USA > Indiana > Huntington County > History of Huntington County, Indiana : from the earliest time to the present, with biographical sketches, notes, etc., together with a short history of the Northwest, the Indiana Territory, and the State of Indiana > Part 24
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Mr. Sanford C. Cox quaintly describes some of the happy feat- ures of frontier life in this manner:
We cleared land, rolled logs, burned brush, blazed out paths from one neighbor's cabin to another and from one settlement to another, made and used hand-mills and hominy mortars, hunted deer, turkey, otter and raccoons, caught fish, dug ginseng, hunted bees and the like, and-lived on the fat of the land. We read of a land of "corn and wine," and another "flowing with milk and honey;" but I rather think, in a temporal point of view, taking into account the richness of the soil, timber, stone, wild game and other advantages, that the Sugar creek country would come up to any of them, if not surpass them.
I once cut cord-wood, continues Mr. Cox, at 312 cents per cord, and walked a mile and a half night and morning, where the first frame college was built northwest of town (Crawfordsville) .. Prof. Curry, the lawyer, would sometimes come down and help for an hour or two at a time, by way of amusement, as there was little or no law business in the town or country at that time. Reader,
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what would you think of going six to eight miles to help roll logs, or raise a cabin ? or ten to thirteen miles to mill, and wait three or four days and nights for your grist? as many had to do in the first settlement of this country. Such things were of frequent occurrence then, and there was but little grumbling about it. It was a grand sight to see the log heaps and brush piles burning in the night on a clearing of 10 or 15 acres. A Democratic torchlight procession, or a midnight march of the Sons of Malta with their grand Gyasticutus in the center bearing the grand jewel of the order, would be nowhere in comparison with the log-heaps and brush-piles in a blaze.
But it may be asked, Had you any social amusements, or manly pastimes, to recreate and enliven the dwellers in the wilderness ? We had. In the social line we had our meetings and our singing- schools, sugar-boilings and weddings, which were as good as ever came off in any country, new or old; and if our youngsters did not " trip the light fantastic toe" under a professor of the Terp- sichorean art or expert French dancing master, they had many a good " hoe-down" on puncheon floors, and were not annoyed by bad whisky. And as for manly sports, requiring mettle and muscle, there were lots of wild hogs running in the cat-tail swamps on Lye creek, and Mill creek, and among them many large boars that Ossian's heroes and Homer's model soldiers, such as Achilles, Hec- tor and Ajax would have delighted to give chase to. The boys and men of those days had quite as much sport, and made more money and health by their hunting excursions than our city gents nowa- days playing chess by telegraph where the players are more than 70 miles apart.
WHAT THE PIONEERS HAVE DONE.
There are few of these old pioneers living as connecting links of the past with the present. What must their thoughts beas with their dim eyes they view the scenes that surround them ? We often hear people talk about the old-fogy ideas and fogy ways, and want of enterprise on the part of the old men who have gone through the experiences of pioneer life. Sometimes, perhaps, such remarks are just, but, considering the experiences, education and entire life of such men, such remarks are better unsaid They have had their trials, misfortunes, hardships and adventures,
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and shall we now, as they are passing far down the western decliv- ity of life, and many of them gone, point to them the finger of derision, and laugh and sneer at the simplicity of their ways? Let us rather cheer them up, revere and respect them, for beneath those rough exteriors beat hearts as noble as ever throbbed in the human breast. These veterans have been compelled to live for weeks upon hominy and, if bread at all, it was bread made from corn ground in hand-mills, or pounded up with mortors. Their children have been destitute of shoes during the winter; their families had no clothes except what was carded, spun, wove and made into garments by their own hands; schools they had none; churches they had none; afflicted with sickness incident to all new countries, sometimes the entire family at once; luxuries of life they had none; the auxiliaries, improvements, inventions and labor-saving machinery of to-day they had not; and what they possessed they obtained by the hardest of labor and individual ex- ertion, yet they bore these hardships and privations without mur- muring, hoping for better times to come, and often, too, with but little prospect of realization.
