USA > Indiana > Vigo County > History of Indiana from its exploration to 1922, Vol II > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
28 Letter of Daniel Mace in Indianapolis Journal, Jan. 13, 1855. He discussed in this letter, which is printed entire, the changed attitude of the old parties which agreed to the Finality In 1852: "I would not give a cent for platforms In these days of political chicanery. What we want is men of nerve, grit and bottom. With such, no platform is necessary."
29 Indianapolis Journal, July 14, 1855.
641
REPUBLICAN PARTY
found difficulty in accepting the so-called American (Know Nothing) doctrine. Col. R. W. Thompson refused to join on account of the Abolition tendency and George W. Julian refused on account of the Know Nothing plank; the New Albany Tribune de- sired to renew the Whig party; and the anti-slavery crusade was not warm enough to suit the Quakers.80
The Democrats organized their foreign-born sup- porters into secret societies called "Sag Nichts" to oppose the Know Nothings. The third degree "Sag Nichts" were sworn to stand guard at the polls on election day. Editors of about forty Republican papers met at Indianapolis in November to organize a political, editorial association, the beginning of the present association.
There is considerable literature on the origin of the Republican party, but the subject is not easily understood. So various were the important issues dividing the people, so various are people's natures, so much of sentiment goes to making a political party, and so abundant is the conflicting evidence that one tries in vain for a completely satisfactory exposition. O. P. Morton joined the party because of its opposition to slavery. George W. Julian at the same time denounced it for its hypocritical attitude on the subject. George G. Dunn and R. W. Thomp- son were close friends, both of southern extraction, had sat in congress together as leaders of the Whig party in Indiana; the former joined the Republican party at once, the other supported the Constitutional Union party. How many joined the new party out of disgust at the management of the Democratic party ; how many, on account of the corruption in the state government; how many, on account of the liquor traffic; how many, out of conscientious scru-
30 See the Spiceland Address, Aug. 14, 1855.
642
HISTORY OF INDIANA
ples on the slavery question; how many, through fear that foreign-born citizens would destroy American ideals; and how many, through hope of political spoils, can now never be known. That all these fac- tions existed in the Fusion party of 1854 seems cer- tain. That the larger part of the Fusionists became Republicans in 1855 and 1856 is ascertainable from the election returns. By 1860 the Republicans had concentrated their energy and interest on the single purpose of confining slavery to the states in which it then existed.31 Credit for the organization of the Republican party in Indiana seems to belong in about equal measure to John D. Defrees and M. C. Garber, the former a Whig, the latter a Democrat.
§ 117 CAMPAIGN OF 1856
The People's party, by that time called Republi- can, was impatient for the election of 1856. The General Assembly of 1855, though nominally Fusion, had been balked by the supreme court in its effort to close the grog shops. The governor, a Democrat, had refused to call an extraordinary session. Al- though the Republicans outnumbered the Democrats in the General Assembly on joint ballot 81 to 69, the Senate, under control of the Democrats, refused to join in the election of a senator. As a result Indiana had only one senator from 1855 to 1857.
The war in Kansas was engrossing the attention of Indiana. Large numbers of Indianians who had recently gone to Kansas kept the mails full of letters giving details of the bloody struggle. These letters were published by scores in Indiana newspapers. Their burden was to the effect that if more anti- slavery settlers did not come to Kansas the territory would be lost to freedom. James H. Lane, who as an Indiana congressman had voted for the Kansas- Nebraska bill, had gone to Kansas, and had seen the
643
CAMPAIGN OF 1856
light, in 1856 returned to Indiana to tell as an eye witness of the "crimes in Kansas".
After the governor of Indiana had refused to hear the appeal from Kansas for help, public meetings were held to provide assistance in the form of money and guns.82 The executive committee of the "Free Democracy" issued a call for a mass meeting of all friends of free territory to meet at Indianapolis, Feb- ruary 21, 1856, to prepare for the state convention of the People's party, which was set for May 1. These men voted to join the new party outright. Judge John W. Wright of Logansport moved a committee of seven to raise money and purchase arms and equipment for men to take to Kansas.38 Organiza- tions were formed in each county to carry out this work.
