USA > Indiana > Dearborn County > History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 33
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was elected to Congress in 1833, defeating John Test, a very able and popular Whig. In 1835 he was again elected, this time defeating George H. Dunn. In Congress, Mr. Lane was a great champion of General Jackson, and won the title of "The Wheel-Horse," on account of his ability and zeal in de- fending the hero of New Orleans. He is described by his son, George W. Lane, as being "fully six feet high, erect and of commanding carriage, and possessed a voice of remarkable force and power, deep and full, over which he had complete control. His language was ready and fluent, and being master of invective in a marked degree, woe unto the man that incurred his dis- pleasure. He had full, blue eyes, which were very expressive under all circumstances, but when he was aroused by feelings of emotion they were positively piercing. Frequently he would close his teeth together, and talk through them with a hissing sound that would almost make one's flesh crawl. Instantly changing his manner, his voice would become soft and mellow, coupled with the most touching tones, that would draw tears from many of his hearers." Hon. William S. Holman said of him: "He was a man of strong will; at the forum or on the stump, he neither asked or gave quarter, but he commanded an eloquence that could raise a hurricane or melt his au- dience to tears." Mr. Lane died on September 2, 1849.
James Henry Lane, son of Amos Lane, was born in Lawrenceburg in 1814, shortly after the family removed from Burlington, Kentucky, to this side of the river. He was a merchant in his younger days, and at one time was the proprietor of a store on the corner of High and Walnut streets, the house in which he conducted his store is still standing, and known as the Parry corner. He studied law under his father, Amos Lane, and was ad- mitted to the bar, but was of too stirring a disposition to settle down to the practice. On the breaking out of the Mexican War, James H. Lane at once raised a company and was appointed by Governor Whitcomb, colonel of the Third Indiana Regiment. He served as its colonel until the expiration of its term of service, and was mustered out, only to engage at once in recruiting the Fifth Indiana, of which he was made colonel, serving until the close of the war. He served as lieutenant-governor of Indiana from 1849 to 1853, and represented this district in Congress from 1853 to 1855. When the "border ruffian" difficulties commenced in the state of Kansas, he resigned his seat in Congress and went to that territory, where he became a noted leader of the Free-State party. He was instrumental in making a free state of Kansas and on its being admitted into the Union was elected to the United States Senate, serving one full term and was serving his second when he
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ended his strenuous life by suicide. "He was a man of restless ambition, un- conquerable energy and imperious will. For his services in repelling the bor- der ruffians of Kansas, and preserving that beautiful country from the curse of slavery, he deserved well of his country, and will ever occupy a prominent and honorable place in the history of the great struggle between freedom and bondage." James H. Lane married, in 1841, Mary Baldridge, a granddauglı- ter of General Arthur St. Clair.
THE TWO HOLMANS.
Judge Jesse L. Holman was born at Danville, Kentucky, on October 24, 1784. While he was an infant his father was killed in the defense of a block- house, which had been attacked by the Indians. He studied law at Lexing. ton, Kentucky, in the office of Henry Clay, and when scarcely of age com- menced practice at Port William, now Carrollton, Kentucky, where he mar- ried Elizabeth Masterson, a lady of superior accomplishments. In 1810 he removed to Indiana Territory, purchased land and erected a cabin on the range of hills that rise abruptly from the Ohio, just south of Aurora. From the time of his coming to Indiana until the day of his death, he was almost continually in the public service. In 1811 he was appointed prosecuting at- torney of Dearborn county, by Governor Harrison. In 1814 he represented the county in the territorial Legislature and was the president of the legisla- tive council, and in the same year was appointed by Governor Posey judge of the second judicial circuit of the territory. On the admission of the state into the Union, Judge Holman was appointed by Governor Jonathan Jennings one of the three supreme judges of Indiana and he remained on the bench for fourteen years. In 1831 he was defeated for United States senator by but one vote, although the Legislature was politically much against him. In 1832 he was elected to take charge of the common schools of Dearborn county and in 1834 was appointed by President Jackson United States judge for the district of Indiana, and held that office until his death, on March 28, 1842. Justice John McLean, of the supreme bench of the nation, said of Mr. Hol- man: "His legal research and acumen have left enduring evidence, but what most excited my admiration was his singleness of purpose; he had no motive but to discharge his public duty uprightly." Judge Holman, even with all his duties as a jurist and legislator, took time to preach the Gospel, and for years the pastor of the Baptist church at Aurora. He organized a Sunday school and was its superintendent. He laid out the city of Aurora and was active in establishing the college at Franklin, Indiana.
