USA > Indiana > History of the Indiana democracy, 1816-1916 > Part 14
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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916
officiated as temporary chairman. A com- mittee on permanent organization was created. This committee consisted of one from each of the ten Congressional dis- tricts, as follows :
A. L. Robinson of Vanderburg county, J. S. Sullivan of Clark county, S. F. Cov- ington, Joseph Leach of Union county, Major Z. Tannehill of Bartholomew coun- ty, John W. Cox of Morgan, M. L. Roach of Parke county, Thomas Smiley of Tip- pecanoe county, J. J. Shryock of Fulton county, Frank P. Randall of Allen county.
Through its chairman, A. L. Robinson, this committee named the following gen- tlemen as permanent officers of the con- vention :
President-Ethan Allen Brown of Dearborn county.
Vice-Presidents-J. F. Dufour of Switz- erland county, J. Coates of Fountain, Francis Little of Bartholomew, Lot Day of St. Joseph, Major Z. Tannehill of Bartholomew.
Secretaries-J. P. Chapman of Marion county, Francis King of Wayne, J. B. Hall of Dearborn, S. A. Hall of Cass.
The State Central Committee for this year's campaign consisted of Dr. Living- ston Dunlap, General David Reynolds, Colonel James P. Drake, George A. Chap- man, E. N. Skinner, William Sullivan and Charles Mayer.
DELEGATES TO NATIONAL CONVENTION.
For the State at Large-A. S. Burnett of Floyd county and John U. Pettit of Wabash. Contingents: James H. Lane of Dearborn county and Isaac C. Elston of Montgomery county.
DISTRICT DELEGATES.
First-James Lockhart of Vanderburg; Dr. William F. Sherrod, Dubois; E. R. James, Posey. Contingents : Robert Dale Owen, Posey; B. Edmondson, Gibson.
Second-E. G. English ; H. Deputy, Jef- ferson; John Carr, Jackson. Contingent : J. H. Sullivan.
Third-F. S. Dufour, Switzerland; James P. Milliken, Dearborn; Finley Bigger, Rush. Contingent: E. D. Crook- shank.
Fourth-Samuel E. Perkins, Wayne; John S. Reid, Union ; James Elder, Wayne. Contingent : James Osborn, Union.
Fifth-J. P. Chapman, Marion; James Blake, Marion. Contingent: F. Hardin, Johnson.
Sixth-John R. Jones, Knox; R. W. Aiken, Sullivan; P. M. Parks, Morgan.
Seventh-James M. Gregg, Hendricks; William P. Bryant, Parke; C. T. Patter- son, Vigo.
Eighth-Addison M. Crane, Tippe- canoe; G. W. Lawson, Fountain; Captain Robert H. Milroy, Carroll. Contingent : Joseph Ristine, Montgomery.
Ninth-Gilbert Hathaway, Laporte; Samuel A. Hall, Cass. Contingent: John Brownfield. St. Joseph.
Tenth-Frank P. Randall, Allen; Sam- uel S. Mickle, Adams. Contingent: Madi- son Marsh.
The importance of naming an excep- tionally strong electoral ticket seems to have been duly impressed upon the con- vention. The gentlemen selected were men of high standing and of much more than local prominence. For electors for the State at large the convention named two men, one of whom (Mr. Owen) had already served two terms in Congress, and a presiding judge (Mr. Chamberlain), who later on was elected to Congress in 1852. Among the district electors were several who had also filled important pub- lic positions. In its entirety the electoral ticket was thus constituted:
FOR ELECTORS AT LARGE.
Robert Dale Owen of Posey county. Ebenezer M. Chamberlain of Elkhart county.
DISTRICT ELECTORS.
