit of clothes to appear in a decent garb among his fellow - members at the bar. This, however, was the last mortification of a pecuniary kind to which he was subjected. His acknowledged talents, energy and business habits, soon placed him beyond the reach of want. His business rapidly increased. In a short time his reputation as a sound lawyer and eloquent advocate was estab- lished; and he had the satisfaction to find himself employed in all the important cases in the circuit,
In the Western States the connection between law and politics is so intimate, that is next to impossible for a lawyer who possesses a talent for public speaking, to avoid participat- ing in the exciting discussions of the day. If his own ambition does not impel him to take the lead, the importunities of his personal and political friends will force him into a prominent position.
Accordingly, we find Mr. Dixon, in the Summer of 1830, called upon by his fellow-citizens of the county of Henderson, to represent them in the popular branch of the Legislature, His course, during the session which he served, was marked by bis usual industry and talent Among other reforms which he advocated, was a bill for the better protection of the rights of married women, which, though unsuccessful at the time, has since been adopted in its most important features, and become one of the most popular laws of the State. From this time until 1836 he devoted himself exclusively to the practice of his profession, which had now become not only extensive but lucra- tive. The reward of his early toils and resolute self-denial, when both necessity and ambition impelled him to " shun de- lights and live laborious days" was in his hands. He had obtained what my Lord Bacon calls the " vantage ground of jurisprudence." It was not his place now to wait for clients, but for clients to wait for him.
In 1836 Mr. Dixon was elected to represent the counties of Henderson, Hopkins and Daviess, in the Senate. In 1841
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he was again elected to the Legislature from the county of Hen- derson, without opposition. In 1843 he was nominated by the Whig convention of Kentucky for the office of Lieutenant-Gov- ernor, on the same ticket with Mr. Ousley, and was not only elected over his competitor by a triumphant majority, but far outran the gubernatorial candidate. " During the canvass, his advocacy of the principles and measures of the Whig party was unusually able-particularly his defence of our domestic manu- factures. The protective policy has never been so popular in the Southern States as in the more densely-populated districts of the North, where labor is cheap and capital is abundant.
The interests of the people are not bound up in its success. Their means are not invested in manufactures but in agriculture, and it is a task of some difficulty to convince them that a mea- sure which apparently takes money out of their pockets can be just or expedient. Mr. Dixon, nevertheless, made the features of the American system occupy the most important place in his discussions, and the manner in which he treated the subject was so able, and his arguments so convincing, that he obtained the greatest applause from all quarters except the ranks of the op- position ; and we think ourselves justifiable in saying, that he succeeded in establishing this most important policy upon a much more secure and permanent basis than it had hitherto oc" cupied in Kentucky. During the next four years he was ex- officio President of the Senate, and in the difficult and often perplexing duties of his position he had the pleasure of giving universal satisfaction to both parties, Ever present at his post, the promptitude of his decisions was only equaled by their in- flexible justice. In 1848 he was preferred by a majority of the Whig party for the office of Governor ; and, but for the unyield- ing opposition of the friends of the opposing candidates, would have received the nomination at the hands of the convention. Being satisfied that the excitement of feeling which existed in the two sections of the party would materially impair its effi- ciency in the approaching gubernatorial and presidential con- tests, he did not hesitate to sacrifice his personal ambition for the good of the Whig cause ; and Mr. Crittenden being placed in nomination, he instructed his friends to withdraw his name. The year 1849 was a period of great political excitement
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throughout the State. A constitutional convention was about to assemble for the reformation of the organic law, and many new and highly important questions were presented to the con- sideration of the people. Among these, not the least interest- ing. was a proposition for the gradual emancipation of the slave population. This measure was advocated by several highly distinguished persons, and though there was scarcely a proba- bility of its immediate success, yet the mere agitation of the question was deemed by Mr. Dixon impolitic and dangerous. The shock which it might give to the stability and security of sixty millions of property would, in his opinion, more than counterbalance any remote and doubtful advantage which could possibly accrue from the discussion of so delicate a subject. He accordingly opposed and denounced it with all the energy and vehemence of his nature. Being chosen, without opposition, a member of the convention, he brought forward the following resolution, which he sustained with marked ability, and which, in substance, was finally incorporated into the constitution :
" Whereas, The right of the citizen to be secure in his per- son and property is not only guaranteed by all free govern- ments, but lies at the very foundation of them ; and whereas, the powers derived to this convention, immediately and collect- ively, are distinctly from the people : and, although not expressed are implied, and that among them is the power so to change the constitution of the State as to afford a more ample protection to the civil and religious rights of the citizen, but not destroy them ; and whereas, the slaves of citizens of this commonwealth are property, both those that are now in esse, and those hereafter born of mothers who may be slaves at the time of such birth ; therefore,
" Resolved, That this Convention has not the power or right by any principle it may incorporate into the constitution of the State, to deprive the citizen of his property, without his consent, unless it be for the public good, and only then by making to him a just compensation therefor."