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William S. Holman, son of Jesse L. Holman, perhaps attained more prominence than any citizen of Dearborn' county since its organization. His whole life, after his majority, was devoted to public affairs. No public man in the state, perhaps, held the confidence of the public as thoroughly as he did. Born at Veraestau, the home of his father, overlooking the Ohio river, and the broad valley near Aurora, on September 6, 1822, he was educated in the common schools of the neighborhood and at Franklin College, where he studied for two years. He spent his whole life as a citizen of Dearborn county. At the age of twenty he lost his father, which prevented his com- pleting his college course. He then studied law and when of age, was ad- mitted to the bar and at once commenced practice in his native county. In the same year he was elected probate judge of Dearborn county. In 1849 he was chosen prosecuting attorney, and in 1850 was elected senatorial delegate from Dearborn county to the constitutional convention. In 1851 he was a representative in the first Legislature under the new Constitution, and was made chairman of the judiciary committee. In 1852 he was elected judge of the court of common pleas, serving until 1856. In 1858 he was elected to Congress, from what was then the fourth congressional district, and from that time, until his death in 1897, he was elected continuously a member of the lower house of Congress, with the exceptions of 1864, when he was defeated by John I. Farquar, of Brookville. and 1876 and 1878, when he was defeated by Thomas M. Browne, and in 1894, when James E. Watson defeated him. At the time of his death he was said to have served in Congress longer than any other member. He always acted with the Democratic party, but during the Civil War supported the war measures of Lincoln's administration and cast his vote for the appropriations made for the suppression of the rebellion. He was opposted to the reckless disposal of the public domain and to all forms of class legislation. He died at his post in Congress, in the summer of 1897. and is buried in the family lot in Aurora cemetery.
DISREGARDED LOCAL CONVENTIONS.
James T. Brown was one of the characters of the Dearborn county bar. Born in 1795 in Mercer county, Kentucky, he came to Indiana in 1814. grow- ing to manhood near Madison, obtaining what educational advantages the schools then offered in that city. He first was admitted to the bar in Decatur county, but located in Dearborn county in 1838. He was possessed of keen wit and intellectual vigor and was famed for his terseness of expression and
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inexhaustible humor. Those who knew him have long since passed away, but stories of his peculiarities are yet extant and are passed down from older members of the bar to the younger and are thus perpetuated. Mr. Brown was a very eccentric man and had little regard for the customs of polished society. A fellow member of the bar said of him soon after his death: "He came to Dearborn county thirty years ago, with a piercing black eye, a great bald head, an old coat, and no linen exposed to view; and so he remained to the last; yet he would have been a very bold or a very reckless man, who would have dared to have joked the old gentleman on his antique garments, or his contempt for ordinary fashions." He never married and died at Lawrenceburg in 1867.
ANOTHER CONGRESSMAN.
George H. Dunn was a native of New York, and came to Dearborn county in 1817, an active young man of pleasant manners and good appear- ance. Mr. Dunn possessed qualities that enabled him soon to secure the con- fidence and respect of the people of the county. As an attorney he was faith- ful to his clients, exact in his pleadings, chaste in his language, and in argu- ment, kindly and conciliating. His speech, however, was carefully delivered and his influence was strong with the people and at the bar. He was elected to the Legislature in 1828, 1832 and 1833; was a member of Congress from 1837 to 1839. and treasurer of the state of Indiana from 1841 to 1844. He assisted in revising the Indiana code, and at a later period. 1847 to 1850. served as circuit judge. He was active in the affairs of state and his construc- tive mind was ever busy in plans for its welfare. While in the Legislature the charters of the state bank and its branches and of the railroad from Law- renceburg to Indianapolis were passed, both of which it is claimed were largely the work of Mr. Dunn. On July 4, 1833, the completion of the first mile of railroad in the state of Indiana was celebrated at Shelbyville by thousands from all parts of the state, and George H. Dunn was the hero of the occasion. Though disappointments followed, he never gave up the idea of a railway from Lawrenceburg to the capital of the state, and to his untiring zeal and confidence in its feasibility may be attributed its final success. He did not see it fully accomplished until he had grown old in the work, but peo- ple of that day gave to him the entire credit for its successful completion. On the monument over his grave, in the old cemetery in the city of Lawrence- burg, is appropriately placed the representation of a railway train. He died on January 12. 1854, aged fifty-seven.
