USA > Indiana > Historic Indiana : being chapters in the story of the Hoosier state from the romantic period of foreign exploration and dominion through pioneer days, stirring war times, and periods of peaceful progress, to the present time > Part 27
USA > Indiana > Historic Indiana : being chapters in the story of the Hoosier state from the romantic period of foreign exploration and dominion through pioneer days, stirring war times, and periods of peaceful progress, to the present time, centennial ed. > Part 27
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was; said that after they had said good-night, he and his guests had declared they had never heard such an interesting talker and they had searched in every encyclopedia, biographical dictionary, and list of people in the United States on the shelves of the library, to learn who B. Sulgrove was; for they were sure they could not be ignorant of the career of such a brilliant man.
Very naturally the period of stress and storm which Indiana passed in common with the rest of the States during the Civil War gave rise to stanzas of more heroic measure than the earlier wildwood poems. These were the years when Forsythe Willson wrote The Old Sergeant, and Will H. Thompson gave out his High Tide at Gettysburg. There were other hearts that found a place in the "Poet's Corner" for their expression of patriotism, and pent-up sorrows over those lost on the field of battle. The fugitive writings of Ben D. House, Daniel L. Paine, Lee O. Harris, and others who wrote then, have been collected by appreciative friends and published.
In the years since the war, Indiana has produced Maurice Thompson, James Whitcomb Riley, Meredith Nicholson, Wm. Vaughn Moody, Evaleen Stein, Eliz- abeth Conwell, the Fellows sisters, and others, all of whom have written in both poetry and prose, to the great pleasure of thousands of readers. The same note of enjoyment in all of nature's charm, the breath of out-of-doors, still rings through the Hoosier verse, but it is coupled with human interests and the style of composition conforms to modern forms. There is a facility, a grace, and strength unknown to the earlier period.
It is interesting to note how many of the poems
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that have become familiar household words were penned by Hoosier writers. There are Little Brown Hands, Six Little Feet on the Fender, Paddle Your Own Canoe, The Patter of Little Feet, Better Late than Never, Some Say This World is an Old, Old World; Yes, the Smiling Clouds are Angels; Papa, What Would you Take for Me ?; Sleep, Little Sweetheart, Sleep; Love Came to Me in a Life so Late; The Curfew Shall Not Ring To-Night, and many others too well known to need recall.
Mr. Meredith Nicholson had secured a hearing by his journalistic work before he published either story or verse. Few lines by present-day poets, in this country, have the charm of some of his late poems. His fiction seems less analytical, less reflective than his friends would have expected from him, perhaps, but his stories seized upon popular approval at once. In The House of a Thousand Candles he has created an exciting plot-story, with a series of startling episodes, crowding one upon another. The interest is sustained through- out, as it also is in his later and better story The Port of Missing Men. Mr. Nicholson's essays contributed to the various periodicals, and his book on Indiana entitled Hoosiers, have received their meed of com- mendation from the writer, in the liberal quotations from their pages in this volume.
"Is the novel destined to devour all other forms of literature?" asks a critic; certainly its prevalence would seem to indicate the sweep of a wide and power- ful imagination, but very much of current fiction produced everywhere is crude, and still less clever. Imaginative writing requires more art than is fre- quently accorded it, and few are free from the im- putation of hurried work. The large number of Indiana writers at the present day, who have attracted
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attention by their great popularity, is indicative of this wide interest in fiction. Evidently the public, as Mr. Riley said of his own leisure hours, "read a good deal of chop-food fiction and browse with relish." It is a matter of congratulation that the Hoosier writers in general have given out healthy, wholesome stories, devoid of morbid sentiments and taint of moral decadence.
The variety of subjects that interest Indiana authors is also to be remarked. Scarcely any two have written upon the same theme. Within one family, we have John A. Wilstach devoting his years to classical studies and publishing his translations, with voluminous critical notes, of Virgil and Dante; his son, Walter Wilstach, writing a charming biographical sketch of Montalembert, and another son, Paul, issuing a manual on The Game of Solitaire, some short stories, several acting plays, and a notable work of dramatic review in his Biography of Richard Mansfield.
