History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 4

Author: John F. Haines
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051

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HAMILTON COUNTY, INDIANA.

support on the ground of his anti-slavery views. The result of the election was as follows: Jennings, 428; Randolph, 402; Johnson, 81. Jonathan Jennings may be said to be the first successful politician produced in Indiana. His congressional career began in 1809 and he was elected to Congress four successive terms before 1816. He was president of the constitution conven- tion of 1816, first governor of the state and was elected a second time, but resigned to go to Congress, where he was sent for four more terms by the voters of his district.

EFFORTS TO ESTABLISH SLAVERY IN INDIANA.

The Ordinance of 1787 specifically provided that neither slavery nor any voluntary servitude should ever exist in the Northwest Territory. Notwith- standing this prohibition, slavery actually did exist, not only in the North- west Territory, but in the sixteen years while Indiana was a territory as well. The constitution of Indiana in 1816 expressly forbade slavery and yet the census of 1820 reported one hundred and ninety slaves in Indiana, which was only forty-seven less than there was in 1810. Most of these slaves were held in the southwestern counties of the state, there being one hundred and eighteen in Knox, thirty in Gibson, eleven in Posey, ten in Vanderburg and the remainder widely scattered throughout the state. As late as 1817 Frank- lin county scheduled slaves for taxation, listing them at three dollars each. The tax schedule for 1813 says that the property tax on "horses, town lots, servants of color and free males of color shall be the same as in 1814." Franklin county did not return slaves at the census of 1810 or 1820, but the above extract from the commissioners' record of Franklin county proved con- clusively that slaves were held there. Congress was petitioned on more than one occasion during the territorial period to set aside the prohibition against slavery, but on each occasion refused to assent to the appeal of the slavery advocates. While the constitution convention of 1816 was in session, there was an attempt made to introduce slavery, but it failed to accomplish anything.

THE INDIAN LANDS.

The United States government bought from the Indians all of the land within the present state of Indiana with the exception of a small tract around Vincennes, which was given by the Indians to the inhabitants of the town about the middle of the eighteenth century. The first purchase of land was made in 1795, at which time a triangular strip in the southeastern part of the

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state was secured by the treaty of Greenville. By the time Indiana was ad- mitted to the Union in 1816, the following tracts had been purchased: Vin- cennes tract, June 7, 1803; Vincennes treaty tract, August 18 and 27, 1804; Grouseland tract, August 21, 1805; Harrison's purchase, September 30, 1809; Twelve-mile purchase, September 30, 1809.

No more purchases were made from the Indians until the fall of 1818, at which time a large tract of land in the central part of the state was pur- chased from the Indians. This tract included all of the land north of the Indian boundary lines of 1805 and 1809, and south of the Wabash river with the exception of what was known as the Miami reservation. This treaty, known as St. Mary's, was finally signed on October 6, 1818, and the next Legislature proceeded to divide it into two counties, Wabash and Delaware.

ORGANIZATION OF COUNTIES.

As fast as the population would warrant, new counties were established in this New Purchase and Hamilton county was the tenth to be so organized. This county was created by the legislative act of January 8, 1823, and began its formal career as an independent county on the 7th of the following April. For purposes of reference, a list of the counties organized up until 1823, when Hamilton county was established, is here appended. The dates given represent the time when the organization of the county became effective, since in many instances it was from a few months to as much as seven years after the act establishing the county was passed before it became effective.

I. Knox June 20, 1790 15. Orange

Feb. 1, 1816

2. Clark

Feb.

3, 1801

16. Sullivan

-Jan. 15, 1817

3. Dearborn Mch. 7, 1803 17. Jennings Feb. 1, 1817

4. Harrison Dec.

1, 1808

18. Pike Feb. 1, 1817

5. Jefferson Feb. 1, 18II 19.

Daviess Feb. 15, 1817

6. Franklin Feb.

1, 18II 20. Dubois Feb. 1, 1818

7. Wayne Feb.

1, 18II 21. Spencer Feb. 1, 1818

8. Warrick Apr.

1, 1813 22. Vanderburgh Feb. 1, 1818

9. Gibson Apr. 1, 1813 23. Vigo Feb. 15, 1818

IO. Washington Jan. 17, 1814 '24.

Crawford Mch. 1, 1818

II. Switzerland .Oct.

I, 1814 25. Lawrence Mch.

1, 1818

12. Posey Nov.

1, 1814 26.