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DANIEL S. MAJOR.
Daniel S. Major was a native of Dearborn county, and was born near Harrison on September 6, 1808. His father, Judge William Major, was one of the early pioneers of Dearborn county, having purchased land on White- water river near Harrison, as early as June 5, 1802. Facilities for education were limited in the pioneer days, but Mr. Major took advantage of every opportunity offered and at an early age attended Miami University, at Ox- ford, Ohio. A close student, he was graduated from that institution in 1831, with the first honors of the university. The same month he entered the office of the clerk of Dearborn county, as deputy clerk and student of law, under that courteous and witty Irishman, Gen. James Dill. From that time until the day of his death he was active in the affairs of the county, taking part in every movement that would tend to the upbuilding of society. As an attor- ney he was strong in commercial law, to which he especially gave his time. He was a Whig in politics, and later a Republican. In private, his reputation was spotless and he was an earnest, Christian gentleman, an active supporter of every educational enterprise of his day. He died at his home, on a beau- tiful spot overlooking the broad valley of the Ohio, on September 23, 1872.
WON HIS SPURS IN MEXICO.
Ebenezer Dumont was the son of John and Julia L. Dumont, and was a native of Vevay, Indiana, having been born in that town in 1814. He came to Dearborn county at the age of twenty-one and commenced the practice of law. In the year 1838 he was elected to the Legislature, as a member of the lower House and following this, was county treasurer. At the breaking out of the Mexican War he assisted in raising a company and was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth Indiana Regiment, in which command he served with distinction for one year, taking part in the capture of Huamantla, the siege of Pueblo, and many other engagements. Returning home at the expiration of his term of service, he was again elected to the state Legislature, as a member of the House of Representatives, and was chosen its speaker. In 1852 he was elected president of the State Bank of Indiana, which position he filled until the charter expired. At the breaking out of the Civil War he was president of the board of sinking-fund commissioners, from which he re- signed to accept the position of colonel of the Seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, serving with much credit during the three-months ser-
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vice. When the regiment was reorganized, he was again appointed its colonel by Governor Morton, .but in a short time was promoted to brigadier-general and assigned to Kentucky, commanding at Crab Orchard and later on at Pa- ducah. His health being too precarious to justify his remaining in the ser- vice, he accepted the nomination for Congress in the fall of 1862, and was elected, serving two terms. Shortly before his death he was appointed terri- torial governor of Idaho, but died before going to his labor, on April 17, 1871, at his residence in Indianapolis, where he had resided since his election as president of the State Bank.
COLONEL SPOONER.
Col. Benjamin J. Spooner was born at Mansfield, Ohio, on October 27, 1823. His parents were natives of New Bedford, Massachusetts. At the be- ginning of the Mexican War he assisted in raising a company, with James H. Lane, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in Company K, of the Third Regiment, with James H. Lane as its colonel. He took part in the battle of Buena Vista, and returning to Dearborn county read law and begun its practice in Lawrenceburg. He was elected prosecuting attorney for the dis- trict and took an active interest in the politics of those times, first as a Whig, afterwards as a Republican. At the commencement of the Civil War he was commissioned by Governor Morton lieutenant-colonel of the Seventh Regi- ment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for the three-months service, serving in the campaigns in eastern Virginia. His term of service expiring, he was com- missioned lieutenant-colonel of the Fifty-first Indiana, under Colonel Streight. They were in winter quarters in Kentucky during the winter of 1861-62, and took part in the battle of Pittsburg Landing on the 6th and 7th of April, 1862, but after the siege of Corinth he recruited the Eighty-third Regiment. Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was appointed its colonel by Governor Mor- ton. With this command he was sent to the front and was in the campaigns in front of Vicksburg and afterwards was transferred to the Army of the Cumberland, taking an active part in the campaign in front of Atlanta up to the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, in which engagement he lost his left arm. His wound unfitting him for active service, he resigned and was appointed by President Lincoln United States marshal for the district of Indiana, this be- ing the last appointment made by the martyred President. Colonel Spooner served in that capacity until 1879. when he resigned. He died at Lawrence- burg on April 8, 1881.
