History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, Part 36

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

USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana > Part 36

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).

" The funeral, which took place Monday, November 5th, was a grand und imposing pageant,-solemn, impressive, and mem- orable. A vast eoncourse of people was assembled from all parts of the country. Every branch of the federal government was represented. The President, being unable to attend, sent his son to represent him. Of the eahinet officers, Secretary Thompson, of the navy, and Attorney-General Devens were present. On the part of the Senate of the United States there werc Senators McDonald, of Indiana, Davis, of Illinois, Bay- ard, of Delaware, Cameron, of Pennsylvania, Burnside, of Rhode Island, and Booth, of California. On the part of the House of Representatives there were Representatives Ilanna and Cobb, of Indiana, Banks, of Massachusetts, Townsend, of New York, Wilson, of West Virginia, Burchard, of Illinois, and Davidson, of Florida. The judiciary department was repre- sented by federal judges from several neighboring States, and the army by a number of officers. Besides thesc, there were a great number of distinguished citizens from all parts of Indi- ana, Governors, ex-Governors, and representative men from other States, numerous military companies and delegates from eivil societies, and thousands of his neighbors who knew aud loved him."

It would not be proper or just to close this short sketch without referring, at least in a brief way, to the political services of Senator Morton other than those directly connected with his labors in the Sen- ate and as Governor of Indiana, and to touch upon the general characteristics of the man.

Great as was his work in both of the high offices to which the people elevated him, his labors in the general field of politics were no less prodigious. From 1856, when he first entered polities, until death elaimed him, his voice and pen were never idle. In every political contest he was foremost in the fight, and the downtrodden and oppressed were always his care. Not only did he engage in the po- litical battles in his own State, but in almost every State of the North he sent forth the bugle-call which rallied the forces of republicanism. Few men made more stump specches than he, and none ever carried such weight. In Indiana, during cach campaign, he

197

CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS.

spoke incessantly, and he always knew how to touch the popular chord of patriotism. He not only spoke, but hundreds of editorials from his pen found their way into the columns of the leading papers. His political speeches, if collected and published, would make a political history of the country in its great struggle unequaled. He was always ready to answer the calls of his party. His devotion to his party was witnessed by his declining the English mission. President Grant was desirous of concluding a treaty with Great Britain on the subject of the depredations of the rebel cruisers, and urged Senator Morton to undertake the mission. He was inclined to accept it, but the Legislature of Indiana was controlled by the Democrats, and he declined. President Grant wrote to him as follows :

" EXECUTIVE MANSION, " WASHINGTON, D. C., October 21st. " HON. O. P. MORTON, U. S. S.

" Dear Sir,-Your letter of the 19th inst., declining the Eng- lish mission, with reasons therefor, is received. I fully concur with you in all the reasons which you give for tho course you find it your duty to pursue in the matter, but regret that the country is not to have your valuable services at the English Court at this important juocture. Your course, however, I deem wise, and it will bo highly appreciated by your ooostitu- ents in Indiana and throughout the country.

" With assurances of my highest regard, I remain, very truly, your obedient servant,

"U. S. GRANT."

It is difficult to justly sum up the character of such a man. He was a born leader, and no sooner did he enter political life than he took the leadership of his party and maintained it until his death. He was a man of strong will, indomitable energy, and untiring industry, and was possessed of moral and physical courage which approached the sublime. As a party leader and organizer he has had no equal. The uni- versal testimony of those who were with him in the Senate is to the effect that America has never pro- duced a party leader who could even lay claim to rival him. He was strong because he was always in earnest ; because he never forgot a friend ; because he was ever ready to meet a foe. He always mastercd his subject, and never undertook to discuss it until he had thoroughly studied every phase of it. It was this that gave him such great power with an audience.

His mind was of an analytical order, and when he spoke his sentences were terse, logical, and oftentimes eloquent. There was little or no fancy about him, and he rather despised those fancy flights of oratory by which some men endeavor to capture their audi- ences. He dealt with facts, and he dealt with them as living things. While he was often severe and even terrible in his denunciation or arraignment of his op- ponents, he never was personal, but always calm, dig- nified, urbane. To illustrate this we cannot do better than quote a paragraph from a letter written by Senator Jones, of Florida, to the Morton Monument Association. He says,-

" He was one of the few public men of eminence who was strong enough in all the resources of legitimate argument so as never to feel the necessity or entertain the inclination of resort- ing to personal vituperation in tho discussions of the Senate. He attacked communities, States, and parties at times with great vigor, but, in the language of Mr. Grattan, ' he knew how to be severe without boing unparliamentary.'"

