USA > Indiana > Vanderburgh County > History of Vanderburgh County, Indiana, from the earliest times to the present, with biographical sketches, reminiscences, etc. > Part 47
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which was his home and the theater of his professional activity, until his removal to Indianapolis. He was elected in 1845 to represent Vanderburgh county in the gen- eral assembly, and served one term. He was the first judge of the court of common pleas for the first district, as has been noted in the account of that court. At the birth of the republican party, in 1856, his was the second name on its first state ticket. He was nominated for lieutenant-governor, without his knowledge and without effort on his part, on the ticket headed by Oliver P. Morton. They were defeated, and Willard and Hammond elected. In the next cam- paign, in which Morton was elected, he was not a candidate, but in the war, which soon afterward broke out, he did an honorable and valuable part. In 1861, he was com- missioned colonel of the First Cavalry (Twenty-eighth regiment), and served in that position over three years. From Au- gust, 1861, to April, 1863, he commanded either his own regiment or a brigade in the field in Missouri, Arkansas and Mississippi. At the latter date, the times demanding men of his stamp in the work, he was summoned by telegraph, the order from the secretary of war reaching him at Helena, Ark., and required to repair at once to Indianapolis and report to the provost marshal general. On his arrival at Indian- apolis he was detailed to act as assistant provost marshal general for Indiana, and as such to organize the provost marshal gen- eral's bureau in this state. He performed the duties of this place, superintending vol- unteer recruiting and acting as chief muster- ing officer until August, 1864, when his term of service having expired, he was re- lieved at his own request and with his regi- ment was mustered out a few weeks later. In 1864 the republicans renominated Gov. Morton, and Gen. Natham Kimball
having declined the nomination for the second place, the central committee tendered the nomination for lieutenant-governor to Mr. Baker. Early in the year following their election, Gov. Morton was stricken with disease, and he called the legislature in special session and went to Europe in search of health, leaving Gov. Baker in charge of the executive department during five months. At the next session of the legisla- ture Gov. Morton was elected United States senator, and Mr. Baker again assumed the duties of governor. He was unanimously nominated for governor by the republican convention of 1868, and was elected after a memorable campaign by the small majority of 961 over that formidable competitor, Thomas A. Hendricks. In that intense political struggle, when every possible fail- ing of a candidate that could be used to his discredit was eagerly sought for, it was a remarkable fact that against Conrad Baker, who had been acting chief executive for some time, no charge of misconduct as a man or as an officer was laid. His succeed- ing administration of four years was like- wise honest and conscientious. After the retirement of Mr. Baker from the guberna . torial chair, he became associated in the famous law firm of Baker, Hord & Hend- ricks, and made his home in Indianapolis during the remainder of his life.
MORRIS STANBERRY JOHNSON, for four years judge of the common pleas court of the first district of Indiana, was a choice spirit in the earlier history of Evansville as a city. He was a man in whom the ele- ments of intellect and heart were well com- mingled, who was as conspicuous as a genial and hospitable gentleman as he was notable as a barrister and judge. He was a native of the state of New Jersey, born at Morristown March 15, 1817. His mother was a daughter of the Col. Stanberry who
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fought at the battle of White Plains, in the war of the revolution, and she was a cousin of Henry Stanberry, of Newport, Ky., who was attorney general of the United States during the administration of Andrew John- son, and who acted as one of the attorneys for the defense in the impeachment trial. In early life Mr. Johnson turned his studies in the direction of the law, but owing to the desires of his family he devoted himself to business until his thirty-fifth year. In 1844 he came to Evansville, and in that year. the firm of Johnson & Crane, Isaac A. Crane being the junior partner, began do- ing business in the line of wholesale and re- tail dry goods. The firm was dissolved after a few years, and Mr. Johnson continued the business alone. He removed for a short time to Newburgh, but soon returned to Evansville, and revived his study of law in the office of Gen. James E. Blythe. He soon afterward began the practice of law and formed a partnership with John Law and Charles I. Battell. He was success- ful from the beginning as a lawyer, and gained a large and lucrative practice. In 1848 he took an active part in the presiden- tial campaign, as a supporter of Taylor and Fillmore, the whig candidates. After the demise of that party, however, he allied himself with the democrats. His first appearance as a candidate in the political arena was when he was nominated for mayor in 1862. He made a gallant can- vass, but was defeated by William Baker by fifty votes. In 1867, Mr. Johnson was elected judge of the first common pleas dis- trict, to fill a vacancy. His competitor was Maj. A. L. Robinson, who held the office by appointment of the governor. The fol- lowing year Judge Johnson was elected over Isaac S. Moore, of Boonville, for a full term, and held the office until December, 1871. In 1840 he had been married to
Miss Charlotte Warner, of New York. No children were bornto them. The death of Judge Johnson occurred in 1872.