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AN EXILE'S RISE TO FAME.
John Schwartz was born in Bavaria in 1831, and received a classical education. He took an active part in the Revolution of 1848 and was com- pelled to flee from the land of his birth to avoid arrest and possible punish- ment, perhaps death. He landed in New York in 1850 and reached Law- renceburg, this county, on June 7, 1853. He worked as a clerk and book- keeper and later studied law with James T. Brown. About the year 1858, he formed a partnership with Benjamin J. Spooner. He served as mayor of Lawrenceburg for four years, and following this service was city attorney for four years. He recruited a company at the commencement of the Civil War and was commissioned its captain, serving for more than a year, at the end of which time he was compelled to resign on account of poor health. His company was assigned to the Thirty-second Regiment, Indiana Volunteer In- fantry, under Col. August Willich, and was wholly composed of Germans. Captain Schwartz possessed a fine legal mind and a wonderful memory. It was said he could recall page and book for most any reference needed in a law suit. He was a candidate on the state Republican ticket for attorney- general in the campaign of 1874, but was defeated.
THREE TIMES MAYOR OF LAWRENCEBURG.
George M. Roberts was born in Cross Plains, Ripley county, Indiana, in March, 1843. When about eleven years of age his parents removed to Quincy, Illinois, where he acquired his primary education in the public schools of that city. Later he attended Knox College, at Galesburg, Illinois, and in 1864 enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Illinois Regi- ment and served as a first lieutenant during the Civil War. Upon leaving the army he attended law school at Albany, New York, graduating in June, 1865. He first located at Omaha, Nebraska, where he was elected mayor, and in 1870 came to this county, locating at Lawrenceburg. From the time of his locating in Dearborn county until the day of his death, in October, 1906, he was recognized as a lawyer of ability; a strong advocate and fearless in the discharge of duty. He was three times elected mayor of Lawrenceburg, dis- charging the duties of that office to the satisfaction of his constituents.
O. H. Smith, in his "Early Indiana Trials and Sketches," gives, among other things, something of an idea of social conditions as early as 1818. He says : "Early in the winter of 1818, in the midst of a snowstorm, I arrived in (23)
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Lawrenceburg from Rising Sun, whiere I had lived since coming into the state in 1817. The evening of my arrival. General Dill, clerk of the circuit court, was to have a party at his house, and had promised fine music for the occasion. I was favored with an invitation. I started early from the hotel. Before I got within a square of the house of the General, the fife and drum were distinctly heard in that direction. Stepping up to the door, I knocked several times, but got no answer. Entering the main hall, I saw upon the platform of the stairs the musicians, one playing the fife, one beating on the small drum and the other, on a huge bass drum, with all their might, making as much noise as if they had been at the head of the army at the battle of Germantown. The General and Captain Vance were marching to the music. The General told us afterward that it was as fine music as he ever heard. I was introduced that evening to Capt. Samuel Vance and General Harrison. General Dill and General Harrison were warm friends. They had both acted as aids to Gen. Anthony Wayne in the Indian wars."
Mr. Smith says of Captain Vance: "Captain Vance held his first commis- sion in the army from General Washington and was in many hard-fought bat- tles, the 'bravest of the brave.' He was present in the midst of St. Clair's de- feat, fought with General Wayne in his campaign against the Indians and afterwards commanded at Ft. Washington. The war over, Captain Vance returned to civil life, married Miss Lawrence, a granddaughter of General St. Clair, became proprietor of Lawrenceburg and named the town for his wife. The person of Captain Vance was tall and commanding ; his face, large; his nose, of the Roman cast; his eyes, light; his hair, sandy, with a cue hanging down his back; his forehead, high and slightly retreating; his nature was frank and noble, magnanimous and generous. He was the father of Lawrence Vance, of Indianapolis. Captain Vance died years since, honored and re- spected by all who knew him."
Speaking of General Dill, with whom he studied law, O. H. Smith says : "General Dill was my preceptor. He was frank and open in his intercourse with others, about the common height, wore a long cue, dressed with taste, features good, eyelids heavy, hair thrown back in front. The General married a daughter of General St. Clair and was many years secretary of the Senate and clerk of the Dearborn circuit court. The General has long since left us."