Meanwhile the Americans, or Know Nothings, were on a hard road. They held their district con- ventions in January and February, but when in na- tional convention in Philadelphia the slavery ques-
31 The only careful study of the origin of the Republican party in Indiana so far made is by Charles Zimmerman, to whom the writer acknowledges obligation. Indiana Magazine of History, XIII.
32 Such meetings were heid at Indianapolis in January and February ; Indianapolis Journal, Jan. 10 and Feb. 21, 1856.
33 This committee was Dr. James N. Ritchey, Ovid Butler, John W. Wright, A. C. Stevenson, Calvin Fletcher, Henry S. Lane, and James H. Lane, certainly an excellent committee. Logans- port Pharos, March 19, 1856; Indianapolis Sentinel, June 11, 1856. Indianapolis Journal, Feb. 22, 1856. "If a contest with arms comes off in Kansas hundreds of Hoosiers will be there, and money can be furnished to any amount, and after it is over every aider and abettor to the ruffians, in Indiana, will be shipped South and delivered over to their masters. Persons wishing to emigrate to Kansas as actual settlers and desirous of procuring Sharpe's rifles can be supplied in a few days by addressing me at Logansport or at the Bates House in Indianapolis."
644
HISTORY OF INDIANA
tion came up the party divided, the "South Ameri- cans" going into the Democratic party and the "North Americans" into the Republican party. Their lodges were rapidly abandoned, their editors counseled fusion and at a meeting of the American state council at Indianapolis, April 2, 1856, it was de- cided to unite with the Republican or People's party in the May 1 convention.34 Little preliminary organ- ization had been accomplished before the self- appointed representatives of the new party, 30,000 to 40,000 strong, assembled in Indianapolis. H. S. Lane was chairman of this voluntary convention. In his address he urged the three issues underlying the political revolution: (1) the non-extension of slav- ery; (2) prohibition of the liquor traffic; and (3) citizenship as a requisite for voting. Oliver P. Mor- ton, who was nominated for governor, spoke simi- larly. Finally, after some wrangling, delegates were appointed to the National Republican convention. This might be considered the last act of the Know Nothings and the first of the Republicans in Indi- ana. 35
34 Indianapolis Journal, April 3, 1856; Brookville Indiana American, April 11, 1856. "That as in 1854 we stand uncompro- misIngly opposed to the present corrupt national administration, and as a party we stand ready to co-operate with any party which aims to put an end to Its misrule. And, further, we regard the repeal of the Missouri Compromise as an infraction of the plighted faith of the nation. The same should be restored, and if efforts to that end fail, Congress should refuse, under all cir- cumstances, to admit any State into the Union, tolerating slavery, made free by that compromise. Therefore, we approve of the call for a People's convention to be held on the first day of May next, and earnestly call upon the American party throughout the State to send a full delegation to that convention.
WILLIAM SHEETS, President."
95 Indianapolis Journal, May 2, 1856.
The People of Indiana, consisting of all who are opposed to the policy of the present federal administration, assembled In
645
CAMPAIGN OF 1856
The Democratic state convention had already met, as usual, on January 8. There was a full at- tendance and harmony. The party had been humil- iated by the fight between Governor Wright and Sen- ator Bright in 1854 and now both discreetly remained away. John L. Robinson, who had been a candidate for governor, withdrew the night before the nomina- tions were made, leaving no opposition to Ashbel P. Willard, of New Albany, for the governorship. After the ticket had been completed the platform was read by Judge James Hughes, praising all the leading Democrats of both factions. On the slavery question the convention was quite conservative, merely en- dorsing the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas- Nebraska bill.
The campaign which followed was one of the most dignified and earnest the people had engaged in up to that time. The burden was borne by Oliver P. Morton and Ashbel P. Willard, opposing candidates for governor. They were not unevenly matched. In
convention at the capital of the State, now submit to the people the following platform of principles :
Resolved, That we are uncompromisingly opposed to the ex- tension of slavery; and that we utterly repudiate the platform of principles adopted by the self-styled Democratic convention of this State endorsing and approving the Kansas-Nebraska iniquity.