In another instance we have Mr. Beveridge writing a homily entitled The Everyday Life of a Young Man, and again he appears as the prophet of the Russian Advance. Environment and nature's charms sug- gested subjects to the earlier writers, but General Wallace dwelt on Oriental themes, in far-away lands. Robert Dale Owen, who was of Scotch birth, but one whose life was passed in Indiana, wrote a spiritualistic book, On the Boundaries of Another World, a volume of fiction, many vigorous state papers and public addresses. William Dudley Foulke urged civil service reform, wrote a biography of absorbing interest, and published a translation, with scholarly notes, of Paul the Deacon's History of the Longobards.
Again, an Indiana lawyer turns back the hands
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of time to the days When Knighthood Was in Flower. His are no problem novels. Charles Major knows that the average reader wants sensation; wants scenes and circumstances depicted with which he is not familiar; wants something that will take him out of the daily round of everyday life. Mr. Major has supplied tales of the days of chivalry, and the public has rewarded his efforts.
Another story by an Indianian carries us back to the seventeenth century, in Dutch New York, Professor Henry T. Stephenson's Patroon Von Falkonburg being a charming tale of that period. George Barr Mccutcheon, within a half-dozen years, has dashed off a stream of stories of adventure, written in a popular vein, that has given him a multitude of readers. His stories have had a wide vogue, and he seems to agree with a pronouncement of Sir Leslie Stephen's, that the author of the future may give up bothering himself about posterity, and be content with writing for his contemporaries, and the immediate present.
The Gentleman from Indiana has gone far and wide for material, since his first Hoosier stories, and his style improves with time. The lightness and delicacy of Beaucaire would be difficult to surpass, but In the Arena, Hector, His Own People, and the longer novel The Conquest of Canaan, are original, spirited stories that show keen discernment and an intimate knowledge of Americans, their characteristics, and their life. Mr. Tarkington has the gift of expression, an artistic touch, and a sense of character that is most satisfactory. Some of his first novels were crude in their develop- ment, but they are prettily set in their proper environ- ment, the people are natural in the life in which he places them, and he knew how to tell a story interest-
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ingly. Is it not to Booth Tarkington that the people of the State are looking to write of the real gentleman from Indiana? Mr. Eggleston, Mr. Riley, and others have given the Hoosier with the dialect; but the native-born Hoosier of straight English descent, with his perfectly natural manners, and decided individ- uality, has not yet "been put in a book." Mr. Tar- kington knows him. He will be recognized by his droll humor, his keenness for knowledge, without great learning-generally a "fresh water" college man, if a college man at all. In physique he will be tall and sinewy; unconventional in dress. Not at all peculiar in character, but indefinably a Westerner. Earnest, but self-controlled, full of ideas and not afraid to mention them, and, as was said of John DeFrees, with a courage that seemed to have no weak side, mental, moral, or physical. He will be moral and religious, but one will hardly call him pious; he will be patriotic, fond of his family and home, and gen- erally possessing both; insistent upon having good schools; a regular newspaper-reader, interested in every subject, and always interested in politics. Being fond of travel, he and his family are to be met in any quarter of the globe. In all his characteristics the typical Indianian awaits portrayal in literature.
A new author, who has written sympathetically and with appreciation of the early people in Indiana, is Miss Alexander. In a story by this journalist of Candle Lit Days, which she calls Judith, there is a reminiscent strain which will help to preserve memories of that past.
Without previous announcement or heralding of lit- erary skill, Elizabeth Miller issued the story of The Yoke. The book differs entirely from the others pro-
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duced by Indiana authors, and is another illustration of the variety of subjects chosen by this group. The scenes in The Yoke were of the Orient and life of the Nile. It at once created a stir and arrested attention. The same region and people are delineated in her latest drama, The City of Delight, a tale of the siege of Jerusalem.
Besides the stories of Indiana already mentioned, there are Millard Cox's The Legionaries and Miss Krout's Knights in Fustian, which are both interesting tales of the Civil War as it affected Indiana. In both stories, there are correct pictures of the localities involved in the struggle, and the incidents are true to history.