COLONEL JACOB S. BUCHANAN, attorney and counselor at law, was born in Jefferson county, Ind., in February, 1822. His paternal grandfather was a native of the north of Ireland and of Scotch descent; his maternal grandfather was a German. His father, a native of Westmoreland county, Penn., was reared in Lexington, Ky., and about the year 1800, settled on the Ohio river, about twenty miles above Madison, Ind. Some two or three years afterward, with three of his brothers, he went into Jef- ferson county, Ind., where they built a block- house and stockade as a defense against Indian attacks, and became pioneer farmers. Jacob S. Buchanan was reared on a farm, near Vevay, Switzerland county, Ind., to which his father had removed with his family when he was a child. His early edu- cation was received at the common country schools during the winter months, and was supplemented by a year's study with a private tutor, after he was twenty-one years old. He had begun to read law at the age of eighteen years, more to satisfy a natural fondness for study than with a view of tak- ing it up as a profession, and he continued this until he was admitted to practice in 1849. In the following year he opened a law office at Versailles, Ind., and suc- ceeded in obtaining a good practice in the two years of his stay there. He then re- moved to Charlestown, Clark county, Ind., where he soon acquired a good practice, which he retained until the breaking out of the civil war. Then, abandoning his pro- fession, he went to his old home at Vevay, raised a company, and entered the United States cavalry service. Subsequently this company became a part of the Third Indiana cavalry, a regiment distinguished in the an-
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nals of the country for its heroic achieve- ments. Captain Buchanan was promoted to the lieutenant colonelcy of the regiment and was in command of it during the most of his military service. Col. Buchanan in November, 1862, was then taken sick for the third time during his service and by the ad- vice of the surgeons resigned and returned home to his family at Vevay. After his partial recovery heremoved to Greensburg, Decatur county, Ind., but was unable, on account of continued ill health, to remain there, and in about a year, by the advice of physicians, removed to Arkansas. There for two years and a half he managed a plantation, recu- perated his health, and, in 1866, removed to this city, where he again commenced the practice of law. Within a year he succeeded in gaining a considerable patronage, and has gradually acquired a large practice. Ile is 'now the senior member of the law firm of Buchanan & Buchanan, and is regarded as one of the most successful lawyers in the city. He has a strong love for the practice of law, but detests technicalities. In the trial of his cases he is absolutely fair to all parties concerned; is very frank and candid in all his dealings with every one, and to this may be attributed, to a great extent, his success. As an advocate, he is earnest and effective, a fluent speaker, and powerful in argument before both court and jury. In his early years he was a whig, and upon the formation of the republican party allied himself therewith, but has never been, in any sense of the word, a partisan. He has invariably refused to accept any elective office, having on various occasions declined nomina- tions. He was married in January, 1848, to Miss Julia A. Sauvain, a descendant of one of the French families that settled at Gallipolis, Ohio, toward the beginning of the present century. Three children, now living, are the fruits of this marriage: Cicero, the oldest,
who is the junior partner in the firm of Buchanan & Buchanan, himself distinguished as a lawyer and citizen because of his natural brilliancy as a speaker, his thorough conversancy with every branch of law, and his aggressive public spiritedness. Mrs. Mary O. Flower, the widow of the late Rev. George E. Flower, who is now living in Evansville with her brother and actively engaged in works of charity for the poor and friendless. Scott Buchanan, the youngest son, is now residing in the state of Dakota, extensively engaged in wheat growing, and is one of the best farmers in the state.
