USA > Indiana > LaPorte County > History of La Porte County, Indiana, and its townships, towns and cities > Part 19
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Let us then once more unite ourselves for an effectual and radical change. Let us show by the unanimity of our action, that we have at
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heart the common good, and that all other and minor considerations have yielded to a deep determination to hurl the present adminis- tration from power, and that object and that only we will unceas- ingly pursue.
In the nomination of William Henry Harrison, we hail a harbinger of better times. He comes before us for our suffrages fresh from the ranks of the people, unpolluted and uncorrupted by power, untrammeled by any pledges.
He is now as he has always been, one of the people-mingling with them in their common affairs-estimating by personal experi- ence. their wants and their enjoyments; and possessing by these means, one of the greatest requisites for a ruler. For more than forty years he has been subjected to the ordeal of public opinion, and in all that time, in whatever station he was placed, whether as governor or governed, we find no charge of corruption or dishonesty attached to him, even by his enemies.
As the Governor of the Northwestern territory he has conferred more benefit upon the West, than all other rulers besides, and in his whole career in that official capacity under the successive appoint- ments of Presidents Jefferson and Madison, his whole aim was to increase the power and prosperity of his country, to render it a peaceable, happy and profitable home to its people, without in one solitary instance, looking towards his own personal aggrandizement.
Of his conduct as a soldier in defence of his country, it is not necessary for us here to speak. We live upon the ground where his battles were fought, and if any shall seek information of him there, we refer them to the hundreds around us. who shared those battles with him. Go ask of them, and if there can be found one solitary brave man who bared his bosom at the side of Harrison, in that strife, whose blood at a charge of dishonor against his general, will not boil, and his spirit leap to hurl back the charge in the teeth of the slanderer, then let his character rest upon the opinion of that single man.
The battle fields of Tippecanoe, of Fort Meigs and of the Thames, present to the world unperishable monuments of his fame as a soldier, and upon that evidence he may safely rest.
As a statesman, he stands the admitted equal of those with whom
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he has acted. and calumny itself has never dared to assail him there.
The latter part of his life has been occupied in agricultural pur- suits-retired from the world, a private man. seeking no place or power, he has devoted himself to the business of agriculture, and in that position he is found when now called upon by the unanimous voice of the largest convention ever assembled in the Union, to assume the office of President of the United States. With the decision of that convention we most cordially agree. To the candi- dates then presented to us, we pledge our undivided support: Therefore.
Resolved, That as citizens of Indiana, we know no man to whom we are under greater obligations as a people than to Wm. Henry Harrison. nor any one whose virtue and talents more entitle him to our undivided support for the office of President of the United States.
Resolved, That we hail the nomination, of the Hon John Tyler of Virginia, for the office of Vice President of the United States. as a covenant between the North and the South. and we shall look upon his election as evidence that our government will be administered upon the principles of the times of Washington and Jefferson. when patriotism held the place. now unsurped by party. With such can- didates as Harrison and Tyler we shall not only achieve. but we shall merit success.
Resolved, That the letter of Senator Foster of Tennessee. in answer to the instructions of a party legislature of his State. is just such a response as we hope every Whig would make to such instructions. Tis a fit answer from a patriot to such servile pan- derers, for their official masters.
Resolved, That we approve of the plan of holding a State conven- tion at Indianapolis, on the 16th of January. 1840. for nominating candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, and an electoral ticket. and that W. W. Higgins. J. M. Barclay. Dr. S. Everts, S. Stewart, M. Osborn. S. Vanpelt, C. W. Henry. Miles J. Henry. J. H. Bradley, William Clark. J. M. Stuart and W. J. Walker. be appointed delegates to represent the county of LaPorte in said State convention, with power to supply any vacancy in their own body.
Resolved, That our delegates to the State convention be instructed to present the name of Abraham P. Andrew, Jr., to the convention as a candidate for elector of President and Vice President. for northern Indiana.
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Resolved, That we recommend the holding of a convention of delegates from the several counties, in March next, at Valparaiso, in Porter county, to nominate a Whig candidate to be supported by us for Senator, from this senatorial district. and that Josiah Grover, of Noble township, O. A. Barker of Michigan, W. H. H. White- head of Wills, John Reynolds, of Hudson, Gilbert Rose, of Spring- field. A. Blackburn, of Kankakee, Dr. Whitcomb, of Clinton, D. G. Rose, of Scipio, James M. Ray, of New Durham, Samuel Stewart, of Pleasant, Wm. Allen, of Centre and David Harmon of Galena, be appointed delegates to represent La Porte county in said convention.