As before mentioned, the changes written on every hand are most wonderful. It has been but three-score years since the white man began to exercise dominion over this region, erst the home of the red men, yet the visitor of to-day, ignorant of the past of the country, could scarcely be made to realize that within these years there has grown up a population of 2,000,000 people, who in all the accomplishments of life are as far advanced as are the inhab- itants of the older States. Schools, churches, colleges, palatial dwellings, beautiful grounds, large, well-cultivated and produc- tive farms, as well as cities, towns and busy manufactories, have grown ug, and occupy the hunting grounds and camping places of the Indians, and in every direction there are evidences of wealth, comfort and luxury. There is but little left of the old landmarks. Advanced civilization and the progressive demands of revolving years have obliterated all traces of Indian occupancy, until they are only remembered in name.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
GOVERNORS.
Arthur St. Clair was born in Scotland in 1734, a grandson of the Earl of Rosslyn; educated at the University of Edinburgh; studied medicine under John Hunter; inherited a large fortune on the death of his mother; entered the British army as an ensign, May 13, 1757, and the next year he came to America; became distinguished under General Wolfe at Quebec; married at Boston, May 14, 1760, Miss Phoebe Bayard, half-sister of Gov. James Bow- doin; resigned his commission in 1762; settled in Pennsylvania, in 1764, erecting a fine residence and several mills; held many offices, civil and military, and during the Revolutionary war was eminent in his services; was a member of the Continental Con- gress 1785-'87; became the first Governor of the Northwestern Territory February 1, 1788; made the treaty of Fort Harmar with the Indian tribes in 1789; fixed the seat of the Supreme Court for the Territory, January, 1790, at a point which he named Cincinnati, after the society of which he was an officer; became Commander- in-Chief of the U. S. army, March 4, 1791, which position he resigned, May 5, 1792; made an unsuccessful expedition against the Indians of the Miami and the Wabash, but was vindicated from all blame by a Congressional committee of investigation; was removed from the post of Governor, by Jefferson, Nov. 22, 1802, when he settled in a log house on the summit of Chestnut Ridge, near Greensburg, Pa., where he passed his remaining years in poverty and fruitless efforts to effect a settlement of claims against the U. S. Government, but receiving small pensions, both from the National and State Governinents. He died near Greensburg, Ang. 31, 1818. In 1812 he published a "Narrative of the Manner in which the Campaign against the Indians in 1791 was conducted."
William Henry Harrison was born at Berkeley, Virginia, in 1773. In 1801 he was appointed Governor of the Territory of Indiana, which position he held more than ten years. In 1811, in the bard- fought battle of Tippecanoe, he defeated the Indians under the command of the " Prophet." In 1812, was made Brigadier General;
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and in March, 1813 was made Major-General. In 1824 he was elected to United States Senate from Ohio. In 1836 was defeated by Van Buren for President. He again became the nominee of the Whig party in 1840, and was chosen President by an overwhelming majority. He was inaugurated March 4, 1841, but died just one month afterward, and his remains now lie near the old homestead at North Bend, Ind.
Thomas Posey was born in Virginia, July 9, 1750; received an ordinary common-school education; removed to Western Virginia in 1769; participated in expeditions against the Ohio Indians, and in many battles of the Revolution, after which he resided for a number of years in Spotsylvania county, Va .; was appointed Brig- adier-General, Feb. 14, 1793; moved soon afterward to Kentucky, where he became Lieut .- Governor and Major-General in 1809; was U. S. Senator from Louisiana, 1812.'3; succeeded Harrison as, Governor of Indiana, in 1813, and became Agent for Indian affairs in 1816. He died at Shawneetown, Ill., March, 19, 1818.