CICERO BUCHANAN, attorney at law, was born on a farm near Vevay, Switzerland county, Ind., November 23, 1848, and is the son of Col. Jacob S. and Julia A. (Sau- vain) Buchanan. He received a collegiate education, graduating from Eureka College, at Eureka, Ill., in 1869. He then began the study of law in the office of his father in Evansville, and was admitted to practice in 1871. In the following year he went to Oregon, where he practiced his profession one year, being associated with the firm of Mitchell & Dolph, of Portland. The senior member of this firm was the well- known United States senator from Oregon. Returning to Evansville, Mr. Buchanan entered the practice again at this place, where he has since remained. He is the junior member of the firm of Buchanan & Buchanan, whose extensive practice em- braces many important cases in the district, state, and federal courts. His familiarity with the law, and his abilities as a speaker, have given him a prominent place among the ablest members of the Evansville bar. In politics he is a staunch republican and by his brilliancy and effectiveness as a pub- lic speaker, has largely contributed to the success of that party for many years past.
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Being selected as the republican candidate for presidential elector for the first district of Indiana, in 1888, he canvassed the district in a most vigorous and telling manner. He was pitted in joint discussion against one of the ablest exponents of democratic doctrines -Judge S. B. Vance-and in a masterly way, with convincing logic and a happy style of presentation, handled the abstruse questions which formed the issues of the cam- paign. Everywhere his power as an orator and debater was recognized, and left a last- ing influence. The spirit of progress is one of his possessions. Every wise effort to ad- vance the public good finds in him an earn- est friend and supporter. He takes an active interest in the work of temperance, and the betterment of the moral condition of the community. In the Masonic fraternity he has attained exalted rank, being now eminent commander of LaValette com- mandery, K. T. He was married September 2, 1874, to Miss Anna, daughter of Francis Allen, a pioneer citizen of this city. To this union two children have been born.
MAJOR HAMILTON ALLEN MATTISON, at- torney and counselor at law, was born in South Berlin, New York, September 23, 1832, and is the son of Allen J. and Lucy Mattison. His grandfather, Allen Mattison, was a Rhode Island Quaker, who joined the revolutionary army in 1775, under Gen. Nathaniel Greene, and fought at the battle of Bunker Hill. Some time after the close of the revolutionary war, he removed with his family to South Berlin, Rensselaer county, N. Y., where he resided until his death at the age of eighty-four years. Hamilton A. Mattison was reared on a farm, and his early instruction was received in a common coun- try school where he attended about three months in a year. His ambition as a boy was to obtain a good education, and at the age of nineteen years, he entered the New
York Conference Seminary, at Charlotteville, N. Y., where he pursued his studies, at the same time earning by his own labor, as assist- ant teacher, the means necessary to support himself and pay for his tuition. Later he entered Union College, from which institu- tion, under the presidency of the distin- guished educator, Dr. Eliphalet Nott, he graduated in 1860. From the fall of that year until the summer of 1862, he was prin- cipal of the Bacon Seminary, at Woodstown, N. J. In July, 1862, during the progress of the civil war, convinced that it was his duty to respond to President Lincoln's call for troops, he enlisted and raised a company of recruits which became part of the Twelfth New Jersey regiment. Before leaving the state he was commissioned second lieu- tenant and received successive promotions as first lieutenant, captain and major. He was on the staffs of Gens. Alexander Hayes and Nelson A. Miles, and was actively en- gaged in about twenty-five battles, received three wounds at Chancellorsville - from one of which he never entirely recovered - was wounded twice afterward and had his horse shot under him at the battle of the Wilder- ness, at which time he was made a prisoner of war. On that battlefield he was intro- duced to Gen. Lee and held a conversation with him. Here began a chapter of hard- ships in the life of Maj. Mattison such as can be appreciated only by men who have undergone similar sufferings in southern prison pens. He was first taken to Lynch- burg, Va., thence to Macon, Ga., and there confined " on short rations " from the latter part of May until about the first of July, when he was taken to Savannah, Ga. He was one of fifty federal officers taken from this place by the rebel authorities and placed under the fire of the federal guns while they were shelling the city of Charleston from Folly Island. After several weeks, with
-
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others, he was taken to Columbia, S. C., and put in a pen exposed to all kinds of weather, without shelter of any kind, and fed only on coarse corn-meal and sorghum. Here through intense suffering he remained until November 28, when, in company with
a fellow prisoner, Rev. John Scamahorn,
well known in Evansville, he made his escape. Without money or food and with a scanty supply of clothing,
the two took to the woods and started out
ยท to meet Sherman's army which they
They traveled across the state of South believed to be on its way to Augusta, Ga.