Enoch Willoughby, by Mr. Wickersham, is a novel of decided interest. Lucy Furman's Leadings and A Sanctified Town and Anna Nicholas's An Idyl of the Wabash are stories of provincial characters and village life. They are more analytical than the stories of some of the writers mentioned and show an ob- servation and knowledge of character, and of the people and places depicted, that is inimitable. They write sympathetically, and show a touch of the characteristic Hoosier humor.
Indianapolis has produced many volumes of interest by authors who have written only occasionally. It would be impossible to name all of them deservedly in a chapter like this, but sketches and stories from Mrs. Judah, Mrs. Alice Woods Ulman, Mrs. Locke, Mrs. Eaglesfield, and others have interested many read- ers, and the same may be said of occasional authors in Bloomington, Fort Wayne, Evansville, and other Indiana cities. It has been claimed that Richmond alone offers one hundred !
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It is no part of the intention of this chapter to give extended mention of each individual author who has written on Hoosier soil. Only enough are mentioned to illustrate in part, the development in this direction and the reason for the fame that the State has acquired in authorship.
Some of the most famous writers of Indiana, in history and fiction, have passed from the scene, and their place is secured by the work they have left. The young novelists who occupy the stage have the assurance of a sympathetic appreciation by the public. Conscientious work will improve their art, and the style will be more finished when there is less haste to publish. Psychological insight, more intense inner life, finer artistic conscience, less materialism will ap- pear in their writings as character is deepened by culture and the experiences of life.
There is a dramatic quality in the stories by Hoosiers which has been very successfully utilized in the re- production of these romances on the stage. Ben Hur, Beaucaire, The House of a Thousand Candles, Alice of Old Vincennes, Brewster's Millions, and When Knighthood Was in Flower may be cited as examples of this adaptability. In a greater degree this dramatic talent is shown in the plays produced by William Vaughn Moody, Booth Tarkington, Wilbur Nesbit, and George Ade, which have delighted audiences in England and America season after season.
If the novels produced by Indianians have shown little of the keen sense of humor which is characteristic of the native Hoosier, that trait has certainly appeared in Lincoln's drolleries, in Riley's dialect stories, in Mccutcheon's cartoons, in George Ade's satires, and in the prose comedies of Hermann Viele. The native
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Hoosier cannot be called vivacious or joyous in tem- perament, but for whimsical humor, and a keen enjoyment of by-play and anecdote, he has always been noted. All of these humorists show the par- ticular kind of dry wit, told with a long face, and told on one's self rather than miss a joke, that is so characteristic of Hoosierdom. Odd characters, the weaknesses of a local capitalist or political celebrity, a "greenie from the New Purchase," have always been touched off by the wag of the town. And now this same droll way of putting things has come into print from this group of native Indianians. In Ben Mccutcheon's newspaper stories, in Wilbur Nesbit's verses, in the late John DeFrees's editorials and Orth Stein's fanciful sketches, in Simeon Ford's drollery, in George Ade's fables, in James Whitcomb Riley's poetry, in Gillilan's tales and in John Mccutcheon's cartoons, with their explanatory foot-notes, we see the gentle cynicism, the naturalness, the freshness which belongs to youth and to life, in communities where opportunity is unhampered and impulses are spontaneous; where there is a sense of sheer fun, and a wholesome ironic way of dealing with the faults and frailities of the people. We see the quick obser- vation of passing events, the knowledge of human nature-especially of American people-that was demanded of stump speakers in the backwoods times, and of which the early preachers were not guiltless. When kindly Mr. Howells, who knows his American so well, and who has a keen scent for everything of every sort in literature, came upon George Ade's first productions he recognized at once, through all of the slang, that a new spice had been added to life. In an extended review he declared this conviction, and said :
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"Both Mr. Ade's touch and material are authentic and genuine. The sense of character which so richly abounds, without passing into caricature, in these pictures of unerringly ascertained, average American life, has enabled him to go straighter to the heart than any former humorist. In Mr. Ade the American spirit arrives, puts down its grip, looks around, takes a chair, and makes itself at home. It has no question to ask, none to answer. There it is, with its hat pushed back, its hands in its pockets, and at its feet the whole American world. The author posts his varying people in their varying situations without a word of excuse or palliation for either, in the full con- fidence that so far as you truly are American you will know them. He is without any sort of literary pose, and his sarcasm is of the frankest sort." 1
The plays by this author fill the same position; indeed, The County Chairman and his other comedies surpass any of the Fables which won Mr. Ade's audience for him. This same droll way of looking at life's frailities, and showing the peculiarities and failings of the people and parties, which we have noticed as being so characteristically Western, finds another exemplification in cartoonist Mccutcheon. Of his work it may be truly said as was remarked of Punch that his aim was to provide relaxation for all, fun for all, without a spice of malice or a suspicion of vulgarity, humor without a flavor of bitterness, satire without reckless severity, and nonsense so laughter- compelling as to be absolutely irresistible from its very absurdity. It may be an humbler mission to tickle the midriffs of men than to labor for the sal- vation of their souls. But both are legitimate vo- cations. The world laughs too little anyway, and