Resolved. That a committee of three residing in LaPorte county be appointed to correspond with other counties in relation to hold- ing the said senatorial convention, with authority to agree upon the exact time for holding the convention: whereupon. the chair appointed Dr. S. Everts. C. W. Henry and Reuben Munday, Esq., said committee.
On motion, Resolved, That Jacob Early, John B. Niles, D. Closser. Wm. Andrew. John H. Bradley, Joseph Orr, Aaron Stanton, M. H. Orton and Henry Fredrickson, be appointed a central committee for this county, for the ensuing year.
On motion, Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the President, Vice Presidents, and countersigned by the clerk. and published in the LaPorte County Whig and Michigan City Guzette.
JOHN C. REID. President.
J. BIGELOW.
J. M. BARCLAY.
Vice Presidents.
J. M. STUART, Secretary."
The feeling towards those who were opposed to slavery. and were hence called " Abolitionists" has already been alluded to; and it is thought advisable to present here further evidence of the feeling that existed towards these sincere and conscientious men. In the LaPorte Herald of March 7, 1840, there appeared a long article entitled " Abolitionism," written by Wilber F. Storey, one of the editors, and now the editor-in-chief, and proprietor of the Chicago Times. The following passages are copied from that article:
" During two weeks past considerable excitement has existed in this county in consequence of the presence of two emissaries or missionaries sent from some hot-bed of Abolitionism to enlighten the benighted inhabitants of Indiana on this nefarious subject.
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HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
Pursuant to notice previously given a few (there are but few in the county), of these "friends of the poor negro," met at the Court House in this place, on Monday the 26th inst.
The notice of this meeting we are sorry to say, was published in this paper. When we published the Herald we did not admit any of their notices or proceedings into our columns, for the reason that we believed the Abolitionists to be no better than traitors to their country. Mr. Lomax, however, admits them when a subscriber to the paper requests it. For our own part, if we published a paper we would not wish to have a single abolition subscriber: and we hope the Democratic party will use every means to drive them out of the ranks, if there be any in. But an Abolitionist cannot con- sistently be a Democrat.
We have heard the question frequently asked why such a swarm of abolition lecturers are overrunning the country, and how they support themselves ? We think we can satisfactorily answer the question. There is a society in existence which is styled the ' American Anti-Slavery Society.' By some means this society obtains large amounts of money. Well, for money, a large number. of loafers, who are too indolent to earn their bread honestly, can be found who will travel about the country and lecture on abolitionism. Their salary is usually about four or five hundred dollars per year, and their expenses paid. But it must be recollected their expenses are very trifling, as they are instructed to practice a system of sponging wherever they go. Our readers will therefore observe that it is from no honest motive that they lecture on abolition.
We hope that if we are again troubled with abolition loafers, the people of the county will meet in convention, pass resolutions on the subject, and appoint a committee to request them to leave town. We think it a very proper course to pursue. If they do not obey the will of the people, coercive measures will be proper.
W. F. S."
Thus is presented as fully as the facts can be obtained from original documents, the principles and attitude of parties in La- Porte county in the year 1840. Party feeling was up to fever heat. The Democrats held the national administration, and the prestige of official power, the President, Martin Van Buren, being
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a candidate for re-election. The greater degre of enthusiasm was called out by the Whigs, whose candidates "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" were the theme of song and shout and many a log-cabin dis- play. The candidate for congress in each party was a man of brilliant parts. E. A. Hannegan, candidate of the Democratic party, was a captivating speaker, and a lawyer who at the bar had few superiors. Henry S. Lane the Whig candidate was then in the vigor of his manhood and a popular speaker of great eloquence. swaying an audience almost at his will. These two candidates made a thorough canvass of the district, speaking at all available points. Col. Lane spoke at various points in LaPorte county, as did also his Democratic competitor, evoking the highest enthusiam of their respective retainers. Senatorial, representative and county candidates all worked with a vigor and earnestness that had never before been equaled. The election for State and county officers came on in August, and the Whigs were victorious.
The county vote in detail at the election in August was as fol- lows for each candidate:
Whig. Vote. Democrat. Vote.
Governor, Samuel Bigger,
1004; Tilghman A. Howard. 778
Lt. Governor, Samuel Hall,
1009 ; Benjamin S. Tuley, 770
Congress, Henry S. Lane,
1015: Edward A. Hannegan. 760
State Senator. S. Everts,
1013; Charles W. Cathcart. 765
Representative, Daniel Brown, 963; Willard A. Place. 809
Sheriff, William Allen,
941; Wm. M. Patterson, 832
774
Commissioner, Henly Clyburn, 994; DeWitt Strong,
School Com. Abel Lomax,
577 ; Abram Fravel, 481
Independent, John B. Fravel, 692
At the Presidential election in November, the Harrison electors received one thousand and sixty-nine votes, and the Van Buren electors six hundred and thirty-nine votes.