Carolina, walking by night and concealing themselves in the woods and swamps during
the day. Reaching the Savannah river,
they took possession of a small boat and ran
the gauntlet of rebel guards and steamers until they reached the lines of Sherman's army at Savannah, which place had been
had traveled nearly 1,500 miles through captured subsequent to their escape. They
a rebel country and were nearly prostrated with fatigue. General Sherman ordered Maj. Mattison to report to the army of the Potomac as soon as he was able to return to duty. After visiting his home in New York, he rejoined the army of the Potomac about March Ist, 1865, and took part in all the battles in which that army was engaged un- til the surrender of Lee, some six weeks later. He was mustered out of service at the close of the war, and soon after entered the Albany Law School from which he grad- uated in 1866, receiving the degree of LL: B. The same year he married the daughter of Hon. Marinus Fairchild, of Salem, N. Y. He began the practice of law at Salem, in partnership with his father-in-law. In February, 1868, he re- moved to Evansville and in the following fall took an active part in the political cam- paign, advocating the election of Gen.
Grant for president. In 1870, he was
reappointed to the same office in 1888. Ever pointed city attorney for Evansville, and was abolishment by law. In 1887 he was ap- charged the duties of the office until its Waite, register in bankruptcy, and dis- pointed, by United States Chief Justice a term of two years. In 1876 he was ap- elected by the people to the same office for a vacancy. In the fall of 1872 he was the Vanderburgh county criminal court, to fill nor to the office of prosecuting attorney of of accepting the appointment by the gover- office in the following year for the purpose appointed county attorney, but resigned the
since his coming to Evansville Maj. Matti-
son has taken an active part in city, county,
the national republican convention of 1876 the party were largely due. He attended and skillful management the successes of mittee of the county and city, and to his able chairman of the republican executive com- and state politics. He served four years as
as an alternate delegate at large from the
his knowledge or consent (not being for the congressional nomination, without friends to the republican district convention In 1888 his name was presented by his a high reputation throughout the district. state. As a forcible stump speaker he has
present at the time), and was defeated by
became a member of the Masonic fraternity the Hon. F. B. Posey by but one vote. He Lodge, No. 316, of this city, by demit in at Troy. N. Y., in 1862, and joined Reed mandery of Knights Templar in 1872, and I868; became a member of La Valette com- past master of Reed lodge, past high priest has held many important offices; and is now and past eminent commander. He joined Trinity Methodist Episcopal church soon after moving to Evansville, and ever since has been an active member of both church and Sunday-school. His first wife having
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died in 1873, he was again married Febru- ary 7, 1878, to Miss Henrietta M. Bennett, of Evansville, formerly of Brooklyn, N. Y. He has one daughter, the issue of his first marriage. Maj. Mattison is numbered among the leading lawyers in Evansville, and has been eminently successful in the practice. As a public officer he has been faithful to every trust and has performed every duty in a praiseworthy manner. He is a genial, kind-hearted, and courteous gen- tleman, and is esteemed as a man of honor and strict integrity in all business matters.
JUDGE AZRO DYER, for many years a prominent member of the Evansville bar, and at present judge of the superior court of Vanderburgh county, was born in Rum- sey, Ky., March 12, 1836. His father, Dillis Dyer, was a native of Connecticut, but emigrated to Kentucky at the age of eighteen years. He studied law in that state, and for many years practiced his pro- fession at Hartford, Ohio county. During twenty-five years he held places of trust and influence in the affairs of the state. As representative and state senator, he took a prominent part in developing the internal im- provement system of Kentucky, and as an agent of the state caused the erection and had the subsequent management of the locks and dams on Green and Barren rivers, that have recently passed under the control of the gen- eral government. Azro Dyer attended the well-known school of Frank Griffin, at Hartford, Ky. Later he pursued his studies at Rochester University, N. Y., and in 1854 entered the junior class of Dartmouth Col- lege, from which institution he graduated, June, 1856, delivering to President Lord the farewell address for the class. While at Dartmouth he was a member of the Greek so- ciety, Alpha Delta Phi. He was also a mem- ber of the college society, " Social Friends," of which he was for a time the president.
