USA > Indiana > Marshall County > History of Indiana : containing a history of Indiana and biographical sketches of governors and other leading men. Also a statement of the growth and prosperity of Marshall County, together with a personal and family histry of many of its citizens, Vol. I > Part 25
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NOAH NOBLE, fourth governor of Indiana, was born in Clark county, Va., January 15, 1794. When a small boy he was taken by his parents to Kentucky, in which state he grew to manhood. About the time Indiana was admitted into the Union, Mr. Noble came to the state, and located at Brookville, where a few years later he was elected sheriff of Franklin county. In 1824 he was chosen a representative to the state legislature from Franklin county, in which body he soon became quite popular and gained a state reputa- tion. In 1826 he was appointed receiver of public moneys to succeed his brother Lazarus Noble, who died while moving the office from Brookville to Indianapolis, in which capacity he continued with great acceptability until his removal in 1829, by President Jackson.
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In 1830 he was appointed one of the commissioners to locate and lay out the Michigan road. In 1831 he was a candidate for governor, and although a whig, and the democracy had a large majority in the state, he was elected by a majority of 2,791. This was remarkable, for Milton Stapp, also a whig, was a candidate, and polled 4,422 votes. In 1834 Gov. Noble was a candidate for re-election, when he was also successful, defeating his competitor, James G. Reed, by 7,662 votes. In 1839, after his gubernatorial term had expired, he was elected a member of the board of internal improvements. In 1841 he was chosen a fund commissioner, and the same year was offered by the president of the United States, the office of general land commis- sioner, which he declined. Gov. Noble died at his home near In- dianapolis, February 8, 1844. Governor Noble had a laudable ambi- tion to go to the United States senate, and in 1836 was a candidate to succeed Willian. Hendricks, but was defeated by Oliver H. Smith. In 1839 he was again a candidate to succeed Gen. John Tipton, but was defeated by Albert S. White on the thirty-sixth ballot. Oliver H. Smith says that Gov. Noble " was one of the most popular men with the masses in the state. His person was tall and slim, and his consti- tution delicate, his smile winning, his voice feeble, and the pressure of his hand irresistible. He spoke plainly and well, but made no pretence to oratory. As governor he was very popular, and his social entertainments will long be remembered."
DAVID WALLACE, governor of Indiana from 1837 to 1840, was a native of Mifflin county, Penn., born April 24, 1799. He removed with his father to Brookville, Ind., when quite young, and in early manhood began the study of law in the office of Miles Eggles- ton, a distinguished jurist of that day. In 1823 he was admitted to the bar and soon obtained a large practice. He served in the legis- lature from 1828 to 1830, and in 1831 was elected lieutenant gover- nor of Indiana, and re-elected in 1834. In 1837 he was elected governor over John Dumont, an able and distinguished lawyer, who lived at Vevay, on the southern border of the state. During his periods of service as legislator and lieutenant governor, he was active as an advocate of internal improvements and in establishing a school system, and he was elected governor upon those issues. In 1841 he was elected to congress from the Indianapolis district, defeating Col. Nathan B. Palmer. As a member of the committee on com- merce he gave the casting vote in favor of an appropriation to develop
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Col. S. T. B. Morse's magnetic telegraph, which vote had great weight in defeating him for re-election in 1843. At the expiration of his term in congress he resumed the practice of law which he con- tinued uninterruptedly until 1850, when he was elected a delegate to the constitutional convention from the county of Marion. In 1856 he was elected judge of the court of common pleas, which position he held until his death on the 4th of September, 1859. Gov. Wal- lace was twice married. His first wife was a daughter of John Test, and his second a daughter of John H. Sanders. The latter still lives and is prominent in reformatory and religious work. When a young man, Gov. Wallace had a well proportioned body, but in his later years its symmetry was marred by an undue amount of flesh. He had black hair, dark eyes, and a ruddy complexion. He was cultured and well-bred, his address was good and his manners unexceptionable. He was a laborious and impartial jurist, a painstaking executive, and as an orator had few equals in the nation.
