History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, Part 31

Author: Sulgrove, Berry R. (Berry Robinson), 1828-1890
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 942

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poer man ever applied to Calvin Fletcher in his need, either fer counsel or assistance, and was sent empty away. When the friends of the celored man, flecing frem bondage, were few and unpopular, his sympathy and helping hand were never withheld. He was like all men of power in his age, exceedingly rapid in thought and action. Before others had begun the argument he had concluded it. Repose was net his dominant characteristic. But more te be admired than all these traits was his earnest, consistent Chris- tian character. No man could love and respect the Bible and the minister mere than he. He was a constant student of the one and hearer of the ether. Calvin Fletcher was married, on the 1st of May, 1821, to Miss Sarah Hill, ef Champaign County, Ohio, a lady of remarkable energy of character, combined with gentleness of disposition and refined tastes. Her death occurred in September, 1854, and he was again married, te Mrs. Keziah Price Lister. The children of Calvin Fletcher are James Cooley, Elijah Timethy, Calvin, Miles Johnsen, Stoughton Alfenzo, Maria Antoinette, Crawford, Ingram, Wil- liam Baldwin, Stephen Keyes, Lucy Keyes, and Albert Elliott. The death of Calvin Fletcher ec- curred May 26, 1866. At a meeting of the bankers, held at Indianapolis, resolutions respecting his death were adepted, of which the following cxtract is appended :

"That in the career of Mr. Fletcher are presented very striking evidences of what great and good things may be ac- complished under our free institutions by sound sense and unfailing energy, no matter how unpromising the circum- stances of the pessesser may be at his outset in life.

"That his success in business is the history of a life of hopeful laher, pure integrity, genial benevolence, steady cau- tion, and active usefulness, in which great results have been attained, not by brilliant strokes of adventure or any depend- ence upon fortune, but by those plainer and less obtrusive methods which are within the reach of the great majority of men, and affords a lesson ef hope and warning,-hope te the upright, diligent, and frugal, warning to the reckless and idle wbo wait upon fortune."

In the fall of 1823, a little over a year after the first session of court, a lawyer of marked ability came from Pennsylvania primarily, but later from Lebanon, Ohio, where he had studied law with the celebrated

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orator and lawyer, Thomas Corwin, and made his home here permanently. He was as prominent in the profession as Mr. Fletcher, and much longer in it. That was Hiram Brown.

HIRAM BROWN, an eminent advocate in Indiana, traced his descent from a family of Welsh origin, living in Southern England, that accompanied or soon followed Lord Baltimore's colony to Maryland,

Hiram Brown

settling at Welsh Flats, in Pennsylvania. The de- scendants of this emigrant remained in that region and in Maryland for years, and one of them, Wendel Brown, with his two sons, prior to 1754, crossed the mountains and visited the Monongahela Valley, making no settlement because of the savages ; and it was not till 1765 that his son, or grandson, Thomas Brown, located at Redstone Old Fort,-so called be- cause the mound-builders in former ages had erected a large stone intrenchment on the top of a detached hill at the mouth of Nemocolius Creek, a locality widely known in the early settlement of the West.'

Col. Michael Cresap (unjustly charged with mur- der in Logan's celebrated speech) had prior to 1765 located a "tomahawk right" to several hundred acres,

including the Old Fort, and in 1770 built a hewed log house on it, with a nailed shingle roof, the first west of the mountains. Thomas Brown bought Cresap's house and claim, and in 1785 perfected his title by purchase from the commonwealth, and laid out the town of Brownsville. He died in 1797, aged fifty-nine years, and was buried in the Old Fort, his tombstone stating that " he was the owner of this town." He left a large estate and family, but their hospitality and extravagance dissipated their patrimony, and the members scattered throughout the West, leaving few representatives of the name or blood in their old home.