Returning to Kentucky he read law with Judge J. W. Becker, and attended the law school in Louisville, Ky., from which he graduated in March, 1858. From that time he practiced law in McLean county, Ky., until July, 1864, when he removed to Evans- ville, Ind., where he has since resided. For thirteen years he was engaged in the active practice of his profession, and concerned in many important trials in the courts during that time. In March, 1877, the superior court of Vanderburgh county was organized by an act of the legislature, and upon the request of the members of the Evansville bar, he was appointed by Gov. Williams as presiding judge of the new court, which position he held until the general election in October, 1878, when he was elected for the term of four years. So acceptable has been his service in this important position, that he has been twice re-elected to the office by the people, and is now serving his twelfth year. His ability, promptness and faithful- ness to duty have been recognized by attor- neys, litigants and all persons having busi- ness in the court. In 1878, in company with Gen. Ben Harrison and Judge Mitchell (now of the supreme bench), he represented the Indiana Bar Association at the convention of the American Bar Association held at Saratoga, N. Y., in that year. Judge Dyer was married January 3, 1861, to Prudence L., daughter of Henry J. Bell, of Livermore, Kentucky.
HON. CHARLES DENBY, a distinguished lawyer and diplomat, was born in Botetourt county, Va., and is now about fifty-eight years of age. His education included three years at Georgetown College, in the District of Columbia. Afterward he entered the Virginia Military Institute, where he grad- uated with high honors. He was a profes- sor in the Masonic University, at Salem, Ala., until 1853, when he located in this city
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and edited the Daily Enquirer, the first democratic daily published in Evansville. While editing this paper for his support he began the study of the law in the office of the late Gov. Conrad Baker, then a prac- ticing attorney in this city. In 1856 he was elected a member of the Indiana legislature. When Sumter fell, in 1861, he recruited the Forty-second regiment of Indiana Volun- teers, and was appointed lieutenant colonel. After the battle of Perryville, in which action his regiment took an active part, he was promoted to the colonelcy of the Eightieth Indiana infantry. In 1863 his resignation on account of physical disabilities was tendered, and he returned to Evansville, where he resumed the practice of law. From that time until 1885, when appointed by President Cleveland as United States minister to China, he devoted himself ex- clusively to his profession. In 1876 and ISS4 he was delegate at large from the state of Indiana to the national democratic con- ventions held in those years. He has been requested several times by his party to accept the nomination for congress, but each time he refused, preferring the practice of law to a participation in active politics. For many years past he has been the senior member of the law firm of Denby & Kum- ler, composed of himself and Daniel B. Kumler. He is distinctively a lawyer, and has few superiers in his profession at the Indiana bar. His practice has been very large and general, and his knowledge of the law is not confined to any one branch, but extends through'all. He has been always a close student and a hard worker. His achievements are proof of his ability. In the discharge of his delicate duties as min- ister of a great nation to a foreign power he has exhibited the possession of particular qualifications. He has upheld the dignity and honor of the position in an admirable
manner, and in his treatment of state matters has done credit to himself and his country. In the national democratic convention of ISSS his name was seriously considered by delegates from Indiana and other states in connection with the nomination for vice- president, but it was not formally presented. In 1858 he was married to Maretea Fitch, daughter of the distinguished senator, Gra- ham N. Fitch, of Logansport, Ind.
GRAHAM FITCH DENBY, attorney at law, was born in Evansville, December 25, 1859. He was educated in the public schools of this city. In ISSI he began the study of law in the office of his father, Col. Charles Denby, and in the same year was admitted to the bar. In the year 1888 he was nominated for prosecuting attorney on the democratic ticket, but was, with nearly all democratic nominees, beaten.
ROBERT DALE RICHARDSON, attorney at law, son of William B. and Mary A. Richard- sonwas born in Luce township, Spencer county, Ind., on the 13th day of January, 1847. His father and mother lived to celebrate their golden wedding in August, 1884, in the presence of many friends and eight living children. The father still survives in his eightieth year. He has been a potent fac- tor in shaping the events which make up the history of his county. In his life the highest qualtities of citizenship and the best traits of manly character have been ex- hibited. He twice represented his county in the legislature, and once served as sena- tor from Warrick, Perry and Spencer coun- ties. The son, Robert, spent his early boy- hood on his father's farm, and received his elementary training in the public schools of the neighborhood. Afterward he pursued his studies at the State University at Bloom- ington, Ind., where he graduated in both the literary and law departments in 1867-8. He came to Evansville in 1868 and began
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