1 Howells, William D.
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when we consider the vast influence of the pictured lesson, in catching the attention and driving home a truth, when an editorial is skipped, we realize the mission of the cartoonist in fashioning opinion and the importance of such a career. "You have a great teacher out here," said a New York divine of this cartoonist, "a militant force against sham, hypocrisy, pretence, and folly." John McCutcheon shows ready invention, vigorous if not careful drawing, and odd conceits, with an intelligent grasp of facts and events; all infused with conviction, and rich humor, which makes him a great power against dishonesty, social pettiness, and demagogy. "Never malicious or brutal, he hits hard but always fair." This group of young men have always been accorded attention not only because of their Hoosier drollery, but because they know their clientele, and the people respond to their portrayals.
More than a passing mention must be made of another form of expression of thought. As we have noticed, public speaking, in an early day on the frontier, was the easiest way of reaching the public. Before there were many books issued, oratory was cultivated as an art, among people of Southern extraction, who were the first settlers in Indiana. Stories are told of young attorneys and politicians rehearsing their speeches in the forests, and learning to round their periods as they journeyed on horseback from one court town to another. The backwoods voters were fond of pitting one political candidate against another, while they sat about on newly felled logs. There were no canvasses or nominating conventions in those days; candidates brought themselves out, and the settlers voted for the man who captured their ballot
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by his off-hand oratory. Public debate on religious and political questions would draw the people from twenty miles around.
Indiana's famous political leaders were all orators, each possessing his own personal style. Vice-President Hendricks, Henry S. Lane, Vice-President Colfax, Governor Morton, Daniel Voorhees, were representative of the different types of effective speakers during the Civil War period.
Commenting on the little that President Benjamin Harrison has published, it was very justly remarked by a critic that "the most finished orator in American political life to-day is not dependent upon book- writing for a literary reputation." Mr. Harrison's oratory was, no doubt, the model of the best form in public speaking of his time. Thoughtful, logical, clear, unimpassioned, and convincing, his addresses may be read now with an interest second only to hearing them delivered.
In discussing modern political orators, Mr. Reeser said in an interview: "I have reported the speeches of most of the representative men and feel entitled to write of present-day speakers, and I must say of another Hoosier, in the language of a New York journalist, that 'as a picturesque, rapid-fire orator, the East has nothing to compare with John L. Griffiths of Indiana.'"'
Some of the literary addresses prepared for public occasions by men and women of Indiana in recent years, and many of the club papers, deserve to rank with the published essays of the country. As the essay is pre-eminently the product of meditation and leisure, it could hardly be expected that the industrial State of Indiana should up to this time
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Benjamin Harrison. From a photograph by Clark, Indianapolis.
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excel in that form of literary expression. Nevertheless, the work of Arthur Middleton Reeves, Oliver T. Morton, Judge Baldwin, Charles R. Williams, and others, with a number of papers by members unknown to fame, give such evidence of a just regard for literary values, a skilful use of language, a play of imagination, and withal a vigorous way of setting things forth, that their publication would add more to Indiana's claim for recognition in real literature than her score of popular novels. No one, unfamiliar with this class of productions in the State of Indiana, can rightly estimate the degree of virile, thoughtful study and discussion which goes on among the people. This certainly prepares the men and women of the common- wealth for authoritative opinions of affairs and an enjoyment of the literary productions of others. As Lowell has said, "their obiter dicta have the weight of wide reading, and much reflection, by people of delicate apprehension, and tenacious memory for principles."