Speaking of Judge Isaac Dunn, Smith says: "About the same time, I be- came acquainted with Judge Isaac Dunn, of Lawrenceburg, a native of New Jersey, one of the prominent men of the state. The Judge was speaker of the House of Representatives and many years associate judge of the Dearborn cir-
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cuit court. He married a sister of John H. Piatt, of Cincinnati. Judge Dunn was one of the most energetic men the state ever had in it, possessing good . common sense, clear intellect, and sound judgment, with a pure moral and religious character."
Speaking of Judge John Watts, Mr. Smith says: "Judge John Watts, another of the pioneers of Indiana, I must number with my early friends. Judge Watts was a Baptist preacher. His person was large and fleshy. He was the predecessor of Judge Eggleston on the circuit bench; was plain in his dress and manners; of strong, clear mind; hospitable and liberal, friendly to all, and always courteous to the bar. He was the father of Col. Johnson Watts, of Dearborn, and Judge John S. Watts, of New Mexico. Judge Watts has since gone to his reward, beloved by all who knew him."
THE TRIAL OF FULLER.
O. H. Smith, once United States senator from Indiana, who came to Dear- born county from New Jersey and studied law with Gen. James Dill from 1817 to 1819, gives the following account of the trial of Fuller and his execution- the first and last legal execution the county ever suffered :
"At the March term, 1820, of the Dearborn circuit court, Judge Eggleston took his seat on the bench, as the successor of the Hon. John Watts. The Judge was a young Virginia lawyer, a cousin of the Hon. William S. Archer, of the United States Senate. He was a fine scholar and a well-read lawyer. His integrity and his moral courage were above suspicion, while his im- partiality commended him to the approbation of all. He will long be remem- bered by the writer, one of the young members of the profession, for the Judge was ever willing to hear all that could be said by the humblest members of the bar, and when he decided, even against him, his manner gave courage to increase preparation for the next case. I received my license to practice law . from his hand, after a short examination, in person. His remarks in signing the license made a deep impression on me. My means were exhausted, and it was a question of life or death with me. The Judge kindly remarked, 'Mr. Smith, I will sign your license, but you are only prepared to commence the study; don't be discouraged but persevere in your studies and you may yet stand high in your profession.'
"The March term (1820) of the Dearborn circuit court was memorable for the trial of Fuller for killing Warren. Palmer Warren, the deceased, was my room-fellow at our boarding house while I was a student. He was a
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young, pleasant man, of good reputation. Fuller was his senior in years and also highly respectable. These young men, it seems. became attached to a young, though not handsome, girl, with a broad English accent, and both pro- posed marriage. The young lady preferred Warren, and rejected Fuller, who, in a moment of excited feelings, shot Warren with a pistol, first offering him one to defend himself, which Warren refused to accept. The ball entered the left breast and penetrated the heart. Warren fell dead. I was not there at the time, but saw his vest afterward, with the bullet hole through it. As these young men were highly respected in Lawrenceburg, especially Fuller, who was a great favorite, the trial excited much interest. I was present at the trial. The young judge took his seat upon the bench for the first time. The prisoner was brought into court by Capt. Thomas Longley, the sheriff, and took his seat in the box. He was dressed in black, except his white vest ; his countenance was composed and his eye steady. Amos Lane and John Test appeared for the state; Daniel J. Caswell, Charles Dewey, Samuel Q. Richardson, John Law- rence and Merritt S. Craig were counsel for the prisoner. The jury was em- paneled with some difficulty. The evidence was positive and conclusive; still the arguments of counsel occupied several days. Every appeal that was pos- sible to make to the jury by the able counsel for the prisoner, was fully met by the closing speech of Mr. Lane for the state. The jury, after a short absence, returned a verdict of 'guilty of murder in the first degree.' The judge, after overruling a motion for a new trial, pronounced a most impressive and solemn sentence of death, by hanging, upon the prisoner. The court room was filled to overflowing with both men and women. All were much affected and many tears were shed. The prisoner looked pale and agitated, yet it was apparent that he was not without hope. The execution was fixed at a distant day by the court, to afford an opportunity to test the legality of the conviction in the supreme court. The judgment was affirmed by the last judicial tri- bunal and the record returned. The people in Dearborn county, almost en masse, signed a petition to the governor for the pardon of Fuller, and such were his hopes, that he refused to escape from his prison, when he could have done so. Time rolled on and brought the fatal hour, but no pardon and Fuller was publicly executed in the presence of thousands. This case will long be remembered in old Dearborn."
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