One of the sons, Ignatius Brown, born Dec. 1, 1769, at Brownsville, died at Lebanon, Ohio, June 3, 1834. Early in 1791 he married Elizabeth Gregg, a woman of good mind and great force of character, and to them, on the 18th of July, 1792, was born their first child, Hiram Brown, the subject of the present sketch. They afterwards had six other children,-Milton, a distinguished lawyer and con- gressman from Tennessee ; Ashel, a leading lawyer at Lebanon, Ohio ; Hervey, a lawyer and member of the Legislature, both in Indiana and Tennessee; and three daughters,-Minerva, Matilda, and Orpha, -. all of whom married. In 1798, Ignatius Brown removed his family and remnant of his property to Kentucky, where he bought several thousand acres of land and resided several years; but his title proving defective he was impoverished, and compelled again . to emigrate. He located a claim in the Symmes' Purchase, near Denfield, in Warren Co., Ohio, but when returning caught cold, which produced paraly- sis of the optic nerves, resulting in instant and total blindness; in this helpless state he was led by his comrades through the wilderness to his family. Vision afterward slowly returned, and in old age he could read without glasses. While blind he was made justice of the peace, and subsequently associate judge of the County Court, a position he held at the time of his death.

The young wife, brave under this disaster, moved her helpless husband and family to the new location, and began making a home in the woods. The burthen, of course, fell on Hiram, then a mere boy,

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and for years his life was devoted to this work, fore- going an education that the rest should get it, and have shelter and food. By studying at night he learned to read well and write, acquired some knowledge of grammar, and " cyphercd as far as the rule of three." Subsequently, by reading the best authors, he gained so great a command of pure Eng- lish that his forensie efforts, though never specially prepared, were admired for their fluency, finish, and perfection of style. After several years' work on the farm he determined to become a merchant, and entered a store in Lebanon, but the change so in- jured his health that he was thought to be consump- tive. Returning at once to farin work, to chopping and milling, he soon recuperated and became noted for activity and strength, being champion in all athletic exercises. It is said that, with a few yards' run, he could jump over the head of a man his equal in height. At twenty to twenty-five years old he was in the prime of physical strength. He was five feet eight inches high, weighed one hundred and sixty-five pounds ; erect, symmetrically formed, with small hands and feet. His head was large, fea- tures clearly cut, brows arched, shading large light- blue eyes ; mouth firm, and lips thin. His voice was musical, high-pitched, and under perfeet con- trol.

His business being prosperous, he was married, May 29, 1817, to Miss Judith Smith, a very beauti- ful and amiable woman, who survived him nearly six years. She was born July 12, 1794, in Pow- hatan County, Va., the daughter of Rev. James Smith, one of the earliest Methodist preachers. This union was a happy one, lasting over thirty years. They had nine children, one dying in infancy ; the rest survived them.

After marriage he traveled on horseback to Wash- ington City to patent a boat-wheel he had invented, but before doing anything with it the panic of 1820 overwhelmed him, with many others, and he lost all his property. After settling his affairs he studied law with Thomas Corwin for six months and was admitted to the bar. Mr. Corwin wished him to remain at Lebanon, but deeming Indianapolis a better point, he removed here with his family early in No-

vember, 1823, and was admitted by the Supreme Court in 1824.

He soon acquired a good practice, ranking highest as an advocate in criminal cases. Before a jury his bearing was easy, gestures apt, voice clear and pene- trating, his statement of the evidence fair and forci- ble. He instantly grasped the strong points in his cases, and illustrated them in so many different ways that he fixed them in the jurors' minds without wearying them by the repetition. He identified himself with the feelings and interests of his clients, and made their canse his own. His native wit and keen sense of humor often enabled him to so ridicule an opponent's case that it was laughed out of court. He was sometimes, though not often, sarcastic and bit- ter in denunciation, but his nature was kindly and for- bearing. He was most formidable in desperate cases, when the odds were heaviest against him. "Court week" then brought the whole country into town, and when he spoke the house was always crowded. A volume would be needed to detail the incidents in his professional career and give the anecdotes told of his wit, humor, and stinging repartee. Some have been published, but most have perished with those who heard them. For years he was in every impor- tant case, and was generally successful. With the exception, perhaps, of a short service as prosecutor, at an early day, he declined executive or judicial posi- tion, practicing his profession from November, 1823, till June 8, 1853, when he died, the "father of the bar." His early associates had nearly all died or re- tired, and a new generation was growing up whose ways were unlike their fathers'. He disliked the change, and missed and mourned his old opponents. He often fell into reveries, his memory busy with the past, his face changing with each crowding recollee- tion, his eyes flashing until he would break out with the exclamation, " Ah, there were giants in those days !"