Monroe Apr. 10, 1818

13. Perry

Nov. 1, 1814 27. Ripley Apr. 10, 1818

14. Jackson Jan. I, 1816 28. Randolph Aug. 10, 1818

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52 29.

Owen

Jan. 1, 1819

38. Morgan

Feb. 15, 1822

30. Fayette

Jan .-

1, 1819

39.

Decatur

Mch.

4, 1822

31. Floyd

Feb. 2, 1819 40. Shelby

Apr. 1, 1822

32.

Scott

.Feb.

1, 1820 41

Rush

Apr. 1, 1822

33.

Martin

Feb.

1, 1820

42.

Marion

Apr.

1, 1822

34.

Union

Feb.

1, 1821

43.

Putnam

Apr.

1, 1822

Greene

Feb.

5, 1821

44.

Henry

-June

1, 1822.

36. Bartholomew

Feb. 12, 1821

45. Montgomery Mch.

1, 1823

37.

Parke Apr. 2, 1821

46.

Hamilton Apr. 7, 1823

The first thirteen counties in the above list were all that were organized when the territory of Indiana petitioned Congress for an enabling act in 1815. They were in the southern part of the state and had a total population of sixty-three thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven. At that time the total state tax was only about five thousand dollars, while the assessment of the whole state in 1816 amounted to only six thousand forty-three dollars and thirty-six cents.

CHANGES IN THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIANA.

The Constitution of 1816 was framed by forty-three delegates who met at Corydon from June 10 to June 29 of that year. It was provided in the Constitution of 1816 that a vote might be taken every twelve years on the question of amending, revising or writing a wholly new instrument of gov- ernment. Although several efforts were made to hold constitution conven- tions between 1816 and 1850, the vote failed each time until 1848. Elections were held in 1823, 1828, 1840 and 1846, but each time there was returned an adverse vote against the calling of a constitutional convention. There were no amendments to the 1816 Constitution, although the revision of 1824, by Benjamin Parke and others was so thorough that it was said that the revision committee had done as much as a constitution convention could have done.

It was not until 1848 that a successful vote on the question of calling a constitution convention was carried. There were many reasons which in- duced the people of the state to favor a convention. Among these may be mentioned the following: The old Constitution provided that all the state officers except the governor and lieutenant-governor should be elected by the legislature. Many of the county and township officers were appointed by the county commissioners. Again, the old Constitution attempted to handle too many matters of local concern. All divorces from 1816 to 1851 were

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granted by the Legislature. Special laws were passed which would apply to particular counties and even to particular townships in the county. If Nobles- ville wanted an alley vacated or a street closed, it had to appeal to the Legis- lature for permission to do so. If a man wanted to ferry people across a stream in Posey county, his representative presented a bill to the Legislature asking that the proposed ferryman be given permission to ferry people across the stream. The agitation for free schools attracted the support of the edu- cated people of the state, and most of the newspapers were outspoken in their advocacy of better educational privileges. The desire for better schools, for freer representation in the selection of officials, for less interference by the Legislature in local affairs, led to a desire on the part of majority of the people of the state for a new Constitution.

The second constitutional convention of Indiana met at Indianapolis, October 7, 1850, and continued in session for four months. The one hun- dred and fifty delegates labored faithfully to give the state a Constitution fully abreast of the times and in accordance with the best ideas of the day. More power was given the people by allowing them to select not only all of the state officials, but also their county officers as well. The convention of 1850 took a decided stand against the negro and proposed a referendum on the question of prohibiting the further emigration of negroes into the state of Indiana. The subsequent vote on this question showed that the people were not disposed to tolerate the colored race. As a matter of fact no negro or mulatto could legally come into Indiana from 1852 until 1881, when the restriction was removed by an amendment of the Constitution. Another important feature of the new Constitution was the provision for free schools. What we now know as a public school supported at the expense of the state, was unknown under the 1816 Constitution. The new Constitution estab- lished a system of free public schools, and subsequent statutory legislation strengthened the constitutional provision so that the state now ranks among the leaders in educational matters throughout the nation. The people of the state had voted on the question of free schools in 1848 and had decided that they should be established, but there was such a strong majority opposed to free schools that nothing was done. Orange county gave only an eight per cent vote in favor of free schools, while Putnam and Monroe, containing DePauw and Indiana Universities, respectively, voted adversely by large majorities. But, with the backing of the Constitution, the advocates of free schools began to push the fight for their establishment, and as a result of the legislative acts of 1855, 1857 and 1867, the public schools were placed upon a sound basis.