Jonathan Jennings, first Governor of the State of Indiana, 1816- '22, was born in Hunterdon county, N. J., and died near Charles- town, Clark Co., Indiana, July 26, 1834; he was a member of Con- gress, 1809-'16 and 1822-'31, and in 1818 he was appointed Indian Commissioner by President Monroe.
William Hendricks, the second Governor of the State of Indiana, was born in Westmoreland county, Pa., in 1783, and settled in Madison, Indiana, in 1814, where he died May 16, 1850. Besides that of State Executive, he filled many important offices. He was Secretary of the Convention which formed the present Constitution of Indiana, was a Representative in Congress, 1816-'22, and U. S. Senator, 1825-'37.
Noah Noble, Governor, 1831-'7, was born in Virginia, Jan. 15, 1794, and died at Indianapolis in February, 1844. During his term as Governor occurred the Black Hawk war, the inauguration of the great "internal improvements " of so much notoriety, the hard times of 1837, the last exodus of Indians from the State, etc.
David Wallace was born in Philadelphia, Pa., April 4, 1799; graduated at West Point in 1821 as Lieutenant of Artillery, which position he resigned June 1, 1822; removed with his father's family in 1817 to Brookville, Ind .; studied law and acquired an extensive practice in Franklin county; was several times a member
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of the Legislature, once a member of the State Constitutional Con- vention, Lieutenant-Governor, 1837-'40, member of Congress, 1841-'3, and Judge of Marion county, 1856-'9. He died Sept. 4, 1859.
Samuel Bigger was born in Warren county, Ohio, about 1800, graduated at Athens University; studied law at Lebanon and com- menced practice in Indiana, attaining eminence in the profession; was a Representative in the State Legislature, 1834-'5, and afterward Judge of the Circuit Court. He was elected Governor of Indiana in 1840, on the Whig ticket, and served his term acceptably. By his recommodation the Indiana Hospital for the Insane was estab- lished. He died in 1845 at Fort Wayne.
James Whitcomb was born in Stockbridge, Vt., Dec. 1, 1791, educated at Transylvania University; Jan. 1, 1824 he established himself in the practice of law at Bloomington, Ind .; in 1826 he was appointed Prosecuting Attorney for his district; was State Senator, 1830-'5, and a leader of the Democratic party; in 1836 he was appointed Superintendent of the Land Office; resumed prac- tice at Terre Haute in 1841; was Governor, 1843-'8, when he was elected to the U. S. Senate. He died in New York, October 4, 1852.
Joseph A. Wright was born in Pennsylvania, April 17, 1810; educational advantages limited; early in life he settled in Indiana; admitted to the Bar in 1829, and rose to eminence as a practitioner; member of the Legislature in 1833, and State Senator in 1840; member of Congress, 1843-'5; Governor of Indiana, 1849-'57; Min- ister to Prussia, 1857-'61; U.S. Senator, 1861-'2; U.S. Commissioner to the Hamburg Exhibition in 1863, and Minister to Prussia again, from 1865 until his death, at Berlin, May· 11, 1867.
Ashbel P. Willard was born in Oneida county, New York, the son of Erastus Willard, sheriff of that county, 1832-'5; graduated at Hamilton College in 1842; was Governor of Indiana, 1853-'8; died at St. Paul in October, 1860.
Henry S. Lane, brother of Gen. James H. Lane, was born in Montgomery county, Ky., Feb., 24, 1811; received a good common- school education and some knowledge of the classics, studied law, moved to Indiana and was admitted to the Bar; elected to the Legislature in 1837; to Congress in 1841; was Lieutenant-Colonel of volunteers in the Mexican war, 1846-'7; elected U. S. Senator, 1859, but denied the seat; elected Governor of Indiana in 1861, but in a
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few days after he took the chair he was elected U. S. Senator again, and as such served until 1867.