SAMUEL BIGGER, who succeeded David Wallace as governor of Indiana, was born in Warren county, Ohio, March 20, 1802, and was the eldest son of John Bigger, a western pioneer, and for many years a member of the Ohio legislature. He was prepared for col- lege in his own neighborhood, graduated with honors from the Uni- versity of Athens, and afterward began the study of law. In 1829 he removed to Liberty, Ind., where he was duly admitted to the bar, and soon secured a lucrative practice. He remained at Liberty but a short time, removing thence to Rushville, where his public life began in 1834 as representative of Rush county, in the state legislature. He was re-elected in 1835, and shortly after the expiration of his term was chosen judge of the eastern circuit, a position for which he proved himself ably qualified, and which he held in an acceptable manner for many years. In 1840 he was nominated for governor by the whig state convention, and after an exciting race was elected, defeating Gen. Tilghman A. Howard. He was a candidate for re-election in 1843, but was defeated by James Whitcomb. After the expiration of his gubernatorial term Gov. Bigger moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., and resumed the practice of law; which he continued until his death, September 9, 1845. " Gov. Bigger possessed talents of a high order, rather substantial than brilliant. His judgment was remarkably sound, dispassionate and discriminating, and it was this chiefly that made him eminently a leader in every circle in which he moved,
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whether in political life, at the bar, or society at large." He was a man of fine form and presence. He was six feet two inches in height and weighed 240 pounds. His hair was black, his eyes a blue hazel, and his complexion dark. The expression of his face was kind and benignant, and denoted goodness of heart. He was a patriotic citi- zen, an incorruptible judge, and an executive officer of very respecta- ble ability.
JAMES WHITCOMB was born near Windsor, Vt., December 1, 1795. His father removed to Ohio, and settled near Cincinnati, when James was quite young, and it was there upon a farm that the youth- ful years of the future governor and senator were passed. He received a classical education at Transylvania university, subsequently stud- ied law, and in March, 1822, was admitted to the bar in Lexington, Fayette Co., Ky. Two years later he came to Indiana, and located at Bloomington, where he soon became known as an able advocate and successful practitioner. In 1826 he was appointed prosecuting attorney of his circuit, and in the discharge of the duties of this office, traveled over a large scope of country, and became acquainted with many leading men of the state. In 1820 and 1836 he was elected to the state senate, where he did much to stay the progress of the internal improvement fever which was then at its highest point. In October, 1836, President Jackson appointed Mr. Whit- comb commissioner of the general land office, to which he was re- appointed by President Van Buren, and served as such until the expiration of the latter's term of office. Early in 1841, he returned to Indiana and resumed the practice of law in Terre Haute, where he soon acquired a large and lucrative business. He was at that time one of the best known and most popular members of his party, and at the democratic state convention of 1843, he was nominated for governor of the state. His opponent was Samuel Bigger, whom he defeated by a majority of 2,013 votes. Three years afterward he was re-elected, beating Joseph G. Marshall, the whig candidate, by 3,958 votes. When he became governor he found the state loaded down with debt, upon which no interest had been paid for years, but when he left the office the debt was adjusted and the state's credit restored. He also, by his efforts, created a public sentiment that de- manded the establishment of benevolent and reformatory institutions, and he awakened the people to the importance of establishing com- mon schools, and providing a fund for their maintenance. During
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his term of office he raised five regiments of infantry that repre- sented the state in the war with Mexico. The legislature of 1849 elected Gov. Whitcomb to the senate of the United States, for which high position he was well qualified by talent, by education and by experience. Owing to feeble health he was unable to discharge his senatorial duties as he wished, and he died from a painful disease when he had served little more than half his term. In 1843 he wrote a pamphlet entitled, " Facts for the People," the most effective trea- tise against protective tariff ever known. As a lawyer, Mr. Whit- comb ranked among the ablest in the country, and as governor will always be remembered as one of the ablest of the distinguished men who have occupied that position. Gov. Whitcomb was compactly and strongly built; he was somewhat above the average size of man; he had a dark complexion and black hair. His features were good and expressive, and his manners the most elegant. He was a talented and an honest man, and when the roll of Indiana's great men is made up, among the first in the list will be the name of Whitcomb.