His patriotism was something sublime. He loved the country, the whole country, with a devotion that knew no shrinking, and to it he gave heart, soul, everything. He clung to the idea that we are a nation with a tenacity that forced conviction upon every mind he addressed. It was the burden of nearly all his speeches. He labored to impress this ruling idea upon the people, for to him it was the key of our whole political system. To his mind it embraced the true conception of our government, and the only one upon which the Union could safely rest. To him the idea that we were but a mere con- federation of States was abhorrent. In it he saw future disaster and ruin. In May, 1860, he wrote,-

" It cannot be too strongly impressed upon the public mind that we are one people, a natioo, and not a mere coalition of sovereign and independent States."

In 1865 he said,-

"Tbe war has established upon imperishable foundations the great fundamental truth of the unity and indivisibility of the nation. We are many States, but one people; having an nadivided soveroignty, one flag, one common destiny."

In 1871, at Providence, R. I., he said,-

"The idea that we are a nation, that we are one people, undivided and indivisible, should be a plauk in the platform

198

HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND MARION COUNTY.

of every party. It should be presented on the banner of every party. It should be tanght in every school, academy, and college. It should be the political north star by which every political manager should steer his bark. It should be the central idea of American politics, and every child should, so to speak, he vaccinated with the idea that he may be protected against this political distemper which has brought snch calamity upon our country."

In Ohio, in 1873, he said,-

" What the sun is in the heavens, diffusing light and life and warmth, and by its subtle influence holding the planets in their orhits, and preserving the harmony of the universe, snch is the sentiment of nationality in a people diffusing life and protection in every direction, holding the faces of Ameri- cans always toward their home, protecting the States in the exercise of their just powers, and preserving the harmony of all. We must have a nation. It is a necessity of our political existence. We should cherish the idea that while the States have their rights, sacred and inviolable, which we should guard with untiring vigilanee, never permitting an eneroach- ment upon them, and remembering that such encroachment is as much a violation of the Constitution of the United States as to encroach upon the rights of the general government; still bearing in mind that the States are but subordinate parts of one great nation,-that the nation is over all, even as God is over the universe."

We might multiply such quotations, for they crop out everywhere in his speeches and writings.

He hated treason with all the power he had, and he would stamp it out as a poison that if left alone would kill the body and soul of the nation. He was unsparing in his denunciation of the foul crime, and was often accused of hating the South. His feelings in this matter are best expressed in his own language. On Decoration Day, 1877, in the last speech he ever made in his own State, he said,-

"We will Ict by-genes be by-gones. We cannot forget the past; we ought not forget it. God has planted memory in our minds and we cannot blot it ont. But while we cannot forget, yet we can forgive, and we will forgive all who accept the great doctrines of equal liberty and of equal rights to all, and equal protection to all, and will be reconciled to them. And while we cannot forget the past, we will treat them as if the past bad never occurred, and that is all that can be asked; and that is true reconciliation. True reconciliation does not require us tu furget these dead; does not require ns to forget the living sol- dier and to cease to do him justice. We must remember that there is an eternal difference between right and wrong, and that we were on the right side and that they were on the wrong side; and all that we ask of them is that hereafter they shall be on the right side. We should forever remember that we were in the

right. We want to transmit that as a sacred inheritance to our ramotest posterity. We know that in that great struggle we were in the right. We were grandly in the right and they were terribly in the wrong. The whole civilized world has now said that we were in the right, and we know if there is such & thing as right and wrong, we were in the right and they were in the wrong. We want that grand distinction to pass down through all time ; but that is entirely consistent with true recon- eiliation. We say to those who were on the other side of that great contest that eost so dearly in bloed and treasure, that eost ns so much suffering and sacrifice, that while we shall forever cherish the lessons that were taught ns by that struggle, and while we shall forever stand by the principles that we maio- tained in that contest, all we ask of them is that they shall hereafter stand upon those principles, and let us go forward hand in hand and as Americans and as brethren through all the future pages of our country's history."