1. Nathaniel Albertson, Harrison county.
2. Cyrus L. Dunham, Washington.
3. William M. McCarty, Franklin.
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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916
4. Charles H. Test, Wayne.
5. James Ritchie, Johnson.
6. George W. Carr, Lawrence.
7. James M. Hanna, Clay.
8. Daniel Mace, Tippecanoe.
9. Graham N. Fitch, Cass.
10. Andrew J. Harlan, Grant.
Heading the electoral ticket, and having attained an enviable reputation as a force- ful public speaker, Robert Dale Owen played an important part in this cam- paign. He was the subject of vigorous attack by the opposition generally and of vindictive denunciation by unscrupulous partisan publications. When his critics found themselves unable effectively to combat his political philosophy, they sought to neutralize the force of his argu- ment by branding him an "infidel lec- turer." These shafts had, however, failed utterly to disturb his equanimity. He re- called the fact that Thomas Jefferson was in his day assailed and maligned in like manner and that dismay fell upon the heads of his traducers when the illustrious author of the Declaration of Independence met their accusations with this incisive rejoinder and refutation :
"As to the calumny of Atheism, I am so broken to calumnies of every kind, from every department of government, Exec- utive, Legislative and Judiciary, and from every minion of theirs holding office or seeking it, that I entirely disregard it. It has been so impossible to con- tradict all their lies, that I am determined to contradict none; for while I should be engaged with one, they would publish 'twenty new ones.
"Had the doctrines of Jesus been preached always as pure as they came from His lips, the whole civilized world would now have been Christian.
"To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus Himself; I am a Chris- tian in the only sense He wished any one to be; sincerely attached to His doctrines in preference to all others; ascribing to Himself every human excellence; and be- lieving he never claimed any other.
"The greatest of all reformers of the depraved religion of His own country was
Jesus of Nazareth. Abstracting what is really his from the rubbish in which it is buried, easily distinguished by its lustre from the dross of His biographers, and as separable from that as the diamond from the dunghill, we have the outlines of a system of the most sublime morality which has fallen from the lips of man; outlines which it is lamentable He did not fill up. Epictetus and Epicurus give laws for governing ourselves, Jesus a supple- ment of the duties and charities we owe to others."
Even a character so gentle as that of the revered Abraham Lincoln did not in the days of his struggles escape the sting of the tongue of vituperation and slander. Chagrined over intimations and innu- endos that he was indifferent and derelict as to the performance of religious service, his great mind impelled his gentle heart to unbosom itself in this soulful manner:
"I have never united myself to any church because I have found difficulty in giving my assent without mental reserva- tion to the long, complicated statements of Christian doctrine which characterize their articles of belief and confessions of faith. Whenever any church will inscribe over its altar as its sole qualification for membership the Savior's condensed state- ment of the substance of both law and gospel, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself,' that church will I join with all my heart and all my soul."
Note how happily this blends with the sentiments expressed by Thomas Jeffer- son !
General Cass carried the State by a plu- rality of 4,838. The total vote cast was 152,752, of which Cass received 74,745; Taylor, 69,907; Van Buren, 8,100.
Though there was a strong Van Buren sentiment in Indiana, the nomination of General Cass met the approval and appro- bation of an overwhelming majority of the Democratic party. There were sev- eral reasons for this: Cass was person- ally very popular in Indiana. He had re- peatedly visited the State, and on various
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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916
occasions rendered valuable service to PRESIDENTIAL VOTE OF INDIANA,
its people. This was particularly so in the adjustment of difficulties with the Indians. His counsel with reference to the construction of public thoroughfares was deemed of incalculable value. Then the fact that he was a Westerner and resi- dent of an adjoining State weighed heavily in his favor. But above all else he was esteemed as a high-minded gentleman, wise legislator and patriotic statesman. On the slavery question he was in accord with prevailing public sentiment: con- servative. This made him acceptable to the vast majority of the party. The re- sult of the November election fully cor- roborated the judgment formed by those who in convention so earnestly labored for the nomination of General Cass on the ground of availability.
Among Van Buren's most earnest and enthusiastic supporters was General John H. Cravens of Ripley county, who was a Whig presidential elector in 1840 and who represented his district in Congress from 1841 to 1843 as a Whig. On account of his pronounced anti-slavery views he left the Whig party, supported Van Buren for the Presidency, and was the Freesoil candidate for Governor in 1849. In later years he served with distinction in the war for the Union.