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HAMILTON COUNTY, INDIANA.

Such in brief were the most important features of the 1852 Constitution. It has remained substantially to this day as it was written sixty-five years · ago. It is true there have been some amendments, but the changes of 1878 and 1881 did not alter the Constitution in any important particular. There was no concerted effort toward calling a constitutional convention until the Legislature of 1913 provided for a referendum on the question at the polls, November 4, 1914. Despite the fact that all the political parites had de- clared in favor of a constitutional convention in their platforms, the question was voted down by a large majority. An effort was made to have the ques- tion submitted by the Legislature of 1915, but the Legislature refused to submit the question to the voters of the state.

CAPITALS OF NORTHWEST TERRITORY AND INDIANA.

The present state of Indiana was comprehended within the Northwest Territory from 1787 to 1800, and during that time the capital was located within the present state of Ohio. When the Ordinance of 1787 was put in operation on July 17, 1788, the capital was established at Marietta, the name being chosen by the directors of the Ohio Company on July 2, of the same year. The name Marietta was selected in honor of the French Queen, Marie Antoinette, compounded by curious combination of the first and last syllables of her name.

When Indiana was set off by the act of May 7, 1800, the same act located the capital at Vincennes where it remained for nearly thirteen years. The old building in which the Territorial Assembly first met in 1805 is still standing in Vincennes. In the spring of 1813 the capital of the territory was removed to Corydon and it was in that quaint little village that Indiana began its career as a state. It remained there until November, 1824, when Samuel Merrill loaded up all of the state's effects in three large wagons and hauled them overland to the new capital-Indianapolis. Indianapolis had been chosen as the seat of government by a committee of ten men, appointed in 1820 by the Legislature. It was not until 1824. however, that a building was erected in the new capital which would accommodate the state officials and the General Assembly. The first court house in Marion county was built on the site of the present building. and was erected with a view of utilizing it as a state house until a suitable capitol building could be erected. The state continued to use the Marion county court house until 1835, by which time an imposing state house had been erected. This building was in use until 1877, when it was razed to make way for the present beautiful building.

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MILITARY HISTORY.

Indiana has had some of its citizens in four wars in which United States has engaged since 1800: The War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, and the Spanish-American War. One of the most important engage- ments ever fought against the Indians in the United States was that of the battle of Tippecanoe, November 7, 1811. For the two or three years pre- ceding, Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, had been getting the Indians ready for an insurrection. Tecumseh made a long trip throughout the west- ern and southern part of the United States for the purpose of getting the Indians all over the country to rise up and drive out the white man. While he was still in the South, Governor Harrison descended upon the Indians at Tippecanoe and dealt them a blow from which they never recovered. The British had been urging the Indians to rise up against the settlers along the frontier, and the repeated depredations of the savages but increased the hos- tility of the United States toward England. General Harrison had about seven hundred fighting men, while the Indians numbered over a thousand. The Americans lost thirty-seven by death on the battlefield, twenty-five mor- tally wounded and one hundred and twenty-six more or less seriously wounded. The savages carried most of their dead away, but it is known that about forty were actually killed in the battle and a proportionately large num- ber wounded. In addition to the men who fought at Tippecanoe, the pio- neers of the territory sent their quota to the front during the War of 1812. Unfortunately, records are not available to show the enlistments by counties.

During the administration of Governor Whitcomb ( 1846-49) the United States was engaged in a war with Mexico. Indiana contributed five regi- ments to the government during this struggle, and her troops performed with a spirit of singular promptness and patriotism during all the time they were at the front.

No Northern state had a more patriotic governor during the Civil War than Indiana, and had every governor in the North done his duty as conscien- tiously as did Governor Morton that terrible struggle would undoubtedly have been materially shortened. When President Lincoln issued his call on April 15, 1861, for 75,000 volunteers, Indiana was asked to furnish 4,683 men as its quota. A week later there were no less than 12,000 volunteers at Camp Morton at Indianapolis. This loyal uprising was a tribute to the patriotism of the people, and accounts for the fact that Indiana sent more than 200,000 men to the front during the war. Indiana furnished prac- tically seventy-five per cent of its total population capable of bearing arms,

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and on this basis Delaware was the only state in the Union which exceeded Indiana. Of the troops sent from Indiana, 7,243 were killed or mortally wounded, and 19,429 died from other causes, making a total death loss of over thirteen per cent for all the troops furnished.