Resolved, That we will resist by all proper means the admis- sion of any slave State into this Union formed out of the terri- tories secured to freedom by the Missouri Compromise, or other- wise.
Resolved, That we are in favor of the immediate admission of Kansas as a free State.
Resolved, That we are in favor of the naturalization laws of Congress with the five years' probation, and that the right of suffrage should accompany and not precede naturalization.
Resolved, That we believe the General Assembly of the State has the power to prohibit the sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage, and that we are in favor of a constitutional law which will effectually suppress the evils of intemperance.
646
HISTORY OF INDIANA
ST JOSEPH
LAGRANGE
STUEDEN
LAPORTE
LAKE PORTER
NOBLE
DEKALB
MARSHALL
~STARKE
KOSCIUSKO
WHITLEY
PULASKI
FULTON
JASPER
WABASH
HUNTDESFOH
CASS
MIAMI
WELLS ADAMS
BENTON
CARROLL
GRANT
HOWARD
BLACK- FORD
JAY
WARREN
TIPPECANOE.
CLINTON
TIPTON
.
MADISON
RANDOLPH
MONTGOMERY,
BOONE
HAMILTON
HENRY 1
WAYNE
.PARKE
MARION
PUTNAM
RUSH FAYETTE UNION
MORGAN JOHNSON SHELBY
CLAY
FRANKLIN
OWEN
DECATUR
MONROE
BROWN BARTHOLOMEW
JULLIVAN
GREENE
RIPLEY , DEARBORN
JENNINGS 1
JACKSON
OHIO
LAWRENCE
JEFFERSON, SWITZERLAND
DAVIESS
KNOX
MARTIN
SCOTT
WASHINGTON
ORANGE
PIKE
DUBOIS
GIBSON
CRAWFORD
FLOYD
HARRISON
WARRICK
PERRY
POSLY- WANDER
DUNG
SPENCER
Shaded area Democratic Remainder of State. People's Election 1856
HANCOCK
.
HENDRICKS
DELAWARE
FOUNTAIN
ALLEN
WHITE
ELKHART
CLARKE
647
CAMPAIGN OF 1856
the graces of oratory Willard was superior, but in solidity and plain speech Morton excelled. They spoke in joint debate in many parts of the state. Both the Republican and Democratic parties had in- ternal difficulties to contend with. The Democrats were weak on the slavery issue and "free" Demo- crats continually withdrew from the party. The Re- publicans did not get on smoothly with the Ameri- cans, who had a national ticket of their own and re- membered that in 1854 they had controlled the Fushion party.
The nomination of Fremont roused a great deal of enthusiasm for a brief time, but unfortunately it would not wear. By the close of the campaign the voters had no great amount of admiration for either Fremont or Buchanan. One reads in the newspapers of torchlight processions, of a barbecue at Lafayette where 8,000 were present, of county and township mass-meetings where there was plenty to eat and no lack of oratory. The Republicans organized glee clubs which sang Fremont songs in the fashion of 1840. The issue was slavery. The "crimes of Kan- sas" furnished the material for the oratory.87
87 The following speaking Itinerary of Morton will give one an Idea of the work of a candidate: Lawrenceburg, July 19; Rising Sun, July 21; Vevay, July 22; Columbus, July 23; Vernon, July 24; Madison, July 25; Franklin, July 26; Delphi, July 31; Dayton, August 1; Rockville, August 2; Greencastle, August 4; Bedford, August 5; Salem, August 6; Bloomington, August 7; Corydon, August 13; Leavenworth, August 14; Rome, August 16; Rockport, August 18; Boonville, August 19; Mt. Vernon, August 21; Evansville, August 22; Princeton, August 23; Petersburg, August 25; Washington, August 26; Dover Hill, August 27; Paoli, August 28; Spencer (Owen county), August 29; Bloom- field, August 30; Sullivan, September 1; Bowling Green, Septem- ber 2; Terre Haute, September 3; Seymour, September 5; Bain- bridge, September 11; Muncie, September 12; Portland, Septem- ber 13; Bluffton, September 15; Warren, September 16; Spencer, September 18; Bloomfield, September 19; Washington, September .