Ovid Butler, as Chairman of the Free- soil Committee, issued the call for a State convention at Indianapolis August 3 for the purpose of effecting an organization and naming delegates to the Buffalo con- vention. The same month a Van Buren paper, called The Freesoil Banner, was established at Indianapolis by W. B. Greer and L. Wallace, two young anti-slavery men and former Whigs. In view of the after effect of the Van Buren movement an analysis of the Presidential vote of Indiana, by counties, will prove quite in- structive.
1848.
Van
Counties.
Cass.
Taylor. Buren.
Allen
1,059
991
13
Adams
398
261
1
Blackford
231
61
28
Brown
503
70
. .
Boone
916
773
66
Bartholomew
1,167
1,011
28
Benton
78
60
3
Clinton
964
726
87
Clark
1,510
1,200
28
Crawford
397
520
Clay
734
500
29
Carroll
1,008
822
76
Cass
829
881
55
Dubois
579
258
1
Daviess
701
735
2
Delaware
694
822
58
Dekalb
577
347
45
Decatur
1,096
1,245
143
Dearborn
1,801
1,378
176
Elkhart
1,050
756
142
Fulton
404
423
39
Fayette
765
1,040
86
Floyd
1,154
1,018
17
Fountain
1,343
900
138
Franklin
1,695
1,411
51
Grant
623
325
359
Greene
921
918
6
Gibson
802
860
15
Harrison
1,047
1,277
1
Hendricks
775
1,158
173
Howard
355
275
152
Huntington
463
457
46
Henry
1,005
1,215
455
Hamilton
805
809
317
Hancock
806
665
40
Jefferson
1,609
2,075
167
Jackson
1.071
632
7
Johnson
1,114
676
46
Jasper
190
86
128
Jay
392
276
142
Kosciusko
676
797
64
Knox
741
1,044
3
Lagrange
636
629
114
Lawrence
1,031
1,070
18
I.ake
208
138
139
Miami
770
731
70
Marion
1,789
1,877
109
Morgan
1,029
986
121
Monroe
1,084
780
59
Martin
497
342
7
Madison
993
824
55
Owen
953
882
13
Ohio
459
439
6
Orange
961
760
6
Posey
1,226
763
19
Pike
510
519
1
Perry
335
599
8
Putnam
1,300
1,647
10
Parke
1,319
1,398
9
Pulaski
224
135
1
Porter
401
343
77
Ripley
988
1,114
173
Laporte
877
1,027
226
Marshall
428
305
91
Montgomery
1,547
1,501
109
Noble
613
497
53
Jennings
784
926
96
-
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HISTORY INDIANA
DEMOCRACY-1816-1916
Randolph
787
631
523
Vigo
852
1,585
57
Rush
1,392
1,142
87
Vanderburg
667
734
22
Shelby
1,414
1,121
18
Washington
1,643
1,126
22
Spencer
471
681
Warren
460
708
68
Switzerland
1,106
1,093
44 Warrick
862
457
21
Scott
447
488
16
Wayne
1,432
2,085
839
Sullivan
1,142
465
5
Wabash
739
847
140
St. Joseph
667
817
332
White
305
268
34
Steuben
352
315
194
Wells
416
252
18
Tipton
235
183
3
Whitley
373
318
21
Tippecanoe
1,523
1,269
405
Union
637
526
208
74,745
69,907
8,100
Vermilion
763
830
..
Cass over Taylor-4,838.
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[CHAPTER XII.]
GOVERNOR JOSEPH A. WRIGHT SPLENDIDLY MAINTAINS STATE LEADERSHIP THROUGHOUT SEVEN YEARS
M ARKED and pronounced as was the ill feeling between Senator Bright and Governor Wright, each of these distinguished In- diana Democrats seemed to have been able to accomplish his main purpose, at least when highest interests were at stake. Doubt- less Governor Wright would have been delighted to have shortened the Senatorial career of Bright; equally certain it is that the latter would have experienced un- bounded satisfaction had it been in his power to prevent Joseph A. Wright from being elevated to the Governorship of In- diana.