During the summer of 1863 Indiana was thrown into a frenzy of excite- ment when it was learned that General Morgan had crossed the Ohio with 2,000 cavalrymen under his command. Probably Indiana never experienced a more exciting month than July of that year. Morgan entered the state in Harrison county and advanced northward through Corydon to Salem in Washington county. As his men went along they robbed orchards, looted farm houses, stole all the horses which they could find and burned consider- able property. From Salem, Morgan turned with his men to the east, having been deterred. from his threatened advance on Indianapolis by the knowledge that the local militia of the state would soon be too strong for him. He hur- ried with his men toward the Ohio line, stopping at Versailles long enough to loot the county treasury. Morgan passed through Dearborn county over into Ohio, near Harrison, and a few days later, Morgan and most of his band were captured.

During the latter part of the war there was considerable opposition to its prosecution on the part of the Democrats of this state. An organization known as the Knights of the Golden Circle at first, and later as the Sons of Liberty, was instrumental in stirring up much trouble throughout the state. Probably historians will never be able to agree as to the degree of their culpability in thwarting the government authorities in the conduct of the war. That they did many overt acts cannot be questioned and that they collected fire arms for traitorous designs cannot be denied. Governor Morton and General Carrington, by a system of close espionage, were able to know at all times just what was transpiring in the councils of these orders. In the cam- paign of 1864 there was an open denunciation through the Republican press of the Sons of Liberty. On October 8 of that year the Republican news- papers carried these startling headlines: "You can rebuke this treason. The traitors intend to bring war to your home. Meet them at the ballot box while Grant and Sherman meet them on the battle field." A number of the leaders were arrested, convicted in a military court and sentenced to be shot. However, they were later pardoned.

The Spanish-American War of 1898 has been the last one in which troops from Indiana have borne a part. When President Mckinley issued his call for 75,000 volunteers on April 25, 1898, Indiana was called upon to furnish three regiments. War was officially declared April 25, and formally

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came to an end by the signing of a protocol on August 12 of the same year. The main engagements of importance were the sea battles of Manila and Santiago and the land engagements of El Caney and San Juan Hill. Ac- cording to the treaty of Paris, signed December 12, 1898, Spain relinquished her sovereignty over Cuba, ceded to the United States Porto Rico and her other West India Island possessions, as well as the island of Guam in the Pacific. Spain also transferred her rights in the Philippines for the sum of twenty million dollars paid to her for public work and improvements con- structed by the Spanish government.

POLITICAL HISTORY.

It is not possible to trace in detail the political history of Indiana for the past century and in this connection an attempt is made only to survey briefly the political history of the state. For more than half a century Indiana has been known as a pivotal state in politics. In 1816 there was only one political party and Jennings, Noble, Taylor, Hendricks and all of the politicians of that day were grouped into this one-the Democratic party. Whatever differences in views they might have had were due to local issues and not to any questions of national portent. Questions concerning the improvements - of rivers, the building of canals, the removal of court houses and similar questions of state importance only divided the politicians in the early history of Indiana into groups. There was one group known as the White Water faction, another called the Vincennes crowd, and still another designated as the White river delegation. From 1816 until as late as 1832, Indiana was the scene of personal politics, and during the years Adams, Clay and Jackson were candidates for the presidency on the same ticket, men were known politically as Adams men, Clay men or Jackson men. The election returns in the twenties and thirties disclose no tickets labeled Democrat, Whig or Republican, but the words "Adams," "Clay," or Jackson."

The question of internal improvements which arose in the Legislature of 1836 was a large contributing factor in the division of the politicians of the state. The Whig party may be dated from 1832, although it was not until four years later that it came into national prominence. The Democrats elected the state officials, including the governor, down to 1831, but in that year the opposition party, later called the Whigs, elected Noah Noble governor. For the next twelve years the Whigs, with their cry of internal improvements, controlled the state. The Whigs went out of power with Samuel Bigger in 1843, and when they came into power again they appeared

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under the name of Republicans in 1861. Since the Civil War the two parties have practically divided the leadership between them, there having been seven Republicans and six Democrats elected governor of the state. The following table gives a list of the governors of the Northwest Territory, Indiana Terri- tory and the state of Indiana. The Federalists were in control up to 1800 and Harrison and his followers may be classed as Democratic-Republicans. The politics of the governors of the state are indicated in the table.

GOVERNORS OF INDIANA.