It is interesting to recall in this connection that there were clubs in Indiana before it was a State; not, perhaps, in their present-day form, but men on the frontier who had literary taste, or those with wishes for intellectual improvement, banded themselves to- gether for an interchange of thought, and to practise the expression of opinions. Evidence of the existence of these primitive clubs is found in an old record that in a diminutive cross-roads hamlet, which never even attained the size of a village, "a polemic society was organized which was strongly attended by debaters from Weaver's neighborhood east of the river, and Judge Clark's neighborhood in Warren County. At one time there appeared to be a strong probability of
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a lyceum and academy being established there, but a few cabins and a small frame house soon brought the village to its culminating point, and it was in a few years entirely gone." 1 A half-century ago, clubs took the form of debating societies, mock legislatures, and lyceums.
The members of these imitative assemblies assigned themselves counties and discussed the measures that came before real legislatures, and not infrequently with more intelligence and spirit than the august body that they represented. It is said that they elected a governor as often as they wanted to hear an inaugural address, which was sure to be humorous and full of local hits and personalities. These sham legislatures were in vogue from 1824 to 1836, and were revived again in '42 and '43.
A form of literary endeavor customary during the middle of the century was the lyceum. Besides the papers and addresses by the members there was generally maintained a lecture course. During the succeeding period came the rise of the modern club. The writer has never belonged to a club, but feels assured, from an interested observation of others' enjoyment of such associations, that in Hoosierdom at least they have been a decided impulse in letters, art, and music. Many of these organizations have inaugurated movements for local improvements, for general culture, the spread of an interest in art, for historical remembrance, and for civic reform.
In Indiana, it is claimed, was formed the first woman's literary club in the United States. It was founded at New Harmony by the brilliant Frances Wright. The satirist may throw his little shaft of
1 Cox, Sanford C., Recollections of the Wabash Valley, chapter xxv.
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wit at clubdom, and at these satires the members themselves may laugh, even more heartily than the uninitiated, for they know all the vulnerable points in such associations; but the truth still remains, that the interchange of thought, the intellectual stimulus from such contact of mind with mind, has proved itself desirable and valuable, and worthy of wider adoption, rather than of lessening the number.
Within later years there were created in Indiana two State federations of these clubs, which have now, very happily, been consolidated. This union has endeavored to assist in many different measures of progress within the State. It has advanced legislation and influenced public sentiment toward civic improve- ment, for the establishing a juvenile court, for the child labor laws, for pure food regulations, and home economics. The Federation is a real dynamic force in the commonwealth. Among other measures em- anating from the union of literary clubs, none have proven more encouraging to the whole people than the passage of the law in 1899 creating the Library Commission to promote the development of public libraries in all of the towns. This commission is also to help in the organization, give training to library workers, supply lists of desirable books, and secure statistics from all the libraries. Since the creation of this valuable commission, libraries have more than doubled in numbers, and, what is encouraging to future efforts, they are all on a permanent basis. The board has established a system of travelling libraries for the districts where there are no local ones, or where students need books on special subjects. Indiana has reason to pride herself on the awakening of interest in the library movement. Over fifty towns
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have shared in the Carnegie fund for the buildings, while other cities have built for themselves beautiful homes for the books which are provided by public assessment.
Whether as a medium of literary expression or as representing the personal political interests, the newspapers of Indiana have always had a large cir- culation and commanded an influence not easily overestimated, when considering the development of the State. The most influential journalists have helped to mould public opinion; nor have these men and women held their mission in light esteem. In addition to presenting the current events, the editors of Indiana's best papers have striven to make their publications representative of the best writing available to the State. In all the years that are past, local literary talent has found the columns of the newspapers open to its efforts. Editors have also shown a belief in the truth that a man who maintains a wholesome tone in the daily press serves his country well; hence the moral tone has been conserved. Editorial writ- ing certainly exhausts a disproportionate amount of energy for the ephemeral fame it secures, as compared with other forms of literary labor. As the veteran editor Mr. Samuel Morse expressed it, at the close of a nonsense rhyme:
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