When such rivalries among politicians of the same affiliation pass under review years after the actors in these dramas have passed from earth; when cogitations are indulged in why enmities and hates are engendered among men, the thought forces itself irresistibly upon the mind that after all is done and said strife and contention are found to be inseparably associated with human efforts. Attempts at fathoming the problem why this ap- proaches the inevitable must ever prove abortive, for wherever the eye may be turned, evidence of disharmony is percept- ible here and there, if not everywhere. It has ever been thus, and unless humanity undergoes a radical change, bordering on complete transformation, it in all proba- bility ever will be thus.
When men of mature years become in- volved in strife and contention, efforts at pacification or reconciliation are rarely appreciated at full value. But there is compensation in the preachment of the doctrine of forbearance and of resistance to the aggressive spirit of revengefulness. Thoroughly imbued with the belief that
the gospel of amity should be proclaimed on all suitable occasions, the writer feels assured that the incorporation of this lofty sentiment into these pages will be pleasing to every reader of this book: "In wandering through your mental pleas- ure grounds, whenever you come upon an ugly intruder of a thought which might bloom into some poisonous emotion such as fear, envy, hate, worry, remorse, anger, and the like, there is only one right way to treat it. Pull it up like a weed; drop it upon the rubbish heap as promptly as if it were a stinging nettle; and let some harmonious thought grow in its place. There is no more reckless consumer of all kinds of exuberance than the discordant thought, and weeding it out saves such an astonishing amount of eau de vie where- with to water the garden of joy, that with it in hand every man may be his own Bur- bank."
When the Democracy of Indiana assem- bled in State convention to nominate can- didates for Governor and Lieutenant- Governor, to be elected in 1849, Senator James Whitcomb, twice elected as Gov- ernor, was chosen to preside over the assemblage. This was a fitting compli- ment to one of the State's really great and good men, and gave high promise of wis- dom guiding the action of the convention.
As Vice-Presidents these sturdy Demo- crats from the ten districts were chosen :
1. Gaines H. Roberts, Warrick county.
2. John L. Morrison, Washington.
3. George Berry, Franklin.
4. George Evans, Henry.
5. Robert Hankins, Shelby.
6. Col. Willis A. Gorman, Monroe.
7. A. D. Billingsley, Putnam.
8. George H. G. Stackhouse, Tippecanoe.
9. Lot Day, St. Joseph.
10. Madison Marsh, Steuben.
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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916
Secretaries-W. B. Chase of Lafayette; Dr. E. W. H. Ellis, editor of the Goshen Democrat; Colonel William W. Tuley of New Albany, and R. D. Logan of Rush- ville.
Public sentiment had decided before the assembling of the convention that Joseph A. Wright of Parke county should be nominated for Governor. The people had faith in him; the people demanded his nomination. In conformity with this de- mand Mr. Wright was nominated amidst an outburst of enthusiasm that admitted of no doubt as to his popularity. The nomination for Lieutenant-Governor was in like manner conferred upon James H. Lane of Dearborn county.
The management of the campaign for Wright and Lane was intrusted to a State central committee, which, in point of adaptation, fitness and excellence, had not been equaled up to that time. The first name on the list was Albert G. Porter of Indianapolis, who later on served several terms in Congress, and who in 1880 was elected Governor over Franklin Landers. These are the names of the gentlemen con- stituting the State Committee for 1849:
A. G. Porter, Dr. A. Gall, C. G. Werbe,
Daniel Reynolds,
Dr. L. Dunlap, N. Bolton,
Wm. H. Morrison,
Francis King,
Geo. A. Chapman,
Gen. J. P. Drake.
NORTHERN INDIANA DEMOCRATS PIQUED.
Dr. E. W. H. Ellis was for years the most active and energetic Democrat in northern Indiana. He was an able writer and a sagacious politician. As such he wielded considerable influence. His views on the slavery question were very pro- nounced and he gave them vigorous ex- pression through the columns of his paper, the Goshen Democrat, as well as in party councils. At conventions and in party caucuses he always commanded respect and usually had with him a formidable fol- lowing.