648
HISTORY OF INDIANA
20; Petersburg, September 22; Jasper, September 23; Mount Pleasant, September 24; Paoli, September 25; Attica, September 30; Tippecanoe Battle Ground, October 1, 2 and 3; Winamac, October 4; Rochester, October 6; Plymouth, October 7; Warsaw, October 8; Goshen, October 9; South Bend, October 10; Laporte, October 11; Indianapolis, October 13. These meetings were called at 1 P. M., and usually lasted till night.
The following is the official vote in the two elections, 1854 and 1856. In the first two columns are the votes for Secretary of State on the Fuslon and Democratic tickets, respectively. In the last two columns are the votes for Morton and Willard:
County
Secretary of State, 1854
Governor, 1856
Fus.
Dem.
Morton
Willard
Adams
470
679
372
763
Bartholomew
1,417
1,522
1,410
1,855
Allen
1,457
2,044
1,711
3,029
Benton
169
107
313
223
Blackford
179
392
267
404
Boone
1,143
1,306
1,349
1,495
Brown
171
620
220
773
Carroll
1,220
1,095
1,270
1,311
Cass
1,361
1,315
1,503
1,550
Clarke
1,574
1,498
1,485
1,799
Clay
579
668
607
1,057
Clinton
1,094
921
1,279
1,332
Crawford
604
520
596
745
Daviess
1,022
738
912
1,137
Dearborn
.2,028
2,236
1,867
2,636
Decatur
1,684
1,322
1,800
1,667
DeKalb
658
535
1,111
1,191
Delaware
1,154
591
1,587
995
Dubols
270
876
226
1,224
Elkhart
1,009
940
1,809
1,494
Fayette
1,067
862
1,211
1,001
Floyd
1,705
1,485
1,481
1,833
Fountain
1,572
1,211
1,669
1,623
Franklin
1,683
1,803
1,479
2,241
Fulton
623
636
798
849
Gibson
981
893
1,047
1,218
Grant
1,112
800
1,404
1,050
Greene
556
786
1,051
1,232
Hamilton
1,328
703
1,710
1,143
Hancock
881
1,195
1,074
1,325
649
CAMPAIGN OF 1856
Secretary of State, 1854
Governor, 1856
Fus.
Dem.
Morton
Willard
Harrison
1,298
1,304
1,432
1,642
Hendricks
1,514
1,168
1,606
1,410
Henry
.2,100
863
2,486
1,188
Howard
762
387
1,019
693
Huntington
837
807
1,199
1,211
Jackson
653
1,364
694
1,565
Jasper
400
433
652
536
Jay
719
557
884
867
Jefferson
2,661
1,415
2,476
1,994
Jennings
1,455
755
1,391
1,126
Johnson
1,136
1,371
1,204
1,660
Knox
1,209
953
1,109
1,544
Kosciusko
1,026
744
1,566
1,029
Lagrange
1,142
363
1,302
633
Lake
547
334
893
292
Laporte
.1,717
1,421
2,332
2,222
Lawrence
943
743
1,061
1,079
Madison
1,165
1,315
1,321
1,578
Marion
3,227
2,655
3,737
3,642
Marshall
629
634
932
1,044
Martin
429
497
466
77
Miami
1,218
1,017
1,435
1,532
Monroe
611
1,065
80
1,133
Montgomery
1,859
1,755
2,037
2,109
Morgan
1,424
1,109
1,652
1,644
Noble
829
535
1,257
1,249
Ohio
506
349
405
505
Orange
662
1,013
614
1,116
Owen
728
814
1,066
1,223
Parke
1,600
1,095
1,682
1,331
Perry
773
770
742
1,047
Pike
645
619
608
802
Porter
732
618
997
704
Posey
955
1,305
833
1,750
Pulaski
308
406
356
557
Putnam
1,887
1,506
1,766
1,937
Randolph
1,531
845
1,901
1,233
Ripley
1,633
1,213
1,579
1,721
Rush
1,479
1,434
1,827
1,707
Scott
600
723
557
710
Shelby
1,576
1,771
1,604
2,053
County
650
HISTORY OF INDIANA
The result of the state election was favorable to the Democrats. The General Assembly showed a Democratic majority on joint ballot, though the sen- ate was Republican. Willard and the entire Demo- cratic ticket were elected by majorities ranging from 5,000 to 8,000. Buchanan received 118,672, Fremont 94,376 and Fillmore, candidate of the Know Noth- ings, 21,784. The congressional delegation resulting was six Democrats and five Republicans.