Having now presented very fully the position of parties in 1840, and shown the efforts put forth by each to win success, there is here exhibited a rapid glance at the state of parties in the county from the date of the first election for President ever held in the county, the 7th day of November, 1832. In the August preceding, an election was held for the purpose of electing a State Senator. a
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HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
Representative in the State legislature, one Sheriff, one Coroner, one Probate Judge, one justice of the peace and one school com- missioner. Seventy-seven votes were cast at this election, and where party lines were drawn on any candidates it resulted in a slight majority for the Whig, Samuel Hanna having received a few votes more than his competitor, Pleasant Harris. At this election Elisha Egbert and George Crawford were the opposing candidates for Representative to the State legislature. At the presidential election in November, one hundred and fifteen votes were cast, and the following are the names of the persons who voted:
George Cline, Wm. C. Thrall, James Holder. John Morgan, Isaac Morgan, John Carter, John Barnet, Wm. Garwood, Gaines Munger, Win. Morgan. Jesse Sherwood, Wm. White, Josiah Bryant, Charles Campbell, Samuel Weston, Charles West. Joseph Orr, Nathaniel Steele. Levi Garwood. Alden Tucker, John Davis. Elisha Newhall, Jonathan Sherwood. John Broadhead. James Hutchins, Jeremiah Sherwood. Ezekiel Provolt, Myron Ives, Daniel Murray. Asa M. Warren. Elias Brown, Michael Brand. Jacob Miller. James Mc- Cormick. Absalom Holder. John Miller. Wm. Miller. Jesse Willetts, Amos Dyer. Arthur Irwin. John Wills. Basil Sperry. Aurea Sperry, Levi Brown. John Ireland, Joseph Lykins. Wm. Ireland. Alexan- der Blackburn. Andrew Shaw. James Nixon. Emery A. Brown. Philip Fail, Sanford Utley. Jesse M. West. Henry F. Jones, John Jones, Nathan B. Nichols, James Highley. Gamaliel Druliner, Wm. Thorp, Edmund Luther, Barzilla Druliner. George Thomas. A. P. Andrew. Jr., Benjamin McCarty. Adam Thornton. Jacob Coleman, John Sailor. Richard Harris, Christopher McClure. Wm. F. Hor- ton. Absalom Rambo, Orra Morse. Ira Robinson, Wm. McCarty, Joseph Osborn, Wilson Malone, Elijah H. Brown, Wm. Phillips, James Andrew, John Whitaker. John Stanton. Arba Heald, Elijah Stanton, Joseph P. Osborn. Adam G. Polke. Joshua Wilson, Adam Keith, Charles Morley, Wm. Thomas. James Thomas, Samuel Har- mison. Samuel Hoover, Stephen Brayton, John Coleman, R. S. Morrison, Lewis Shirley. In Kankakee township, John Wills was inspector; Ezekiel Provolt and Myron Ives were the clerks, and Nathan B. Nichols and Asa M. Warren the judges. In Scipio township. the inspector was A. P. Andrew. Jr .: the judges were
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Charles Morley and Ira Richardson, and the clerks were Samuel Hoover and R. S. Morrison. For New Durham township, the inspector was Elisha Newhall; the clerks were James Hutchins and Joseph Orr, and the judges were Wm. Morgan and Wm. Garwood. Of the votes cast fifty-nine were for the electors for Henry Clay, and fifty-six were for the electors for Andrew Jackson.
The next annual election was held on the 5th day of August, 1833. Edward A. Hannegan and Albert S. White were candidates for congress, and White received a small majority in this county. There were several candidates for Representative to the State legis- lature, among them George Crawford, who led all the rest.
The tally paper for the election held in LaPorte county on the 4th day of August. 1834. shows that Noah Noble received three hundred and twenty-eight votes for the office of Governor, and James G. Reed one hundred and fifty, which probably exhibits the rela- tive strength of the two parties at the time. The largest vote cast for any candidate was for the candidate for Governor, and the vote could not have been controlled by local influences, as in the case of the county candidates, the result on whom was divided between the two parties.