Oliver P. Morton was born in Wayne county, Indiana, Aug. 4, 1823; was apprenticed to a hatter at the age of 15, and worked at the trade four years, spending his leisure in study; graduated at the Miami University in 1843; studied law with John S. Newman, admitted to the Bar in 1847, and commenced practice at Centre- ville, this State; elected Circuit Judge in 1852; was defeated as the Republican nominee for Governor in 1856; was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1860, with the understanding that Gen. Henry S. Lane, who was placed at the head of the ticket, was to be elected to the U. S. Senate in the event of Republican success, which plan was carried out, and he became Governor of Indiana; was elected Governor in 1864, and United States Senator, as a Union-Republi- can, to succeed Henry S. Lane, same politics, and was re-elected, serving all together from March 4, 1867, until his death, Nov. 1, 1877, at Indianapolis. In the autumn of 1865 he was stricken with partial paralysis, from which he never recovered. He was compelled to do his work by secretaries, to be carried in and out of the Senate Chamber, and to address the Senate seated. As he was the noted " war Governor " of this glorious State, see section on the war with the Rebellion, pages 205 to 249, for further particu- lars of. this illustrious man's life.
Conrad Baker first served as acting Governor during the excit- ing times over the 15th amendment described on pages 197, su- pra, of this volume. He was elected by the Republicans Lieutenant Governor of the State, on the same ticket with Oliver P. Morton for Governor, with the understanding that Mr. Morton should be sent to the United States Senate and resign the government of this State to Mr. Baker. The programme was carried out, and Mr. Baker served his place so well that at the end of the term he was elected by the people Governor, and he served the second term,- making in all six years. Governor Baker was a faithful Executive, in sympathy with all the institutions of Republicanism and the interests of his State. He had a work compiled on " Indiana and her Resources," which is well calculated to draw men of capital to this fine commonwealth and enable her to compete with all her sister States in the Union.
Thomas A. Hendricks was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, Sept. 7, 1819; removed with his father in 1822 to Shelby county, Ind .; graduated in 1841 at South Hanover College; admitted to
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the Bar in 1843. Was an active member of State Constitutional Convention of 1850, member of Congress 1851-'5 from the Indi- anapolis district; Commissioner of the General Land Office of the United States 1855-'9; United States Senator, Democratic, 1863-'9, and lastly Governor of Indiana 1872-'6. In the latter year he was candidate for Vice President of the United States.
James D. Williams was born in Pickaway county, O., Jan. 16, 1808; removed to Knox county, Ind., in 1818; was educated in the log school-house of the country; is by occupation a farmer; was a member of the State House of Representatives in 1843, 1847, 1851, 1856 and 1858; was elected to the State Senate in 1858, 1862 and 1870; was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention at Baltimore in 1872; was the Democratic nominee for United States Senator in 1873 against O. P. Morton; was elected a Repre- sentative from Indiana in the 44th Congress, 1875-'7, receiving 17,393 votes against 9,545 for Levi Ferguson, and Dec. 1, 1876, he resigned this office, on account of having been elected Governor. His term will expire Jan. 3, 1881.
UNITED STATES SENATORS.
James Noble was born at Battletown, Va., went to the frontier when a youth, located in Kentucky, and afterward in Indiana; served as United States Senator from Dec. 12, 1816, to Feb. 26, 1831, when he died, in Washington, D. C.
Waller Taylor was a Major and Aide to Gen. Harrison at Tippe- canoe, United States Senator 1816-'25, and a man of much literary culture. He was breveted General, and died at Lunenburg, Va., August 26, 1826.
William Hendricks, see page 311.
Robert Hanna was born in Laurens District, S. C., April 6, 1786; removed with his parents to Indiana and subsequently settled in Brookville in 1802; was Sheriff of the Eastern District of Indiana in 1809, and held the position until the organization of the State Government; was appointed Register of the Land Office, and removed to Indianapolis in 1825; was appointed United States Senator as a Whig, in place of James Noble, deceased, serving from Dec. 5, 1831, to Jan. 3, 1832, when his successor took his seat; was elected a State Senator, but was defeated when a candi- date for re-election; was killed by a railroad train while walking on the track at Indianapolis, Nov. 19, 1859.