He was possessed of moral courage that few public men obtain to, and a physical courage which almost amounted to an insensibility to personal danger. The first was exhibited often by the stand he took upon great public questions, regardless of what clamor there might be from political friends or focs. Mak- ing up his mind that a thing was right, it mattered not what all the world might say or do, he stood like a rock. He was ambitious, and yet for popu- larity's sake he would not desert a right. One of the greatest acts of his life was when, as it appeared to his friends, he closed the doors against all hopes of reaching the Presidency by the stand he took in favor of the Chinese immigrants. He was an open candidate for that high office. To speak for the Mongolian was, seemingly, to espouse a cause so un- popular as to be political death. He did not hesitate a moment. He believed he was right, and with all his power he took up the cause of the Chinese. The fear of being called inconsistent often keeps public men from changing their ideas of public policy. It was not so with Mr. Morton. He had the courage of his convictions. His physical courage might be illustrated by numerous incidents, but one must suffice, and we tell it as it was narrated by Governor Porter, who was a witness to it. In his earlier years as an attorney Mr. Morton appeared in a case of some magnitude at Indianapolis. One of the oppos- ing lawyers was of the fire-eating kind, and had a reputation as one who was ready to use his revolver. During the trial he was exceedingly ugly, and ap-

199

CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS.

peared in court with his pistol ostentatiously dis- played, and had succeeded in eowing the other attor- neys. Finally, Mr. Morton administered to him a scathing rebuke. As he took his seat the subject of his rebuke arose and said to those near him that he intended to make Morton apologize then and there. All expected a tragedy. Few knew anything of Mr. Morton. He went to where Mr. Morton was sitting and said, in an insulting tone, "I have come to demand an apology from you." Quick as a flash Mr. Morton turned upon him, and looking him steadily in the eyes, said, in a tone sharp and clear, " I have no apology to make to you," and then de- liberately repeated the offensive remark. He had met a man that knew no fear, and was cowed com- pletely.

Mr. Morton was simple in his tastes; honest in the strictest sense of the word. No taint of corrup- tion ever lingered near him. He loved his home, his family, his friends, and they elung to him with a devotion equal to his love. His nature was kind and sympathetie. The cry of the suffering or sorrowing always found an echo in his heart. The eares of state often absorbed him to such a degree that he forgot himself, his own physical weakness, his own wants, but never so that he forgot his home or family, and he always turned to them for rest. When in the bosom of his family he was as simple as a child.

His children were especially dear to him, and amid all the eares of state he thought of them and en- deavored to guide their young minds into the paths of honor. Few men in the height of power would write to their children so simple, so loving, and yet so grand a letter as the following :

" WASHINGTON, Jannary 1, 1871.

" My Dear Children,-This is the first day of the New Year, and here it is bright and cheerful and warm, and everybody seems happy. Your mother is as well as usual, and sends her love to you, and her heartfelt wishes for your health and for your futuro happiness and snecess in life. You can never know the depth of a mother's love,-how constantly you are in her thoughts, her anxiety about you from day to day, and what sacrifices she would make for you. We have been talking about yon, and wondering what you are doing, and hoping you will make great progress in your studies during the year which has just come in. One year is a great portion of one's lifetime. Mueh may be done in one year in getting an education and

fitting yourself for the duties of life. Lost time ean never be recalled, and cannot be made up. Each year should show a great deal learned, and great improvement in the manners and characters of my dear children.

"My great anxiety and desire are about my little boys. I am constantly wondering what they will be when they grow up to be men. Will they be learned, talented, good, prosperous, and an hooor to their parents and country ? Such is my daily prayer. We hope you think of us, and love us, and think of your dear absent brother, who is so far away on a lonely island in the Northern Sea. Yon must constantly remember him in your prayers, that he may be preserved in health, and be pros- perous and be safely returned to us during the year.

"Your mother will return to you in a few days, and in the mean time you must not negleet your books, and show to ber that you can be dutiful and studions in her absence.

" And now I wish you a happy New Year, and may God bless. yon and preserve yon, is the prayer of your loving father, "O. P. MORTON."

There was no love of pomp in his nature, and he was always accessible to the people, the poor equally with the rich. He gave to the country seventeen years of his life, and wore himself out and died a poor man, as he had lived. His last audible words expressed it all, " I am worn out." Ycs, he had worn himself out.