Owing to the slow development of the northern part of the State and the long
start had in populating southern Indiana, political power was correspondingly feeble in the northern tier of counties. Never- theless a good deal of attention was given the northern part of the State, largely on account of the cleverness and native ability of the men who were dominant in public affairs north of the Wabash.
It so happened that when the time came for nominating a successor to Governor Whitcomb, southern Indiana Democrats, who did not look with favor upon the gubernatorial aspirations of Joseph A. Wright and James H. Lane, strong induce- ments were held out to Judge Ebenezer M. Chamberlain of Goshen to become a candi- date for that office. He was an excellent man and the Democrats of northern In- diana held him in high esteem. Accord- ingly they went to the State convention with high hopes and large expectations. But it did not take them long to ascertain that the southern Indianians who induced Judge Chamberlain to become a candidate were not in position to deliver the goods. Joseph A. Wright was an exceptionally adroit politician and manipulator. Jim Lane soon discovered that there was no chance for his nomination for first place, and going upon the assumption that a half loaf is better than no bread at all, he slipped under the wings of the Wright fac- tion and gladly accepted second place on the ticket.
When Dr. Ellis returned to his sanctum sanctorum at Goshen he took his pen in hand and formulated an editorial of a column in length in which he unmercifully blistered the hides of the southern Indiana Democrats who had promised so much and did so little to make good their promises and assurances.
Only three or four counties in the entire southern part of the State gave any of their votes to Judge Chamberlain. Dr. Ellis "ripped them wide open," yet consid- erately and diplomatically declared in his vitriolic pronunciamento that the nominees
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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916
were good men and worthy of Democratic support. Nothing, he contended, could or would be gained by withholding support from the ticket made up of Joseph A. Wright and James H. Lane. Although Dr. Ellis a few years later severed his connec- tion with the Democratic party on the slavery question, he was too staunch a Democrat in 1849 to think of bolting a Democratic nomination. So, after all, he had his say without tumbling outside the breastworks. Wright and Lane were tri- umphantly elected. After having served his term as Lieutenant-Governor, Jim Lane went to Kansas, became a howling Freesoiler, secured a seat in the United States Senate as a Republican, and for some unknown reason committed suicide. Dr. Ellis was elected State Auditor by the Legislature with the help of Governor Wright, but three years later was denied a renomination by the Democratic conven- tion after the office had been made elective by the people. He afterward became a Re- publican. Governor Wright himself broke with the party in 1862, and in considera- tion of a scathing denunciation of his old- time associates, was by Governor Morton appointed to fill the Jesse D. Bright va- cancy in the United States Senate.
Joseph A. Wright was pre-eminently a self-made man. Born at Washington, Pa., April 17, 1810, he came with his parents to Indiana, a lad of unusual promise. He evinced a strong desire for education and availed himself of the earliest opportunity to gain entrance into the State University at Bloomington. He paid his way in that institution by doing janitor's work and making himself generally useful. To earn money for buying books and clothing he hauled brick from the brick yard, did odd jobs with the trowel, and gathered nuts in the woods. In later years he prided himself considerably on the sundry allow- ances voted him by the Board of Trustees for repairs made about the building. Toward the close of the year 1828 he had
equipped himself educationally so as to enter the law office of Judge Hester as a student. Before he was twenty years of age he obtained his license to practice law. Shortly thereafter he located at Rockville, where he hung out his shingle as an attor- ney at law. In 1830 he was elected a member of the Legislature, in which body he earnestly sought to promote the wel- fare of his constituents and the people of Indiana in general. During the "Tippe- canoe and Tyler too" campaign he was promoted to the State Senate, and in 1843 the people of his district sent him to Con- gress. His aspirations for re-election were frustrated by the success of Edward W. McGaughey, who beat him by 171 votes. His nomination and election to the Governorship by a majority of 9,778 over so popular a man as John A. Matson was a signal triumph, in view of the aggressive factional animosity that had been arrayed against him. As Governor he did his utmost to promote the agricultural inter- ests of the State. Largely through his efforts the State Agricultural Society was formed. In 1852 he was elected president of the State Board of Agriculture and twice re-elected. He also exerted himself to the utmost to establish a safe banking system. The State having at a previous election declared in favor of a new Con- stitution, by a vote of 33,173 for to 28,843 against, he interested himself earnestly to have that mandate executed with a view to assuring the framing of an organic law that would meet amply the wants and needs of this rapidly growing Common- wealth. Throughout his career he fur- nished unvarying proof of his firm belief in and exemplification of Carlyle's creed, "Work is the grand cure for all the mala- dies and miseries that ever beset mankind -honest work which you intend getting done."