§ 118 ELECTION OF 1860
The campaign of 1856 left politics in Indiana more confused than before. The General Assembly was controlled by neither party and yet would be re- quired to elect two United States senators. No suc-
County
Secretary of State, 1854
Governor, 1856
Fus.
Dem.
Morton
Willard
Spencer
945
954
1,083
1,295
Starke
61
128
132
177
Steuben
628
376
1,133
546
St. Joseph
1,469
902
1,789
1,460
Sullivan
588
1,205
638
1,618
Switzerland
1,267
840
1,127
1,133
Tippecanoe
.2,431
1,306
2,659
2,335
Tipton
457
361
558
687
Union
757
673
773
741
Vanderburgh
1,226
1,362
1,167
1,747
Vermilion
856
785
943
837
Vigo
1,833
939
1,811
1,901
Wabash
.1,545
766
1,725
1,168
Warren
977
387
1,136
790
Washington
1,156
1,514
1,021
1,643
Wayne
.3,120
1,453
3,371
1,994
Wells
592
673
733
890
White
545
531
744
762
Whitley
598
605
783
858
112,139
117,981
These statistics are taken from the Documentary Journals, 1855, p. 881, and 1857, ch. II, 607.
651
ELECTION OF 1860
cessor had been elected to John Pettit in 1855 and consequently the place had remained vacant. Gov- ernor Wright was a candidate, but the opposing fac- tion, January 31, in caucus, nominated Bright and Dr. Graham Fitch of Logansport. The Republicans and Americans who controlled the senate, remember- ing the Democratic precedent of 1844 and 1855, re- fused to go into joint session. However, on Febru- ary 5, the Democrats of the two bodies met jointly and elected Bright and Fitch, who in due time were given their seats in the United States senate. Both were pro-slavery men. Leading Democrats made no effort to defend the legality of the election. The Re- publicans in general contented themselves with urg- ing on the quarrel between Bright and Wright over the senatorship, the fight between Wright and the free banks, and the continual inter-party bickerings in the legislature. Any sore Democrat could find op- portunity for expression in Republican newspapers.
The two houses, at loggerheads politically, dis- cussed petty politics, threatened to unseat members -the senate Democrats and the house Republicans- and spent the session without so much as passing revenue and appropriation bills.
This legislature was no credit to either party and a disgrace to the state. As soon as the session was over each member hastened to prove in the press that he was not to blame for the failure of legislation. The Democrats began at once to find excuses for an extra session but none was called. As a result it be- came necessary to close the state asylums in April and send the insane and blind to their homes. How- ever, after their political ardor cooled off, the vari- ons trustees opened the institutions, October 1, hav- ing kept them elosed six months.38
38 Indianapolis Journal, Sept. 24, 1857. See, also, various official reports in the Documentary Journal of 1858.
652
HISTORY OF INDIANA
January 7, 1857, the Republicans met in state con- vention, O. P. Morton presiding. After a season of oratory and the usual resolutions endorsing the pre- vious career of the party, an organization for future work was formed.39
The interest of both parties was soon centered in Washington where the Kansas struggle was occupy- ing congress. Anti-slavery Democrats saw with re- gret their party gradually forfeiting the support of the people as the vote on the Lecompton constitution was announced, for which eight Indiana congressmen voted; so that Douglas and his followers, of whom were a majority of Indiana Democrats, felt they could no longer ask the voters to support them on the claim of popular sovereignty. The Dred Scott deci- sion was already bearing fruit. Dr. W. A. Bowles, proprietor of an estate in Orange county, had brought in seven slaves, claiming in the local court the right to hold them under the new decision.4º These events left no place in the Democratic ranks for such men as George W. Julian, Judge E. M. Chamberlain, and the conscientious Free Soil Democrats.