At the annual election in 1835, while the Whig candidates for county offices were elected, the county went Democratic on candi- dates for Congress, State Senator and Representative to the State legislature. For Congress, E. A. Hannegan received six hundred and twelve votes, and James Gregory one hundred and sixty-three : for State Senator D. H. Colerick received two hundred and ninety- three votes, and Wm. G. Ewing two hundred and seventy-seven ; for Representative in the State legislature, Charles W. Cathcart received four hundred and thirty-three votes, Samuel Miller two hundred and twelve, and J. A. Liston one hundred and thirty-four.
The annual election of 1836, was held on the first day of August, and the Whig candidates were generally successful in the county, though the vote was very close, Gustavus A. Everts receiving four hundred and sixty-eight votes for State Senator, and David Evans four hundred and sixty-seven. There were six candidates voted for, for Sheriff, and Sutton VanPelt received three hundred and twenty- four votes and Dudley Avery three hundred and one, while the vote of others was small.
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HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
Another presidential election occurred in November of this year. The candidates were Martin Van Buren and Gen. Harrison. The VanBuren electors received four hundred and ninety votes, and the Harrison electors four hundred and fifty-two votes. A. P. Andrew, Jr., was one of the electors on the Whig ticket. The returning board for LaPorte county at this election consisted of Adam G. Polke, Ezra Tyler, C. W. Brown, Jacob Drom, Gale Martin, John Mather and Wm. Ruby. There was also an election this year for associate judge, at which Elisha Newhall received one hundred and sixty two votes and Gustavus A. Rose, two hundred and eight votes.
At the August election of 1837. the Whigs were victorious. David Wallace received seven hundred and thirty nine votes for Governor against two hundred and two for John Dumont. For Congress Albert S. White received seven hundred and one votes against two hundred and twenty three for Nathan Jackson. For State Senator John H. Bradley received five hundred and seven votes against four hundred and sixty-seven for Charles W. Cathcart. For county offices, the Whigs, with one or two exceptions, were elected.
In 1838, the Whigs were again successful. and in 1840, the elections all resulted in their favor, as already shown in detail.
The contest of 1840. was one of the most excited campaign years the country has ever witnessed. This county was aroused in full proportion to the vehement state of public feeling elsewhere; and never before in the county, had there been so active a political con- flict. With one exception, that of the independent candidate for school commissioner. the Whigs elected all their candidates, and as LaPorte county went, so went that year, the State and the Nation. If there was any rejoicing over the result, when it was known that there was victory all around the sky, and if there was any profuse drinking of hard cider, which is highly probable, the fact must be left to rest within the knowledge of those who participated.
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CHAPTER XXII.
POLITICS .- Continued.
On the 3d day of May, 1841, an election for Representative in Congress was held in the District of which LaPorte was a part, then the seventh, and the candidates were Henry S. Lane and John Brice, the former the Whig candidate, and the latter the Demo- cratic. LaPorte gave three hundred and ten majority to the Whig candidate, the total vote being seven hundred and seventy-nine for Lane, and four hundred and sixty-nine for Brice. Of the town- ships, Centre, Michigan, Scipio, Noble, Pleasant, Wills, Clinton, Union, Galena and Kankakee gave Whig majorities, and Spring- field, Hudson and New Durham Democratic majorities. At the following August election some of the Democratic candidates were elected. At that time the county elected two Representatives to the State legislature, and for the different candidates the vote was as follows: J. W. Chapman, eight hundred and fifty-one: J. H. Bradley, six hundred and ninety-eight; A. Blackburn, five hun- dred and six; G. A. Everts, three hundred and twenty-three. For Probate Judge the vote stood, for J. R. Wells, seven hundred and fifteen ; S. Stewart, six hundred and fifty-four. For County Auditor. J. D. Collings received four hundred and seventy votes; J. M. Barclay, four hundred and forty-seven; S. G. Hunt, two hundred and thirty-three; and Abram Fravel, two hundred and fifteen. For County Treasurer, W. A. Place received eight hundred and forty votes, and Wyllis Peck five hundred and seventy-seven. For
County Commissioners in the first and second Districts, P. Hunt and B. Beard were elected by handsome majorities. P. S. Weed was elected Assessor without opposition, J. G. Newhouse was elected Coroner over J. Bigelow by six majority, and S. Treat, J. C. Reid and John B. Niles were elected county Seminary Trustees.
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HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
The county was evidently still Whig in politics as was manifest by the vote on the candidates for Representatives.
The August election of 1842, was again for county offices only, and the vote for the leading candidates was as follows: For Rep- resentatives. J. H. Bradley, eight hundred and thirty-nine; John Francis, eight hundred and fifty-four; John Chapman, seven hun- dred and seventy ; A. B. Brown, twenty-nine. For Sheriff. J. M. Clarkson. seven hundred and ninety-five: Wm. Allen. seven
hundred and eighty. For Commissioner first District. Phineas Hunt, one thousand and twenty-eight; Jacob V. Heckman, two hundred and ten. For Recorder. Burwell Spurlock, one thousand two hundred and one: J. F. Reynolds, one hundred and fifty-six : J. W. Teeple, fifty-one.