We now have no idea of the hardships endured by the old bar in their practice, the circuit once ex- tending from Bloomington to Fort Wayne, its whole extent a wilderness. Traveling it was a campaign often involving weeks of absence from home, man and horse struggling through endless swamps, swim-

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ming swollen rivers, and sleeping in the woods. It was at all times tedious and laborious, and in some seasons difficult and dangerous. The fees were far less than now, and often remained mere promises to pay. This at least was Mr. Brown's experience, for though he nominally made a great deal of money, his indulgence lost him the greater part of it. He gen- erally tore up the notes and accounts against his more dilatory clients rather than press their collection. With his wife and son he traveled through Iowa in 1848, stopping each night with some old client en- countered on the way, and on his return said he ought to receive some credit for the rapid growth of that State, for he found it largely peopled by his run- away clients.

He had no love for or desire to accumulate money, and at his death he left only his town residence and a small farm south of the city, on which and its orchard he had expended money enough, if it had been invested in town property, to have made him rich. He admitted this, but said he then would not have enjoyed it, maintaining that men only actually possess the money they spend, and get no benefit from it unless so used.

Neither a politician nor a partisan, he was a life- long Whig and admirer of Henry Clay, naming his oldest son for him. He made Whig speeches, and during the Morgan excitement was strongly urged to run for Congress by the anti-Masons; but though success seemed certain he refused, and never entered political life. His habits and tastes were strongly opposed to such a career. He disliked the glare of public life, and delighted in home and its pleasures, the society of children and old friends. With them his fun-loving nature had free rein, and wit, humor, and anecdote were lavished on all around him. Those only who saw him under such circumstances could properly appreciate the sterling worth and honesty of the man.

He inherited hospitality, and the latch-string was always out. All preachers and clients were welcome, and for years his house contained nearly as many guests as members of his own family ; and as they generally came on horseback, this "entertainment for man and beast" not only increased the labors of

his household, but seriously diminished his re- sources.

Reared at a time when liquor was kept in every house and tendered to every visitor, it was only natural, with his temperament and social qualities, that at times he used it to execss. It was a common viee with the bar, but with him a little went a great way. He left off its use entirely for years before he died, and notwithstanding his opposition to sceret societies-believing them to be inimical to republican institutions, which require the most open discussion and treatment of all questions-he united with and became a prominent officer in the Sons of Temper- ance, and labored in that cause till his death. At about the same time he joined the Methodist Church, -in which his wife had been a life-long member, ---- and died in that faith. He denounced gambling in all its forms, and was selected by a publie meeting to assist in the prosecution of the gamblers, who seemed to bave been given free rein by the regular authori- ties. In endeavoring to do so he was hampered, and the facts and evidence withheld from him in the elerk's office. Commenting on this at a subsequent publie meeting, he said that whether the action of his friend the clerk was right or not, it had at least illustrated the greatest of the virtues, for " his charity had covered a multitude of sins."

He was among the earliest to introduce fine fruits into this section, and spent much time, labor, and money in the effort. Though rarely tasting fruit himself, and though no market then existed for it, he planted twenty-four aeres in the choicest varieties, as he said, for the publie benefit and future markets. His devotion to it caused his death, for, having spent a very hot day in it, he was partially sunstruek, and on returning home at night was seized with conges- tion of the brain. He rallied from the first attack, and seemed better for several days, but a relapse took place on the night of the 7th of June and he lay unconscious till eight o'clock P.M. of the next day, when he died. When his critical illness became known his old friends hastened to his side. Among them came Calvin Fletcher, his old opponent at the bar, who seemed most deeply affected at his loss.

His death was a shock to the community. Full

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obituary notices, with sketches of his life, appeared in all the journals. The courts adjourned; the bar passed resolutions, which were spread on the records, and beneh and bar attended his funeral in a body. The funeral discourse was pronounced by his old friend, Rev. W. H. Goode, at Roberts' Chapel, June, 1853, and his remains were interred in Green Lawn Cemetery. They were subsequently removed, with those of his wife and two of his sons, to a lot at the eastern base of the hill in Crown Hill Cemetery, where they rest in peace, awaiting the resurrection.