The people of Indiana have raised in the Cirele Park of Indianapolis a .bronze statue of the great war Governor and senator, but his greatest monument lives in the pages of the Constitution and laws of his country, and in the doctrines of patriotism he incul- cated and enforced.

HON. THOMAS A. HENDRICKS was born Sept. 7, 1819, on a farm near Zanesville, Muskingum Co., Ohio, his father, John Hendricks, having been a native of Western Pennsylvania. The family was one of the first to settle in Ligonier Valley, West- moreland Co., and took an active part in the admin- istration of public affairs, serving with honor in the Legislature and other places of trust. The mother, Jane Thomson Hendricks, was of Seoteh descent. Her grandfather, John Thomson, emigrated to Penn- sylvania before the Revolution, and was conspicuous among the pioneers of that date for his intelligence, integrity, enterprise, love of country, and far-reaching good-will to men. As soon as assured of the wisdom of emigration, he addressed a letter to the Scoteh people setting forth the advantages of American soil,

200

HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND MARION COUNTY.

climate, and institutions so forcibly that the scction of the State where he lived was principally settled by his countrymen. Several of his sons were soldiers in the Revolutionary war, and many of his descend- ants have attained distinction in the different walks of life. Beside those bearing his name, may be men - tioned the Agnews, of New York, the Blacks and Watsons, of Pittsburgh, the Wylies, of Philadelphia, and the Hendrickses, of Indiana. The wife of John Hendricks and her nieee are the only members of the Thomson family who emigrated West. In nearly every branch of the family the pioneer Calvinistie faith of the Thomsons is still maintained. When Thomas A. Hendricks was six months old his parents removed from Ohio to Madison, Ind. This was the home of William Hendricks, that uncle of Thomas A. who in indireet line preceded him in the enjoyment of his signal tokens of public confidence and respcet. He was then a member of Congress, three years sub- sequently he was elected Governor, and at the end of the term was chosen to the United States Senate.

All of these positions he filled acceptably. He was indeed the first representative in Congress who brought the State into favorable repnte. John, the father of Thomas A., had some share of government patronage. He held the appointment of deputy sur- veyor of publie land under Gen. Jackson, and in that capacity became generally known aud respected. As early as 1822 he removed with his family to the interior of the State, and held the first title to the fine land upon a portion of which Shelbyville, the county-seat of. Shelby County, is located. In the heart of the dense forest, upon a gentle cminence overlooking the beautiful valley, he built the sightly and commodious briek homestead which yet stands in good preservation in open view of the thriving city

and richly cultivated country around. It soon be- came known as a centre of learning and social de- light, and was the favorite resort of men of distinc- tion and worth. It was in particular the seat of hospitality to the orthodox ministry, Mr. Hendricks

being the principal founder and supporter of the

Presbyterian Church in the community. The pre- siding genius of that home was the gentle wife and mother, who tempered the atmosphere of learning

and zeal with the sweet influences of charity and love. Essentially clever and persistent, she was pos- sessed of a rare quality of patience, which stood her in better stead than a turbulent, aggressive spirit. A close analysis of the character of Thomas A. Hen- drieks is not necessary to show that this trait was pre-eminently his birthright. It is thus apparent that the childhood and youth of Mr. Hendricks were passed under the happiest auspices. Together with his brothers and sisters he attended the village school and derived the full benefit of very respectable and thorough instruction. His senior brother, Abram, pursued college studies at the University of Ohio, and at South Hanover, Ind., and subsequently became a minister of the Presbyterian Church. In turn Thomas A. attended college at South Hanover, and then began the study of law at home under the advice and instruction of Judge Major. In so doing he followed the bent of his early and most cherished inclinations. In boyhood he developed a fondness for legal discussions, and when but twelve years of - age attended the hearing of important eases in the courts. The final period of law study he prosecuted under the tuition of his unele, Judge Thomson, of Chambersburg, Pa., and was admitted to the bar at