The election of 1843. was for Governor, Lieutenant Governor. Congress. State Senator. Representatives, County Auditor. County commissioner. School commissioner. Assessor, Coroner, and Prose- cuting attorney. The parties having candidates in the field were Democrat. Whig and Abolitionist. The Whig candidate for Gov- ernor, Samuel Bigger, received eight hundred and thirty-nine votes to six hundred and ninety-nine for James Whitcomb. and fifty-four for Elizur Deming. The Abolitionist candidates throughout received about fifty votes each. For Lieutenant Governor. John H. Bradley, received seven hundred and ninety-two votes and Jesse D. Bright seven hundred and sixteen votes. For Congress. Samuel C. Sample received eight hundred and forty-one votes and Ebenezer M. Chamberlain six hundred and ninety-six votes. For State Senator Sylvanus Everts received eight hundred and twenty-one votes and J. W. Chapman seven hundred and seventeen votes. For Representatives Wm. Allen received eight hundred and twenty- eight votes. Ferdinand Roberts seven hundred and ninety-seven votes. Charles W. Cathcart seven hundred and thirty-six votes and James Bradley six hundred and ninety-three votes. James Mc- Cord and Hezekiah Robertson were candidates for County com- missioner. and McCord was elected: Joel Butler and Joseph Lomax were candidates for County Auditor, and Butler was elected ; Thomas B. Cole and Samuel Treat were candidates for Assessor, and Treat was elected: E. B. Woodson and D. M. Leaming were
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candidates for School commissioner, and Woodson was elected: Orrin J. Minor and John Closser were candidates for Coroner, and Minor was elected; Reuben L. Farnsworth and Michael C. Dough- erty were candidates for Prosecuting attorney, and Farnsworth received one hundred and thirty-two majority. With few excep- tions, the Whig candidates were elected. the average majority being one hundred.
The abolitionist candidates were, for Governor, Elizur Deming: for Lieutenant Governor, Stephen S. Harding; for Congress. Jacob Bigelow: for State Senator, Robert Stewart: for Representatives. Theodore Catlin and Herbert Williams; for County commissioners. Jonathan Williams: for School commissioner. Elnathan Gregory : for Assessor. Mead Catlin : for Coroner, Judson Sawin : for County Auditor, A. Bigelow.
At the August election of 1844, J. M. Barclay and A. L. Osborn were elected Representatives to the State legislature. over Samuel Treat and Thomas P. Armstrong by small majorities. W. A. Place was elected County Treasurer over David G. Rose by two hundred and forty majority. Harrison Hinkley was elected Sheriff over Wm. Allen by twenty-eight majority. George H. Havens was elected Assessor over Foster by forty-four majority. J. S. McDowell was elected Coroner over John Closser by thirty-four majority. A. Lathrop, Charles Vail and H. Robertson were elected County commissioners, over J. V. Hickman, Mark Allen and A. Bigelow. The Abolitionist or Liberty candidates were, for Representatives, Jesse Jones and Wyllis Peck ; for Sheriff, Joshua R. Shedd : for County Treasurer. Ingraham Gould: for Assessor. Theodore' Catlin; for Commissioners, Joel Lewis, Judson Sawin and Herbert Williams: for Coroner. Jonathan Williams. In this
year political strife ran high. A President of the United States was to be elected and the electoral tickets were before the people to be voted on in November. Besides the two great parties, the Aboli- tionists also presented an electoral ticket. Among the elector; were many well known names. Henry S. Lane and Joseph G. Marshall were electors at large on the Whig ticket, and among the District electors were George G. Dunn, Richard W. Thompson and Horace P. Biddle. The Democratic electors at large were Graham
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HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
N. Fitch and James G. Read; and among the District electors were Samuel E. Perkins, Paris C. Dunning, Henry W. Ellsworth and Charles W. Cathcart. They all canvassed actively, making numer- ·ous speeches for their respective chiefs, Henry Clay and James K. Polk. If the result of that great combat had depended on LaPorte county, Henry Clay would have been numbered among the Presi- dents of the United States, for the Whig electors received in this county a vote of one thousand and nine, to eight hundred and thirty- one votes for the Democratic electors, and fifty-three votes for the Abolitionist electors, whose candidate was James G. Birney.
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