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John Tipton was born in Sevier county, Tenn., in August, 1785; his father having been killed by the Indians in 1793, he did not even enjoy the advantages of a public-school education, having to support a mother, two sisters and a half brother; in 1807 he removed with them to Indiana, where he purchased 50 acres of land, paying for it by splitting rails at 50 cents a hundred; was elected Ensign of that noted frontier company, the "Yellow- Jackets," in 1811, and served with them in the Tippecanoe campaign; was chosen Sheriff of Harrison county, Ind., in 1815; was elected Master of Pisgah Lodge of Freemasons in 1819, and was Grand Master of Masons in Indiana in 1819 and 1829; was elected a Representative in the State Legislature in 1821; was U. S. Indian Agent with the Miami and Pottawatomie tribes from 1824 to 1831, when he was elected U. S. Senator, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of James Noble; was re-elected for a full term, and served from Jan. 3 1832, until his death, April 5, 1839, by pulmonary apoplexy, at Logansport, Ind.
Oliver H. Smith was born in Trenton, N. J., Oct. 23, 1794, emigrated to Indiana in 1817, practiced law, and in 1824 was Prosecuting Attorney for the 3d District of Indiana; was a member of Legislature in 1822, of Congress 1827 -- '9, and of the U. S. Senate 1837-'43. He published "Recollections of Congressional Life." and "Early Indiana Trials, Sketches and Reminiscences." He died at Indianapolis, March 19, 1859.
Albert S. White was born at Blooming Grove, N. Y., Oct. 24, 1803; received a classical education, graduating at Union College in 1822; studied law and was admitted to the Bar in 1825, and commenced practice at Lafayette, Ind .; was for five years Clerk of the Indiana House of Representatives; was elected Representative in Congress as a Whig in 1837, receiving 10,737 votes against 3,369 votes for N. Jackson, Democrat, serving from Sept. 4, 1837, to March 3, 1839; was president of several railroads; was elected U. S. Senator from Indiana, serving from Dec. 2, 1839, to March 3, 1845; declined a re-election; was again elected Representative in Congress in 1861, as a Republican, receiving 13,310 votes against 11,489 votes for Wilson, Democrat, serving from July 4, 1861, to March 3, 1863; was a commissioner to adjust claims against the Sioux Indians; was appointed by President Lincoln in 1864, U. S. Judge for Indiana; died at Stockwell, Ind., September 4, 1864.
Edward A. Hannegan was born in Ohio, received a good education, studied law, admitted to the Bar in his 23d year, settling
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in Indiana. He was several times a member of the Legislature, and was a member of Congress 1833-'7, U. S. Senator 1843-'9, Minister to Prussia, 1849-'53. While partially drunk, in 1852, he killed his brother-in-law, Capt. Duncan.
Jesse D. Bright was born in Norwich, Chenango Co., N. Y., Dec. 18, 1812; moving to Indiana, he received an academic education, and studied and practiced law; was Circuit Judge, State Senator, U. S. Marshall, Lieut. Governor of the State, and President of the U. S. Senate during several sessions. In 1857 the Democratic mem- hers of the State Legislature re-elected him to the U. S. Senate in a manner which was denounced as fraudulent and unconstitutional by his Republican opponents, and his seat was contested. He continued a Senator until February, 1862, when he was expelled for disloyalty by a vote of 32 to 14. The principal proof of his crime was recommending to Jeff. Davis, in March, 1861, a person desirous of furnishing arms.
James Whitcomb, see page 312.
Charles W. Cathcart was born on the island of Madeira in 1809, received a good English education, followed the sea in his boyhood, located at LaPorte, Ind., in 1831, and engaged in farming; was U. S. Land Surveyor several years, a Representative in the State Legislature, a Democratic Elector in 1845, Representative in Congress 1845-'7, re-elected to serve 1847-'9, appointed U. S. Senator in place of James Whitcomb, deceased, and served from Dec. 6, 1852, to March 3, 1853; then returned to farming.