PARIS C. DUNNING was born in Guilford county, N. C., in March, 1806, but emigrated to Indiana with his mother and elder brother, and located at Bloomington in 1823. He studied law and was ad- mitted to practice about 1830. In 1833 he was elected to represent Monroe county, in the state legislature, and was three times re-elected. In 1836 he was elected to the state senate from Monroe and Brown counties, and remained there until 1840, when he voluntarily retired. He was chosen as a democratic presidential elector in 1844, and dur- ing the campaign exhibited extraordinary energy and ability as a public speaker. In 1846 he was elected lieutenant governor on the democratic ticket, and when Gov. Whitcomb was elected to the United States senate, Mr. Dunning succeeded him as governor. Alter his retirement in 1850, he practiced his profession for many years, having meantime declined a nomination for congress. In 186) he was a delegate to the Charleston and Baltimore national conventions, where he distinguished himself as an earnest advocate of the nomination of Stephen A. Douglas, and subsequently worked assiduously for that statesman's election to the presidency. At the breaking out of the rebellion in 1861, Mr. Dunning identified him- self with the Union cause, and throughout the war rendered valiant aid to the country. In 1861 he was elected to the state senate with- ont distinction of party. Subsequently he was elected twice as
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president of the senate. Governor Dunning was twice married, first to Miss Sarah Alexander, and the second time to Mrs. Ellen D. Ash- ford. Ex-Gov. Dunning takes high rank as one of the self-made men of Indiana, and he filled the many positions of honor and trust conferred upon him with great credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the citizens of Indiana.
JOSEPH A. WRIGHT, for seven years governor of Indiana, was born in Washington, Penn., April 17, 1810. In 1819 his family moved to Bloomington, Ind., where he and his two brothers assisted their father at work in a brickyard, and in the brick business generally. In 1822 his father died and he, then fourteen years of age, having but little if any aid from others, was left to depend entirely upon his own resources. He attended school, and college about two years, and while at college was janitor, rang the bell and took care of the buildings. It is said that what little pocket money he had was made by gathering walnuts and hickory nuts in the fall and selling them to students in the winter. He subsequently studied law with Craven P. Hester, of Bloomington, and began the practice of his profession in 1829, at Rockville, Park county, where he met with good success from the start. In 1833 he was elected to the state legislature, and in 1840, the year of the Harrison political tornado, was chosen a member of the state senate. He was also elected district attorney for two terms in 1836 and 1837, and later was appointed by President Polk, United States commissioner to Texas. In 1843 he was elected to congress from the Seventh district, over Edward McGaughey, by three majority, and served until Polk was inaugurated March 4, 1845. In 1849 he was elected governor of Indiana, under the old constitu- tion, and in 1852, was re-elected by over 20,000 majority, and served until 1857. In the summer of the latter year he was appointed min- ister to Prussia, by James Buchanan, and as such served until 1861. In 1862 he was appointed by Gov. Morton United States senator, and sat in the senate until the next January. He was appointed com- missioner to the Hamburg exposition in 1863, and in 1865 went again to Prussia as United States minister, and remained there until his death, which occurred at Berlin, March 11, 1867. Gov. Wright will be best remembered as governor of Indiana, his services in the general assembly, senate and congress being too brief for him to make much impression in any of those bodies. As governor he was an important factor in shaping legislation and moulding public
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opinion. He was an orthodox democrat of the straightest sect, stood high in the councils of his party, and contested with Jesse D. Bright for the leadership, but without success. He was strong with the peo- ple but weak with the leaders. In personal appearance Gov. Wright was tall and raw-boned. He had a large head and an unusually high forehead. His hair was light and thin, his eyes blue, and his nose and mouth large and prominent. He was an effective speaker, mainly on account of his earnestness and simplicity. While not the greatest man in the state, he was one of the most influential; and to his honor be it said, his influence was exercised for the public good. Economy and honesty in public life, and morality and religion in private sta- tion, had in him an advocate and an exemplar.