Of the Territory Northwest of the Ohio-

Arthur St. Clair

1787-1800

Of the Territory of Indiana-

John Gibson (acting) July 4, 1800-1801

William H. Harrison 1801-1812

Thomas Posey 1812-1816

Of the State of Indiana-

Jonathan Jennings, Dem. 1816-1822

Ratliff Boon, Dem.

September 12 to December 5, 1822

William Hendricks, Dem. 1822-1825

James B. Ray (acting), Dem.

Feb. 12 to Dec. 11, 1825

James B. Ray, Dem. 1825-1831

Noah Noble, Whig 1831-1837

David Wallace, Whig 1837-1840

Samuel Bigger, Whig 1840-1843

James Whitcomb, Dem. 1843-1848 .

Paris C. Dunning (acting), Dem. 1848-1849

Joseph A. Wright, Dem.

1849-1857

Ashbel P. Willard, Dem. 1857-1860

Abram A. Hammond (acting), Dem. 1860-1861

Henry S. Lane, Rep. January 14 to January 16, 1861

Oliver P. Morton (acting), Rep. 1861-1865

Oliver P. Morton, Rep. 1865-1867

Conrad Baker (acting), Rep. 1867-1869

Conrad Baker, Rep. 1869-1873 1 1 1

Thomas A. Hendricks, Dem. 1873-1877 1 1 1 1

James D. Williams, Dem. 1877-1880 1 1

Isaac P. Gray (acting), Dem. 1880-1881

Albert G. Porter, Rep.

1881-1885

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Isaac P. Gray, Dem. 1885-1889

Alvin P. Hovey, Rep. 1889-1891

Ira J. Chase (acting), Rep Nov. 24, 1891 to Jan. 9, 1893

Claude Matthews, Dem. 1893-1897

James A. Mount, Rep. 1897-1901

Winfield T. Durbin, Rep. 1901-1905

J. Frank Hanley, Rep. 1905-1909 1

Thomas R. Marshall, Dem.

1 1909-1913

Samuel R. Ralston, Dem.

1913-

A CENTURY OF GROWTH.

Indiana was the first territory created out of the old Northwest Territory and the second state to be formed. It is now on the eve of its one hundredth anniversary, and it becomes the purpose of the historian in this connection to give a brief survey of what these one hundred years have done for the state. There has been no change in territory limits, but the original territory has been subdivided into counties year by year, as the population warranted, until from thirteen counties in 1816 the state grew to ninety-two counties by 1859. From 1816 to 1840 new counties were organized every year with the exception of one year. Starting in with a population of 5,641 in 1800, Indiana has increased by leaps and bounds until it now has a population of two million seven hundred thousand eight hundred and seventy-six. The appended table is interesting in showing the growth of population by decades since 1800:

Census Decades.

Population. .5,641

Increase.

Per Cent of Increase.

1800

1810

24,520

18,879

334.7

1820

147,178

122,658

500.2

1830

343,031

195,853

I33.1

1840

685,866

342,835

99.9

1850

988,416

302,550

44.I

1860

1,350,428

362,012

36.6

1870

1,680,637

330,209

24.5

1880

1,978.30I

297,664

17.7

1890

2,192,404

214,103

10.8

1 900

2,516,462

324,058

14.8

1910

2,700,876

184,414

7.3

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Statistics are usually very dry and uninteresting, but there are a few figures which are at least instructive if not interesting. For instance, in 1910, 1,143,835 people of Indiana lived in towns and cities of more than 2,500. There were 822,434 voters, and 580,557 men between the ages of eighteen and forty-four were eligible for military service. An interesting book of statistics from which these figures are taken covering every phase of the growth of the state is found in the biennial report of the state statistician.

The state has increased in wealth as well as population and the total state tax of six thousand forty-three dollars and thirty-six cents of 1816 increased in 1915 to more than six million. In 1816 the only factories in the state were grist or saw mills; all of the clothing. furniture and most of the farming tools were made by the pioneers themselves. At that time the farmer was his own doctor, his own blacksmith, his own lawyer, his own dentist and, if he had divine services, he had to be the preacher. . But now it is changed. The spin- ning wheel finds its resting place in the attic ; a score of occupations have arisen to satisfy the manifold wants of the farmer. Millions of dollars are now in- vested in factories, other millions are invested in steam and electric roads, still other millions in public utility plants of all kinds. The governor now receives a larger salary than did all the state officials put together in 1861, while the county sheriff has a salary which is more than double the compensation first allowed the governor of the state.

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History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 4

Author: John F. Haines Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1051

Author: John F. Haines
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051