Mr. Brown had nine children ; one died in infancy, the rest survived him. Eliza S., the eldest daugh- ter, married J. C. Yohn, a prominent merchant of the city ; they have four surviving children and several grandehildren. Minerva V., the second child (now deceased), married A. G. Porter ; they have five sur- viving children and several grandchildren. Angeline, the third child, died at four years of age. Martha S., the fourth child, married Samuel Delzell, a prom- inent business man of the eity ; they have one sur- viving child. Clay Brown, the oldest son, was edu- eated at the seminary under Kemper, and at Asbury University ; studied medicine with Dr. John Evans, and graduated at Rush Medical College; began prae- tice at Anderson, Ind., but removed in a few years to this eity, soon taking high rank in his profession ; he was appointed assistant surgeon of the Eleventh In- diana Volunteers, and was present at Fort Donelson, where overwork and exposure produced illness, from which he died at Crump's Landing, Tenn., just before the battle at Shiloh ; his body was brought home by Adjt. Macauley, and buried with the honors of war. Matilda A. was married to Jonas MuKay, and is re- siding at Lebanon, Ohio; she has two daughters. Ignatius Brown, the second son, was educated under Kemper and Lang at the seminary, studied law with his father, graduated Bachelor of Law at Blooming- ton, and began practice ; he married Miss Elizabeth M. Marsee, oldest daughter of Rev. J. Marsee; she is now dead; they have four children ; Mr. Brown left the practice at the beginning of the war, and is now with his sons in the abstract-of-title line. James T. Brown, the third son, was educated at the semi- nary under Kemper and Lang, became traveling

salesman for Guthrie & Co., of Louisville, married Miss Forsythe, and died (childless) in 1861. Mary E., the youngest child, married Barton D. Jones, and is now residing in Washington City ; they have three surviving children.

Probably no man connected with the county courts was so widely known and closely associated with their history in the minds of all early residents as Robert B. Dunean, the deputy of James M. Ray for several years, and then for nearly a seore of years the elerk succeeding Mr. Ray, on the latter's acceptance of the cashiership of the old State Bank in 1834.

ROBERT B. DUNCAN is of Seoteh descent, his grandfather, Robert Dunean, born in 1726, a native

. . .. .

Robert B.Duncan

Seotehman, having emigrated to America in 1754, where he engaged in the pursuit of his trade, that of a tailor. He married Agnes Singleton, born in 1742, also of Scoteh parentage, and had children,-Robert, James, John, and three daughters. Robert was born in Pennsylvania, Sept. 28, 1772, and during his youth resided in that State, after which he removed to Western New York and engaged in farming pur- suits. He married Miss Anna Boyles, and had

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children,-James, Esther, William, Robert B., Mar- garet, John, Samuel, Jane, and Annie. The death of Mrs. Duncan occurred in 1822, and that of Mr. Duncan Jan. 6, 1846. Their son Robert B. was born in Ontario County, N. Y., June 15, 1810, where the earliest seven years of his life were spent. In 1817 he removed to Ohio and settled near San- dusky, his residence until the spring of 1820, when the family emigrated to Conner's Station, in the pres- cot Hamilton County, Ind., then an unsurveyed prairie. Various employments occupied the time here until 1824, when he became a resident of Pike township, Marion Co., and engaged in the pioneer labor of clearing ground and farming. The year 1827 found him a resident of Indianapolis, where he entered the county clerk's office as deputy, and remained thus employed until March, 1834, when he was elected to the office of clerk of the county, and held the position for sixteen sucecssive years. Mr. Duncan had meanwhile engaged in the study of law, and immediately, on the expiration of his official term in 1850, began his professional career, confining himself mainly to business associated with the Pro- bate Court. He still continues to practice, devoting himself to the interests of the firm with which he is associated in connection with the Probate Court and to consultation. Mr. Dunean was early in his political career a Whig, and continued his relations with that party until his later indorsement of the articles of the Republican platform. With the exception of his lengthy period of official life as county clerk, he has never accepted nor sought office. He was reared in the stanch faith of the Scotch Presbyterian Church, and still adheres to that belief. Mr. Dunean was married in December, 1843, to Miss Mary E., daugh- ter of Dr. John H. Sanders, of Indianapolis, to whom were born children,-John S. (a practicing lawyer), Robert P. (a manufacturer), Anna D. (wife of Wil- liam T. Barbee, of Lafayette, Ind.), and Nellie D. (wife of John R. Wilson, of Indianapolis). Mr. Duocan enjoys the distinction of being the oldest continuous resident of the county.