ASHBEL PARSONS WILLARD was born October 31, 1820, at Ver- non, Oneida Co., N. Y., the son of Col. Erastus Willard, at one time sheriff of Oneida county. He pursued his preparatory studies in the Oneida Liberal Institute, and when eighteen years of age entered Hamilton college in the class of 1842. After graduating from that institution he studied law for some time with Judge Baker, of his native county, and later emigrated to Michigan, locating in the town of Marshall, where he remained for over a year. He then made a trip to Texas on horseback, and on his return stopped at Carrollton, Ky., and there taught school. After this he taught for some time near Louisville, but subsequently left the school room for the politi- cal arena. In the contest for the presidency in 1844, between Clay and Polk, young Willard began stumping for the latter, and during the campaign made a speech in New Albany, Ind , which made such a favorable impression that many of the first men of the town solicited him to come and settle among them. He soon afterward located in New Albany, which place remained his home until his death. He at once opened a law office but was compelled to encoun- ter a very able bar, in consequence of which his practice for some time was by no means lucrative. The first office he held was that of common councilman. He took pride in the place and won the good opinion of the people irrespective of party. In 1850 he was elected to the state legislature, and from that time until his death he occu- pied a conspicuous place in the public mind. Such was his career in the legislature that when the democratic convention of 1:52 convened the delegates were met by an overwhelming public sentiment de- manding the nomination of Willard for lieutenant governor. The
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demand was recognized and the nomination made. He filled this office until 1856, when he was elected governor, after a very bitter and exciting political contest. In the summer of 1860, his health gave way, and he went to Minnesota in quest of health, which he did not find, but died there on October 4th of that year. Gov. Wil- lard was the first governor of Indiana to die in office. The people, without respect to party, paid homage to his remains, and a general feeling of the most profound sorrow was felt at his untimely taking off. " In person Gov. Willard was very prepossessing. His head and face were cast in finest moulds, his eyes were blue, his hair auburn, and his complexion florid. A more magnetic and attractive man could nowhere be found, and had he lived to the allotted age of man- kind he must have reached still higher honors."
ABRAM ADAMS HAMMOND, who succeeded to the governorship on the death of A. P. Willard, by virtue of his office of lieutenant governor, was a native of Vermont, born in the town of Brattleboro, March 21, 1814. He came to Indiana when six years of age, and was raised near Brookville, where he began the study of law in the office of John Ryman, a lawyer of note iu that town. He was ad- mitted to the bar in 1835, moved to Columbus, Bartholomew Co., in 1840, where he was afterward chosen prosecuting attorney, an office which he filled with more than ordinary ability. In 1846 he became a resident of Indianapolis, and the following year removed to Cincin- nati, Ohio. He returned to Indianapolis in 1849, and in 1850 was chosen first judge of the common pleas court of Marion county. In 1852 he emigrated to California, and for some time practiced his pro- fession in San Francisco. He soon returned to his adopted state, locating at Terre Haute, where he resided until his election as lieutenant governor in 1852. He made a miost excellent presiding officer of the senate, his rulings being so fair and his decisions so just that even his political opponents bestowed encomiums upon him. On the death of Gov. Willard, in 1860, Mr. Hammond became gover- nor, and as such served with dignity until the inauguration of Gov. Lane, January, 1861. Governor Hammond was not a showy man, but he was an able one. He possessed an analytic and logical mind, and was remarkably clear in stating his positions when draw- ing conclusions. When in his prime he was a fine specimen of physi- cal manhood. He was of medium height, compactly built, and of dark complexion. His head was large and well shaped, while the ex-
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pression of his countenance was kind and gentle. Frank in manners, honorable in his dealings and dignified in deportment, he commanded the esteem of all with whom he came in contact. Although not one of the most learned governors of Indiana, he was by nature one of the ablest.
CONRAD BAKER, governor of Indiana from 1867 to 1873, was born in Franklin county, Penn., February 12, 1817. He was educated at the Pennsylvania college, Gettysburg. and read law at the office of Stevens and Smyser, and was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1839, at Gettysburg, where he had a lucrative practice for two years. He came to Indiana in 1841, and settled at Evansville, where he prac- ticed his profession until after the commencement of the rebellion. He was elected to the lower house of the general assembly of Indiana in 1845, and served one session, elected judge of the district com- posed of the counties of Vanderburg and Warrick, in 1852, in which capacity he served about one year, when he resigned. In 1856 he was nominated for lieutenant governor by the republican party without his knowledge, on the ticket with Oliver P. Morton. They were defeated by Willard and Hammond. In 1861 Mr. Baker was com- missioned colonel of the First cavalry regiment of Indiana volun- teers, which he organized, and with which he served until Septem- ber, 1864, in which year he was elected. lieutenant governor. In 1865 Gov. Morton convened the general assembly in special session, and immediately after delivering his message, started for Europe in quest of health leaving Col. Baker in charge of the executive depart- ment of the state government. Gov. Morton was absent five months, during which time the duties of the executive office were per- formed by Lieut. Gov. Baker. In February, 1867, Gov. Morton was elected to the senate of the United States, in consequence of which the duties of governor devolved upon Mr. Baker. He was unani- mously nominated by the republican convention of 1868, for gover- nor, and was elected over Thomas A. Hendricks, by a majority of 961 votes. He served as governor with ability and dignity, until the inauguration of Mr. Hendricks in 1873, since which time he has been engaged in the practice of law in Indianapolis, being a member of one of the strongest and most widely known firms in the state.