John Pettit was born at Sackett's Harbor, N. Y., July 24, 1807; received an academical education, studied law and was admitted to the Bar in 1838, commencing practice at Lafayette, Ind .; was a member of the State House of Representatives two terms, U. S. District Attorney, representative in Congress 1843-'5, as a Democrat, re-elected to the next Congress, serving all together from Dec. 4, 1843, to March 3, 1849; was a Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention in 1850; was a Democratic Elector in 1852; was U. S. Senator from Jan. 18, 1853, to March 3, 1855, in place of James Whitcomb, deceased; was appointed by President Buchanan, Chief Justice of the U. S. Courts in Kansas; in 1870, was elected Supreme Judge of Indiana. He was renominated for this position in 1876, but owing to scandals in connection with the Court, which excited popular indignation, he was forced off the ticket, and the name of Judge Perkins substituted; he died at Lafayette, Ind., June 17, 1877.
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Graham N. Fitch was born at LeRoy, N. Y., Dec. 7, 1810; received a classical education, studied medicine and practiced at Logansport, Ind. ; was professor in Rush Medical College, Chicago, 1844-'49; was an Indiana Presidential Elector in 1844, 1848 and 1856, a member of the State Legislature in 1836 and 1839; was a Representative in Congress from Dec. 3, 1849, to March 3, 1853, being elected the last time over Schuyler Colfax, Whig; was U. S. Senator from Indiana from Feb. 9, 1857, to March 3, 1861; was a Delegate to the National Democratic Convention at New York City in 1868.
Henry S. Lane, see page 312.
David Turpie was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, July 8, 1829, graduated at Kenyon College in 1848, studied law, admitted to the Bar in 1849, and commenced practice at Logansport, Ind. ; was a member of the State House of Representatives in 1852; was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1854, and of the Circuit Court in 1856, both of which positions he resigned; was again a member of the Legislature in 1858; was U. S. Senator, as a Democrat, in place of Jesse D. Bright, expelled, from Jan. 22, 1863, to March 3, same year.
Joseph A. Wright, see page 312.
Thomas A. Hendricks, see page 313.
Oliver P. Morton, see page 313.
Daniel D. Pratt was born at Palermo, Me., Oct. 26, 1813, and was taken to New York State by his parents when a lad; gradu- ated at Hamilton College in 1831; removed to Indiana in 1832 where he taught school; went to Indianapolis in 1834, where he wrote in the Secretary of State's office and studied law; commenced practice at Logansport in 1836; was elected to the Legislature in 1851 and 1853; was elected to the 41st Congress in 1868, by a majority of 2,287, and, before taking his seat, was elected U. S Senator as a Republican, to succeed Thos. A. Hendricks, Democrat and served from March 4, 1869, to March 3, 1875; was appointed by President Grant Commissioner of Internal Revenue, serving from May 15, 1875, to August 1, 1876; he died at Logansport, very suddenly, of heart disease, June 17, 1877.
Joseph E. Mc Donald was born in Butler county, Ohio, Aug. 29 1819, taken to Indiana in 1826, and at Lafayette was apprenticed to the saddler's trade; was two years in college, but did not graduate; studied law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1843, and commenced practice; was Prosecuting Attorney in 1843-'7; vas
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elected a Representative in Congress as a Democrat in 1849, receiving 7,432 votes against 7,098 for Lane, Whig, and served from December 3, 1849, to March 3, 1851; in 1856 he was elected Attorney General of Indiana, and in 1858 re-elected; in 1859 removed to Indianapolis; in 1864 was the unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Indiana, but in 1875 he was elected U. S. Senator, as a Democrat, to succeed D. D. Pratt, Republican.
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