Politically the year 1858 opened with interest focused on Kansas. Never had a national question so completely overshadowed state politics; not be- cause there were no state issues, but because of the great interest in the slavery struggle. It is usually difficult to arouse political excitement and passion in Indiana and in this case it was one of the last states to be swept by the Abolition movement. Partly due to agitation, partly due to letters from friends and relatives in Kansas, and partly due to the Fugitive
39 Indianapolis Journal, Jan. 8, 1857.
40 Indianapolis Journal, Nov. 19, 1857. For an account of this interesting case, see appellant's brief in Supreme Court, May term, 1858. Bowles was defeated by Collins and Lafollette, of New Albany.
653
ELECTION OF 1860
Slave law, everybody was passionately interested in the statehood of Kansas.41
All the leading Democratic newspapers of the state, except the Sentinel, thirty in number, con- demned the Lecompton bill.42 These became the Douglas papers and show how largely he controlled the party in Indiana. Senator Bright, a personal enemy of Douglas, leading the pro-slavery Demo- crats, declared he was in favor of congress settling the question of slavery in Kansas and not going so far as even to submit the Kansas constitution to a vote of its people.43 William H. English, of the Second Indiana district, proposed to give the Kan- sans five per cent. of the proceeds of 2,000,000 acres of land if they would accept the Lecompton constitu- tion, but they refused by a decisive vote.44
The Democratic convention which met at Indian- apolis January 7, 1858, was a struggle for the mas- tery of the party. Senator Bright and Congressman James Hughes came from Washington to see that the administration was upheld. Daniel W. Voorhees wrote the platform, artfully dodging all doubtful issues, but Lew Wallace offered a plank from the floor, endorsing the Kansas-Nebraska bill, which precipitated an angry struggle.
The anti-slavery Democrats, not satisfied with the results above, called a mass meeting for Indianapo-
41 Indianapolis Journal, Jan. 7, 1858. "The year 1858 will see the great battle of freedom on the floor of congress, and on the plains of Kansas, when it will be decided whether a ruthless minority of Southern slave-holders shall force a diabolical con- stitution on the free people of Kansas, without even submitting it for their consideration; it will see a great division in the Democratic party north on the question of the admission of Kansas with the above constitution."
42 Logansport Pharos, April 28, 1858.
43 Indianapolis Sentinel, July 31, 1860.
44 Madison Courier, May 5, 1858.
654
HISTORY OF INDIANA
lis, February 22, 1858, which, when met, endorsed Douglas and read the Indianapolis Sentinel out of the party.45
A Republican mass convention of "all those per- sons opposed to the Lecompton bill" was held March 4, 1858. The platform dealt almost exclusively with slavery, leaving the impression that the party intend- ed to live off the mistakes of the Democrats.
No great interest developed during the campaign. There was little internal harmony in either party, though while the Republican factions were getting better disciplined and more friendly, the opposite tendency held among the Democrats. The Demo- cratic state ticket was elected by about 2,500 major- ity, but the congressmen did not fare so well. Some of them had lost their way in the pro-slavery atmos- phere of Washington, rendering themselves unpopu- lar at home.46 As a consequence the Republicans elected eight and the Democrats three, a loss of three
45 Indianapolis Journal, Feb. 25, 1858. "Resolved, That the Indiana State Sentinel, by its prevarications, misrepresentations, and inconsistencies, as well as by its betrayal of Democratic faith, and its injustice to members of the party, has placed itself out- side of the Democratic organization of the State, and forfeited the patronage and respect of the party." The last section of the platform recommended the calling of a convention of the Democrats of the Northwest-a movement that would have been equivalent to the founding of the Republican party. "Resolved, That we recommend to the National Democracy of the Northwest the holding at an early day of a mass convention at Chicago or some other suitable place, and that a committee of correspondence of five be appointed, to communicate with the democracy of other States relative to the calling of such a convention."
46 James Hughes, representative from the Third, was so proud of the Lecompton bill that he declared "if every stump in Kansas were a negro, every tree upon her soil a slave driver, and every twig upon the tree a lash to scourge a negro to his daily toil, I would vote for the admission of Kansas under the Lecompton constitution."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.