As a specimen of the style of Mr. Dixon we insert the fol- lowing extract from the speech which he delivered when the above resolution was brought up for discussion :
" But my friend from Nelson maintains another proposition and I intend to call attention to it now. Yes ; it is a strange proposition, and that is, that all the right we have to our slave population is derived from the constitution and laws of the
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State. If the gentleman would but look back to the history of the acquisition of titles to slave property, he would find there a refutation of his whole position. How did we originally ac- quire any title to slave property in this country ? If he will look back as far as 1620, he will find that the very first slaves were brought to Virginia, in that year, in a Dutch vessel. If he will look back not quite so far, that charters were granted by Queen Elizabeth to certain companies, empowering them to go to Africa and possess themselves of slaves, and bring them to the then colonies of North America. He will find that they were permitted to go, and that many went without any permis- sion at all. Well; when they went there, what did they do ? They acquired the property ; they captured or purchased the negroes; they exercised their manual strength and labor in ac- quiring the possession of that property ; they became owners by occupation, or by purchase - a way of acquiring property that gentlemen will readily understand. I say they became owners by occupation, as those gentlemen who have gone to California to dig gold.
" There being no law to protect it, they became entitled to the gold from the very fact that they exercise manual labor to separate it from the earth in which it has been long imbedded. Law does not provide the right to the gold, and it does not pro- vide the right to capture and appropriate the slave. They had the gold without any law, and they have now called a conven- tion of gold-diggers and miners, and for what purpose ? To give them title to the gold ? Not at all ; they have that right now, but it is to give protection to those rights which they have acquired by occupancy. That is the object and design. To give them rights ? Not at all ; but the protection of the rights that now exist. Let us take this matter a little farther. I believe that when Kentucky separated from Virginia-or to go farther, that before any constitution was formed in the United States, the people of Virginia had their slaves, and they had a right to them. And when the act of separation was passed on the part of Virginia, allowing Kentucky to become a sepa- rate State-when she separated herself and threw herself back on first principles, and declared her sovereignty in the act of establishing organic law, her citizens then had this right of pro- perty in slaves. Those rights of property, therefore, were not derived from the laws of Virginia, or from the constitution of 1792 or 1799 ; they existed prior to, and independent of those laws. They existed because they were rights clearly acquired from those who first acquired the slaves, and which had come down to their descendants by descent, or which had been trans- ferred by purchase. Thus were these rights existing prior to the adoption of any organic law. But at this particular period
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of time, when all things are thrown back to their original ele- ments, and all permitted to express their opinions and views on all and every question, a strange proposition is springing up in the midst of our excited countrymen. What is it? One says to another, you have no right to all that land of yours ; and another, you have no right to your negroes ; and another, you have no right to your strong box. It is a strange proposition springing up right here in the community. What will be the result of it?
' 'Mr. C. A. WICKLIFFE. Does the gentleman mean to say that I advocate such doctrine on this floor ? If so, he is mis- taken.
" Mr. DIXON. I mean that such is the effect of the gentle- man's proposition. I say that it is the true consequence of the doctrine advanced, that all power belongs to this convention, and that no right exists independent of the organic law it may make, or the statute laws which may be passed under it. I say, then, let us go back to the state of society I have mentioned to the gentleman. Let the proposition be made and proclaimed to the people of Kentucky, that prior to the adoption of their constitution, the right to property does not exist, and what would be the condition of every member of society ? The very assumption of the principle would be looked upon as a violation of every principle of right which lies at the foundation of every free government.