Shelbyville. His success was not rapid, but he grew in favor by careful attention to business, and acquired a leading practice. His professional career has since been so interwoven with official life that it is next to impossible to refer to one without speaking of the other. In 1848 he was elected to the Legislature, and declined a renomination. In 1850 he was chosen without opposition senatorial delegate to the conven- tion empowered to amend the State Constitution, and took an important part in the deliberative proceed-

ings. In 1851 he was elected to Congress from the Indianapolis distriet, and re-elected in 1852, but defcated in 1854. He was in 1855 appointed com- missioner of the general land office by President Pierce. This mark of exceutive favor was expected, and the wisdom of the selection proved by the able and satisfactory manner in which the duties were discharged at a time when the sales, entries, and grants were larger than ever before in the history of the country. The term of four years in the land office

Fing2by AH tohle

The A Hendricks

VIMU

201

CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS.

was followed by an unsuccessful race for Governor in 1860. In 1862 he was chosen United States senator by the unanimous vote of his party, and during the period of his term in the Senate, the Democrats being in a small minority, he was compelled to take a prominent part in the proceedings of that body. He favored the earnest prosecution of the war, and voted for supplies to sustain the army. He was op- posed to conscription, and favored the enlistment of volunteers and payment of soldiers' bounties. At the close of the war he held that the States engaged in rebellion had at no time been out of the Union, and were therefore entitled to full representation in Con- gress. He maintained that the people of those States should have entire control of their respective State governments. These views placed him in opposition to the reconstruction poliey which was adopted by the majority in Congress. He also opposed the con- stitutional amendments because the Southern States were not represented, and because, in his opinion, such amendments should not be made before sectional passions had time to subside. He held that amend- ments to the Constitution should be considered only when the publie is in a cool, deliberative frame of mind. His term in the Senate expired March 4, 1869, when he devoted himself exclusively to the profession of law, having in 1860 removed to Indian- apolis with that end in view. In 1862 he formed a partnership with Mr. Oscar B. Hord, which was extended in 1866 to a cousin, Col. A. W. Hendricks, under the firm-name of Hendricks, Hord & Hen- drieks. The business of the firm was large, impor- tant, and lucrative. In 1872, Thomas A. Hendricks was forced to relinquish the practice of his profession by an election to the office of chief executive of the State. He accepted the nomination against his earn- est protest, but made a vigorous eontest, supporting the Greeley ticket. He was inaugurated Governor Jan. 13, 1873, and served the State in that office for four years. He gave his undivided attention to the interests of the State, his administration of public affairs being above criticism. In the politieal contest of 1876 he was the Democratic candidate for the Vice-Presidency, and carried his own State by upward of five thousand majority. After the decision of the

Electoral Commission Governor Hendricks, accom- panied by his wife, made a brief sojourn in Europe, spending the summer in a tour of Great Britain, Germany, and France. He resumed on his return the practice of law with his former partners, with the addition of ex-Governor Conrad Baker, who took Governor Hendricks' place in the firm when succeeded by him in the gubernatorial office, the firm-name being Baker, Hord & Hendricks. The personal mention of Thomas A. Hendrieks may be given briefly : he was reared in the Presbyterian faith, but has for some years been a member of the Episcopal Church, and is senior warden of St. Paul's Cathedral, Indianapolis. He was married near Cin- ciunati, Ohio, Sept. 25, 1845, to Miss Eliza C. Mor- gan, who is a granddaughter of Dr. Stephen Wood, a prominent citizen and early settler of Hamilton County, Ohio. Governor and Mrs. Hendricks have had but one child, a son born in 1848, who lived to be three years of age. The extent and character of Governor Hendricks' attainments ean be well gauged by his public and professional record. The same may be said of his political views, although he has stronger eonvietious than are eredited to him. Under a somewhat cautions, reserved manner he conceals great depth of sentiment and indomitable faith in the triumph of right over wrong, truth over envy, maliee, and detraction. In social as in public relations he is steadfast in his friendships and generous to his foes. He has a happy equanimity of temper which recon- ciles him to the inevitable and nerves him to make the best of life. A certain amount of benignity is imparted to his voice, which in carrying a point before a jury is almost irresistible. In appearance Governor Hendricks is distinguished, possessing a fine figure and a dignified presence. As his methods of thought and forms of expression are peculiar to himself, so in the execution of his plans he departs so much from the beaten track that the end in view is often lost sight of by others. It is none the less plain to him, and it is a question if he ever sought an object, the accomplishment of which depended upon his own exertions, that he did not gain.

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.

History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, Part 36

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