Two years after Mr. Duncan came to the town to take the deputy's place with Mr. Ray, James Morri- son came up from Charleston, Clarke Co., having

been elected Secretary of State to succeed Judge Wick. He was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1796, came to this country a young lad, with his parents and brothers (the late William H. and Alcxander F.), studied law with Judge William B. Rochester, in Western New York, and after his admission to the bar came to Charleston, where he practiced his pro- fession with the late Judge Charles Dewey, of the State Supreme Beneh from 1836 to 1847. When elected Secretary of State, in 1829, he removed here permanently with his brothers, and succeeded Judge Bethuel Morris as presiding judge of the circuit. He also succeeded Samuel Merrill as president of the old State Bank, on the accession of the latter to the presidency of the Madison Railroad. He was the first attorney-general of the State, and the first presi- dent of the Burns Club, being a native of the same shire. For twenty-five years he was senior warden of Christ Church, and during the remainder of his life, after the organization of St. Paul's Church, held the same office there. He was one of the best men, intellectually and morally, that the city has ever claimed. He was an honorable lawyer, and that means a great deal, and he was a Christian gentleman.

In the latter part of the second decade of the city's existence, Mr. Ovid Butler came to Indianapolis and formed a partnership with Mr. Fletcher, which was subsequently enlarged by the addition of Simon Yandes, Esq., eldest son of the late Daniel Yandes, the pioneer mill builder of the New Purchase. Mr. Yandes was noted at the bar for accuracy, clearness, and persevering labor, as was Mr. Butler, and with Mr. Fletcher's experience and dash, the firm was one of rare strength, as well known for its integrity as its ability.

OVID BUTLER was born on the 7th of February, 1801, in Augusta, N. Y., and died at Indianapolis, Ind., on the 12th of July, 1881. His father, the Rev. Chauncey Butler, was the first pastor of the Disciples' Church in this city. He died in 1840. His grandfather, Capt. Joel Butler, was a Revolu- tionary soldier, and served in the disastrous Quebec expedition. He died in 1822. In 1817 the family removed from the home in New York to Jennings County, in this State, where Ovid Butler resided

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until he arrived at the years of manhood. Here he taught school for a few years and studied law. In 1825 he settled at Shelbyville, where he practiced his profession until 1836, when he removed to In- dianapolis, which became his permanent residence. He continued in his practice here, having as part- ners at different times Calvin Fletcher, Simon Yandes, and Horatio C. Newcomb, among the ablest and most prominent lawyers of the State. His busi- ness was extensive and very lucrative, but owing to impaired health he retired from the bar in 1849.

He was married in 1827 to Cordelia Cole, who lived until the year 1838. He was again married, to Mrs. Elizabeth A. Elgin, daughter of the late Thomas McOuat, in 1840, who survived . him one year. No man was more fortunate in his domestic relations. As a lawyer Mr. Butler excelled in the office. In the argument of legal questions and the preparation of pleadings he was laborious and inde- fatigable. With firmness, perseverance, clearness of purpose, and tenacity without a parallel he pushed his legal business through the courts. With not many of the graces of the orator, he surpassed, by dint of great exertion in the preparation of his cases, those who relied upon persuasive eloquence or sudden strategy at the bar. Plain, quiet, gentle, modest, but solid and immovable, he was a formidable antagonist in the greatest cases that were tried during his prac- tice. His style was strong and sententious ; without ornament, without humor, without - elegance, but logical and convincing. His clients always got his best ability in the preparation and trial of their cases. His legal knowledge was general and comprehensive, his judgment sound, and his reasoning powers vigor- ous. He met few competitors at the bar combining so much industry, strength, perseverance, and cul- ture. He had the unbounded confidence of the community in his common sense, integrity, and general capability in his profession.

After his retirement from the bar he devoted his life mainly to the interests of the Christian Church and of the Northwestern Christian University. But for a few years after the close of the Mexican war, while the questions as to the extension of slavery into the territories acquired were being agitated, he took

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History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, Part 31

Author: Sulgrove, Berry R. (Berry Robinson), 1828-1890 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 942

Author: Sulgrove, Berry R. (Berry Robinson), 1828-1890
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 942