Well, our title to our slaves is not derived from Virginia, or from the constitution or statute laws of Kentucky, but it is derived in the manner which I have represented. We come, then, to the formation of our present constitution. What shall we do here ? We intend to unite in framing a constitution that will protect, not destroy ; to build up, and not to pull down ; to throw the ægis of our protection around the rights of the cit- izen, and not to put in the hands of the incendiary a torch to consume or a sword to destroy and murder. This convention has no such power. And if such a power can exist, if it is to be proclaimed here that fifty-one men in this convention have the right to seize on the property, should they see proper to do it, then away with the rights of the people ! If this is not radicalism, the rank old agrarianism, starting up here as from the very floors of the old Roman Senate, shaking his gory locks at us, it is very like it. I will say to it, " Thou canst not say I did it ; " but I will say, also, it is you, and you, who proclaim such doctrines, who did it. And where is this thing to stop ? Who can tell what a people may do hereafter, and what a ma- jority may favor hereafter-where is it to stop ? I said the other day, when it is once admitted that a mere majority has the right and the power to seize upon the property of the peo-
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ple and to appropriate it to such use as they may think proper, there is no longer any safety in society. You have but to pro- claim to all the vagabond population of the world that they have only to become citizens of Kentucky, and a majority, in order to seize upon the property of our citizens and appropriate it as they think proper ; you have but to call upon the wild spirits that inhabit the free States and the great cities, the skulking vagabond population, who only seek an opportunity for plunder and murder ; you have but to call upon those people of other countries who have been expatriated from their own lands by the laws, and who are driven from necessity to violence and outrage on those who are better off; you have but to call upon these classes to come to Kentucky, and to assert the rights of a citizen, and obtain the privilege of voting, and what would be the result? They would pour in upon us as did the Goth and Vandal barbarians upon the Roman territory ; they would come, as did the Huns under the lead of Atilla, sweeping be- fore them, as with a whirlwind of desolation, all the great insti. tutions of the country, and monopolizing all its property. They would rally around some great leader, like that " scourge of nations " and destroyer of civil institutions, who looked back on the desolation he had left, and forward on the beauty that was spread before him, and like that conqueror exclaim : " I look ahead and all is beautiful, all is cheering to my eyes and hopes. I look behind, and my track is marked in ashes and blood. Desolation spreads itself in my rear, and the beauties of civiliz- ation wither at my approach." And your beautiful land of Kentucky - this fair garden of the United States - this spot where poets delight to dwell, and the statesman and hero delight to linger-this great Kentucky of ours, so glorious in the memory of the past, and so bright in the vista of the future -it is to become like the plains of Italy ; it is to be scourged by those who come, like the Goths and Vandals, and Huns under Atilla, scattering ruin and waste through our land. I never will subseribe to such a doctrine, or agree that fifty-one men shall be armed with the sovereign power of seizing on my life, liberty, or property, and appropriating it to their own use, in violation of the great principle which lies at the foundation of all free governments."
The firm and resolute course pursued by Mr. Dixon on the slave question, as may naturally be supposed, had no tendency to increase his popularity with the emancipationists. Having receive the nomination for Governor in 1851, their influence and suffrages, with but few exceptions, were withheld from him, and as an immense majority of them were Whigs, his election was thereby defeated. His vote, however, was larger than that of 21
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any other Whig candidate who had previously aspired to the office. The emancipation candidate, Mr. Cassius M. Clay, run both as a Whig and an emancipationist.
Some time before the nomination was conferred upon Mr. Dixon, he became satisfied that his election was impossible, and addressed a letter to his fellow-citizens of Kentucky, withdraw- ing his name from all connection with the office, assigning his reasons for the course which he pursued, and calling on the con- vention to select some other standard-bearer, who would be able to unite both the emancipationists and the old Whigs. But against his own better judgment, and in opposition to his remon- strances, his friends in the convention, who constituted a large majority, determined upon his nomination. With the conscious- ness that he was leading a forlorn hope ; nay that it was almost absolutely impossible that he should be elected, his ardor was not damped, " nor his natural force abated." He was still found in the fore front of battle striking bold strokes himself, and urging on his party to the contest. It was a period not only of great interest to the domestic politics of Kentucky, but of intense political excitement throughout the country. Two great parties at the North and the South were set against each other in hostile array. "The imprisoned winds were let loose. The East, the North, and the stormy South, combined to throw the whole ocean into commotion, to toss its billows to the skies, and disclose its profoundest depths." It is hardly necessary to say that Mr. Dixon was not found among the number of those who lent their influence to add to the fury of the storm. Eve- rywhere, throughout the whole State, his voice was heard, trumpet-toned, in the defence of the Union, and deprecating, as the most terrible of calamities, its dissolution and destruc- tion. While those giants of intellect, Mr. Webster and Mr. Clay, were defending it at the capital, their hands were upheld and the position which they occupied made secure, by the able and patriotic efforts of such men as Mr. Dixon among the peo- ple. From every speaker's stand in Kentucky his eloquent voice was heard calling upon the people to stand by the institu- tions of their fathers, and maintain the integrity of the Union against the insidious attacks of Northern abolitionists, and the more violent and furious onslaughts of Southern seceders.
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Those spirit-stirring appeals were not lost. They were not thrown away upon listless ears. The people of Kentucky, we assert boldly, have more true loyalty of feeling, and deep, un- selfish, patriotic affection and admiration for the Republic than those of any other State. These patriotic sentiments Mr. Dixon by his bold and manly eloquence, awakened into activity at a time when the expression of such sentiments on the part of the masses was necessary to sustain the course of the great states- men, who stood like faithful pilots at the helm, and finally suc- ceeded in weathering the storm. He spoke not for his own election merely, nor for the success of the Whig party, but for the Union.
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