OLIVER PERRY MORTON, Indiana's great war governor and United States senator, was born in Saulsbury, Wayne Co., Ind., August +, 1823. The family name was originally Throckmorton, and was so
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written by the grandfather, who emigrated from England, about the beginning of the revolutionary war and settled in New Jersey. Gov. Morton's father was James T. Morton, a native of New Jersey, who moved in an early day to Wayne county, Ind., where he mar- ried the mother of Oliver P., whose maiden name was Sarah Miller. Of the early life of Gov. Morton but little is known. When a boy he attended the academy of Prof. Hoshour, at Centerville, but owing to the poverty of the family, he was taken from school, and at the age of fifteen, with an older brother, began learning the hatter's trade. After working at his trade a few years, he determined to fit himself for the legal profession, and with this object in view he en- tered the Miami university in 1843, where he pursued his studies vigorously for a period of two years. While in college he earned the reputation of being the best debater at the institution, and it was here that he developed those powers of ready analysis and argument which made him so celebrated in after life. He began his profes- sional reading in the office of Judge Newman, of Centerville, and after his admission to the bar was not long in rising to an eminent place among the successful lawyers of Indiana. In 1852 he was elected circuit judge, but resigned at the end of one year and after- ward increased his knowledge of the profession by an attendance at a Cincinnati law school. On resuming the practice the number of his friends and legal cases rapidly increased, and his reputation soon extended beyond the limits of his own state. As a lawyer he possessed the faculty of selecting the salient points of a case and getting at the heart of a legal question. His mind was massive and logical, and he could apply great principles to given cases, discard non- essentials and reach decisive points. Mr. Morton's political career was of such a brilliant character that his great achievements in the arena of statesmanship, his wonderful power as an organizer, won for him a recognition from the strongest opponents, and faith in his powers, and the lasting fealty and admiration of thousands of friends until he reached the highest point among the great American statesmen. Up to his thirty-first year, Mr. Morton was a democrat. The county in which he lived was largely whig, thus virtually pre- eluding him from holding elective offices. He was opposed to the extension of slavery, however, and upon the organization of the republican party, he entered the movement, and in 1856 was one of the three delegates from Indiana, to the Pittsburgh convention. His
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prominence was such that in 1856 he was unanimously nominated by the new party for governor of Indiana, against Ashbel P. Willard, an able and brilliant speaker, the superior of Mr. Morton as an ora- tor, but his inferior as a logician and debater. These two distin- guished men canvassed the state together, and drew immense crowds. The speeches of Willard were florid, eloquent and spirit stirring, while Mr. Morton's style was earnest, convincing and forcible. He never appealed to men's passions, but always to their intellect and reason, and whether in attack or defense, proved himself a ready and powerful debater. Although beaten at the polls, he came out of the contest with his popularity increased, and with the reputation of be- ing one of the ablest public men in the state. In 1860 he was nomin- ated for lieutenant governor on the ticket with Hon. Henry S. Lane, with the understanding that if successful he should go to the senate, and Mr. Morton become governor. He made a vigorous canvass, and the result of the election was a republican success, which placed Mr. Lane in the senate, and Mr. Morton in the gubernatorial chair. From the day of his inauguration Mr. Morton gave evidence of pos- sessing extraordinary executive ability. It was while filling this term as governor that he did his best public work and created for himself a fame as lasting as that of his state. A great civil war was breaking out when he became governor, and few so well compre- hended what would be its magnitude as he. He was one of the first to foresee the coming storm of battle, and most active in his prepara- tiors to meet it. Perceiving the danger of a dilatory policy, he vis- ited Washington soon after the inauguration of President Lincoln, to advise vigorous action and to give assurance of Indiana's support to such a policy. He commenced preparing for the forthcoming conflict, and when Sumter was fired on, April 12, 1861, h neither surprised nor appalled. Three days after the attack, Presi- dent Lincoln called for 75,000 men to put down the rebellion, and the same day Gov. Morton sent him the following telegram:
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