The campaign made by Mr. Wright was largely intellectual. He was an excellent mixer. He made himself easily under-
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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916
stood by the people. He never talked over their heads. And he always talked sense. One point he particularly impressed with especial emphasis upon his hearers, and that was the importance of electing the right sort of men for county commission- ers and township trustees. With a twinkle in his eye he used to say: "Pick out the best man in your county for commissioner ; if you have in your community some overly ambitious scapegrace who thinks he must be cared for, send him to Washing- ton-there he'll be lost in the shuffle."
There were three tickets in the field- Democratic, Whig and Freesoil. The gubernatorial candidate of the Freesoilers was James H. Cravens of Ripley county, a, former Whig Congressman, who couldn't "swallow" Taylor the year before and supported Van Buren and Adams. The vote in the State stands thus recorded :
FOR GOVERNOR.
Joseph A. Wright, Democrat. . 76,996 John A. Matson, Whig. .... .67,228 James H. Cravens, Freesoiler .. 3,018 FOR LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR.
James H. Lane, Democrat .... 77,002 Thomas S. Stanfield, Whig .. . 66,385 John W. Wright, Freesoiler ..: 2,795
(This, it may be observed, was the last election held for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor only under the constitution of 1816.)
It may here be noted that under the old Constitution members of Congress were in Indiana elected in odd years. This was deemed necessary when that Constitution was framed and adopted, on account of the time required for gathering the re- turns and having them duly tabulated and certified. Transportation facilities in the early days were not what they became later on. In case a special session of Con- gress were convened, a member of that body would have found it exceedingly dif- ficult to reach the national capital in time to answer the roll call at the opening of the session.
The year 1849 was a propitious one for the Indiana Democracy. Besides electing its candidates for Governor and Lieu- tenant-Governor by decisive majorities, it secured a good working majority in the Legislature and elected nine of its ten nominees for Congress. The only Demo- cratic candidate for Congress defeated that year was G. F. Conkley, in the Sev- enth District, who was beaten by Edward W. McGaughey, the same man who dis- tanced Joseph A. Wright in a previous race for Congressional honors.
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[CHAPTER XIII.] ENMITY THAT DESTROYS
REPEATED DEFEATS SUBVERT A BRILLIANT ORATOR'S EQUANIMITY
ESSE D.BRIGHT and Joseph G. J Marshall were residents of the same town-historic Madison. Bright was a native of New York; Marshall of Kentucky. The father of Bright was a manufacturer of hats, and a man of great force of character; Mar- shall's father was a Presbyterian minister of distinguished ability. Born in a slave State, Marshall was not enamored of the institution of slavery; Bright, born in a free State, looked upon slavery as being entirely justifiable, and in course of time himself became a slave owner in Ken- tucky, while maintaining a residence in Indiana. Both equipped themselves for the law, and both dabbled persistently and extensively in politics. The coun- ty in which these two men lived, Jefferson, was politically Whig, yet when Bright started out to run for an elective office he rarely failed to carry the county. His political shrewd- ness and his ability to manipulate were a great source of strength to him in his campaigning and in his aspirations. While it is quite true that Marshall was several times sent to the Legislature from Jefferson county, it is equally true that in his larger aspirations he was uniformly unsuccessful.
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